Possible Responses from the Lord

        When you see the Lord after you die, you can possibly hear him say to you "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Come, share your master's joy" (Matthew 25.21) or "I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoer" (Matthew 7.23). 

***We Need Be on Fire!

        In Matthew 16.18, Jesus said to Peter, "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it." This church has stood for almost 2,000 years to this day, but it has been loosing members and support. Evil has infiltrated our societies, even the Church. Only a small percentage of Catholics have remained faithful. Empty pews, the relative absence of younger parishioners, and tepid preachings are all telling signs. We need to submit ourselves to the Lord completely to let the Holy Spirit set our hearts on fire. All members need to be reeducated to be sure that they understand the teachings of the Church clearly, especially those that are more difficult to accept. God will judge all believers as well as unbelievers. In fact, the believers will be held to a higher standard. These two videos below show the facts and share my feelings.

Our Exciting Challenge

        We learn about so many evil deeds done by people in every type of organization and at every level of the society. What we know is probably only the the tip of the iceberg, for evildoers like to keep their deeds hidden. Mankind's condition is definitely worse than what it appears to be. On the other hand, we have God's love and mercy. Fortunately, their true greatness is far beyond our comprehension. So things rather balance out. Still, our goal must be to have the Lord crush all evil and save all souls. We can never trust in God enough. And this is our exciting challenge.

***Being Spiritually Smart

        God is the only one you can totally trust. People in the world, being sinners, will always fail, disappoint, or shock you. So expect that and don't let anything they do ruin your inner peace. In fact, let it motivate you to trust in God even more. When things go negative, you go positive. No matter how far others stray away from God, you counterbalance that submitting yourself to God even more. 

*Reality We Are to Face

        Matthew 13:36-43 was today's Gospel reading at Mass. I urge you to read these verses. For in explaining the Parable of the Weeds, Jesus made it plain that God the Father, the Evil One, angels, judgment, heaven and hell are all real. 

*Key Step to Salvation

        In today's reading 1 from Exodus, Moses called his people a stiff-necked people before the Lord. Indeed, this description fits many people today too. We have the Lord to whom every knee shall bend (Isaiah 45.23, Philippians 2.10). So it is necessary for everyone who knows the Lord to beg for mercy from him in order to be saved. 

**Choosing Money over God

        Jesus has made it clear that we cannot serve both God and mammon and promised that if we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all things we need will be given us besides. But sadly, people just don't get it. They are always talking about making more money, spending more money, selling this or buying that. Do they ever question if they serve God in what they do? Do they ever consult him about what they should do and how they should do what they do? How sad that against money, God doesn't have a chance! It's safe to say that if we don't choose God now, he won't choose us later either.

**Cure for Impure Thoughts

        Men by nature have more trouble than women with keeping their thoughts pure, for they are more easily aroused sexually. Such impure thoughts provide them instant gratification, but also rob them of inner peace. If you are more of less addicted, only turning to God can help. You must have the Lord take away all your sins and heal your soul. Then you'll experience that clean feeling only a pure soul can experience. And you won't want to revert to your old ways again. 

**Beautiful and Powerful Faith!!

         Today's Gospel reading came from John 11. Martha's brother Lazarus had already died. Jesus was coming and Martha went to meet him. She said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you." Wow, what faith! It's so beautiful to believe that nothing is impossible for God. 

       Jesus told Martha that her brother would rise. He finally said, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die." Let's not forget this promise: Believe in the Lord and we'll live forever! 

***Help God Win!

       Wake up! Satan is waging a ferocious war against the Lord God nonstop and we are the targets. For Satan, knowing that we are loved by God, wants to destroy our soul, and God is defending us. Christ has already made all this clear. So if we can keep our soul safe, God wins. What should we do? Here, defense is our best strategy – all we need to do is to dwell within the Lord God and we'll be safe. Therefore, seek union with God to be one with him. We are always concerned about safeguarding our physical health, but saving our soul should absolutely be our first priority!

*Shaping Our Own Journey

        Your spiritual journey can be arduous, tedious, and long, or delightful, exciting, and prompt. It all depends upon you, for you are either in God's way or out of his way. Abandon yourself completely in him to get out of his way.

The Lord Easily Accessible

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus taught his disciples about prayer. Beside teaching them the Lord's Prayer, he said to them, "Everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." Therefore, ask for the Holy Spirit and he is yours. Question him if you don't understand anything and you shall find the answer. Knock on the door if you want to enter to be one with him and you'll succeed. Of course, once in union with him, prayer becomes delightfully spontaneous.   

Extreme Foolishness (a Warning)

        Those in the world who attack the Lord God are to be pitied the most, for they are being extremely foolish to attack the one who is holy, perfect, who loves them and will judge them in the end. There are plenty of them right now in this country alone. May they wake up to God's mercy as the last days approach.

**Save Yourself First

         We want to save the world, seeing how sorry a state it's in. The best way to save it is to save yourself first, and the best way to save yourself is to surrender yourself to God. Then you become one with the Lord and know his will for you in all things. Now, through his power, you can go about saving the world under his command.

***Our Good News!

        Can we save ourselves for ever? Of course not! The good news is the God can and is ready to save us for all eternity. Read the Gospels to get to know Jesus – it's all there. The good news is now our best news! No more uncertainties, no more worries. Christ is our only true answer. To know him is to know God. To not know him is to be lost, uncertain about our salvation. This is my good news to you all.

**God Expects High Expectations*

        Jake Shimabukuro is an amazing ukulele virtuoso from Hawaii. People who have seen him play often come away with a new love and respect for the instrument. He jokes that one of the best things about a traveling ukulele player is that audiences all over the world have such low expectations. I bring this up because I want to say that one of the best things about following Christ is that we can have our highest expectations of the Lord and still come away being amazed by him! 

To Be More like Jesus

        Jesus connects with his people because his messages are authentic, concrete, aiming directly at the heart and soul. And you remember his sayings forever. The least effective messages you hear today are inauthentic, abstract and intellectual, and not coming from the heart, more like observations. They are instantly forgettable, leaving no impact. We are not Jesus, but by seeking to attain union with him, we can be more like him in every way.

Amazing Jewish Belief

        It is amazing that the Lord God did speak to the Israelites from the very beginning. That explains why the Jewish people had always believed in the one personal God.  

**My Fulfillment

        If you find something that is so precious and means everything to you, you would be so happy to want to hold onto it and never let it go. Can this happen in real life? Yes. I've found Christ the Lord to be that something. I don't even need to hold onto him, for he swoops me into his kingdom and I am his forever. He is my fulfillment and the cause of all my joy!

**Still Self-Centeredness*

        We try to make all things turn out perfectly, and if they don't, we are upset. Meanwhile, we never think about trying to be perfect ourselves so that God might be pleased. You don't think about yourselves, but it's all about yourself. It's still pure self-centeredness all right.

No Part-Time Christians

        Following Christ is a full-time job, so anyone working only part-time as a Christian is being derelict and risk not being able to get into the kingdom of God. The Lord demands our full commitment and we need to give it to him.

*How Comfortable with the Lord?

        How comfortable you are with God indicates how well you know him. If you feel completely comfortable with the Lord as if you were already with him in heaven, then you are already on your way there.  

**No Abandonment to God

        Many people, especially the older folks, have been set in their ways and don't wish to change anymore. They often say that God has made them that way as their reason or excuse. The reality is that everyone needs to change unceasingly for the better – to become holier to be precise, for the Lord demands that. So we must always be open to God to let him do whatever he wishes with us. Unfortunately, this is the stumbling block for those who still hold onto the world and themselves. Even though freedom is totally with their reach, they stay put in their sorry state. 

**Our Big Frailty

        In today's world of propagandas, fake news, and self-promotion, it's so easy for us to fall for whatever we hear. If we do not discern carefully, we get deceived or manipulated. We must listen only to God, the God of Christ. To safeguard you soul, make knowing the Lord well your first order of business so that you may hear his voice.     

***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.