My Ultimate Request.

My ultimate wish is to be a CHILD OF GOD. I want to be a little, innocent, unknowing girl who reaches up for her father’s hands when she doesn’t know what to do, and who runs up to her mother’s comforting embrace when she is hurt or in terrible pain. This is ALL I WANT. THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO BE. 

A little girl. With God as Her Father and Mary as her mother. 

And Jesus, Her Love.

Help me, O Lord. Make me like a child, whose trust is complete in You as she doesn’t know anything about what could save her and what could truly make her happy. Thank You Lord. Thank You so much.

Updates and Music.

I have now decided to make a twitter, so I can daily, and even hourly update and/or share prayers and lessons I’ve just learned, so if you’d want to take part in this, here is the link: twitter.com/jmj8

Also, I would like to share with you this beautiful music by Yiruma; he is a Korean pianist/composer who has composed a lot of very beautiful pieces which, personally, has helped me in times when I need to reflect and pray. Here is my current favorite entitled Beloved.

“My beloved is mine, and I am his; He pastures his flock among the lilies.” Song of Songs 2:16

“Of Benjamin he said, “May the beloved of the LORD dwell in security by Him, Who shields him all the day, And he dwells between His shoulders.” Deuteronomy 33:12

Free e-book: The Imitation of Christ, by St. Thomas a Kempis

While reading St. Therese of the Child Jesus’ autobiography: Story of a Soul, I’ve learned from her about a book called: The Imitation of Christ written by St. Thomas a Kempis, a Maximillian monk.

Prior Pirkhamer said to Peter Danhausser, the publisher of the first edition ofThomas à Kempis’ works, 1494:

“Nothing more holy, nothing more honourable, nothing more religious, nothing in fine more profitable for the Christian commonweal can you ever do than to make known these works of Thomas à Kempis.”

Here is it, then, just click the link

The Imitation of Christ

Vanity.

It is vanity to love what passes quickly and not to look ahead where eternal joy abides.

-Imitation of Christ, Book 1/Chapter 1, Thomas a Kempis

Blood of Christ

Commentary for the Gospel today from DGO

Commentary of the day 

Severian of Gabala (?-c.408), Bishop in Syria 
Sermon on Caïn and Abel 

«A blood for purification that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel » (Heb 12,24) 

Cain and Abel both appeared to worship God with exactly the same rites, but 
in reality they made their offerings with very different dispositions. 
Those of the elder only seemed like a gift whereas those of the younger 
bore witness to his reverence and piety. From this arose feelings of 
jealousy…, and so Abel was murdered (Gen 4,3f.)… In 
holy Abel I find the image of Christ. For indeed, our Savior is the 
supremely Righteous One… But amongst all the men of the Old Covenant Abel 
was the prince of righteousness… Besides, our Savior himself placed Abel 
at the head of the line of all the righteous when he said to the Jews: 
«Amen, I tell you, the blood of all the righteous shed since the beginning 
of the world will be charged to this generation, from the blood of 
righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah whom you murdered between the 
sanctuary and the altar»…Here is a wonderful thing: because 
he was the first to fight for justice, Abel had the honor of being the 
first to suffer for his piety. He is a true prefiguration of Christ who was 
put to death for truth’s sake. The blood of Abel foretold the blood of 
Christ: it cried out from the earth (Gen 4,10). Our Lord’s blood cries out 
too; but the blood of Abel was a supplication, the blood of Christ the 
reconciliation of the world… That is why the apostle Paul, recalling both 
of them, confesses the superiority of Christ’s blood. He writes: «We have 
approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly 
Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of 
the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits 
of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and 
the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel» (Heb 
12,22-24)… Yes, this blood speaks: it prays for sinners, intercedes for 
the world. The blood of Christ is truly for the purification of the world; 
the blood of Christ is our redemption. 
 

Die to ourselves.

When I posted my blog, “Blessed are they who weep, for they shall be comforted“, I know a lot of people didn’t really understand fully the depth of this wisdom. I didn’t understand it before, too. 

How do I desolate myself? 

How do I forsake my life?

How do I lose my own life?

It downright sounds like suicide is the best choice.  And yes, my dearest brothers and sisters. Suicide is the answer. 

Know that when you really want to FOLLOW CHRIST, you must remember what He did in His Life. HE DIED. He died for both those who love Him and those who loathe Him. This is what we should all aim to do, if we want to be REAL CHRISTIANS.

We must KILL all our earthly wants and desires- ALL our pride, our greed, our gluttony, our laziness, our lust, our selfishness, our anger and our jealousy. For ALL THESE ARE WHAT ROBBED US OF OUR CHILD-LIKE INNOCENCE AND TRUST in our Father in Heaven.

So whenever we’re feeling proud, greedy, gluttonous, lazy, lusty, selfish, angry and jealous of our neighbors- let us pray that we always remember to FOLLOW CHRIST. To ABANDON OURSELVES TO HIM because WE CANNOT TAKE CARE OF IT.

PRAY. PRAY ALWAYS AND NEVER LET ONE DECISION PASS WITHOUT PRAYING FOR IT. For we are all children of God, and like children- we don’t know what is best for us. We want a lot of things that are bad for us and push ourselves and others to get these- but our parents, Papa God and Mama Mary, they know what is best for us. They even gave us their Only Beloved Son to die for even those who nailed Him to the cross.

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“Even so, however, to be clothed with Christ we must die to ourselves.” Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Papa God.

“..And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and 
the door will be opened to you.” Luke 11:9

——–

In the Gospel reading today, Jesus tells us that “everyone who asks receives; and the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

A lot of people now has NOT EVEN HEARD OF THESE or has FORGOTTEN the meaning of these words. WHY? There may be a lot of answers to that, especially about those who has NOT EVEN HEARD of the Gospel. But to all those who has heard it- WHY HAVE WE FORGOTTEN THE VERY BEAUTIFUL MEANING OF THESE WORDS?

It is because most of us have forgotten (or have forced ourselves to forget) that God is OUR FATHER. Why are they “very beautiful words”? Because these words are witness to the fact that HOPE can NEVER die- THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE as we are God’s children, and He will never abandon us. We only need to KNOW and BELIEVE that HE IS OUR FATHER. That is why God is telling us;

“What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? 
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? 
If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, 
how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who 
ask him?”

Now, if everyone knows that God, Our Father, will give us everything we longed for- every laughter, every tear, every smile, every heartache, every lesson, and every second of LIFE- then, there won’t be any HOPELESSNESS in people’s hearts and no more SELF PITY. 

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O Lord, I have dwelt in self-pity almost my entire life. I have looked at myself and felt hopeless, deprived, heartbroken, unloved. Lord, let me remember and never forget that even if my friends abandon me, or my family has left me or doesn’t understand me, there is always that one You who will never leave me, who can always understand me, who’ll always Love me, and who will always be My Hope. No matter where my selfish, worldy self takes me- You always save me. Lord, please never let me forget this. Never let me forget You. And all the beautiful gifts You have given me- especially Yourself. Especially the lessons, the Magnificent Light You have shed on my life, my heart and my soul. The never fading Guidance and Hope and Truth in my life. Thank You Lord. You are forever My Hope, My Love, My Guidance, My Truth, My Love and My Life. Amen.

O Jesus, Unspeakable Sweetness, please turn all the consolations of this earth into bitterness for me.           -Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis