**Joy in Union with God

         Happy Easter to  you all! We rejoice today, for the Lord is risen. I do feel that we need to rejoice in the Lord everyday in the interior of our heart, not just showing joy outwardly during the time of Easter. God is to be experienced and enjoyed every moment of our life. There is no better way to achieve that than attain union with him so that you and the Lord become soulmates.

*Making Heaven Rejoice

         Jesus told us in Luke 15:7 that "there will be great joy in heaven over one sinner who repents." We can make heaven rejoice once more after repenting by surrendering to God to attain union with him and become holy.

**About Sinning

        I just finished talking to my oldest granddaughter on the phone who will be graduating from college next month and start working for a company in Boston, not exactly a holy place. I recall my college days attending the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The opportunities to sin abounded. I still remember one fellow student boasting often about his illegitimate infant daughter living with the mother in nearby Detroit. Sinning is like stepping on quicksand. Once you start sining, it becomes easier and easier. But if you can refrain from committing small sins, you avoid committing big sins too. To stop sinning and enjoy inner peace, seek to attain union with God. You are never too early or too late for that. In union with God, you remain holy in God wherever you are.

***Spiritual Reality (a Warning)

        These thoughts came to me while walking this morning. We are the only creatures on earth that were made in God's image and possess a soul. The spiritual warfare fighting for our souls between God and the evil one is real. It will end one day for sure. Warnings have been coming from heaven to us all along. The central message is clear—we need to surrender to God, repent, and obey him. The latest messages coming from the Blessed Mother, St. Michael the Archangel, Jesus, the Father have all been most urgent. When this war will end and how severe the chastisements will be will depend upon how we respond to God. We can end up all going to heaven or with multitudes going to hell. It is important that we see this reality and not waste our time focusing upon the insignificant mundane things of life.

*Our Only Perfect Savior

         I love the last two verses from today's second reading from Hebrews 4 and 5: Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation. First, it is obedience to God that makes us perfect. Secondly, Jesus the Son made perfect became fittingly the source of eternal salvation. There is not another who can save us.

**A Delightful Thought!

         With spring in full swing, I look out the window and see fresh green leaves and blossoms on many plants. I realize that I won't be outlived by any creation in heaven or on earth, for I will live on forever with my God! The thought greatly delights me!

***Good Friday Thoughts

          This is Good Friday. It is good because God showed his greatest love for us on this day. Jesus followed the will of God the Father perfectly. He came to us to save us from sin by dying on the cross in our place. He knew what he had to go through, yet during his some 33 years on earth, he continued to perform good deeds and spread the gospel. A normal person in his place wouldn't have been able to sleep well every single night. He never complained again those who persecuted him. A normal good person in his place would have tried hard to justify and defend himself. The example of Jesus leaves me with no doubt that he is the divine Savior! For that, I accept him as my Lord and Savior. I am reaping abundantly now and that's only the beginning. Let us thank, worship, and glorify him today and always! 

*Living the Temporary Life

        People just get their priorities all wyong. They live in this world as if it's the only life they have, so they concentrate on living comfortably in this life, not considering what might happen after they die. Death might be their best blessing, for when they are near death, they may finally turn to God. The wise would settle their eternity first. When you do that, you'll see life in a new light and start living in freedom. It takes courage to buck the trend, but nothing is impossible for God and you'll be richly rewarded.

*Leaving This World

        This morning I also thought about ourselves besides God. We are merely passing through this world. Each of us was born through a family, but our association with our family is only temporary. Before God the Father, we are equally his children. When I leave this world, I'll leave freely, detached to all things left behind. As for the people I leave behind, I hope I'll seen them again. Anyway, I can continue praying for all souls from heaven. It's doing God's will alone we must heed. Things turn out best when we do that. Let's leave the world the way we came with our Father in full charge.

**The Lord God, What We Need

        As I was walking outside this morning, I thought about God's love for us. Things of the world are enticing because they gratify our senses and our desires. The Lord God operates on an entirely different level. I've fallen deeply in love with the Lord because his love, mercy, and holiness have touched me to the core, capturing my heart, my spirit, and my soul completely. Living without the God of Christ is living in emptiness. Believe and desire him, and you are fulfilled.  

***Church in Crisis

          After posting Fr. Mark Goring's video a while earlier and commenting on the sad state of the Church, I came across this John-Henry Weston video and feel that I must post it right here and now. 

Beyond World's Judgment

         I was struck by Isaiah 50-9a, the last verse of today's first reading: See, the Lord GOD is my help; who will declare me guilty? Indeed, if you are already in union with God or belong to him completely, no one can possibly judge you or touch your soul.

***Sad State of the Church!

       When evil has infiltrated much of the Catholic Church, the church Jesus had built upon Peter, it's a sign that we are in end times. All the more we need to safeguard our souls and pray hard to prepare for Jesus' Second Coming. Watch today's Fr. Mark Goring video. The Church's teaching is always correct. Unfortunately, many of today's clergy are only lukewarm or have become corrupt. They have totally failed the Lord in shepherding his sheep.

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***Obedience over Perfection***

        After returning home yesterday, I resumed my morning walk today. The Lord gave me these thoughts. We are imperfect. We can submit ourselves completely to the Lord and still fall short. For example, as I was walking, I thought of a friend who was recovering from an ailment when I went on my trip 12 days ago—I hoped that he's completely well now. I must drop him an email to find out. At the same time, the thought that he would probably appreciate my concern upon receiving my email popped up briefly in the back of my head. I knew that if I were truly concerned about someone, I would not be concerned about whether I was appreciated or not. Here's the ego making an ugly appearance. But the Lord knows; he continues to remain gracious to me as long as my intention is good. This is how things go: we try to serve the Lord perfectly, we fall short, and the Lord continues forgiving and assisting us . . . till we die, go to him, and become truly perfect. For the time being, how perfect we are matters less than how obedient we are to the Lord.

***Way of Becoming a Better Christian***

         I finally got home and finished unpacking. It's been a long drive. During one part of the trip, I turned on the the car radio and heard a priest speaking on a Catholic radio program. He talked about how a married couple must remain faithful to each other, we must be trustworthy in small matters, we must pray often, etc. Theses are all good rules to know and follow. Then I could easily add a hundred more such rules. If we can remember and follow them all, we'll definitely be better Christians. The problem is that it's not likely we'll remember all of them. I recommend that we surrender ourselves to the Lord to seek union with him. Once we attain that union, we'll be faithful to our spouse, trustworthy in all matters, pray often, etc., following all the rules effortlessly without even thinking about them. What an excellent, superb, and smart way to become a better Christian.

*Focusing upon the Lord

        I am going home today since leaving home eleven days ago. It'll probably take me nine hours to drive home, including taking a couple of breaks along the way. I've been missing the Lord a lot. Not that he's not with me, but since my friends were with me most of the time, I wasn't able to focus upon him always. Most of the friends are Christian, but Christ was never mentioned. Only once I had the chance to talk about him with one person in private. Christ is my Lord and my God, exactly how Thomas the Apostle felt about him. I look forward to be home so that I'll be able to focus upon the Lord a lot more.

Myopic People

        Today's thought. I see people, often the older folks, trying hard to think of ways to make more money. Of course, sometimes it's out of necessity, but in most cases they are already quite well off already. I feel sorry for them for not seeing that by believing in Christ, they can inherit all the riches of heaven for all eternity.

***Safe from Our Enemies

         From today's Psalm 18, David sang to the LORD after the LORD had rescued him from the clutches of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul, "O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, My God, my rock of refuge, my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold! Praised be the LORD, I exclaim, and I am safe from my enemies."  We who love and follow Christ are safe from our enemies too, for we are destined for heaven and no Satan or anyone in this world can possibly touch our soul, safe in the hands of our LORD!

*****Gems Learned from the Lord

     Today I thought of some of the gems the Lord had taught me. It's worth mentioning them again.
          (1) Let God love you and his love will make you perfect!
         (2) You have only one Lord, your God and Father. Never lord it over yourself for a single moment. Being a slave to God frees you completely, for now you are in perfect harmony with your loving creator.
          (3) Share all your thoughts and feelings with God so that there'll be no barrier whatsoever between you and him. This will lead you to union with him.

***Time To Be Productive

        Today's observation. People who do not know the God of Christ well are more or less lost. They while away much of their time doing things to amuse themselves, not in any way involving God. This is a pity, for our time on earth is limited—if we are truly with the Lord, we need to be productive by storing up as much treasure in heaven as possible now.

**Faith in God Essential

       Materialism has replaced God. The more materialistic we become, the further away we fall from God. If you do not have a strong foundation in the Lord, a good person is easily snared by materialism. Once captured, freeing oneself is nearly impossible without help from God. To become rich and comfortable, but without faith in God, cannot be your dream life. Faith must be present to fight materialism for the security of your soul. So it's God first and whatever might come last. 

***One Top Christian Priority

       Recently, someone, an incessant talker, pointed someone else out to me and told me that the person was an incessant talker. I had to try hard not to laugh. It shows that we easily find faults in others and not see our own imperfections. Jesus is right in calling anyone a hypocrite who seeks to remove the splinter from his brother's eye before removing the wooden beam from his own eye. We need to examine ourselves first to be sure that we are as perfect as possible before the Lord. To lead by example should be a top priority.

**Tragic State of the World

        Being sinners, we need to be formed and molded by Christ to become fit for entering heaven. Sadly, most of us are being conditioned and regulated by our secular, materialistic world, leading us toward self-destruction. The Lord continually calls and warns us, yet we become increasingly deaf and numb to him. A monumental tragedy unfolds.

**MyTrue Home

        As I mentioned, I am traveling now. Even though the homes of my friends and relatives I stay at are all very comfortable, I instinctively, intuitively, and spiritually know that I am not truly home until I am with my Lord Christ Jesus. Without him, you'll always be seeking peace and rest endlessly.

*To Die and Live Again

        In today's Gospel reading from John 12, Jesus said to Philip and Andrew, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 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. Whoever seres me must follow me." In short, for us to have eternal life, we must go through a spiritual death. Only by dying to ourselves can we have a new life. The key to achieving it is to follow Christ.

*Christ Our Only Passageway

         I haven't been able to blog these last two days because of traveling to visit my younger son and some friends. In Reading II from Hebrews 5 today, Paul writes, "When Christ Jesus was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him." We see that obeying Christ is necessary for eternal salvation. Therefore, if we can submit ourselves to him, we are ready. There is no way of bypassing Christ, as he is our final judge too.

Becoming God's Beloved

         After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, a voice came from the heavens, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17) When Jesus was transfigured on Mount Tabor before Peter, James, and John, the three saw him conversing with Moses and Elijah. Then a bright cloud cast a shadow over them and again, from the cloud they heard a voice saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." (Matthew 17:5) Now, if Jesus is our beloved Lord, that'll surely make us God's beloved children! 

*It Is a Sin . . .

 to deliberately reject Jesus when you know about him and why he came into the world to die for us.       

**Most Appropriate Prayer

        If you think that you are a pretty good person, then you are not good enough for God. Remember the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18? The Pharisee took up his position and prayed, "O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous. I fast twice a week, yada yada." On the other hand, a tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, "O God, be merciful to me a sinner." Jesus said to all, "I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted." Indeed, the most appropriate prayer for us to say is "O God, have mercy on me a sinner." When you truly say it from your heart, you are drawn instantly close to the Lord. To humble ourselves is to imitate the Lord Jesus, always the right thing to do.

**Treasured Information for Us

        Also from today's Gospel's reading from John 5, Jesus said, "Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life." We see that the Son identifies himself with the Father and how we can pass from death to life. Such information is to be treasured!

**Proof that Jesus Is Our Savior

          In today's Gospel reading from John 5, Jesus said to the Jews, "Just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes." I am reminded of Jesus' healing of the paralytic in Matthew 9. People brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Courage, child, your sins are forgiven." At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, "Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"—he then said to the paralytic, "Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home." He rose and went home. That Jesus had the authority to heal the paralytic is proof that he had the power to forgive sins. Similarly, the Resurrection of Jesus is proof that he has the power to give life to whomever he wishes as he claimed in today's Gospel reading. He is our Savior.

***Easy Road to God

        Again from today's reading from Isaiah 49, the LORD says to the prophet: "He who pities them leads them and guides them beside springs of water. I will cut a road through all my mountains, and make my highways level." I really feel that the Lord has done all the work to remove all the obstacles and made our road to him level. Jesus had done the work and now we can get to heaven easily! The Lord wills something to be done and it's done. Well, we simply will to go to heaven by believing in Jesus and it's done for us! God has made everything easy for us; we just need to make it easy for ourselves.

***Face the Lord and Live

         From today's first reading from Isaiah 49, the LOAD says, To those in darkness: Show yourselves! This is a powerful command. Every sinner needs to show himself to the Lord. What's the point of hiding from him who already knows everything about you? If your are afraid to show yourself, it only shows how much more you need to do it. Show yourself and the Lord will place you in his light and you'll never want to go back into darkness again. So show yourself now or continue destroying yourself in hiding. 

***How to Stop Sinning*****

         I've mentioned that one of the great benefits of being in union with God is that you no longer tend to sin, as you are now aware of God's loving presence within you at all times. We sin when we always want to do what we want to do. Once you wish to follow only the will of God, you see all things as he sees them and no longer judge others. You are then free, have peace, and stop sinning. The days of feeling that you need to go to confession again are gone! To recap, you have all of God, you are completely satisfied, you no longer follow your own whims and desires, you stop sinning, and you enjoy the Lord's peace. It's so very straight forward and clear. (One side benefit worth mentioning: you do longer get stressed out about anything and you blood pressure remains normal at all times. You probably would live longer too, but that's up to the Lord and shouldn't matter to you.)

***Heaven or Hell?

        I like hearing Fr. Corapi talk because he comes right to the point, unlike some others who speak a lot of words but don't have much to say. I love what Jesus said in Matthew 5.37: "Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.'  Anything more is from the evil one." Here's Fr. Corapi's new 3-minute  straight talk.

**Playing Game with God

        Even though a lot of us avoid looking at God, I feel that that they are still playing a sort of staring contest with the Lord. They want to be their own lord, not letting him be the Lord, and see who would win. Of course, we won't be able to beat the Lord at any game. In fact, the moment you intend to play a game with God, you already lose. The Lord does not play games. If you are smart or wise, you'd just listen to and follow him. 

***Jesus Is Trustworthy

         The Gospel reading comes from John 4. Jesus returned to Cana in Galilee. A royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum went to Jesus to beg him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to him, "You may go; your son will live." The man believed what Jesus said to him and left. While he was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. He asked them when he began to recover. Thy told him, "The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon." The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live,"
         Let me stop here because at this precise point the Lord overwhelmed me with an unstoppable joy. I had to stop until I recovered. It's caused by the realization that whenever Jesus says something will happen and it happens just as he'd said. This is something very beautiful that touched me deeply. Let me finish the story with the happy ending: "and the royal official and his whole household came to believe."

***Most Merciful Lord

        The Lord is so merciful to us because he understands our weaknesses so well. After all, he created us and even became one of us to live among us at one time. The one who had taught us to forgive even our enemies wants to give us every chance to repent of our sins and turn to him. He only wants to save us and keep us from getting ourselves condemned! We must see this clearly. That we have such a loving and patient Lord is certainly cause for rejoicing. 

***Most Beautiful Relationship for Us!

        Do you know that God loves us so much that he wants to be in complete union with us? The most beautiful relationship we can ever have awaits us to be formed. This is our prelude to heaven!

****God Reveals Truth to Us

         In Matthew, when Simon Peter said to Jesus, "You are the Messiah, 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." This was Peter's great revelation. I know that only Christ (or the God of Christ) can save us—it is my revelation from the heavenly Father too. How do I know? I know because when God revealed something to you, you just know that it is true in your heart. No explanation needed and no further explanation I can provide.

***Only Sign We Need***

         Yesterday Fr. Mark Goring in his video talks about Medjugorje's 3rd secret revealing that there will be a permanent sign left by God at the apparition site presumably in the near future. Father mentioned past signs of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the spring at Lourdes, and the miracle of the sun at Fatima. The Lord does show signs to convert unbelievers. The miracle of the sun was indeed spectacular as witnessed by 70.000 people. No doubt that many became believers. The thing is that people tend not to connect themselves with anything that happened in the past. The Fatima miracle took place in 1917. The greatest sign has to be the Resurrection of Christ himself. That it did happen you cannot deny. (I had recommended the movie "The Case for Christ" to watch in case you still doubt about Christ's Resurrection. It was based upon a true story. I am going to leave the 2-minute long trailer below in case you're interested in watching the film.) The Resurrection rejuvenated all the disciples and got the Church going. What's true remains true forever. It is a big mistake for us to ignore any true sign just because it happened so long ago!

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***Being Good Not Good Enough*

         Of course, we should try to be a good person, but believing in Jesus as your Lord and Savior matters infinitely more than just trying to be good on your own. For with Jesus, your sins get take away for sure. Without him, they remain with you. 

***Superior Way of Living****

         It's not easy to let the past go. I saw an unhappy family blaming each other for the past mistakes they'd made. It'd be better to live in the present, making the best of what you have now. Then I see the superior way of living in Christ, which will take care the past, the present, and the future for us. Dwelling in the eternal Lord, we become eternal as well.

*Patience Needed in Following God

        These thoughts came to me as I walked this morning. God is in control and the good righteous people he will always defend while the bad wicked ones he'll punish. Things may not happen quickly as the Lord follows his own time schedule, so we must remain patient and keep our faith. Take care of our own soul and pray for all others—that's all we are expected to do.

***Formula for Holiness

        How holy you are is directly proportional to how obedient to the Father you are. 

**Officially Follwing Jesus

            Communion experience. I received exactly what the Apostles received at the Last Supper, and I heard the Lord say in my heart that "You are my apostle too."

***Do You Know . . .***

that God has made all of us good enough to become saints? It is true!

****What Life Is all About Again

        I am already an old person, so you should understand why I talk about life a lot, for I have seen a lot of it. I just had two volumes of my personal photos published, one in black and white, and one in color. I am giving some copies away to those who appreciate art and/or had supported me in the past. Just visited a friend who still has a clear mind at 98 and truly understands art, and gave copies to another 98-year-old local internationally-prominent artist friend already in hospice care. My wife just interrupted to inform me that a church friend had been diagnosed with sepsis in a hospital. We used to hike together and he walked at such a brisk pace that not many of us in the group could keep up with him. I believe that he's in his 80s now. So I can say that our whole life is on borrowed time from the Lord. 
        As I was walking this morning, I saw that we all entered the world to start our journey through this life. We depend upon others for many things, but basically we alone are responsible for the decisions and choices we make. If we do not have Christ as our guide, we simply wander through life to who knows where. If we do have Christ guiding us, then the world can go into chaos and we still know exactly where we are going and will end up. This makes all the difference to us!

**What Life Is All About

         When we are young, we follow ourselves. We can still be nice to others, but mostly it's ourselves first over all others. As we grow older and our body starts to weaken, we start to think about God more. This is a grace. We all will have to return to God, so life is all about whether we return to God during our time on earth, and if we do, when. Considering the fact we do not know how long we shall live on earth, if we continue ignoring God, we are gambling with our soul. 

*****Greatest Act of Love

        These thoughts came to me while praying the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary this morning. God has loved us from the very beginning. Jesus came to reveal to us how great that love truly is and how easily we can get ourselves saved. I can die for someone too, but the most I can accomplish is to save that person's life on earth. Only God can save the whole humanity for all eternity! Christ, the Son of God, took on that role. He did it selflessly and most humbly, leaving us to decide whether to believe in him or not. It was the greatest possible act of love! It is this love that has made me want Christ to be my Lord forever. God's love, our greatest joy! My journey back to my creator is now  complete.