*Slow Learners Risk Losing Out*

        All the Old Testament prophets, all the angels and saints, and all the demons and evil spirits know that Jesus is the Son of God, the Holy One. Let's not be such slow learners and lose out. 

**What Matters to Us**

        Everything on this earth passes. As far as we are concerned, it's where we pass to that matters. 

***To Kill Your Ego Completely

        Do not ever entertain any thought that feeds your ego. We are nothing before the Lord, even if the Lord may not think so.

***How to Stop Worrying

        Give all your problems and your loved ones to the Lord. Now they are all his and you can stop worrying about them. For it'd be extremely silly to worry for the Lord.        

**Great Opportunity Now

        Amidst all the evils, we can always extract some good from this (or any, for that matter) situation. Since it's a given that the LORD will triumph in the end, we can confidently remain in him more than ever. It's a great opportunity for us to be completely united with the Lord as one. This would ensure us a secure journey to heaven from now on.

*****Easiest Person to Deal With

        We all are sinners, and dealing with any of them can turn into a hassle. God alone is holy, perfect, and trustworthy. Besides, he understands and loves us totally. So I find the LORD to be the easiest person to deal with. In fact, it's such a joy to know him, share anything with him, and listening to and learning from him.

***Know Your Responsibility*

        Only God can save us from sin, but we are responsible for "allowing" the Lord to save us. So you can say that we are responsible for our own salvation. It is true that the Lord does not wish to condemn us ever. If we do get condemned, it's by our own choice. 

**Repentance Is a Joy!

        We know that there is great joy in heaven over one sinner who repents (read Jesus' parables in Luke 15). Repentance is a great joy for us too. It's going home to the Father who has wiped away all our sorrows for having offended him. We are now new and clean again! One big reason you need to believe in the God of Christ, for there is not another like him.

**Natural Consequence

        The more you love God, the more you feel sorry for having offended him. 

***Prayer Power

         I believe that the Lord hears everything we tell him, and he will surely respond to anyone who prays to him from the heart. How and when he'll respond we do not know. But we can be sure that anything we ask for out of love will be answered in our favor, unless there are hidden facts we are not aware of. That our prayers can make the Lord change the course of humanity and world events is undeniable.

**One-Way Giving and Receiving

        With God, I feel that it's practically a one-way thing. We receive everything from him, while the most we can give him are ourselves who were created by him in the first place. There's no way we can thank him enough. The best response to the Lord I can think of: "Keep his word" (John 14:23).

*Communion Protocol

        While the Lord is still on my tongue, I do not kneel, for the Lord does not bow down to anything or anyone. Once I have fully consumed him and he has become part of me, then I kneel and thank him. If Mass is not ending so quickly, I'd savor the Lord by keeping the Host on my tongue as long as possible. One time when I really yearned for the Lord, the Host remained in my mouth for over 20 minutes.

***Reality Check*

         Here's the basic reality in a nutshell. Evil is real, we are sinners, and only God has the power to annihilate evil and take away our sins. We need God to save us from sin and evil. 

*Saying Yes to God

         In today's Gospel reading from Luke 1, the angel Gabriel appears to the virgin Mary, announcing that she will conceive and bear a son to be named Jesus, who will be great and called Son of the Most High. Mary does not doubt, only curious about how it can happen, as she has no relations with a man. The angle explains that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and the power of the Most High will overshadow her. Mary consents, willing to let it be done to her according to the angel's word. We see that the Lord prepares Mary for the task he has for her. Likewise, we should always believe and let the Lord prepare us to carry out whatever task he has for us. We should always exercise our free will to say yes to God.

*To Be Holy Before God*

        No matter how holy we are, we are never good enough for the Lord. We recognize this and he shall be pleased. Fortunately for us, the Lord looks more at our intentions and less to how perfect we are. 

**Our Role Before God*

        The Lord God alone is omnipotent. Everything must go thru him. If we ever want to be fruitful or accomplish anything that's good, we ought to go thru him, that is, follow his will. Everything has to do with the Lord and our role is to participate in accomplishing whatever he wishes to be done.

****Great Surprise from God

        To become a slave to God, we actually gain the greatest possible freedom and become God's friends!

*****How Best to Help God

        When I feel helpless in helping the Lord and ask him what I should do, his answer is always "Be holy." This translates to "Be obedient" to me.