*No Death, No New Life

        To live in Christ, we must die in him first. There cannot be new life without death!

***Sure Way to Life Everlasting

        John 14.6: I am the way and the truth and the life. No one come to the Father except through me, says the Lord. So Jesus is the only way to God. We might as well do all things through him or for his sake. First of all, let's love through him too, which is loving others with his love. This is the sure way to life everlasting! 

*Our Highest Aspiration

       To be like God should be our highest aspiration. Seeking union with him is the way to learning his ways and his thoughts. In union, you will see and feel things as he does. 

Delight All Around

        Communion experience. It was crystal clear that when we surrender ourselves to God, he takes great delight in being able to freely transform us anew. Our delight comes from feeling new and knowing that we are now delightful to him.

Why We Lack Peace

        Our sins estrange us from God – as long as you have not reconciled yourself to God yet, you will not have inner peace. Once you start to follow Christ, you learn to live and love according to his will and you will experience his peace.

*Let God Restore You

        To live with an unclean heart and a wounded soul is to live a miserable and pitiful life. Lucky for us, God is ready to cleanse our heart and heal our soul to made us new and whole again at our request.

God Heals the Soul

        Communion experience. The peace of the Lord I experience is proof that he has healed my soul. 

**Taking the Union Road

        As a disciple of Christ, you'll realize your full potential if you allow the Lord to shape and mold you as he wishes. And this happens only after you surrender yourself to him and attain union with him. 

**God Is Good!

        God is not just to be praised, worshipped, and adored; he is also to be one with us and enjoyed by us!

Power of God

        Communion experience. I felt ready to go to my Lord. Once you possess him fully, your life is completely fulfilled.

***Freeing the Holy Spirit

        We ask the Lord to send his Spirit to renew the face of the earth. The Lord is ready, but are we? We can go through the ceremony of Confirmation, but if our heart is not in it, nothing dramatic will happen. The key to preparing ourselves properly is to submit ourselves to God first. Without our submission, the hands of the Spirit are tied, so to speak. This is not talked about much probably because yielding to God is the most difficult step for anyone to take in the spiritual life, which is all about how much we let God be God. Anyhow, the Lord is readier than we are, so surrender yourself to him to let him do what you ask of him. This, in fact, is one basic principle of living the successful Christian life. 

*Drink of the Holy Spirit Fully

        Today is Pentecost Sunday, celebrating the birthday of the Church. From the second reading of 1 Corinthians, Paul writes: In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. The Holy Spirit is indeed the one who can unify all Christians and of whom our spirits need to drink to get sanctified. If your heart is not on fire yet, ask the Holy Spirit to zap you and he'll do just that – I am speaking from personal experience. The Christian life comes alive once you are aware that the Spirit does dwell within you. 

God of Peace

        Communion experience. Perfect peace can only be found in the God of Christ, the Lord lets me see.

*Good Enough Relationship

        No one on earth can understand us perfectly, but God knows us perfectly and that is good enough for us! Then if we let him in for us to get to know him well, we'll have a relationship good enough for the Lord too.        

Man's Big Error

        Believing that God is beyond reach or that he does not care about us.

Man's Biggest Flaw

        Lack of humility before God.

Tragic Reality

        God loves us to death, but the world does not wish to be aware of that.         

***Living Forever With God

        Communion experience. Every time I receive the Lord in Holy Communion, he heals my soul. This prepares my soul well for meeting him. Today I feel that he is all mine and I am all his. With God, you just live forever!

**Our Role and Our End

        In today's Gospel reading from John 21, the Resurrected Lord revealed himself to his disciples and asked Peter three times "Do you love me?" Peter responded affirmatively each time and Jesus asked him and to feed his lambs, tend his sheep, and feed his sheep. Then Jesus said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." The Lord said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. 

           For those whom God has chosen to follow him, he definitely has a role for each of them. We are to glorify God in the way designated by him. The Lord also knows exactly how we are going to die. I am not saying that everything is predestined to the last detail, for our free will can alter things. But every time things change, the Lord knows how that's going to affect our journey to him. In my own case, I know I am going to him, and only he knows when and how.

*Wise Decision

        Communion experience. I realized that the Lord created me and recognized that it is best for me to remain in him forever. (No more straying away.)

Life's Basic Test

        How we exercise our God-given free will.             

***Our Ultimate Calling

        In today's Gospel reading from John 17, Jesus prays that all those who believe in him may be one, and that they and he may be in each other. This is a clear call to union with him! It is our first and final calling!

*How Not to Waste Time*

        We attempt to do so many things in life and easily lose our peace. Doing the will of God should be our sole goal, for this stores up treasures in heaven for us. If you are always busily doing your own things without considering the will of God, you may regret later. Time is more precious than gold, for every second you serve only yourself is a second lost forever and our time on earth is limited. I read once that when you drive an expensive sports car, you should shift its gears as if you're handling an eggshell. Time is a lot more precious than the gears of any car. Spend it wisely and you'll have eternal life!

**God Most Accessible

        Communion thoughts. Here's the Lord I worship and adore, yet he lets me consume him. It shows how much he desires to be one with us. This is our most approachable God!

*Mutually Exclusive Worlds

        After hearing today's Gospel reading from John 17, I saw that we either belong to the world or belong to God. Those who belong to the world hates those who belong to God. The distinction or separation between these two classes couldn't be any greater. Again, a mental image surfaced in my mind. I see all those who belong to the world bobbing in an ocean (the world). Many of them are practically totally immersed, while others are still afloat at various depths. Those who belong to God are being held up by him high above the ocean. So it's either you are wet or you are dry.

*God Is My Wall

        Communion experience. It's easy for us to build a wall around us to keep God out partially or completely. Having received the Lord, now he's become my wall. This is not a wall to keep me in, for there is only emptiness outside of it; this is more a wall to keep me safe for me to remain firmly in the Lord.

**How the Holy Spirit Teaches

        Today's Communion antiphon, John 14.26: The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of all I have told you, says the Lord. When the Holy Spirit teaches you, you don't need to think hard nor memorize anything – the lesson is right there deposited in your heart. What a delight! And whatever he teaches is always refreshing and uplifting.       

**Ultimate Disorder

        God's infinite mercy is ours for the asking. He waits patiently for us to acknowledge his presence or even just a glance in his direction. And he longs to be in union with us! How do we respond? We ignore him most of the time. Some of us couldn't care less and some even claim that he is dead! Sin has blinded our eyes, poisoned our brains, and fouled our hearts. This has to be the ultimate disorder. Alas, any generation that forgets that it is at the mercy of God is indeed a lost one. 

*Transforming the Heart

        Again, I'd like to reiterate that only God has the power to fundamentally transform us by giving us a new heart. To bring about inner changes in ourselves, we can try hard on our own or seek help from fellow humans, but without involving God, any changes effected are necessarily superficial or short-lived. Since it is sin that causes us to lose inner peace and God our creator is the only one who can remove our sins and reach into our hearts, he has to be the only one who can fundamentally transform us. Naturally, it goes without saying that we must invite him to enter our hearts first before he can bring about any changes.

Worthy to Be Trusted

        Today's entrance antiphon from Revelation 1: I am the first and the last, the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever, says the Lord. I have complete confidence in the one who remains alive forever. Again, it's time for rejoicing!

Perfect Fit

        Communion experience. I experienced the Lord as my perfect fit, for we were most comfortable with each other. 

**Union With God Clarified

        It is wrong to think that in union with God, you are no longer free to do whatever you want to do. On the contrary, in union with God, you are free to do anything you want to do plus that you don't ever want to offend God again! 

*Common Sense Advice

        Two more or less related thoughts. (1) Unless you are certain that Jesus is not trustworthy, you'd better pay serious attention to all that he has said. (2) Since you do not know what might happen to you next, you'd better place yourself completely in God's hands.

*To Remain in God's Love

        Today is the feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle. In the Gospel reading from John 15, Jesus asked his disciples to remain in his love. Attain union with him and you'll be remaining in his love.

***Sign You Are Free

        There are still people who plan their own funeral to make sure that it would be impressive. It only shows that their soul is still enslaved. If you eagerly look forward to meeting God, you are truly free.

Our Primary Concern

        I see people with everything and people with nothing in this world. Life can be so different for different people on this earth. Then I realize that all this in such a short span of time really doesn't matter much, for everyone will enter eternity either to be with God forever or to be separated from him forever. It is the forever part that we need to be primarily concerned about.  

It Will Have to Happen!

      Today we celebrated The Ascension of the Lord in my parish. Now that we know Christ is God our creator, we see that his Resurrection and Ascension just had to happen. And I have no doubt that his coming again to judge us all will have to take place also in time.

**On Carrying Your Own Cross

       Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." Today the Lord made me see a couple of new things. First, taking up the cross is clearly carrying a burden, but the Lord wants us to do it willingly, even lovingly, and full of hope! Look at Jesus carrying his own cross on the way to Golgotha, he suffered great agony, but he never complained or became depressed. Secondly, some of the crosses we can actually ask the Lord to take away for his glory. For example, a loved one has not opened up to Christ and you feel the heavy burden. Naturally, you pray hard for him for the glory of God; but indirectly, you are asking him to take away that cross. I now see Jesus both as a cross-bearer and a cross-remover.

*Bread From Heaven

        Communion experience. If you believe that receiving the Lord is receiving pure love, then after absorbing and assimilating it you will become more like him.

**Union Privileges

        In today's Gospel reading from John 16, Jesus, with his impending death and resurrection in mind, said to his disciples: "You will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. On that day you will not question me about anything." I'd like to testify that once you attain union with the Lord, the joy of his Resurrection overcomes all your sorrows and you experience such contentment that you no longer question him about anything anymore.

Our New Movement

        I don't consider myself a political person. But I now sense a movement that has begun among the black Americans which can potentially turn into a tidal wave, even influencing the world globally. As you know, some 95% of black American today support the Democrats, although they were all Republicans the early part of last century. (To learn about what happened, it's worth listening to some of Dinesh D'Souza's talks on YouTube.) The bright young star of this movement is Candace Owens whom you can also watch on YouTube. The goal of the movement is to make the black Americans see that they should not blindly follow what the politicians on the left (who care only about getting their votes) and the liberal media tell them – which is that they are the victims and the government will always help them. The plain fact under the rule of Democrats has been that more black families break up, go on food stamps, become unemployed, abort more babies, and die from gang violence. They are now beginning to wake up, realizing that they needn't choose to be victims, that they should not always do what they're told, and that they can think for themselves and form their own opinions. This is just the beginning, but the trend is already clear.

         As Christians, we should likewise cut off listening to the world and place our entire focus upon following Jesus Christ. Let this be our new movement.

Whom Can We Trust?

        Really, outside God, whom can we truly rely upon? Our president? Friends? Ourselves? Another human being? I think not. Go through the process of elimination and you can't help ending up with God alone.

In a Celebratory Mood

        Communion experience. My soul experiences freedom, peace, and joy, proving that the Lord dwells deep within me. This puts me in a celebratory mood. 

**Most Fulfilling Experience*

        Falling in love with someone is great. Falling in love with one who is your soulmate is even better, but chances of finding a perfect soulmate on earth is nigh impossible. Now, when you seek union with God, the Lord lovingly transforms you into his perfect soulmate and you fall in love with him in the process. Therefore, union with God becomes the most fulfilling and satisfying experience you can ever have, on earth or in heaven! 

*Joy of My Soul

        Communion experience. I wanted to cry because my soul sensed the beauty of my Lord.

*Peace of Christ

        The peace of Christ comes from knowing that he has taken away all you sins and you are now heaven bound. More fundamentally, it comes from discovering that his love, beauty, perfection, and sanctify are exactly what the soul seeks. 

Best Possible Move

        God has created us to have him to be our center, and to obey him. Otherwise, we only create disorder and chaos in ourselves and for others. Broadly speaking, we are the ones who can mess up the whole universe. If you see this, then you should run toward him, your Father, without delay, and everything for you will turn out fine and then some. That would certainly be the best possible move of your existence. 

Improving Our Health

        People are so concerned about their health that they read and talk about what they should eat, how they should exercise, or even the kind of cookware safest to use. But they often forget that the most serious threat to our health are the stresses we face in life, and overconcern about our health only creates more stress. Christians overlook the fact that by abandoning themselves to God, they can actually become stress-free, thus benefiting their health greatly. God can take care of us in all things – we only need to put our faith in him.  

Sweet Sorrow

        Christians, being human, feel sorrow like anyone else, but their sorrow is always lined with joy. Once the soul has experienced the joy of knowing Christ, no sorrow can ever crush his or her spirit anymore. Sorrow normally burdens the soul, but to the Christian, all sorrows experienced for the sake of Christ are essentially sweet, for they always draw him or her closer to the Lord.

Securing Our Soul

        What is most important to us is our soul. If you can entrust your soul to God, then you indeed have faith in him and your soul will be secure in his care forever!