Christ Speaking as God

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 14, Jesus laid down some conditions for discipleship. He said, "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Everyone who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple." Was he mad and being irrational? Not if he spoke as God.

**Fundamental Focus for All Christians*

        In the older days, many youngsters attending Catholic schools experienced harsh treatment that would affect their whole life. Tragically, his had caused many to leave the Church. Of course, there were truly loving and understanding nuns and teachers too, but the "horror" stories you hear a lot more. I believe that the major cause was not knowing the Lord personally well enough, for you can know all the teachings of the Church, say all the prescribed prayers, be active in ministries and still remain a cold person. One other thing I see is that children can go through religious classes for years and lose their faith in college or later. Again, the focus of the classes might not have been proper. Once I suggested sharing personal spiritual experiences with the children and the person in charge of the program didn't seem to know what I was talking about. The goal of all programs and activities should be to bring the participants closer to Christ. Even Bible studies can become so focused on history and other peripheral facts that you feel you are taking an academic course. As for preparation for confirmation and other similar programs, the ceremonial aspect gets top attention, whereas the focus should be 99% on the Lord. The strength and vitality of the Church depends foremost upon how well her people know the Lord.

Most Beautiful & Pleasing to God!

        Communion thoughts. Jesus listens to us! He makes us see our sins; we ask him to take them away and we are clean. There is nothing more beautiful and pleasing to the Lord than a pure heart filled with his love.

Feeding on Jesus

        One of the Communion antiphons today was what Jesus said in John 6.57: Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. What struck me was that anyone who feeds on Jesus will have life. So how do we feed on Jesus? To me, to feed on Jesus is to depend upon him for everything, not just for spiritual sustenance and growth. To feed on the Lord successfully, we must become branches of his vine. That is, we become part of him, inseparably in union with him.   

**Fooling the Lord

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 14, Jesus tells the parable of the great feast. It illustrates the point that God invites many to dine in his kingdom, but one by one they excuse themselves, giving some reason for not being able to attend the feast. It is absolutely true that many are called, but few pay attention. If you turn Christ down for some reason, are you being truthful? If not, then you  are merely trying to fool the Lord, which only a fool would do.

Easily Overlooked Sin

         Here's today's Gospel reading from Luke 14:

         On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees. He said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

         The clear lesson here is that when we are being kind to others, we should do it for the Lord's sake and not expect to receive repayment. This would be true charity. Do anything to get ourselves recognized or appreciated is a sin that is often easily overlooked.

Truth Prevailing

        Jesus said in John 8, "If you remain in my word, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." My testimony is that when you get to know the Lord intimately, you just know that he is the truth because he reveals it to you "automatically."

All About Life

        To be deep in Christ is to have life, life eternal, for he is the source of all life and is our life.

Resting in Christ

        Matthew 11.28: Jesus says, Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. This is one of his well-known sayings familiar to many. I am quoting it now because his promise is true, for when I rest (let go) in him, he does the work for me and I experience rest (peace).

Action and Reaction

         Communion experience. Humble yourself before Christ to the max and he will exalt you to the max.        

*Always Merciful

        Witness the Christians who have lost their lives throughout history because of their faith. We get rejected by others often in this world for various reasons, but God who loves us will never reject us. When we reject him, we reject ourselves, but he remains open to us as long as we are still living on earth.

**God Alone

        Today's Gospel acclamation from Matthew 23: You have but one Father in heaven and one master, the Christ. Therefore, obey God alone in this life (and everything should turn out fine). In fact, we should live for him, die for him, serve him, glorify him, please him, and care only about what he thinks about us alone.

*No Longer Smart

        Smart persons tend to think that they know more than God. When that happens, they are no longer smart. 

*Division on Earth

        In Luke 12, Jesus says, Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three.... This is reality as I notice that among all the families of my parish, few of them still have their grown-up children remaining faithful within the Church. If Christ were just a man, this wouldn't have mattered much. But since he is also God, the division makes all the difference, for it comes down to a clear separation between believers and nonbelievers. Believers must expect to be rejected, ridiculed, or accused in such a divided world. Nevertheless, they should continue rejoicing, for they are being persecuted on account of Christ.

*Letting God Initiate All Things

        Today's Communion antiphon, John 15.16: It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. It seems to me that when we pray for the conversion of someone, we should pray that God would chose that person. That is, we ask the Lord to initiate things. The dramatic conversion of St. Paul was a great example.

Heal All of Us, Lord!

        Communion experience. The Lord forgave all my sins and healed my wounds, but I thought of those I might have harmed in the past through my fault. So I asked the Lord to heal them as well, for this was important to me.

Christ My Guiding Light

        The world is so dark that Christ our light appears more beautiful than ever. I rejoice that I have him as my shining beacon.

God Our Last Resort

        Today's entrance antiphon from Psalm 105: Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice; turn to the Lord and his strength; constantly seek his face. These verses were timely for me to read, for I had a burden that only the Lord could remove from my heart. This is the God with whom nothing is impossible. It is good that when I feel hopeless in solving a problem, I can turn to the Father who can and will take care of it one way or another. I truly felt today that was what God was for. Praise him!

Special Love for God

        Communion experience. I felt a great love for the Lord for being able to change me and making me holier. 

**Challenging Message

        Today is All Souls Day. From the Gospel reading from John 6: Jesus said to the crowds, "This is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day." The message is plain and clear. If you have no proof that he is lying to you, then you have no choice but to believe in him with all your heart. 

God Perfecting Us

        Communion experience. This was receiving the Lord who can make you perfect! He'd make you to be like him to see things his way! It should be most exciting!

Our Ultimate Concern

        The latest shocking news is the terror attack that took place in New York City in which a suspect drove a truck through people, killing 8 and injuring 11. It's easy not to expect something like that to happen to you, since you are in an entirely different location. But all these things happen unexpectedly. The victims this time didn't expect that they would be struck either. May I mention that the coming of Christ will also happen at an unexpected time. The best policy and wise plan is to be prepared always: when you are ready to meet God, you may ease your mind over all other concerns.

Living With God

        See everything, large or small, difficult or easy, unpleasant or pleasant, that happens to us as giving us an opportunity to grow holier, learn from the Lord, and trust in him even more. After all, he is our God, Father, teacher, guide, and friend who loves us greatly. Besides, with him we get to respond properly in all situations. Let him live with you and he'll protect and guide you always. 

To Be Like God!

        In the second reading from 1 John, the Apostle wrote: "Beloved, we are God's children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." We shall not only see the Lord, but shall be like him! Rejoicing is in order. Better yet, start to be like him by seeking union with him now.

***Christ Can Save Us!

        Today is Solemnity of All Saints. In he first reading from Revelation 7, in a vision the writer saw a great multitude from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb." I want to cry out aloud in unison with the multitude to proclaim that Christ, the Lamb, can save us! Later in the vision, an elder revealed to the writer that those wearing white robes were the ones who had survived the time of great distress, washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. Again, I want to cry out to let all know that Christ can make us clean! Don't you know all this good news yet?

Peace and Strength from God

        Communion experience. I experienced profound peace in the Lord and received courage to deal with the various problems of life. The strength comes from becoming detached from the problems.

*Most Tragic Misunderstanding

        Believing that Christ who only wants to love you and lead you to heaven wants to take away your freedom and force you to obey him in all things.

Grab Jesus While You Can

        The world in deeply divided into those who follow the God of Christ, those who neither follow nor reject him, and those who outright reject him. Since we will all be judged by Christ, it comes down to whether you believe in him or not. He is our center and reference point. There will never be another one coming who is God and loves you so much that he would save you from sin by sacrificing himself. 

Dazzling Glory and Amazing Love

        Communion experience. When the transfiguration of the Lord took place on Mount Tabor, we witnessed the dazzling glory of God. When we took the consecrated bread and wine that had change into the body and blood of the Lord through transubstantiation, we experienced the amazing love of God.

Most Essential Knowledge

        There are so many interesting things in this world for us to explore, discover, pursue, and learn, and most of us are doing just that. This is fine, but all this knowledge is only useful to us in our time on earth. Our priority should be as Jesus has advised his disciples to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness first. The Lord asked his disciples, "What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?" Here we may ask: "What profit is there for one to gain all the knowledge of the world and not know God at all?"

***Thoughts on Salvation

        If anyone should knowingly reject God, salvation for him would be difficult; but again, nothing is impossible with God. Most people who believe but not seriously might be unknowingly teetering on the brink of becoming lost forever. An any rate, we must pray for everyone. Keenly aware of the horror of being separated from God forever, I must cast aside all personal feelings and wish everyone to enter heaven. Of course, the Lord is infinitely more merciful than I, so it's logical to believe that he would want everyone saved even more! This is what all of us should realize, that God so wants us to return to him to be free and happy. If you still turn away from him, then you truly become a helpless soul.  

***Worthy to Be Loved*

        The almost infinite number of prayers we say are based upon this one prayer: Thy will be done. Therefore, perfect obedience to the Father makes you worthy to be loved by him. 

***Simple Secret to Happiness

        We are unhappy because we want things turn out the way we want. So if we let things turn out the way God wants, we are off the hook and become free. Then however things turn out, we are Ok with it. In other words, the secret to freedom and peace is to let God be God, nothing more. Yes, it does go against your human nature, but your human nature tends to sin, so let God change it!

*Astute Observation

        Since God lives forever, we'll live forever too if we hold onto him tight or attain union with him. 

***To Love God Properly

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 22, Jesus gave the greatest commandment: "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." How can we possibly do so? Well, since his love is the greatest, we can ask him to let us use his love. But how are we to receive it? Answer: we be wide open to let him love us. Then his love will pour in and fill our hearts. Now we are ready to love him back.

**Our Personal God

        In today's Gospel acclamation, John 14.23, Jesus said, "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him." This is the Lord making his promise with these endearing words to every single one of us, since he loves every single one of us. You must hear him speaking personally to you. He is our God, but specifically, he is personally your God.

Where to Find Peace

        Communion experience. To rest completely in the Lord is to know peace.

**Direct Way to God

        The path that leads to Christ may be steep, but it's straight, for God does not throw curves at us (pun not intended). So the straight approach becomes the best way to get to know Jesus, which is you go straight to him, open up yourself and start talking to him heart to heart. Yes, follow him like the Apostles. Any other less direct approach is beating around the bush. Do it the right way and you are with him instantly.

God Became Man

        Today is the feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles. The Gospel reading from Luke 6 tells us that the day before Jesus chose Twelve from his disciples to be named Apostles, he spent the night in prayer to God on the mountain. To me, Jesus fully showed his human nature. We did have God becoming man. 

Benefits of Knowing God

        When you hear the Lord speaking to your heart, the direct benefit is that he is teaching you, shaping you. A side benefit is that you know you are he are getting along fine.

***God Most Precious*

        Time marches on, awaiting no one. Besides, our time on earth is limited. God will be beyond our grasp after we die, so it's now or never. Now, you should see clearly how precious God is to us!

*Knowing God Is Sufficient*

        Once you know God intimately, you feel as if you already know everything. No, you do not feel superior to others, you only know that you now have sufficient knowledge that nothing else can be more essential or so exciting. Knowing God alone is sufficient for any of us. If not, you do not know him well yet. 

Soul-Touching Love

        Communion experience. The Lord touched my soul; he had reached the real me as only he as my creator could. 

***God Cannot Be Wrong!

        Jesus asks us to trust in him – he is only asking for what we should do and would be good for us. Everything he tells us is for our benefit. He wants to save us so that we might live with him for all eternity in heaven, so it's unthinkable that he should ever intend to harm us. If you do not believe in him, it's because you never really understood him correctly, for your sins kept you away from him. It's time we correct our wrongs and look at the Lord with contrite hearts.  

**Final Settling With God*

        Everything we do affects God and he is just, but also most thorough. We forget things; he doesn't. Our relationship with him will be exposed, examined, and judged and we'll be put in the right place where we belong – the final settlement of our existence.

*Urgent Call to Union With God

        Spiritually, we must not remain stagnant, for God and his sheep are being relentless assaulted by the evil one and his followers. Science is advancing. Technology is advancing. Materialism is advancing. Atheism, immorality, godlessness, all advancing. It behooves us to grow closer and be more faithful to the Lord every day. The call to seek union with him is more urgent than ever.

*Blessed Be the Childlike

        God has made our way to salvation extremely simple, yet we "remake" it so complicated as to lose our way completely. This is a great tragedy we've created for ourselves. Jesus said in Matthew 18.3: Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. If you are childlike in nature, rejoice, for you are a great candidate for entering God's kingdom. Know that to not be childlike in trusting God is to not accept God as your Father.

Slowly but Surely

        I went to morning Mass today, parked my car, and noticed that almost all the other parishioners walking toward the church walked rather slowly, for they were older folks. Surely they were going in the right direction toward heaven. Then I thought of those who were still young, could run fast, and loved to drive fast, but were not heading the right way, at least not yet. Here's a great contrast. Shall we say that old age can be a blessing to us?

Hope for Peace

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus said to his disciples that he had come not to establish peace on the earth, but rather division, even among the households. The Lord was letting us know that it was going to be spiritual warfare and people would either accept or reject the truth. We have the same situation today. Truth does not bend, so the only hope for peace is that we bend and accept the truth.

*Giving God the OK

        God can transform each one of us or bridge any differences among us, but we need to give him our permission first, for he respects the free will he has given us. Our future entirely depends upon if we say OK to God or not.