*Suffering for a Good Reason

        As humans, we don't like to suffer. But if we have a good reason for suffering, we may not mind or even welcome it. And there is no better reason than glorifying the Lord. First of all, if we love the Lord, he'll never send us sufferings we won't be able to bear. And when he sends us sufferings, there's always a purpose. It may be to strengthen us spiritually or if we offer the suffering up to him, he can use the merit we have acquired to help others in some way. Don't forget that suffering also greatly helps uniting us to the Lord in suffering! So accept your sufferings gracefully for the glory of the Lord. By the way, the Lord will always glorify those who suffer for him.

*To Be Self-Centered or Not

         Of course, we should never be self-centered when dealing with God or others. But when it comes dealing with our own spiritual growth, we need to focus upon ourselves entirely, asking the Lord to make us as holy as possible. This is good self-centeredness. Anyway, the ultimate center should always be the Lord God, no matter whom we deal with. We need to do everything for his glory.

***Hidden Secret of the Our Father

         The Our Father is the most fundamental prayer Christ has taught us. This is a perfect prayer, for it properly defines our relationship to the Lord God. Today I see that praying this prayer with all sincerity can make us become like Christ! This has to be the hidden secret. So pray it with all your heart and soul to let the Lord perfect you. The Our Father is now the most exiting prayer of all to me.

**Tears of Joy Mixed with Sorrow

         The Lord often moves me to tears. These are often tears of joy, for the Lord is joy—how can you not feel elated when you have him who loves and cares for you so much? But in dark times like now, my joy is mixed with deep sorrow. I shed tears because so many people have turned against the Lord, the God of Christ, causing him to suffer greatly and themselves to possibly lose their only hope of being saved. 

**A Spiritual Law

         When you do your very best to glorify God, God will do his very best to bless you, fulfill all your wishes, and make sure that you'll be amply rewarded. This is a spiritual law you can count on. Know that we have an infinite, loving God whose riches are inexhaustible. 

***How to Fight Evil

         The World has gone bonkers because it has abandoned God. How should Christians respond to that. One thing we should not do is taking the matter into our own hands. To maintain our own sanity, we need to abandon ourselves completely to the Lord to let him direct us in fighting the battle. The Lord is our leader and we are to follow his every order. Becoming holy will make you most effective. Obedience to God will best help him accomplish his plan. 

*****Our First Order of Business*****

        We need to take care of our own sins before minding other people's sins. So, to know God should be our first order of business. If we don't know God, we'll surely do things blindly wrong most of the time! Many people don't see this because they lack humility. 

***Our Dearest Lord!

          I prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy this morning. As I was saying the prayer that began each decade: Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world, I realized that Christ the Dearly Beloved Son of God the Father is our Dearly Beloved Lord, in fact, our Dearest Lord. Dearest because no one else can be dearer than Christ to us. That we have such a Beloved Lord is indeed something to rejoice about! We who love Him will be well taken of by Him for all eternity. 

***Fear of God

        We need to fear God enough so that we do not ever offend him. This is the good fear. On the other hand, if we think that God can no longer forgive us for a sin we have committed against him, this would be an extremely bad fear we must never entertain, for that can only come from the devil.

*In Gratitude to the Lord

        Communion joy today. Experiencing the joy of union with my Lord, I couldn't help asking him "Who am I that you should care for so much?" I felt so grateful that I asked him to give me whatever he wished to give me.  

***Joy of Surrendering to God

        Life is all about whether we surrender ourselves to God to let him be our Lord or rebel against him so that we can (foolishly) be our own lord. The fact that when we give our heart to Christ alone to become completely submissive to him and experience the great joy of freedom shows clearly which way is the right way. 

**Submitting to God's Holiness

        The holiness of God is most dazzling and awesome! We need to be aware of it in order to realize our sinful state. Then we can submit ourselves to it and let it dispel all the darkness around us and flush out all the impurities within us.

***What God Is to Me

        At Mass this morning, I was thinking about how much God meant to me. I was formed by him in the beginning, shall end my life in him, and then live on forever with him. So he is both my creator and my savior, sustaining my being always. He is my all and everything—my beloved Lord, best teacher and friend, my guide and advisor, and healer of my soul and spirit. He is also my soulmate, closer to me than my own soul! We belong to each other and are inseparable as one. My security in him is completely assured. 

**A Small Step to God

         This morning the Lord made me see that we are so very close to having life with him for all eternity—we only need to believe and trust in Christ fully, and we'll be ready to leave this world in peace. So we can have all of God and inherit everything he has for us or end up with absolutely nothing that would be of comfort to us. The choice should be a no-brainer. 

***Pushing God to the Limit

         God's most urgent call to us is to convert ourselves first. If we do that, we'll overcame sin and be saved for all eternity. Then we'll automatically want to spread the good news to all others. Yet much of the world does not heed this call and continues to ignore its own salvation. Perhaps the warning like the illumination of conscience will wake many up to God. We are really pushing the Lord to the limit, being so insolent and rebellious. Alas, if we reject God's infinite mercy, nothing will be able to save us. Perhaps this is the unforgivable sin?

***Only Way of Truly Living

         To know God well, we need to become like him. Then we can become his soulmates and get to know him thoroughly. Obviously, the Lord is already perfect, so we are the ones to be transformed by him to become like him. If we cooperate, it's a done deal, for everything is possible for him if we don't get in his way! It's that simple, and most exciting, I can assure you. This to me is truly living. To live any other way is not knowing what you are doing.

*Appreciating God for Giving Us Life

         I have acquired a print of Mary with Baby Jesus and one of the Crucified Christ. Originally I thought I would hang one in the living room and the other one in my study. The more I looked at them, the more I realized that they should go together to show fully why he came to us. Now they hang next to each other in the living room so that when I look at them, I see immediately that he came into our world to die for us in order that we may have life forever.

*How Is Your Conscience?

          God has given each of us a conscience to know right from wrong or good from evil, so we have the obligation to do our best to keep it clear and sharp. Without God's guidance, the conscience can easily get muddy or dull. But with God, the Holy Spirit can help you keep it super sensitive or sharp, and it becomes a great joy. It's a fact that those who have a poor conscience live with an unrestful heart, while those who possess a good conscience live in peace. A clear conscience is a must for being holy.