***How Jesus Satisfies Us

       In today's Gospel reading from John 6, Jesus declared to the crowd, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst." Based upon my own personal experience, I can say that after knowing Jesus, I no longer desire anything else anymore, for he alone has fulfilled all my desires and filled the emptiness of my life with meaning, hope, and joy. Basically, he's all we need.

**In God's Good Hands

         If we strike out on our own without the Lord, we'll most likely end up lost forever. For we came from the Lord God, our creator, who knows all about us, loves us, and want's what's best for us. Once you realize this and know that you are in his good hands, you can start putting your relationship with him in order and living happily for all eternity. This has to be the smartest move you can possibly make in this life. Think about it. 

***Purgatory Exists

         I thought I did my last posting on this last day of July, then a friend emailed me asking if I'd like to read his copy of Fr. Mark Goring's new book Hold My Beer. I went to Fr. Mark's video of today which showed that the book is now available on Amazon and also watched that video on purgatory I somehow passed when I first saw it this morning. I am posting it now because it shows that purgatory is real. God bless you all.

***Good Warning from Mother

         Convert before it's too late.

***How to Know the Lord

        To know God, we need to enter solitude and search within our hearts. Otherwise, external distractions would occupy all our attention. Once alone, you settle down and open up to God completely. The key is to be receptive, casting aside barriers of any kind between you and the Lord. You'll hear from him and/or experience great peace.

**Simple but Challenging Truth*

        Today is the Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. In the Gospel reading from John 11, Jesus said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die." Christ just told us how we can live forever! It's simple and clear. If you don't accept him, it's not because you can't understand what he'd said, but because you have chosen to reject him. In other words, you and God are still at odds with each other for the time being, and this will have to come to a resolution one day.  

***Consecration to the Holy Mother

         When I consecrated myself to the Immaculate Heart of Mary decades ago, I did it with many others in the whole Sacramento area. We prepared ourselves for a whole month and met together for Mass at St. Philomene in Sacramento. The church was packed and the occasion still remains vivid in my mind. Here's a short video that shows you can do the consecration on you own in under two minutes. How strongly you feel about it matters more than how long you prepare yourself for it. You'll be happy when you have  the heavenly Mother guide, support, and protect you.

**God Calling Us Ever So Gently

        I am not familiar with Our Lady of Zaro. Nevertheless, the message is simple, straight, and beautiful.        

***How to Help God Win His War

        In the video "Words We Need to Hear" I posted yesterday, I was struck by these words. The Blessed Virgin let Miryana know that punishment from God could be diminished by prayer and penance and that one of the evils that threatened the world had been averted, thanks to prayer and fasting. She also said that with prayer and fasting we can stop wars and suspend natural laws.
          This makes clear what our role is in helping God fight his spiritual battle. God is in full charge and we are simply to obey him in whatever he asks us to do. Being human, we tend to take up arms and go out there to wipe out all the evildoers, but this is not God's way. We must let him truly be our Lord once and for all. Submission to him ourselves is the only effective way for us to help him win the battle. Prayer, penance, fasting, and even more loving is the way to go.

***Words We Need to Hear

        Listen to what Mother Mary told us at Medjugorje.  

*Begone, Worries and Anxieties!

         Attain union with God and all your worries and anxieties vanish. For all your problems now have become his, and for God worries and anxieties just don't make the list.

*****Unbeatable State

         When we abandon ourselves in God, we become completely free, for we are no longer blocking God. Now we enjoy true freedom in the infinite space of God. It follows that God is now free to shower the very best on us. Being free and receiving the very best—you can't possibly beat that!   

**Fighting a Predetermined War

       It is a given that God will triumph over evil and we who serve him as warriors will be with him in heaven. It's only a matter of time. Meanwhile, we only need to remain faithful, patient, and obedient to the Lord in all things. With his help, it should be an easy journey. Now that we already know the outcome, we can fight this war against evil for the Lord with confidence, fearlessness, and even joy! Also, it's good to know that we'll be joining with the Holy Mother, for she's our leader in fighting this epic battle.

**Be Thankful to God Always!

         Now only we should praise God as often as possible, we should thank him always too. We can thank him for every moment he's keeping us alive. We can thank him for having died for us to save us from sin—this is fundamental. We can thank for everything, good or bad, that happens to us, for he wants to draw us to him. We thank many people in our lives, shouldn't we thank our creator the most? Don't be like the nine of the ten lepers whom Jesus healed, but never came back to thank him. Thank the Lord at all times to show that you appreciate him.

*****Union with God Is Real*****

         Jesus and the Father are in each other and are one. How are we to join them? When we receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, a physical union takes place. And if you are ready to submit yourself entirely to him, this physical union leads to a spiritual union. We can say that receiving this Most Blessed Sacrament initiates and seals our union with the Lord. What you experience afterwards can tell you that you have indeed attained union with God. These are some of the signs: (1) Being aware of God's constance presence, (s) any sin becoming absolutely repulsive, (3) the peace that results from your trust in the Lord, (3) the intense desire to serve him, (4) the compassion you feel even for your human enemies, (5) your longing for the Lord, 6) his voice you hear in your heart, (7) the unexpected joy impossible to suppress that bursts forth from within you... You and the Lord now thoroughly enjoy each other's company. Literally, you are already in heaven.

***Profundities for the Childlike*

        As some of my regular readers may already know, I still have an interest in music and art and loved mathematics at one time. So at times I still watch some videos on musicians, especially the pianists. I must say that some of them do impress me with their profound understanding of great music. I feel the same about painters who reveal their personal perception so well. Yet no matter how good or profound you might be in your field, you may not get any closer to God. For me, knowing Christ enables me to penetrate the most profound mystery in one simple understanding and gain eternal life to boot. To the childlike, all deep mysteries are simple to grasp. What a delight it is to know and trust in the Lord!

***Many Judas in the Church

         Many cardinals and bishops in the Church have already betrayed Christ and are following the Devil. Watch this LifeSite video to learn the truth. The purification of the Church is due. 

****Right Attitude for Rapid Spiritual Progress

        Jesus asked us to be childlike in believing in him. That's because as a child, he can teach you much and you can learn fast. It you want to be a believer, that'd be the way to go. Anyone who questions and doubts a lot won't make a good candidate. It's also this total-abandonment-in-God attitude that gets you to attain union with him. 

*Probability of Getting into Heaven

       The more we are attached to the world, the more difficult it'll be for us to get into heaven. Let's look at the extreme cases. If you are totally immersed in this world, you probably don't want to face death, not knowing what will happen to your soul after you die. Essentially, you are a lost soul, and for such a soul, finding heaven would be virtually impossible. On the other hand, if you follow Christ faithfully and look forward to the day of meeting him, your soul will most likely rise straight to heaven after you depart from his world. If you are in the middle somewhere between the two extremes, how likely you are to get into heaven would depend upon many things. But we can generally say that the more reluctant you are to leave this world, the harder it would be for you to enter heaven directly. The existence of purgatory might just be what you need.

*God's Approval Only Needed

        If people don't appreciate you for what you are or have done, that's OK. But if God doesn't approve of what you are or have done, that's not OK. To live for God alone is to care only about what he thinks of you. You want to be sure that God always approves of what you are or have done.

*Suffering for a Good Reason

        As humans, we don't like to suffer. But if we have a good reason for suffering, we may not mind or even welcome it. And there is no better reason than glorifying the Lord. First of all, if we love the Lord, he'll never send us sufferings we won't be able to bear. And when he sends us sufferings, there's always a purpose. It may be to strengthen us spiritually or if we offer the suffering up to him, he can use the merit we have acquired to help others in some way. Don't forget that suffering also greatly helps uniting us to the Lord in suffering! So accept your sufferings gracefully for the glory of the Lord. By the way, the Lord will always glorify those who suffer for him.

*To Be Self-Centered or Not

         Of course, we should never be self-centered when dealing with God or others. But when it comes dealing with our own spiritual growth, we need to focus upon ourselves entirely, asking the Lord to make us as holy as possible. This is good self-centeredness. Anyway, the ultimate center should always be the Lord God, no matter whom we deal with. We need to do everything for his glory.

***Hidden Secret of the Our Father

         The Our Father is the most fundamental prayer Christ has taught us. This is a perfect prayer, for it properly defines our relationship to the Lord God. Today I see that praying this prayer with all sincerity can make us become like Christ! This has to be the hidden secret. So pray it with all your heart and soul to let the Lord perfect you. The Our Father is now the most exiting prayer of all to me.

**Tears of Joy Mixed with Sorrow

         The Lord often moves me to tears. These are often tears of joy, for the Lord is joy—how can you not feel elated when you have him who loves and cares for you so much? But in dark times like now, my joy is mixed with deep sorrow. I shed tears because so many people have turned against the Lord, the God of Christ, causing him to suffer greatly and themselves to possibly lose their only hope of being saved. 

**A Spiritual Law

         When you do your very best to glorify God, God will do his very best to bless you, fulfill all your wishes, and make sure that you'll be amply rewarded. This is a spiritual law you can count on. Know that we have an infinite, loving God whose riches are inexhaustible. 

***How to Fight Evil

         The World has gone bonkers because it has abandoned God. How should Christians respond to that. One thing we should not do is taking the matter into our own hands. To maintain our own sanity, we need to abandon ourselves completely to the Lord to let him direct us in fighting the battle. The Lord is our leader and we are to follow his every order. Becoming holy will make you most effective. Obedience to God will best help him accomplish his plan. 

*****Our First Order of Business*****

        We need to take care of our own sins before minding other people's sins. So, to know God should be our first order of business. If we don't know God, we'll surely do things blindly wrong most of the time! Many people don't see this because they lack humility. 

***Our Dearest Lord!

          I prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy this morning. As I was saying the prayer that began each decade: Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world, I realized that Christ the Dearly Beloved Son of God the Father is our Dearly Beloved Lord, in fact, our Dearest Lord. Dearest because no one else can be dearer than Christ to us. That we have such a Beloved Lord is indeed something to rejoice about! We who love Him will be well taken of by Him for all eternity. 

***Fear of God

        We need to fear God enough so that we do not ever offend him. This is the good fear. On the other hand, if we think that God can no longer forgive us for a sin we have committed against him, this would be an extremely bad fear we must never entertain, for that can only come from the devil.

*In Gratitude to the Lord

        Communion joy today. Experiencing the joy of union with my Lord, I couldn't help asking him "Who am I that you should care for so much?" I felt so grateful that I asked him to give me whatever he wished to give me.  

***Joy of Surrendering to God

        Life is all about whether we surrender ourselves to God to let him be our Lord or rebel against him so that we can (foolishly) be our own lord. The fact that when we give our heart to Christ alone to become completely submissive to him and experience the great joy of freedom shows clearly which way is the right way. 

**Submitting to God's Holiness

        The holiness of God is most dazzling and awesome! We need to be aware of it in order to realize our sinful state. Then we can submit ourselves to it and let it dispel all the darkness around us and flush out all the impurities within us.

***What God Is to Me

        At Mass this morning, I was thinking about how much God meant to me. I was formed by him in the beginning, shall end my life in him, and then live on forever with him. So he is both my creator and my savior, sustaining my being always. He is my all and everything—my beloved Lord, best teacher and friend, my guide and advisor, and healer of my soul and spirit. He is also my soulmate, closer to me than my own soul! We belong to each other and are inseparable as one. My security in him is completely assured. 

**A Small Step to God

         This morning the Lord made me see that we are so very close to having life with him for all eternity—we only need to believe and trust in Christ fully, and we'll be ready to leave this world in peace. So we can have all of God and inherit everything he has for us or end up with absolutely nothing that would be of comfort to us. The choice should be a no-brainer. 

***Pushing God to the Limit

         God's most urgent call to us is to convert ourselves first. If we do that, we'll overcame sin and be saved for all eternity. Then we'll automatically want to spread the good news to all others. Yet much of the world does not heed this call and continues to ignore its own salvation. Perhaps the warning like the illumination of conscience will wake many up to God. We are really pushing the Lord to the limit, being so insolent and rebellious. Alas, if we reject God's infinite mercy, nothing will be able to save us. Perhaps this is the unforgivable sin?

***Only Way of Truly Living

         To know God well, we need to become like him. Then we can become his soulmates and get to know him thoroughly. Obviously, the Lord is already perfect, so we are the ones to be transformed by him to become like him. If we cooperate, it's a done deal, for everything is possible for him if we don't get in his way! It's that simple, and most exciting, I can assure you. This to me is truly living. To live any other way is not knowing what you are doing.

*Appreciating God for Giving Us Life

         I have acquired a print of Mary with Baby Jesus and one of the Crucified Christ. Originally I thought I would hang one in the living room and the other one in my study. The more I looked at them, the more I realized that they should go together to show fully why he came to us. Now they hang next to each other in the living room so that when I look at them, I see immediately that he came into our world to die for us in order that we may have life forever.

*How Is Your Conscience?

          God has given each of us a conscience to know right from wrong or good from evil, so we have the obligation to do our best to keep it clear and sharp. Without God's guidance, the conscience can easily get muddy or dull. But with God, the Holy Spirit can help you keep it super sensitive or sharp, and it becomes a great joy. It's a fact that those who have a poor conscience live with an unrestful heart, while those who possess a good conscience live in peace. A clear conscience is a must for being holy.

**Only God's Understanding Matters

          We often feel hurt when people misunderstand our action, especially when our intention is good. Then people are not God; they are fallible and may even be malicious. Since God is the only one who understands us perfectly, we only need to care about what he think of us. A hundred years of being misunderstood on earth now is nothing compared to being understood by God now and for all eternity later on. 

**Making God Remember You

        Do you know that when you pray for others, you are one of the beneficiaries too? The more you give for God, the more he fills you up. He always rewards those who are selfless. The more you forget yourself, the more he remembers you. 

**Flexible Praying

         Sometimes we pray for one thing single-mindedly, but we can be flexible and pray for the opposite outcome too. Here's one example to show you what I mean. I have suffered a shoulder pain for years due to repeated falls. The recovery has always been slow and incomplete. The pain now is tolerable. If the Lord wishes me to remain thus for whatever reason, that''d be OK with me, for he'll give me the strength and patience necessary to endure it. But at the same time, I am free to pray for its healing too, knowing that he can heal me in an instant. If that doesn't happen, it'll be OK with me too. The bottom line, "Thy will be done." So pray for whatever you need from God, but be flexible and happy with whatever he sends your way.

***Our Best Ally

        The most perfect existence for us on earth is to be of one heart and of one mind with the Lord God. This is entirely possible because it is what he desires, unless we don't care about it. We need to know that nothing is impossible for God and appreciate the fact that he can help us not only live perfectly on earth, but also get into heaven later! 

**To Belong to the Lord's Family

           In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 12, when Jesus was speaking to the crowds, someone told him that his mother and his brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with him. He said in replay, "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?" Stretching his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my  mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and my mother." Jesus was speaking about his true family. Now we know how to belong to his family!

**A Generation That Rejects Suffering

         I see our generation as a spoiled generation. We complain it's too warm or too cold even when riding in a car for a short time. We get bored when we don't find anything entertaining around us. That is, we get unhappy anytime we don't get what we want. It is a self-centered generation that does not accept any suffering or even inconvenience, thus distancing itself from the Lord God who suffered for all of us for our salvation and advised us to take up our cross and follow him. Apparently, this generation life cares more about life on earth than life eternal.  

**Christ the Source of All Our Needs

         Christ is ready to give us eternal life, for he wants us to have the very best. It follows that he's ready to give us all the rest we need too. Accept and believe in him and you are set for living forever! Truth is always simple, but we always make accepting it complicated for ourselves.

**How to Achieve Freedom in God

        Before the Lord, we need to decrease to nothing. You see, God loves to become one with us and has made our path to him straight and smooth. But if our pride or ego is too big, we simply won't be able to squeeze through that narrow entrance to enter him. So we need to become a humble nobody first in order to succeed. Now, once in his infinite space, you get to enjoy your full freedom.

**Our Test for Entering Heaven

          Suppose you are given a long list of possible wishes and one of them is to get to heaven, and you are only allowed to choose one wish. I believe that anyone with some sense would choose to get to heaven. Then the heart is likely to overrule the head and you continue to live a life leading you further away from God. To remedy this, we need to give God our heart first, and this is precisely the stumbling block for many of us. Letting God have your heart will easily pave your way to be with God. This is the big challenge we face and the test we need to pass. It's all up to us. 

*Making Good News Good for You

       The God of Christ is ready to embrace you and carry you in his bosom all the way to heaven, but you need to seek him first. A closed heart will never know him, while an open one will find the truth and one day know everything. So make your most momentous move today without delay. The good news is made good only when you desire to hear and take advantage of it.   

**God Can Shape Us Perfectly

        I  attended Sunday Mass this morning. I felt as if I were a piece of twisted, deformed metal, and now I was going to the Lord to receive him in the Holy Eucharist and he's going to straighten me out completely. This is what he loves to do and is his specialty. He can shape us perfectly as long as we are willing to put ourselves in his mighty hands.  

**Ungodly Surrender to Satan*

        In the past, Christians died for their faith rather than offending God. Today we have bishops silencing priests who dare to preach the truth for fear of offending Satan. This is a fact, even if you don't see it that way. Those who remain faithfully in Christ the Lord have absolutely no need to fear Satan, knowing that he is only annoying like a mosquito at times—this was how St. Teresa of Avila described it. Focus upon serving the Lord alone and dismiss Satan entirely. Let God deal with the Devil.