Reflection for Tuesday August 14, Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr: Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

Gospel: Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”

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Reflection:

A man who was labelled as the black sheep of their family by his siblings. As such nobody amongst his siblings want to be associated with him anymore. Who would want to be associated to a so-called black sheep? No one among us want to be associated with a black sheep. Right?

How about Jesus? Oh, He loves the black sheep and those who stray dearly. He constantly searches for them wherever they may be until He finds them. This is the love of God for us, He will patiently look for us until he finds us. And when He finds us He will stop at nothing to bring us back to His loving embrace.

We always have to remember that Jesus’ mission is to bring back the lost, misguided and sinners. However, what if those who are lost does not want to renew their life and they want to continue on living their sinful life? What are we going to do?  Should we give up on them and let them live their sinful life?

 Of course not, because when we give up it’s like we already surrender to the power of the Devil. We let evil triumph over good and this must not be the situation. It must be the other way around, good should always triumph over evil. Thus, we must not give up on the lost we must seek them until we find them and once we find them we introduce Jesus to them.

Do you seek out the lost? -  Marino J. Dasmarinas

Catholic Spiritual Recollection and Retreat facilitator

I conduct talks, facilitate Spiritual Recollection and Retreats For more details please get in touch at: mjdasma@yahoo.com or mjdasma@gmail.com 

Tel no. 046-4303668

Reflection for Monday August 13, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 17:22-27

Gospel: Matthew 17:22-27

As Jesus and his disciples were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were overwhelmed with grief.

When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes,” he said. When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him, “What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners?” When he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the subjects are exempt. But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give that to them for me and for you.”

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Reflection:

Do you generously give to your church?

The gospel speaks about the payment of the temple tax. Even if they were exempted from paying the temple tax Jesus still instructed Peter to pay the temple tax. Perhaps Jesus did this for the reason that He wants to contribute something for the maintenance of the church and its facilities.

This generous payment of the temple tax by Jesus invites us to examine our generosity to our church as well.  Are we generous to our church? Do we give generously at Holy Mass during offertory?

We have to be generous to our church so that it can have funds not only for the maintenance of its facilities. But also for the welfare of those who are working for the church. The money that we give to the church is not only for the church it is also for the poor.

We may not know this but the church takes care of the poor, the church doesn’t blare it but it silently helps the poor and those who are in need. Therefore, we have to generously give to our church and whatever we give to our church will come back to us a hundredfold.  

What may come back to us may not necessarily be through financial rewards. It can be peace and harmony in the family; it can be good health and many more blessings that does not involve money.  

Do you generously give to your church and to those who are doing something to spread the words of God? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Recollections and Retreats provider

I conduct talks and facilitate Recollections. For more details please get in touch at: mjdasma@yahoo.com or mjdasma@gmail.com. 

Tel no. 046-4303668

Spiritual Recollection and Retreat facilitator

I conduct talks and facilitate Recollections. For more details please get in touch at: mjdasma@yahoo.com or mjdasma@gmail.com. 

Tel no. 046-4303668

Reflection for Sunday August 12, Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: John 6:41-51

Gospel: John 6:41-51

The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven, ” and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

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Reflection:   

A young couple was often seen by a church worker at church attending Sunday Mass with their little child in tow. The church worker befriended the young couple, therefore, every now and then they would converse after mass.

As weeks passed by the friendship deepened and until the church worker visited the dilapidated house of the young couple.  While conversing the church worker asked the couple: “How long have you been married?” The wife said, we are not yet married because life is hard.

The church worker told the couple: “Do you want to join a Mass wedding at church scheduled next month?” In unison and with conviction the couple said, “Yes we will join!” To make a long story short the newly wed couple became volunteer church workers themselves.    

What should we do when we are faced with this kind of situation? Of course, we should help as well, there’s no other option but to help. We should help them because this is our duty as followers of Jesus: To help those who are in need.

In our first reading for this Sunday, the prophet Elijah encountered so much hardship during his journey in the desert that he was almost on the verge of giving up. But the Lord helped him, the Lord sent Elijah an angel to give him hope, food and water so that he could continue his journey going to mount Horeb.

In every occasion that we present ourselves at Holy Mass the Lord through the Sacrament of Holy Communion offers Himself to us. He invites us to partake of His Body, Blood and Divinity. For what reason?  He wants to help us, He wants to strengthen us and He wants to give us hope as we face the many challenges of life.

However, it must not end with our partaking of the Bread of Life. Our partaking of the bread of Life must propel us to be Christ like in every way. We must allow Jesus to change and transform us the way He wants us to become not how we want ourselves to become. We must be like Him in humility, in kindness and in compassion.

Our partaking of the Bread of Life should also move us to courageously share Jesus. Let us not be daunted by the obstacles before us for Jesus is always there for us. Why share Jesus? This is for the reason that  many are still not aware of the enormous spiritual blessing of the Bread of Life.

Let us share Jesus with them so that they too will be blessed by the Bread of Life which is no other than Jesus Himself. Have you already shared Jesus your Eternal Bread of Life? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Saturday August 11, Memorial of Saint Clare, virgin: Matthew 17:14-20

Gospel: Matthew 17:14-20

A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said, “Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Jesus said in reply, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured. Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out? He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

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Reflection:

What can your faith in Jesus do to you? It will move you to have hope and it will move you to hold on to Jesus no matter how difficult the situation. The man in our gospel who asked Jesus to cure his son had faith in Jesus. Otherwise he would not have dared approach Jesus and asked for the healing of his son.

In contrast to the faith of the man was the lack of faith of Jesus’ disciples. What was the cause of the disciples’ lack of faith? Perhaps, they treated Jesus as an ordinary mortal like them. Perhaps their reverence for Jesus was little by little being eroded by the trials of their discipleship.

If we treat Jesus as an ordinary mortal we too are susceptible to a spiritual disease called erosion of faith. And the result of this is we will be lukewarm towards Jesus. There would be less motivation on our part to continue to pursue Jesus. We would be more susceptible to doubts and spiritual apathy.

What then is the cure if our faith is dwindling? We should pray and ask Jesus for the gift of increase of faith. We should be present and always paying attention to the Eucharistic Celebration (Holy Mass). We should partake of His Body as often as possible and we should give time for reading the words of Jesus in the bible.

If we will have time to do all of these, we surely would always have rock solid faith in Jesus. Thus, no problems and life challenges no matter how difficult can defeat us. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Friday August 10, Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr: John 12:24-26

Gospel: John 12:24-26

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.”

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Reflection:

What does it mean to hate your life in this world? It’s to give your life in the service of Jesus so that through you others may know Jesus. When you do not give your life for the mission of Jesus and just keep it to yourself you will not grow in wisdom and faith. Yes, you will grow in worldliness and hedonism but eventually your life will come to a halt. And that’s basically the end of it.

When you choose to give your life for the mission of Jesus you will not anymore enjoy this world as you enjoyed it before.  Yet you will also discover a more profound and deeper meaning in your life that only Jesus can give you.

 Why? Because you chose to give your life for the mission of Jesus. You chose to throwaway your life away from worldliness going to the direction of Jesus so that you could walk hand in hand with Him.

As Jesus gave away His very own life on the cross so that God’s kingdom in this world could grow and flourish. We too should not be afraid to give away our life for the sake of the kingdom of God for this is where the true essence and meaning of life lies.

Have you already found the true essence and meaning of life with Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Thursday August 9, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 16:13-23

Gospel: Matthew 16:13-23

Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and 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.” Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

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Reflection:

About ten (10) years ago, Every Sunday I would regularly go to the house of a sick 85 years old former Eucharistic minister to give him Holy Communion. He was poor and was renting a small house with his children. It would seem that he was suffering but he was always thankful for the blessings of Jesus every Sunday. I never heard him complain about his suffering.

When Jesus was giving some hints of His forthcoming sufferings and eventual death; Peter rebuked Him by saying: “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” (Matthew 16:22) Just like Peter many of us are averse with sufferings; we want to avoid it as much as possible. Perhaps this is our human nature; we don’t want to suffer for the simple reason that it’s difficult.

But sufferings are part and parcel of life. No matter how we deftly avoid it, it will eventually catch us along our journey in this world. However, if we have Jesus in our life we will never complain about our physical suffering/s.

How about Jesus? Is HE averse with sufferings? No, HE is not, in fact HE told HIS disciples that HE would be suffering greatly from the hands of elders, chief priest and scribes then eventually be killed by them. (Matthew 16:21) Why is Jesus not afraid of suffering/s? This is for the reason that Jesus knows that God is with Him.

Jesus embraced HIS sufferings for the reason that HE knew that it was part of HIS mission of salvation. HE let go of HIS life and HE entrusted it to almighty God.

Life is not always how we like it to be, there would come a time that we will encounter hardships and sufferings. Let us not lose sleep about this, let us simply trust our all knowing and all loving almighty God. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Wednesday August 8, Memorial of Saint Dominic, Priest: Matthew 15:21-28

Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28

At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her. Jesus’ disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.

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Reflection:

What is faith to you? Faith is when you believe without seeing what you believe. Faith is when you persist to ask the Lord even if it seems that He is not listening to you.

The Canaanite woman had this kind of faith, she never gave up on her prayer request for Jesus to heal her daughter tormented by a demon. There were many obstacles against her foremost of this was her being not a Jew but it did not matter to her. She persisted and she even argued with Jesus until she passed Jesus’ examination of her faith on Him. After which her daughter was healed by Jesus.

This gospel relates with our own journey of faith in Jesus also. We could be that Canaanite woman who badgered Jesus no end until she got the healing that she wanted for her daughter.

 However, unlike the woman from Canaan who persisted until the very end we may not have the will to badger Jesus. We may have quit already and said to ourselves, I give up on my prayer for Jesus because He seems to be deaf. What we do not know is it's just a part of the testing of our faith.

Every trial that we go through is our own test of faith; we may be going through some trials right now. We may be asking ourselves, why am I going through these difficulties? Let us not give up and let us continue to have faith for the Lord will soon answer our prayer/s with faith. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Tuesday August 7, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 14:22-36

Gospel: Matthew 14:22-36

Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and precede him to the other side of the sea, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone. Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. "It is a ghost," they said, and they cried out in fear. At once Jesus spoke to them, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid."

Peter said to him in reply, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." He said, "Come." Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, "Truly, you are the Son of God."

After making the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret. When the men of that place recognized him, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought to him all those who were sick and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak, and as many as touched it were healed.

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Reflection:

Do you create time for the deepening of your friendship with God?

Jesus has that time, He always make it a point to be by Himself to pray and speak to God. To speak to God was His energy booster it inspired Jesus to move on and continue His difficult mission of salvation.

In this modern frenetic life that we have which is dictated by hedonism and materialism we seem to hardly have time in prayer for God.  we have less time to know more about the life of   Jesus in the bible.

Why? Because we allow ourselves to be overpowered by the demands of this fleeting world.  If we can create time to renew our ties with our relatives and friends. If we can create time to browse our facebook and other social media accounts.

Why can't we create time for the Lord in prayer? Let us not forget the giver of everything that we have is the Lord. Many of us may not believe this but it’s really God who is the author of all the things that we have in this world.

What if we suddenly die, where would we go if we have not developed a friendship with Jesus? The devil might immediately snatch our souls and forcefully bring it to his kingdom. When we always have time for Jesus it would be very hard for the evil one to bring us to his kingdom.   

Hence, you have to have your daily quite time with the Lord. it doesn’t matter how short for as long as you always have time for Him in prayer for it will help you ward off the many temptations of this world. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for Monday August 6, Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord: Mark 9:2-10

Gospel: Mark 9:2-10

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; from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him. Suddenly, looking around, they 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.

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Reflection:

What if Peter, James and John refused to go with Jesus to the mountain of transfiguration? They would have missed the once in a lifetime experience of heaven. They would have missed seeing Jesus transfigured before their very eyes. They would have missed seeing Jesus conversing with Moses and Elijah. (The great prophets of the Old Testament). They would have missed the opportunity to hear the voice of God telling them: This is my beloved Son. Listen to him (Mark 9:7).    

But they did not refuse the invitation of Jesus they simply obeyed and went with Him to the mountain of transfiguration. Thus, they had that sudden experience of heaven. And they knew from thereon that if they would only be faithful to their discipleship for Jesus they already have their own dwelling in heaven.

Perhaps, when Jesus told Peter, James and John to go with Him onto the mountain of transfiguration. Jesus was also testing the three of them.  He was testing the strength of their faith and discipleship for Him. They passed their test of faith just like Abraham who passed his own test of faith also. 

Thus, Peter, James and John were richly rewarded by God. The reward for the three disciples were the foretaste of heaven among others. As long as we live in this world we will also have our own tests of faith. It will come to us in different forms and shapes. Let us remain faithful no matter how hard and difficult the tests.

For there’s always a reward for those who would be faithful and what is the reward? Life in heaven someday. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Sunday August 5, Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: John 6:24-35

Gospel: John 6:24-35

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" Jesus answered them and said, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal." So they said to him, "What can we do to accomplish the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent." So they said to him, "What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat." So Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

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

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Reflection:

Every Sunday, I would go to the house of an eighty seven (87) years old woman to give her Holy Communion. One thing that always catch my attention is this: Whenever I enter their house I would always see a corporal neatly laid on a table and there is always a candle waiting to be lighted. Therefore, I would immediately take out my pyx open it to expose the Bread of Life after which I put it in the corporal. And right there the 87-years-old woman would bow her head in worship and reverence for Jesus.

There was one Sunday that the rain was very strong. Hence, I stayed for a little while and I asked her: Were you a volunteer church worker during your younger years? And she said, yes I was, I was a catechist for so many years. I would teach those who would go through their first Holy Communion. That the bread that they’re going to accept is none other than the Bread of Life which is Jesus Himself.

I immediately concurred and said to her; the same Bread of Life which keeps you strong and which keeps on nourishing you every Sunday and she emphatically said: Yes!

In the gospel, Jesus tells the crowd who followed Him to Capernaum: "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst."(John 6:35) Why did Jesus reveal Himself to them? 

This is for the reason that they were following Him because of the loaves that they ate (John 6:11) not because of Himself. They did not follow Jesus because they love Him they followed Jesus since He fed them with loaves. If Jesus did not feed them they would have not followed Him to Capernaum.

Like the crowd who followed Jesus to Capernaum many of us follow Jesus for the reason of the material things that we can receive from Jesus. However, Jesus is way more than any material things that we can receive in this world.

In following Jesus we should follow because we love Him, because we want to give ourselves to Him and we want to share in His mission. These are the right reasons to follow Jesus!

The 87 years old woman followed Jesus for the right reasons, she gave a part of her life to Jesus by serving as a Catechist. And now that she is in the twilight of her life the eternal Bread of Life which is Jesus Himself is always with her every Sunday. Nourishing her, giving her hope and assuring her that she would be with Him in heaven someday.

How about you, why do you attend Holy Mass, why do you partake of the Bread of Life during Holy Communion? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Saturday August 4, Memorial of Saint John Vianney, Priest: Matthew 14:1-12

Gospel: Matthew 14:1-12

Herod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesus and said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why mighty powers are at work in him. Now Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, for John had said to him “It is not lawful for you to have her. Although he wanted to kill him, he feared the people, for they regarded him as a prophet. But at a birthday celebration for Herod, the daughter of Herodias performed a dance before the guests and delighted Herod so much that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist. The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests who were present, he ordered that it be given, and he had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. His disciples came and took away the corpse and buried him; and they went and told Jesus.

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Reflection:

Who is King Herod? King Herod is a tyrant, a leader who will never think twice to supress anyone who dares cross his path. He will not only suppress, Herod could even order the killing of anyone he wants so that he could remain in power.

Respect for human rights is not part of the vocabulary of Herod, abuse of human rights and dignity is. This is the reason why John the Baptist was imprisoned. John did nothing wrong he simply said what was to be truthfully said yet John suffered for it. 

Many leaders are like King Herod, they would bully themselves with the use of strong words to  achieve what they want . We must be very careful and watchful of these kind of leaders for they would not do us any good. They will only bring us to perdition and they would only bring shame to the country which they lead.

Let us be observant about their pronouncements most especially off the cuff pronouncements for this is where they reveal their true personalities. This is where we could get a glimpse of the true character of a leader. – Marino J. Dasmarinas