God Delights the Humble

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 23, Jesus pointed out the hypocrisies of the scribes and the Pharisees to the crowds and his disciples. He then told all that "whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted." 

       This is absolutely true because when you remain humble in the Lord, he always delightfully surprises you from time to time. True delights only come to the humble, for the high and mighty have only one way to go ~ down. The greatest reserved "surprise" for the humble will come, of course, at the end of this life.      

Peace as Our Guide

        "Peace be with you" ~ that's how Jesus greets his disciples. God always wishes us peace. So if you have great peace, you know that you love him. If you don't have peace when you do something, then it could very well be that you are not doing his will.

Ignoring the Devil Again

        Many years ago, I read St. Teresa of Avila's classic Interior Castle. I am starting to read all her collected works. In the Introduction of the volume, I read: As for devils, she could say with complete freedom "I pay no more attention to them than to flies" and that the key element of her teaching about the devil is the utter uselessness of all fears concerning him. She also said, "I don't understand these fears, 'The devil! The devil!' when we can say 'God! God!' and make the devil tremble." It is gratifying to learn that she confirms what I have posted. That is, as long as we occupy ourselves with (or hide in) God, we may safely ignore the Devil. 

Dear Atheists:

        You believe that man invented God and use him as a crutch. I want to tell you that you've got it all wrong. My God did not come out of man's imagination ~ for your information, he came into the world almost 2,000 years ago and revealed to us who he is. And I did not seek him because I needed a crutch ~ it was his amazing love that drew me to him. I never expected to choose him ~ it was he who chose me! Keep your minds open and you might just be called by him yet.

About Atheists

        Atheists do not believe that God exists, so they don't know how they got here nor the meaning of life. To Christians, not a single word of Jesus can be ignored, but the atheists wipe out the entire Judea-Christian history and the Gospel records. The gate to heaven is narrow and the road to it steep and atheists choose to tread the easiest way. Unfortunately, they don't know that it's the wrong way. And they have no guides and are shaped by the world they happen to be in. They are basically self-centered, claiming that there is no God, but setting themselves up as gods ~ no different from being idolatrous. The test of faith is the giving up of oneself and obviously, they totally flunked it.  

The Lord Is Hurting

        I am still thinking about my post The Falling Away from God which I put up yesterday. If you had read that BBC report and the readers comments, you might feel just as sad as I am. At Mass this morning, the picture of the suffering Lord floated into my mind ~ it's an image of how he looked on his way to Golgotha to be crucified. Today's Gospel reading from Matthew 22 was appropriate. In this parable of the wedding feast told by Jesus, the king invited many guests to this feast he gave for his son, but some ignored the invitation or refused to come. Others even mistreated and killed the servants dispatched to summon the guests. The king was enraged and destroyed them. Then he invited whomever his servants could find in the streets. One man came, was spotted not dressed in a wedding garment and also got punished. Jesus' last words were "Many are invited, but few are chosen." Today's situation is no different or perhaps even worse. The pressing question is: "How may we console the Lord?"

Seeing the True Jesus

        Today at Communion time at Mass, I understood that receiving the Lord was to obey and submit myself to him. After Communion, I saw the loveliness of the Lord and questioned how people could possibly reject him. May he be adored forever!

Never Question God's Way

        In the Gospel reading taken from Matthew 20, Jesus mentioned "the last will be first, and the first will be last" in telling the parable of the workers in the vineyard. I think that the saying means that God can do whatever he wants and we have no right to question him. Even if my interpretation is wrong, what I have interpreted it to mean is still correct.

On Praying for Enemies

        Today is the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Praying for our enemies is hard, so let's look to the Holy Mother as our example ~ she prays for everyone without exception and intercedes for all of us. Enemies need even more prayers than friends, so let's pray without being discriminatory. 

The Falling Away from God

        Atheism is on the rise (check out http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19262884) ~ people, including many lukewarm Christians, are rebelling against God. I feel sorry for them more than for the Lord. Like the ones who crucified Christ, they just don't know what they are doing! How sad that they do not know that union with God is the most beautiful state of existence and if everyone achieves that state, earth will become like heaven. Is there any hope for them? Definitely yes, only if they'd realize that God's mercy in infinite and that nothing is impossible with him.

The Holy Spirit & God's Will

        This morning after I woke up, I sensed that it is the Holy Spirit who prompts all followers of Christ to do God's will. You could say that the Holy Spirit "is" God's will because to know the Holy Spirit is to know God's will. Let the Holy Spirit lead us in every little step we take.

Making Union Easy

        When we attain union with God, it is God who does all the work by his holy love. All we need to do is "be open to him." The degree of difficulty following the Lord is inversely proportional to how much we open up to him ~ which is saying that the more we open up, the less difficult it is for us to follow him. 

Going by the Lord?

        Jesus entered the world to become one of us so that he could spread the good news of our salvation among us. And we have only one life to live in which to catch this critically important message of love, not before our birth or after our death. The period that's open for us is brief and unpredictable ~ I am speaking from the point of view of someone who has already found and accepted this truth. The Lord patiently awaits us ~ if we do not grab him soon enough, he'll be out of reach forever! This message is urgent indeed. 

On Guard with Humility

        Today I realize that we should watch out for pride even when the Lord is giving us joy. We must not let any such good feeling or other rewards affect whatever residual ego that's still left in us. This is tricky business; but to be safe, it's essential to receive all good things with great humility.

God Alone Suffices

        After receiving the Holy Eucharist this morning, I felt that I was ready for death since I already possess the Lord. "The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack" (Psalm 23), exactly!

Following the Lord Perfectly

        The Gospel story from Matthew 19 at Mass tells about the young man who wanted to gain eternal life and asked Jesus what he must do. The Lord told him to keep the commandments. Since he had already observed them, he asked what he still lacked. Then Jesus told him that if he wished to be perfect, he should go sell what he had, give to the poor, and go follow him. St. Francis of Assisi did it ~ should we do the same if we wish to be perfect? For practical reasons, we may not be able to do it, but the bottom line (what Jesus really wants from us) is that we do not get attached to anything we possess so that we may be free to follow him. 

Remaining in Jesus' Love

        Today is the Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church. The Communion Song (John 15.9) reads: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you; remain in my love, says the Lord." "Remain in my love" ~ how tender and beautiful! Jesus has already shown us how great his love is. To remain in his love is to be in paradise, with our happiness now and forever ensured!

See How Jesus Evangelized

        I look at Jesus to see how he spread the good news to others. He did it with great compassion, teaching and healing people along the way. He never did anything to promote himself, to show how good he was. He never forced others in any way to believe in him ~ he simply preached the gospel and let them decide whether to follow him or not. We must look to his example as we evangelize the world for his sake.