***Marching for Jesus in Iraq***

        Ending this month's blogging on a happy note: 
https://youtube.com/shorts/UT1ZaNE8Tfs?si=OS9FYeAhhHabxOsl

***Again, Your Choice

        God loves us so much that if you seek his protection, he will shield you from all evil. Of course, if you don't want to have anything to do with him, then you are on your own and instantly become an easy target of Satan.  

***God's Closeness

        Communion experience. The Lord is the Lord, yet he is as close to me as myself. 

***Fair or Unfair?***

        Christ shed his own blood for us and we only need to accept him to reap eternal life! Think about it.  

***Purifying Our Lives*

         This means doing only things that will help us get into heaven. Each of us does all kinds of things in life. Many of them are OK, but neither are they spiritually beneficial. So we need to thin out such activities. This may not be easy, for it could mean changing our way of life significantly. But change we must if heaven (loving God) means anything to us.

***Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus***

        As you know, numerous prophecies you'll find throughout the Old Testament, from Genesis to Zechariah, predicting Jesus' coming, his passion, death, resurrection, and ascension. Even details such as being born from a virgin, being offered gifts at his birth, his coming proclaimed by a voice in the wilderness, coming riding on a donkey, being spurned and disrespected, being betrayed for thirty pieced of silver, his garments divided for which they cast lots, his ascension into heaven, etc., were all given. And Jesus fulfilled them all! This is pretty amazing and should no doubt bolster our faith in him. 

**A Question

        The great saints see themselves as worst sinners before God. But many of us Christians today see themselves as pretty good people deserving of heaven. Is there something not quite right here?

***An Insight***

        The Lord has made me see that thinking lowly of someone is as bad as thinking highly of myself. For both stem from the lack of humility.  We all fall short of loving God who alone is our judge.

**Great Satisfying Experience

        Communion experience. The LORD is all mine! What an immensely satisfying feeling!  

**Getting the Lord's Attention

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 5, a woman afflicted with a hemorrhage came up behind Jesus in the crowd and touched his cloak, believing that if she touched his clothes, she would be healed. Immediately her flow of blood dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed. Since Jesus is not here for me to touch in any way and he did let the woman know that her faith had saved her, I can just pray for what I desire from him and believe that he will answer me.  

***Great Way to begin a Day*

         I love waking up very early in the morning when darkness and silence still prevail. In these moments of solitude, I sense acutely the Lord's presence both within and without me. It's the perfect time for me to commune with my most beloved to my heart's content. What an awesome way to begin a new day!

***False Front**

         You see so much false joy exhibited on many commercials and various TV shows. In general, people put on a false facade to hide any emptiness or loneliness they feel. Today I was shocked and saddened to learn that the parishioner who owned a very expansive car (I think it was a Ferrari) had committed suicide. I didn't know him personally, but everybody noticed his flashy red car with gold wheels. How I wish that I had the chance to tell him about Christ who can fill us full with hope and joy. This had happen to me twice before. In the first case, I witnessed to a friend about Christ and he was ready to consider entering the Church. He called a local priest for an appointment to see him, but it so happened that he was tied up and couldn't see him right away. The next thing I knew, my friend had committed suicide. Obviously, there was a deeper issue here I wasn't aware of. The second friend was at the peak of his career. He earned two PhD degrees, owned a lot of properties, traveled all around the world, and had a lot of friends too. His job was with a famous think tank. One day I called him and learned that he had committee suicide. How I wished I had shared the gospel with him earlier! So we must share the good new of Christ every chance we get. What we see is often the false front. There are lots of people who are lonely and/or feel hopeless out there. We must do our best to reach out to as many of them as possible.

***Greatest Stupidity

         It's believing that you can hide from God, you know more than he, you don't need him, or he doesn't care about you. 

***Greatest Division

        There is no greater division than that between good and evil, heaven and hell, having Jesus and not having him!

**Only Division That Matters

        True inner peace can only come from Christ. He wants us to have that peace, but we are divided by whether we listen to him or not. This is the only division that matters. Know that we'll all be judged by him, for he is the one who created us out of love in his own image. 

***Wise Move

        Take all the temporary pleasures of the world you can think of, whether wholesome or sinful. Compare them with eternal joy in heaven, and they would look like nothing. So get yourself detached from the world as much as possible to be sure that you'll have everlasting joy later soon. 

*****Saved in God's Love!

        Communion experience. I completely abandon myself to the Lord and he completely accepts me. Union is attained and I am saved in his love!

***Submission Begets Freedom

        When you submit yourself totally to God, you feel completely free, for he has now taken the load of sin off you! From now on, all your intentions should remain holy. The truth shall set you free—this is it.