*****Happy to Know My God!

        Communion experience. It's All Saints Day this Sunday and I attended Vigil Mass today. The Lord already knew me more that I knew myself. As I received the Holy Eucharist, I felt I knew the Lord now more than I knew myself! And this filled me with great joy.

***What God Expects of Us

         We sometimes feel that that we are not doing enough for God, but the Lord makes me see that he measures us by how much we live up to what he expects  of us, not by how much we live up to what we hope to achieve. He knows our capabilities thoroughly. If we can accomplish everything he expects us to accomplish, that's all he expects of us and we should be pleased.

**Importance of Humility

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 14, Jesus said, "Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." Taking the Lord's saying to the extreme, everyone who lives entirely for only himself will not make heaven, but the one who lives solely for the Lord will enter heaven.

**To Be Meek and Humble

        Today's Gospel acclamation from Matthew 11: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, but I am meek and humble of heart. In our society today, we look down on those who are meek and humble of heart, yet the best way to learn to be meek and humble is to learn from someone who is meek and humble of heart. And our Lord is the most meek and humble of heart of all, for he is God. Know that the door to heaven is wide for those who are meek and humble.      

***Obeying the Lord First

           In today's first reading from Philippians 1, Paul wrote poignantly: "If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. And I do not know which I shall choose. I am caught between the two. I long to depart this life and be with Christ, for that is far better. Yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for you benefit." To depart this life to be with Christ is truly best, but obeying the Lord must come first.

***The Reset We Need

         We need to be reset by Christ our Lord, not by the global elitists who serve Satan knowingly or unknowingly. Christ is only one who can save us from sin and grant us eternal life, period. If you look elsewhere without him, you are doomed! When he resets you, you become a new creature spiritually free in him and from the world.

*Vigano's Letter to Trump Read

         I thought it would be good to hear Archbishop Vigano's letter to President Trump read without interruption. 

***Most Beautiful Relationship

        John 10:27, today's Gospel acclamation: My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me. You are aware of the Lord's presence, hear his voice, and know what he wishes you to do every moment. You and the Lord truly know each other. He leads and you follow, inseparable as one. What a beautiful, convivial relationship!

***The Complete Vigano's Letter

        Here is Dr. Taylor Marshall going through the letter from Archbishop Vigano to President Trump. The video lasts over 47 minutes, but if you have the time, it's definitely worth watching, for you learn about the reset the globalists are pushing which will take away our liberty and is antichrist. 

**Learn All Truths from Christ

         I remember that many decades ago before I knew Christ personally, I read a book on prayer. The book told that prayer works. I thought that's good to know, but I wasn't really convinced. Today I see clearly that Jesus is all you need to know if you want to understand prayer and everything else spiritual. Know him to learn all truths from him directly. Become one with him and he will deposit all you need to know in your heart, and learning becomes effortless and a joy. Yes, you learn the sure way to get into heaven too.

**Root Yourself in the Lord First

        Today's verses from Psalm 144: Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war. My mercy and my fortress, my stronghold, my deliver, my shield, in whom I trust..." We must be rooted in the Lord God first. Then we'll know how to relate to all others and deal with all affairs properly. It's so sad to see Christians who are not rooted in Christ get easily deceived by Satan and start to believe that the good is evil and the evil, good. I actually encountered this recently. I believe that the day of justice will be here sooner than we think.

**How to Battle Against Evil

         In today's first reading from Ephesians 6, Paul advised the Ephesians to stand firm against the tactics of the Devil. He wrote, "Draw you strength from the Lord and from his mighty power." To receive strength and power fully from the Lord, we must be fully in the Lord. To be in the Lord is to be one with the Lord in union with him. Only then shill we become fearless, for Christ has replaced us in us. This should be our wish and goal.

***Justice After Mercy

           Here's is today's Fr. Mark Goring video on divine wrath. The sayings that come after 2:43 are most important for us to hear.

***What We Must Not Ignore

         We can ignore all the laws and rules made by man on earth and may lose our job, physical freedom, and at worst our earthly life because of it, but if we ignore the mercy of God, we can lose our soul forever.

*Who Loves God More?

          It is encouraging and heartwarming to see that currently, huge crowds have been gathering at various locations nationwide to pray publicly for our country or just to worship God. Here we see mostly common people who do not know a thing about theology, spontaneously jump up and down, dance, sing and shout praises to God from their hearts. On the other hand, I think of those clerics in high places who spent years studying theology, got ordained, now garbed in vestments, teaching heresies—they basically are destroying the Church. Which group do you think loves and pleases the Lord more? 

**Hardened Hearts

        People do not hear the Lord because they have hardened their hearts. This is a tough nut to crack. They don't hear the Lord knocking at their door. They are blind to any signs from the Lord. They have lost all humility and become completely self-insulated. These people can be Christians too. We have pro-abortion Catholics and Catholics in name only. Jesus said that to enter the kingdom of God, we need to be childlike, just the opposite of having a hardened heart. Sometimes it would take a catastrophe to crack such a hardened heart.  

***Overcoming Our Original Sin

        I started to pray the Rosary a second time this evening. Before I even finished saying the creed, the Lord made me see that we have all inherited the original sin and thus tend to sin. The only way to stop sinning is to let him take charge of us. That is, we need to surrender ourselves to him. Otherwise, we shall not be able to win our spiritual battle. This is a most clear message. Now that I have finished posting it, I am going back to my Rosary. (By the way, the extra five decades I say each day now are the Sorrowful or Glorious Mysteries because this is the time we need to suffer with the Lord and also know that his total victory over evil is assured.)

***God Showing Us Who We Are

        Each of us created by God in his image is unique. He made you and me. By knowing God, he makes us see who we really are and that we are most precious to him. Then we come to treasure and become happy with ourselves. We no longer compare ourselves with others and learn to do what's best for us and for the Lord. Yes, now you just want to become the best possible you. He makes us grow to our fullest potential to give great glory to him, our Creator and Savior. Our rewards await us in heaven.

**Dumb Evildoers

         If i am so bad and it looks like I am headed for hell and if I still have some intelligence left, I would probably think about changing my ways and even turning to God. But I just don't see many evildoers do that. Choosing to be evil already makes you a loser. If you don't ever consider turning away from evil, that makes you dumb as well. Dumb evildoers are to be greatly pitied.

In the Kingdom of God

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 13, Jesus likened the Kingdom of God to (1) a mustard seed that's planted in the garden and grew fully to a large bush and the birds of the sky came to dwell in its branches and (2) yeast mixed in with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened. Obviously, if we know God, we would grow, expand, and become productive. If we still remain pretty much the same, then we are not quite in the Kingdom of God yet. 

***The Blessing of Knowing God

        I said in the last post that everything around us keeps us from knowing God. This is true if you don't know the Lord yet. Once you know the Lord well, you have just the opposite. Things that are beautiful instantly remind me of God. Things that are ugly put a heavy burden on my heart and I automatically turn to the Lord who is my refuge, to pray to him and seek consolation from him. And I am drawn even closer to him. To the blessed, everything that happens around him becomes a blessing.    

***Only Christ Can Lead You to Life!***

         In Matthew 7:14, Jesus said to his disciples, "How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leas to life. And those who find it are few." In Matthew 22, after telling the parable of the wedding feast, he said, "Many are invited, but few are chosen." Man has strayed away from God so much that to find life in this world has truly become an uphill battle for all. Everything around you keeps you from knowing God. Only those who have found and encountered Christ are able to keep their soul safe. Christ is our only hope to salvation. If we have lost our way, he can lead us to life. If we are headed toward hell, he can make us heaven-bound. Go after Christ as if you whole life depends upon it because your whole life does depend upon it.

*Hypocrites Galore

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 13, Jesus called the leader of the synagogue hypocrites. There are numerous hypocrites among us today. These people do not see their own faults and always blame others for everything. They are self-righteous, lack humility, and do not truly know God. They are phony and they lie. The glaring examples are the crooked politicians, corrupt clerics, and fake news networks. Hypocrites are to be pitied, for they are doomed if they do not turn to God to change their ways. 

*****Asking God to Consecrate Us

        In today's Gospel acclamation John 17:17, Jesus asked the Father to consecrate in the truth all those he gave him out of the world. So I start thinking that instead of us struggling on our own to become holy, since we know that the Father has also chosen us out of the world to give to Christ, why don't we ask the Father directly to consecrate us in the truth? I believe that great things will happen if we do this, as it is what the Lord wishes the Father to do to us.

***Powerful Free Will***

         We are all given our free will. With it, we are free to reject God's love, defy him, and land ourselves in hell fires for all eternity or we can choose to obey and serve God and end up in paradise with him for ever! I would make the latter choice and retire my free will once and for all.

***Christ to Be Imitated

        We know that when we accept and believe in Christ as our Savior, we are saved. But the Lord wants us to go further; he wants us to imitate him to become like him. He has commanded us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. And Christ is our perfect model, as he is pure, humble, and holy. Our biggest oversight or neglect is not imitating him after we have accepted him as our Lord. We forget that calling him Lord is to obey him in all things. Otherwise, unknowingly we become hypocrites.

**With Heart and Not by Reason

        To love God, you don't reason with yourself to tell yourself that you should do this or that and then try to do it. It won't work out well that way. To love God, you must know and experience the Lord first and then let him inspire and motivate you to do what he prompts you to do. This way, your heart is involved and you'll be able to accomplish it easily with joy. Always live and do everything in the Lord.      

**A Math Riddle

            Once in a long while, I post a puzzle, a riddle, or a math problem just for fun. When it comes to solving any math problem, you must think logically and be rigorous. There is no place for sloppy thinking. I can also say that when it comes to learning to grow spiritually, we must discern all things with a clear consc ience and let the Holy Spirit alone guide us, with ourselves out of the way completely. 
           Anyway, this math riddle I came across online is supposed to be a basic math problem that most college students fail to solve. So I took up the challenge to find out how hard it was. Well, I did solve the problem and found that some knowledge of basic algebra was necessary, for you need to start out with some equations. And you must figure out how you are going to attack the problem first. After my wife solved the problem, we compared notes and found that the tracks we followed were somewhat different, but we came to the same answer. So if you have some time and love to challenge yourself, here is the problem:
        Tom and Dick can complete a job in 2 hours. Tom and Harry can complete the same job in 3 hours. Dick and Harry can complete the same job in 4 hours. How long will the job take if Tom, Dick, and Harry all work together? (Obviously, the answer has to be less than 2 hours. If you express you answer as a simple fraction, the 4 numerals making up the numerator and the denominator turned out to be 1, 2, 3, and 4.)

*Reminder of Something Obvious

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 13, Jesus called the people to repentance. He made it clear that if they do no repent, they will perish. To repent your sins is to humble yourself before God, knowing that he can forgive your sins so that you might have eternal life. The need for repentance is so obvious, yet sadly not taken seriously by so many. "No repentance, no salvation" should be easy to remember.

***Courageous Pro-LIfe Priest

         How I wish that all priests are as courageous as Fr. Altman. At my church, we are following the diocesan guideline not to name Trump, Biden, or any political candidate when making announcements or in any handouts we pass out. This to me is stymieing the Holy Spirit. You feel like you are in a Communist country. (Note: Today on 2/26/2022, I found YouTube had removed the video already.)   

****Smart Fools

        Matthew 11.25, today's Gospel acclamation: Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom. In the parable of the rich fool, the rich man thinks that once he has all the material properties and goods he needs, he can just sit back, eat, drink, and be merry, not realizing that he's going to die that night. Today we have smart fools (an oxymoron for you). These are people who are rich in knowledge. You could say that they own a lot of intellectual properties. They are fools because they could also die, without knowing the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. All knowledge that comes from humans cannot save us. Only what's revealed by God to us can save us. To have hope of being saved, be like the little ones.

**Following the Lord with Patience

        I want to to draw every singe person to Christ, to be saved and go to heaven. This has been my burning desire. Then I realize that the Lord desires this much more than I, for his love is infinitely greater than mine. I must follow him and not rush ahead on my own, for apart from him I can do nothing. Anyway, I am satisfied that he knows my desire. I must trust and follow him in every little thing I do with patience. The Lord must lead and we follow.

*****What We Forget to Rejoice About***

         It is most amazing that we are made in the image of God. This makes it possible for us to understand the Lord! We all have a heart, so we know that our Lord has a heart too, sacred and most pure. We can truly relate to him. He knows everything about us, so if we open ourselves up to him, he reveals himself to us. Once we know him, we know ourselves too. This is absolutely cool (marvelous)! Since we are made in his image, he can make us holy to be like him. Again, wonderful! We should truly rejoice that we are made in the image of God!

***How to Follow Christ Effortlessly***

         In today's first reading from Ephesians 4, Paul wrote "I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace...." I could add many, many more things on how we should live as Christians. But without knowing Christ well, it would be impossible to do all or even just a few of these things. On the other hand, if you really know the Lord, you don't even need to think about what you should do, for he will let you know and lead you to do his will at all times. This is why I advocate that you seek to attain union with Christ through the Holy Eucharist, for this is the shortcut to allowing the Lord to accomplish all things through you, eliminating all struggle on your part.

**Inner Healing No Problem

          If you still have wild, weird dreams or nightmares, you most probably still have inner wounds to your psyche, unpleasant memories that haunt you, various hangups, secret unfulfilled desires, and/or other suppressed feelings. For Jesus, the past and the buried present no barriers. Ask the Lord to enter your innermost interior to clean up and heal your soul, for you want to enjoy his peace fully. If he is your Lord, let him be the lord of the whole of you.

***My Joy Is Complete***

        Recently, I realized that God is the only one who can make me happy which I posted about. Looking back, I had done many things in the past, but nothing totally satisfied me. Even after I knew Christ, there were still the ups and downs of life. Nevertheless, my life became meaningful and my faith certainly gave me much peace. What I had not expected was that after I retired from work, the Lord started to fulfill me more and more. It all started in 2009 when I began blogging. I had only intended to put down my conversion story, not knowing that the Lord continued to put thoughts in my heart to post. A year later, it became clear that he wanted me to let all know that he wishes to draw all to union with him through the Holy Eucharist. I am now typing post #10,625. In these years, the Lord has been teaching me continuously that my joy is now complete. I can only thank him for his mercy and generosity. If you stick with God, it'll always be "the best is yet to come."

**Taking Advantage of God's Love

        In today's first reading from Ephesians 3, Paul mentions the love of God that surpasses knowledge. It's true that we cannot comprehend how great that love is, yet we can believe in it, receive it free, and enjoy it, letting it making us anew. To have faith is wonderful!   

**Two Great Transformations

         The last two Luminous Mysterious of the Holy Rosary are The Transfiguration and Institution of the Eucharist. At the Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John were with Jesus. When Jesus was transfigured before them, his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. Moses and Elijah appeared and conversed with him. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, listen to him." This visible and audible experience must've been absolutely spectacular and stunning to the three disciples. When Jesus instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper, he changed the bread and wine into his body and blood in substance, but not in appearance. This is an invisible mystery. Nevertheless, it is even more amazing than the Transfiguration when it comes to making us anew in the Lord.

***Living the Most Exciting Life*

          While living on earth, we have the opportunity to live the most exciting life. That is, we can deepen our relationship with God without end! With continuous submission to our dear Lord, we can attain the best possible intimate union with him in the limited time we have on earth. What a beautiful way to live!

*Chosen by God's Chosen One

          In John 13.6, Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." When the Father chooses us, he lets the Son know first. Then the Son chooses the ones the Father has given him. So we who follow the Lord were all chosen by the Chosen One of God.

***Beautiful Way of Living for God

        The word of God is our spiritual food; it is most beneficial to our soul, as it's written: "One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God." In John 14.23, Jesus said, "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him." Therefore, surrender yourself to the Lord to become one with him, then you'll be able to keep his word joyfully and effortlessly. To submit to the word of the Lord is to submit to the Lord. This is the most beautiful way of living for God.

**How Good and Bad Things Affect Us

         Good things and bad things happen to both good and bad people for different reasons. God always blesses those who love him. Good things encourage them, making them even more grateful to him; bad things draw them close to him, making them even stronger. In fact, bad things would be a big blessing if they serve as part or the whole of their purgatory. As for the bad people who do not love God, good things happen when God rewards them for their ego. If this is all the reward they are going to get, it would absolutely be bad news. On the other hand, when bad things happen to them, they can be blessings in disguise, for God is trying to wake them up to realize that they need him.

***Our Big Day Coming

         We all have some big days in life. I suppose that it was a big day when I got my college degree, but I would say that the day I got married was a lot bigger because it affected me emotionally a lot more. Then we'll all have a truly big day coming to us, that is the day we stand before the Lord. Today's Gospel acclamation, Luke 21.36: Be vigilant at all times and pray that you may have the strength to stand before the the Son of Man. Will you be strong enough to face Christ on that day? Will you be standing with knees shaking and a heart fast pounding? Or do you actually look forward to that moment with great expectations and joy? In the Gospel from Luke 12 that follows, we hear Jesus say to his disciples, "Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival."

*Unification and Division

         In Luke 12, Jesus said to his disciples, "I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division." The fire he has come to set is the Holy Spirit who has united all those who believe in him into one Body in one Spirit. He has also come to cause division, for he foreknew that there would be many who would not believe in him. It's all part of the spiritual battle to this day.

*A Life-After-Death Experience

         You can read the story telling what Fr. Jose Maniyangat experienced after he died in the right margin of this blog. Today I came across his story told by this video. I think it'd be worth watching if you haven't seen it yet or read the story. 

**Praying the Rosary

          The difficulty of praying the Rosary is that we are supposed to meditate upon each mystery while reciting the words of the prayers at the same time. It'd been a back-and-forth thing for me, so I decided to do it this way to help me become more focused. Maybe you'll find it helpful too.
        Before I start, I let the Lord know what my main intention is. It could be for world peace, mercy on all the souls, and/or anything that's on my heart. Before starting a decade, I declare the mystery to which the decade is to be dedicated and that I am going to commemorate that mystery by praying the decade. After making my intent clear, I can wholly concentrate upon praying the Our Father to put me in the right place before the Lord, the Hail Mary's to ask the Holy Mother to intercede for me, and the Glory to fully praise the Holy Trinity. The Fatima prayer the Holy Mother asked us to say at the end of each decade is also important. We must constantly ask the Lord to save souls, especially those in most need of his mercy.

**God Alone Our Judge

        We should not judge others because we just don't know what's truly in their hearts. Sometimes we do not even understand ourselves. Compared to God, none of us is completely trustworthy. God being our creator is the only one who knows our hearts and can judge us fairly. Also, since we are all to be judged by God as equals, we are not qualified to judge anyone.

**Thinking Beyond Death*

         We all know that we are going to die, yet we think mostly about things of the world. As we get older, we may start composing a will, think about how we can avoid paying too much death tax, and possibly look into where we might like to be buried. That's about it. The most important question about where our soul will go after death for all eternity is just not taken seriously enough. This is odd, sad, and bad. As soon as we realize that God, heaven, and hell all exist, we should focus upon this issue before all other worldly considerations. Know that the Lord God wants to save us from our sins and we are sinners. Once we are sure that our soul is safe, we'll feel a lot more peace in our heart.

**Heading for Self-Destruction*

        We really should be mindful of what Jesus said in today's Gospel reading from Luke 12. He first spoke against greed. To the crowd, he said, "Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions." Amen. Then he told the parable of the rich fool. "A rich man planned to build larger barns to store his bountiful harvest and other goods and thought that he would have so many things stored up for many years that he could just rest, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, 'You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?' Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God." This message our material world would find most difficult to accept because it is what it needs to hear the most. Not to change the course is to head for self-destruction. 

**Know Whom You Belong To

        Today's response from Psalm 100: The Lord made us, we belong to him. It's such a simple statement, but it's absolutely true. I used to do a lot of wood working. Suppose I want to make a table. I would work out the design, buy the materials needed, cut each part to the right size, assemble the parts, and paint or stain the whole thing. The finished table is now mine! The Lord clearly made each of us, so we belong rightfully to him. And we should act like we were wonderfully made by God!