Short, Simple and Personal reflections on the daily Holy Mass Gospel. I provide talks.
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Tuesday, November 02, 2021
Reflection for Sunday November 7, Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time: Mark 12:38-44
Reflection for November 6, Saturday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 16:9-15
If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all
these things and sneered at him. And he said to them, “You justify yourselves
in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem
is an abomination in the sight of God.”
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Reflection:
Do you allow yourself to be influenced by the love of material things?
Advertisers continuously bombard us with ads that entice us to love material things for example, these smart phones. Manufacturers would always come up with new models to drive up their sales and profit. So what we do is we buy simply because we allow ourselves to be captured by the very enticing advertising even if there’s actually no need yet for us to buy it.
This is what we must watch out for because if we are not careful there’s that tendency to serve the God of this world which is mammon or money. Who is behind this advertisers that induces us to mindlessly spend so that we are always busy to earn more money until we eventually shun God in our lives?
The one behind is the Devil it deludes us to believe that mammon or materialism is the be all and end all of life. And if we are not careful we may believe it thus we may favor mammon over God. But we all know that mammon is an instrument of the devil to take us away from God.
We therefore have to choose God over the
God of this world which is mammon or materialism. If we choose God we would
have peaceful lives. We may not be able to ward off every problems that may
come our way. But we would be able to handle it no matter how difficult it may
be. Why? Because we’ve chosen to be with God and not allow ourselves to be
captured by this materialistic driven world. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Nobyembre 6, Sabado sa Ika-31 na Linggo ng Taon: Lucas 16:9-15
10 Ang mapagkakatiwalaan sa maliliit na bagay ay mapagkakatiwalaan din sa malalaki, at ang di mapagkakatiwalaan sa maliliit ay di rin mapagkakatiwalaan sa malalaki. 11 Kung hindi kayo mapagkatiwalaan sa di-matuwid na pera, sino ang magtitiwala sa inyo ng tunay na kayamanan?
12 Kung hindi kayo mapagkatiwalaan sa mga bagay na hindi talaga sa inyo, sino pa kaya ang magbibigay sa inyo ng talagang inyo? 13 Walang katulong na makapagsi-silbi sa dalawang amo; siguradong kamumuhian niya ang isa at mamahalin naman ang isa pa, o magiging matapat sa isa at mapababayaan ang ikalawa. Hindi kayo makapaglilingkod sa Diyos at sa pera.”
14 Naririnig ng mga
Pariseo ang lahat ng ito. Sakim sila kaya pinagtatawanan nila siya. 15 At
sinabi ni Jesus sa kanila: “Ginagawa ninyo ang lahat para magmukhang mabuti
sa paningin ng mga tao ngunit alam ng Diyos ang inyong mga puso. At
kasuklam-suklam sa paningin ng Diyos ang mataas sa mga tao.
Reflection for November 5, Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 16:1-8
I am not strong enough to dig and I am
ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the
stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’ He called in his master’s
debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He
replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’
He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory
note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ Then to another he said, ‘And
you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of wheat.’ He said
to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ And the master
commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. For the children of this
world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children
of light.
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This is the big danger that may come to the lives of those who are materially successful there’s that tendency to drown in their worldly success. And totally forget that they’re simply stewards of their material possession.
What is the secret to a successful and
fulfilling life? We must learn how to share not only to share a small portion
of what we earn. We must hugely share for we are merely stewards with the
things that we have. It’s not ours to own; we have what we have right now for
us to share it and not to keep it to ourselves. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Reflection for November 4, Thursday Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop (M): Luke 15:1-10
And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.
“Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp
and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it? And when she
does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’ In just the same
way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one
sinner who repents.”
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Reflection:
What is your attitude toward the so-called sinners of our society? For example, if you have a sibling and you perceive him to be a sinner, how would you treat him? Should you simply ignore him? Or you would build bridge to gently seek him out and let him know that the love of Jesus knows no bounds. That the love of Jesus upon him is not diminished by the sins that he has committed.
There are many of us who give up on the lost or sinners and we cannot blame ourselves for this because this is basic human nature. For example if you have a spouse who is a serial womanizer and you have forgiven him for so many times and yet he does not change his ways. What is your natural reaction to this kind of attitude? Isn’t that your natural reaction is to raise your hands in surrender and give up on that unrepentant spouse?
If we give up with sinners, Jesus doesn’t give up He will continuously seek out the lost or sinners until He finds them. And when Jesus finds them, He will do everything (without questions asked!) to let this sinner feel His infinite love, mercy and forgiveness.
The parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin is a showcase of the
infinite love of Jesus for us. We who are all sinners and we who continue to
struggle with sin. There’s hope after all for all of us sinners for as long as
we immediately walk away from anything that makes us sin. - Marino J.
Dasmarinas
Reflection for November 3, Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 14:25-33
Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’ Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away, he
will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. In the same way, everyone of you
who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”
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Reflection:
Have you already watched/listened to a life testimony about Jesus? Majority of these testimonies deals with the many blessings that they’ve received from the good Lord. You would also hear testimony about their sufferings and crosses and how Jesus helped them carry it.
In our gospel for today, Jesus speaks to us about the suffering and crosses that is incorporated with our discipleship. Jesus tells us: “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” What do these profound words of Jesus convey?
This conveys that if we want to follow Jesus we should also be open to carry our own cross and endure our share of suffering/s. Because it is only through these two that we could have that true feeling of companionship with Jesus. If we say, that life is all bed of roses since we’ve followed Jesus. Then, we have not really felt the true companionship of Jesus in our lives.
True discipleship for Jesus is felt only when we suffer for His sake, when we are willing to carry our cross for His sake. And when we are willing to give even our very lives so that others may live and have that encounter with Jesus. This is the real essence of authentic discipleship for Jesus.
In the silence of our hearts let us examine
our own discipleship with Jesus. Have we already suffered for Him? Have we
already carried our cross for Him? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
When I'm Gone ( A Poem for all Souls' Day)
By: Lyman Hancock
When I’ve come to the end of my journey and I have traveled my very last mile Forget if you can that I’ve frowned Remember only my smile...
Forgive unkind words I have spoken
Remember some good I have done
Forget I ever had heartache
And remember only our fun...
Forget that I've stumbled and fumbled
And sometimes fell by the way
Remember: I fought some hard battles
But had you at the close of my day...
Do not grieve for my going
I would not have you sad this day
But in time gather some flowers
And remember the place where I lay...
Perhaps in the shade of evening
When the sun paints the sky in the West
Come stand a few moments above me
Remembering only the best...
Monday, November 01, 2021
Reflection for November 2, Tuesday; Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls’ Day): John 14:1-6
4 Where [I] am going you know the way. 5 Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth* and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
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Reflection:
Do you know where would you go after your journey in this world is over?
Perhaps many of us may lose sleep by mere mention of death, we don’t want to die at this point because we are not yet prepared. But who is prepared to die? Nobody, we are not prepared to die. Why? For the simple reason that majority of us still love to be in this world and enjoy whatever it can still offer us.
Nevertheless, Jesus is telling us in our gospel not to be troubled. For as long as we have faith in Him we would be OK even if we die. For our faith and friendship with Jesus is more than enough to conquer our fear of death.
Therefore, we have to do our part to get close to Jesus for as long as we live. If we are close to Jesus we have nothing to fear, even death we will not fear. Jesus Himself assures us with these words: Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places (John 14:1-2).
Let us not only remember our dear departed loved ones today, let us also light a candle and offer prayers for them. If there is no more covid-19 related restriction let us attend Holy Mass and offer Holy Mass for the intention of their souls. - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Sunday, October 31, 2021
1Reflection for November 1, Monday Solemnity of All Saints: Matthew 5:1-12a
Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12a
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven.”
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Reflection:
How does one become a saint in his/her own little way? To be saint is to embody the character of Jesus. To be saint is to embody the words of Jesus in our gospel today.
We can be saints in our own little way for as long as we aspire to follow the life of Jesus and for as long as we live the words of Jesus in the gospel. For example, if you’re a parent and you try your very best to rear your children according to the teachings of Jesus you are already a saint for them. If you’re a son or daughter and you try your very best to take care of your parents, you are already a saint for them.
In our gospel Jesus mentions nine blessed situations. The first is poor in spirit; how does one become poor in spirit? Does this mean that we are blessed because we lack the necessary spiritual vitality? No, the poor in spirit are those who are lacking in material possessions and whose reliance is in God.
To be poor in spirit means that we continuously hunger for Jesus. Nobody could fill this hunger than the words of Jesus in the gospels, we rely on Jesus more than we rely on ourselves and this world.
Do you always hunger and thirst for the Lord? - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Friday, October 29, 2021
Reflection for Sunday October 31, Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time: Mark 12:28-34
The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, He is One and there is no other than he. And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
And when Jesus saw
that he answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the
Kingdom of God. And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
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Reflection:
The story is told about a pastor who was preaching about love for God and neighbor. Across his church was a man who would always create noise whenever he was preaching. And he would naturally be distracted by that man. One morning the pastor went to that man and angrily told him that he is disturbing him. The man said to the pastor: “Why are you angry with me, don’t you know that I am just testing you if you live what you are preaching?”
Do you love God? Surely you do. How about your neighbor? It’s easy to say I love God but to live this love of God is a different story altogether. Because if we would live this love of God. Then, we would be willing to love even our unlovable neighbor.
But who is this neighbor? He/she could be anyone that you know who’ve hurt you. He/she could be your spouse, your relative, your friend or your literal house neighbor. The supreme test of our love for God is when we are willing to love even our unlovable neighbor.
If we say we love God yet we hold deep resentment toward somebody who has hurt us badly. Then, our love of God is simply superficial. It becomes authentic when we hold no bitterness toward those who’ve hurt us no matter how deep the hurt they’ve inflicted upon us.
What is the use of going to church, of giving offerings and doing other forms of sacrifices as an expression of our faith and love for God. Yet, we hold a grudge against someone? Thus, we are still wanting in our profession of our love for God. True love for God is when we are capable of forgetting and forgiving the hurt that had been inflicted upon us.
What if the hurt is consistently being made afresh, there is no sign of remorse from that neighbor. Perhaps it’s about time to completely walk away from that neighbor. We walk away not because we don’t love that neighbor and God. We walk away because that is the most ethical act to do.
In the gospel, Jesus talks about the two greatest commandments: Love for God and neighbor. These two expressions of love should always be together and it should not be separated. Does this mean that there’s always a happy ending when we love God and neighbor?
Not always, there are
also sad endings when we express and live our love for God and neighbor.
However, these sad endings are temporary eventually there would be a happy
ending. Why? Because we never give up on loving our God and our neighbor. –
Marino J. Dasmarinas
1Reflection for October 30, Saturday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 14:1, 7-11
He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor.
A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place.
Rather, when you are invited, go and take
the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, ‘My friend,
move up to a higher position.’ Then you will enjoy the esteem of your
companions at the table. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but
the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Then he said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
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Reflection:
The story is told about a wise man who shunned publicity. He would speak every once in a while and when he speaks everyone listens to him. After speaking he would immediately hide away into his own private place. There would be rare times that he grant interviews and when he does he would always point to God as the giver of whatever wisdom that he possesses.
Many of us may be tempted to own to ourselves the wisdom or material wealth that we presently have. But we should not allow ourselves to be possessed by that temptation, for who are we to own to ourselves what we have? We have to always remember that we are mere vessels of God, whatever we have comes from God.
In the gospel, Jesus highlights the great virtue of humility. Jesus tells us to always be humble and not to crave for attention and adulation. Why? For the simple reason that the humbler we are the more that Jesus is seen within us. The humbler we are the more the we become His effective vessels in this world.
The humbler you are the more that you
allow Jesus’ light to shine upon you. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Oktubre 30 Sabado sa Ika-30 na Linggo ng Taon: Lucas 14:1, 7-11
Thursday, October 28, 2021
Reflection for October 29, Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 14:1-6
But they kept silent; so he took the man
and, after he had healed him, dismissed him. Then he said to them “Who among
you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out
on the sabbath day?” But they were unable to answer his question.
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Reflection:
To cure or not to cure on a Sabbath day? Sabbath day is supposed to be a day of rest and worship for the Jews. But here is Jesus not following the rules of their Jewish religion. Did Jesus deliberately disregard His Jewish faith? Or there is something more important for Jesus than mere observance of His Jewish faith?
Jesus doesn’t choose a special place, occasion or time to help and to heal as what is shown in the gospel. As long as Jesus’ sees a need He would do something about it regardless if it’s a Sabbath day or not.
The Pharisees and the scholars of the law were those who faithfully observe the Sabbath law. However, Jesus by His action simply told them that there’s an exception. That the law of the Sabbath can be violated also for as long as there is a valid reason to violate it. Therefore the observance of the Sabbath law should be superseded by a more important need. In this instance the need to heal the man sick with dropsy.
What would you do for instance if you were in the situation of Jesus? Would you simply let the man suffer from his severe sickness even if you can actually do something to help him?
Our faith in God is made more real, alive
and dynamic when we are able to live it. And when we are able to translate it
to living acts of love, mercy and kindness even during a Sabbath day. –
Marino J. Dasmarinas
Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Oktubre 29 Biyernes sa Ika-30 na Linggo ng Taon: Lucas 14:1-6
5 Pagkatapos ay sinabi niya sa kanila: “Kung mahulog sa balon ang anak o ang baka ng isa sa inyo, di ba’t agad niya itong iniaahon kahit na Araw ng Pahinga?” 6 At hindi nila siya nasagot.