God who is love and all-knowing will always bring about the greatest good out of any situation you're in. And that greatest good can be the spiritual transformation of yourself.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
New Level of Freedom
For most of us, life is all about getting ahead. We want our children to get into the best schools. We try to know people who can help us in matters. Who wouldn't take advantage of an opportunity that can make us money? This morning while driving to morning Mass, suddenly the Lord made me see that if I do all such things, but not in order to make gains for myself, I would feel free! In other words, selflessness leads to freedom. This was "revelatory" to me and I thanked him for uplifting me to this new level of freedom.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Soul Food
Communion time thoughts. Food feeds and sustains the body, book feeds and cultivates the mind, and the Holy Eucharist feeds and heals the soul.
Repentance Necessary
Believing in God may not involve a change of the heart, but repentance does. Believing in God alone does not make you clean, but repentance does. Therefore, we need to repent after we have believed.
From Rebellion to Obedience
In Galatians 2, Paul wrote: "I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me." This is union with God, making it possible to gladly obey God in all things. Man has rebelled from God. Obedience to God is going all the way home to him who loves us in the first place. Union with God is rightfully a heavenly state because it restores our place in heaven.
Monday, July 15, 2013
The Real Enemy
If you truly love Jesus, you will want everyone else to love him too, and this would include all your enemies. But if you do not forgive your enemies, how can you expect them and yourself to love the Lord? Therefore, "not loving your enemies" is the real enemy you want to defeat.
Two Spiritual Flaws
To not want to be a saint is to not want to love God to the utmost. To not believe that you can be a saint is to not believe that all things are possible with God. Both are serious spiritual flaws.
The Compelling Jesus
Today is the Memorial of St. Bonaventure. In the Gospel reading Matthew 10:34 - 11:1, we heard some of the rather "shocking" statements from Jesus to his Apostles. He said, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter again her mother.... Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
Here Jesus really challenges us. He knew that he had brought the sword because people would be forced to accept or reject him. His statements force us to conclude either he is God or someone who doesn't know what he's talking about ~ there's no third choice possible. And you will not have peace if you choose to ignore him. With Jesus, it has to be all or nothing, take it or leave it. Come to think of it, no one other than the true God can possibly be so compelling.
On Serving God
Serving God is a full-time occupation. We live for God alone; we are always ready to serve him and we do all things in order to serve him. How is this possible? Seek union with God and you'll know that it's not only possible, but also the natural thing to do.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Experiencing Freedom
Today's Communion experience. When I received the Holy Eucharist, I knew I was receiving exactly what the Apostles had received at the Last Supper. I was so happy that I abandoned myself to the Lord and experienced great freedom.
No Halfhearted Loving
The Gospel reading at Mass came from Luke 10. Jesus used the Parable of the Good Samaritan to teach how we should love our neighbor. A man fell victim to robbers; they stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest and a Levite both passed by, saw him, and did nothing. But a Samaritan traveler came upon him and was moved with compassion at the sight. He poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he took him to an inn, and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, "Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back." It's clear that of the three, the Samaritan is the one being neighborly to the robbers' victim.
Therefore, we are to give our all in loving ~ to do everything within our power and reach. So many times we have the chance to help someone, but we never really put our heart into it. Jesus' commandment You shall love your neighbor as yourself demands going all out because loving your neighbor is loving the Lord, our God.
I Know Jesus!
In Reading 2 from Colossians 1 at Mass, Paul speaks of Christ Jesus as the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, and the one in whom all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, were created. Furthermore, he is before all things and in him all things hold together. He is also the beginning and the firstborn from the dead. All the fullness dwells in him and God reconciles all things through him, making peace by the blood of his cross.
I proudly "boast" that I know this Christ Jesus because he dwells within me and is the one who has made my life worth living, giving me the reason to rejoice.
Enjoying God to the Utmost
Rest in your heavenly Father to let him love you and transform you into a new creature worthy of this love.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Surrender to God Now
The best time to surrender to God is NOW. As long as you are alive, it's never too late or too early to make this commitment. Why surrender? God truly needs us to help him find the lost sheep and bring them back to him! Saving the soul is so much more important than saving the physical life. To work for the Lord, we must be ready and fit, and surrendering to God is the best preparation for us. Without it, we won't be able to follow him every step of the way.
Easy Judging
Yesterday I heard about a young man in a Catholic family who didn't want to remain in the Church, one of his reasons being that the Vatican is so rich and wealthy with all its properties, art treasures, etc. I believe that this was his honest question and not an excuse. He had a point, but missed the real point ~ he should have looked at Jesus and not the sinners that are all of us.
In teaching his disciples not to judge others, Jesus said, "How can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove that splinter from your eye,' while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye" (Matthew 7.4-5). Judging is precisely the problem of the world. It's too easy to point your finger at someone else and not ever to examine yourself. The young man mentioned above was no exception. This is why families fall apart. This is why nations are at war with each other. If we all follow just this one counsel of the Lord, there would be instant peace. No humility, no peace, and I mean peace for the heart too.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Freedom in God Only
Communion experience today. The Lord made me sense that true freedom for us exists in God only, and this freedom is indeed the greatest freedom we can possibly experience ~ nowhere outside God is there true freedom.
A Freedom Test
If we do not die, we can never get to heaven. So if God calls you to go to him, what would be the point of delaying your departure from this world (unless you aren't sure of your final destination yet)? If you can answer "Here I come" without hesitation anytime he calls, then you are indeed free.
Staying Close to God
It's good to share every little thing with and tell every little thing to Jesus. For doing things that are normal and routine, it's sufficient to be aware that he is aware of what you're doing. For doing anything you're not sure of, just tell him. Then if it's not his will, he'll let you know. For facing something unknown, you definitely need to pray to him for protection and guidance. The whole point is to show that you want to be intimate with the Lord and aware of his holy presence at all times.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Remaining New in the Lord
The Holy Spirit is my sensor because he lets me know right away when my thought or feeling is inappropriate, showing lack of love. For example, yesterday someone phoned me and I knew that talking to that person would be unpleasant ~ the Holy Spirit calmed me down and I was able to listen and talk nicely. Again, this morning at church before Mass started, quite a few of us were praying, but two people in the back started talking in a low voice, making it impossible to concentrate on praying. The Holy Spirit again calmed me down and the talking stopped after several minutes. So the Holy Spirit senses my reaction, checks me, and renews me. Let the Lord renew us every single moment that we may remain new at all times.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Solidifying the Union
Communion experience today. The Lord showed me that to solidify the union, all I needed to do was to be more passive, more letting go, and it would lead me to greater peace.
Beware of Ego
It saddens me to see someone who has a good paying job, drives an expansive car, lives in a nice house, but still unhappy because he doesn't think he has enough. If the intention is to impress others, then there will always be others wealthier than you, so you remain unhappy. One has to be practically brain-dead not to know that billions of the world's population are living at the poverty level. It just shows that without God sharpening your conscience, the ego easily enslaves you.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Life-Changing Belief
I needed some consecrated hosts this morning to conduct a Eucharistic service at a senior retirement lodge. As I was kneeling before the opened tabernacle praying, the Lord made me see that once you truly believe that the Holy Eucharist is the body and blood of him, everything about you changes. "Truly believe" is believing to the point you know and feel it. This was eye-opening to me that a deep belief in this truth can transform a person.
The Ultimate Thing to Do
Today's Communion experience. When I went up to receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, it was more than going up to touch his cloak, shake his hand, or hug him ~it was going up to let him enter me to become one with me! I saw this as the ultimate thing we can possibly do in this life and in this world. If you are humble, you'll also see this as receiving the greatest possible reward in this life, in this world.
Listening Is Important
Go on YouTube and you'll find all kinds of talks... the hateful, the self-righteous, the accusatory, the irreverent,.... In general, people like to talk and not listen. If we don't listen to those we say we love, then we really don't love them that much. To listen to someone is to respect that person. You cannot love someone if you don't respect that person. The one we need to listen to the most is the Lord our God. If you listen to him, you will automatically love all others. If you can listen more than you talk, you are on the road to perfection.
Heaven & Hell, Beyond Imagination
There is a retail store, which I shall not name, in my area that sells things a lot of people like, but I am not one of them. It is filled with old-styled, mostly dark-colored, home-decorating items. There are also artificial and dead flowers galore. When I am in that store, I feel the gloom and even sense death. So if you were to sentenced me to live in that place, I would feel miserable. Then there is music equally hard to take, the kind that's loud, vulgar, animalistic, often with a lot of screaming. Should I be forced to listen to that day and night, I might go insane. And I thought of hell. The punishment you experience there would probably be unbearable beyond imagination. I can walk out a store or away from the source of any music, but what you experience in hell is forever! In driving, I learned to avoid head-on collisions at all costs. Common sense should tell us to avoid going to hell at all costs. On the other hand, with my finite mind I cannot possibly imagine how happy I'll be in heaven. But I know for certain that whatever I experience up there will exceed my wildest imagination.
Monday, July 8, 2013
On Serving God 2
As Jesus has indicated, we should mind our own business. From Mother Teresa's prayer "Do It Anyway": In the final analysis, it is between you and God. Therefore, we should single-mindedly serve God, letting nothing distract or for that matter, disturb us. As Paul said, "Whatever you do, in words or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Colossians 3:17). This is not as hard as it sounds ~ it's a matter of awareness and practice. You can start out with chores at home, doing such things as taking the garbage out and washing the dishes to please the Lord. When you watch some TV for recreation, do it for Jesus too ~ it'll keep you from watching anything unwholesome and from watching too much TV. Before I pick up the telephone, I am used to saying a quick prayer to make sure that I'll say the right thing over the phone. This really helps when you have a confrontational situation. I trust in God, never predicting the outcome, and things always work out. Bottom advice: Let God completely into your life.
On Serving God
In serving God, I admire others who are visibly doing great work. But the Lord made me see that we are all made differently and I must not "imitate" anyone outwardly ~ it is pride that drives one to "compare performances." We are to bear fruit only as directed by the Holy Spirit and not even be concerned about seeing the fruit. The fruits are to be completely at God's disposal ~ no instant gratification for us here.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Good Question
Ultimately and soon, each of us will end up in heaven or outside of it ~ so why do we still worry about trivial stuff, bicker, get impatient or angry, hold onto material things and the past ... while the clock is ticking away?
Saturday, July 6, 2013
No Longer Earthbound
Communion experience. After receiving the Holy Eucharist, I feel that although my body is still here, my spirit is already attached to the Lord, no longer earthbound.
Great Feelings
It's a great feeling to know that you are clean and on good terms with God. But don't stop here ~ the next even greater feeling is to be in union with God, you and the Lord now completely dwelling in each other.
Friday, July 5, 2013
Transcendental Union
Today's Communion experience. Just before distribution of the Holy Eucharist, the priest held up the consecrated bread and the consecrated wine and said: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb. And we all responded: Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.
I saw reception of the Lord in the sacrament transcending physical union. It's a calling for me to be healed spiritually so that we may be one. He showed his love through and through. What a beautiful "sight"!
Call for Spiritual Growth
When something bad happens to you, listen for God's call. You can choose to get upset, feel sorry for yourself, wish it never happened, want to go back to the way things were, be vengeful if someone else was the cause, or you can move forward and choose to trust and serve God more from now on. Believe me, the latter choice will give you healing and joy. It's letting God bring the good out of the bad.
God's Mercy Reexamined
In John 8, we read that Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in adultery; he just asked her not to sin any more. Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus taught how we should always forgive others and love even our enemies. God's mercy is indeed infinite. I see that the Lord does not condemn us either because he continues to wait for us to repent so that he may forgive us. If we do not repent to the end, we simply get ourselves condemned. Seeing such great mercy, we must not mistreat anyone again. Taking revenge is even more out of the question.
We Matter to God
We are not nobodies; we are treasured by God! When we repent our sins and beg for God's mercy, the whole heaven rejoices. On the other hand, when we sin and die unrepentant, the whole heaven mourns. We can shake up heaven all right.
Why Obey God?
If you do believe that God created us (that life just didn't pop into existence by accident or chance), these thoughts follow logically. Being creatures, we are not infinite as God is. We are given physical abilities and intelligence, but whatever we possess is finite, limited. What we know and can figure out are nothing compared to what God knows. Unequivocally, we can state that God is infinitely greater and superior than we are. Therefore, we should humbly obey him in all things. The good news on top of it all is that our God loves us.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Independence Day Sorrow
Today is Independence Day, the 4th of July. We sang "America the Beautiful" at the end of Mass. But when I came to the line "God shed his grace on thee," I felt great sorrow. God has shed much grace on this nation, but the nation as a whole no longer welcomes him ~ he's been banished from the center to the periphery. Materialism has taken over and now religious freedom is at risk. The nation stands polarized. Will we ever be ready for Judgment Day?
Knowing My Destiny
Communion thoughts. Since the Lord forgives sins, my destiny lies entirely in his hands. I felt good.
Jesus Is God (Quick Proof)
In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 9, people brought to Jesus a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Courage, child, your sins are forgiven." Since only God can forgive sins, some of the scribes present thought that Jesus had blasphemed. Jesus knew what they're thinking. To show that he has authority on earth to forgive sins, he said to the paralytic, "Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home." He rose and went home. Here Jesus backed up his words with deeds, showing that he is God indeed.
Let Love Rule
As I was praying before Mass began this morning, The Lord made me see that it is his love that "rules," governs, or "manages" the whole universe. And this love is infinite. If not, who among us sinners can possibly make it to heaven? Each one of us is given an unlimited number of chances to repent and believe in Jesus. I was also made to see that we should let love manage our lives. Think of ourselves as channels of God's love. With this love, we can manage our worries, anxieties, fears, attachment to material things, egos, enemies, you name it, and do good in the world. Love is the solution!
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
No More Unfinished Business
Communion experience today. After receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, I feel so attached to the Lord that I no longer see any unfinished business in the world for me to finish. This is becoming detached from all the unfinished businesses that are and will always be present in one's life.
On Believing in Jesus
Today is the Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle. The Gospel reading at Mass comes from John 20. Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him that they had seen the Lord, but Thomas said, "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." A week later Thomas was with the disciples and Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe." Thomas answered, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."
Many of us today are very much like Thomas ~ we would not believe unless we see hard evidence. John simply recorded what he had witnessed ~ Thomas' about-face should turn us into believers too. Jesus last saying above, Blesses are those who have not seen and have believed, should further encourage us to believe that Jesus is our Lord and our God.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
To Know Jesus Is To Know God
Jesus made it clear to his disciples that whoever has seen him has seen the Father and that he is in the Father and the Father in him. There is only on true God, so he must be the one as revealed through Jesus the Son. Any additional revelations about God through any man that came after Jesus may be safely ignored.
Never the Same Again
I have a crape myrtle tree in my yard. The whole tree was blooming beautiful lavender flowers, when a storm arrived. Afterwards the symmetric shape of the tree was gone, now with many branches drooping and many flowers damaged. The tree was just not the same anymore. I thought of my encounter with Christ. After he touched me, I too was no longer the same. But in my case, I embraced the change and don't ever want to revert to my former state. Unlike the storm, God changes us with love, making us even more beautiful.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Zeroing In on God
Quite some years ago, I saw an icon at a supposedly monastery. The image seemingly had teardrops streaming from the eyes of Virgin Mary holding Infant Jesus. I left the place with a cotton ball soaked with the tear. On my way out, I, along with two other visitors, all saw the blazing afternoon sun looking like a large moon with no glare at all ~ a miracle! A couple of years later, my son suffered a virus attack and his heart almost stopped beating. The doctor diagnosed that he would need a heart transplant if he did survive. I went to him in ICU, blessed him with the cotton ball I still had, and asked God to heal him. Four days later he was sent home ~ another miracle! Then much later, I learned on the internet that the crying icon was a hoax and the perpetrator was jailed and committed suicide. For quite a while, I was confused: how could miracles follow if the tear was not genuine? Here's what I have finally learned.
It is our faith that makes God work miracles. Look at the woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years in the Gospels. She came up behind Jesus in the crowd and touched his cloak, saying to herself, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured," and she was cured. The cotton ball just happened to be what I used to convey my faith. The Lord looks at our faith and not at the means by which we express that faith. The sun miracle teaches a separate but similar lesson: Put our faith in God and not in miracles. God makes miracles happen to increase our faith in him and not the miracle. St. John of the Cross, who had many supernatural experiences, made it very clear that in our journey to union with God, paying too much attention to any supernatural experience along the way would definitely impede our progress. Conclusion: Put all your faith in the Lord alone and let nothing along the way distract you.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Goal for Living
In the days when I didn't know Christ or later when I didn't know him well yet, I, as is common among most young adults, often found myself looking for things to do to kill time, to amuse myself. Should I go visit some friends, go see a movie, or just take a nap? That was drifting. Today I can't do that anymore ~ I must have a goal to motivate me to live on. That goal I've found to be meaningful and most satisfying is to serve God. Life driven by any self-centered goal will invariably turn out to be disappointing or even destructive.
Is God Being Unfair?
In the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20), Jesus told that the landowner paid each laborer at the end of the day with the same wage, regardless of how early or late during the day he was hired. Naturally, the ones who worked the longest grumbled against the owner. But he said to them, "Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?" We often complain about unfairness in this world. So what is fair? God is always just ~ this we can be certain of. We must look at the whole picture. If you end up in heaven, are you still going to grumble about the time someone got the job you also applied for or someone didn't catch the flu and you did? Or should you end up in hell, you still wish you had suffered less in this life? The bottom line is that what happens now doesn't matter much. What matters is what happens in the end: If you believe in Christ and do good, you get to heaven; if you reject him and do evil, you end up in hell ~ this sounds perfectly fair to me.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Perfect Surrendering Moment
Communion experience. After I received the Eucharist, I realized that the Lord is pure, spotless, and most holy, and has the power to transform me. It was the perfect moment to say "I am all yours" and union is achieved.
Counting on God
Today is the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 16, after Peter realized that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus said to Peter that he would build his Church upon him the rock and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it." Despite internal problems and external persecutions to this day, the Church still stands ~ whatever Jesus has said you can count on. Here's another one: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day" (John 6.54). With so many other promises he has given us, our future is set.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)