35 Habang nakapako si Jesus Naroon
ang mga tao na nakatingin. Pinagtatawanan naman siya ng mga pinuno: “Nailigtas
niya ang iba, iligtas din niya ngayon ang kanyang sarili kung siya ang Kristo,
ang Hinirang.”
36 Pinagtawanan din siya ng mga
sundalong lumapit para painumin siya ng alak na may halong suka.
37 Sinabi nila: “Kung ikaw ang Hari ng mga Judio, iligtas mo ngayon ang
iyong sarili.” 38 May nakasulat nga sa wikang Griyego, Latin at Hebreo sa
kanyang ulunan: “Ito ang Hari ng mga Judio.”
• 39 Ininsulto rin siya ng
isa sa mga kriminal na nakapako sa krus: “Di ba’t ikaw ang Kristo? Iligtas mo
ang iyong sarili pati kami.” 40 Pero pinagsabihan ito ng isa pang
kriminal: “Wala ka bang pitagan sa Diyos, ikaw na gayon ding pagdurusa ang
dinaranas?
41 At bagay ito sa atin sapagkat
tinatanggap lamang natin ang nararapat sa ating mga ginawa. Ngunit wala naman
siyang nagagawang masama.” 42 At sinabi pa niya: “Jesus, alalahanin mo ako
pagdating mo sa iyong kaharian.” 43 Sumagot si Jesus: “Talagang sinasabi
ko sa iyo: sa araw ring ito, makakasama kita sa Paraiso.”
Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward
and put this question to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, If
someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the
wife and raise up descendants for his brother. Now there were seven brothers;
the first married a woman but died childless. Then the second and the third
married her, and likewise all the seven died childless. Finally the woman also
died. Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had
been married to her.” Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and
remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the
resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no
longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because
they are the ones who will rise. That the dead will rise even Moses made known
in the passage about the bush, when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the
living, for to him all are alive.” Some of the scribes said in reply, “Teacher,
you have answered well.” And they no longer dared to ask him anything.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Why are we striving to live a life worthy in the eyes of God? This is for
the reason that we believe in the resurrection. We believe that after our life
in this world is already over we would have a new life that is very much
different from our present life right now.
The Sadducees who do not believe in the resurrection put in front of
Jesus a situation about a woman who married one after the other seven brothers.
Their question for Jesus was to whom would the woman belong after all of them
dies? Would she belong to brother number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7? They’ve asked
this question to prove to everyone that there is no resurrection. Otherwise if
there is a resurrection then there would be a dilemma for the woman and the
seven brothers who married her.
But Jesus incisively answered the Sadducees that life in the resurrection
is very much different from their present lives. During the resurrected life
there would be no more marriage, no more death for everyone will be like angels
according to Jesus.
We must all aspire for this resurrected life that Jesus mentions to us in
the gospel. We start by living a life founded in our close relationship with
Jesus. A life that is clean and righteous before the eyes of God and men.
Is your present lifestyle worthy of resurrection in heaven with Jesus
someday? - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were
selling things, saying to them, “It is written, My house shall be a house of
prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” And every day he was teaching
in the temple area. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the
people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death, but they could find no way
to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on his words.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
After cleaning the temple of impurities Jesus taught there daily, Jesus
is still teaching us up to this very minute. Teaching us how to properly live
our lives, teaching us that life is not so much of material and intellectual
accumulation. For Jesus life is service, life is humility, life is sacrifice,
life is about simplicity and the like.
What was Jesus everyday teaching topic during that time? We could
only guess that it was about behavior when inside the temple. And perhaps He
was also teaching them about life and how to properly live it. Is there a
template on how to properly live our life? Of course there is and it’s no other
than the life of Jesus himself. To live according to His life is the perfect
life template, but would we dare to live the life of Jesus?
Let us be teachers also like Jesus, let us teach our children about
Jesus, let us teach them how to behave at church. Let us teach the life of
Jesus by our way of life, if we say the life of Jesus we might be tempted to
say that His way of life is not anymore relevant in today’s technology and
internet driven times.
But the life of Jesus is more relevant today more than ever. Think of the
corruption of our value system, think of how we devalue life itself by killing
it while inside a mother’s womb. Jesus is a man for all season and for all
times. He is always relevant and His teachings also are always relevant
regardless of time, thus; we have to listen to HIM. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying,
“If this day you only knew what makes for peace–but now it is hidden from your
eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade
against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will
smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave
one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of
your visitation.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
What will happen to us if we refuse to hear the wise counsel of our
elders? For example, if we are advised to stop doing what is not good or to
stop doing something which is immoral or wrong? If we continue to refuse to
hear their wise counsel. Eventually these wrongdoings that we continue to do
will take us down through sickness, embarrassment and so forth.
In the gospel for today, Jesus wept over Jerusalem and its people for
they refused to hear His call of repentance and reform their lives. Not only
that they refused to listen to Jesus they also refused to listen to the
prophets who were sent before Jesus. They instead mired themselves in sin
similar to a beast miring itself in a pool of dirt.
When we refuse to let Jesus come into our life and when we continue to
refuse to hear His call of repentance. There would surely be no peace within us
no matter how rich we are and how powerful we are. For as long as we refuse to
hear His call we will have no peace we would still be living complicated lives
that may eventually destroy us.
Jerusalem did not find peace and were destroyed by the Romans during the
first revolt in A.D 70, because they refused Jesus, they did not recognized Him
as the ultimate peace bearer. They instead continued to stray far from Him.
Jesus is always knocking in our hearts, always begging us to open our
life to Him. For the reason that he will not only bring us peace He would also
bring us contentment, serenity and other things that this world cannot give us.
Would you listen to the voice of the Lord who always speak to you thru
the many events in your life? – Marino
J. Dasmarinas
While people were listening to Jesus speak, he proceeded to tell a
parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the Kingdom of God
would appear there immediately. So he said, “A nobleman went off to a distant
country to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return. He called ten of
his servants and gave them ten gold coins and told them, ‘Engage in trade with
these until I return.’ His fellow citizens, however, despised him and sent a
delegation after him to announce, ‘We do not want this man to be our king.’ But
when he returned after obtaining the kingship, he had the servants called, to
whom he had given the money, to learn what they had gained by trading. The
first came forward and said, ‘Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional
ones. He replied, ‘Well done, good servant! You have been faithful in this very
small matter; take charge of ten cities.’ Then the second came and reported,
‘Your gold coin, sir, has earned five more.’ And to this servant too he said,
‘You, take charge of five cities.’ Then the other servant came and said, ‘Sir,
here is your gold coin; I kept it stored away in a handkerchief, for I was
afraid of you, because you are a demanding man; you take up what you did not
lay down and you harvest what you did not plant.’ He said to him, ‘With your
own words I shall condemn you, you wicked servant. You knew I was a demanding
man, taking up what I did not lay down and harvesting what I did not plant; why
did you not put my money in a bank? Then on my return I would have collected it
with interest.’ And to those standing by he said, ‘Take the gold coin from him
and give it to the servant who has ten.’ But they said to him, ‘Sir, he
has ten gold coins.’ He replied, ‘I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be
given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Now
as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king, bring them here
and slay them before me.
After he had said this, he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
What is our mission in this world? Our mission is to become productive
followers of the Lord and how can we become productive followers? If we spread
the faith, we avoid sin and we do good we become productive followers. If we
don’t do anything we become unproductive follower.
The good Lord would always want us to share our faith so that we could
grow for this is the only way for us to bear fruit. But many of us are
afraid to share and our excuse is we don’t know anything about Jesus and about
our Catholic faith.
How could we know if we don’t strive to know more about Jesus? Therefore
the secret to know more about Jesus is to discover more about Him. The more
that we discover the more that we would have the tools to become His productive
followers. Let us begin this discovery journey by our presence at Holy Mass.
We therefore have to know more about Jesus so that we could mature in
faith and in the process we would be able to share what we know about the Lord.
Jesus has already equipped us with the needed grace through our Baptism and
Confirmation.
The responsibility is in our hands now. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.
Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a
wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because
of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a
sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he
reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for
today I must stay at your house.” And he came down quickly and received him with
joy. When they saw this, they began to grumble, saying, “He has
gone to stay at the house of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood there and
said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the
poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times
over.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because
this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Who is Zacchaeus?
He is a corrupt chief tax collector, a bigtime extortionist and a bigtime
sinner too! It would seem that this sinful man would drown in his sinfulness
and be sinful for the rest of his life. But Jesus intervened in the life of
this sinful man so from being sinful he repented and became a renewed man.
God works in mysterious ways in our lives, He always calls us sinners to
become His faithful followers. Zacchaeus is such kind of a man, a sinner
like you and me. His call to conversion may seem like his own initiative but no
it was not his own. It was Jesus who called him, it was Jesus who spoke to his
heart to tell him to return the money that he stole and leave behind his sinful
life.
Jesus always calls us to conversion He uses many avenues to do it for us.
There are times that He bothers our conscience. There are times that He uses
other people for us to follow Him, let us be sensitive to this intervention of
Jesus in our lives.
Life is never the same when we live it without Jesus, we may temporarily
enjoy what this world would offer us. But at the end of the day everything that
this world offers us is passing and temporary. Let us carefully discern this,
let us wake up with our love affair with sin and materialism while we still
have time to walk away from it.
And after we walk away from materialism and sin we immediately go to
Jesus so that we can receive the same forgiveness and healing that Zacchaeus received.
– Marino J. Dasmarinas
As Jesus approached Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside
begging, and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening. They
told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David,
have pity on me!” The people walking in front rebuked him, telling him to be
silent, but he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me!”
Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him; and when he came
near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He replied, “Lord,
please let me see.” Jesus told him, “Have sight; your faith has saved you.” He
immediately received his sight and followed him, giving glory to God. When they
saw this, all the people gave praise to God.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Does it pay to be persistent and to have faith in Jesus?
It always pays to be persistent in any endeavor that we are in; because
eventually our persistence will bear fruit. How many success stories were
anchored on the word persistence? Perhaps thousands even millions already,
they toil in silence persistently working hard and never giving up until they
achieve success.
The blind man in the gospel was also very persistent he never gave up
shouting: “Son of David.” Even if he was being censured by those around
him he still persisted. Eventually his persistence bore fruit for he eventually
got Jesus' attention. However, it was not only persistence that brought the
blind man to Jesus. He also has powerful faith in Jesus.
Afterwards, Jesus asked him: “What do you want me to do for you?” He
replied, “Lord, please let me see.” Jesus told him, “Have sight; your faith has
saved you.” What if the blind man was not persistent and his faith wanting?
What if he listened to the rebukes of the people around him? He would not have
been healed by Jesus.
Let us always be persistent and let us always have this powerful faith in
Jesus in any good that we ambition to do. We may not see any ray of hope now
but Jesus will certainly respond to us in His own perfect time.
Are you always persistent when you want something from Jesus and do you
have a powerful faith in Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with
costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, “All that you see here the days
will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not
be thrown down.
Then they asked him, “Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will
there be when all these things are about to happen?” He answered, “See that you
not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The
time has come.’ Do not follow them! When you hear of wars and insurrections, do
not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not
immediately be the end.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes,
famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs
will come from the sky.
“Before all this happens, however, they will seize and persecute you,
they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have
you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your
giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for
I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be
powerless to resist or refute. You will even be handed over by parents,
brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You
will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be
destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
There’s a story about a man who was full of cynicism, fear and worry.
Nothing occupies his mind except these three. He once was asked by a friend, if
he believed in God, he said: “No, I don’t believe in God.” When the friend asked
why, he answered: because no one has introduced me to your God or told me
anything about your God.
Near the man and his friend was another friend named Jessie a practicing
catholic who heard their conversation. He asked the fearful man if he could
spare an hour for him every Sunday evening so that he could share Jesus and his
catholic faith with him. The man said: “Yes I can give you may one hour or
perhaps not only one hour even more than one hour and let’s do it as soon as
possible.”
So it happened, on a Sunday Jessie went to his friend’s house and he
shared everything that he knew about Jesus and his Catholic faith. The man was
a very interested student he imbibed everything that was taught to him. And the
result was, it created a thirst for Jesus in his life.
The man read books that dealt with Jesus and the Catholic church
and it eventually led to his baptismal in the church. After his Baptism, the
man was not anymore fearful or worrisome for the reason that he already has
Jesus in his life.
In the gospel, Jesus speaks about the end times; he talks about the
fragility of life and the destruction of material things that surrounds it. He
also talks about persecution even death. Yet He tells them not to fear or worry
about it for He will take care of them.
End times scenarios are very real and it’s currently happening to many
people at this very moment. What is the cause of these hopelessness and
desperation? They do not know that there’s someone like Jesus who saves,
who inspires and who gives infinite peace of mind and hope.
We need to make a big difference in the lives of these people who do not
know Jesus yet; we need to introduce Him to them. Why? For the reason that countless
lives have been saved by Jesus with the help of those who were courageous
enough to share Jesus with them. But there are still many who are getting desperate
and who needs to know Jesus.
We therefore need to do something about it and not be worried of the
consequences. Because Jesus himself said this: You will be hated by all because
of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance
you will secure your lives (Luke 21:17-19). – Marino J. Dasmarinas
5 May ilan namang nag-uusap tungkol
sa Templo, at sinabi nila na may magagandang bato ito at mamahaling palamuti.
Sinabi naman ni Jesus: 6 “Darating ang mga araw na walang matitirang
magkapatong na bato sa lahat ng inyong nakikita; iguguho ang lahat.”
7 Nagtanong sila sa kanya: “Guro, kailan ito mangyayari at ano ang tanda
na sumapit na ito?”
8 Sumagot si Jesus: “Mag-ingat
kayo at baka kayo madaya. Maraming aangkin sa aking pangalan sa pagsasabing
‘Ako ang Mesiyas; ako siya,’ at ‘Palapit na ang panahon.’ Huwag kayong sumunod
sa kanila. 9 Sa pagkabalita ninyo sa digmaan at mga kaguluhan, huwag
kayong maligalig; mangyayari muna ito pero hindi pa ito ang wakas.”
10 At sinabi niya sa
kanila: “Magdidigmaan ang mga bayan at maglalaban-laban ang mga kaharian.
11 Magkakaroon din ng malalakas na lindol sa maraming lugar, magkakaroon
ng taggutom, magkakaroon ng mga kakila-kilabot na bagay at ng malalaki ring
kababalaghan sa langit. 12 Pero bago sumapit ang lahat ng ito, dadakipin
kayo at uusigin; ibibigay kayo sa mga sinagoga at dadalhin sa mga kulungan at
ihaharap sa mga hari at mga gobernador dahil sa aking pangalan. 13 Sasapit
ito sa inyo para makapagpatotoo kayo sa akin.
14 Isaisip ninyo na huwag
ikabalisa ang pagtatanggol sa inyong sarili 15 dahil ako mismo ang
magbibigay sa inyo ng mga salita at karunungang di matatagalan o masasagot ng
lahat ninyong kaaway. 16 Ipagkakanulo kayo ng inyong mga magulang, mga
kapatid, mga kamag-anak at mga kaibigan, at papatayin nila ang ilan sa inyo.
17 At kamumuhian kayo ng lahat dahil sa aking pangalan. 18 Subalit
hindi maaano isa mang buhok sa inyong ulo. 19 Sa inyong pagpapakatatag,
ang mga sarili ninyo mismo ang inyong makakamit.
Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray
always without becoming weary. He said, “There was a judge in a certain town
who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town
used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my
adversary.’ For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought,
‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because
this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she
finally come and strike me.’” The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the
dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones
who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you,
he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of
Man comes, will he find faith on earth?
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Does God always answer our prayers? The gospel would tell us that He
always answers our prayers. But the reality of it all is there are times that
God doesn’t answer our prayers. There are times that God fails us. We don’t
know the reason behind these unanswered prayers only God knows.
If God seems deaf to our prayers would it be right for us to stop
kneeling in prayer before God? We need not stop praying even if we get no
answer from God. For the simple reason that our prayers before God gives us
hope. Our prayers before God brightens our gloomy day. Our prayers tell us that
amidst our life struggles there is a powerful God who is ever ready to listen
notwithstanding the nature of His reply.
It's already immaterial if God answers or not because our prayers
are not only limited with God answering or not answering it. Our prayers before
God is much bigger that the reply that we expect from Him. This is for the
reason that the gift of prayer in itself is already an enormous blessing from
God.
What happens to us when we pray and after we pray? When we pray we
connect with our loving and powerful God and after we pray we become hopeful
and we feel relieved, right? Therefore, the gift of prayer that Jesus had
gratuitously given us is a balm that immediately soothes our wounded and burdened
lives.
We therefore have to pray as often as we can since a life without prayer
is a life without hope and a life bereft of the presence of God.
Do you have a healthy prayer life? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will
be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, marrying and
giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came
and destroyed them all. Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were
eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left
Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. So it will
be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, someone who is on the
housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them,
and likewise one in the field must not return to what was left behind. Remember
the wife of Lot. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever
loses it will save it. I tell you, on that night there will be two people in
one bed; one will be taken, the other left. And there will be two women
grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left.” They said to him in
reply, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the
vultures will gather.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
When are we going to walk away from our sins? Should we still delay and
wait when the most opportune time comes? It might not come and it might be too
late already. We should change our ways right at this very moment for we do not
know until when our life will be.
The people during Noah’s time were merrymaking and sinning until the
floods came so they died without repentance. Same as with the people of Sodom
and Gomorra who were engaged in grievous sexual sins they died without
repentance as well.
What is sin that many of us are so smitten by it? Sin is the bait or trap
of the devil for us to be in his kingdom. Many of us fall into this bait for
the simple reason that we are enticed by the attractiveness of sin. This is
basically the reason why we sin. But sin will bring us nothing but troubles and
problems and it will surely not bring us any good in the end.
Let us take time to read and listen to the words of Jesus in the bible
and let us be faithful to Jesus’ teachings. And He surely will find a way for
us so that we could walk away permanently from sin. Sin doesn’t offer us any good
at all and sin will not bring us except chaos until it destroys us. So we have
to avoid it no matter how attractive it may be. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus said in
reply, “The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will
announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the Kingdom of God
is among you.”
Then he said to his disciples, “The days will come when you will long to
see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. There will be
those who will say to you, ‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’ Do not
go off, do not run in pursuit. For just as lightning flashes and lights up the
sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first
he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
When do you say that the kingdom of God is within you already? It is when
you are not afraid of anything that may happen to you for you know that
somebody very powerful is in charge. If you already have Jesus in your life you
would even embrace death because you know that death is the last passage before
you meet God.
How could you have His kingdom within you? It’s when you faithfully
follow Him in your words and deeds. It’s when you have your regular moment of
prayer with Jesus. This is when you would feel the presence of God in
your life.
For those who believe that Jesus Christ is their Lord and savior the
kingdom of God is within them already. For those who choose to follow the path
of sacrifice of Jesus the kingdom of God is within them already. For those who
are meek and humble the kingdom of God is within them already.
For those who surrender their lives in the hands of God amidst the chaos
and worries of this world the kingdom of God is within them already. The
kingdom of God is also your rock solid faith in Jesus for He is your safe
refuge whenever you are being battered by the trials of daily life.
Do you already have the kingdom of God? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria
and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a
distance from him and raised their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on
us!” And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As
they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been
healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of
Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, “Ten were
cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner
returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your
faith has saved you.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Do you always thank the Lord for all the blessings that you receive from
Him everyday?
In our gospel, ten lepers were healed by Jesus but only one a Samaritan
(considered as an enemy of the Jews) was grateful enough to express his
gratefulness to Jesus. What happened to the other nine? They went back to their
normal lives with the gift of eyesight courtesy of Jesus, yet they never went
back to Jesus to express their gratitude.
The Samaritan in the gospel speaks to us by his faith and deed of
gratefulness; he tells us to always have faith and to always be grateful to the
miracles that Jesus gives us everyday. For example, do we not forget to thank
Jesus for the gift of life every morning?
Many of us are so busy that we forget to say our prayer of thanksgiving
upon waking up. Many of the young people today, instead of saying their prayer
of thanksgiving, they instead check first their smart phones for new messages
and updates.
Let us never forget to express our thanksgiving to Jesus first no matter
how busy we are. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus said to the Apostles: “Who among you would say to your servant who
has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here
immediately and take your place at table’? Would he not rather say to him,
‘Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat
and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished’? Is he grateful to that
servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you
have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we
have done what we were obliged to do.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
What does it take to be a servant of the Lord? It requires humility; a
true servant whose only desire is to serve is at all times humble. He/she is
ever ready to do what the Lord requires him/her to do. He/she will never
complain she will patiently do the given task.
For many of us, to serve in the church is an opportunity to be popular in
the community so that we could advance our own selfish agendas. This is not the
desire of Jesus; the desire of Jesus is for us to simply serve with no hidden
motives whatsoever.
Let us not hunger for recognition when we serve God for recognition will
eventually come to us if we always serve with humility. To be a true servant of
God is to humbly and silently work in His vineyard. Not conscious of any
recognition or honor for this is how a true servant behaves.
To become a true servant of God is to silently accept the hurts that is
thrown at you and leave it all up to God. For God will not let a true servant
be destroyed by anybody. Eventually, a humble servant will be saved, justified
and exalted by the Lord. - Marino J. Dasmarinas
