I must pause blogging for the next two weeks or so and hope to resume on the 25th of this month. We are so blessed to have such a great God who is a most loving Father. Rejoice in, praise, and thank him daily, and you'll be richly rewarded.
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
**What to Do With Your Free Will
Today is the memorial of St. Dominic. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 15, Jesus tested the faith of a Canaanite woman. The fact that the Lord tests our faith shows that we are in full charge of choosing to believe or not to believe in him! You see, we've been given the free will. With that comes the responsibility to make the right choice. Believe in anything you want, but the best thing you can do with the free will is offering it back to God, then everything you do will be done according to his will and you are set free.
Tuesday, August 7, 2018
Egoistic Fool
Anyone who plans out his or her funeral to make sure that it will be impressive in the eyes of the public is being egoistic and foolish to the extreme.
To Be Free of the World
If you were going to die today, would you still care so much about all the things you've planned to do for yourself? I don't think so. But since you are not dying yet, shouldn't you at least care less about doing those things? Don't get yourself anchored to anything in this world, for you want your soul to be free to soar to God when the time comes.
Monday, August 6, 2018
Letting God Perfect Us
Communion thoughts. God wants us to be perfect, but we know that we are finite and still imperfect. Good, because this is exactly what the Lord wants us to feel so that he can make us perfect. We only need to surrender ourselves to him even more, and receiving the Holy Eucharist certainly makes that possible.
*Preparing for Christ to Appear*
Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The Communion antiphon (1 John 3.2): When Christ appears, we shall be like him, and we shall see him as he is. No ones knows when Christ will appear again, but what if he appears right now, will you be overjoyed or shocked? How would you feel? How would you react? I believe that there will be a wide range of emotions felt and reactions displayed! Here is the best preparation for that moment. Seek and attain union with God to become like him as much as possible. When he appears, you will be overjoyed, knowing that he'll make you to be just like him!
Returning to God
The moment we are born into this world, we get the choice to return to our creator or be sent away by him forever after our death. To tip the balance in our favor, listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 6, "Do not store up treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be." Loosely speaking, where you put your money makes all the difference. In everything you do, always choose heaven over earth. Set your heart on following the Lord in heaven and be detached from all things on earth, and you are on your way returning to our creator.
Sunday, August 5, 2018
*No Duplicity!
In John 1, when Jesus saw Nathanael (his disciple-to-be) coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him." I love the description "no duplicity." To have no duplicity is to be honest with both yourself and others. It is having nothing to hide from God. It is to be genuine, no more "acting" – what others see is what you are. This is living most naturally. With no duplicity, you will surely be blessed by God.
***Learning Directly From God
When God is in union with you, he reveals many things to you, leaving you with no doubt whatsoever. For example, I just know that the Lord exists and that my own existence depends entirely upon him. If you ask me how I can be sure, I can't say that he spoke to me aurally and produce a recording of his voice for you to hear or anything like that – all I can say is that he has simply deposited the knowledge in my heart. If you still have questions, you just have to seek union with God and find out for yourself. Know that I can tell you about God, but only he can reveal himself to you.
***Awesome Advantage***
Communion experience. I went to Vigil Mass today because I liked the more traditional music. As I was consuming the Lord, these thoughts came from my heart. In Jesus' time, those who were with the Lord or followed him were inspired, awed, and personally transformed by the amazing things they saw he did and/or they heard he said. Today we believe in him by faith, but as Catholics, we do have this great advantage. When I receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, his true flesh and blood, he personally enters my heart and dwells therein. I don't need to see or hear him, since he now speaks directly to me from within my very heart. This is inspiring, awesome, and powerful in transforming the soul on an even more personal level!
Saturday, August 4, 2018
**Discerning Satan's Presence*
Both God and Satan fight for our soul. God allows various temptations to happen to test us. Here's the danger. Something happens to you that gives you great pleasure. You know that continuing pursuing it would be wrong, but you are so amazed it happened to you that your think perhaps God intends it for you. You are right, but his intention is to test you. Now you are at a crucial point. The weak of faith fail and turn their back on God – I've seen that happen in the churches I belong or once belonged to. The strong in faith eventually pull through, with bruises and all, but also a faith now stronger than ever. In general, if you experience great turmoil and unrest within you, Satan is churning you up. God will always wish you to have his peace.
**Killing Sins
If sins are weeds, going through the sacrament of reconciliation to get them absolved is like removing the weeds with a hoe. In time, they can still grow back. But when you have attained union with God, it would be more like spraying the weeds with Roundup which systemically kills each plant, roots and all. Another reason for seeking union with God.
Perfecting the Spiritual Life
The spiritual life is defined by how much you are attached to God or detached from the world. You cannot love both God and the world. If you feel the world's tug stronger than God's, you are heading in the wrong direction. The perfect soul is attached to God alone, ready to soar to him. Again, I advocate seeking union with God and you'll find him to be more beautiful and attractive than anyone or anything in the world. Then you'll become attached to him alone with great joy.
Friday, August 3, 2018
***Facing Truth
Truth is hard to face. Truth is reality. Try facing how good a person you really are. Try facing God, the hardest of all! But once you are brave (humble) enough to face God, you can face anything, for you are out of darkness. You are now free, as the truth has set you free!
How to Not Worry
If you are willing to let God do everything for you, let him do the worrying for you too. Since God does not worry, you have nothing to worry about.
#WalkAway for Christians
God wants all Christians to walk away from, in no particular order, the following: the lure of material goods, hypocrisy, lukewarmness, gossiping, you own ego, judging others, doing anything that fractures the body of Christ, boasting about your own righteousness, thinking that you know more than God, hiding yourself from God, not following God in everything, worrying about things, dwelling on the past, believing that God does not know everything you do, believing that you are a good enough person, thinking that God is not with you, attachment to your own interests, etc. (There is no need to memorize this list; seek union with God and you'll know.)
Ready for Jesus?
As I was exercising on the treadmill at the gym this morning, the overhead TV had the very successful game show The Price Is Right on. In the show, contestants competed to win cash and prizes by guessing the pricing of merchandise. There was a lot of excitement – you saw people cheering, people jumping up and down, people embracing each other – the lure of money and material goods was great. This was all fun, but what if Jesus came, would they be ready?
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