"Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)

Saturday, November 18, 2023

**Thoughts on Sinning

        We fail God when we sin. Every time I sin, I know that I have failed the test, so I asked the Lord not to test me to the point I would fail. Then I realize that as long as I love him, he will honor that, for love does strengthens us and makes us more impervious to sin.  

**What Christ to Me Is Like

        If I were a jigsaw puzzle, Jesus would be the exact missing piece I need to complete me.  

**Need for Prayer*

        As long as evils still exists among us, the Lord needs us to pray hard and unceasingly for our survival and his glory. 

***Focusing on Ourselves First***

        At Mass this morning I heard the prayer asking the Lord to shine light upon the POpe, the bishops, and the priests. It struck me that when we ask the Lord to favor us in some way, it's because we need to soften our hearts and be open and willing to change. So we need to pray for ourselves first. In fact, the Lord is always eager to bless and sanctify us. If we get out his way, we'll receive the favors we need.

***To Do Great Things for God

        The Lord God can create anything he wants. He can change anything too except in our case where he needs us to give him permission, as he respects our free will. So when we say yes to him, he can change us as much as we'll let him. Knowing this should open our minds and get us excited. Exercise your free will wisely that you may do great things for the Lord. 

***Never Risk Your Soul

        We all shall die one day. We can wait until sometime later or the moment before we die to get ready for meeting the Lord. I chose to accelerate the whole process by seeking to attain union with God in advance. This is being wise and prudent. Putting off the inevitable in this case amounts to playing Russian roulette with your soul. 

Friday, November 17, 2023

*Praising My Lord*

        Communion experience. Christ is most precious to me, my true treasure. He fulfills me completely. He is the one to be with and hold onto for ever.  

**No Less Blessed than the Apostles

        The Lord God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Christ came to us two millennia ago and is with us now. We should live as if he is right among us on earth. We are no less blessed than the Apostles.

**Poignant Scenes**

        Today's Gospel reading from Luke 17 is about the day of coming of the Son of Man. Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left." First, it's clear that the Lord should be more important to us than ourselves. If we are willing to lose our life for the Lord's sake, we shall be saved. This totally makes sense. The scenes describing "one will be taken, the other left" is disturbing or even terrifying. If you do care about your loved ones, you'd better do you utmost to love them, trust in the Lord and pray for them. 

Thursday, November 16, 2023

***God Makes Us Beautiful***

        Communion experience. I have the Lord now. His love and beauty make me forget all my ugliness. 

*****How to Love God with His Love*****

        I wish to love God with his love. He shows me that the way to accomplish that is to let him love me as much as possible—what a beautiful solution! Again, letting the infinite help the finite.

**Power thru God*

        We are finite beings who can only do so much, but if we surrender ourselves to God, he can and will accomplish so much more thru us.

*A Special Joy*

        This is the joy known only to those Christians who know that they've been saved and are now heaven bound.

**Happening Only with True God*

        When you believe in Christ with all your heart, wonderful things happen to you. That's because he is the true God.

**The Fear of Death Measures . . .

one's faith in the Lord God and freedom from the world.  

****See Life Clearly

        I drove to Mass this morning. To get on the main road, I stopped before making the left turn to be sure that there were no oncoming cars as the view was blocked by a high point in the road. When I thought it was clear and started turning, a fast dark car with headlights off showed up over the high point. If it had gone any faster and I reacted slower, we could've had a close encounter. So we really have to be alert and careful when we drive. I know many people prefer to drive a heavier vehicle for security reasons. And when driving on a multi-lane road, many don't use the center lanes to avoid a possible head-on collision. We all want to make sure that our lives on earth are safe. Then I thought how infinitely more important our afterlife is! So be wise and farsighted. Life on earth is just our temporary beginning; eternal life is what we really need to focus upon! Being myopic is not always better than being blind.

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

*****Taking Advantage of Divine Mercy

        We are entirely at God's mercy. We live because he is sustaining us. We will die the moment his time for us is up. Fortunately, he is also our most loving Father. If we obey him always, we'll end up in heaven for sure. We urgently need to let all know of his mercy. Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet daily often for the salvation of the whole world.

****Our-Gravest-Moment Warning**

        We live each instant and each moment keeps changing. Soon we'll be at the moment of appearing before the Lord. This is the gravest and most crucial moment we must be ready for, for what happens after that will be fixed forever!