Viewing Jesus Correctly

        Some people have difficulty believing in Jesus because they view him as a man. Seeing him being so different from the usual men, they are puzzled. Of course, he was a man, but also God. If you can see that, then everything clicks into place. Looking beyond the man, you see clearly God at work.

Letting God Do His Job

        At the beginning of Mass this morning, I desired the Lord to break me into a million pieces, sift out what should not be present in me, and put me together again. I do realize that this has to be continuous desiring on my part so long as I am still a human on this earth. 

How Enemies Are Treated

        Those who are evil take delight in trampling upon their enemies, while those who love God enjoy peace in forgiving and praying for their enemies.

Love Your Enemies!

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 5, Jesus teaches his disciples to love their enemies. This strikes me as a revelation, for the teaching goes against our grain ~ so he must be revealing how he views us. It follows that we must think as he does. 

On Finding God

        After watching a short clip of the Bill Maher show on YouTube, these thoughts came to me. In searching for God, questioning at the beginning is fine as long as it's done with an open, unbiased mind. But questioning must cease at some point and let faith take over ~ this is a normal, logical process. It's clear that those who never stop questioning will never find God, since they are not aware of their finite (or rather, infinite) limitations. Back to "only the humble will find God." 

A Suggestion

        Since nothing is impossible for God, aim for what seems to be impossible for you now, such as becoming a saint.

On Poor Conscience

        A poor or muddy conscience is worse than no conscience. The possessor of such a conscience mainly uses it to soothe himself, but the guilt remains, and he remains being a fool. 

The Ultimate "Ask"

        Today's Gospel reading came from Matthew 7, and the Communion Antiphon was the 8th verse: Everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. It just shows that God hears us and cares for us. Here's one "ask" to cover all other asks: "Lord, draw me into full union with you."

Why Receive the Holy Eucharist?

        Worst reason first: because everyone else at Mass receives it (not even considering if you are in a state of grace or not).

              Best reason: because you love Jesus and want to be one with him.

Perfect Contentment

        Today's Communion experience. The union was the melting of the Lord and I into each other, resulting in my feeling perfectly content.

Highest Calling

        We must go beyond following Jesus to become like him so that we may walk abreast with the Lord.

Sin Will End

        I participated in the 40 Days for Life Prayer Vigil today. As I prayed outside the abortion clinic after noon with others from three churches of our area, I noticed the beautiful blue skies above and the colorful flowers in the planter areas below; but ugly things were happening inside the building. A Stericycle truck in the parking lot was picking up medical waste, most likely containing parts of aborted fetuses. One drive-by woman shouted at us that abortion saved her life ~ obviously forgetting to mention the termination of another life. We were also "honored" by another person who stuck out her middle finger at us as she drove off. One clinic escort kept taking our pictures, even though we were only praying. The Lord made me see that all the ugly things would end one day. My prayer was that it would end before the day of judgment.   

God's Tenderness

        This morning's Communion experience. I sensed the incredible tenderness of the Lord, characterizing his great love.

On Our Way to Union!

        In today's Gospel, Jesus taught the disciples to pray what we know today as The Lord's Prayer or the Our Father. After hearing the Gospel read, it became clear to me that when we say this prayer with all our heart, we are truly asking for union with God! Then we receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist and we are on our way.

To Not Be Forgiven by God?

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 6 at Mass, Jesus taught his disciples how to pray and added at the end, "If you forgive men their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions." What a terrible thing it is to not be forgiven by God ~ this we must avoid at all costs! Therefore, let's always forgive (and not judge) others. Even if we cannot turn around emotionally, our sincere intention must be made clear to God.

Our Perfect Liberator

        Our ordinary existence can be likened to being trapped in a cage or stuck in a rut ~ no matter how hard and long we try to find true happiness and inner peace on our own, we fail at the end. I testify to you that Jesus can lift us out of our mundane existence to live on a higher plane, free from the burdens and snares of the world and drawn into the love of the heavenly Father. Here's letting all know that Jesus is the perfect liberator for us. 

God My Lord

        Today's Communion experience. I realized that I was just a weak, finite creature with a bunch of bones and flesh. Being such, my only role should be to trust in my infinite, everlasting creator ~ he indeed is my Lord! 

Recipe for Happiness

        I am no prophet, but this I can say for sure: Without knowing God through Christ, one will never find true happiness. Unhappiness is caused by sin, our own and others'. It's true that sin is always around us and we get hurt by it all the time. But those who know Christ feel sad only because God is hurt, while remaining joyous in the Lord for they know that they are heading for eternal happiness.   

Seeking Inner Peace

        Why do we lack inner peace? Here are some causes: (1) We still don't think as God does. (2) We still have not completely detached ourselves from all things other than God. (3) We still have not completely abandoned ourselves to God yet. (4) We still mind what people think of us. 

        

All Planned Out (by God)

        I have the picture book Jesus, the Son of Man, a Our Sunday Visitor publication, illustrated with paintings by the great Danish painter Carl Bloch. Since I knew all the New Testament stories, I just left it on a coffee table. Yesterday for some reason I picked it up and, reading the complementary Scripture texts next to the beautiful images, the stories came alive. I meditated and didn't get beyond the Annunciation and Mary's Visit to Elizabeth. The Holy Spirit made me see that they were part of the miraculous events, mapped out by God to continue through the Resurrection and beyond. Once I saw that, my faith surged. What God had planned out for us was beautiful ~ it's the true God showing us the way!

Self-Serving or God-Serving

        After seeing my grandkids working so hard at school and participating in so many extracurricular activities, and many adults who were not only involved in various church ministries, but also busily making wines at home, build woodworking shops, etc.; I wondered why we keep ourselves so busy. Are we self-serving or God-serving? It turned out this was also the message from the pulpit this morning at Mass.

        Accomplishing a lot make us feel good, but doesn't that build up our ego too? Let's say I am talented at playing the piano, so I do it all day long. It's easy to justify my action by saying that I am obligated to use this talent God has given me so that people get to enjoy listening to the music I play. This may be stretching quite a bit, as deep down I really want to enjoy myself, become famous, and not be concerned about the rest of the world. There is no humility here. So what appears to be is not what it really is. In general, ambitious people serve themselves first. Common goals are to feel good, to look well to others, to get rich or famous, to get ahead in society.... Without aiming for God's glory, we'll always have that hypocrite part in us. If you want to be a superman or superwoman, then be one for God.

Balanced Prayer

        When enemies attack us, we pray for God's protection from their evil as well as his mercy on them.  

About Trust

        Today's realization is that God is in control of everything. I do my best to do what is necessary in each situation, but leave the outcome to him. This is what trust is all about. It's obeying the Lord in all things and leaving where I'll end up in his hands.

Tragedy in the Making

        I saw people concentrating so much on shaping and conditioning their bodies that some didn't even stop training after their had caught a cold or virus. This made me think that if we focus too much on anything in the world, we are likely to miss the boat at the end. God exists forever, but if you don't even look in his direction, you will miss him for sure. And this would be the greatest tragedy of your life. 

The Salutaris

        On this first Friday, there was adoration of the Blessed Sacrament after Mass. At the beginning of the Exposition, we sang the Salutaris by Thomas Aquinas. It's very beautiful, so here are the verses.

         O saving Victim, op'ning wide                         

         The gate of heav'n to all below, 

         Our foes press on from ev'ry side; 

         Thine aid supply, thy strength bestow. 

         All praise and thanks to thee ascend

         Forevermore, blest One in Three;

         O Grant us life that shall end   

         In our true native land with thee. Amen.

Power of the Holy Eucharist

        Communion experience. I felt Jesus thoroughly cleaning up my interior. 

Great Father We Have

        I pray to Jesus a lot and to the Holy Spirit too. At Mass today, I felt called to pray to the Father just as much. I thanked him for having created me so that I might enjoy him in this life and forever in the next. It is unbelievable that we have such a loving Father.

On Forgiving Your Enemy

        Forgiving others can be the most difficult thing for many of us. Let's look at the matter this way. Here's someone you dislike or even hate, and get angry about. Now think of hell, such a horrible place, where one is cut off from God and suffers for all eternity ~ would you honestly wish that your "enemy" be condemned to hell? If you do have a heart that hard, which I don't believe you do, then perhaps you should reconsider whether you deserve to go to heaven for God loves your enemy as much as he loves you. If your answer to the question is no, then simply forgive your enemy. 

How God Leads

        In leading us, God does not show us every little thing we need to do; he usually brings us to the point where we finally realize on our own what he wants us to do. This is good learning because it teaches us to remain patient and trust in him always. 

The Only Sin

        I thought of Adam and Eve who committed the original sin and got banished from Eden. And that sin was disobedience to God. To this day, this has been the same sin that alienates mankind from the Lord. Start obeying God now is the only but sure way of returning to the state of grace.  

God's Way of Love

        St. John of the Cross spoke of dark night of the soul. We all have or had our own dark nights. Mother Teresa had hers that lasted for decades! Whether it's the feeling that God is totally absent, sickness, or any other form of suffering, I see all of them as proof of God's existence or his love. It's because God exists so that we notice his absence. It's because God loves us that he sends us trials and suffering to purify us, readying us for joining him in heaven. We must welcome whatever the Lord sends our way.

Saints Can Help

        I just finished reading Colleen Carroll Campbell's My Sisters the Saints. She is a gifted writer and I enjoyed reading this spiritual memoir of hers. Even though I am already familiar with the saints she grew to love, it's good to read about them again, knowing that we are in communion with all the saints and they can definitely inspire and help us in our spiritual journeys.

Our Only Business

        Common things out of order: (1) Casting stones at others when we have plenty of our own sins. (2) Judging others when we don't see our own faults. (3) Asking for God's blessing when we don't even fully obey him. (4) Asking God to protect us from external evil when we neglect to ask for deliverance from our internal evil. Our only business should be to become saints before God. 

God's Great Promise

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 10, Jesus tells his disciples that anyone who has given up everything for his sake will receive a hundred times more in the present age, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. It's clear that giving up all to follow Jesus does not mean that all our problems will be gone. It only ensures that we'll get through this life safely to eternal happiness. This is plenty good enough for me.

God Does It All

        This morning's Entrance Antiphon, based upon Psalm 18.19-20: The Lord became my protector. He brought me out to a place of freedom; he saved me because he delighted in me. How good to read these verses! God protects me; he freed me; he saved me and loves me ~ everything is true. All he expects from us is to love him back.

The "In God" Difference

        Nonbelievers get their strength and courage in themselves, whereas believers get the same in God. Nonbelievers with troubled hearts find their escape in alcohol and other distractions of the world, whereas believers take their trouble to God and "escape" in him for solace and guidance.

Love Is Being Considerate

        If you love someone and that person does not pay any attention to what you say to him or her, you feel hurt. Therefore, listen to others who have good intentions, even though what they say might be inappropriate or difficult to accept.

Great Consolation

        Communion experience. The Lord gave me the consolation I needed. After I received him in the Holy Eucharist, I heard him whisper, "You already have me; I am yours." I felt great joy.

Faith Dispels Fear

        The Gospel reading at Mass, Matthew 6.24-34, is a great one. Again, it's exactly what I needed to hear today. When Jesus told his disciples not to worry about life, I understood that he doesn't want us to worry about anything in this life, that is, he doesn't want us to worry, period. He's really telling us to have faith in him. Where faith is, fear can not exist. 

All About Judgment

        An excerpt from today's Reading 2 at Mass from 1 Corinthians 4: It does not concern me in the least that I be judged by you or any human tribunal; I do not even pass judgment on myself; I am not conscious of anything against me, but I do not thereby stand acquitted; the one who judges me is the Lord. I needed to hear these words today. I don't want to judge anyone nor be concerned about others judging me; I trust only in the Lord's judgment of me.

How to Leave This World?

        Here are two examples with completely different focii to help you decide: (1) I want to leave my mark on the world and want the world to always remember me. (2) I want to reconcile with everyone, be completely detached from all worldly things and sufficiently pure to go home to my Father without trepidation.     

One to Hold Onto

        Reading the news today, I am greatly saddened by the horrible things happening all around the world. At the same time, I feel the love of those close and devoted to me. But good or bad, everything is passing. Whatever is good I cannot hold onto because I am passing myself. It becomes crystal clear that only God is forever and never changing, and he is the one we should hold onto.           

Feeling Secure in God

        Communion time thought. If I am God's, who can harm me? (Echoing Romans 8.31.)

Reality Check

        This is our generation. When we are young, we don't think about death and believe that we can solve all our own problems. We are confident or even cocky, but that's because we are ignorant and shortsighted. Reconciliation with God remains unsettled and hidden in our conscience. As we age or have a crisis in life, we finally begin to feel it gnawing at us. God, the ultimate reality, can never be wished away. 

How to Gain Wisdom

        The first reading at daily Mass has been coming from James. This Epistle is full of wise counsels which the Apostle must have learned from the Lord. We can also gain divine wisdom by listening to God and stop thinking on our own.  

Going Deep into God

        Life is our testing ground to see if we can make heaven after we die. It is also a time for those who choose God to prepare themselves for going there. In the meantime, how do we deal with all the problems we face on earth? We can pray to God, but problems don't usually vanish instantly like magic. I see only one way: to go even deeper into the Lord, making him truly our rock and refuge. Any other way without him will be lost effort. God may not promise us happiness in this world (as he told St. Bernadette through our Holy Mother), but he'll definitely give us the strength and courage to endure any trials and tribulations and keep us safe from all evil if we dwell in him.    

Surrender to Freedom

        Our own life is normally the most important thing to us, followed by our family and last, my material possessions. Therefore, if we can hand our own life over to God, then everything else will follow. That's why surrender to God brings so much freedom. 

Amazing Mysteries

        Today Wednesday I recited the Glorious Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. I felt that the Sorrowful Mysteries were the most amazing of all the Mysteries of the Rosary, because they could not be taken for granted ~ Jesus actually underwent suffering and death to redeem us. His love truly shines forth as we meditate upon these mysteries. 

God Is Hope

        Today's Communion experience. I, a sinner, actually received the Sinless One ~ I was filled with hope.

Love Through and Through

        Communion experience. It was the Lord who entered me. This was no mere encounter; it was union! It was consistent with his giving of self. It marked the culmination in drawing us into his love ~ no more reverting to my former ways.