***Our Goal of Life

      I quoted what Jesus said in Matthew 5.48 under the heading of this blog: "Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." Therefore, to be perfect should be the goal of our life. Since it is the will of God, he will make it possible for us! We can make the perfect surrender to him through receiving the Holy Eucharist to become like the Lord.

***Freedom in the Lord

        To be free is to be free of the world we live in, for the world can easily entice, trap, and shackle us. God sets us free by severing our attachment to the world after we discover his love, beauty, and power. Since God never enslaves us, we remain free in him forever!

*When Will You Be Ready to Die?

        When will you be ready to leave this world? After you've had the chance to visit Paris or the Great Wall of China? After your get to see your grandchild born? After you've had time to straighten out your real estate business? There can be a host of different answers. But I see one answer that is most "correct" – it is "after you have accomplished all the work the Lord has assigned you to do, whatever it is." It would be so good when you meet the Lord to hear him say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Come, share your master's joy" (Matthew 25.23).

**Most Important Realization*

        We may look around and see all the beautiful buildings, houses, neighborhoods, trees, etc., and we may look very nice to everyone else ourselves too. Yet we fail to realize that we sin against the holy Lord God! When he looks down at us, he looks at our hearts. If they are not pure, he would see a sea of black stains, nothing beautiful about that. So take care of your hearts and souls first before the buildings, houses, neighborhood, trees, etc. 

***Keeping Our Motivation Pure

        Suppose you want to praise someone. What motivates you to do so? (1) To make him or her like you, so you can feel good? (2) To make that person feel good? (3) To please God? The first motivation is definitely impure, for it involves egos. We can be sure that the last motivation is pure. It's not always easy to discern our motivation quickly or in advance if we are not in close union with God. But to be holy, we must aim at keeping our motivation pure. 

***Our Only Mission in Life

        Communion experience. We can never love God enough. Our only mission in life should be to love the Lord with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind, as Jesus had commanded us. Let everything else follow from this.

**Our Response to God

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus told the crowd the parable of the sower:

        "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear."

        How do you respond to the Word of God? Does it take root in you? How you respond will determine your eternal destiny! Something you definitely ought to be aware of.

**A Hurdle to Overcome

        Jesus makes it clear that we need to obey God. If we all do it, we would all be saints and have peace in the world. Therefore, obedience to God is the hurdle we are to overcome. Seeking to attain union with God is the way to meet that challenge. The key to success is to surrender yourself to God. If God is unavoidable, surrendering to him is in order and becomes unavoidable too. Once you attain union, you might think that you have reached the climax, but it's somewhat anticlimactic in the sense that you now find obeying God to be no sweat at all. In fact, it's exactly what you want to do. 

**Follow Christ like the Apostles

        Christ was here 2,000 years ago and, we do not see or hear him in person today. Nevertheless, since God transcends both time and space, we can confidently follow him as the Apostles did after he called them to follow him.  

**How God Relates to Us

          I am not able to attend Mass, so I looked up the Gospel reading. Today is the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene. The reading comes from John 20. Mary Magdalene saw that the tomb in which Jesus was buried was empty. She thought someone had taken him from the tomb, and started to weep. Then Jesus appeared to her and conversed with her. She first thought he was the gardener, then she recognized him. Jesus' last words to her were "Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary went to the disciples and reported everything to them.

        So Jesus regarded his disciples as his brothers. The fact that his Father is also our Father makes it clear that we are all brothers and sisters to him. It amazes me that we have a God who considers us to be equal to him. Knowing this, we can go to him with great confidence. Always remember that we have the same Father!

*Waiting on the Lord

        I've learned so much from writing this blog. Here's just one lesson. If I try hard to think up what to post, then what comes out would be mostly me and not the Lord. And I don't think I would have much to say either. So I just let the Lord tell my heart what to post and the process becomes natural and easy. For us who are anxious to serve the Lord, we run the risk of coming up with ideas not originated from God, at least not yet. My advice is that we always pray and wait until the Lord clearly shows what we should do next. We need to follow God's schedule. Patience is needed in order not to waste time. 

*How the Lord Treats Us

        Today's alternative Communion antiphon, Revelation 3.20: Behold, I stand at the door and knock, says the Lord. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me. This is how the Lord treats us. He stands at the door and knock, gently. If you ignore him, he continues to knock, never trying to break the door down. if you open the door to let him in, he's going to enter and dine with you! This is as nice a Lord as you can get! How unconscionable of us to continue offending him!  

**All for Jesus

        Today's Gospel reading from Luke 10 was about Martha and Mary, the sisters. While Mary chose to sit beside Jesus at his feet listening to him speak, Martha was burdened with serving. Martha came to Jesus and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." The Lord replied to her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her." I'd like to focus on how Martha felt. I am sure we've all invited friends and/or relatives to our home for a meal, a party, or just a get-together. It doesn't take long to find out that there are always some who never lift a finger to help in any way and others who gladly volunteer to help. If no one offers any help, the host can feel not being appreciated and that it's unfair that he or she should do all the work with others reaping the benefits. Here is the solution I see. Do everything for the sake of serving (pleasing) Christ alone, not ourselves. Whether others help or not, it's between them and God.

*Questioning Ourselves

        Why do we reject God the Father who loves us with all his heart? Why do we reject Jesus the Son who died for us to save us from eternal damnation? Why do we reject the Holy Spirit who can guide and teach us to live a holy life, readying us for heaven? How can we be so blind, deaf, and dumb?

God and We, the Perfect Match

        I just see so clearly that God and we make a perfect match. We are made for each other! The Lord loves us and wants to save us and we surely need salvation. God is ever ready to welcome us back and we can be back in grace in no time. God and we can certainly make each other very happy. If we do not cooperate, then we are the big losers.

Getting Back to God

        Do you feel being lost, not knowing what the purpose of life is? Do sins rob you of inner peace? Do you feel that you are just not free, overwhelmed by the problems of life? If your answers are all yes, then here's the breakthrough for you: submit yourself to Christ to be back in harmony with your creator. We lose our way and become slaves to ourselves simply because we have strayed away from God. 

Fools Don't Want to Die

        To hold onto this life is like holding onto a sinking ship. It's only a matter of time that you are going to sink and hopefully not drown. I can talk like this because I am old enough to know that I can go anytime. The wise one does not cling to his own life, for he has made arrangement with the Lord already and is ready to move on whenever he calls. How foolish it is to attach yourself to anything that perishes in time! Let Christ free you from all bondage now. 

*Prayer for the Mass

        After witnessing the lack of reverence at many church Masses, I pray that:  

1. We would see that attending Mass is comparable to going to join Jesus at the Last Supper.  
2. We know that the sole purpose of attending Mass is to worship, adore, and praise God, and to receive the Lord present in the Holy Eucharist (so anything that distracts us from that focus would be improper). 
3. All attendees at Mass – priests, servers, ministers, musicians, ushers, the congregation – will show utter reverence in what they say and do. 
4. Silence would be observed inside the nave before and after the Mass.

***Following the Lord of All Things

        In today's Gospel's reading from Matthew 12, Jesus lets the Pharisees know that he is even Lord of the sabbath. In fact, Jesus is the Lord of all things! He is the Lord of my blog. There are days when he gives me many ideas or nothing at all. When I receive nothing, I know that all ideas did come from him. And I could hit post #10,000 in 2020 or stop having anything to say beginning tomorrow. Jesus is Lord when he responds to our prayer instantly or eventually, exactly the way we'd hoped or in a surprising way. The Lord gives and takes away as he wishes. We simply trust, obey, and follow him through thick and thin. This way of life may sound boring to most people; but on the contrary, it is living the most exciting and satisfying life on earth! Better yet, the very best is to come after you leave this earth.

**Surprises Death Brings*

        After we die, we'll either be surprised to find how beautiful heaven is or be so shocked to see how horrible hell is. It is my most ardent prayer that everyone will receive the delightful surprise and no one, no one, will experience the terrible shock after death.

**Where Is Your Home?

        From today's Communion antiphon from Psalm 84: As the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest to settle her young, My home is by your altars, LORD of hosts, my king and my God! Where is your true home? Surely, you don't want it to be the one you are in now on earth. Lost souls are lost because they do not have a true home. To be lost forever is to never have a place you can call your home – a terrible situation. Settle no less for a home in heaven where your Father lives, for with God, we can confidently aim heaven-high!

***Bold Approach to God

        Our relationship with God is revealed by how we interact with him. If you only think of him once in a while, then obviously, you hardly know him. On the other hand, if you know that he is your loving Father who will always help you and that nothing is impossible with him, and are always aware of his presence, are open to him, share everything in your heart with him, and ask boldly for what you need in serving him, then you are most likely in union with him already. The point I want to make is that God is not to be approached timidly, but boldly with full confidence and no hesitation. Being infinite, omnipotent, and most loving, he surely can handle everything you "throw" at him. An intimate relationship is developed when you open up to God and share everything with him. 

**Finding Rest in God

        Here is today's very short Gospel reading from Matthew 11. Jesus said; "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light." I think we all labor and are burdened living in this imperfect world. How should we exactly respond to the Lord? I believe we need to begin by being meek and humble of heart to acknowledge that we need his help and that he can help us. Then we let the Lord help us carry our burden to make it light. Instead of struggling on our own, we can now rest in him. It's this going to him, this trust, that makes all the difference. 

**Most Carefree Existence!

        God knows everything and he loves you, so let him into every aspect and every nook and cranny of your life. Become one with him, achieving complete harmony and submission. So you can say that you are thoroughly God's. Now you lead your happiest, most carefree existence. By the way, I am talking reality!

***Most Important Message***

        Following God is easy or hard, depending upon you. You can easily dismiss God or believe in God like a child. So it's making the easy decision to make following God impossible or making the hard decision to make following God easy. Know that the most important and urgent call from God now and always is to surrender ourselves to him. It is the call to salvation, a call to eternal happiness. All you need to get started is to open up your heart to God. Your decision. This is my most important message to you, as it could impact your eternal existence.

**True Flesh and Blood of Our Lord

        John 6.56 is one of today's Communion antiphons: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him, says the Lord. If the consecrated bread and wine were merely symbolic representations of Jesus' flesh and blood, he would have simply said "Whoever eats this bread and drinks this cup . . . ." It's just common sense. 

          Here are the three verses preceding 56. Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not hav life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. How can you eat the ordinary bread and drink the ordinary wine and have eternal life? Of course, you must believe that the bread and drink once consecrated do become the flesh and blood of the Lord. Anyway, the Apostles, the early Church, and the Catholic Church to this day have all believed in the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

*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.