An argument
arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest. Jesus realized
the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side and
said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever
receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of
you is the one who is the greatest.”
Then John
said in reply, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we
tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company.” Jesus said to
him, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Who is the
greatest? It’s the humble one, the one who is always willing to serve us,
always willing to be with us. We may not know it but Jesus has been serving us
since time immemorial. He is in the person of the priest during the Sacrament
of Reconciliation forgiving us of our sins.
He is always present in the Eucharistic or Holy Mass
celebration humbly giving His Body and Blood to nourish our body and our soul.
He is the greatest treasure that we can ever have! But His greatness is a
paradox to some of us because we measure greatness by our worldly standards.
Such as greatness thru power and influence this is
mostly fueled by political power, position in government and in the private
sector and the size of our bank accounts. But this greatness is passing and
temporary; the time will come that it shall pass us and we shall be forgotten.
Jesus is the personification of true greatness: His
humility, His self-sacrifice and His refusal to wield power for His own self-interest.
This greatness of Jesus is usually not heard by this world; nevertheless we
should emulate the greatness of Jesus and shun the greatness that this world
offers us.– Marino J. Dasmarinas
Noong panahong iyon, nagtalu-talo ang
mga alagad kung sino sa kanila ang pinakadakila. Batid ni Hesus ang kanilang
iniisip, kaya’t tinawag niya ang isang maliit na bata at pinatayo sa tabi niya.
At sinabi niya sa kanila, “Ang
sinumang tumatanggap sa batang ito alang-alang sa akin ay tumatanggap sa akin;
at sinumang tumatanggap sa akin at tumatanggap sa nagsugo sa akin. Ang
pinakaaba sa inyong lahat ay siyang pinakadakila.”
Sinabi
ni Juan, “Guro, nakita po namin ang isang taong nagpapalayas ng mga demonyo sa
pamamagitan ng pangalan ninyo. Pinagbawalan namin siya sapagkat siya’y hindi
natin kasamahan.” Ngunit sinabi ni Hesus, “Huwag ninyo siyang pagbawalan;
sapagkat ang hindi laban sa atin ay kapanig natin.”
At that time, John said to Jesus, "Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us." Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.
It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
A parish priest was informed by a catechist that a Christian denomination wanted to use the parish chapel for their worship service. The catechist expected the priest to reject the request, but to his surprise, the humble and good-natured priest allowed the denomination to use the chapel.
Months passed, and this Christian group continued to use the chapel for their worship. Over time, they developed a strong friendship with the parish priest, rooted in his humility and tolerance. After two years of friendship and communication, the Christian group decided to convert to the Catholic faith and were warmly welcomed into the Church by the humble and tolerant priest.
In our Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus speaks about tolerance, humility, and love for others. When John told Jesus that they had tried to prevent someone from driving out demons in His name, John may have expected Jesus to condone his arrogant behavior. However, Jesus rebuked John, saying, 'Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us' (Mark 9:39-40).”
This rebuke of Jesus toward John resonates even today, and it is no longer just addressed to John but to all of us. Jesus reminds us that if the cause being supported by our fellowmen is also about Him, or if it serves a good purpose, we should, by all means, be tolerant.
We must always be tolerant, humble, and loving toward those who are not within the fold of our Catholic faith. Jesus constantly reminds us to live out these virtues, as they are one of the ways He can become a living symbol in our lives.
Sometimes, it is tempting to become proud and arrogant because of our status in life, or because of the primacy of our Catholic faith, which was founded by Jesus Himself. But how can we convince others to join our faith if we are domineering and arrogant? How can we reflect Jesus in our lives if we are always overbearing and superior? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Noong panahong iyon, sinabi kay Hesus ni Juan, “Guro, nakakita po kami ng isang taong nagpapalayas ng mga demonyo sa pamamagitan ng pangalan mo, at pinagbawalan namin sapagkat hindi natin siya kasamahan.”
Ngunit sinabi ni Hesus, “Huwag ninyo siyang pagbawalan, sapagkat walang taong matapos gumawa ng kababalaghan sa pangalan ko ang agad magsasalita ng masama laban sa akin. Sapagkat ang hindi laban sa atin ay panig sa atin. Sinasabi ko sa inyo: sinumang magbigay sa inyo ng isang basong tubig dahil sa kayo’y kay Kristo ay tiyak na gagantimpalaan.
“Mabuti pa sa isang tao ang siya’y bitinan ng isang malaking gilingang-bato sa leeg at itapon sa dagat kaysa maging sanhi ng pagkakasala ng isa sa maliliit na ito na nananalig sa akin. Kung ang kamay mo ang nagiging sanhi ng iyong pagkakasala, putulin mo! Mabuti pa ang mapunta ka sa langit nang putol ang isang kamay kaysa may dalawang kamay na mahulog ka sa impiyerno, sa apoy na hindi mamamatay.
Kung ang paa mo ang nagiging sanhi ng iyong pagkakasala, putulin mo! Mabuti pa ang mapunta ka sa langit nang putol ang isang paa kaysa may dalawang paa na mahulog ka sa impiyerno. At kung ang mata mo ang nagiging sanhi ng iyong pagkakasala, dukutin mo! Mabuti pa ang pumasok ka sa kaharian ng Diyos nang bulag ang isang mata kaysa may dalawang mata na mahulog ka sa impiyerno. Doo’y hindi mamamatay ang mga uod na kumakain sa kanila, at hindi mamamatay ang apoy.”
While they were all amazed at his every
deed, Jesus said to his disciples, “Pay attention to what I am telling you. The
Son of Man is to be handed over to men.”
But they did not understand this saying;
its meaning was hidden from them so that they should not understand it, and
they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Why were the disciples afraid to ask Jesus to
elaborate His meaningful statement that He is going to be handed over to men?
Did they sense that something dangerous is going to happen to Jesus soon? Were
they afraid to hear something that would deal with suffering and the cross? Or
the disciples were simply used to the image of Jesus as a powerful miracle
worker and healer?
Is it only for His miracles and healings that we
follow Jesus? Perhaps yes, many of us are only after Jesus the miracle worker
and Jesus the healer. But if we are only after His miracles and healings then
this is not true discipleship.
True discipleship happens to us when we are also ready
to suffer for Jesus and when we are also ready to carry our own cross for
Jesus. We cannot separate Jesus from suffering because He himself brutally
suffered. Thus we cannot also separate ourselves from suffering/s if we truly
follow Jesus.
Nevertheless, let us not be afraid to suffer for our
discipleship for Jesus because our suffering for Jesus will not be in vain.
There is always something glorious after suffering and carrying our own cross
for Jesus. We may not know it immediately but there surely will be glory after
we endure our cross and sufferings. - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Noong panahong iyon, samantalang nanggigilalas ang mga tao sa
lahat ng ginawa ni Hesus, sinabi niya sa kanyang mga alagad, “Tandaan ninyo
itong sasabihin ko: ipagkakanulo ang Anak ng Tao.”
Ngunit hindi nila ito
naunawaan, pagkat inilingid ito sa kanila. Nangangamba naman silang magtanong
sa kanya kung ano ang ibig sabihin niyon.
Once when
Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them,
“Who do the crowds say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist;
others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’” Then
he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said in reply, “The
Christ of God.” He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
He said, “The
Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief
priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
+ + + +
+ + +
Reflection:
If Jesus
would ask us, who am I to you? How would we answer Him? Would we answer based
on what we know about Jesus or we answer Him in a much profound manner like you
are my Lord, Savior and my God and I feel your abiding presence in my life
everyday.
We must not
limit our knowledge about Jesus to what we read or up to what only our minds
would feed us. We must dive deeper than that in such a way that Jesus is
already part and parcel of our daily life. This only means that we read and
live His teachings.
We become
more productive followers of Jesus if we read and live His teachings because
this would open us to a much deeper intimacy with Him. We read Jesus’ life and
teachings in the bible. If we only read or hear and we don’t live His teachings
our discipleship is lacking in substance.
We have to
know Jesus and then we have to live Jesus these two (Know and live) must always
go together. For this would help us endure the many trials/even sufferings that
we would be facing as we exist in this world.
Do you read
the life of Jesus and do you live the teachings of Jesus? - Marino J.
Dasmarinas
Isang
araw, samantalang nananalanging mag-isa si Jesus, lumapit sa kanya ang kanyang
mga alagad. Tinanong niya sila, "Sino raw ako ayon sa mga tao?"
Sumagot sila, "Ang sabi po ng ilan ay si Juan Bautista kayo; sabi naman ng
iba, si Elias kayo, at may nagsasabi pang nabuhay ang isa sa mga propeta noong
una." "Kayo naman, ano ang sabi ninyo?" tanong niya sa kanila.
"Ang Mesias ng Diyos!" sagot ni Pedro.
Itinagubilin
ni Jesus sa kanyang mga alagad na huwag na nilang sasabihin ito kaninuman. At
sinabi pa niya sa kanila, "Ang Anak ng Tao'y dapat magbata ng maraming
hirap. Itatakwil siya ng matatanda ng bayan, ng mga punong saserdote at ng mga
eskriba. Ipapapatay nila siya, ngunit sa ikatlong araw ay muling
mabubuhay."
Herod the tetrarch heard about all that
was happening, and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying, “John has
been raised from the dead”; others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”; still
others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.”
But Herod said, “John I beheaded. Who then
is this about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see him.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Are you sometimes being haunted by a wrong
which you’ve done in the past?
The wrongs that we’ve done will continue
to haunt us for so long as there is no closure to it. It happened to Herod the
tetrarch when he ordered his soldiers to kill John at the behest of the woman
who lustfully danced in front of them.
We need to be careful of the
actions/decisions that we make in our lives. Impulsive or spur of the moment
decisions are usually wrong. Like when Herod to impress his friends impulsively
decided to kill John.
These thoughtless decisions that we’ve
made or we’ll make in the future will bother us, in will constantly pop in our
minds until we do something to close it. So what is the cure to this dilemma?
We have to seek closure, if we have to walk
an extra mile for us to obtain closure so be it. We obtain closure by making
amends with the person concerned. And then we walk away ready to live a new
life with Christ Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Noong
panahong iyon, nabalitaan ni Herodes na tetrarka ng Galilea ang lahat ng
ginagawa ni Jesus. Nagulo ang kanyang isip, sapagkat may nagsasabing muling
binuhay si Juan Bautista. May nagsasabi namang lumitaw si Elias, at may
nagsasabi pang muling nabuhay ang isa sa mga propeta noong una.
Kaya't
ang sabi ni Herodes, "Pinapugutan ko si Juan; ngunit sino ang
nababalitaang ito? Marami akong naririnig tungkol sa kanya." At
pinagsikapan niyang makita si Jesus.
Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them
power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them to
proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He said to them, “Take
nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money,
and let no one take a second tunic.
Whatever house you enter, stay there and
leave from there. And as for those who do not welcome you, when you leave that
town, shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.” Then they set
out and went from village to village proclaiming the good news and curing
diseases everywhere.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
When Jesus said to the twelve,
'Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor
money, and let no one take a second tunic,' He was espousing absolute
detachment from any kind of worldly things. He was telling them to rely on no
one except Himself, for He would provide for them.
This is how Jesus also lived His
ministry—He relied on no one except the providence of God. God provided for Him
because He entrusted His life to Him. In our present, materially driven world,
it’s difficult to solely trust in God. For example, how can we advance His
teachings without any material provisions? How can we keep going without financial
help? These are valid questions that are difficult to ignore.
Nevertheless, if we truly have rock-solid
faith, we would let go of our worldly worries and rely on no one but God alone.
This is the challenge for all of us believers: to rely on no one except God.
Often, we fail to recognize how God is moving in our lives because we don’t
fully rely on Him. We tend to rely more on ourselves and those around us rather
than on God.
We would not be able to feel the presence
of Jesus in our lives if we continue to rely on ourselves. Let us continue to
have faith, for Jesus has not forsaken anyone who follows Him. - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Noong panahong iyon, tinawag ni Jesus
ang Labindalawa at binigyan sila ng kakayahan at kapangyarihang magpalayas ng
mga demonyo at magpagaling ng mga karamdaman. At sinugo niya sila upang
ipahayag ang paghahari ng Diyos at magpagaling ng mga maysakit.
Sila'y
pinagbilinan niya: "Huwag kayong magbaon ng anuman para sa inyong
paglalakbay -- kahit tungkod, supot, tinapay, salapi o bihisan. Makituloy kayo
sa alinmang bahay na tumanggap sa inyo, at manatili roon hanggang sa pag-alis
ninyo sa bayang iyon.
At
sakaling hindi kayo tanggapin, umalis kayo roon, at ipagpag ninyo ang alikabok
ng inyong mga paa bilang babala sa kanila." Kaya't humayo ang mga alagad
at naglakbay sa mga nayon, na ipinangangaral ang Mabuting Balita at
nagpapagaling ng mga maysakit sa lahat ng dako.
The mother of Jesus and his brothers came
to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. He was told, “Your
mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you.”
He
said to them in reply, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word
of God and act on it.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Who would not want to become a relative of Jesus? Of
course we all want to become His relatives. But Jesus has one important
requirement for all of us so that we could become His relatives: Hear His word
and act on it (Luke 8:21).
Do we hear the word of God and act upon it? For
example the commandment of Jesus to love our enemies and to do good to those
who hurt us (Matthew 5:44). Do we love our enemies and do good to them?
Or we immediately follow our natural instinct not to love those who don’t love
us and hurt those who hurt us.
But what would happen if we follow our selfish human
instinct? There would be more hatred and hurt, more walls than bridges. Mahatma
Gandhi once said: An Eye for an eye would only make the whole world
blind.
It’s not easy to become a relative of Jesus if we
place too much value on ourselves. If we hold ourselves in such high regard, we
may quickly despise those who have hurt or disrespected us. However, Jesus
himself forgave those who hurt, persecuted, and killed Him.
Though it’s difficult to become a relative of Jesus
for it requires humility and forgetting of ourselves. Nevertheless, we must
aspire to become a relative of Jesus and not aspire to become a lover of
unforgiveness, ego and pride. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Noong
panahong iyon, dumating ang ina at kapatid ni Jesus, ngunit hindi sila
makalapit dahil sa dami ng tao. May nagsabi sa kanya, "Nasa labas po ang
inyong ina at mga kapatid; ibig nilang makipagkita sa inyo."
Ngunit sinabi
ni Jesus, "Ang mga nakikinig ng salita ng Diyos at tumutupad nito ang siya
kong ina at mga kapatid."
