Reflection for June 8, Saturday: Seventh Week of Easter; John 21:20-25

Gospel: John 21:20-25

Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved, the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper and had said, “Master, who is the one who will betray you? When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him? Jesus said to him, “What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me. So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple would not die. But Jesus had not told him that he would not die just “What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours?

It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. There are also many other things that Jesus did but if these were to be described individually I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.

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Reflection:

Are you sometimes too inquisitive about the things that does not even concern you? Peter in our gospel is like that, too curious about things that do not even concern him. Why did Peter ask about the beloved disciple?

We don’t know what was going on in peter’s mind when he asked about  John the beloved disciple of Jesus. But one thing was sure during that time: Peter was not paying attention to the instruction of Jesus to follow Him.

If we decide to follow Jesus, let us not be nosy about the lives of others in the parish. Or even the lives of our neighbors; let us rather focus on our very own life or family. Many troubles start from our being meddlesome with the lives of others. Misunderstanding and quarrels may start from it.

Therefore, let us focus solely on our own lives. Let others live their own lives in peace without us meddling or gossiping. Instead of wasting our time meddling or talking about the lives of others which bring us no good. Let us use our time and energy on thinking of how we could further improve our  personal lives. On thinking of ways on how we could focus more on our desire to silently follow Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas       

Reflection for June 7, Friday: Seventh Week of Easter; John 21:15-19

Gospel: John 21:15-19

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

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Reflection:

Do you love me? Jesus asked Simon Peter three times this question. How deep is your love for the Lord? Would you be willing to handle the responsibility that He will be giving you? Love is not love unless you’re willing to sacrifice something, unless you’re willing to handle a responsibility to prove that love.

Simon Peter failed in His test of love for Jesus when he denied Jesus three times. He could have stood for Jesus but Peter was afraid to lose his life, Peter was afraid to sacrifice his very life for Jesus. That’s why he denied Jesus three times. At that moment when Simon Peter denied Jesus Peter gave more importance to his own survival than his love for his Lord and Master.

However, even if Peter denied Jesus three times. Jesus still profoundly loved him. Jesus knew of the human frailties of Peter, Jesus knew that when the going gets tough Peter would deny Him. Yet He still loved Peter, Peter's denial of Jesus did not diminish Jesus love for him. This is the reason why at the end of the gospel Jesus called Peter to follow Him.

We too should remember that Jesus loves us very much notwithstanding our sinfulness. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for June 6, Thursday: Seventh Week of Easter; John 17:20-26

Gospel: John 17:20-26

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

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Reflection:

A woman engaged herself to caring for the poor in her community. She did this out of her concern for them, funds were hard to come by at times. Yet she was able to feed and nourish them because she believed that Jesus would always be there for her.

We can always lean on Jesus all the time. He is always there ever ready to help us. Jesus loves us so much that He gave His very life for us on the cross. By doing so Jesus completed the mission that was given to Him by God. For our sake God gave the life of His only begotten son.

God is never absent in our lives no matter who we are, no matter what we are going through and no matter the sins that we have done. He is always there ever ready to listen to us. God manifested Himself to us through Jesus so that we can reach out to Him anytime.

Yet, there is also a responsibility that rest on our shoulders. And this responsibility is to pay forward this infinite love of God. For the reason that our faith in God is never complete and it will never grow and mature unless we learn to share it.

Share your faith and see how it grows within you, do you share your faith? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for June 5, Wednesday: Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr; John 17:11b-19

Gospel: John 17:11b-19

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

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

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Reflection:

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

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

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

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

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

Reflection for June 4, Tuesday: Seventh Week of Easter; John 17:1-11a

Gospel: John 17:1-11a

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

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

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Reflection:

What is the usual method of your prayers? Is it spontaneous prayer or you follow a certain pattern when you pray? Whichever it is, what is important is you put your heart in your prayers before God. For a prayer that connects with God is a prayer that originates from your heart.

We read in our gospel for this Tuesday that Jesus is praying before God. It is a personal prayer for Himself and at the same time a prayer also for His disciples and the people that He dearly loved.

If Jesus prayed to God, we too ought to pray also to God. We pray for our personal petitions before Him. For example prayers for strength to face our daily challenges. Prayers for enlightenment, prayers for us not to store any form of hatred in our hearts and so forth.

We also become one with God when we pray. We also allow God to heal us from our sickness most especially emotional and spiritual sickness. This is for the reason that through our prayers we allow God to dwell and move within us. Notice that after you pray you feel light and you feel better.

Let us beseech God to heal us of anything that ails us. And let us beseech God to give us the grace of connection with Him whenever we pray. Why? Because life without God in this world is pure emptiness. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

1Reflection for June 3, Monday: St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs; John 16:29-33

Gospel: John 16:29-33

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

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Reflection:

Do you want to have peace in your life?

If this world gives us nothing but trouble and sickness Jesus is always there to counter this troublesome world with His promise of peace. Many of us think that the things of this world would give us peace, but it will not.

The more that we tie our search for peace in this world the more that we would not find it. Why? Because this world will never give us peace what this world gives us is disturbance and chaos. So, where can we find real peace of mind? We can only find this real peace of mind in Jesus nobody would give this to us except Jesus alone.

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

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

Reflection for Sunday June 2, The Ascension of the Lord: Luke 24:46-53

Gospel: Luke 24:46-53

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

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Reflection:

There is a story about a father who was about to leave for work in a faraway place. Before leaving he reminded his eleven children not to forget to do their responsibilities that he assigned to them. He also told them that if there would be any problem. They should communicate with him immediately using facebook or skype. And he would be there for them.    

After forty days upon His resurrection and after many appearances to His disciples. It is now mission accomplished for Jesus. He will leave his apostles to ascend into heaven to be with God.

What does the ascension signify to the apostles? This signifies that the responsibility to spread the gospel lies now in their hands. So, they should not sit idly for in their hands lies the great responsibility of propagating the faith.  Did the apostles succeed in spreading the faith? Yes they were all successful. But it was not a walk in the park for them. They had to go through difficulties yet amidst the difficulties they did their mission with aplomb.

The Ascension of Jesus reminds us as well about our sacred responsibilities to spread the faith for we now are the modern-day disciples. In our broad shoulders now rest this great responsibility. Are we up to this responsibility?  

Sometimes we are afraid to embrace this responsibility because of our limitations. For example, we may say, “How can I evangelize when I am not a good speaker?” How can I evangelize when I have no talent and resource for this kind of endeavor? But evangelization is not solely limited through speaking, talent and resources.

We can also evangelize through our acts of love, humility and kindness. Lest we forget, our actions speak more than our words. We can now even evangelize using the internet by writing our thoughts about Jesus and His gospels. Or simply by sharing the words of God and this is also a good form of evangelization.

We think we can’t help Jesus spread the good news because we are imprisoned by our limitations. Or perhaps we fear being ostracized. The feeling of fear has no place in the environment of evangelization, we have to be courageous. Why? Because God the Holy Spirit is always there for us.

As Jesus ascends into heaven we are now given the task to evangelize and spread the faith. Can you measure up to this task? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for June 1, Saturday: Memorial of Saint Justin, Martyr; John 16:23b-28

Gospel: John 16:23b-28

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

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

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Reflection:

A  woman asked Jesus to make her rich, so she prayed for it. After three months of asking and praying the woman never received his prayer petition. She was deeply puzzled why she had not received what she wanted.

 Until she had a dream wherein Jesus told her this, “You did not receive what you prayed for because you just relaxed in your house. You never exerted effort to realize what you want. So the next day the  woman prayed once again and she coupled her prayer with action and after a period of time she was able to achieve what she was asking from the Lord.

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

Jesus will generously help us achieve what we want to happen in our lives for as long as we will exert every ounce of effort to have it. In other words it must always be prayers with actions and not prayers alone. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for May 31, Friday: Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Luke 1:39-56

Gospel: Luke 1:39-56

Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm,he has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever.”

Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

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Reflection:

Would you exert effort to give a relative a surprise visit? Many of us are very busy that we hardly have time for this kind of noble effort. But if many of us have no time to reach out to our relatives the Blessed Mother always has time.

Just imagine the Blessed Mother travelling for days on a donkey while pregnant just to give cheer to her pregnant cousin Elizabeth. Who among us would do that? Perhaps only a few because many of us have no time. 

We have already allowed this world to dictate upon us to always get busy with things of this world. Get busy at the expense of strengthening our bond with our friends and relatives? Yes, when we allow ourselves to become overly busy with worldliness. The tie that binds us to our friends and relatives take a backseat and this is not good.

But not the Blessed Mother for she is an extra ordinary Blessed woman who is always full of love, care and compassion towards her relatives and to us also. The Blessed Mother never thought of her own safety and her own predicament (Because she was also pregnant at that time). She braved the very long distance and the stress on herself just to give herself to her cousin Elizabeth.

How many of us are still willing to forget ourselves just to visit our relatives and friends to make them happy with our presence? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for May 30, Thursday: Sixth Week of Easter; John 16:16-20

Gospel: John 16:16-20

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

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Reflection:

It’s always heartbreaking when somebody permanently say goodbye to us most especially if they’re very close to us. Tears will flow like a stream and our life will never be the same anymore because a deep void has been created by that person who left us.

Jesus is mysteriously saying His goodbye to the disciples and they could not understand it. They were puzzled and somewhat melancholy. But then Jesus is also saying to them that you will be seeing me soon after also.  

Unlike the permanent goodbye of a friend or relative, Jesus’ goodbye is temporary. He comes back to us the moment we sought Him back again. Actually it’s not Jesus who leaves us; it’s us (by way of our sinfulness) who run away from HIM. This occurs when we purposely forget HIM to embrace sin.

But why do we embrace sin (knowing that it will only give us nothing but problems)? Perhaps we think that we could escape the consequence of our sins. But it has been proven time and again that we always pay for our sinfulness whomever we are. It may take time but certainly we will pay, there’s no free ride in this world most especially in matters of sin. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for May 29, Wednesday: Sixth Week of Easter; John 16:12-15

Gospel: John 16:12-15

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

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Reflection:

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

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

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

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

Are you always prayerful? Are you aware of the Sacred presence of the Holy Spirit in your life? If not yet, then please be prayerful and slowly but surely you will have an awareness of the Holy Spirit’s presence in your life. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for May 28, Tuesday: Sixth Week of Easter; John 16:5-11

Gospel: John 16:5-11

(Jesus said to his disciples) “Now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: sin, because they do not believe in me; righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.”

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Reflection:

Departures are always filled with sorrow, for example a loved one or a dear friend who dies. Or somebody close to our hearts whom we would not be seeing for so many years. These kinds of scenarios are heart wrenching and always filled with tears and grief. However, this is only physical disconnection the memories and the good things will always remain.  

In our gospel for today Jesus is slowly disconnecting Himself from HIS disciples (Now I am going to the one who sent me, John 16:5). This disconnection is only physical in nature because God the Holy Spirit would be upon them soon.

It’s a fact of life that we will be leaving this world permanently. We don’t know when will it be but we will be leaving this world for sure. Do you want to permanently carve a permanent dwelling in the hearts of those who know you? Then, always do good and be like Jesus.

More than two thousand years have passed since Jesus walked on this earth yet Jesus is still in our hearts. Why? For the reason that HE did good all the time, HE helped the poor, HE was the personification of simplicity, humility and kindness.

We only exist once in this world, let us live like Jesus lived. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for May 27, Monday: Sixth Week of Easter; John 15:26—16:4a

Gospel: John 15:26—16:4a

Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

                                                          

“I have told you this so that you may not fall away. They will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me. I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you.”

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Reflection:               

What strengthens our resolve to continue to move on with our lives? It’s our prayerful connection with God and Jesus. Our prayerful connection to both God and Jesus inspires us and gives us hope whenever we are down and weary.

Through our connection with God and Jesus we are given the gift of discerning the presence of the advocate or the Holy Spirit within our midst. For this reason, we have to have regular connection with God and Jesus. For both of them are facilitators of the presence of the advocate within our lives.

In our gospel, Jesus mentioned to the disciples the advocate whom He will send to them courtesy of His Father (John 15:26). The advocate will continue to inspire them to be steadfast in their mission no matter the difficulties that they may encounter. It will protect them from dangers and it will lead them to do what is right.

We too can have an awareness of the presence of the advocate or the Holy Spirit if we are always connected with the Lord. And how could we have a connection with the Lord? We have to be prayerful.  – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Sunday May 26, Sixth Sunday of Easter: John 14:23-29

Gospel: John 14:23-29

Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.

“I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.”

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Reflection:

A story is told about a woman who pledged his undying love for God through her involvement in a charismatic prayer group.  But the irony of her vocal profession of her love for God was she wanted to forcibly establish her leadership in the charismatic group. Even if many were against her leadership. Does this woman love God and does she keep the commandments of God? 

In our gospel Jesus talks about love, the Holy Spirit and peace. How can we justify our love for God if we don’t keep His words? How can we invite the sacred presence of the Holy Spirit and peace in our lives if we shoo it away by our superficial love for God?

Many of us profess that we love God, that we believe that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one and the same. Yes, we go to Mass every Sunday but our actions are very much contrary to what we do and profess.

In other words, what comes out from our mouths are not in harmony with what we are doing. We have to ponder on this and think of how we can make a radical transformation in our life of faith. So that we can truly say that we are keeping and living the words of God.

Someday we will depart from this world. By that time we will not be thinking of anything except of what would happen to us when we depart this world. Where would we be: would we be in heaven or hell?

One sure way for us to enter heaven is quite simple. And that is to love God and to keep His commandments to the core of our hearts and minds.  – Marino J. Dasmarinas