Short, Simple and Personal reflections on the daily Holy Mass Gospel. I provide talks.
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Thursday, January 15, 2015
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Reflection for January 16 Friday of the First Week; Mark 2:1-12
Gospel: Mark 2:1-12
When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some
days, it became known that he was at home. Many gathered together so that there
was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them. They came
bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus
because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken
through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw
their faith, he said to him, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the
scribes were sitting there asking themselves, “Why does this man speak that
way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?” Jesus immediately
knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are
you thinking such things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the
paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and
walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins
on earth” –he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and
go home.” He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of
everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never
seen anything like this.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
What will you do if a sick person who is
poor will ask you for help? Will you bring him to a hospital or would you simply
ignore and move-on with your life?
The gospel for today gives us a direction
on what to do whenever somebody asks us for help regardless of who this
somebody is. We must help in whatever way the person in need this was the deed
that was done by the four men who went to the roof of the house where Jesus was
staying.
The four men brought the paralytic to
Jesus. They did not care if they have to open the roof of the house so that
they could bring the paralytic in front of Jesus. What is important for them is
to extend help to the paralytic in whatever forms and ways.
What happened to the four men after the
paralytic was healed and forgiven of his sins by Jesus? They simply faded away
into the sunset; they did not receive any words of appreciation from the crowd
and from the man that they’ve helped. But certainly as they walked away and
mingled with the ordinary folks. They carried in their hearts this
unexplainable joy, joy that no human could give them and joy that no amount of
money could buy them.
This unexplainable joy was given to them by Jesus for a job well done. And for getting out of their own comfort zones so that they could give comfort and help to someone in need.
This unexplainable joy was given to them by Jesus for a job well done. And for getting out of their own comfort zones so that they could give comfort and help to someone in need.
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Reflection for January 15 Thursday of the First Week; Mark 1:40-45
Gospel: Mark 1:40-45
A leper came to him and kneeling down
begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean. Moved with pity, he
stretched out his hand, touched the leper, and said to him, “I do will it. Be
made clean. The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then,
warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. Then he said to him, “See that
you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for
your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them. The man went
away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so
that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in
deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Who does the leper represent today? It’s
all of us who are sinners! When Jesus was approached by the leper Jesus did not
run away from Him. He instead had pity on the leper, offered his healing hand
to touch and clean him of his contagious sickness.
For the reason of their sickness lepers
were treated us outcast they were not allowed to mingle with the people. For
fear that they may pass on their sickness to those that they would be in touch
with. But Jesus never run from the leper He instead did the contrary by
offering His healing hand and right there the man was immediately healed.
This is Jesus for all of us! Merciful, full
of love and compassion for all of us. Never minding if we are sinners and never
judgmental with the sins that we have committed. What is important for Jesus is
we approach Him with humility.
We
bare ourselves to Him and tell Him, I strip myself of anything that makes me
unworthy before you O Lord heal me. Let us remember that nothing is impossible
for Jesus, He makes all things possible including the impossible.
What are the sins that you have
committed? Do you think that you are
already unworthy for the reason of your many sins? You are still worthy and precious
in the eyes of Jesus. Humbly approach Him and tell Him: Heal me O Lord! –
Marino J. Dasmarinas
Reflection for January 14 Wednesday of the First Week; Mark 1:29-39
Gospel: Mark
1:29-39
On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the
house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick
with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her
hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.
When it was evening, after sunset, they
brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was
gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he
drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.
Rising very early before dawn, he left and
went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon and those who were with
him pursued him and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.” He told
them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For
this purpose have I come.” So he went into their synagogues, preaching and
driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Is prayer for healing always part of your
daily petitions to Jesus? Perhaps not because we oftentimes confine Jesus’
healing to physical sickness. But in reality Jesus doesn’t only heal physical sickness He can
heal everything that ails us. For example our sickness called arrogance, our
sickness called greed, our sickness called lust and so forth. All of these can
be healed by Jesus.
There’s a story of an arrogant man who
would always want to dominate anyone who would be associated with him.
Eventually he noticed that he would always be deserted by his friends. He also
became aware that even his family would oftentimes avoid being associated with
him.
He knew deep in his heart that the reason
of their aversion towards him was caused by his dominating and arrogant
behavior. So he prayed to Jesus and asked Him to heal him of his arrogance.
After a few weeks he notice a change in his behavior from being arrogant he
became more humble, understanding and not anymore dominating like a boss. With
His healing of his arrogance he gained more friends and his harmony with his
family was restored.
We must not confine Jesus healing to physical
healing only for the simple reason that Jesus physical healings are but a
surface of His healing power. Jesus can heal everything that ails us, including
sickness that nobody knows except us; we simply have to prayerfully ask Him for
this healing.
Have we prayed to Jesus to heal us of our
arrogance our greed, our domineering attitude and our many more hidden sickness
that nobody knows except us? – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
Monday, January 12, 2015
Reflection for January 13 Tuesday of the First Week; Mark 1:21-28
Gospel: Mark
1:21-28
Jesus came to Capernaum with his followers,
and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. The people were
astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not
as the scribes. In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried
out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy
us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said,
“Quiet! Come out of him!” The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry
came out of him. All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new
teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey
him. His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
What are the modern day unclean/evil
spirits that could possess us now? It’s our greed, our lack of concern for others,
our arrogance, our lustful desires and so forth. Who can defeat these evil
spirits that enslaves us? It’s our faith in Jesus! But the big question is do
we still have faith in Jesus? Do we always communicate with Jesus through our
prayers? Do we thirst for Jesus by always desiring to partake of His body at
Holy Mass?
Evil/unclean spirit has no chance to
possess us when we are always in union with Jesus. Those who are possessed by
evil spirits are those who distance themselves from Jesus. Just try to always
get connected with Jesus and you will see that you will always be shielded from
the possession of the evil one.
In our gospel for today, Jesus powerfully told
the evil spirit that possessed the man to come out of him. And the evil spirit
had no choice but to obey the authoritative command of Jesus. Why? Because
Jesus has power and authority over anything including the many modern day evils
that controls us!
But come to think of it, why was the man in
our gospel for today possessed by an unclean spirit? Why was he among the many
people in the synagogue? He was lacking in faith in Jesus otherwise he would
have not been possessed.
Let us always strive to always get in touch
with Jesus for He is always there for us. By doing so we free ourselves from
the possession of the devil and the many modern day evils that lurks around us
today.
Do you always create time to prayerfully reach out
to Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Friday, January 09, 2015
Reflection for January 12 Monday of the First Week in OT; Mark 1:14-20
Gospel: Mark
1:14-20
After John had been arrested, Jesus came to
Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God: This is the time of fulfillment. The
Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel. As he passed by
the Sea of Galilee he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into
the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will
make you fishers of men. Then they left their nets and followed him. He walked
along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So they left their
father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.
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Reflection:
There’s a saying that death is like a thief
in the night it comes to us when we least expect it. What if for example death
surprisingly visits us at night? What would happen to our soul? Where would we
end-up? We don’t know when death will come to us, we don’t also know what
will happen to us and where would we end-up. Only God with His infinite wisdom
knows about it.
In the gospel Jesus calls for repentance
and belief in His gospel message. What is the relationship of death to Jesus call of repentance and fidelity to the gospel? Since death is unpredictable Jesus prepares us for this eventuality anytime by calling for our repentance
and belief in His gospel message.
This call of repentance of Jesus is not a
once in a lifetime call. This is a lifetime call of Jesus for us. He calls us to
repentance for as long as we live. For He knows all about our sinfulness; even the
sin/s that nobody knows except us, Jesus knows about it also!
What if we don’t heed this call of
repentance of Jesus? We then continue to sin we continue to allow the devil to
get hold of us and this is very frightening! For the devil will not bring us
any good, we may enjoy the enticements of the devil for a period of time.
However, time will come that it will eventually destroy us.
Therefore we must listen to this call of
repentance of Jesus and we must also read, live and believe His gospel. Our life will turn for the better once we decide to repent and embrace the gospel message of Jesus.
Are we willing to repent and embrace Jesus gospel message? - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Wednesday, January 07, 2015
Reflection for January 10 Saturday after Epiphany, John 3:22-30
Gospel: John
3:22-30
Jesus and his disciples went into the
region of Judea, where he spent some time with them baptizing. John was also
baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there, and
people came to be baptized, Now a dispute arose between the disciples of John
and a Jew about ceremonial washings. So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi,
the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is
baptizing and everyone is coming to him.” John answered and said, “No one can
receive anything except what has been given from heaven. You yourselves can
testify that I said that I am not the Christ, but that I was sent before him. The
one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens
for him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has
been made complete. He must increase; I
must decrease.”
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Reflection:
What usually is the common downfall of
those who preach about Jesus? It’s to present themselves bigger than Jesus. It’s
to sell his /her teachings than the teachings of Jesus. They use Jesus as their
vehicle so that they could reach their selfish objective rather than advance
the objectives of Jesus.
John did not experience any downfall in his
mission as the precursor or herald of Jesus. His disciples always looked-up to
him with respect because never did he advance himself, Jesus was always first
in his mind. This is the reason why John said, He must increase and I must
decrease (John 3:30).
John was content to be in the background,
he rejoiced as he humbly erased himself from the limelight so that Jesus could
be in the spotlight. This is so difficult to do! To give way when we actually
could have our own way!
Many of us have this mistaken notion that
to be respected we always have to be in the forefront. To be respected our voice must always be heard
and we must always be popular and visible.
But John proves us all wrong because even
if he decreased himself and even if he faded away for the sake of Jesus. His
acts of humility remains to be one of the biggest guiding lights of our time.
Are you willing to be like John? – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
Tuesday, January 06, 2015
Reflection for January 9, Friday after Epiphany, Luke 5:12-16
Gospel: Luke 5:12-16
It happened that there was a man full of
leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell
prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me
clean.” Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said “I do will it. Be
made clean. And the leprosy left him immediately. Then he ordered him not to
tell anyone, but “Go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what
Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them. The report about him spread all
the more and great crowds assembled to listen to him and to be cured of their
ailments but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Why was the man with leprosy cured by
Jesus? He was cured because he humbled himself before Jesus. The man sick with
leprosy humbly pleaded to Jesus to heal him of his dreaded and contagious disease
(Luke 5:12). What else did the sick man do? He was also crying while pleading
Jesus to heal him.
In His humanity perhaps Jesus was also wary
of the man’s contagious disease. But when He saw the humility of the sick man
Jesus suddenly throw cautions to the wind. Jesus stretched His hand and touched
the man and during that instance he was instantly healed by Jesus. His acts of
humility opened the merciful heart of Jesus.
There shall be time that we will also get
sick for this is the reality of life. As we grow old we become more vulnerable
to sickness. Will we also humble ourselves before Jesus? Will we also cry while
pleading Jesus to heal us? Of course we
will do these so that we would be healed by Jesus.
However it will not be all the time that we
will receive healing from Jesus. Time will come that we will reach the
end-point of our temporary journey in this world. We will cease breathing, what
are we going to do by then? Should we stop praying? Of course not! For
as long as we have consciousness we continue to plead Jesus.
Not anymore for healing but for mercy and
for forgiveness of our many sins. Let us not wait for that time for it may be years from now. Let
us do it right now while we are still healthy, let us beg Jesus for His mercy
and forgiveness. This we could best do if we humbly submit ourselves to the
healing Sacrament of Confession.
Will you submit yourself to the healing
Sacrament of Confession? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Reflection for January 8 Thursday after Epiphany, Luke 4:14-22
Gospel: Luke 4:14-22
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of
the Spirit and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in
their synagogues and was praised by all.
He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up and
went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up
to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll
and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because
he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to
proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind to let the oppressed
go free and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to
the attendant and sat down and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently
at him. He said to them “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your
hearing. And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that
came from his mouth.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Do you always see to it that the words that
you say are always motivating and remarkable? For example in your house, do you
always see to it that you avoid negative words or words that create a stigma on
those who hear and receive it?
Our words are very powerful it can build or destroy a person or a child. If our words are always words that condemn or
words that brings down the dignity of a person or a child. We can be sure that
this person or child will have an inferiority complex. He will lose confidence
in himself which is very important for a person growth and development.
When Jesus preached in their synagogue He
spoke words that build, words that gently informs and words that heals and
motivates. Why? Because this is the innate character of Jesus, He would always
see to it that when He speaks His words would be forever treasured in the
hearts of those who receive it. And up until today when His words are read in
the bible those who read it are moved and changed toward a better life.
In our gospel, after Jesus preached in the
synagogue those who’ve heard Him had nothing but respect and admiration toward
Him (Luke 4:22). This is for the fact that Jesus words are always healing and
motivating. Never words that curses, never words than injures the feelings and
never words that downgrades the human dignity.
How about us? What are the usual words that
come out from us? - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Monday, January 05, 2015
Reflection for January 7 Wednesday after Epiphany, Mark 6:45-52
Gospel: Mark 6:45-52
After the five thousand had eaten and were
satisfied, Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side toward
Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And when he had taken leave of them, he
went off to the mountain to pray. When it was evening, the boat was far out on
the sea and he was alone on shore. Then he saw that they were tossed about
while rowing, for the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the
night, he came toward them walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them. But
when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried
out. They had all seen him and were terrified. But at once he spoke with them, “Take
courage, it is I, do not be afraid! He got into the boat with them and the wind
died down. They were completely astounded. They had not understood the incident
of the loaves. On the contrary, their hearts were hardened.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
What do our closeness with Jesus do to us
when we are in the midst of a difficult problem? It calms us, it gives us hope
and it assures us that everything will be OK for as long as we believe in Him.
All of us have been into many difficult situations and time and again our faith
in Jesus is always our safe refuge.
In our gospel for this Wednesday the
disciples were being heavily battered by huge waves. Perhaps they already
thought that it was already the end of their lives. Then, lo and behold in the
midst of the violent storm here comes Jesus walking on sea going to them. After
which Jesus told His disciples, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid! He
got into the boat with them and the wind died down (Mark 6:50-51).
From being hopeless, from being on the
verge of disaster even death the disciples were miraculously saved by Jesus.
They did not call on Jesus to save them yet Jesus came to rescue them.
What is the implication of this saving
action of Jesus to us? Nobody of us have a worry free life in this world, we
will be encountering trials and problems for as long as we live. Nevertheless
we have nothing to fear and there’s always hope for as long as we have Jesus in
our lives.
Sunday, January 04, 2015
Reflection for January 6 Tuesday after Epiphany, Mark 6:34-44
Gospel: Mark 6:34-44
When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart
was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and
he began to teach them many things. By now it was already late and his
disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already
very late. Dismiss them so that they can go to the surrounding farms and
villages and buy themselves something to eat. He said to them in reply Give
them some food yourselves. But they said to him “Are we to buy two hundred
days’ wages worth of food and give it to them to eat? He asked them, “How many
loaves do you have? Go and see. And when they had found out they said “Five
loaves and two fish. So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the
green grass. The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties.
Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he said
the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before
the people he also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied. And they
picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments and what was left of the
fish. Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand men.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
What impels us to do extra-ordinary things
for our fellowmen? For example, to give food to the hungry or to do something
especial for somebody without expecting anything in return. It’s love, the root
of our extra-ordinary actions for our fellowmen is love. When you love somebody
you will be willing to give something of yourself for the people or person that
you love.
In our gospel the many that have been
following Jesus had nowhere to go for it was getting late and there was no food
available for them. Jesus knew about this and He could have simply told the
crowd to disperse. And look for their own food and then comeback on the next
day. But He did not for He dearly loved them thereafter Jesus asked His
disciples, how much food do you have?
The disciples told Him five loaves and two
fish. And the five loaves and two fish
suddenly were multiplied by Jesus to become hundreds and were able to feed more
than five thousand. Jesus did the miracle of loaves out of His infinite love
for them all.
We too are dearly loved by Jesus for He
supplies us food everyday. Some of us may think that the food that we have on
the table is courtesy of our own hardwork. No, it’s not from our hardwork it’s actually
given to us by Jesus for He loves us dearly.
What have we given Jesus in return for His
love? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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