Reflection for April 18, Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter; John 10:1-10

Gospel: John 10:1-10

Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” Although Jesus used this figure of speech, they did not realize what he was trying to tell them.

So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

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Reflection:

There is a story of a poor family the husband had an ordinary low paying job and the wife was a simple housewife they had six (6) children. Because of the meager salary of the husband they could barely survive and they always borrow money from their relatives.

Despite of their poor financial standing this family was faithful to the church; they would always observe their Sunday obligation. The parents taught their children the values of the faith; the mother would always lead in the prayer of the Holy Rosary and the father would always be there to join them.

Eventually all of their children became very successful in their respective field of endeavors and they’ve given back the love and guidance that their parents gave them. Obviously the parents were Good shepherds for they brought their children to the gate of life that is the church.

Jesus in the gospel tells the crowd including the Pharisees that He is the good shepherd that desires only the best for them. Jesus also tells them that He is the gate of life but they did not believe Him.

It was said that:  “The proof of the pudding is in the eating” Thus unlike the Pharisees we know for a fact that Jesus is really our Good Shepherd. We believe and feel in our heart this declaration of  Jesus. He desires nothing for us but our wellbeing; we also know that He is our only gateway towards life beyond this world and without Him in our lives there would be no life beyond this world.

There are still many who do not know about Jesus as the Good Shepherd, there are still many who do not know that Jesus is the gateway to life beyond this world. Their gateway is the material things of this world and the lies and fleeting happiness that Satan offers them through this world.

Let us spread the word about the real Good Shepherd and Gateway no other than Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

1Reflection for Sunday April 17, fourth Sunday of Easter; John 10:27-30

Gospel: John 10:27-30

Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”

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Reflection:

Do you still remember when you were a child? Your mother and father would always shepherd or guide you. They were always there for you in everything that you need to do and know. Then as you grow-up you slowly detached yourself from their guidance because you feel that you are already capable of guiding yourself and charting your own course. 

But as you encounter difficulties in your life you would always return to them to once again seek their guidance even ask for their help and they would always be there for you. This is a testament of your parent’s great love for you. You fall down yet your parents would always be there to help you get-up on your feet and shepherd you once again.

Jesus our good shepherd is very much like our parents. He is always there for us to guide and mold us for us to become what He wants us to be. But there comes a time that we want independence from Jesus, we want to do things our way even if it’s against the will of God.

So by our desire to do things our way we also mire ourselves in sin. But let us not forget that Jesus our good shepherd is always there for us. Ever ready to forgive us, ever ready to guide and shepherd us again. Jesus our good shepherd will not condemn us what He always offers us is  His love and forgiveness.  

Let us not detach ourselves anymore from the shepherding of Jesus for it’s only through Him that we can obtain salvation in this world. It’s only through Him that we could have peace in this world.  Let us continue to hear His voice through the homily of the priest. Through daily reading of His words in the bible/scripture and through the many well meaning commentaries of those who write and speak for Him.

Who is shepherding you right now? If it’s Jesus you are blessed and you’re peaceful. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for April 16, Saturday of the Third Week of Easter; John 6:60-69

Gospel: John 6:60-69

Many of the disciples of Jesus who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.”

As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

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Reflection:

When many of the followers of Jesus went back to their former way of life because they couldn’t believe that He is the Bread of Life. Jesus perhaps quite sad turned His attention to His twelve apostles and said to them: “Do you also want to leave (John 6:67)?” This is the million dollar question that confronted the twelve apostles, “Do you also want to leave (John 6:67)?”

For many of us the teachings of Jesus are actually hard to follow. For example His teachings about Humility. How many of us are still willing to offer the other cheek if we are hit on the other side(Luke 6:29)?

 His teachings about fidelity to the Sacrament of Marriage. Are we still faithful or have we been faithful to our respective spouses? And there are many more teachings that Jesus wants us to follow but we don’t for the simple reason that we want to satisfy our earthly desires.

We see, it’s hard to follow Jesus because He will stir our lives according to what He wants it to become. Jesus will turn our life upside down, He will shake and disturb it until we are purified. And this is hard for us for the simple reason that we want to follow our own self-serving wants and sometimes immoral desires.

But where would we go? We follow the dictates of this sinful world? if this is so we then end up in hell, we will even taste and feel how it is to be in hell while we are still living in this world.    

it’s only through Jesus that we can have peace, that this world cannot give us and it’s only through Jesus that we can have eternal life. The things that we have right now are all temporary; we will leave it or it will leave us anytime.

Will you also leave Jesus?  – Marino J. Dasmarinas    

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