25 Saan galing ang
pagbibinyag ni Juan, sa Diyos ba o sa tao?” At nag-isip-isip sila: “Kung
isasagot nating galing sa Diyos, sasabihin niya: ‘Bakit di kayo naniwala sa
kanya?’ 26 At kung sasabihin naman nating ‘Galing lamang sa tao ang
pagbibinyag ni Juan,’ dapat tayong matakot sa bayan sapagkat akala nila’y tunay
na propeta si Juan.” 27 Kaya sinabi nila kay Jesus: “Hindi namin alam.” At
sinabi sa kanila ni Jesus: “Hindi ko rin sasabihin sa inyo kung sino ang nagtalaga
sa akin na gumawa ng mga ito.”
Short, Simple and Personal reflections on the daily Holy Mass Gospel. I provide talks.
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Sunday, December 12, 2021
Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Disyembre 13 Lunes Santa Lucia , dalaga at martir (Paggunita): Mateo 21:23-27
Thursday, December 09, 2021
Reflection for Sunday December 12, Third Sunday of Advent: Luke 3:10-18
Now the
people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts
whether John might be the Christ. John answered them all, saying, "I am
baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to
loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and
fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to
gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable
fire." Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached good news to the
people.
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Reflection:
The
story is told about a boy who was taught by his father that the only way to
happiness is to accumulate wealth. He imbibed his father’s teachings so he
studied very well and he eventually became one of the very rich in their town.
But even if he was very rich already he was still not happy.
So he went to a wise old man to ask
for an advice. The wise old man gave him only one advice: Learn to share
whatever you have for it is in sharing that you would find the elusive joy and
happiness that you are seeking. He followed the wisdom filled advice and he
finally experienced the joy and happiness that he was seeking.
In our gospel the crowds asked John
the Baptist, "What should we do?" John said to them in reply,
"Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And
whoever has food should do likewise." Perhaps John noticed the crowd were
becoming self-centered already. They only cared for their own needs and never
on the needs of their fellowmen. Hence, the advice of John to share.
Christmas is not about what we will
receive. It is about what we can give because the real essence of Christmas is
in giving not in receiving. Let us try to wholeheartedly share and we
would feel the highest degree of joy and happiness that we would not be
able to feel when we accept gifts.
On this third Sunday of advent John
the Baptist message is loud and clear it is about learning to share no matter
how little so long as it comes from the bottom of our hearts. Let us give to
the poor, to those who are in need, let us share to those who cannot pay back
our generosity.
There are many of them. For example, the poor and homeless that we come across in the street. Those who are sick including those who got sick of covid-19. Let us give to them without expecting anything in return so that we would experience the true joy and happiness that only Jesus can give us. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Linggo Disyembre 12 Ikatlong Linggo ng Adbiyento: Lucas 3:10-18
12 Pinuntahan siya pati ng mga maniningil ng buwis para magpabinyag at sinabi sa kanya: “Guro, ano ang aming gagawin?” 13 At sinabi ni Juan: “Huwag kayong maningil ng higit sa ipinag-uutos sa inyo.” 14 Nagtanong din sa kanya ang mga sundalo: “Ano naman ang gagawin namin?” At sinabi niya sa kanila: “Huwag kayong mangikil o magparatang nang di totoo kanino man; masiyahan na kayo sa inyong suweldo.”
• 15 Nananabik noon ang mga tao
at nag-isip-isip ang lahat kung hindi nga kaya si Juan ang Mesiyas. 16 At
sumagot si Juan sa pagsasabi sa kanilang lahat: “Nagbibinyag ako sa inyo sa
tubig pero dumarating na ang isang mas makapangyarihan sa akin. Ni hindi ako
karapat-dapat magkalag ng tali ng kanyang mga panyapak. Sa Espiritu Santo at
apoy niya kayo bibinyagan. 17 Siya ang nakahandang magtahip sa lahat ng
butil ng trigo. Iipunin niya ang lahat ng butil sa kanyang kamalig pero susunugin
ang mga ipa sa apoy na walang hanggan.”
18 Sa
pamamagitan nito at sa iba pang pangangaral nagturo si Juan sa bayan.
Reflection for December 11, Saturday of the Second Week of Advent: Matthew 17:9a, 10-13
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Reflection:
Why is it that often times we don’t recognize or feel God in our lives? It’s because we don’t listen to the advices of well-meaning people who wants to introduce Jesus to us. It’s because of our inadequate prayer life.
For example there are times that we are advised to go to church for Holy Mass or we are counselled to discard bad habits and friends. But we normally don’t listen; we continue to do things our way until we sin and completely drift away from God.
Both Elijah and John the Baptist one way or the other adviced the people of their time to leave behind their sinful lives. And embrace the teaching of Jesus, both of them prepared the way for Jesus. Both of them devoted their lives to help advance the teachings of God.
We too have this unique capacity to be
like Elijah and John. In our own humble way we too can prepare the way of
Jesus. We do this by living and sharing His teachings this is always the
challenge that confronts us as followers of Jesus Christ: To live and share the
Lord’s life and teachings. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Disyembre 11 Sabado sa Ikalawang Linggo ng Adbiyento : Mateo 17:9a, 10-13
12 Ngunit sinasabi
ko sa inyo na dumating na si Elias pero hindi nila siya nakilala, at
pinakitunguhan nila siya ayon sa kanilang kagustuhan. At sa gayon ding paraan
magdurusa ang Anak ng Tao sa kamay nila.” 1 3 At naunawaan ng mga
alagad na si Juan Bautista ang tinutukoy ni Jesus.
Wednesday, December 08, 2021
Reflection for December 10, Friday of the Second Week of Advent: Matthew 11:16-19
For John came neither eating nor drinking,
and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and
drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax
collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”
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Reflection:
Back when I was a child I was always excited whenever it’s Christmas season. Not because of the forthcoming birth of Jesus but because of Santa Clause and the gifts. This is what I always looked forward to whenever its Christmas time back then. As I matured my mind was enlightened by the real meaning of Christmas it's none other than the birth of our savior Jesus.
Here in our gospel we have two important personalities that points us the true essence of Christ birth. Personality number one is John the Baptist, what does he teaches us about Christmas? For John Christmas is about preparing ourselves to the forthcoming birth of our savior Jesus Christ.
John also tells us that it’s not enough that we properly prepare ourselves. It’s also a must that we properly prepare others about the real essence of Jesus’ birth into this world. And how should we prepare? It’s to prepare with simplicity and humility because John is the epitome of simplicity and humility.
Personality number two is Jesus himself, what does Jesus tells us about Christmas? It’s OK for Jesus to celebrate Christmas with merry making for so long as we do it properly. For example, it’s Ok to have celebration during this Christmas but we must do it to honor Jesus. Not to satisfy our own egos and selves we can best do this by helping the poor because Jesus is always with them. By doing this we emphasize that Christmas is about Jesus and certainly not about ourselves.
For Jesus, His forthcoming birth is also about sharing and mingling. We share whatever we could share not for our fellowmen to know that we are good Samaritans. But for them to know that along with what we share comes the message of the birth of Jesus. We also mingle with our friends and relatives during this season not solely to acquaint ourselves with what’s going on with our lives. We mingle or we come together for the reason that we want to bring to them Jesus.
The same Jesus who is always in our hearts
yesterday, today and forever. Amen. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Disyembre 10 Biyernes sa Ikalawang Linggo ng Adbiyento : Mateo 11:16-19
18 Ganito rin ang
nangyari: Dumating muna si Juan na nag-aayuno, at sabi ng mga tao: ‘Inaalihan
siya ng demonyo.’ 19 At saka dumating ang Anak ng Tao na kumakain at
umiinom, at ang sabi ng mga tao: ‘Lasenggo at matakaw, kaibigan ng mga
publikano at mga makasalanan!’ Gayon pa man, mapatutunayang tama ang karunungan
ng Diyos sa mga gawa nito.”
Reflection for December 9, Thursday of the Second Week of Advent: Matthew 11:11-15
And if you are willing to accept it, he is
Elijah, the one who is to come. Whoever has ears ought to hear.
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Reflection:
Do you know John the Baptist?
John the Baptist called for the people to repent for the kingdom of God is at hand (Matthew 3:2). John also gave his life for the sake of righteousness when he criticized King Herod for coveting Herodias the wife of his brother Philip (Matthew 14:1-12). To follow Jesus faithfully is not easy because to follow Him is tantamount to be at war with this world.
We see this in the lifestyle and behavior of John. John is the walking advertisement of humility, simplicity and righteousness. John refused to kowtow to the dictates of this world. He stood for the values and teachings of God and this eventually led to his violent death.
Up to this very day the forces of Evil are still very much active. It hovers around and it will try to snatch us from the embrace of Jesus. We must never allow ourselves to be deceived by the devil for he is a walking advertisement of evil and violence. Let us always be like John who remained simple and who stood against evil even at the cost of his very life.
We only pass in this world once let us
take full advantage of it by making a stand for what is right as what John the
Baptist did during his time. Let us never be discouraged if the people of this
world will condemn us for not embracing this world. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Disyembre 9 Huwebes sa Ikalawang Linggo ng Adbiyento : Mateo 11:11-15
13 Pagpopropesiya nga lamang ang panahon ng Mga Propeta at ng Batas hanggang kay Juan. 14 At kung gusto ninyo itong tanggapin, si Juan ang Elias na darating. 15 Makinig ang may tainga.
Tuesday, December 07, 2021
Reflection for December 8, Wednesday Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Principal Patroness of the Philippines: Luke 1:26-38
30 And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end."
34 And Mary said to the angel, "How
shall this be, since I have no husband?" 35 And the angel said to her,
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of
God. 36 And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived
a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For with
God nothing will be impossible."38 And Mary said, "Behold, I am the
handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the
angel departed from her.
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Reflection:
Why is the Blessed Mother favored by God? Why was she chosen amongst many women? She was favored because of her humility and docility. She was favored because God saw her saintly character which He did not found from any women during that time. Therefore the Blessed Mother was given the singular honor to carry in her womb our savior.
So you might say I would also want to be humble because I also expect to receive some blessings from God. That’s ok nothing is wrong with this kind of mindset. However, we must remember that the Blessed Mother is humble and docile not because she was vying to be chosen as the dwelling place of the son of God.
To be humble and docile was her natural character. There was no pretension or any sort of fake humility in her system. In other words as far as the Blessed Mother is concerned, what we see is what we get from her. If we see her as humble and docile to the will of God she really is humble and docile.
In so many ways, God also announces His will for us and what is His will for us? It’s for us to live simple and humble lives. Many of us live complicated lifestyle instead of a simple lifestyle and many of us are so full of egotism in our system. What is the result of this kind of lifestyle and behavior we fail to hear the voice of God and we fail to hear the guidance of God us well.
The Blessed Mother lived a simple and
humble lifestyle thus she heard and humbly obeyed the voice of God. How are you
living your life? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Monday, December 06, 2021
Reflection for December 7, Tuesday Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church: Matthew 18:12-14
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Reflection:
Can we compare the love of Jesus with how we exercise our love for our fellowmen?
No, we cannot compare because majority if not all of us love with preconditions and conditions. We love with limitations and we love only those who give us love. Jesus loves us without any preconditions, limitations and He loves us even if we don’t love Him in return.
We all know that Jesus is alluding about His infinite love for us when He told this story of the lost sheep. By way of this story He is also telling us that His love for us is always there no matter how sinful we are and no matter who we are.
As we follow Jesus, we must also ask Him to deepen our faith and to erase our preconditions and conditions when we love. For example, if before we could only love those who give us love, now that we have become mature followers of Jesus. We would love even those who do not give us love and those people who do not love us anymore.
To love even those who do not love us and those who hurt us is very hard to do. But if we really are sincere in following Jesus, we would be able to love them. And we would search for them until we find them and forgive them without any precondition.
Let us find those who went astray, let us
forgive them and give them the unconditional love of Jesus. - Marino J.
Dasmarinas
Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Disyembre 7 Martes, San Ambrosio, Obispo at pantas ng Iglesia (Paggunita): Mateo 18:12-14
Sunday, December 05, 2021
Reflection for December 6, Monday of the Second Week of Advent: Luke 5:17-26
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
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!”