Reflection for Thursday December 11, Second Week of Advent; Matthew 11:11-15

Gospel: Matthew 11:11-15

(Jesus said to the crowds)  Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force. All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come. Whoever has ears ought to hear.

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Reflection:

What does John the Baptist brings to us? It’s his witness for Jesus and His teachings until the end. Like the Prophets before him, John gave his life so that evil would not triumph over good. In essence it was the devil against God. John chose God over the devil, John chose righteousness over evil and immorality.

For these reasons Jesus hailed John as the greatest amongst the prophets, yet Jesus tells us also that the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John. Who is greater than John the Baptist? It’s Jesus Himself! Jesus came into this world not with power and might. Like John, Jesus was born into this world bereft of worldly opulence.

Somehow the gospel communicates to us that for us to become great in the eyes of Jesus we have to emulate John. His humble witness for Jesus, his uncompromising stand against evil and so forth. We must not forget also that Jesus is challenging us also to become the least in the eyes of the people of this world.

 It means that we must not crave for money, power or anything that this fleeting world will offer us. Nevertheless even without these worldly things we will strive to continue to make a positive difference in the lives of our fellowmen. For this is the life of Jesus when He walked on this earth.

Could we emulate the life of John? Are we capable of shunning the trappings of this world and still make a positive difference in the lives of our fellowmen just what Jesus did? - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Wednesday December 10, Second Week of Advent; Matthew 11:28-30

Gospel: Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus said to the crowds: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

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Reflection:

Who among us are not feeling weary and burdened by the weight of the problems that we carry? We are all burdened by this world yet these burdens the we carry are miraculously made light. When we learn to submit it to Jesus and when we invite Jesus to help us carry it.

Why do we endure to carry the burden of someone we love or to suffer for someone we love? This is for the reason that we are already yoked or made one with this person that we love. For example, in married life if your spouse is sick you would endure and love to take care of your spouse.

This is for the reason that Jesus bonded the two of you to become one through the Sacrament of Matrimony.  Remember some words of your marriage vows? In sickness and in health you will not part until death!

If marriage made you one with your spouse, through your Baptism you became one with Jesus or you are already yoked with Jesus until eternity. Let us therefore always go to Jesus we who are all burdened by the difficulties of life for we will always find healing and strength in HIM.

Do you always go to Jesus by visiting Him in the Adoration Chapel? Do you always go to Jesus through Holy Mass? Do you always go to Jesus through your prayers? - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Tuesday December 9, Second Week of Advent; Matthew 18:12-14

Gospel: Matthew 18:12-14

Jesus said to his disciples: “What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”

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Reflection:

Can we measure God’s love for us? No for God’s love is not bound by any kind of measurement or limited by time and space. God will continue to love us even if we are the most sinful person in this world.

The Parable of the lost sheep in our gospel is a showcase of this infinite love of God. Who is the man who looked for the lost sheep? He is our loving and merciful God! Who is the lost sheep that went astray?  It’s us we who are sinful and we who love sin more than God.

Nevertheless, even if we love to sin and even if we run away from the love of God. He is always there looking for us, always ready to forgive and forget all the sins that we have committed. Let us all be cognizant of this infinite love of God and let us also not be quick to judge our brothers and sisters who sin.

Instead of judging those who sin let us rather emulate God who looked for and reached-out to the lost sheep. Instead of judging let us help them get-up on their feet so that they could free themselves from the bondage of sin. There are sinners because no one is willing to reach-out to them, no one is willing to pay forward the infinite love of God.

Are we quick to judge those who sin? Do we care to reach-out to them so that they could feel the infinite love of God? - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Manalangin po tayo...

Reflection for Sunday December 7, Second Sunday of Advent; Mark 8:1-8

Gospel: Mark 8:1-8

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist.

He fed on locusts and wild honey. And this is what he proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

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Reflection:

What if John said that he is already the one and no one anymore is coming after him? John could have fooled a lot of people but John did not take advantage of his new found celebrity status. He instead fulfilled the prophet Isaiah’s proclamation that he would prepare the way of the Lord.  

How did John prepared the way for Jesus? He called for renewal and repentance he coupled this with his humility, simplicity and not with judgment, arrogance and frivolity.  For these reasons, John was very successful in his mission of leading others to Jesus.

This gospel invites us also to reflect on how we lead others to Jesus, if at all we are doing something to lead others to Jesus. This is for the reason that we may have not done anything yet to lead others to Jesus.

How should we go about in leading our fellowmen to Jesus? In our own little way we should become another John in the environment where we are right now. This means that we must also do something to prepare the way of the Lord. This we could best do by our humility, simplicity and genuine worship for Jesus.

We can lead others to know Jesus by how we live. For example, if our friends have a limited knowledge of Jesus it may be through us that they would know Jesus deeply by how we live our faith. And it may be through us that they might have a personal encounter with Jesus.        

During this second Sunday of Advent let us ask ourselves these questions: Have I done something concrete to prepare the way of the Lord? Have I already led other to Jesus through my words and actions? - Marino J. Dasmarinas

PROTECT O DEAR LORD JESUS THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES AGAINST TYPHOON RUBI/HAGUPIT. SHIELD AND EMBRACE US WITH YOUR LOVE AND CARE. AMEN

LET US IMPLORE THE PROTECTION OF THE GOOD LORD AGAINST TYPHOON RUBI/HAGUPIT.

Reflection for December 5, Friday of the First Week of Advent; Matthew 9:27-31

Gospel: Matthew  9:27-31

As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying out, “Son of David, have pity on us! When he entered the house, the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they said to him. Then he touched their eyes and said, “Let it be done for you according to your faith. And their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this. But they went out and spread word of him through all that land.

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Reflection:

What are we willing to do to have faith? Are we willing to humble ourselves and kneel before God and ask Him to give us the gift of faith? Faith is a gift that Jesus freely gives to the humble. Even if you will not ask for it Jesus will give it to you for as long as you humble yourself in front of Him.

In the gospel for this Friday we have two humble blind men who cried to Jesus for compassion.  Why did they cry when they could have shouted at Jesus to get His attention? They cried because they saw hope and mercy in Jesus. For the two blind men Jesus was their only hope to have the gift of sight.

Let us also ask Jesus to give us the gift of Hope and faith for nothing is impossible for those who humble themselves before God. Even the impossible is now very much possible for as long as we have faith.   

Whatever we’re going through right now, believe that Jesus will heal us. And believe that He will answer our pleas for nothing is impossible for Jesus. This is best exemplified by the two  incredible blind men of deep faith in our gospel.

How’s your faith in Jesus? - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for December 4, Thursday of the First Week of Advent; Matthew 7:21, 24-27

Gospel: Matthew 7:21, 24-27

(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.

“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.”

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Reflection:

What will happen to us if we always pray yet we don’t live our faith? For example we always pray the Holy Rosary everyday or we go to Holy Mass every Sunday yet we don’t allow the Holy Spirit to change us? We would easily succumb to worldly temptations and we render useless our acts of worship for God.

The Philippines is a catholic country, in fact more than eighty percent (80%) of us are Catholics and the majority of our leaders are Catholics. yet corruption is deeply rooted in our bureaucracy. Why is this so? This is for the reason that we are only good at worshipping God but we don’t allow our worship for God to transform us.

What does Jesus want from all of us? He wants us to worship Him and allow this same worship for Him to transform us. So that we could become His true and faithful followers, it’s very easy to pray so that others would see us. However, the real qualification for us to be called a follower of Jesus is when we allow our worship for Him to transform us.

What will happen to us if we let our prayers to transform us according to the will of the Father in heaven?  We would 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 (Luke 7:24-25).

Do we allow our worship for God to transform us according to His will? - Marino J. Dasmarinas

My Reflections will resume soon please comeback. God bless you!

My Reflections will resume soon please comeback. God bless you! - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Monday December 1, Monday of the First Week of Advent; Matthew 8:5-11

Gospel: Matthew 8:5-11

When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.” He said to him, “I will come and cure him.” The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it. When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.”

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Reflection:

What brought the centurion to Jesus? It was his great faith, when the centurion went to Jesus for help for his servant he had nothing except his great faith. He firmly believed in Jesus power to heal and he used his mighty faith to convince Jesus to cure his servant.

Who is this centurion? He is a roman officer that has people under his command, he also is not a follower yet he has great faith in Jesus. Don’t we want this kind of faith also? Of course we all want our faith to be like the centurions. Therefore we must prayerfully ask Jesus to give us the same faith. But do we ask Jesus to give us the gift of faith? Is the gift of faith always part of our prayer request for Jesus?

If Jesus could give that great faith to a non-follower like the centurion why can’t He give us the same faith considering that we are his followers? Faith is a gift that Jesus freely and generously gives to anyone who prays for it.

What is our usual prayer to Jesus? Is it always to have the things of this world. Let us not forget that the things of this world are passing and temporary. While faith will not pass, it’s not also temporary.   

Faith will be with us until forever, it will accompany us in our journey beyond this world going to the eternal Kingdom of the King of Kings no other than Jesus Himself.

Give us the gift of faith O Lord Jesus, most especially the one who is reading this reflection right now. Amen. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Sunday November 30, First Sunday of Advent; Mark 13:33-37

Gospel: Mark 13:33-37

Jesus said to his disciples: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”

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Reflection:

What does it mean to be watchful? It means to always be prepared and alert for anything that may happen or arrive. But why do we need to be watchful? Why not simply become passive and complacent? We need to be watchful because this is what Jesus wants us to become for He will manifest His presence to us at any moment of our lives.

Why did Jesus told the disciples to be watchful when He was still with them? Jesus was actually preparing already His disciples for His eventual arrest and separation from them. And as they do their mission without Him, they should always do it with vigor, motivation and with clean intention. For He may manifest Himself again to them anytime, therefore they must never be complacent and passive.  

Today is the first Sunday of advent, this means coming or arrival of something very important. What is the significance of this command of Jesus for us? We too are being encouraged by Jesus to be watchful and prepared for His coming.  But how should we prepare?

First is by submitting ourselves to the Healing Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. All of us are sinful; we sin through our Thoughts, Words and Actions. These many sins that we commit make us ill-prepared for the coming of Jesus.   

Second is we have to forgive those who caused us pain,  if this tells us that we have to reach-out  to them in humility so be it. This is very difficult to do but if we say that we know Jesus then we must be prepared to embody Jesus. By doing so we bring Jesus to them and who knows it may be through us that they will have an awareness of the living presence of Jesus in their lives. 

Are we prepared to be watchful? - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Saturday November 29, Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 21:34-36

Gospel: Luke 21:34-36

Jesus said to his disciples:“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”

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Reflection:

What would make us succumb to disorderly behavior, drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life? We will succumb to this unhealthy behavior/lifestyle when we close our hearts to the love of Jesus. Lest we forget, the devil is always present in our environment and always trying to look for the right opportunity to snatch us away from the love of God.

Some of us may not believe that the devil is present in our environment but he is. This is the reason why there are evil events and things around us. If there’s no active presence of the devil in our environment there would have been no crimes and other evil things but the devil is present.

In our gospel for this Saturday, Jesus tells us this: :“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap (Luke 21:34).

The cure for this warning of Jesus is none other than Himself! If we have a close and personal relationship with Jesus we would be able to ward off any kind of temptation that the evil one will cleverly throw at us.

If the devil is always around waiting for the right timing to temp us. Jesus is always there also always knocking at our hearts so that he could enter our lives. And once we already have Jesus in our lives the devil will flee from our environment. Therefore we must always open our hearts to Jesus for as long as we exist in this world.

Are we willing to open our heart to Jesus so that He could exorcize our many evils? - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Friday November 28, Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 21:29-33

Gospel: Luke 21:29-33

Jesus told his disciples a parable. “Consider the fig tree and all the other trees. When their buds burst open, you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near; in the same way, when you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

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Reflection:

A man was asked, what is your greatest fear in Life? The man replied, I fear death for I don’t know what would happen to me when I die.

We all have our own set of fears, we fear losing somebody we love, we fear losing our job. And the worst fear perhaps is the same as with the man who was asked about his greatest fear.  However why fear when Jesus is always there to soothe and take away our fears?

Many of us have so many fears for the reason that we don’t have Jesus in our lives and we don’t have a personal relationship with Him.  This is basically the reason why we have so many fears. But, why don’t we try to have discover more about Jesus through our faithful presence at Holy Mass? Why don’t we try to discover more about Jesus  by reading about His life in the bible?

Jesus in our gospel tells us that heaven and earth will pass away but His words will not pass away (Luke 21:33). Indeed, everything will pass away or we may pass away first before everything pass away. Nevertheless whatever happens and whomever passes away first we have nothing to fear for as long as we have Jesus in our lives. - Marino J. Dasmarinas