**Wakeup Moments

        Looking back, I can't believe I spent so many years collecting records and CDs until I realized I'd be running out of storage space if I continued on. This is a wakeup moment. So many of us are obsessed with various hobbies and material things in this world that we are no longer free, so such wakeup moments are blessings from God. The Lord knocks on our door every chance he gets and we need to let him in every time he knocks. He won't stop knocking until we are fully awake knowing that he only wants us to return to him to enjoy living with him for all eternity.

**Our Fundamental Prayer Goal

        The world, our nation, our society, the Church, our families...all need our prayers. It all comes down to saving souls to glorify God. So make that your primary goal. Let's ask the Lord to crush evil and save souls. But we must become holy first. I believe that Jesus taught us the Lord's Prayer for that reason. Saying that prayer perfectly can make us perfect.

Experiencing Early Peace

        Communion experience. I believe that many people will be able to resign to letting everything go when they know they are about to meet God. After I received the Lord in the Holy Eucharist today, I was at that point, even though I wasn't dying yet. The great thing of knowing God intimately is experiencing that peace early irrespective of when you will depart from this world.

How God Compels Us

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus said, "Whoever is not with me is against me." Later, he also said, "No servant can serve two masters." So, as sinners, we must make a choice, and one choice is good and right and the other, bad and wrong. It's only when we face the true God that we are truly challenged. 

**Stupidest Cold-Hearted Joke

      This morning I thought of how proabortionists tell us that they just don't want any child born into this world to feel unwanted. It sounds as if they are doing the child and the whole world a favor and we should thank them for that! This has to be the stupidest cold-hearted joke ever! Who are making the unborn unwanted? Certainly, not the pro-lifers. God creates life and these hypocrites decide whether it should live or die! The Lord loves the children. In the Gospels he said to the disciples, "Whoever causes one of these littles ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." Let me remind the proabortionists that when they make their unborn children unwanted, they themselves become the unwanted children of God!

        After I had these thoughts, I saw Fr. Mark Goring's new pro-life video. It's fitting that I should post it here below.

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***The Church Has Failed

        The Church hierarchy has failed its mission. It has failed to teach the faithful to understand their faith. It has failed to inspire them to be holy. It has failed to retain the youth. It has failed to guard the souls of its followers. It has failed to evangelized the world. It has failed to fight evil. It has failed to respond to the Holy Spirit. It has failed to remain loyal to the Lord. It has forgotten him. It has fallen asleep. It has become corrupt and self-serving. It has become heretical. It has allied with the Devil. It has betrayed the Lord. It's chastisement time.

*Seeing Crises as Blessings

        Today's entrance antiphon from Esther 4: Within your will, O Lord, all things are established, and there is none that can resist your will. For you have made all things, the heaven and the earth, and all that is held within the circle of heaven; you are the Lord of all. Today's response from Psalms 40.5 to Psalm 1: Blessed are they who hope in the Lord. Today's Communion antiphon, Lamentations 3.25: The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the soul that seeks him.

        All these verses are comforting and reassuring to those of us who are most concerned about the present crisis in the Church. The Lord is infinite and almighty and his will will prevail. By contrast, the fact we can feel so insecure and dread the worst only shows how weak we are and how much we need to hope and trust in the Lord. Let all crises bring the best out of us.

Be Genuinely Catholic

         You can go through the motion as a Catholic without giving your heart to God. Then you are not being genuine. Let God have your heart to be genuinely Catholic. 

The Holy Spirit Is the Lord

        When you completely submit yourself to the Holy Spirit, you are one with the Lord!

**Don't Remain in the Pit*

        Today's Response from Jonah 2: You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord. We, burdened with sins, are indeed in a pit, but Christ can rescue us from it. This is what we need to recognize and realize. Without God, we just have no assurance that we can be saved. Rejecting Christ is even worse—you may love to gamble, but in this case you'll lose for sure.

**Much Ado About Nothing?*

        I just watched the current EWTN short video Vaticano featuring the International Sacred Music Art Festival. A world-famous Russian Orthodox choral group also participated. And musicians from various orchestras played music by Mahler and Mozart, which I don't consider to be truly sacred. All performances took place in the various magnificent basilicas of Rome. Of course, beautiful music played in magnificent settings can be most impressive, but if no one is drawn any closer to the Lord afterwards, then it's much ado about nothing. In reality, you can open up to the Lord in silence anywhere and be drawn deeply into him. Seeking God through anything external to him only reveals our unreadiness to directly face him.

***All We Need to Preach***

        Here is Fr. Mark Goring's latest video. I couldn't agree with him more. Not to go to Jesus or preach him directly is wasting your time. Saints are great, but don't follow them. Instead, let them inspire you to follow Christ as they did. If the Lord were on earth right now, I am sure you would want to follow him only. By the way, if you do not zero in on Christ, how can you possibly attain union with him?

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My Soul's Refuge

        Communion experience. After I received the Holy Eucharist, I knew my soul was safely residing in the Lord.

Rejoicing for the Right Reason

        From today's Gospel reading from Luke 10, the seventy-two disciples returned rejoicing from their mission and said to Jesus, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name." Jesus said to them, "Do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven." This is rejoicing for the right reason. No other delight can possibly top the delight of knowing that you are going to experience the greatest joy in heaven for all eternity!

**Insights from the Lord*

      Today is the first Friday of October, so there was Eucharistic adoration at church after Mass. I remained for about a hour and received these insights.

• To desire the Lord is the only desire we need. When we have him, we have everything. It is also the desire that pleases him the most. It is not a selfish desire, for it requires giving yourself to him.
• To be wholly healed by the Lord is to be holy.
• To be aware of your sins is good, for it is the Lord drawing you to him.
• The world is filled with evil, so seek union with the Lord to remain in him.
• Everything is known to the Lord. Everything done for his sake in faith is great in his eyes.
• If you want to feel good, serve the Lord faithfully and he will give you joy.
• A sinner who hides from the Lord is a fool. He becomes wise when he turns to the Lord to let him look into his heart.
• We can solve all our problems if we will surrender ourselves to the Lord to ask him to make us perfect.

**Removing Causes of Sin

        In Matthew 5.29 & 30, Jesus said to his disciples, "If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut if off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna." The Lord has a point: we must remove what causes us to sin. Sometimes we can have hidden desires our ego still urges us to fulfill. Therefore, we must have the Lord go deep into us to find and remove all the causes. Again, attain union with him to give him total freedom to accomplish this. As it is, the more perfect your union is, the holier you become.

***Raising Our Aspiration

        In general, we who follow Christ do not aspire high enough. We are too mild, too fainthearted, falling far short of what the he expects of us and what he deserves from us. We should go all out to possess the Lord, for he loves us so much that he desires ardently to be one with us! The most expedient way to accomplish this to give yourself entirely to him. You cannot aspire any higher.

***Wake Up or Die Forever!**

        Today is Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi. In the Gospel reading from Luke 10, Jesus reproached the unrepentant towns. He said to them, "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum, 'Will you be be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.'" That there will be judgment and there is hell is clear. We know that we are sinners, yet we behave as if we are sinless, remaining repentant. Sins buried are still with you; they can only be taken away by God after you repent of them. If you don't face sins squarely, you won't see heaven either!