**Totally Satisfied with God

        Communion experience. After receiving the Lord, I simply basked in the his holy presence and love.  

***Know How God Has Made Us***

        Sin is always oppressive. It weighs heavily on the heart, making us lose our peace. You cannot sin and feel free at the same time. On the other hand, serving God as a Christian is an obligation, but it's always uplifting and never oppressive. In fact, when you let the Lord take over your life, you experience the greatest freedom. This is how the Lord has made us. From this, we should be smart enough to learn the right way to live, the way God has intended for us.

***Urgent Messages for the World

         The world needs to return to God. The messages and signs are loud and clear, but many people of the world have already been ensnared by the Devil. Here are Mother Mary's urgent words given to Blessed Elena Aiello for us to hear. [Elena Aiello (1895-1961) was an Italian nun who founded the Minim Sisters of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. She was also a mystic, stigmatic, and victim soul.]

**Best Time to Face God

        It's unavoidable that we'll all be judged by God one day. We can choose to face him now or put it off until our time arrives. To me, facing him now to get it out of the way is the only wise, realistic choice. For you get yourself ready now and know that you'll be welcomed by God the Father when you face him in person next. 

**More than VIPs to God*

         God the Father loves us so much that he willingly sacrificed his own Son to save us! We are most precious to him! How can we not take care of our own souls? How can we not humbly thank and love the Father? 

*****Don't Get Tripped by This

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 7, Jesus taught his disciples to say the Lord's Prayer. I believe the most difficult part of that prayer for us to say is the part "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." But follow him we must, for the Lord added: "If you do not forgive men their transgressions, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions." So, never judge and always forgive.
          Fr. Goring's new video reinforces that point. 

***Understanding Good and Evil

         We all understand good and evil. This morning I saw that as an amazing thing! It made me see clearly that God exists and this was how he had made us. It all made perfect sense.

****Making Life a Prayer

        Do everything for God's sake, then your whole life becomes one beautiful prayer. 

*****Most Extraordinary Meeting*****

         Communion experience. Receiving Christ in the Holy Eucharist is no ordinary meeting. You have the creator of heaven and earth entering you to be united with you! It's more than just touching the Lord physically; it's spiritual union! You now belong to your most beloved Lord and are not the same old person anymore. 

***God's Awesome Holiness

        God has made us so that being holy feels great. God is attractive and most beautiful not only because he is love, but also because he is most holy. Love holiness and you'll love God. Only the Devil can't stand holiness. If you don't want to get close to God, you have been influenced by the Devil. Once you are holy in the Lord, you are shielded from all evil and set for eternity. 

**Spiritual Progression

        Before we believe in God, we need to realize that we are sinners who need salvation. After we believe in God, we need to realize that we are imperfect and must become holier. This second realization is essential if we are not satisfied with being merely lukewarm. Why not make attaining union with God your goal, for God deserves the very best from us?

**How to Pray More*

        In these trying times (and during Lent), we can increase our prayers in this way. Do all necessary things, no matter how small, mundane, or uninteresting they might be, for Christ joyfully with love. Offered up this way, they make great prayers. Do extra if you can. For example, call someone whom you haven't seen or talked to for some time to find out how he or she is doing. There are always good things you can find and do. They make good prayers too. When you increase your prayers like this, you joy increases too.

**Submission Before Petitioning

        We petition the Lord for all kinds of favors. It seems that we should submit ourselves totally to him before petitioning for anything, or at least initiate both at the same time. Once we earn the Lord's trust, we'll more likely receive what we ask for.

**Happy Realizations

        Two realizations at the beginning of today's Mass. (1) As followers of Christ, we are indestructible!  (2) Our God deserves our unquenchable faith! 

***Rejoicing in the Lord

        Praying the Glorious Mysteries of the Holy Rosary this morning, I realized that this was the LORD who rose from the dead and ascended into heaven and with whom I would be one day soon. At that moment, I was filled with great joy.

**Why We Should Love God

          The most important and proper reason should be that God loves us and is most merciful to us. Realizing that he can free us from sin and get us into heaven is also a good reason, but secondary. That we want Satan to lose the spiritual war he wages against God even sooner and worse is also valid. Loving and serving God, our Father and creator, is our duty.

***Obedience Begets Freedom*****

        When I obey the Lord, I become one with him, and all my will is now his as well. It follows that in his infinite space I am free to do whatever I wish. Another way of looking at it: When you obey the Lord, sin no longer has any power over you and you are set free!

***Riddle of Life Solved***

       Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." (Matthew 18:24) So if we don't deny ourselves, we cannot be following him. Again, it comes down so clearly to "us vs. the Lord." Now you understand why we don't have peace in the world and our hearts. Now you see why there must be heaven and hell and that eternal life is real. 

**Holiness Always Called-For

        At Mass at the small chapel at Mount St. Joseph Seminary this morning, feeling the holy presence of the Lord in the tabernacle right in front of me, I was very aware that I must remain holy. Then I realized that Lord is present everywhere outside the chapel too, so I need to be so aware at all times, no matter where I happen to be. 

**Living in Christ Forever

        Communion experience. Since Jesus is with me always, I no longer fear death. It follows that there's no need to fear anything else anymore.   

***God Perfecting Us

        Communion experience. The Lord made me see all my imperfections before him. Then when I received Holy Communion, he perfected me. What a rewarding experience! (Of course, being human, we become imperfect again, then the Lord is there to perfect us again.)

**God Challenging Us, a Blessing

        I love the Lord challenging us; otherwise, spiritually we would just remain lukewarm at best. By challenging (not lording it over) us, he inspires us to go all out for him as he had done so for us in saving us from condemnation. 

***God Challenges Us

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 9, Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life for my sake will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." So it comes down to following the Lord or yourself. It's no contest if you believe that Christ is the Lord. So it comes down further to whether you believe in Christ or not. The fact that he challenges us to the core here only shows that he is authentically the Lord, for there's not another one like him.

**No Show-Offs for Christians

        Today is Ash Wednesday. In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 6, Jesus said to his disciples: "Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you have no recompense from your heavenly Father." Jesus wants us to perform righteous deeds in secret only for the Father to see. In other words, we must not do anything in order to make ourselves feel and look good before others. Glorify God alone, not ourselves. We are all sinners who need to remain humble to get into heaven.

***Foolish Sinners

        If you're not quite sure that you'll get into heaven, you probably won't; for Jesus' promise that whoever believes in him will have eternal life is ironclad. There are also people who continue to sin but say that they wouldn't mind going thru purgatory first. Well, here they put themselves in the danger zone already, for they've decided to continue offending God and think that they'll get off the hook by paying a little price later. This is sheer folly! It doesn't work that way. Besides, the suffering in purgatory, if they ever get there, can be long-lasting and quite severe. So do yourself a big favor: stop sinning and start following Christ, then you'll have nothing to worry about.

**Healing of the Soul

         Communion experience. The best feeling was knowing that the Lord was going to heal my soul! Having our body healed feels good while we still have the body; having our soul healed is getting ready for living the eternal life!

***Great Reason to Be Holy

       In today's first reading from 1 Peter 1, Peter wrote, ". . . be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, for it is written, Be holy because I am holy." Here Peter quoted from Leviticus 11 and/or 19. This is a great reason for us to be holy. Since God is always present among us, how can we possibly not be holy? "Be unholy because God is holy" would absolutely make no sense. 

**How Far Is God from You?

         Actually, God is always with us, so this question basically becomes "How well are you aware of his presence?" You can have the Lord dwell right within you or make him into an unknown altogether. Again, it's all up to you. (By the way, our free will is given by God. Hope being aware of that can help you make the right choice.)

**God Awaits Our Move

        If you want God to change you for the better, no problem at all, as long as you are willing to let him do it. God, our greatest healer, is ready, so it's your move. 

****To Be Rich in God

        It's the last day of February and I am resuming attending daily Mass after the hiatus caused by the pandemic. I went to Mount St. Joseph Seminary in nearby Loomis for Mass. The chapel there was where I attended Mass for years before our parish church was built. I went there before my blog started in 2009. It's a very peaceful place in a beautiful setting. After each Mass, I used to remain about 40 minutes, opening myself up to the Lord. It's during that time that he started drawing me ever closer to him and eventually made me fall in love with him. The desire to seek union with God thru the Holy Eucharist ensued. It seemed that I was entering the final phase of my spiritual life. After attending the Mass there again this morning, I had the feeling that the Lord's not done with me yet—he's going to make my last phase even better. The Lord has so much to offer us that we can just let him improve and refine our spiritual life every single moment. He can truly make us as rich as we want to be in him. 

****Where God Is

        Where God is, evil cannot be. It's my belief that once we get to heaven, original sin will be completely removed from us and we'll be in ideal union with God, enjoying perfect peace and contentment. 

***To Rejoice in Christ . . .***

you live in him and die in him. And the rejoicing continues on forever!

**Lovely Are Those Who . . .

love the Lord with the love they received from him.

***Sweetest, Momentous Moment

        Communion experience. Receiving the Lord in the Holy Eucharist—it's a momentous moment of life, yet most sweet. 

**Happy Is the One Who . . .

is in a state of grace, being pure, clean, and fully ready to receive the Lord in the Eucharist.

***Two Essential Realizations

        At the time of receiving the Holy Eucharist, I knew that I'd be receiving the body and blood of Christ and this Most Blessed Sacrament was going to lead me into union with the Lord.  

**Start with Yourself First

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 6, Jesus said to his disciples, "Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother's eye." So you should always start with yourself first. Before you wish someone to be holy, be holy yourself first. Before you convert anyone, convert yourself first. Before you want others to surrender themselves to the Lord, you do it first. You must be spiritually strong yourself before you can effective help others. When you are a good example, not only you'll inspire others, the Lord will also be more attentive to you too. 

**How to Listen to Christ

        When Jesus speaks, our only proper response is to prostrate ourselves before him and listen to every word from his mouth with all our heart. For his words reveal the truth that sets us free for all eternity.

***Pray for Dominican Republic***

        Yesterday I heard the sad news that the Dominican Republic, the only abortion-free country in the Caribbean, is now being pressured by the Biden administration to legalize abortion. The bishop there is pleading for help. You can watch the whole story here and consider helping the people here. I feel the heavy burden and just want to go to Christ my Lord to cry my heart out at his feet, begging for mercy. Only he can console me and that's what I need now.

***Our Greatest Oversight

         I have already quoted the famous saying of the French novelists Léon Bloy on this blog: "The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is to not become a saint." This totally makes sense, which leads me to think that our greatest oversight in this life is to not take eternal life seriously. We live from day to day, planning for this life and not thinking about the afterlife. It's as if since it's an unknown, we don't want to waste time thinking about it. Of course, this is a serious mistake. It amounts to treating Jesus as someone who came, died for us, rose from the dead . . . all for nothing. 

**Our Situation Before God

        From today's Psalm 103, I read these verses. "The Lord pardons all your iniquities, he heals all your ills. He redeems your life from destruction, he crowns you with kindness and compassion. Merciful and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger an abounding in kindness. He will not always chide, nor does he keep his wrath forever. For as heavens are high above the earth, so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he put our transgressions from us." The Lords knows that we have inherited the original sin, that's why he is so understanding. As long as we do our best not to sin against him and repent after we sin, he'll always forgive us. But if we choose to sin against him, we reject his kindness and mercy and incur our own condemnation. It's all very clear. 

*****The Only One Trustworthy

        In the many decades of living in this world, I have met people who can change in a split second and become an entirely different person (usually when money is involved). As for the public figures you read about a lot in the news, there are those who appear to be totally upright and trustworthy until you learn what they are like in private, not the image they project in public at all. (Some of them had a dark past too, but that doesn't bother me as much.) The lesson leaned: We cannot trust too much in any living person, but should place all our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, the one who has proven to us that he truly loves us.

**Getting Ahead in This World Unimportant

        There are many pushy, aggressive people out there, They are the ones who would cut in line to get ahead of others if they can. This kind of behavior shows up in other circumstances too. The thought came to me today that if you know you are going to heaven, you are already way ahead. So just let them get ahead in this world and pray that they will know Christ and see things your way too.

**Seeking Understanding Not Essential

        When people don't understand us, we feel frustrated. When we are misunderstood, we feel even worse. Do not seeking understanding from the world. First of all, what good is it for others to understand you if not to boost your ego? Would having them understand you bring you any closer to God? Anyway, God already understands you well. When Christ was on earth, he just did the Father's will and never bothered with seeking understanding from others.

*****Process of Knowing God

        When you first encounter the Holy Spirit, he sets your heart afire. The Scripture comes alive and you yearn to know the Lord. You want to let whole world know about Christ. Because you are so happy in the Lord, you don't think about yourself too much. Then eventually the Lord withdraws, wanting to make you strong enough to stand on your own feet. Without him, you become more aware of your weaknesses, shortcomings, and minor sins. The desire for perfection leads you to seek union with God thru the Holy Eucharist. Falling deeply in love with Lord begins. Once you attain union, God, more beautiful than ever to you, is now your perfect soulmate. 

**Good Enough for God

        The Lord God loves you so much that he willingly died for you so that you might have eternal life. You probably have heard this numerous times already, but it's true. If you believe, you should feel great about yourself, for you are loved by God! And you'd never want to compare yourself with anyone else anymore. For what would the point be—you are already good enough for God? Now you realize that God loves everyone and you stop judging anyone. You are on your way to being completely liberated from the world.

***Letting the Perfect Lord Perfect Us*

        The perfect Lord lets me see all my imperfections. The more I see my own imperfections, the more I am bowled over by his perfection. The good news is that we don't need to struggle to become perfect; we only need to let him make us perfect. 

***Why We Lack Peace***

        We can talk about many things with others such as favorite foods, best travel destinations, cars, sports, etc., and if our views are very different from each other, that's OK. But when the topic gets more serious, such as abortion, the division shows up quickly. Then you finally talk about Jesus and many people feel uncomfortable and practically become your enemy. Why is it so? Could it be that people subconsciously know or sense that God is real? That God can cause the greatest division among us only shows that he matters the most to us! Only by submitting ourselves completely to him can we experience peace within us. Now you should understand why you don't have inner peace if you don't experience any.

**Praying for Others Now & Later

        I looked inside my house and saw all the things I had, some of which were quite personal, such as the photos I'd taken over many years. If I leave the world now, I can just let everything go and not say one goodbye. But there is one thing I cannot forget so easily—that's the people for whom I have prayed and God hasn't answered those prayers yet. Perhaps they will be answered after I am gone, but surely it'd be nice if they were answered before I leave. Then I am relieved when I realize that I can continue pray for them from heaven and will be even more effective because I am close to God more than ever.

**God's Ways Are Simple

        I look at my house and see that it always needs some kind of maintenance or improvement, and the work that needs to be done can be extensive and expensive. The same happens to our body as we age. We continue taking medications and supplements and exercise more just to slow down its deterioration. By comparison, maintaining our spiritual health is so much easier and more pleasant. We sin, we repent, and we are forgiven. Dealing with God is simple and always a joy.