Soul More Important than Body

        I got the idea for this message from reading City of God by Mary of Agreda.  

        Body and soul ~ these are what each of us possesses.  The temporal goods are created by God for the sole purpose of sustaining life.  This need is easily satisfied, yet we devote so much time, so much care, so much physical exertion, and so much mental power to the life of the body, of which we know not the duration nor the end.  On the other hand, how much time do we spare on the poor soul?  For some, perhaps just  one hour near the end of life?  Such disproportion must be addressed and corrected for the sake of the soul, which is infinitely more important than the body.  

The Same True Church

        In Matthew 16, Jesus said to Peter, "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it."  Many Christian denominations and sects today claim that the Catholic Church had gone astray and no longer taught what Christ handed down, but none of them can pinpoint exactly when and how it happened.  Nevertheless, this claim basically says that the gates of the netherworld had prevailed against the Church, thus contradicting what Jesus had said.  In my view, this is a most serious offense committed against God.  I challenge all to read the early history of the Church and the writings of early church fathers to find out who had gone astray, the Church or those you're following who, interestingly enough, don't agree among themselves.  The fact that the Catholic Church alone has the Most Blessed Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist, preserved for over 2,000 years speaks for itself.     

Returning to God Is Homebound

        To believe in God, you must acknowledge that he is the one who did create you ~ in fact, in his image.  Then you will realize that he, being your creator, is truly the dearest person to you.  By obeying and following him through Christ, you will return to him in heaven ~ that's going home to your Father who loves you and is waiting for you.  Remember this all the days of your life on earth.  

Learning in Sickness

        I've been quite sick, especially yesterday.  It could be a cold, allergy, or a virus, or mixed.  It started out with a sore throat, then followed by a running nose and a cough.  The last was the worst ~ a non-stopping cough can really hurt your entire chest.  I thought of how much a healthy person can do.  He can build a castle, a skyscraper, or even more; but a sick person is totally helpless in performing any physical work.  The only prayer I was able to say in this state was the holy name "Jesus."

        Good things that came out of sickness:  (1) I learned to be patient.  (2) I saw a chance to offer up my sufferings to God and be more united with Christ.  (3) Now that I know what suffering is like, I could mentally pray for the souls in purgatory.  It's my understanding that these souls depend totally upon our prayers as they have no power to alleviate their own sufferings in any way.  The saints in heaven cannot pray directly for them either, but they can intercede for us if we initiate such prayers.     

         

Sharing the Saints' Belief

        When Jesus asked Peter, "Who do he say that I am?"  Peter replied, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."  Today is the Memorial of St. Martha.  She also told Jesus, "I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”  It gives me great joy to know that the saints and I share the same belief.

Against Organized Religion?

        Many who do not believe in the Church often give the reason that they do not like organized religions.  If that's the case, then do they have a one-to-one relationship with God?  Do they ever kneel and pray to God on their own?  I doubt it very much.  I believe that it's a pretext they use most of the time for not wanting to submit themselves ~ the pride again.  "Don't tell me what to do" ~ you hear that all the time.  Pro-abortion people are like that.  Nations are like that.  People want to be their own god and we end up with billions of gods and a chaotic world.  Disobedience (pride) is the root of all disorder.   

Lord, Make Us Holy

        The Entrance verse, Reading 1 and the Responsorial Psalm at today's Mass are all about "dwelling."  We dwell in a physical body, we dwell in our house... but no dwelling place in this life is permanent or safe for us.  The only permanent, safe place is the Lord himself.  How wonderful it is to dwell in him all the days of our life now and forever later.  Don't forget that for us who were baptized in the Lord and receive the Blessed Sacrament worthily, the Lord dwells in us too.  Our cry to him must be "Make us holy" so that the Lord and we shall be comfortable dwelling in each other.

Avoid Making Sin Attractive

        I'm now going through The Life of Anne Catherine Emmerich, Vol. 2.  She talks about the many things of the world making sin attractive...  "Making sin attractive" ~ this description stopped me in reading.  It's obvious a sin to make sin attractive to others.  I am thinking that if you open a shop just selling luxurious clothing to appeal to rich women's vanity or to make them look sexy ~ that's making sin attractive.  I can also mention video games, shows on TV, etc.  In summary, anything you do that makes others less holy is, to put it mildly, not a good idea since we are to bring all closer to God, who is all holy.   

Our Soul, God's Concern

        I developed a sore throat today and prayed for healing.  Of course, the Lord does not always comply with our request of this sort right away.  Then I realize that it's only with healing of the body that it is so.  With healing of the soul, he never delays ~ that's because the soul exists forever and is so much more important than the body, which is here today and gone tomorrow.  We repent for our sins and we are forgiven instantly.  The Lord is most concerned about our souls ~ he wants us to be perfect, to be holy ~ starting right now; whereas the body can wait.    

Letting God Affect Us

        In today's Reading 1 from Exodus 34 at Mass, we learned that while Moses was conversing with God, the skin of his face became radiant.  The Lord can truly affect us in a radical way.  Surrender to him and he'll make you heart radiant!  

Why Surrender Feels Good

        To have surrendered to God is to have conquered oneself ~ that's why it's such a good feeling.

Rejoice in the Lord

        At Mass this morning at the seminary chapel, I thought of the new parish church that'd be completed in a few months and morning Mass would probably be said at the new church and not at the seminary anymore.  I've been attending daily Mass at this chapel for over three and a half years and have received so many graces that the thought of going to Mass somewhere else  saddened me a little.  Then I heard the Lord pipe up saying that I should be detached from any physical location and that as long as he is in me, I should always rejoice.  Of course, he was right.     

The One Thing Sufficient for Us

        Love of God.

Power of the Holy Eucharist

        After receiving the Lord in the Holy Eucharist today, I heard myself saying interiorly "I'll never be the same again."  (Someone with musical talent could write a song with that title.) 

Forgetting Ourselves in Serving God

        Today is the Feast of St. James, Apostle.  In Reading 1 from 2 Corinthians 4, Paul talks about how he is constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus in serving the Corinthians and others.  Therefore, in serving the Lord we should forget all about ourselves and see Jesus alone in the ones we serve.  In fact, in praising the Lord, in worshipping him, in adoring him, we should also forget about ourselves and see the Lord only. 

Care More and Less

        Care more about the things of God to deepen your union with him and care less about the things of the world to gain more freedom of the heart.  (The goal: Care only about the things of God and nothing about the things of the world.) 

Amazing Lord and Servant

        I've been thinking that Jesus is our Lord, yet he's our servant at the same time ~ what an amazing combination!  If you look at his life, he was meek and humble, willingly giving up his own life on the cross; yet you know that he's no ordinary man, as his teaching was authoritative and his deeds awe-inspiring.  You adore and fear him at the same time.  The greatest came and stooped low to serve us ~ only God can accomplish this.

Jesus, the Judge of All Beauties

        Once you have discovered the beauty of Christ, all true beauties in the world are made even more beautiful and all false beauties are exposed and made ugly.  The beauty of the Lord judges all other beauties.