***Act of Creation Witnessed

        Today's Gospel reading from Matthew 15. Jesus miraculously multiplied seven loaves of bread and a few fish to feed the hungry crowd of four thousand that had followed him for three days. After they all ate, they picked up the fragments left over—seven baskets full. Here Jesus produced bread and fish out of nowhere—it was an act of creation by God! 

**Our Greatest Revelation*

        Today's entrance antiphon, based upon 1 Corinthians 4.5: The Lord will illumine what is hidden in darkness and reveal himself to all the nations. I feel so blessed that Christ had already come and revealed himself to us. Now we know how much the Lord loves us and wants to save us from sin. This has to be the greatest revelation from God to mankind.

**Most Satisfying Breakthrough*

        I started watching a Netflix film on human creativity. The creative people seek new ideas, break new grounds, explore new areas, and come up with new creations or new ways of doing old things. During the process, they experience transformation as they discover themselves and realize their own potential. Basically, I see them having a number of breakthroughs. Then I realized that I had the biggest out-of-the-world breakthrough—that was becoming one with the living God and my creator! This is the only breakthrough that enables us to break out of our earthly prison, while all other breakthroughs still keep us earthbound. 

***To Know or to Know About Christ

        I am sure you know the difference between knowing Christ and knowing about Christ. I had a tour guide in Holy Land once. He knew all about the Gospels and Jesus, but he was and remained a Moroccan Jew. I thought about preaching Christ and preaching about Christ—here's a difference too. It's easy to preach about him without knowing him. But if you know him, you can't help but want to preach him!

**The Desire to Proclaim Christ

        Today's Communion antiphon, Matthew 10.27: What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light, says the Lord, what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. The Lord now speaks to my heart in the darkness or the light. Even in the early days when I did not hear from him as much as now, he blessed me with the desire to proclaim him by giving testimonies to others. At one time, I was traveling and reached a high point among the hills. I stopped, got out of my car, and saw a whole range of hilltops in front of me. I had the desire to get on top of the tallest one and proclaim Christ as loud as I possibly could, for the hills would surely echo my message around the whole world. This desire has been a great joy and sustained me all these years, even though I feel the pain whenever I am not able to talk about the Lord or share him with others. That he has called me is beyond doubt.

*Love's Ultimate Concern*

        Someone I know, a non-Christian, just suffered a stroke. Naturally, her family showed up to support and console her at the hospital. They prepared special food items she liked and did other things to make her happy. Many of her friends also visited her to talk to her or just to keep her company. All this outpouring of love is laudable, but I just can't help thinking that doing all this is limited if no one, not even any of her Christian friends, mentions Christ or prays with her. We can do everything to make someone happy in this life, but not try to bring the person to Christ to receive true joy now and for all eternity. Is this really doing the person a favor? True love behooves us to be concerned about the others' soul!

**Keeping Distance from God*

        Whether we believe in the God or not, we tend to keep our distance from him. It is true that God is to be feared, but not for the wrong reason. Nonbelievers keep their distance from God because they do not want to be exposed to him, understandable. But those who believe and still keep some distance from God are surprisingly doing it for the same reason! As believers, they are still afraid to give themselves up completely to God. Know that with God, being lukewarm is worse than being out. Abandon yourself totally to him is the way to go.

Faith that Amazes God

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 8, we heard the story of the healing of a centurion's servant. A centurion approached Jesus and appealed to him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully." Jesus said to him, "I will come and cure him." The centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith." Today, we all say these words of this centurion for our soul before receiving the Lord in Holy Communion. If we say them sincerely from the heart, we can amaze the Lord too! 

*Be Fearless Now

        From Isaiah 35, part of today's entrance antiphon: Behold, our Savior will come; you need no longer fear. Jesus did come, fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy. Now what he had said is valid for us today, for Jesus will come again. And it is a good reason for us to remain fearless, for he will come to fulfill all our hopes.

**Appreciating God's Love for Us

        Since God loves us infinitely more than we can possibly realize, the pain he feels when we reject him and the joy he feels when we accept him are also infinitely greater than we can possibly realize. Understanding this should help us appreciate his love for us more.

***Sad State of the Church***

        Two huge crises the Church faces today. (1) The slaughter of the unborn goes on worldwide nonstop. (2) 70% of U.S. Catholics do not know that the Lord is truly present in the Holy Eucharist. They claim that no one ever told them. The Church has failed miserably in teaching her flock and in saving souls, yet we do not hear from the hierarchy addressing these urgent issues. Why can't the bishops say or do something if the Pope remains silent? Why can't the priests say or do something if the bishops remain quiet? It is bewildering and frustrating to many of the faithful who are crying out aloud to the Lord for mercy. 

***Nonsecret to Holiness

        As I have pointed out many times in the past, telling someone to do this or to do that to become a holier person never works. It is a waste of time. We must get Christ involved! Let all know that he can make us holy; he can completely change us; easy, if we'll let him do it for us! This is so common sense, yet many do not see it, so they so not preach it. No Christ, no power, as simple as that. The Lord is ready, we are the ones who do not hear him or go after him.

Blessed Virgin Mary Remembered

        I thought of Mary our Holy Mother today. How could we not love her if we love Jesus? Jesus loves and honors her and she surely loves him more than any of us. Besides, conceived without sin, she is the holiest of all saints. I want my Protestant brothers and sisters to know that we Catholics do not worship her, but we surely venerate and love her as our dearest mother. 

*Wasting Our Lifetime

        While I was exercising on a treadmill at the gym this morning, the mundane background music played on. It was the aimless singing of some group. My thought was that most people are doing something to pass the time, not aiming at glorifying God in particular. Perhaps they will turn to God in the last moments of their life, which is a blessing. The tragedy is that by then they will have wasted almost all of their lifetime. 

*Amazing Lord

        God is amazing in that he not only created our physical universe and all the living beings, he is also love, fighting evil and trying to save us. It is like he is the master in two entirely different domains. The fact of the matter is that he is the Lord of all.

***Heart for God

        Believe in and love the Lord with all your heart. Worship, adore, and praise him from your heart. Thank him from the bottom of your heart always. Speak to him from your heart and he hears you. Give your heart to him, letting him keep it pure and fill it with his love. Surrender yourself to him with all your heart to be one with him. He now dwells in you and you hear his voice in your heart. The Lord becomes your eternal guide and protector. The heart does it all!

*The Process of Love

        We do not deserve God's love. His unconditional love searches us out. We are deeply moved when we open our heart. This infinite love overcomes us and makes us anew. We become like him!

***Highest Honor

         In the Gospel reading from Matthew 4, Jesus called first Peter and his brother Andrew, and then James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John to go after him. There is no higher honor than being called by the Lord to follow him, for you know that you are destined to go to heaven!     

*Key Humility

        Today is the Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle. From the first reading from Romans 10, Paul wrote: For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Believe in the Lord is the first step, then we must call on him from the heart, the key humility we need to be saved. This seems to be the step that many hearts stop short of taking.

***God's Enemy in Us

        Many things make us feel unhappy. We are justified in feeling unhappy when we see how people do bad things to others, whether it affects us or not. Then we can also feel unhappy simply because things do not turn out the way we have wanted through no fault of anyone. This is where we should be concerned, for it reveals that we still have that ugly ego in us. So the next time you feel unhappy, examine yourself to see if your ego is in play. It is always the ego that robs us of inner peace. We cannot serve both God and ego.

***How to Become Holy

        We all carry the original sin. The urge to sin is always there and we are vulnerable to all kinds of temptations. I see that the only way to safeguard our soul is to follow Christ singularly. When we are filled or become one with the Lord, there is just no room for anything else anymore. We do not fundamental change, as without him, we easily revert to sinning again. It'll be like this before we enter heaven. So let the Lord "transform" us by letting him occupy us and shield us from all evil. And this calls for our complete surrender to him first.

Innermost Longing Fulfilled

        Yesterday's Communion experience. Believing in Christ fulfills our innermost longing to attain eternal joy.

***Salvation Is Easy!

        At the Thanksgiving Day Mass yesterday, the Gospel reading came from Luke 17. Ten lepers asked Jesus to heal them. Jesus sent them to the priests and they were cleansed on their way. One of the ten, realizing that he had been healed, returned to Jesus, fell at his feet and thanked him. Jesus responded, "Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?" He then said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you." This former leper just believed in the Lord was saved! I also recall that one of the two thieves crucified along with Jesus asked the Lord to remember him when he came into his kingdom. Jesus replied, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." These two instances show how easy it is to be saved! If you close your mind and do not believe that Christ can save you, that's definitely making a big mistake.

***Dumbest Sinners

        Evildoers are the dumbest people around. They want to get their way always, forgetting that they are condemning themselves to hell if they do not turn around. Jesus asked, "What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?" Hypocrites are aplenty today among our elected politicians. They do not perceive the wooden beam in their own eye, but notice the splinter in other's (Matthew 7.3). Worse yet, they even manufacture faults in others, directly violating God's commandment "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." The Lord who is love and the truth detests hypocrisy. So hypocrites are equally dumb. 

*Our Foremost Obligation

        Communion experience. I was unworthy to receive the Lord. I did, because he called me to his table. Obedience to him must be our foremost obligation. When you obey the Lord, you get that sense of great fulfillment and feel peace.

*When Should Jesus Come Again?

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 21, Jesus told the crowd about the coming persecution, "They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name." The existence of evil against God could not have been made any clearer. We now see persecutions of Christians and spiritual battles going all around the globe. For the good people, we wish God would come now to put and end to their suffering. On the other hand, for the evildoers, we pity them and hope that God would give them more time to come to repentance. I suppose that if you are with Christ, knowing that you are going to him, you would see that suffering for his sake is truly an honor and a joy and gladly allow more time for those who need salvation the most. In any case, it is the Lord who knows the best time to come again. 

**Falling Away from God

        If you think you know more than God and do not need him anymore, you become as foolish as you can be. Blind to the light of Christ, the world has become completely disordered and lost its way. It is pride again that has made us go astray.

*Anxiety and Sins of Impurity + Schism*

        Always a joy to hear Fr. Mark Goring speaking in the Holy Spirit.

***Seek Union with God Now!

        People do not even consider seeking union with God, not realizing that this is what the Lord desires most ardently. The time for us to start seeking it is right now! You do not become a saint first to be ready for union; you seek union first in order to become a saint. Rejecting seeking union with God is going against his will, for he loves and desires all of you!  

*Those Who've Cast God Aside

        We all know that we'll die one day, yet so many of us in this world are intent on gaining wealth, power, and fame by whatever means necessary; they have cast God aside and turned evil. We can only feel sorry for them for not realizing that if they reject God, they will be rejected by him in the end.

**Pleasing Offering to God

        Today's Gospel reading, Luke 21.1-4: When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. He said, "I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood. The Lord looks at the heart and values the intention. For most of us who are not free to offer more than we like, consider offering ourselves to God. There is no external restraint here and the Lord will surely be most pleased with this intention.

**To Be Happy with Self

        One is happy with himself when he realizes that God truly loves him; he accepts this love and finally is at peace with himself. Now he is ready to let the Lord make him holy. If you do not like yourself, you still have your ego and are not truly free yet. 

*God Most Amazing*

        The sun is so familiar to us and we don't think much about it unless you are an astronomer or scientist. I watched History Channel's documentary The Secrets of the Sun and was amazed by its power and its uniqueness in the universe. I learned that it's been burning for billions of years and probably still has billions of more years to go. The distance between the sun and the earth is just right so that we get the right temperature for life to survive. The moon is just smaller and closer to the earth enough for a total eclipse to happen. In the past, solar storms had amazingly reached the earth in about 16 hours, covering 93 millions miles. In one Marian apparition, it was revealed that fire would fall from the sky one day–could it be a severe solar storm hitting the earth? The sun is amazing and powerful, but the Lord is its creator. At Fatima, he made the sun spin and fall from in the sky. Everything in the universe obeys the Lord except us. Let us be amazed by him and become obedient too.

Forgiving the Evildoers

        There are many evil people today who are easy for us to hate. Then I remember that Jesus even prayed for those who put him to death: "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do" (Luke 23.34). So I truly feel sorry for all the evildoers too, for they know not what they do and what they would face if they do not change their ways. We must be merciful as our Lord is merciful.

To Be Prepared Always

        Jesus wants us to be prepared always, for he will come at an hour we do not expect. Just in case he does not appear in our lifetime, we must also be ready for our own death. And since many today suffer dementia as they age, we ought be watchful for that too. If all this is too much, just trust and follow the Lord faithfully and he shall take care of you. 

***Food for Immortality

        Communion experience. Yesterday, as I received the Holy Eucharist, I realized that this was the true food that would make me immortal, for Jesus promised in John 6 that "whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will live forever."

***Most Important Statement

        Christ is our Savior because he is the only one who can free us from ourselves and everything else! (That is why I want to belong to him alone.)

New Freedom in Heaven

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 20, Jesus made it clear to the Sadducees that once we are in heaven, the family relationships we had on earth will no longer exist. We all become God's children, and like the angels we cannot die. It indicates to me that in heaven we'll experience a new freedom, becoming attached to God the Father alone. I surely look forward to that day.

How God Settle Things

        Hearing the phrase "forever and ever" can bring great joy to those who will be with the Lord or cause great fear in those who will be separated from him after they die. In today's reading from Psalm 9, verse 6 reads: You rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; their name you blotted out forever and ever. With God, everything will be settled once and all for good. 

Smart Living

        Most people seek happiness in this life first and fail to find true peace and joy in the end. The smart ones secure their eternity through Christ first and experience freedom, peace, and joy in this life as well. The contrarian wins here. I am one who can testify to you that this is true.

***Requisites for Receiving the Eucharist

        To get the most out of receiving the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, we must (1) be in a state of grace, (2) be open to him, and (3) desire union with him. This is the way to holiness. Missing (1), you would be offending the Lord. Missing (2), you would receive no benefit, wasting your and God's time. Missing (3), you would not become a saint. 

**Wondrous God

        Communion thoughts. Let us see that God accomplishes everything effortlessly and miraculously. During the liturgy of the Eucharist, the Lord so transformed the bread and wine into his own body and blood. Our God is a wondrous God.

Great Stumbling Block

        Many people do no believe in Jesus, but there is really no good reason for that. I believe they do not accept him because their pride is too great, for to accept him is to make him their Lord! This is the stumbling block. 

**God Always with Us

        As I age, I realize many things I never thought about before. I can say that I am now much wiser, thanks to God. When we were young, we dreamed about our future on earth. Since we were in good shape physically, we pretty much thought that we could try anything we wanted. As we age, we start to see things differently. Of course, there are always some who die young unexpectedly, but most of us live to an older age. Then one day we realize that we are getting weaker physically. Our joints are now stiffer and even getting out of bed becomes hard. Any bruise mark we get doesn't go away for weeks or months and recovering from a serious injury seems to take forever. When an old person suffers a bad fall, it could end his or her life. Recently, a number of my old (age-wise) friends lost their driver's license. In this country, if you can't drive, you have to depend much on others. And we know that no one on earth can help our deteriorating condition and all of us will be left with God alone. This has been the reality ever since our birth, but we are only now aware of it. Yes, only God is always with us.  

Moment of Exaltation

        Communion experience. This was the moment God exalted us for yielding ourselves to him.

*Day of Chastisement

        Today is Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In today's Gospel reading from Luke 19, Jesus drew near Jerusalem, saw the city and wept, for he foresaw the coming onslaught on and destruction of the city. We do not take God seriously enough to realize that if we do not turn to God, our day of chastisement will surely arrive. Any cause will produce its effect. May we wake up to this fact before it's too late. 

**Most Profound Celebration

        Communion experience. It's the Lord completing my joy. Mass is the most profound celebration of all celebrations. We celebrate the Lord coming to us, giving us himself to consume in the Holy Eucharist so that we might have eternal life.

Controlling the Ego

          Serving the Lord without an ego is not easy. There are times we have an amusing thought and want to share it. It's OK if the motive is not to want others to notice you. But sharing it while serving Mass is usually never appropriate. It boils down to whatever you do, it must not be centered on yourself. And believe me, it's easily said than done. 

Saluting Fellow Brothers and Sisters

        At my church, I see many of my brothers and sisters in Christ who serve the Lord faithfully. They form the core of the parish, for they perform many duties faithfully, including cleaning the church every Friday, despite facing severe family and/or health problems in some cases. I praise our Lord for them and know that he will reward them greatly.  

**How to Receive More from God

        Today's Gospel reading came from Luke 19.11-28. Jesus told the parable of the ten gold coins. Two things we can learn here. (1) The Lord rewards those who are faithful in small matters. We may never be called to do anything big, but we are to remain faithful in every matter we are called to take care of. I might add that we must not neglect to do anything that glorifies the Lord either. If there is an opportunity to draw someone close to him, seize it! (2) The Lord is merciful, but he is also demanding. We cannot afford to be lazy in serving him. The bottom line was given in verse 26: I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Amen.