*Nipping Sin in the Bud

        If you still have some conscience left, you would know it when you are about to sin. No matter how feeble that red light you "see" might be, obey it and you'll be happy that you did later on. Think of sinning as diving into an abyss with no safety net down there to catch you.

****True Sweetness!

        Worldly things that taste sweet merely satisfy our appetite, and we become enslaved. But the sweetness of God makes us want to satisfy him, to abandon ourselves totally to him, and thereby we are set free! 

***Endearing Ourselves to God

        We adore God, praise God, and thank God. What don't we tell him that we love him often too? I know that saying this from your heart will definitely please him and endear yourself to him as well. After all, God is our heavenly Father.

**How We Feel About the Cross

        For the Christian, the Cross is a glorious symbol. When I see it, I recall why Jesus came to us, how the Father loved us, how my life was completely transformed, and that I'll be going to my beloved Lord soon. It brings me gratitude and joy! I remember reading the story written by a Jewish convert. He said that the first time he entered a Catholic Church and saw the large crucifix showing the dead Jesus hang on the cross, he was absolute shocked. So the Cross can not only make you feel sad or happy, but also baffle or daze you. And that's how people feel about Jesus the Lord too.

**Living for One Who Knows Everything

        God must know everything that's going on. You can't run the universe if there's one thing you don't know. So I know that he knows everything about me, such as the number of hairs on my head, all my past and presents thoughts, and even what will happen to me in the future. Because of his omniscience, I know that whatever I do will affects him and ultimately myself. It's his awareness that makes me want to live for him alone.

**Aiming High for Heaven

        If you truly want to go to heaven, why not aim for getting straight there without going thru purgatory? Look at the criminal crucified next to Jesus. The Lord told him that he would be in paradise with him that same day. I believe that's because he had completely accepted his own suffering as his punishment and reconciled himself to the Lord. In general, I believe how much you long to see the Lord is also a factor. If you don't even wish to leave this world, don't expect that you'll enter heaven without any delay.

**Sinner's Precarious Position

        Jesus has already died for us to save us from sin, yet evildoers continue to "crucify" him again and again nonstop. Even committing a venial sin hurts him. Only a God with infinitive mercy can handle this. So if you reject him now, you'll get rejected by him in the end for sure. Know that unremoved sins will always come back like a boomerang to hurt you.

***Measuring Ourselves by the Lord's Prayer

        I see the Lord's Prayer as the prayer by which we can measure ourselves. "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name...": Do we treat God as our Father? Do we honor and revere his name? "...Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.": Do we long for his kingdom to come? Do we really do his will? "Give us this day our daily bread...": Do we acknowledge our daily dependence upon the Father? "...and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us...": Do we truly forgive everyone? "...and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Do we truly run from temptation and abhor evil? If your answer to all the questions above is yes, you should be A-OK with the Lord.

**Growing Old Wisely

         As we age, first we retire from work, then gradually our physical condition weakens, and eventually we are no longer able to do most of things we used to do. Now would be an excellent time for us to focus upon the Lord, for we can contemplate and pray, exercising our hearts. This is the perfect time to reconcile ourselves fully to God or attain union with him, for abandoning ourselves to him should be a lot easier, unless you are a very stubborn person. Our whole life gives us the opportunity to reach this point. Old age is our chance and we'd better not let it pass.

***Are You Moronic or Wise?

        To go to hell, just follow your own will. To go to heaven, just follow God's will. A simple change make a huge difference! To be moronic or wise, it's our choice.

**Power of Prayer

        Prayer is powerful because it can move God to do things for us with his unlimited power. The Lord actually listens to us when we trust in him and ask for favors sincerely from our hearts.

***Operating on the Heart Level

        To live for God, we need to lift up or give our hearts to him to be filled with his love. And it's proper to consecrate our hearts to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Then we let this heart of love motivate all our prayers and what else we do. You are on your way to sainthood.

*Special Reminder

        I prayed the 5th Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, The Finding of Jesus in the Temple. Jesus was twelve when his parents found him in the temple in Jerusalem, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. When his parents saw him, his mother said to him, "Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety." And he said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?" Since God is also our Father, we need to be in his house too. So we'd better behave always.

*****Our Most Beautiful Relationship*****

        The more you trust in God, the more God is free to reveal himself to you and the more you know that he is real. God is absolutely real all right, but you must be open to him first. Open up all the way and he and you ultimately become soulmates with your soul completely secure in his hands. This is the most beautiful relationship you can have in heaven or on earth!

**Don't Forget the Evildoers*

        It is easy for us to pray for those whom we love and not to pray for our enemies or the evildoers. Yet Jesus wants us to love our enemies and do good to them. In Luke 6:32, the Lord said, "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them." Then in Mark 2:17, Jesus said to the Pharisees, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." So the evildoers are the the Lord's great concern. At Fatima, the Holy Mother asked us to add this prayer after reciting each decade of the Holy Rosary: O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy. Shall we then always pray for those who have the greatest need for conversion? 

***Incredible Humility and Love***

        Today's Communion experience. It was incredible and overwhelming that the creator of heaven and earth and the king and lord of the whole universe would stoop so low as to let me receive and consume his Body and Blood to become one with him! My only proper and logical response had to be total submission to him. And I knew I wouldn't be the same person again, for he makes all of us delightful and pleasing to him when we let him.

****Choosing Our Eternal Destination

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 9, Jesus said, "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'" We see how imperative it is that we do not sin or cause others to sin. Choose sin and you end up in Gehenna or choose God and you will enter heaven—all so clearly laid out before us. The Lord is definitive and we must pay attention to all that he has said. 

***Tribute to the Most Holy Spirit

        I did at one time ask the Lord how I would know that the Holy Spirit dwelled in me. And he did answer me clearly by letting me experience his presence in many ways. This story was told earlier on this blog. Now I can say that the Holy Spirit is the most gentle Lord who guides me in all things, teaches me his ways, and illuminates my mind. He molds and shapes my spirituality, sharpens my conscience, and heals and purifies my soul. It is he who keeps me spiritually vibrant and makes me long for the Holy Trinity. He is my God.