Jesus
said to his disciples: “Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because
you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.
“Whoever
causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better
for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into
the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to
enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the
unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better
for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into
Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to
enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into
Gehenna, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
“Everyone
will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid, with what
will you restore its flavor? Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace
with one another.”
+ + + +
+ + +
Reflection:
What
makes us sin? It’s the absence of Jesus in our lives and not taking seriously
His teachings. What will make us avoid sin? It’s the presence of Jesus in our
lives and it’s in carefully observing His teachings.
In our
gospel for today, Jesus gives us the grave punishment of sins. It involves
maiming and cutting off of body parts. Of course these are just figures of
speech but this conveys a message to all of us that there are many punishments
for sin.
If we
will not repent for our sinfulness we have to pay for it, there’s no free rides
as far as sin is concerned we have to pay for our sins somewhere along our
journey. However, if we repent as soon as possible our punishment will forever be
written off.
But come
to think of it, why do we sin and why are we not averse to sin? The answer is
very simple, we love this world more than we love God thus there’s a void of
the presence of God in our hearts.
Yes, we
know God and yes we go to church to worship Him. But it ends there, we leave
Jesus in our church. We don’t bring Him home, we don’t allow Jesus
to have a permanent home in our hearts and we don’t live His teachings.
Would you
allow Jesus to carve a home in your heart? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
When
Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do
people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist,
others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them,
“But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ,
the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon
son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly
Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my
Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will
give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be
bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
+ + + +
+ + +
Reflection:
Do you
have a best friend forever or bff?
When you
are best friend with someone it signifies deeper friendship, it signifies that you
spend sizeable time with this person whom you call your best friend. Your
friendship with your best friend is much much deeper compared with your
ordinary friends and you entrust important things and kept secrets with your
best friend than your ordinary friends.
Saint
Peter is the best friend of Jesus because he spent more time with Jesus more
than any other apostle in the bible. Although he denied Jesus three times;
Peter is still the most trusted apostle of Jesus for the simple reason that
Jesus chose to entrust the future of the church to him.
Do you want
Jesus to entrust to you the gift of faith that others do not have? The first requirement is you must be best
friend with Him. Start by habitually
reading the bible, as much as your time permits be always present in the
celebration of the Holy Mass, spend precious time with Him through Eucharistic
adoration and live His teachings.
Then see
what gifts will He entrust you. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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. 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 the 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.
+ + + +
+ + +
Reflection: Why do you follow Jesus?
As Jesus
and the disciples were walking He told 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 pay much attention to what Jesus told them
because they were also busy conversing as to who amongst them is the greatest.
We assume
that Jesus and the disciples were just through doing their mission of preaching
the kingdom of God. They performed miracles such as: Healing the sick,
expelling demons and a lot more. Because of these miraculous acts that they
have done the disciple’s high regard for themselves got the better of them.
They were already angling to covet the title as the greatest among the
disciples.
Are we
not like the disciples? Do we not have hidden motives when we do acts of
kindness? Do we not desire to be praised for what we do? Do we not feel proud when we do good things?
Was it possible that the disciples were feeding their own egos that is why they
were already discussing who was the greatest amongst them?
In the
midst of their bloated egos, Jesus gave them a valuable lesson about humility
and on how it is to become humble servants of the Lord and the people. Thus He
told them: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the
servant of all.” In other words if you want to be the leader then be a humble
servant leader who is always ready to serve not minding the accolades and
honors. Inside the heart of a true leader is the desire to humbly serve, he is
always there silently walking his talk, practicing what he preaches. This is
what Jesus wanted the disciples to imbibe: For them to become humble servants.
This is
also what Jesus wants for us but some of us are the opposite of the servant
leader that Jesus wants the disciples to become. Instead of putting the title
leader into our hearts we put it instead into our heads. That is why we become
fake and arrogant leaders who only want to give orders. Who only want to abuse
and take advantage of our innocent followers, we therefore only want to serve
our own personal interest. The servant leadership that Jesus wants us to have
is permanently eased out from our system because what takes over is our greed
for power and our arrogance.
What must
we do so that we can rightfully claim that we truly follow the greatest servant
leader who ever walked this earth? We
must be humble at all times, we must continuously decrease while Jesus
continuously increase through our acts of humility.
The
mistake of many of us who follow Jesus is we often times act without humility.
We feel that we are above all because we have this distorted sense that we are
close to Jesus when in fact we are not. Our closeness or intimacy with Jesus is
not defined by our religious titles, ranks and position neither it is defined
by the frequency of our worship for Him.
Our
closeness to Jesus is determined only by how we live HIS virtue of humility. –
Marino J. Dasmarinas
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.”
+ + + +
+ + +
Reflection:
What is
the root cause of unhealthy prayer life? It’s lack of faith!
The
disciples asked Jesus: “Why could we not drive the spirit out?” Jesus told
them: “This kind can only come out through prayer.” Just like some of us the
disciples obviously do not have a very healthy prayer life that’s why they were
not able to drive out the unclean spirit that possessed the boy.
When
there’s an unhealthy prayer life there is also a fading faith. Perhaps the disciples
were already getting used of seeing Jesus doing miracles here and there every day.
On the
other hand the father has a very strong faith. Even if the disciples failed to
help him he persisted and asked Jesus to heal his son and he was not
disappointed. Is it then safe to say that the father of the boy has a healthy
prayer life? Surely the father has a healthy prayer life!
The
gospel invites us to examine the health of our prayer life maybe it’s unwell or
fading like the disciples. How about our faith? If our faith is fading we have
to nurture it by our pious presence at Holy Mass and by reading about the life
of Jesus in the scriptures. - Marino J.
Dasmarinas
Jesus said to his
disciples: “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for
a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone
strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well. If anyone wants to
go to law with you over your tunic, hand over your cloak as well. Should anyone
press you into service for one mile, go for two miles. Give to the one who asks
of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.
“You have heard that
it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to
you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be
children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the
good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those
who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the
same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not
the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is
perfect.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Are you capable of
not keeping hatred in your heart? For example, when somebody hurts you, are you
capable of not taking revenge? When someone strikes you on the right cheek
could you turn the other side as well? Are you capable of not refusing somebody
who wants to borrow from you? Can you love your enemies and can you still pray
for those who’ve been persecuting and hurting you?
Jesus in the gospel
gives us teachings that are very difficult for many of us to follow. We may
wonder, why these teachings are very hard for us to follow? This is so for the
reason that we are humans. We have our limitations we respond based on our limited
human instinct.
We normally
compartmentalize our fellowmen. For example we label them as those we hate and
those we do not hate. Those we love and those we do not love, those who are
good to us and those who are not good to us. Therefore, we respond to them
according to what they give us.
However, the Lord
invites us today to discard our mindset of compartmentalization and retaliation.
He invites us to treat everyone equally regardless if this and that person is
good or not good to us. He invites us to throw away our mindset of revenge. And
finally He invites us all to be humble, to be loving and forgiving. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
Jesus
took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by
themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became
dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah
appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. Then
Peter said to Jesus in reply, "Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us
make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He
hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified. Then a cloud came, casting a
shadow over them; then from the cloud came a voice, "This is my beloved
Son. Listen to him." Suddenly, looking around, the disciples no longer saw
anyone but Jesus alone with them.
As they
were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had
seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they
kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant.
Then they asked him, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
He told them, "Elijah will indeed come first and restore all things, yet
how is it written regarding the Son of Man that he must suffer greatly and be
treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come and they did to him
whatever they pleased, as it is written of him."
+ + + +
+ + +
Reflection:
Do you
believe in the afterlife?
One of
the reasons why Jesus was transfigured is for us to see that heaven and the
afterlife is existing and real. This is what the apostles: Peter, James and
John witnessed when they were brought along to the mountain of tabor by Jesus.
There’s
life after our journey in this world is over, that’s why we must not leave
Jesus for anything of this world. We must continue on doing what is good and
righteous. We must not stray off the track of righteousness for this is the way
for us to be with Jesus in heaven.
There is
heaven, there is everlasting life and this is proven by the transfiguration of
Jesus. So what should we do for us to go there? We must faithfully follow Jesus
in His words and deeds no matter how difficult.
The
reward for our faithfulness to Jesus is eternal life, don’t we all want this
eternal life? Of course we do, thus we have to become faithful followers. Thus,
we have to leave permanently behind our sinfulness. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus
summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come
after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever
wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake
and that of the Gospel will save it.
What
profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? What
could one give in exchange for his life? Whoever is ashamed of me and of my
words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed
of when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
He also
said to them, “Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not
taste death until they see that the Kingdom of God has come in power.”
+ + + +
+ + +
Reflection:
There’s a
story of a middle aged man who was newly retired from politics. When he was
still active he amassed a lot of dubious wealth. Having a feeling of financial
security already, he said to himself now I can enjoy all of my money.
However, in spite of his wealth he didn’t have
peace of mind he was always being hounded by the questionable deals that he
made while he was still in power. Then he had a heart attack and he died
immediately without enjoying his stolen wealth.
When he
was about to enter the pearly gates, Saint Peter refused him entry and told him
that he’s not welcome because of the things that he did when he was still
alive.
What will
it profit us if we gain the riches of this world if we will not be able to gain
entry in heaven? What will it profit us if we will continue to steal dubious
money if we will not have peace of mind?
Unfortunately
this is the mentality of a lot of us; we are so shortsighted that we focus on
the here and now even if it’s sinful. We continuously neglect to do good, we
purposely shut God out of our system to enjoy worldly life.
All of us
are temporary travellers passing through this world. In God’s time we will
leave this world. Where would we be by then? Would we be in heaven with Jesus or in the
other side? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus and
his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he
asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said in reply, “John
the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And he asked
them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the
Christ.” Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.
He began
to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the
elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three
days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said,
“Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings
do.”
+ + + +
+ + +
Reflection:
What does
Christ mean?
Christ
means the chosen one or the savior and Peter got it right when he replied to
Jesus: “You are the Christ (Mark 8:29).” Unlike the other disciples Peter knew
the real identity of Jesus. But up to that point in the gospel his knowledge of
the true identity if Jesus was still limited because when Jesus said that He
will suffer greatly he didn’t believe.
Peter
only knew of the powerful Christ not the Christ who would suffer and eventually
die on the cross. Isn’t this our mindset as well? We know Jesus Christ as the
powerful one who would save us from our troubles. Yet there is an important
side of Jesus that we also have to know and that is the Christ who suffered and
died on the cross at calvary.
It is
said that: “To follow Christ is always right; but it is never easy.” Jesus was
actually foreshadowing the path that Peter has to go thru when He said that He
must suffer greatly and be rejected.
This is
also Jesus’ own foreshadowing for us: We have to go through suffering as well
for the sake of the teachings of Jesus. This may be hard to swallow for many
but that this is really how it is: Suffering is part and parcel of our faithful
discipleship!
If we
really are true and faithful followers of Jesus Christ we must expect
sufferings and rejections. We will suffer when we stand for what is right, we
will be rejected when we push what is moral. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
When
Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethsaida, people brought to him a blind man
and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him
outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on the man
and asked, “Do you see anything?”Looking up the man replied, “I see people
looking like trees and walking.” Then he laid hands on the man’s eyes a second
time and he saw clearly; his sight was restored and he could see everything
distinctly. Then he sent him home and said, “Do not even go into the village.”
+ + + +
+ + +
Reflection:
Jesus
asked the blind man: “Do you see anything?” Let us try to modify this question
of Jesus in such a way that it is addressed to us who are often times blinded
by the things of this world. It will be like this: Amidst the trappings of this
world do you see anything worthy about me?
I certainly
don’t know what would be our individual answers to this question but one thing
is sure Jesus wants to penetrate our hearts. He wants to reside there so that
we will not be blinded by the temporary things of this world.
If you
will not have that instant feeling of Jesus in your heart just be patient,
engage in prayer as often as you can. Pray for enlightenment and for
discernment so that the hazy image of Jesus could become clearer in your mind. Until it becomes crystal clear then allow Jesus
to fully engulf your whole being.
The
moment you surrender your life to Jesus you will lose your appetite for the
things of this world. You'll simply be satisfied with simple things for your
eyes are not anymore blinded by the temporal things of this world. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
The
disciples had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in
the boat. Jesus enjoined them, “Watch out, guard against the leaven of the
Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. They concluded among themselves that it was
because they had no bread. When he became aware of this he said to them, “Why
do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet understand
or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and
not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five
thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up? They
answered him, “Twelve.” “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand,
how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?” They answered him,
“Seven.” He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”
+ + + +
+ + +
Reflection:
Do you
allow the enticement of this world to take off your focus on Jesus? For example
the Sunday obligation to celebrate Holy Mass. Many of us today sometimes do not
pay much attention to the highest form of worship inside the church. We
sacrifice it for our man worldly undertaking that only pull us away from Jesus.
Do you allow this to happen to you?
In the
gospel Jesus admonished his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees
and Herod. He used the leaven as a metaphor that they should not be convinced
by the inducement of the Pharisees and Herod to leave him for them.
Both the
Pharisees and Herod represents power, the power of religion and government which
for all intents and purposes are worldly and temporary. Jesus was actually telling
His disciples not to leave Him for what they represent. In effect Jesus was
telling them not to favor the world over their love for God.
The
secular world has many inducements such as: power, money, greed, popularity,
lust, ego, self-centeredness etc… We should be careful of these worldly
appendages, we should not let ourselves be deceived by these temporal
inducements.
Let us
rather continue be steadfast with our love, fellowship and fidelity with Jesus
through our words and actions. For what would we gain if we have all the
things that this world can if we don’t have God? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
The
Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus, seeking from him a sign
from heaven to test him. He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, “Why
does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to
this generation.” Then he left them, got into the boat again, and went off to
the other shore.
+ + + +
+ + +
Reflection:
Do you
need to see a sign to believe?
A woman
wanted to see a sign from her beloved so that she could finally say yes to him.
So she said if this handsome man would bring me flowers and chocolates that
would be the sign that he loves me. Lo and behold the man came knocking at their
gate with flowers and chocolates. To make a long story short she finally said
yes to him but after a few months they broke up.
Unlike
the love of a suitor which is often times bounded by time, Jesus love for us is
always there it’s not bounded by time. What are the signs of God’s love? The food on the table, the new life in the
morning and countless more! These are obvious signs of Jesus infinite love for
us.
But often
times these are still not enough for us, we still seek more signs to strengthen
our faith in Him. When we seek additional signs from Jesus it also shows how
feeble our faith in Him. Otherwise if we have full faith and confidence we
would not anymore seek or ask for whatever sign/s. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus said to his
disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I
have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and
earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will
pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks
one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be
called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these
commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. I tell you,
unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will
not enter the kingdom of heaven.
“You have heard that
it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be
liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be
liable to judgment; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable
to the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery
Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that
your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go
first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court. Otherwise your
opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to
the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not
be released until you have paid the last penny.
“You have heard that
it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who
looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his
heart. If your right eye causes you to
sin, tear it out and throw it away It is better for you to lose one of your
members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right
hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to
lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.
“It was also said,
Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce. But I say to you,
whoever divorces his wife - unless the
marriage is unlawful - causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a
divorced woman commits adultery.
“Again you have
heard that it was said to your ancestors, Do not take a false oath, but make
good to the Lord all that you vow. But I say to you, do not swear at all; not
by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool;
nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your
head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your ‘Yes’ mean
‘Yes,' and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’Anything more is from the evil one.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Imagine a world
without laws, there would be no order; there would be chaos and anarchy.
Imagine life without following the laws of your country. And let us imagine
ourselves not being faithful to the teachings of God. There would also be
disorder in our lives; we will have no peace of mind.
In our first reading
according to Sirach, we are given choices,
life and death, good and evil. We are made to choose whichever we like.
If we like death and evil, it’s really up to us; if we like good and life, it’s
also upon our hands. God gave us the freedom but this freedom is not absolute
because He wants us to carefully discern our choices. For example if we choose
death disguised as fulfillment of the law over life or evil desires over good
where would these faulty choices bring us?
But what if we
choose life and we choose to do good. Of course we would have peace of mind we
will not be bothered by our conscience for the reason that we followed what God
wants us to do. And this is absolutely what God wants us to always do in our
lives!
For example in our
gospel, Jesus gives us teachings about Anger (Matthew 5:21-26), teachings about
Adultery (Matthew 5:27-30) and teachings about Divorce (Matthew 5:31-32). Just
imagine if we will follow all of these teachings. There would be peace and
serenity in our lives most specifically in our married lives. But are we
following these teachings or laws of Jesus?
These laws were
given to us by Jesus to serve as our lighthouse as we continue to sail in this
world. We follow these commands not because we fear it. We follow it because we
love Jesus who is the spirit behind His laws. Therefore if we follow we’ll have
peace in our lives and we’ll be much closer to Jesus in this world and beyond
this world.
Imagine a peaceful life and imagine a life
very close to Jesus, would you not want to have it? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
In those
days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat, Jesus summoned
the disciples and said, “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because
they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send
them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way, and some of
them have come a great distance. His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone
get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?” Still he asked
them, “How many loaves do you have? They replied, “Seven.” He ordered the crowd
to sit down on the ground. Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke
them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them
to the crowd. They also had a few fish. He said the blessing over them and
ordered them distributed also. They ate and were satisfied. They picked up the
fragments left over–seven baskets. There were about four thousand people.
He
dismissed the crowd and got into the boat with his disciples and came to the
region of Dalmanutha.
+ + + +
+ + +
Reflection:
Having
nothing to eat is an indescribable feeling of being weak. You cannot do the
things that you want to do. You will limit your movement because the more you
move the more that you feel the pain of hunger.
In the
gospel reading; Jesus speaks about the crowd without anything to eat: “My heart
is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three
days and have nothing to eat If I send them away hungry to their homes, they
will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance (Mark
8:2-3)."
Then, He
asked them, "How many loaves do you have (Mark 8:5)?" They replied,
"Seven." He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Afterwards
He gave thanks, broke them and gave them to the disciples to give to the crowd.
The same happened to the few fish that they have; the four thousand people were
able to eat and they still have seven basketfuls of excess bread and fish.
What
lesson does Jesus wants us to learn from the miracle of the loaves? Perhaps
Jesus wants us to learn how to give, why? For the simple reason that many are
going hungry. When we decide to give let us not give what we have in surplus
because we will not truly feel the true joy of giving.
Let us
give out of the food that we are about to eat and let us give from the heart. –
Marino J. Dasmarinas
Again
Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,
into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who
had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off
by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and,
spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said
to him, “Ephphatha!”— that is, “Be opened!” — And immediately the man’s ears
were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. He
ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more
they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has
done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
+ + + +
+ + +
Reflection:
Have you already personally witnessed a healing session?
In the
gospel we are presented with an authentic healing presided by Jesus. A deaf man
who had a speech impediment is brought to Jesus for healing. To make a long
story short Jesus healed the deaf man: he was able to hear and talk again.
I’d like to
zero-in on the personal healing actions of Jesus. They walked away from the
madding crowd and once they were both by themselves Jesus conducted the
personal healing. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched
his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!”—
that is, “Be opened!” And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech
impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.
This
healing action of Jesus is very much opposite to what we see nowadays. Healers
now want it to be publicized they want to be noticed they want to maximize their
media exposure so to speak! I can only speculate of their true motives.
Is it
still possible for us to have this personal and one on one healing with Jesus now?
Yes, a pious presence at Holy Mass or quite visit to our church’s Perpetual
Eucharistic Adoration Chapel would do it for us. Jesus is there personally
waiting for us to heal us of our sickness our personal hurts and pains.
If only we
would discover the healing and calming presence of Jesus in the Blessed
Sacrament, if only we will learn to allocate a portion of our time to give Him
a visit there. We would also have an Ephphatha experience.
Our hearts and minds
would also be opened to this personal and wondrous healing experience with
Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and with Jesus at Holy Mass. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
