***Our Last Hope

        Today's Gospel reading from Luke 16 gave us the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Both the rich man and poor Lazarus died; the former descended to the netherworld and the latter was carried away by angles to the bosom of Abraham. In torment, the rich man begged Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers still living lest they also end up in the place of torment. Abraham replied, "They have Moses and the prophets to listen to. If they will not listen to them, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead." Now we have Jesus, the Son of God! If we won't even listen to him, we certainly banish our last hope of being saved. 

**Our Most Amazing Master!*

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 20, Jesus told the Twelve about his coming Passion, yet after the mother of the two sons of Zebedee, James and John, asked Jesus to make her two sons sit, one at his right and one at his left, in his kingdom, the other ten heard about it and became indignant at the two brothers. It just shows how far our thoughts and ways are from God's. Jesus summoned them and said to them, "Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servants; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." Indeed, Jesus came and never lorded it over us nor made us feel his authority over us. This is the amazing fact: our God is our greatest servant!

**Devotion to God Alone

        Today is the Solemnity of St. Joseph. Many of us Catholics have great devotion to saints. My personal favorite saint is St. Thérèse of Lisieux whose spirituality is most attractive to me. At Mass, the Lord gave me these thoughts. Devotion to any saint is good as long as it draws us to him. That is, devotion to Christ must always be foremost. Likewise, miracles should always lead us to their producer. When we start chasing after miracles instead of God, we start going astray. I know all great saints are most humble beings and would rather remain hidden in God. Putting them on too high a pedestal would probably make them squirm. They'd rather we go to the Lord directly than through them. So my point is again to always go to the Lord first. If you happen to celebrate the Feast of some saint, don't focus upon the saint; rather, ask the saint to help you increase your devotion to Christ. We can live without the saints, but we can't without the Lord. 

**To Live in the Present

          I see so many people worrying about so many things in this world. At my age, most people I know are older folks and they are very much concerned about how they are going to be taken care of in the near future. This is a legitimate concern, but to worry about it is wrong, especially if you profess to be a Christian. I can quote from Matthew to show that Jesus does not want us to worry about tomorrow or about life, and if we seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness first, everything will be taken care of for us. But most people dismiss these sayings outright because they think you have to be pretty naive to believe in such easily made statements. What I want to say is if you really believe in them to the letter, you'll find that they speak the truth. What is needed is faith.

        Today I see clearly that God has a plan for me. He knows how much time I have left in this world and what he has in mind for me to accomplish if I continue following him. I myself only have an inkling of what I should do within the next year or so. Therefore, I do not worry about anything, knowing that God knows it all already. Should my inkling turn out to be off, that's fine too. We only need to do our best each moment and not be concerned about the next.

God's Light and Mercy

        I love feeling that as a disciple of Christ, I am constantly basking in his light and mercy. His light helps me see what he sees, the reality, and my own life and path so clearly. And his mercy draws me ever close to him and helps me love him and all others throughout my life.

*To Be Like the Father*

        Jesus had said, "Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." In today's Gospel reading from Luke 6, Jesus said, "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful." If you are perfect, you must be merciful too. Now, does being merciful make you perfect? If to be merciful is to be loving, then the answer is yes. For to be loving is to be like God who is perfect. So be merciful to all, do not judge anyone, and be concerned about their eternal life. Anyhow, be like the Father to become his favorite sons and daughters. 

**God to Be Experienced

        One watershed moment for the Christian is the moment he realizes that he is a sinner and needs Jesus as his Savior. He feels the Lord touching his soul definitively – usually an emotional experience he would always remember. Many Protestant brothers and sisters as well as myself who is a convert had it. The MS-13 gang members display this burst of emotions prominently in the video "God's Power of Conversion" I posted last Thursday. I have not encountered any cradle Catholics who talk about such a moment. I think it's because the question never came up for those who did not have to convert. Nevertheless, God should be experienced. If you remain open, the Lord will definitely make you aware of him. When I questioned him about us being the temple of the Holy Spirit, the gift of tears came to me unexpectedly. Of course, attaining union with the Lord is another big watershed. To experience God is to know him well and to love him.

***Ego, Our Worst Enemy

        The Lord made me see that ego is what keeps us from obeying him. It follows that ego is what prompts us to sin. Take a man who merely fantasizes and entertains impure thoughts – it's also the ego seeking self-gratification. The presence of ego shows the absence of humility. It is humility that frees us and ego that enslaves us. The path to God and heaven is clear. Seek union with God to rid yourself of ego to be perfect. 

**Ideal witnessing for the Lord

        Whenever we preach or witness to, or share with someone about Christ, we must be sure that we are promoting Christ and not ourselves. Sometimes you hear a great speaker and come away really impressed, but what you remember is the speaking and not so much the message. There are many homilies you hear from the pulpit that may be impressive, but fail to draw you deeper into the Lord. It's like listening to a pianist playing with great technical virtuosity, but not much feeling for the music. To be effective, we must live a hidden life in Christ with zero ego. Then let the Holy Spirit set our heart on fire so that the focus will be upon the Lord alone. 

***God's Power of Conversion

        As I have said, only God can fundamentally change a person. This short video shows how Jesus Christ had changed many MS-13 gang members. Praised be our Lord. Please pray for more conversions of them.

***Fast Way to Union With God

        One sure way of getting to know Jesus well is to talk to him whenever you can. Tell him everything on your mind and in your heart. Everything means everything, including things you wouldn't share with another human being. Keep doing this and receive the Holy Eucharist regularly and you'll reach union with God fast. (Naturally, you are expected to have all your sins removed by God first.)

*Be Prepared for Anything*

        I have planned on doing a few things for the coming months, then my wife had a new health issue and I realized that depending upon how it's going to turn out, I might have to scrap all my plans. I started thinking that I must be prepared for anything. Priorities must remain flexible, for all is in God's hands. If my plan doesn't work out, so be it. It's better to expect less and be surprised than expecting too much and be disappointed.
       The parable Jesus told at a dinner he was invited to in Luke 14 came to my mind. The Lord said to the invited guests and hosts, "When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, 'Give your place to this man,' and you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, 'My friend, more up to a higher position.' Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table." The bottom line: we should always remain humble – contrary to what the world teaches.

**Endearing Yourself to God

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 7, Jesus said to his disciples, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." We as followers of the Lord do not knock on his door enough; it's as if we don't want to bother him too much. Let's realize that his riches are inexhaustible and he wants so much to give them to us. Not taking advantage of this is somewhat rejecting his love. In fact, it endears us to the Lord to be greedy for his offerings!

*Under God's Protection

        This early morning in a dreamy state, I sensed that the Lord was absolutely the one for us to follow. As a child, we always feel good when there is a big brother or sister or some adult whom we can trust and who is strong enough to protect us. Well, our God the Father is unquestionably the strongest of all and loves us the most. Therefore, if we trust in him and put ourselves totally in his hands, we'll absolutely be secure and not have to worry about anything. In this way, we also form the strongest possible bond with the Lord. Do not doubt what I have just stated; put all your faith in him first. 

*God Revealing Us to Ourselves

       Often we do something or feel a certain way, not aware of what the true motivation or the reason was. For example, in my own experience I once did something that made me feel unhappy. I went before the Lord and opened up my heart. He then revealed the hidden cause and I felt exhilaratingly liberated! Our God is the only one who can expose what's hidden or buried in our innermost, revealing us to ourselves. Again, I am most grateful and rejoice that we have such an understanding, loving Lord.

*God Can Make Us Clean!

         The feeling that you are clean, that your sins have been forgiven or taken away by God is one of the best feelings you can have. To preserve that feeling is to stop sinning. God is the one who can make us new, thus saving us! This is how he has made us and we should rejoice for that.

**Going Far With God*

        You see your sins and imperfections and sincerely wish to overcome them. It is possible that you spend your whole lifetime focusing upon this and end up merely maintaining your status quo. The excellent way is to aspire to become holy, looking beyond your present state and asking the Lord directly to make you a saint. Doing this and not dwelling on your woeful state will lift you to a higher state. There is absolutely no limit as to how far you can advance. Go positive and be on the offensive! Yes, get all the help from God you can to make everything easy for you – this is showing that your trust in and love your heavenly Father.

**Most Personal Lord

        Our God, the God of Christ the Lord, turns out to be the most loving Father and personal friend you can ever possibly have. He is the one who fulfills and completes our existence.