Two Ways of Seeing

        There are two sides to each coin. A glass can be seen as half full or half empty. There's the story about two shoe salesmen who visit a village where no resident wears shoes. One comes back and says that there is no point in going there to sell shoes, while the other sees the opportunity to sell shoes to every single villager. One sees believing in God as a way of avoiding going to hell, while another sees it as a way of going to heaven. We yearns for God ~ it could be that we are tired of living or that we are in love with God. Attending Mass every Sunday is fulfilling an obligation for some and a chance to unite with God again for others. In each case, both ways of seeing can be valid, but one is usually superior to the other. When it comes to making spiritual progress, seeing it as seeking union with God is definitely superior to seeing it as struggling to become holier on you own.

A Mind-Challenging Problem

        In my last post, I said that our mind is limited, but it can still have considerable power. I thought it would be fun to give you problem to solve at this point in the middle of all the serious talks. So here we go.

        There are ten identical containers with each holding ten identical pills. Nine of the containers hold pills weighing 10 mg each and one container holds ten pills weighing 9 mg each. All pills look exactly alike. There is an electronic scale available for your use. The problem is that the batteries in the scale are so weak that there is only one weighing left. So, how would you weigh the pills just once and identify the container holding the 9 mg pills?

        The solution is not that obvious. Some people have solved the problem in a couple of hours, but others in a couple of weeks. Try your best, but don't lose any sleep over it. 

Power of the Responding Heart

        Our physical strength is clearly limited. Our mind too ~ when I use mine to solve a problem, I can only go so far. When I want to praise God, I run out of words to say. Now, when it comes to our heart, it knows no such bounds as it responds to the Lord directly. He can make us love him and others as much as he wants to with no cutoffs. If I yearn for God, he can increase that desire as much as he wishes. It's all up to him. A heart responding to God unites us to God, giving us unlimited power to change ourselves and the world.

Simplifying Your Life

        Seek only God. Once you have found him, stay with, attach to, focus upon, and trust in him alone, letting everything else go. Then interiorly, you'll have freedom, peace, and joy. 

Doing Whatever You Want

        When can you do whatever you want? It's not meant to be a trick question. The simple answer: when you are in union with God. That's because in that state, all you want to do is God's will. 

No Comparing with Others

        If you are physically more endowed, intellectually more astute, verbally more skillful, artistically more talented, spiritually holier, better educated, more famous or wealthier than others, never compare yourself with them because all that you possess do not belong to you ~ they came from God. Furthermore, remind yourself that you are also inferior in so many ways to others. Your first priority is to please the Lord, and being humble would surely do it.

No Time for Sin

        We sin and we lose interior peace. By contrast, when we are in union with God, sin becomes repulsive. Besides, we'll be so absorbed in God that there is no time left to even think of sin. Now we have peace.    

All About Union with God

        Today is the Memorial of St. Ignatius. The Entrance Song from Galatians 2 starts out: "I am crucified with Christ, yet I live; no longer I, but Christ lives in me." This is such a simple but profound statement. It's all about union with God. It reveals the secret of perfect living and is a recipe for attaining freedom of the spirit.

Islam and Christianity

        I started reading a little bit about what Muslims believe. I learned that they believe that God is in one Person only, so this wipes out the Christian belief in the Holy Trinity. They believe in angels and the prophets of the Old Testament, but Jesus was just a prophet, not divine ~ this wipes out the Christian message of salvation through Christ, and I wonder why he even got crucified. (Later I read that they believe that someone else took the place of Jesus on the cross.) Muslims believe that Muhammad was the prophet with the last word on God's revelation to us. If that were true, then Jesus cannot possibly be a true prophet. They also maintain that messages and revelations from God previous to Muhammad's appearance on the scene had been partially changed or corrupted over time, so what can you say? At any rate, Islam and Christianity are fundamentally different. One can only believe in one, not both. 

Sleepwalking Through Life

        While exercising on a treadmill this morning at a nearby gym, you could hear the background music coming through the constant noises made by people working out on various types of machines. It was rock with a persistent beat and "sung" in indistinguishable words ~ rather annoying. The thought of the world sleepwalking through life, not being aware of the love and mercy of God and the bright hope of salvation there is for us, came to my mind. It's indeed easy to live on and not think about our ultimate destiny with time passing and gone forever. God has sent prophets to his people through the centuries and finally his own Son to all of us, yet so many of us now still sleepwalk through life. What do they truly want? I suppose that when you are sleepwalking, you can't really think about what you want.

Christ Our Best Guide

        Jesus shows us how to think right, to see right, to hear right, to speak right, to feel right, to love right, and to live right. Among all the gurus and spiritual teachers of the world, he is the standard and most trustworthy one because he alone has shown the greatest possible love for us. Besides, he is God!

Feeling Free in the Lord

        During Mass, it just hit me that there is no mystery about Christianity at all. The message of salvation is plain, clear, logical, and based entirely upon God's love. Receiving Holy Communion was a monumental moment for me. I felt deeply anchored in the Lord. I was completely in him, yet feeling completely free ~ another paradoxical fact of Christianity.  

What to Do About Our Future

        When I was shaving in front of the mirror this morning, the thought flashed into my mind that one day I wouldn't see myself like this anymore. Our future in this life is never certain, so what should we do? The best we could do to be guided by we already know to be the true way. John 21:18-22 come to my mind. 

        Jesus said to Peter, "Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me." Then Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved. When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus said to him, "What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me."

        What we can learn here is that we are not to be concerned about what's going to happen to us in the future ~ we are to just follow Jesus.

Seek Love from God Alone

        When God makes you long for him, he's letting you know that he loves you! Do not seek human love, for human love comes and goes and cannot give peace to the soul. Seek love from God alone, for only his love is pure and everlasting.  

Squaring Ourselves with God

        If we love God, we will love all others. If we reconcile with God, we will be able to reconcile with all others too. If we do not offend God, we won't offend others either. Work on our relationship with God and all our relationships with others will straighten out. 

Longing for God

        Today is the Feast of St. Teresa of Avila. The Entrance Song at Mass consists of Psalm 42:2-3: "As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God." I've been talking about how God plants such longing in our soul. Today he lets me know that he does it so that he can fully satisfy us one day.

On Living Quietly

        As I was praying the Joyful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary this morning, I saw that the Lord lived his life "quietly." After he made a leper clean, he told him not to tell anyone. After he was gloriously transfigured before Peter, James, and John, he did not ask them to publicize what they saw. Jesus did all his deeds quietly without fanfare or any self-promotion, although the Resurrection and Ascension speak loud enough by themselves. This is how we should live. If God be so humble, who are we to be otherwise? Let's imitate the Lord by living quietly in his shadow so that his glory alone may shine among us. 

God Alone Is Trustworthy

        I have learned that anytime I put my trust in people, I am taking a chance. Sometimes they become completely different persons. My conclusion is that when an opportunity arises for them to take advantage of you, they turn against you. So love all sinners, but be careful not to trust to them too much. God alone is worthy to be trusted, for he will never fail us.

A Sweet Cross

        I have mentioned that after you have fallen in love with the Lord, he gives you a great yearning for him ~ you feel that you won't be satisfied until you are with him in heaven. This is a cross you have to bear, but it is a sweet one.

Selfless Loving Called For

        Christ died in our place ~ God always gives all of himself to us. His love being boundless, he becomes completely selfless. That's why Jesus rightfully commanded us to love the Lord, our God, with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind.   

We Mess God Up

        If we leave God alone (imagine that we are not even around), everything will turn our fine. But we love to interfere with his will! We rebel and offend him nonstop ~ no wonder that the world is in disorder. In other words, we mess God up. The only solution is for us to be as perfect as God is, then his will will be done. Again, to quote what Jesus said in Matthew 5.48: "So be perfect, just as your Heavenly Father is perfect." 

Jesus Brings Joy

        I saw the TV program The Family Hearth on EWTN, featuring Br. Fishman telling the story of Elisha and the healing of Naaman the Syrian. Since Br. Fishman is a Jew, I thought how especially satisfying he must have felt when he realized that Jesus, his Savior, was a fellow Jew. This had to be an extra joy on top of the joy of finding the Messiah the Jewish people had been long expecting. 

Not Knowing We Are Finite

        God made all kinds of creatures with intelligence at different levels. God alone is infinite and all creatures are finite with some more finite than others. A dog is certainly more finite than a human being. You feed the dog and he eats the food, not knowing where the food came from. You give him a ride in your car and he joins you, not understanding anything about the car. You take him to the vet when he is sick and he goes along with trust. So the dog does not question, knowing that you are his loving master.

        God is obviously infinitely more knowing than we are and he had come to tell us that he wanted to save us if only we would believe in him. Then, being finite as we are, why do we keep questioning him and not want to trust in him? If we can't do better than a dog, then our ego must have grossly overestimated our intelligence. 

Latching onto Jesus

        Today's after-Communion thoughts. I was passing through this life and saw nothing worth latching onto. Then I saw Jesus, latched onto him and found out that he is worthy and I was able to let everything else go. Life is no longer a riddle. 

"Conquering" God

        Man wants to conquer Mt. Everest. The climbers spend a lot of money and years of training in preparation for the risky venture ~ risky because over 200 climbers have perished so far on the mount. I suppose that people want to do it because they feel good and proud if they can accomplish something so challenging. I have no desire to challenge myself like that. I brought this up because by contrast I see that I can "conquer" almighty God, to me the highest peak we can possibly reach, without even trying hard ~ all I need to do is to trust and let go in him and he lifts me right up to him. Not only the view from up there is beautiful, there is also absolute security.    

A Crucial Settlement to Make

        There is only one thing we need to settle before we die ~ to make our peace with God. This is of critical or crucial importance. Without such a settlement, we shall not have peace for all eternity! We know that we are to leave everything behind when we die, but don't forget to include unconfessed sins! The wise have already made their peace with God, but the foolish think that there will always be a tomorrow and tomorrow may bring the biggest shock of their life.

We Are Always Welcome

        Today's Gospel reading at Mass came from Luke 11. Jesus emphatically told his disciples: "Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Obviously, the Lord wants us to feel free to approach him, let him know of our needs, and be persistent about it. It is a great consolation to know that God is always ready for us and we are welcome despite our sinfulness. Any hesitancy to go to him can only come from us. (We are always our own obstacles!)

A Logical Progression

        You give myself completely to God ~ he starts to transform you ~ gradually you become like Christ ~ finally, realizing that you and he are alike, you yearn to become one with him ~ you fall deeply in love with God and your deepest desire is fulfilled. 

Becoming Master of Our Life

        To straighten everything out in our life and become master of our new life, all we need to do is to go straight to the very highest top, our God, and hand ourselves over to him. Then he will help us become his faithful, truthful, and trusting children. In the process, we'll invariably fall in love with him, learn to love all others and have no more enemies. The Lord will handle our tendency to sin and our own struggle to overcome our own sins will be no more. Nothing will be able to deter us in any way. When we are OK with God, everything is OK with us. (In other words, the superior way is to seek union with God first.)   

Mutually Beneficial

        When God gives you a certain task to perform, it is a very beautiful thing because he gets to use you to accomplish his will and you get a chance to please and glorify him.

On Receiving Holy Communion

       Practically everybody receives Holy Communion nowadays at Mass. Do they receive the Lord merely out of habit? Do they seriously understand what they receive? Let me relate to you some of the things St. Teresa says about reception of the most Blessed Sacrament in Chapter 34 of her The Way of Perfection. 

          She advises that we don't lose so good an occasion for conversing with God as is the hour after having received Communion. We should strive to leave our soul with the Lord ~ he is within us. This is a good time for him to teach us and for us to listen to him. Since you have the Lord himself present, strive to close the eyes of the body and open those of the soul and look into our heart. And he will reveal himself to us. [I would like to vouch for the fact that I made the most spiritual gains during the time I shared my heart with the Lord after receiving him in the Holy Eucharist. On the average, I spent about 40 minutes each time.] 

         Teresa continues. His Majesty lets all those who love and desire him greatly know that it is he who is present in the most Blessed Sacrament; these are his true friends. Whoever is not his true friend will never trouble with requests that he reveal himself. Such a person will hardly have fulfilled what the Church requires when he will leave and quickly forget what took place. Thus, such a person hurries on as soon as he can to other business affairs, occupations, and worldly impediments so that the Lord of the house may not occupy it. [This is worse than not receiving the Lord.] 

Nothing to Be Bothered About

        If people say wrong things about me, I am not bothered simply because what's said is not true. Then there are people who falsely believe in some things about me, and I feel that I should explain things to them to clear up any misunderstanding. Now I see that these two cases really belong to the same category, so the second case no longer bothers me. It is God's understanding alone that matters. Since God always understands, there is not a thing to be bothered about. 

One Beautiful Act

        Submitting ourselves to God so that his will becomes our will. 

Sitting at the Lord's Feet

        The Gospel reading at Mass was taken from Luke 10, the well-known Martha-Mary story. Jesus was at their house and Martha was burdened with serving, while her sister Mary just sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha complained to the Lord that Mary had left her by herself to do the serving and wanted Jesus to get Mary to help her. The Lord replied that "Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her." I see that Martha's work was necessary, but perhaps her attitude was not the best. One thing is clear ~ we must set spending time with the Lord as our first priority in life. Better yet, integrate the awareness of his holy presence into our lives, then we shall be sitting at his feet and listening to him speak at all times.  

We Are Apostles Too!

        In today's first reading from Galatians 1, Paul mentioned the Apostles before him, since he was called by the Lord most likely three years after the Apostles were. It dawns on me that the Lord can call anyone at any time. We who have been called are to be his apostles too! We can imitate the original Apostles by following the Lord everywhere, listening to him, learning from him, obeying him, and even dying for him. We are given the chance to continue spreading the glory of God today ~ what an honor and privilege!  

Achieving Sanctity Anywhere

        For those of us who do not belong to a monastery or convent, we can also live a life of prayer and obedience to God. For the religious, there are established rules to follow and personal guidance. The difference may be likened to that between working out at a gym under the supervision of a personal trainer or working out at home by yourself on your own machine. The same result can be achieved. You don't need to be a religious to achieve sanctity or union with God. The Lord's help is available anywhere.

God Calling

        Yesterday I mentioned that the Lord made me yearn for him. Today he made me see that it's his way of calling me to serve him even more and better. Then I would be more in union with him, fulfilling my desire.

Give God Freedom!

        St. Teresa of Avila in Chapter 28 of her The Ways of Perfection wrote: "The Lord doesn't give himself completely until we give ourselves completely. He never works in the soul as he does when it is totally his without any obstacle, nor do I see how he could." This is really saying that God does not have a freehand in shaping us if we have not surrendered to him totally. Wonders happen only when we let God do whatever he wants with us.

God and the World

        (1) Care only about what God thinks of you; never mind what the world says about you. When the world praises you, consider it a curse because it can snatch you away from God. When the world condemns you, consider it a blessing because you are now closer to Jesus. As for God, he'll never condemn you, and any praise coming from him will make all the praises you can get from the world look like dung. 

       (2) Following God and following the world are like two tracks running parallel to each other. Which one you travel on is a matter of great consequence. Many travel on the world track and occasionally get on the other track or get on it the last minute ~ this is not good enough. We should stay on the track to be with the Lord at all times lest we risk losing our life in the end. 

Sweet Words of the Lord

        Today's Communion experience. When I heard the priest repeating these words of the Lord at the Last Supper during consecration of the bread and wine: "Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my body which will be given up for you" and "Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins," these had to be the sweetest words I had ever heard. I was ready to be transported to anywhere he wants me to go.

Lost Divine Origin

        In today's 1st Reading at Mass from Galatians 1, Paul wrote: "...the Gospel preached by me is not of human origin. For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ." I can't help lamenting the fact that today we have so many Christian denominations following various human leaders whose teachings do not agree with each other's. They all have their own way of interpreting the Scriptures and own version of the gospel to preach. Chaos and confusion result when humans replace the divine.   

Into Jesus!

        Before Mass began this morning at church, I experienced a tremendous yearning for Jesus. I just wanted to be totally absorbed into him, to be "lost" in him, to be an integral part of him.... You don't just want to be drawn to him ~ you want to be drawn into him! What happened? The answer is that the powerful, sweet love of Jesus leaves an indelible imprint on your soul and you are transformed forever. He then sends you on an enthralling journey heading straight for heaven where your name is written. Do you think that you can wait?

Be Single-Minded in Serving God

        We are to give ourselves entirely to God and not be concerned about how much of himself he is going to give us. Our duty is to love and serve him irrespective of how much we are going to gain for ourselves. God will never shortchange us in the end. Jesus said to Thomas, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed" (John 20.29). I could also hear the Lord saying: "Blessed are those who have not received any consolation from me and have believed."

We Need God!

        This evening I sense just how much we need God. If there is no God and we are strictly left to ourselves, how can we possibly lift ourselves up any higher? We would be "buried" in our world all our life. We wouldn't know which way to turn for sure and where we are going to end up ~ in other words, we'd be groping in the dark, as it were. Then I think of God. Jesus has made the way absolutely clear. By his power and grace, he lifts me up high and one day I'll be as high as where he is and that day is coming fast, since life is so brief. It's as if the train is passing through and if you don't get on board, you are going to be left behind for ever. What a difference Christ can make ~ we do need him!  

After Entering Jesus

        In John 10.9, Jesus said, "I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved...." I did mention earlier how I discovered the inner spaciousness of the Lord, so the saying "I am the gate" now takes on a new meaning for me. Figuratively speaking, once I enter him, I see all kinds of treasures in this infinite space and I get very excited, eager to explore the immense riches there is. Complete freedom has been granted me to learn, absorb, and enjoy ~ this is truly dwelling in the house of the Lord!

Another Look at Abortion

        Today the first Sunday of October has been designated Respect Life Sunday by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. So it is the right time to take another look at abortion. 

         A person may choose to abort the unborn child, but please do not consider it to be your right. Does saying you have the right to terminate (I am not using the word "kill") another human life sound good to you? You can say pro-choice instead of anti-life, call it a fetus instead of an unborn child, argue that the unborn is not a person yet (even though the dictionary defines a person as a human being)...there is no getting around the fact that abortion ends another life ~ in this case, a totally innocent, defenseless life of your own child, a life whom God has created! The total number of victims that had been terminated by the Nazis during the Holocaust is estimated to be between 11 million and 17 million; the number of legalized abortions performed in the U.S. alone since 1973 has exceeded 50 million! If abortion is truly OK, then I suppose I could also say that there is no such thing as evil anymore.    

Helpless Before God

        Today's Communion experience. Because there's no Mass scheduled at the nearby seminary this morning, I went to a church almost seven miles away. I was impressed by the large turnout on a Saturday. 

        Before receiving the Holy Eucharist I asked the Lord to fully remove all my sins because I desired the closest possible union with him. After receiving the Holy Eucharist, he gave me more joy than usual, so much so that I could hardly contain it as it penetrated my soul. I became totally helpless before the Lord. When God wants to do you a favor, there's no use turning away or fighting it ~ he just accomplishes what he wishes to accomplish. See how he changed St. Paul from a persecutor of Christians to a faithful disciple! We can take advantage of this facet of the Lord. If we fail to change ourselves on our own, surrender to him and let him do the work, then it'll be done without our help. 

Jesus Challenges Us Again

        In today's Gospel reading at Mass from Luke 10, Jesus said to the seventy-two disciples who had just returned, "All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him." These are truly earthshaking statements that we must take seriously ~ either they are completely true or completely false. I can vouch for their truthfulness because through Christ I now know the Father.

Jesus Is Everything to Me

        Today I feel that Jesus is the one who sustains me every moment; keeps me alive and will give me life after my death; is my bright hope, refuge, guide, inspiration, and much, much more; grants me freedom of the spirit, peace, and the sweetest joy; is all I need; and makes me want to live with zeal and die for him happily. You can totally destroy me by taking him away from me. But that is not going to happen because nothing in the world can possibly separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus the Lord (Romans 8.38-39). Therefore, I keep rejoicing.

Learning More from St. Teresa

       After finishing reading her Life, I am continuing with her The Way of Perfection which she wrote for her nuns under her charge. Here is a couple of important points that is good to know. 

        (1) Love:  The love we have for others is to be perfect. It must not be affected by how attractive or unattractive the person we love is, how much affection we have for the person, or whether he or she is going to appreciate us or love us back. In other words, the love must be the pure, unconditional love of God. In this way, we remain free. (By the way, the more St. Teresa was persecuted by others, the stronger her love for her persecutors grew.)

        (2) Detachment:  Not only are we to be detached from all things of the world, we are to do so from ourselves. Humility and detachment always go together. This way, we become fearless of anyone.