*Bringing Up Teenage Children

     Parent often have problems with their teenage children because that's when they start to assert their independence before adulthood. Here are some of the lessons I have learned. 

1. First, remember this part of the Peace Prayer of St. Francis: O Master, grant that I may never seek so much to be understood as to understand. Therefore, listen to your children so that you may understand them. 
2. Do not rush to conclusions or get emotional, for you must remain calm to be able to think clearly.
3. Be gentle always, but firm at the same time if you know that you are right.
4. If they are wrong, do not scold them but calmly point it out.
5. Don't play the blame game. Tell them how you feel about it, rather than pointing the finger at them.
6. If you are in the wrong, admit that, so they'll see that you are also human and have enough humility.
7. It's best that both parents agree on how to teach and discipline their children.
8. Treat all your children fair and equally; never show any favoritism.
9. Your own example is the best way to teach your children.
10. Realize that all of them are souls that belong to God, not you. Each of them will have to respond to God individually. You are here to do your best to love them and to guide them; then you let them go. (Consecrate them to the Lord as early as possible.)

**To All Nonbelievers

        We have those who do not believe in Christ or the existence of God. And we have those who follow Christ with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. Can these two camps ever understand each other? I used to be a nonbeliever and tended to feel sorry for those who believed. I thought they missed having fun and lived a suppressed life, thinking that they could save themselves by praying to their God. Now that I am a fervent believer, I truly pity all the nonbelievers who are not aware that God loves them. They may have fun and pleasures for the time being, but they do not experience any true peace, freedom, and joy. Worst of all, they are going to miss the opportunity to be happy for all eternity if they do not wake up. To all nonbelievers, feel sorry for yourselves, not for us believers, and know that we are praying hard for you.

*Why We Don't Think About God

        We are uninterested in God, sadly because we are so deeply immersed in the secular world with its false glitter and lure that any awareness of God has all but been wiped out. 

*The Whole Point of Living

        Some people receive all their reward in this world and no more afterwards. Some people suffer a lot (their purgatory?) in this life and reap their reward in their next. Some of us live a long life and others die early, all for the glory of God. I have lived beyond the normal life expectancy, believing that the Lord still has work for me to do. Nevertheless, whether we live long or short, get rewarded now or later, the whole point is that we get back to God. 

*Praying with a Strong Desire

       I've blogged that a strong desire backed by a strong faith will have God answer your prayer more readily. Now I see that a strong desire does indicate that you have a strong faith, so you may concentrate upon intensifying your desire and the Lord will be moved and relent. 

Flesh vs. Spirit

        Not being perfect, we live both according to the flesh and by the Spirit of God. The more we live by the Spirit, the purer we become. Attain union with God to be as pure a possible.

Two Questions God Will Ask

        Today's Communion antiphon, John 15.16: It was not you who chose me, says the Lord, but I who chose you and appointed you to bear fruit, fruit that will last. When we see God, he will surely ask if we did bear any fruit on earth and if so, what kind of fruit. 

**God Teaches Us

        Today is the Memorial of St. Bonaventure. The Gospel reading from Matthew 10 was amazing!  I shall quote the entire three segments of what Jesus said to his Apostles. 

        (1) Jesus himself being a cause of division. "Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's enemies will be those of his household." This is true, for Jesus being the truth, we are naturally divided into those who recognize and accept him and those who don't. We can be divided on many issues, but division over the truth brings consequences that matter.

        (2) Conditions of discipleship. "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever who finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." So the Lord must be No. 1 in our life. If he is truly our Lord and God, then all that was said makes complete sense. Otherwise, he must be a mad man, not knowing what he's talking about. He challenges you to make your choice. So he came not only to cause division, he came to test us too.

      (3) Rewards we receive. "Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reword, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple – amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward." It all comes down to how we receive the Lord. Aim at receiving the Lord directly and your rewards will be taken care of.

*Being Doubly Foolish

        It's extreme foolish to try to avoid God, for it's impossible. When you are living on earth, he knows everything about you. When you die, you face him for your judgment. Then why do you live as if he does not exist and you'll never die? You must be doubly foolish.

*God Needed for Perfection!

        We think we can do anything. Wrong! We are only finite creatures. No matter how carefully and thoroughly we plan, prepare, execute with the best intention and effort, we can still fail or make a mistake. For ultimate perfection, we need God!  

**Highest Privilege

        In union with God, you get to share his joys and his sorrows!      

***Critical Reality We Must Face

        If you have trouble dismissing or writing off Christ as nonexistent or phony, then you have no choice but to accept him as your Lord and Savior and repent of your grave error. The Lord is all-or-nothing and I can assure you that he is anything but nothing!  

*God's Love Supreme

        Most likely, we have all fallen in love with someone once. Of course, that someone may not feel the same for us; but if he or she does, we would be overjoyed. I am bringing God the Father into the picture, for he alone loves us with an undying love and will never reject us. Accept and taste his pure selfless love first, a love that liberates us and can only give us joy, then no human love can disappoint us anymore.

God absolutely Makes Sense

        In Matthew 6, Jesus preached to all not to worry about what to eat, what to drink, what to wear, but to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things would be given them besides. This advice is completely logical and makes sense. God loves us and can provide all our needs. If we abandon ourselves to him, then, of course, he will take care of us. We have a real, living God! It is us who do not see or believe in this reality. When we open up to God, faith is born. Our eyes open and we understand everything.

**Critical to Know

        The last two verses of today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10 are extremely important for us to know. Jesus said to the twelve apostles, "Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father." This sounds totally fair and it's a huge deal. There are Christians today who are ashamed of admitting that they are Christians – I think they are going to have a big problem later. 

*Praising Our Holy Mother

        I am prompted by the Holy Spirit to praise the Blessed Mother, Jesus' mother and our mother. She has to be the most beautiful human being ever created by God. I love her so much for always praying for our souls, for watching over us as we journey home, for obtaining numerous graces for us, for serving God alongside us, and most of all, for always leading us to Jesus. She is truly our life, our sweetness, and our hope. 

**Soul's Most Beautiful Journey

        In Christianity, the Lord God wins us over by love alone; never by force of any kind . . . no  coercion or suppression. His Spirit enters and penetrates our heart and soul only after we voluntarily open up to him. Faith finally takes root in us, eventually leading us all the way to be one with God, our creator, as we progress. 

**Communion Joy

        Communion experience. I received the Lord and knew that the Lord God had chosen me and called me. So the heavenly Father had willed that I should return to him – there's no doubt about that. How could I possibly suppress the great joy I felt? 

Tombstone Inscriptions

        I mentioned I attended a funeral recently. People plan their funeral in advance, but they often forget to make some final statement to put on their tombstone. This is one's last chance to express himself to let others know more about him and/or for him to glorify God. You can find many funny tombstone sayings on the internet that can really crack you up. I already know what to inscribe on my stone. Like my blogs, it'll be short and to the point, not funny though. I am not going to tell you now, so you'll have to wait until after I die to find out. Anyway, I think reading my present blog now should be more interesting. So never mind the epitaph on my tombstone.

*When Can You Die?

        Today's first reading at Mass was taken from Genesis 46. Joseph hitched the horses to his chariot and rode to meet his father Israel in Goshen. As soon as Joseph saw him, he flung himself on his neck and wept a long time in his arms. And Israel said to Joseph, "At last I can die, now that I have seen for myself that Joseph is still alive." I recall that when Simeon saw the child Jesus brought in to the temple for presentation, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: "Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation." So when will you be ready to leave this world? For those who have abandoned themselves to Christ, the Lord already knows that they are ready to go to him anytime.

A Prayer Experience

        Very early this morning when it was still quite dark outside, I was half awake, but felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to pray. So I prayed to Jesus still with eyes closed, pouring out all my wishes and desires from my heart. I knew that he heard me because he was right there. I felt extra good because of this closeness. Then I went to sleep again, but the experience remains vividly with me.

**Fighting for Christ Within the Church

        Here is a more recent video by Doug Barry. I am posting it because it tells what every Catholic needs to understand. We need to remain within the Church to help purify her.

**Lack of Leadership Within the Church

        Here's a vlog by Doug Barry that came out two years ago. You might have seen him on EWTN. He talks about the lack of leadership in the Church, which I concur with. If the Church does not teach her people loud and clear about how to live as faithful Catholics, evil would gradually take over and infiltrate all levels of our society, including the Church, resulting in the loss of many souls. This had actually happened and gotten especially worse in the last few decades.

What Sin Does

        Evert time we sin, we sadden the Father and our soul gets stained. We must repent to get our sins forgiven and our soul wiped clean, and then do extra good to soothe the wounds we inflicted upon the Father.

Letting God Make Us Amazing

        As you know I enjoy listening to piano music. Nowadays you can watch so many superb pianists performing online. Some of the talents are truly amazing. For us who follow the Lord, there is no question that we can let the Lord transform us into amazing holy saints, beautiful for him to behold. Then we shall have fulfilled our potential and duty in serving and glorifying God.

Most Private Moment

        Communion experience. Every time I receive the Lord, it is a most special, private intimate moment of my life.

**Believe in Jesus Now!

        If you think that if you had lived at the time of Jesus, watched him speak with authority and perform all the miracles, and witnessed the resurrected Lord, you would have believed in him, then you should believe in him right now. God is forever! If he was good enough to believe in 2,000 years ago, he's good enough to believe in now and anytime. 

Fundamental Realization

        It is the realization that God exists and so we were created by him. The alternative (not logical to me at all) is that we are simply here, not knowing anything about ourselves and much else.

Only God and Heaven Matter

        Imagine that you are already in heaven. You feel so joyful and content, knowing that this will go on forever. For sure you wouldn't care about all the good and bad times you had during your extremely short stay on earth anymore. It comes down to the fact that when you have God, nothing else matters anymore.  

**Good to Keep in Mind

        You may take a chance on doing something that could affect your health, your wealth, or your reputation; but never, never risk doing anything that can make you lose your soul! With God, you always play it safe.

***Living the Exhilarating Spiritual Life

        Most people believe that following God is hard and trying to be holy is a big struggle. They are only right if they don't let God help them. As a matter of fact, if you submit yourself to God totally to put yourself entirely at his disposal, he shall carry you along, guiding and sanctifying you – eliminating all your struggles. That is, God makes everything easy for you when you let him. This is the fast track, the secret, the brave way, the breakthrough . . . this is going all out for God. God being infinite and all love, the proper and smart approach is to abandon all of yourself to him with all your heart and with all your soul! And you get to live the exciting, exhilarating spiritual life to boot!

To Be Fair to Yourself

        As I prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary today, I saw how Jesus didn't just die easily. Rather, he underwent so much excruciating suffering to save us from perdition. It's only being fair to yourself to look into it to see if he is truly real or trustworthy, for dismissing him outright could result in losing your eternal life altogether!

*God Knows It All!

        Sometime I pray the Rosary while driving to save time or rush somewhat through a prayer just to get it over with. Then I realize that God knows all my intentions and motives! In fact, he knows me much better than I know myself. But I am actually happy that God knows everything! For, without an all-knowing God, we would simply do whatever we wish with no concern about consequences. Imagine what kind of chaotic world we'd be in!

***What Having Faith Involves

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 9, a woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind Jesus and touched the tassel on his cloak. She said to herself, "If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured." For her faith, Jesus cured her. Let's see how we can have our prayers answered. First of all, the woman really wanted to be healed by Jesus. Next, she firmly believed that Jesus could cure her. So we have a combination of desiring something strongly and believing that God can accomplish it for you. It would be nice to have God do everything we want him to do, but most of the time the strong desire is not there. For example, I accidentally cut my finger a little bit, and I could ask the Lord to heal me instantly. But as I am aware that the finger will heal itself in a few days, I just lack the strong desire to be healed instantly. It's a different case over two decades ago, when my oldest son was attacked by a virus and lay practically dying in emergency care, I went to him, made the cross on his forehead with my thumb and at the same time saying without hesitation (like giving a command), "Be healed in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." He got well enough on the 4th day to be sent home. I met the requirement of having a strong desire plus faith. I see that it was the Holy Spirit who prompted me to pray boldly. The same goes for wanting to be holy: we need to have the desire and believe, and let the Holy Spirit guide us. 

**Our Simple Choice

        Anything we do is either for God or against God, and we get to choose.

***Our Simple Role

        To submit ourselves to the Lord God and follow his will.

***How to Stop Sinning

        Let Jesus completely occupy you and there will be no room left for you to sin.  

***Joy of Being Holy

        A holy person is happy because he knows that the Lord has chosen him, called him, and blessed him. Besides, when God sets you free and fills you with peace sprinkled with great joy, how can you not be elated?

Missing Crowds

        Communion time thought. The Lord is ready to be worshipped, adored, and praised, but where are the crowds?

*How Not to Judge

        Judging needn't be verbal. If you think of someone without love, you are judging already. Only one who is at complete peace with God does not judge others. 

Proper Rejoicing

       In today's Gospel reading from Luke 10, Jesus sent seventy-two of his followers as laborers to reap the harvest. They returned rejoicing, for even the demons were subject to them because of Jesus' name. Jesus said to them, "Do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven." It is proper that we do not rejoice over anything of the world, but rejoice in the Lord alone. 

Beautiful State of Existence

        Today's Gospel acclamation drawn from Colossians 3: Let the peace of Christ control your hearts; let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. This describes a most beautiful state of existence which we can attain by seeking union with God.

*Changing Ourselves First

        We cannot always change others, but we can certainly let God change us. If we all do this, there will be peace in the whole world.

God Makes All Meaningful

        Attended a friend's funeral earlier today. Saw this sign at the funeral parlor with this quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln: "Live a good life and in the end, it's not the years in a life, it's the life in the years." It sounded good, but somewhat vague, depending on what "life" means to you. Anyway, everything becomes meaningless when God is excluded.

Have Pity on Us, Lord!

        Communion time thoughts. Our God can take away all our sins and crush all evil, yet we put so little trust in him!

**Sluggish Christians

        Today's Catholics in general lack optimism. They focus upon their own sins, but do not place great hope in the Lord. They acknowledge their sinfulness and thank God for his mercy, but do not press forward to ask him to transform them in order to transform the whole world! In other words, they are not confident that God can solve all our problems and lack the fighting spirit needed to conquer evil. In this godless world, we need to recognize that not fighting hard is giving in to the enemy. Offense should be our best defense.   

Rejoice in the Lord Always

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 9, the disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast." I thought about now that Jesus is always with us, we can certainly rejoice always.

*Unprofitable and Harmful Entertainment

        The entertainment industry in this country is a multi-billion dollar business, but much of what it produces is immoral. Let's face it – the whole industry primarily serves mammon. Even when its output seems innocent, it rarely propels you toward God. Therefore, cut out all spiritually unprofitable and harmful entertainment provided by the secular world so as not to waste any precious time of your life by knowing Christ the Lord well. 

Sweet Union

      Communion experience. The Lord melted in my mouth and I let myself be melted by his love to remain completely in him. 

***How to Get to Heaven

    I am going to list all the truths I have learned that will get you to heaven. It would be good to know them, even though you don't need to consciously follow all of them. So here I go, starting with what comes to my mind first: 

1. Believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
2. Eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Lord in the Holy Eucharist to remain in him (John 6.54).
3. Keep all his words.
4. Let God be your God and never play him yourself.
5. Abandon yourself totally to God.
6. Center your life around serving God and not yourself.
7. Remain meek and humble as the Lord and live hidden in him. 
8. Do to others what you want the Lord do to you.
9. Never leave yourself closed to God.
10. Never die without having all your sins forgiven or removed by God. 

     Again, I recommend seeking union with God. For once you attain union, the Lord will make all things easy for you. He is now your secret weapon, secret power, secret helper!