***Priorities of a Christian

        A bona fide Christian lives for Christ and not for himself. He prepares himself not for living this life, but for living the eternal life later. He focuses upon building up treasures in heaven and is not intent on seeking fame and wealth in the world. He is selfless and wants to serve and glorify God only. He wants to be like Christ.

***Secret of Belonging to God's Family

         This is today's entire Gospel reading from Luke 8: The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. He was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you. He sad to them in reply, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it." The Lord reveals to us what unites us to him above all other relationships. It is acting on the word we hear from him.

***Our Top Concern***

            We are afraid that we can catch the coronavirus and die. We're afraid that wild fires could spread to our area and burn down our houses. We're afraid that the mob can show up in our neighborhood to attack us. There are so many things we are concerned about, and many of these concerns are legitimate. But how much concern do you have for your own soul? Do you ever seriously wonder where your soul will go after you die? If you don't ever ponder such questions, then you have wasted all your time living. I may sound harsh, but I want you to value your own soul before anything else. This is precisely why Christ the Son of God came to us and died for us! Are you going to trash something for which he died? Not taking care of your own soul amounts to rejecting God's love for you altogether. So please make concern for your own soul your top priority, and you'll be truly happy from that point on.

***How God Sees You

         When the illumination of conscience happens, you'll see the state of your soul as God sees it and you may be shocked. It is easy to think that you are a pretty good person and that you'll most likely be OK with God, as there are so many truly bad people out there. But this is seeing yourself as you see it. The reality is that God knows every little sin of which you may not even be aware! So you should go to him and ask him to reveal the state of your soul to you so that you'll be ready when the illumination of conscience takes place or when you die and go before his judgment. On the other hand, you should realize how much God loves and treasures you and that if you believe and trust in him wholeheartedly, you need not fear anything anymore, for you're going to live forever with him in heaven. This totally takes care the state of your soul, and how God sees you is no longer a concern.  

**Goal of the Christian

         The main goal of all of us who follow Christ should be to attain union with him so that we may get to know him thoroughly so that we may become like him.

*As Long as We Get to Heaven

         Today's Gospel reading is from Matthew 20. It recorded Jesus telling the parable of the workers in the vineyard. A landowner hired laborers to work in his vineyard at various times throughout the day. Some started working about nine in the morning and others started as late as five in the afternoon. In the evening, all laborers received the same daily wage. The ones who had worked longer hours grumbled about this to the owner. The lesson was that God does not cheat anyone. He fulfills his promises, but he can be extra generous when he wants to. And he is free to reward us however he wishes. I'd like to present the Lord's case like this. Let's say that I faithfully serve the Lord my whole life, die, and go to heaven. An evildoer repents just before he dies and is saved. He also shows up in heaven. Should I complain to God that he's not being fair? Of course, not. Whatever makes God happy should make me happy. Besides, once God has rewarded us fully, nothing else matters. Whether you get to heaven first or last, you should be happy. 

***Faith Leads to God

        Today's Psalm 145 response: The Lord is near to all who call upon him. Faith in the Lord is believing in one you have not seen nor heard to be the truth. The amazing part is that once you hold this belief, the Lord reveals to you in your heart that he is indeed the truth. So when you put your faith in the true God, he will reveal himself to you. This is completely logical and has to be true, as it is the contrapositive to the true statement "If he don't hear God saying anything to your heart, you must not believe in him at all." (Logic. It A implies B, then not B implies not A.)

***Our Dream Existence

         The first reading comes from Isaiah 55. In it, the Lord says: My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts. About this, we can be sure. Therefore, we need to know the Lord to know his ways and his thoughts. And there is no better way than surrendering ourselves to him to attain union with him. As one, we and the Lord become soulmates, understanding each other perfectly in all things. This is our dream existence!

**When Does God Calls Us?

          God calls us to turn to him at all times. He is calling us when we feel discouraged, when we feel oppressed, when we feel hopeless, when we are sad, when we are frustrated, when we are persecuted, when we feel misunderstood, when we feel alone, when we feel lost, when we feel the emptiness or life, when we feel burdened, when we long for peace, when we are sick of hearing the bad news around the world, when we see so much evil going on around us, when we feel sorry for all kinds of victims in the world, when we are saddened by the continuous killing of the unborn, when we are shocked by the ongoing sex trafficking, when we realized that evil has infiltrated our Church, when we see so many hypocritical, corrupt, and lying politicians showing only hatred for others with no love for their country, and when we start to hate the godless ourselves. If we don't turn to God now, then we are no better than all the others who have rejected God.

**Three Days of Darkness*

         The Three Days of Darkness will seem to be God's last warning to us. We'll probably have the Illumination of the Conscience first. No matter, just love the Lord now with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Seek to attain union with him through the Holy Eucharist would be ideal.

*Vatican Corruption

        Matthew 10.26: Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known, says the Lord.         

**The Righteous Have God's Ear

        The wicked do not hear nor pray to God. But the righteous cry out to him and he hears and listens to them. In such evil times as ours, we need to go to God and pour our heart out to beg for his mercy on all. If we are not able to act physically to help the situation, we can always go to the Lord to ash him to crush evil and save all souls, for he cares for us all.

**Change Yourself, Not God

        God cannot be faulted. He is perfect, holy, full of love, and understands everything. If you are unhappy, it's time to look at yourself. It's the Lord calling you to go to him for help. You must reconcile yourself to him first so that he may make you anew. Then you'll see things clearly as he sees them. Let him be your guide and refuge from now on and you'll experience peace and joy and gain eternal life to boot!          

***God's Beautiful Words

         God is beautiful in every way, his words included. They bring hope, encouragement, consolation, and joy to our soul and spirit. Keep them and he comes right to you to be one with you. If you think God is remote or unreachable, that's because you have a hardened heart. 

**God Our Soul Healer

         Left on our own, we become spiritually ill and disordered. If we will only open wide our hearts to let the Lord in, his holy presence within us alone will heal our souls. The best time to do this is when we receive him in the Holy Eucharist, instituted by the Lord for us to attain union with him.

***Glad We Have God

         In this mixed-up, lost, chaotic, evil world, I am so happy that we have an all-knowing, compassionate Lord who will judge everyone with perfect justice and put everything in perfect order in the end. Let's pray, hope, and remain patient, for God will always deliver those who trust in him.

**Living a Most Rewarding Life

         In today's Gospel reading from Luke 7, a Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. A sinful woman in the city learned about this. Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment, she came and stood behind Jesus at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment. Since she showed great love for the Lord, he forgave all her sins. What I learn here is that every little thing we do motivated by our love for the Lord he knows, and he will reward us for it. We only need to serve him faithfully without fail and we'll live a most rewarding life now and forever. 

**Secret of Finding Rest in Christ

         Today's Gospel  acclamation, Matthew 11.28: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest, says the Lord. Do you know that when you labor and toil in life, Jesus can help you? Do whatever you must do for his sake and you'll find it easy. It is exactly when we do all things for our own sake that we get stressed out. See yourself as an employee working for the Lord and you'll receive power, strength, and peace on earth, let alone the great reward you'll receive in heaven!