Thursday, August 06, 2020

Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Agosto 6, Huwebes ang Pagliliwanag sa Bagong Anyo ng Panginoon (Kapistahan) : Mateo 17:1-9


Mabuting Balita: Mateo 17:1-9
Pagkaraan ng anim na araw, isinama ni Jesus sina Pedro, Jaime at ang kapatid nitong si Juan, at umakyat na sila lamang ang kasama sa isang mataas na bundok. Nagbago ang anyo ni Jesus sa harap nila: nag­ning­ning gaya ng araw ang kanyang mukha at kuminang na puting-puti ang kanyang damit gaya ng liwanag. At napa­kita sa kanila sina Moises at Elias na nakikipag-usap kay Jesus.

Kaya nagsalita si Pedro at sinabi niya: “Panginoon, mabuti at narito tayo. Kung gusto mo, gagawa ako ng tatlong kubol: isa para sa iyo, isa para kay Moises, at isa para kay Elias.” Nagsasalita pa si Pedro nang takpan sila ng isang makinang na ulap. At mula sa ulap ay narinig ang salitang ito: “Ito ang aking Anak, ang Mina­mahal, ang aking Hinirang; pakinggan ninyo siya.”

Nang marinig iyon ng mga alagad, napasubsob sila sa lupa, na takot na takot. Ngunit nilapitan sila ni Jesus at hinipo, at sinabi: “Tumayo kayo, huwag matakot.” At pagtingala nila, wala silang nakita liban kay Jesus. At sa pagbaba nila mula sa bundok, inutusan sila ni Jesus na huwag sabihin kani­numan ang pangitain hanggang ma­ibangon ang Anak ng Tao mula sa mga patay.”

Tuesday, August 04, 2020

1Reflection for August 5, Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 15:21-28


Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28
At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her. Jesus’ disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.
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Reflection:
How do we define our faith in Jesus? It’s when we don’t give up on what we want from Jesus. We continuously badger Him until He gives in to our prayer for Him.

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

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

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

Every trial that we go through is our own test of faith. For example this covid-19 pandemic that is making life so difficult for us this is just a test of faith for us. Let us therefore not give up and let us continue to pray to the Lord for our safety for we will overcome this eventually with the help of the Lord. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Agosto 5, Miyerkules sa Ika-18 Linggo ng Taon: Mateo 15:21-28


Mabuting Balita: Mateo 15:21-28 
21 Pumun­ta si Jesus sa gawing Tiro at Sidon. 22 May isang babaeng Kananea noon na nag­punta sa dakong iyon at sumigaw: “Pangi­noon, anak ni David, maawa ka sa akin! Pina­hihirapan ng isang demon­yo ang anak kong babae.” 23 Ngunit hindi siya tinugon ni Jesus kaya lumapit ang kanyang mga alagad at hiniling ng mga ito: “Paalisin mo na siya’t sigaw siya nang sigaw sa likod natin.”

24 At sinabi sa kanya ni Jesus: “Sa nawawalang tupa ng bayan ng Israel ako sinugo.” 25 Ngunit lumapit ang babae at lumu­hod sa harap ni Jesus at sinabi: “Ginoo, tulungan mo ako!” 26 Sumagot si Jesus: “Hindi tama na kunin ang tinapay sa mga bata at itapon ito sa mga tuta.” 27 Su­ma­got ang babae: “Totoo nga, Ginoo, pero kinakain naman ng mga tuta ang mga nalalaglag mula sa hapag ng kanilang mga amo.” 28 Kaya nagsalita sa kanya si Jesus: “Babae, napakalaki ng iyong pana­­­­nalig! Maganap sa iyo ayon sa nais mo.” At nang oras ding iyon, gumaling ang kanyang anak.

Reflection for August 4, Tuesday; Memorial of Saint John Vianney, Priest: Matthew 15:1-2, 10-14


Gospel: Matthew 15:1-2, 10-14
Some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands when they eat a meal.” He summoned the crowd and said to them, “Hear and understand. It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles the man; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one.” Then his disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” He said in reply, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.
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Reflection:
Are we strict observers of our faith’s many traditions? Nothing is wrong with this in fact this is very good. However, observing our faith’s tradition becomes useless when we don’t live our faith. For example, the teaching of Jesus about forgiveness, what is good with observing our faiths tradition if we don’t forgive? Another example is the teaching of Jesus about loving our enemies, what is good with strictly observing the tradition if we don’t love our enemies?    

Many Pharisees and scribes were so good at observing their many Jewish traditions but when it comes to living their faith they were miserably very deficient. The Pharisees and the scribes were very particular of the fake exterior, the pretence. But Jesus is very particular on the pure interior, the real us, the things that we do when nobody’s around to see.

Let us therefore do away with our exterior pretenses because this is not good and it doesn’t please God. What pleases the Lord is our internal conversion and renewal. What appears outside of us no matter how beautiful is of no use to Him and the Lord is not impressed by it.

Are we very particular with our exterior appearance but very much deficient when it comes to our internal  renewal? – Marino J, Dasmarinas 

Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Agosto 4, Martes; San Juan Maria Vianney, pari: Mateo 15:1-2, 10-14


Mabuting Balita: Mateo 15:1-2, 10-14
Nagkatipon sa paligid ni Jesus ang ilang Pariseo at mga guro ng Batas na galing pa sa Jeru­salem. At sinabi nila sa kanya: “Bakit nilalabag ng iyong mga alagad ang tradisyon ng mga ninuno? Hindi nga sila naghuhugas ng  kamay bago ku­main.”

10 Kaya tinawag ni Jesus ang mga tao at sinabi sa kanila: “Pakinggan at una­wain. 11 Hindi ang pumapasok sa bibig ang nakapagpaparumi sa tao kundi ang lumalabas sa bibig ang naka­pagpaparumi sa tao.”

12 Pagkatapos ay lumapit kay Jesus ang kanyang mga alagad at sinabi: “Alam mo bang naiskandalo ang mga Pariseo sa sinabi mo?” 13 Sumagot si Jesus: “Ang bawat tanim lamang na hindi itinanim ng aking Amang nasa Langit ang mabu­bunot. 14 Huwag ninyo silang pansinin! Mga bulag na gabay sila. Kapag isang bulag ang umakay sa kapwa-bulag, silang dalawa ang mahu­hulog sa hukay.”

Sunday, August 02, 2020

Reflection for August 3, Monday; the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 14:22-36


Gospel: Matthew 14:22-36
22 Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. 27 But immediately he spoke to them, saying, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear." 28 And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water." 29 He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus; 30 but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." 34 And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent round to all that region and brought to him all that were sick, 36 and besought him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched it were made well.
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Reflection:
What is faith in Jesus? It’s when you look at Jesus and you disregard anything that will detach your attention from Jesus.  When Peter saw Jesus walking on water he told Jesus to allow him to go to Him and Jesus obliged Peter’s request (Matthew 14:29-30).

However, when Peter was walking towards Jesus he felt the strong wind and saw the waves coming his way. And thereupon he began to sink but Jesus was there to save him. We speak here not only of Peter’s weak faith in Jesus we also speak of our own faith in Jesus, how strong is our faith in Jesus?

 Can we still have faith even if we go through severe testing? For example, we get sick of covid-19. Would this not disturb our faith in the Lord? Would we not question the Lord, why?

Life is really a mystery we may be here today but there’s no assurance that we would still be breathing the next day. Even our faith in Jesus in itself is a mystery because we hold on to something that we don’t see yet we still hold on tightly to this something that we don’t see. For the reason that we have faith. And this faith that we have will pull us through no matter how severe the trials that may come to us.

Peter obviously has faith otherwise he wouldn’t have told Jesus to let him go to HIM. But Peter allowed also the wind and the waves to momentarily diminish his faith in Jesus. As we go on with our lives we will surely face our own episodes of test of faith in Jesus.

 Let us remain faithful and not lose heart no matter how severe our own test of faith. Because the Lord is always there to carry us thru this test of faith. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Agosto 3, Lunes; sa Ika-18 na Linggo ng Taon: Mateo 14:22-36


Mabuting Balita: Mateo 14:22-36
22 Agad pinasakay ni Jesus sa bang­ka ang mga alagad at pinauna sa kabilang ibayo habang pinaaalis niya ang mga tao. 23 At pagkaalis ng mga tao, mag-isa siyang pumunta sa kaburulan para mana­langin. Nag-iisa siya roon nang gumabi. 24 Samantala, malayo na sa lupa ang bangka, sina­salpok ng mga alon sapag­kat pasa­lungat ang hangin.

25 Nang madaling-araw na, pinuntahan sila ni Jesus na naglalakad sa dagat. 26 Nang makita nila siyang nag­la­lakad sa dagat, natakot sila, at akala nila’y multo siya. Kaya sumigaw sila. 27 Ngunit agad niyang sinabi sa kanila: “Lakasan ang loob! Ako ito, huwag kayong matakot.” 28 Sumagot si Pedro: “Panginoon, kung ikaw nga, papuntahin mo ako sa iyo na naglalakad sa tubig.”

29 At sinabi niya: “Halika.” Bumaba naman sa bangka si Pedro at naglakad sa tubig papunta kay Jesus. 30 Ngunit natakot siya sa harap ng malakas na hangin at nagsimulang lumubog. Kaya sumigaw siya: ”Panginoon, iligtas mo ako!” 31 Agad na iniunat ni Jesus ang kanyang kamay at hinawakan siya, at sinabi: “Taong maliit ang pananampalataya, bakit ka nag-alin­langan?”

32 Nang nakasakay na sila sa bang­ka, tumigil ang hangin. 33 At yumuko sa harap ni Jesus ang mga nasa bangka at sinabi: “Totoo ngang ikaw ang Anak ng Diyos!” 34 Pagkatawid nila, dumating sila sa pampang ng Gene­saret. 35 Nakilala si Jesus ng mga tagaroon at ipinamalita nila sa buong kapaligiran. Kaya dinala nila sa kanya ang mga maysakit. 36 May naki­usap sa kanya na mahipo man lamang sana nila ang laylayan ng kanyang damit, at gu­maling ang lahat ng humipo rito.

Saturday, August 01, 2020

1Reflection for Sunday August 2, Eighteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time: Matthew 14:13-21


Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21
When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” He said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.” Then he said, “Bring them here to me,” and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over–twelve wicker baskets full. Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.
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Reflection:
The story is told about a poor woman who got sick of Covid-19, being poor she naturally cant afford the expensive medication process. So, she said to Jesus: “O my Lord I have nothing except my faith, I will go to the nearest hospital and simply entrust everything to you.” And she went to the hospital, upon arriving a kind hearted doctor asked her: “What can I do for you.” The woman said: “I’m sick with Covid-19 please help me and the doctor said: “Don’t worry I will help you get healed.” While she was being assisted by the doctor the woman saw a gleaming pin of the sacred heart of Jesus attached to the doctor’s coat.    

When we have faith the impossible becomes possible, the faraway becomes within reach and the unbelievable becomes believable.

In the gospel, when Jesus saw the vast crowd waiting for Him, His heart was moved with pity for them. Thus, Jesus cured those who were sick (Matthew 14:14). When evening came the disciples told Jesus to let go of the vast crowd so that they can buy their food. But Jesus would have nothing of His disciples’ suggestion.

He instead told His disciples to feed them but there was no food except for the five loaves and two fish. So, Jesus asked for the five loaves and two fish and it was all what Jesus needed to feed the vast crowd.

We are presently in a very dire situation right now caused by this Covid-19 pandemic. Thousands are sick, dying and hungry. This dire situation is what confronts us everyday right now and many are losing hope, in dire straits and getting desperate already.    

But there is hope and this is being offered to us by Jesus in the gospel. What only Jesus is asking from us is to continue to have faith. The same faith of the crowd who waited for Jesus’ healing and the same faith of the crowd who were fed by Jesus by means of the multiplication of the five bread and two fish.

Let us never doubt the power of Jesus to see us through out of our difficult situation right now caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Let us continue to pray and have faith in the power of Jesus. Let us continue to have faith that Jesus will make a way when there seems to be no way. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Linggo Agosto 2, Ika-18 na Linggo sa Karaniwang Panahon: Mateo 14:13-21


Mabuting Balita: Mateo 14:13-21
13 Nang marinig ito ni Jesus, lumayo siya at namangka na sila-sila lang patungo sa ilang na lugar. Ngunit nalaman ito ng mga tao at sumunod sila sa kanya na naglalakad mula sa kanilang mga bayan. 14 Pagdating ni Jesus sa pampang, nakita niya ang maraming taong nag­ka­katipon doon at naawa siya sa kanila. At pinaga­ling niya ang mga maysakit.

15 Nang hapon na, lumapit sa kanya ang mga alagad at sinabi: “Nasa ilang na lugar tayo at lampas na ang oras. Paalisin mo na ang maraming taong ito para ma­kapunta sila sa mga nayon at makabili ng kani-kanilang pagkain.” 16 Ngunit sumagot si Jesus: “Hindi na nila kailangang umalis pa; kayo ang mag­bigay sa kanila ng makakain.” 17 Sinabi nila: “Wala kami rito kundi limang tinapay at dalawang isda.” 18 Sinabi niya: “Akin na.”

19 At iniutos niyang maupo sa damu­han ang makapal na tao. Kinuha niya ang limang tinapay at dalawang isda, tumi­ngala sa langit, nagpuri, hinati ang mga tinapay at ibinigay sa kanyang mga alagad; at ibinigay rin nila sa mga tao. 20 At kumain silang lahat at nabusog, at inipon nila ang mga natirang pira-piraso – labindalawang punong basket. 21 Mga limanlibong lalaki ang napakain bukod pa sa mga babae at mga bata.


Thursday, July 30, 2020

Reflection for August 1, Saturday; Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church: Matthew 14:1-12


Gospel: Matthew 14:1-12
Herod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesus and said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why mighty powers are at work in him. Now Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, for John had said to him “It is not lawful for you to have her. Although he wanted to kill him, he feared the people, for they regarded him as a prophet. But at a birthday celebration for Herod, the daughter of Herodias performed a dance before the guests and delighted Herod so much that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist. The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests who were present, he ordered that it be given, and he had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. His disciples came and took away the corpse and buried him; and they went and told Jesus.
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Reflection:
There is a saying that, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” King Herod is an example of a man who was corrupted by his absolute power. He allowed his power to rule over him and not him ruling over his power. Otherwise if King Herod was in control of his power he would have not ordered the beheading of John.

When a leader allows his power to get into his head he would do many foolish things. For example, he may act as if he is more powerful than God by saying words and doing things that are inconceivable for a normal person to say and do.

In the gospel we have a character named King Herod he is a perfect example of a leader who is drunk with power. His power made him arrogant and it made him act as if he is more powerful than God for the reason that he ordered the killing of John. But we also know that those who arrogantly abuse power suffers defeat at the end.   

So what is the lesson for us here? Simple, we should not abuse the power that we hold otherwise we will have to pay for it someday. As they say, “What goes around comes around.” In other words this simply tells us that whatever evil that we do today brought about by our abuse of power will eventually catch up with us someday. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Agosto 1, Sabado ; San Alfonso Ligorio Obispo at pantas ng Iglesia: Mateo 14:1-12


Mabuting Balita: Mateo 14:1-12
1 Umabot kay Haring Herodes ang katanyagan ni Jesus. 2 At sinabi niya sa kanyang mga kasambahay: “Si Juan Bautista siya. Nabuhay si Juan mula sa mga patay kaya nagkakabisa sa kanya ang maka­langit na kapangyarihan.”

3 Si Herodes nga ang nagpahuli kay Juan, at nag-utos na ikadena ito at iku­long dahil kay Herodias na asawa ng kanyang kapatid na si Felipe. 4 Sapagkat sinabi ni Juan kay Herodes: “Hindi mo siya puwe­deng ma­ging asawa.” 5 Talaga ngang gusto ni Herodes na patayin siya, pero takot siya sa mga tao na kumi­­kilala kay Juan bilang isang propeta.

6 Kaarawan ni Herodes at nagsayaw ang anak na babae ni Herodias, at nasiyahan si Herodes sa kanya. 7 Kaya si­numpaan niya ang isang pangako na ibi­bigay sa kanya ang anumang hingin niya. 8 At sinabi ng babae ayon sa turo ng kan­yang ina: “Ibigay mo rito sa akin ang ulo ni Juan Bautista sa isang bandeha.”

9 Nasaktan ang hari ngunit napanum­paan na niya ang pangako sa harap ng mga bisita kaya iniutos niya na ibigay iyon sa kanya. 10 At  pinapugutan niya ng ulo si Juan sa kulu­ngan; 11 inilagay sa isang plato ang kanyang ulo at ibinigay sa babae, at dinala ito ng babae sa kanyang ina. 12 At pagkatapos ay dumating naman ang mga alagad ni Juan at kinuha ang kanyang katawan at inilibing. At pagka­tapos ay ibinalita ito kay Jesus.

Reflection for July 31, Friday; Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest: Matthew 13:54-58


Gospel: Matthew 13:54-58
Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, "Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Are not his sisters all with us? Where did this man get all this?" And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house." And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.
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Reflection:
Let us imagine ourselves experiencing rejection. How would we feel about that rejection done to us? We will surely feel bad.

Jesus was rejected and belittled when He returned to Nazareth: His native place. Jesus did not do anything offensive, He even taught at their synagogue. Yet He was rejected and the sole reason for His rejection is they knew Him only as the son of a carpenter. His town mates were too familiar with Him and His family.

They can’t accept the fact that He had an extra-ordinary wisdom and power. For these reasons they rejected Him. But why reject when they could have welcomed Him with open arms? They rejected Jesus because they were envious of Him. Envious of His gift of healing, intelligence and the adulation given to Him by the people. So, they rejected someone who could have helped them.

We will not get anything good if we have envy in our hearts. We are in fact closing our hearts to the many blessings that Jesus wants to shower us. Instead of being envious, why not simply be happy with our fellow men and women’s success?  - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Hulyo 31, Biyernes; San Ignacio ng Loyola, pari (Paggunita): Mateo 13:54-58


Mabuting Balita: Mateo 13:54-58
54 Pumunta si Jesus sa kanyang bayan at nagturo sa mga tao sa kanilang sinagoga. Namangha silang lahat at nag­sabi: “Saan kaya galing ang kanyang karunu­ngan at natatanging kapang­yarihan? 55 Di ba’t siya ang anak ng karpintero? Di ba’t si Maria ang kanyang ina at sina Jaime, Jose, Simon at Judas ang kanyang mga kapatid? 56 Hindi ba’t narito sa piling natin ang lahat niyang kapatid na babae? Ano’t nangyari sa kanya ang lahat ng ito?” 57 At bulag sila tungkol sa kanya.

Sinabi naman sa kanila ni Jesus: “Sa kanyang sariling bayan lamang at sambahayan hinahamak ang isang propeta.” 58At kaunti lamang ang ginawa niyang himala roon sapagkat kulang sila sa pana­nampalataya.

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Reflection for July 30, Thursday; the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 13:47-53


Gospel: Matthew 13:47-53
Jesus said to the disciples:“The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

“Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there.
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Reflection:
The story is told about a middle-aged man who was often wondering as to where would he end up when he dies. He often ask himself: Would I end up in heaven or hell? One night he had a dream he heard the booming voice of God which told him that he must turn a new leaf and completely repent from all the sins that he had committed otherwise he will surely be in hell.

In the gospel Jesus mentioned that at the end of age there shall be separation between the righteous and the wicked. The wicked will be thrown into the fiery furnace where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth and this is actually a very frightening scenario.

 However, Jesus is a God of love, mercy and forgiveness, he will do everything for us not to be in that fiery place. That’s why He sends people to us and He creates opportunities disguised as life’s difficulties for us to walk away from our sinfulness.

But at the end of the day, we are still in charge of our destiny, we have the freedom if we would walk away from sin or we stay with sin. If we walk away from sin we would be freeing ourselves from the enslavement of the devil. If we continue to sin we must be prepared for the fiery consequence that will befall us.

Jesus is offering us His Mercy, Love and Forgiveness, what are we waiting for? – Marino J. Dasmarinas