Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But he did not know what he was saying.
While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen.
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Reflection:
A carefree young man had a car accident that nearly cost him his life. During his recovery, he carefully discerned the implications of that accident on his life and said to himself, “I need to change my lifestyle; otherwise, I will die.” That car accident became his moment of transfiguration. Hence, he became responsible, shunned his undesirable friends, and served as a catechist in their parish church.
Have you already had your own moment of transfiguration?
In the transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor, the three disciples—Peter, James, and John—saw firsthand how Jesus was transfigured. From a mortal like them, Jesus’ face changed in appearance, and His clothing became dazzling white (Luke 9:29).
What was happening before the three apostles went up the mountain to witness Jesus’ transfiguration? They had been with the Lord, carrying out their mission. They had witnessed many miracles performed by Jesus. Yet, Jesus also told them that He would soon suffer and be put to death by His persecutors (Luke 9:22).
Upon hearing this, the three likely felt disheartened. They could not believe that such suffering awaited their Lord and Master. It was in this context that Jesus brought them to Mount Tabor—to reveal His true identity to them and to show them what awaited them if they remained faithful to their mission until the end.
By witnessing Jesus’ transfiguration, the three apostles were also transformed—though in a different way. Their encounter with Jesus in His glorified state uplifted their spirits, renewed their strength, and motivated them to continue their sacred mission of evangelization.
At what stage are you in your life right now? Are you facing your own share of challenges? Don’t give up. Remember, this is just temporary. In the end, there is a prize that awaits you—the eternal joy of being with Jesus in heaven.
Let the transfiguration of Jesus energize you, strengthen you, and give you hope. May His powerful transfiguration inspire you to move forward in faith, no matter what difficulties you may encounter. — Marino J. Dasmarinas
For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
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Reflection:
The story is told of a wife who was betrayed by her husband for a younger woman. After years of separation, the wife learned that her husband was now sick. Because of her unconditional love for him, she went to him and brought him to the hospital to heal.
In our Gospel today, Jesus gives us a teaching about unconditional love—a love that extends to everyone, including those who have hurt us or continue to hurt us. This is very hard to do, but this is who Jesus is. He gives us teachings that seem difficult to follow based on human standards. However, if we are truly devoted to Him, we will obey and follow.
What happens when we follow the teachings of Jesus? Take, for example, His teaching in today’s Gospel about loving and praying for our enemies and persecutors. We free ourselves from undeserved hatred and release ourselves from self-created psychological and emotional imprisonment, which does not bring us any good anyway.
Let us observe ourselves when we carry hatred in our hearts. We may feel like we are about to explode, which is very bad for our health, especially for our blood pressure. On the other hand, when we do not carry hatred in our hearts, we feel light, and we invite the blessings of Jesus into our lives.
Will you
follow this teaching of Jesus? — Marino J. Dasmarinas
“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”
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Reflection:
What is the cure for anger? It’s humility.
Nobody is perfect. Once in a while, we get angry, but do we have the humility to make amends after we have injured someone with our arrogance? Only a gentle and humble person would have the courage to say, “I’m sorry,” or to apologize.
But saying “I’m sorry” is not easy. Only a humble person would summon enough courage to say these magic words that have healed so many disputes and arguments. In our Gospel for today, Jesus gives us a teaching about anger.
Jesus tells us that we must be reconciled with those with whom we have differences and feelings of enmity. But why do we get angry in the first place? We get angry because we lack humility. We get angry because we have a superiority complex against our fellowmen.
It is only humility that can deescalate and eventually eliminate our anger. Let us, therefore, pray for the grace of humility. Let us ask God the Holy Spirit to give it to us. The best test of humility is our willingness to apologize and admit our mistakes to those whom we have hurt. — Marino J. Dasmarinas
Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asked for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asked for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him.
“Do to others whatever you would have them
do to you. This is the law and the prophets.”
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Reflection:
What do you do when your child asks for something from you? You try your very best to give what he or she is asking for. Why? Because you love your child and don’t want to disappoint him or her.
What if your parents ask something from you? For the same reason, you will also try your very best to give what they are asking for.
The love of Jesus is far greater than the love of a parent for a child or a child’s love for his or her parents. What does this mean? If we are willing to do everything to grant the requests of our loved ones, Jesus will surely grant whatever we sincerely ask of Him.
Our sincerity matters when we ask something from Jesus. For example, when Jesus said to His disciples, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7), He was emphasizing the importance of sincerity.
This is also what Jesus expects from us when we pray to Him. The purity of our desire is a major factor in Jesus granting us what we ask of Him. If Jesus sees that there is no purity or sincerity in our prayers, or if our prayers are centered on serving our selfish interests, then we can be assured that nothing will come of them.
In hindsight, this is also an invitation for us to reflect on our prayers to Jesus. If He has not yet granted some of our prayers, perhaps we need to reassess our objectives. Perhaps we need to be more sincere and selfless in our prayers.
Are you always sincere and selfless when you pray to the Lord? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Bibigyan ba ninyo ng bato ang inyong anak kung humihingi ng
tinapay? Bibigyan ba ninyo siya ng ahas kung humihingi ng isda? Kung kayo na
masasama, ay marunong magbigay ng mabubuting bagay sa inyong mga anak, gaano pa
kaya ang inyong Amang nasa langit? Ibibigay niya ang mabubuting bagay sa mga
humihingi sa kanya!
“Kaya
gawin ninyo sa inyong kapwa ang ibig ninyong gawin nila sa inyo. Ito ang
kahulugan ng Kautusan ni Moises at ng turo ng mga propeta.”
At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with
the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the
ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater
than Solomon here.
At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with
this generation and condemn it because at the preaching of Jonah they repented,
and there is something greater than Jonah here.”
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Reflection:
A sinful man had a conversion. When he was asked what moved him to become good and Godly, he replied: “I have a terminal illness, so I don’t want to be in hell when I depart from this world. Hell is real, as well as heaven, and those who continue to sin and ignore God’s call to conversion will certainly end up in hell someday.”
Some of us may ask, "Is heaven and hell real?" Yes, they are both real, and they are already here in our midst. If we always do good, our life will be like heaven on earth. Yes, we may face problems from time to time, but we will always overcome them because Jesus is always by our side to help. On the other hand, if we continue to do evil, we can expect our lives to be in a state of suffering—like hell on earth. This is the practical reality of heaven and hell.
However, God loves us so much that He calls us to repent and permanently walk away from our sinfulness. This is because the good Lord wants us to experience heaven while we are still here in this world. He also wants us to be in heaven after we pass from this world. This is God's great love for us. He constantly calls us to repentance every day, every hour, every minute, and every second of our lives.
Someday, when we die, some of us will say, "If only I had listened to Jesus’ call to repentance, I would not be in this hellish place right now. But I did not. Instead, I continued to enjoy the many pleasures brought to me by the devil."
Nonetheless,
all is not lost yet, because there is still time for us to repent and walk away
from anything that leads us to sin. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
“This is how you are to pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
“If you forgive men their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”
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Reflection:
What is the secret to closeness with God? It is prayer that comes from the depths of our being. This is the foundation of our closeness with God. From the fountain of our prayerful life will emanate the God-given desire to know more about Him. Do we always pray with our hearts and minds fully engaged? Or do we only pray when we feel the need or when we have the time?
The most effective method of prayer is to pray without any excess baggage in our hearts. What does this mean? It means praying without carrying any hatred. For example, if someone has wronged us and is asking for our forgiveness, what would we do? Would we forgive or refuse to forgive?
Of course, we must forgive. For how can God forgive us when we ourselves are unwilling to forgive? How can we be open to the many blessings of God if our hearts are full of unforgiveness? We must live forgiveness if we want God to hear and forgive us.
We are mere passersby in this world. Sooner or later, the curtain of our life in this world will close. How can we enter heaven if we carry the weight of unforgiveness in our hearts? And how can we go to heaven if we carry the burden of hatred?
When Jesus was dying on the cross, He said a short yet deeply meaningful prayer to God. While gasping for breath, Jesus prayed: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) If Jesus can forgive, why can’t we?
Do you have hatred or any form of unforgiveness in your heart right now? Let go of it. And if you still cannot let go, humbly pray to Jesus and ask Him to heal you. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'
Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.' Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?'
He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.' And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
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Reflection:
What is the significance of this Gospel in our lives? It encourages us to make Jesus the center and King of our lives; it persuades us to make Jesus the priority of our lives. In other words, before anything else, it must be Jesus first.
But look at what is happening now—Jesus is the least priority for some of us. We need no factual statistics to validate this; we simply need to look at the attendance at Holy Mass. We observe the spiraling crime rate, corporate greed, and the massive destruction of the environment, which results in calamitous disasters and flooding. There is also political corruption and the arrogance of many politicians, and so forth.
Obviously, the Kingship of Christ is nowhere in their hearts. The kingship of Jesus is eroded by the kingship of materialism, greed, and arrogance.
Would we allow this erosion of the Kingship of Jesus in favor of the kingship of the secular world, which Satan represents? We must not allow this to happen! We, who are followers of Christ, must see to it that He is always part and parcel of our daily lives. We may not verbally preach Him, but we must learn to preach Him through our daily lives.
Saint Francis of Assisi once said, “Preach the Gospel at all times; use words if necessary.” This means that we must live the Gospel in every moment of our lives. By doing so, we would be perpetuating the Kingship of Christ in this world. But this is seldom done now. What is often preached instead is greed, materialism, arrogance, and other forms of destructive secular teachings.
We are therefore being challenged by Jesus to help Him become more relevant in this present world. Now more than ever, the world needs Jesus—His values and His teachings. Let us not run away from this responsibility that Jesus gave us. Let us live Him, embrace Him, and share Him.
Can we
measure up to this challenge? — Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus answered him, “It is written, One does not live on bread alone.” Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. The devil said to him, “I shall give to you all this power and glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish. All this will be yours, if you worship me.”
Jesus said to him in reply, “It is written: You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.” Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you, and: With their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Jesus said to
him in reply, “It also says, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the
test.” When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a
time.
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Reflection:
A man gave in to the temptation of an adulterous affair. His sister constantly advised him to end the immoral relationship, but he did not listen. He reasoned that his wife would never catch him. Indeed, he was never caught, but when he died, the devil immediately brought his soul to hell.
Today is the first Sunday of Lent, and we read that Jesus was tempted by the devil three times. The first was to transform a stone into bread, the second was to worship the devil in exchange for power and glory, and the third was to jump from the parapet. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus rejected all three temptations and walked away from the devil.
Why do we succumb to temptation? Why can’t we refuse or simply walk away from the devil? The answer is simple: we take control of our lives instead of surrendering to God. Rather than following His authority, we follow our own sinful desires—desires that the devil feeds into our minds.
If we follow the devil’s ways, we will gain nothing but hell. If we sell our souls to him, we will reap only misery. What happened to Judas when he gave in to the devil’s temptation and betrayed Jesus (Matthew 27:3-5)? Did he profit from it? No. Likewise, we will gain nothing good if we yield to the devil’s many temptations.
Let us make this Lent a time to deeply strengthen our relationship with Jesus so that we can resist whatever temptations the devil places before us.
What are you doing to strengthen your relationship with Jesus? —Marino J. Dasmarinas
Sinabi sa kanya ng diyablo, “Kung ikaw ang Anak ng Diyos, iutos mo na maging tinapay ang mga batong ito.” Ngunit sinagot siya ni Hesus, “Nasusulat, ‘Hindi lamang sa tinapay nabubuhay ang tao.’”
Dinala siya ng diyablo sa isang napakataas na lugar at sa isang saglit ay ipinakita sa kanya ang lahat ng kaharian ng sanlibutan. “Ibibigay ko sa iyo ang lahat ng kapangyarihan at kadakilaan ng mga kahariang ito,” wika ng diyablo. “Ipinagkaloob ito sa akin at maibibigay ko sa kaninumang ibigin ko. Kaya’t kung ako’y sasambahin mo, magiging iyong lahat ito.” Sumagot si Hesus, “Nasusulat, ‘Ang iyong Diyos at Panginoon ang sasambahin mo, at siya lamang ang iyong paglilingkuran.’”
At dinala siya ng diyablo sa taluktok ng templo ng Jerusalem, at sinabi sa kanya, “Kung ikaw ang Anak ng Diyos, magpatihulog ka, sapagkat nasusulat, ‘Ipagbibilin niya sa kanyang mga anghel na ingatan ka’ at ‘Aalalayan ka nila, upang hindi ka matisod sa bato.’”
Subalit sinagot siya ni Hesus, “Nasusulat, ‘Huwag mong subukin ang Panginoon mong Diyos!’” Pagkatapos siyang tuksuhin ng diyablo sa lahat ng paraan, ito’y umalis at naghintay ng ibang pagkakataon.
The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his
disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
Jesus said to them in reply, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician,
but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but
sinners.”
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Reflection:
Who are the modern-day sinners that Jesus wants to call to repentance? It’s no other than us—we are sinners. We sin through our thoughts, actions, and words. Like the tax collector Levi, Jesus calls us to follow Him and leave behind our sinfulness.
Why does Jesus call us to follow Him? Because He wants to build a deeper friendship with us, and this can only happen if we choose to respond to His call—rather than respond to the call of the devil, who always tempts us to sin.
When we respond to the call of Jesus, we ensure ourselves a meaningful life. This doesn’t mean that the moment we say yes to Jesus, we will be free from worries and trials. We will still have our share of struggles, yet in the midst of them, we will feel the abiding presence of Jesus in our lives.
If we decide to follow Jesus, there will be people who will despise and perhaps belittle us. But we have nothing to worry about when faced with such opposition. What is most important is that we choose to leave behind our sinfulness in favor of Jesus’ call.
Leaving behind our sinfulness is not easy because the devil will not easily let us go—he seeks to destroy us through sin. Nevertheless, nothing is impossible for Jesus. All He asks of us is our "yes" and our firm desire to turn away from sin.
Lest we forget, a sinful life is a life in union with the devil, and a sinful life is a problem-filled life—problems that may seem pleasurable in the eyes of the world but will ultimately lead to our destruction. Let us, therefore, respond to the call of Jesus.
Would you respond to the Lord’s call? —Marino J. Dasmarinas
