To Be Prepared Our Duty

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus said to his disciples: "Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come." Even if we know when the Lord will come, we still should be prepared. To be prepared is to be holy. Consider it to be your duty. Just know that he will come. When he will come is not the real issue here.

*Christ Becoming More Beautiful

        Christ is already perfect and most beautiful. If he is becoming more and more beautiful to you, that's because you are opening up your heart more and more to him.       

*The Happiest Person on Earth

        God has so made us that we'll never be completely satisfied until we possess all of him – this I know and can assure you. Therefore, to know Christ fully is to be the happiest person on earth!

Joy of Christ's Coming Again

        Christians look forward to the Second Coming of Christ. As time goes by, their joy intensifies, for they know that the waiting is getting shorter.

Feeling Good About Knowing God

        Resumed attending daily Mass this morning. I felt so good about knowing and obeying Christ. The entrance antiphon from Psalm 17 perfectly stated what I wanted to say to the Lord: To you I call; for you will surely heed me. O God; turn your ear to me; hear my words. Guard me as the apple of your eye; in the shadow of your wings protect me.

What Is Death to You?

        We all face death one day. Some of us may buy our own burial plot and/or plan our funeral in advance, but more of us don't think about it until we have to, for it is not a pleasant thought. If you don't know God or have only a weak faith, you are basically heading into the unknown and I imagine you'll definitely experience anxiety and fear in going through possibly the greatest uncertainty of your life. On the other hand, those who have come to know the Lord intimately as in union would look forward to meeting their most beloved face to face with great joy, for to them death is merely a portal through which you enter paradise.

God Most Essential to Us

        He is the only one without whom we cannot possibly exist, let alone live.

*Living Your Age

        I am at the age my body tells me that I can no longer grower stronger with muscles sagging, skins wrinkling, and any bruises showing up easily. I can no longer recover from any physical injury as fast as when I was young. I get out of breath easily doing any physical work and trip over things while walking if I don't pay extra attention. By all these signs the Lord shows me clearly that I am living my last days on earth. Not living our age is not realizing that when we are 20, we have likely sixty more years to live and when we are 50, perhaps 30 more years. The big foolish mistake we make is that we plan and live as if we shall last forever. Then when the time comes and we have nothing to show that we have done anything for the sake of God, we'll have wasted our entire lifetime. (I was not able to attend Mass this morning, so I just looked up the Gospel reading from Luke 12 for today. Interestingly, Jesus told the crowd the parable of the rich fool, in which God said to him, "You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?" Jesus commented, "Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.")

No Lonely Christians

        A Christian who knows Jesus intimately or is in union with him is never lonely, while those in the world who have a lot of friends are deep down much lonelier, for their relationships with others are often superficial or transitory, carried on at the mind level, touching the heart at best, but never the soul. 

***Secret of Knowing God

        To know if God is true or not, all you need to do is to trust in him with all your heart and you will know! Obviously, you'll never know him if you do not believe in him. It may not be obvious to you that the more you open yourself up to him, the more he will reveal himself to you, until you and he become one. Now he becomes more real to you than yourself! Now you know him because you know him, not because you've seen some kind of proof. The only way to know God is to allow him to reveal himself to you, to your heart. This is the God to be experienced personally.

*Perfect Prayer

        The Lord's Prayer (the shorter original version without the Doxology) Jesus taught us is as perfect as a prayer can be – you cannot add or replace a line to make it better. It defines perfectly how we should relate ourselves to God.

*He's the One

        Communion experience. Before receiving the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, I knew that receiving him thus would give me eternal life (John 6:53-54). And I knew that Christ was the one I want to be with for all eternity. 

Why Jesus Came

        Today's Gospel acclamation, Mark 10:45: The Son of Man came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Now you know precisely why Jesus came to us on earth! You have to be mindless to not see that he loves us. 

**Greatest Enjoyment of My Life

        At Sunday Mass this morning, I felt and knew that knowing Jesus had been the unique greatest enjoyment of my life, for it had secured my existence with my most beloved for all eternity! How could I possibly have felt otherwise?  

***Our Highest Calling***

      To be a saint for God known to him alone, with no intention of having the Church canonize you in public whatsoever. Yes, live to hide yourself completely in God! 

Faith in God Matters

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus said to his disciples: "I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God." He said this because he is the Lord and how you respond to him will make all the difference. He also said, "When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say." Of course, it will work like this only if you truly put your trust in him and not worry about things. Faith in God always works wonders.

How God feels About us

        I have not yet gotten back to the routine of attending daily Mass, but here's part of yesterday's Gospel reading from Luke 12 which I think we should absolutely know: Many people were crowding together. Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples, "There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops. I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more. I shall show you whom to fear. Be afraid of the one who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna; yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one. Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows." God knows everything about us because we are most important to him. We should be afraid of him only if we hide ourselves from him. Otherwise, there is nothing to fear, for he loves us.

**Most Beautiful Feeling

        In general, people naturally are very much connected with the world they live in, but it is such a beautiful feeling to be able to tune out all the noises and any tumult around you and commune instantly with your Lord ad God who dwells within you at any moment!