***Last Message of 2024***

        I am posting Christine Niles's latest beautiful message to conclude my 2024 blogging. 

***Most Satisfying Fulfillment*

        Communion experience. It is the most satisfying fulfillment to end the year when you know that you have the Lord. 

***My Statement of the Year***

         There will be no peace until we acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and that he is our Lord, our God, and our Savior.

***Year End Thoughts***

        Today is the last day of 2024. It is fitting that my church has planned a Eucharistic procession for this afternoon so that we'll have a chance to walk, pray, and witness together through the neighborhood. Our year end joy should be that we are getting closer to meeting the Lord in person. And the most appropriate New Year's resolution for us should be to be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48).

*****One More Reason We Need God

        Everyone had close calls in life. We do our very best to remain alert, watchful, and prepared, and bad things still happen. Clearly, we need God's help by trusting in him to the fullest. Now, even should the worst of the worst happen to us, we still end up safe, sound, and forever happy in heaven! How cool can that be!

**Good Test Question*

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 2, we heard read the encounter of the Holy Family with the prophetess Anna at the temple where the presentation of the child Jesus took place. Now, there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon who was righteous and devout, and it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah. Earlier, he came in the Spirit into the temple; when he saw the Holy Family, he took the child into his arms and blessed God, saying: "Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation ...." Now, many of us have already known the Savior, even attained union with him thru the Holy Eucharist—are we ready to go in peace yet?

**Can't Love God and the World*

        In today's first reading from 1 John 2, we heard read "Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world." We should know that whatever makes us forget about the Father is from the world and is not to be indulged in or embraced. Accept only what comes from the Father to remain in his love.

***Trust in God Alone*

         Love and trust fully in God; love but do not trust fully in any fellow human.

***Be Holy First***

        In John 8, the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery to Jesus. To test him, 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?” He said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Of course, if you were without sin, you wouldn't throw a stone at anyone. Anyway, to me the Lord here makes it clear that we need to be holy ourselves first.

***The House Where We Belong

         Today is the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. When Jesus was twelve years old, the holy family went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. As they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him. Not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Since Jesus' Father is also our Father, we must be in that house too.

****Dishonesty Galore*

        We get a lot of fake news nowadays. Looking at You/Tube videos on news and other topics, you can see many of them are fake or grossly exaggerated to attract viewership in order to make more money. Usually, the thumbnail image is staged or doctored with a clickbait title or description, and the narration AI-powered. So always use your discernment and don't trust in anything that's been manipulated. The world is full of scammers and we need to remain vigilant. We need salvation more than ever!  

***God's Message*****

        Every time you do something and lose peace, it's the Lord God telling you that you did not seek his will. 

**Gate to Freedom**

         From John 14:6, we know that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. In John 10:9, Jesus said, "I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved ...." I can also positively state that Jesus is the gate through which we gain complete freedom of the spirit.

*****Antithesis of God's Love*****

        Today's Gospel reading came from Matthew 2. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph to ask him to take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there, for King Herod was going to search for the child to destroy him. You see, when Herod first heard that the magi from the east had arrived in Jerusalem to look for the newborn king of the Jews to do him homage, he was greatly troubled. He assembled all the chief priests and the scribes of the people and found out that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem of Judea. Then he called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the child's birth. Finally, he ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under. Herod committed this evil because he felt threatened by the emergence of another king. Now, look at today's proabortionists. They decide to kill their own unborn just for convenience sake! They may not be as ruthless as Herod, but there are just as heartless.

**Central Question

        Today is the Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs. In  the first reading from 1 John, the Apostle talks about God as light. He writes that if we walk in that light, we have fellowship with one another and the Blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin. Are we walking in light or in darkness? This is the central question.

***Loving Advice

        God is love. Every word Jesus says and every deed he performs are motivated by love, for he is God. If we don't like what we hear or see from him, that is because we are still too proud of ourselves. Be humble and all things will end well.

***Most Wonderful Experience**

        Communion experience. I rested in the Lord and my mind became so clear that I saw the whole truth. 

**Learning from a Dream**

         This morning I had a dream a short while after 5 a.m. I was at a restaurant that served all kinds of fancy dishes. They used fancy cooking utensils, all kinds of ingenious food processing apparatus, and exquisite dinnerware. For some reason, all items were discarded after use. So I started to save as many of them as possible, thinking that I'd surely have an amazing one-of-a-kind collection. I found a large table outside already with some of the used items placed on it. I temporarily placed my items in a separate pile on it and went inside the restaurant to tell my wife who I knew was eating there to tell her about my exciting undertaking. I then quickly went back out to continue looking for more things. Then I saw the table and all the things on it were gone—they'd been taken to the trash! I couldn't believed it and actually cried, mourning my loss. I thought I'd already become detached from the things of the world, but apparently I wasn't quite there yet. I believe that the Lord God sent me this dream to help me attach myself to him alone even more.