***All About Love (God)

         I was going to post the message that I love God because he first loved me and that I serve him because he has first called me. God's love is so great that all we need to do is to remain open to him. John who considered himself to be the disciple whom Jesus loved writes beautifully about love in 1 John, his first epistle. I am going to reproduce all the relevant verses below.

           God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," but hates his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.   

          We have Christians today who rightly hate evil but wish that the evildoers go to hell. That clearly cannot have come from God who is love.

****Don't Live in Sin

            Just thought I had posted my last message for the day, I saw this short YouTube video by Fr. Corapi. It came out today, but it does seem to be an old talk. Never mind, the message is clear and good that I wish more priests would teach like that. So I am making this one my last post.

*****Alone with God*****

         Do you realize that we live among billions of people on earth, but only how each of us relates to God matters? Forget about all the other people, for basically you and God are alone. That's because he knows all about you, more than you want to know. And he'll be your judge at the end of your journey through this planet and has the power to save you for all eternity. So he's the only one relevant to our existence and the only one we need to live for. Love him and we are fulfilled in every way. 

*Fulfillment of Prophecies

         Today is the Feast of St. Matthias, who was chosen to take Judas' place in the apostolic ministry. In the first reading from Acts 1, Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers and sisters and said that the Scripture had to be fulfilled concerning Judas and quoted verses from the Psalms as proof. Since the coming of Jesus as the Messiah had already been fulfilled, you can be sure that the Second Coming and final judgment will happen too. 

**Two Rules to Remember**

         A  good rule to follow is never do anything that you know would make you regret or lose your peace if you did it. In addition, never forget to do anything that would make you regret or lose you peace if you didn't do it. A case in point: a parent dies suddenly and the children finally realize that they should have looked after their parent a lot more when he or she's still alive, but now it's too late.

***Humility Urgently Needed**

         In whatever we do, God looks at our heart, our motivation. Know that anything we do to boost our ego or appeal to our vanity does not come from the Lord. Humility is what he wants to see in us, for he is most humble himself. Without humility, we'll never know how great God is!

*****Praying in Peace

         We must never stop praying. The Lord hears every prayer from us. We may not know when and how he's going to respond to us, but respond he will. Our role is to trust in him and not be concerned about what's going to happen next. Pray hard, but remain in peace. To live by faith is most beautiful, for it shows that you are with the Lord.

**Praying for Souls in Purgatory

         Purgatory has changed my perspective. I now see us who follow the Lord on earth, the souls in purgatory who are heaven bound, and those who are already in heaven all belonging to the same Lord. We are one big family, loving God, supporting each together, and united as one. To learn more about souls in purgatory, read about Padre Pio. I'll always remember this incident. One night in 1944 the friars heard loud voices coming from downstairs saying "Viva Padre Pio." The superior told the doorkeeper to let those people out and lock the door properly. The doorkeeper went downstairs, didn't find anybody, and the door was double-locked as it was supposed to. He went back to report. The superior was puzzled and went straight to Padre Pio asking if he knew something. "Oh! Those were  soldiers who had died on the battleground, and came to thank me for their salvation."
       The best known prayer for souls in purgatory I know of is the one by St. Gertrude. According to tradition, She was told by Our Lord that each time she piously recites it, 1,000 (or a vast number of) souls would be released from their suffering in purgatory. Of course, you can always pray from the heart in your words. Here's St, Gertrude's prayer for the souls in purgatory.  

        Eternal Father, I offer You the most precious blood of thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, for those in my own home, and in my family. Amen. 

***Our Time on Earth

        It is the time we have to reconcile ourselves to God, that is, to prepare ourselves for entering heaven. So do not squander it away.

**More About Purgtory

         I watched a couple more episodes of Purgatory 101 and found that the existence of purgatory really makes a lot of sense. There are all kinds of sinners. One might be an evildoer all his life and finally abandoned himself to God; one might be a Christian, barely making it to heaven; one might not know Christ at all but had been a good loving person, etc. Purgatory is the right place for all of them to pay the dues before entering heaven. It also shows that God's mercy is great. I have always believed that any good person who does not get a chance to know Christ can be saved too. This is confirmed by Maria Simma when she was asked about it. Then you may ask why we need to know Christ. The answer is that only he offers the sure way—you follow him and you are saved. Other ways do not provide such assurance. Anyone saved is still saved through Christ. According to Maria Simma, many souls spend 30 to 40 years in purgatory. Even though it seems like a long time, compared to eternity it's practically zero. It you have time, you might like to read this interview with Maria Simma.

***Where Is the Lord?

         I went to see my dentist this morning. Whiling sitting in the waiting room waiting to be called, the TV was on, showing a long slick commercial. The show was about building a new house with the builder helping the owner pick out a granite slab to be made into various kitchen countertops. The show had captions turned on but not the sound. Over the sound system, I could hear some singer singing some pop song. My thought was "Where is my Lord Jesus?" In this and all other supposedly Christian countries, people in general are self-seeking and deeply immersed in modern materialism. You rarely hear the Lord mentioned in ordinary conversation with anyone. If you knew the Lord, you would want to talk about him all the time, realizing that he's the one you just can't live without. Sadly, very few people know his well enough to even want to mention him! The most beautiful is being ignored the most. Why, Lord? 

**Leaving Unfinished Business Unfinished

         We all have things or projects to work on. Many are small tasks, but others might take more time to finish. Today I was somewhat "training" myself to be detached from them. Right now the biggest project around home is to put some of my things in order and store them in the right place.  I'd feel better if I get that done. Then I don't want to feel bad either if I can't get it done. Suppose I die now. I would lose control of everything and all unfinished work would just remain unfinished. So there is no point in getting myself attached to any unfinished business. Christ is all I need to hold onto. Let us be his unfinished business so that he may perfect us. 

*Knowing the Truth

        In today's Gospel reading from John 16, Jesus said to his disciples, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you to all truth." When you know that the Lord is real and that he dwells in you, the Spirit has come to you. The Lord is always direct with us. The Spirit of truth will not enter anyone who is circuitous. 

***How Best to Serve God*****

         Here is the best way to serve the Lord and give him the greatest joy—embrace his love for you with all your heart and obey his every command with joy.

****Purgatory & God's Mercy

        Purgatory is a controversial subject as most Protestants don't believe in it, the reason being that it's not clearly mentioned in the Bible. The Bible reveals only truths, but it does not mean that what it doesn't reveal has to be false. By the way, after Jesus ascended to heaven, the Gospels were not written right away and the Bible as we know it now did not exist for about half a millennium until the Catholic Church selected the books of writings that were judged to be inspired by God and put them together as one book. The Church relied mainly upon tradition in spreading the gospel. Jesus never told us to rely solely upon any forthcoming book. There were no Bible Christians for another millennium until Protestants broke away from the Church. My personal belief is that purgatory does exist. It is logical that there is a place for sinners to be purified before entering heaven. God's mercy is so great that if we succumb to his mercy, we are instantly saved. We are forgiven, but we still need to pay the price for having offended him. I came across this video on purgatory today. I had heard about Maria Simma, but didn't know much about her. The video gives you a good start on learning about purgatory. I have a feeling that you would want to watch the other videos in the series after seeing this one. I am thinking of getting the book Get Us Out of Here mentioned in the video myself.
       I believe that being detached from the world and longing to see the Lord can contribute to shortening our time in purgatory or help us skip it altogether. Remember the criminal crucified next to Christ who abandoned himself to him, saying "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom"? The Lord replied, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." 
        My three categories. (1) You put yourself completely in God's hands and are ready to go to him at any time; you have a good chance of going straight to heaven. (2) You are reluctant to abandon yourself to him, but get to do it before you die; you are saved, but you'll have to go through purgatory. (3) You choose not to yield to your Savior; you remain separated from him for all eternity. Our best policy is of course to abandon ourselves to him as soon as we can.

***So Simple to Be Saved!

        In today's first reading from Acts 16, God delivered Paul and Silas from the prison. There was suddenly a severe earthquake that the foundations of the jail shook; all the doors flew open, and the the chains of all were pulled loose. When the jailer woke up, he, thinking that the prisoners had escaped, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul shouted out, "Do no harm to yourself; we are all here." He rushed in and, trembling with fear, fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved." We all know that, right? God has made it so simple! You just can't make it more complicated in any way unless you just don't care.

**Our Most Important Growth

       As we grow older, depending upon our age, we grow stronger or weaker physically, but we can always grow stronger spiritually, the sky is the limit. As our time on earth is running out, we should see that growing holier is so much more important than maintaining our health or growing richer materially. That's all I have to say here.

***Cleaning Our Own House First

       The first order of business for all Christians is to be holy. It follows that the first order of business for the Church is to be holy too, free of corruption and scandals and filled with the spirit of teaching its flock with zeal and clarity. We must all clean our own house first, to be free from sin. The two critical issues the Church faces today are the irreverence shown to the Most Blessed Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist, and the ongoing slaughter of the unborn, which I see as part of Satan's plan to destroy the family. If Christ is no longer believed to be present in the Holy Eucharist, then there's no point in celebrating the Holy Mass and nothing to hold the Church together anymore. If abortion is allowed to continue on and Christians remain relatively silent, then we are all hypocrites and we know that Jesus said "Woe to you" to the hypocrites in his day. The fact that these two crises affect the laity more than the general clergy shows that something is not right with the Church. Look how difficult it is for the bishops to come to a decision to bar politicians and public figures who support abortion from receiving Holy Communion. Is the profanation of the Lord no longer a matter of concern? The Catholic Church is the original Church built by Christ upon Peter which Jesus promised that the gates of hell should not prevail against it. I believe that having allowed evil to infiltrate the Church, the Lord is in the process of restoring it to purity again. (Check out my video The Magnitude of Abortion if you haven't seen it yet.)

**Faith Most Treasurable*

        An unwavering, rock-solid faith that's deeply rooted in Christ has to be a most beautiful and wonderful blessing. You'll remain in him under any circumstances, no matter what you go through, for you've found him to be the true God. Your ultimate quest is over. Now you find only emptiness outside of him. Seek and attain union with him to receive this most precious gift.

Christian Duty

         If you know that you are a Christian, then know that God has chosen you and has work for you to do. Be holy first and you'll know what he wants you to do and do it well. You'll reap abundantly for the fruit you produce for him. An idle Christian is one who neglects his duty.

**Pride Our Worst enemy

        Jesus' teaching has always been clear, straight forward, and easy to understand, even commonsensical. Yet it becomes tough learning for us when we are unwilling to submit ourselves to him. In theory, we can become saints in an instant, but some never learn much in their entire lifetime. Pride has to be our worst enemy. What a sad case!

**Dulling of the Conscience

         I corrected a mistake in yesterday's post "Warning, Miracle, and Punishment."  Listening to Conchita again told me that she knew the date on which the miracle would happen, not the warning. Then I am still not sure if God had already told her the date or would let her know when the time comes. Anyway, it should be on the way. I was impressed by what she said about the dulling of conscience with today's generation. It is true that morality has fallen so low that sins are no longer considered sins. I have lived long enough to see the decay taking place. People have always sinned, but they felt the shame before. Now the consciences have gotten so muddy that sinful behaviors are accepted as norms. The coming warning should give us new hope, but it's still up to us to accept God's mercy or not.

**Conversion Reminder

        We pray for the conversion of the whole world, but forget to pray for our own conversion! If we are not totally converted yet, we won't be very effective in converting others. Here, it's OK to put yourself first.

**About the Illumination of Conscience

         Ralph Martin of Renewal Ministries also speaks about the Illumination of Conscience, so you may be interested in listening to him. I have known about Ralph since the days of Charismatic Renewal in the Church. I've heard him speak and read some of his books. He is Spirit-filled and inspiring and I respect him a lot. 

***Warning, Miracle, and Punishment

         Today I came across this newly posted video made in 1980 showing an interview with Conchita, one of the four seers to whom Virgin Mary appeared in Garabandal, Spain, in the early 1960s. The seven minute video tells about the message, the warning, the miracle, and the punishment. It has English captions, but they were poorly translated from Spanish and contain many misspelled words. Besides, they go by too fast and become distracting. So I am posting the full interview lasting three and a half minutes longer with no captions so that you can concentrate on listening to Conchita speak. You may not catch all of what she says, but you'll get the gist of it. Since Conchita already knew the day the miracle is going to take place and will announce to the world eight days in advance, and she's already 72, things could happen anytime now. (You can find a video on the entire Garabandal story listed in the right column of my blog page under Good Websites, Blogs, Videos  . . .) 

****God to Be Experienced!*

         God has created us in his image. He once became one of us to appear on earth and many got to know him well. Even today, we can seek and attain union with him most intimately. So my message is that we can and are expected to experience him. He is not an abstract being or a figment of our imagination; he is more real than anything you see, hear, touch, or know, for he created all of them. And most of all, he loves and desires to know you totally. If you do not experience him, that's because you don't expect to ever experience him. To begin with, you need to have some humility. Cast aside all your doubts and desire to know him. Then open up yourself to him sincerely and you'll experience him. Once you experience him, you'll be so glad that you don't ever want to remain the same again. To shut him out of your life is to cut yourself off from the source of all life.

*****What You Must Realize!!!!!

          God (and heaven) are more wonderful than you can possibly imagine. Satan (and hell) are more horrible than you can possibly conceive. (If you think hell won't be all that bad, you'll be in for the shock of all eternity.) Know all this now, for you don't want to find it out later. If you have God, the God of Christ, you can forget all about Satan and hell. I am giving you the best possible information I have now.

***Obedience Begets Peace

          The Lord God does great things through us who are obedient to him. We do not know what he specifically wishes to accomplish nor how things are going to turn out. They do not concern us. Remaining obedient to him is all he asks of us. This is great, for it brings us peace. I am sure that in heaven all will be revealed to us.

God Strengthens Us

        The Lord loves us and tests us at various times.  He knows our strengths and weaknesses and will test us to strengthen us, not to fail us. So if we love and trust in him, everything becomes bearable and even a joy, no matter what we go through.

*Faith and Prayer Inseparable

         Some say that if you truly have faith, you would just pray for something to God, believe that he heard and will answer you, and that'll do. It sounds logical. Besides, it'd surely simply the spiritual life a lot. Then Jesus told us to pray and believe, and persist in prayer. He did not teach us the Our Father to pray just once. Besides, we need to keep communicating with the Lord through prayer to maintain an intimate relationship. Prayer is sharing ourselves with the Lord and nourishes the soul. We stifle the Holy spirit if we stop praying often. So we pray to the Lord because we trust in and love him. Pray unceasingly and our faith grows stronger too. Faith and prayer are indeed inseparable.

*Our Personal Lord

         Today Friday I prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary as I walked, meditating upon the Lord's Agony in the Garden, Scourging, Crowning with Thorns, Carrying of the Cross, and  Crucifixion. Naturally, I felt bad that he went through all that and couldn't help asking him why, and I heard his tender voice saying "For you" in my heart. Of course, I already knew that, but to hear his personal voice answering me was deeply moving.

***Path to Freedom

          "We are not free until we abandon ourselves completely to God." This truth reveals why sinners do not feel free as well as the exact remedy they need. When we pray for someone to convert for a long time and nothing happens, we begin to get discouraged. It shows that we haven't totally abandoned ourselves to God yet. God wants us to abandon all those we love and everything else to him in order to be his alone. This is how you become free in him. It is the beautiful paradox: the more we become slaves to God, the more we become free. God must have made us this way.

***Disposing of Satan

        Satan is battling God for our souls, so we must choose sides. If we choose to go with the Lord, he wins and we dispose of Satan for good. In other words, submit ourselves to God completely and we don't need be concerned about Satan anymore.

**No Happiness Outside of Christ

        I had a fruitful walk this morning as the Lord gave me a number of thoughts to post. But I'll start with this one which I had before the walk. I have not seen many people who are truly happy in this world—they are busy looking for happiness all right. Instead, we see so many families that are dysfunctional or broken, for love no longer exists among the members. And we have many people looking for happiness chasing after money and fame. Corrupt worldly influences do not come from God, for they cause us to fall further away from him. This I can tell you: we'll never find true happiness outside of Christ, for he is the Light and our one and only Savior!

*****Incredibly Satisfying Realization***

         Today I suddenly realize that I am a tiny creature in this vast universe, living for a very brief moment on this planet earth. I have not seen the creator of this universe who also created me, yet he has revealed himself to me so well that I know him more than anyone or anything else. I am connected with him and and even belong to him! Through receiving the Holy Eucharist I got to be united with him both physically and spiritually. And soon I'll return to him, see him, and remain with him for all eternity! This whole realizations is incredibly satisfying!

***Keeping the Lord Company (No Lack of Trust)

        People tell me that if I trust in the Lord, I should just pray to him and not worry about anything anymore, since he will take care of all things. This is correct in theory, but in reality it's not always so simple. If you already know the Lord to the point that you are right aware that he is with you, you can't help thinking of him and feeling the sorrows we have caused and are still causing him and the terrible sufferings we have inflicted and are still inflicting upon him. You do not worry, but do grieve and suffer along with the Lord. It'd be impossible to leave him alone. In no way does this show that you don't trust in him enough.

**Greater than You Think

        That's our Lord God. His power of creation and his wisdom are infinite. His love and mercy for us are beyond our comprehension. Heaven is more beautiful than we can possibly imagine. His proximity to us is closer than we think. He is greater than we can think in every way. I am just so happy that I have such a great God to worship and trust in.

**Forgiving Others

        Someone on Facebook just posted a picture of Pope John Paul II (now Saint John Paul II) showing him forgiving the man who shot him. The poster also supplied the following text: Keep in mind that forgiveness is not for others. It is for you. Forgiving is not forgetting; it is remembering without anger. It frees up your power and heals your body, mind, and spirit. Forgiveness open up a pathway to a new place of peace where you can persist despite what happened to you. Then I also saw Fr. Larry Richards posting the same picture on Pinterest with these words: "Forgiveness is above all a personal choice, a decision of the heart to go against the natural instinct to pay back evil with evil" (St. John Paul II). "For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment" (James 2:13). Forgive others and show them mercy and you will know God's mercy! When you become an instrument of mercy, you will have the peace you seek. Forgive and be at peace. Amen.

Realistic Assessment of Our State

       We are all on a spiritual journey. As of any moment, we have those who are heaven bound, those who appear doomed, and the rest teetering between these two extremes. Of course, the Lord does not condemn us until after we die, and things can change at any time. But what I have described is a realistic picture of all of us. Being aware of it can help us do the right thing while living. It is right to always do the best thing for ourselves spiritually.

***Back to the Basics

         (1) Prayer turns you to God. How much you enjoy praying shows how much you love him. (2) Faith in Christ can sustain us through our entire life on earth, for it opens the door to receiving power from the Lord. (3) Submission to God as your Lord is the key to experiencing the greatest freedom! This explains why we are unhappy without God. (Believing that God will enslave you has to be one great untruth.) (4) Spiritual Priority—there is only one—serving and pleasing the Lord God alone. Putting anything else ahead of it is to court disaster.

***Knowing God in Stillness

        To know God, you need to be still. So you need to enter solitude first. Whenever I wake up from sleep late at night or early before dawn and it's all dark and quiet all around, I feel the presence of God in stillness. I also felt it years back at the chapel where I attended daily Mass. After I received the Holy Eucharist and Mass ended, I remained alone in peace, experiencing and enjoying the Lord's companionship in stillness. Of course, I am now aware of. his dwelling within me at all times, but in stillness, that awareness becomes most acute. It's a pity that people do not seek solitude and hardly reman still nowadays, so they never know God. 

Divine Guidance

        The Lord Jesus me made me see that how he treats us is exactly how we should treat others. Be like him is all we need to remember.

Another End Times Warning

          Our souls are at stake. We must choose sides, as our time on earth is limited.  

***Do You Know . . .

that when you follow God's will to benefit others spiritually, you become his first beneficiary?

***Joy of Being Made Perfect

         One great joy of getting to heaven I must mention. It is knowing that the Lord will make you perfect to be like him. 

Extra Joy in Heaven

        Of course, we'll experience the greatest joy when we get to heaven. Another joy would be meeting some of the friends and loved ones who had gone there before you. Then you'll probably feel sorry for those you knew, but didn't show up in heaven. I believe that this sorrow will be short-lived, for there isn't a thing you can do about it and you know that God is perfectly just. 

**Amazing God

        We tend to look down on anyone who appears to be meek and humble, but are easily attracted to and even admire those who are full of pride and showy. One amazing thing about Christ Jesus is that even though he is the meekest and humblest of all of us, he is able to win so many hearts and make us look up to him and even willing to die for him. Only God can accomplish that.

**Most Honorable and Rewarding Role

         In today's Gospel reading from John 15, Jesus told his disciples that he is the vine and they are the branches, and to bear fruit they must remain on the vine. He spoke much about the importance that they remain in him and he in them. Here the Lord is speaking about our being in union with him. It is only in union with him that we can accomplish his will freely. And there is nothing more honorable and rewarding than being called upon to do his will!

***Jesus Is the Light!

         In today's first reading from Acts 9, Saul (Paul) arrived in Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. Then Barnabas reported to them how he had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. He moved about freely with them in Jerusalem, and spoke out boldly in the name of the Lord. He also spoke and debated with the Hellenists, but they tried to kill him. When the brothers learned of this, they sent him on his way to Tarsus. Following Christ can be dramatic and is always exciting. It is real living. To live without the Lord is basically drifting in darkness. And Christ is exactly the light we need to show us the way.

**To Take on God's Nature

          In this imperfect world, things never continue to turn out the way we would've liked, and we become unhappy or upset. This is human nature. Realistically, all our worrying and loss of peace do not helps things a bit. Since God is in charge, nothing happens without a good reason. If you believe that God takes care of you, then everything that happens to you has to be a blessing. This is hard for us to understand because we do not have the overall picture in our mind as he does. We should trust in God and praise and thank him for everything that happens to us. This goes against our nature, but it's best for us to please God the Father by taking on his nature so that we can be like him.
          I recall reading about St. Thérèse of Lisieux in her autobiography The Story of a Soul the following: “Another time I was working in the laundry, and the Sister opposite, while washing handkerchiefs, repeatedly splashed me with dirty water. My first impulse was to draw back and wipe my face, to show the offender I should be glad if she would behave more quietly; but the next minute I thought how foolish it was to refuse the treasures God offered me so generously, and I refrained from betraying my annoyance. On the contrary, I made such efforts to welcome the shower of dirty water, that at the end of half an hour I had taken quite a fancy to this novel kind of aspersion, and I resolved to come as often as I could to the happy spot where such treasures were freely bestowed.”