**Encountering the Lord*

          It is possible for a Christian to believe in Christ, but not experience anything that fires up his faith. An encounter with God is missing. In today's video by Fr. Mark Goring on spiritual preparation for coming tribulations, he talks about our need to meet or encounter God. He cites the man born blind in John 9 who was healed by Jesus. He told everyone that he was blind and now he could see. Looking back, I can say that being baptized by the Holy Spirit in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement was definitely an encounter for me. We need to open up to encounter the Lord. Otherwise, we remain lukewarm at best, not being productive as his servants. Encountering the Lord changes our life for his glory!   

***The Greatest Unifier

         I am so happy that I am not only in love with the Lord, but also with all the holy angels and saints in heaven. There is total communion among all those who love the Lord. God's love is the most beautiful and greatest unifier there is. This union is unbreakable by any external force. What a tremendous blessing!

***God Is Ready and Waiting for You***

         I love the late night or very early morning. When I wake up, it's quite dark or moonlit all around. I don't have neighbors living close to me, so it's generally quiet all around too. No distraction; pure solitude. And I acutely sense the Lord's presence in and around me. It's such a wonderful feeling that makes me wonder how anyone can say that there is no God. He is so close that you don't even need to look for him. You only need to remain still, open your heart wide, desire him, and he will reveal himself to you. Solitude can absolutely help.

**Sign You Don't Know God

          Those who know God see clearly that there is the greatest good, God, and the greatest evil, Satan, while those who do no know God are not even aware of the existence of evil or have already been deceived by Satan to become evil.

**Clear Sign You Need God

        The more you feel uneasy and avoid turning to Christ, the more you need him in your life, because he is your loving creator and God. 

***Evidence of Eucharistic Miracles

         I had posted about Eucharistic miracles before. Here is another video you should watch, also by Ray Grijalba of thejoyofthefaith.com.

**Miracles of Padre Pio

           Today is the Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina (better known as Padre Pio). So I am going to post a short video about the holy priest made by Ray Grijalba of thejoyofthefaith.com.

*****Straight Talk About Heaven and Hell*****

          It's so important for us to realize that heaven and hell are real and that we'll end up in one or the other. I am talking reality, more real than anything else in this world. For us, it'll be a oneway trip, no return and no way out whatsoever for ever. Make your choice and your reservation through Christ the Savior right now while you still have time. If you know your house might burn, would you just do nothing now? Your soul, your most precious possession and gift from God, is infinitely more important that a house! Listen to me and don't forget this warning: it'll be either heaven or hell!

***Priorities of a Christian

        A bona fide Christian lives for Christ and not for himself. He prepares himself not for living this life, but for living the eternal life later. He focuses upon building up treasures in heaven and is not intent on seeking fame and wealth in the world. He is selfless and wants to serve and glorify God only. He wants to be like Christ.

***Secret of Belonging to God's Family

         This is today's entire Gospel reading from Luke 8: The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. He was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you. He sad to them in reply, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it." The Lord reveals to us what unites us to him above all other relationships. It is acting on the word we hear from him.

***Our Top Concern***

            We are afraid that we can catch the coronavirus and die. We're afraid that wild fires could spread to our area and burn down our houses. We're afraid that the mob can show up in our neighborhood to attack us. There are so many things we are concerned about, and many of these concerns are legitimate. But how much concern do you have for your own soul? Do you ever seriously wonder where your soul will go after you die? If you don't ever ponder such questions, then you have wasted all your time living. I may sound harsh, but I want you to value your own soul before anything else. This is precisely why Christ the Son of God came to us and died for us! Are you going to trash something for which he died? Not taking care of your own soul amounts to rejecting God's love for you altogether. So please make concern for your own soul your top priority, and you'll be truly happy from that point on.

***How God Sees You

         When the illumination of conscience happens, you'll see the state of your soul as God sees it and you may be shocked. It is easy to think that you are a pretty good person and that you'll most likely be OK with God, as there are so many truly bad people out there. But this is seeing yourself as you see it. The reality is that God knows every little sin of which you may not even be aware! So you should go to him and ask him to reveal the state of your soul to you so that you'll be ready when the illumination of conscience takes place or when you die and go before his judgment. On the other hand, you should realize how much God loves and treasures you and that if you believe and trust in him wholeheartedly, you need not fear anything anymore, for you're going to live forever with him in heaven. This totally takes care the state of your soul, and how God sees you is no longer a concern.  

**Goal of the Christian

         The main goal of all of us who follow Christ should be to attain union with him so that we may get to know him thoroughly so that we may become like him.

*As Long as We Get to Heaven

         Today's Gospel reading is from Matthew 20. It recorded Jesus telling the parable of the workers in the vineyard. A landowner hired laborers to work in his vineyard at various times throughout the day. Some started working about nine in the morning and others started as late as five in the afternoon. In the evening, all laborers received the same daily wage. The ones who had worked longer hours grumbled about this to the owner. The lesson was that God does not cheat anyone. He fulfills his promises, but he can be extra generous when he wants to. And he is free to reward us however he wishes. I'd like to present the Lord's case like this. Let's say that I faithfully serve the Lord my whole life, die, and go to heaven. An evildoer repents just before he dies and is saved. He also shows up in heaven. Should I complain to God that he's not being fair? Of course, not. Whatever makes God happy should make me happy. Besides, once God has rewarded us fully, nothing else matters. Whether you get to heaven first or last, you should be happy. 

***Faith Leads to God

        Today's Psalm 145 response: The Lord is near to all who call upon him. Faith in the Lord is believing in one you have not seen nor heard to be the truth. The amazing part is that once you hold this belief, the Lord reveals to you in your heart that he is indeed the truth. So when you put your faith in the true God, he will reveal himself to you. This is completely logical and has to be true, as it is the contrapositive to the true statement "If he don't hear God saying anything to your heart, you must not believe in him at all." (Logic. It A implies B, then not B implies not A.)

***Our Dream Existence

         The first reading comes from Isaiah 55. In it, the Lord says: My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts. About this, we can be sure. Therefore, we need to know the Lord to know his ways and his thoughts. And there is no better way than surrendering ourselves to him to attain union with him. As one, we and the Lord become soulmates, understanding each other perfectly in all things. This is our dream existence!

**When Does God Calls Us?

          God calls us to turn to him at all times. He is calling us when we feel discouraged, when we feel oppressed, when we feel hopeless, when we are sad, when we are frustrated, when we are persecuted, when we feel misunderstood, when we feel alone, when we feel lost, when we feel the emptiness or life, when we feel burdened, when we long for peace, when we are sick of hearing the bad news around the world, when we see so much evil going on around us, when we feel sorry for all kinds of victims in the world, when we are saddened by the continuous killing of the unborn, when we are shocked by the ongoing sex trafficking, when we realized that evil has infiltrated our Church, when we see so many hypocritical, corrupt, and lying politicians showing only hatred for others with no love for their country, and when we start to hate the godless ourselves. If we don't turn to God now, then we are no better than all the others who have rejected God.

**Three Days of Darkness*

         The Three Days of Darkness will seem to be God's last warning to us. We'll probably have the Illumination of the Conscience first. No matter, just love the Lord now with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Seek to attain union with him through the Holy Eucharist would be ideal.

*Vatican Corruption

        Matthew 10.26: Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known, says the Lord.         

**The Righteous Have God's Ear

        The wicked do not hear nor pray to God. But the righteous cry out to him and he hears and listens to them. In such evil times as ours, we need to go to God and pour our heart out to beg for his mercy on all. If we are not able to act physically to help the situation, we can always go to the Lord to ash him to crush evil and save all souls, for he cares for us all.

**Change Yourself, Not God

        God cannot be faulted. He is perfect, holy, full of love, and understands everything. If you are unhappy, it's time to look at yourself. It's the Lord calling you to go to him for help. You must reconcile yourself to him first so that he may make you anew. Then you'll see things clearly as he sees them. Let him be your guide and refuge from now on and you'll experience peace and joy and gain eternal life to boot!          

***God's Beautiful Words

         God is beautiful in every way, his words included. They bring hope, encouragement, consolation, and joy to our soul and spirit. Keep them and he comes right to you to be one with you. If you think God is remote or unreachable, that's because you have a hardened heart. 

**God Our Soul Healer

         Left on our own, we become spiritually ill and disordered. If we will only open wide our hearts to let the Lord in, his holy presence within us alone will heal our souls. The best time to do this is when we receive him in the Holy Eucharist, instituted by the Lord for us to attain union with him.

***Glad We Have God

         In this mixed-up, lost, chaotic, evil world, I am so happy that we have an all-knowing, compassionate Lord who will judge everyone with perfect justice and put everything in perfect order in the end. Let's pray, hope, and remain patient, for God will always deliver those who trust in him.

**Living a Most Rewarding Life

         In today's Gospel reading from Luke 7, a Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. A sinful woman in the city learned about this. Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment, she came and stood behind Jesus at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment. Since she showed great love for the Lord, he forgave all her sins. What I learn here is that every little thing we do motivated by our love for the Lord he knows, and he will reward us for it. We only need to serve him faithfully without fail and we'll live a most rewarding life now and forever. 

**Secret of Finding Rest in Christ

         Today's Gospel  acclamation, Matthew 11.28: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest, says the Lord. Do you know that when you labor and toil in life, Jesus can help you? Do whatever you must do for his sake and you'll find it easy. It is exactly when we do all things for our own sake that we get stressed out. See yourself as an employee working for the Lord and you'll receive power, strength, and peace on earth, let alone the great reward you'll receive in heaven!

**Eye Witness Report of the Resurrection

        In today's second reading from 1 Corinthians 15, Paul wrote: I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. After that he appeared to James, then to all the Apostles. Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. There are many other writings showing that Christ did rise from the dead, but listening to what Paul said here alone is enough to believe that the Resurrection of the Lord indeed took place. 

**Superior Advantages of Knowing God

            If you are self-centered and aware of yourself only, you'll never get to know God. But if you are aware of God's holy presence and center your attention upon him always, he will reveal all the truths, his thoughts, his ways, and his wisdom to you to set you free and make you wise in all matters. 

***The Greatest Losers

         Our greatest achievement is not being able to get to Mars and beyond, not figuring out ways of eliminating all life-threatening diseases, not producing enough food to wipe out world hunger, etc. All mentioned above would take vast amounts of money, research, time, and effort to achieve with no guarantee of success. The greatest achievement for each of us is get to heaven! It takes only faith in Christ and success is assured. Such great news, but so few pay serious attention, for their ego has made them see only themselves. Those who lose eternal life have to be the greatest of all losers for sure!

***To Catholics for Abortion

        Alas, much of the Church no longer see evil! 

**Today is like Jesus' Days

            In today's Gospel reading from Luke 7, Jesus said to the crowds; "John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and you said, 'He is possessed by a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, 'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' But the wisdom is vindicated by all her children." So the crowds always blame you, no matter what you do. This is exactly what our phony politicians and phony news reporters and newscasters have been doing for years and are still doing everyday today spinning lies against those they hate. Repent, for Jesus is coming!

**Phony Catholics

         In today's first reading from 1 Corinthians 12, Paul wrote: Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, love is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all thing. I don't expect today's politicians who proclaim that they are Catholics to be all saints, but if you measure what they do against the standards Paul has set here, I am afraid that they fail meeting any of them.  

**Government Suppression of Church

           Here's one courageous archbishop.                

***What We Must Realize

         Another big important realization: we shall all have to answer to God. So, are you ready for that moment now? I wouldn't wait until the last minute, for you may not have that minute.

***Our Soul Our Treasure

         My big realization is that unlike all other forms of life created by God, we are created in his image and given a soul. That is why we are so precious to him and should safeguard our soul as our greatest treasure. To not care about your soul is to not care about God, thus dooming yourself. It's so very clear.

***Most Urgent and Perfect Time

          We are at a time when we urgently need to go all out to pray to God with all our heart and with all our might to ask him to save our country, the Church, and the world. We always need God, but now we need him more than ever, for so many souls are being deceived and swept away toward eternal death. It's do-or-die for us, the perfect time to surrender ourselves to God completely to help him fight the spiritual war.

***To Be the Freest Being Existing!

         In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 18, Jesus told the parable of the unforgiving servant to teach us that we must forgive others as God forgives us. If he is merciful to us, then we must be merciful to others. Not being able to forgive others is a clear sign that we do not fully know the Lord's love yet. Only knowing his love fully will you be able to love and forgive all others. And you'll feel the liberation! Nevertheless, do the will of God always and you'll be the freest being in the whole universe!

**To Be a Full Christian

         In today's second reading from Romans 14, Paul writes: "If we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's." To be a full Christian, we must belong to the Lord, then we must live and die for him. Otherwise, living is meaningless. 

***Time Running Out for Sinners

         Today's first reading from Sirach 27 is what today's sinners need to hear. Let me quote part of it.
        
      Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight. The vengeful will suffer the Lord's vengeance, for he remembers their sins in detail. Forgive your neighbor's injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven. Remember your last days, set enmity aside; remember death and decay, and cease from sin! Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor; remember the Most High's covenant and overlook faults.

         Since these sinners don't even pray, they are not likely to heed these words. How sad that they have reached the point only some dire calamity might perhaps get their attention!

***A Great Feeling

           Today I just know that God has created me to come into the world to find and know him so that I might return to him never to leave him again. It's such a great feeling to know this!

*Mars in 4K

        The new images from Mars are amazing. They show another world. But somehow I am not amazed that much because I already know intimately the one who created Mars and the whole universe.

***Action Needed Now!

         In today's Gospel reading from Luke 6, Jesus said to his disciples: "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' but not do what I command?" Many say "I trust in the Lord" and don't do anything more. We cannot listen to God's words and not act on them. Staying lukewarm is not an option. As he promised later, "Anyone who listens to and acts on my words is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it." That's the way to go, especially as we are now entering end times. 

***Yearning for God

             Today's Gospel acclamation John 14.23: Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him. I, for one, want the Father and the Son to come to me. Just remember that the Lord God is all holy and loves us to death. He deserves to be loved with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind. And we must not sin one iota against him. Abandoning ourselves to him completely is the only possible, logical move for us to make. Let me know if you know of a better way. 

**Stay Away from the Demons

        From today's first reading from 1 Corinthians 10, Paul wrote: I do not want you to become participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and also the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons." We must discern clearly what comes from the Lord and what doesn't. It's easy to think that since everyone is doing it, it must be OK. And it's difficult to uphold your beliefs not to cave in, absent great courage and strong faith. Pity those within and without the Church who have already been deceived by the Devil and lost sight of the truth. To ground ourselves deeply in the Lord is our only salvation.

***Joy of Having Secured Eternity***

           I am so happy to have Christ all to myself because having him, I am all set to live on as one with him for ever! I feel like telling you this a million times, for his promise is absolutely trustworthy, backed by his own sacrifice on the cross to save us. There is no greater joy and satisfaction than knowing that you have secured your eternity. The most crucial problem of your existence is no more.

**Simplifying Loving

         In today's Gospel reading from Luke 6, Jesus said to his disciples, "Love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked." In other words, we must love others as the Lord loves us and we must not expect anyone but the Lord to reward us. Let's just make it simple: love God and don't think about anything else.

**Know God 1st to Know What's True

          In today's 1st reading from 1 Corinthians 8, Paul writes: Knowledge inflates pride, but love builds up. If anyone supposes he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if one loves God, one is known by him. How true this is! I have just seen a case of someone who is proud of what he knows, yet what he knows is all false—a case of not knowing God and thus the truth. To be able to discern the good from the evil, one needs to know God first. Paul also writes that if we love God, we are known by him. How good it is that we let God know us! There is no more rewarding life than remaining in perfect union with our God!   

**God Alone Worthy of Appreciation

         I was watching a recorded piano recital played by the renowned and great Canadian virtuoso Marc-André Hamelin. At the end of playing one of the scheduled pieces, a fan walked up to the stage to give him a bouquet of red roses. This is a nice way to show your appreciation for someone who's giving you so much pleasure. I just couldn't help thinking about the need for us to show our appreciation for our Lord. He is not just another great human being; he is the one in whom you can fully trust with your heart and soul! He is the only one who deserves our full surrender. It's such a joy that we have him to whom we could go to get our eternal life taken care of. I shall appreciate and love him always.  

***Loving Our Holy Mother

         Yesterday was the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the birthday of our Mother. She is the Lord's most important and holiest creature participating in his plan of salvation for all mankind. She is totally with those who are for her Son. If you are one with the Lord, you are one with her too. If you go to her, she will always bring you to her Son. We all need a perfect mother to look after us and we have Mary whom our Lord gave us to be our Mother. Do the will of the Father hand in hand with your Mother and you shall succeed always.

*To Die and Hate Your Life

         In today's Gospel reading from John 12, Jesus said to his disciples: "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life." I see that we must die to ourselves so that the Lord may take over. Otherwise, we stand in our own way and remain unfruitful our whole life. He who loves his own life has attached himself to the world. To hate one's life to is be detached from the world. We cannot love God and the world at the same time. The more you know the Lord, the uglier the world becomes to us. If you "hate" this world, you are close to God. Now, go all the way to become one with him.