Learning from Past Mistakes

        During meditation after Mass, I recollected some of the mistakes I've made in the past.  The Holy Spirit showed me that I must never stop learning from him even though I have gone wrong.  I should not be so harsh on myself that I get discouraged.  Instead I must remain humble, continue learning, and be benefited by the mistakes.  The positive things about having recognized past mistakes are that it forces me to deal with them now with greater trust in God and that in the future I must search my heart harder for the will of God before venturing into anything new.   

Holy Spirit, Best Guide

        I am praying a Novena to the Holy Spirit requesting a certain favor, today being the 4th day.  After finishing the prayers, I decided to ask the Holy Spirit to take over my life completely in every area.  What better guides than the Holy Spirit are there?  None!  The Holy Spirit is all one needs to walk in the way of God in this life.

Seeking God's Will

        This morning after Mass, I sought God's will on a certain matter.  I needed him to show me exactly what I should do.  He made the following clear to me:

        Make sure that (1) you are not just seeking an easy way out, (2) you don't just want to avoid confrontation, (3) you are not being greedy or seeking personal gains, (4) you are not trying to get even with or take revenge on someone,  (5) you don't take the try-&-see-what-happens approach, and (6) you get yourself out of my way so that I may show you clearly what I want you to do.  Then do it with no concern about what others may think.        

Hunger for Spiritual Learning

        I got well enough to resume going to morning Mass.  Praise Jesus.   The sickness made me appreciate every moment of life even more ~ it is not to be squandered away, but to be consumed in serving God.  I did not receive any strong thoughts for posting today; during Mass I just had a yearning for the Holy Spirit to teach me anything ~ a hunger for spiritual learning.  Any wisdom or "revelation" received from God is so much more exciting, rewarding, and beneficial than knowledge picked up at a scholarly institution.  It affects the heart and delights the soul.

We Own Nothing

        Today is the Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori.  The Communion verse, John 15.16, reads: "You have not chosen me; I have chosen you.  Go and bear fruit that will last."

        It got me thinking.  Jesus was actually telling us that God initiates the calling and we merely respond.  God is the source of all graces and we are the receptacles.  We really have nothing that's ours to give.  To start out, God made the whole of each of us.  We came into this world empty-handed.  If I consider anything that's already here mine, I would be like a robber taking what really doesn't belong to him.  This awareness helps me to remain humble and be detached from all things.  We are nothing and we cannot truly own anything ~ we can only belong (to God preferably).  Our duty is to follow God always.           

Soul More Important than Body

        I got the idea for this message from reading City of God by Mary of Agreda.  

        Body and soul ~ these are what each of us possesses.  The temporal goods are created by God for the sole purpose of sustaining life.  This need is easily satisfied, yet we devote so much time, so much care, so much physical exertion, and so much mental power to the life of the body, of which we know not the duration nor the end.  On the other hand, how much time do we spare on the poor soul?  For some, perhaps just  one hour near the end of life?  Such disproportion must be addressed and corrected for the sake of the soul, which is infinitely more important than the body.  

The Same True Church

        In Matthew 16, Jesus said to Peter, "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it."  Many Christian denominations and sects today claim that the Catholic Church had gone astray and no longer taught what Christ handed down, but none of them can pinpoint exactly when and how it happened.  Nevertheless, this claim basically says that the gates of the netherworld had prevailed against the Church, thus contradicting what Jesus had said.  In my view, this is a most serious offense committed against God.  I challenge all to read the early history of the Church and the writings of early church fathers to find out who had gone astray, the Church or those you're following who, interestingly enough, don't agree among themselves.  The fact that the Catholic Church alone has the Most Blessed Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist, preserved for over 2,000 years speaks for itself.     

Returning to God Is Homebound

        To believe in God, you must acknowledge that he is the one who did create you ~ in fact, in his image.  Then you will realize that he, being your creator, is truly the dearest person to you.  By obeying and following him through Christ, you will return to him in heaven ~ that's going home to your Father who loves you and is waiting for you.  Remember this all the days of your life on earth.  

Learning in Sickness

        I've been quite sick, especially yesterday.  It could be a cold, allergy, or a virus, or mixed.  It started out with a sore throat, then followed by a running nose and a cough.  The last was the worst ~ a non-stopping cough can really hurt your entire chest.  I thought of how much a healthy person can do.  He can build a castle, a skyscraper, or even more; but a sick person is totally helpless in performing any physical work.  The only prayer I was able to say in this state was the holy name "Jesus."

        Good things that came out of sickness:  (1) I learned to be patient.  (2) I saw a chance to offer up my sufferings to God and be more united with Christ.  (3) Now that I know what suffering is like, I could mentally pray for the souls in purgatory.  It's my understanding that these souls depend totally upon our prayers as they have no power to alleviate their own sufferings in any way.  The saints in heaven cannot pray directly for them either, but they can intercede for us if we initiate such prayers.     

         

Sharing the Saints' Belief

        When Jesus asked Peter, "Who do he say that I am?"  Peter replied, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."  Today is the Memorial of St. Martha.  She also told Jesus, "I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”  It gives me great joy to know that the saints and I share the same belief.

Against Organized Religion?

        Many who do not believe in the Church often give the reason that they do not like organized religions.  If that's the case, then do they have a one-to-one relationship with God?  Do they ever kneel and pray to God on their own?  I doubt it very much.  I believe that it's a pretext they use most of the time for not wanting to submit themselves ~ the pride again.  "Don't tell me what to do" ~ you hear that all the time.  Pro-abortion people are like that.  Nations are like that.  People want to be their own god and we end up with billions of gods and a chaotic world.  Disobedience (pride) is the root of all disorder.   

Lord, Make Us Holy

        The Entrance verse, Reading 1 and the Responsorial Psalm at today's Mass are all about "dwelling."  We dwell in a physical body, we dwell in our house... but no dwelling place in this life is permanent or safe for us.  The only permanent, safe place is the Lord himself.  How wonderful it is to dwell in him all the days of our life now and forever later.  Don't forget that for us who were baptized in the Lord and receive the Blessed Sacrament worthily, the Lord dwells in us too.  Our cry to him must be "Make us holy" so that the Lord and we shall be comfortable dwelling in each other.

Avoid Making Sin Attractive

        I'm now going through The Life of Anne Catherine Emmerich, Vol. 2.  She talks about the many things of the world making sin attractive...  "Making sin attractive" ~ this description stopped me in reading.  It's obvious a sin to make sin attractive to others.  I am thinking that if you open a shop just selling luxurious clothing to appeal to rich women's vanity or to make them look sexy ~ that's making sin attractive.  I can also mention video games, shows on TV, etc.  In summary, anything you do that makes others less holy is, to put it mildly, not a good idea since we are to bring all closer to God, who is all holy.   

Our Soul, God's Concern

        I developed a sore throat today and prayed for healing.  Of course, the Lord does not always comply with our request of this sort right away.  Then I realize that it's only with healing of the body that it is so.  With healing of the soul, he never delays ~ that's because the soul exists forever and is so much more important than the body, which is here today and gone tomorrow.  We repent for our sins and we are forgiven instantly.  The Lord is most concerned about our souls ~ he wants us to be perfect, to be holy ~ starting right now; whereas the body can wait.    

Letting God Affect Us

        In today's Reading 1 from Exodus 34 at Mass, we learned that while Moses was conversing with God, the skin of his face became radiant.  The Lord can truly affect us in a radical way.  Surrender to him and he'll make you heart radiant!  

Why Surrender Feels Good

        To have surrendered to God is to have conquered oneself ~ that's why it's such a good feeling.

Rejoice in the Lord

        At Mass this morning at the seminary chapel, I thought of the new parish church that'd be completed in a few months and morning Mass would probably be said at the new church and not at the seminary anymore.  I've been attending daily Mass at this chapel for over three and a half years and have received so many graces that the thought of going to Mass somewhere else  saddened me a little.  Then I heard the Lord pipe up saying that I should be detached from any physical location and that as long as he is in me, I should always rejoice.  Of course, he was right.     

The One Thing Sufficient for Us

        Love of God.