How to Show Love

        If you love God, don't try to remember specifically what you should or should not do; instead, let your love for him be your sole guide. You should feel perfectly natural in wanting to reflect God's love in all your actions. 

God's Just Mercy

         God's mercy is so great that he wants to save us in any way he can. He checks us thoroughly to see if there is any redeeming good in us, no matter how small. He wants to make absolutely sure that if anyone gets condemned in the end, it'll be entirely due to that person's own fault.

The Ultimate Relationship

        I am impressed by the most personal relationship between God and us. Psalm 18 is the Responsorial Psalm for today's Mass. In it the Lord was addressed by the psalmist as his rock of refuge, his fortress, his deliverer, his shield, the horn of his salvation, and his stronghold. Then Christ came to us and further strengthened this relationship, as the Entrance Song, 1 Peter 2.24, states: "He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds we have been healed." Each of us is now the Father's favorite child. In receiving the body and blood of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, we attain union with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Our God is not far away! On the contrary, he died for us and is now in us who believe. It's impossible to get more intimate than that. 

Joy in the Holy Eucharist

        Going to morning Mass to receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist felt like attending a banquet held in heaven. If this feast does not make you happy, then nothing in the world will.

The Imperishable Soul

        In today's Gospel reading from John 8, Jesus said to the Jews, "Whoever keeps my word will never see death." Obviously, Jesus was not referring to the death of the physical body ~ he was talking about what happens to the eternal soul. Since the soul is imperishable, it's what we should pay attention to.       

Heaven Is Different

       You hear the advice "make the most of your life or the situation you're in or what you've got." This makes sense because we live in a world in which everything passes and you want to use every opportunity to your greatest advantage while you're around. Then it struck me that in heaven, this advice is no longer relevant, for there you'll have the best to the full and have it for all eternity to boot. 

See What God Can Do with You

        Since nothing is impossible with God, whether you are shy or outgoing, awkward or adroit, physically weak or strong, clumsy in speech or eloquent, unlearned or well educated...these things do not matter. In fact, it's often the poor, the weak, and the wretched that the Lord delights in choosing to be his servants, hands, or instruments to do the work for his glory. Many great saints are such examples. Therefore, always try to see yourself as what God can do with you. If you like it, then he will fulfill your desire.      

God's Mercy One-Sided

        As I received the Holy Eucharist, I just felt my unworthiness and that God is being too good to me. His mercy is all one-sided!

The Divine Beauty

        Prior to receiving Holy Communion at Mass today, I sensed the blinding, dazzling beauty of the Lord. Such beauty compels one to seek union with him.

Counterweight to Sorrow

        Learning about the horrific sins committed against God throughout the world nonstop surely brings tears to anyone who loves Christ. But we do have a counterweight ~ the joy and hope we have in Christ restore our trust and peace in him, and our tears stop flowing.

Sweet Freedom

        Today's Gospel reading came again from John 8. I was thirsty for it like parched land. A couple of Jesus' sayings are: "If you remain in my word...you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." "Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin." 

        How simply true these statements are! To sin is to become a slave ~ that's why a sinner has no peace because he is not free. (You might say that he's like one who lives in a fish tank.) But Jesus frees us because he is the truth! I place freedom ahead of peace and joy, not because it's more important, but because peace and joy cannot come unless you are freed first. 

God Is Holy!

        As I posted before, the Holy Spirit sharpens our conscience. Not only that, it purifies the heart to the point that sinful thoughts can no longer originate from it, let alone take root in it. This is a great gift from God. It makes you acutely aware that the Lord is holy! He truly deserves all the glory. 

God Is Instant

        During Mass, I thought about how instant God can be. When I repent, my sins are taken away without delay. He's already anticipating what I'm going to say before I start to pray. He's instant because he's ever ready to please us. Yes, to please us by sending his only Son to us to serve and save us ~ this is our God!   

Challenging Sayings

        The Gospel reading at Mass was taken from John 8. Jesus couldn't have been clearer. He is "I AM" and those who do not believe in him will die in sins. He also said that he was sent by the Father and the Father was with him. The sayings are all pivotal and so challenging that they need to be fully accepted or fully dismissed. At the time, many came to believe in him. You are not dealing with another ordinary human being here.
        Last thought. We must accept what's presented to us by God as is and not keep looking for what's palatable to us.

Best Job to Fill

        The Christian as a worker has the best boss he can possibly work for. The boss is most kind and merciful, and provides all that the worker needs to do his work and to live on. His fellow workers are all members of the same loving family. After he retires, he'll receive a permanent dwelling place in paradise. Better yet, when you apply for such a position, you don't need to compete against other applicants, for there are always welcoming vacancies. Furthermore, you won't be screened for academic qualifications or health, and it's never too late to apply as long as you are still living in this world. As a worker, you fulfill a most urgent need. Overall, it's the best and most rewarding job there is.     

God's Will Brings Joy

        Today is the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. The angle Gabriel was sent from God to Virgin Mary to announce her conception of Christ. Mary's final response was: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." The response to Psalm 40 at Mass read: "Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will."

        What a joy it is to be ready to do God's will! What a joy it is to hear his will made known! And what a joy it is to actually do his will! These three consecutive stages continuously fill the whole of the Christian life with joy. Enjoy our God!

Mother Teresa

        I watched a documentary on Mother Teresa. Most memorable saying of her was, when she told others why she's doing her work, "All for Jesus." One of the commentators, Dan Rather, also said something memorable. Let me paraphrase him: "In contrast to the simple, humble, little woman who did truly great work, people in the world with big egos who try hard to accomplish their dreams are living in illusion." After seeing how Mother Teresa loved others, the love of Jesus is more beautiful and more glorious than ever. 

Dying like a Grain of Wheat

        I attended vigil Mass today and the Gospel reading was taken from John 12. Most memorable sayings from the reading: "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be." 

        As I received the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, I saw the opportunity to ask to die in him like the fallen grain of wheat so that I might serve him and be with him always.

Wrong Expectation

        Sometimes we expect God to fit our specifications of him ~ how unreasonable! Instead, we should find out what he is truly like and fit ourselves to what he requires of us.

Joy Doubled

        In doing the Stations of the Cross after Mass, at one place John 16:22 was read: "But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you." My heart was already rejoicing. Hearing that no one will take my joy away from me simply doubled my joy!  

Beyond Touching Jesus

        As I received the Holy Eucharist at Mass this morning, I felt more than seeing, touching, and embracing the Lord ~ I felt the total physical and spiritual union with him.

Sweet Isolation

        As one is drawn deeper into Christ, he necessarily feels his isolation from the world more. But what sweet isolation! for God is so much more interesting that the mundane world.

Our Hours Will Come

        In today's Gospel, we also heard at the end that the authorities tried to arrest Jesus, but no one laid a hand upon him, because his hour had not yet come. I realized that there is an hour for everything in our lives too. Based upon how we live for God, when these hours will arrive is determined by God. The faithful waits for them with total calm. 

Where Are We From?

        The Gospel reading today was from John 7. Jesus, teaching in the temple area, let it be known that he came from the Father, who sent him. As disciples of Christ, we can similarly claim that we came from Jesus, who sent us.

Is There Reproductive Justice?

        Yesterday I attended a forum on "Reproductive Justice: Does a Woman Have a Right to Choose?" at a local college. The panelists were made up of five well-known pro-choice, pro-abortion females. Naturally, abortion was the biggest issue among the reproductive rights claimed. What I basically saw was that they don't believe that anyone, not even God or Church, should tell a woman what to do with her body, not admitting that the child conceived is not really a part of the mother's body. They admitted that abortion terminates a life, but it's the mother alone who knows whether it should keep the baby or not. One panelist had gone through an abortion herself and knew how painful an experience it was, so she wanted to make sure that others would have an easier experience ~ why didn't she make sure that others wouldn't have to go through an abortion? 

       They used the position taken by Catholics for Choice to bolster their own. I almost laughed out loud when one said that the bishops should not tell women what to do with the unborn because they don't have any children themselves. I wanted to tell them since they don't really know God, they are not qualified to preach to others on moral matters.

        I believe that they're probably all church goers and do care about women's welfare; but unfortunately, they are misguided. Until the heart is touched by the love of God and converted, the chasm remains between the pro-abortion camp and the pro-life one. I also sensed that they might feel that the pro-lifers care only about the unborn ~ how I wish they know that we love the pregnant mothers, the unborn babies, and even them!       

God Only Knows...

how to love. Therefore, his response to our prayer is always love.

Growing Old Profitably

        In theory, Jesus can transform us instantly into a holy person. In practice, how much we change is proportional to how much we let him change us. In other words, we reap what we sow. My thought today is that as we grow older, our bodies get weaker; one excellent way to balance or counteract that is to grow stronger spiritually. That is, as we age, we let Jesus change us more and more, if not the whole way instantly.   

Ego Talk

           What is always puffed up? Answer: the ego. As long as it's puffed up, it'll get punctured sometimes and hurt you. Only God can take the ego away. Once it's gone, you'll never be hurt that way again.

       Without the ego, whether people praise or ignore you, it doesn't matter anymore. You are here to serve the Lord alone and do whatever he asks of you. The big gain is inner peace. 

The Invisible Person

        A truly humble person is one who is oblivious of himself, for he is only concerned about serving God. He welcomes only things that give praise to God, with himself totally excluded. You might say that he is invisible to himself.  

Unique Christian Relationship to God

        The Gospel reading for today's Mass is John 5:17-30. Again, what Jesus said was crystal clear. He revealed that God is his father and that they are equal. This is great news for us who follow him. In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus taught us to address his father as Our Father, so God is our father too. By the same token, all Christian become truly brothers and sisters to each other. Since only Christians address God as Father, we are indeed special among all who believe in God. Treasure this unique relationship and thank Jesus for it. 

To Hear God Clearly

        I've learned that to hear the Lord speak to your heart clearly, it's best that you first surrender all your thoughts to him so as to be in tune with him. Otherwise, either there'll be no communication or what comes across may not be all from the Lord. By the way, surrendering your thoughts brings peace to the heart too.

Martyrdom for Us

        A Christian martyr is one who willingly suffers death rather than renounce his or her faith in Christ. Chances are we who are faithful will not meet actual physical death, but we must be willing to suffer any other thing less severe for love of Christ. It is immensely satisfying to stand on the side of Christ and glorious to add more glory to God.  

Becoming Fearless

        People are afraid because they are aware of their own existence. When one has only Jesus on his mind and Jesus in his heart, he then forgets all about himself and he becomes fearless.

RIP for the Living

        RIP is the abbreviation for "rest in peace." We normally pray for the deceased to rest in peace. Then I started thinking. To rest in God is to rest in peace. When we rest in God, we trust in him and rest in his infinite love. The end result is peace. So, why not start to rest in peace while we're still alive?

Decisions Are Important

        When Mary said yes to God to become the mother of Jesus, her decision affected all of mankind. Our daily decisions may not be that influential; but nevertheless, they are consequential. Every decision is important to God and you. At judgment time, all your past decisions will be reviewed by God. 

God Backs Us

        Today is the Feast of St. Joseph. In the homily at Mass, the priest brought up St. Bernardine, who said that when God chooses you to do something, he will supply you with all you need (courage included) to make it possible. This is comforting to know and I believe it. There are times you feel that God is speaking to you about doing something, but you feel somewhat insecure (me doing it?). This is a good time to remember what St. Bernardine said.

Learning from God

        I realize that when the Lord gives me thoughts to share with others on this blog, he's basically teaching and shaping me. I remember that when I was learning mathematics in school a long way back, I could just sit back and listen to the teacher or actually work the problem along with the teacher. The second approach really helped in learning the subject. So every time I post something, I am reinforced and God shapes and molds me a little bit more. It's been enlightening and joyous.  

Joy at Communion Time

        Just before receiving the Holy Eucharist at Mass this morning, I felt great joy in kneeling before the Lord. I strongly felt that he was the one who was drawing me to him, had chosen me first, and loves me. I felt that I had stepped into heaven.  

On Praying for Yourself

        The Gospel reading at Mass was taken from Luke 18. It's about how a Pharisee and a tax collected prayed. As you know, the Pharisee only told God how good he was (he's quite proud of himself) and the tax collector just beat his breast and begged for God's mercy.  

        This got me thinking about how we normally pray. We probably all pray for our loved ones and others. We pray for our own health, God's blessings, etc. But do we ever pray like the tax collector who went home justified? Do we honestly admit to God all our faults, shortcomings, imperfections, bad habits or addictions, and all tendencies to sin and ask him to root them out, take them away, and transform us into better, holier persons pleasing to him?

        The bottom question for all: Do you really pray for yourself with humility? 

Argument for God

        How big is the universe? If its size is finite, then what's on the other side of it? We have no satisfactory answer unless we accept infinity. If the universe did start off with the Big Bang, then what was it like before it and before the last "it"...? Is the expansion of the universe going to continue forever? Again, we can't say that there was a beginning or will be an end. We are compelled to admit that there must be an infinite God who exists forever. If there is a beginning and an end, they are in him. 

There Is No God?

        I drove to my gym early this morning a little after six. Since we just switched to daylight saving time, it was still quite dark outside. I looked up through the windshield of the car and saw the crescent moon. I knew that the shape was caused by the shadow of the earth cast by the sun on the opposite side. Then I remembered that even with the earth rotating on its axis day and night and the moon orbiting around the earth, somehow when we look up, we always see the same side of moon. We have the earth itself and other planets all orbiting around the sun in perfect balance. Every day we have 24 hours and every year, 12 months. While the earth is solid, the sun is just a ball of gas and plasma. The solar system is just a part the galaxy called Milky Way, which is traveling through space among billions of other galaxies. Amazing facts don't stop here. The Big Bang theory tries to explain the expansion of the universe that started some 13.7 billion years ago ~ I am interested in knowing how the earth with all the other planets and the moon acquired their round shape.

        Can you be sure that it's by accident that things are so marvelous the way they are?   

Amazing God

        My wife was amazed that in a few days, new green growth has already sprouted from some cut rose stems she had dipped in a glass filled with water. I saw it but was not amazed at all because I knew that we have an amazing God working in the background on all things at all times.

Jesus, the Conqueror

        In praying the Stations of the Cross with others at church after Mass, we read that Jesus has conquered the world at one of the stations. To me, it means that Jesus has come and redeemed us, he has conquered death and risen, and has completed the work of salvation. Although looking around the world, you still see disorder, unrest, and stains of horrific sins in every corner of the earth, Jesus has done all the necessary work in the background and the path to eternal life has been paved, waiting for us to tread on.   

Consecration for Everyone

        Thoughts at Mass this morning. The religious consecrate their lives to Christ and take vows openly before others. It seems completely appropriate that we who love God no less should also consecrate ourselves to Christ and make our own comparable vows in private.

Too Hard on Ourselves?

        Sometimes we are harder on ourselves than on others. For example, if someone does a better job than we in performing a certain task, we can accept that because the other person is better. But if our performance by ourselves falls short of our own expectation or goal, we get really disappointed. The Lord showed me that I shouldn't distinguish between the two. In either case, pride is involved. As long as we do God's will or at least have good intentions, we should be content and let neither success nor failure affect us.  

Returning to God

        As I was looking at the beautiful blossoms on a flowering tree, I thought of the source of all beauty, God. This made me want to return to him. I believe that he made us with the intention for us to be with him always, for he is love. Our journey is not complete until we back with him. On earth, it's as if we are at a junction, facing the choice of taking the road on the right or the one on the left. Perhaps this is what makes life interesting, but the correct or wrong choice makes all the difference. For me, I know that following Christ will leads me back to God in heaven.

Abortion Abhorrent

       I had posted about abortion quite a number of times. A search should bring up all the past postings. Two thoughts came to me today.

       (a) Pro-abortion people argue that women should have the right to do whatever they want with their body. The fact that they don't want to have the right to cut off any true parts of their body such as the fingers, ears, tongue, legs, etc., proves that the unborn baby is not really part of their body.

      (b) By God's design, the precise reason that the infant needs to dwell in the womb of the mother for nine months before its birth is so that it may be fed, nurtured, and protected by the mother. Therefore, to terminate the pregnancy is to go directly against God's will.     

God's Words

       Today's Gospel reading at Mass is Matthew 5:17-19. I am not going to comment on the message; but rather, I want to share that as the Gospel was read, I came to appreciate greatly all that Jesus had said to us. His words speak to the soul, impart wisdom, refresh the spirit, light the way to set us free, and give us new life. They are most precious.

Beautiful Journey

        It was raining this morning as I arrived at church for Mass. A few others just got there too and I watched them leaving their parked cars and walking toward the church entrance. It was a beautiful sight because I saw them on their journey to heaven. The faithful already possess the kingdom of heaven, but they have not entered heaven yet, but the journey is a continuous one. As one journeys toward God, he finds the journey increasingly more beautiful and will find the greatest beauty at the end, heaven. (I am tempted to add that heaven is the most beautiful place on earth or that it's the most beautiful place under heaven, but neither one makes sense.)   

Planning Beyond Death

        Saw the National Geographic program Moment of Death on TV yesterday. It deals with how to determine that a person is truly dead. Interestingly, toward the end it showed two cases in which the subject came back to life and described how he or she experienced going through a tunnel with light at the end and one case in which the person during a heart operation left the body, looked down and saw exactly what the doctors were doing to him on the operating table. At any rate, if this proves anything, it's that there is a soul and life after death. 

        The program made me think how fragile and precarious life is. We must look beyond things like buying life insurance for the family, getting a will ready, and buying burial plots in advance. We should plan first our eternal destination ~ to be or not to be with God.