Reflection for Tuesday August 19, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time; Matthew 19:23-30

Gospel: Matthew 19:23-30

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” Then Peter said to him in reply, “We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

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Reflection:

The recent suicide of Robin Williams tells us that fame and fortune is not a guaranty to have inner peace and serenity. We may have all the material wealth of this world but it amounts to nothing if we are without inner peace.

In our gospel Jesus said to the disciples, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. This was in reference to the rich man in our gospel yesterday (Matthew 19:16-22) who couldn’t give-up his treasures in favor of the poor and his discipleship with Jesus. That rich man was actually invited by Jesus to become his follower but he declined the glorious offer because he held-on to his wealth.

It’s not actually bad to be rich it becomes a hazard to our well-being when we make our riches our God. That we are not willing to let it go for anything even for the sake of the kingdom of God. Therefore, when we are so in-love with our fleeting wealth we become capable of doing anything that Jesus abhors.  

That’s why Jesus said in our gospel that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God. Because the more that we get richer the more that we distance ourselves from the love of Jesus yet the more that we give away our riches  the more that we become fit for the kingdom of God.

God created us to freely aspire for His kingdom in heaven and not to be permanently imprisoned by our riches in  this world. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Monday August 18, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time; Matthew 19:16-22

Gospel: Matthew 19:16-22

A young man approached Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

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Reflection:

So near and yet so far, perhaps this was the predicament of the man who asked Jesus on what must he do to have eternal life. He already did everything that was asked of him until Jesus told him to sell everything in his pessession and give the proceeds to the poor then follow Him. The man quietly walked away for the reason that he couldn’t let go of his many earthly possession.

Somehow this man represents all of us we who find it very hard to let go of our earthly possession in favor of helping others and the kingdom of God. What is with wealth that we cannot let go? We cannot bring it to our graves we cannot even possess it anymore when we are already old for someone will possess it for us or even hide it from us.

Saint Francis of Asisi was from a noble and rich family he gave-up everything to the poor so that he could follow God’s will for him.  God’s will for us also is to give-up our riches so that others may live from it. This is very hard to do that requires radical change of mindset for us to fully embrace it.

Perhaps if we are not willing to give-up everything because we also have our own family to feed and take care of. We can give something for the poor  because it’s only through giving-up of something that we treasure in this world that we could follow Jesus.    

Are we like the young man in our gospel who walked away from Jesus because he had many possessions? Or we are like Saint Francis of Asisi who gave-up everything to the poor so that he could follow God’s will for him. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Sunday August 17, Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time; Matthew 15:21-28

Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28

At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her. Jesus’ disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.

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Reflection:

How do we define our faith in Jesus? It’s when we don’t give-up on what we want from Jesus. We continuously badger Him until He gives in to our prayer request for Him.

The Canaanite woman had this kind of faith, she never gave-up on her prayer request for Jesus to heal her daughter tormented by a demon. There were many obstacles against her foremost of this was her being not a Jew but it did not matter to her. She persisted and she even argued with Jesus until she passed Jesus’ examination of her faith on Him. After which her daughter was healed by Jesus.

This gospel relates with our own journey of faith in Jesus also. We could be that Canaanite woman who badgered Jesus no end until she got the healing that she wants for her daughter.

 However, unlike the woman from Canaan who persisted until the very end we may not have the will to badger Jesus. We may have quit already and said to ourselves, I give-up on my prayer for Jesus because He seems to be deaf. What we do not know is it's just a part of the testing of our faith.

Every trial that we go through is our own test of faith we may be going through some trials right now. We may be asking ourselves, why am I going through this difficulties? Let us not  give-up and let us continue to have faith in Jesus. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Repleksyon para sa Agosto 17, Ika-20 na Linggo sa Karaniwang Panahon; Mateo 15:21-28

Mabuting Balita: Mateo 15:21-28

Umalis doon si Jesus at nagpunta sa lupaing malapit sa Tiro at Sidon. Isang Cananea na nakatira doon ang lumapit sa kanya na sumisigaw, "Panginoon, Anak ni David, maawa po kayo sa akin! Ang anak kong babae ay sinasapian ng demonyo at labis na pinapahirapan nito."

Ngunit hindi sumagot si Jesus. Lumapit ang kanyang mga alagad at sinabi kay Jesus, "Paalisin na nga po ninyo siya. Napakaingay niya at sunod nang sunod sa atin." Sumagot si Jesus, "Sa mga naliligaw na tupa ng sambahayan ng Israel lamang ako isinugo."    Ngunit lumapit sa kanya ang babae, lumuhod ito at nagmakaawa, "Tulungan po ninyo ako, Panginoon."

Sumagot si Jesus, "Hindi dapat kunin ang pagkain ng mga bata at ibigay sa mga aso."

Totoo nga, Panginoon. Ngunit ang mga aso man po ay kumakain ng mumong nalalaglag sa hapag ng kanilang panginoon," tugon ng babae. At sinabi sa kanya ni Jesus, "Napakalaki ng iyong pananampalataya! Mangyayari ang hinihiling mo." At noon di'y gumaling ang kanyang anak.

Reflection for Saturday August 16, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time; Matthew 19:13-15

Gospel: Matthew 19:13-15

Children were brought to Jesus that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked them, but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” After he placed his hands on them, he went away.

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Reflection:

Do you bring your children to church for Holy Mass? Do you teach your children about Jesus? Do you read the bible to your children? All of these questions are means for all of us to bring our children closer to Jesus but do we bring our children to Jesus?

What is the importance of bringing our children to Jesus? First and foremost is it assures their good future in this world and beyond this world. This is basically what Jesus does to our children: He assures them of a bright and Godly future not based on the criteria of this world but based on His own criteria.

Just imagine if we bring our children closer to Jesus, we will have less headache as they grow-up. This is for the reason that the frequent you bring them to Jesus the more that they are being guided by Jesus in everyday of their lives.

Some parents of today are afraid to bring their children closer to Jesus. Because they are afraid that they children may aspire to become a priest or a nun and their alibi is there’s no money in aspiring for the priesthood or in becoming a nun. Indeed there’s no money in these vocations but we don’t live for money in this world, we don't live for this world only we live to live the teachings of Jesus, we live to aspire for heaven eventually.

What would it benefit your children if they have all the money in this world yet they don’t have Jesus? When you bring your children to Jesus you are not only investing in their future you are also investing in your own future in heaven. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

In solidarity with the persecuted Christians in Iraq and in the Middle East...

Reflection for Tuesday August 5, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time; Matthew 15:1-2, 10-14

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Gospel: Matthew 15:1-2, 10-14

Some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands when they eat a meal.” He summoned the crowd and said to them, “Hear and understand. It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles the man; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one.” Then his disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” He said in reply, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.

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Reflection:

Whom would you prefer a person who observes the tradition of washing of hands before eating a meal or a person who doesn’t observe this tradition? We would obviously prefer the one who observes the tradition.

But what if those who observe the tradition do it only for people to see them doing it and there’s no interior cleansing that happens to them? And those who don’t observe the tradition are the ones who are interiorly clean. We would now prefer those who do not observe the tradition but they are clean from within their hearts.     

Jesus is not against the washing of hands per se but what He is against is the external display of holiness. For example, what is the use of our religious devotions if there is no internal transformation that occurs in our hearts?

We continue to do bad things and we continue to cling to what is evil, so what is the use of our acts of holiness if it’s only for people to see? - mjdasma     

Reflection for Wednesday July 30, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time; Matthew 13:44-46

Gospel: Matthew 13:44-46

Jesus said to his disciples: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.”

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Reflection:

Every now and then we hear news of rich and famous people committing suicide. We can’t help but ask, Why did they end their life? They almost have everything, this is what we think from outside looking in, that they almost have everything; but do they really have everything?

If they have everything why would they end their life? They may have everything that this temporal world could offer them but a very important component of their lives is missing and it is the Kingdom of heaven which is God.  

Many of us aspire to be materially rich and famous but when we get rich. And we almost have everything that this world could offer us we find out that something is still missing in our life. Who or what is this missing link in our life? HE is Jesus and to find HIM is to find our greatest treasure and most  precious pearl.

But how could we find Jesus if we are always busy with our many worldly undertakings? How could we find Jesus if we seldom listen to HIM in the silence of our hearts?   

Our lives will never be the same once we truly find the greatest treasure and the most precious pearl which is no other than Jesus.  

Repleksyon para sa July 27, Ika-17 na Linggo sa Karaniwang Panahon; Mateo 13:44-46

Mabuting Balita: Mateo 13:44-46

 "Ang kaharian ng langit ay katulad ng kayamanang nakabaon sa isang bukid. Nahukay ito ng isang tao ngunit agad itong tinabunan. Tuwang-tuwa siyang umalis at ibinenta ang lahat ng kanyang ari-arian upang bilhin ang bukid na iyon."  Ang kaharian ng langit ay katulad din ng isang negosyante na naghahanap ng mga mamahaling perlas. Nang makakita siya ng isang perlas na napakahalaga, umuwi siya't ipinagbili ang lahat ng kanyang ari-arian at binili ang perlas na iyon."

A PRIMER ON THE BELIEFS OF THE IGLESIA NI KRISTO By ORLANDO CARDINAL QUEVEDO, O.M.I. Archbishop of Cotabato Chairman, Commission on the Doctrine of the Faith, CBCP

Please click on this link:

http://knowthetruth.ph/a-primer-on-the-beliefs-of-the-iglesia-ni-kristo/

Let us Pray and Help...

Reflection for Saturday 19, Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time; Matthew 12:14-21

Gospel: Matthew 12:14-21

The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place. Many people followed him, and he cured them all, but he warned them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet: Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I shall place my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not contend or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope.

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Reflection:

What are we going to do if we know that powerful people are after our life? Of course we will do what Jesus did; we will also withdraw to a place where we will be safe. But unlike Jesus who continued to do HIS acts of mercy even if HIS life was already in danger. We may not do anything except to hide and protect our life, this is what separate Jesus from us.

For Jesus the greater good is not to protect HIS life but to continue to serve the people that HE dearly loved so much. This love for HIS people eventually culminated in HIS death on the cross.

But not all of us are afraid to give our very life for the sake of our fellowmen. There are others who selflessly gave their lives so that others may live and be free. This is best exemplified by our heroes who selflessly gave their lives for our sake.

In hindsight, what is the reason why we want to protect our life to the detriment of our fellowmen? The simple reason perhaps is we love our life more that we love Jesus and our fellowmen. We perhaps are simply unconcerned with the greater need of our fellowmen otherwise we would not think twice to give our treasured time and life for others.

Self-preservation is never an option for those who truly follow Jesus. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

My Reflection for Thursday June 26, Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time, Matthew 7:21-29

Gospel: Matthew 7:21-29

(Jesus said to his disciples) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”

When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

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Reflection:

Where is your life anchored today? Is it anchored on this world or anchored on no one else but God? It’s very tempting to anchor our life to this world. For who would not want riches, influence, power and the like? We would be hypocrite if we say that we don’t want these all.

Yes we do want these all, however what will happen to us if we become worldly? If God simply becomes just an option for us where we go when we are in need of HIM and when we are not anymore in need of HIM we don’t go to HIM anymore.

the reality of our life is we were not created to become permanent citizens of this world. We are mere temporal passersby in this world, sooner or later we will leave this world and all the worldly possessions that we have accumulated. Where would we end-up in the afterlife if we only live for this world?

It’s always better if we accumulate our life with God, this means that we worship God and we do what HE wants us to do. But this is not always the case we often times worship HIM only and we don’t do what Jesus wants us to do. 

Therefore we continue to become slaves of this world.

1Reflection for June 15, Sunday; Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity; John 3:16-18

Gospel: John 3:16-18

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 18 He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

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Reflection:

How do we give our love to our spouse or to our friend perhaps? There are times that this love is with condition, we love when we receive love in return. But when the love that we give is unrequited this love wanes until it finally evaporates from our hearts and this is how we normally love.

In our readings for this Sunday most especially the gospel, God opens our hearts to a much deeper kind of love. A love that cannot be measured by anything,  love that has no limits and a  love that is coupled with humility and sacrifice.

God’s love is not like how we express our love. For we are always conscious about what we could get back in return for the love that we give. This is the complete opposite of God’s love. Love in the eyes of God is when we are willing to sacrifice even at the cost of our very own life.  

Today is the solemnity also of the Holy Trinity, the three persons in one God. How are they able to exist without any conflict? How could they be one yet three? They harmoniously co-exist because they have the love of God.

The Holy Trinity for many of us is a mystery but not anymore for some of us. Why? Because they already have in their hearts the love of God, let us therefore ask the Holy Trinity covert our hearts according to His love.

If God lovingly gave HIS very own son so that we may live and have life, what can we give God in return?