**Most Beautiful Process

        Peter denied Jesus 3 times, but he loved Jesus, and the Lord forgave him. This is a most beautiful process that can happen to us: we sin, we love the Lord, and we are forgiven. 

Love and Trust, Inseparable

        You cannot love a God in whom you have no trust, and you cannot trust in a God for whom you have no love. Therefore, to love God and to trust in him are the same.

To Live Gloriously or Miserably

        (1) We do good, believe in the God of Christ, and are heaven bound – this is living the glorious life!

        (2) We do evil with no faith in the God of Christ and find the pleasures of the world never truly satisfying, not realizing that they are the only reward we are going to receive – this is leading a most miserable existence.

*Simple Fact and Formula

        We do not deserve anything good. It is the love of God that saves us. We submit ourselves to him and he makes us holy.

Fountainhead of Love

        All love starts with God who is love. It is because we love God that we love all others, saints or sinners, friends or enemies.       

**My Agony*

        Jesus' great agony was realizing that he would have to go through the Passion for the sake of saving all of us. My relatively small agony is seeing that so many of us today still do not even believe in him.

***Good Rule to Remember

        Do not do anything in thoughts, words, or deeds you would not want Jesus to catch you doing when he comes next.

To Conform or Not to Conform

        If I choose to conform to the ways and practices of the world, I'd have to compromise some of my principles and not feel free or happy anymore. But if I choose to be individualistic and submit myself to God entirely, I become the freest and happiest person.

**To Be Aware of God's Presence

        Even though we profess to be Christians, we may not be aware that Christ is with us. When the need arises, we might ask for his guidance or help; but if things go well, we hardly turn to him. To remedy this common failure, seek union with the Lord. When you attain union with him, you become aware of his holy presence within you at any time. A life-changing blessing!

Our Great Blessing

        Luke 24.35 was the Communion antiphon: The disciples recognized the Lord Jesus in the breaking of the bread. We are so blessed now that we get to receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist everyday to become one with him! [Dear readers, I won't be able to blog for the next 9 days, so I'll see you after May 13. You can always go straight to the Lord. Once you know him well, you'll only need and want to go to him.]  

How Much We Love Jesus

       In today's Gospel reading from John 21, Jesus asked Peter "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter's answer was "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." The third time Jesus asked the same question, Peter was distressed and he responded, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." This prompts me to ask ourselves: "Can we also say that Jesus knows that we love him?"

How God Has Made Us

        I attended Vigil Mass today.  I already know that God has made us so that our life is empty until we find him. After hearing the second reading from Revelation 5, I became aware that God has also created us to worship, honor, and glorify him.

**Giving God All Your Problems

        If you trust Jesus, give all your problems to him. Ask and trust him to take care of all your loved ones as well. His mercy can never reject you. When all your problems become his, he will surely take care of them. With God, never hold back; always go all the way. Throw yourself in his path the way the people spread their cloaks and leafy branches on the road as they welcomed Jesus entering triumphantly into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. It's submitting yourself with complete trust in God to be out of his way. 

***Living in the Light!

        This morning's entrance antiphon, 1 Peter 2.9: O chosen people, proclaim the mighty works of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Yes, Jesus is the light of the world. This is the light that makes us see all our sins, that we need to remove them to get into heaven. This is the light that shows clearly that God is our Father who truly loves us and to whom we can return to be with forever. This is the light that reveals the reality and meaning of our existence, how we should live and can become holy. In this light, there is absolutely no darkness; we see the truth that guides us all the way. To want to live any other way is to go right back into darkness.

*Only God Can Empower Us

        Communion experience. I felt my human limitations and saw that the only way to make more spiritual progress is to cease struggling on my own even more, for only God my creator can overcome my limitations to lift me to new heights. 

A Way to Preserve Peace

        God who loves me will never hurt me. Others in the world do intend to hurt me, but if I haven't done anything wrong, they cannot hurt me, for I only care about what God thinks of me. 

**Letting God Prove Himself

        In today's Gospel reading from John 14, Jesus said to the Twelve at the Last Supper, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father. Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. I am in the Father and the Father is in me." So Jesus is God, but many people today still "amazingly" do not get it. I know that Christ is our Lord and God. I cannot prove it to you in any way, but I knew it without the slightest doubt when he revealed himself to me in our heart. There has been no brainwashing, indoctrination, or coercion of any kind coming from the Lord, so it's been a most satisfying proof for me. If you ask the Lord to reveal himself to you, you'll get your own personal proof too.

Perfect Love

        Jesus laid down his life for us, showing God's greatest possible love for us. I call that the perfect love.

**God Awaiting Us

        Know that you are most precious to God and that he can make you holy and beautiful. Therefore, feel good about yourself and do not ever hesitate to go to God your Father to have a heart-to-heart or ask for any kind of help you need. 

*Christianity's Uniqueness

        In today's Gospel reading from John 3, the Apostle speaks of Jesus as the one who comes from heaven and is above all. We can proudly proclaim that Christianity was started on earth by God from heaven, the only religion (if I may call truth a religion just this time) not started by a man.

**Remaining Clean in the Lord

        The bishop of our diocese just released publicly a list of priests and deacons who have been credibly accused of abusing minors and young adults over the last seven decades. It is not a short list, including many who have already passed away. I am surprised to have spotted the names of two deceased priests I am familiar with. One I knew very well and had always respected, but his offense was relatively minor. I am sure that if he had repented, he should be with the Lord now. The other I knew not so well and his offenses were a lot more serious. Then I thought of ourselves. I can clearly remember the many times I offended the Lord since I was a young boy. Many of these sins you just don't want to tell anyone except a priest in a confession booth. It's like we all have a secret closet in which we store our sins. The great news is that our Lord Jesus Christ can clean out that closet in no time if we repent and ask for his forgiveness. In fact, when you become one with him, you won't ever need any secret closet anymore. 

**Getting Ready for Heaven

        We enjoy belonging to any group that share the same interest. It was fun when I once belonged to a car club and all members would meet and drive around together to various interesting spots. And I enjoy talking to fellow smartphone photographers now. I would love to share my joy in Christ with others in person, but this does not always happen in today's world. Anyway, I am thinking ahead that in heaven we'll have all the saints as our company. To get ourselves ready for a smooth transition to heaven, now would be the time to seek to attain union with God. Then we'll fit perfectly in with those already in heaven. 

Most Comfortable Position

        If you are most comfortable with God, you are in the most comfortable position of your life.

***Simple, Direct Path to God***

       We are often taught to know our faith, study the catechism, the Bible, learn more about the saints, etc. But if you want to develop a personal relationship with God, acquiring knowledge is pretty much barking up the wrong tree. We can progress spiritually so much faster and most efficiently if we start from God. Go straight and open up your heart to him and he will reveal himself to you and set your heart on fire! Officially, it's known as seeking union with God. You attain union and God becomes your soulmate!
       
         Fr. Mark Goring's vlog today on YouTube backs up my point:

A Simple, Logical Question

        Christ and the Father are one. As the Son, he came to us. If we do not even listen to him, how can we ever expect to understand God, let alone know him?

**Personal Relationship Needed

        Because we have the communion of saints, we can ask all the angels and saints to pray for our intentions. Holy Mother Mary is usually our first choice. But even if the whole heavenly court prays for you and you do not pray yourself, the Lord will not hear you. So we should start praying ourselves before enlisting others for help. What God desires is a personal relationship with him. Seeking union with God is seeking that most personal relationship that pleases him the most.  

*Logical and Sensible Reasoning

        If we were all holy and perfect, Jesus wouldn't have needed to come down from heaven to save us. But without a doubt we all know that we do sin. Therefore, we should be honest with ourselves and welcome the Lord into our hearts to let him save us.

Good Cardinal Rule

        We have only one Lord and one God, Jesus the Christ. Therefore, follow him and no one else. 

Amazing Grace

        Communion experience. I still remember the days I lived in my own prison away from God. Now I dwell within the Lord himself in complete freedom. In saving me, the Lord also liberated and transformed me. 

*Make Your Existence Beautiful!

        Everything must pass through Christ the Lord – nothing can ever sneak by him. Being aware of this reality, you will want to do everything in his holy presence, and your existence will be made beautiful. 

***Jesus Achieves His Goal*

        Communion experience. When I received the Holy Eucharist, Jesus entered me physically; but his main goal was to transform me spiritually. When I believed and yielded to him, it was done. What a wonderful heavenly grace! So cool!

***Jesus Reveals Himself Unseen*

        In today's Gospel reading from John 20, the resurrected Christ appeared to the disciples yet again. Thomas was not there and thus did not believe what they told him. A week later Jesus appeared when Thomas was with them. He saw and believed. We do not visually see Jesus either, but we can get to know the Lord so well that we would know that he is real. Believe me, once you attain union with him, he becomes more real than anyone you see with your eyes. What a wonderful grace!

***Important Message for All

        Just saw this video of Bishop Barron receiving an award at his high school. The talk starts at 4:06. The message, especially good for our youth to hear, comes later. So watch the video to the end.

**A Touching Story

        This powerful video was voted the Best Short Film at the 1970 International Catholic Film Festival.

***Secret of Possessing God

        Let the Lord God inspired you to want to be humble for his sake. Don't even think about that he will exalt whoever humbles himself. We must decrease to zero so that God may fill all of us. Voilà, when we become nothing, God is all ours!

***Exciting, Purposeful Living

        Jesus wants us to live a life known to him only, that is, living a secret life in him for him. At the same time, once we taste his sweetness and witness his magnificence, we cannot possibly contain our joy anymore – we just want to proclaim his love and mercy to everyone everywhere! So it's remaining hidden in God, while proclaiming him openly to all. This is living the exciting, purposeful life.

**So Much to Learn from God

        Sometimes I feel frustrated and lose patience when people don't seem to want to understand me. At Communion time, I realized that I was still being self-centered. Didn't I tell myself not to care about what people think of me? It's what God thinks alone that matters. I looked at the Lord. When people did not listen to him, he felt sorry for them, but never showed frustration, for he understood them perfectly. His great selfless love motivated everything he did, enabling him to be infinitely patient. We fall so short of God's perfection that we have no better choice than following him even more closely.

God's Awesome Love

        If we are willing to die in someone's place, we may be able to save that person's life on earth. Here we have Christ who died for all of us to save us forever! Be awed by his pure, selfless, magnanimous love to let it change your present life as well.

***Repentance Absolutely Required

        It was clear from today's Gospel reading from Luke 24 that the primary mission Jesus gave to his disciples was to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins to all the nations in his name. And we are to continue doing so. Repentance is absolutely the key to entering God's kingdom – we must get our sins removed to be saved! Repent to God if you care about your soul. His mercy does not expire, but our lifetime will. God has yielded to his love for us, now it's our turn to do the same. 

*Serious Transgression

        If you truly believe that Jesus is God, you would want to believe in him. Therefore, if you do not believe in him, you are saying that he is not God. This has to be a most serious transgression affecting your eternal existence, if it turns out that you were wrong. 

Be Free to Meet God

        I look around and see the many things I have in my house. There are my piano, CD collection, various objects on shelves picked up over the years, my books, family memorabilia, car, all the tools stored in the garage, my computer, smartphone, the many personal photographs enlarged and hung on the various walls, etc. They have been useful or given me pleasure over the past. Then I see one day, I'll be gone. All these things will be taken by others, sold, given away, or thrown away. So it's clear that all things on earth do not belong to us at all – they are on loan from God for a brief time, you could say. It would be extremely foolish to hold onto all these things and care about how they should be taken care or disposed of after you leave. Again, get attached to God to get detached from everything else. Let God free you before meeting him. 

**Wise Choice*

        Since I have a finite mind and am not able to comprehend Almighty God completely ever, I choose to believe in him without question like a child.

***Smart Approach to God

        Struggling on your own to love God is always hard and ineffective, for it's like trying to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. Surrendering to God is the smart way to go, for it unlocks the power of God to make everything easy. Think outside the box to be successful.  

Holy Desire

        It is true that God gives us living water so that whoever drinks it will never thirst again (John 4.14), for when you have the Lord, your life is fulfilled. Then this creates a new longing as you discover that the Lord is so lovely and beautiful that you long to be with him in heaven. Unlike the first thirst, this is a happy, holy desire letting you know that God is in union with you.

*Beautiful to God

        We stop sinning and become beautiful to God. And loving God is the most beautiful act we can perform.

*Jesus' Special Love

         When you let Jesus love you, he makes you selfless to want to love all others for his sake. Here is love that melts hearts and transforms lives.

*Before Changing Other

        To those who love to judge others: Do you ever see yourself the way you see others? As a matter of fact, the only way to find and connect with God is to look deep within yourself first, for connecting with God involves the heart. Look inward to ask God to change you first before expecting others to change.

The Lost Attracting the Lost

        This is a generation of lost souls. I see films, literature, fine arts, song writers, etc., often produce works that are ambiguous, aimless, without a clear message. They can be intriguing and fascinating, but never satisfying. They resonate with a large audience precisely because the audience is largely lost too. To me, all these souls are unknowingly looking for God, only in the wrong places. All they need to do first is to open up to Christ to let themselves be found.

Time to Appreciate Mary More

Notre Dame Cathedral Fire

        A timely message from Fr. Mark Goring.