1Reflection for May 18, Wednesday of the Seventh Week in OT; Mark 9:38-40

Gospel: Mark 9:38-40

John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us.”

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Reflection:

Why do some Catholics leave the church in favor of other Christian church?  If we will ask them why they left they would normally say that they felt Jesus’ presence more in their lives when the Pastor of the Christian church shared passages about Jesus in the bible.

Should we get angry with these Christian churches for taking away some of our brethren who grew bored in our church? Of course not! We should rather be more innovative in our preaching about the word of God so that the faithful will feel Jesus’ presence in their lives.

John said to Jesus: “someone is driving out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied: “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us.”

We should at all times be gentle, tolerant and loving towards other Christian religions for we preach the same God. We may have our differences with them but at the end of the day we preach the same God and the same Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for May 17, Tuesday of the Seventh Week in OT; Mark 9:30-37

Gospel: Mark 9:30-37

Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it. He was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him.

They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they remained silent. For they had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”

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Reflection:

Who is the greatest? Of course it’s no other than Jesus but Jesus’ greatness is shown in His humility, selflessness and in His obedience to the will of God the Father.

What is the evidence so that we can rightfully claim that we follow the greatest person who ever walked this earth?  It’s also our humility, selflessness and obedience to Jesus. The mistake of many of us who follow Jesus is we often times act without any iota of humility, selflessness and obedience.

We often times project power and arrogance and we feel that we are above all because we sense that we are close to Jesus when in fact we are not. Our closeness or intimacy with Jesus is never defined by our religious titles, ranks or position in our church. 

It’s truly defined by how we practice the greatness of Jesus through His humility, selflessness and obedience. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for May 16, Monday of the Seventh Week in OT; Mark 9:14-29

Gospel: Mark 9:14-29

As Jesus came down from the mountain with Peter, James, John and approached the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them. Immediately on seeing him, the whole crowd was utterly amazed. They ran up to him and greeted him. He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I have brought to you my son possessed by a mute spirit. Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable to do so.” He said to them in reply, “O faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring him to me.” They brought the boy to him. And when he saw him, the spirit immediately threw the boy into convulsions. As he fell to the ground, he began to roll around and foam at the mouth. Then he questioned his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” He replied, “Since childhood. It has often thrown him into fire and into water to kill him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith.” Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” Jesus, on seeing a crowd rapidly gathering, rebuked the unclean spirit and said to it, “Mute and deaf spirit, I command you: come out of him and never enter him again!” Shouting and throwing the boy into convulsions, it came out. He became like a corpse, which caused many to say, “He is dead!” But Jesus took him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up. When he entered the house, his disciples asked him in private, “Why could we not drive the spirit out?” He said to them, “This kind can only come out through prayer.”

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Reflection:

How strong is your faith in Jesus?

In the gospel, a boy was possessed by an evil spirit, his father asked the disciples for help but they were unable to drive it out. Then the father saw Jesus who just came from the mountain. The father asked for help, he told Jesus: “I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable to do so.”

 Jesus said to them in reply, “O faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Jesus was quite exasperated with his disciples because they were not able to drive out the evil spirit.

Jesus was also frustrated with the Father because he told him: “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith.” Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!”

Jesus was frustrated with both the disciples and the father of the boy the reason behind was their lack of faith! If only the disciples had faith they could have easily drove out the evil spirit but they had weak faith.

Are we not like the father and the disciples once in a while? We petition God to grant us our prayers yet we easily get impatient when He doesn’t reply immediately. And the reason for this impatience is our lack of faith.

Let us continue to bear in mind this words of Jesus: “ Everything is possible to one who has faith.” – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for May 14, Saturday Saint Matthias, Apostle; John 15:9-17

Gospel: John 15:9-17

Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.

“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.”

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Reflection:

A newlywed couple promised to bring to their graves their marriage vows:  For better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part, they said. But the irony is, after having one child and being together for two years they separated already. What happened to their promise of undying love for each other? What will happen to their only child?

Nowadays, many of us have a very shallow understanding of love, it’s not anymore undying love or sacrificial love. But love based on convenience, love based on what I can have and what I can possess. The word love has been stripped of its real value. This is the reason why we see married couples flirting with their officemates and friends just to vent out their lust and immoral desire for each other.  

This is the distressing reality right now that’s why we find young couples even middle-aged couples separating. For the self-serving reason that they are not anymore happy with their marriage. Are they really not happy in their marriage or they just want to satisfy their own selfish and immoral desires?

Jesus in the gospel commands us to love one another. This love is not based on selfish needs, neither based on convenience. This love is anchored on fidelity, sacrifice, self-giving and trust. This is the reason why the love of Jesus for us is most appropriate to incorporate in our married lives. If we have the love of Jesus will stay with our marriage no matter what and we will pray to Jesus for guidance and enlightenment.

Let us remember that Jesus doesn’t give-up on us. He keeps on loving us. He keeps on knocking in our hearts no matter how wayward or sinful we are. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for May 13, Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter; John 21:15-19

Gospel: John 21:15-19

After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them, he said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He then said to Simon Peter a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”

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Reflection:

Are you afraid to grow old?

The reality of life is this: we will eventually grow old; this is a course of nature that no one of us can stop. Whether we like it or not we will all be growing old and we will be at the mercy of those who will be with us by that time.

Can we assure ourselves that we will be properly treated when we become old and powerless? None of us can assure that there will be proper treatment for us by that time but Jesus gives us some hint on how to assure proper and equitable treatment for us when we become old and gray.

He tells us in the gospel to feed and take care of His people, in other words feed and take care of anyone who is hungry. Don’t be selective; help everyone who is in need. But let us not help with the motive in mind that we will do it because we will be in need of help also in the distant future when we are old.

Help because this is the right thing to do, help because this is what Jesus wants from us immaterial if we will be helped or not in the future. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for May 12, Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter; John 17:20-26

Gospel: John 17:20-26

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”

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Reflection:

What would happen if the love of Jesus is present in a family? There is unity and there is an unbreakable bond that exists no matter what happen inside that family.  In the same breath what will happen if the love of God is not present in a family? There is disunity, chaos and dysfunctionality which will eventually lead to the disintegration of the family.

Jesus love for God and God’s love for Jesus is the only love that can bind and unify members of family.  It’s a love that is humble and persevering; no wonder Jesus remained faithful to HIS mission of salvation. Jesus humbled Himself even if HE is equal with God and He persevered to fulfill HIS salvific mission even at the cost of HIS life.

If spouses want their family to remain united in love forever they must also have the same humility and perseverance. The children should have an active prayer life anchored on the wise shepherding of their parents. Thus, it will not fall to the trap of the devil who always incite for the dismemberment of the family.

Let us look at ourselves and reflect if we have the love of Jesus and God the Father inside our own family. Let us reflect if we breathe humility and perseverance for the sake of the wellbeing of our family. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for May 11, Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter; John 17:11b-19

Gospel: John 17:11b-19

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began.

“I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you.”

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Reflection:

A man would always pray to God and he would always pray for himself alone. Through the grace of God the man would always receive what he prayed for. When he died he was ushered by an angel to a room full with the things that he prayed for.

 The man thanked the angel for giving him the things that he wanted, then he noticed that he was alone. So he asked the angel: “Why am I alone? The angel told him, you’re alone for the simple reason that you would always pray for yourself when you were still alive. You never bothered to pray for others, your prayers was always for yourself.

As Jesus was set to leave HIS apostles he prayed for their welfare, that they would always be in God’s protection and care.  How about us when we pray? Is it always us present in our prayers? Or we never bother to pray for ourselves for the reason that we believe that God knows everything about us including our needs.  

God is an all knowing God, He knows everything about us including our needs and prayers for Him. Therefore, it would be better if instead of praying for ourselves we instead pray for others. This does not mean that we will not anymore have our own personal prayers and petitions before God.

We will still have our prayers for God but we put forward first the interest and needs of others before our own. For God doesn’t want us to become a person for ourselves only; HE always wants us to become a person for others. – Marino J. Dasmarinas    

Reflection for May 10, Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter; John 17:1-11a

Gospel: John 17:1-11a

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began.

“I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you.”

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Reflection:

There is a story of a man who worked hard to amass wealth. But on the course of his obsession to be wealthy he also noticed that whatever wealth that he amassed  immediately fly away from his hands.

It became a vicious cycle for him, he works hard then he ends up with nothing. Why? Because he worked with the wrong motivation, he worked for this world alone. Thus he was slowly being eaten by the materialistic and evil culture of this world.

What is your life’s motivation? Is it to live a comfortable life by way of amassing anything that is of this world? If this is your motivation that would be catastrophic, for anything of this world is of this world. Anyone that loves the things of this world is already imprisoned to the curse of this world.  

Jesus lived in this world not to become a citizen of this world. He lived in this world only to fulfill the will of God for HIM and that is to give His very own life for our sake. Jesus knew that He would gain nothing if HE favors this world over HIS fidelity to HIS mission of salvation. 

What are you living for in this world? Do you live in this world for you to become a citizen of this world alone? – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for May 9, Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter; John 16:29-33

Gospel: John 16:29-33

The disciples said to Jesus, “Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. Now we realize that you know everything and that you do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now? Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone. But I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”

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Reflection:

A man aspired to become rich and by his hard work he indeed became rich. But because of the pressure he had no peace of mind.

Perhaps many of us are like this man, we have no peace of mind. For the simple reason that we put forward in this world our personal ambition and we treat Jesus like a spare tire. We only pray to Him when we need Him. 

There are even times that we compeletely forget Him until sickness and troubles catch up with us. If this world gives us nothing but troubles and sickness Jesus is always there to counter this troublesome world with His promise of peace.

But how many of us have experienced this peace of Jesus? Not many perhaps and the obvious reason is we only remember Jesus when we are in dire need of Him. Or yes we remember HIM but when temptation comes we easily betray Him for the pleasures of this world.

Why not change this cycle? Why not make Jesus our first priority so that we could finally feel His peaceful presence in our lives? And once we feel the peaceful presence of Jesus in our life we already are complete and we lack nothing. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

1Reflection for Sunday May 8, Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord; Luke 24:46-53

Gospel: Luke 24:46-53

Jesus said to his disciples: “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Then he led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.

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Reflection:

Not all goodbyes are perfect like Jesus, for example when we finally say goodbye to this world. A few of us may somehow have a perfect goodbye like that of Jesus. Yet many of us shall have incomplete parting and this could happen to anyone of us. We can suddenly leave this world without having closures with our relatives and friends and this is sad.

When Jesus bade goodbye to His disciples it was a perfect goodbye because it was finally mission accomplish for Jesus. He accomplished His mission to perfection. There was no void and no remaining question about His earthly journey. Jesus finally ascended to heaven triumphant over all the challenges and trials that He encountered.  

Beneath the Ascension of the Lord to heaven is a lesson for us all that we must emulate. It’s the lesson of perfect goodbyes—goodbyes with closures, goodbyes with blessings and goodbyes without leaving any hatred and other excess baggage to those that we would be leaving behind.

Start building your legacy now: do good, share and live your faith, don’t betray anyone of their trust, be loving and caring listen more, don’t judge anyone and be humble at all times.

So that when it’s time for your own goodbye it would somehow be a perfect goodbye. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for May 7, Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter; John 16:23b-28

Gospel: John 16:23b-28

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

“I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father. On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

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Reflection:

A young man was asking Jesus to make him rich, so he prayed and asked. After three months of asking and praying the man never received his prayer petitions. He was deeply puzzled why he has not received what he wanted.

 Until he had a dream wherein Jesus told him this, “You did not receive what you prayed for because you just relaxed in your house you never exerted effort to realize what you want. So the next day the young man prayed once again and he coupled his prayers with actions and after a period of time he was able to achieve what he was asking from Jesus.

Our petitions for Jesus must not end with our vocal prayers only. We must see to it that we follow it up with actions. For example, we desire something, of course we have to pray and it must not end with our prayers. We must work very hard to realize what we are praying for.

Jesus will generously help us achieve what we want to happen in our lives for as long as we will exert every ounce of effort to have it. In other words it must always be prayers with actions and never prayers alone. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for May 6, Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter; John 16:20-23

Gospel: John 16:20-23

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.”

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Reflection:

A good man was wondering about how difficult his life was. He was in debt and his house was possessed by a bank due to unpaid loans. He was now questioning the Lord about his very difficult life. After a few days he won in a lottery and he was able to pay everything and he had more to spare and save.

Jesus was telling the disciples that they would go through difficult moments in their lives while others are rejoicing. Nonetheless, Jesus was also assuring His disciples that for as long as you stay with me you all will be able to pull through all of your difficulties.

We must always remember that the life that we have chosen with Jesus will not always be a walk in the park. There shall be drought and loneliness we may even feel alone but we will be able to pull through all of these emotional and other difficulties because we continue to hold and rest our destiny upon Christ Jesus.

Let us never hold-on to this world for it will never help us solve our problems/difficulties in life. Let us rather hold-on to Jesus for HE has the words of eternal life (John 6:68).  – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for May 5, Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter; John 16:16-20

Gospel: John 16:16-20

Jesus said to his disciples: “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.” So some of his disciples said to one another, “What does this mean that he is saying to us, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” So they said, “What is this ‘little while’ of which he speaks? We do not know what he means.” Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing with one another what I said, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”

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Reflection:

Do you believe that after sorrow and pain comes redemption?

When Jesus said to his disciples: “You will weep and mourn while the world rejoices; you will grieve but your grief will become joy (John 16:20).” Jesus was already alluding about his forthcoming passion and death that he has to go through and to his subsequent resurrection.

 Jesus even compared it with a woman who is in labor pains yet after she has given birth she will forget that painful experience altogether because of the great joy that the newly born child gave her (John 16:21).

Married life is not always blissful, the husband and wife will go through humps and bumps that would test the strength of their fidelity before Jesus. But if they persevere and decide to stay in their union amidst their trials there would be joy in their hearts at the end.    

Same with our walk with Jesus, it will not always be a bed of roses, there would be trials, and sometimes we will be persecuted because of what we do for God.

In spite of these all let us continue to follow Jesus, for at the end there will be redemption for those who are faithful to Him. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for May 4, Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter; John 16:12-15

Gospel: John 16:12-15

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”

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Reflection:

There’s a story of a prayerful wife who would always make the first move to reconcile with her husband whenever they had problems. In their ten years of marriage it was always her who initiates the reconciliation. And she was always successful with her peace initiative towards her husband.

Who impels her to reconcile? It’s the Holy Spirit, it guides her; it speaks to her mind and it tells her to be humble enough to make the first move to reconcile. Why does she listen? She discerns and pays attention to the voice of the Holy Spirit because she is prayerful.

God the Holy Spirit is our guide, our advocate that has been with us since our Baptism. Its presence within us was further strengthened during our Confirmation. But not all of us are aware of its presence in our life.

 Not all of us are aware that it's always there ready and willing to guide us. Why? Because we are not prayerful!  Our prayerful life lays the groundwork for us to discern the presence of the Holy Spirit within us.

Are you always prayerful? Are you aware of the Sacred presence of the Holy Spirit in your life? – Marino J. Dasmarinas