*No Unknowns with God

        Without the Lord, heading into the future is heading into the unknown. Not what I would want to do. Call me chicken if you like, but I'll be a smart one. With Christ, even though I do not know all the details, I know that heading into the future will be a most delightful adventure leading to my eternal home with God.                   

**Letting No One Bother You

        If you are bothered when people do not understand you, you still have too much pride. When they are the ones who are closest to you, it becomes even more difficult to remain calm. Know that what others think about you doesn't matter. They don't understand you because they are not all-knowing like God. Only what God thinks about you matters. Since God always understands us, we only need to be concerned about not sinning. Therefore, never mind the others and focus upon being holy yourself. Then no one, not even God, can bother you anymore.

Conscience as Spiritual Indicator

       When you totally let God be your God, you'll develop a super sharp conscience. On the other hand, if you play God yourself, you'll end up with a dull, muddy conscience. Therefore, your conscience is a good indicator of your spiritual condition.

***Our Greatest Blessing

        Knowing that we are sinners and finding Christ to be our Savior.        

Heaven and Earth Bridged

        Communion experience. The Most Holy unites with a most wretched sinner, and heaven and earth are now bridged.

***Our Greatest Loss:

not possessing Christ. Life is precious precisely because it provides a window for us to possess him.

*Proven Sinners

        When we experience great joy after we repent of our sins and know that we are forgiven by God, it is ample evidence that we are sinners and sin enslaves us and God can liberate us from sin.

*Feeling Extra Sorry for Ourselves

        Following my last post "Brood of Vipers Within the Church," I started to think that all sins offend the Lord, but if his own people, believers, sin against him, how much more they must hurt him! We are all more affected by those close to us than by strangers. Therefore, as Christians, while we feel sorry for others who offend the Lord, we should feel extra sorry for our own transgressions.

**No More Unfinished Business*

        In life, there are always things for us to do. When we die, we'll just have to let the many unfinished things go. But it would be nice to know that we have done all we need to have done when we depart from this world, so that we can leave in peace. This is possible if we always do what God wants us to do, not what we want to do. When the Lord calls, we know that we've accomplished everything we need to have done for him.

*Compelling Mercy

        Communion experience. Before we received the Lord, we all recited "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under our roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed." I didn't feel I was worthy, but the Lord entered anyway and healed my soul. 

***Looking at Yourself First!

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 6, Jesus asked his disciples, "Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?" We all have this blind spot—we just don't see our own faults first. Just wonder how many of us still examine our own conscience daily. Holiness must start with each one of us. Seeking union with God is precisely trying to perfect ourselves first.

***Taking Care of Your Eternity

        We can only do so much to keep our body healthy, as it unavoidably ages and deteriorates toward death. As far as our mental health is concerned, it is affected by both our spiritual outlook and our physical health. When we develop some form of dementia, we become quite helpless. But the great news is that we can attain maximum spiritual health by becoming holy and one with God. I'd say, let the body and mind go and take care of you spirit foremost and you won't have anything to worry about for all eternity!

**Sin Stinks*

        We sin because we want to feel good selfishly. It is absolutely foolish to feel good temporarily and lose your inner peace for having offended God. Know that when you lose that peace, you lose God. So think twice before you sin. Better yet, don't even give sin a chance. Again, be one with the Lord to remain holy.

*Focus of Mass

        Jesus must be #1 in our life, so we must seek him with all our heart. The focus must be 100% upon the Lord when we worship him at Mass. Anything we see, hear, or do that directs our attention away from him is out of place. We are not at Mass to be entertained, amused, or informed about extraneous things. We must let God draw us closer to him, especially after receiving him in the Holy Eucharist. 

**How God Deals with Us

        In the last two verses of today's reading from Luke 6, Jesus gives us the rule of life. He said, "Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you." In other words, God will deal with us the way we deal with others. If we become like God, then we won't have any problem. Therefore, seek union with him.

**Doing the Impossible with God*

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 6, Jesus said to his disciples: "To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back." I'll stop quoting right here. Do we have to be "insane" to follow the Lord? We know that he must be right. How can we go against the grain like that? Answer: seek union with him to become like him. And he is merciful enough not to test us to the point that we would fail if we truly want to follow him.

Aligned with God

        The Lord God is (1) in front of me, leading and guiding me, (2) right with me, defending and shielding me from any attacks that can harm my soul, and (3) behind me to back me up whenever I need his help.

The Heart and the Will

        To love involves both the heart and the will. The heart wills us to do God's will, but often this can go against our grain. Jesus sacrificing himself for our salvation is our supreme example. Again, nothing is impossible with God. In union with him, you can get all the help you need.

***Our Reason for Living

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 6, Jesus gave the Sermon on the Plain, in which he said, "Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man." This tells me that if we suffer or are being persecuted on account of our Lord, he will bless us! This tells me that we must live, do or go through everything for his sake. Yes, he must be our very reason for living! Seek to attain union with him so that he becomes inseparable from us.

*Christ Our Power Source

        To love God, to kill our ego, to fight temptations . . . to do all these things successfully, the power must come from the heart. And, of course, only God can gain access to our heart to give us that power. Therefore, open up your heart to the Lord.

*God's Justice Will Prevail

        The elite evildoers and hypocrites seem to be able to evade justice in this world. Then since we do not judge as God judges, our justice is never truly just. The good thing is that none of us can ever escape the justice of God in the end. 

**Man Versus God

        This is precisely the cause of mankind's unrest and loss of peace. 

**Cure for Worries and Concerns

        Jesus warned us that when he comes next, "two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left" and "two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left." We almost all have loved ones who choose not to follow Christ. Of course, we continue to pray for them, believing that they will turn to the Lord one day. Nevertheless, they place heavy burdens on our hearts in the meantime. This morning I heard Fr. Albert at the Fatima Center ask the question "Happiness of Heaven Lessened by Lost Loved Ones?" on a short two-minute video on YouTube. He concluded that we must know that God's will is our peace. I felt peace after hearing this. Knowing and believing in this can certainly rid us of all our worries and concerns.

*Completing Our Union with God

        Jesus loves us, comes to us, and enters us through the Holy Eucharist. If we love him back, go to him, and enter him through surrendering ourselves to him, then our union with him is complete.

**Greatest Learning Experience

        You may consider yourself to be a Christian, but if you are not in Jesus yet, you are merely a spectator observing and reporting on him without conviction. On the contrary, if you are inside the Lord or in union with him, you feel what he feels and speak his mind. Getting inside Jesus has to be life's most uplifting, beneficial, and humbling experience.

Today's Scribes and Pharisees

          In today's Gospel reading from Luke 6, on a certain sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisee were watching Jesus closely to see if he would cure on the sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him. Jesus, realizing their intentions, said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" Looking around at them all, he restored the hand of the man. They became enraged and discussed together what they might do to Jesus. Lo and behold, all this drama is being reenacted on our political stage today. We have the hypocritical politicians of one party together with the fake mainstream media intent on coming up some reason to take down the leader of their opposition party. They failed, were enraged, and continue to figure out what they might do to him.

Commissioned like the Apostles

        Jesus made his Apostles fishers of men. We are his disciples or followers today, but let's remember that our mission is exactly the same, to be fishers of men. 

*How to Live Happily

      For everything we do for Christ, he will reward us. If we live to keep him happy, we shall live a happy life, now and forever.

**Discipleship Leads to Freedom

        The Gospel reading came from Luke 14. Jesus addressed the crowds which were traveling with him, "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." Those were hard words to hear. Of course, Jesus was letting all know that they ought to love God the most, above everyone else—something our common sense would agree with. I do see here that the Lord was also giving away the secret to freedom. You see, when we become attached to God alone and detached to everyone and everything else, we become free! If is the same as letting God increase to 100% and us decreasing to zero. Yes, when we become nothing, we are liberated and free.

*How to Be Sure Always

        From today's first reading from Wisdom 9: The deliberations of mortals are timid, and unsure are our plans. It's true that when we plan something, we are never sure about the outcome; but God knows it all. Therefore, trust in him to let him guide us through everything. We don't know exactly what can happen, but we can be sure that the end result will be what he wishes for us.

**Sorry State of Man*

        The majority of the world live as if there is no God and plan their life as if they are going to live forever. The majority of Christians in the world live as if Satan does not exist and think that everything happening is OK, not realizing that Satan has already broken into their house, precisely because they have not remained vigilant. In the eyes of the Lord they are in worse condition than the unbelievers, for they are held to a higher standard. Luke 12.48: Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.

*The Truth Will Set You Free

        Jesus said in John 8 that if you followed him, you would know the truth, and the the truth would set you free. Knowing Jesus is indeed knowing the truth, for he is the Truth. Once you attain union the Lord, you belong to him alone and nothing else can change that relationship anymore, and you remain free in him.     

End–New Beginning–Final End

        Communion experience. My quest for truth reaches its end when I find Christ; there is no need to look beyond him anymore. Then my new life begins, once the Lord starts to work on me. This transformation continues and will reach its end after I get to heaven where we are all made perfect.

**Being Extremely Wise

        Jesus told us that the gate to life is narrow and many don't even find it. Actually, our heart acts like a gate. We can keep it closed, leave it open a crack, or leave it wide open. Keep it closed and we keep God out completely. Leave it partially open and he won't be able to enter completely. If we leave it wide open, then he will enter to dwell within us, and we don't even need to be concerned about the narrow gate to life. We beat God to it, you might say, and this is being very wise.

*Letting God Be Your God

        This is a first Friday, so we had adoration of the Blessed Sacrament after Mass. The Lord showed me what attitude we should assume before him. It was real simple. We only need to submit ourselves to him completely; there is not another thing you need to do.

Jesus Our Savior

        Communion experience. Life in this sinful world is far from being perfect, but Christ is exactly what we need. He fills the void of our life and frees us from the world. He is indeed our Savior.

**Jesus Is Joy

        There are a million things we can talk about, but only talking about Jesus can give us the greatest joy, for he is joy.

**Our Joy

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 5, the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, "The disciples of John the Baptist fast often and offer prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same; but yours eat and drink." Jesus answered them, "Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days." We today are so fortunate that the Lord is always with us; we can even receive him daily in the Holy Eucharist. For me, the "J" in the name Jesus certainly stands for "Joy."

*Are You Seeking Union with God?

        I have been blogging for 10 years, spreading the message that God loves us so much that he wants to draw all to union with him through the Holy Eucharist. I am just doing my part. How people respond to the Lord is his concern, not mine. But if this blog has motivated you to seek union with God or because of it you've already attained union with God, it would be gratifying for me to know. Feel free to post a comment or email me at 4d16p23w@surewest.net. Of course, you may remain anonymous if you wish. Praised be Jesus and God bless you all.

***Jesus Our Perfect Perfecter

        Communion experience. Only Jesus can make us perfect. Not another one can even come close. Therefore, follow him. 

***Not Praying for Ourselves Shows . . .

our lack of humility.

***Urgent Call to Seek Union with God***

        Sin, evil, hell are real. Jesus talked about them. Why is it that we do not hear them mentioned in homilies at Mass? We need to hear Christ speaking to us through the priest. We want to hear messages that pierce our hearts and shake our conscience; not mild, weak reflections that are instantly forgettable. The spirit needs to be fed. This makes seeking union with God for all of us all the more urgent, for the Lord can and wants to feed our spirit to the fullest!

*Faith in Christ

        This is believing that he is truly your Lord, God, and Savior. Holding this belief, you find that all his claims are true and things do work out the way he promised. Now your faith is rock solid.      

*Amazing God

        Today's Gospel reading was Luke 5.1-11. Two things I picked up from the reading. The first was that if you always do what Jesus wants you to do, as Peter did in the reading, you will be amazed by how things turn out from time to time. The exciting thing about following Jesus is that you think you know him well, yet you have no idea how he is going to surprise you next. God is amazing in amazing you. Secondly, when the Lord calls you, you must leave everything and follow him, as Peter, James, and John did in the reading. If you hesitate, you are not ready and fit to be his disciple yet.

God's Way All the Way

        We need to do God's will, but we also need to do it his way. It must be his way all the way.

*All the Wisdom We Need

        Yesterday I joined a small study group after Mass to look at the readings of the coming Sunday Mass. The first reading came from Wisdom 9, in which King Solomon asked God for wisdom. I started thinking that Christ had come and given us all the counsel we need to live a righteous life and told me exactly how we can be saved and enter heaven. So for us, we already have all the wisdom we need.

*God Has Changed Me

        Last night when my wife was shopping at a food store, I went into Dimple Records next door to take a look, as this local chain is closing all their stores after 45 years. The worldwide Tower Records, which also started out in this area, went out of business in 2006. As the music industry and people's listening and shopping habits change, local stores get crushed.

          I used to be "addicted" to collecting music CDs and was a loyal customer at Tower Records for many years. It's around 2010 that I finally stopped buying CDs. It was a hard decision I had to make so that I might continue to progress spiritually.  Cutting this attachment gave me freedom and peace. Inside Dimple, I saw some CDs I would have grabbed right away before, but I now do have the slightest desire to own them – the allure was gone. The Lord has changed me by setting me free. I can't be happier.

**I Wasn't Out of Order!

        After I posted "Church Priorities Out of Order" yesterday, I thought I might be rocking the boat a bit, as I was a lay nobody, criticizing the Church. Then I saw Fr. Goring's new video "What's Your Opinion?" today and knew I was all right.

***More Union with God Advantages*

        Once you attain union with Christ, you'll be so fulfilled, so content, and so satisfied that you no longer wish to search, to question, or to go elsewhere anymore. The Lord is your final stop and home. You are now inseparable from him!

Making Sin Your Blessing

        God can draw you closer to him through your sins. See every sin as a stepping stone to greater holiness. Each time after you commit a sin, turn to the Lord to ask him to forgive you and to draw you close to him. As you are drawn closer and closer to him, sin becomes more and more repulsive. When you reach union with the Lord, he removes even you tendency to sin. Make good use of you sins when you are weak. Then you won't need them anymore after you become strong in the Lord.