Why Do We Need God?

        So that he can help us in trouble? Make us happy? Get us to heaven later? I think more important than all these considerations is to realize that we have become sinners and we need God to restore us. 

God's Love Irrefutable

        One can believe that we evolved from monkeys (not my belief) or we might not be alone because there is likely life on other planets, but nothing should distract us from the fact that God loves us, here and now, and that nothing can ever separate us from his love in Christ (Romans 8). As long as God exists, we'll be loved since God is love. 

Surrendering to Jesus Praised

        Jesus said the following on discipleship: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me" (Matthew 16.24), "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14.26). Surrendering to Jesus is meeting these conditions and entering the narrow gate and embarking on the road that leads to life. It's a spiritual breakthrough, the beginning of living a new life in union with Christ. 

Evil Spirits vs. God

        Evil spirits do not respect your free will. When one of them invades a soul, it wants to take over and dominate that soul completely. While God calls us, teaches us, consoles us, he never forces himself upon us for love does not intrude. In other words, evil spirits are oppressive and God always liberative. 

The Greatest Partnership

        God is our greatest friend; in fact, the only friend we need. With him, you are never alone. As you do his will, he supports you all the way. Therefore, we should focus on him alone, not on anyone else or ourselves. Just you and God, together, forming the greatest partnership in the whole universe.

Learning from All Things

        Romans 8.28: We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. Therefore, let us learn from everything that happens to us for the Lord to continually shape us.

Receiving True consolation

        It turns out that my last post did not express my last thought of the day. I am thinking about what constitutes consolation. Suppose I am terminally ill or in some other distressful situation and my family and friends come to show their concern and sympathy, I would appreciate that, but whatever consolation I receive would only be momentary. I feel that true consolation is received only when God is also consoled. This means that his will is being followed. The Lord is the only one who can truly console us in this life and unquestionably the next.

Our Unhappy World

        Last thought today. The quick way to achieve peace both within and without us is to believe in Jesus and listen to him, but most people will have none of that. Eventually, some of them do learn the truth the hard way when they are down and out or in their last hour. This is why the world is so unhappy, being lost for not following the truth.

On Our Fears

        I'll always remember the time before I knew the Lord how spooky I felt every time I saw a dead body or thought about death. But God changed all that. The Crucifixion of Christ followed by his Resurrection is so glorious that it took away my fear of death. The faces of deceased saints now look just beautiful as when they were alive. The fact is that God banishes all fears, not just the fear of death. The only justified fear should be that of losing God (if you can call this concern a fear).

All for All

        Communion time thoughts. God is an all kind of Being ~ he wants to give us all his love, he wants to possess all of us, and he wants to save us all! Union with us is his most ardent desire. This is why when we desire union, we experience the most beautiful transformation of our lives. Let us give the Lord our all.

Making All Possible

        Nothing is impossible with God. Therefore, when we are in union with him, it becomes possible for us to do all of God's will since it is he who accomplishes everything through us.

On Being Transcendental

        On YouTube, you get to watch many excellent music videos. On one video Andras Schiff talks about Beethoven's last piano sonata, Op. 111, which is abstract and spiritual to me and described as transcendental by Schiff. On another, he talks about Schubert, his favorite composer, and considers his songs transcendental too. Schubert indeed wrote some 600 beautiful songs. What I see is that we can be transcendental too by loving God, for performing a good deed for the Lord is as transcendental as creating a beautiful work, if not more so.      

All Potential Saints

        http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/tags/pope-francis/: This is the site "Pope Francis ~ Latest News" listed under my Good Sites, Blogs, Web Pages.... I am very much impressed and inspired by what the Holy Father has said ~ so many gems of wisdom spoken simply from his heart directly to ours. Then I think of all the saints of the Church. They range from great intellectual minds, theologians, popes, mystics, high ranking officials at one end to the simple religious, hidden or in the world, and ordinary hardworking folks in the middle, and to uneducated peasants and youngsters at the other end. Their common denominator is the love of God. This shows that no matter who you are and what your background is, you can be a saint too if you love God enough. 

Preparing for Entering Heaven

        I went to vigil Mass yesterday. After receiving Holy Communion, I saw that the more we are in spiritual union with God in this life, the better are we prepared for entering heaven. A perfect transition happens when you bypass purgatory altogether. This should be what we all aim for for the love of God. 

How Freedom Came About

        When you are in union with God, you belong entirely to God and everything you considered yours is now his ~ you are free!

Jesus, Lord of All

        In today's Gospel reading at Mass from Luke 6, Jesus let the Pharisees know that he is the Lord of the sabbath. Of course, Jesus is the Lord of us all and everything else. In Matthew 7, Jesus said, "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." Therefore, to make Jesus truly our Lord, we need to surrender to him, achieving our goal of union with him. 

True Home

        I had the home-sweet-home feeling this morning at church for Mass. We all feel good at our home, but this feeling was even sweeter. Our home on earth provides only temporary, physical comfort with no permanent, absolute protection ~ this is the difference. What I felt this morning in church was that God is my home!

World Not Knowing God

         Today Pope Francis leads the world in fasting and praying for peace in Syria. War and violence will not bring us peace as long as the human heart does not have love. And this love must be unlimited or it cannot be love. Jesus has revealed to us that the love of our heavenly Father is truly infinite ~ he is the only one who commands us to love our enemies and love our neighbor as ourselves. The bombings, killings, and fighting going on daily around the world only show how so far the world is from knowing the true God. Pray hard for peace and conversion.

In Union with Holiness

        Today's Communion experience. The Lord entered me and I felt him to be my treasure, my pearl, and that the consecrated host I'd just received was the embodiment of Holiness! This is true fulfillment.

Have We Done Enough?

        Quoting Leon Bloy again: "The only tragedy of life is not to become a saint." Sometimes I feel that I have not done enough for the Lord. Then the Lord makes me see that my sole concern should be to follow him faithfully every step of the way ~ the rest is all up to him. Again, it's how we do it, not how much we do (back to St. Therese's Little Way).

Food for Thought

        Pope Francis during his inaugural address to the cardinal electors said, "When one does not confess Jesus Christ, I am reminded of the expression of Leon Bloy: 'He who does not pray to the Lord prays to the devil.' When one does not confess Jesus Christ, one confesses the worldliness of the devil." [Leon Bloy (1846-1917) was a French novelist, critic, polemicist who became a fervent Roman Catholic convert.] In the same address Pope Francis also said, "When we walk without the cross, when we build without the cross, and when we confess Christ without the cross, we are not disciples of the Lord: we are worldly, we are bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord."

Glorious Awakening

          Today's Gospel reading was Luke 5:1-11. After Jesus had finished teaching the crowds from a boat that belonged to Simon (Peter), he asked Simon to put the boat out into deep water and lower his nets for a catch. Simon and his partners had worked hard all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, he lower the nets at Jesus' command. They caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to the partners in a second boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that the boats were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, including James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him. 

        First they were astonished by Jesus, then they realized their own sinfulness. Finally, they left everything and followed him. What a glorious awakening, a glorious breakthrough! We all need such an occasion in our lives.

Why I Need Jesus

        Jesus is the doorway to freedom and I desire freedom. Also, during consecration of the bread and wine at Mass today, I realized my imperfections so that I need to cling to him to ask for their removal. 

Learning to Be Humble

        In last Sunday's Gospel reading from Luke 14 at Mass, Jesus tells a parable to teach people humility. He says that when you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, "My friend, move up to a higher position." Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. Jesus is right because if everyone in the world humbles himself, we'll have peace in the world. This teaching is in line with his teachings on not judging others, forgiving your brothers, loving your enemies, turning the other cheek. In life, things continuously do not turn out the way we have expected due to unforeseen circumstances, unreliable people, etc. Our choice is to accept our "lowest place at the table" so that things may get better or continuously fight for "the place of honor at the table" and remain in turmoil. To be humble is hard but the right thing to do. And with the Lord's example and help, it's definitely possible.  

Peace from Christ

        As we said the Lord's Prayer in preparation for receiving Holy Communion at Mass this morning, I realized that saying this prayer is acknowledging our total dependence upon the Lord and I was filled with peace. After receiving Holy Communion, I saw living in the house of the Lord forever after this life and my peace deepened. Jesus truly gives us peace and joy when we live for him as he had promised.

How to Live Joyfully

        This morning at Mass I sensed the joy of serving God. To live a joyful life, simply do everything for Christ. 

Fruit of Union

          Learning from the Lord becomes a great joy, further intensifying the intimacy.

Honesty the Best Policy

        Anyone not honest with himself fears looking at himself. The Lord made me see this morning the truth that if we can be completely honest with him, then we will be honest with ourselves and able to examine ourselves without fear! 

How to Enjoy God

        Seek union with God. Once you are in union, you no longer have any issue with him and you are in complete harmony with his will. Now you can enjoy fully his companionship, intimacy, and communion with you.

Life of the Christian Worker

      A Christian works for the Lord. He is hired as an employee to remain faithful, obedient, and productive. The Lord reaps all the profits and at the end of the employment period repays him lavishly.

Are All Religions the Same?

       Some people say that all religions are the same ~ they all lead you to God. This is one of the most irresponsible and misguided statements I've ever heard. There can be but one truth about the true God. So we have the truth, which we shouldn't consider a religion, and the various religions. If all religions are the same, does this mean following any of the numerous religious belief systems out there is OK? Of course not, because they even contradict each other. Mind you, a religion that teaches even one single error can no longer be the truth. Saying that all religions lead one to God is also nonsensical. I do agree that any good person due to no fault of their own can be saved even if they don't know the truth ~ but why take the chance? To me, the Catholic faith is the absolute truth for the many reasons I've mentioned on this blog. I must add that to be sure of being saved, one must be a faithful Catholic, not just one in name only. 

Surrender Only Choice

        Today's Communion experience. When I received the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, it was the meeting of heaven and earth, creator and creature, the infinite and the finite, the holy and the sinful ~ I had no choice but to let every particle of me surrender to the Lord.

1st Acknowledgement to God

        Recently after I got hurt physically, friends, well-wishers, called to express their concern. That was nice, but there's nothing they could do about it. I know that some of them did pray for me, then any help I'd received still came from God. What I am trying to say is that everything is in God's hands and our only sensible choice is to put our trust in him. This is the acknowledgement we must first make if we want to save the world. It would be the beginning of showing our humility before God. Without it, the world is doomed. 

Only One Judge

        I can know a person, but I can never know what truly resides in his heart; therefore, I am not qualified to judge anyone. The Lord sees everything in our hearts; therefore, he alone should be our judge.  

Jesus Beautifies Us

        Communion experience. Jesus came, entered us, and made our souls beautiful for the Lord to behold.

"Heavenly" Expectations

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke, Jesus also advises that when we hold a banquet, we should invite those who do not have the ability to repay us, then we shall be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. This is storing up treasures in heaven and we expect receiving our repayment in heaven too! The faithful Christian does not live for this life, for his heart is already with the Lord in heaven and he expects all his expectations to be met later too.

Jesus Always Right

        Today's Gospel came from Luke 14. The main lesson from the parable Jesus told is "every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." You may find his teaching and counsels throughout the Gospels hard to accept and follow, but if everyone obeys them, we'll have peace in the world! This is how we know that he is right.

How to Possess God

        Just surrender completely to God and he is yours!

The Shroud of Turin

This short Smithsonian video gives clues that link the Shroud of Turin directly to the time of Christ.

True Humility

        I had a dream early this morning. What I learned from the dream was that we should not be concerned about if we are appreciated by other fellow humans or not, but remain perfectly content with God's everlasting love for us. 

What's Said Is Done

        During the Eucharistic Prayer at morning Mass, the priest consecrated the bread, repeating what Jesus said at the Last Supper: Take it, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my body which will be given up for you. Right then, I knew that whatever the Lord says, it's done. If the bread is his body, then it is. We must take every word he says to heart, for they are realities.

So Good to Have God...

because he is the only person in whom I can completely trust and to whom I can cry to when I am in trouble and beg for mercy after I have sinned. He is the Father!

Jesus the Coolest

        We humans typically behave like creatures that are finite, facing the vast unknown, and are constantly amazed, surprised, or shocked by what's happening. We learn about some scientific discovery and think that we can conquered the world. Hit by a tragedy and our life falls apart. Hurt by someone and we are upset and become unforgiving. In other words, we are pitiful! Now, read about Jesus in the Gospels. You'll see what he says and how he behaves fit perfectly one who is (1) all-knowing, not surprised or shocked by anything and knowing exactly what's coming to him, (2) the creator of all things, making miracles happen so naturally, his own Resurrection included, and (3) infinitely merciful, forgiving his enemies even from the Cross. As a human being, he has to be the coolest dude (no disrespect intended) there ever has been or will be. 

Transformation to Effect Transformation

        Communion time thought. Jesus transformed the host into his own body so that we may receive him and be transformed by him.

Ego, the Conscience Killer

        We all have a conscience, but to keep it clear we must leave it alone. The common trouble is that we let the ego dictate our conscience. As a result, the conscience gets muddied or even entirely ignored as the heart hardens. Pope Francis came on scene as a breath of fresh air the world had sorely needed. 

Herod, Typical Sinner

        Today is the Memorial of the Passion of St. John the Baptist. The Gospel reading from Mark 6 tells us that Herod the king married Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, and John said to him that "it is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." Herodias harbored a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. On the other hand, Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, so he just had him arrested and bound in prison. When Herod heard John speak, he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him. [Here Herod knew that he had done something wrong, so he feared the righteous and holy John. He's perplexed about John, because it's difficult for a sinner to understand why someone wants to be holy. He still liked to listen to him because his conscience needed to be soothed.]

         Then at Herod's birthday banquet he gave, Herodias' daughter performed a dance that so delighted Herod and his guests that the king swore he would grant the girl whatever she asked of him. Herodias had her asking for the head of John the Baptist. The king was distressed, but not wishing to break his word before the guests, he gave in to the request. [Here, looking good before others overrode Herod's conscience.]

        Herod might be an evil person, but all the above comments bracketed could have described any average sinner.

All I Could Ask For

        During Communion, I was at the supper of the Lamb. The Lord God was the host. What was served was the Lamb himself. As I ate, I was purified and promised eternal life. There's nothing more I could ask for.

Hypocrisy Brings Woe

        Today is the Memorial of St. Augustine. In these last three days, the Gospel reading has come from Matthew 23. Jesus exposed the hypocrisy of the scribes and the Pharisees, who appeared righteous on the outside, but were filled with evildoing inside. Certainly, a hypocritical person does not experience inner peace. All we need to be concerned about is our inside because if the inside is clean, the outside will appear clean too. We are blessed to have Christ who can cleanse and purify us, removing all hypocrisy so that we may feel free being our genuine selves.         

From God or Not

        If you imagine yourself doing some great work for the glory of God, that is not from God. If you think about yourself being totally humble before God, that is not from him either. If you don't think about anything, but serving God faithfully ~ that is from him.  

Most Amazing Experience

        To me, this has to be the most amazing experience of the human life. A sinner, which could be anyone, knows that he's in trouble because he feels the weight of sin upon him. By the grace of God, he is lead to repenting and confessing his sins. The heavy weight is instantly lifted from his heart and he is a free new being. This experience is well known to many who have come to Christ. It was recounted on a recent EWTN Coming Home episode by Fr. George Turano who were baptized as a Catholic, left the faith for many years, and finally reverted. He described the tremendous relief and elation after making his confession. Only the true God as known through Christ can bring about such a fundamental transformation ~ not another god or man has the power to do anything with sins.