**How to Best Know the Lord**

        If you want to know the Lord, don't be like those in the crowd who call out to him only when he passes by, but be more like the Apostles who followed him at all times.  

***Jesus Is Calling!***

        Today's Communion Antiphon (John 12:32) reads, "When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to myself, says the Lord." Jesus is calling you now! Are you responding?

***Our Great and Only Hope!***

        In today's Gospel reading from John 8, Jesus said to the Pharisees: "I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin." Later again, he said to them, "You belong to this world, but I do not 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." I pray that none of us die in our sins, as the consequences are unimaginably horrifying. However, we can completely reverse this by believing in Jesus, who, as our Savior, removes all our sins!  

**Communion Experience**

        I received and united with the one who is the creator of heaven and earth, and all the wonderful things in between.

***Great Lesson from the Lord***

       In today's Gospel reading from John 8, the scribes and the Pharisees caught a woman in adultery and 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 bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. In response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and 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."

      Jesus' response to the scribes and Pharisees is a lesson for all of us. If you are a sinner, you have no right to judge others. Even Jesus, who is sinless, did not condemn the woman, but rather told her to 'sin no more.

***Heavenly Experience

        Communion Experience—a most intimate private encounter with the Most Beloved One. 

***Winning with the Lord***

        When you live for Christ, you are so happy that you don't mind dying for him. Once you die, your eternal life begins. With the Lord, you just can't lose!

**My Testimony in Two Sentences**

        Without Christ in my life, I lead a virtually meaningless, empty existence. Once I placed my faith in him, I gained eternal life and found complete fulfillment.

*****Test Your Spiritual Intelligence*****

        Today's Communion Antiphon (John 11:26) reads: "Anyone who lives and believes in me will never die, says the Lord." This truth is as simple as it gets. The Lord has made it impossible for us to die—unless we rebel against him. You'd have to be the ultimate fool to choose eternal death!

**Wise Move**

        Since the Lord created us out of love, it follows that we should remain faithful and do everything for his glory. In doing so, we form a perfect, eternal bond with him, ensuring we are truly prepared for the moment we go to him or he comes to us.

**Modes of Living**

        In today's Reading II from Romans 8, Paul talks about living in the flesh vs. living in the Spirit; they are mutually exclusive. If you live in the flesh, you belong to the world; but if you live in the Spirit, you belong to Christ. We should easily know which mode we are living in, unless we just don't care to know. The Spirit frees us, while the flesh enslaves us. The earth is like our launching pad. Once we take off, we either soar upward to  God or crash-land back on earth and die for ever.

**Central Fact We Must Be Aware Of**

        In today's first reading from Ezekiel 37, the Lord God says: "O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. O my people! I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land; thus you shall know that I am the LORD." In many other places in Scripture, God lets us know that he is our beloved Lord. We must never forget that he is indeed our Lord and also our creator and most loving Father!

**God's Incredible Sweet Love**

        Today's Communion Antiphon based on 1 Peter 1: 18-19: By the precious Blood of Christ, the Blood of a spotless and unblemished Lamb, we have been redeemed. Read it again. Let it sink in. It all happened for our sake; let your heart be moved by God's most sweet love.

**World Divided by Truth**

        In today's Gospel reading from John 7, some in the crowd who had heard Jesus, words said, "This is truly the Prophet." Others, "This is the Christ." But still others said, "The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he?" So a division occurred in the crowd because of him. Of course, the Pharisees did not believe in the Lord at all and thought that the crowd was accursed. Today we also hold different opinions. To seek the truth, we must remain objective, open, and humble. Too many people today have pretty much decided to follow their own hardened hearts, even hoping that Christ is not the truth. That is being as bad as the Pharisees of Jesus' day.

***Reality We Must Be Aware Of***

        It may be a beautiful day, but we live in a chaotic world in which evil is waging a fearsome war against the Lord God, fighting for our very souls. How we live our lives will directly affect our eternal fate. To remain complacent, as if nothing earthshaking is happening or will happen to us, amounts to saying that Christ's coming and what he went through are irrelevant!

**Following Your Vision**

        Anyone without a vision will not get anywhere. For me, that vision is to return to my creator and Father in heaven after this life—a path already made possible through believing in and following Christ. The way has been paved, and it's only a matter of time before my vision is fully realized!

**Christ, Only One Worthy to Believe In**

        Christ challenges us all; he will not go away as long as we are alive on earth. Reading the Gospels alone compels us to ask if Jesus is truly our Lord and Savior, and the stakes are too high to ignore him. Personally, I totally believe in him because he is incredible and amazing. I don't think that any of us would be happy with a mundane and ordinary god. And there is simply no one else who can even compare to him.

**Reflections on Growing Old**

        Having lived quite a bit beyond normal life expectancy, I am totally ready to meet Christ, my Lord and my God—a blessing in which I greatly rejoice. When you are old, the energy is just not there, which is why you see old folks doze off easily. A nap or good rest replenishes the body; a weak battery that needs constant recharging is a good picture of this. We all become like old batteries if we live long enough. The important thing is that we remain strong and vigorous spiritually as we leave this life and enter eternity.