*Great Way to Live

        When you live for Christ, you give all your burden for him to carry. Now you follow him with ease and in joy! 

Lenten Message

        Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me." To deny ourselves involves drinking every cup that comes our way. When we can deny ourselves fully, we are ready to accept God fully and follow him.

God to Be Enjoyed

        Communion thoughts on this Solemnity of Saint Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Lord is to be thoroughly enjoyed by us. To fully enjoy him, you must get to know him well and learn to trust in him with all your heart, knowing that he will always love you and never impose anything you are not willing to bear on you nor harm your soul. Then you can enjoy him fully in peace.  

*How Free Your Soul?

        It is safe to say that a soul who is not willing to leave this world will have more difficulty getting into heaven, while one who longs to go to God will have little trouble accomplishing it.

*Top-Priority Settling

        In Matthew 6, Jesus taught: "Do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?' Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides." Do you know that if you seek the kingdom of God first and get your eternal destiny settled, all such worries will vanish? It is settling one "worry" to kill all other worries. 

**Living Up to God's vision

        When we try to live up to our vision of ourselves, we invariably fail and get discouraged. Do you know that it is much easier for us to live up to God's vision of us? This is because when we desire the latter, the Lord takes over and makes us easily measure up to his vision of us.

Heart Makes the Difference

        As God speaks to our hearts, anyone with a hardened heart does not hear his voice. On the other hand, anyone with a completely pliable heart is eager to hear the Lord speak, letting him mold him into whatever shape for his great joy.

Joy of Being Home

        Communion experience. I was in my Father's house. There was no returning home, so there was no great celebration. Nevertheless, the joy of being home persisted.

**On Having God or Not

        Without Christ, it's not just you miss a little something – you miss everything, including your own life. Not accepting him is equivalent to throwing all you have, yourself included, into the garbage bin. I may sound extreme, but God is to be had all, not discarded one iota. With God, it is all or nothing. A God who does not "demand" this is unworthy of our respect.

*A Great Joy

        Today from Luke 15, we heard the Parable of the Prodigal Son again. I and many others agree that this has to be the most beautiful, moving parable of all the Gospels – it reveals the love and mercy of our Father for us – it is what Christianity is all about. When anyone who has strayed away and decides to return to the Father, the whole heaven rejoices. One whom the Father loves with an infinite love is now home safe ~ how could the Father not feel an infinite joy? For us on earth, there is also no greater joy than that of reuniting with our Father. How I pray and wish that all those who have strayed away from him know this!

*Whom to Live For?

        (1) We can live for ourselves. This should be instinctual, a no-brainer goal. But we'll never find inner peace in living self-centeredly.

       (2) We can live for another human being. This seems unnatural – why should the other person be elevated more than ourselves? This happens when we are mislead into believing that the other person is superior in some way.    

     (3) Then we can live for Christ, an extraordinary man who is also God. In following him, we are set free! We realize that he's the missing piece we'd needed all along. Now our life is fulfilled and complete, with absolutely the best part still to come. 

On Sinning

        A nonbeliever of God may have a better excuse for committing a sin than one who is known to be a believer. A believer who commits a sin, thinking that he is OK, commits a double sin. Even if you are heaven bound, every sin committed can only lengthen your time in purgatory. 

For Rapid Spiritual Progress

        God calls us in everything that happens to us. Let him draw us closer to him via every one of our experiences.  

*Letting God Astonish Us

        On this St. Patrick Day, the Gospel reading was taken from Luke 5 on how Jesus called Peter to become a fisher of men. First, Simon Peter and his partners, all fishermen, had worked hard all night and caught no fish. Jesus asked Simon to put out into deep water and lower their nets, and over their unbelief they caught so many fish that their nets were tearing and the catch filled two boats to the point that they were in danger of sinking. Astonishment seized all, and Peter fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." Letting God astonish us does us good, for we then realize that we are mere mortals compared to the everlasting Lord. A life lived in Christ is full of surprises if you believe that he has a hand in everything that happens to us. Furthermore, not knowing when the next surprise will be is going to add even more excitement to life.

Reality of Evil

        Today's Entrance comes from Psalm 31: In you, O Lord, I put my trust, let me never be put to shame, release me from the snare they have hidden for me, for you indeed are my refuge. It's the same story today ~ always someone trying to snare you, to put you to shame. Evil exists and is real! The blessing that comes out of this is we are made aware that we need God's help. 

*Soul's Beautiful Possession

        Faith is believing in something not yet visible. Believing that the sun rises every morning is no faith – it's kinda like loving someone who loves you does not really prove that you love your neighbor as yourself. Faith in God is believing that he loves you and has done the work of salvation for you. The sun may not rise tomorrow, but you can keep your faith in the loving God rock solid, unwavering. You know that God has given you the free will. By choosing to believe in him, your faith comes alive and meaningful. Now, your faith is the most beautiful possession of your soul.

**Ultimate Disbeliever

        The Lord only gave me this thought this morning, but it's a fitting final thought for the day. At Mass we heard the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus read from Luke 16. After Lazarus the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and went to the netherworld, where he suffered torment in flames. He saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he cried out to Abraham, begging him to send Lazarus to his father's house to warn his five brothers lest they too should come the place of torment. Abraham replied, "They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them. If they will not, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead." Now, Jesus, the Son of God who is God and greater than Moses and all the prophets had already come to us himself. If you do not listen to him, you've got to be the ultimate disbeliever.

Lingering No More

        Communion experience. I was ready to go to Jesus since my existence in this world has been justified and fulfilled.

Jesus Speaking As God

        Today's Gospel reading at Mass came from Matthew 20. Jesus said to his disciples, "The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Imagine any other human being saying that he is going to give his life as a ransom for many – that person would have to be either not understanding what he meant or out of his mind. Here I see Jesus speaking as God and our Savior. His later Resurrection is plenty sufficient to back him up on all he had ever said.

Best Relationship With God

        We need God, and God needs us, for he loves us. So there is going to be a relationship developed between God and us. It is clear that the best relationship we could possibly have with God is to be in intimate union with him as one. With God, always aim for the best.

*Love Foremost

        We should worship God, adore God, and praise God. The Lord showed me that he prefers to be loved the foremost, for in loving him, all the other actions follow. It seems that since God is love, the only way for us to be like him is to love him.

Soaring to God

        Communion experience. The soul was ready to soar. Give God your soul and your are heaven bound!

**Surrendering to God Is . . .

simply breaking free from Satan. We have only two choices: living with our sins or living with our sins removed, being enslaved by Satan or being free in God, to be doomed forever or to be saved for all eternity. Choosing God is making all the right choices.        

Egoism vs. Selflessness

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 23, Jesus, in denouncing the scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites, taught that "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted." If your humility increasingly vanquishes your ego, you are on the right path spiritually. For fast progress, ask the Lord to take away your ego completely by surrendering yourself to him.

*Time on Earth Most Precious

        The time we have on earth is precious, for we only have so much time to repent to God and get our eternal destiny settled. Jesus descended to earth for the living only. After we die, repentance will no longer do us any good.

***Most Urgent Reminder

        Today's Entrance contains the verse from Psalm 13: Give light to my eyes lest I fall asleep in death. It struck me that for those who do not know Christ, they are in no better shape than those who did not know him and had died, unless they seek his light now. If we do not see the light of Christ in this life, we may not see him for all eternity! 

*It's Our Choice

        Communion thoughts. If we live and die for Christ, we shall have secured my eternal life. It's so simple, but we can make it as easy or as hard as we wish. I am happy that the Lord has given us sinners the free will (power) to choose our destiny, making our existence meaningful. It seems that if we have no say, God would have to save or punish us all, or choose us arbitrarily or by some means we don't understand, thus rendering his mercy pointless. 

*Beautiful Living*

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 6, Jesus said to his disciples, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you." There is a principle here. Today if we show mercy to others, they may not reciprocate. Anyway, we are to be merciful for God's sake, then God will be merciful to us. This is beautiful living that can be summed up as "God and us doing everything for each other."

What to Do About Sins

        Granted, not all consciences are equally sharp with some muddier than others, but we all know that we have sinned when we have sinned. The next question is what we are to do about our sins. Putting off facing God is putting off our chance to repent and beg for forgiveness, while severe consequences still await us as sinners with unremoved sins. 

Burning Love

        Communion experience. As I was consuming the Lord, his fire melted my heart. It is union taking place. The only way to be transformed by him is to submit ourselves to his burning love.

Same Old Game

        As I have said, the conflict between God and us stems from our desire to play God. Even when people look for God, they look for someone to their liking. It's like they are on the selection committee, playing the same old self-serving game. No wonder that they do not find God.

Greatest Relief of Life

        Communion experience. When I received the Lord, I realized that man rebelled against God, Jesus came and paid the price, and we who have become obedient are now back in grace before the Father. The circle is fully complete.

**How to Be Perfect

        Today's Gospel reading from Matthew 5 is where Jesus asked his disciples to be perfect, just as their heavenly Father is perfect. We cannot accomplish this on our own, but with the help of God it becomes possible. Therefore, we must seek union with God in order that the Lord may have complete freedom in helping us. Yes, by giving our freedom to God, we actually become free – another one of those beautiful paradoxes. 

God's Wisdom

        The wisdom of God has nothing to do with IQ or street smarts. Those who have received this wisdom simply know how to live a life that's most beneficial to themselves and others and at the same time most pleasing to God.       

Most Extraordinary Man

        Unlike any of us, Jesus was a most extraordinary man. Like us he did experience sorrow, agony, and physical pains, but he was always fearless, never showed anxiety, and knew exactly what to do in each situation. Hence his advice to us was to trust in him and not be afraid of or to worry about anything.

God Made Us This Way

        You may not believe in God, but know that since you were made in his image, you have the ability to comprehend who he is.

Living a Joy-Filled Life

       Fill your heart with love for God before you do anything, and you'll live a joyful life.

Accepting God's Blesing

        Communion experience. Jesus entered me and I knew it was a tremendous blessing. Then, of course, I should embrace this blessing with all my mind, all my heart, and all my soul. 

*Effective Evangelization

        Effective evangelization is not telling others what they should do, but rather telling them how God can transform us through our own experience.

*Matching High Standards

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 5, Jesus set high standards in what we should or should not do. For example, he said, "Whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment," "Whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna," and "If you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, go first and be reconciled with your brother, then come and offer your gift." Since the mercy of God is infinite (also set at the highest standard), he has the perfect right to ask us to be perfect to match his mercy.

Our Choice

        Today's Responsorial Psalm from Psalm 130: If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand? If the Lord, who alone can take away our sins, proclaims that we are guilty, then we are guilty indeed. The Communion antiphon that came later from Ezekiel 33.11: As I live, says the Lord, I do not desire the death of the sinner, but rather that he turn back and live. We see that all we need to do is to turn back to the Lord and we shall live. We can choose to remain in our sinful state or have God take away our sins.

*God Most Lovable

        Today is Friday and I prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. Realizing how much Jesus suffered for loving us made me love him even more. Once you realize that God is love, you won't be able to help but fall in love with him. There is nothing more lovable than love itself.

Only Perfect One

        Communion thoughts. On earth we look for a soulmate to marry and live with, and it rarely works out perfectly. To find someone to live with in harmony forever, there is only one candidate – Christ our Lord and God, who alone is perfect.

Act of Love and Humility

        At Mass, when the bread and wine changed into the flesh and blood of the Lord, he made me see that it was truly one greatest act of love and humility. 

Hint to Finding God

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 7, Jesus said to his disciples: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." May I suggest that if you look for God, by assuming that he is real and exists, ask, seek, and knock will help you find him a lot quicker.

*Most Understood Person

        Those who have come to know the living Christ have found him most loving and could not possibly live without him. I believe those who are afraid of facing Christ are basically afraid of facing themselves for what they would look to him. All fears of God are instilled in us by ourselves, not by God. The Lord has to be the most misunderstood person of all. 

*Infinite Joy

        Communion experience. The joy of Christ penetrates our mind, heart, and soul. It is most satisfying, yet it creates in us even more yearning for him. This has to be an infinite joy!

*Our Greatest Gift

        Christ is God's greatest gift to us, for it is through him that we can attain union with God forever, beginning right this moment.         

Wisest Soul

        This is one who focuses upon Christ in all things at all times. God will make sure that he or she will live the right life.   

Jesus Our Sign

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus told the people who gathered in the crowd that he was the greatest sign to their generation. Indeed, if we do not believe him to be our God and Savor, we won't find another in his place.