***Truth Is Compelling!***

         In  today's Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus said to the people, "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." Choosing sides is now compelling. Otherwise, there's no point for him to have come to us at all! He compels as he is the truth!

**Instant Destruction and Instant Salvation

        Instant destruction—be your own god and do whatever you want to do.
        Instant salvation—let Christ be your Lord and God.

       The line separating the two is thin. How hard it is to cross over to the salvation side depends entirely upon how willing your heart is.        

Going to Heaven!*****

        As I walked outside today, I couldn't help rejoicing that the God has made it possible for me to have eternal life. Then realizing he has already assured me of that put a big smile on my face. 

***Warning for Us Too

        Jeremiah 7:23-28 is today's first reading. The prophet gave the people the message from the LORD. Let me quote some of the verses.

         Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper. But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed. They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces, to me. I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets, yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed; they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers. When you speak all these words to them, they will not listen to you either; when you call to them, they will not answer you. Say to them: This is the nation that does not listen to the voice of the LORD, its God, or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is vanished from their speech.

         This above describes today's Western nations well. From Jesus' parable of the tenants (Matthew 21, Luke 20), you learn what would happen to the tenants who mistreated all the servants the owner of the vineyard sent them and killed the son of the owner in the end. To neglect Christ is to neglect your own soul. Reject him and you doom yourself for good.

Understanding & Learning from Jesus

        I shall reproduce today's entire short Gospel reading from Matthew 5 below and add some thoughts of my own.

         Jesus said to this disciples: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven."

         (1) Jesus had come to fulfill the law and the prophets mainly to save us! So I can say that he had come to fulfill us! (2) "Until all things have taken place"—what could that mean? It seems that one day Jesus will have wrapped all things up according to God's plan. (3) We need not only obey God's commandments ourselves, but equally important, teach others to do so too. 

****Smart Approach to God

        Let's face it, God will have the last say on anything. So you might as well start listening to and obeying him. This is smart thinking. But more properly, you should see that God is your most loving Father and that for his sake you should submit yourself to him to receive all his love. Now, you are being super smart.

*****Harnessing the Power of the Holy Spirit

         Thought about the Holy Spirit this morning while walking outside. The Holy Spirit is most powerful, yet most gentle. You can easily shut him out, for God respects your free will. But if you open up to become completely receptive to him, he will totally overwhelm you to make you most powerful. This makes living for God truly exciting! 

***Bishops Get Slammed

         Another courageous priest speaking up against the bishops. Decades ago, I was in a different parish then. When the idea that we should recognize gay marriage first came up, the parish priest was brave enough to put an ad in the local newspaper along with the signatures of many parishioners who supported him, announcing that marriage is intended by God for uniting a man and a woman only. With no strong support coming from the higher hierarchy, the effort fizzled out  quickly. The same pretty much happened to the charismatic movement within the Church. It did not get the support it deserved and gradually died down. I believe that my many bishops have already made up their mind on many issues and become closed to the Holy Spirit. Hope that I am wrong.

***Forgiving Others a Must

         Today's Gospel reading comes from Matthew 18. Peter asked Jesus how often he must forgive his brother who sinned against him. Jesus then told him the parable of the unforgiving servant (vv, 23-35). The lesson is clear: We must forgive others as the Lord forgives us. No way out. Whether we succeed or not, we must try our best. But if you surrender yourself to God, it becomes a cinch.

**Eternal Life, a Must Consideration

        Today I heard someone say "She's got a whole life ahead of her," referring to some young woman. Of course, the speaker was thinking about life on this earth only, so the statement didn't mean much. It becomes significant when we understand life to mean our whole existence, including the part after death. So eternal life is not to be ignored, making believing in Christ a must.

*Pride Our Big Stumbling Block

         It is so very clear that what we do shapes what God does to us. That we reap what we sow and that we have a conscience prove beyond a doubt that God is real. If we believe in and obey him, we'll have peace and prosperity. And if we ignore him, we'll be punished in this and/or the next life. It's so simple and clear, but our pride prevents us from seeing or accepting the truth.

***Our True Destination

        As sinners, we need to return to God, our Father and creator, as lost sons and daughters to reconcile ourselves to him. Whether the last days are approaching or not, we need to live Christ, think Christ, breathe Christ, and even consume his body and blood. This is how we can be purged of our sins, made clean, and have eternal life to inherit all that the Father has for us.

**Not Following Any Trend

        The more I hear about prestigious, high-powered people who have earned great recognition and mass admiration in some secular field, the more I see that only whether we get to heaven or not matters. I don't follow any trend and care only about what God thinks of me. Take God seriously and you take care of everything.

***God's Power & Wisdom Ours for the Asking

        In today's second reading from 1 Corinthians 1, Paul wrote that to those who are called, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For us who have access to the Lord, we can receive all his power and all his wisdom. Absolutely fantastic! We'll be able to overcome evil and know how to live a holy life. Remember that nothing is impossible for God. When it comes to getting ourselves transformed, it's right up his alley. After all, he created us.

*If You Are Suffering . . .

read what Peter wrote in 1 Peter: The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little. God saves the best for last for all of us who love him. 

*Myopic Fools

        This morning as I was taking a walk outside the house, the temperature was perfect and the skies clear and blue. Flowering trees have started to bloom. I could hear the small birds chirping happily in the trees and geese flying overhead honking. Yesterday I even heard a woodpecker working hard on a neighbor's tree. Then I couldn't help asking myself why so many people are blind to all these beautiful things and seek only to take control of all others around them? You can't help but feel sorry for them. 

*Why We Don't Get Uplifted

        As long as we think or talk more about ourselves than about the Lord, we won't get uplifted by him.

***Faith Is Good Enough

        Communion experience. I attended Vigil Mass today. Possessing only a finite mind, I could not comprehend how the elements of bread and wine consecrated in the Eucharist could change into the body and blood of the Lord, yet I could believe without a doubt that it did happen. This is having faith: we do not comprehend, yet believe. This is how we finite beings connect with the infinite God. We are to depend upon him in all things. 

***God Our Perfect Corrector

          In today's Gospel reading of the parable of the lost son from Luke 15, you'd understand why the the older son got angry if you read what he said to the father after his lost younger brother had returned. Here it is: "Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf." He was jealous. This is normal human reaction. But the Lord can perfect us. I have mentioned that God is the greatest psychiatrist there is and that remains true. Once we have him, we have the best we can possibly have, and we no longer admire, envy, or get jealous about anyone anymore. Finally we are set free by the truth and become like the Lord himself. So you can say that God is our secret formula, our perfect corrector, or our ultimate defender.

**Making Heaven Happy

         Luke 15:21 is today's Gospel acclamation. This is what the lost son in the parable of the lost son said to his father upon his return: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you." This is all we need to say to our heavenly Father to get back in his good graces. Why should it be so difficult for us to say it? God awaits to hear from us. Say it and the whole heaven rejoices! Nothing can be more heartening than knowing that you've made heaven happy!

**Lamenting Extreme Polarization*

        We have Catholics in union with the Lord; they obey his every will and don't ever wish to offend him in the slightest; then we have those who are Catholics in name only. They are anti-life and pro-same-sex-marriage and spread lies. In fact, many of them are holding top positions in our government now! They are today's Pharisee and scribes. At the same time, the Church is facing a similar division internally, causing many to leave the faith. But I know this will pass, for Jesus had already told us that the gates of the netherworld should not prevail against his church. For the time being, I am crying more for those who have betrayed our Lord than my country or my church, as the Lord's most ardent wish is to save all souls! 

***Going Directly for the Lord*****

        As an aficionado of piano music, I used to attend various piano festivals and events. Once, I attended a weekend workshop in Portland, Oregon, not too far from my home here in California. I was going to learn about a method of playing the piano that would minimize the risk of injuring your hands. To buy the whole set of videotapes, it would cost around $800, as I recall. After watching many sample videos and listening to a number of lectures, I pretty much learned what the technique is all about. There were basically three principles you need to know, which I could explain and demonstrate easily in a few minutes. We often spend way too much time and effort trying to reach a certain goal, not realizing that we can get there faster and more surely another way. For example,
        We all wish to grow closer to the Lord, but many people are not going about doing it the right way. They attend many conferences. workshops, Bible studies, and retreats, listen to many speakers, and read a lot of books. Why not go directly to the Lord to get to know him? The Lord is instantly accessible to you at any time, no matter where you are. Communicating with him is easier and faster than any modern mode of communication. When you open yourself up to him, he's ready to reveal himself to you. Then you start learning everything from him directly. To strengthen your personal relationship with him, you don't need to go through other fellow humans anymore. They can only help you know more about the Lord. Only the Lord himself can draw you to make you know him. Seeking him without focusing mainly upon him is a waste of time. Head straight for the Lord who wishes to be one with you!

**When To Receive What's Good

        Today's Gospel reading from Luke 16 tells the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. After both the rich man and the poor Lazarus died, Lazarus was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham, while the rich man landed in the netherworld and suffered torment in flames. The rich man saw Abraham with Lazarus at this side. He cried out to Abraham for help. Abraham replied, "My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from going from our side to yours or from your side to ours." So what we think is good during our lifetime may actually be bad if that's all the comfort we are going to get. Aim for receiving what's truly good all in your next life. No instant gratification! It comes down to choosing what's only good for now or what'll be good forever later. It should be a no-brainer. 

**God's Omnipotence, a Joy or Terror?

        In today's first reading from Jeremiah 17, The LORD says, "I, the LORD, alone probe the mind and test the heart, to reward everyone according to his ways, according to the merit of his deeds." God knows our mind and heart and our ways and deeds thoroughly. We are completely transparent to him! Don't ever think for a moment that you can hide or escape from him. He knows exactly what your are thinking and what's in your heart at any time. Your ways and your deeds are shaping your own destiny every moment of your life. Knowing this could be a joy to some or a terror to others. Hopefully, once you realize how omnipotent God truly is, you would rejoice!

**Happy with God

        Today I feel happy that God not only knows but also understands all my needs and good desires. This is a joy, for I need not be anxious about anything anymore. The Lord shall meet all my needs and fulfill all my desires as he sees fit. We are to follow him always, not the other way around. Ask and still follow is OK, but know the Lord first so that you'll know what to ask is best.

**Our Great Responsibility

        Our own soul and all others' souls.

***God Our Ultimate Quest

          I have quoted this saying of St. Augustine many times: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." This is so very true. I'd like to go beyond a bit and say "The more we surrender ourselves to God, the more we become like him." God is meant to be our refuge and perfector!

***How to Deal with Evil

         We get discouraged when we see that evil has taken over the world; you can feel the oppression. Now, God deals with every single soul. If you rebel against him, you'll get separated from him for eternity. Whether we have one evildoer or a billion of them, they will all be "taken care of" in the end. That sounds good, but it's most tragic. For God the Father loves all of them and the loss of one soul to him is as sad as losing all of them. For the sake of loving our Father, we must do our utmost to save as many souls as possible. That's why judging others is wrong, for it stops the flow of mercy from us. So hate the sin and not the sinner. Our sole business is to live for and to please God the Father alone, not to play God for an instant.

**To Be Ready to Meet God

         Americans are not good at saving money. Most people live from paycheck to paycheck. They make money and spend it fast for instant gratification. When a spouse, usually the husband, dies, often nothing's left for the wife to live on. I have witnessed so many cases like that. All this makes me wonder—if you don't know how to prepare yourself well to live a life on earth, how are you going to prepare yourself to live a life in heaven? It's a great feeling to know that you are ready to meet God your Father anytime without fear. In fact, you should yearn for that day. To prepare for that day, you need to know the Lord intimately to the point that you are one with him on earth. When you become inseparable from him, you are ready. 

***Obedience to God, Most Beautiful!

        Do God's will first. Everything else can wait. People often rationalize what they're doing by saying that God has given them this talent, so they must keep on doing it. It sounds right on the surface. They also want to justify making a lot of money by saying that with more money, they can help others more. There is truth here too, but it might not be their prime motivation. Anyway, to do God's will is to do his will without any interference on our part. If he tells you to go ahead to make more money or do whatever else specifically, you go ahead. It's listening to him only and not at all to yourself. You must be totally in tune with him to remain in obedience. This is the challenge and a joy. Let the Lord truly be your Lord and you'll have peace and be amply rewarded in the end.

**God's Infinite Patience

        Not only God's love and mercy are infinite, so is his patience. Most of us live for years. If you live till 80, you'll have 29.200 days. Assuming that you sleep 8 hours each day, the number of your waking hours comes to 467,200. Assuming that you won't fully understand and know how to make a decision to accept Christ the first ten years of your life, you'll still have 408,800 hours left for you to turn to Christ. Are you going to waste all those hours not even considering him? The Lord has done his part and now simply awaits in patience. You may still get that last dying moment to repent and save yourself, but that's taking an awfully big risk.

**Be like the Father

       In today's Gospel reading from Luke 6, Jesus said to his disciples: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." Then "Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you." Last, "The measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you." 

           Let me try to summarize all this.  (1) We must be as merciful as our Father. (2) The standard we set in dealing with others will be used by the Father in dealing with us. If we make it hard (easy) for others, God will make it hard (easy) for us.

***Why Go to Jesus

         John 6.68: Simon Peter said to Jesus, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." Peter is right. Jesus is the only one who has the words of eternal life. Therefore, he is the one and only one we need to go to!

Human History Is All About . . .

man rebelling against God who created it out of love and whether it will turn to God to repent of its sins and start obeying him again. 

**Feeling Good About Yourself

        It's easy to admire or envy others who seem to be more fortunate and have a lot more than you in so many ways. And you start to feel sorry yourself and become unhappy. This shows that you do not know the true God of Christ yet. Christ himself was despised, looked down, ridiculed, laughed at, insulted, stripped of his garments, scourged, and even put to death, yet he never complained. If you have him, everything the heavenly Father has is now yours. You'll feel so content and thankful, realizing that you are the luckiest and most loved creature in the universe, just now awaiting your return to your Father. Those who have the world are to be pitied, not admired or envied. Know Christ and you'll know the truth and be set free! Good thoughts to start off this new month of March, 2021.

*Feeling Good About Life

         February ends today. I am so blessed to have known Christ because when my life ends on earth, it shall continue on forever. The part of my life on earth is only the extremely short beginning. I'll be spending the rest of it with my Lord in paradise. Had I not known him at all, I would have no idea what will happen to me after I die, and that's not a good feeling.

Spiritual Levitation

         Communion experience. You've heard about levitation. Some saints are known to have levitated physically in ecstasy. After I received the body of the Lord, I felt I had a spiritual levitation, with the Lord lifting my spirit all the way up to him. 

***Rejoice, Rejoice, Rejoice!

       In today's reading II from Romans 8, Paul wrote, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" People are against us precisely because we are for God. Jesus said that he had come to bring not peace but the sword. (Matthew 10:34) Precisely because he is our God and our judge, we end up being for him or against him. Rejoice that we and God are for each other.
       Paul wrote more, "He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?" We gain Jesus and everything the Father has is ours! Rejoice again.
        Last, Paul said, "Who will bring a charge against God's chosen ones? It is God who acquits us, who will condemn?" No one will be able to condemn us, since we are already God's! Nothing can possibly separate us from the love of God. Rejoice one more time.

*****Reverence the Holy Eucharist Please!*****

        A recent survey showed that the majority of Catholics no longer believed in the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. This Most Blessed Sacrament is at the center of the Catholic worship. If you no longer belief in it, you are no longer a true Catholic. It is unbelievable that the churches are still pretty much letting everyone receive it rather casually. It's time to reeducate all the Catholics. Here is the official Catholic Church teaching on Christ's real presence in the Eucharist. 

• The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that, "the mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as 'the perfection of the spiritual life and the the end to which all the sacraments tend.'"
• "In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist, 'the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained.'
• "This presence is called 'real'—by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as of they could not be 'real' too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, make himself wholly and entirely present." (CCC 1374)
• "The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist." (CCC  1377)
• "To respond to this invitation, we must prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment.
• "St. Paul urges us to examine our conscience: 'Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.'
• "Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation upon coming to communion." (CCC 1385)

         I urge you to check out the videos on Eucharistic miracles I listed under Good Websites, Blogs, Videos . . .  in the right margin of the blog page. I am posting one of them here below again.

    

***Becoming Perfect the Effortless Way*****

         In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 5, Jesus advises us to be perfect, just as our heavenly Father is perfect. How can we achieve this? Since nothing is impossible for God, let's do it the effortless way by surrendering ourselves to him completely. With us out of the way, God can perfect us easily!

***Finding God the Effortless Way*****

        In today's reading from Psalm 118, I read the verse "Blessed are they who seek the LORD with all their heart."  So I ask myself how I should seek the LORD. Here is what I have learned. I seek him by letting him find me. This is what I mean. I remain open to him completely so that he may enter freely and do whatever he wishes. Voilà, we are one! The smart, effortless way of finding God.

***Most Dependable Lord

        People break their word all the time, but not our Lord. You can trust in him absolutely. That's why I believe in all his promises. First thing you need to do is secure your eternal life. This is not being selfish; this is precisely what he wants you to do, for he loves you. It's so good that we have him to rely upon. The reality with our God is better than anything we can dream about!  

Symbolic of the Holy Trinity

         In 1985, I walked into this building with a dome overhead in Paris, France, and saw these three shafts of sunlight on the entrance doors. To me they symbolized God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

*****Repent Now or Perish!*****

        From yesterday's first reading from Jonah 3, we learned that Jonah went to Nineveh according to the LORD's bidding to announce to the people that forty days more and their city would be destroyed. The people believed in God and proclaimed a fast and all of them put on sackcloth. Even the king and his nobles joined in. The king decreed every man to turn from his evil way and from the violence he had in hand. God saw all that, relented and withheld his wrath so that they should not perish. Good for the people of Nineveh. Looking at our own nation, my guess is that no even half of the population would repent when asked by God to do so. Whether this would be good enough for the Lord to change his mind, I do not know. In the Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus condemned his generation seeking a sign as an evil generation. I'd like you to hear Fr. Mark's talk in this video about our generation. It is his most powerful presentation to date. It climaxes as it ends. Don't miss it and pass it around. It's wake-up time!

*****Letting the Lord Reveal Himself to Us

        As we get to know the Lord, the Lord reveals many things to us for our edification. The great saints receive great mysteries and teachings; the great prophets, evens to come; various seers, special visions and messages. I see myself at the kindergarten level, so the Lord makes everything elementary for me to understand. So far what he has revealed to me is just himself, nothing more—already filling my cup to overflowing and rewarding me aplenty. I just enjoy his holy presence every moment of my life.  Psalm 23.1: The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.

***Jesus, Heaven, and Hell

         We need to hear these three subjects preached the most, for Jesus is the absolute truth and heaven and hell are real. Knowing that heaven and hell exist can definitely make us want to know our Lord. But we rarely hear the Lord preached with any fire or passion. Heaven is once in a while mentioned, and hell—what is that? Here is Fr. Altman's passionate talk on the reality of hell. I am not saying that you must know Jesus to enter heaven, for there are good people who have not heard about Jesus. But I know for sure that if you believe in him, you will go to heaven and not hell for sure.

**Let Nothing Embarrassing Happen to You

        I get a lot of scam phone calls at home which are annoying. I am saddened by the fact that this is such a big business with so many people engaged in swindling others. What if right in the middle of trying to swindle someone, you die and face God—wouldn't you be embarrassed about being caught? I certainly wouldn't be caught dead doing anything like that in my life. Remain holy and blameless so that you'll be ready to face the Lord at any time.

**Loving the heavenly Father First

        Since our heavenly Father is perfect and loves us with an infinite love, we should do our utmost to please him, as we even try to be nice to our earthly father who is often far from being perfect and may not even love us that much. The perfect way to please God the Father is to obey him. Obey your heavenly Father first and you'll know how to love all your neighbors.

***Requisite for Setting Yourself Free

         In yesterday's Gospel reading from Matthew 6, after teaching the disciples how to say the Lord's Prayer, Jesus added, "If you forgive men their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions." Since forgiving those who have transgressed against us can be most difficult, we sometimes honestly tell the Lord, "Sorry, I can't do it," and not do it. Now we have committed the sin of disobedience and he'll deal with us exactly the way we deal with others on judgment day. Bad move on our part! What if we had turned to the Lord and said, "You know that it's most difficult for me to forgive my enemies, but I know that you are right and I must obey you. So help me, Lord"? Now we've made a smart move. When God sees that we are humble, he will help and not condemn us. The bottom line, rebelling against God is being foolish to the extreme, while yielding yourself to him is being truly wise. I am sure that most of you already understand this, but some of you might need to hear it again. To set yourself free, you need to set all others free from your heart first.

**Upon Whom Shall I Depend?*

        In this life, should I depend upon my government? If you've read my last post, you would know my answer already. Should I depend upon my family or friends? Maybe, it would depend upon their relationship with me. I'll try to depend upon myself as much as possible, knowing that one day I'll be completely helpless. So that leaves God last to consider. But I should have considered him first and only, for he is the only one most powerful and forever dependable. So I'll put myself completely in his hands and rest from now on. This is an insight, a foresight, and being wise and smart. I am speaking a truth, not trying to pat myself on the back, although I do feel good about it. God is love and equally a joy!