**Evildoers Are Foolish Losers*

         Today's entrance antiphon from Psalm 27: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; whom should I dread? When those who do evil draw near, they stumble and fall. Those who do evil always live in fear, for they dread that they would be caught and exposed. Of course, they stumble and fall sooner or later, unaware that nothing can be concealed from the all-knowing Lord. In a way, I pity the evildoers for playing a losing game at the start and fearing the Lord in a wrong way.

***Going All Out for Jesus

         If Jesus is to be our Lord, then we must live in him, turn to him for his guidance in everything, and do all things with him as one. It sounds impossible, but nothing is impossible for God if we abandon ourselves to him. All of us are perfect candidates for the Lord to make perfect.

*****What Is Worth Dying For*****

         Anything that can make us live happily forever is worth dying for. You have to be a total idiot to disagree with me here. I can readily name some of these things: The Holy God, Christ our Savior, God's Love for us, the Holy Eucharist, keeping God's commandments, doing God's will . . . they all have to do with God. So I could have just said that the God of Christ alone is worth dying for.

***Assured Formula for Happiness*

         Submit yourself to the Lord to let him make you holy and beautiful for him to behold and you'll be so happy with both him and yourself!

**Rejoice in Our Immaculate Mother**

         Today we celebrate the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We rejoice that the Lord God loves us and should be happy that we also have a heavenly Mother who loves and always intercedes for us. Unite our hearts with her Immaculate Heart so that we may love the Lord as much as she loves him. 

***Knowing God's Love*

         We normally love someone or something because we know it would give us pleasure or satisfaction; this love is basically self-centered. We also feel sorry for someone in a sorry state and wish to help; this is a heartfelt love more like God's pure love for us. We do not feel God's love when we are too occupied with loving the world. Then there are times we are disappointed with the world and turn to God and finally come to know his most beautiful selfless love. So see unhappy times as blessings, for God is calling you to set you free from the world and make you heaven bound.   

***Alleviating Christ's Suffering***

         Again, it's Friday, the day of praying the Sorrowful mysteries of the Holy Rosary. If we were present at the scene when Jesus was going thru his Passion, many of us would want to alleviate his sufferings in some way if possible. But he is still suffering greatly today due to the disobedience of many, and we can comfort him by being extra obedient to him.

**Incredible Experience*

         Communion experience. Still couldn't quite believe that receiving the Eucharist brought me into full union with my God/

****Know Yourself First****

         How pure are your motives? I start to question myself because I realize that I like different people for different reasons. We tend to like people who are pleasing to us. Then I like one person others don't like too much, and realize that it's because I want to feel that I am more loving than others—not a pure motive. Pure love is blind! Now, if you'd look deep into your own heart with complete honesty, you can learn a lot about yourself. This can be an enlightening, satisfying, and even exhilarating experience! (I'd like to do this after Mass in solitude under the Lord's watchful eyes, for he can make me see things difficult for me to see on my own.) Understanding yourself is liberating and always a joy, and most of all it unites you close to God.

***The Two Greatest Commandments*

         In today's Gospel reading from Mark 12, Jesus gave a scribe the two greatest commandments. The first is this: You shall love the Lord God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I see that the second commandment is a corollary to the first one, proving that you love the Lord. 

***Essential Transformation

        In today's first reading from 2 Timothy 2, Paul wrote, "If we have died with Christ, we shall also live with him." The principle here is that we need to die first before we can live again. There has to be a rebuilding, a rebirth to take place. This is the transformation by Christ needed to get us into heaven.

***Time for Action***

         With evil all around us, what should Christians do? The Catholic Church has already been weakened by the infiltration of evil and as a result, the few bishops and priests who had the courage to speak out openly just got canceled one by one by their superiors or the Pope. Currently, I see only Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel whose's not Catholic as the only clergyman who speaks out fearlessly for Christ and against the various evils. We must defend God and attack evil both. For those of us who don't get the opportunity to speak out openly, we can alway pray extra hard. To just say "I trust in God" and not do anything is exactly what Satan wants from you. It's act-or-die time.

**Correct Focus

         In today's first reading from 2 Timothy 1, Paul wrote, "God saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus . . ." This is telling me that to be holy, I do not focus upon what I do for God, but upon following his will, a fine distinction here.  

***Do You Belong to God?***

         In today's Gospel reading from Mark 12, some Pharisees and Herodians were sent to Jesus to ensnare him in his speech. They came and asked him, "Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?" He said to them, "Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at." They brougnt one to him and he asked them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" They replied, "Caesar's." So Jesus said to them, "Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." So if we belong to God, we should repay to God all of ourselves. If we are still fighting him, we don't belong to him yet, that is, he is not truly our Lord yet.

****What Life on Earth Is All About****

        In today's reading 1 from 2 Peter 3, Peter wrote "Wait for and hasten the coming of the day of God . . . we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him." While we await meeting the Lord, this is the perfect time to perfect ourselves to show that we welcome that day. Life on earth is all about perfecting ourselves for heaven, in case you're still unaware. Either do this or waste your whole time on earth. 

****Same-Lord-Different-Roles Warning***

        Jesus came to us 2,000 years ago as Lord and Savior. He came to give us the good news as told in John 3.16: God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. He came not to condemn us, but to save us from sin with love and mercy. He remained meek and humble, and died on the cross for our sake. Then we'll meet him again to be judged by him either after we depart from this earth or at his Second Coming. That'll be the time of justice, not of mercy anymore! If you want to repent and ask him to forgive you then, it'll be too late! So make peace with your creator now while there's still time.

***Wake Up to Sin Please***

         We all know sin and must not ignore it! It is the biggest and most fundamental problem we face and our worst enemy, for it alienates us from God and can get us condemned for eternity! It is the first problem we need to address and dispose of. Dealing with sin is more pressing than any of our other concerns, for we don't how much time we have on earth. Much of the world's population is in such a sad state that they not only embrace sin, they are also oblivious to how sin can ruin their souls. The only way to solve the problem of sin is to accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, for as our creator, he alone is able to take away our sins and make us heaven bound. This is the reality we need to awake to. It is what life is all about.  

****Amazing Thought*

        I am amazed and rejoice that on earth I can not only reach the Almighty God and Father, but also be united with him both physically and spiritually. After I leave this world, I'll be living the most joyful life in my Father's house forever!