**Right Focus for Spiritual Progress*

        I have always advocated placing your focus upon Christ and not on yourself. I can preach a thousand times to someone, telling him to love the Lord, to pray hard, this and that – while my intention is good, the advice could hardly be effective, for you are asking someone who cannot even make himself grow half a millimeter taller to make the effort a become a perfect follower of Christ. Let's remember what Jesus said in John 15.5: I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Therefore, we need to let the Lord do the work for us. Of course, this doesn't mean that we just sit back at home, do nothing, and wait for miracles to happen. What we only need to do is to remain open and submitssive to God first, for he cannot work freely in a closed or partially open or nonsubmissive heart. Then focus upon his power, his glory, his love for you, his beauty and perfection . . . and you shall be transformed by him without doing any hard work on your own. As always, to get results, focus upon God and not yourself.   

*The Joy of Christ

        Today's Gospel reading was taken from Matthew 9. The disciples of John the Baptist approached Jesus and asked, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast." A true follower of Christ is characterized the joy of the Lord, for he is with and within him or her always. Shall we say that A Christian without joy is one who has not known the Lord thoroughly yet? It is this great joy of Christ that converts and transforms our hearts and lives.

*Glorious Moment

        Communion experience. When the Lord entered me, I became part of him and nothing (besides my own rebellion) could possibly separate me from him anymore. What a glorious moment for me! 

**Creating Awareness of God's Presence*

        I believe that all of us who follow Christ have had moments in which we feel or sense the presence or reality of God in our spiritual journey. These fleeting moments vary in duration, but we can create them! Rather than waiting for God to grant us such glimpses of him, we can turn to God with our heart and mind completely open and desire and seek union with him. Then, once you attain union, you will feel his constant presence within you. Even when you go through the dark night of the soul, not hearing his voice or receiving any consolation from him, you still know that he is present within you.   

Obligation to Save Souls

        If you see someone about to fall off a precipice into a giant firepit at the bottom below, most of us would instinctively reach forward to try to save that person if possible. Now, if you are a Christian and realize that many lost fouls will probably meet a similar fate after they die, wouldn't you want to try your best to save as many of them as possible now? 

Simple Wish

        Communion experience. I was not inspired to ask the Lord to overwhelm me with his love, nor uplift me to some great heights – I just asked to remain in him. 

*God, Our Supreme Example

        Today's 1st reading came from Genesis 22. We heard how God tested Abraham. The Lord instructed Abraham to offer up his only son Isaac up as a burnt offering to him. When Abraham and Issac came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he bound Isaac and put him on top of the wood on the altar. Just as Abraham was about to slaughter his son, the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven to stop him, for he passed the test. My first reaction: how could God be so cruel to Abraham? Then I realized that the Lord had sacrificed his only Son for our sake! I am not in any position to question him again. 

Today's Hypocrites

        In the old days, the news media were quite honest, for they reported all the news factually without bias. Today, it's a different world ~ a lot worse, I am afraid. Most news media even manufacture fake news or distort facts as they please. For example, they would not report on any bad deed done by some politician they like, no matter how horrible it might be; but twist and magnify every fault of another they don't like, ignoring altogether his accomplishments. Holding such a double standard is being unpatriotic and hypocritical. Hear what Jesus said to the Pharisees and scribes and you'll see how hypocrisy offends the Lord. The need to turn to God now is more urgent than ever.

**Going Direct to God

          God is our Father, brother, friend, teacher, spiritual guide and inspiration, protector, Savior, creator, life-sustainer and much more. Therefore, we should be his best children, siblings, friends, students, imitators, etc., and share all our thoughts, feelings, burdens, needs, and everything else with him. The communication and relationship must be direct and open, as we are entirely dependent upon him. This is trust and obedience. Direct learning from him follows. It goes without saying that no one can teach us spiritually as well as the Lord himself. Once you know him intimately, as in union, he speaks directly to your heart and effectively transforms you into a new creature. For results, always go straight to the top.

***No Small Act

        Communion experience. The Lord entered me, with his body and blood, soul and divinity! This was no small act; this was giving me the most loving, awesome, and powerful gift, the Lord God himself! It was the perfect time to open oneself to union with him and be set free!

Faithless Generation

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 8, Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea, calming a storm from a boat he's in. Today if we pray to God for rain or a hurricane to change its course, people would laugh at us – pity they don't know that nothing is impossible with God. No wonder that this faithless generation does not get to see many wonders of God. 

*Self-Importance has No Place

      There is danger in doing the Lord's work to believe that you are indispensable to him, forgetting that he has chosen you to do his work. For example, even though I am blogging almost daily for the benefit of many readers around the world, it is really not me doing my work. I must remember that it is the Lord using me for his glory and no more. If I cannot let my blog go, then I become a slave to myself. Anytime the Lords wants me to stop, it should be OK with me. The detachment to oneself must be thorough or you are not truly free in the Lord. Let all be accomplished through or without us by the Master, for we are mere servants doing what we should do.

**Most Urgent Goal!*

        Do you know that one day when you are with God, all your worries, questions, inner conflicts, unsettled issues, emotional complications, etc., will all be cleared up and resolved, and you shall simply enjoy the peace and freedom in God forever? Hence, to be with God now and forever should properly be your ultimate and most urgent goal!

Good Reason We Need God

        Another good reason why we absolutely need God. The world is full of evil caused by sin and to overcome evil, no one can help us but the living God of love, the Father of Christ our Lord, who alone has the power to take away our sins. 

*Huge Difference*

        I know and can tell you that if you live without Christ, you are a nobody, alone and lost in the universe. If you have Christ with you in your life, you will know that you are a most beloved son or daughter of God the Father and a brother or sister and dearest friend to Christ the Lord.

Tremendous Blessing . . .

when you abandon yourself in God and he takes you completely under his wing.               

*Never Look Back

        Most of us have all kinds of old memories, some pleasant and others less so. Anyhow, dwelling upon them is unhealthy, for it impedes spiritual progress. We need to focus on God alone and let go of bygones, and you'd experience greater freedom. Luke 9.62: Jesus said, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was behind is fit for the kingdom of God." So, be disciplined and tough.

**How God Has Made Us

        God has made us in such a way that (1) we understand good and evil, (2) we can get to know him, (3) there will be no rest for us until we find rest in him (St. Augustine), (4) we won't be happy until we know we can be happy forever, (5) our joy won't be complete until we possess all of God (become his), (6) we absolutely need him, for only he can take away our sins, and lastly (7) we can discover that he loves us so much that he wishes to be one with us.  

**Greatest Joy of Giving

        Communion experience. Jesus let me know that he had given all of himself to me. So now it was time for me to give myself to him, which is the same as letting him have all of me. Giving yourself to God actually brings one the greatest joy of giving!

God Alone Gives Life

        At Mass, I was aware that my heart is beating and my lungs breathing, continuously. Even if our science is so advanced that we can produce a body identical to any living animal to the last molecule, I do not believe that it will come to life, for you need God to breathe life into it. We who are living now are all being sustained by our creator for the time being. 

Most Astounding Sayings

        Today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10 at Mass was absolutely astounding! Jesus said to his apostles: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." It is amply clear that only God would and can make statements like these. They make me fully believe that Jesus is my Lord and my God.

*Most Beautiful Moments

        These are the private moments when you and God are in union alone with no one else around. So every moment when you are alone can be beautiful.      

**God's Will Always

        We normally respect the wishes of anyone who has died whom we loved or admired. Come to think of it, if the deceased is already in heaven, then you know that he or she would want God's will followed. If the person didn't make heaven, then what's the point of respecting his or her wishes? Therefore, respect and follow God's will, not anyone else's, always. 

*The Touch of Christ*

        Christ is more beautiful than anyone or anything else, simply because he can touch our heart and soul the deepest. Be touched by him to have life forever!

Richest Person!

        Communion experience. Jesus is my most precious treasure. After receiving him, I heard him say to me, "I am yours." I became the richest person in the whole universe!

Trust Essential

        Trust is essential in a good relationship with God. In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 8, the centurion, after asking Jesus to cure his paralyzed servant, said to him, "I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed." And Jesus healed the servant without going to the centurion's house because of his faith. To trust in God is to believe that nothing is impossible with him and that he will respond to you.

Great Relationship With God

        Your relationship with God is gauged by how comfortable you are with him. If you do not hide anything from him, are receptive to anything coming from him, and even long to be with him – in other words, you are completely comfortable with him – then you have a great relationship with God who is your Father.

A Blessing!

        Before Christ was born into the world, God spoke to the Jewish people through the prophets and other leaders. I feel so blessed that I came into being after Christ's arrival so that I can get to know God most intimately, for Jesus has said to Philip, "If you know me, you will also know my Father" and "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father."

Retiring Our Free Will

        The Lord God gave each one of us the free will to choose to follow or reject him. We are entirely responsible for all the choices we make. Keep in mind that at all times God tests our free will. The only way to make sure that we'll always pass the test is to give our will to God, then we won't ever need to exercise our free will anymore.  

**Love Gives Joy

        Communion experience. The greatest love we can feel in this life is God's love for us, for it is the greatest possible love. After I received the Lord in the Eucharist, the Holy Spirit filled my heart with overflowing joy. I felt as if a might force from within my heart was trying to bust open its walls. The joy was powerful, vigorous, and absolutely soul-touching – I couldn't do a thing about it. I knew that it came from the love of Christ.

Key to Entering Kingdom of Heaven

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 16, Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is? They replied, 'Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father." It is the key to entering the kingdom of heaven to be able to believe and say truly that Jesus is the Son of the living God.

Home Sweet Home With God

        It is good to be back home, especially because I am now able to receive the Lord daily again. Away for home this past week, I attended Mass only on one weekday and Sunday in two different cities. The first church was quite far from where I stayed and the second one, to get there, I had to drive through heavy traffic and ended up not being able to find a parking space right away. So I appreciate driving to my church back home on nice country roads in 5 minutes and encountering no traffic. Today is the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. The entrance antiphon reads: These are the ones who, living in the flesh, planted the Church with their blood; they drank the chalice of the Lord and became the friends of God. It is good to be back home, but it is infinitely better to become a friend of God.

Sin Preferred Over Gravity

        Sin and Gravity are alike in that they both weigh us down. Because of gravity, we are limited to moving around near the surface of the earth. The only way to rid of gravity is to be at some spot in space where all the gravitational forces attracting you from all directions cancel each other out. It's safe to say that we are entirely earthbound. As for sin, it becomes our spiritual burden, keeping us from soaring to God. But we don't need to be bound by it, for Christ can free us from sin instantly if we let him. So, in a way, I like sin more than gravity.

Most Satisfying Feeling

        Knowing that you maintain a private, close relationship with none other than God.      

True Freedom

        Those who follow God's will are not affected by what others do, thus they are free in doing what they want to do. But those who follow their own will always get bothered by others' actions, so they never feel free.   

More Than No. 1

        The Gospel reading yesterday came from Matthew 6. Jesus pointed out that doing anything to make people think that you are doing it for God is being hypocritical and will not receive any recompense from God. If we do things to win the praise of others, we have received our reward already. So it comes down to choosing to please God or ourselves, to serve God or ourselves, to worship God or ourselves. God not only needs to be No. 1, but the only one in our life.

Treasurable Feeling

       Since I am traveling, I may not be able to blog daily in the coming week. Anyway, yesterday the entrance antiphon from Psalm 14 read: The clean of hands and pure of heart shall climb the mountain of the Lord and stand in his holy place. To me, keeping the hands clean is not to do any bad deeds and keeping the heart pure is not to have any bad thoughts. Both clean hands and a pure heart assure that you will feel good in God's presence, and what a treasurable feeling that is!

Blessed and Worthy Are ...

those who receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist with humility, love, and trust. (Today's Communion experience.)

Our Mission and Goal

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 5, Jesus asked his disciples to love not just their neighbor, but even their enemies. And he wants them to be perfect, just as their heavenly Father is perfect. The lesson here: (1) Specifically, we are to love everyone as the Father loves us, irrespective of whether the person is good or bad, just or unjust and (2) fundamentally, we are to imitate the Father who is perfect.

God Wouldn't Mind

        Today's entrance antiphon from Psalm 27: O Lord, hear my voice, for I have called to you; be my help. Do not abandon or forsake me, O God, my savior. We can ask, beg, pester, or even argue with God. As long as we treat him as our most loving Father, he wouldn't mind a bit. Sharing everything in your heart with him surely endears yourself to him.

Sole Influence

        It is easy to follow the crowd and do whatever everyone else is doing, especially when there is the chance of making money or looking fashionable, but believing that it should always be between you and God means that you let only God influence you.

Egregious Disconnect

        So many people are disconnected from God, for they are deeply immersed in the world and have lost whatever spiritual awareness they had. They say that God is dead, but I say that their own hearts are dead. Here's a human analogy that illustrates the situation. A father raises his children, loves them very much and gives them the best in everything he could. Now the children have grown up and totally forgotten about the father. They are immersed in doing what they want to do and no longer visit or communicate with the father. You don't have to be a parent to know how bad that father would be feeling. Imagine now how our heavenly Father with infinite love for us would be feeling over us. 

The Lord Making a Point

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 5, Jesus said to his disciples, "You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one what wants to borrow." These are hard sayings, but they completely make sense if you truly love everyone as God loves us, never wishing to judge or hurt anyone. Naturally, vengeance is out of the question. I think this is the point Jesus had wanted to get across. Another example, in Matthew 5.30, Jesus said, "If your right hand causes you to sin, cut if off and throw it away." Here he made the point that we are not to sin. Nevertheless, love the Lord with all your heart and you'll know what to do in each situation.

**Call to Decision

        We are trapped in the middle of an intense spiritual warfare. As a matter of fact, we are involved because our souls are the sole object of this warfare. We'd better open our spiritual eye from sleep to recognized this reality and take a stand. There is a time for everything and there should be one for detaching yourself from the world and choosing to follow Christ to save yourself and the world. That time, more urgent than ever, is now.

Peace of Belonging to God

        Communion experience. I received profound peace, knowing that I have the truth. Of course, there are still issues unresolved and pieces of work unfinished in this life, but if the Lord wants me to go to him, I just go (no packing needed) because it's his will. This is the peace of belonging to God alone.   

***Our Most Precious Food

         Today is Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. In the Gospel reading from John 6, Jesus said the following to the Jewish crowds: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world," "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him," "The one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven," and "Whoever eats this bread will live forever." If there are sayings of Jesus that we should listen to and take most seriously, these are the ones. Many non-Catholic Christians gloss over these sayings of Jesus in John 6, for they believe that the bread and drink merely symbolizes his flesh and blood. In other words, they remain ordinary bread and wine. Can you imagine that Jesus had meant "Whoever eats this ordinary bread will live forever"? It's in believing that Christ is truly present in the Holy Eucharist that we receive the power of transformation to be made fit for living forever. (All the early Church fathers agree with me on this.)

**Heaven-Shaking Event*

        When any prodigal or lost sinner returns to the Father in heaven, the whole heaven rejoices! (Now you see how beloved you are to God.)     

To Hear the Holy Spirit Speak

        To hear the Holy Spirit speak to your heart, let him enter to shape and condition your heart first and then keep him dwelling happily there.

*All for God's Sake

        Even when we pray to God for our own sake, we should pray for his sake. This is to be obedient to his will. There is no conflict here when you and he are one.

**To Show Selflessness

        When Jesus gave his life so that we might live forever, he was being completely selfless. The ultimate way for us to show our selflessness is to surrender ourselves to him for his joy. (Ultimately, this becomes our joy.)