Love Letters to Lukewarm Souls

One of the noblest aspects of praising the Lord, such as in a prayer meeting, is that it fosters the virtue of humility within us. It cultivates a "sacrificial heart." We basically pray in four ways: to adore or praise God, to thank Him, to ask for pardon for our sins, and to ask Him for something. In those last three, it involves ourselves in the picture when we pray. We pray because we hope to benefit from something in our prayer. But in the first type of prayer, when we praise God, it's all about Him. We devote our minds and hearts to forget ourselves and think of God alone. If I give thanks, it is because I have received something. If I ask for forgiveness, it is because I have sinned. If I ask for something, it's because I need something. But in the prayer of adoration or praising God, the only person we consider is God alone. There is no element of "me, myself, and I" in this type of prayer. That is why when we sing praises to the Lord, it ...

This was an Advent talk I gave last year, December 2019, in a Christian Charismatic Community that I am a part of, e dited for the purpose of this blog. May it help you prepare your heart to Jesus this Christmas.  I was asked to share perhaps a personal reflection or insight as we approach this season of Advent. Well, before anything else, I must confess the past few months I've been feeling, as the saying goes, "down on my luck" lately. Work has been kind of slow, and discouraging. And it distressingly affects me emotionally and makes me lose interest in doing things. And so, as I pray on what the Holy Spirit wanted me to share to you as we prepare ourselves for the season of Advent given my said despondent disposition, I was reminded about the gift God had shown me during my 1st deeper conversion of faith back in high school many eons ago, that helps recollect my spirit in times such as these. And it's a timely reminder for me because it's also something we are ...

How Catholic Worship (aka Mass) Is Different From Non-Catholic's "Worship" (aka Service)     One time in a party, I introduced a family new to our town to an old friend of mine. As we were all having nice conversation of pretty much anything the family needs to expect as newbies, my old friend (a fallen-away Catholic and now an active member of a certain evangelical ecclesiastic community) brought up in the conversation that they have a new pastor in their church that is smart and charismatic, and invited the new family to come and attend their worship service sometime. Now, as a Catholic, I always admire our Non-Catholic brethren's enthusiasm of inviting other people to their church. They always seem to make evangelizing so easy and natural than a Catholic would do the inviting. We can always learn from them, we grant them that. However, I also wonder how come is it this way? How come for some reason inviting someone to a Catholic Mass does not seem to have the sa...

Quite a few times I've heard and read over in social media the challenge posted by agnostic/atheist relatives and friends against us Christian counterparts the common objection "If there is a God, why is there evil and suffering?" or something to this effect. And therefore conclude that there is no God, and to believe in such supernatural being is irrational and illogical. Many also have their faith shaken because of this and have turned away from God altogether to join atheists and embrace its worldview instead. Recommended Book. Visit Amazon https://amzn.to/3o8Cu5V As Christians, we understand where they are coming from and share in their sentiment as well, as nobody--whether you are a believer or not--are exempted from evil and suffering in this world. There are already multiple apologetics concerning this topic you may easily find in books and online that have philosophically and theologically answer probably and arguably the most difficult theological ...

Last Tuesday, we had our Cell Group meeting. Our point of discussion was about Sacrifice. We were sharing what are the sacrifices we can offer so that it may enrich the lives of others, in our family, our work and the community we are in. I felt it was a productive and fruitful discussion as it drives us away from ourselves for once and focus on living sacrificially for others more instead. In a similar sense, whenever we have a community gathering such as today, as I approach worship time, I like to put into heart what St. Paul wrote to the Romans in the very 1 st verse of Chapter 12: “I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.” Worship entails we sacrifice something. Without sacrifice, we are merely venerating or adoring somebody like we do the saints or our Blessed Mother Mary. If you are in a bad day of coming here today (where your heart and your body are in two...

On abuse and sex scandals in the Catholic Church For 2,000 years, the fact that bad priests or popes, scandals and corruptions had NOT been able to destroy the Catholic church is proof that the church was founded by Jesus Christ. Holding on to His promise in Matthew 16:18 that "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never overpower it."  © EWTN 2018-3-1 Get paid to share your links!