Reflection for April 15, Friday of the Third Week of Easter; John 6:52-59

Gospel: John 6:52-59

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my Flesh is true food, and my Blood is true drink. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.” These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

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Reflection:

A man was on the verge of death, he was already gasping for breath. His doctors told his relatives that it was just a matter of minutes before he expires. During such situation relatives and close friends would seemingly be helpless and forlorn.

But no, we will not feel helpless if we know that the person on his deathbed is a frequent Holy Mass goer. And if we know that the person is frequently being nourished by the Body of Christ during Holy Communion.

 This is for the reason that we believe to the core of our bones the proclamation of Jesus that whoever eats His Flesh and drinks His blood has eternal life.

We hold on to this assurance by Jesus and we feel and believe this as we receive His Body and Blood during Holy Communion. But not everyone is knowledgeable of this Bread of Life which is none other than Jesus Himself.

It is therefore our responsibility now to echo this gift of life of Jesus so that many will be enlightened and saved. Let us not become hearers only let us also become sharers of this good news.

Will you share what you know about the Bread of Life which you receive at Holy Mass during Holy Communion? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for April 14, Thursday of the Third Week of Easter; John 6:44-51

Gospel: John 6:44-51

Jesus said to the crowds: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God.

Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.”

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Reflection:

Why are we afraid to die?

 There are many reasons why we are afraid to die; foremost amongst these reasons is we are not prepared yet. We still have our own worldly preoccupation that we must take care of first. But we all know that at a time that we don’t expect, the grim reaper will eventually stalk us until it gets us.

In today’s gospel Jesus gives us an iron clad protection against our fear of death. He enjoins us to regularly partake of the living bread that is available to us during Holy Communion no other than Himself. This is the same bread that is given to those who are sick and not anymore able to go to church for Holy Mass.     

Why don’t we try to regularly partake of His Body during Holy Communion? And see how it will form, change and make us fearless of mortal death. We will not die anymore if we are with Jesus and we will not fear death anymore if we reverently partake of Him at Holy Mass during Holy Communion.  

Let us therefore bring others to Holy Mass and let us also be on the lookout for those who are not anymore able to go to church for Holy Mass caused by their sickness. So that they will also be blessed, nourished and enlightened by the enormous blessing of the Body of Jesus Christ.

Have you been able to bring someone to church for Holy Mass so that they too could partake of the Body of Christ during Holy Communion? Have you been an instrument for the sick who are not anymore capable to go to church, so that they too could receive the Body of Christ in their house? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for April 13, Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter; John 6:35-40

Gospel: John 6:35-40

Jesus said to the crowds, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. But I told you that although you have seen me, you do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.”

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Reflection:

What benefit would we be entitled to if we worship and become friends with Jesus? We will have countless entitlements. For example Jesus mentions to us in our gospel for today that if we go to Him and believe in Him we will never hunger and thirst anymore. How could this happen? We will not know until we try, we will not know until we develop that especial relationship with Jesus.

Many of us don’t feel the big impact that Jesus does in our lives because we don’t dare take Him seriously. We sometimes leave Him in favor of this world yet there are times also that we go to Him on bended knees because we are in need of Him. But after the storms in our lives we again start to distance ourselves from Jesus. How would we know the big impact that Jesus is capable of making in our lives if we don’t take Him seriously? If we treat Him like a thing which we only get when we are in need?

We will really not thirst and hunger anymore if only we would create a home for Jesus in our hearts. This is the key: To create a home for Jesus in our hearts so that we will personally feel that what He is saying is true.

Have you already opened your heart to Jesus?  - Marino J. Dasmarinas

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Reflection for April 12, Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter; John 6:30-35

Gospel: John 6:30-35

The crowd said to Jesus: “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:

He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

So they said to Jesus, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

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Reflection:

Would you be willing to give your very life for Jesus?

In our first reading Saint Stephen was killed because of his unending profession of faith in Jesus. He could have saved his life if he did not proclaim his love for Jesus but he chose to boldly say it, thus he was stoned to death.

What a price to pay for professing his faith and love for his God. But this is the reality with our discipleship with Jesus. If we really are true and faithful followers we will not hesitate to give a certain part of our life or even our own life for our love for Jesus.

Every now and then there will be instances wherein the steadfastness of our faith in Jesus will be tested. It may not cost our life anymore; perhaps the test of our commitment to Jesus may come through many forms of temptations and trials. Would we still be faithful to Jesus amidst our temptations and trials?

It’s really not easy to follow Jesus, some of us may have already given up on Jesus and we instead chose to follow the many temptations of this world.

But if we will not follow Jesus and if we will not sacrifice a part of ourselves for the kingdom of God, who are we going to follow? We follow the enemy of God and the master manipulator which is no other than the Devil? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for April 11, Monday Saint Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr; John 6:22-29

Gospel: John 6:22-29

The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat, but only his disciples had left. Other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they had eaten the bread when the Lord gave thanks. When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”

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Reflection:

A man was once asked why he attends the celebration of the Holy Mass everyday. He said that he does so because he wants to be nourished by Jesus everyday. Then he said these very profound words: “I don’t have the heart to refuse Jesus who always offers Himself to me during Holy Communion.”

In almost everyday of our lives Jesus always offers Himself to us by way of Holy Communion inside the celebration of the Holy Mass.  He is the food that does not perish and He is the food that gives eternal life. We often times take Him for granted for the reason that we don’t go to Holy Mass everyday even if we have the luxury of time.

But when are we going to Jesus? When we are in dire need of Him already? Let us not wait for the time to come when we will be forced to go to Jesus because we are already sick or a few steps away from death.

Let us take advantage of the present moment that we have every day let us go to Jesus now. For everything is ours to gain, we will not lose anything except our sinfulness the moment we decide to go to Jesus.

When are you going to Jesus who always offers Himself to you in the celebration of the Holy Mass? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for April 9, Saturday of the Second Week of Easter; John 6:16-21

Gospel: John 6:16-21

When it was evening, the disciples of Jesus went down to the sea, embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” They wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading.

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Reflection:

Do you fear the unknown? Do you fear darkness? The  disciples in the gospel were fearful  of both the unknown and the darkness. They were at sea in pitch darkness and being tossed by the waves, perhaps it was just fair for them to be fearful.

In pitch darkness and coupled with stormy seas. The disciples in the gospel were afraid when they saw Jesus going to their boat. Why were they afraid considering that they know Jesus? Perhaps they did not recognize Jesus at sea walking towards them.  Perhaps they were overtaken by their fear.

There will be trials and problems that we will encounter for as long as we exist in this world. But in the midst of our trials, problems and fears we are also always assured of Jesus abiding presence in our lives. He is always with us notwithstanding the many trials and problems that we’re going through.

All we need to do is to call upon Him and we will be alright. We will not anymore fear the unknown and even the darkness we will not fear either. For the simple reason that we have Jesus who is ever ready to help and save us whenever we pass though the many trials and trepidations of life. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for April 8, Friday of the Second Week of Easter; John 6:1-15

Gospel: John 6:1-15

Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough  for each of them to have a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

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Reflection:

How strong is your faith in Jesus? A man of faith would always say, everything is possible for Jesus but a man who has no faith would fail to see the infinite power of Jesus.

In our gospel Jesus saw the large crowd who was after Him. Jesus tested the faith of Philip by saying to him, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” Philip answered him, "Two hundred days?' wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.'" With his negative reply Philip failed his own test of faith.

Soon after, Philip saw the miracle of the loaves and fish before his very eyes. With five barley loaves and two fish Jesus nourished the famished five thousand people and they had twelve wicker baskets with fragments to spare.    

In our discipleship with Jesus we must always be reminded to walk by our faith and not by our sight. If we desire for something that is noble and worthy and we think that it’s very impossible for us to achieve it. Let us reflect on it and let us check our faith meter it may be very low already if this is so, let us pray to Jesus for the grace of increase of faith.

Let us not forget that Jesus fed the five thousand with five barley loaves and two fish. Thus, Jesus makes all things possible. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for April 7, Thursday Memorial of Saint John Baptist de la Salle, Priest; John 3:31-36

Gospel: John 3:31-36

The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. But the one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit. The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.

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Reflection:

Why is it hard to introduce the teaching of Jesus to our fellowmen most especially to Catholics who seldom go to church for Holy Mass? This is for the reason that many of us don’t live the teachings of Jesus. We are not humble, we are not loving and forgiving thus there’s resistance from those whom we want to share Jesus.  

What must we do if we are in this kind of predicament?  Should we easily give-up or should we change our ways. The wise choice is to change our ways and not give up. Because if we will give up, who will evangelize them? We leave them to be evangelized by those from other Christian faiths?

We must teach our faith but we must do it with humility, patience and love. We have to employ humility, patience and love so that we could impart to them the teachings of Jesus and our faith. For example our gospel for today tells us about the love of God the Father for His Son. How will they know about this if we will not teach them?

We will always become effective evangelizers of our faith if we are humble, loving and forgiving. For these are the qualities of Jesus when He walked on this earth more than two thousand years ago. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for April 6, Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter; John 3:16-21

Gospel: John  3:16-21

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

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Reflection:

Can we measure God’s love for us? No we cannot. God loves us infinitely that He even gave His only begotten son so that we may live. How about us can God measure our love for Him? Of course! If God’s love for us is infinite, our love for God is finite it has boundaries. It only extends up to a certain point, once that point is reached our love for God starts to decline also.

But why do we limit our love for God? Why can’t we love God as He loves us? This is for the reason that we are afraid to lose our earthly liberty for God. To love God infinitely is to follow the teachings of God without any preconditions.

However, the paradox of infinitely loving God is we also have to begin to hate some of the things that this world offers us. Number one on the list that we must hate from this world is sin. Number two is our very high regard for ourselves for we always want to be above everyone else. We often look down on those whom we perceive to be inferior, weak and those not in our level. These are but a few of the things that prevent us from loving God infinitely.

Come to think of it, if God loves us infinitely then we must be prepared to do the same. We must reciprocate God’s love for us by loving those who are difficult to love such as those who’ve hurt us badly. Loving them means forgiving them of the many hurts that they’ve carved in our lives.

Are you prepared to reciprocate God’s infinite love for you? – Marino J. Dasmarinas   

Reflection for April 5, Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter; John 3:7b-15

Gospel: John 3:7b-15

Jesus said to Nicodemus: “‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus answered and said to him, ‘How can this happen?” Jesus answered and said to him, “You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this? Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

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Reflection:

Who is Nicodemus and how does his situation relates with us?  He is a Pharisee, a secret faithful follower of Jesus; He visited Jesus during night time (John 3:1–21). Nicodemus also appeared after the Crucifixion of Jesus to provide the embalming ingredients for the body of Jesus. He also assisted Joseph of Arimathea in preparing the body of Jesus (John 19:39–42).

Like Nicodemus we too should become a faithful follower of Jesus. A follower who doesn’t keep any secrets. A true follower in words and in deeds and a follower who will stay with Jesus no matter how strong the temptation to betray him.  

We should aspire to become a modern day Nicodemus who will silently support Jesus. Who will silently  work for Jesus and who will do things for Jesus even outside of the glare of lights. This is the challenge before us who are following Jesus.  

But are we really His true followers? Or we are followers in good times only but when the testing of our faith comes we easily betray Jesus in favor of the temptation.  Are we also followers who are ever ready to leave behind everything in favor of Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Sunday April 3, Second Sunday of Easter (Devine Mercy Sunday); John 20:19-31

Gospel: John 20:19-31

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

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Reflection:

Do you want to have a personal encounter with the risen Lord Jesus?

Thomas in the gospel wanted very much to have an up close and personal encounter with his lord and master. He was yearning for it like a parched land longing for water. 

Therefore when Thomas was told by his fellow disciples that the risen Jesus appeared to them. He pretended not to believe yet deep inside his heart he already believed what his fellow disciples told him. He believed already however he still yearned for physical evidence, he wants to see Jesus in the flesh and he wants to touch the very wounds of Jesus.

Thomas great desire to encounter Jesus came into fruition after a week when they were all in that same room where Jesus first appeared. While all of them were inside the upper room lo and behold Jesus suddenly appeared before them all!

Right after His appearance Jesus singled out Thomas by inviting him to see the wounds on His hands and by touching the wound on the side of His body which was pierced by a lance by the roman soldiers while He was dying on the cross.  

If you want to have a personal encounter with the risen Lord it’s ok to doubt first. Then after doubting feed the same doubt with curiosity by discovering more about Jesus. 

Sooner you will discover and feel for yourself that Jesus is real, that Jesus is alive and that Jesus is just a prayer or even a whisper away from you. – Marino J. Dasmarinas      

Reflection for April 2, Saturday within the Octave of Easter; Mark 16:9-15

Gospel: Mark 16:9-15

When Jesus had risen, early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told his companions who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

After this he appeared in another form to two of them walking along on their way to the country. They returned and told the others; but they did not believe them either. But later, as the Eleven were at table, he appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”

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Reflection:

Do you believe that Jesus is risen? Well and good if you believe for He has indeed risen and appeared first to Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene believed this too for she saw Him personally and she conversed with the risen Lord.

But when she told the disciples that Jesus had risen they did not believe they instead continued to mourn the death of Jesus. The disciples finally believed only when Jesus personally appeared before them. And right there Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith in His resurrection.

Perhaps the guiding principle of the disciples who did not believe is to see is to believe. For they only believed in the resurrection when He personally appeared to them. Were they already lacking in faith when they did not believe what Mary Magdalene told them? Yes! Lack of faith was slowly but surely creeping into their system until they saw Jesus in the flesh!

The folly of not believing or lack of faith is we will not benefit from Jesus if we don’t have faith or we don’t believe. We will not be healed by Jesus if we lack faith or we don’t believe. - Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for April 1, Friday within the Octave of Easter; John 21:1-14

Gospel: John 21:1-14

Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way. Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish. When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.” So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.” And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they realized it was the Lord. Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish. This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead.

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Reflection:

What is the scenario when fishermen come home after long hours of fishing at sea? They naturally want to go home and rest their tired bodies.

This was the situation when the fishermen arrived from their long hours of fishing without any catch. They simply want to go home and rest their very tired bodies.  But as they approach the shore they saw Jesus who told the fishermen to put their empty nets back to the sea. 

They simple obeyed Jesus and presto they’ve caught the biggest number of fish. We see here in the gospel that Jesus rewards those who obey Him. We see also the love and care that Jesus gave to His disciples. Love and care that never ends and not constrained by time and space.

Why did Jesus appear to His disciples for the third time after His resurrection? Jesus wanted to reassure His disciples that He will never abandon them and that He is still with them in every step of the way. As if saying to His disciples, I am always with you wherever you go ever ready to guide and help you.

Humans as we are we also pass through episodes of weariness, tiredness and frustrations brought about by our many life challenges. We are never alone when we pass through these challenging episodes of life. The Risen Jesus is also with us ever ready to guide and help us. – Marino J. Dasmarinas