God Be with Us

        In today's Gospel reading from John 8, Jesus also said to the Pharisees, "I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me. The one who sent me is with me." It is clear that we need the Lord to be with us for us to do his will. Seek to attain union with God and you'll have him with you forever.

"To Die in Our Sins"

        In today's Gospel reading from John 8, Jesus said to the Pharisees, "You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do no belong to this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins." To hear "you will die in your sins" from the Lord should send shudders down our spine. To avoid this ever happening to us, let us detach ourselves from the world and believe in him.

***Secret to Knowing God Fast***

        What holds us back from knowing the Lord is our stupid pride. You cannot know him well if you do not communicate with him openly from your heart! The way to know him fast is to share all your thoughts, your feelings, your problems, miseries, guilts, hangups, longings—you name it, from your heart, holding back nothing. Guess what: When you share everything in your heart with the Lord, he shares everything in his heart with you!  

***Most Refreshing, Exhilarating Act

        Whether you see the coronavirus as a chastisement or not, it is clear that it is a call to repentance. Do not miss this precious opportunity God has given us. A good Christian repents the moment he has sinned without delay. This simple act keeps his soul clean and readies him for death (to meet the Lord)! There is no other act more refreshing and exhilarating than repenting our sins from the heart to God, our Father, our creator, our judge, and our Savior.  For you are made clean and fit for heaven!

**Looking at Death

        Many have died from the current coronavirus. Should we feel sorry for them? If we truly trust in the Lord, we would feel sorry only for those who did not make heaven. After all, the Lord cares about our soul the most, and we should care foremost about how he feels. Feeling sad about someone who has died because you are going to miss that person is basically being self-centered. If you are quite sure that the soul is headed for heaven, you should rejoice instead! God knows exactly what he is doing and is always just, so we can confidently put ourselves entirely in his hands. Only his ways and his will matter.       

**What We Should and Should not Do

           Today's Gospel comes from John 8. It's about the woman caught in adultery. The scribes and the Pharisees brought her to Jesus. They said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus said to the, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." In response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She replied, "No one, sir." Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more."

          I've set in bold face the sayings of the Lord for us to remember. As sinners, we should not judge other sinners, and we should stop sinning to avoid being condemned by God. 

***Should Be a No-Brainer

        Ezekiel 33.11, today's verse before the Gospel: "I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord, but rather in his conversion, that he may live." It should be clear that the wicked will die forever, but if they convert, they will live forever! If you don't get this, then no one, not even God, can help you. For God wants to save you, but you'll have to let him convert you first. 

***Most Glorious Union*

       The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one. They form the most glorious Holy Trinity. When you have one of the three, you have them all. When you pray to any one of them, you pray to all of them. When you have fallen in love with any one of them, you are in love with all of them. When you praise God, you praise all of them. When God dwells in you, all three dwell in you. Now, get ready to hear this: We can join the union of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit by attaining union with God through the Holy Eucharist!

*Do-Not-Judge Lesson

        I have four flowering shrubs planted on the roadside outside my house. The first three plants down the road have always looked healthier and grown larger, while the last one has always lagged behind in growth and looks not as alive. A couple of days ago to my surprise, while the three larger ones had shown some flower buds, the buds on the the small plant had all blossomed, showing the whole plant covered in beautiful red flowers. This is a case of "the last will be first, and the first will be last." It teaches me never to judge anyone.

*Returning to Your God

        Communion experience. I followed Sunday Mass offered by Fr. Goring on YouTube this morning. I received spiritual Communion and was ready to go to the Lord. Let nothing hold you back from returning to your loving creator.

How Clean Is Your Heart?

        Your can pray inside a magnificent cathedral or in a dingy little room. The setting is not important, but the purity of your heart is. For nothing pleases the Lord more that a clean heart. 

**God Is Always Right!

          Today's Gospel reading from John 11 is about the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, sent word to Jesus to say that Lazarus was ill. When Jesus heard this he said, "This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God." He remained for two days in the place where he was. Then he went with his disciples to Lazarus' village Bethany. He said to them, Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe." When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise." He went to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha said to him, "Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus ordered them to untie him and let him go. 

         The lesson here is that the Lord always knows what's going on and what to do. He is always right, we must believe.

**Power of the Holy Spirit

        In today's second reading from Romans 8, Paul writes, "If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in you." When you are in union with the Lord, the Holy Spirit dwells within you. Imagine that this is the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead! With such a powerful Lord dwelling in you, you should be awed and never ever be afraid again!

*Wishing Is Not Enough

        It's easy to wish someone well. But if you really mean it, you should back it up by praying for that person, especially for his or her soul! You don't love someone enough if you don't care about that person's soul,

*Making Life Meaningful

        To me, not knowing God would make life completely meaningless—you don't know why you are here and where you are going. We just appear on earth, die, and become nothing? I always felt that emptiness before I found Christ. I believe that God has made us this way so that we might look for him. Putting my faith in Christ had turned out to be the breakthrough I needed to turn my life around. The Lord enlightened me and liberated me, and I felt completely fulfilled. And he has further filled me with the Holy Spirit to overflowing. Life has become more exciting and exhilarating than ever! Now that you know how the Lord has made us, don't miss the chance to make your life meaningful.

***Punishment or Blessing

        Pity the wicked who do not see the coronavirus as a chastisement from God. Bless the righteous who see it as a call to seek refuge in him.

**Does God love You?

        You've heard said that God loves you. What does that mean? Things still don't always go your way. Life is hard and bad things still happen to you. No one seems to care about you; you don't even get kisses or hugs. Let's pause and look at the situation. First of all, we are living in a most sinful world, including ourselves sinning continuously. It should be obvious that our brief existence on earth can never be perfect. To not be relieved from all the sufferings and hardships by God now does not mean that he does not love us. He had already come, suffered and died on the cross for us to be saved from sin. And if we believe in him, we'll have eternal life! If you still think that he does not love you enough, then you must have a very hard heart indeed.

Why Are You Are Still Here?

     In today's Gospel reading from John 7, Jesus went up to the feast of Tabernacles in Judea. He traveled not openly, for the Jews there were trying to kill him. When he started to teach openly in the temple area, they tried to arrest him. But no one laid a hand upon him because his hour had not yet come. 

          I am not leaving the world right now because I know that my hour is not here yet. The Lord has a plan for each one of us. It is good to know why we are still here and what he wants us to do. Otherwise, we are likely to waste much valuable time on earth. We reap later what we sow now on earth. Become one with the Lord so that you may know his plan for you.