The Lord Deserves Our Best

        You may want to save money by not getting the best things for yourself or just do minimum to patch things up to get by, but when it comes to do something for the Lord, you must absolutely do your best to give him the very best  because he deserves it.  After all, all good things come from him.  Even when you do a little thing like washing some dishes for love of him, do it with total dedication and love and you'll be rewarded with peace and joy.    

On Doing God's Will

        If you picture God's will as water flowing downstream in a river, then not doing his will is like struggling in the water trying to go upstream ~ you'll either end up exhausted going nowhere or loose your footing and be swept helplessly downstream.  The one who does God's will flows downstream with the water effortlessly and even has time to enjoy the sceneries along the way.  Once you go along with the Lord, you'll be surprised to find that you are really a natural because he does it all for you.  Surrender to God and find out for yourself.

Consecration to the Sacred Heart

        To die in Christ in this life is to live with him in the next.  I saw this truth at morning Mass.  After the celebration was over, I did the Act of Consecration to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (St. Margaret Mary Alacoque's version).  I now anticipate that the Lord is going to make my already-beautiful spiritual journey even more beautiful. 

On Desiring Eternal Life

        Is desiring eternal life being selfish?  It seems so, but God wants us to have eternal life!  Therefore, desiring it actually conforms to his will.  It is wrong only if you desire it more than you desire God.  The right approach is to desire (love) God alone, then you'll get eternal life at the end as well. 

God's Everlasting Love

        God loves us with a constant love that never changes.  When we sin, we just sadden him ~ his love remains the same.  When we do his will, we make him happy ~ his love still remains the same.  In other words, he cannot possibly love us any more or less.  Being aware of this should give us both consolation and confidence.

Union Leads to Strength

        Jesus said, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and no town or house divided against itself will stand."  In other words, unity produces strength.  And we all know that.  So if we are in union with the Lord, then we'll have maximum strength since the Lord stands forever.

God Is Fair and Just

        This morning as I was having some dry cereal for breakfast, I thought of all the plants that provided the ingredients and the labor involved in making the cereal.  And I saw that God provides everything we need to live in this world, but they don't just fall into our lap from the sky ~ we must hunt to get the meat, plant to get the veggies, and work for everything else.  This is all fair and just.  

        Now, when it comes to eternal life, there's nothing we could do on our own to get that.  God knows it and this time he provides everything.  All we need to do is to accept what he has provided us, his Son Jesus.  Again, fair and just.       

Pray and Trust

        I pray hard for a number of people I know and care about.  Sometimes I get discouraged because nothing seems to happen.  Again, reading Julian of Norwich, I learned that it is the Lord's who made us pray ~ he initiated our prayers and shall answer them in due time.  It's true that my prayers are all for his glory.  In other words, we should pray wholeheartedly and trust wholeheartedly too.  

God Shall Prevail

         The Lord runs the universe, sustaining all lives.  Nothing can happen without his permission.  Even sins provide the chance for us to become victorious over them.  Jesus has completed his work of salvation by dying on the cross for us.  He is still doing wonders today ~ converting us, healing us, warning us, giving us joy...  God shall always prevail and there is nothing you can do about it.  The fact that the world is in such a bad shape is because we mess it up sinning.  The wise should start believing and following the Lord right now.  To do otherwise is to ignore the inevitable reality. 

Ego vs. God

        Ego is something that's easy to live with because it makes you feel important, but at the same time it can make you lose peace or even feel miserable.  If you let ego be your guide, then it's a foregone conclusion that you won't ever find happiness in this world.  I think the person with the ego knows it, but breaking that sticky bond by human power alone is usually hopeless. 

        God, on the other hand, is seemingly not easy to live with and can make you feel uncomfortable too when ego gets in the way.  But once you get to know God, he becomes a pure joy and grants you peace and freedom of the heart.  You are no longer a slave to your ego, for God can purge it as much as you wish.  Again, this is true.

Abandonment to Love

        I am thinking about the tremendous love of Jesus for us, a love so great that we cannot possibly imagine.  This love practically swallows up all our troubles and problems ~ that is, nothing matters anymore under such love.  Let us abandon ourselves to this love. 

Finding Rest in Jesus

        Today's Gospel reading from Matthew 11 was about the yoke of the Lord being easy and his burden light.  We who are disciples share the same sorrows and carry the same burdens as the Lord and find great consolation in that.  The sorrows turn sweet and the burdens are lightened.  In the case that a sorrow is caused by ourselves, the Lord even removes it completely.  He is our rest. 

All Can Love

        Recently, I met a devout Buddhist, a kind person who devotes herself to charity work, including hospice care.  She believes in karma ~ whatever she does in this life will bring upon results, good or bad, in this life or her next reincarnation.  Not to be uncharitable about it, I'd say that the motivation is basically self-centered.  Christians love others because they love God out of gratitude for his love ~ an entirely differently-directed motivation.

        There are lots of unloving people around, but I do see that everyone has the potential of becoming a great lover because God is love.  Anyone who is open to this love will be filled by this love and transformed into a loving (and happy) person.  The absolute truth.

Union Incomplete

        During morning Mass as I looked forward to receiving the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, I detected some self-interest in me.  I wanted the Lord because I'd experience more peace, more inner satisfaction about my life... ~ it's not bad motivation, but not the best.  The best would be to forget all about myself and think about loving and serving the Lord only.  The union is not complete until the Lord has replaced all of the self. 

Jesus, the Compelling Truth

        During Morning Mass today, I heard the Gospel read and recalled all what I'd read about the Lord in the Gospels.  Anyone with an open, objective mind can see that Jesus must be the truth because if not, then all those things he said and did must be all phony and that's just not possible ~ anyone with some common sense can see that.  From the Gospels you find that he was always consistent, knew exactly what he's doing, and loved all others as his children.  I am not even mentioning how he inspired and changed the lives of his disciples who were eyewitnesses.  Jesus is compelling because you are faced with either accepting him as true God or dismissing him as a phony.

Submission, Only Choice

        Yesterday was a First Friday of the month and also the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, so I attended the evening Eucharistic Adoration at a nearby seminary.  As I knelt before the exposed Blessed Sacrament, I saw Jesus as our Lord, our God, our Creator, our Savior, our Mercy, our Hope, our Source of Grace, our Refuge... ~ I had no choice but to submit myself unconditionally to him, trying to "match" his unconditional love for me. 

All Will Be Well

        Another message that the Lord gave to Julian of Norwich was that just as he created everything from nothing, so he will make well all things which are not well.  This is of great consolation to us who believe in the Lord, although I have no doubt that he will straighten out everything at the end.  Meanwhile there is still time for sinners to repent and believe.       

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

        Today is the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.  I again offered my heart to the Lord, asking him to do whatever he wishes with it.  I have no doubt that his Most Sacred Heart will purify my unclean heart first.  Where the heart goes, the rest of me follows.  I just felt that I was being totally liberated.