***Love Jesus First And . . .

you'll know how to love everyone else right.

***Divided by a Sorrow***

        When people don't love the Lord, we who love him feel sorry for him and also those who hurt him. We now share how he felt when he was abandoned by his people. This creates a double sorrow that can be quite unbearable. The solution is to bear it and offer it up to the Lord for his disposal, and it becomes more bearable. So we are divided by whether we experience this sorrow or not.

*****God the Father's Greatest Love*****

        Today's Gospel reading was taken from Luke 15 on the parable of the lost son (verses 11-32). It's is perhaps the most beautiful of all Jesus' parables. If you are still not sure about how much God loves us, you must read it! You have to have a heart made of stone not to be moved by it. So read this parable, fall in love with God (by letting him love you) and become one happiest person in this (and also the next) world!

*****Serious Warning*****

        In Luke 10:13, Jesus said, "Whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me." Again in Matthew 10:33, "Whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father." These are serious sayings we cannot simply dismiss or ignore, for how we treat Christ has its consequences! After all, he is our Lord and God! I am warning all so that you may not get yourselves rejected by him in the end. If you love others, let them know of this truth too. Avoid hell like hell at any cost! Think clearly and don't ever let pride muddy your conscience.

***Another Reason Not to Judge Others

         It's easy to criticize or look down on others you don't approve of, then ask yourself this question: If you were in that person's situation and had experienced all that person had gone through, would you have done better in the end? We really don't know. Only God would know, So not judging is the right thing to do. 

****Key Prayer to Salvation

        Today's Communion antiphon, Luke 18:13: The tax collector stood at a distance, beating his breast and saying: O God, be merciful to me, a sinner. This is the prayer we must be humble enough to be able to say from our hearts if we ever expect to be saved.

***We Need Our Lord!***

         Today's entrance antiphon from Psalm 103: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all his benefits; it is he who forgives all your sins. Yes, the Lord God of Christ is that Lord. We need him, for without him we are doomed in sin!

**To Believe, Believe in, and Know God*

        To believe God is to merely believe that he exists, with no faith involved. To be saved, you need to have faith, so you need to believe in God. To know God is something else again. You may believe in God but do not know him well, then your salvation may not be that secure. The more you know him, the stronger is you faith, and the more secure is your salvation.

*****When Time Runs Out (Another Warning)*

        We are here on borrowed time, and when that time ends, we'll have to leave this life. In our next life, all the time will be ours, then time will be rather meaningless, for we'll be either with or without God for all eternity. 

**Having the Lord Perfect You

        Communion experience. I asked the Lord to reshape, remake me again, for it's always a joy to have him work on me and there's always something that needs to be taken away. reshaped, or cleaned out. 

**Another Case of Myopia**

        The last post has to do with being myopic. Here is anther example. We seek wealth, fame, success in business, friendship with others, knowledge about the many things of interest, etc., yet we don't really seek holiness for ourselves.

***Are We Myopic?***

        I still remember the time when I was attending college in Michigan. One afternoon six of us drove to a nearby lake to enjoy our leisure time. We rented two rowboats and took off on the lake. All of a sudden the weather changed dramatically with the sky turning grey and heavy rain pouring right down on us. The wind was so violent that our two boats started spinning in circles. We couldn't go back to where we came from, for that would be going directly against the wind. So we had no choice but to row toward the opposite shore which was invisible. The lake wasn't a big lake, but it's not a small one either. So we were forced to row ahead, virtually heading into the unknown. Since our lives were in danger, I rowed as hard as I could. Eventually, the shore appeared. We were greatly relieved, but I was totally exhausted. I mention this because we all automatically do our utmost to make sure that we don't lose our lives here on earth, yet we hardly do enough to make sure that we'll have happy eternal lives later. Isn't this rather ironic? Maybe we all suffer from short-sightedness!

***Most Important Question***

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 12,  A scribes came to Jesus and asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?" Jesus answered him and saw that he responded with understanding. And he said to him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." My question for all of us is "How far are we from the Kingdom of God?" This is such an important question that we must ask ourselves if we care about our eternal future at all!

*****Deeply Satisfying State*****

        The Lord does speak to our hearts! The more you are in tune with him, the more you receive his thoughts and insights for you. This communion is deeply satisfying when you realize that you and the Lord God of the whole universe are on such intimate terms! BTW, to be in tune with the Lord God is to be in a state of grace and complete abandonment to him. 

*****God's Ingenious Way***

        Communion time thought: What an ingenious way the Lord has come up to draw us into union with him! It's heavenly and most endearing—it's just awesome!

**Our Sad Mindset**

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus drove out a demon that was mute, and the mute man started to speak. Some of the witnesses said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons." These people didn't have an open mind; they already wanted to take the Lord down. Today we have the same situation. Most people don't like anyone to tell them what to do, so when they hear about Jesus, they feel threatened and are ready to ignore him. Pride is the enemy here. When you have a lot of it, you become oblivious to its existence. 

***Proper Prayer Attitude*

        The burden of praying for this godless world is heavy. We can pray in gloom or pray with hope.  In Mark 11:40, Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours." Therefore, no matter how heavy our burden is, pray joyfully with confidence, for faith makes all the difference. Doubts or worries cannot come from the Lord.

***Our Great Divider***

        Jesus said to his disciples in Mark 9:40, "Whoever is not against us is for us." And in Luke 11:23, he said, "Whoever is not with me is against me." It's clear that you are either for (with) him or against him. There is no middle ground, for he is our God and final judge.