God and Sin Go Together

        It's easy for people to turn away from any sin they know they have committed, but not looking at the sin does not mean that it's gone, just as not looking at God does not make God go away. Delaying facing reality is nothing but fooling oneself. When one is ready to deal with sin, he is also ready to turn to God. It is because of sin that God came to us!   

Our First Concern

        Communion thought. The Lord doesn't want us to think much about how we can serve him; instead he wants us to focus first upon our own spiritual growth, for when we are holy, we shall clearly know his will.

On Being Meek and Humble

        If you are meek and humble, you are perceived to be weak in this world. But Jesus himself said that "I am meek and humble of heart" and "The greatest among you must be your servant." Therefore, being meek and humble is not a matter of being strong or weak, but one of being right or wrong, as it's God's way.

Existence on High

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 3 at Mass, Jesus appointed the Twelve, whom he named Apostles, that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach. We who believe in Jesus have also been called to be with him and serve him. Any calling from the Most High has to be the highest calling. With it we now have the great responsibility to live up to the highest standards. If we remain faithful, we shall be rewarded highly in the end. All in all, following Jesus is the highest mode of human existence.

Our National Tragedy

        This week Walk for Life is taking place in Washington, D.C. and on the West Coast. Today at Mass, we celebrated the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children on this 42nd anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. The legalization of abortion has been the most tragic decision made by the Supreme Court of this land. Jesus said that the greatest love is to lay down one's life for one's friends (John 15.13). Abortion is the very opposite: to exterminate the life of another (in this case a totally innocent, defenseless child) at one's will. Since Jesus is the Word of life, whoever believes in abortion has to be anti-Christ. While I ask God to bless America, I am also weeping for her.                                             

Perfect Life Goal

        Be what God wants you to be and do what God wants you to do.        

Obedience Brings Healing

        Today the Lord made me see that as long as we obey him, he will continually heal us to keep us fit in serving him.

Awareness of God's Presence

        Being aware of God's presence is a great gift from the Lord. In the early days when I first accepted Christ into my life, I did not in any way sense his presence ~ I was only intellectually convinced and emotionally ready. Later I did sense his presence, but those moments were brief as a flash of light. When I got involved in the Charismatic Renewal movement within the Church, the Holy Spirit made his powerful presence known to me for years. After I phased out of the movement, I no longer acutely sensed God's presence, but always knew that he was with me. Even through dark periods, I knew that God was just being silent, not absent. Now I happily enjoy the Lord's presence within and around me at all times, as certain as anything I see or touch.    

Mutual Guarding

        When your are aware that Jesus the Lord dwells within you, you remain holy to guard him in the sense that you do not want him to get offended in any way. You could also view this as the Lord guarding you against committing any sin. 

Our Big Sin of Omission

        The world is full of sinners. After I came into the world, I was greatly influenced by my family members, classmates throughout my school years, other friends, and later work associates. Of course, the news reports, secular magazines, movies and other forms of entertainment . . . had all affected me. In the end, I was as sinful as the average person. Sinning seems to be the norm now. But sin is to be abhorred if we ever want to honor God and be free. Nor waking up to let all know that sinning is OK is continuing committing this sin of omission.     

Going Straight to God

        Communion time thought. Since God is the sole creator of all things, we should go straight to him with all our problems and desires. He is to be our most intimate and trusted companion. Following him thus ensures rapid spiritual growth.

Another Look at God and Us

        We should realize that all things come from God ~ our life, physical body, intelligence, reasoning power, aesthetic sense, humor, free will . . . and a conscience. Without God, we would be nonexistent! Therefore, we are to be grateful, reverential, and most of all, obedient to him ~ any other way would be wrong. If we do stray away from God, his gifts of conscience and freewill properly used will guide us back to him.

God Is Real!

        Atheists claim that God was invented by believers to satisfy their needs. I know I did not invent Jesus Christ. Saying that he was invented by a bunch of people is like saying all the news I read today online were made up by a bunch of reporters. God, being spirit, cannot be proved scientifically, only my personal experience leaves me with no doubt that Christ is the Lord God. The fact that he can transform a sinner into a saint has to be sufficient evidence! Who else but God can take away all your ego?

Ego As a Cage

        Ego seems to be my "favorite" subject that I must have mentioned over a hundred times in this blog. Today I see ego as a cage that imprisons us. As long as you remain in your ego, you are not free. To remove this cage, you'll absolutely need God's help. Once it is removed, you no longer are concerned about yourself and you are free.

What's Wrong with Us?

        Man and God can fit together perfectly: we need God for survival now and living forever later, and God loves us and wants to renew us now in preparation for our imminent return to him ~ yet we still hold back, remaining stubborn and not giving in. Are we being hubristic or just plain stupid?

A Plan for Peace

        I attended a funeral earlier today. I suppose it's a worldwide custom to eulogize the deceased at his or her funeral. If we all speak well of each other while we are still alive, the world would be a much more peaceful place.

Loneliest Creatures

        Today there was no thought to post; all the more I realized that the Holy Spirit had been the provider of all my thoughts. When he dries me up, it will be time to stop blogging. Only one quick thought came to me that made me want to do this post. It was that without God, we would be the loneliest creatures in the universe, no matter how busily we keep ourselves occupied in this life. 

Source of All Sins

        Not believing that God is love or rejecting his love for you.

Solving the Riddle of Life

        Life is all about reconciliation with God. If you play your own god, your life will be chaotic. If you surrender to God, everything settles down in peace. It's either you or God ~ your choice.

Fear Ourselves, Not God

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 2 at morning Mass, Jesus forgave the sins of a paralytic for the faith he saw in him, and healed him too. In yesterday's reading from Mark 1, a leper begged Jesus to make him clean and Jesus, moved with pity, healed him. Here's our Lord who always listens to our requests and is always gentle and ever ready to forgive when we believe in him. There is really no need to fear the Lord but ourselves. For if we do not believe in him, we cut ourselves off from him.   

Eucharistic Power

        Today's Communion experience. The Holy Eucharist entered me, healing my soul by purifying him.

Formula for Peace

        Jesus teaches us not to judge others. He wants us to examine ourselves first before criticizing anyone. Chances are once we see our own faults and sins, we'll be kinder to others. Some saints say only good things about others, never the bad. In sum, God wants us to mind our own business by becoming holy and blameless, and never attack others in any way. This is truly the formula for peace in the world for us.

On Entering the Next Life

      If you know Jesus intimately in this life, he will be expecting you when you enter your next one and the transition will be joyful and smooth ~ of this I am certain. If you've been misguided in this world but are a good person, I believe that the Lord will still clear up your confusion upon your entrance and save you. But if you choose to remain lost in this life, you risk being lost forever.

No Fear in Love

        Today's Reading 1 at Mass came from 1 John 4. The last two and a half verses are beautifully true: 

       God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not perfect in love. 

        

         Attain union with God and experience everything St. John has said here.

Know God and...

you will know yourself and everything else as well.

On Charlie Hebdo

        I just read the latest news on Charlie Hebdo ~ the magazine has published a new issue depicting the Prophet Muhammad again, prompting fear of further attacks from extremists. All I can say is that there is a time to be defiant and a time not to, depending upon whether it glorifies God or not. Christians should at least remember Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in which one of the Beatitude reads: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Going with God

        If abandonment to God means no barriers whatsoever between you and God, then loving others must not make exceptions. Going with God is exciting because it's going all the way (bobsledding with God?). 

Sad State Observed

        The result of not abandoning ourselves to God is the constant battling among the over 7 billion souls on earth with each one wanting to be a little god ~ a sad state of affairs. 

Abandonment to God

        When we came into the world, we were totally in God's hands. When we die, we put ourselves in his hands again. In the meantime, why don't we put ourselves in God's hands too by abandoning ourselves to him? Total abandonment removes all barriers between God and us, setting our spirit free. This is liberation of the highest order!

Is Jesus Your Shepherd?

        Today's Gospel acclamation, John 10.27: My sheep hears my voice, says the Lord. I know them, and they follow me. Therefore, if you do not hear Jesus speaking to your heart, do not feel that he knows you, or do not follow him when you hear his voice, then you are not quite his sheep yet.

Don't Limit God

        Since God is infinite in every way, ask for big things from him. Offhand, I beg him to save every single living soul in the world and make the size of my faith much bigger than that of a mustard seed (see Matthew 17.20 or Luke 17.6). Nothing is impossible with the Lord, so be bold and ask big.

Know Jesus and...

you will be ready for anything.

A Quantum Leap!

        I heard verse 5a from Psalm 8 read at Mass this morning: What is man that you are mindful of him? I was alone in this vast universe, lost and helpless on this little planet Earth. Then Christ came to me and all things changed ~ now I coexist with God and will be one with him forever! What am I that he is mindful of me? It is love, of course. I can't call this my stroke of luck because God had wanted it and everyone else can have it too. But it is definitely the greatest cause for my rejoicing!

Decluttering the Mind

        You waste you mind when you fantasize, entertain impure thoughts, get nosy about others' affairs, worry about many things, harbor ill feelings toward others, or get interested in things nonessential for you to know. One gift you receive in union with God is the decluttering of the mind ~ now only uplifting and loving thoughts fill the mind, enabling you to enjoy God in peace. A beautiful gift! 

Is Life Fair?

        If this is the only life we live, life is definitely unfair. But our life does not end with this one ~ the soul lives on and will end up in either heaven or hell forever. In this case, "how fair or unfair our brief life on earth is" is no longer relevant.  

Taking Advantage of God's Proximity

        At the mini-treat last Saturday I mentioned earlier, Father M talked about the Holy Family of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. We were made to see that if God were to live in our family, we would surely all be holy too. Then why not let the fact that God dwells within us after we receive Holy Communion at Mass make us holy as well?

Joy That Liberates Us

        All the pleasures of the world you can derive from sex, food, alcohol, bodily comfort, material possessions, fame . . . cannot liberate us. In fact, once we are addicted to any of them, we become burdened and enslaved. But the good news is that once you experience God's love and are overwhelmed by his holiness, all the worldly pleasures lose their appeal and your new joy sets you free. 

To Worship God Properly

        God is to be worshiped, I think we all know that. But do you also know that to worship God properly requires surrendering ourselves to God completely?

To Be Receptive to Christ

        I feel sorry for so many people who are so in this world as if they are going to be here forever. They create their own problems due to not knowing what life truly means. If you try to tell them about Christ, they just do not get it. This makes me realize that to be receptive to God, one must (1) realize that he is a sinner and (2) feel the need for God. If that time is not here yet, all you can do is sow a seed now and keep praying for the person.  

Life Needs God

        At church this morning, I learned that three youths of our community met their tragic deaths around 2 a.m. yesterday when a possibly drunk driver in a black vehicle with lights off going the wrong way hit their car on the freeway. This is as unexpected as being hit by a tsunami or a roadside bomb. Life can be here this moment and gone the next ~ all the more we need to place ourselves completely in God's hands. When you pray, I would appreciate very much that you remember them all, including the surviving hit driver who is now hospitalized.

Adoption Time

        It is through the Holy Spirit that we cry out, "Abba, Father!" as adopted children of God (Romans 8, Galatians 4). Anytime you feel compassion toward someone, that's the Father wanting to connect with you. If you don't know him yet, this would be a perfect time to ask him to adopt you.  

Honor Your Parents

        Jesus repeatedly denounced the scribes and Pharisees by saying "Woe to you, you hypocrites." If your parents are still living, honor and love them. for neglecting them now and showing up at their funeral to say something nice about them is being hypocritical. 

The Nearness of God

        I attended a mini-retreat this morning at a local seminary and we had Eucharistic adoration after Mass. Seeing the Eucharist displayed on the altar perhaps not more than 10 feet away, I was amazed that my God was so close to me that he even physically entered me earlier to become one with me!

What Would Jesus Have Done?

        With the Charlie Hebdo attack still fresh in my mind, I asked Jesus what he would have wanted me to do if he had been irreverently mocked by the magazine. I heard the Lord say, "Forgive and pray for them ~ they know not what they do," echoing the first words he spoke in his final hours on the cross. 

Only One Desire

        There is only one desire you need: Desire God only and give all your other desires to him.

Home with Jesus

       Communion experience. I am home because I already have Jesus ~ now I can let everything else go.

Trusting in God at Its Best

        In this chaotic, disordered world, we can feel helpless, wondering what we can do to make the world a better place. Don't get discouraged when sometimes all you can do is performing a little gesture such as a smile. Do your best to love and let God take care of the rest. This is trusting in God at its best.  

Proper Order of Concern

        We possess three conditions: the spiritual, the mental, and the physical. We tend to be concerned about our physical well-being the most and our spiritual well-being the least. It's proper to reverse this order, for it's only when we are spiritually fit are we fit to deal with mental and physical problems, not the other way around.

Choosing "a" God

        There is only one God, but there are numerous conceptions of him out there. Personally, I would choose the God who is love, teaching us to never judge, always forgive, and love even our enemies, and has demonstrated this love by coming down to us from heaven in person and dying on the cross for our salvation. Any other "versions" of God that fall short of this one, I can not and will not accept.

Wake Up to Death

        Another young man I used to know has died of cancer. People around the world are tragically getting killed everyday ~ look at the current Charlie Hebdo incident. We all know that we are going to die one day, yet so many of us still live as if they are going to live forever. Perhaps they are afraid to face death? Anyhow, to wake up to death is to face reality. Then know God through Jesus the Son and you'll live forever, making death a nonissue.