1Reflection for October 19, Friday; Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs: Luke 12:1-7

Gospel: Luke 12:1-7

(At that time) 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:

To whom do you entrust your life in this world?  Do you entrust it to Jesus or you always take control of your life? If you say that you are in control of your life this simply means that you take the driver seat and let Jesus take the passenger seat. However, when you take the driver seat you also open yourself to many worrying circumstances that would continuously disturb you for as long as you live.

In our gospel Jesus tells us that He knows everything about us; our deepest fears and worries. Even the number of our hairs He knows how many, then He assures us not to be afraid for we are worth more than many sparrows (Luke 12:7).

When we let Jesus take the driver seat of our lives we will have no more fear of anything that may befall us. Even death we will not fear anymore. For this is one of the countless blessings that we would receive from Jesus once we let Him take the driver seat of our lives.

There may come a time that we will hit a wall and everything in our life will come to a halt. And we will begin to ask ourselves: Where am I going and what is the purpose of my life in this world? This would come because we are always in the driver seat in full control of our life in this world.

Why not let Jesus take the driver seat and let Him take control of your life? - Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for October 18, Thursday; Feast of Saint Luke, evangelist: Luke 10:1-9

Gospel: 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:

Why Jesus sent the seventy-two disciples in pairs? Jesus could have sent them one by one so that they could cover more ground thus the spread of the gospel would be much faster. But Jesus chose them to go in pairs.

In pairs for the reason that He wanted them to help each other in doing their mission for Him.   Jesus had it already in His mind that to do His mission is realistically not that easy. So, He deemed it right and wise to send them in pairs for them to help each other as they face the many challenges of their mission.

Why do you exist in this world? Do you exist for yourself only? Of course not! We exist in this world for a reason. And that reason is to help our fellowmen; we need to extend to them the good news about Jesus. We need to feed the hungry; we need to clothe those who do not have clothes. And we need to give hope to those who are losing hope.  

This is our vocation and mission as followers of Christ Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for October 17, Wednesday; Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr: Luke 11:42-46

Gospel: Luke 11:42-46

“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:

Is Jesus angry in the gospel?

Seldom do we see Jesus angry and this gospel episode is one of the rare ones. What made Jesus angry? He was angry with the Pharisees, (the learned ruling class during that time) for the reason that they imposed so much religious requirements to their people.

However, they were only good on imposing those requirements. They were not actually willing to live what they wanted their people to do. The Pharisees were religious leaders in name only, they love to display their religiosity. But they did not live their religiosity, it was simply a superficial display of faith.

Some if not many of us are like the Pharisees. We love to give orders: do this and to that but it ends there. We don’t lift a finger to do it ourselves, we want others to do things for us while we watch and relax. How could we become good examples, good leaders and ideal followers of Jesus if we are not willing to walk our talk? How could we make Jesus happy if we are not living our faith?

Effective faith in Jesus is faith that is alive and kicking and faith that is leading and working. This is the most effective faith, let us therefore live our faith. Not because we want others to see us living it. We live our faith because this is our obligation as true followers of Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for October 16, Tuesday; Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 11:37-41

Gospel: 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:

What do we do when we invite people to dine in our respective houses? Many of us discreetly observe them especially if our invited guest are few the more that we observe them. We sometimes pretend to be busy but we observe them quietly: How they behave and so forth.

However, amidst our being observant Jesus wants to tell us something: Let us not judge them based on their external behavior. Because our judgment based on what we see do not really represent who they really are. There’s a whole lot more that we could discover from them if we would not be quick on judging them.

It feeds our ego when we are noticed based on our external appearance: What we do, the clothes that we wear, our physical appearance etc. The more that we are noticed the more that we would reinforce our external actions. These are all superficial, before God these egocentric actions count for nothing before the eyes of God.

What counts before God are those that are not seen by our eyes. What counts before Him is what is inside us not what is outside of us. Those that are not seen such as: a pure conscience, a caring, forgiving and loving heart and a mind that has no place for ill thoughts.

Perhaps, the Pharisee in our gospel invited Jesus to his house not out of his goodwill and kindness. He invited Jesus because he wants to see if Jesus would subscribe to the many rituals of their Jewish faith.

Are many of us not like this Pharisee? When friends come to our house we also observe them as to how they would behave. And based on what we saw we would now conjure our unfavorable conclusion towards them.

But our judgment is often wrong for we don’t know what’s inside the heart of the person. And besides, it’s hard to judge based solely on the few times that we’ve observed them. Let us not judge quickly and let us not judge based on what we see.

Are you quick to judge? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for October 15, Monday; Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church: Luke 11:29-32

Gospel: 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:

Can you still remember the thief at the side of Jesus who asked Jesus to remember him when He is in His kingdom? The thief had an on the spot salvation because he repented from his sins (Luke 23:42-43).

Jesus calls us also to repentance every minute of our life. Let us not be deaf to this call, let us listen, follow and embrace this call.

What is sin that many of us can’t leave it behind? What does it give us?  Does committing sin give us fulfilment that many of us continue to embrace it? Whatever pleasure/s sin gives us it’s actually a curse coated in pleasure. For example the sin of adultery, it’s pleasurable and exciting  for the person who commits adultery. Why? Because he/she walks into the doorway of pleasure and excitement until he/she gets caught.

As the person enjoys the pleasure and excitement, sins start to pile up as well. Until such time that it destroys the individuals involved in the sinful relationship. However, why wait to be destroyed by sin when Jesus is always offering us repentance? When Jesus is ever and always ready to forget and forgive all our past sins provided we leave it behind and completely walk away from it.      

There’s a reward that awaits us the moment we listen to Jesus’ call of repentance. The incentive is maybe like the reward of salvation that He gave to the repentant thief on the cross.

Perhaps it may not be instant salvation but certainly there would be a reward if we decide to leave our sinful life. Rewards like: peace of mind, peace in the family, a life free from any guilt of conscience and so forth. -  Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Sunday October 14, Twenty-eight Sunday in Ordinary Time: Mark 10:17-30

Gospel: Mark 10:17-30

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother." He replied and said to him, "Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth." Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" The disciples were amazed at his words. So Jesus again said to them in reply, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God." Peter began to say to him, "We have given up everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come."

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Reflection:

A wealthy man was having a dilemma on what would he do with his massive wealth. He was beginning to lose weight already because he was always thinking of how he would take care of his wealth. Finally, he decided to give it away by donating it to a charitable institution that takes care of the welfare of the neglected elderly. After he gave away his wealth he found Jesus, he found contentment and peace of mind.

What can our possessions/riches do to us? Would it buy us food? Yes of course. Would it buy us health? Yes, to a certain extent it would and It can also buy us material possessions. However, when we buy food and eat it after a few hours we will be hungry again. After paying our bills in the hospital that made us well we will get sick again, it will be a cycle until we die. The material possession that we have? it will eventually leave us or we will leave it.

In the gospel for this Sunday there is a rich man who was so near yet so far from having eternal life and be a certified follower of Jesus. Near because he followed all the commandments. However, he was also far for the simple reason that he cannot let go of his riches. When Jesus told him to sell his material possessions and give the proceeds to the poor. His face fell and went away very sad for he had many possessions.

In the process of not giving up his riches he missed having the eternal wealth that cannot be taken away from him. Wealth that he can even take with him after his death; that eternal wealth is Jesus. The rich man badly missed being a close follower of Jesus in favor of his wealth.

Wealth per see is not bad it can even be our ticket to heaven if we give it to the poor. When we do that wealth becomes our passport to be with Jesus in this world and beyond this world. Sadly, the rich young man was not able to realize it that is why he walked away from Jesus.

Would you also walk away from Jesus in favor of your wealth? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for October 13, Saturday; Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 11:27-28

Gospel: 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:

Who was the woman who said to Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed (Luke 11:27).” She obviously was so enthralled by the words and works of Jesus that she pointed to the Blessed Mother and gave her honor as the foundation of Jesus.

Do we give the same honor and reverence for the Blessed Mother? Some Christian faiths don’t honor the Blessed Mother as much as we honor her. But why cannot we honor the mother of Jesus? Without the Blessed Mother Jesus would have not been born and we would have no savior.      

But thanks to the humility of the Blessed Mother Jesus was born into this world. She humbly accepted her sacred mission as the mother of Jesus when she said, I am the handmaid of the Lord let it be done to me according to your word (Luke 1:38).

This gospel is an invitation for all of us to give more honor and reverence to the Blessed Mother. We honor her by asking her to always pray for us and by praying the Holy Rosary. This also reminds us of the role of our own mothers in our lives. The countless sacrifices that they carried on their shoulders so that they could rear us with honor and dignity.   

Do you always remember to ask the Blessed Mother to pray for you and to bring your prayers to Jesus? Do you pray the Holy Rosary even for only once a week? - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for October 12, Friday; Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 11:15-26

Gospel: Luke 11:15-26

When Jesus had driven out a demon, some of the crowd said: “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

“When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest but, finding none, it says, ‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’ But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there, and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.”

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Reflection:

What motivates us to accuse falsely or to destroy the good reputation of our fellowmen? Its greed, anger, envy and other negative emotions. These emotions are so dangerous that it could even lead us to kill. All of these are devious instruments of Satan. All of these are used by Satan to capture us.

How could we refuse these enticements of Satan? We must be prayerful, we must always do good. We must at all times be focused on our mission to spread the teachings of Jesus through our words and actions.

By doing good, Jesus was accused as being with the Demon, what a reckless accusation emanating from the crowd! Is it Jesus siding with the demon or the crowd siding with the demon? The demon will never do good it will always seek to create chaos and manufacture baseless accusations.

Come to think of it, by accusing Jesus the crowd allowed themselves to be used by the demon himself. In like manner we also allow ourselves to be an instrument of the demon when we purposely accuse people even without a grain of truth.

The demon or devil is a clear and present danger to all of us. It’s always there looking for the right timing to lure us. However, if we are close to Jesus and we practice and live the teachings of Jesus. We have nothing to worry because the devil can do nothing to us.

Do you always create time for Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas   

Reflection for October 11, Thursday; Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 11:5-13

Gospel: Luke 11:5-13

Jesus said to his disciples: “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.

“And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

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Reflection:

Isn’t God all knowing? Doesn’t He read our mind? So why do we need to badger Him in prayer about our needs? God is all knowing and God reads our minds but we still need to persistently let Him know what we want Him to do for us. Why? For the simple reason that it’s through our persistence that we develop deep friendship with Him. It’s through our persistent prayer that we obtain the grace to get to know Jesus much deeper.

What if we would not persist? We miss the chance to know Jesus more deeply and we miss the opportunity to develop a much deeper friendship with Him.  Take for example our Sunday Mass obligation, what would happen to us if we wouldn’t keep on attending it every Sunday? We miss the chance to know Jesus deeply, we miss the chance to be showered by His many blessing. And we miss the opportunity to grow in faith and the like.

Yes, God knows everything about us already but we still need to be persistent before Him. For this is where He would know how deep is our love for Him. When we don’t give up on Jesus and when we continue to let Him know that we always hunger for Him. Surely Jesus will not be deaf and blind to our petitions before Him.   

Surely Jesus will smile at us and tell us: Here it is that you want I’m giving it to you now because you did not give up. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for October 10, Wednesday; Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 11:1-4

Gospel: Luke 11:1-4

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.”

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Reflection:

Has anyone asked you to teach him/her to pray? Or have you taught somebody to pray?

It’s a humbling experience if somebody would ask us to teach him/her to pray. Just like the same petition that the disciples of Jesus told Him. But before we could expect people to ask us to teach them how to pray we must learn to live our prayer first.

For example, if we pray for humility it is incumbent upon us to live humility as well. If we pray for forgiveness we should be forgiving as well. If we pray for peace in our lives we should live a peaceful life. In other words, we should always learn to live our prayers before Jesus.  

What will move our fellowmen to ask us to teach them how to pray? We should ensure that we live our faith and we are humble at all times. This is how Jesus lived His life; He always ensured that His prayers are always accompanied by humble acts of faith.

Just like Jesus, we too must see to it that we live what we pray or we walk our talk so that others may see in us Jesus. We become like magnets for Jesus if we live our prayers and we live it with humility.

Has anyone asked you to teach him/her to pray or have you taught somebody to pray? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for October 9, Tuesday; Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 10:38-42

Gospel: Luke 10:38-42

In the course of their journey Jesus came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.

She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord's feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha, who was distracted with all the serving, came to him and said, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me. But the Lord answered, 'Martha, Martha,' he said, 'you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part, and it is not to be taken from her.'

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Reflection:

What are you going to do if you visit a house of a friend and you get the same treatment that Jesus received from Martha and Mary? Who are you going to favor Martha or Mary? It actually depends upon you who are you going to favor. But Jesus obviously preferred the action of Mary who sat down at His feet and faithfully listened to Him.

What did Martha do that it did not get the merit of Jesus? Martha was busy preparing food for Jesus. Why did Jesus did not favor her when what she was doing was for His honor also? Jesus is a preacher and being a preacher he wants people to listen to Him so that He could impart His wisdom. This was perhaps the reason why Jesus preferred the reverent action of Mary.

What happens to us when we listen to Jesus and when we meditate on His words? We gain wisdom from Jesus himself and we are enlightened by Him no less. But do we still have time to listen to Jesus? Are we not very busy with our many worldly undertakings?

 Some of us may say that we have to move and be busy because we have to earn and eat otherwise we’ll get hungry. Yes, this is true, but what would happen to us if we are all work? If we have no more time for Jesus or if Jesus is just a minuscule entity in our lives? - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for October 8, Monday; Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 10:25-37

Gospel: Luke 10:25-37

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn, and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’ Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

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Reflection:

Do you want to have eternal life?

We all desire eternal life with Jesus and we are given by Him the keys toward it. The first key is to love Him and the second one is to love our fellowmen as how we love ourselves. But how can we manifest our love for God if we hardly have time for Him?

  

To love Jesus is to give our time to Him. He doesn’t ask us all of our time He only ask us a little of our time. For example, how many hours do we have for the entire week? Jesus only ask us to give Him one hour of those many hours a week though our presence in the Holy Mass. Many of us are not able to fulfill this one-hour meeting with Jesus for the reason that we are very busy.

To Love Jesus is to share Him with our fellowmen. How many of us are able to share Jesus through our words and actions? To love Jesus is to read the bible even for only five minutes a day. How many of us are able to read the bible daily for five minutes a day?

Finally, to love our fellowmen is to love them without preconditions, to love them by not imposing our will upon them. And to love them no matter who they are and no matter how sinful they may seem for we are all sinful children of God. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Sunday October 7, Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time: Mark 10:2-16

Gospel: Mark 10:2-16

The Pharisees approached Jesus and asked, "Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?" They were testing him. He said to them in reply, "What did Moses command you?" They replied, "Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her." But Jesus told them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate." In the house the disciples again questioned Jesus about this. He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."

And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it." Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them.

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Reflection:

A story is told about a married couple who’ve been together for ten years.  After all those years of being happily married the wife was suddenly jolted when she discovered that her husband had been carrying an adulterous affair with his officemate.  Therefore, the wife who was trying to salvage whatever thread that was left in their marriage demanded that the he resigns from his job. However, citing self-serving reasons the husband refused to resign.

In the gospel Jesus is confronted with a probing question by the Pharisees: "Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?" Jesus replied: "What did Moses command you?" They replied, "Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her." Jesus told them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. (Mark 10:2-5)

This answer of Jesus loudly rings true for us today; because of the hardness of our hearts many of us choose to betray the Sacrament of Matrimony. In exchange for what? For a lifetime of misery afterwards?  In exchange for what? For a cursed and damned life afterwards? There is no reward but wretchedness when we decide to jump into an adulterous relationship.

When a couple jumps into the abyss of an adulterous relationship. They dive into the darkest part of life and the afterlife which is the kingdom of the fallen angel Satan. Yet, Satan the supreme deceiver and manipulator that he is paints love to cover lust in the eyes of the adulterous couple. Satan puts forward the overheating furnace of passion disguised as love. That will slowly but surely unravel to destroy both of them and those around them in the end. 

God’s plan for married couple is for eternity. In the Sacrament of Matrimony/Marriage Jesus commands us this through the officiating Priest: “To have and to hold, to this day onward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part.”

Have you been faithful to your married life so far? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for October 6, Saturday; Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 10:17-24

Gospel: Luke 10:17-24

The seventy-two disciples returned rejoicing and said to Jesus, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.” Jesus said, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power ‘to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

At that very moment he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

Turning to the disciples in private he said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

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Reflection:

Long time ago there was a religion that had a penchant for arrogantly showing their influence. They would boast that they are the true religion and that nobody would go to heaven except their members. Instead of attracting others to join them they were instead shunned by those they thought could be their future members. Eventually this religion stopped growing until it died a natural death.

What could attract people to join a religion? It’s certainly not arrogance but childlike humility. Arrogance is disliked by many as opposed to humility which is very much liked by the majority. Humility is like a magnet that attracts and gains the sympathy of people.

For example, would you prefer to belong to a religion that arrogantly flaunts its misplaced influence? Of course not! Would you prefer to befriend an arrogant person or a humble person? Of course, you would prefer to befriend the humble one.

In like manner, we could bring more people to our faith and we would become more effective fishers of men. If we live humility and if we become breathing example of Jesus’ humility. – Marino J. Dasmarinas