Perfect Father

        My last post mentions that our Father in heaven wants to give us everything he has. I would like to add that in giving, he "manages" never to spoil us, only to perfect us.

Asking from God

        God is exciting to me because he is the source of inexhaustible riches. His love for us "compels" him to give us all he has. In the parable of the lost son told by Jesus, the father said to the older son, "My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours" (Luke 15.31). Therefore, we should feel free to ask for all we want that's good for us ~ be it knowledge, wisdom, joy, peace, blessings, or even material stuff. God who is most generous can make all things possible!

Jake Shimabukuro

       Back in August, I mentioned Jake Shimabukuro, the world-renowned, Hawaiian-born ukulele virtuoso. I enjoy watching him perform because he always plays with passion, joy, and humbleness. One of his compositions that's particularly cheery to me is the one entitled "Boy Meets Girl." Here he is in one version on YouTube.    

Back to Belong to the Father

        Communion experience. I feel like the prodigal son returning to his father. Now I fully belong to my Father. 

Healthy Outlook on Life

        As I look around, I see so many unfinished things ~ repairs and improvements to be done on the house, dead plants to be replaced in the yard, computer problems that need to be solved, emails I should send out, things I have to learn to get some digital photo images printed, etc. At morning Mass, I came to see that to be free in God is to be detached from all things of the world and be able to leave this life without hesitation whenever God says, "Come." I am just passing through and my permanent home is where the Father, my creator, is. Yes, one who is ever ready to leave this world at anytime has the healthiest and most realistic outlook on life.         

Offering the Heart

        Communion experience. We must connect to God with our heart, otherwise he would have entered us in vain. Today I again offered my heart to him for purification and safekeeping.

Poison in the Heart

        Today's lesson from the Lord: Always say what is true and just, never with any intention of hurting someone. The existence of such an intention shows that you still have poison in your heart. 

No option Here

        The big mistake Catholics make is not considering the option of becoming a saint. As a matter of fact, it is not even an option; it is a mandate from God (read Matthew 5.48 at the top of this blog page). Saints are not out of our league; they were like us before they become holy. Besides, nothing is impossible with God. Praying to become a saint is exactly what the Lord wants to hear; therefore, he will grant your wish happily and willingly.

Being Unjust to God

        I have no doubt that most of the population of this country, the United States, have heard of Jesus, yet even those who claim to be Christians have not embraced him fully. It's as if you know him somewhat, but you really do not see or hear him. Perhaps it's because we, living in an affluent nation, are too immersed in materialism. How can we be alert and ready for his Coming when we are not even awake? Letting Jesus our God and Savior simply go by is to do him the greatest injustice, turning our own life into a tragedy.

Emily and Alma

        On YouTube, I discovered American music prodigy Emily Bear. She's both a pianist and composer. She plays classical music and jazz beautifully, had composed more than 350 pieces for the piano by 12, and sings too. At 9, she made her debut at Carnegie Hall. You can't help being impressed by her enormous talents. I didn't expect to see another gifted child like her soon, then along came Alma Deutscher of Britain, four years younger than Emily, also on YouTube. When I first saw her, I thought she was Emily, for there was some resemblance. It turned out that Alma plays both the piano and violin beautifully and have composed two operas, and chamber and solo pieces for both instruments (at age 8). Such natural talents are quite stunning. People have compared both girls to Mozart. If you love music and can get on YouTube, check both girls out and be impressed. I post about them because watching them made me realize the great creative power of our God, and I praise him for that. 

Union Is for All 2

       Do you believe that God wants you to be holy? The answer should be obvious.

       Do you believe that as you grow holier, God would stop you at some point to tell you that you are holy enough? If your answer is no, then seeking union with God is for you.
      Being one with your creator, God the Father, is the most beautiful state of existence, in heaven or on earth. How good it would be to let God turn this aspiration (also his wish) into reality!

God Still Incredible

        Communion thoughts. Our God is still amazing to me. He is almighty, yet he is meek and humble. He is the Lord of all, yet he serves us. He is self-sufficient, yet he needs us to be his children. He is holy, yet he enters sinners in the Blessed Sacrament. Any of us with his power would not have acted his way. All this can only make sense if we understand him to be the very embodiment of love, pure and infinite. 

From My Creator Alone

        Whenever I sense deep joy, inner peace, or spiritual freedom within my heart, I intuitively know that my Creator has deposited them there, for no creature would know how to reach the inmost recesses of my heart. Shall I say that only God has the password to my heart?

Union Is for All

        Do not consider union with God to be for the saints only; you should know that saints were not so saintly before they attained union. In fact, God wishes all to become one with him. (Read my posts on the book "He and I.") If you think you are so far away from achieving union, let God surprise you by opening up your heart to him. Well-known Chinese proverb: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." With God's help, a thousand miles can shrink to a single step ~ trust God (and me) on this!

Secret of Freedom

        Change "leaving all up to yourself" to "leaving all up to God." 

Knowing God's Will

        When you have to think hard on how to serve the Lord, what comes up may just be your idea and not his. If you want to serve him, it's best to wait and listen, then he will deposit what he wants you to do in your heart. In other words, it should be all his doing, with you staying out of his way. In fact, it's more likely that it's his will if you feel like fighting it.  

Heaven, a Reality

        A severe storm was forecast to hit my area yesterday and today. People were advised to be prepared for power outage and flooding. Yesterday the storm arrived later than expected, and the rain and winds were also much weaker than the forecast had predicted. It turned out that the storm, after knocking out power to tens of thousands of households had unexpectedly changed its course. Nevertheless, the small creek to the side of my house did turn into a raging river overnight. As I drove home after Mass this morning, the sun was out, creating a beautiful view of wet green fields, glistening trees, and fresh roads. My thought turned to heaven. Heaven is real since Jesus is real. And I'll be there one day as Jesus is there.    

Full Contentment

         Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Here's my Communion experience. 

       The Lord God, my creator, not only came into the world, but came in the form of bread and wine directly to me to enter union with me! My life is complete and I am ready to return to the Father. Not only I lack nothing, I am totally filled!

Between You and God

        "In the final analysis, it's between you and God." I am bringing up this saying attributed to Mother Teresa again. If you believe it to be true, then what others think of you does not matter anymore. Also, for everyone else, it'll be between them and God. This means that when you pray for the ones you love, you needn't be concerned about what's going to ultimately happen to them ~ for you have done your part, trusting in God, and the rest is to be sorted out between them and God. 

On Lack of Patience

        In Matthew 5.22, Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment." Today people get annoyed easily when things do not go their way. Road rage is no longer uncommon. And swearing when you are upset is even trendy. People are more self-serving than ever. All these things validate the saying "Patience is a sign of holiness."

Rest from Christ

        Communion experience. In Matthew 11.28, Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." Rest was what I got after receiving Holy Communion. Christ now sat on a throne in my heart; words cannot describe how peaceful I felt. For today's crowds, Jesus might say, "Come to me, all you who are stressed-out, and I will give you peace." 

A Sorry State

        With Christmas coming up, I think of those who have left the Church or the Catholic faith, but still show up to attend a Christmas Mass just to ease their guilty conscience. I truly feel sorry for them because they are unsettled in a limbo, not quite knowing what to do. Please pray for them.

Settling Policy

      Unsettled things will always be around. What we need to do is to get ourselves settled in Christ and settle all things, settled or unsettled, by letting them go. 

Antidote to Life's Bitterness

        The sweet joy of Christ can overcome all the bitterness of life.        

When Forgiveness Counts

        Expecting anyone who has offended you to ask for your forgiveness will not do you any good ~ it may even puff up your ego. Only forgiveness coming from you to others and that coming from God to you count.

Know Your God

        Jesus is to be totally embraced. Just saying hi to him on occasion is not enough. You must hold onto him, dive into him, discover his beauty, perfection, and holiness, and enjoy his company all your life. Becoming one with him is the ultimate way. Why? Because he is your loving God.

Most Beneficial Question

        I'll always remember what Pope Francis had uttered in public more than once: "Who am I to judge?" Indeed, asking myself this question helps me to remain humble. In fact, "Who am I to" is a start for asking many a good question whenever you feel your ego rearing its ugly head.

God Too Hard to Believe in?

        I know that there are people who find believing in the invisible God difficult and wonder why God does not make himself more obvious to them. Well, God wants you to have faith, because believing in God too easily doesn't take much faith and with weak faith, you won't grow or stick with God long. Let's not forget that God actually came into the world! Jesus was here, performed all kinds of miracles, and rose from the dead himself ~ did all the people then believe in him? Making it easy may even turn people away, for people do not value anything that comes too readily. God is doing just fine.

***Jesus Loves Me!

        Communion experience. Jesus asked Peter three times, "Do you love me?" (John 21). Today I asked the Lord if he loved me, knowing very well that he loved me ~ I just wanted to hear his voice. The Lord seemed slightly amused, didn't say anything and just smiled ~ his answer was clear.

Even More Intimate

        As I was about to receive Holy Communion at Mass this morning, I saw that it's going to be even better and more intimate than touching Jesus, embracing him, or reclining at his side as the disciple whom he loved did.

Heart Most Important

        Our heart is most important to us. When God looks at us, he sees the heart first because the purity of the heart determines our holiness. When God communicates with us, it is the heart that feels, sees, and hears him. If you pray sincerely from the heart, it doesn't matter what words you say or read and the Lord hears you. 

Submit to Get Ahead

        "Submit" is a good word. If everyone submits to each other, we'll have a peaceful world. But this is only possible if we all submit to God first, which has been the biggest struggle for mankind since Adam and Eve. If you can submit to God, you are way ahead of the pack. 

Life Filled with Beautiful Things

        The optional Communion antiphon was read at Mass today. It was based upon John 15.9 and read: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you; remain in my love, says the Lord." I italicized "remain in my love" because it's so beautiful, something to contemplate. It's again a most beautiful state to be in. With Christ, life is filled with beautiful things!

Letting God Use Us

        Yesterday I posted about Mary's perfect obedience to God. At the Annunciation, her answer to the angel Gabriel was "Behold, I am the handmaid of of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." I see the beautiful role we can be in. We remain cooperative to God always, letting him use us, and do the best possible job we can. What an honor and joy! Letting God do his work through us is all that matters. There is no job more fulfilling than this one (I am not even considering the reward that comes later).

Alpha and Omega in Christ

        God is Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. And we have our alpha and omega in Christ the Lord, since he made us new in him and will receive us into his kingdom at the end.

Repaying Jesus

        Today Tuesday is the day for praying the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary, which are Agony in the Garden, Scourging at the Pillar, Crowning with Thorns, Carrying of the Cross, and Crucifixion. If you ever felt great sorrow when you meditated upon these mysteries and wished you could have helped alleviating the Lord's suffering at the time, you can still do it. He is still suffering greatly today over our rebelliousness and you can console him by offering yourself to him entirely, as this is only proper and the time is right.

Prayer Benefits

        When you pray for others from the heart, God shapes your heart at the same time, so that you are also a beneficiary.

Don't Miss Out on God

        We are supposed to love God with our whole being, yet we continue to offend him by sinning. The Lord our Father just waits and waits for us to turn to him for help. Seeing this makes me realize how tolerant our God is. Of course, he could have compelled us to follow him, then we wouldn't be happy. He wants us to initiate the process so that all can be happy. There's only one true God who is loving and tolerant ~ "seize" him while you can. 

Monkey Our Ancestor?

        The other day someone asked if her dog could go to heaven. Now, a dog has neither the concept of God nor any moral understanding of good and evil. Thereby, a dog does not have a soul. Without a soul, there is no heaven to speak of. I believe that theology can back me up on this. If dogs have souls, then what about birds, ants, all insects, and bacteria, or even plants? Where do you draw the line? If I am logical to you, then we can see that human beings, who have souls, could not possibly have been evolved from monkeys, who have no soul. Evolution of the soul? No scientists would know how to do research on that.   

Perfect Obedience

        Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Gospel reading from Luke 1 tells the announcement of the birth of Jesus. After the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and she would conceive in her womb and bear a son, the Son of God, Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." I italicized the last sentence because it is what each one of us need be able to say without qualms to God. This is surrender, perfect obedience, the breakthrough we need to break through, the gateway to freedom, the secret of attaining union with God, our best preparation for entering heaven because it's all what God asks for . . . . Ask the Blessed Mother to help you. 

Readership Review

        As you know, the purpose of this blog is to draw all to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. How popular it gets is of no concern. The day the Lord stops feeding me with thoughts, I'll stop posting.
        All time figures show the top ten countries from which readers came. I'll just list the ten in descending order of readership size: United States, Russia, Germany, China, France, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Canada, Malaysia, Philippines. It's not surprising that the blog has the most number of readers from the United States, as this is a US-based blog. What is surprising is that some people in China, where the Great Firewall is up, still got through. Without any blocking, I wouldn't be surprised that China would be in the second spot. I think readership size depends much upon internet accessibility and people's hunger for God.
       May God bless each of you abundantly, and remember that I expect to see you all in heaven!

One Priority

        We have only one priority in life: To love God. Nothing else matters. Make this your priority and you'll be well taken care of.

You Are on Camera!

        I had an unpleasant dream, woke up, and couldn't remember anything about it; but somehow I came to realize that unlike dreams, whatever we have done in life is always remembered by God. Picture that we are being filmed by God at all times. When we face him again, everything will be replayed before us and we'll be judged according to how much love we put into what we've done. Basic truth: Without love, we live an empty life.  

"Let Yourself Go"

        We can learn from others in the world. In a PBS interview with Yuan Yuan Tan who dances the title role in San Francisco Ballet's production The Little mermaid, I caught her saying that she lets herself go while she performs. That is why her performance is so beautiful, so natural, and captures the audience's heart. No one would enjoy watching a performer who does not feel at ease or put his heart into the performance. To shine as Christians, we need also let ourselves go in Christ. Like halfhearted performers, lukewarm Christians will fail.  

Jesus as Our Friend

        Communion time thoughts. When we were young, we chose our friends. There were ones we naturally were attracted to and others we just couldn't get along with or even disliked. Now I am looking at Jesus, who is full of love, most helpful, who will not let you down, one who understands you perfectly and will never tire of listening to you; and yes, he is most sweet, for he'll even let you get mad at him; and he's fun to be with, for you can tell him anything, including jokes. How can you not love a friend like Jesus? He is one big reason I want to go to heaven! 

Living Freely

        In today's Gospel reading at Mass from Matthew 9, Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. He then sent out these Twelve to proclaim the Kingdom of heaven at hand, cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. His last instructed, "Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give." Indeed we have received freely from God and we are to give freely; we are just passing through. So this is the way to live ~ to feel free and for God. 

Beautiful Love

        If my parents had loved my brother or sister more than they loved me, I would have felt hurt. If my friend likes me the most among all his friends, I would feel extra good. With God's love, no such feelings arise because he loves every single one of us equally and his pure love transforms our heart. That's why we are able to spread his love and share his joy with others with total absence of the ego. I cannot conceive of anything abstract that can be more beautiful than God's love as revealed to us through Jesus the Christ.         

Lesson on "Lesson"

        Talk about rejoicing, the Lord wants us to rejoice in everything that happens to us, for there is a lesson of love in all of them.

Unbreakable Bond

        Being the first Friday of December, there was Eucharistic Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament after morning Mass. Here's the Lord who just entered me during Mass, and he made me see that nothing could possibly dissolve the bond (union) between him and me. A Great Consolation.

To Die

        Communion time thought. To die to self is to die for God!