Reflection for December 6, Monday of the Second Week of Advent: Luke 5:17-26

Gospel: Luke 5:17-26

One day as Jesus was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there, and the power of the Lord was with him for healing. And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed; they were trying to bring him in and set him in his presence. 

But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "As for you, your sins are forgiven." Then the scribes and Pharisees began to ask themselves, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who but God alone can forgive sins?" 

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them in reply, "What are you thinking in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"– he said to the one who was paralyzed, "I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home." 

He stood up immediately before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God. Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God, and, struck with awe, they said, "We have seen incredible things today."

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Reflection:

Do we believe that Jesus would heal us of whatever sickness that we may have today? The first that Jesus requires from us is faith and if we have faith healing would come subsequently. However, our faith would also require us not to sit idly and wait for the miracle to come to us. 

This faith will often times require us to go the extra mile no matter how hard to reach that extra mile. The faith of the paralytic and those men who brought him to the foot of Jesus is a prime example of faith that go the extra mile. 

Faith that is ever ready to endure whatever difficulties that it may encounter so long as it can achieve its goal of reaching Jesus. Do you want something from Jesus? Jesus requires you first to have faith. Faith that is persevering and faith that is ever ready to go through difficulties. 

This same kind of faith was in the system of the paralytic and those who brought him to Jesus. Through this kind of faith, they were all healed of their spiritual, emotional and physical sickness. What sickness are you carrying right now? Simply have faith, faith that is persevering and faith that is willing to go the extra mile. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Disyembre 6 Lunes sa Ikalawang Linggo ng Adbiyento: Lucas 5:17-26

Mabuting Balita: Lucas 5:17-26

17 Isang araw, nagtuturo siya at na­kaupo naman ang mga Pariseo at mga guro ng Batas na galing sa iba’t ibang bayan ng Galilea at Judea at mula sa Jerusalem. Gumagawa ang kapangya­rihan ng Panginoon sa kanya na mag­pagaling. 18 May mga lalaking du­mating na dala sa isang papag ang isang lala­king paralitiko.  

Sinikap nilang dalhin siya at ilagay sa harapan ni Jesus. 19 Nang hindi nila makita kung paano nila mada­dala ang paralitiko dahil sa dami ng tao, umakyat sila sa bubungan at sa bubong nila siya idinaan pababa na nasa kanyang papag hanggang sa gitna sa harap ni Jesus.  

20 Nang makita niya ang kanilang pana­nalig, sinabi niya: “Kaibigan, pinatatawad ka sa iyong mga kasalanan.” 21 Nagsimula noong mag-isip-isip ang mga guro ng Batas at mga Pariseo: “Talagang iniinsulto ng taong ito ang Diyos. Sino ba ang may kapang­yari­hang magpatawad ng mga kasalanan? Di ba’t ang Diyos lamang?”  

22 Ngunit alam ni Jesus ang kanilang mga pag-iisip kaya sinabi niya sa kanila: “Ano ang mga ka­isipan ninyong ito? 23 Ano ba ang mas madaling sabi­hin: ‘Pinatatawad ka sa iyong mga kasa­lanan’ o ‘Tumayo ka’t lumakad’?  

 24 Da­pat ninyong malaman na may kapang­yarihan sa lupa ang Anak ng Tao na magpatawad ng mga kasala­nan.” At sinabi niya sa paralitiko: “Sinasabi ko sa iyo: bumangon ka, dal­hin ang iyong higaan at umuwi.” 25 At kapag­daka’y tumayo siya sa harap nila, kinuha ang kan­yang higaan at umu­wing nagpu­puri sa Diyos.  

26 Namangha ang lahat at nagpuri sa Diyos. Nasindak nga sila at sinabi: “Naka­kita tayo ng mga kagila-gilalas na bagay sa araw na ito!”

Reflection for Sunday December 5, Second Sunday of Advent: Luke 3:1-6

Gospel: Luke 3:1-6

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert. John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: 

A voice of one crying out in the desert:

"Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.

Every valley shall be filled

and every mountain and hill shall be made low.

The winding roads shall be made straight,

and the rough ways made smooth,

and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."

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Reflection:

The story is told about a powerful dictator who did not believe in God and who abused his power to govern. Mention God to him and he would curse God. He used his power not to serve his people but to oppress his people. After five years the dictator was removed from his office and was imprisoned for his abused of power and authority. This is the normal destiny of powerful and abusive leaders, yes they stay in power for a period of time but they are eventually punished and then they fade away into oblivion.

Compare  these power tripping leaders vis-a-vis godly and humble leaders. The Godly and humble leaders are never forgotten. They forever stay in our hearts and their names are permanently remembered and revered by history.  

We have in our gospel  powerful personalities such as Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip, Annas and Caiaphas. We also have in our gospel John the humble and godly precursor of Jesus. It was John who said that he is not worthy to untie Jesus' sandal strap (John 1:27). Compare the humble John with the powerful personalities in our gospel reading and let us choose whom we would like to emulate.

Would we choose these powerful ones or John the humble one? Power fades away; there is no permanence with power. Power and money could even become a curse to oneself if handled with arrogance and pride. But once we choose to emulate the humility of John, we would gain favor from God. Jesus would embrace us for this is what He wants us to do.

Let us therefore choose to emulate John, let us follow his humility and let us heed his call for us to repent from our sinfulness by humbly submitting ourselves to the healing Sacrament of Reconciliation.  

When was the last time that you have been through the Sacrament of Reconciliation? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

1Reflection for December 4, Saturday of the First Week of Advent: Matthew 9:35–10:1, 5a, 6-8

Gospel: Matthew 9:35–10:1, 5a, 6-8

Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.  

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest." Then he summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. 

Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, "Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give."

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Reflection:

Do we hear Jesus speaking to us through this gospel? Jesus commands His disciples to spread His good news this command is for us also. Have we already creatively shared the good news about the transforming words of Jesus by how we live our lives?  

Can we share Jesus without uttering a single word? Yes! By our way of life we can share Jesus. This we can do through humility, through serving others and by living our lives according to the life of Jesus.  

The most powerful method of witness for Jesus and for our faith are not words the most powerful witness are our actions. Mother Teresa of Calcutta is so revered by millions from different faiths because her selfless actions toward the poor speak volumes about her faith. Let us therefore be conscious about how we live our faith because through this we can convert others to become followers of Jesus. 

How do you live? Do you live your life according to the teachings of the Lord? Or you live your life according to the teachings of this world? - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for December 3, Friday Saint Francis Xavier, Priest (M): Matthew 9:27-31

Gospel: Matthew 9:27-31

As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying out, “Son of David, have pity on us!” When he entered the house, the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they said to him. 

Then he touched their eyes and said, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” And their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” But they went out and spread word of him through all that land.

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Reflection:

What causes spiritual blindness? It’s our love affair with this world, love affair means that we are overly concerned about how we look. We are overly concerned of the external impression of our fellowmen about us. And we are overly fixated with chasing material wealth, power and other worldly appendage. All of these cause our spiritual blindness.  

In the gospel, we have two physically blind men who are not blind spiritually because recognized the presence of Jesus who was passing by them.  Thus, they shouted toward Jesus “Son of David, have pity on us!” And very  quickly Jesus did not disappoint them.  

We must not allow this world to rob us of our spiritual vision for the simple reason that this is where we would discover the true essence and meaning of life. We have to understand that life is not about earthly riches, influence and so forth for what is the use of riches and influence if we don’t have Jesus in our lives?  

The moment we decide to faithfully follow Jesus our spiritual blindness will be cured and we will see things differently very different from how we see it before. We would be able to discover that nothing matters in this world except the love and light of Jesus.  

Jesus Himself said this: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for December 2, Thursday of the First Week of Advent: Matthew 7:21, 24-27

Gospel: Matthew 7:21, 24-27

Jesus said to his disciples: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 

"Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. 

And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined."

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Reflection:

Is Jesus the foundation of your life? If you make Him your foundation nothing can bring you down in this world not even the biggest problem that you will encounter. This is the advantage of having Jesus in your life, He is an impregnable rock fortress that is always ever ready to protect and defend you. 

The mistake of many of us is we allow worldliness to be our rock foundation. So what happens when we encounter problems? We crumble and we are soon destroyed by the dilemmas of this world which we could have easily avoided if Jesus is our foundation. 

For example, if we make power and money our life’s foundation these two will not last. Sooner or later it will evaporate from our sight. So what would happen to us? We end up broken, helpless and miserable for the simple reason that we shunned Jesus in favor of this world. 

Jesus is therefore offering Himself to us! For us to make Him the gravitational center of our lives. No need to worry for He will not ask us anything about our sinful past. What is important for Jesus is the here and now and our future with Him. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for December 1, Wednesday of the First Week of Advent: Matthew 15:29-37

Gospel: Matthew 15:29-37

At that time: Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, went up on the mountain, and sat down there. Great crowds came to him, having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he cured them. The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the deformed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind able to see, and they glorified the God of Israel. 

Jesus summoned his disciples and said, "My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, for fear they may collapse on the way." The disciples said to him, "Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place to satisfy such a crowd?" 

Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" "Seven," they replied, "and a few fish." He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets full.

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Reflection:

Do you want something from Jesus? If you would believe; whatever you want from Jesus He would give you.  The crowd who were seeking Jesus with their sick in tow believed that Jesus would heal them all and so He did. After healing them Jesus saw that they were all hungry and He fed them all. 

What kind of God is Jesus based on His actions in the Gospel? Jesus is a God of mercy and compassion, a God who heals the broken. A God who gives hope to the hopeless and a God who will never fail those who would decide to come to Him. 

What is it that we are carrying in our hearts right now? A huge problem? A relationship on the edge of being broken? An incurable sickness? Let us bring it all to Jesus and let us ask Him to help us solve our problems. 

Let us ask Him to restore our relationships and ask Him to heal the sickness that has been making life difficult for us. The advent season is the most opportune time for us to go back to Jesus. Life is short anything can happen let us therefore go back to the Lord before He comes.  -  Marino J. Dasmarinas  

1Reflection for November 30, Tuesday Saint Andrew, Apostle (Feast): Matthew 4:18-22

Gospel: Matthew 4:18-22

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 

At once they left their nets and followed him. He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.

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Reflection:

Have you had an experience of being called by your name? 

Anyone who calls your name will surely get your attention. You will stretch your neck to look for that person who called you by your name. Why do you respond? You respond for the simple reason that you assume that the one who called you by your name knows you. 

In the gospel today Jesus called Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John all of them ordinary fishermen. Did they know Jesus deeply beforehand? No, but Jesus certainly knew the four fishermen otherwise He would not have called them. 

Jesus knew their sinfulness, their weaknesses and even their lack of education He knew yet He called them. What does this call of the apostles tell us? This tells us that notwithstanding our shortcomings whatever these shortcomings are the Lord is still calling us to follow Him. 

Jesus knows about our failings and weaknesses, even our sinfulness He knows also; yet He still calls us to follow Him. And become His partner in His mission to advance the good news of our salvation. Would we respond to His perpetual call? Or we continue to sit idly and be slaves of this material and fleeting world? 

The wisdom filled choice is to always respond and become a follower of Jesus. Why? Because we will never go wrong the moment we follow the Lord. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

1Reflection for November 29, Monday of the First Week of Advent: Matthew 8:5-11

Gospel: Matthew 8:5-11

When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully." He said to him, "I will come and cure him." The centurion said in reply, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.  

For I too am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven."

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Reflection:

Do you have deep faith in the Lord?  

Jesus wanted to go to the house of the centurion to personally cure the centurion’s ailing servant. But the centurion said to Jesus, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.” What a display of deep faith! It was already enough for the roman centurion that he talked to Jesus about his wish for his servant.  

We can’t help but compare the faith of the centurion with our personal faith in Jesus. We can’t help also but compare our concern for the poor with the centurion’s concern for his servant. In both instances many of us pale in comparison for our faith in Jesus is not as strong as the centurion. And our concern for the poor is not as much as his concern for his servant.  

Jesus would certainly want us to have more faith in Him and have more concern for the poor. But how can we increase of faith in Jesus? We must pray often and in our prayers we must include our desire to have an increase of faith.  

Of course our desire for increase of faith must not end with our vocal prayers. We must concretely show it also through our actions of faith. For example if we desire to have something from Jesus we should show Jesus that we want it by doing something to have it. We must not lie idly and just pray, we must act, exert our best effort and let Jesus do the rest.  

This is what the centurion did, he went to Jesus, he saw Jesus, he talked to Jesus and he told Jesus that he wants his ailing servant healed by Him. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Sunday November 28, First Sunday of Advent: Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

Gospel: Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

Jesus said to his disciples: “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.

“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”

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Reflection:

A fishing vessel encountered a violent storm in the middle of the ocean. As such the vessel was tossed like a ping-pong ball by the violent storm. The captain of the vessel who was a deeply religious man told his crew, “Let us prepare for the worst and pray as well so that the Lord may come to save us.” While they were praying they suddenly noticed the violent waves calming like a peaceful river.

Today is the first Sunday of Advent, what does Advent mean? Advent means coming or arrival and who is going to come? Of course we very well know that the one who is coming is Jesus. Through the coming of Jesus into our lives we will once again find hope, strength and motivation to conquer our many fears about the future.    

But what should we do before the Lord comes? Of course we also have to be worthy of His coming thus we must prepare! How would we prepare or how can we best prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord? 

We can best prepare by having a new life free from sin because sin makes us unworthy for the coming of the Lord.  We can also share what we know about the Lord so that others would know and feel Jesus in their lives as we know and feel Jesus in our respective lives.  

Advent is the coming of the Lord into our lives. The Lord who calms us, who gives us hope and direction in the midst of the uncertainties of life. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for November 27, Saturday the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 21:34-36

Gospel: Luke 21:34-36

Jesus said to his disciples: “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. 

For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.

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Reflection:
Do you yield to temptations?

We are always vulnerable to the many temptations of this world. The temptation of the flesh, the temptation of money and many more secular temptations that will take us away little by little from God’s loving embrace. 

What is the cure to these many temptations? We must always be connected with God by having an active relationship with Him. Active relationship means being prayerful. We also have to attend the Celebration of the Holy Mass, we read the scriptures and we translate this to a faith that is lived daily. This is the only way for us to avoid the many temptations of this secular world. 

But majority of us do not take this seriously for we love the trappings of this world more than the friendship that God constantly offers us.  Thus, we often times give up the faith based values that was taught to us by the church. 

After our life on this world comes to a close we will stand before God and He will ask us if we’ve been faithful to Him. Many of us will not be able to speak before God for we’ve failed Him. Let us not wait for the fearful day to happen. While there is still time let us mend our ways and tread the correct path that God is offering us. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Nobyembre 27 Sabado sa Ika-34 na Linggo ng Taon: Lucas 21:34-36

Mabuting Balita: Lucas 21:34-36

sinabi ni Jesus sa kanyang mga alagad: 34 Mag-ingat kayo’t baka bumigat ang inyong mga isip sa mga bisyo, paglalasing at mga intindihin sa buhay.  

At baka bigla kayong datnan ng araw na iyon. 35 Babagsak itong parang bitag sa lahat ng nasa lupa. 36 Kaya lagi kayong magbantay at manalangin para maging marapat na makatakas sa lahat ng mangyayaring ito at makaharap sa Anak ng Tao.”

Reflection for November 26, Friday the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 21:29-33

Luke 21:29-33

Jesus told his disciples a parable. “Consider the fig tree and all the other trees. When their buds burst open, you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near; in the same way, when you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near.  

Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

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Reflection:

Are you aware that God is always manifesting Himself to you? 

God uses creative ways for us to be aware of His presence: There are times that He comes to us through a friend who will share His words to us. He comes to us through fortunate and unfortunate events in our lives. And there are many more ingenious manifestations of God in our lives for this is His desire: to introduce Himself to us.  

 But how do we react with these manifestations of God? Oftentimes this is ignored by us for the reason that we are so enamoured with what the world offers us such as: Wealth, Power, Treasures and the like. We therefore fail to discern that it is God because we have already been enslaved by this world.    

Then we get seriously sick that we are a few steps from death’s doorway and here we are cramming to know God. Here we are making amends with those whom we’ve hurt. And here we are trying our best to straighten our way of life. 

Why wait for that time? Why not listen and get closer NOW with GOD while we are in the pink of health? Why not get close with God now? Why not reach out and humble ourselves with those whom we have offended? Why not leave behind any form of sinfulness right now? – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for November 25, Thursday the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 21:20-28

Gospel: Luke 21:20-28

Jesus said to his disciples: “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that its desolation is at hand. Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. Let those within the city escape from it, and let those in the countryside not enter the city, for these days are the time of punishment when all the Scriptures are fulfilled.  

Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days, for a terrible calamity will come upon the earth and a wrathful judgment upon this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken as captives to all the Gentiles; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.  

“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”

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Reflection:

There are two kinds of human sufferings that comes to us. The first kind of suffering is one that we create for ourselves. For example, a drunkard who has been told time and again by his relatives to stop for it would result to his getting sick. But the drunkard would not listen to their wise counsel. Eventually he got sick with cancer of the liver caused by his excessive drinking of liquor.  

The second kind of suffering that comes to us are those sufferings that we don’t bring to ourselves. Example of this is sickness that comes with getting old or any kind of suffering that we don’t create for ourselves.  

In our gospel for this Thursday Jesus speaks about the destruction of Jerusalem and its people. They could have easily avoided this kind of sufferings if they listened to the messengers of God (the prophets) who called on them to leave behind their sinful ways. But they did not, they continued to sin they killed the messengers that God sent them including His Son Jesus.  

As we close the curtains of this liturgical year and as we enter the door of Advent. We are called by God to listen to His voice who calls upon us to humbly repent from our sinfulness. And the best response that we could ever do is to humbly submit ourselves to the Healing Sacrament of Confession.       

We are all sinful and we are all in need of Jesus’ Mercy, Forgiveness and Healing. - Marino J. Dasmarinas