**Still in the Doldrums

         In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 7, Jesus said to his disciples, "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And who find it are few." Jesus gave us these warnings 2,000 years ago and we still are not taking it seriously enough. Time to snap out of the doldrums! 

Conscience Affects Peace

        The Lord has given each of us a conscience. The one who has a dull conscience can sin more and not get bothered too much. Then he won't have much inner peace either. Anyone with a sharp conscience sins a lot less, for he knows the pain of carrying a sin, so he enjoys peace in his heart almost always. It's a choice, but know that if you lack inner peace, it's God calling you to him.

*We Reap What We Sow

         Everything we do, the Lord knows, and we'll be either rewarded or punished. You can say that what goes out from us will always come back to us in some way or form. That is, there'll be consequences to whatever we do or don't do. It's good to remember Proverbs 22:8, "Those who sow iniquity reap calamity." 

*Antichrists Galore

         Because of the many prominent politicians who claim to be Catholic, but publicly go against the teachings of the Church and continue to receive the Holy Eucharist at Mass, the U.S. bishops are meeting, trying to come up with clear guidelines for the reception of Holy Communion. Actually, the guidelines are already there, but since the Church is now divided, the topic has become controversial. Some 60 Catholic Democratic congressmen have already called on the bishops not to weaponize the Holy Eucharist. Cleve choice of words indeed. One congressman who is all for contraception, abortion, divorce, and same sex marriage openly dared the Church to deny him Communion. This I know, when you say you are a Catholic and reject the teachings of the Church, you are a lying antichrist. 

*The Blaming-Others Generation

        Hebrew 4:12 is today's Gospel acclamation: The word of God is living and effective, able to discern reflections and thoughts of the the heart. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 7, Jesus said to his disciples, "How can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove that splinter from your eye,' while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye." These two quotes are directly related. It's precisely not hearing the living word of God that has made us blind to our own faults. This is the generation that never see themselves blameless and always blame others. Naturally, if you think that you are perfect, you don't seek God anymore.

***Our Only Way Out

        What awaits us depends all on us.

*Christ Is the Point

         Knowing the truth is not the same as knowing about the truth. You can know about Jesus but not know him at all. Once I had a guide on a Holy Land tour who knew more about Jesus than any of us in the group, but he was a Muslim. To preach the good news, we must preach Christ and not about Christ. Even in a Bible study class, the focus should be on the Lord. Focusing on all the peripheral details won't draw you closer to him.  A Christian must live fully in the Lord and not just observe him from the side.

***Remaining New in Christ!***

         Today is special, for it's the first Sunday we are able to attend all Masses inside the church with all seats in place. Only a few people wore masks, and social distancing was no longer observed. In today's second reading from 2 Corinthians 5, Paul writes, "Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come." What's so wonderful and great about Christ is that he can make us anew at any time so that we can remain new at all times! This certainly makes following Christ most exciting and rewarding! 

**Life Out of Order*

         In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 6, Jesus said to his disciples, "Do now worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?' Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides." Most of us are getting the order wrong. We seek these things first and God only when we didn't get them, forgetting that the Father is the provider of all the things we need. To reverse this order is to put your life in order, and you'll witness the wonders of God.

***Be God's Powerhouse

        In today's reading from 2 Corinthians 12, Paul again boasts of his weaknesses, for the Lord told him that power is made perfect in weakness. I can see that the more we realize that we are weak on our own, the more we know that we need to rely upon the Lord. And the more we rely upon him, the more power we receive. Since God's power is infinite, there is no limit to how strong we can become! It's truly exciting to live and trust in God alone.

**Be Free of Material Possessions!

         I saw a YouTube video showing an entire Italian village that had been abandoned about 15 years ago due to an earthquake. The crew who explored the place showed that almost all the houses abandoned were left open with pretty much all the personal belongings left behind, including clothing, artworks, personal letters, etc. One of the crew members remarked that walking through the village, he felt like he was the last man on earth. By the way, there are many other videos showing the mysterious abandonment of a single mansion or house. After I watched the video, I realized that one day, I may not abandon my own house, but I'll have to leave it behind with no choice. After I am gone, all my possessions will be disposed of by others. This realization brought relief, for it made me see the foolishness of being attached to all material things? Let them go and be free. God is the only one worth holding onto supremely! 

***All Set to Live Forever***

        Jesus is the light. When you are in union with him, he floods your entire being, enabling you to see the whole truth. Your soul now rests in the Lord in perfect contentment. You lack nothing, for God is more than sufficient. You are all set to live forever!

**Where Is Your Heart?*

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 6, Jesus says to his disciples: "Do not store up for yourselves 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 destroy, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your  treasure is, there also will your heart be." Let's ask ourselves how much time and energy we devote to storing up treasures for ourselves on earth and how much we spend on storing up treasures in heaven. If the passing grade is 60, will you pass? You've heard the proverb "Home is where the heart is." If you are not storing up treasures in heaven, then heaven is not you home yet.

**Holy Boasters

        In today's first reading from 2 Corinthians 11, Paul boasts of how he labored for Christ. He writes, "If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness." For us who love and follow the Lord, we can certainly joyfully boast of my total dependence upon the Lord. This is holy pride!

***Forgive All, We Must!***

         In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 6, Jesus taught his disciples to pray the Lord's Prayer and concluded by saying "If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions." These words came clear as a bell. So we must do our best to forgive others (evildoers included). Then the Lord will do his best to forgive us. The commandment "Stop judging, that you may not be judged" makes perfect sense now. 

*****Greatest Possible Accomplishment*****

        If you want to have a great relationship with the most loving God of Christ so that you get to know him intimately, belong to his heavenly family, and be all set for eternity, it's really simple—you just go beyond believing in him and surrender yourself completely to him. This can be accomplished in an instant and will be remembered by God the Father forever!

***World Getting Out of Bounds

       We are in end times for sure, hastening the Lord's coming. But first, there'll likely be more warnings, followed by chastisements. So be prepared and pray hard. 

****Letting God Heal and Liberate You!

        Yesterday while I was cleaning out a desk drawer in my old study, I found something I wrote in 1975 on a typewriter. It's about ten pages long, double spaced. You see, I was involved in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal at the time and that was written as an assignment for a group of us seeking inner healing from the Lord at a person's house. The Lord has the power to heal all our inner wounds, pains, and sufferings, both present and past. We were to recall and write down everything that had robbed us of inner peace and present it to the Lord. It took me quite some time to get that done. Of course, we did not share any of these private recollections with each other at the meeting, for it sufficed that the Lord knew all about them. Anyway, I quickly went over what I found. If that had been written by someone else, I'd feel very sorry for that person, for he surely was unhappy, all mixed up, and lost, struggling to be somebody. Then I realized that I was now a completely different person, being so happy in the Lord and myself that I had zero desire to be someone else. I wanted to celebrate my freedom—it's all God's doing! Because the change took place over a period of time, I didn't not realize how far I had come. The past is all gone and the future is brighter than the sun. When you know you are on your way to be with your most beloved forever, how can you possibly not feel exhilarated?