The Apostles (Judas Iscariot excepted) knew that Jesus was the Christ. That was a tremendous revelation (gift) from God. If we also recognize and believe that Jesus is our Savior, then we have also been chosen. Now we are God's own.
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
**Most Exciting Living*
Life becomes most exciting and rewarding when you go all out for God. For your discover that you can attain union with the Almighty and be transformed by him into a creature delightful to him! You can't help but be delighted about yourself too.
*Obedience Makes Perfection
The Lord is perfect. On earth with his help, we can grow to be more perfect. But compared to him, we'll always be imperfect. How perfect we can be depends upon how much we are obedient to him.
**The God Who Is Love
In today's Gospel reading from Luke 4, Jesus taught the people and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority. As a matter of fact, he spoke throughout his ministry with authority and power, yet he is never authoritarian. He is the Lord, but never lord it over us. He is truly the God who is love.
**How to Love Right
To truly show your love for someone is to respect that person's wish and not do to him what you think might make him happy. For example, my son gives me a nice gift on Father's day. I appreciate that. But I would be so much happier if he would watch some videos I sincerely wish he'd watch instead. In other words, you take into consideration of what your loved one desires. It's the same way to love God. We simply obey him, not doing what we think might please him, which, of course, could turn out to be the same thing, but the motivation is different.
Monday, September 3, 2018
**Important & Not So Important Things
I was weeding in my yard early this morning when it was still cool. It may still take a few more mornings to finish weeding all around the house. The Lord made me see that weeding wasn't such an important task, for if I die today, leaving it unfinished would be just fine. So what is important? Let me use an example. Suppose you feel that you should forgive someone, but somehow you keep putting it off. Then you are dying and regret that you haven't let that person know of your intent – that is important. Right now I feel called to share some spiritual insights with someone, I know I should do it ASAP (definitely before I die). As for the weeds, one day they might get all wiped out or get to grow madly – who cares? So you see, anything you do for the sake of the Lord then is important.
*One Reason We Need God
We cannot cleanse ourselves of sins, so we cannot become holy on our own. Only God can take sins away from us, so only he can make us holy. We absolutely need him.
**Your Lord and Your Teacher
God is our absolute standard. The saints are great, but not perfect. Anyone one, no matter how holy he might be, pales to nothing when measured against the Lord. Therefore, you may bypass all the saints and look up to the Lord only for inspiration and guidance. The Lord is your only master. Let him be your only teacher too.
**True Love, Fake Love
God loves us with a pure, unconditional love. Whether you are a sinner or saint, an unbeliever or a devout Christian, he loves you just the same. This is loving by will, unaffected by feelings or emotions – the way he wants us to love others. It makes loving the unlovable or our enemies possible. The is true love. As for fake love, the best example is provided by some of today's crooked politicians, not much different from the scribes and Pharisees of the days of Jesus. They promise to fight for you, but after securing your votes, never do anything for you. It's like giving you a rope to hang on, never intending to pull you all the way up. This is fake love, which the hypocrites promise but never intend to deliver.
Sunday, September 2, 2018
To Be Unstained by the World
In today's second reading from James 1, the Apostle advised his readers to keep themselves unstained by the world. I say amen to that because the secular, ungodly world is much like a huge mud pond – it's just so easy to get stained by it. But Christ can keep us pure and clean if we'll abandon ourselves in him. For he is our one and only Savior!
*To Forgive Is Divine Indeed
A prominent politician has just passed away and had a most prominent funeral service held for him. He had planned it to make sure that some of his political enemies wouldn't be invited to attend his funeral. He had the right to do so, but my thought is that if you are already on your way to meet your Maker, shouldn't you at least make sure that you no longer hold any grudge against anyone anymore?
Saturday, September 1, 2018
***God Forever Our Hope
God is our great hope. With God our Father, you can alway start afresh – no matter what your past is like – it's never too late – the past is gone, let it go – now you can start with God again with a clean slate – he always waits for you – you are now the prodigal son returning home – get ready for the welcome party – rejoice! – he's ready to cleanse you of your sins and make you holy – amen, now you are set to enjoy heaven in your Father's house for all eternity!
Connecting With God Intimately
Communion experience. I connected with my God most intimately, at the heart, soul, and spirit levels through the Holy Eucharist.
How do We Serve the Lord?
The Gospel reading from Matthew 26 today gave us the parable of talents. Three servants all received talents from their master. Two of them traded with their talents and doubled their money, while the third one just buried his one talent in a hole. On the master's return, the two productive servants were given great responsibilities, while the nonproductive one not only had his talent taken away from him, but also got thrown into the darkness outside. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
It so happened that early this morning before Mass, the Lord got me thinking about how we serve him at different levels. At the highest level, we do everything for the sake of glorifying him. Then we also do things indirectly to serve him better, such as exercising our body, enjoying certain recreation to get us recharged, etc. Descending lower, we do nothing for the Lord nor anything bad. At the lowest lever, we simply go against him in all things. A productive Christian will grow rich (spiritually), while a lazy Christian will lose everything at the end.
Friday, August 31, 2018
**Free and Content
Communion experience. I experienced true freedom in the Lord, having been liberated by him in spirit. I was content, having seen his unique beauty with my heart.
***Real Flesh and Blood
Today's Communion antiphon, John 6.54: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, says the Lord, and I will raise him up on the last day. If Jesus had said, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood, I mean symbolically, of course, would have eternal life . . ." – anyone could have picked up some bread to eat and some wine to drink anywhere anytime and have eternal life.
Being Extremely Foolish or Wise
Today's Gospel reading from Matthew 25 is on the parable of the ten virgins. The five foolish ones were not ready when the bridegroom showed up, while the five wise ones were all prepared to meet him. So we have the foolish and the wise. We'll all fall into one of the two categories when Christ comes next.
**Which Possession for You?
When you are possessed by the devil, you become totally enslaved and can only be delivered by God. On the other hand, when God possesses you, it means that you now belong to him completely. Since God never violates your free will, his gift for you, it means you must have wanted to belong to him, which means you've been liberated from yourself. Of course, you are still free to leave the Lord anytime you wish to, but why would you, now that God also belongs to you?
**Question for Thought
If Jesus comes right now, what would you like him to find you doing? Watching an R-rated movie? Quarreling with someone? Thinking about taking revenge on someone? Not liking yourself? Feeling down or upset? I hope not.
Thursday, August 30, 2018
*Protection of the Soul
Communion thoughts. The Holy Spirit protects us by purifying our soul. Once the soul is clean and made whole, it is safeguarded for eternity.
*Power of the Spirit of God
During the liturgy of the Eucharist, the Spirit of the Lord descends upon the bread and wine, transforming them into the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ. As we receive the Eucharist, we may ask the same Spirit to descend upon us to transform us into new, clean and undefiled souls.
***Temptation to Be Avoided
The current movie Crazy Rich Asians is a box office hit. It's a romantic comedy rated PG-13, but reviews do mention sexual and drinking scenes in it. No doubt, it's a film made to appeal to the world to make a lot of money. Seriously, if you do say the Lord's Prayer and ask him not to lead you into temptation, then avoid seeing it. In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 24, Jesus said to his disciples, "Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come." How would you feel if he comes and find you watching a worldly, impure movie in a theater?
Union Begets Peace
There will be no peace in any house if there is no unity among the residents of the house. To dwell in the house of the Lord, we must surrender ourselves to be in union with him, thus remaining obedient and pure. And we'll have peace in our lives.
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
***Key to Spiritual Success
We are told to love God and be holy over and again, and find the going hard. The secret of achieving the goal is again to yield to God, allowing him to love us and make us holy. It's being passive to God, with us out of the way. You can't get away from the truth that surrendering to God is the key to any spiritual success.
**Following God the Smart Way
To follow God on your own is hard because you are involved in fighting yourself all the time. The smart way is to open yourself up to God to let him draw you to him.
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
**Perfect Relationship With God
You are completely comfortable with God, in a state of complete ease with him, in total harmony with him. You and God are inseparably one.
***Essence of Union With God
In the Our Father, when you pray "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," you really will to let God do whatever he wants with you. If you truly mean it, you'll experience inner peace and freedom. For you are no longer concerned about this life, the coming judgment, and eternity. As a matter of fact, you don't care about anything anymore – you simply let God do what he wants with you, which is letting him love you freely, which is being in union with him.
**Yes or No to Union With God
How do you respond to God's call to union with him? That would involve total commitment on your part, which many are not ready to make yet. So promoting union with God can create a disconnect with others. This blog in 8 years has garnered not quite 140,000 pageviews. Many viewers are simply one-time viewers, but judging from the stats, I can see that I have loyal readers in various countries. Recently, besides the United States, the audience have mostly come from Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Germany, France, and Portugal. Interestingly, Catholic countries such as Ireland, Spain, and the Philippines do not show up much. By the way, this blog, being associated with Google, is officially blocked in China, but I do notice a single individual reading it consistently.
Union with the Lord is his call to completely embrace his love for you. It is the call for you to reach the highest level of your existence. To turn a deaf ear to this call is to stifle the Holy Spirit, showing the lack of a strong faith. Nothing is impossible with God! This I know, for all of you who are seeking to attain union with God, he will bless you unceasingly. To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich (Matthew 13. 12).
Monday, August 27, 2018
**Root Cause of Restlessness
Today is the Memorial of Saint Monica. Communion thoughts. We humans are restless when we do not know what life is all about and what's going to happen to us after we die. After receiving the body of Christ in Holy Communion, I experienced deep inner peace because I had reconciled to God my Father and knew that I'd be returning to him soon. Both my destiny and destination are set. All the trials and tribulations I experience on earth are passing, but the bliss in heaven shall never end. Inner peace stems precisely from knowing all this for certain. Without this knowledge, the outcome is restlessness.
Sunday, August 26, 2018
On Saying Prayers
There is a difference between begging God for favors and offering to do something for God. We hear too many prayers said asking the Lord for this or that, which is fine and proper; but they should be balanced by prayers offering ourselves up to God in some way, as giving is always considered better than begging. Granted, the latter type is better said in private. Nevertheless, whatever prayer we say, the goal must be clearly to glorify God.
**Sign You Are Not Ready for God
God already knows everything about you – are you happy about that? There is a difference between knowing that he knows everything about you and and being happy that he knows everything about you. If you are not happy about it, you are not ready for him yet.
*God's Joy
Communion experience. Today I experienced the joy of total submission to Christ. Like all other joys that come from the Lord, it was so overwhelming and sweet as to make me want to cry. That was truly weeping for joy.
Time for Surrendering to God
When you can proclaim "My Lord and my God" to Christ truly from your heart as Thomas did, you are ready for surrendering yourself to him.
**Power of Truth
Jesus is demanding in the sense that he sets the highest standards for us, yet amazingly he makes us fall deeply in love with him. Such is the power of love and truth!
You Reap What You Sow
Make God #1 in your life and you'll be richly rewarded. This not only makes sense and is logical, it is also true as I can amply testify.
**The Discipline of Love*
To love someone or God is to please the one you love. Therefore, you must will to do what pleases that person or God, not letting your personal feelings get in the way.
Saturday, August 25, 2018
Power Experience
Communion experience. The Lord transformed the bread and wine into his body and blood, and we were transformed through healing of the soul by receiving him into union with us.
Ultimate Trust
Yesterday was the Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle. Communion thoughts. To give our soul to God goes beyond giving our heart to God. For while we use the heart to communicate with the Lord, the soul is the very essence of our existence. To entrust our soul to God's care is to trust in him ultimately.
**Start With Yourself
We must trust God in all things. And it's important to know that all things include yourself! In fact, you should start with yourself. After all, if you cannot put yourself entirely in God's hands, how can you say that you trust him in all things?
**No Limit to Loving God!*
When it comes to loving God, you cannot remain content, for you can never love him enough. Another reason for seeking to attain union with him.
***Secret to Loving God
Jesus tells us to love our enemies. How is this possible? When Jesus went on the cross to die for us, it's not exactly a pleasant experience. How was that possible? We see that to love others is to do God's will. And to accomplish that, we must exercise our own will. Therefore, to love our enemies, we must will to do that, even if it's going to go against the grain. Christ willed to do the Father's will, even if he had to undergo the Passion. So, following God becomes sheer obedience – you sweep aside your natural feelings. This is the secret of success to loving God.
Tragedy in the Making
It is lamentable to see someone who does not take God seriously, living as if God doesn't care about him nor will there be any final judgment. This is risking losing the soul, the most precious part of our existence!
Christ Our Perfect Lord
Among all the human beings who have ever lived or are still living on this earth, there is only one who lived the most selfless life for love alone. And he happens to be our God and Savior – rejoice!
Being Thorough With God
To think that it's OK to commit a minor sin as long a you do not commit a serious sin is only fooling yourself. To get to heaven, we must be sorry for every sin we have committed against God, no omission allowed.
God Is Our Liberator
The more firmly you hold onto yourself, the more surely you are continuing to sink. For only God can free you from the grip of the world and this life to uplift your spirit heavenward.
All Came From God
It was August 15, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Communion experience. I offered to God the love he'd given me to love him.
*God Is Real
Since the Lord God created me, he can transform me inside and out. The effect I feel within me is direct proof to me that the Lord is my creator and the truth. In other words, not knowing the Lord does not in anyway prove that he does not exist, but knowing him is proof in itself that he exists.
*God Forever Present
Without God, I wouldn't be here now. In fact, without God there will be absolute nothing! And only God can make it possible for me to conceive of my own existence as well as of nothing. God must precede all things.
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