**Looking at Death

        Many have died from the current coronavirus. Should we feel sorry for them? If we truly trust in the Lord, we would feel sorry only for those who did not make heaven. After all, the Lord cares about our soul the most, and we should care foremost about how he feels. Feeling sad about someone who has died because you are going to miss that person is basically being self-centered. If you are quite sure that the soul is headed for heaven, you should rejoice instead! God knows exactly what he is doing and is always just, so we can confidently put ourselves entirely in his hands. Only his ways and his will matter.       

**What We Should and Should not Do

           Today's Gospel comes from John 8. It's about the woman caught in adultery. The scribes and the Pharisees brought her to Jesus. They said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus said to the, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." In response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She replied, "No one, sir." Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more."

          I've set in bold face the sayings of the Lord for us to remember. As sinners, we should not judge other sinners, and we should stop sinning to avoid being condemned by God. 

***Should Be a No-Brainer

        Ezekiel 33.11, today's verse before the Gospel: "I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord, but rather in his conversion, that he may live." It should be clear that the wicked will die forever, but if they convert, they will live forever! If you don't get this, then no one, not even God, can help you. For God wants to save you, but you'll have to let him convert you first. 

***Most Glorious Union*

       The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one. They form the most glorious Holy Trinity. When you have one of the three, you have them all. When you pray to any one of them, you pray to all of them. When you have fallen in love with any one of them, you are in love with all of them. When you praise God, you praise all of them. When God dwells in you, all three dwell in you. Now, get ready to hear this: We can join the union of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit by attaining union with God through the Holy Eucharist!

*Do-Not-Judge Lesson

        I have four flowering shrubs planted on the roadside outside my house. The first three plants down the road have always looked healthier and grown larger, while the last one has always lagged behind in growth and looks not as alive. A couple of days ago to my surprise, while the three larger ones had shown some flower buds, the buds on the the small plant had all blossomed, showing the whole plant covered in beautiful red flowers. This is a case of "the last will be first, and the first will be last." It teaches me never to judge anyone.

*Returning to Your God

        Communion experience. I followed Sunday Mass offered by Fr. Goring on YouTube this morning. I received spiritual Communion and was ready to go to the Lord. Let nothing hold you back from returning to your loving creator.

How Clean Is Your Heart?

        Your can pray inside a magnificent cathedral or in a dingy little room. The setting is not important, but the purity of your heart is. For nothing pleases the Lord more that a clean heart. 

**God Is Always Right!

          Today's Gospel reading from John 11 is about the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, sent word to Jesus to say that Lazarus was ill. When Jesus heard this he said, "This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God." He remained for two days in the place where he was. Then he went with his disciples to Lazarus' village Bethany. He said to them, Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe." When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise." He went to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha said to him, "Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus ordered them to untie him and let him go. 

         The lesson here is that the Lord always knows what's going on and what to do. He is always right, we must believe.

**Power of the Holy Spirit

        In today's second reading from Romans 8, Paul writes, "If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in you." When you are in union with the Lord, the Holy Spirit dwells within you. Imagine that this is the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead! With such a powerful Lord dwelling in you, you should be awed and never ever be afraid again!

*Wishing Is Not Enough

        It's easy to wish someone well. But if you really mean it, you should back it up by praying for that person, especially for his or her soul! You don't love someone enough if you don't care about that person's soul,

*Making Life Meaningful

        To me, not knowing God would make life completely meaningless—you don't know why you are here and where you are going. We just appear on earth, die, and become nothing? I always felt that emptiness before I found Christ. I believe that God has made us this way so that we might look for him. Putting my faith in Christ had turned out to be the breakthrough I needed to turn my life around. The Lord enlightened me and liberated me, and I felt completely fulfilled. And he has further filled me with the Holy Spirit to overflowing. Life has become more exciting and exhilarating than ever! Now that you know how the Lord has made us, don't miss the chance to make your life meaningful.

***Punishment or Blessing

        Pity the wicked who do not see the coronavirus as a chastisement from God. Bless the righteous who see it as a call to seek refuge in him.

**Does God love You?

        You've heard said that God loves you. What does that mean? Things still don't always go your way. Life is hard and bad things still happen to you. No one seems to care about you; you don't even get kisses or hugs. Let's pause and look at the situation. First of all, we are living in a most sinful world, including ourselves sinning continuously. It should be obvious that our brief existence on earth can never be perfect. To not be relieved from all the sufferings and hardships by God now does not mean that he does not love us. He had already come, suffered and died on the cross for us to be saved from sin. And if we believe in him, we'll have eternal life! If you still think that he does not love you enough, then you must have a very hard heart indeed.

Why Are You Are Still Here?

     In today's Gospel reading from John 7, Jesus went up to the feast of Tabernacles in Judea. He traveled not openly, for the Jews there were trying to kill him. When he started to teach openly in the temple area, they tried to arrest him. But no one laid a hand upon him because his hour had not yet come. 

          I am not leaving the world right now because I know that my hour is not here yet. The Lord has a plan for each one of us. It is good to know why we are still here and what he wants us to do. Otherwise, we are likely to waste much valuable time on earth. We reap later what we sow now on earth. Become one with the Lord so that you may know his plan for you.

*Lamenting the World

        I feel sorry for the world, for so many of its inhabitants live for themselves without any consideration for the welfare of their neighbors. They are marching away from the Lord, the truth, toward their own destruction. They are wasting away their time on earth. But God is merciful, and there will be more chastisements and warnings coming if they continue their ways. All the more we need to pray for the world.

*Be Smart and Careless

        We feel hurt emotionally or get upset because we remain uptight and take everything very personally. To cure this, we need to truly abandon ourselves in the Lord. Once we are totally in the Lord, we would only care about how he treats (loves) us and what he thinks of us, and are no longer bothered by what happens to or around us. Otherwise, we are simply being foolish to let all those things take away our peace.

**Peace of God, a Treasure

        Philippians 4 mentions the the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. This is the sweet endearing gift that you receive when you are totally obedient to the Lord. When you lose it, you know you have sinned against the Lord and feel awful. So this is the peace you would want to preserve in your heart at any cost. It's a treasure indeed.

**Our Perfect Example

        Jesus is the perfect example for us to follow if you want to be perfect. His main purpose of coming into the world is to give us the good news of salvation, but he also wants to show us how to live to become holy and free. *Attain union with the Lord through the Holy Eucharist to make following him a breeze.

**Only One Way to Go*

         In Luke 9.62, Jesus said to anyone who wishes to follow him, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God." Here is the perfect rule to follow to make getting to heaven easier. We must attach ourselves to the Lord alone and nothing else. The past is gone forever. Wanting to get to heaven is precisely the ardent wish of our heavenly Father. If you know in your heart that you are going there, you will live a life in freedom. 

        I am posting Fr. Mark Goring's video of yesterday to reinforce what I have said:

***Where Is God?

        What? You do not know where God is? He is in heaven alright, but he is also everywhere and can even dwell within us when we attain union with him. No matter where he is, he is instantly accessible. Speak to him from your heart and he hears you. Open up your heart wide and you'll hear him. So start right now telling him that you love him!

***What We Can Have***

        At this time when so many in the world are suffering losses of various kinds, we need to be thankful for what we still have and not focus upon what we've lost. We shall all die and should never regard anything to be ours, including ourselves. If you already have Christ, you have everything! If you want even more, you don't have the Lord completely yet and you remain unhappy. Think about it, nothing can be yours except Christ. Rejoice! Rejoice!

**Hearing God's Call

        God is always calling us. It's easier to hear and turn to him when times are bad. If you don't even hear him then, you probably won't ever turn to him. Those who hear and believe in him when times are good are the wise ones who are ready for whatever times coming they way.

**The World Without Truth

        We are influenced by the world so much, as it's headed in the wrong direction. We think we can take care of ourselves and don't even think about God anymore. What I love about believing in Christ is that I know that he is the truth and as truth, he is absolutely trustworthy. So I know where I am headed. The majority of the people in the world may live perhaps a seemingly interesting life, but ultimately it's an empty one—much like many of the movies produced nowadays for our entertainment, which may be superficially interesting but ultimately aimless. Without knowing the truth, we know not what we do.

*The Good Yes-Person

        We all look down on any yes-yes-person. But when the angel Gabriel came to the virgin Mary to tell her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and she would conceive in her womb and bear a son who would be great and called the Son of the Most High, Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." In any case, if you always say yes to the Lord God, you'll be exalted by him and be great in his eye. 

**The Wise and Prudent Man

        Today is the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. I just followed Fr. Mark Goring celebrating Mass on YouTube and received spiritual Communion. His new video A Real Man today is good for all to watch. I am sharing it with you here.

**On Learning About God

        In the documentary on Issac Stern I've been watching, I caught him saying "If you know music, you learn how much you don't know and how much there's always to learn. Then you learn you can spend a whole life and not know everything." Let me contrast that to learning about God. With God, it's impossible to know everything about him, since he is infinite. But there is no need for us to know all about him. All we need is to believe that he is trustworthy and follow him, and we are saved and can get to heaven. If you really want to learn all about him, wait until after you get to heaven. Perhaps he will then tell you everything. But I bet you'll be so happy up there that you don't care about asking any questions anymore.

***Sensible Way of Knowing the Lord

        Issac Stern the famous violinist told young performers never to think about going out to the audience and reaching up to them, but to be yourself and bring the audience to you and encompass them with your playing with your arms. It got me thinking if Stern's advice is helpful to those of us who wish to know the Lord. I think so. We normally think that the Lord is way up there and struggle hard to reach him. But the right and sensible approach is to just be yourself and open, then the Lord will come to you for you to embrace him.

**Handling Our Conscience

        In today's Gospel reading from John 5, Jesus healed a man who had been ill for 38 years. He said to him, "Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you." Jesus knew that the man knew what sin was. In fact, we all have a conscience and know what sin is, except for anyone who has sinned so much that his conscience has become muddy. We battle our conscience all our lives, that's why we do not have inner peace. Here is the real game-hanger for you. Seek union with the Lord. Once you attain union, you no longer need to struggle with your conscience any more, for you are now in complete alignment with the Lord and enjoying inner peace. 

*The Joy of Salvation

        Today's verse before the Gospel from Psalm 51: A clean heart create for me, O God; give me back the joy of your salvation. If you want to experience true joy in life, just let the Lord make your heart clean so that you'll know that you are saved. This is a unique joy that is sweet yet powerful and deeply touches the soul. It's a joy a worldly person cannot know. 

**Have Faith!

        Today's responsorial psalm consists of 6 verses from Psalm 46. Verses 2-3 read as follows: God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress. Therefore we fear not, though the earth be shaken and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea. This is the kind of faith we should have, no matter what hardship we go through. For we know that our God will be victorious in the end. He will come to judge all of us and straighten out everything and order will be restored. Sins will be wiped out and salvation of the righteous complete. That we experience all the horrible things now is just part of the process. Have faith always! 

*Rejoicing in Our Lord

        Today's Psalm reading comes from Psalm 30, a psalm of David. Verse 6 reads as follows: The LORD's anger lasts but a moment; a lifetime, his good will. At nightfall, weeping enters in, but with the dawn, rejoicing. This is how the Lord deals with us sinners. There is great mercy and compassion, and we should rejoice that we have such a loving, tolerant Lord. He is the one who can and wants to rescue us.

*Becoming Delightful and Joyful!

        The Lord God loves us. He delights in us and wants us to be a joy to him. Can we live up to his expectations? Amazingly, we can, as nothing is impossible for the Lord. We only need to let him make us into what he wishes us to be and he will become our joy and we'll be delighted with ourselves as well. 

***Knowing Is Not Believing

        If you do not know the Liord well and believe that something is true, you are never sure that you are right. But if you know the Lord so well that you become one with him, you'll know what is true without a doubt, for you already know the Lord who is the truth.

**Hypocrites vs. Atheists

        Atheists can be genuine, but hypocrites are always phony. If I must choose one to respect, it will have to be the atheists. But I pity them both.       

**Coronavirus as Our Teacher

        The coronavirus can teach us many things. It tests us to see if we are spiritually fit. It compels us to think about life. It asks us if we are ready to die. It gives us a break time to gain wisdom. As a wake-up call from the Lord, it is a blessing. Unfortunately, there are always those who go on partying as usual. Fortunately for them, it's not the Second Coming of the Lord yet. For at that time, when you hear about it, wake-up time will be no more. So I also see the coronavirus giving us an opportunity to rehearse what we should do in preparation for the Second-Coming.

***No Bad Dreams About Jesus

        My recurring bad dreams are always about losing my way on going somewhere to meet someone, forgetting to have carried something with me that's needed, or missing an appointment or some scheduled event. This morning I dreamed that my car was somewhere and I didn't know how to get it back. I believe that these dreams show that I was affected by losing, forgetting, or missing certain things in the past that were important to me. Then I thought of Jesus who is absolutely the most important person to me. That I never have any bad dreams about him is because I know both consciously and subconsciously that he and I will always be one so that it'd be impossible for me to lose, forget, or miss him! (By the way, all my past dreams about Jesus have been fantastically good.) 

*Christ Our Beginning and End

        This morning I walked outside my house down a road which was on my property and back. It took 20 minutes to do the round trip 3 times, just the amount of time I needed to pray the Rosary. It was a beautiful spring day, hard to believe that the world is in such a sinful state and people are dying all around the globe from this coronavirus. I did see clearly that Jesus is our end. We were all created through him and will end with him. There is nothing beyond him. I rejoiced that I was going to him in whom I should find eternal rest. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. (Today's response from Psalm 23.)

To Have a Clean Heart

        In today's first reading from 1 Samuel 16, the Lord God sent Samuel to Jesse of Bethlehem to choose his king among the sons of Jesse. He told Samuel not to judge from the appearance, for man sees the appearance but God looks into the heart. Let's remember this. Make letting God create a clean heart in us our first order of business. This will not only please God greatly, but also make us feel great.

**Spiritual Communion

        For those who do not get to attend Sunday Mass because of the coronavirus, you can always follow one on YouTube. EWTN televises Mass daily from a chapel. I followed Fr. Mark Goring this morning from my home. He offered Spiritual Communion to all who watched him. Pretty cool. Most likely, he'll be offering Sunday Mass for a while. You can also perform the Act of Spiritual Communion on your own. Here is the prayer from EWTN you can use. 

My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love you above all things, and I desire to receive you into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace you as if you were already there and unite myself wholly to you. Never permit me to be separated from you. Amen.

**Why the World Is Godless

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 18, Jesus said, "Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted." Our world is in trouble because most people exalt and very few humble themselves. The ratio between these two numbers indicates how godless the world is. As we ask the Lord to have mercy on us, let us ask him to help us humble ourselves too. Clearly, the proud need mercy, but the humble receive it.

*God Alone Knows Death

        Many people are dying from the coronavirus and other bad things too. From the human point of point, we feel sorry for them. But God's thoughts are not our thoughts. For example, we are saddened to hear that someone young has died in a car crash and, on the other hand, comforted to hear that one has died peacefully in sleep. And as for someone who has died very quickly, we may not feel too badly because we figure that the person probably did not suffer any pain for long. Well, the young person who died in the tragic car accident could have gone straight to heaven and the one who passed away in his sleep who didn't get a chance to make a last confession could have landed in hell. So, how long we live and how we die are not for us to understand. We need to trust in God who alone knows life as well as death.

**Time to Pray for God's Mercy

        With the whole world facing the pandemic coronavirus threat now, there is no better time for all those who believe in God to get down on their knees and pray for his mercy on all of us. 

*Waking Up to Reality

        The coronavirus has totally interrupted our way of life and perhaps changed our outlook on life too. I believe that many of us now realize how brief and fragile our existence is on earth and that there has to be more to it than just surviving some calamity we face. What if the world is ending now, how would you react? I say let's secure our eternal life in Christ right now and we'll see all things in a new light and feel good about it.

**What Others Think About You

        Yesterday I posted about not to pay attention to what anyone thinks about you. I'd like to elaborate on that a little bit. This advice basically tells you that you should care only about what God thinks about you. For what God thinks is always true, whereas what anyone else thinks about you may be false and you shouldn't let a lie rob you of your inner peace. The only exception is when you are bad and someone points that out. Then you can consider that to be a blessing and go before the Lord to ask him to correct you. We are to respond to God alone always. 

**Be as Clear as Crystal

        I went on the Divine Mercy website (thedivinemercy.org) and came across this post of March 17, just two days ago. It's titled "Make Your Life as Clear as Crystal." These words came from a Sr. Faustina's confessor who spoke to her. I'll just quote directly from Sr. Faustina's Diary to show you what he said.

        

        Sister, God is preparing many special graces for you, but try to make your life as clear as crystal before the Lord, paying no attention to what anyone else thinks about you. Let God suffice you; He alone.

        

        Good for us to meditate upon these words: "Make your life as clear as crystal." "Pay no attention to what anyone else thinks about you." "Let God suffice you; He alone." [I highly recommend that you read St. Faustina's Diary on the Divine Mercy of Christ.]

***What the World Doesn't Get*

        Repentance is the key to salvation. If we do not ever wish to repent, we are on the path to committing suicide, to be blunt but realistic about it. Suicide is a one-way journey, irreversible. I suggest that you latch onto our only Savior and Hope, Christ the Lord, and you'll never have to worry about anything that matters anymore. Honest truth!

***No Repentance, No Redemption

        In both Mark 8 and Matthew 16, Jesus asked, "What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?" At this time, it is appropriate to ask "What profit is there for us to conquer the coronavirus but still not repent of our sins?" 

***Is Your Soul Clean Enough?

        We shall all die and now many of us could catch the coronavirus and die. We are truly in God's hands. The question is if your are ready to die right now. Is your soul clean enough? This is the key question. All the governments are doing all they can to protect their people, but if we remain unrepentant and continue our ways, worse calamities surely will follow! I see countries suppressing Christians and other minorities, our own Church in confusion and division, and abortion legalized in this country since 1972! God has been extremely patient with us. Are we so stupid as to continue pushing our luck? Christ has warned us to remain awake and be alert always, and we've had the chance to learn to do that for 2,000 years. Shame on us! It only takes a change of heart to turn things around. Be cleansed of your sins and ready for dying with joy, for our Lord awaits those who repent and follow him.

**Dependence on God Necessary

        We love to think independently in all areas of our lives. Even now, there are those who ignore the official coronavirus warnings, doing what they want to do and putting others at risk. It's all about "me." But we'll never be free if we do not follow God. The first thing we need to do is to submit ourselves to God totally, then we'll be free to do whatever we want to do and still do the right thing. It's plain common sense that we need God's guidance. You cannot set yourself free, period.

**How Godless Can You Be?

        I am posting this CBN video to show you why God has allowed such things as the current coronavirus to happen. I know I'll be mocked by the atheists too. No matter, I pity them who have no faith in God. They can laugh all they want now, but if they don't change, they'll be crying and wailing later.