**A Sin Is a Sin

        We cannot say to God that we are a little bad now, but we are really good at other times, for the good doesn't cancel the bad. All our sins need to be absolved by God. Being more good than bad won't get us anywhere. Getting the Lord to forgive all our sins is the only way out.

Dream Realization

        I see wild, enthusiastic audiences at popular music festivals completely letting themselves go under the spell of the performers and/or music. The Woodstock Festival of 1969 amazingly attracted an audience of more than 400,000 and many attendees lost all their inhibitions by going naked and using drugs freely. My thought is how beautiful it would be if we can all abandon ourselves completely in the Lord God instead! That would indeed turn earth into heaven. 

*Alternative Viewpoint

        You may see yourself living in freedom on your own without God; but in fact, you are only living in a prison built by you to keep God out.

Alternative View

        If you do not believe in Jesus, rather than questioning yourself why you should believe in him, look into why you shouldn't believe in him, and you may realize that he is to be accepted, followed, worshipped, and loved with all your heart and all your soul.  

*Urgent Call to Arms

        Beyond just believing in the Lord, we must realize that we are to fight to win the spiritual warfare in which he is engaged. To be a good soldier, we cannot afford to remain complacent. The least we could do is to pray hard for ourselves and our enemies. To love the Lord with all our heart is to fight for him with all our spirit.

***Our Inside Track

        Everything we do God knows and therefore affects him. Whatever we do, whether we know it or not, is either for or against him. If we are not being honest with someone, we are not being honest with God, period. If we love someone, God feels loved by us, period. This is beautiful, for it makes living our life meaningful – we actually have the inside track in shaping our own life and our future the way we like! Once again, it's time to rejoice in the Lord.

God Offering His Love

        Communion time thought. When Jesus was ready to enter me, he was ready to offer me his most tender, humble love. 

*A U-Turn We Must Make

        As sinners, the big turning around we must make is to repent of our sins to God to get them removed so that we might be saved. Otherwise, we would remain lost forever. This is completely logical, almost common sense. I am bringing it up to remind everyone, for sin has made us forget that we shall face its consequences if we do not do anything about it now.

**Our First and Last

        Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. For us, he is all that. And he should be our first an last resort too, as he is our only true refuge.

Be Rich Soil for God's Word

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus explains the parable of the sower – the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word of the kingdom and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. How much we bear fruit for the Lord is directly proportional to how much we surrender ourselves to him to let him do the work through us.

Our Creator Acknowledged

        Coming home after Mass, I drove by a house what had a selling-fresh-eggs sign up front by the road. I thought of the perfect shape of an egg and was amazed that it was formed inside a chicken and came out so naturally. No matter how advanced our technology may be today, I don't believe we can easily reproduce a shell like that which is smooth and without a joint. This pointed clearly to the existence of God, the creator of all things and life. And we are special creatures with an everlasting soul, created in the image of our creator. We were made to understand good and evil, and have been shown the way to return to him in heaven. I should say that, thanks to our creator and Father, all things work out well for us.

*Growing Rich in God!

        Communion experience. In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus said to his disciples, "To Anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away." After receiving the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, I felt that he was going to continue pouring heavenly riches into me. Unlike earthly riches that are burdensome, heavenly riches free and uplift the spirit.

Our Critical Test

      Christ has come and is now our crucial test. If we accept him, we'll have eternal life. If we don't, we'd be lost and wandering forever.      

*Rejoicing in Tears*

        Today is the Feast of St. James, Apostle. The response to readings from Psalm 126 at Mass: Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing. It is such a beautiful verse, for it expresses my feelings toward Jesus. My heart weeps whenever I see how sins cause my Lord great sorrow, but at the same time I also experience the joy of knowing that I am in intimate solidarity with him.

***Feeling Free in God*

        Communion experience. I feel so good knowing that my Lord and God knows all my desires, my wishes, my thoughts, my problems, my secrets, my strengths, my weaknesses . . . all about me inside out! So good feeling free in the Lord, knowing that he is purifying and healing my soul to his heart's content!

Preparing for Meeting God

        Our demise is imminent. As we age, we must get ready for that day, the day of return to our creator. If you already belong to Christ and follow him faithfully, you'll know exactly where you are going and how you'll be received. No big preparation will be needed. If not, look into Jesus, for there can be only one truth. All religions may point to God, but only Christianity leads you to him.

**Becoming Related to Christ

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 12, Jesus spoke about his true family. With his mother and his brothers waiting to speak to him, he said to the crowds, "Who is my mother? Who is my brothers?" And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother."
        Here we see Jesus speaking as God. He sees all of us as God's children and reveals to us how we can belong to his true family. 

New Life After Death

        Communion thought at Vigil Mass, Saturday. With so many earthlings so alive in the world, but dead to God, I rejoiced that it was the perfect time for me to die in Christ after receiving him so that I might start living a new life in him.