***Becoming Powerful in God!

       In reading 1 from 2 Timothy 1, Paul made it clear that God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control, and we are to bear our share of hardship for the Gospel with strength that comes from God. And Christ had destroyed death and brought life and immortality to life through the Gospel. So for us who follow Christ, death no longer exists; we are immortal! This calls for instant and forever rejoicing. That God can give us all the strength we need to live for him is unquestionable. If we submit ourselves to the Lord, he turns us into powerhouses!

**Let Peace Be Your Guide

        If you always follow God's will, you will have his peace in your heart. This is a peace so precious that if you can keep it, you'll have eternal life. There are so many material temptations out there that can easily rob us of this peace. We are tempted to buy the currently hot stocks, latest version cell phones, new fancy cars, fashionable clothing, etc. If acquiring any of these things will make you lose your peace, then don't do it! Never let anyone or most of all your own ego pressure you into giving in to any such temptation. Remain humble to stay on the straight path to eternal life and rejoice. It won't be long before you arrive at the end of your journey and you'll be glad that you've kept your inner peace.

*Realization and Reminder*

        Psalm 90 provides today's responsorial. Here's verse 10: Seventy is the sum of our years, or eighty, if we are strong. And most of them are fruitless toil, for they pass quickly and we drift away. It makes me realize how easy it is to waste the little time we have on earth, time we could and should use to glorify God and store up treasures in heaven in preparation for our return to him. Remember that every moment we're alive is sustained by God, so every such moment we should serve him out of gratitude.

***Make God Real to You***

        I finally understood. The Lord God created us, loves us, and knows all about us. The only way for us finite beings to know him, understand him, and appreciate him is to let him draw us deep into him, for on our own we are powerless to enter him. When you abandon yourself entirely to him, you enter a universe in union with him and begin your eternal life. Today June 1 is Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church. The Gospel reading for today's Mass came from John 19.25-34. From the cross, Jesus gave his own mother to John the Apostle to be his mother. Shortly afterwards in verse 30, Jesus said, "It is finished." Bowing his head, he handed over the spirit. As soon as I finished reading this verse, the Holy Spirit hit me with a joy so powerful I felt as if lightning had struck me! How comforting to know that I am his now.

*Growing Sensibly Spiritually

        Youngsters do what they feel like doing. I myself had done many things on a whim when I was young. As we grow older, we do things more looking our age. When we become old, we just have to give up many things we can no longer do. You just don't see oldsters learning how to skateboard, do you? In general, we do what's sensible for us to do. But as Christians, do we also grow sensibly? Age is not a factor here. A Christian should do things that befit his image as a Christian. A worldly Christian will simply appear to be hypocritical. To grow sensibly spiritually, the solution is to constantly submit yourself to God.

**Unwavering Focus upon Christ*

        Satan loves to sow confusion to create chaos in our world, specifically within the Church. All the more that we need to focus unwaveringly upon Christ the Lord and not allow anything, no matter what the source is or how interesting or miraculous it might seem, to make us question or doubt our faith in him. This faith is as precious to us as our soul is. Seek to attain union with the Lord to safeguard both your faith and soul. 

*Defeating Sin

        If one keeps on sinning, he can reach a point of no return in the sense that he will not be able to overcome his sins anymore. On the other hand, one can reach for God in advance to prevent ever committing any serious sin. Best of all, seek union with the Lord right away no that sin no longer becomes an issue. Sin is real and deadly. Dwell in the Lord is the most effectively way to deal with it (or rather not to deal with it).

**Perfect Day for Our Rebirth

        Today is Pentecost Sunday. On that day, when the Holy Spirit descended upon all those gathered, the Church was born. This is the perfect day for us to let the Lord Spirit take full possession of us so that we may be liberated and set afire with the love of God—to be made anew! Make today the day of your rebirth too. 

***God Turning Sorrow into Joy

        When the Lord fills us with joy, we can cry with joy. When we hear sad news such as the global child sex trafficking I posted about, we can cry too. In this case, we feel sorry for the children, but deep down we feel sad because the evildoers are hurting the Lord God who loves them. Since we feel the pain for the sake of our Lord, we are drawn even closer to him and our suffering becomes bearable and even sweet.  Yes, the Lord always gives joy to those who love him!

**One Thing We Must Not Put Off*

        I know of one person who rents a house and pays her rent always late with penalty. Why doesn't she make a simple switch to paying on time, since she pays every month anyway? But for some reason, she just keeps putting off doing this. This brings to my mind the people who think that they might accept Christ, but keeps putting it off. You can put off doing many things, but believing in the true God is not something you should casually lay aside, for you do not know how much longer you'll be around. Jesus advised us to remain vigilant and be ready for his Second Coming two thousand years ago. With us getting closer to that day, his advice is becoming more urgent than ever. We need to snap out of our inaction, for we are dealing with eternal life and eternal death!

**Minding Our Own Business

        In today's Gospel reading from John 21, the disciple John asked Jesus, "Master, who is the one who will betray you?" Peter saw John and asked Jesus, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus answered Peter, "What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me." We know that John lived to a ripe old age and Peter got crucified later upside down. It is clear that the Lord has a plan for each one of us and we are to mind our own plan only by following him. 

**Need to be Grateful to God

        If we do not know the God of Christ, we would sin, struggle, sin, struggle, continuing thus without end. We would be enslaved by sin, remain in darkness, and die in sin. Christ is the only one who can free us from sin, bring us out of darkness into light, make us clean and fit for enjoying eternal life in heaven. For this alone, we need be grateful to God.

**Love God = Fight Evil

        Following the post Evil You Need to Know of May 28, I am airing Candace Owens' interview with Tim Ballard of February this year. Child sex trafficking has to be as abominable as abortion. If we love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind, then we must fight evil with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind.

***Most Perfect Prayer

        As I was praying the Rosary while walking outside the house this morning, the Holy Spirit made me see that when we pray the Our Father, the prayer Jesus gave us, slowly, word by word, and mean everything we say with all our heart, the Father hears it in his heart and will draw us as close to him as possible as his most beloved children.

***How Are We Going to Die?

        In today's Gospel reading from John 21, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him and foretold the kind of death he would glorify God. Does the Lord know the kind of death each of us will have? I believe that if we are like Peter who knew that he had been chosen and remained faithful and that he's going to the Lord in heaven, then yes. For those who still have not chosen Christ yet, then how they're going to die will depend upon what action they take in the remainder of their lives. Choosing Christ settles everything! Not choosing him is to live in great uncertainty always.

***Awesome Reciprocal Relationship

         If you trust God, he will trust you. If you acknowledge him before others, he will acknowledge you. If you are proud of him, he'll be proud of you. If you reject him, he will not know you. If you please him, you become pleasing to him. If you humble yourself before him, he will humble himself to exalt you. If you share everything in your heart with him, he will reveal what's in his heart to you! If you want to be one with him, he is ready for you too! Now you can control how you want God to respond to you.

***Jesus Indispensable*

        We must always stand with Jesus, stay with Jesus, and cling tight to Jesus. Even better, we abide in him. For without him, we are lost and nothing. Abandon ourselves in him and we are made anew, forever liberated and secure!

**Evil You Need to Know

        Evil is real. Some stories can break your heart. Most of us do not hear much about child trafficking, but there are millions of victims out there. This new short video brings some good news. Tim Ballard is inspiring and admirable, and his organization Operation Underground Railroad deserves our support and prayer. The other earlier short video that follows tells you something about Tim and his operation. (You may want to watch more videos about Tim and O.U.R. on YouTube.) 

 

*Instant Obedience Required

        God's commandments are to be obeyed without question. If you believe in Jesus, you must do what he asks you to do without delay. Either he is your Lord or he is not. When Jesus called the Apostles to follow him, they dropped everything and followed him instantly. If you hesitate, you are unfit. Trust in him completely and your reward and satisfaction will be great! 

**To Make Our Existence Extraordinary

        I saw the film Quartet on Roku. It's about retired musicians all living at a quite beautiful home together. Naturally, with many residents who were quite famous before, you see some showing big egos. But there are also others with kind hearts. One male resident particularly enjoys flirting with one female staff member. What you see is how we typically behave everywhere else. The story does end happily. This is a movie fun to watch. My thoughts are that we need to lift our life out of ordinary existence. Embracing Christ puts us on a higher plane. Enjoying fun in the world just keeps us on the lower level, not experiencing any spiritual joy and liberty. This is unsatisfying to me, while we can have the whole of our Lord God to ourselves!

***Perfect Move for Us to Make

        In today's Gospel reading from John 17, Jesus prayed to the Father. I am going to put some of his sayings together to make my point. Jesus said, "Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them. Consecrate them in the truth. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth." I see that once we've been chosen by God, our relationship to him becomes truly deeper and more intimate than we can possibly realize. So seeking union with God is exactly the right thing for us to do—we simply acknowledge that God so wants us to be his and we want to cooperate. Union can now take place.

**Departure Blues

         In today's reading 1 from Acts 20, Paul continued to speak to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus, admonishing, encouraging, and edifying them, as he was going to depart from them. When he had finished speaking, he knelt down and prayed with them all. They wept loudly, for they were deeply distressed that he had said that they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship. 

        Such is life on earth. When we leave this world, we'll be departing from all those whom we've loved or known. Our concern should be if we'll ever see them again in heaven. Once in heaven, we'll have our most beloved Father with us forever, no more departing! This is what we should look forward to always.

***Jesus = Eternal Life***

        In today's Gospel reading from John 17, Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ."

**A Joyful, Exciting Adventure

        Today is the Memorial of St. Philip Neri. In reading1 from Acts 20, Paul addressed the presbyters of the Church at Ephesus, "Now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem. What will happen to me there I do not know, except that in one city after another the Holy Spirit has been warning me that imprisonment and hardships await me." This is how we should live the Christian life, letting the Holy Spirit prompt and compel us, not knowing fully what will happen. Following Christ is an adventure. We don't see the immediate detail, but we know that we are doing the right thing and heading in the right direction. It is downright exciting and comforting. Paul also knew that none of those to whom he was speaking would ever see his face again. Is this something sad? Not if you follow the Lord exclusively. The joy of seeing anyone again in heaven will surely far exceed any sorrow of separation you feel on earth. God alone is more than sufficient for all of us! 

*A Lesson in Prayer

        When we pray for someone to come back to God, it doesn't seem to happen and we get disheartened. It has to be that God wants us to give up worrying and place our whole trust in him. In Mark 11, Jesus said to his disciples "I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours." Trust, not worry, is what the Lord wants from us and it is through trust that our prayers are answered!

**Our Likely Response to God*

        God says to us: "My children, I created you out of love. You disobeyed me, but I still love you just the same. Obey me from now on and return to me, for I am ready to have you back to enjoy eternity with me in paradise."

        We respond (not sure about addressing God as Father): "Well, I'll have to think about it." (No thank you or goodbye.)                                  

**The Brown Scapular*

        I wear both the Brown Scapular and the Miraculous Medal because I believe that I would receive the spiritual benefits the Blessed Mother had promised through St. Simon Stock and St. Catherine Labouré, respectively. The biggest promise for wearing the Brown Scapular is this one: "Whosoever dies wearing it shall not suffer eternal fire." This is an unbeatable promise. As for the Miraculous Medal, those who wear it with confidence will receive great graces. I can testify personally that the Lord has been pouring graces on me nonstop since I wore it. Mind you, wearing the Scapular or the Medal is not being superstitious. It is simply an act showing that you do trust in God's promises. I am posting an older Fr. Mark Goring video to let him explain the Brown Scapular to you. Of course, you can find all about the Scapular and the Medal online.

***No Higher Exaltation on Earth!

        In today's Gospel from John 16, Jesus said to his disciples, "Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone. But I am not alone, because the Father is with me." In union with Jesus, you will know that Jesus is with you. And since the Father is with him, the Father is with you too. And the Holy Spirit too. Jesus said in Matthew 23, "Whoever humbles himself will be exalted." Now you humble yourself to let God be your Lord totally and he exalts you to be in union with the glorious Holy Trinity! 

**Best Reason for Us to Die

        Today is Memorial Day in USA. We honor all those who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. They are heroes for sacrificing themselves for their (and our) country. Then I thought of those who got killed while committing a crime, not dying for any good cause. Many others simply died of old age. At the other extreme, Christians got martyred for their faith. We all die for various reasons. If we just live for God alone, then no matter how we die, we'd be glorifying God. This is the best reason for us to leave this world.

**Unstoppable Journey

        A lot of things can happen in life. We may lose our job, our home, loved ones, etc., but life must go on, right? Then I see that life in Christ is a continuous journey to where he is forever. What we encounter along the way are simply distractions, tests, or lessons. As nothing can possibly take us away from the Lord, nothing can possibly stop or derail our journey to him. And this is a beautiful awareness and feeling. Lord Jesus, I am coming! Viva Cristo Rey!

**We Are the Apostles Now!

        Before Jesus was taken up into heaven, he commanded the eleven Apostles to go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature, and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28, Mark 16). Now two thousand years later, the command should still be in effect, as not every creature and nations have become disciples of Christ. We are now the Apostles and should make proclaiming the gospel our first order of business!

***What God Deserves

        For a Lord like Jesus who loves us so much that he even died for us, he absolutely deserves all our love and gratitude. The best way to show that is to submit ourselves to him to let him make us holy and perfect.

*Everything According to God's Plan

        Today's Gospel reading are the first 11 verses of John 17. Jesus was fulfilling all the prophecies of the Old Testament. He now knew that his hour had come to accomplish the work the Father had given him to do, giving eternal life to the ones he had given him. And he would be leaving the world and going to the Father. All this is most amazing. You can be sure that his Second Coming will be fulfilled in due time.

**God Always Blesses Us

        Today's reading 2 comes from 1 Peter 4. Peter wrote: "If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. Whoever is made to suffer as a Christian should not be ashamed but glorify God because of the name." So if we are insulted for being Christians, we know that the Holy Spirit rests upon us. And if we are made to suffer as Christians, we glorify God. No matter what, we get blessed.

***Another Union Advantage

        It's hard for many Catholics not being able to attend Mass to receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist. This Most Holy Sacrament is essential in helping us complete our union with God on earth. But if you have already attained union with the Lord, you know that you already belong to him and that he shall keep you forever. Therefore, even though you cannot receive him physically for the time being, you receive great consolation knowing that he is already in you and with you. This is another union advantage. The one you yearn for the most is already one with you.

**The Earth Our Prison

        I have already mentioned the Aerial America series on the Smithsonian Channel. Today I watched the state of Illinois from the air. Of course, Chicago being the most prominent city of the state, was featured. The narration began with the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, touched upon the past corruption of the city officials, told how notorious gangsters Al Capone and John Dillinger operated, etc. Anyway, as I saw the earth from above, it was clear that we are all bound to the earth. We can move around the earth, but cannot get off it very far. Even if we go to another planet, we still cannot escape gravity. I see my brief existence on earth as a period of imprisonment for my sins. All the more I long for God to set me free after this life. Most fortunately, Christ has already promised me to do just that! For this, I rejoice greatly in him.

*Grief Becoming Joy

        In today's Gospel reading from John 16, Jesus said to his disciples: "Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy." The Lord was talking about his impending crucifixion and resurrection. I can't help seeing that we are going through the same experience now. Christians are weeping and mourning over the persecution of Christ and his followers, while the world is rejoicing over that. But our grief will ultimately turn into great joy when we meet Christ in person! History does have a way of repeating itself.

**Our Only Hope for Unity

        The world is polarized. You have the rich vs. the poor, conservatives vs. liberals, globalists vs. nationalists, socialism vs. capitalism, pro-abortionists vs. pro-lifers, etc. At the most fundamental level, it comes down to God vs. Satan, i.e., good vs. evil. Believing in the God of Christ is the only way for us to become unified. It's all up to us. All up to us.

***Smart Spiritual Living

        Union with God is the best way to stop sinning, for in union the Lord completely shields you and removes your tendency to sin. The way to fight sin is to stop it at the earliest possible stage. Nick it in the bud! The smart, way of beating Satan is to turn away from him, not out of fear, but to thwart him. You want to have nothing to do with him. Disregard him, ignore him, and focus upon the Lord Jesus instead. With Satan, treat him as a nobody and he becomes a nobody to you. On the other hand, with God, treat him as everything and he becomes everything to you! 

**Living Our Life Right

        You have heard that we should live everyday as our last day on earth. This is good advice, so we don't waste time doing things that won't help us get into heaven. Many people wish that before they die they could reconcile themselves with any loved ones who are estranged from them. Well, thinking that this might be your last day on earth can get you started on restoring those relationships right now. You do your part to make the move, so you'll be in the clear, and leave the outcome to God. We want to face God knowing that we've done all we can to be clean and blameless for both his and our own sake.  

**Time for Action!

        Today is The Ascension of the Lord. The Gospel reading came from Matthew 28. The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. The Risen Lord appeared and said to them, "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." So there will be an end of the age. Whether it be tomorrow or a million years from now, it doesn't matter. Just as the dinosaurs had become extinct, the world as we know it will come to an end. Now is the time to prepare for our future. Not making heaven is so much worse than becoming extinct. Now is the time to trust in Christ to cast aside all uncertainties. 

**Betraying Jesus Today

        The Lord made me see that when Christians knowingly sin against him, they betray him as Judas Iscariot did. It doesn't matter how you appear on the outside to others, what kind of mansion you live in, what kind of position you hold in or outside the Church, the Lord knows every single heart. I feel the greatest sorrow for people who knowingly do evil things and never show any sign of repentance, and you see plenty of them today. You can still sin and be smart and repent, knowing that God loves all sinners. But to sin and remain in sin and not repent, that surely takes the cake.

***Everything God's Is Ours!***

        In today's Gospel reading from John16, Jesus said to his disciples, "Everything that the Father has is mine." In the parable of the lost son (Luke 15), the father said to the elder son, "My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours." In Romans 8, Paul wrote: We are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him. In conclusion, everything God has can be ours! Think about it and rejoice. Also, everything God has is good. It is impossible that he will not give us what's good for us when we ask for it. We can even have the Lord God, the Father, to ourselves!

**Don't Forget Returning to God

        In today's reading 1 from Acts 17, Paul said to the Athenians that it's in God that we live and move and have our being. How true! Without God, we won't even be here. But as sinners, we lack one thing: not all of us have given God our heart yet. So we just go through the motion of living, moving, and having our being in God. Give your heart to God and we can say that we live, move, have our being, and are returning to our God. 

***Having God Support Us to the Max

        As I was walking and praying outside the house this morning, the Lord made me see that the more we trust in him, the more we shall experience his wonders. Obviously, if there's zero trust, you won't experience him at all. Most Christians have some faith in God, so they experience him to some extent. But if you put all your trust in him, he will support you to the max! The truth is that our Father has always wanted to support us fully; it's us who won't let him do it. Such a loving Father will never leave us as orphans. Put all your faith in him. Do not struggle and labor on your own. Rely upon him completely to experience his love and care. Let him catch you whenever you fall! 

        By the way, it had happened quite a few times in the past that I would have a thought to post and find out that Fr. Mark Goring had basically the same thought presented on his YouTube video that day. Today I got back into the house and watched his new video and the same thing happened again. You can hear him below.

**Simple but Difficult to Accept

        In today's reading 1 from Acts 16, Paul and Silas were put in prison in Philippi. About midnight, while they were praying and singing hymns to God, there was suddenly such a severe earthquake that the foundations of the jail shook; all the doors flew open and the chains of all were pulled loose. When the jailer woke up and saw all this, he trembled with fear. He rushed into Paul and Silas' cell and fell down before the two. Then he brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they answered, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved." So simple, right? But what bothers me is that people are willing to go through hoops to win some trivial prize, yet they don't even want to consider believing in Jesus to be saved forever! Something is very wrong here for sure.

**Best Treasures for Us

        You can accumulate and store up treasures of the world, but they are perishable and can never be truly yours. Besides, when you die, you have to give them up all if they haven't perished yet. Then if you follow Christ and serve him faithfully, you accumulate and store up treasures in heaven that will never perish. When you get to where they are in the end, they are yours forever! The difference between the foolish and the wise is even greater than that between earth and heaven.

**Signs of Abandonment to God

        No matter what you face or go through, you have peace deep down in your heart. Suffering for God's sake is a joy. God is now your greatest joy. You trust in the Lord and are no longer concerned about consequences. Anxieties and worries are gone. All his will is now your will. In your urge to praise the Lord, you receive the gift of praising him in tongues. When a Spirit-filled priest pray over you, you rest in the Spirit and experience profound peace. You feel completely liberated. You know that you are in the Lord.

**What Life Is All About

        Life is all about how much you submit yourself to God. Our time on earth is limited. We can let God be our God or play God ourselves—these are the two extremes. As long as we do our best to let God be our Lord, we are on the right track. Once you attain union with God through the Holy Eucharist, you belong to him totally and are ready to enjoy eternal life. Receiving the flesh and blood of the Lord completes and perfects that union.

***About Truth*

        How do I know that Christ is true God? My answer: the Spirit of truth reveals it to me. It sounds as if I am trying to avoid an argument, but I am telling you as straight as I can. Truth is never complicated nor roundabout. It's always blunt and never slippery. It cannot be scientifically proven. If you have to explain a truth, it cannot be one. Truth always challenges us to accept it or reject it, so faith is required. And you must discover it on your own.