Essentials for Living a Christian Life

        They are (1) Prayer and (2) Labor ~ I am referring to all work done in serving God. If these two are performed to perfection, then you are perfect.

The Newness of Jesus

        In today's Gospel reading at morning Mass from Matthew 9, Jesus likened himself to a bridegroom and said that his disciples had no reason to fast when the bridegroom was still with them. "Bridegroom" brings to my mind celebration, joy, newness... and it's the newness of Jesus that struck me in particular today. He came to bring us the good news of salvation; he transforms us into new creatures; he's the first one to show us how great God's love for us is; he was always meek and humble (unlike any of us); he is most holy... he is so refreshing that he is forever new.   

Be Forgiving Always

        To forgive others who have offended you is very difficult for many. I've heard people say outright that they cannot possibly forgive one particular person. But we know that Jesus wants us to forgive, forgive, forgive... ~ so why not do it for his and not our sake? Let him deal with that person ~ it's not our business anyway! Don't forget that a forgiving person is a happy person.

Getting God Involved

        Get God involved 100% in your life. Get him involved in everything you do. Before you make a phone call to deal with some unpleasant matter, ask him to take charge and guide you in what you say. I have a computer problem right now ~ it's unlikely that God would fix it directly himself, but I could ask him to guide me in finding the right solution. He does not mind that we ask for his help in every little thing we do if we are sincere ~ he is bothered only by the sins we commit, including the lack of trust in him.

Conscience Is God-Given

        As I was driving to Mass this morning, my thoughts wandered at random. If you assume that God does not exist, and yet when you do something bad, deep down you still sense that somehow it's wrong, then I say that the assumption must be incorrect. The reality of conscience is proof that God exists. Otherwise, we just do whatever we like to keep ourselves happy and nothing should bother us. Without conscience, we would have destroyed each other long ago. The existence of conscience points to the existence of salvation. Today's Response to the Psalm, Matthew 4.4, "One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" is appropriate. To live by bread alone is to be self-centered, while to live by the word of God is to be saved.  

Enjoy God Too

        It is a beautiful day and we should enjoy it while we can! We have a most loving God and we should enjoy him as much as we could too!

Jesus' Extraordinary Coming

        Thoughts at Mass. When I was young and heard that my older cousins were coming, I looked forward so much to their arrival because I looked up to them and knew that I was going to have a great time playing with and learning from them. It's the anticipation of the coming that excited me. Now that I am a lot older, more mature and wiser, it's the coming of Jesus, God, that's most exciting to me. I am not referring to the Second Coming on Judgment day ~ I am thinking about the more immediate coming of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist I was about to receive, at which he's ready to enter deep into my being to heal my soul. This is no ordinary coming.

Jesus Inspires

        In today's Gospel reading at Mass from Matthew 9, Jesus first forgave the sins of a paralytic. Then when some of the scribes started thinking that Jesus had blasphemed, Jesus, to show that he does have the authority to forgive sins, followed with healing the paralytic as well. The crowds saw this and were struck with awe.

     How good it is to hear Jesus say "Your sins are forgiven"! These healing words instantly free the soul. In the sacrament of reconciliation, we hear these same words from Jesus through the priest.

      The awe with which Jesus strikes us does not produce fear; instead it makes us exclaim wow and humbles us.

        In conclusion, all attributes of Jesus inspire us to become holy.

Be an Empty Vessel

        The picture of being an empty vessel for God appeared as a most beautiful one to me this morning. When we are empty, we are ready for God to fill us with whatever he wants to give us. And it is a given that God can only give what is good for us and for his glory. Being receptive is such a beautiful attitude that's most pleasing to God! When he sees a receptive, empty vessel, he will start purifying it without your asking. Once it's clean, he will fill it with treasures to overflowing so that you may glorify him with joy and ease.    

Powered by God

        When one trusts in God, he lets God power him in all that he does. Thus he does things only in accordance with God's will, believing that God will accomplish what he wills through him. In a way, it's God leading the way with him keeping in step as his assistant. Following God this way totally eliminates anxiety.  

Taming of the Soul

        Rebellion and Obedience are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Persistent rebellion against God leads to permanent separation from him and total obedience to God, to union with him ~ they are poles apart! All souls start out with rebellion, but they are absolutely tamable by God, as nothing is impossible with him. Know that when you rebel against God, you're fighting a fore-known losing battle. Wouldn't you rather let him tame you to bring you to perfect harmony with him? The answer should be a nobrainer. 

Step by Step to Union

        If you are not quite ready to fully surrender to the Lord yet, then each time when you receive the Holy Eucharist, just ask him to bend you a little bit more to draw you closer to him. In time, you'll be in full union with him before you know it. Remember that we cannot do anything on our own, but God can accomplish anything through us. 

Going Up to God

        Yesterday was a day of full moon and the moonlit landscape outside my window appeared especially beautiful after dark. I saw that it's all a part of the planet earth. Then I thought of Jesus who lived here and finally ascended into heaven as his disciples watched him being lifted up and taken from their sight by a cloud. Our Blessed Mother was also bodily assumed into heaven. And there's Elijah being taken up in a whirlwind. I know that I won't be leaving the world in such a dramatic fashion, but I also know that my soul will rise to the Lord one day, perhaps very quietly. That'll be a day of great, great joy for me. My only sadness would come from realizing that many who have not believed in Jesus yet may not experience any joy when they leave this world and afterward.

Suffering for the Sake of Love

        Nobody feels good when someone suffers, yet as I was praying the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary today, thinking about the Lord's agony, the extreme physical pains he bore, the unjust insults he received, the shedding of his most precious blood..., I experienced the greatest sweet joy because this is how much he loves us! I'll never be able to thank him enough and shall rejoice in him forever. 

We Are like Thomas

        Today is the Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle. He is known as the doubting Thomas because he was not with the other disciples when Jesus came (after the Resurrection) and when they told him that they had seen the Lord, he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." This was not really as bad as Peter denying the Lord thrice. Anyway, this honest account of Thomas makes me believe in Jesus even more ~ he's just like many of us today! We don't believe in Jesus because we are human like Thomas.  Later Thomas finally saw Jesus and believed ~ this should be sufficient for us to cast away all our doubts and believe in the Lord.

Proper Response to God's Love

        God loves us with an infinite love, so how should we respond to him? Of course, we should love him back; but since we'll never be able to love him as much as he loves us, why don't we just remain completely open to let him love us as much as he wants? Be "spoiled" by God!

Enjoyment, Not Attachment

        There are many beautiful things for us to enjoy, but it would be wrong for us to become attached to them. Since I knew and was interested in music, I can cite some examples. I am sure that many of you are probably familiar with the Styne/Cahn song The Things We Did Last Summer. Both the music and lyrics are so beautiful that it can bring back old memories and make you cry. You can hear the many versions on YouTube, including Frank Sinatra's. If you feel good listening to it, just thank God for it, for all things beautiful come from him. 

    Two other piano solos you most likely will find enjoyable are these videos on YouTube, 

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJFQ6j7Rrt0

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k2vQgC_hbc. 

The first piece is based upon Gershwin's song Embraceable You. The great American pianist Earl Wild just made a virtuoso etude out of it and in this video the Korean pianist Yeol-Eum Son interprets it possibly even better than Wild himself. The second video is based upon the song En Avril made popular by the French singer Charles Trenet. Then Alexis Weissenberg, the Bulgarian-French pianist arranged it for piano solo and in this video the Canadian pianist Marc-Andre Hamilin plays it. (To hear Trenet sing the original song, go on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2Piuuuzhho.) Again, enjoy the music, thank God, and move on. God gives us beauty for us to enjoy and not to become enslaved by it. We should let all enjoyable experiences draw us even closer to God, for his beauty is beyond comprehension until we are with him in person.          

Fit to Follow Jesus?

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 8 at morning Mass, we heard the following. A scribe approached and said to Jesus, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nest, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head." Another of his disciples said to him, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father." But Jesus answered him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead."

        The point is that if we want to follow the Lord, we must not be concerned about or attached to anything else. The priest in his homily told about a young man interested in becoming a religious came to the seminary to learn about the religious life and he showed up with two pets, a dog and a parrot. The seminary gave him a chance for trial, but he lasted just a few months and left. His attachment to his pets was a clear sign that he's not fit to follow Jesus yet. Of course, people have all kinds of attachments to different things, but only the one who's attached to Jesus alone is free to follow him ~ he or she has wisely chosen the best.

Certainty in Jesus

        Even though Jesus suffered most excruciatingly in his life on earth, he's always optimistic, knowing that he would be victorious in the end. This Jesus has given us hope in him. No, more than hope...we can be certain in him, for his victory is now our victory!        

Jesus Our Revelation

        If we don't have God, we easily become self-centered creatures ~ this is for sure. Jesus came and revealed clearly that for those who believe in him, they will live forever (eternal life with him in heaven). His love for us is what attracts and draws us to him. Then we fully accept and believe in him and we are transformed into new loving creatures. This is a simple summary of the true Christian experience.

Selfless Serving

        This is serving God when you no longer notice that you are doing it and only God notices you.

Three Beautiful Acts

        At Mass I came to see three beautiful acts. They are:

        (1) Giving yourself to God.

        (2) Bringing souls to God.

        (3) Serving God.

On Priesthood

        This weekend our parish is celebrating our priest's 40th anniversary of his ordination to priesthood. I started thinking about the sacrament of holy orders. It's truly a high calling because an ordained priest will be given the power to change bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ and it is through him that we the faithful get to receive this Most Holy Sacrament. Priesthood is truly an awesome vocation. Thank God for our priests.

Thorough Healing by God

        In my last post, I asked the Lord to work on my soul, heart, and mind. God always wishes us to have peace. Once he transforms us, we no longer experience the following: anger, impatience, worry, anxiety, nervousness, mental depression, fear, hatred, envy, jealousy, lust, greed in every form, obsessiveness of any kind, yearning for appreciation or recognition, and even insomnia. The love of Christ has now displaced all things negative. Thorough healing must begin in the interior and only God can reach our innermost. When we are in trouble, shouldn't we go see the One who created us?   

Midyear Prayer Request

        Tomorrow will be the last day of June. I do not ever look back on the past. What's in store ahead for me? I don't think about that either. At Mass this morning, which happened to be the Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul, the great Apostles, I just ask the Lord to further (1) heal my soul, (2) condition my heart so that I'll be totally obedient to his will, and (3) purify my mind. Joy awaits me when he complies with my request.

Levels of Knowing

        My last post is concern about whether God knows us. So what is knowing? I know a lot of people, but do I really know them? On the other hand, I have never seen Jesus or met any of the great saints, yet I feel that I know them intimately. To know is a relationship after all. To know well is to have an intimate relationship. In this case, it's the love for Christ that's the common bond, making this intimate knowing possible. It's a knowing not on the physical or mental level, but through the soul.  

Getting God's Attention

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 7, Jesus said to his disciples, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not...do mighty deeds in your name?' Then I will declare to them solemnly, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.'" Obviously, to call Jesus "Lord, Lord" to get his attention or pointing out that we did mighty deeds in his name won't do us any good. Jesus shows us that we must do the will of God in humility, then he will notice us.

How to Be a Cool Christian

        Many jazz musicians and pop entertainers are known to be cool. Kids nowadays want to look cool. To be cool is to do one's thing well and looking totally unperturbed. Jesus was definitely cool. Here's how we can be cool.

        (1) Never judge anyone.

        (2) Trust in God fully so that we do not worry nor get anxious.

        (3) Show compassion for all.

        (4) Be optimistic and joyful always.     

Staying Out of Confusion

         There is a vast amount of information on any subject available to us nowadays. The last two times I got really sick, based upon the symptoms my wife was able to search online and arrive at the right diagnosis each time before my doctors thought of it. YouTube is a popular site that shows just about anything you want to see or hear, but here's the problem of having too much information available to us. Let's just look at the many Catholic videos posted alone. A speaker would present a strong point of view with conviction, then another video will attack him by pointing out all his errors. Or a speaker sounding very Catholic starting out, then gradually he tells us that the Pope is wrong, EWTN has been deceived by Satan, etc. Overall, it's no longer two sides disagreeing; it's everyone thinking that only he knows the truth and everyone else is wrong. Of course, this can definitely cause mass confusion (guess who's happy about all this).

        So, what are we to do? Simple ~ ignore all of them. Keep your eyes on Jesus alone and shut out all noises that are distracting and confusing. Be fully occupied with the Lord and let all else go.

Our Last Wishes

        As people grow older, they wish to do certain things before they die. One common desire is to travel while they are still physically able to. Recently, the fine Hollywood screenwriter Nora Ephron passed away and I caught the end of an old interview with her on PBS. She expressed exactly what I just said and she's all for it. She mentioned a friend who always wanted to taste a certain food item, then she got throat cancer and couldn't do it anymore. So we quite naturally conceive the desire to do more things as we age. However, it's basically self-centered. If we believe in the Lord seriously, in the limited time we have left we really should first ask what we must do to please him even more before meeting him? Who knows? ~ maybe the answer is to take that vacation we dreamed about.

God Getting Personal

        Jesus died for us all so that we may be saved ~ this is old good news. You most likely have also heard said that Jesus would have died for you alone even if you were the only person around ~ this is true too. Think about it ~ how more personal can you possibly get? And how more important can you possibly get to be?

Living for Eternity

        To me, only eternity is meaningful. I want to spend all eternity with my beloved Lord. If I live ten thousand or even a million years and don't make heaven at the end, all that living would be meaningless. If the problem with eternity is all resolved, then everything I go through now becomes meaningful. You could say that I live for eternity only. 

Jesus the True God

        I have posted in the past more than once that Jesus compels us to accept him as true God or reject him as a lunatic or a consistent liar ~ there's no middle ground here. We can rule him out as being a lunatic, since there's not the slightest sign of insanity shown in all the Gospels. It would be hard to find out where he lied in the Gospels either. Perhaps he's being delusional all his life? Then how could he have performed all those miracles? Besides, he was consistent and clear-minded from beginning to end. What impresses me the most was his meekness and humility. On his way to death, he never complained and even forgave all those who put him to death. My conclusion and belief: Jesus has to be the true God as he claimed to be.  

God Does It All

        When we repent properly, the Lord takes away our sins. The next step is to ask him to take away our tendencies to sin also ~ this is healing of the soul. Then we still have certain undesirable traits and weaknesses to overcome, such as being too self-conscious, the desire to overeat, etc. Union with God is the solution to taking care of all the above. In other words, God can forgive, heal, and perfect us. 

For a Straight Spiritual Journey

        Focus your entire attention upon the perfect Lord and ignore completely the imperfections of people (believers included), then your spiritual journey will be safe and straight. 

How Secure Is Life?

        Today a Mass was said for the deceased friend whom I mentioned most recently and burial took place afterwards. I thought about the security of life. Obviously, even if I have billions of dollars in my bank and the power to influence the world, it's still here today and gone tomorrow for me. I see life as insecure as the flame of a lit candle in the wind. The only security is in the living God, who promises eternal life for those who believe in him. 

The World or Jesus

        The world loves to enslave you and put your heart in turmoil, but Jesus wants you to experience freedom and have peace in him. Make the shift from either one to the other and you'll feel the difference right away. The two are mutually exclusive. It's a choice you must make in your lifetime.

Freedom & Peace

        Not the name of a political party; just the two happy states of the human soul. Freedom comes to the one who seeks only to do God's will. Peace comes to the one who puts all his or her trust in God.

Two Epiphanic Moments

      The first such moment is when you realize that you had nothing to do with how, when, and where you came into the world, that you brought nothing with you, that you are going to leave this world as you came taking nothing with you, that everything you find in your life was already here all along, that you cannot stay alive without God sustaining you, that whatever powers you think you have are given by God, and that you are truly nothing next to the infinite God ~ you owe everything to him. The next epiphanic moment is realizing that through Christ, despite your nothingness, you are actually greatly treasured by God. The best ending is that these revelations get you on the right track to returning to God forever. This makes life a great fulfilling journey!

Life Is a Battle

        Human life on earth is no heaven. No matter who we are, where we live, and what we do, we face problems. Basically, we all fight for our own survival, but those who have little or no faith in God and those who believe in God have different objectives. The former is only concerned about surviving the present life and their help comes from what they've learned from the ways of the world. By contrast, the latter is more concerned about the survival of the human soul, for themselves and others too, and their help derives directly from their faith in God. In the end, those on their own will lose the battle and those with God, not.                 

Walking in Step with God

        Lesson of the day for me. Anytime I feel strongly about something, I should watch out! Is it from the Lord? Am I rushing ahead on my own? The voice of the Lord is always gentle, so a strong feeling may be more from me than from him. On the other hand, if I lag behind when he wants me to do something, I would lose peace too. It's walking in step with God that brings about the best results.

God Loves Our Trust

        Thoughts from the Lord this morning. We must "forget" all our troubles in him and let nothing bother us. The Lord deserves and loves our trust ~ it's his desire that we maintain his peace in us.

God as Light

         In an old post, I mentioned that "God is light" makes extra sense because Einstein showed that anything traveling at the speed of light would be all over the universe at the same time and God is just that! Then we have Jesus proclaiming that he is the light. Now I see even more analogies between light and God. 

        Light makes it possible to see our path as we walk; Jesus lights up our spiritual path as we walk with him. Light exposes the dark areas and shows the dirt; Jesus exposes what's hidden in the soul and reveals our sins. Darkness vanishes whenever there is light ~ true both physically and spiritually. Light is colorless; God is totally pure. Light itself is invisible and its presence is known by the objects it lights up; God is also invisible and his presence is made known by the beauty of nature, the love shown by his people, the holiness of the great saints, etc. Through light that reaches us, we see the source, for example, a star; through Jesus, we are lead to know God the Father. Light shows the true color of things we see; the Lord reveals the true color (the degree of purity) of each human heart.    

God Awaits Us

        Two days ago, I mentioned the passing away of a church friend. This morning a group of her friends gathered after morning Mass to recite the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for her. The reading of John 14:1-6, part of the Last Supper discourses, after the recitation of the third decade of the Chaplet was in particular fitting for the occasion. Here are these six verses beautiful at all times.

        "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way." Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." 

        Old folks are just waiting for God to take them. It's a great comfort to know that God is waiting for us at the other end too, ready with our new dwelling places he has prepared for us. 

Obedience to God Is...

not bending our own will forcibly to do God's will. In fact, if you are reluctant, you won't even hear his voice. On the contrary, obedience to God is to go passive, to relax in him, to listen and be ready to go along with whatever he sends your way.        

God Knows Everything

        This morning the first part of what Peter said to Jesus when he was asked by the Lord for the third time if he loved him came to my mind (John 21.17). Peter was slightly annoyed and responded, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Peter already knew that Jesus knows everything, and I believe that Peter truly knew. This is of great consolation to me, for it means that Jesus is God, that I can trust in him who's all-knowing, that finally I have someone (no other than God) who totally understands me, and that he certainly would know how to lead me.

Healing of the Soul

        If you expect God to heal your soul, you must bare your soul before him and be completely honest with him. If it shows that you are in the wrong, you must accept it and do whatever is necessary to correct the situation. This is obedience and amounts to surrendering to God. Then you'll be rewarded with healing and freedom of the heart.

Exciting Following the Lord

        What's exciting about following the Lord is that you don't know what's going to happen and you don't want to know it either. Then he delightfully surprises you.

Union Takes Care of Sinning

        In union we become basically Christlike ~ we see and hear as he does; we think as he thinks; and we feel what he feels. Then sin automatically becomes repulsive to us as it is to him. In union, as we are intoxicated by the beauty, the purity, the loveliness, and the sweetness of the Lord more and more, sin becomes uglier, more intolerable, and distasteful to the point that even committing a slight sin would make us want to throw up, so to speak. Naturally, you don't even think about sinning anymore.    

What to Live For

        Yesterday I learned of the death of a church friend ~ she and I were born on the exact same day. I still remember attending her husband's funeral service just a coupled of years ago. Such is the brevity of life, so what should we live for? I know some music lovers who live only for music. I've seen dedicated artists who work daily in a studio, often with background music playing, doing what they are good at and enjoying it too ~ it's easy to envy such an occupation. And there are others who live for the day they'll be able to buy their dream car. All these things or goals can keep us going for a while in our brief lifetime, but they are not really worth living for. What's worth living for has to be something that's also worth dying for! And that leaves only God left. To live for God is to live a meaningful life now on earth and a blissful life later in heaven. To live for God is to live forever!