The Greatest Love

        In John 15.13, Jesus said, "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." It must also be true that it is the greatest love to be utterly concerned about the souls of others. When we ourselves are drawn into Christ, we must do our utmost to draw others to him too. It is in loving others that we are assured of our own salvation.  

Why Is Hell So Unpopular?

This is a sober video that all Catholics should watch for their own good.

On Entering Jesus

        As you go deeper and deeper into Jesus, you discover more and more of his beauty. Staying on the outside, you'll never "see" his true beauty. He is indeed the infinite God.

Mother Miriam

Rosalind Moss is now Sister Rosalind Moss, Mother Miriam of the Lamb of God. Her journey of becoming a fulfilled Jew was one of the most beautiful stories I'd ever heard. Here is a more recent short interview of her by Marcus Grodi on EWTN.   

Most Beautiful Dwelling

        The Responsorial Psalm response at morning Mass read: How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God! After I received Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, instead of feeling that he had entered to dwell in me, I felt that he was drawing me into him. I could claim that there is no place more beautiful to dwell in than the interior of the Lord! 

Foretold Judgment

        Today is the Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguouri. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus said to the disciples, "The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angles will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace...." Since Jesus foretold his Resurrection after death and it became true, we'd better believe that the judgment at the end of the age he foretold will come true too.

Marvelous Relationship

        This morning I appreciated very much the fact that God had made himself known specifically to us in the person of Jesus, who is divine. Through Jesus the Son, we know God the Father and become his adopted children. And the Holy Spirit ensures that we are all one with God. It is marvelous indeed.    

Crying for Joy & Sorrow

      During prayer after morning Mass, I wanted to cry for joy and for sorrow. For joy because Jesus loves me and has been so good to me. For sorrow because he is being rejected by so many. Rejecting someone who hates you is expected by that person, but rejecting someone who has died for you out of love amounts to putting him through death once more. You are killing your Lord and God!     

Jesus Is Our Answer

        What is a good life? What do you really want out of life? Only Christ Jesus provides clear-cut, completely satisfying answers. He not only gives us answers, he is the answer to all our questions! Read about him in the Gospels ~ his example speaks everything to us. Without him, you may find something to help you get by, but nothing can ever be as definitive and authentic as he is because he is God. One cannot exist without him whether you know it or not. Have him in your life and you'll never be lost again.   

Christians to Stand Out

        Today is the Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola. In Reading 1 from Exodus 34, Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of commandments in his hands. The skin of his face had become radiant while he conversed with the Lord. It made me see that an encounter with God must make us look different. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus likened the Kingdom of heaven to a treasure which a person finds, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has to buy. Do we feel that way when we find Christ? In any case, a Christian who has encountered the Lord and treasured the experience will definitely look radiant on the outside and feel joy on the inside. After all, we are to stand out as the light of the world.   

Keeping Motivation Pure

        I hear people talk about how they eat right for good health a lot. While the motivation may be self-centered, it could be made pure by desiring good health in order to serve God better. As a matter of fact, our ultimate motivation for all things should be loving and serving God so that we may remain pure before the Lord.

Heeding Jesus' Words

        I missed Mass this morning and read the Gospel reading for today from Matthew 13. Jesus explained to the disciples the parable of the weeds in the field. He mentioned the world, the Evil One, the Devil, the end of the age, angels, the collection out of his Kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers ~ throwing them into the fiery furnace where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth, and the righteous shining like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. At the end, Jesus said, "Whoever has ears ought to hear."   

         Indeed, Jesus' words are life, the most important thing we'll ever hear. Listening to him or not can result in eternal life or eternal death. His words are especially acute with me now when I am constantly hearing about the deaths of many I personally knew and seeing so many other living friends who do not show any interest in knowing him or knowing him better.

        Note that Jesus separated those who cause others to sin from all evildoers ~ we must avoid causing others to sin like the plague.    

Proper Communion Response

        Today is the Memorial of St. Martha. John 11.27 was the communion antiphon: Martha said to Jesus, "You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into this world." My desire after receiving the Holy Eucharist was to ask the Lord to make me holy for his sake.

Learning from Suffering

        When I am experiencing any physical or mental pain, I realize how horrible the pains the souls in hell must be suffering and I do not wish anyone to ever experience that. So I learn to not judge anyone but pray urgently for everyone.  

Benefiting from Suffering

        When we suffer, we think of how Christ suffered and realize how much he loves us. And we are drawn ever closer to God. 

Unique Joy

        Just watched the Holy Father celebrating the Mass at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, concluding the World Youth Day festival, on EWTN. More than three million young people had gathered for the service and the joy was palpable. This joy is unique because it can only be experienced in Christ. I am just so joyful that I know this joy. It signifies that one has found the fulfilling truth. It is a joy that frees one from the clutches of the world. Alleluia! 

The Suffering Christ

        Communion experience. Since I still felt the pain resulting from the accident I mentioned, today after I received the body of Christ in the Holy Eucharist, the body I saw in my mind was the body of the suffering Christ on the cross. My own suffering didn't seem to matter that much anymore.

Swaying the Lord

        In today's Reading 1 at Mass from Genesis 18, Abraham intercedes for Sodom. He asks the Lord if he will sweep away the innocent with the guilty. The Lord agrees that if he finds fifty innocent people in Sodom, he will spare the whole place for their sake. Abraham keeps asking what if there are forty-five, forty, thirty,... innocent people. Finally, the Lord agrees that he will not destroy Sodom if there are at least ten innocent people.

        What I learn here is that holiness (being innocent) means a great deal to the Lord. Be holy and you can sway him from his plan.  

Jesus Alone Suffices

        Today's Communion experience. Because of the painful accident that happened to me, I experienced even greater joy by contrast. If you have Jesus, nothing else matters anymore.

Ongoing Healing

        Let God be your attending physician. Be ready for him to check and heal you in body, mind, and spirit at all times.

Dealing with Accidents

        Yesterday I had an accident which caused me physical injury. I started thinking about accidents. They are something that happens to everyone no matter how careful you are ~ traffic accidents, for example. Unlike God, we do not foresee what might be ahead. Accidents always come as a surprise or shock. The normal reactions are sorrow, bitterness, self-pity, worrying about the worst to follow, loss of hope, etc. ~ all negative and unhelpful. I believe that the healthy, realistic attitude is to accept that accidents do happen and they happen for a reason. Some of the things we can realize are the following: (1) Whatever has happened will pass in time. (2) Here's an opportunity for learning to be patient. (3) By offering our suffering up to God, it becomes meritorious. (4) Experiencing suffering makes us realize how terribly Jesus suffered for us, thus uniting us to him even more. (5) If we love God, he will never allow us to suffer to the point we cannot bear. (6) We can accept suffering as being purified by God in this life. (7) First, I thought if I am temporarily handicapped, how can I serve God effectively? Then he showed me that accepting suffering is serving him. (8) We can still pray to God for physical healing and he may do just that. In conclusion, be thankful to God for all things.

Banqueting in Heaven

        Communion experience. Just before receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, I was content to bask in his light and enjoy my rest in him. After receiving him, I knew I had just attended a banquet in heaven. Seeing it this way, I am already a frequent guest at the dinner table of the Lord in heaven.

Chosen and Called!

        Today is the Feast of St. James, Apostle. The Entrance Antiphon from Matthew 4.18, 21 reads: "As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother mending their nets and he called them." What a great honor and how good it is to be chosen and called by the Lord! If you don't feel he has chosen and called you, ask him to do so, for he calls us so that our life might be fulfilled and our joy complete.

Ideal State of Living

      To me, it is being in union with Christ, following every will of his. This way, you don't ever have to be concerned about what you should do and you know that he will always lead you to do what is right and pleasing to God. 

To Be the Best

        We all desire or at least dream to be the best in something. Once you know Jesus and fall in love with him, you will want to be his best possible disciple. You look at Christ, Mary, and all the other great saints in the Church and you get excited and will want to imitate and learn from them as much as possible.

Humility Opens Doors

        To find God, we need to remain humble first. To hear God speak, we need to have quiet and peace both within and without us, for a disturbed soul shuts out the voice of God. Again, humility is required to submit ourselves to get in tune with him. Only the humble will find and hear God.

Gift of the Holy Eucharist

        Poets, songwriters, artists ... have all used their imagination to create beautiful works. We can also imagine how beautiful God is, but the Holy Eucharist which I receive daily over time has revealed to me that God is absolutely real.

Test Questions

        Suppose you belong to a team that serves God in some way. After serving together, would you be happier if you are the only person praised for your work or the only person not being praised for the work? What answer is best to please the Lord?

Awesome Lessons

        Communion experience. I saw the changing of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ during consecration even greater and more astounding than the transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor. After I received Holy Communion, the Lord made me see that surrendering to him pleases him more than saying all the written prayers there are.  

Purgatory not Good Enough

        Settling for purgatory first after death is not good enough for us if we want to make God number one in our life. It is not good enough for him either because he deserves the very best from us.

Our World Portrayed

        The big news today is the birth of the royal baby from William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, overshadowing the story of the Pope's arrival in Brazil for the World Youth Day Festival. This is expected for a world that has pretty much gone secular. Interests in popular events far exceed spiritual concerns. The behavior of the five foolish virgins in Jesus' parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25) perfectly portrays our world today. What happened to them at the end will happen to our world too.

Seeing from the Right Perspective

        In the news today, NASA has released photos of the Earth and Moon taken by a spacecraft orbiting Saturn ~ nearly a billion miles away. You see one tiny bright spot and a "short" distance away an even tinier one in the vast dark space. First image that came to my mind was two human neighbors on that tiny spot fighting each other for they just couldn't get along. Lord, have pity on us.

Making God Number One

        If God is to be number one in our lives, then we must trust in him completely. This means we trust in his justice completely. Then after we pray for our loved ones, we no longer worry about how God is going to answer our prayers. And we don't worry about any other outcomes either. All this may sound cold, but it is doing our best the right way.

Love That Melts the Heart

        I just saw on EWTN the welcome ceremony at the airport for the arrival of the Holy Father in Brazil for World Youth Day. He was greeted by the president of Brazil and a children's choir, among many others. The joy all around was palpable. I couldn't help thinking how much joy the disciples of Jesus must have felt when they personally saw the Lord teaching, healing, and performing all the great works of mercy. My heart sensed that the sweet love of God can truly melt one's heart so that one feels nothing but joy. How I wish that we all experience this!  

Jesus Restores Peace

        Communion experience. I felt Jesus to be my center. After receiving him in the Holy Eucharist, inner peace was completely restored. 

Same Father, Same God

        Today is the Memorial of St. Mary Magdalene. The Gospel reading was taken from John 20. The Resurrected Lord appeared to Mary Magdalene outside the empty tomb. Before he departed, his last words to her were: "Go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and you God.'" How good it is to hear that Jesus' Father is our Father and his God is our God! This is what communion of the saints is all about ~ a Christian is never alone.

Perfect Feeling and Knowing

        Communion experience. Before receiving the Holy Eucharist, I felt that I was the luckiest person in the whole world. After receiving the Lord, I knew that he's the one worth dying for.

Being Perfect in Christ

        In Reading 2 from Colossians 1 at Mass, Paul proclaims Christ to them so that he may present everyone perfect in Christ. This echoes Jesus' command for us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. Come to think of it, there is no way to become perfect except in Christ, for he alone is perfect and has the power to make us perfect.  

All in Light of Love

        In Matthew 9 and again 12, Jesus quoted Hosea 6.6: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I believe that the Lord wants us to love first and consider everything else in light of love. I also believe that we are to detach ourselves from all things of the world, but not necessarily to renounce them unless we are called to do so in light of love. I believe that we are to enjoy God foremost and all else in light of love. Last, we are to suffer for God in light of love. 

In the Name of the Lord

        Paul in Colossians 3.17 advises: Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord. To me, it means do everything for the glory of God or from a practical point of view, do everything to draw others to Christ. Nowadays we do so many things, individually or as a group, in public or private, without taking this into consideration due to the lack of faith in God. We end up doing what we think we should do and not bearing any fruit for the Lord. The change must start with each one of us in the name of the Lord.  

On Facing Death

        Death is imminent for all of us. We can shrink back, be afraid, and try to hold onto this life, but this is being weak in faith and unrealistic. The healthy, proper attitude is to welcome death and look forward to meeting our most beloved Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Luke 9.62: Jesus said, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God. This saying applies here too. Death is not a dead end (pun not intended). Prepare yourself right and death becomes you gateway to freedom and eternal bliss. Following Jesus means willing to go through anything after him, and he did die. 

No More Knowing Each Other

        My elderly neighbor across the street has 26 grandchildren, so he has trouble keeping straight who's who. Our heavenly Father will have no such problem with us. I don't even need a name. He knows me and I know my sonship. As Jesus said in John 10, he knows his sheep and they know him. No words need to be exchanged. Then when you reach union with God, he and you become one and knowing becomes irrelevant.

A Small Heaven

        Communion experience. Heaven is where God dwells. When the Lord entered me in the Holy Eucharist, I felt that he's going to transform his dwelling in me into a small heaven. So I have Jesus in heaven in me ~ I was overjoyed! 

For God Alone

        People are not always trustworthy. I have known some who completely change their personality or demeanor in test situations. Others who you think are friends can instantly become your enemies. Most people hide their true self behind a facade ~ I suppose this is due to the lack of mutual trust. The good thing is that we have God to trust in. The title For God Alone implies that we can not only trust in God alone, but also live in him, love him, listen to him, serve him, and do everything for him alone. It means that we only care about what he, not anybody else, thinks. This is how we gain freedom and peace. [Note: As only God can forgive sins, only he can give this kind of freedom and peace.]

Do You Hear Jesus Calling?

        The 4th Luminous Mystery of the Rosary for today is The Proclamation of the Kingdom. Jesus called the Twelve to be his Apostles and they followed him immediately. Just the same Jesus is calling us today. Read the Gospels and you'll hear him calling you. If you don't hear it, then you won't hear it even if he appears today asking you in person. It's not how or when he calls you that matters, it's how you respond to his call.

"True" Sins

        God fully understands us. Many times we fail because we are spiritually weak, not because we deliberately want to hurt him. Peter's denials of Jesus are prime examples that should be encouraging to us. The "true" sins are committed when we look away from the Lord and choose to do what we want to do. 

On Loving Jesus

        Communion time reflection. Here's the humble and meek Jesus who loved and died for us. We care for our dogs and cats a lot, so how could we possibly love the Lord even less? After receiving the Holy Eucharist, I knew that we must love Jesus so much never to offend him again!

Our Wondrous God

        I thought about God before Mass began. His power and knowledge are without limit, and his holiness and perfection awe-inspiring ~ I tremble before him. Yet his beauty is so delightful and his love so tender that I want to run to him, yelling "Daddy." I do not see him, yet he watches over me. Even though he fills the whole universe, he enters me in the Holy Eucharist. Such are our wondrous God.  

Making Sense to an Unbeliever

        A friend of mine didn't wish to believe in Christ. His good friend was losing the battle with cancer, so I took the chance to reason with him like this. We are all sinners and if there is God, he has to be holy. As sinners, we cannot enter heaven where the holy dwell. He agreed with me so far. Many people like to clear their conscience before they die, but telling another human being about their sins is useless because the sins remain. To get our sins forgiven, we need to confess and repent to God and then we shall be saved. Therefore, we need to believe in Christ. It seemed that I made some sense to him. 

Grateful for God's Mercy

        Four days ago, I got up in the morning and saw a big black spot of irregular shape, roughly half an inch wide, through my right eye. It's fixed in space, unlike one of those tiny floaters I notice once in a while. About five minutes later, it's gone. So I went in to see my eye doctor today. He thought that what I had was most likely an ocular migraine, not something of major concern; but he did find the pressure in my right eye too high and see signs of glaucoma. I am now using an eyedrop to control the high pressure which can cause blindness if unchecked. I see that the Lord gave me the migraine sign to get me to see the doctor. Otherwise I might not go visit one for another few years. So I just want to thank the Lord for his ever present mercy, our greatest treasure. We only need to recognize it.