Formula for peace & joy
I. Introduction:
There are countless situations that cause us to lose peace and joy. Some of the situations include concerns about job, health, wealth, relationships, injustice, and our spiritual well-being. Even when everything is going well, we worry and get anxious because in this world nothing is for certain.
God created us in His Divine image by giving us the ability to unconditionally love others; which brings us peace and joy by freeing us of hate, pride,. revenge, greed, lust, and envy. Unfortunately, because of our pride there is sin in the world; which is the cause of death, injustice and insecurity. To help us overcome sin and re-kindle His sacrificial love in our heart, God took a human form, and freely accepted the most painful and humiliating death on the cross for preaching the truth about pure love and expressing it through His words, humility, love, compassion, and forgiveness. His sacrifice rekindles His Love in every human heart. If we accept that love in humility and contrition it sets us free of pride, hate, lust, revenge, and greed. This in turn brings us peace and joy.
II. WHO IS GOD?
God is the infinite Spirit of Love. His love is unconditional, pure, creative, redeeming and sanctifying. The force and energy of His love creates and illuminates the ever growing Universe. He is the Father who gave us life. When we disobeyed Him and lost our lives, He as the person of Jesus revived our soul through His sacrifice on the cross. He as the Holy Spirit is our conscience and sanctifier who teaches us to be humble, contrite, forgiving, pure, selfless, sacrificial, peaceful and gentle.
Jesus emphasized His oneness with the Father when he told Phillip, “I and my Father are one, and if you have seen me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9). Similarly, Isaiah (9:6) referred to God as Son, wonderful Counselor (Holy Spirit) and everlasting Father. When Jesus prayed to the Father, He did so as the Son of God. It is like a human being who holds two offices. One as the dean of the medical school, and simultaneously as the chair of surgery. He then, as the chair, writes an official letter to the dean (which is himself) about the needs of his department.
Some people feel that God may not be as loving as we think; because, in the Old Testament He is often portrayed as violent, jealous, and vengeful. However, Jesus, who is God in human form showed us the true face of God, when He freely accepted the most painful and shameful death on the cross, for us, who betrayed him and hurt him; so that we may repent for our sins with a humble and contrite and accept God’s unconditional love as our life. He showed us that God is a humble, infinitely merciful, all-forgiving Father who never condemns us or gives up on us.
Who is the real God? God as the Spirit of pure love is the only true God, because only pure is infinite, and never dies. Therefore, any god who promotes pride, wealth, pleasure, revenge, condemnations, lust and killing unbelievers is a false god.
Deep within our heart we long for pure love, because only pure love brings us complete peace. This means our creator is Love. Love is eternal, selfless, unconditional, meek, humble, healing, forgiving, merciful, and willing to die for sinners, unbelievers, and enemies. Therefore, among the different concepts of God, only a God who stooped down to earth as a human person and accepted the most painful death on the cross to save sinners resonates in our heart. Furthermore, He did not condemn sinners and unbelievers. Instead, he saved a woman who was being stoned to death for adultery; and brought her forgiveness through repentance. He taught us to love our enemies and unbelievers, pray for those who hurt us, not use a sword against our enemy, offer the other cheek if struck on one, and if someone takes our cloak give them our coat also. He showed His Divine powers in many ways. He cured the sick, blind, and those with leprosy, mental illness, and seizure disorders. He multiplied fish and bread, resurrected the dead, and calmed storms. He also resurrected three days after His death from crucifixion.
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.The kingdom of God is the presence of God’s Spirit of pure love active within our hearts. It is, therefore, not something that is visible. It is experienced when we see humility, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, sacrifice, charity, purity, and selflessness by many human beings. God’s glory is seen in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross because it shows us God’s infinite mercy.
Can God take visible form? God is omnipotent. He can, therefore, take any form he wants. He appeared as a burning bush to Moses, and pillar of cloud to the Israelites. His coming into the human family was foretold by Micah 5, Zechariah 12, Isaiah 7:14 and Isaiah 53:5. He stooped down to earth in a human form, as Jesus, to reunite humanity to Himself. He lived amongst us as a common person and showed us that God is meek, humble, forgiving, gentle, compassionate, sacrificial, non-violent, and selfless. He showed us love through His life, teachings, healings, miracles; and sacrifice. Through his resurrection He showed us that when we abide in His love, death has no power over us. The repentant thief next to Jesus on the cross, saw Jesus as a merciful God. This enabled him to repent and receive eternal life. Jesus also instituted the memorial of his sacrifice in the Eucharist, so that we can see, feel, and receive His sacrificial body in the form of bread and wine. This renews and sustains His love within us.
God has also been visible in many other ways. At transfiguration, the apostles saw Jesus as dazzling bright. St. Paul also saw Jesus as a bright light that blinded him and drew him to the truth. A person in my family was suffering from a crisisof faith. Unknown to him, I knelt daily in front of the tabernacle in a chapel for an hour and prayed that he would experience the love of God. Nothing happened for a year. Then one evening he called me up and told me about an incident that just happened to him. He was in his truck in a parking lot. Suddenly the whole place lit up with a brilliant light that enveloped him with intense pure love and sent him into tears of joy for several hours. During this experience he saw a clear distinction between good and evil. This made him humble and contrite. He rejected sin and accepted Jesus into his life.
Where can we find God? God is omnipresent. We can’t see Him because He is a spirit. However, we will find Him in our heart, as the Spirit of love, talking to us as our conscience; that guides us to chose love in every decision we make. He also talks to our intelligence to give us innovative ideas that will improve the human condition. Unfortunately, we often ignore Him because we are too busy with power, wealth, pride, immortality and pleasure. If we put away these distractions and open our heart to Him we will hear His guiding words in every difficult situation . We can have conversation with God throughout the day, especially when we are making decisions related to our interactions with those around us. It can be in the form of questions, or analysis based on morality and love. He will even give us innovative ideas to help us find solutions. When we are in trouble we can cry out to God with a trusting, humble and contrite heart. He will always help us and do what is best. We can even ask for help in minor matters, because nothing kis too big or small for Him. Furthermore, our petitions never make Him weary; because He loves us.
What is the Grace of God? Grace is God’s gift of His Spirit of love to us. God, as our conscience, is constantly helping us to accept this gift. He put His Spirit in human hearts by showing us true love on the cross. He is present with us as our true conscience and guides us every step of our way to the path of His truth. We can hear him if we are humble and contrite. To reinforce his sacrificial spirit in us he makes his sacrifice on the cross ever present to us in the Eucharist .
God pours His grace on everyone. However, to hear His voice and accept His grace we need to be humble and contrite. The repentant thief on Calvary saw pure love, compassion, forgiveness in Jesus. This brought humility and contrition in his heart; which in turn brought Him redemption.
Where in the universe is God? God’s infinite Spirit enfolds the universe. His love is the dynamic force that forms the fabric of the endless universe. His Force and energy are the precursors of atoms that form the universe. This is evident from the fact that when atoms are totally destroyed, they become force and energy.
God’s love is present in all creation. For example, in the formation of new atoms, molecules, and compounds opposite polarities are held together by the force (love bonds) to form stable atoms, molecules and compounds. Furthermore, contributing molecules or compounds sacrifice their own polarity to form a new molecule or compound. Furthermore, His love is also-seen in harmony in the Universe. In addition, propagation of life occurs through union of opposite sexes (polarity) through the force of love.
Some people give credit for creation to nature. However, nature is not a being. It is a system in the universe that is created and programmed by God. It enables small creatures like ants with no structural brains to build complex castles under the ground and bees without a structural brain to build beehives with complex geometric principles. If we look at a high-powered computer, we will never say that it came into existence on its own by chance. It is the same with a human body which is astronomically more complex than the most advanced computer. In addition, it can regenerate, repair and reprogram on its own. It is made of 30 trillion cells. Each cell in our body has 3.2 billion pairs of genetic codes (DNA) packed into a space of 6 microns across. Furthermore, the total DNA length in the body equals twice the diameter of the solar system (37 trillion miles). Similarly, a human brain has 110 billion cells, 100 trillion connections, and by one estimate, a capacity of 20000 computers. The creation of such a brain, therefore, is impossible without a highly intelligent and skillful creator. Furthermore, the fact that each of us is unique in our genetic make up shows that each one of us is very precious to God. Furthermore, humans can unconditionally love those who hurt and hate them. Therefore, we see people who have abandoned their own comfortable lives, gone to far away places and put their life on the line to help those who hate them and want to kill them. They do not do this to win or earn something. They do this because they have accepted the gift of God’s pure love.
A single authorship of all creation is obvious by the fact that there is similarity of design in creation. For example, there is similarity in structures of atoms, solar systems, and living cells. All three have a central nucleus (sun in the case of the solar system), surrounded by substructures, such as electrons in the case of an atom, planets in the case of a solar system, and organelle in the case of a cell.
III. WHO ARE WE?
Human Life, is a dynamic and intelligent force created by God at our conception. It is created in the image of God. It can therefore, express pure love. It gives us a personhood and continues to be in us through all stages of our earthly existence. It does not die even after our body dies because it is a spirit, and not an organic life form . Because it is created in the likeness of God it makes all of us equal, irrespective of our size, stage of development, color, or our physical or mental abilities. It also makes us children of God, and brothers and sisters. God created us in His Divine image so that we will express His love, and share in His peace and joy for all eternity. .
Our choice in life: We are created to love one another. Since, to love is a choice we are on the earth to make that choice. God is constantly talking to our spirit, as our conscience to choose His love. If we choose it our soul will always have life because true love never dies. Furthermore, when our body dies, it will be resurrected and we will have eternal life. On the other hand if we reject God, our soul will be lifeless for all eternity, because without God there is no life.
IV. LOVE ONE ANOTHER
We all have a choice to accept or reject love. Nothing can prevent us from making this choice because we have a free will. Furthermore, since God is love, we cannot love anyone, unless we love God first. To love God is to surrender our will to Him, and follow him by sacrificing our own interest and unconditionally serve others. God gave us the capability to love, so that we will accept it and have His peace and joy for all eternity. Though there are many expressions of love there is only one love, because there is only one God. This Love is absolute and never dies because it is unconditional. Love has nothing to do with attraction or emotional. It enables us to put our life on the line to help those who hate us. When we choose love, we look at all human beings as precious children of God and our brothers and sisters. True Love expects nothing in return. It is, to love, because that is the innermost desire of our heart implanted in us by God at our conception and rekindled in us through His sacrifice on the cross.
True love: Love does good for others, even when there is hate and betrayal. Jesus told us to love our enemies, do good to those who hurt us and pray for them, offer the other cheek if slapped on one, and do not retaliate when we are hurt, give to everyone that asks, and do not ask it back, and forgive without any limit.
If we accept love as our life we will be free of hate, and we will unconditionally love others. We cannot love some and hate others, because love is unconditional, and no one who loves God can hate another human being. Therefore, if we hate even one person, we cannot anyone, even though we might show affection towards them.
Because God is love, to love is to allow the spirit of God within us to take complete control of our life. This requires complete trust in God and accepting His will. Those who unconditionally love others, therefore are never concerned about themselves, and take delight in caring for others, especially those who hate them. They are also willing to sacrifice their self interest in helping them. Their yes is always a yes. This frees them of fear, anxiety, greed, and hate.
What does it mean to love God? God is Love. Therefore, To love God is to embrace God’s sacrificial love expressed on the cross and make it our life. In other words, we should be sacrificial, forgiving, charitable, humble, contrite, kind, gentle, truthful, and selfless. Furthermore, we should love our fellow human beings as ourselves. God is not pleased with burnt offerings and sacrifices. He wants us to have a trusting, humble, and contrite heart. Furthermore, he wants us to do good deeds out of pure love, without seeking any reward in return.
Why should we love? We must love others because we are created by God to express His love. Furthermore, with God as our Father all human beings are children of God, and brothers and sisters who help each other. Furthermore, love brings peace in our heart and on earth. Furthermore, to love is to be one with God.
The ability to unconditionally love others is the greatest blessing to us by God;
because it enables us to partake in God’s life. God expressed this love on the cross when He freely accepted pain, suffering and death, so that, we who betrayed Him through our sin, may embrace His love and have eternal life. His sacrifice ignites the Spirit of love in every human heart. This gives us th desire to be selfless, pure, humble, forgiving, and sacrificial. Love brings us complete peace because it is free of pride, hate, selfishness, revenge, lust, and violence.
When we express true love, we will never feel like a victim, because our concerns will only be for others. We will therefore, be a healer on a mission to love and serve God and our fellow human beings. Furthermore, when others hurt and persecute us, we will be concerned about the hurt they are causing their own souls by their acts, rather than the hurt they caused us. Furthermore, we will not seek reward for the good acts we perform. On the contrary, we will see the opportunity to serve others as a gift from God; and will joyfully thank God for that gift. To us, then, God’s will, will be the joy of our life.
How do we stop suffering in this world?
All of us will suffer in this world, irrespective of what we choose in this life; because there is sin in the world. Furthermore, those who choose a life of love suffer more because love requires sacrifice, and sacrifice is always painful. This is clear when we look at God as Jesus, who suffered death on the cross, to change our sinful soul to a humble, contrite, selfless and faithful soul. However, even in the midst of pain and suffering we will find peace and joy, because we are one with God. In addition, the suffering we have on this earth is zero compared to the infinity of peace and joy that awaits those who live a godly life. Furthermore, although we can not stop suffering in the world, we can bring Christ to those who are suffering; so that in the midst of their suffering they will have the peace and joy.
What is redemptive suffering? No one wants to suffer. However, redemption came through Jesus’ sacrificial suffering and death on the cross. His sacrifice on the cross makes us realize what true love is. From our own experience we know that when we go out of our way to help others, we must sacrifice our own interest and accept hardships and suffering. However, suffering brings us endurance, endurance brings us hope, and hope brings us joy. Furthermore, suffering makes us humble, and humility makes us trust God, and trust in God makes us hopeful, kind, gentle, charitable, and forgiving. In other words, there is no redemption without suffering. Jesus brought us redemption through the cross. He emphasized this by telling us to carry our cross and follow him, and a grain of wheat becomes fruitful only when it falls to the ground and dies. Through our faith in Him, we too can accept suffering and pain while helping others. Therefore, in marriage we will unconditionally serve our spouse and children and bear each other’s shortcomings quietly.
What does love do to us? True love is selfless, sacrificial, charitable, forgiving and gentle. It therefore, brings life to those whose spirits are dead from hopelessness and despair. It frees us of hate, jealousy, and revenge, and enables us to see goodness even in those who hate us and are despised by others. To express love, we must trust God, ponder on His sacrifice on the cross, and accept His will without knowing what it is. This frees us from fear of tragedies and death; because we know that God is always with us, and with Him at our side, everything will be okay in the end. Then, even if tragedy should strike us, we will dwell on the love of God for us, and not on our tragedy. We must, therefore, repent for our sins and pray for the courage to accept God’s love into our heart. If our prayer is sincere, it will happen
Why should we love our enemies?
With God as our Father, we and our enemies are brothers and sisters who are loved by God. Therefore, to hate our enemies is to hate God. Therefore, Jesus tells us to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us. Hate and love cannot coexist in our heart, and to hate anyone is to reject God, who is love. Therefore, if we hate even one person, we cannot have true love for God, or for anyone else. Furthermore, with hate in our heart we will always have turmoil in our heart. To overcome hate and revenge we must remember that God forgave us and died on the cross for the sin we committed against Him. Furthermore, God commands us to forgive and love our offenders. In addition, even if our enemies have taken something most precious from us, they have taken nothing, because God’s love for us is our only true valuable possession, which no one can take away from us.
V. BE TRUTHFUL
What is the Truth? Although what we see and feel are real, they are not eternal; because they will change over a period of time. On the other hand God’s love never changes, because it is unconditional, and it is free of error. Therefore, those who embrace God’s love in their heart have the eternal truth in them. On the other hand those who have pride and hate in their heart cannot see the truth, because their pride and hate, blinds them to the truth.
Truth is eternally pure because it is from God. Truth therefore does not exist when there is pride, false accusations, slander, gossip, perversion, or revenge. Truth is present in those who love God because they are humble and free of deceit. On the other hand, everything that is popular, glamorous, self-centered, greedy, money oriented, power seeking, immoral, and sinful is associated with deceit.
Truth divides people because Truth has no gray zone. Therefore, we cannot water down the truth out of a false sense of sensitivity or compassion. True compassion is to look at the eternal life of others, point out their obvious error (Luke 17:3), and tell them the truth in a firm but charitable way. In the end truth will always prevail because truth never dies and is infinitely more powerful than evil.
Enlightenment is to know that God’s love and compassion for us is infinite, He accepted death on the cross to save us from sin, He is infinitely powerful, and we will find peace in our heart only by rejecting sin through humility, contrition and complete trust in God.
What is our only true guarantee in life? We put our trust in material prosperity because we feel it will satisfy our life and keep us secure. However, material goods, power, and fame will never satisfy us because the the more we have the more we want. Furthermore, they are all associated with anxiety, jealousy, hate, and pride. It, therefore, never never brings us peace. Furthermore, everything we see, own, and achieve in this life will all be gone when we leave this earth. On the other hand, the love of God for us will never diminish or disappear because God’s love is eternal and unconditional. God showed the depth of his love for us when he took a human form and died on the cross to compensate for the sins we committed against him. This shows us that he will never give up on us, and the more we sin the more he will pursue us to bring us back to the truth.
The love of God for us sets our heart on fire and enables us to forgive and love our enemies, pray for those who hurt us, offer the other cheek if hurt on one, lend to the needy without asking it back, be charitable, compassionate, selfless, meek, humble, and bring healing to those who hurt us through prayers and acts of sacrificial love. Furthermore, it enables us to speak only the good we see in others, be faithful to our marriage vows, and accept hurt and loss rather than sue our fellow human beings.
Why should we be truthful? We must be truthful because God is the truth, and true goodness only comes from the truth. Unfortunately, because of our pride and selfishness there is deceit in the world. The greatest lie is the killing of 73 million babies annually worldwide through abortion in the name of women’s right and compassion.
When we abandon our integrity and do not speak the truth to be in-woke with the society, we may have a lot of friends. But when the rubber meets the road and their self-interest is on the line, they will abandon us, and work against us to protect their own interest. On the other hand, if we speak the truth, we will be persecuted. However, our truthfulness will bring peace in our heart.
How to become righteous? Law-abiding people are usually considered righteous. However, true righteousness is based on what is within our heart. If we keep all the laws, but have pride, hate, greed, lust, selfishness in our heart and are unwilling to forgive and love those who hurt and betray us, then true righteousness is lacking in us. True righteousness is always associated with humility, forgiveness, contrition, selflessness, On the other hand, if we embrace the love of Jesus expressed on the cross and make it our way of life, it will make us righteous. We can keep his love alive in our heart by loving our enemies through prayers, forgiveness, humility, selflessness, and service.
Does science have the truth? Science is deductions based on well-organized observations and scientific methods. Since scientific methods are continually evolving, there are many previously valid scientific statements that are now invalid. Therefore, the more we know about science, the more we know how far we are from the truth. Some of the so-called scientific fact that are now wrong include, fish theory of human development, the structure of atom proposed by Bohr, and electrons as tiny balls.
VI. HAVE FAITH AND DO GOD’S WILL
To have Faith in God is to have complete trust in God. God is love, and His love is sacrificial. Therefore, faith in God is faith in the pure love God expressed on the cross, together with a sincere desire and effort to express His love. Furthermore, to have this faith is to know that all our problems in life can only be solved through God’s love. It is also to accept God’s will unconditionally, even when we do not know what it is. We do not have to struggle to know God’s will. All we must do is to surrender our will completely to God by telling Him to have the outcome according to His will, and then imitate Jesus in our thoughts, words, actions, and decisions. In other words, do what we think is according to God’s commandments, and then with humility, love, and selflessness accept whatever comes our way as God’s will.
We can trust God because he is love, and loves us enough to die for the sins we committed against him. Furthermore, He is infinitely wise and resourceful. We can, therefore, always trust Him to do what is best for us. Since God is love, to trust God, is also to believe that His love is the only way to live; and have absolute trust, that through love we can overcome all obstacles in life.
To trust God and pray for help, means to leave the outcome of the situation completely in God’s hands. This gives control of the situation to God; thereby allowing Him to give us the best help. On the other hand, when we pray for something, but want the results according to our own design, we are refusing to give control to God; thereby, rejecting his help.
When there are disasters and tragedies people think that God is doing it; and think He is the God of vengeance, punishment, and jealousy. However, tragedies and disasters occur because we live a world plagued with sin, which adversely affects everything around us. God, on the other hand, helps the needy in such situations by evoking his love in our heart so we help those are suffering.
Who gives us faith? The Spirit of God is the faith giver. He is continually guiding us to lead a life of faith. However, since God is love, and to love is a choice, to have faith in God is a choice. Though the choice is straightforward, we often get distracted by the wealth, pleasure, technology, power, and pride offered to us by the world. These things lead to every kind of evil that can condemn us to eternal death. God as Jesus, therefore, made it easy for us to come back to Him. He did this by showing us true love through His meekness, mercy, selflessness, undying forgiveness, purity of love, and sacrifice on the cross. This has drawn many to the faith in God’s love.
How to overcome anxiety and fear? Only complete trust in God will enable us to overcome anxiety and fear; because when we have complete trust God and put our life in His hands we will have absolute surety that in the end everything will be good. Furthermore, His love for us will be our only true treasure, which no one can take away from us. When we die, all our success and possessions we have will be nothing to us. However, the love of God that brings us complete peace and joy will never die and be with us for all eternity.
On this earth we are in a constant state of uncertainty about our relationships, wealth, health, and well-being of our family. Furthermore, just when we think everything is fine, problems pop up. To overcome fear and anxiety we must always keep in mind that our present lifespan is nothing compared to our eternal life. Therefore, the pain, suffering and failures of this life will be nothing compared to peace and joy in heaven. Furthermore, we must trust God completely, like a little child who trusts his parents, because we are His created children. We can trust Him because He is infinitely wise and powerful and loves us enough to die for us on the cross. Furthermore, He can see the future and will give us what we need to bring us into His kingdom. We must, therefore, surrender our will to God, and say, may it be done according to your will.
As parents it is natural for us to worry about our children and their future. However, we must remember that we all are God’s children and His love for our children is infinitely greater than our love for them. Therefore, we must faithfully do everything that is good for them and in faith remember that God is in charge.
There are many types of failure in life. In some cases, we are responsible for our failures. In other cases, we fail due to situations beyond our control. In either case we must put our complete trust in God and remind our self that if we give control of our life to God and accept His will unconditionally, in the end we will get through our problems and find peace. To follow God’s way is to do our best, love those who hurt and betray us, be faithful to God’s commandments, and unconditionally forgive others.
Why is there suffering in the world? God created everything in perfect balance and harmony through the spirit of His love. He imprinted His spirit on our hearts and gave us dominion over the earth, so that through our expression of love the earth will continue to stay in perfect balance. He also gave us a free will, because to love is a choice. Unfortunately, many of us reject pure love due to pride, greed, lust, selfishness, revenge, and hate. We therefore see evils of character assassinations, murders, wars, holocaust, genocide, cheating, lies, contraception, divorce, abortion, sexual perversions, gender perversions, reproductive perversions and idolatry towards money, fame, name, and power. By choosing evil we reject God. Since nature is made for pure love, by choosing evil we disturb the balance in nature. This results in pain, suffering pain, death, and all form of disasters. This affects even those who follow the true God because we collectively form a human family. To clean our hearts of evil and accept love, God intervened and showed us pure love by accepting the most painful death on the cross for our sins. Furthermore, He gave us hope by overcoming suffering and death through his resurrection. Furthermore, He, as our conscience, is continually making us aware of evil, and dissuades us from choosing it. Furthermore, He gave pain and suffering redemptive value by redeeming us through His sacrifice. This helps us to build endurance and character through suffering. We must, therefore, embrace suffering without fear, knowing that it will make us better people. In addition, we must always keep in mind that the suffering of the present is nothing compared to infinite peace and joy that awaits those who are humble and contrite.
What is wisdom? Wisdom is to realize that God’s eternal and life-giving sacrificial love is the only reality, and embrace it. Wisdom makes us contrite, sacrificial, selfless, humble, charitable, pure, peaceable, kind, gentle, sincere, proactive, and dependable. When we embrace wisdom, our yes is yes, and our no is no, and our good works are done in secret. True wisdom comes from an earnest desire to seek the truth in a humble and contrite spirit.
How does faith save us? When we trust God, we accept His will in every situation of our life. This allows Him to help us, and frees us of anxiety, hate, jealousy, fear, lust, pride, and greed. Furthermore, the fact that we have faith in God, means we love God and want to live a sinless life. Furthermore, when we have faith in God, we reject sin, because we know that God’s way is the only truth. This saves our soul from death.
When we are in despair due to our sinfulness we will find our true consolation only in God because God is pure love. His love has no limit and it never dies. Therefore, God will always love us and be faithful to us, irrespective of how bad we are. He even sacrificed His life for our us on the cross so that we will have forgiveness of sins through repentance. Therefore, if we are humble and contrite, and trust God by giving control of our life to Him, we are guaranteed to have His peace and joy for all eternity. Furthermore, when we trust Him, we will peacefully accept sufferings in this life, because we will be convinced beyond any doubt that we will be united with God for all eternity in His kingdom.
Faith and work. God is pure love. Pure love is not a feeling. It is a sincere desire to surrender our own desire, sacrifice our own interest and serve others without any string attached. Faith in God, therefore, is not a mere feeling or simple trust, it is a compelling and sincere desire to express His love through our thoughts, words, and actions. On the other hand, if our good works have selfish motives, it is devoid of faith. Therefore, works by itself is useless.
Eternal life is to know God. To know God is to be completely in sync with God. To be in sync with God is to know that God loves us infinitely, His love is unconditional, sacrificial, and selfless; and to embrace that love as our life. It is also to be humble and contrite, to trust God completely, and to accept His will unconditionally.
VII. REJECT SIN
What is sin? To sin is to choose pride, hate, revenge, selfishness, and lust; disobey God's commandments; and
go against His natural order. When we sin, we go against God, His creation, our fellow human beings, and our self, through our thoughts, words, and actions.
God created all of us in His own image, so we can express His love and partake in His life. Therefore, when we sin, we reject God. This makes us spiritually dead, because without God our spirit has no life.
All sins are against God, because all of them are against His love, His children, and his natural laws. When we blaspheme God’s Spirit by not following our true conscience, refusing to accept sin as sin, take His name in vain, speak against Him, or reject Him, we sin directly against Him. Some sins are against our fellow human beings. They include, rape, molestation, murder, discrimination, abortion, hate, physical or mental abuse, character assassination, infidelity, divorce and exploitation. The human body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, sins against our body are profoundly serious. Some of the sins against our body include masturbation, fornication, pornography, same-sex activity, other deviant sexual activities, so-called sex affirming procedures, contraception, adultery, prostitution, and suicide.
Satan is the spirit of pride. Pride is an expression of selfishness. It is the precursor of hate, lust, greed, self-indulgence, lies, unfaithfulness, murder, and character assassination. Pride blinds us to the truth, because it is so much about ourselves, that we ignore everything and everyone around us. Furthermore, it fails to recognize the reality that everything that is good comes from God and compared to God who is infinite our achievements are nothing. Furthermore, even the talents and creativity we have are gifts from God; intended to better the life of those around us.
Why is humility is the mother of all virtue? Humility draws us to God. When we are humble, God is our only hope. This enables us to see God, the Sprit of Sacrificial love, in our own heart. This in turn makes us contrite, receive forgiveness and accept God’s sacrificial love as our life. This in turn enables us to see God’s Spirit in others. This helps us to respect them, appreciate their ancient spirituality, forgive our enemies and bring them healing through our love for them. This brings us the peace and joy of Heaven. When we realize the infinite magnitude of God’s love for us and temporary nature of everything we hang on to, we will trust God and become humble.
Heaven on earth: Heaven is a place of pure love with God as our light and life. Therefore, ifrasientb we have God’s pure and sacrificial love in our heart, and give complete control of life to Him by unconditionally accepting His will, we are citizens of heaven. Then, even if we have suffering we will have complete peace knowing that compared to eternity our present stay on earth is nothing. To have complete trust in God we must internalize His sacrifice on the cross for us, and recognize His power.
Why does the Church have sinners? Christ accepted suffering and death on the cross to heal sinners. Therefore, the Church, which he created, is a hospital for sinners. That is why we find sinners in the Church. Furthermore, since none of us are without sin, we all need Christ to heal our souls and make our faith strong. Even members of the church hierarchy are sinners, including all the apostles chosen by Jesus and their successors. We are guaranteed to be cured if we stay in the church and accept the cure Jesus offers us through His Church. They include: baptism, scripture, repentance; and the Eucharist, which is Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for our sin.
How to avoid sin? To avoid sin we must love God, and love others as God has loved us. We must love God, because He is pure love, and sacrificed His life for us on the cross. In addition, we must love our enemies, forgive them without any limitations, and pray for them. We must love and have utmost respect for others and ourselves, because we are all brothers and sisters, children of God, and temples of His Holy Spirit. Therefore, when we have temptation to sin against others or even ourselves, we must remember the above-mentioned facts. Furthermore, we must remember that we will profit nothing, if we win the highest honor, become the wealthiest person, or avenge those who hurt us, but lose our eternal life. If it is still difficult to avoid sin, give complete control of our life to God by asking Him to do whatever He wants to do with it. This allows Him to intervene and keep us on the right path.
Fight temptation: With a sincere heart ask God to take complete control of your life and do whatever He wants to do with it. Talk to God with every decision you make and enter The love He poured on you through His eternal sacrifice on the cross.
What does it mean to be compassionate? Compassion is to be one with those who are suffering, without any distinction between friend and foe or saint and sinner. It is also to heal their spirit by entering their sufferings. This is precisely what Jesus did on the cross.
Sin condemns and destroys us. Therefore, to be compassionate it is necessary to make others aware of their errors in a kind and charitable manner. Pointing out their error is not condemnation or judgement; it is merely saying the facts out of pure love for them. Therefore, when Jesus healed and forgave people, he always told them to repent and sin no more. When we do not point out the evil others are doing, because we do not want to hurt their feelings, we condemn them by allowing them to destroy themselves through sins. Similarly, when we do not recognize our own sins and refuse to repent, we destroy ourselves.
Who is our worst enemy? Pride is our worst enemy. Pride causes wars leading to death, destruction, and misery. Pride results in the breakdown of marriages and friendships. It is the cause of lawsuits, greed, sexual perversions, and hate. Pride also leads to anxiety, fear, jealousy, and greed which deprives us of peace and joy. Furthermore, pride is the evil that cuts us away from God, our family and friends. It also makes us delusional and unforgiving. In addition, everything that we are proud about will be gone for us when we die. Furthermore, love, which is the most precious desire of our heart, cannot coexist with pride. We must, therefore, accept these realities and seek what is everlasting by rejecting pride and choosing a path of humility and faith in the sacrificial love of God on the cross.
How to overcome worries? Worry is a form of enslavement which affects everyone. It can affect our peace and joy by making us feel irritable, short tempered, and depressed. Though it seems impossible to be free of worries because of uncertainties in life, with absolute faith in God it can be overcome. If we realize that God is the creator of the universe, we will become aware of God’s power and the nothingness of matter. Furthermore, if we believe that, because of His infinite love for us, God accepted the most painful death on the cross to save us from sin, we will be confident that irrespective of what happens in this life, in the end God will bring something good out of it. We must, therefore, give complete control of our life to God by accepting whatever comes our
way knowing that God will bring something good out of it. To trust God, we must look at the cross and meditate on His love. We must also pray for the grace to trust God and accept His will unconditionally. If we are sincere about it, we will accept this grace.
What is our destiny? We are created by God in His own image so that we can be His children, live His life of pure love, and share in His peace and joy for all eternity. God helps us in this process by imprinting his spirit on our heart and sacrificing his life for us on the cross. All we must do is accept his spirit and live his life of purity, unconditional love, sacrifice, humility, selflessness.
What is true conscience? True conscience is God talking to us; and His words are Truth and Life. This truth never changes because God does not change. God can never change because pure love never changes. Truth was fully revealed by Jesus on the cross. Unfortunately, because we are all sinners, we ignore the truth, create our own concept of truth in the name of “changing with time.” This pseudo-truth then occupies our heart, making us think we are truly following our conscience. Some of the pseudo truths are divorce, lawsuits, retaliation, pride, selfishness, greed, character assassination, abortion, euthanasia, contraception, fornication, artificial fertilization, pagan worship and sexually deviant behaviors. Some of us totally ignore their conscience. In doing this they are rejecting God talking to them as their conscience. This makes them spiritually dead.
How to overcome hate? Hate is to condemn others in our heart and have disdain and indifference towards them. Hate is one of the worst spiritual diseases because hate drives out peace and joy from our heart. There are many causes of hate; but the root cause is our failure to see others as children of God, our brothers and sisters, and temples of the Holy Spirit. It also results from our failure to recognize our own sinfulness, and the mercy of God towards us. Other causes include pride, greed, and envy.
To overcome hate, we must realize that we are all sinners, forgiven by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, and brothers and sisters who are on a journey to our Father’s house. In this process we must help each other in love and compassion, surrender our will to God, and forgive one another without any limit. We must also get out the habit of criticizing others because it only increases hate in our heart. Instead, we must find goodness in them and use that to help them overcome their shortcomings. It is hard to do this when there is injustice and betrayal. However, if we look at the cross and ponder on how God forgave us through his sacrifice, it is possible to overcome hate.
Why is self-pity harmful? Self-pity is selfishness because it is focused on self. It is destructive to our mind and spirit because it makes us anxious, depressed, sad, dejected, bitter, jealous, angry, and revengeful. On the other hand, when we focus on those who are suffering more than us, we will find peace, because it makes us in sync with God.
When others hurt us, they are hurting themselves by their sins. If our response is to take revenge and retaliate, we cut ourselves away from God. On the other hand, if we forgive them, and heal them through our prayers and acts of sacrificial love, we will find peace and joy, because we will be one with God. In addition, our love for them may heal them and bring them back to God.
When Jesus was carrying His cross, he was not concerned about His own suffering. He kissed the cross and carried it without demanding any pity because He was doing it out of love for us. Furthermore, when He met the women of Jerusalem, He was concerned about the suffering that was to come upon them and not his own suffering (Luke 23:27-29). Similarly, he was concerned about the eternal life of those who were killing him. He therefore forgave them (Luke 23:34).
Why must we love our enemies? We must love our enemies because God loves us all and died on the cross for our sins. Furthermore, we too are sinners like them, and are forgiven by God. In addition, the kindness, humility and love God expressed for us on the cross makes us see the hurt our offenders have brought upon themselves. This compels us to reach out to them. We also want the very best for them, because they are our brothers and sisters, children of God. Furthermore, it is always better to forgive than to condemn, because to condemn is to express hate, and hate destroys our spirit and leads to turmoil in our heart and in the world. On the other hand, when we forgive, it heals us and our offenders.
What is true freedom? True freedom is to have complete peace in our heart. This means we are completely free of anxiety, worries, fear and sin. To have this freedom we must have complete trust in God and accept His life of pure love. No one can take this freedom away from us because it dwells in our heart, and is unaffected by what happens around us. It makes us selfless, sacrificial, and pure of heart, and frees us of hate, revenge, lust, greed, selfishness, and pride.
How to change the world? The battle between good and evil in the world is an ongoing process. However, the biggest battle is in our heart. Therefore, to change the world each one of us must aim for holiness by imitating Jesus in everything we say, do or think by focusing on His sacrifice on the cross, and making His sacrifice known to the world. We might know everything about good values in life and love them, but if our spirit is not completely in sync with Jesus, we are bound to abandon these values when our self-interest is on the line. Therefore, to help others change their lives we must proclaim Jesus’ sacrifice to others and help them to trust God. This will help them to repent and change their lives. This will automatically lead to social justice. That is why Jesus was focused on saving us from the slavery of sin through repentance and never addressed the social injustices of slavery and Roman occupation.
When will the world end? The world is made of matter, matter is made of atoms, and atoms are formed by the energy and force that comes from the love of God. Therefore, it is God’s love that holds the world together. God’s love is humble, forgiving, selfless, charitable, sacrificial and eternal. Since to love is choice many reject God’s love. If most of earth’s inhabitants reject His love, it will reject the binding force of God’s love that holds the planet together. This will convert the earth into a black hole.
Is war worth it? No one wins a war because war destroys human lives on both sides; leaves countless people with physical, mental, and spiritual disabilities; creates orphans and widows; and tears families apart. Furthermore, war generates hate, revenge, cruelty, brutality, and murderous behavior. These evils are harmful to our spirit and deprives us of peace and joy that comes from God. Even when we fight for freedom or for a worthy cause, and win, we will not have true freedom in our heart, because hate, anger jealousy, and revenge created by the war will linger in our heart forever; and it will be passed onto successive generations. Furthermore, when we win a war, its hateful and destructive methods get glorified. This promotes lviolence and hate as a means of solving our problems in life.
The best defense is to give the opposing party a little more than what they asked for, because they too are children of God and our brothers and sisters. This will help both sides by preventing deaths, destruction, hate, revenge, and endless war. This will also create friendship and trust between the two sides, which will prevent further wars.
The greatest war we will ever fight is the war within our heart, when we must choose between good and evil; because what we choose will decide our eternity. Because we all have the spirit of love imprinted on our heart, most people will want to choose good. Unfortunately, we are often tempted to choose evil because it is attractive, it is the easy way out, or it is pleasing to the senses; while good requires sacrifice, selflessness, and forgiveness. Sometimes we want to choose good, but we choose evil to be in sync with society, or we feel that we cannot solve our problems through love. Unfortunately, we can never find peace and joy through evil, because we are created to be good. Furthermore, evil has no life. It, therefore, brings death to our spirit. It also leads to hate, violence, and despair. We must therefore remind ourselves that the power of love is infinitely greater than the power of evil because God is love. We should, therefore, overcome evil through our sacrificial love towards our enemies. This may involve offering them the other cheek if slapped on one and giving them more than what they asked for. This effort is worth it because only love will bring us lasting peace and healing.
What is the unforgivable sin? Through his sacrifice on the cross Jesus brought forgiveness to the whole human race. However, “to be forgiven,” means cleansing and healing of our soul. This requires humility, repentance with sincere contrition. Therefore, when we refuse to call our sins as sins, or refuse to reject sins, we reject the Holy Spirit (our true conscience) and refuse to be cleansed of our sins. Our sins, therefore, continue to hang on to us. Contrition on the otherhand is having a change in our heart and be truly sorry for our sin with firm resolve to sin no more.
VIII. AIM FOR HEAVEN
What is eternal life? Eternal life is to know God and desire His life. To know God is to desire to express His love. Since pure love is selfless, it is eternal. Therefore, to express pure love is to have eternal life.
What is heaven? Heaven is a place where the glory of God’s love on the on the cross is present. It is the final residence for everyone who are humble and contrite, and accepts God’s sacrificial love as their life. Everyone is invited to Heaven; unfortunately many reject it. Many have the heavenly love in their heart during their earthly stay. They love our enemies and are willing to die for those who have hurt and betrayed them, offer the other cheek if struck on one, give to everyone who asks, forgive without any limit, if anyone ask for our shirt give them our jacket also, not ask back what someone has borrowed from us, not divorce our spouse even if there is infidelity, not take revenge or have hate in our heart, not condemn others or speak ill about them, speak loudly of the good we see in those who hate us and harmed us, and completely trust God. Because everyone is free of sin in Heaven, it is therefore, free of evil and suffering. It is also the place where God’s presence is fully experienced, and God Himself enlightens the place. God wants all of us in Heaven, “The new and eternal Jerusalem.”
Heaven is also present on this earth in the hearts that are pure, holy, humble, contrite, selfless, sacrificial charitable and forgiving; and at the Holy Sacrifice of the mass.
Just before death those who did not know Christ, or lived before the coming of Christ, will get a glimpse at God’s pure love (John 8:56) on the cross. This will penetrate their souls with intense pain. This in turn will make some of them to repentant, reject sin and accept Christ. After this they will enter heaven. This is the case of the prophets and the holy people. Those who are proud and refuse to accept Christ and the forgiveness His love brings will be in eternal darkness; because Christ is the only source of eternal light.
Second coming of Christ is at the moment of our death. Stephen (Act 7:56) before his death, saw the heaven open up and Jesus come to take him home.. We too will face Jesus at our death, and choices we make for our life will bring judgment upon us. If we are humble and contrite, the love of God expressed on the cross will purify us and take us into Heaven. Since in infinity there is no time, the second coming will be at the same moment for all of us.
Purgation or purification of our soul can start in this life when we realize the infinite love of God expressed on the cross, and therefore, repent for our sins with a firm commitment to not sin again. Because we live in a world full of sin, we will have failures from time to time. However, if we surrender our will to God, we allow Him to navigate our life. He, then, will do whatever is necessary to get us out of our sinful habits. This may include pain, suffering and worldly failures. However, it will make us humble and contrite, which will help us to overcome them.
How to overcome fear of death
It is normal to have trepidation about death because life after death is unknown to us. Furthermore, we all want to preserve our life, because we cannot think about something beyond our present life. The good news is that if our spirit is in sync with God, it is immortal because God is immortal. God is immortal because He is the Spirit of unconditional Love which never dies. Therefore, if we accept God’s love as our life with humility and selflessness, and repent for our sins, our spirit will never be lifeless. Then, at death, our life will leave our present body and get a spotless body in heaven. This will be the most joyful moment for us. We know this for sure, because Jesus resurrected from death, spent 40 days with his followers, and even cooked fish for them and ate with them. Furthermore, Jesus told us that He has a place prepared for us (John 14: 2-4). Furthermore, Stephen (Acts 7:54-8:2) saw Jesus come to take him to heaven as he was being stoned to death.
How to be in sync with God?
Keep God’s commandments out of love and obedience to God and love for our fellow human beings. Start the day with scripture readings and meditate on God’s love, humility and humility expressed on the cross. Do examination of the conscience for all the activities of the previous day and resolve to do better. Listen to our conscience based on the teachings of the church that is based on God’s commandments and the Gospel. Thank God for creating us and giving us the ability to unconditionally love others. Let every moment of the day be a prayer in which we examine our conscience before every thought, word, and action. Furthermore, avoid all occasions that may lead to sin, and in every thought, word, and action imitate Jesus. Reject pride, hate, greed, selfishness, lust, and revenge. Unconditionally forgive our offenders and do not retaliate. Do not gossip or say anything bad about others. Speak only about the good we see in them. Forgive by healing our offenders. Pray for humility. Remember that the love of God is our only treasure. Therefore, find quiet time to meditate on it. Avoid entertainment and luxury. See the Divine in every human being we meet and treat them with profound respect. Be on a mission to bring the sacrificial love of God to others by being Christ to them through our thoughts, words, and actions.
What is eternal life on earth? To trust God completely is to be in Heaven on Earth. When we are humble, trust God, and give to God permission to do unto us according to His will, it frees us of worries, pride, hate, envy, anxiety, lust, greed, and revenge. We will love and treat all human beings, including those who hate and hurt us with utmost love and respect. We will even be willing to sacrifice everything to help those who are suffering. Furthermore, we will not fear death because we will be certain of eternal life with God. We therefore, completely surrender our will to God and walk His way. In other words we begin eternal life on earth.
What makes us immortal? Our life is our spirit (soul), and our spirit is an intelligent life force with the capability to express pure love. Our life came into being when we came into existence as zygote and leaves our body at death. If we are in sync with God, our life can not die because it is a spirit created and sustained by God (John 8:51 & 11:25-26). Therefore, those who suffer with pure love in their hearts are destined for God's pure love for all eternity.
What will we be doing in heaven? In heaven we will be in eternity, which has no time. It will, therefore, always be now. Furthermore, we will be completely in-sync with God. We, will therefore, have complete peace and joy. Since everyone in heaven will be in sync with God, there will be no sin, suffering, or hate. Furthermore, like the angels, we too will join God in His work of reaching out to people on earth, in spirit, and helping them to choose pure love. In a similar manner we will reach out to those who are suffering and feel abandoned by being a channel of God’ love to them.
Who goes to Heaven? God is the infinite Spirit of pure love, who is our creator, redeemer and brings holiness into our heart through the pure love He expressed on the cross. He talks to us as our conscience. He does not condemn sinners, but bring pure love into their heart through His love. To be in Heaven is to have pure love in our heart at all times. It begins on earth even though we have to suffer due to sin in the world. We chose heaven when we choose pure love as our life. When we reject pure love we choose hell, because without pure love, who is God, there is no life.
IX. BE JUST
What is justice? Only God is just because He is pure love, sinless, sacrificial, and selfless. To be just, therefore is to think, talk and do what is godly. Since God is pure love, to be just is to have a life of pure love. Pure love is selfless, sacrificial, charitable. Therefore, true justice is unbiased, selfless, charitable, and always takes every step possible to make the offender a better person. This is precisely what Jesus did to the repentant thief next to Him on the cross. Through the love he expressed on the cross, he put repentance into our heart. Because pure love is infinite it does not follow time. Therefore, even those who repent at the last moment of their life will be saved, same as those who are faithful all their lives.
Justice consists of mercy, compassion, forgiveness, and healing through acts of sacrifice and charity. It is not about eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, my rights, destroying the unfaithful, or condemning sinners. True justice occurred on the cross, when God in the person Jesus, willingly accepted the most painful and humiliating death to save us from sin. True justice does not condemn or sue others. On the contrary, it exercises mercy by forgiving others, and by sacrificing self to help them to recover from their weaknesses. Jesus told us to love our enemies and do good to them, if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. Furthermore, if someone takes or borrows what is yours, do not ask it back (Matt. 5:38-40); and forgive others without any limit. Similarly, St. Paul teaches us that, the fact that we have legal disputes amongst us, means that we have morally failed; furthermore, it is better to be wronged or cheated than to sue another person (1 Cor. 6:7). These teachings are contrary to modern day practices. This shows us how distant we are from God’s justice.
What law should we follow? In the Old covenant, God gave us ten commandments so that by following the laws we will express God’s love in our lives. Unfortunately, we did not change our hearts. Instead, we tried to keep the commandments out of fear of God’s wrath. It was, therefore, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth (Lv. 24:20). In the New Covenant, God Himself took a human form in Jesus and showed us true love by accepting the most painful and humiliating death on the cross to bring eternal life to all, including those who were killing Him and betrayed Him. His Spirit of Love expressed on the cross clearly shows us what true love is, and how to live a righteous life. This changes our heart from a stony dead heart to an alive fleshy heart. We, can therefore, live a righteous life by living by His Spirit of pure and sacrificial love. This is how he fulfilled the law. Therefore, by living by His Spirit we can fight evil with love, help those who hurt us, give to everyone who asks, and do not demand back what others have taken from us, love our enemies, forgive them without any limit, give up resentment or claim we have against our offenders, and heal them by compensating for their wrongdoings through our acts love and sacrifice for them.
When we are hurt, we suffer from pain and insults. If we do not forgive and hang on to the hurt, the hurt will increase as the time goes by and result in hate, which takes peace out of our heart and destroys our soul. On the other hand, if we forgive with love in our heart, it will not only heal our spirit but also bring us peace and joy. The love we express in forgiving others also heals and brings repentance to the offenders, because the love we express in forgiving, is God.
What is social justice? Social justice is to treat all people equally irrespective of their age, sex, race, or abilities, and give them equal opportunity to reach their full potential. Although our bodies come in varied sizes, shapes, colors, and abilities, we are equal, because our innermost being (our soul) is created in the image of God. We must, therefore, respect and love every human being, as we respect and love God. Unfortunately, because of our pride, envy, prejudice, greed, hate, revenge, and selfishness many of us have either forgotten God, or have rejected Him. This results in social injustice in many forms.
There are many forms of injustices in society, and all of them are important, however, the worst form is the killing of innocent unborn babies in the womb (76million) worldwide, annually. In addition, there are probablytwice this number killed in IVF laboratories. This is more than all other causes of deaths combined (68 million). Furthermore, although it is the worst form of injustice, it is legal in most countries. This shows that our present-day society is morally bankrupt. Furthermore, since this worst form of injustice is legal, every other form of injustice becomes a normality in the mind’s set of many.
Although laws and value-based education can reduce injustice, injustice will continue, until everyone loves God and sees His presence in every human being, including the littlest ones. This will happen only when we are in-sync with the true God. Therefore, drawing people to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is the key to bringing social justice.
How should we treat the rich and arrogant? It is easy to take care of those who love us and those who are poor, humble, and needy, because we do not feel threatened by them. It is, however, difficult to love those we judge as arrogant, hypocrites, racists, and wealthy. We often feel threatened by them and envy them. We even blame them for all the evils in the world. However, they too are our brothers and sisters that have spiritual and emotional needs like everyone else. Furthermore, we have no right to judge them as bad because we too are sinners. Even those who do evil acts cannot be shunned. God helps everyone; especially those whom the world considers as hopeless. He is with them till the end, doing His best to bring them back to Him. Jesus, therefore, did not condemn the tax collectors who were wealthy and cheaters, or the prostitutes. He healed them of their sins and brought them back to God. Wealthy people have more suffering than the poor because their wealth takes them away from God. Poor people, on the other hand, have many physical needs, but because of their humility they are spiritually rich and closer to God. We must therefore never forget the rich and the arrogant.
Should we admonish those who are in error? When someone does wrong it hurts their soul. Therefore, we must point out the obvious fault or evil in their actions, so that they can rectify the wrong through repentance and restitution. The intention is not to condemn them, but to help them correct the wrong they are doing. God can judge us because He is sinless and can read our mind, yet He did not condemn us. He, instead, came into this world in human form and accepted the most painful death on the cross, to bring us forgiveness of sin through repentance. In other words, only the spirit of love in our actions may change them. Therefore, in addition to pointing out their errors in a charitable way, encourage them by mentioning the good we see in them.
God’s justice: When we see a just person suffer and a corrupt person prosper, we may wonder about God’s justice. However, God is not concerned about earthly suffering or prosperity because they are transient; and nothing compared to the eternal peace and joy that awaits those who are faithful to His unconditional love. God does want fairness even on this earth. His fairness is pure love. He tells to offer the other cheek if struck on one, give to everyone that asks, if someone takes our coat, give them our cloak as well, do not ask back what others have take away from us, love our enemies and do good to them, forgive without any limit, give up our worldly possessions and follow Him and keep faithful our marriage vows irrespective what the situation is.
Only pure love brings us peace and joy. The earthly form of fairness leads to wars, litigations, slander, hate, revenge, and pride. They destroy our eternal peace. God as Jesus showed us true fairness when He freely accepted the most painful death on the cross to evoke pure love in our heart so that we will reject sin and have eternal peace and joy.
X. WORSHIP GOD
How to worship in spirit and in truth? God does not want burnt offerings and sacrifices. He wants a humble, contrite, forgiving, gentle, selfless, charitable, and trusting heart.
We worship God because He is our creator and Father who put His own Spirit on our heart and called us to share in His peace and joy for all eternity. When we brought death upon ourselves through sin, He redeemed us through His sacrifice on the cross. Furthermore, He is the Love that our hearts long for.
j of us worship God through our prayers, songs of praise and sacrificial offerings to thank God and let Him know our affection for Him. This lifts our spirit to Him and positively changes it. However, the most important thing God desires from us is to worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24) with a merciful, humble, and contrite heart. To worship in spirit and in truth is to bring our spotless spirit to God and make an unconditional (truthful) offering of our life to him, as a thanksgiving (Eucharist) for all he has done for us. Unfortunately, we are incapable of making a perfect offering because we are sinners. Therefore, Jesus, who is pure and sinless, on our behalf, made an offering of pure love to the Father by freely accepting the most painful and humiliating death on the cross for preaching and practicing pure love. The love Jesus expressed on the cross for us, makes our heart humble and contrite. This is a pleasing offering to God. Furthermore, Jesus made an offering of His eternal sacrifice under the appearance of bread and wine (Matthew 26:26-28) to the Father, as a thanksgiving (Eucharist), on the night before He died, and asks us to consume his sacrificial body and blood with a humble and contrite heart (1 Corinthian 11:29) so that we may have His life in us (John 6:51). Furthermore, He asks us to do this as often as possible so that His Spirit will always dwell in our heart (memory) (Luke 22:19). Furthermore, when the Holy Sacrifice of the mass is offered throughout the world, it fulfills Malachi’s prophecy (Malachi 1:11) which states, “from the rising of the sun to its setting, in every place a pure sacrifice will be fulfilled. Furthermore, the reception of His body and blood is an intimate communion (1 Cor. 10:16) with Jesus, and the celebration of the Eucharist is the wedding feast of the Lamb (Revelation 5:6) in which Christ unites with us.
At the Holy Sacrifice of the mass, we re-enter Jesus’ eternal sacrifice on the cross, which He offered to the Father the night before He died; to bring us forgiveness of sins through repentance. He asked us to offer this sacrifice as often as possible to keep His Spirit alive in our heart. Furthermore, He told us that unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood, we will not have life. We can enter His sacrifice even now because it is infinite; and therefore, is always present through all ages. Therefore, the priest, in the person of Jesus (the high priest) offers this sacrifice at mass. We through our baptism and repentance for our sins can join Jesus during this offering. Paul tells us that we cannot share in His sacrificial meal unworthily, because in doing so we bring condemnation upon ourselves (1 Corinthians 11:27). We must therefore confess our sins and be truly repentant for them. In addition, if we have hatred against anyone, we must first reconcile with them (Matthew 5: 23-24) before taking part in offering.
Liturgy of the hour is a prayer- communication with God. To be present at the Holy sacrifice of the mass on the other hand is being present with a humble and contrite at the eternal and divine sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and drawing spiritual life from it. Many Catholics go for daily mass.
BE HUMBLE AND CONTRITE. To receive the sacrifice of Jesus on cross without humility and contrition is to spit out what we just received. It is to reject the life of love He offers. Without that life our soul is dead.
How do we believe in the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist? Since God made the Universe out of nothing, he can take any form He wants. During Jesus’ discourse on eating His flesh and drinking His blood (John 6:51), he said that the bread he gives us is his flesh. After that, some people stopped believing in Him. One of them was (Judas) who later betrayed Him (John 6:64) and walked away from the Lord’s Supper (John 14:30). The other apostles did not leave, although they did not fully understand how the bread would be His flesh (John 6:51). They simply accepted it in faith, because they believed that Jesus had the Words of eternal life and was the Holy One from God (John 7: 68, 69).
To take part in the Lord’s Supper and receive his body and blood, is to have communion with Christ. This is what it really means to have a personal relationship with Him. This is what we are made for. It makes us part of His family. Then His Father is our Father, His mother our mother and His house our house. Oneness with Christ brings us salvation because He is the only source of true goodness. Furthermore, Eucharist is the love of God made visible through his sacrifice on the cross.
Although it is possible to have spiritual communion with the Lord in meditation and intense prayers, perfection of communion can only occur when there is, both physical and spiritual communion. Therefore, although the prophets and holy people of the Old Testament did have spiritual communion with God, God had to come in the physical person of Jesus to bring us salvation.
When we love someone, we are not content with mere phone conversation; we also want physical communion, because we are both physical and spiritual beings. Furthermore, holiness is not only spiritual but also physical; because God took physical form (in the person of Jesus) to make us holy; and, because expression of God’s love (by human beings) requires physical acts. Furthermore, matter is formed of force and energy which comes from the Divine.We, therefore, need both, spiritual and physical union with God. This union occurs when we receive the Holy Communion in a humble and contrite heart.
Why do we go to church? The Church is the hospital for sick souls and Jesus is the physician. The medicines are the Scripture and the Holy sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, which we re-enter at mass and receive in His sacrificial body and blood. We can enter His sacrifice even now because it is eternal, which means ever present. The priest in the person of Christ offers this sacrifice. We, who are sinners, therefore go to church to acknowledge that we are sinners, confess our sins, reaffirm our friendship with God and receive healing for our souls through the scriptures and the sacrificial body and blood of Christ.
What is prayer? Prayer is communication with God, in which we listen to his voice and respond to it by our thoughts, words and actions. During prayer we can express our thankfulness to God for the love He expresses for us; our contrition for the hurt we caused Him by our selfishness and pride; and our confidence in Him in times of trouble.
In our prayers we must meditate on God’s love and forgiveness for us, which He expressed by dying on the cross to compensate for offenses. This should help us to bring love and forgiveness to our heart for those who offend us. Our prayer should also be to make our joy, suffering and desire known to Him, because He is our Father and best friend. It should also be a time to surrender our will to Him and accept our total dependence on Him. Furthermore, it should also be a time to plan for further actions to do God’s will.
Our prayer can also be to petition God for favors. God already knows what is good for us and will do what is best for us. We must therefore trust Him and accept whatever He gives us. However, it is OK to persist in our prayer when we do not get what we asked for, as long as we leave the final decision to God. When we continue to pray, even when we do not get what we asked for, we express even stronger faith in God. This faith helps us to have peace and joy by making us aware of God’s love for us. Prayer is important for peace because prayer brings us in communion with God. In this communion we let His spirit permeate our heart. This makes us one in spirit with Him and brings us peace.
My prayer is a continuous prayer talking to God as my best friend, who continually Is counseling me. It is same as Tavia in Fiddler on the roof talking to God. If I have revengeful thoughts He immediately alerts me and tells how He forgive me. If I want something, I always say may it be done unto me according to your will. If I do not get what I asked for, I say , Lord you know what is best., your love is enough for me.
God is constantly speaking to us. He is our conscience that constantly instructs us to do what is right and help those in need. When we want to say something bad about others, or gossip about unpleasant things in other people’s life, or want verbally to retaliate in an argument, or say something negative about others, He tells us to hold our tongue and stay quiet, say something positive about them and pray for them. His voice is the ardent desire in our heart to unconditionally love others and be merciful and forgiving towards them. His voice is also the sense of comfort and consolation within our heart in times of trouble, constantly reminding us to pick up our cross and follow Him. We often do not hear Him because the turmoil of the world distracts us. However, if we free ourselves of all distractions and open our heart to Him, we will hear Him and feel His love.
How do we recognize the presence of God? God is love, and Love is a spirit. Love therefore cannot be seen. Love, however, can be experienced through acts of love. The following are some examples. Soldiers who carry enemy combatants on their shoulders for medical care. People who stay faithful to their marriage vows although their spouses have hurt and betrayed them. People who go out of their way and even put their life on the line to help those who have hurt them. People who give away everything, including their own desires, and go to countries that are devoid of basic sanitation and comfort to bring the good news of God’s love for them. We can also experience the presence of God when we ponder the infinite sacrifice God made for us on the cross and reenter it at the Holy Sacrifice of the mass. We find His Spirit within our heart if we stay still and open our heart to him. He is there as our conscience that prompts us to sacrifice our own interest and reach out to those around us. He is there as our faith, which enables us to see good in ourselves and in others; and gives us the surety that in the end love will always prevail.
What does it mean to be forgiven? To be forgiven means to be cleansed from the stain of sin. To remove the stain of sin, we must reject sin and embrace the pure love of God. This requires true repentance, humility, truthfulness, and a firm commitment to never sin again. To bring us repentance, Jesus shows us true love through his sacrifice on the cross. His sacrificial love, which the truth, awakens the truth in our heart to make us repentant. This happened to the good thief on the cross, next to Jesus, who repented for his sins.
What does it mean to forgive? To forgive is not only to give up any claim or resentment we have against our offenders; but to wipe away their offenses (which is to heal their spirit) by bringing a change in their heart (repentance) through our expression of sacrificial love towards them. Jesus did this by dying for us on the cross. Jesus, therefore, tells us to love our enemies, help those who hurt us, pray for our persecutors (Luke 6: 27-36), and forgive without limit. If we do not forgive each of our offenders from our heart (Matt. 18, 35) and sue them (1Cor. 6:6) we do not have His Spirit in our heart. Furthermore, it is better to be wronged, than to sue others.
To forgive is an act of sacrificial love; and true love has no limit. Therefore, we should forgive without limit. If we do not forgive each of our offenders from our heart (Matt. 18, 35) we do not have the love of God in our heart. When people hurt us, we feel we have lost something. This makes us vengeful and hateful. We demand compensation to take revenge and get back something in exchange for what we have lost. However, if we realize that God's life in us is our only true treasure (which no one can take away from us), and that everything else is temporary (and therefore worthless), we will never feel we have lost anything and have resentment. Furthermore, if we believe in Jesus’ sacrifice for us, we will want to show the same mercy to others.
Should criminals be punished? Violent criminals need to be incarcerated to prevent them from hurting others. However, they need to learn what true love is so they will repent for their sins and change their life. This can happen if they are treated with utmost respect and love. They also need spiritual counseling to help them overcome their spiritual deficit. This approach also applies to non-violent criminals, except that instead of incarcerating them, they should do community service and pay back twice the amount they have stolen or cheated.
What is the unforgivable sin? Through his sacrifice on the cross Jesus brought forgiveness to the whole human race. However, “to be forgiven,” means our soul is healed of the disease of sin. This requires that we accept that have sinned, are sorry for sins and firmly resolve to never sin again. Therefore, when we refuse to call our sins as sins, or refuse to reject sins, we refuse to be forgiven of our sins. Our sins, therefore, continue to hang on to us. To be forgiven is to be healed of all evils in our heart. Therefore, when we harbor hate in our heart and refuse to forgive others, we refuse to get healed of our own sins.
We cannot be forgiven without repentance. To be forgiven means that we want to change and be free of sin. This can happen only when we have true contrition with a firm commitment to never sin again. Therefore, to be forgiven of our sins, repentance is absolutely necessary. Furthermore, if we refuse to call a sin, a sin, and refuse to change, we are not forgiven even if the victim of our sin forgives us. This is an unforgivable sin.
Are wars ever won? Although people go to war as a means of self-defense, wars can never bring us freedom from sin; and freedom from sin is absolutely needed to bring us peace and joy for all eternity. Furthermore, because war involves deliberate violence and killing of human beings, which goes against our human spirit, it ooo and hate, instead of ending it. Only changing hearts through love can resolve conflicts and end injustice.
Why did Jesus not fight the social injustice of slavery and Roman oppression? Only changing hearts through expressions of pure love will end these evils. Jesus, therefore, did not fight against the evil of slavery and persecution of his people by the Romans. Instead, He redeemed us from slavery to sin, through his teachings, forgiveness, compassion, and sacrifice on the cross. Furthermore, when soldiers came to arrest Jesus, Jesus told Peter to put away his sword. Therefore, Christians did not fight back when the Romans persecuted and killed them. Furthermore, they knew the suffering and death they were facing were nothing compared to the eternal peace and joy that awaited them. This was great witness to Romans and other pagans, who later embraced Christianity
How to love our enemies and overcome hate? Remember that we are sinners, and our offenders are our brothers and sisters with God as our father. We must, therefore, look at the cross and see how Jesus forgave and healed us by dying on the cross for our sins. Surrender our will to God without holding back anything and pray for deliverance from hate and revenge. Furthermore, out of pure obedience to God do something that is an act of sacrificial love for our offenders.
When others hurt us, they hurt themselves more than they hurt us, because, by hurting us they hurt their own soul, which deprives them of peace and joy. Therefore, we should set aside our own pain and suffering and bring healing to those who have offended us through our acts of sacrifice on their behalf. Initially they will be suspicious that we have an ulterior motive. However, if we persist in our goodness, our love for them may heal them.
XII. PROTECT ALL HUMAN BEINGS
What makes all human beings equal? Although our size, age, physical appearance, skin color, abilities, mental status, and intelligence are not equal, we are equal because we are all created in the image of God, His Spirit is imprinted on our hearts, and we are brothers and sisters with God as our Father. This also makes every human being the temple of the Holy Spirit. In addition, each one of us is a special creation with unique genetic codes, fingerprints and iris scan. Therefore, even those conceived out of wedlock, incest, or rape are innocent and precious human beings.
When a new human embryo is formed, it has its own life. This life is human and unique. Furthermore, the life we have today, or as a young adult, or as a toddler or as a baby is a continuation of the life we had as an embryo. Therefore, a human embryo has human life. Furthermore, it is a being because it is a separate living human entity. Therefore, a human embryo is a human being. Since killing a human being is murder (USC 18,51:1111), abortion is murder. There are no exceptions for murder in the USC system. Therefore, reproductive rights or privacy become mute points. Furthermore, the right to life takes precedence over all other rights because without life there are no rights. Therefore, when a mother’s life is in danger, treatment should aim at protecting, both, the mother, and the baby.
Why is abortion the worst crime against humanity? Our creator gave the mother the privilege to provide a safe sanctuary in her womb to her developing baby as a sign of her deep love for her baby. Similarly, doctors have the vocation to heal and protect life. Therefore, when a mother and a doctor collude and kill a baby it is the gravest atrocity a human can commit.
It is estimated that 76 million innocent human beings get killed each year in the world by abortion. This number is greater than 61 million deaths per year resulting from all other causes, including wars, hunger, poverty, diseases, accidents, environmental disasters, and genocides. Abortions are performed by poisoning the developmental process, burning the baby to death with chemicals or by tearing the baby apart or by sucking their brains and then crushing their skulls
Some people try to justify abortion because the mother's health or life is in danger. Since every human life is precious, every effort must be made to treat both. Furthermore, rape or incest does not diminish the humanity of the unborn babies. Many people want abortion to be legal and done by physicians because the mother could get hurt or killed in a back-alley abortion. This is like saying that since murderers could get hurt or killed while killing their victims, we should make it legal for them to get professionals to do the killing.
The right to life is the single most critical issue to humans, because without life we have no rights. Therefore, those who promote brutal killing of innocent babies, and then talk about other human rights have no truth in them. Furthermore, it is even worse when they try to justify abortion on the grounds of privacy. How can privacy be more important than an innocent human life?
An unborn baby is separate from the mother. It receives nutrition and life support from the mother via an umbilical cord and placenta. It is also genetically and physically different from the mother. As human beings we take care of our children, especially when they are small and helpless. Even animals do that. Therefore, the argument about forced servitude is a mute issue. Furthermore, it is not legal to kill a family member because he/she lives in your house and is very burdensome.
Unfortunately, many politicians who claim to be devout Christian’s support and promote it. There is no greater treachery and villainy than this crime. It goes to the very heart of our existence in which our mother bears and protects her baby. Furthermore, without life there are no rights. Therefore, the right to life, which is a right given to each human being by God, and all other rights are based on it. When we deny this right by promoting those who support abortion, we go against God. Furthermore, abortion and destruction of human embryos is the worst form of discrimination against the unborn. Furthermore, just as slavery was legal because selfishness had blinded us to the truth, today we have abortions because of selfishness.
Sexual sin is the greatest threat to the existence of humanity
1) Abortion usually results from sexual sin. It, through surgical procedure or medication kills 73 million human beings annually worldwide. This is greater than all other causes of deaths (like wars, environment, famine, earthquakes, poverty, diseases, crime and accidents) put together. (61 million). In addition sexually transmitted diseases cause another 2.5 million deaths. In addition, those who encourage or participated in this brutal act of abortion; such as mother, father, friends, doctors, nurses, clinic receptionist, dispensing pharmacies and drug manufacturers (probably numbering many millions cut themselves away from God by their actions. There can therefore, be NO greater catastrophic tragedy to the human race than this.
2) Sexual sins leads to breakdown of families, or create people without families. This leads to severe psychological and psychosexual disorders; some of which can lead to suicide or murder. It also treats our self and others as objects for pleasure. This leads to selfishness and disrespect for others.
3) While it is that absolutely true that poverty, protection of environment and elimination of injustice are important, it will never happen until everyone makes Jesus’ sacrificial love their life. We must therefore, treat the poverty of soul that exists in the world by proclaiming Jesus love by our words and actions.
Does capital punishment deter violence? Capital punishment is chosen to deter violent crimes and to make criminals pay back for the crime they committed with their own life. Because this form of punishment involves killing human beings, in imposing this punishment the society performs the same violent act it is trying to deter. In addition, it teaches society that violence can be treated with violence. This increases violence in society. Furthermore, since God is the author of all life, no one has the right or authority to kill another human being. In the old days, when it was not possible to securely imprison violent criminals, capital punishment was accepted as a form of self-defense. However, nowadays, when it is possible to securely isolate violent criminals from society, there is absolutely no justification for capital punishment.
What are Euthanasia and suicide? Euthanasia and suicide are violence against human life. It is, therefore, a crime against God and humanity. Some people choose them because they feel hopeless or want to end their pain and suffering. However, irrespective of how bad our situation is, we can always find hope, because God loves us; and there is no greater joy than to be loved by God. This joy will overshadow our pain and suffering in this life and brings us eternal life that is free of pain and suffering. Furthermore, we can give our pain and suffering redemptive value by quietly accepting it as a sacrifice on behalf of others, so that the humility this sacrifice generates in us, opens our heart to accept God’s graces for us and those dear to us. Pain and suffering accepted in this spirit brings us endurance, endurance brings us virtue and virtue brings us hope. Many people feel that to live with pain, suffering and severe disabilities is undignified. However, our true dignity comes from God's love for us, and His life in us; and not from our social, economic or health status. Furthermore, human beings who are terminally ill or totally disabled, are also contributors to the society, because they bring out the spirit of love in the people who take care of them. This enriches society by making it more compassionate and caring.
When a person is in coma, that person is still a person with equal dignity as all others. We, therefore, must treat him/her the same way we would treat anyone else. To withhold nutrition or water or any other form of necessary care is euthanasia. Similarly, when there is a reasonable chance for cure, to withhold treatment is euthanasia.
XIII. KEEP MARRIAGE HOLY
What is marriage? Marriage is a covenant of love between a man and a woman, in which each forgoes their own life to form a new life with their spouse. It is also the union of two souls, because the soul is the essence of a human being and makes us capable of expressing God’s unconditional love. Because giving oneself to another is an act of this love, and God is love, marriage is God’s love expressed in human relationships. God, therefore, is the binding force in marriage. Because God is love and He is unchanging, this covenant is permanent. It mirrors God’s union with us, in which He put His Spirit in our heart. Furthermore, it is also a precursor of our own perfect union with God when we enter His Kingdom. Furthermore, in marriage it is total giving of oneself to our spouse to form one flesh, it, therefore can not be divided. Polygamy, therefore, is not an option.
What is the physiology of marriage? Marriage is a union of two lives to form a new entity called family. Since life is physiological, to unite lives in marriage husband and wife must unite their physiologies. The only physiology in which two human beings can unite to form a union of life, is reproductive physiology. Since only a man and a woman have complementary reproductive organs to complete this physiological union, union of life can occur only between a man and a woman. Therefore, biologically marriage is only possible between a man and a woman; and union of reproductive physiology is the hallmark of marriage. In addition, through marriage a man and a woman become complete, because without their physiological union in the reproductive process, the human race will become extinct. Furthermore, just as, in the formation of a new compound, two other compounds of opposite poles combine, so also, in the formation of a newhuman being, two people of opposite sex unite.
The physiological purpose of reproductive union is to bring new human lives into the world and raise them in a family. This makes reproductive (sexual) union an act of love. This is a unique expression of love because its intention is to propagate humanity. When this act is outside marriage, the couple are abusing each other’s bodies by uniting their physiology without uniting their lives in marriage. In addition, they are being irresponsible to the potential children that can result from their act, by not having a full family unit for them. Paul therefore tells us that adulterers, fornicators, and those who engage in homosexual acts will not inherit Heaven (1 Cor. 6:9).
In marriage neither party can bring forth a new human being by themselves; so that each complement the other to form a single life giving unit. Therefore, monogamy is the natural law.
Is contraception against humanity? Contraception is to prevent conception of a human life. It is therefore against humanity. It is also against women’s health, because it interferes with the normal female reproductive physiology and hormonal balance.
Sexual union between husband and wife is self-giving love because it is physiologically a reproductive act. Contraception, therefore, by eliminating the very purpose of such a union, removes love from it; making it a purely selfish act, in which one uses the other for pure pleasure. It is like eating food, while putting a barrier in the stomach so that the nutritive value of the food is eliminated. Those who use it, therefore, abuse their bodies and convert marriage from a sacrificial and holy union to a selfish and sterile union. Furthermore, by going against natural physiology, they are going against the creator of physiology. Furthermore, when sex is used purely for pleasure, it makes those involved in the act objects to derive pleasure from. This leads to divorce, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, pornography, and other forms of deviant and perverse sexual acts.
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To have children is a blessing from God. Therefore, contraception is rejection of God’s blessing. Furthermore, since contraception is against human life, it makes people disregard human life. It therefore makes people selfish and self absorbed. This in turn increases divorce rate and breakdown of family.
A man and a woman individually are not complete, because individually their reproductive organs can not propagate to continue the human species. Therefore, when they sacrifice their individuality through marriage to form a family and promise to freely accept children through their union of life is an act of love. Therefore, fornication, adultery, reproductive union using contraceptive methods are not acts of love. Similarly, same sex activity is not an act of love or union of life, because it lacks union of physiologically compatible reproductive organs. Furthermore, any form of sexual activity which does not conform to the physiological purpose of sexual organs is perversion. It is like trying to eat food through the ear or using a lock to open a lock or lighting a bulb using wires of the same polarity. To get involved in this activity, therefore, is a grave disorder which is harmful to mind, body and spirit. It is, therefore, a grave sin and abomination.
Love is not a feeling or emotion. It is the Spirit of God that is selfless, meek, humble, forgiving, redeeming, sacrificial and life giving. Therefore, same sex sexual activity is not an act of love or union of life, because it goes directly against the life giving nature of sexual activity. Furthermore, any form of sexual activity which does not conform to the physiological purpose of sexual organs is perversion, and a gravest insult to God, the creator of human life. Because it is like trying to eat food through the ear or using a lock to open a lock or lighting a bulb using wires of same polarity, to get involved in this activity, is a serious disorder which is harmful to mind, body and spirit.
Masturbation is a non-procreative act that uses procreative elements for self-gratification. In this act, therefore, procreative function is misused. Furthermore, this act is self-centered. This leads to anxiety, worries and self-pity.
Attempts to change one’s biological sex is a grave disorder. If a man thinks he is a tiger, he cannot be a tiger. Similarly, if a man thinks he is a woman, he can never be a woman. Our manhood or womanhood is genetically written on all the 37 trillion cells of our body; and it cannot be changed by law, medications, or surgery. To mutilate human beings through medications and so-called gender-affirming procedures is a crime on the part of the physicians.
What is wrong with divorce? Since God (love) is the binding force in marriage, it is permanent; and no human organization can dissolve it (Matthew 19:4-6). The only exception Matthew adds to, is for illicit or unlawful union, which are not marriages. Salvation comes from believing in the love God expressed for us on the cross and putting His love into action in our life. Therefore, those who honestly believe in Jesus’ sacrifice, which he made for sin, will stay faithful to their marriage vows even when there is hurt’,” and infidelity. Furthermore, since God is the binding force in marriage, divorce is rejection of God. It is therefore, a SIN; and remarriage after divorce is adultery (Luke 16:18). Divorce produces hate, bitterness, hurt, hopelessness, revenge, and anger. It leads to eternal unrest in the spirits of the couple, and affects everyone around them. Some justify divorce based on what they call “bad marriage”, and even say that there was no real marriage. However, every marriage in which we invite God (true Love) to be the binding force, is perfect because with our consent God can overcome our imperfections. Furthermore, God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16) because it destroys our soul.
How to heal a marriage? If we believe that God can heal us, we can be sure that our inequities that prevent us from having a good relationship with our spouse can be overcome. We must know that through marriage we take part in Christ’s mission of unconditionally serving our spouse through sacrifice. Furthermore, we must look at our spouse, not as our adversary, but as our better half, to whom we have committed our entire life to. Furthermore, our spouse in a child of God and temple of the Holy Spirit. We must, therefore, have the greatest love and respect for our spouse. Therefore, when we have an argument with our spouse, we must exercise the generosity, understanding, forgiveness and the compassion of Christ towards our spouse. We will then find hope in hopeless situations, love where there is hate, peace where there is discord, and see the face of God in the pain and suffering of our spouse. This means that, if we let God’s love govern our thoughts and actions, we will love and forgive our spouse unconditionally. This will free us of hate and heal our relationship with our spouse.
Sometimes, the stresses of marriage may seem unbearable, especially if our spouse is alcoholic, abusive, mentally ill, or unfaithful. In such situations, we can stay faithful to our commitment; by remembering how Jesus compensated for our wrong doings, when we were unfaithful to him and wronged him. Furthermore, when there is an argument with our spouse, we should surrender our will to God by not pushing our own opinion, staying quiet, and in our heart accepting whatever God wills. Then God will bring about a right resolution to the problem. Furthermore, we should continually pray and make sacrifices for the conversion of our spouse and ourselves. It may take a long time to bring healing to our spouse or our spouse may be unresponsive to love. However, like God, who never gives up on us, we too must never give up on our spouse. We must remember that true love comes only from God. We must, therefore, hang on to His love to find comfort in Him, and be courageous. In the end, when we die accepting God’s life, His peace and joy will dwell with us for all eternity.
I know a lady who was married to a very abusive husband who was not practicing his faith. She was a devout Christian who believed in prayers, redemption, and forgiveness. She stayed faithful to her husband, prayed for him, was forgiving towards him, and did not give up on him. Many people told her to leave her husband. She however, persisted in her prayers and faithfulness. Then one day, she had life threatening medical problems. Her husband rushed her to the hospital and then knelt and fervently prayed for her. Miraculously she recovered. He then became a faithful and generous person with a kind heart. Their children became faithful Christian. They both had happy deaths.
What is wrong with artificial human reproduction? The very essence of human existence is love because we are created in the image of God (who is love) and are a product of God’s love expressed through our parents’ union of love. Conception, therefore, is the fruit of marital love. Artificial insemination, in-vitro fertilization, and cloning procedures, therefore, dehumanize human reproduction, by taking the act of unitive love out of it and converting it into a purely cellular process. This devalues the understanding of procreative love in marriage, thereby devaluing the meaning of marriage itself. This causes grave harm to the institution of marriage which is the very foundation of society. Furthermore, unitive love, which is conjugal union in marriage, is inseparable from conception, because conjugal union’s only physiological purpose is conception; and conjugal union and conception are various stages of a reproductive process. Therefore, to have one without the other is to go against God’s natural order..
During in-vitro fertilization and cloning procedures, lethal violence is committed against many human beings, when unwanted human beings in their embryonic stage are discarded. Some of these procedures also deprive the resultant human beings of the dignity of knowing their origin (biological parents), causing them grave injustice and psychological trauma.
XIV. PRAYER
What is prayer? Prayer is communication with God. Prayer can be personal or communal. The purpose of prayers is to talk to God as our Father and friend, acknowledge His sacrifice for us, share our joy and sorrow with him, confess our sins to Him and ask for forgiveness, seek His advice, accept His will in our decision making, thank him for favors granted, ask for favors, and express our desire to grow closer to him. He talks to us through our conscience, in which he reminds us of scripture passages, his commandments and his sacrificial love expressed on the cross. To talk to Him, we must avoid the noise and distraction of the world. Though a humble and contrite heart will hear Him even amid noise and turmoil. We must pray continually, seeking God’s guidance in all our activities of the day. This enables us to examine our thoughts and actions and align them with God’s will.
Does God answer our prayers?
Sometimes, everything seems to go wrong in life. We pray, but it does not make a difference. In fact, it seems like, as we intensify our prayer, our problems increase. We feel that even God has abandoned us. Furthermore, as our problems increase, our prayers become lifeless, and we cease to feel the presence of God. However, this is the time when our heart can find victory in God because this is the time when we are most likely to become humble and surrender our will to God. This allows God to help us and turn our life around. We should, therefore, seize this opportunity by continuing to trust God even when there is absolutely no hope. This absolute faith in God enables us to live for God, by focusing our attention on the needs of others, rather than our own. We must keep this trust in God alive by meditating on God's love for us on the cross. Furthermore, even though we may feel that our prayers are unanswered we must continue to petition God, because it shows our undying faith in him. This will increase our closeness to Him. Remember that St, Monica prayed for thirty years before St. Augustine changed. In addition, as we get closer to God we will see many miracles, which we will ordinarily overlook. We will hear His voice everywhere step of the way, as our conscience is talking to you. Therefore, examine your conscience before every decision you make; and after every petition of yours always end by saying, “may it be done according to your will “. Then accept whatever comes your way with full trust, knowing that the love of God for you is your only true treasure and reality; and that God knows best.
Examination of conscience is the best way we can regularly converse with God. Therefore, we should examine our conscience before every crucial decision we make during the day. It is the most beautiful prayer in which He advises us and reminds us of scripture passages. It also helps us to develop friendship and oneness with Him.
Intercessory prayers: When we have 8a severe problem in life, we Pray to God for help. In addition, we ask our friends and family members to pray for us. Similarly, if we see others have problems, we assure them of our prayers. Jesus even asks us to pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:44) and (Luke 6:28). At the wedding feast of Canna, the hosts asked Mary to plead to Jesus on their behalf. Similarity, we can ask Mary and other saints to pray for us.
XV. IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
How to overcome despair? Remember that God is Love, and an infinitely faithful Father and friend who accepted the most brutal death on the cross to bring us forgiveness of sins. He is also infinitely powerful and intelligent, and creator of everything that exists. We can therefore trust Him even when everything is falling apart. For God to help us we need to give Him permission to do whatever He wants with our life. Then, even though we did not get what we wanted, we will have peace and joy knowing that in the end it will turn out good. Furthermore, God almighty is our best friend, and His love is our only true treasure and legacy, which no one can take away from us.
How to be free? There are many ideas about freedom. However, only freedom from hate, pride, lust, revenge, sin, worries, greed, and selfishness brings us peace and joy. This freedom comes from being what we are created to be. We are created to love one another as God has loved us. He loved us by sacrificing His life on the cross to save us from sin. Therefore, when we live a life of pure love, with humility, forgiveness, trust, selflessness, compassion, and charity it brings us freedom by freeing us of hate, greed, anger, jealousy, lust, revenge, and worries. On the other hand, if we are proud and reject God we lose the above-mentioned freedoms. We can overcome these evils by imitating the love Jesus expressed on the cross, and realizing our present existence is fleeting and nothing, compared to the eternity that awaits us.
How do we prepare for Heaven? We must accept the fact that death can come anytime. Furthermore, even if our period of stay on the earth is a hundred years, it will be nothing compared to the eternity that follows. We are here on earth to choose between heaven or hell as our home for all eternity. God wants all of us in heaven because He loves us. He does not want anyone to choose hell, because hell is pure evil, utter darkness, endless misery, and unimaginable hate and bitterness.
Heaven is a place of pure love, peace, and joy. It is free of hate, anger, jealousy, lust, loathing, greed, worries or suffering, because everyone will be in sync with God.
To prepare for heaven we must be humble and contrite, keep the commandments, embrace the love Jesus expressed on the cross as our life, trust God completely and accept His will unconditionally. We must read the gospels daily and always ponder on it. Furthermore, we should examine our conscience before and after every significant thought, word, or action of ours. At all times we must remember that our only true possession is God’s love for us.
How to find complete peace and joy? Love and trust God completely because He is our Father whose love for us is pure and sacrificial. Pray to strengthen this trust; and ask Him to do whatever He wills with our life. Then accept whatever comes our way trusting in God’s love and wisdom. When panic and fear strikes you, say to God, “may it be done unto me according to your will”.
Love one another as God has loved us (John 13:34). He showed us His love on the cross by sacrificing His life for us, although we hurt and betrayed Him. Therefore, offer the other cheek if struck on one; give to everyone that asks without expecting anything in return; give more than what others ask from us and do not ask it back; be a servant to others; forgive without any limit and heal our offenders through prayers and acts of pure love (Matthew 5 :38-44).
God sacrificed His life for us on the cross, although we were unfaithful to Him and betrayed Him through our sins. Therefore, it is better to be cheated or wronged than for us to sue others (1 Corinthians 6:7), and not divorce our spouse, even when there are infidelity and betrayal. Furthermore, divorce destroys our soul because, in divorcing we reject the marriage bond, which is the love of God. God, therefore, hates divorce (Malachi 2:16) and remarriage after divorce is adultery (Luke 16:18).
Do not criticize or speak ill of others or judge them as fools or gossip about them. If we must say something about others, it should only be about the good we see in them. However, if we see grave errors in others, we must privately show them their errors and help them to overcome it out of love for them.
Be humble and contrite. Keep the commandments and follow God’s natural order. Remember that even looking at others with lust is adultery, and character assassination is equal to murder. Furthermore, putting our trust in wealth, power and pride is the same as worshipping false gods (Matthew 6:24). Therefore, we must be selfless and sacrificial and keep our virtuous deeds secret. Seek nothing, except to do God’s will. Be in constant communication with God, who speaks to us through our conscience.
How to be a friend to God? To have friendship and talk with God is amazingly simple, because God is continually trying to talk to us and be our friend. He talks to us as our conscience, constantly showing the right path to follow. We ignore Him because we are occupied with worldly things and have no time to sit down and talk to Him. Many of us open our hearts to God only when our situation is hopeless and no one else can help us. Fortunately, He does not stop counseling us. He is the only one who will never give up on us and will be faithful to us even if we are unfaithful to Him. In every decision-making process related to our personal life, moral decisions, and relationship He is our conscience guiding us to do what is right by reminding us of scripture passages related to our situation. When we have tragedies, failures, and other sad situations in life, He consoles us by reminding us that suffering we meet in this life is nothing compared to eternity of peace and joy that awaits us.
We can also hear Him when we read the Gospels, and reflect on it with our eyes on the cross. During such reflections we should also thank and console Jesus for the suffering he bore for our sins. We should examine our conscience daily and ask forgiveness for the sins we committed with firm resolve to not sin again. We should continually remind our self that our lonly true treasure and legacy is the love of God for us; which no one can take away from us. In every situation in our life, we should tell God to do whatever He wills with our life. In every decision-making process we should imitate Jesus. If we do the above mentioned faithfully, we will have remarkably interesting and heart-warming conversations with Jesus and continue to trust Him even if we do not get what we prayed for.
What makes us immortal? Our life is our spirit (soul), and our spirit is an intelligent life force with the capability to express pure love. If we are in sync with God by making pure love our life, our life can not die because unconditional love is eternal. Furthermore, because we are in-sync with God we will have complete peace and joy. Since everyone in heaven will be in sync with God, there be no sin, suffering, or hate. Furthermore, like the angels, we too will join God in His work of reaching out to people on earth helping them to choose pure love through spiritual communication.
How did Jesus atone for our sins? Atonement is to be healed of the injuries caused to our soul by sin through humility, contrition and a firm resolve to sin no more. It enables us to be compassionate, forgiving, and sacrificial towards others; including those who hate and hurt us. Due to pride, sin entered the world and damaged the soul of humanity. To heal the soul of the humanity of all ages God humbled himself and took a mere human form, and freely accepted the most painful death on the cross for revealing the truth about God’s love. His sacrifice evokes pure love in our hearts and heals our spirit. He taught us to love our enemies and do good to them, forgive without any limit, never choose divorce or be lustful, never use a sword against our enemy, offer the other cheek if slapped on one, give to everyone that asks and do not ask it back. He healed the sick, raised the dead to life and brought forgiveness to sinners. His act of sacrificial love on the cross touches every human heart, including those who came before Him and those who have not heard about Him; because His sacrifice is of infinite magnitude. It pleads to us to be humble, contrite, charitable, forgiving, selfless, and pure. His sacrifice touched even the hearts of prophets of the Old Testament, who preached humility and repentance.
How to find peace and joy during tragedy and suffering? Tragedies and sufferings are part of our earthly existence. If we are careful, we might be able to avoid a few, but no one can completely avoid them. When there is a tragedy, we should know that it is not the end, because our life on this earth is nothing compared to the peace and joy awaiting us. We must look at the cross and remind ourselves of the infinite love God expressed for us on the cross, and use it to put our complete trust in God and accept His will in all matters of our life. Then, like Job, we will praise and trust God in all situations of our life and follow His way of purity of love, sacrifice, selflessness, and humility. We must also know that God’s love for us is our only true treasure that no one can take away from us. Even when we do not get what we asked for or get just the opposite, accept it, and continue to be docile to God’s will. Sometimes, there is a long waiting period before our petition is granted. Therefore, continue to petition God unceasingly. Always believe that we have already received what we asked for according to God's will, and in His time. Show our love for the person we are praying for and our faith in God. Both are pleasing to God. Remember St Monica prayed for per son, St Augustine, for 30 yeas before he changed.
How to live a good life? Be humble, contrite, righteous, selfless, compassionate, kindhearted, sacrificial, forgiving, and charitable in everything we say, do, or will. Give complete control of our life to God, without doubting Him, because He is our only true love. Furthermore, to help us, we need to give Him permission to do whatever he thinks is necessary. To give control to God means to do everything according to His commandments of love and unconditionally accept His will blindly. When we get something good, thank God for it. If we do not get what we asked for, thank Him for being our God, and accept whatever comes our way, knowing that we trust God, and knowing that in the end something good will come out of it; because God is always faithful. Furthermore, even if we lose everything, no one can take away from us our only true and everlasting treasure, which is God’s love for us.
What is strength in weakness? When we are physically and financially strong, we tend to become proud, because we feel we are in charge of our life. However, when we are proud, what we want never seems to be enough. Furthermore, we become paranoid and want to protect what we have. In addition, because there are always uncertainties in the world, we become anxious and nervous. This takes peace away from our heart. On the other hand, when we are weak and poor, we are humble and meek. We, therefore, accept our own limitations and put our trust in God. This brings us peace and joy and strengthens our spirit.
How can I love others as God has loved me? On our own we can never do it because God’s love is infinite. However, if we are one in spirit with God by accepting God’s will in all matters of our life then His spirit within us can achieve this goal. To accept God’s will is to tell God to do whatever he wants with our life and then accept whatever comes our way with a firm faith that in the end everything will be OK.
Can we control our destiny? God created us in His own Divine image and imprinted His spirit of pure love in our heart; so that we can be His children, live his life of selfless love, humility, charity, sacrifice, purity, forgiveness, and holiness (1 Peter 1:16); and share in His peace and joy for all eternity in heaven. Heaven therefore, is our destiny. To be in Heaven is to live in love; and to love is a choice. We are on this earth to choose between accepting a life of pure love or rejecting it. If we choose pure love, we will be in heaven for all eternity after we leave this world. If we reject love, we will be in the total darkness of the black hole, which we created by rejecting God who is the light of the universe. In short, we can accept or reject our destiny to be in heaven for all eternity.
How to control anger? Although to get angry is universal, anger associated with hate, violence, pride, and revenge is lethal to our soul because it takes us away from God. It also leads to breakdown of relationships. Furthermore, anger in an intoxicated state can result in deadly consequences. It is perfectly normal to get angry and protest for a just cause, if we do not physically, verbally, or psychologically attack others.
To control anger during an argument we should avoid personal verbal attacks and not repeat statements we have already made. If we have said or done something wrong, apologize for it. If the other party has said or done something wrong, state it only once and keep quiet and forgive them in our heart. Even go further and say something good about them. If they counter that with further verbal attacks, keep quiet. Always remember that winning an argument is a matter of pride, which leads to all other evil. On the other hand, keeping a low profile and showing love towards the opponent will result in peace. Even if the other party is wrong, we can change their heart through love. We should do this because we are created for love. We must also realize that hate and pride lead to anxiety, stress, and more enemies. Furthermore, we gain nothing of eternal value by retaliating. We must, therefore, say the truth and then just keep quiet as Jesus did when he was brought before Pilot.
How to overcome pride? Most of us suffer from pride. Unfortunately, pride is the mother of all sins; because it makes us feel superior to others and blinds us to the truth that all our talents come from God. Due to our pride we try to outdo what God has created, and we become selfish, jealous, greedy, hateful, and lustful. Furthermore, pride and love cannot coexist, because love is about others, while pride is about self.
Furthermore, we cannot boast about our achievements because our talents are given to us by God. We must, therefore, thank God for allowing us to take part in His work by using the talents he gave us. Furthermore, no human being is superior to another human being because we are created equal by God. Furthermore, our eternity is decided by the purity of our heart, and not by our worldly achievements.
We can overcome pride and jealousy by realizing the fact that every good thing, including our intelligence and talents come from God, all human lives are equal, our true treasure and value is the love of God we expressed on the cross, and everything else will be gone for us on the day we die. Furthermore, even if we had great achievements in life, they will be nothing compared to the infinite love of God. We must therefore ponder on these realities, be humble and contrite, and surrender our will to God.
What is wrong with lust? All human beings are precious because we are all created in the image of God. This makes God our creator Father and we all brothers and sisters. We, therefore, must treat every human being with utmost respect. Singularly, as a man or woman, we cannot procreate to continue humanity. God, therefore, created a man a woman, who together using their complementary procreative organs and physiologies can procreate to continue humanity in a family with a mother and a father. This makes procreative acts very sacred and an act of pure love. Therefore, degrading a human being and/or the procreative act through our thoughts, words or actions is against God and human dignity. Furthermore, all human beings are very precious to God. We, therefore, can not objectify them. To overcome lust, we must love and respect God, our self, and our fellow human beings.
Why should we be moral? Morality is to express pure love, and pure love is the Spirit of God, and God is unchanging because He is infinite, and everything in infinity is always now. True morality, therefore, is unchanging. Furthermore, since morality is an expression of pure love, it is unconditional and it does not change. Therefore, there can never be two standards for morality. To be moral, is to be selfless, forgiving, humble, meek, faithful, charitable, respectful, gentle, and be free of lies and false accusations, hate, anger, pride, greed, jealousy, revenge, and lust. Furthermore, true love, which is morality, is unconditional. It treats all human beings equal from the moment conception onwards. Since God’s love is imprinted on our heart, to be moral iG our true nature. Unfortunately, we see immorality in the world because of our pride and selfishness. Through His sacrifice on the cross, God reactivates pure love in our heart to make us moral.
Morality is objective, because it comes from the truth that God unconditionally loves each and every human being, making every human being precious. Morality has to do with how we treat others and ourselves. Because we are all precious and equal, we can’t objectify anyone, not even ourselves. God’s love does not change, therefore, morality can never change. Immortality results from greed, pride, lust, selfishness and loathing. Immodesty is the first sign of immortality.
Finding peace: God, as the Holy Spirit, resides in our heart talking to us as our true conscience; and instructs us on holiness, purity, humility, contrition, forgiveness, charity and obedience to the commandments and God’s natural order. Only our refusal to let God take control of life, by ignoring our true conscience or following your false conscience will separate us from God. Only God’s love is true because He is unconditional love. Look at the cross and let His love purify our heart and bring us peace and joy beyond our imagination.
Realize that our only eternal legacy is the love of God for us. Everything else we have or have achieved will be nothing when we leave this world. Furthermore, when we are in a tight spot in life and are powerless, remember that God who died for sins will never abandon us. Furthermore, except the love in our heart, all our achievements are just a mirage, because they are gone for us when we leave this world.
We should read the scripture daily. Keep away from gossip, political discussion, see only the good in others, forgive without limit, put God first by being selfless, remember the cross when we are distracted or tempted. Ask God for whatever we need, but always end by saying, ““may it be done according to your will. Then accept whatever comes your way with serenity knowing that God’s love for us is our only true treasure.
Personal relationships with God. God is talking to us all the time as our true conscience. We should obediently and humbly listen to Him, and do examination of conscience at least twice a day, and before every important decision we make. Go for daily mass and listen to the word of God through scripture passages, take part in the Lord’s Supper with a humble and contrite heart, and have communion with Christ through the reception of His sacrificial body and blood. This is what it really means to have a personal relationship with Him. This is what we are made for. It makes us part of His family. Then His Father is our Father, His mother our mother and His house is our house. Oneness with Christ brings us salvation because He is the source of life and true love. Furthermore, Eucharist is the love of God made visible through his sacrifice on the cross. It is therefore, the source and summit of Christian life.
Heaven and Hell: Sin, is rejection of God’s sacrificial love as our life. This makes our soul lifeless, because love is the life of our soul. When we ask for forgiveness, it means we humbly accept our sin, are sorry for them, with a firm commitment to never sin again. This is the first stage in the healing of our soul which reconnects us to God. Our connection to God brings us in sync with His love. This leads to deepening of our love relationship with God.
To sin, is to go against God. Therefore, sin is the biggest obstacle in our relationship with God. We cannot sin and pretend to have friendship with God or worship Him. God helps us to reconcile with Him by rekindling the Spirit of pure love in our hearts through His sacrifice on the cross. We can enter this sacrifice at mass with a humble and contrite heart, and a firm commitment to sin no more.
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Sin punishes sinners, because when we sin and have not repented it makes our heart restless and devoid of joy and peace. God, on the other hand, through His sacrifice on the cross shows us humility and pure love. This makes us humble and contrite. Then our repentance unites us with God and brings us peace and joy.
If we have hate in our heart, we reject God. This hurts our soul because God is the life of our soul who as our conscience keeps our soul alive. Therefore, through hate we destroy peace and joy in our heart. The state of complete lack of peace and joy is Hell. On the other hand, humility and contrition restores peace, joy and brings our heart to a state of heaven.
Salvation is to accept the love of God as our life; because His love in our heart brings us eternal life. God’s love was expressed on the cross, when Jesus freely accepted death on the cross, for us, who betrayed Him. He taught us to love our enemies, never divorce our spouse, be humble and contrite, be selfless, do not retaliate, forgive without limit, and have complete trust in Him.
SHOULD WE FEAR DEATH?
Even those who are holy and religious are bound to have trepidation about death, because we have never been there. If we are in communication with God at a personal level the situation will be easy; because we know that Jesus will come and receive us into His Father’s house. Furthermore, Jesus told us that there are many mansions in His Father’s house, and He will have a place prepared for us (John 14:3). Furthermore, since God is creator of heaven and earth, there will be similarities of landscapes. Except that, everything will be perfect because there is no sin in heaven. Furthermore, God Himself will be the light that lights up the place (Revelation 21:23). A member of my family experienced heaven when he was in his truck in a parking lot one evening. The whole place lit up with light of unimaginable brilliance, he felt enveloped with the purest love for several hours, and he saw a clear difference between good and evil. He then became a true believer and changed his life to become a holy and God loving man. There are many reports of similar experiences by others; including those who survived after cardiac arrests.
How do I fully surrender my life to God?
Trust God unconditionally. Because His love for us is infinite, He sacrificed His life for us and He is omnipotent. To trust Him is to accept His love unconditionally. Therefore, be humble and contrite, forgive unconditionally, offer the other cheeks if struck on one, and keep marriage vows permanent.
Talk to God. He is your true conscience continually talking to you.
For all events in life petition God, but always say, “may it be done unto me according to your will. Then accept whatever happens with complete confidence and know that the love of God is enough for you, and His love for you is your only true treasure and legacy.
What's the difference between praying in faith versus praying with doubt?
Prayer is talking to God as your best friend, who as your conscience is constantly directing you to choose what is right. In this conversation you should surrender your will completely to Him with a humble and contrite heart, and ask Him to clear your doubts, help to overcome sin and have a pure and gentle heart. Everyone has doubts from time to time. However, if you seek Him with a sincere heart He will perform small miracles for you to clear your doubts.
Faith is complete trust in pure love, who is God, by putting His love into action in our life. Love is not a feeling. It is a compelling force within every human heart to continually seek the good of others. It is humble, forgiving, generous without hate or revenge.
Christianity is faith in a God who is pure Love, sacrificial, gentle, all forging and selfless. His Love is the innermost desire of every human heart that is humble and contrite.
True peace and joy:
Only thing that will bring us true peace and joy is our complete trust in God, and our life that expresses His sacrificial love.
Though bureaucratically it may seem impossible to achieve this right now, it can achieved spiritually very easily. Just as the Chinese patriotic church gets their appointment from the Chinese government, and then a nod from the Pope, the Latin mass groups can choose their bishops and get a nod from the Pope. The orthodox churches can continue their current method of choosing their bishops, and notify all the other groups. If there is a council meeting, all should participate equally. If there is disagreement it should be tabled for the meeting.
We are proud because we ignore the fact that all our good abilities come from God, we can lose our abilities at any time, we are all equal in the eyes of God, and we can have eternal life only if pure love is our life.
God talks to us as our conscience. Our spirit hears God. We either listen to Him or ignore Him or twist our conscience and hear what we want to hear. When we listen to Him, we walk in His Spirit. This needs true humility and contrition. Then we will shun sin because we love God and our fellow human beings.
in infinity there is no time. Therefore, the second coming is on the day we die and enter infinity. What we choose in this life becomes our infinity. If we are in sync with God we have chosen to be with Him for all eternity.
For each one of us we will see Jesus as we are dying. Those who accept His pure and sacrificial love as their life will follow Him into heaven. Those who sincerely desire His life, but still have worldly attachment will shed that attachment when they see His pure love; and then enter Heaven. Those who are proud and hateful, and reject His life will become lifeless, because pride and hate have no life.
Salvation is to be completely in sync with the love of God expressed on the cross, because His love is the only source of life. Therefore, there is NO SALVATION outside this love.
