*Going to the Source

        If you want to experience love, freedom, peace, and joy, just enter the Lord God of Christ, for he is the source of them all. I am a living testifier. If you don't believe me, you can always find out for yourself.

*Breakthrough in Accepting Truth

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 10, Jesus blessed the children and said to his disciples, "The Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it." I heard all this before, but today it came to me like a revelation, or perhaps more appropriately, a re-revelation. Naturally, I wouldn't be so naive as to accept everyone I come into contact in the world like a child, but if you are dealing with truth, you should and must believe like a child. And Christ is the only absolute truth out there! So I see accepting and believing in him wholeheartedly as a breakthrough! When you embrace truth like that, it itself is something very beautiful.

***Way to Live!

         A summary of what I've been trying to say all these blogging years: 

        

        We do what we can and let God do the rest. We let the Lord know everything and get him involved in everything. This shows that we trust in him. Basically, we let the Lord take over and we help him on the side, you might say, to accomplish his will. You no longer worry about anything, since you just follow. This is absolutely the way to live. But if you have trouble letting go, it's not for you yet. Seek to attain union with God (taking the fast track), then you'll be there.

*Settled for Eternity!

        Communion experience. Receiving the Lord is not like signing some contract to be with him for a certain period of time; it is to be bonded with him for all eternity! My future is settled forever – how can I not feel elated?

Challenge to Nonbelievers

        To those who still do not believe in Christ yet, I challenge you to write down all the reasons why you do not believe. Then review your reasons to see if they are valid or not and what made you give them. This should be illuminating. When you examine the Lord, you reveal yourself too.

***How to Know God

        The Lord made me see that he is everywhere, always waiting for us. If you approach him with the wrong expectation or attitude, you won't find him. Your best chance is to look for him humbly deep in your own heart. We sense or feel his presence only because we are open to him and desire him – that's it. God does not hide from us; it's us who hide from him!

**Our top Priority

        Not offending God must take top priority over all other concerns, including whether we offend others or not.

*The Sin Issue*

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 9 (in particular verses 42-48), Jesus makes it clear that we are not to sin. And since we all know what sin is, we'd better take the Lord seriously. Do we really want to offend the Lord all our life? Dealing with sin is our most pressing issue, for sin is the root of all evil, causing unrest, chaos, disorder, and ultimately, the likely loss of our own soul. If we can surrender to Christ, the problem is solved. But people are not willing, so the struggle continues on. The same old story of the fallen human race I am rehashing now in hope of waking more people up.

**Contrary Facts

         This is bases upon a post of November 10, 2016.

        Those who live for the world will die with the world. Those who die for God will live with God.

**Be Warriors for Christ

        There are two parts to the spiritual life, equally important. We must not sin and be holy, and we must be fired up interiorly to fight evil and save souls alongside the Lord. It's a double-barreled approach. All warriors for Christ must go all out, pulling no punches, on the battle field.

**All Through Jesus!

        Today's Gospel acclamation, John 14.6: I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no on comes to the Father except through me. Normally, I notice the first part of this verse, but this morning the second half hit me – we all must go through Christ to God the Father. In other words, he is God the Son. Also, Jesus says elsewhere that if we have seen him, we have seen the Father, for he and the Father are one. Rejoice that on earth, we can link completely to our God and become one with him – unbelievable! 

***No Retreat Possible***

        Do you know that we can only march forward toward God to ensure the safety of our soul? There is no place behind us to retreat to except hell.

*Don't Be a Sinner Also

        If someone sins against you and you do not forgive him, you become a sinner too.

**Getting Close to God (repost)

        I found this post of May 23, 2016. It's worth to be reposted.

        "The only way to get close to God when we are still on earth is to remain open to him – we cannot do more than that. The rest has to come from God alone." 

**Into the Lord

        Communion experience. The Lord defends me! I wanted him to remake me for his (and my) pleasure.

***Putting Both God and Ourselves Down

        We talk about and quote the saints a lot. Why don't we talk about that we should and can be saints ourselves?     

How to Be Great

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 9, the disciples of Jesus were discussing among themselves who was the greatest. I believe at that time they had followed the Lord long enough to see that he was great, but still did not know what being great truly is yet. Jesus heard them arguing, came over and said to them, "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all." Now I think they were beginning to get it.

*You Can Be Superior

        We have people in the world who are talented, good-looking, have wealth and fame . . . they seem to be in an advantaged position. Know that if you know and have Christ, you should not ever feel that you are disadvantaged in any way. In fact, you are in a superior position. Of course, this is not something to speak publicly about, for it is more or less a secret between you and the Lord. But you must feel happy about it if the Lord is pleased with you. 

Prayerful Life Is Must

        In today's reading from Mark 9, Jesus healed a boy with a demon his disciples could not drive out. Jesus told them that this kind could only come out through prayer. It shows that prayer is most powerful because God hears us and is most powerful. Pray and trust is all we need to do to get through this life to eternal life.

Always Go to the Lord

        Here is Fr. Mark Goring's latest post. I say amen to his message. God and his word are what we should always go to first. Best yet, attain union with the Lord and hear him speak to your heart directly.

God Lives Up to His Standards

        The teachings of Jesus are difficult for us to follow unless you truly know him well, as in union with him. In reading the Gospels, you actually see that the Lord practiced what he preached to the letter. This further convinces me that he is God, even though I already know. 

Following the Lord

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 6, Jesus gave the teaching on love of enemies and judging others to his disciples. It showed me clearly that we should love everyone, enemy or friend, and expect nothing back. It goes beyond mere oneway giving, for we are to accept being hated, mistreated, struck, or robbed. This is extremely difficult us to follow. Then I realize that for the love of God, we must at least have the intent to follow him. Doing all this for the Lord is really not that much relative to how much love we receive from him. 

**Eucharistic Miracle

        On Nov. 20, 2015, I posted about this miracle which took place in Buenos Aires. The video had been deleted, so I am posting a different one with Fr. Mark Goring reporting. The other video showed photos of the bleeding Host, but Fr. Mark tells the story so well that you do not miss the images. 

What Life Is Like (revised repost)

        You hear said "Life is like a dream," but I think it's more like a movie. A dream is rather ethereal, whereas a movie is a succession of scenes which you can direct and edit to achieve the desired ending. Watch this Catholics Come Home "Movie of Your Life" commercial to see what I mean.

To Follow in Faith

        God wants us to follow him in faith. Otherwise, he would show us instantly what he wants us to do each time and reveal the purpose of it all. Trusting in him with a strong faith is what he wishes.

*Missing the Boat (repost)

        I have been going over my old posts, trying to extract the short to the point sayings from them. I came across this one of September 10, 2015. I hope you'll like it as much as I do.

          "Not knowing Jesus is missing the boat that happens to be paradise."

**Fearing Ourselves (repost)

         This post of June 26, 2015 is worth reposting. I have shortened it to make it more succinct.

        "No need to fear God, for he loves us. No need to fear the evil one, for we have God. Fear only ourselves, for our eternal destiny depends upon if we choose God or the evil one."

To Know You've been Chosen

        Today is the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, Apostle. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 16, Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter said in reply, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." If you honestly believe as Peter did, then you have been chosen and called to be the Lord's disciple too. Now, follow him.

Letting God Have His Freedom

        I arrived at Mass this morning as an empty vessel, a blank canvas, ready for God to fill me with and make me look like whatever he wished.

***How to Love God?

        I was on the tread mill when this question came up and the answer came to me instantly: by unloving ourselves. As long as we love ourselves more than we love God, we do not really love him much. If we can love only him, 100%, then we become free. I have just revealed this simple truth to you. To me, compared to Einstein's E = mc² equation, it's simpler, but in a way even more profound and astounding. 

God Ours for the Asking

        There is a spiritual world out there. Before I became a Christian, I'd watched people inviting some spirit to come and it just showed up almost instantly. In this country, people who play the ouija board can tell you about this. Of course, those are all evil spirits you cannot trust. The point I want to make is that the Lord God, our creator, is the greatest and most holy spirit. Naturally, if you invite him to come into your life, your heart, he would do just that. Yes, he who loves you is yours for the asking. And he will protect you from all evil.  

An Unavoidable Question

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 8, Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" We must ask ourselves this same question and know the right answer, and live what we profess to believe in. Again, no escape here. And believing in Jesus must be followed by following him until we know him at least as much as we know ourselves. (Yes, it's possible to know and love Jesus more than you know and love yourself.)

**The Unavoidable!

        The world is burying it head in the sand, trying to avoid something that is absolutely avoidable. And that thing is, every one of us will face our God and be judged one day soon; there will be no escape! So I am very concerned about all the souls. I have already woken up and know where I am headed, a great feeling. If you do not pay attention, you are drifting into oblivion, not good. 

*Living Without Anxiety

        I learned another lesson. God does not want us to be anxious about anything, even if we are doing his work. (Actually, a faithful follower will always be doing his work.) Not to be specific, I've been doing something I sensed to be what he wanted me to proceed, so I started working hard at it, disrupting even my daily routine. Last night I had a bad dream about that which made me lose my peace. I now realize that to do God's work diligently does not mean pushing it as hard as I can. Our Lord waited 30 years before the time was ripe for him to start his ministry. So I must enjoy living, trust in my God, take one step at a time following him, and never set myself any rigid time schedule in advance to follow.

Monkey Our Ancestor? (repost)

         As I was reviewing my old posts, I came across this one of Dec. 8, 2014. I think it's worth reposting it one more time.

        "The other day someone asked if her dog could go to heaven. Now, a dog has neither the concept of God nor any moral understanding of good and evil. Thereby, a dog does not have a soul. Without a soul, there is no heaven to speak of. I believe that theology can back me up on this. If dogs have souls, then what about birds, ants, all insects, and bacteria, or even plants? Where do you draw the line? If I am logical to you, then we can see that human beings, who have souls, could not possibly have been evolved from monkeys, who have no soul. Evolution of the soul? No scientists would know how to do research on that."   

**God vs. Satan

        God and Satan are far apart, for one is all good and the other, all evil. Yet Satan can make himself look like God by producing false miracles, apparitions, visions, prophecies . . . to deceive you. Many today are following certain seers whom the Church has already condemned to be false. We have to be so careful. My advice is to stick to Christ the Lord and the Church. You do not need any miracles to boost your faith. Genuine miracles are there for a particular purpose. False ones are there to distract and confuse you. Satan is cunning, but not smart. If you look closer, there is always something not quite right. I mentioned some years ago that I came across this book written by a woman who claimed to have seen the Blessed Mother and received many messages from her. I flipped through the book, everything seemed to be OK until a chapter close to the end started talking about how the Blessed Mother was reincarnated. At that moment, I dropped the book. So, focus single-mindedly upon Christ. Do you know how thieves and pickpockets steal things from you? They always distract you in some way first.

*God is Fire

        We know that God is love. He is also water, for he quenches our thirst. God is also fire, for the Holy Spirit can set our heart ablaze. Do not disrespect or play with this fire lest you get burned or scorched forever. Let it instead purify you to make you clean and ignite your zeal for God, and you'll be filled with joy and transformed into a delight in the Lord's sight. 

***God Is Unique and Real***

        God is unique because he is the only one who can enter our hearts, speak to us from within or deposit joy there, take away all that defiles us and make us clean and holy – you know it and you feel it! I experience all these things myself and I am not surprised at all, for he's the one who has made me after all. No one else in this world can even come close. Yes, the Lord God is real – this he let me know from within my heart. (It's so good to have him and to know that he is one with me.) Please open your hearts to let him in to be yours forever too!

**Are You Your Own Enemy?

        Telling yourself that becoming a saint is not for you proves that you are your own spiritual enemy.

To Be Made New Again

        Communion experience. It was a golden opportunity for me to be made new as thoroughly as possible by the Lord.

***Be Proud of the Lord!

        The Lord is everything to us. He is our creator, our Father, and our Savior! Therefore, we should be proud of him and proclaim his name and greatness boldly and loudly to the whole world! Shame on you if you consider yourself a Christian but hide him from others! If you are not proud of him, how can you expect him to be proud of you? With the Lord, either you are with him or you are not. 

Our Role Before God

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 8, Jesus talked about the leaven of the Pharisees, and his disciples did not quite follow. We are like that too with hardened hearts. In general, the Lord made me see that even if we do not understand what's going on, he knows exactly what he is doing, and he always prepares everything in the background for us. We must see that his plan would turn out well if we just trust and follow, not to get in his way. 

Another Fr. Goring Video

      Here's Fr. Mark Goring's latest video. I enjoy listening to him because he always gives a compelling message. This one is entitled "If Jesus is just 'another' way, forget about celibacy!"

**Very Sad Reality**

        At Mass this morning, I realized that Jesus just doesn't come up in our ordinary conversations. When I was active in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement, Jesus was mentioned a lot within the charismatic circle. Then you started talking like that to non-charismatic Catholics and met only silence – they probably thought you were nuts or something. No doubt when Christ was on earth with us, people talked about him a lot after witnessing the wonderful deeds he performed. They were so overwhelmed and couldn't keep quiet. Today, most believers seem to have assigned the Lord to a compartment separate from theirs, living their lives by themselves. I do recall one pilgrimage I went on though – the priest who accompanied us was filled with the Holy Spirit. The first thing he told us each morning was what he learned from the Lord the previous day. Why can't all of us be like that? Yes, the Lord is real and most exciting to know!

**Cool Spiritual Progress

        When I was still the old me not that many years ago, I was a lot more anxious about getting things done. If I was on a project, I just wanted to finish it before I could relax – no time to waste. I am a lot different today. Even though I am doing something to which I believe God has lead me, I feel very calm about it all. If I don't get it done, it's OK. After all, it's his work and his call. If I die now, well, that must be what he has planned too. If he wants me to get it accomplished, I am not going to die early. This is clear thinking, good logic, showing trust. I am very happy about the new cool me.

Completing Our Trust

        Attaining union with God is simply letting God be our Lord. Prior to union, we are our own gods in our lives. By relinquishing our hold onto our lives, God properly takes over and we are freed, now receiving power directly from him. Our trust is complete and order restored.

No Partial Following the Lord

        In Luke 14.26, Jesus said to the crowds, "If any one 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. It occurs to me that this condition applies also when we go to him to surrender to him. He deserves our entire, sole devotion. His self-giving requires our self-giving. 

***Our Mortal Enemy

        It is sin. If we lose our battle to sin, we will spend time in horrific misery for all eternity. If we get sin lifted off us by God, we'll experience the most exuberant feeling and live in paradise for all eternity. So, heed my advice – take sin seriously and defeat it when you still can. 

One Example of a Hypocrite

        Anyone who believes that the way to "liberate" people is to give them all kinds of rights and free stuff, but is not willing to suffer in any way himself is an egoistic hypocrite.

**Do You Realize That . . .

the joys and the sorrows we receive in this life are nothing compared to the joys or sorrows we shall receive after we die?