Be the Few

        Jesus said, "How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few." This is true because many people do not choose to listen to him. But if you desire to attain union with Jesus, he will open wide the gate and make straight the road that leads to him.

Step to Freedom

        Our true status as a human being becomes clear only when we go before God. Hiding from him will lead you to a false conception of yourself. Knowing what you are really like is the beginning of freedom. 

Presence of God

        After this morning's Mass, I joined the Rosary group to pray the Luminous Mysteries in church. After Rosary, I felt peace and the presence of God. Though there were all kinds of noises going on, I had no problem concentrating upon the Lord. Even my kneeling position was so comfortable that I felt I could remain in it forever. This was a new experience and I knew that the Lord had something to do with it. 

To Receive God's Best

        Jesus said, "To anyone who has, more will be given." To those who truly love the Lord, he will always give them the very best for their good.

*Sharing His Sorrow

        Communion experience. The world is in horrible shape ~ war destructions, terrorist attacks, crimes committed by governments against their own people, people taking advantage of their government . . . the list goes on and on. The outlook on my own country, the US, looks dim ~ the mind-blowing national debt, ongoing abortion of babies, the continuing breakup of families, further suppression of religious freedom, the moral decline, uninformed voters who would vote for any candidates who promise to continue giving them free aids, the biased news media that distort and slant facts, the worsening polarization of the nation, etc. I saw the dark cloud overhead and felt the tremendous sorrow that Jesus feels. My sorrow increased to the point that I sought relief from the Lord. Still, I wanted to enter him even deeper to share his sorrow and seek more consolation. Without him, I knew I wouldn't be able to survive. 

Jesus' Divinity

        Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Peter, John, and James all witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus and heard the Father's voice coming from a bright cloud casting a shadow over them: This is my chosen Son; listen to him. It's proof to me that since the Father is divine, Jesus the Son is divine too.

Lamenting

        Today, many in this world reject Jesus and even many Christians have fallen away from their faith. Those who still remain remain with him, but not really in him. If God is not first in your life, how do you rank him? 2nd? 5th? 30th? Last? Do you pretty much live the way you want most of the time? Is the Lord only Lord in name only? Treating him lightly is treating the good news he has revealed to us, that God loves us, all his miraculous deeds, his Resurrection...lightly. Of course, to reject him is to dismiss all these wonderful things in one stroke. What have you done?

Get Personal

        Strengthen your relationship with God by sharing everything in your heart with him.

Unique Relationship

        Communion experience. Jesus is the only one with whom you can form the most beautiful, intimate personal relationship based upon selfless love with no fear whatsoever.

Only One Way

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 16, Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Again, it must be either you or God. We cannot live our life our way and call on God only when we need him. Common sense.

No Our Way

        Today's Response to reading from Deuteronomy 32: It is I who deal death and give life. True that both our birth and our death are planned by God. It would be extremely foolish for us not to let him plan everything in-between for us too.

Wasted Effort

        No matter how much pleasure you derive from the world, for sure it won't get you into heaven.

Being Truly Catholic

        A Catholic must incorporate his faith into every part of his life, living as one whether inside or outside his church. That is, the faith is not just integral to, but is his life. Being ashamed of his faith is the first thing that has to go, while attaining union with God should be his ultimate goal. 

Abandonment Time Again

        Communion experience. The bread and wine became the flesh and blood of my Savior ~ this was what gave me hope. It's now abandonment time. Physically and spiritually, I cast myself entirely upon the Lord. 

Speaking God's Thoughts

          In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 16, Jesus asked his disciples who they say that he is. Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him, "Blesses are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father."
          Later, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed... Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, "God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you." He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

        This shows very clearly that when God speaks to us, he places what he wishes to convey directly in our heart, as Peter in the first instance showed. In the second instance, Peter just conveyed his own feelings, not what God thinks. We must be connected with God most intimately so as to speak his thoughts always with us out of the way.

Time for Loving God Back

        God the Father has always loved us from the very beginning. The demonstration of his steadfast love culminated in the coming of the Son into the world to spread the gospel and undergo the Passion. God has loved us first, it's time for us to love him back.

Body Apart From Soul

        This morning I became acutely aware of my own soul, my being that I am I, and that my body is not a permanent part of me, to be shed in due time. For the time being, it is a burden I must carry with me at all times and everywhere. This awareness helps me to see what's essential and what's not, which definitely lightens my attachment to my body.

Beautiful Truth

        God is infinite and we are finite. Finiteness compared to infinity is equivalent to zero. Therefore, compared to God, we should not feel that we are important in the slightest. But God thinks that we are utterly important to him, and this is what counts, making our lives meaningful and joyful. This is the beautiful Christian truth. 

Union Sealed

        The Holy Eucharist is the sacrament that seals our union with God. Without it or not believing that it is a sacrament, you can talk about union all you want and not attain it to the last degree. In John 6, Jesus said, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him." Anyone who does not believe that the Lord is present in the Holy Eucharist should read and meditate upon Jesus' entire bread-of-life discourse in John 6.

Jesus at Our Service

        In today's Gospel from Matthew 15, a Canaanite woman came and called out to Jesus to have pity on her, for her daughter was tormented by a demon. After Jesus tested her and found that her faith was great, he finally said to her, "Let it be done as you wish." Her daughter was healed from that hour. Let us know that the Lord would say the same thing to us, should we wish with great faith. He always hears us and will act upon our request in due time.

Holy Spirit Most Gentle

        The Holy Spirit dwelling in us reveals to us that God is most gentle and sweet. It is God the Holy Spirit that prompts us to endear ourselves to and yearn for God. 

*Next Life Coming Right Up

        I woke up sometime after 1 a.m. this morning. It was dark and quiet. I love moments like this because I feel the presence of God. Realizing that my soul lives on forever as my soul, I saw that when I leave this world, it's not me leaving my body, but rather my body separating itself from me. Thus, I saw that my transition into the next life (which is going to or away from God) as a smooth and instant process.  

No Holding Back

        Communion experience. I felt so content that I wanted my oneness with the Lord to be as firm and intimate as possible. No holding back ~ it's all of Jesus or nothing!

To Excel as a Christian

        If you are a Christian and the type who would always do the best possible job you can in whatever you do, consider being the best possible Christian you can be first. An excellent Christian will do everything for Christ, automatically resulting in doing his or her best in everything.

Justice Turned Topsy-Turvy

      Jesus is the source from which we receive mercy, yet people crucified him 2,000 years ago and have continued to do so nonstop ever since! If we reject his mercy, we reject the only one who can take away our sins. To treat the one who can do justice to us unjustly amounts to dooming ourselves.

Abandonment Time

        Communion experience. The perfect time to rest and abandon myself completely in Christ. 

Dead Serious About Jesus

        I am dead serious about accepting and obeying Jesus, for I am dead serious that I shall die and for all eternity be with God or cut off from him. 

Feel the Same Sorrows

        If we do love Jesus and want to remain in him, we must want to know and feel his sorrows. By experiencing the same sorrows, we console the Lord. Besides, he could use whatever merit we have acquired to benefit other souls. What an opportunity to be drawn to even closer union with him! 

*To Know God Firsthand

        I know that when you are with God totally, he does all the hard work for you. This is how you get transformed by him. The same goes with knowing him. People search for all the information about Christ in order to find out if he is the real God, and they can never be certain. On the other hand, if you simply believe that he is divine and want to know him, then he does the work and you come to know firsthand that he is indeed real, more real than anything else you know. 

Final Point

        There is a final point in life for us to reach. You are there when you completely believe in and rely upon the Lord. Being in union with God will do it. Once you are there, you are fully ready to go to him. Happy is the one who are free to leave this world to enter eternal freedom!

Do We Do What Matters to God?

        I attended Vigil Mass today. In the Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus told the parable of the rich fool. He said, "God said to the rich man, 'You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?' Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God." Jesus wants us to store up treasures in heaven. I think we all know when we do something whether we are becoming rich in what matters to God. If not, then we'll have wasted our time on earth.

Connecting With Jesus

        If you already know Jesus, how is your connection with him? A loose one is not much good, for he deserves better. The firmer your connection, the more you get out of it. To get your money's worth, be one with him.

Our Only Concern

        God alone is holy and perfect. We can be near-holy with God's help, but never completely holy. We can be saints, but human saints are never perfect. All we need to be concerned about is to love God as much as possible through surrendering ourselves to him. 

God's Solid Promise

        Know Jesus and listen to him alone; never be swayed by the knowledge and opinions of the world. And you will be richly rewarded beyond all your expectations at the end.

Saint or Not

        If you truly want to be a saint for the sake of God, then you are a saint already. But if you want to be a saint for the Church to canonize you and declare that you are a saint, you are not a saint.

Cornered by Jesus

        Today is the Memorial of St. Martha. In the Gospel reading from John 11, Jesus told Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" Martha said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world." How would you have answered? You can answer no, but only if you are convinced that what Jesus had proclaimed here and everything else he did, including his own Resurrection, were all nonsense ~ there's just no way around it.

Urgent Call to Prayer

        The world is causing Christ great sorrows. As Christians, we must share his sorrows. Since there is always hope in the Lord, my call to you is to double your effort in praying for the world.

God's Mercy Shines

        Came across this Journey Home episode on EWTN, the coming-home story of Fr. Donald Calloway. If you have an hour's time, you may enjoy watching it, for his conversion was quite dramatic.
   

Softening the Heart

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13.47-53, Jesus again said to his disciples that at the end of age, the angels would go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace ... ~ heaven and hell are real! It is truly amazing that humans have hardened their hearts to the point that they no longer look beyond this life. A heart remains blind and deaf until it has turned to God. A beautiful heart is one that's completely pliable for God to purify, mold, and shape. Union with God is all about giving your heart to God, letting the Lord transform it as he wishes.

God-Given Conscience

        If there are no good and evil, we wouldn't need a conscience. The fact that we do possessive one proves that good and evil exist. Conscience is God-given.

God Heals

        Communion experience. I felt great love for God because he could heal my soul and make me whole.

*To Know God Perfectly

        Attain union with God with a humble heart and you will know God perfectly.

Why We Don't Find God

        God loves us. He wants us to turn away from sin and return to him to live forever. The psalmists sing so many good, beautiful things about God. They are all true, yet we do not turn to God. That's because our hearts lack humility. The greatest obstacle to finding God is not God, not Satan, but our own ego. So God remains unknown and we remain in darkness. 

Looking the Wrong Way

        Currently, people show great interest in learning about their ancestors, their genealogy, where they came from . . . much more than where they'll go after death. In general, those who love to look back will not be ready for the future. The past is gone, let it go ~ just don't miss the future.

Time to Wake Up

        Lately, I've been posting about God and Satan, heaven and hell, good and evil. On this Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from Matthew 13 we heard Jesus mention the children of the Kingdom and the children of the Evil One, the Devil, and that at the end of age, all who cause others to sin and all evildoers will be thrown into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth, and the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. This confirms what I have blogged. Why do we still prefer to remain in darkness and not face the inevitable that's going to come? It's as if we were living in a stupor. How sad and stupid!

*Blunt Truth to Face

        There is God and there is Satan. We are caught between them and must make a choice to be with one or the other ~ I am presenting this truth bluntly here. If you want to be with God, you must choose him during your lifetime. I don't think there are many who would deliberately choose Satan, but putting off making the decision is risking being snatched up by Satan. 

On the Right Path

        Communion experience. The sweet love of God intensified my longing for him. Thirsting for finding the truth had finally lead me to thirsting for the truth itself ~ I knew I was on the right path.

*We Reap What We Sow

        Everyone has his or her own spiritual journey. The Lord knows all about us, so he leads us according to how we respond to him. In Matthew 13 (& 25), Jesus said, "To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away." The perfect journey is to let the Holy Spirit lead you every step of the way. With God in command, the journey becomes a joy. Anyone who has not are those who go their own way. The Lord knows exactly what to give or take away from us. 

More than Being a Father

        Today's Communion antiphon: They drink the chalice of the Lord, and became the friends of God. To my knowledge, there is not another religion telling you that God loves to raise us to the level for us to become his friends.

Refreshing Feeling

        It is most refreshing to know that you remain holy in the world for the sake of the Lord God.