God's Invitation

       In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 22.1-14, Jesus told the parable of the wedding feast to teach what the Kingdom of heaven is like. A king gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants to invited them to the banquet that had been sumptuously prepared. Some ignored the invitation and went away. The rest laid hold of the servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then the king sent his servants into the streets to invite to the feast whomever they could find, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests, he saw a man not dressed in a wedding garment. He ordered his attendants to bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside.

        This is a poignant story which revealed the following to me:       

       (1) Jesus said at the end of telling the parable, "Many are called, but few are chosen." This has been true to this very day.

        (2) God's invitation is to everyone.

        (3) We must take his invitation seriously or suffer serious consequences.

Safeguarding the Soul

        When our health deteriorates, there is only so much we can do. Eventually, we lose the battle and die. But losing the body one day is normal and expected. It's the soul that we must protect and never lose. This is where Christ comes in. Accept, believe in, and follow him faithfully is the only safeguard we need. There is no other assuring way. 

Love Still Imperfect

        Sometimes we genuinely want to help others. When they do not quite listen to us or have misunderstood our intentions, we feel unappreciated and get annoyed. This is because our love is still not perfect ~ we are still concerned about our own feelings. Pure love thinks 100% of the person you wish to love with only God present within you.

Compellingly God

        Look at Jesus. Let's say that he is not God. Let's even ignore the fact that he performed so many miracles and rose from the dead himself. Then we see a man who was meek and humble, willingly let others lead him to crucifixion, and still prayed from the cross that God the Father would forgive those who took part in putting him to death. Not another human being would have behaved like that or the subject would have been considered to be the strangest or weirdest person that had ever lived. On top of all this, Jesus admitted that he is God ~ that makes him delusional as well. You decide.

Dealing With God

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 20.1-16, Jesus told his disciples what the Kingdom of heaven was like via a parable. A landowner went out to hire laborers for his vineyard throughout the day. They all agreed to work for the usual daily wage. When it was evening, the owner had the laborers summoned to give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first. At the end when the first saw that everyone got the same usual wage, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, "These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day's burden and the heat." He said to one of them in reply, "My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?"

        There are a number of things we can learn from this parable. 

        (1) God is generous to all.

        (2) He is entitled to do whatever he wishes.

        (3) We should be happy that he rewards us for our labor.

      (4) How others are rewarded is not our business. (In heaven, would you still grumble that someone up there had an easier life than you on earth?)

        (5) Being envious of others shows that we are not satisfied with God.

        (6) We are not in a position to question the Lord.

        (7) Be grateful to God for his mercy to all.

*Better Way to Go*

        It is much better to live a life as holy as possible with God's help and be assured of entering heaven speedily after death than living it your own way most of the time and hoping that a lot of Masses and prayers will be offered for you after you die. To be sure, Masses and prayers can only help those in purgatory. If you don't make heaven, there is nothing anyone can do about it! Think ahead, be smart, and choose the better way now.

All Things Affect God

        Everything I experience, you name it, makes me think of God, as I see that he knows all things that happen and they affect him. This is my happy state.

Apocalypse Is Near!

        TFP Student Action, defending moral values on campus, is a project of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property. I received an email from John Ritchie, its director, this morning. It informs me that yesterday, on the holy Feast of Our Lady's Assumption, a satanic Black Mass took place at 7:00 pm in Oklahoma City. Let me lift from his email report on the public prayer rally held against the Black Mass some details below.    

At 5:30 PM, TFP Student Action volunteers helped organize a large prayer rally of reparation right in front of the Civic Center, the public venue where the Black Mass was perpetrated against Our Lord. In addition to the unspeakably offensive Black Mass, the satanic group allegedly attacked the Virgin Mary too, pouring filthy substances on her statue before smashing it to pieces. On this dark day for America, however, throngs of faithful from across the country arrived to console Our Lord and the Blessed Mother. In fact, Catholics rolled in from Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. We were blessed and honored to be able to stand up for Holy Mother Church, the true Mass, and the Holy Eucharist – praying the rosary, holding signs and displaying banners outside the Civic Center.          You see, evil has never been so brazen. God has never been so reviled in a public, city-run venue, with the complicity of city officials who refused to cancel the black mass.  Never has the spiritual battle between good and evil been so apparent and so vivid. That's why you and I must continue to watch and pray. May God reward you a hundredfold and truly transform America into one nation under God.            You can see the rally against this black mass on this short video:

When Sorrow Is Joy

        Communion thoughts. Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me" (Matthew 16.24). This means that sharing the Lord's suffering is a basic condition of discipleship. The fact is that experiencing Jesus' sorrows is not only an honor, but also a joy as you are drawn even deeper into him.   

Believe to See

        We know that for God all things are possible. This is not saying that they are probable. To see things happen, we must believe that God can make them happen. Those without faith do not see miracles.  

Jesus' Death

        It is well known that Jesus was crucified. How do we respond to his death? Did he die for nothing? Does his death have anything to do with me? Why? Our answers are critically important, for they can determine our eternal destiny. Ignoring Jesus' death is not a choice. Understanding it is the key to inheriting everlasting life.

Aim to Be Perfect

        Everything is relative. How good a person am I? The answer depends upon whom I compare myself with. Great saints feel that they are the most wretched sinners before God. Since God alone is holy and our ultimate judge, we know how good (or evil) we truly are when we are measured by his standards. Therefore, aim to be as perfect as he is, which happens to be his command.

Sorrow for the World

         In today's Reading 2 from 1 Corinthians 15, Paul writes that when the end comes, Jesus will hand over the Kingdom to his God and Father after he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

        Right now, a dark cloud hovers over my country and the entire world. The burden I bear along with Christ is sorrow for this rebellious world. I am not concerned about myself, for I am already in the Lord.

Follow Your Mother

        Today is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We are so blessed to have the mother of our Lord to be our mother too. Let her hold your hand, leading you along to do God's will, then every step you take is a step closer to the Lord. Jesus was born through her. So through her, we will always find her Son.

Difficult Wake-Up

       If you want to wake someone up from his sleep, all you need is an alarm clock or a rooster or a tap on his shoulder. But a person who is not aware of God's existence is often a lot more difficult to wake up. I recall in Mark 9, Jesus drove out a mute and deaf spirit out of a boy after his disciples had failed to do so. Later, they asked him why they could not do it. He said to them that that kind could only come out through prayer. In our case, prayer is absolutely needed to wake up someone who is spiritually asleep. 

Everlasting Beauty

        The beauties of all things of the world are fleeting, since the world passes. Whether the thing that's beautiful is animate or not, it doesn't make any difference. For example, a beautiful flower wilts, a beautiful human being ages, a beautiful landscape changes with season or disintegrates when a natural disaster strikes. As we hear sung in Gershwin's song "Our Love Is Here to Stay": In time the Rockies may crumble, Giraltar may tumble... How about the majestic stars and galaxies? Again, we know that they die and are born over time. Last, think of ourselves ~ we are not even here long enough to enjoy all the beauties. But the most beautiful of all beauties, that's also everlasting, but invisible to us for now, is our God, the creator of all beautiful things. On top of that, his perfection, sanctity, and most of all, pure love for us, make him the only beauty we can enjoy for all eternity. Embrace it now.

Our Wise Move

        We didn't know that we even existed before we showed up on this earth. Somehow, we were born, got here, and gradually became aware of our existence. We know we shall die, but don't know when. It's obvious that we are not in charge at any time. Therefore, admit that we do not know all things and should never act as if we were God. With such humble origins, we'd be wise to submit ourselves humbly to our creator.

Evangelizing Without Fear

       I caught a TEDx talk on YouTube by Linda Apple Monson on "Overcoming Stage Fright," delivered at George Mason University. She revealed how she was able to overcome her fear of performing on stage as a pianist. Here are the points I remember: (1) Prepare yourself well. (2) Forget about yourself, for worrying about yourself is being selfish. (3) It's not about you, so focus upon just being the channel through which the joy of music is transmitted to others. 

        Good advice indeed. Let's apply it to evangelizing the world. (1) Know God intimately. (2) It's all about God, not you, so leave all in his hands. (3) You are simply an instrument he uses to spread the good news.