**Ripple Effect of Your Sin

          I have finished reading The Warning by Christine Watkins. The testimonies of the eleven people who had experienced the illumination of conscience already make up the most interesting part of the book. From these true stories, you learn that God knows every minute sin you've committed and that every sin has a ripple effect on others. Your sins can be forgiven by God, but the harm they've done to others cannot be erased. Knowing all this should make us think twice before we attempt to do anything. Attaining union with the Lord so that you become aware of his holy presence at all times will properly resolve this problem.

*How to Forget Our Own Ugliness

           Just focus upon the beauty of the Lord.         

**To Get Through All Things

           When we worry about things, that's because we don't trust in God. Of course, since God can and will take care of all things, we don't need to worry for him at all. So we really don't need to worry about anything. We only need to focus upon the Lord to get through all things.

*Putting Own House in Order First

         There are those who profess openly that they follow Christ and want to convert others to be like them, yet they are unhappy about themselves, about their own lives, and others, and they love to complain. This is a contradiction. One who truly trusts in the Lord is always happy and content, never lonely, and is willing to carry the cross the Lord has given them. We must put our own house in order first before we can effectively draw others to God.

***Please Pray the Rosary—Urgent!

          We have the most important presidential election in the entire history of this country coming up in less than two months. It virtually comes down to whether we choose to go with evil or with God. I strongly urge that you start praying the Holy Rosary everyday from now on. If do not know it yet, just go online to find out how to pray it—it's not complicated at all. I believe that praying the Rosary is our effective weapon in overcoming evil and saving our nation and our own souls because the Blessed Mother has personally told us so, many times.
          You may wish to join the four-week long The Spiritual Rosary Pilgrimage as presented by the following video. Personally, I recommend praying nonstop through October and beyond. 

To Avoid Ever Sinning

        To point out those who do evil so that others may be warned is proper and our duty, but to talk about others' shortcomings or faults idly is something else—very easy to do, but not pleasing to the Lord. It is in reality a form of judging, as it is not motivated by love. I sense this myself when I commit this sin. I must focus upon the Lord always and not do anything I wouldn't do right before him. The reality is that he is actually present with us at all times. 

**Beauty of Being Prepared*

         From today's Gospel reading from Matthew 16, Jesus said to his disciples, "The Son of Man will come with angels in his Father's glory, and then he will repay each according to his conduct." It is absolutely certain that this will happen. Don't think that because it's not happening yet, you don't have to pay any attention. When it happens, it'll be too late for you to change! This is the beauty of being prepared, for the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect. (Matthew 14, Luke 12)

***Must Video for Catholics to Watch***

***Be Realistic with Life and Death

            Today's response from Deuteronomy 32: It is I who deal death and give life. What matters most to us are our life and our death. And the Lord is the one who brings both death and life. So if we place both our life and our death in his hands, we will have both a good life and a good death. If we don't, nothing good will happen to us. 

***Our Greatest Marvel . . .

that we have such a great, loving, holy Lord who cares for us and wishes us to exult with him for ever in heaven! Wake up and rejoice!

Learning from the Weeds

         I weeded a little outside this morning when it was still cool. I have quite a number of ornamental grasses around the house. And I often find weeds growing among them you can hardly tell unless you notice that their blades are slightly more flexible and darker in green. These weeds can be easily pulled out, as they are not deep-rooted as the grasses are. This brings to mind the evildoers in our midst. Outwardly, they can look very much like the rest of us, but they harbor a dark heart and are not rooted in God. They will be easily spotted and cast out by God if they do not change their ways.

***Fortunate Christians!

          Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. What a glorious event! Jesus' face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light, as reported in today's Gospel reading from Matthew 17. Christ no doubt is the Lord! I recall going to Mt. Tabor on my pilgrimage to the Holy Land many years ago. The road that lead to the top was quite rugged. At the top was the Church of the Transfiguration. A beautiful church, but I kinda wished that they had preserved the spot so that we could see exactly what the surroundings in which the Lord's Transfiguration took place were like. Nevertheless, one day soon I'll be seeing my Lord face to face. How fortunate we Christians are when we can be overwhelmed by the glory, sanctity, love, and mercy of our God at all times!

*Letting God Alone Judge Us

         I have started reading the book The Warning by Christine Watkins about the illumination of conscience that's expected to happen to everyone in the world, perhaps soon. At any rate, it is the Lord who can make everyone realize the state of their soul. We must stop judging others, take care of our own soul first and then help others to be saved. God is both merciful and just, thus everyone will be rewarded or punished in the end, receiving exactly what they deserve.

**We Are Blind Without God

          In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 15, Jesus said to the crowd, "Hear and understand. It is not what enters one's mouth that defiles the man; but what comes out the mouth is what defiles one." Then his disciples told him that the Pharisees had taken offense at what he had said. He said in reply, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit." It is true that we must have the Lord in us to see everything right. Otherwise, we are just expressing our own opinions not rooted in the Lord. The evildoers of today are obviously blind and pitiful. Only those filled with the Lord see the truth and speak the truth, for their guide is the Lord. 

***Man's Tragic Ignorance

          To be aware that we need God, we must first be aware that we are sinners. Unfortunately, many sinners today do not realize this; they do what they feel like doing with no love whatsoever for others. One example is the senseless looting, burning, and killing that are being carried out by some extreme groups in some of our major cities. They have turned evil! This is the great tragedy of our times, practically assuring that God will send greater chastisements our way, and many will then perish. How I wish that everyone will realize that if all of us repent and submit ourselves to the Lord, we'll have peace in the world now and home in heaven later! The spiritual warfare is real. Accepting the gospel of the Lord is all we need to do to be saved. Sinners, you have only yourselves to feel sorry for. Wake up from your stupidity and know that God loves you! 

**How We Should Live

          In today's 1st reading from 1 Corinthians 2, Paul wrote, "I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God." We are to be completely genuine, to be ourselves relying upon God alone, and to be filled with his spirit and power. This is how we should live so that the world will see the Lord and not us.

***Our Primary Mission in Life

         In Sr. Deirdre Byrne's powerful pro-life speech which I posted yesterday, I'll always remember that she said she's not just pro-life, she's also pro-eternal-life. I'd say that if you truly love someone, you would want that person to have eternal life. Otherwise, you don't truly love that person. If you don't care about you own salvation, then you don't really love God nor yourself either. Coming down to us from heaven, Jesus' whole mission was to save all of us, and this is also the mission he gave us before he ascended into heaven. We can't claim that we are disciples of Christ if our primary mission in life is not saving souls?

**How to Really Pray*

        It's not good enough just to recite some written prayers without much heart. The Lord wants to hear your own thoughts from your very own heart. We need to get down on knees or prostrate before him and cry out from our very soul, then he will hear us and grant us what we request from him. The is the power of faith, the power of trust, and the power of obedience to his will.

*Our Best Is Yet to Come*

          Because we humans are rebelling against the Lord, God's will is not being done. But this is only temporary, as there will be final judgement and all order will be restored. Then God's will will be done. It is obvious that the Lord will be totally triumphant in the end. So for Christians, the best is yet to come. All our trials and tribulations will pass; we are being tested and refined for our brightest future. So don't ever get disheartened.

**Going Through Evil Times

        In these dark days with senseless violence, burning, looting, and killing going on in the streets daily in this country, evil has become totally unhinged. So what are we to do but praying to the Lord for mercy? In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 16, Jesus began to show to his disciples that he himself must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Are we who follow him going through our ordeals now? Jesus then told his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save this life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." This is what we need to know. He continued on, "The Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory, and then he will repay all according to his conduct." This is the hope we need to hear. Meanwhile, let us pray with all our heart that the Lord will crush all evil and save all souls. 

***Epic Pro-Life Speech***

         Here's Sr. Deirdre Byrne speaking the truth from her heart.

***Getting Blessed to the Max

         Matthew 5.10, today's Gospel acclamation: Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. To me, when God blesses you, he is going to reward you. And the greatest possible reward has to be eternal life with God in heaven. So I go straight to the Lord to secure that by believing in him, keeping his word, and receiving the Holy Eucharist (my triple guarantee) and I get blessed to the max! 

*Be Something or Nothing

             Today is the Memorial of the Passion of St. John the Baptist. In the first reading from 1 Corinthians 1, Paul wrote, "Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God." So, brothers and sisters, if you want Satan to notice you, just think that you are somebody. But if you only wish God to notice you, then become nothing. We have a clear choice here.

**Feeling Sad About Others Dying

         People feel sad when they hear that someone young in their 20s, 30s, or even 40s, has passed away because they feel that the deceased is going to miss the many good things of life. But this is how we see it, not how God sees it. If we are quite sure that the soul of the deceased has gone to heaven, we should indeed rejoice. But if we are not sure, knowing that God is absolutely fair and just, then there is nothing for us to be concerned about. We can always pray for the soul in case it has entered purgatory. Now, if we are quite sure that a soul has gone to hell, then we can feel sad, again more for the loss to the Lord than for the deceased. Not knowing what happens to the soul and feeling sad only reflects our own attachment to the world. With God, we become attached to him alone and see true reality. 

**Responsible for Our Own Banishment

           Today's Gospel reading from Matthew tells the parable of the ten virgins. The five foolish ones who were not prepared for the bridegroom's arrival didn't make it to the wedding feast on time. When they knocked on the locked door and said, "Lord, Lord, open the door for us!" he replied, "Amen, I say to you, I do not know you." So every day we put off accepting the Lord, we risk being locked out of the Kingdom of heaven. This is true whether he comes in your lifetime or after you die. You have only yourself to blame for your banishment.  

***Preparing for Standing Before the Lord***

          Luke 21.36, today's alleluia verse: Be vigilant at all times and pray that you may have the strength to stand before the Son of Man, says the Lord. The day to stand before the Lord will come for each of us. I cannot think of a better way to prepare for that day than achieving union with him now on earth. You become one with him every moment of this life, abandoning yourself to him completely, and are ready to accept whatever he wishes to do with you with joy. Yes, you might say you beat the Lord to it, but I have no doubt that he'd be pleased that you are being astute spiritually. 

**Supreme Wisdom

            Realizing that if we all follow Christ our Lord fully, we'll have peace on earth now and eternal life afterwards; and if we rebel against him, we'll reman in turmoil now and perish for all eternity later.  

**The Foolish Shall Perish

         Today is the Memorial of St. Augustine. In the first reading from 1 Corinthians 1, Paul wrote, "The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." You see, people want to see God perform miracles so that they might believe, but fail to see his great invisible power that can save them from perishment if they would believe in him. It is their self-centeredness that has blinded them, expecting God to submit to them and not the other way around. The foolish will perish, while the humble will live on.

**How to Be Prepared

         Today is the Memorial of St. Monica. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 24, Jesus said to his disciples, "Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. So you must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come." Once we realize this, the best way for us to be prepared is to focus only upon serving Christ from now on. There is no other way.

**What Causes You to Weep

         I came across this over a year old Fr. Mark Goring video. I am posting it because he has a beautiful message for us.

***Making Your Faith Great

         When I first accepted Christ as my Savior, he was not that real to me, for I did not experience his presence. Only once in a while, I sensed his presence for a brief moment. Others with a much greater faith impressed me. Then later after I got baptized in the Holy Spirit in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement,  I was a changed person—Christ and the Holy Spirit became real to me. Now, finally, the Lord is more real to me than anyone else, for when he speaks to me in my heart, all doubts vanish. This is how faith comes about. Know the Lord and let him make your faith great. This is why I advocate seeking union with God through the Holy Eucharist to make all the difference to your faith.

*No Choice but to Be Humble

        The Hubble telescope in space has been taking photos of the universe for 30 years. The images are truly amazing. Of course, since the universe is so immense, the images captured could be billions of years old already. Seeing these images willingly makes me want to surrender myself to the Lord who created the whole universe. I wouldn't be surprised that the universe is infinite, for God is infinite. There are numerous videos showing such images. I have chosen a fairly recent short one for you to watch.

***Key to Union with God

        There are numerous beautiful spiritual writings, sayings, and prayers you can read, but if your heart is not involved, reading them would all be in vain. To enjoy the Lord, turn you heart directly to him, for his beauty is beyond words. Gazing at or meditating upon the Lord with all your heart is so much more satisfying and rewarding than reading someone else's beautiful words about him. Your own open heart is the key to union with God. 

***Important for Catholics to Know

        This video came out a week ago. It's an important informative video for all Catholics and pro-lifers to watch before the Presidential election comes up in November.

**Pity the Hypocrites

         In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 23, Jesus said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean." To cleanse our inside, we need the Lord, for only he can cleanse my heart and soul. If our inside is clean, our outside will be clean too. Hypocrites are to be pitied, for they don't realize that they cannot fool God nor us. Today's hypocritical politicians can be easily spotted. They are self-deceiving fools.

***Hell to Avoid at Any Cost!

        Early this morning I had a horrible, vivid dream. I am traveling with my younger son. We fly for some 17 hours to a remote foreign destination. When it's time for us to return home, we go to the city center to look for the place to get transportation to take us to the airport, but we have trouble finding it. We walk and look and somehow get separated. And I do not have a cell phone with me. I am not sure whether I should stay put for him to come back perhaps or go look for him. I decide to go look for him. Then I get further and further lost, having no idea where to go next. I am going to miss the flight for sure and do not know what my son is going to do. Now I must go find out where the airline company office is, go there and buy a ticket home on another flight, possibly on another day. I just hope that when I get home, my son is back too. The feeling I had was so horrible that I suddenly woke up. And the Lord right away made see that in my dream predicament, I at least had the hope of getting out of it; but once one lands in hell, there is absolutely no such hope. I believe this is the message the Lord wants me to post today.

**Christ Our Liberator

         When we truly know Christ, we are liberated! Those who do not know him or know him well enough yet spend all their time dealing with their own imperfections and end up imposing unnecessary miseries on themselves. They can be good people, but without Christ, they do not see the light of the Lord and have no defense against the attacks of the devil. We must all follow what Jesus commissioned the Eleven to do before his Ascension: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature." (Mark 16.15)

*No Looking Back for Christians

          There is no point in attaching ourselves to anything in the world, including our possessions, our accomplishments, our memories, and even our good times. All that's left behind will be gone instantly or in time. As Christians, our focus should always be on the Lord without ever looking back. In heaven, we shall live our new life enjoying every present moment.

**Believing in Our Own Prayers

         When we pray, we must pray from our very heart and believe that the Lord not only hears us, but also will respond to our petitions. That is, we also believe in our own prayers. We are not just nobody; we are his most beloved children!

***How Personal Is Your God?

           We need to establish a personal relationship with God, as we are often so advised. How far should we go? Since the Lord loves us with an infinite love, we need to go all out to open up to his love. We need to abandon ourselves to him completely to remain in him. We need to yearn for him and rejoice in him at all times. We must not fall short of attaining full union with him. This would please him the most and give us the greatest joy at the same time. 

Be Prepared to Give Up All Things

         With hundreds of wildfires burning throughout the state, we are now asked to stay indoors as much as possible, as the polluted air out there is very unhealthy to breathe in. The sunlight has turned red because of the heavy smoke. So far many people have lost their homes. My area is not immune from wildfires either. Should a fire happens quickly, I pretty much have to let everything go. I'll probably just grab the laptop I am using right now and flee. So we are all at God's mercy. Learn to be detached from everything except the Lord is the way to prepare ourselves. In the overall scheme of things, only having God matters.

*To Live Without Fear

          Jesus will come again to judge all of us. We may leave this world before his Second Coming, but we can't escaping facing him right after we die. If we are not prepared, we may be in for the shock of our whole existence. Take my advice seriously. Reconcile yourself to the Lord now so that you'll never experience fear anymore.

*JFA & AFJ

           JFA stands for "Jesus For all." He came into the world to die for all of us in order to save us. AFJ stands for "All For Jesus"—that's exactly how we should respond to his love for us.

***God Always Reveals the Truth

          In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 16, Jesus asked his disciple, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father." 
        When I first accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior, I for the greater part became intellectually convinced and decided to take a leap of faith. To know without a doubt that Christ is the Lord and God has to be revealed by God himself. I know this because I've learned that when the Lord reveals a truth to me in my heart, I just know that it is true, no explanation needed. Intimate revelations from the Lord to your heart is one great beauty and joy of knowing the Lord.

**Letting God Shape Our Conscience

         I personally know of Catholics who are for abortion and/or gay marriage. Quite a number of prominent public figures also belong in that category. To follow Christ, we need to let him shape our conscience to be like his. Otherwise, you are not really with him. It is worse for a Catholic to go against the teachings of the Church than a nonbeliever who holds the same views. To imitate Christ is to be as conscientious as the Lord.

*Being Chosen by God

            In John 15, Jesus said to his disciples, "It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you." If you are already following the Lord, feel honored and blessed that he has chosen you to serve him. There is no more satisfying and rewarding role you can take on in this world! 

**Loving as the Lord Loves

          The love of Christ is absolutely pure. It is not tinted with sentimentality and is ego-free. We love not in order to please others; we love only because God so wills. Like the Lord, we love others in order to save their souls, regardless of how we are received. It is a clean love not attached to anything in this world.  

**How Evildoers Attack

         When evildoers are exposed and cornered, they panic and become like wild animals trapped. Since they have no truth on their side, all they can do is to lash out at anyone they consider threatening, verbally and physically with no good reason. They become totally hypocritical, irrational, crazy, and destructive. You see plenty of such examples today, for we live in a world full of evildoers.   

**The Lord's Most Inspiring Deed

           It came to me that the most inspiring of all the Lord's deeds on earth has to be his Resurrection! Ir shows that he is the life, that he lives forever, and that if we believe in him, we'll have life and live forever too. The Resurrection gives us the very hope we need, and I thank and praise my God for it.

*Amazing God!

         Here in California, we have some 500 wild fires burning at the same time. The sun through the heavy smoky air appeared like a bright red full moon. The thought came to me that even though the sun by volume is some 64 million times larger the moon, the Lord God had placed the much smaller moon close enough to us so that both appear about the same size in the sky, making a solar eclipse possible. Our God is truly amazing!