Reflection for Friday October 21, Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 12:54-59

Luke 12:54-59

Jesus said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does; and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate, make an effort to settle the matter on the way; otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the constable, and the constable throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.

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Reflection:

A philandering and irresponsible husband was always being advised by his mother to change his ways and focus his sole attention to his family. But the lure of temptation was too attractive to let go for the man so he did not listen to his mother.  After some time the limits of his wife’s patience has finally reached its boiling point.  So she and her children left Him, being alone he finally realized how irresponsible he was.

This is who many of us are we keep on sinning and hurting the feelings of those that we love. We are numb to well meaning advice because by its earthly nature sin is attractive. And the devil will keep pushing sin to us (disguised as pleasures) until it destroys us completely.

However, Jesus has a message for us in the gospel. It’s for us to completely walk away from our sinfulness before it destroys us. For the reason that the moment we allow sin to take hold of us it will destroy not only us but even those that we love dearly.

In our gospel Jesus denounced the crowd for their hypocrisy, they could predict the clouds and the weather. However they were purposely deaf to His call of repentance, aren’t many of us like them? We only listen to the dictates of this world but we shut our ears when it comes to Jesus!

 Let us listen to Jesus who always call upon us to repent because this is the right course of action to take. Jesus teachings may be unacceptable to us initially because it will entail painful purification and a change of lifestyle. But purification with Jesus always involves temporal difficulties that will eventually translate to a life of tranquillity and contentment.

Would you care to listen to Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Thursday October 20, Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 12:49-53

Luke 12:49-53

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

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Reflection:

There is a story of a brother who rebuked his wayward sister for not living her life properly. While in the process of reprimand the sister angrily walked out from his brother. She told him not to meddle in her life and he is already dead as far as she is concerned. By having the courage to correct a wayward behavior the brother unexpectedly created enmity and an enemy for himself.

This is the reality of a life with Jesus there would be times that we will be hated and ostracized by our fellowmen. But we must not be bothered by these temporal difficult circumstances in our lives. We must always have the courage to speak-out and correct a wayward behavior no matter what the cost because this is part of our mission as followers of Christ.

If we will not correct a wrong behavior and just go with the flow even if it’s wrong. We are then betraying Christ and sad to say, we are not also a true follower of Christ. For the simple reason that we are afraid to create an enemy for the sake of Jesus Christ.

We will always pay a worldly price that is sometimes painful to accept for the sake of our passionate discipleship for Jesus. We may even temporarily or even permanently create enemies or lose friends and even relatives for HIS sake. Let us not be afraid of having frayed relationship for the sake of our faithful disciples for Jesus.

You are already complete if you have Jesus in your life. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for Wednesday October 19, Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs; Luke 12:39-48

Gospel: Luke 12:39-48

Jesus said to his disciples: “Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

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Reflection:

Are you prepared for the coming of the Lord?

Here in our gospel Jesus tells us to be prepared for we do not know the time of His coming. Aside from being prepared Jesus gives us another responsibility none other than to share whatever we know about Him. It’s not enough for Jesus that we know Him.  He wants us to move on and do the next step and this is to share what we know about Him.

The Christian faith that God has given to us is not to be kept to ourselves. We must share and live it for it is in sharing and living our faith that we are able to completely follow Jesus. To whom we would share? Start within your family most especially your children. If you are able to successfully evangelize you will have no problem of what will happen to them when they become adults.

But the dilemma of many of us is we don’t share with our children what we know about Christ. Not because we know nothing about Jesus, many of us actually don’t have a shortage of knowledge about Jesus. In fact many of us know abundantly about Jesus but the problem is we don’t live and practice what we know about Christ and His teachings. This is one of the major reasons why we are not able to share Jesus with our children and with our friends.

We must aspire to learn more about Christ Jesus and after learning more about Him. We must live what we’ve learned from Him, thus we become prepared for His coming anytime. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for Tuesday October 18, Saint Luke, Evangelist; Luke 10:1-9

Luke 10:1-9

The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.’”

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Reflection:

Are you doing something to share the teachings of Jesus?

Like the seventy two which Jesus sent ahead of Him. We too are laborers in the vineyard of the Lord, what is the implication of this to our life? We are also called by God to share and live the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus told the disciples: “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.” This is very true until to this very day. Based on statistics ninety nine percent (99%) of the church are composed of lay people or people who are not in any way doing something for the church and only one percent (1%) are members of the clergy.

The harvest indeed is plentiful; therefore in our own little way let us also be laborers like the seventy two. Let us spread and live the teachings of Jesus, let us not be afraid for God will be with us and surely He will not only provide for us He will also be there for us.

Have you already done something to share the teachings of Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Monday October 17, S Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr; Luke 12:13-21

Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. 

He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”

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Reflection:

Which would you prefer to have the treasures of this world of to possess treasures about God? Many of us would certainly prefer to have worldly treasures rather than possess knowledge about God. Why? Because this is what this world is teaching us: to have and accumulate worldly treasures.

How about the choice to possess God? Perhaps only a few would prefer to possess God. This materially centered world would always dictate upon us to have whatever material possession that we can possess so that we can attain success.

But earthly success is not in the vocabulary of God, what God wants us is not to become successful in this world but for us to become His fruitful followers. We were not created by God to become materially successful but to become spiritually bountiful and fruitful.  

We were created by God to become spiritually fruitful so that others can learn from us about God.  Earthly success will count for nothing at the end, what will count during that time is the relationship that we have built with God and His people.

Life that is built around chasing earthly wealth and power is empty and meaningless. On the other hand life that is centered upon God is fruitful and meaningful.

Are you seeking for a meaningful life?  -  Marino J. Dasmarinas   

Reflection for Sunday October 16, Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time; Luke 18:1-8

Gospel: Luke 18:1-8

Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’ For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.’” The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

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Reflection:

Does God always answers our prayers? The gospel would tell us that He always answers our prayers. But the reality of it all is there are times that God doesn’t answer our prayers. There are times that God fails us. We don’t know the reason behind these unanswered prayers only God knows.

If God seems deaf to our prayers would it be right for us to stop kneeling in prayer before God? We need not stop praying even if we get no answer from God. For the simple reason that our prayers before God gives us hope. Our prayers before God brightens our gloomy day. Our prayers tell us that amidst our life struggles there is a powerful God who is ever ready to listen notwithstanding the nature of His reply.

It's already immaterial if God answers or not  because our prayers are not only limited with God answering or not answering it. Our prayers before God is much bigger that the reply that we expect from Him. This is for the reason that the gift of prayer in itself is already an enormous blessing from God.

What happens to us when we pray and after we pray?  When we pray we connect with our loving and powerful God. And after we pray we become hopeful and we feel relieved. Therefore, the gift of prayer that Jesus has gratuitously given us is a balm that immediately soothes our wounded and burdened beings.   

We therefore have to pray as often as we can since a life without prayer is a life without hope and a life bereft of the presence of God.

Do you have a healthy prayer life? – Marino J. Dasmarinas      

Reflection for Saturday October 15, Saint Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church; Luke 12:8-12

Gospel: Luke 12:8-12

Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.

“Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.”

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Reflection:

Do you want to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life?

One of the major requisites for us to have an awareness of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to first acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Then, after that the gift of the presence of the Holy Spirit and everything else about the church would follow.

And this is when the Holy Spirit begins to work wonders in our spiritual lives. It opens us to the various avenues about the majestic history of the church and the many truths about it. We also start to become more aware of the true purpose of our life in this world.

As the Holy Spirit opens us to the many truths of the church it simultaneously works in our lives by purifying us of our many sins. It enlightens us to the gifts of: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and Fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2-3).

Let us therefore seek out Jesus Christ first by knowing more about Him. Let us be faithful to Him and we surely would feel the outpouring gifts of the Holy Spirit. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Friday October 14, Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 12:1-7

Gospel: Luke 12:1-7

So many people were crowding together that they were trampling one another underfoot. Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples, “Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.

“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops. I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more. I shall show you whom to fear. Be afraid of the one who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna; yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one. Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.”

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Reflection:

Does God know everything about us?

Yes, God knows everything about us; including those sins that we think are known only to ourselves He knows too! What is the proof that God knows about it? Our conscience which eternally bothers us whenever we sin our sins would continue to bother us until we ask forgiveness or we make amends to the person whom we have hurt.  

God is an all knowing and all-pervading God. We therefore have to shape up and walk away from sin while we still have the luxury of time. We also have to do away with the sinful thoughts that we keep in our minds.

It would be much better if we always align all our thoughts and actions with God. So that when our time to leave this world comes we would be ready. Thus, from here we go straight to heaven because we have tried very hard not to sin.

However, we are weak as humans we often times sin but there is always a remedy for sin which is repentance and this is best exemplified the moment we humbly submit to the Sacrament of Confession/Reconciliation. – Marino J. Dasmarinas   

Reflection for Thursday October 13, Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 11:47-54

Gospel: Luke 11:47-54

The Lord said: “Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets whom your fathers killed. Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them and you do the building. Therefore, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and Apostles; some of them they will kill and persecute’ in order that this generation might be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who died between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood! Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.” When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many things, for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.

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Reflection:

Why were the Pharisees and scribes angry with Jesus? It was for the reason that Jesus was telling the truth about their hypocrisy and double speak!  The truth hurts but Jesus doesn’t mince words He tells it as He sees it.  So Jesus tells it directly to them without fear because He wants them to open their minds about their pretentions and double standard.

When somebody corrects us and tells negative things about us; let us accept it as a constructive criticism and let us look at it on a positive way.  Where we can learn and further improve, if we close our minds to criticism it’s like saying that we don’t want to improve. And those who do not want to improve and those who refuse correction will never become better individuals.  

Let us remember that nobody is perfect except God. We all have our own flaws and shortcomings and these are natural for we are imperfect humans. We all are subject to our own frailties and weakness.  What is important is we accept corrections and we make it as our reference point for us to become better and useful citizens of this fleeting world.   

Let us therefore always be humble let us be open to advice, let us always be open to reproaches and let us make these as a springboard for us to become a much better person. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Wednesday October 12, Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 11:42-46

Gospel: Luke 11:42-46

The Lord said: “Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.”

Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.” And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.

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Reflection:

Do you live what you say? For example you will say to your children that they should live simply yet your lifestyle is not simple because you want expensive things. How will your children follow and believe what you say?

Jesus is angry with the Pharisees because many of them were full of pretension their external actions were very much different with their internal thought. They command the people to do this and that yet they themselves were not willing to do it.

What Jesus wants for the Pharisees then and for us now is to lead by example; let us mean what we say and live what we say. This is where we are often lacking, yes we go to church and yes we worship God. But do we translate these to living acts of faith?

Let us not be like the Pharisees and the scholars of the law who are very good only at giving orders. Let us be like Jesus who put into action every word and phrase that He said.

Jesus lived every word that He preached, for example Jesus preached simplicity of lifestyle, He therefore lived this simple lifestyle. Jesus preached about forgiveness and He lived His preaching of forgiveness as well.

Do you live a simple lifestyle and are you forgiving? – Marino J. Dasmarinas     

Reflection for Tuesday October 11, Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 11:37-41

Luke 11:37-41

After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”

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Reflection:

Maria is very particular with external appearance she would always dress well. The exterior of her house was always refreshing to the eyes. Her neighbor was wondering how come she’s able to afford such luxuries considering that she had no job to speak of?

 One morning a rich woman was shouting in front of her house telling her to leave her husband alone otherwise she would be forced to bring her to court for having a relationship with a married man.

Many of us are very particular with what others will see from us. As much as possible we would always try to paint an attractive picture of ourselves. This is who many of us are, very much driven with the exterior, fleeting and those that do not last for a lifetime.

Jesus is not taken with this show of misleading exterior appearance. What counts for Jesus is our attitude most especially when nobody sees us. For example, how do we react when we see a poor in front of our house. Do we do something to help the poor? Or we simply don’t care; anyway no one is looking at us, so might as well not mind the poor.

Jesus knows everything about us, we cannot keep anything from Him. He knows our hidden secrets, our double talk and the façade that we try so very hard to display so that we could create an impression of wealth and extravagance. - Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for Monday October 10, Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 11:29-32

Luke 11:29-32

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.”

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Reflection:

Do you ask for signs from before we decide on something? For example, if you’re a female, would you ask for a sign if the man courting you is the right one for you? And based on that sign you now would decide to say yes or no to that man.

Jesus is much bigger than the signs that we ask for from God. If we have Him in our hearts we need not ask anymore for signs. But do we allow Jesus to have a special place in our hearts? Jesus has a simple request for all of us for Him to dwell in our hearts. The simple request is our repentance from all of our sins. This is His simple request for all of us, so that He could dwell in our hearts.

During the time of Jonah the people of Nineveh listened to Jonah’s call of repentance. Otherwise there would be destruction upon them. So they listened, they’ve put on sackcloth to show God that they are sorry for the many sins that they’ve committed and they are ready to walk away from it.

Why do we continue to embrace sin when it will not do us any good? Why do we continue to embrace sin when we know for a fact that sin is evil and it eventually will destroy us? It’s very hard to comprehend why many of us continue to sin. Perhaps we continue to sin because we don’t allow God to come into our life.

If you will love this world more than you love God you certainly will continue to sin. However, God is always there for you no matter how sinful you are, ever ready to embrace you with His infinite love and forgiveness. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Prayer:

I am sinful creature of this world O Lord and I am tired of sinning for it has not brought anything good into my life. I seek for your forgiveness O Lord and I seek for your love, this I pray in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.    

Reflection for Sunday October 9, Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time; Luke 17:11-19

Gospel: Luke 17:11-19

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”

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Reflection:

Do you believe in the healing power of Jesus?

There is a true story of an eighteen year old young man who was diagnosed with a severe sickness. His doctor told him that he needs to undergo a dangerous operation upon reaching the age of thirty five otherwise he will die. Having nothing except his faith this man relied on nobody except Jesus.

As years passed by this man eventually reached the age of thirty five yet nothing serious has happened to him neither did he go through a dangerous operation. He is still alive and in the pink of health. In gratitude for the healing that he received from Jesus he is right now silently doing his little share to advance the words of God.

Our faith in Jesus can easily heal us of any form of sickness no matter how severe. We simply have to ask Jesus with faith and He surely would give it to us. Yet in every healing that we receive from Jesus there is also that unwritten responsibility that we have to do which is to give thanks and to pay it forward in whatever means possible.  

The ten lepers who were healed by Jesus obviously had faith otherwise they would have not been healed.  But amongst the ten it was only the Samaritan who did not forget to go back to Jesus to humbly express His thanksgiving. How about the nine who were also healed, where did they go? Perhaps they went back to their old environments and resumed their life there.

Whom are we going to emulate here the nine Jews or the humble Samaritan?  The answer is no brainer we have to follow the example of the thankful and humble Samaritan.

Do you always express your humble thanksgiving to Jesus by helping those who are in need most especially the sick? – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for Saturday October 8, Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 11:27-28

Luke 11:27-28

While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

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Reflection:

Do you observe and hear the word of God?

Why is there abortion, terrorism, crime, abuse of the environment, egocentric people and so forth? Because we don’t hear and observe the word of God. There are those who listen to God’s words but they don’t live it.

Jesus is not a self-centered God same as with the Blessed Mother they don’t want honor for themselves. Truth be told, honor is the least that they want; let us look at their lives, did they run after honor? They shunned it! They simply listened to the word of God and followed it.

This is actually the cure for the chaotic world that we are in right now: To hear/read the world of God and follow it. We mustn’t not seek personal honor that only deluge our bloated egos.

We have to remember that we only become effective followers of the Lord when we model our lives with the simple and humble lives of the Jesus and Mary. Our modern and technology driven times would always dictate us to chase upon honorific titles.

To love the limelight and be the center of attention but it‘s actually nothing before God. What counts in the heart of God is our readiness to humbly hear His word and live it. Thus, we become blessed in His eyes.

Do you listen to the word of God and do you live it? – Marino J. Dasmarinas