26 Kaya
pagkakita ni Jesus sa ina at sa alagad na mahal niya na nakatayo sa tabi,
sinabi niya sa Ina: “Babae, hayan ang anak mo!” 27 pagkatapos ay sinabi naman
niya sa alagad: “Hayan ang iyong ina.” At mula sa oras na iyon, tinanggap siya
ng alagad sa kanyang tahanan.
For God so loved the world that he gave
his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might
have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the
world, but that the world might be saved through him.
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Reflection:
Do you know the story of the true cross of Jesus?
After the death of Jesus there was an intense persecution of Christians. But during the year 312 AD the church entered a new era and that was when Constantine I, adopted the Christian faith and became the first Christian Emperor of Rome. One of his first edict was to stop the persecution of Christians.
It was said that Constantine I, deputized his mother Helena to gather Christian relics. So she travelled to the Holy Land, while there she discovered the three crosses used during the crucifixion of Jesus and the two thieves (Dismas and Gestas).
Since there were three crosses her dilemma was to find the real cross of Jesus. So she called on the sick people of the community and let them touch each of the three crosses. Among the three there was one that stood out, because it instantly healed those who touched it. Helena declared it to be the true cross of Jesus.
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, unlike other Christians whose cross is without Jesus. Our cross is never complete without Jesus on it.
Often times, our cross symbolizes the burdens that we carry. A young mother who was asked, who is your cross and she instantaneously replied: “It’s my irresponsible husband because he is always with his friends indulging in drinking sprees and whenever he arrives he subjects me to physical and emotional abuse.”
Each and everyone of us has our own cross that makes life difficult for us. Sometimes we may even say: why is it that the more that I go near Jesus the heavier the cross that I carry? The cross that we carry is a test of our faith, we would not be able to fully comprehend the presence of Jesus in our lives without silently carrying and enduring our own cross.
What is important is whenever we carry our cross we invite Jesus to help us carry it and implore Him to journey with us with our cross. Let us not question why we have our cross because the cross that burdens us right now is nothing compared to the cross of Jesus.
The paradox of it all is this: The cross that has given Jesus tons of sufferings became the catalyst in the completion of His mission. This cross is also the symbol of our salvation so long as we believe and look up to Jesus who died for us on the cross. There is no exaltation of the cross without the salvific sacrifice of Jesus.
Are you carrying your own cross or do you have a cross right now? A cross that makes life so difficult for you? Look up to Jesus then close your eyes and humbly ask Him to help you carry it. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
They approached Jesus and strongly urged him to come, saying, “He deserves to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us.” And Jesus went with them, but when he was only a short distance from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the word and let my servant be healed. For I too am a person 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 at him
and, turning, said to the crowd following him, “I tell you, not even in Israel
have I found such faith.” When the messengers returned to the house, they found
the slave in good health.
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Reflection:
Do you have concern for the poor and powerless? The concern of the military officer/centurion for his slave is very admirable. We must emulate his worthy action of giving concern most especially to those who are poor and powerless.
What if the officer was heartless? There would have been no healing for the slave. By his act of concern his slave was healed by Jesus. We often times lose sight of the fact that we need to be concerned as well with the wellbeing of others especially those who are powerless and poor.
The me first attitude often times envelope us already thus we fail to see the many needs of our fellowmen most especially the poor and powerless. Why? For the simple reason that we are already overly fixated with our own needs.
We would reap enormous spiritual blessings
if only we would find time to help those who are poor and powerless. Thus, we
would be closer to Jesus who loves the poor dearly. And we will find true joy
and fulfillment the moment we begin to help them. - Marino J.
Dasmarinas
6 Kaya kasama nilang pumunta si Jesus. Nang hindi na siya kalayuan sa bahay, nagpapunta naman sa kanya ng mga kaibigan ang kapitan para sabihin: “Ginoo, huwag ka nang mag-abala pa; hindi nga siguro ako karapat-dapat para tumuloy ka sa aking bahay. 7 Kaya hindi ko man lang inakalang nararapat akong lumapit sa iyo. Mag-utos ka lang at gagaling na ang aking katulong. 8 Mababa nga lang ang ranggo ko pero may mga sundalo sa ilalim ko. At kung iutos ko sa isa, ‘Umalis ka,’ umaalis siya; at sa iba naman, ‘Halika,’ at pumaparito siya. At pag sinabi kong ‘Gawin mo ito,’ sa aking katulong, ginagawa nga niya ito.”
9 Humanga si Jesus pagkarinig niya nito. Lumingon siya
sa mga sumusunod sa kanya at sinabi: “Sinasabi ko sa inyo, sa Israel ma’y hindi
ko natagpuan ang ganitong pananalig!” 10 At nang magbalik sa
bahay ang mga sinugo, natagpuan nilang magaling na ang katulong.
Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
He summoned
the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me
must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save
his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the
gospel will save it.”
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Reflection:
A man was given a choice to stay with his family or to work in a faraway place so that he can fulfill his lifelong ambition to be rich. Without much thought this man chose the option to be rich rather than be with his family.
Are you ready to sacrifice your personal ambition so that Jesus teachings could continue to spread? For example would you give up your worldly life to do something for the greater glory of God?
Perhaps you will not give up your worldly life for a life of sacrifice with Jesus. Who would give up a life of ease and comfort in this world in favor of a life with Jesus? Maybe only a few because in truth and in fact to follow Jesus is not easy.
But we were not brought into this world by God to become citizens of this world. God brought us into this world so that we could do something to partake with the mission of His son Jesus. This is the desire of God for each and every one of us: To help Jesus spread His mission.
The time will come that we will become old and we surely will look back about how we lived our lives. And during that reflection we will discover that we lived a worthy, meaningful and fulfilled life because we chose to devote our lives for the mission of Jesus.
Thus, we have
to be ready to carry our own cross for Christ no matter how heavy it may be. We
have to be ready to lose our life in this world so that we could find its real
purpose and meaning with Jesus. – Marino
J. Dasmarinas
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not
do what I command? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me,
listens to my words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house,
who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood came, the river
burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built.
But the one who listens and does not act is like a person who built a house on
the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it collapsed
at once and was completely destroyed.”
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Reflection:
What will happen to a child when he/she is taught with proper values and when this very values are lived by his/her parents? The child would grow-up to become a good and God loving person. This is always the result whenever a child is properly taught by his/her parents.
On the other hand, if a child is not taught with proper moral values and the parents do not live the same moral values. We can be assured that this child will grow-up with a distorted sense of values. For the simple reason that he/she was not taught about it or saw it being lived by his/her parents.
In our gospel reading this Saturday Jesus said to his disciples: “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 (Luke 6:43-44). The good tree is the parents and the good fruit is their child.
Jesus tells us that whatever good that we teach our children will be imbibed by them. And the good that we do and teach our children will form a great part of their rock solid moral foundation.
Many of the modern parents of today are always busy. They hardly have time to teach their children about good moral values much less love of God. So what children are they rearing? Children that are boorish, lacking in values and love of God and nobody are to blame for this but their parents.
Do you teach your children about good
values and love of God and do you live it also? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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 uma¬apaw mula sa puso.
46 Bakit pa ninyo ako tinatawag na ‘Panginoon, Panginoon,’ gayong hindi naman ninyo tinutupad ang sinasabi ko? 47 Ilalarawan ko sa inyo ang lumalapit sa akin at nakikinig sa aking mga salita at tumutupad nito. 48 May isang taong nagtatayo ng bahay, na humukay nang malalim at sa batuhan inilagay ang mga pundasyon.
Pagdating ng
baha, hinampas ng agos ang bahay na iyon pero wala itong lakas para yanigin
iyon sapagkat mabuti ang pagkakatatag niyon. 49 At kung may nakaririnig ngunit
di naman nagsasagawa, matutulad siya sa nagtatayo ng bahay sa ibabaw ng lupa na
wala namang pundasyon. Hinampas ito ng agos at kaagad bumagsak. Anong laki ng
pagkawasak ng bahay na iyon!”
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.”
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Reflection:
Are you self-righteous?
Every once in a while we all become guilty of this offense called self-righteousness. We see ourselves as someone who is above all. Hence, we are quick to point out the offense of our fellowmen. Why is this so? Is this brought about by our self-serving perception that we are closer to God than anyone else? Is this brought about by our social or economic status?
It’s all of the above and more. But the problem with self-righteous individuals is they only see the shortcomings of others but not their own. They are very quick to judge the wrongs of others but not their own.
The moment we judge others we also open our very selves to judgment. By judging them we also invite them to judge us. If we don’t want others to judge us let us stop being judgmental and let us abhor condemnation.
Instead of judging why not motivate? Why
not apply gentle correction and why not give advice? –
Marino J. Dasmarinas
Even sinners do the same. If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount. But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful.
“Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be
forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together,
shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure
with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
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Reflection:
How do you love?
All of us will agree that we can easily love those who give us love in return. But are we willing to love those who’ve hurt us or those who continue on hurting us? Mother Teresa once said: “If you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” A wife or a husband who truly love would continue to love his/her spouse notwithstanding the betrayal of the their marriage covenant.
Many marriages fail because we put limits on how we give love. For example, if a wife discovers that her husband is playing around. The reaction of the wife is perhaps to take revenge and play around also and not to anymore love her philandering husband. But what will happen if our attitude is like that? There would be many broken marriages, there would be many suffering children simply because we put limits on how we give our love.
Jesus in our gospel is advising us to change this mindset of reactive love. And to bring our understanding of love to a much higher level. Perhaps, to the level of God’s love for us. But are we capable of raising to a higher level our love and on how we give love?
If we truly love Jesus we would be able to forgive and once again love a spouse who betrayed us. We would be able to love our siblings/relatives who’ve hurt us and who don’t want to listen to our well-meaning advice/s. We would be able to love a friend who betrayed our trust.
Jesus tells us in the gospel: For if
you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love
those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what
credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same (Luke 6:32-33). - Marino J.
Dasmarinas
Abraham became the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse, Jesse the father of David the king.
David became the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon became the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asaph. Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah. Uzziah became the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amos, Amos the father of Josiah. Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the Babylonian exile.
After the Babylonian exile, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, Eliud the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan,Matthan the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.
Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
Behold, the virgin shall be with child and
bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”
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Reflection:
Do you believe that parents play a critical role in the life of their children?
Today is the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, why is Mary so humble and docile to the will of God? Is it an inherent character of Mary? The humility and docility of Mary is a gift from God.
But it was also influenced upon her by her parents: Joachim and Anna, it was said that they were childless until an angel appeared to Anna and told her that she would conceive. Somehow the appearance of the angel to Joachim and Anna would tell us what kind of individuals the parents of Mary.
Both of them loved God deeply—both of them were prayerful, humble and docile to the will of God. Therefore God gifted them with a new child and that is Mary. Mary is an epitome of prayerfulness, humility and docility as well. Without Mary Jesus would have not been born; thus a savior was born because of the prayerfulness, humility and docility of Mary.
As we remember the birth of the Blessed Mother let us not forget the role of her parents. Let us also not forget to inculcate upon our children the importance of prayerfulness, humility and docility for it will define their character as they grow up.
Have you taught your children about their
need to be prayerful, humble and docile to the movement of God in their lives?
– Marino J. Dasmarinas
5 Si Salmon ang ama ni Boaz, at si Rahab naman ang kanyang ina. Si Boaz ang ama ni Obed, si Ruth ang kanyang ina. Si Obed naman ang ama ni Jese. 6 Si Jese ang ama ni David na hari. Si David ang ama ni Solomon, at ang na¬ging maybahay ni Urias ang kanyang ina.
7 Si Solomon ang ama ni Rehoboam na ama ni Abias, at sumunod naman ang mga haring sina Asa, 8 Yosafat, Yoram, Ocias, 9 Yoatan, Ahaz, Ezekias, 10 Mana¬ses, Amon at Yosias. 11 Si Yosias ang ama ni Yekonias at ng kanyang mga kapatid, sa panahon ng pagkatapon sa Babilonia. 12 Pagkatapos naman ng pagkatapon sa Babilonia – si Yekonias ang ama ni Salatiel na ama ni Zorobabel.
13 Si Zorobabel ang ama ni Abiud, si Abiud ni Eliakim, at si Eliakim ni Azor. 14 Si Azor ang ama ni Sadok, si Sadok ni Akim, at si Akim ni Eliud. 15 Si Eliud ang ama ni Eleazar, si Eleazar ni Matan at si Matan ni Jacob. 16 Si Jacob ang ama ni Jose – ang asawa ni Maria na siyang pinagmulan ni Jesus na tinawag na Kristo.
18 Ganito ipinanganak si Jesucristo. Ipinag¬kasundo na kay Jose ang kanyang inang si Maria pero bago sila nagsama bilang mag-asawa, nagdadalantao na siya gawa ng Espiritu Santo. 19 Kaya binalak ni Jose na hiwalayan nang lihim ang kanyang asawa. Matuwid nga siya at ayaw niya itong mapahiya.
20 Habang iniisip-isip niya ito, napa¬kita sa kanya sa panaginip ang Anghel ng Panginoon at sinabi: “Jose, anak ni David, huwag kang matakot na tang¬ga¬pin si Maria bilang iyong asawa. Gawa ng Espi¬ritu Santo kaya siya naglihi, 21 at ma¬nga¬nganak siya ng isang sanggol na lalaki, na panga¬ngalanan mong Jesus sapagkat siya ang magliligtas sa kanyang samba¬yanan mula sa kanilang mga kasa¬lanan.”
22 Nangyari ang lahat ng ito para matu¬pad ang sinabi ng Panginoon sa pamama¬gitan ng Propeta: 23 “Maglilihi ang birhen at magsisilang ng isang sanggol na lalaki at tatawagin nila siyang Emmanuel na ibig sabihi’y Nasa-atin-ang-Diyos.”
And he came down with them and stood on a
stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of
the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and
Sidon came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who
were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. Everyone in the crowd sought to
touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.
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Reflection:
What is the significance of this call on the apostles in our lives?
Looking back on the lives of the apostles, except for Judas all were faithful followers of the Lord. They were His eyes and ears they were His collaborators in His mission. The apostles did not lead lives of ease and comfort in fact except for Judas who betrayed the Lord. Almost all of them were martyred in doing the mission that Jesus bestowed upon them.
By virtue of our Baptism we too are called to collaborate with Jesus to spread the good news of our salvation. We are called to lead Holy lives so that others may see Jesus in us. We are called to be patient, to shun the temptation of the flesh and materialism, to persevere and to be enduring and faithful until the very end.
If you say that you love Jesus it means that you’re always ready to suffer and be humiliated for the sake of the advancement of His kingdom. Ready to persevere and ready to face the hardship that may come your way. For this is the mark of a true and faithful follower.
Would you respond to the call of the Lord?
– Marino J. Dasmarinas
Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you,
is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life
rather than to destroy it?" Looking around at them all, he then said to
him, "Stretch out your hand." He did so and his hand was restored.
But they became enraged and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
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Reflection:
Is doing good always in season?
To do good is always in season there’s no exception in doing good and Jesus proves this point by healing a man’s withered hand even on a Sabbath day. To do good also encompasses anyone be it our friends, relatives, strangers and even our enemies; we must do good to them always.
This is the point that Jesus wants us all to emulate: To always make a positive difference in the lives of our fellowmen even during holy days such as the Sabbath day (in the Jewish tradition). And let us not also be selective on the people that we give our help.
In the three years’ public life of Jesus, He would always heal without discrimination of the season and the people. He was not even afraid even if there was threat of physical and verbal abuse on His person His main priority was to impart His miraculous help to everyone.
Are we like Jesus who always seeks to do good even to those who persecuted Him? Hard to do, right? However, this is the challenge that confronts us, we who profess to follow the greatest man who ever walked this earth. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.
He ordered
them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to the more they
proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, He has done all
things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.
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Reflection:
The story is told about a young man who was complaining to his father that he doesn’t feel the presence of Jesus in his life. His father told him, examine your lifestyle, you are always out with your friends. If you are home you are always in front of the computer if not you are playing with your smart phone or watching TV. The father also said, if you continue with that lifestyle you would really not feel the presence of Jesus in your life.
How can we have an up close and personal encounter with Jesus? It’s when the environment around us is silent there’s no presence of anyone except us and Jesus. This is always the most conducive environment for us to have an encounter with the Lord. It’s very difficult to encounter and feel the presence of Jesus when there are many people around and when there is noise.
Only in the quietness of our lives we would be able to encounter and feel the healing presence of Jesus. And in the quietness of our lives we would be able to hear the voice of Jesus. Telling us what we need to hear so that we can have the motivation and energy to move on amidst the noisy grind of our lives.
Do you feel the presence of Jesus in your life? If not then try to live a quite life and try to give time for Jesus more than you give time satisfying your pleasure seeking and loud lifestyle. This doesn’t mean that you will be isolating yourself from your friends and usual environment.
This simply means that you’ll lessen the noise in your life and you lessen your engagement with worldly pleasures. Yet you still connect yourself to this world not anymore to seek earthly pleasures. But to seek people who are engaged with earthly pleasures so that you can bring them closer to Jesus.
The deaf mute man in our gospel was healed by Jesus not in the midst of the noisy crowd. Jesus instead brought the deaf mute man away from the crowd. To be with Him alone in a quiet place and in the stillness of the environment Jesus healed him (Mark 7:33-35).
Do you regularly have your own quiet time with the Lord? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
