Lessons Learned ~ a Summary

        This is kind of like a midterm review since the blog started in September, 2009.  I've learned a lot from the Lord.  Let me add that what a joy it has been to learn from the Holy Spirit.  Here is a teacher who is infinitely patient, gentle, and loving.  He never punishes you for being a slow learner; in fact, he encourages you by consoling you at the right moments.

        Here is a brief summary of the lessons learned.

        (1) Humility is absolutely necessary to approach God and ego is the biggest obstacle in our way.  (Sincerely ask God to root it out and he will do just that in time.)

        (2) The Holy Eucharist is the Sacrament Jesus had instituted for us to attain union with God.  The grace that comes through receiving it is more than sufficient to transform us into a new creature in Christ.  (Tap God's great power instead of struggling on your own.)

        (3) All the Lord asks of us is to sin no more and rest in him, and he'll grant you freedom and peace.

The Holy Eucharist Renews Us

        This morning as I received the Lord in Holy Communion, I saw the parallel between the act of receiving him and the creation of man by God at the beginning.  At creation, God blew into the nostrils of man made out of clay the breath of life and man became a living being.  At Holy Communion, God himself, the bread of life, enters us and we are renewed.  It's such a momentous moment.  The iconic image of the hand of God giving life to Adam as portrayed by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel ceiling comes to my mind.  When we receive the Holy Eucharist, God actually touches us and breathes a new life into us.  What an awe-inspiring moment!!!         

On Accepting or Rejecting the Truth

        Today's Alleluia verse is John 14.6:  "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  This is a huge claim ~ any nonbeliever must deal with it.  Either Jesus spoke the truth or he's delusional.  I personally found that all the rest about Jesus supports this claim ~ the pieces just fit together.  And my own spiritual experience also bears witness to its truth.  

        In the Gospel from Mark 8, we learn that the Pharisees came to seek a sign from Jesus to test him ~ they did not see that the greatest sign from heaven was the Lord himself.  It just shows that if you reject something that happens to be the truth, you remain blind.  Accept it and you are illuminated.   

All Is Up to Us

        The morning at Mass, the priest's basic message was that God has done his part, has given us the ten commandments and the good news.  Now, with our free will it's up to us to choose to follow him or not.  If we end up in eternal separation from God, we have only ourselves to blame because God has come not to condemned us, but to save us.  It's good to be reminded of the crucial role our free will plays.      

The Beauty of Surrendering to God

        When you have surrendered to God, you know that you have reconciled to him and are back in the right place, and the soul feels free and peaceful.  It's that home-sweet-home feeling intensified manyfold.         

The I-Don't-Care Attitude

        I'll explain what this means and you'll see that it is a good thing.  All I care about is doing God's will and not care about how it's going to affect me.  For example, if I feel that maintaining this blog is for God's glory, then I do not care how many readers are out there, who's reading it, how many of my friends know about it, what the readers think of the blog, etc.  In other words, anything that concerns the ego must be ignored because it disrupts following the the Lord single-mindedly, thus robbing me of peace.  

What to Do with God

        If you believe that God really exists, what do you think that we should do with him?  Just by cold logic, we know that we should worship him, listen to him, and obey him, for he is the greater.  Now that we know that God actually is our Father who loves us, all the more then we should adore, love, and serve him.

Obedience, the Key

        Today is Friday.  Since Monday the story of creation from Genesis has been read at Mass.  This morning Adam and Eve disobeyed God and tomorrow we'll learn that God banished them from the garden of Eden.  Now the good news for all of us is that we can get back to God again by obeying him through Christ, our Savior.  

How God Works in Us

        I've been reading on and off The Ascent of Mount Carmel by St. John of the Cross.  He writes that the work of God is passive and supernatural and that of man active and natural, and that this natural activity of man is what would extinguish the spirit.  The point is made again and again at various spots.  It's true that when we initiate actively many thoughts and ideas, we do not hear God speaking anymore ~ we are our own obstacles again.  It's through listening and waiting that God can teach us, lead us, and bring about the union with him.  This is the meaning of saying that the work of God is passive.

Most Satisfying Joy

        Knowing that Jesus is pleased.

God's Simple Demand

        After receiving Holy Communion today, I felt so content in the Lord that I could just rest in him and let everything else in the world go by.  To show my gratitude, I thought I should do something.  We normally thank a good human friend by taking him/er out to dinner or giving him/er a special gift ~ it's the same thinking I had here.  Then I heard the Lord say: "Just sin no more and come rest in me.  You don't need to do anything else to prove anything to me."  I was surprised that the Lord was that easy to please.  When I thought about it afterwards, it became clear that all he wants from us is our love and he's content when he receives that.  We run away from God because we create our own fictitious fear of him.          

You Must Ask to Receive

        Today's Gospel reading was taken from Mark 7.  Jesus drove the demon out of the daughter of a Greek women after she came begging him to do it.  And the Lord did just that because of her faith.  My thoughts go like this.  Obviously, Jesus can accomplish anything, but we need to ask him first.  Our world is in such a terrible mess and will remains so until it turns to the Lord to ask for help.  The solution is clear, but this generation just does not get it, at least not yet.   

The Power of God's Word

        I was very impressed by the Alleluia verse read at today's Mass from James 1: "Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls."  The message is crystal clear.

The Yearning for God

        In an earlier post, I mention that God will not be happy until he has all of us.  This is also true the other way around; that is, we won't be fully happy until we have all of God.  

        At the beginning, we discover God and our life becomes meaningful.  As we get to know God better, we yearn for a more intimate relationship.  Eventually, we seek complete union with him in this life.  But God is so beautiful that even at full union the yearning for more of him does not stop.  Indeed, we and God are made for each other.  We'll never be fully content until we get to heaven.  I consider this to be our tremendously good fortune.             

Dealing with Our Enemies

        Jesus wants us to love our enemies.  Here are the various degrees of dealing with the enemies.

        (1) We hate them, wishing them the worst.

        (2) We don't like them, trying to forget them.

        (3) We still don't like them; nevertheless, we pray for them knowing that it's the right thing to do.

        (4) We see that God loves them too and no longer dislike them.  In fact, we pity them and ask God to bless them and lead them to salvation.  And we are at peace because the Lord's will has been done.

Live for God First

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 7, Jesus points out that it's what comes out from within the heart that defiles a person.  We care so much about how we look outwardly to others and neglect to check our interiors which God alone sees.  We condition the body and forget all about the soul.  What God thinks of us is so much more important than what other people think.  Let's redress this imbalance and start living for God first.       

Believe in the Infinite God

        We either believe in something or we don't.  Half-believing can only mean that you are not sure yet.  The space between "true" and "false" is a vacuum.  Therefore, if I believe in God, I can go all the way for he is absolutely true.  We can deepen our faith infinitely in our infinite God.  Believe and live a miraculous life.   

We Can Be Perfect!

        I've been hearing the story of creation from Genesis told at morning Masses.  God's creative power is truly awesome.  This same God has created us, and he loves us as well and wants to make us perfect, then surely he can transform us beyond our highest expectations!  If we'll just cooperate with him, there is absolutely no limit as to what we can become.

How to Fight Temptation

        In the Lord's Prayer, we ask not to be led into temptation.  If we do face temptation, what shall we do?  I see temptation as a ploy of the Devil to lure us away from the Lord.  A deceiver always uses some kind of bait to distract you first.  Temptation by definition is something that's attractive; therefore, if you fight it head-on, you lose.  Remember how we learn to drive on an icy road?  When the car skids to one side, the right thing to do is to steer the car in the same direction, just opposite to how you normally would react.  The same applies here.  When you sense temptation, run away from it as if you're really scared, and you run toward the Lord who can deliver you from all evil.     

God's Most Marvelous Creation

        Attended a different church this morning for Mass and it happened that the Mass was said by the visiting priest who's giving a mission at that parish.  From his talk, I came away realizing that we human beings are the most marvelous of all that God has created.  Look at yourself ~ we can think, talk, reason, are intelligent, and possess so many other unique qualities when compared with other creatures.   We are the crown achievement in God's creation.  We should never ever degrade ourselves (or others).  Besides, we've even been made worthy to receive the Lord himself in the form of bread and wine.  All this calls for great rejoicing!  

Science Can Block Faith

        When people put their trust in science rather than God, they are in rebellion against God because they think that they know or can know everything.  Of course, even if they know a million times more than what they've discovered so far, compared to what God knows and can do, their knowledge amounts to zilch; they're only finding out what God already knew.  Also, don't forget: God creates; we just discover. 

A Great Secure Feeling

        During prayer before Mass started, I put myself totally in God's hands and felt great security ~ it's as if I were resting in the palm of a huge cupped hand holding me up and protecting me from all evil.  It's so good to be reassured this way. 

Thoughts on Super Bowl Sunday

        Today is Super Bowl Sunday, a big, exciting day for the multitude.  People plan all their activities around the game.  There are also other worldly events that captivate and thrill the masses.  But to those who have found God exciting, captivating, and thrilling, these events no longer impact them.  Having tasted God, nothing short of him can satisfy them anymore.  I do get the feeling that when one chooses not to follow God too closely, it could be that he really does not wish to lose the enjoyment of the things he's attached to.  It's most difficult to let go of them when they give him so much pleasure.  It takes determination, courage, and prayer to get detached from such shackles.

Why We Should Believe in God

        I believed in God to fill the void in my heart, in my life.  Basically, we all look for joy and peace.  Now that I am living much closer to the Lord with a strong faith, I see things a little differently.  God created us out of love ~ no question about this.  Since the human race had gone astray, God then sent his Son Jesus to us to redeem us.  So God really wants us to be back in paradise, where we should be.  Therefore, believing in him complies with his very wish, putting us in a win-win situation.