Humility Is...

being nothing ourselves before God so that we become totally dependent upon him.       

Following God

        To show our trust in the Lord, let us not waste any time mulling over things that could happen but have not happened yet.  Seek to do God's will alone and not what we want for ourselves.  Follow, follow, and follow ~ let things happen the Lord's way. 

         

The Lord Uplifts Us

        After I received Holy Communion this morning, I felt that I was being lifted to a new level of existence.  Call it a closer union, a renewal in the Holy Spirit or whatever ~ a new freedom was experienced.

A Most Significant Question

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 8:34-9:1, Jesus sayings deserve our utmost attention.  The most poignant question he asked: "What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?"  It's clear that our life continues on into eternity.  The question is serious, most significant, and one that we must consider in our spiritual journey.

To Think as God Does

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 8, Jesus rebukes Peter for thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.  Obviously, we need to have the mind of Christ to think right.  This again calls for union with God. 

        The tragedy of the world is that people do not see beyond their own immediate future or surroundings, and their thinking is basically self-centered .  To think as God does, one must first look beyond this life and keep the overall picture in mind.  The more we become united with Jesus, the more we'll be like him in every way. 

Essential Praying

        To prove that we truly love and/or forgive someone, we must follow up by praying for that person from the bottom of our heart.  And God will reward us with peace. 

Purity of Faith

        God wants us to be pure in thoughts.  Today he let me see that it's important to be pure in our faith also.  A pure faith is like a child's belief, containing no trace of doubt.  There is a total abandonment here.  The absolute truth deserves absolute trust.      

Lessons Learned ~ a Summary

        This is kind of like a midterm review since the blog started in September, 2009.  I've learned a lot from the Lord.  Let me add that what a joy it has been to learn from the Holy Spirit.  Here is a teacher who is infinitely patient, gentle, and loving.  He never punishes you for being a slow learner; in fact, he encourages you by consoling you at the right moments.

        Here is a brief summary of the lessons learned.

        (1) Humility is absolutely necessary to approach God and ego is the biggest obstacle in our way.  (Sincerely ask God to root it out and he will do just that in time.)

        (2) The Holy Eucharist is the Sacrament Jesus had instituted for us to attain union with God.  The grace that comes through receiving it is more than sufficient to transform us into a new creature in Christ.  (Tap God's great power instead of struggling on your own.)

        (3) All the Lord asks of us is to sin no more and rest in him, and he'll grant you freedom and peace.

The Holy Eucharist Renews Us

        This morning as I received the Lord in Holy Communion, I saw the parallel between the act of receiving him and the creation of man by God at the beginning.  At creation, God blew into the nostrils of man made out of clay the breath of life and man became a living being.  At Holy Communion, God himself, the bread of life, enters us and we are renewed.  It's such a momentous moment.  The iconic image of the hand of God giving life to Adam as portrayed by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel ceiling comes to my mind.  When we receive the Holy Eucharist, God actually touches us and breathes a new life into us.  What an awe-inspiring moment!!!         

On Accepting or Rejecting the Truth

        Today's Alleluia verse is John 14.6:  "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  This is a huge claim ~ any nonbeliever must deal with it.  Either Jesus spoke the truth or he's delusional.  I personally found that all the rest about Jesus supports this claim ~ the pieces just fit together.  And my own spiritual experience also bears witness to its truth.  

        In the Gospel from Mark 8, we learn that the Pharisees came to seek a sign from Jesus to test him ~ they did not see that the greatest sign from heaven was the Lord himself.  It just shows that if you reject something that happens to be the truth, you remain blind.  Accept it and you are illuminated.   

All Is Up to Us

        The morning at Mass, the priest's basic message was that God has done his part, has given us the ten commandments and the good news.  Now, with our free will it's up to us to choose to follow him or not.  If we end up in eternal separation from God, we have only ourselves to blame because God has come not to condemned us, but to save us.  It's good to be reminded of the crucial role our free will plays.      

The Beauty of Surrendering to God

        When you have surrendered to God, you know that you have reconciled to him and are back in the right place, and the soul feels free and peaceful.  It's that home-sweet-home feeling intensified manyfold.         

The I-Don't-Care Attitude

        I'll explain what this means and you'll see that it is a good thing.  All I care about is doing God's will and not care about how it's going to affect me.  For example, if I feel that maintaining this blog is for God's glory, then I do not care how many readers are out there, who's reading it, how many of my friends know about it, what the readers think of the blog, etc.  In other words, anything that concerns the ego must be ignored because it disrupts following the the Lord single-mindedly, thus robbing me of peace.  

What to Do with God

        If you believe that God really exists, what do you think that we should do with him?  Just by cold logic, we know that we should worship him, listen to him, and obey him, for he is the greater.  Now that we know that God actually is our Father who loves us, all the more then we should adore, love, and serve him.

Obedience, the Key

        Today is Friday.  Since Monday the story of creation from Genesis has been read at Mass.  This morning Adam and Eve disobeyed God and tomorrow we'll learn that God banished them from the garden of Eden.  Now the good news for all of us is that we can get back to God again by obeying him through Christ, our Savior.  

How God Works in Us

        I've been reading on and off The Ascent of Mount Carmel by St. John of the Cross.  He writes that the work of God is passive and supernatural and that of man active and natural, and that this natural activity of man is what would extinguish the spirit.  The point is made again and again at various spots.  It's true that when we initiate actively many thoughts and ideas, we do not hear God speaking anymore ~ we are our own obstacles again.  It's through listening and waiting that God can teach us, lead us, and bring about the union with him.  This is the meaning of saying that the work of God is passive.

Most Satisfying Joy

        Knowing that Jesus is pleased.

God's Simple Demand

        After receiving Holy Communion today, I felt so content in the Lord that I could just rest in him and let everything else in the world go by.  To show my gratitude, I thought I should do something.  We normally thank a good human friend by taking him/er out to dinner or giving him/er a special gift ~ it's the same thinking I had here.  Then I heard the Lord say: "Just sin no more and come rest in me.  You don't need to do anything else to prove anything to me."  I was surprised that the Lord was that easy to please.  When I thought about it afterwards, it became clear that all he wants from us is our love and he's content when he receives that.  We run away from God because we create our own fictitious fear of him.