15 Sinagot
sila ni Jesus: “Puwede bang magluksa ang mga abay sa kasalan habang kasama pa
nila ang nobyo? Darating ang panahon na aagawin sa kanila ang nobyo at sa araw
na iyon sila mag-aayuno.
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Reflection:
Are you afraid of suffering?
Suffering is part and parcel of our Christian life; in fact we will not be able to reach the fullness of our Christian life without suffering. For the reason that it is in our suffering that we intensely feel the presence of God. It is through these periods of sufferings that God becomes more real to us.
Try observing your behavior when you don’t have sufferings. God seems distant for we rarely remember Him in our days of prosperity. But notice also that when we are having some difficult moments it seems that God is within our reach. We call on Him we cry and unburden to Him.
In the gospel, Jesus tells His disciples about the suffering that He has to go through. Why? This is for the reason that this was Jesus’ destiny. From the beginning Jesus knew that He would be going through intense suffering. So why did He not exempted Himself from it when He actually could?
Because Jesus is faithful to the mission
that was given to Him by God, thus Jesus endured suffering for His love of God.
Therefore, the true measure of our love for God is when we are ready to
suffer for Him and when we are ready to sacrifice our everything for Him.
- Marino J. Dasmarinas
23 Sinabi
naman ni Jesus sa lahat: “Kung may gustong sumunod sa akin, itakwil ang kanyang
sarili at kunin ang kanyang krus araw-araw para sumunod sa akin.
24 Sapagkat ang naghahangad na magligtas ng kanyang sarili ay mawawalan
nito, at ang mawawalan ng kanyang sarili alang-alang sa akin ay siyang makapagliligtas
nito. 25 Ano ang pakinabang ng tao tubuin man niya ang buong daigdig at
mawawala naman o mapapahamak ang kanyang sarili?
“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
“When you fast, do not look gloomy like
the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to
others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But
when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear
to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees
what is hidden will repay you.”
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Reflection:
What is the relevance of Ash Wednesday to your life?
Today is Ash Wednesday; this is the start of our forty days journey of self-examination and self-reflection of our journey with the Lord and and our journey in this fleeting world. We examine ourselves if we were able to shun the many sins and temptations of this world in favor for our love for God.
We also examine our attitude when we give Alms, when we Pray and when we Fast. Do we do these acts of piety to serve our own intentions or the intentions of God? Many of us do these acts of piety to show to the whole world our own intentions.
As we go to the priest or to the ministers of the church for them to impose ash with the sign of the cross on our foreheads. We are reminded that someday we shall become ash and our mortal bodies will forever be part of this world.
We will leave behind whatever temporal
achievements, learning and riches that we have acquired. And after that be
forgotten and permanently fade away from the memory of this world.
But God will not forget us if only we would learn to repent and permanently
walk away from anything that makes us sin. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
3 Kaya kung ikaw naman ang magbibigay ng limos, huwag ipaalam sa iyong kaliwang kamay ang ginagawa ng iyong kanang kamay; 4 at mananatiling lihim ang iyong paglilimos at ang iyong Amang nakakakita sa mga lihim ang siyang gagantimpala sa iyo.
5 Kung mananalangin kayo, huwag ninyong tularan ang mga mapagkunwari. Gustung-gusto nilang tumayo sa mga sinagoga o sa mga daan para manalangin nang nakikita ng marami. Sinisiguro ko sa inyo na nagantimpalaan na sila nang husto. 6 At kung ikaw naman ang mananalangin, pumasok sa iyong silid, isara ang pinto at manalangin sa iyong Ama na kasama mo nang lihim; at ang iyong Ama na nakakakita sa ipinaglilihim ang gagantimpala sa iyo.
16 Pag
mag-aayuno kayo, huwag magpakita ng lungkot sa mukha gaya ng mga mapagkunwari.
Nagpapakita sila ng lungkot sa mukha para makita ng tao na nag-aayuno sila.
Talagang sinasabi ko sa inyo na nagantimpalaan na sila nang husto. 17 Kung
ikaw naman ang mag-aayuno, maghilamos at ayusin ang sarili 18 sapagkat
hindi ka nag-aayuno para pakitang-tao lamang kundi para sa iyong Amang nakakakita
sa lahat. At gagantimpalaan ka ng iyong Amang nakakakita sa lahat ng lihim.
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Reflection:
A young man was asking for the heart of his beloved. The beloved said to him you have to give up your vices most especially your smoking and drinking. The young man acceded and from then on never did he smoke and drink. After a few months they end up in the altar of God to become one.
When we give up something for someone we dearly love we could be assured of something more worthy. Something that would complete us, this may not make us happy immediately. But certainly something beautiful will come out of it in lieu of what we gave up.
If we give up even a portion of our worldly life for Jesus we could expect something in return from Jesus. It may not be material riches or worldly power but we will certainly receive something in return from Him.
It may be peace of mind which may have eluded us for the longest time. It could be good health or anything that cannot be measured and seen by our naked eye. Yet certainly be felt by our hearts.
When Jesus asks us of something to give up for Him we should hurry to obey and follow. We should never think twice, we should give it up immediately like a child jumping with reckless abandon to his father’s arms.
What are you willing to immediately give
up for Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Tatanggap nga siya ngayon ng makasandaang beses ng mga tahanan, mga kapatid, mga ina at mga anak at mga bukid sa gitna ng mga pag-uusig, at sa panahong darating nama’y makakamit niya ang buhay na walang hanggan.
31 May
mga una ngayon na mahuhuli at may mga huli naman na mauuna.”
He replied and said to him, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” At that statement, his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
Jesus looked around and said to his
disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of
God! The disciples were amazed at his words. So Jesus again said to them in
reply, “Children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God! It is easier for
a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter
the Kingdom of God.” They were exceedingly astonished and said among
themselves, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For men it
is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.”
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Reflection:
Do you cling to your wealth as if your life hangs upon it?
The man who asked Jesus as to what must he do to have eternal life was at the threshold of eternal life. But when Jesus asked him to part ways with his wealth and give it to the poor. His face fell, after which he walked away from Jesus for he couldn’t obey the request of Jesus.
Many of us are like this man, very possessive and in love with wealth that we are not willing to give it away. But what we don’t know is it is when we give away our wealth that we will receive more wealth. Perhaps Jesus was just testing this man if he could still accept more wealth. But the man failed the prosperity test of Jesus.
If we want to attract wealth we must always be willing to give because it’s only in giving that we would receive more blessings. Never in not giving that we would receive more wealth. Let us look around and see who are those who are prosperous they are the people who are generous. Let us therefore pray to have the grace to become more generous so that we could bless others.
What if we continue to cling to our wealth
and refuse to become generous? We therefore shut the door of
blessings from God and we distance ourselves from His kingdom. But all is not
lost yet, we still can change our mind because we still have time to turn
things around and hear the call of Jesus for us to become generous. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
Alam mo ang mga utos: ‘Huwag kang papatay; huwag kang mangangalunya; huwag kang magnanakaw; huwag kang magsisinungaling sa iyong pagsaksi; huwag kang magdadaya; igalang mo ang iyong ama’t ina.’” “Guro,” sabi ng lalaki, “ang lahat po ng iya’y tinutupad ko na mula pa sa aking pagkabata.” Magiliw siyang tiningnan ni Hesus, at sinabi sa kanya, “Isang bagay pa ang kulang sa iyo. Humayo ka, ipagbili mo ang iyong ari-arian at ipamigay sa mga dukha ang pinagbilhan, at magkakaroon ka ng kayamanan sa langit.
Pagkatapos, bumalik ka at sumunod sa akin.” Namanglaw ang lalaki nang marinig ito, at malungkot na umalis, sapagkat siya’y napakayaman. Tiningnan ni Hesus ang mga nasa paligid niya at sinabi sa kanyang mga alagad, “Napakahirap mapabilang ang mayayaman sa mga pinaghaharian ng Diyos.” Nagtaka ang mga alagad sa pananalitang ito.
Muling sinabi ni Hesus, “Mga anak, talagang napakahirap mapabilang sa mga pinaghaharian ng Diyos! Madali pang makaraan ang kamelyo sa butas ng karayom kaysa pasakop sa paghahari ng Diyos ang isang mayaman.” Lalong nagtaka ang mga alagad, kaya’t sila’y nagtanungan, “Kung gayo’y sino ang maliligtas?” Tinitigan sila ni Hesus at sinabi sa kanila, “Hindi ito magagawa ng tao, ngunit hindi ito mahirap sa Diyos. Magagawa ng Diyos ang lahat ng bagay.”
How can
you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,'
when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You
hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will
see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother's eye.
"A
good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.
For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from
thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles. A good person out of the
store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store
of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth
speaks."
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Reflection:
A woman
saw a handsome man. The handsome man sensing that the woman was looking at him
looked as well to the woman. Their eyes met and she immediately fell in love
with the handsome man. After a few weeks they got married, but two months after
their marriage the domineering and arrogant behavior of the man started to
unravel.
Are you
easily swayed by outward appearance? For example, you saw a handsome man or a
beautiful woman and you were immediately attracted to that
person. An attractive outward appearance is very deceiving. Why? For
the simple reason that we will not fully know the true character of the person
based on what we see.
What we
see is simply a façade it can be faked. The exterior is not the true color or
true character of the person. The true color or character lies hidden in the
heart of the person. And we can only discover this hidden character once we get
to know the person better.
Many
young people today are easily hooked to this trap of outward
appearance. This is what attracts them to their future wife or husband.
However, after marriage the hidden, dark and devious character of
their spouse will begin to show.
This
also applies in relationship concerning friendship. We must not make friends
with someone simply because the person is rich or influential. We should be
friends with a person because of the good character of that person. It doesn’t
matter if the person is poor what is important is the character and the
goodness that emanates from that person’s heart.
In our
first reading according to the book of Sirach it says: one's speech disclose
the bent of one's mind (Sirach 27:6). And in our gospel Jesus tells us: “From
the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45).”
Hence,
what are we going to do so that we would not fall into this false
impression based on the exterior appearance? We have to know the person better
by way of speaking to that person. By carefully discerning his/her utterances
or the words that he/she speaks.
Because
what he/she speaks comes from the heart and what originates from the heart is
the measure of a person’s true character. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
41 Bakit mo tinitingnan ang puwing sa
mata ng iyong kapatid? At di mo pansin ang troso sa iyong mata. 42 Paano mo
masasabi sa iyong kapatid: ‘Kapatid, pahintulutan mong alisin ko ang puwing sa
mata mo,’ gayong hindi mo nga makita ang troso sa mata mo? Mapagkunwari!
Alisin mo muna ang troso sa mata mo, at saka ka makakakitang mabuti para alisin
ang puwing sa mata ng kapatid mo.
43 Hindi makapamumunga ng masama ang mabuting puno, at ang masamang puno nama’y hindi makapamumunga ng mabuti. 44 Nakikilala ang bawat puno sa bunga nito. Hindi makapipitas ng igos mula sa tinikan ni makaaani ng ubas mula sa dawagan. 45 Naglalabas ang taong mabuti ng mabuting bagay mula sa yaman ng kabutihan sa kanyang puso; ang masama nama’y naglalabas ng masamang bagay mula sa kanyang kasamaan. At sinasabi nga ng bibig ang umaapaw mula sa puso.
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Reflection:
We trust Children more than adults, don’t we?
Jesus doesn’t only trust children; he also loves them dearly because children’s trust in Jesus is pure. A child’s humility is untainted with deceit and a child’s trust in Jesus is without question. Just look at a child when he/she prays and you can see how pure his/her faith and prayer before Jesus.
We need to be childlike in our trust in Jesus and in our humility. So that when our retirement from this world comes we will be able to enter the kingdom of God and see Jesus there ever ready to embrace us.
All of us are mere passersby in this finite world and someday we will leave this place for another place. Let us therefore see to it that we trust and love Jesus like a child. We humble ourselves before Jesus and our fellowmen like a child. And our faith in Jesus is like that of a child.
Are you always childlike in your love and trust in Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
15 Talagang
sinasabi ko sa inyo: hindi papasok sa kaharian ng Diyos ang di tumatanggap dito
gaya ng isang maliit na bata.” 16 At pagka¬kalong sa kanila ni Jesus, ipinatong
niya sa ka¬nila ang kanyang mga kamay para basbasan sila.
