Hard Way, Right Way

        Jesus said, "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? But rather, love your enemies, and your reward will be great." We see that if we follow ourselves to do what we want to do, it's super easy, and there can be no merit in that. But if we give ourselves up to follow God, then we would be doing something pleasing to him and be rewarded later.  

How Ready for God

        Does God attract you more than the world? Would you obey, if Jesus shows up and ask you to follow him? These two questions measure how ready you are for God. Don't forget – you still need to make sure that you'll get to heaven. Too much work? Let God do it for you!

Being Imperfect

        I am sorrowful that I am imperfect before the Lord, for he deserves the best from me. At the same time I am joyful about my imperfection, for only he is perfect and now I get the chance of having him make me more perfect.

*Another Union Benefit

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 24, Jesus said to his disciples: "Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come." Great warning for those who do not take the Lord seriously. For those already in union with him, they are wide awake and fully prepared, for the Lord dwells in them.

God to Be Enjoyed

        When Mary, pregnant with Jesus, visited and greeted her cousin Elizabeth who was pregnant with John the Baptist, the infant in Elizabeth's womb leaped for joy. Similarly, when the thought of the Lord enters our mind, our heart is filled with sweetness. God is to be enjoyed and rejoiced in! 

***How to Find Joy in Christ

        Communion experience. When John the Baptist heard that Jesus had started proclaiming the kingdom of God, he said to his disciples, "He must increase; I must decrease." Now that Jesus had fully completed his mission on earth, we must decrease all the way to nothing – that is, we are to vanish completely in the Lord. This is where and how you'll find your greatest joy.

Looking Good to Whom?

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 23, Jesus continued to denounce the scribes and the Pharisees. Verse 27: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth." Jesus certainly portrayed something ugly beautifully. This is an image that easily sticks in my mind. (All you painters out there, take notice.) Our world is full of people who want to look beautiful on the outside to others – how I wish that they know this verse. It's only looking good on the inside to God that matters!

No Hiding From God

         We had verses from Psalm 139 read at Mass:

         Where can I go from your spirit?

         From your presence where can I flee?

         If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

         if I sink to the nether world, you are present there. 

         If I take wings of the dawn, 

         if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea,

         Even there your hand shall guide me,

         and your right hand hold me fast.

         If I say, "Surely the darkness shall hide me,

         and night shall be my light"–

         For you darkness itself is not dark, 

         and night shines as the day.

       Yes, God searches us and knows us. Nowhere can we hide from him. If we hide in darkness, he sees right through it. For he does not see things through the eyes as we do – he just knows everything in our heart. That's why those who hide from God do not have peace in them. Advice: Don't ever play hide-and-seek with God.

"I Am The Bread Of Life"

        Besides "For You Are My God" which I posted on May 14 this year, here is another song that moves me to great joy:

 

*We Are Distinct Beings

        Communion experience on this Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist. Even in complete union with God, we never become a puppet or robot of God. The Lord has created each of us as a distinct being with our own heart, mind, and will. And this makes our faith and our obedience truly valuable and meaningful to the Lord.

*God Knows Us!

        We are concerned about how well we know God, but do you realize that whether we know him or not, he knows every hair of our head, every atom of our body, everything we've done, every thought we have, and even what we shall do next? For me, it is a great consolation to know that God knows me so thoroughly, that he sees and watches over me so that I am not alone, abandoned, nor unloved. Once I get to know him well, he'll make me understand myself even more. Now, self-realization becomes the beginning of my journey to complete freedom in him.

**Aiming High

        In any endeavor, to achieve maximum progress you aim as high as possible. Now, if you aim all the way for attaining union with God, you'll experience the most rapid spiritual growth. (No great insight here; just common sense.)

**Most Beautiful Relationship

        Final thought of the day. Here's the South Korean pianist Yeol Eum Son playing Chopin's great composition, the set of 24 Preludes in the 12 major and 12 minor keys. The playing is absolutely masterful, making a huge emotional impact on the listener. The original video had been deleted, so this one is a replacement I found. The Preludes starts around 38:40. Everything beautiful I see or hear makes me think of God. God's love for us is pure and simple, on a more abstract level than any music. And if we love him back with the same pure and simple love, you have the most exquisite, beautiful relationship in the whole universe. Now enjoy the music.

***How Love Works

        Thought of the day: Once you let Jesus take care of you, for all eternity you are taken care of by him. What an incredible favor!

*Gracias a Cristo

        Without Christ, I wouldn't be existing. Now that I am here, without him I would be stuck in sin and have no life for all eternity. (Existing without life – what an unthinkable state!) I am most grateful to the Lord.

**Precious Time

        Psalm 84.10-11: O God, watch over our shield; look upon the face of your anointed. Better one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. Every second with Christ is most precious. If you know him well, your whole life becomes most precious from now on.

**Waiting for the Unknown

        I enjoy taking pictures with my mobile phone. The exiting part of it is not knowing what will catch my eye next. I mention this because living the spiritual life is like this. I am excited about what the Lord will speak to my heart next. Waiting for the unknown to happen is always exciting. In these cases, the unknown is always good, beautiful, and satisfying. 

Hurricane Lesson

        Right now, Hurricane Harvey has caused catastrophic floods in southeastern Texas. We do not know precisely why God allows such disasters to hit us, but the general message is clear – he is letting us know that we are at his mercy and must not sin against him or we'll have to take the consequences. This is not old-fashioned thinking. I merely see that everything that happens to us has a lesson or warning for us. Shall I say that I am just a believer in the Lord?