Reflection for Wednesday October 22, Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 12:39-48

Gospel: Luke 12:39-48

Jesus said to his disciples: “Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

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Reflection:

When a typhoon is about to hit a certain area the government would always remind its citizens to be prepared or even relocate for a period of time. The reason behind is very basic: to avoid destruction of lives and properties. Those who would hear the call for preparedness would survive and those who wouldn’t would suffer from their indifference.

In today’s gospel Jesus once again calls us to be prepared for He will come to us when we least expect Him to come into our lives. But does Jesus really come to our lives without prior warning? Does He really surprise us with His immediate presence thus we are caught unaware?

Before Jesus comes to us He would first knock into our hearts so that we could open our hearts to Him and embrace His offer of renewal with open arms.  By doing so we hear His call for us to be prepared.

But for those who would pretend not to hear even if they hear, those who would continue with their sinful lives even if Jesus is calling him/her for renewal. They may be awakened to the sad reality of life and this sad reality is the sufferings that they may face for the reason that they did not listen to Jesus.    

Nevertheless, everything is not lost yet, for as long as we breathe there’s always a chance to listen to the voice of Jesus coursed through people around us or even events around us. Who earnestly call upon us to be prepared by means of walking away from all of our sinfulness.  

In Revelation 3:19-20, the Lord tells us: I reprimand and correct all those I love. Be earnest and Change your ways. Look I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears my call and opens the door. I will come into him and have supper with him. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Tuesday October 21, Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 12:35-38

Gospel: Luke 12:35-38

Jesus said to his disciples: “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants.”

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Reflection:

Why does Jesus tells us to be vigilant? Because we never know when he will come, He may come any day that we least expect. This is how much Jesus loves us! If Jesus doesn’t love us He wouldn’t bother to tell us to be prepared. But in truth and in fact Jesus loves us dearly, are we able to reciprocate this great love of Jesus for us?

If we continue to do good; if we continue to be humble, if we are able to submit ourselves to the Sacrament of Confession. If we continue to bring others closer to Jesus and so forth then we are prepared. Are these already enough preparation for the coming of the Lord? We never know for we don’t have the capacity to read the mind of God.

Nevertheless, Jesus has already given us the lead on how we could best prepare ourselves for the great coming of the Lord. What if we are not prepared? We have nobody to blame but ourselves for this simply means that we refused to heed the call of Jesus.

But there are many who live their lives as if they own it for themselves, as if they are in-charge of their lives. But nobody is in-charge except Jesus that’s why we must always be prepared.

Life is never permanent we may be in the pink of health today but we never know what may happen to us the next day or even the next minute. We never know if the breath that we will take before we sleep tonight is our last or not, this is how fragile life is.

This gospel is a wake-up call for all of us to always be prepared. Are you prepared? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Monday October 20, Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 12:13-21

Gospel: Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest? And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry! But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”

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Reflection:

What will be the scenario when we are a few inches away from the doorway of death? Would we still be concerned about our wealth? No, not anymore what would be of prime importance during that time are the relationships that we’ve built.

The first that will matter is the relationship that we’ve built with God, the next is the relationship that we’ve built with our relatives and friends. Our wealth no matter how enormous will not occupy a space in our minds.

Why is this so? Because wealth will not count as our ticket to heaven, what will count is the relationship that we have created with God. What will count are the good deeds that we’ve done to those who are in need.

 But the paradox is so many of us today who are alive and healthy are actively in pursuit of wealth. That we don’t anymore care how many lives would we be stepping on just to have it. We don’t anymore care if we will be called greedy or corrupt just to have it.

In our gospel for this Monday, Jesus is teaching us not to live our lives for the accumulation of wealth, He teaches us not to be greedy. Jesus teaches us instead to build a relationship with Him. To spread and share our blessings with others most especially with those who are in need.

For what is wealth when it will not count as your ticket to heaven? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

1Reflection for Sunday October 19, Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time; Matthew 22:15-21

Gospel: Matthew 22:15-21

The Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech. They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion, for you do not regard a person's status. Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?" Knowing their malice, Jesus said, "Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin that pays the census tax." Then they handed him the Roman coin. He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?" They replied, "Caesar's." At that he said to them, "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."

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Reflection:

Can we think of anything that we have given back to God? Perhaps we will pause and think about what we have given back God for all the blessings that He has been giving us all these years. After pausing maybe we still cannot think of anything that we have given God and the reason for this is maybe we have not given back God yet.

Every blessing that we have comes from God although we may think that what we have now came from our own hard work. But the truth is every blessing that we have God has generously given us including our very life now.

In our gospel for today Jesus tells us give to Caesar what belongs to him and give to God what belongs to God (Matthew 22:21). In modern language this means that we give what belongs to the government by way of paying the right taxes and other duties that the government has a rightful claim.

What then can we give God? We give God something special that comes from our hearts. Where is God then so that we could give back to Him? God is not hard to find, we simply have to look around us and we will see God. For God is with the poor, the hungry, the sick, the abandoned and anybody who needs our help, God is with them. Let us give generously to them so that we could give back to God.

In the gospel of Matthew somebody asked the king: Lord when did we see you hungry and give you food; thirsty and give you drink, or a stranger and welcome you or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to see you? The king answered, truly I say to you: whenever you did this to one of the least you did it to me (Matthew 25:37-40).    

Have we already done something for God? - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Saturday October 18, Feast of Saint Luke, Evangelist; Luke 10:1-9

Gospel: Luke 10:1-9

The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.’”

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Reflection:

How could we become effective bearers of the teachings of Jesus? We should live simply, we should lean on Jesus in everyday of our lives. This doesn’t mean that we just lay idle and wait for the bread from heaven to come to us. This means that we still have to work but at the same time we will not let our work control us we would rather let the values of Jesus take control of us while we work.   

Is it still possible to live simply today where the culture of greed and accumulation rules? Of course it’s still very much possible it’s actually upon our hands on how we would live in this world. If we would let the culture of greed and accumulation rule us or we would let the simple lifestyle of Jesus rule us.

 It’s all in our hands because Jesus gave us the freedom of choice. But it would be prudent to follow the desire of Jesus for us none other than to live our lives simply and to depend on Him at all times and not depend on us or anyone.  

When Jesus sent the seventy-two disciples to their mission He advocated total dependence on Him which translates to simple living. Why? Because it’s only through this that they could become effective bearers of the good news of Jesus.  

How are you living your life today? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Friday October 17, St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr; Luke 12:1-7

Gospel: Luke 12:1-7

(At that time) So many people were crowding together that they were trampling one another underfoot. Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples, “Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.

“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops. I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more. I shall show you whom to fear. Be afraid of the one who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna; yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one. Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.”

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Reflection:

To whom do we entrust our lives in this world?  Do we entrust it to Jesus or we always entrust it to ourselves? If we say that we are in control of our lives this simply means that we take the driver seat and let Jesus take the passenger seat. However, when we take the driver seat we also open ourselves to many worrying circumstances that would continuously disturb us for as long as we live.

In our gospel Jesus tells us that He knows everything about us; our deepest fears and worries. Even the number of our hairs He knows how many, then He assures us not to be afraid for we are worth more than many sparrows (Luke 12:7).

When we let Jesus take the driver seat of our lives we will have no more fear of anything that may befall us; even death we will not fear anymore. For this is one of the countless blessings that we would receive from Jesus once we let Him take the driver seat of our lives.

There may come a time that we will hit a wall and everything in our lives will come to a halt. And we will begin to ask ourselves: Where am I going and what is the purpose of my life in this world? This would come because we are always at the driver seat in full control of our lives this world.

Why not let Jesus take the driver seat and we stay at the passenger seat? - Marino J. Dasmarinas   

Reflection for Thursday October 16, Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 11:47-54

Gospel: Luke 11:47-54

(Jesus said) “Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets whom your fathers killed. Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them and you do the building. Therefore, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and Apostles; some of them they will kill and persecute’ in order that this generation might be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who died between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood! Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.” When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many things, for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.

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Reflection:

Why were the prophets killed? For example John the Baptist, why was he killed? Because he courageously spoke about the truth no matter who gets hurt! During that time John was enjoying a respectable status until he denounced the immorality of King Herod.

Therefore from respectability John was scorned, imprisoned and eventually beheaded. What a frightening end for a prophet of God but this is the role of the prophet: To speak about the truth no matter who gets hurt! Because in speaking about the truth we change lives, we correct errant behaviors and we create awareness that evil deeds will not get away unnoticed.   

We too could become a prophet when we are not afraid to speak about the truth no matter who gets hurt. When we present Jesus not only as a miracle worker and a God of prosperity. For example, we also present Jesus as someone who would invite us to carry our burdens and our life’s trials.

It’s so tempting to always package Jesus as a God of miracles, abundance and prosperity. But this is not the totality of Jesus because Jesus also went through sacrifices and trials without which there would have been no triumph over the cross and there would have been no salvation.

 What would happen to a follower when he/she encounters trials if he/she only know Jesus as a God of prosperity?  He may not know how to deal with his trials and the worst case scenario is he/she may even blame Jesus for his/her trials.

We should therefore not forget to also present Jesus as someone who will bring us trials and hardship. This is for the reason that it is only through our trials that we get to have a deeper intimacy with Him.  

Are you going through hardship and trials right now? It has a purpose, none other than for you to be aware of the abiding presence of Jesus in your life. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Wednesday October 15, St.Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor; Luke 11:42-46

Gospel: Luke 11:42-46

(Jesus said) “Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.”

Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.” And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”

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Reflection:

Where does this anger of Jesus toward the Pharisees and the scholars of the law comes from? It originates from their hypocrisy, they are only good at creating laws for their people to follow yet they don’t follow it themselves.

They make their self-created laws as an instrument to beguile and eventually enslave their people. Therefore, instead of introducing God to their people they eventually introduce themselves as Gods to their people.

Their style of leadership is leadership by deception and many of our Politicians has this kind of leadership. They pretend and project themselves to be leaders of the poor/masses and their   only hope to conquer poverty. But they have the stomach to corrupt the money that is for the poor, how could they do this to the masses that they are supposed to truthfully serve?    

Politicians are not alone in this kind of pharisaic mentality we too are often times guilty of this mentality. We tell others or even our children not to do this and that yet when nobody is watching anymore we are the main violators of the rules that we create.

The truth hurts but this is the truth we have to accept this and hopefully make this as our springboard to live our lives according to the teachings of Jesus and not according to the false and self-serving teachings of the Pharisees and the scholars of the law. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Tuesday October 14, Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 11:37-41

Gospel: Luke 11:37-41

After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”

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Reflection:

Was the Pharisee who invited Jesus to dine in his house a fan of Jesus?  Yes he was a fan for he liked the wisdom and eloquence of Jesus that’s why he invited Jesus to dine in his home. Everything was going smoothly between the teacher and His fan until Jesus did not wash His hands before eating.  

Did Jesus purposely skip washing His hands so that His fan would see Him doing it? Yes, yet there was a much deeper reason why he did not wash His hands. Jesus wanted His fan (The Pharisee) to realize that there is something more profound than mere external observance of the Jewish law.    

For Jesus it’s always what’s inside our hearts! Never mind those things that are visible to the naked eye for the reason that what is seen will eventually pass and be forgotten. But what is in our hearts will never be forgotten; for example the acts kindness and love that we do to our fellowmen.

For instance, we forever remember the acts of kindness and love that has been given or done to us. But we don’t anymore remember the external appearance (What clothes he/she was wearing and so forth) of the person who did these acts of kindness and love to us.

Jesus is always biased with acts of kindness and love, for these are the spirit and backbone of His teachings. Jesus never taught us to always be concerned with our external reputation and the many other external aspect of our lives. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Monday October 13, Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time; Luke 11:29-32

Gospel: Luke 11:29-32

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.”

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Reflection:

How would we react when somebody tells us to mend our ways and repent from all of our sinfulness? Don’t we sometimes feel insulted and antagonized? We feel insulted and antagonized because the call for us to mend our ways is prophetic and true.

We get angry when others tell us to repent and walk away from all of our sinfulness but why get angry when they are telling the truth? Why get angry when those who are telling us to mend our ways are only concerned for our own wellbeing?  

It happened to Jesus, He called for repentance among those who listened to Him and to those who heard His provocative statements but it only fell on deaf ears. Very few listened to Jesus among the high and mighty because they loved sin more than the wise counsel of Jesus.   

Isn’t this happening to us today? Many of us love to sin more than listen to Jesus. This is the paradox of our high-technology driven time today. Many of us today listen more to our high-tech gadgets than listen to Jesus by reading His words. Many of us have more time with our earthy undertakings than have our important quite time with Jesus. What will happen to us if we are like this?

Let us listen more to Jesus and let us listen to His call of repentance. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Sunday October 12, Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time; Matthew 22:1-14

Gospel: Matthew 22:1-14

Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast.”’ Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, 'The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.’ The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests, he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. The king said to him, 'My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?' But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’ Many are invited, but few are chosen."

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Reflection:

What are we going to do if say for example a neighbor would invite us to go to church for Holy  Mass? Should we accept it or not?  It would be easy to accept the invitation for those who grew attending Holy Mass. But it would also be hard to accept the invitation if those who are being invited are not regular Sunday Mass goers. We would use or even create every available means to avoid going there. 

But what are we missing when we refuse the invitation of the Lord to be present at Holy Mass? We miss being in heaven for an hour while we are still here on earth. We miss to attend the holiest and blessings filled gathering of people.    

In our gospel, those who were invited refused the invitation of the king to attend the wedding feast of his son. For they all have their own preoccupations and priorities, but come to think of it; what is one hour for the wedding feast?  What is one hour for our attendance at Holy Mass compared to seven days or 168 hours that we give to our personal lives in a week? 

Jesus in the gospel invites us to go to Holy Mass, He doesn’t care about who we are: How sinful we are, how poor or rich we are. What the good Lord only cares is our willingness to be with Him at Holy Mass so that He could spiritually bless our empty and barren lives.

If our focus is always with our personal and worldly activities we will end-up with nothing eventually. What is with all of these worldly activities when all of these are not permanent and lasting? When all of these we will leave behind when we eventually die! Many of these worldly undertakings that we prioritize over our worship for Jesus could even result to the disintegration of our family/families. Or could even result to our getting sick!  

What would it benefit us if we gain all the material riches of this world yet we don’t have Jesus in our lives? - Marino J. Dasmarinas