Monday, August 21, 2023
Reflection for Tuesday August 22, Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Luke 1:26-38
Gospel: Luke 1:26-38
The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a
town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he
said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled
at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “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.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has
also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who
was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold,
I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.
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Reflection:
Do you always humble yourself before God?
There is something in the Blessed Mother that many of us don’t have. We may ask, what is it which the Blessed Mother have that we often don’t usually have? It’s the humility and docility to follow the will of God.
After the angel Gabriel told her everything about the Lord’s plan for her. The blessed Mother simply said: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38)
God speaks to us as well in so many ways, He even uses people and events in our life to convey His message to us. But many of us chose to purposely ignore it and go on with what we want in our life. What if the Blessed Mother chose to ignore the angel and move on with her life?
But she chose to listen to the voice of God. Listening to the voice of God is something that is often lacking in our lives today more than ever. Yes we pray, yes we go to church for Holy Mass. But more often than not it’s still our will that we follow. This is primarily the reason why we sin and why we have enormous problems.
Because we often ignore the voice of God and we often don’t pay attention to the teachings of the church which always tells us to only do what is good and right. The Blessed Mother did not resist God’s will she simply believed and humbly submitted herself to the will of God.
But what is God’s will for us? It’s for us
to always do good and to confront the devil who is always there to make us sin.
Do you always submit to the will of God? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Sunday, August 20, 2023
1Reflection for Monday August 21, Memorial of Saint Pius X, Pope: Matthew 19:16-22
Gospel: Matthew 19:16-22
A young man approached Jesus and said,
“Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” He answered him,
“Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish
to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The young man said to him, “All of these I
have observed. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be
perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this
statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
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Reflection:
The story is told about a man who was seeking peace within himself. Because he was wealthy he thought that his wealth would give him peace of mind but it did not. Until he saw an advertisement in his smart phone that said: “Follow Jesus if you want to find peace in your life.” So he disregarded his wealth and he followed Jesus. And true enough the man finally found peace of mind that he was longing for a long time.
Are your possessions in this world your sole obsession for living? The young man in our gospel was obsessed with his possessions for he couldn’t give it up in exchange for his discipleship with Jesus. He was seemingly a good man but how come he couldn’t give up his wealth? If this young man was all good, he would have given up his wealth for the Lord but he did not.
Does this young man represent many of us today? Yes! For there are many of us who are enslaved by wealth. Yes, many of us do good but sometimes the good that we do is for others to see. When nobody sees us anymore we once again allow ourselves to be possessed by wealth. We work hard for wealth some of us even sacrifice our honor for wealth as if it will give us peace, contentment and happiness.
Who can give us peace, happiness and contentment in this world? It’s only Jesus, He alone can give us peace and contentment. The rich young man in the gospel did not see it in Jesus that’s why he sacrificed his once in a lifetime opportunity in favor of his possessions/wealth.
How about you? Who would you choose the
glitters of material wealth and power or the life of peace and contentment with
Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Wednesday, August 16, 2023
Reflection for Sunday August 20, 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Matthew 15:21-28
Gospel: Matthew 15: 21-28
At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.”
He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.”
She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.
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Reflection:
How strong is your faith in Jesus? Can it endure severe testing?
The great faith of the Canaanite woman, whose daughter was tormented by a devil, is very evident in the gospel. She was initially snubbed by Jesus, but she persisted. She heard the disciples tell Jesus, 'Send her away,' but she did not move a bit.
So, she faced Jesus, who told her, 'I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.' Despite this, she persisted. Kneeling before Jesus, she said, 'Lord, help me.'
After a few more dialogues, Jesus saw how strong her faith was. He then said, 'O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.' And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.
We also have our own special petitions for Jesus, and we too might have been snubbed or ignored on numerous occasions. It might even seem that Jesus is turning a deaf ear to our pleadings.
Despite all of these, we must continue to have faith and remain persistent in following Him. God’s silence and rejections of our petitions are tests of our faith. God wants to see how far we are willing to stretch our patience. He wants to see if we are still willing to walk an extra mile in our pursuit of Him.
How strong is your faith in Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Reflection for August 19, Saturday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 19:13-15
Gospel: Matthew 19:13-15
Children were brought to Jesus that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked them, but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” After he placed his hands on them, he went away.
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Reflection:
What can you remember from your childhood?
Many of our present values and habits were acquired when we were children. For example the habit of going to church for Holy Mass. If our parents brought us up by bringing us to church for Mass, we surely would grow with this saintly habit until we grow old and die.
Another example is if our parents taught us good manners and values. We would also imbibe these manners and values. This is always the situation: We will grow with the values and habits that were taught to us when we were children.
What if we were not given the proper values by our parents? We may grow up without manners and proper conduct. We may have friends who are bad influence to us, friends who would introduce us to vices and other things that are not good.
Jesus said in the gospel, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them.” Why were the disciples preventing the children from going to Jesus? Perhaps they wanted Jesus to rest because He was tired.
What is the message of Jesus for us? Jesus wants us also to introduce our children to HIM by teaching them about HIS life and teachings written in the scriptures. Jesus wants us also to bring along our children to the celebration of the Holy Mass.
If we introduce our children to Jesus by way of educating them about His life in the bible. If we bring our children to Holy Mass we can sit back and relax for we are already assured of a safe, responsible and secure future for our child.
Have you consciously introduced your children to Jesus? - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Reflection for August 18, Friday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 19:3-12
Gospel: Matthew 19:3-12
Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and
tested him, saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause
whatever?” He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning the
Creator made them male and female and said, for this reason a man shall leave
his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one
flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate. They said to him, “Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?” He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
I say to you, whoever divorces his wife
(unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery. His disciples
said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to
marry. He answered, “Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom that
is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some,
because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage
for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept
it.
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Reflection:
A cohabiting millennial couple was asked: “Why are you not getting married yet?” They both answered, “This is the trend right now, live together first and then after a few years if we find ourselves compatible perhaps we can marry.”
Sad to say, but this is the reality of our times, few are getting married yet many are cohabiting without the benefit of the Sacrament of Matrimony. Few are getting married yet many are going through premarital sex.
Why is this so? Perhaps this is influenced by the liberated mindset of the millennials today. Or perhaps this is influenced by the modernity of our time. Are modernity of time and liberated mindset to blame for the disinterest of some millennials toward the Sacrament of Matrimony? Or it’s the failure of parents to instill the sacredness of the Sacrament of Matrimony to their children?
In today’s gospel Jesus is hammering our stubborn minds regarding the sacredness of the Sacrament of Matrimony. That marriage is not just a piece of paper that a married couple can tear apart when they so desire. Marriage is not like food that we eat then we spew it out when we don’t like it anymore.
Therefore, we have to think deeply before we plunge into marriage. And once we are already in the marriage we have to make it work by sacrificing our own comforts if need be. We also have to avoid the many temptations that might destroy the marriage. Because when we allow temptation to creep into the marriage we surely will pay for it.
For Jesus marriage is without end and it’s not simply a contract but a covenant
which involves the man and the woman and the Lord’s active presence in their
marriage. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Reflection for August 17, Thursday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 18:21-19:1
Gospel: Matthew 18:21-19:1
Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as
seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven
times.
That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”
When Jesus finished these words, he left
Galilee and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.
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Reflection:
What would happen to us if we are forgiving? We feel light, free and there’s no pent up emotions in our hearts that makes life so heavy for us. What would happen to us if we don’t forgive? There’s always a heavy burden in our hearts that do nothing to us except to attract negative emotions even sickness.
Take for example if we see someone who has wronged us which we have not forgiven yet. Our face may turn red an indication of sudden surge of our blood pressure that may become fatal and could result to other health complications.
Therefore it’s always better to be forgiving; this doesn’t mean that when we forgive we forget the lesson/s why we forgave. When we forgive those who’ve wronged us we let bygones be bygones yet the lesson/s learned will remain for this will help us grow and become better individuals.
In our gospel for today Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. In simple terms Jesus is teaching us that we must always be forgiving no matter how severe the injury done to us. Because when we don’t forgive we only imprison ourselves to this vicious and injurious emotion called hatred.
But let us say we really can’t forgive,
let us go down on our knees and pray to Jesus and let us ask Him to heal us and
give us the grace of forgiveness. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Reflection for August 16, Wednesday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 18:15-20
Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20
Jesus said to his disciples, If your
brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.
If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen,
take one or two others along with you, so that ‘every fact may be established
on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you
agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted
to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in
my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
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Reflection:
What would happen if Jesus is at the center of marriage? There’s love, humility and forgiveness inside the hearts of husbands and wives. There would be peace and harmony in the family. Their children would grow up to become Christ centered and not centered upon the material things of this world.
But reality check first, is Jesus at the center of all marriages? No, often times what is at the center of marriage are ego, sinfulness and greed for money, to name a few. This is the reason why there are betrayals in marriage and if left unresolved may eventually result to broken marriages.
Jesus in our gospel is teaching us not only how to administer fraternal correction. He is also teaching us how to administer spousal correction. If a husband/wife sins against his/her spouse; they should talk about it among themselves first.
No shouting, no air of dominance whatsoever rather bring into that meeting the love, forgiveness and humility of Jesus. The moment this is done the spouse who committed the transgression would have the humility to ask for forgiveness and to walk away from the environment that made her/him sin.
Nothing is impossible when we commit to
follow the teachings of the Lord and when we decide to walk away from anything
that make us sin. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Monday, August 14, 2023
1Reflection for Tuesday August 15, Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Luke 1:39-56
Gospel: Luke 1:39-56
Mary set out and traveled to the hill
country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped
in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud
voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the
fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."
And Mary said: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever."
Mary remained with her about three months
and then returned to her home.
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Reflection:
Today is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This doctrine was dogmatically and infallibly defined by Pope Pius XII on November 1 1950.
The Blessed Mother, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory. Her acceptance into the glory of Heaven is a symbol of the promise made by Jesus to all enduring Christians that we too will be received into paradise.
Do we have a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary? For example, we regularly pray the Holy Rosary and we ask the Blessed Mother to pray and intercede for us.
Even if she was also pregnant at that time the Blessed Mother visited her cousin Elizabeth without considering her own wellbeing. She went to Elizabeth in view of the fact that she wanted to comfort and strengthen her. That’s how selfless and loving is the Blessed Mother.
Of course we also want to be visited, comforted and strengthened by the Blessed Mother. But do we find time to pray to her and ask her to pray for us? Do we regularly pray the Holy Rosary? Being the mother of Jesus she is the closest to the heart of Jesus. Whatever she tells Jesus, He will obey for she is His mother.
On this Solemnity of the Assumption we are reminded by the Blessed Mother that it’s not only her cousin Elizabeth that she wants to comfort and help. The Blessed Mother also wants to comfort, strengthen and help us with whatever worries, struggles and problems that we have.
Let us therefore ask the Blessed Mother to
pray and intercede for us during this difficult time that we are
in. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Sunday, August 13, 2023
1Reflection for Monday August 14, Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr: Matthew 17:22-27
Gospel: Matthew 17:22-27
As Jesus and his disciples were gathering
in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men,
and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were
overwhelmed with grief.
When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes,” he said. When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him, “What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax?
From their subjects or from foreigners?”
When he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the subjects are
exempt. But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook, and
take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin
worth twice the temple tax. Give that to them for me and for you.”
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Reflection:
Do you generously give to the church?
The gospel speaks about the payment of the temple tax. Even if they were exempted from paying the temple tax Jesus still instructed Peter to pay the temple tax. Perhaps Jesus did this for the reason that He wants to contribute something for the maintenance of the church and its facilities.
This generous payment of the temple tax by Jesus invites us to examine our generosity to our church as well. Are we generous to our church? Do we give generously during offertory?
We have to be generous to our church so that it can have funds not only for the maintenance of its facilities. But also for the welfare of those who are working for the church. The money that we give to the church is not only for the church it is also for the poor.
We may not know this but the church takes care of the poor, the church doesn’t blare it but it silently helps the poor and those who are in need. Therefore, we have to generously give to our church and whatever we give to our church will come back to us a hundredfold.
What may come back to us may not
necessarily be through financial rewards. It can be peace and harmony in the
family; it can be good health and many more blessings that does not involve
money. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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