Serious Consequences (for Not Being Serious)

        In Luke 17 (and Matthew 24), Jesus talked about his coming. He said to his disciples, "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day they entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. So it will on the day the Son of Man is revealed." Today's world is no different since the times of Noah and Lot. People are now eating, drinking, marrying, buying, selling, planting, building – not believing in Jesus and what he had said the slightest. Accepting Christ becomes impossible when they all play his role. Human intelligence has made them lose common sense. There will be absolutely seriously consequences for those who have so much pride that they do not take Jesus seriously. Those who reject God will be rejected by him in the end – common sense. I can only pray for them as hard as I can. 

To Get Close to God

        This morning as I was going to Mass, I realized that it's another day to do some of the many necessary things on a list I have prepared. Then every day is also a day for us to get close or closer to God. In fact, this should be our prime goal daily. And we can accomplish this by performing all things for the sake of the Lord. 

*How to Be Truly Cool

        People can hate you, even if you have not wronged them. Let it go and pray for them, for God loves them too. What you should be concerned about is whether you wrong God or not. He always loves you despite your sinfulness. Take this seriously and pray for his help and forgiveness. In other words, care only about what God thinks about you and never let anyone else rob your of peace. In my book, this is being truly cool.

Christ My Heaven

        Communion experience. Christ has settled my eternal destiny. In him I have begun and shall end. Now I remain in him, completely safe. He is my heaven!

Fantastic News

        Today is the feast of St. Luke. Entrance antiphon from Isaiah 52.7: How Beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings of peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation! In plain language, God has cleared the way so that if we believe in Christ, we shall live forever with God in heaven.

***Conquering God (Not a Fairy Tale)

        God is like Mount Everest. To conquer him, we must climb the mount. Surrendering to God is like receiving a speedy aerial tram from him. Getting on it and you are pulled to the top fast. Then God is all yours. He and you now live as one happily ever after. 

Home of My Soul

        Good to be home again to receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist daily.

        Today's Communion experience. My soul found its home in Christ.

*Calling for Prayer

        In these last few weeks away, I did have the chance on several occasions to share about the necessity and joy of seeking union with God, so I might have sown a tiny seed in those hearts. But the harvest is immense and I felt utterly feeble in serving the Lord. The only choice I have is to do my little part faithfully and pray intensely for him to do the work, directly and through others also. Prayer becomes absolutely necessary for us to depend upon him.   

Cleansing the Interior First

            The Gospel reading today came from Luke 11. Here's the entire reading:

        After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him, "Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to that is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you."

           The lesson here. We must always work from the inside out, starting with the heart. Similarly, to tell others about God, we must know God ourselves first.

***Christ Most Personal

        Today is the memorial of St. Ignatius. The entrance antiphon came from Galatians 2: I am crucified with Christ, yet I live; no longer I, but Christ lives in me. I live by faith in the Son of God, who has loved me and given himself up for me. How more personal can God possibly get? Christ die for us as a whole, but he also did it for every single one of us as if there were only he and you. This is what's unique and great about our Lord – he is our pure joy!

**Jesus' Invitation, Our Salvation

        In Matthew 22, Jesus, in telling the parable of the wedding feast, said, "Many are invited, but few are chosen." Did you ever receive an invitation from Jesus? If you did, did you accept it? If you didn't, why not? Many reject his invitation – do you feel sorry for him or for those who reject him? (A good question to think about.) If you accept his invitation and get chosen, both he and you win. Rejecting his invitation and both he and you lose. With the Lord, it's all or nothing. He invites you to inherit all of his kingdom, nothing less. Reject his invitation and you'll regret it for all eternity.

Being a Loner or Lonely

        By definition, a loner is someone who prefers to be alone, avoiding the company of others. For God, you may even prefer to be a loner, and with him, you are never lonely. On the other hand, many seek the company of others because they do not know God and are lonely. While being a loner may be good, being lonely is always bad. 

What God Will Ask

        In this world of tech-savvy entrepreneurs, successful app developers are making a lot of money. I have known one recently associated with an app that has become so popular globally that the company is now estimated to be worth five billion dollars. My point is that no matter how successful you have become in the eyes of the world, in the end God will not ask you so much what you have done as what you have done for his sake. 

Letting Go in the Spirit

        A follow-up on the post "Something Very Odd." I think the only way to make Christ personal to you is to let the Holy Spirit take over so that you become spiritually free. Yes, seeking union is definitely the way to go.

*Which Life to Take Care of 1st?

        We have two lives to live, our life on earth and our life after death. Which one should we take care of first? Those who concentrate upon taking care of their life on earth will never get to taking care of the other one, for it becomes a lifelong task. But those who take care of their life after death first (and quickly) take care of their present life as well.  

*Something Very Odd**

        Christ is our Lord and God, yet among Christians, it is rare that we talk about or even mention him in our daily lives. Are we just nominal Christians? 

Keeping Christ's 2nd Commandment

        There is a great gap between the haves and the have-nots in today's world and our societies. Therefore, in starting a business or doing whatever else, it is important that we do not exacerbate this situation anymore. We must never aim for profiting ourselves alone by taking advantage of others. Ultimately, it comes down to loving all our neighbors as ourselves.   

Motivation Matters

        I know that Christian martyrs are glorified by God, but what about those who died for, say Communism? Lately, I learned that during the Chinese civil war in the late 1940s, many on the Communist side got slaughtered by the Kuomintang and were officially recognized by the Chinese Government as martyrs. This got me thinking that one could be misguided, but if his action is truly motivated by a desire to help others, God, out of his great love and mercy, would understand that, for he alone knows the heart. Therefore, motivation, rather than action, matters.