Wednesday, November 30, 2022
Tuesday, November 29, 2022
Reflection for December 1 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:
What would happen to us if we always pray yet we don’t live our faith? For example, we always pray the Holy Rosary every day or we go to Holy Mass every Sunday yet we don’t allow the Holy Spirit to change us? We would easily succumb to worldly temptations and we render useless our acts of worship for God.
The Philippines is a catholic country, in fact more than eighty percent (80%) of us are Catholics and the majority of our leaders in government are Catholics. However, corruption is still deeply rooted in our government. Why is this so? This is for the reason that we are only good at worshipping God but we don’t allow our worship for God to transform us.
What does Jesus want from all of us? He wants us to worship Him and allow this same worship for Him to transform us. So that we could become His true and faithful followers, it’s very easy to pray so that others would see us. However, the real qualification for us to be called a follower of Jesus is when we allow our worship for Him to transform us.
What will happen to us if we let our prayers to transform us according to the will of God? We would be like the wise man in the gospel 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 (Luke 7:24-25).
Do you allow your worship for God to
transform you? - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Disyembre 1 Huwebes sa Unang Linggo sa Panahon ng Pagdating ng Panginoon: Mateo 7:21, 24-27
Mabuting Balita: Mateo 7:21, 24-27
Noong
panahong iyon, sinabi ni Hesus sa kanyang mga alagad: “Hindi lahat ng tumatawag
sa akin, ‘Panginoon, Panginoon,’ ay papasok sa kaharian ng langit, kundi yaon
lamang sumusunod sa kalooban ng aking Amang nasa langit.
“Kaya’t ang bawat nakikinig at nagsasagawa ng mga salita kong ito ay matutulad sa isang taong matalino na nagtayo ng kanyang bahay sa ibabaw ng bato. Umulan nang malakas, bumaha, at binayo ng malakas na hangin ang bahay na iyon, ngunit hindi nagiba sapagkat nakatayo sa ibabaw ng bato.
Ang bawat
nakikinig ng aking mga salita at hindi nagsasagawa nito ay matutulad sa isang
taong hangal na nagtayo ng kanyang bahay sa buhanginan. Umulan nang malakas,
bumaha, at binayo ng malakas na hangin ang bahay. Bumagsak ang bahay na iyon at
lubusang nawasak.”
Reflection for Wednesday November 30 Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle: 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:
Are you ready to respond to Jesus’ call?
Jesus called ordinary fishermen to help Him advance the gospel, ordinary folks just like you and me. What is striking in the gospel reading was their immediate response to the call of the Lord. When Jesus called Peter and Andrew they immediately left their nets (their livelihood) and they both became a follower of Jesus.
The same occurrence happened when Jesus
called the brothers Zebedee and John. Upon hearing the call of Jesus they left
their boat and their father to immediately become a follower.
Let us take a closer look at the gospel for today because this is for us also. The four of them were ordinary fishermen, they were expert in their craft but they had no formal education about the faith.
What does this mean to us? This simply means that a formal education about the faith is not a requirement to become an effective follower. What is important is the desire, humility and willingness to respond to Jesus. For as long as we are ready to respond we all can have a role in the mission of Jesus.
Let us not worry if we have no formal education about our faith because this is not the requirement of Jesus. What Jesus wants from us first is for us to respond to His call, this is perhaps the first requirement responsiveness to His call.
Jesus is always calling us to follow Him
every second, every minute and hour that passes by. Let us respond to this call
of Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Ang Mabuting Balita para Miyerkules Nobyembre 30 San Andres, apostol (Kapistahan): Mateo 4:18-22
Mabuting Balita: Mateo 4:18-22
Noong
panahong iyon, sa paglalakad ni Hesus sa tabi ng Lawa ng Galilea, nakita niya
ang dalawang mangingisda, si Simon na tinatawag na Pedro, at ang kapatid niyang
si Andres. Sila’y naghahagis ng lambat. Sinabi niya sa kanila, “Sumunod kayo sa
akin, at gagawin ko kayong mamamalakaya ng mga tao.” Noon di’y iniwan nila ang
kanilang mga lambat at sumunod kay Hesus.
Nagpatuloy siya ng paglakad at nakita rin niya ang magkapatid na Santiago at Juan, mga anak ni Zebedeo. Sila’y nasa bangka, kasama ang kanilang ama, at naghahayuma ng lambat. Tinawag din sila ni Hesus. Agad nilang iniwan ang bangka at ang kanilang ama, at sumunod kay Hesus.
Sunday, November 27, 2022
Reflection for November 29 Tuesday of the First Week of Advent: Luke 10:21-24
Gospel: Luke 10:21-24
Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and
said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you
have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them
to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”
Turning to the disciples in private he
said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many
prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear
what you hear, but did not hear it.”
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Reflection:
What do we need to do to fully grasp the grace of the Holy Spirit in our life? We need to be humble, we need to be childlike for such is the life of Jesus: full of humility and full of childlike trust.
The Holy Spirit would reveal itself to us once we become humble and childlike. Thus, the Holy Spirit will give us something that others don’t have and that is the enlightenment to discern the workings of God in our life.
Notice the childlike excitement of those who volunteer their time to serve during Holy Mass or to do volunteer work for the church. Observe their readiness to submit themselves to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. But not everyone has this gift of feeling the profound presence of God in their lives. This is given free without any cost by the Holy Spirit to those who strive to dive deeper into our Catholic faith.
We impede the grace of the Holy Spirit
into our lives when we trust more on our wealth instead of God. When we don’t
attend Holy Mass When we are self-righteous, when we are corrupt, when we
curse, when we say profanities and swearwords. When we seek pornography and other
sins of the flesh. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Ang Mabuting Balita para Nobyembre 29 Martes sa Unang Linggo sa Panahon ng Pagdating ng Panginoon: Lucas 10:21-24
Mabuting Balita: Lucas 10:21-24
Nang oras
ding iyon, si Hesus ay napuspos ng galak ng Espiritu Santo. At sinabi niya,
“Pinasasalamatan kita Ama. Panginoon ng langit at lupa, sapagkat inilihim mo sa
marurunong at pantas ang mga bagay na ito at inihayag mo sa mga taong ang
kalooba’y tulad ng sa bata. Oo, Ama, sapagkat gayon ang ikinalulugod mo. Ibinigay
sa akin ng aking Ama ang lahat ng bagay.
Walang
nakakikilala sa Anak kundi ang Ama, at walang nakakikilala sa Ama kundi ang
Anak at yaong marapating pagpahayagan ng Anak.” Humarap si Hesus sa mga alagad
at sinabi, na di naririnig ng iba: “Mapalad kayo, sapagkat nakita ninyo ang
inyong nakikita ngayon! Sinasabi ko sa inyo, maraming propeta at mga hari ang
nagnasang makakita ng inyong nakikita ngunit hindi nila nakita. Hinangad din
nilang mapakinggan ang inyong naririnig ngunit hindi nila napakinggan.”
Reflection for November 28 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 ask Jesus to give you the gift of faith?
What brought the centurion to Jesus? It was his great faith, when the centurion went to Jesus to ask for help for his servant he had nothing except his great faith. He firmly believed in Jesus power to heal and he used his great faith to convince Jesus to cure his servant.
Who is this centurion? He is a roman officer and he has people under his command, he also is not a follower yet he has great faith in Jesus. Don’t we want this kind of faith as well? Of course, we all want our faith to be like the centurions. Therefore, we must prayerfully ask Jesus to give us the same faith. But do we ask Jesus to give us the gift of faith? Is the gift of faith always part of our prayer request to Jesus?
If Jesus could give that great faith to a non-follower like the centurion why can’t He give us the same faith considering that we are his followers? Faith is a gift that Jesus freely and generously gives to anyone who humbly ask for it.
What is our usual prayer to Jesus? Is it always to have the things of this world? Let us not forget that the things of this world are passing and temporary. While faith will not pass it will always be with us. Faith will be with us until the end, it will accompany us in our journey beyond this world going to the eternal Kingdom of the King of Kings no other than Jesus Himself.
Give us your gift of faith O Lord Jesus, most
especially the person who is reading this reflection right now. Amen. – Marino
J. Dasmarinas
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