Our Creativity vs God's

        The 21st century technology is quite amazing ~ just examine what a smartphone can do. Then I look at a single blade of grass and realize how much more natural and amazing its creation is, making what we have achieved look contrived, elementary, and artificial. God's effortless creativity is on an entirely different level. Let us remember that he also created us, and we should be grateful to him for that and remain forever humble before him.

How to Be Free

        We need to be with God 100% of the time. Let him in on and consult and ask him to bless everything we do, including what we think and say. This is not to put ourselves under his control; on the contrary, it is to strengthen our union with him and experience even greater freedom! If you think that God is going to enslave you, you'll never be free. He is in fact our greatest liberator. You are free only if you are spiritually free and only God who is the truth can make it happen.

Perfect Match

        Communion time thoughts. We who are finite creatures are so feeble, frail, and prone to fail physically, mentally, and morally on our own. Therefore, what we precisely need is an all-powerful, loving God to help us in every way to save us. This we find in Christ the Lord.

*Beauty of Union With God

        This was all I could think of this morning. Here are some descriptions. In union with God, you and God become one, totally inseparable. You are God are in each other and belong to each other. Wherever God is, you are. You are aware of God dwelling within your heart. You and God share the same joys and sorrows; are in perfect harmony because his will and yours are the same. You enjoy his perfection, holiness, and beauty. It's eternal love. It's reality, no fantasy. Without union, your spiritual journey will be laborious. With union, it becomes effortless because God carries you all the way. Union is possible because it's all God's doing with your consent. Union with God is the ideal and perfect state of existence for us because it is precisely what God desires.

One Reason for Gratitude

        Communion thought. Jesus is the one who makes us holy ~ how can we not be grateful and love him?

Be Good to Enjoy God

        We are capable of doing both good and evil, while God only knows how to love. If we let God's love transform us to become all good, then we and God can become one, dwelling in and enjoying each other.

Source of Joy

        It is a great joy to learn from the Lord. When my heart hears his voice, I am edified and fall in love with him even more. How good it is to know him!

"Mind Control"

        I want God to take charge of all of me because the mind still flashes its own inappropriate, silly or impure, thoughts at various times. Even though they are involuntary, they nevertheless disrupt my inner peace.

Getting Personal With God

        Communion antiphon, John 14.23: Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him. Indeed, the Lord came to me in the Holy Eucharist to make me his home! I felt so blessed to be called to his supper. Millions and millions of my brothers and sisters in Christ also get called to sup with him; but no matter, I felt my call so personal as if I was the only one invited. 

Choose Love Over Sin!

        Today is the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles. The entrance antiphon: These are the holy men whom the Lord chose in his own perfect love; to them he gave eternal glory. God is love. It's love that sustains our very existence. It's love that the soul needs for healing. And it's love that will get us into heaven. Love is also the answer to all our problems. Without it, everything collapses. With it, we possess God! Love is all around us, but people do not see it because sin has blinded their hearts.

In Tune With God

        To be in tune with God is to be aware of his presence, ready to communicate with him at any time, and not go off on my own to do what I want to do. Sinning easily gets us out of tune with the Lord and we no longer feel his presence nor hear his voice, and we sin even more. The Lord is ever present; so if we lose him, we are the cause. Being in union with him is the most effective way of remaining in tune with God.

Glorious Freedom

        In today's first reading from Romans 8, Paul mentions the glorious freedom of the children of God. That caught my ear, for the children of God are no longer bound by their life on earth. As death has no power over the resurrected Lord, the children of God also has been given life for ever. They are gloriously free because they are shielded by the love of God which nothing can separate from them.

Longing for God

          Communion experience. God exalted me as he made me yearn and long for him. I desired to give myself to him as much as to have him for myself.

We Have No Covers

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 13, Jesus points out the hypocrisy of the leader of the synagogue. Let's remember that no one can hide or escape from the Lord. He sees and knows everything about us ~ we are completely naked, exposed, and transparent to him. Let's keep this in mind as we live our lives. Believing otherwise is to believe that God is not all-knowing, making us look like fools.

Joy of the Lord

        I felt great joy at Mass this morning. How could I not when you possess Christ, the source of joy, already? The entrance antiphon from Psalm 105 read: Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice; turn to the Lord and his strength; constantly seek his face. The Communion antiphon from Psalm 20 was also into joy: We will sing out our joy at your saving help and exult in the name of our God. It amazed me that I felt the same way about God as the psalmist did three millennia ago.

Number One

        Make God number one in our lives and we become number one in his eyes.

Jesus Unburdens Us

        Everything is hard if you do not know Jesus ~ there are just so many things to deal with, spiritually or otherwise. But if you know Jesus and let him take charge of your life, you are unburdened and everything becomes easy.

God to Be Leaned On

        In the Gospel reading from Mark 10 at Mass, we learned that a blind man kept crying out, asking Jesus to have pity on him. Jesus called him, and he threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. The Lord asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man replied, "Master, I want to see." Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." Immediately, he received his sight. 

        Indeed, it's "ask and you'll receive." We must be used to asking Jesus for help, or it won't be easy for us. Yesterday I saw a woman sitting on the sidewalk, leaning against the wall of a bar restaurant. She looked very much in distress, so I got down to talk to her. She teared up quickly while telling me some of the horrible family problems. I suggested praying to Jesus for help, but I could tell that it's not something she would readily consider doing. It made me realize that it's important for us to develop the "natural habit" of turning to God for help anytime we are in trouble, for God is to be leaned on.