The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.”
As a result of this, many of his disciples
returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with him. Jesus then
said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him,
“Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come
to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”
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Reflection:
When many of the followers of Jesus went back to their former way of life because they can’t believe His Bread of Life discourse. Jesus perhaps quite sad turned His attention to His twelve apostles and said to them: “Do you also want to leave (John 6:67)?” This is the million-dollar question that confronted the twelve apostles, “Do you also want to leave (John 6:67)?”
For many of us the teachings of Jesus are actually hard to follow. For example His teachings about Humility. How many of us are still willing to offer the other cheek if we are hit on the other side(Luke 6:29)?
His teachings about fidelity to the Sacrament of Marriage. Are we still faithful or have we been faithful to our respective spouses? And there are many more teachings that Jesus wants us to follow but we don’t for the simple reason that we want to satisfy our earthly desires.
It’s hard to follow Jesus because He will stir our lives according to what He wants it to become and not how we want to become. Jesus will turn our life upside-down, He will shake and disturb it until we are purified. And this is hard for many of us because we want to follow our own self-serving wants and sometimes immoral desires.
But where would we go? We follow the dictates of the flesh and this sinful world? if this is so we then end up in hell, we will even taste and feel how it is to be in hell while we are still living in this world.
it’s only through Jesus that we can have
peace, that this world cannot give us and it’s only through Jesus that we can
have eternal life. The things that we have right now are all temporary; we will
leave it or it will leave us anytime. Therefore, we always have to be faithful
to the Lord no matter the trials. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
For my Flesh is true food, and my Blood is true drink. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.” These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
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Reflection:
The story is told about a man who was on the verge of death and was already gasping for breath. His doctors told his relatives that it was just a matter of minutes before he expires. During such situation relatives and close friends would seemingly be helpless and forlorn.
But no, we will not feel helpless if we know that the person on his deathbed is a frequent Holy Mass goer. And if we know that the person is frequently being nourished by the Body of Christ during Holy Communion.
This is for the reason that we believe to the core of our bones the proclamation of Jesus that whoever eats His Flesh and drinks His blood has eternal life.
We hold on to this assurance by Jesus and we feel and believe this as we receive His Body and Blood during Holy Communion. But not everyone is knowledgeable of this Bread of Life which is none other than Jesus Himself.
It is therefore our responsibility now to echo this gift of life of Jesus so that many will be enlightened and saved. Let us not become hearers only let us also become sharers of this good news.
Will you share what you know about Jesus
our Bread of Life? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
55 Sapagkat totoong pagkain ang aking laman at totoong inumin ang aking dugo. 56 Ang ngumunguya ng aking laman at umiinom ng aking dugo ay namamalagi sa akin at ako naman sa kanya. 57 Sinugo nga ako ng Amang buhay at buhay ako dahil sa Ama, gayundin naman dahil sa akin mabubuhay ang ngumunguya sa akin.
58 Ito
ang tinapay na pumanaog mula sa Langit, hindi gaya sa inyong mga ninuno na
kumain at nangamatay pa rin. Mabubuhay naman magpakailanman ang ngumunguya
ng tinapay na ito.” 59 Sinabi niya ang mga bagay na ito sa sinagoga
habang nangangaral siya sa Capernaum.
Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate
the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from
heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down
from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I
will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.”
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Reflection:
Are you afraid to die?
There are many reasons why many are afraid to die; foremost amongst these reasons is we are not prepared yet. We still have our own worldly preoccupation that we must take care of first. But we all know that at a time that we don’t expect, we have to go and leave this world permanently.
In today’s gospel Jesus gives us an iron clad protection against our fear of death. He enjoins us to regularly partake of the living bread that is available to us during Holy Communion no other than Himself. This is the same bread that is given to those who are sick and not anymore able to go to church for Holy Mass.
Why don’t we try to regularly partake of His Body during Holy Communion? And see how it will form, change and make us fearless of mortal death. We will not die anymore if we are with Jesus and we will not fear death anymore if we reverently partake of Him at Holy Mass during Holy Communion.
Our marching order therefore is to bring others to Holy Mass. So that they will also be blessed, nourished and enlightened by the enormous blessing of the Body of Jesus Christ.
Have you been able to bring someone to
church for Holy Mass so that they too could partake of the Body of Christ
during Holy Communion? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
46 Wala ngang nakakita sa Ama liban sa kanya na galing sa Diyos; siya ang nakakita sa Diyos. 47 Talagang-talagang sinasabi ko sa inyo, may buhay magpakailanman ang naniniwala. 48 Ako siyang tinapay ng buhay. 49 Kumain nga ng manna sa disyerto ang inyong mga ninuno at nangamatay pa rin. 50 Narito naman ang tinapay na pumapanaog mula sa Langit, upang makakain nito ang sinuman at di mamatay.
51 Ako siyang tinapay na buhay, na pumanaog mula sa Langit. Kung may kakain ng tinapay na ito, mabubuhay siya magpakailanman. At ang laman ko ang tinapay na aking ibibigay alang-alang sa ikabubuhay ng mundo.
And this is the will of the one who sent
me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should
raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who
sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him
on the last day.”
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Reflection:
Is Jesus the center of your life? Well and good if yes for this is how it should be. Jesus must be the center of your life. Not money, not power or anything that is worldly it should be Jesus! Why Jesus and not anything that belongs to this world? Because when you have Jesus in your life you already have the greatest treasure that gives eternal life.
Life in this world is fleeting; we could leave this ephemeral world anytime, what would happen to us if Jesus is not the center of our life? For example, if our motivation of living in this world is all about material things, power and enjoyment. What’s next after material things, power and enjoyment? Nothing for it’s already the dead end for a person without God. This is the danger of not having Jesus in our lives and not making Jesus the center of our lives.
In our gospel, Jesus said to the crowds: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst (John 6:35). If we deeply believe in this statement of Jesus we will indeed not experience hunger and thirst anymore. Hunger and thirst for what? Hunger and thirst for whatever this world will offer us.
Is Jesus the center of your life right now? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
37 Lalapit sa akin ang bawat ibinibigay sa akin ng Ama, at hinding-hindi ko ipagtatabuyan sa labas ang lumalapit sa akin. 38 Sapagkat pumanaog ako mula sa Langit hindi para gawin ang aking kalooban kundi ang kalooban ng nagpadala sa akin.
39 Ito
ang kalooban ng nagpadala sa akin: na huwag kong pabayaang mawala ang bawat
ibinigay niya sa akin; sa halip ay itatayo ko ito sa huling araw. 40 Ito
nga ang kalooban ng Ama ko: magkakaroon ng buhay magpakailanman ang bawat
pumapansin sa Anak at nananalig sa kanya, at itatayo ko siya sa huling araw.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.
The Father who dwells in me is doing his
works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else,
believe because of the works themselves. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever
believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than
these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I
will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of
me in my name, I will do it.”
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Reflection:
A typical marriage vows goes like this: For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. A man and a woman become one by virtue of the Sacrament of Marriage.
Jesus objective for instituting this Sacrament is to permanently bind these two separate and distinct individuals so that they may become one. This union must always be for life. It must never be based on convenience but based on mutual trust and respect for each other.
In our gospel for today, it is very obvious that Jesus wants to point out to Philip and to us too that He and God the father are one. Although God the Father and Jesus are two different persons, they are one and the same God. They both have the same desire for all of humanity and that is salvation for us all.
We believe this oneness of Jesus and God the Father, although they are two different persons. We must also strongly believe in the Sanctity of the Sacrament of Matrimony. That it is a union for life and nobody can separate both spouses except mortal death.
But sad to say, many of us violates the
sanctity of Marriage and the result is sometimes separation. And who is to
blame for this? To blame is the arrogance of many of us for we don’t want to
subscribe to the laws of God. We instead follow our selfish desires which in
the end don’t bring us any good except endless misery. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
8 Sinabi sa kanya ni Felipe: “Panginoon, ipakita mo na sa amin ang Ama at sapat na sa amin.” 9 Sinabi sa kanya si Jesus: “Ang tagal na panahon n’yo akong kasama at hindi mo pa ako kilala, Felipe? Sa pagkakita sa akin ninuman, ang Ama ang nakikita niya. Paano mong masasabi: ‘Ituro mo sa amin ang Ama’? 10 Hindi ka ba naniniwalang nasa Ama ako at nasa akin ang Ama? Hindi mula sa sarili ko sinasabi ang mga salitang binibigkas ko. Sa akin nanunuluyan ang Ama, at siya ang gumagawa ng kanyang mga gawa.
11 Maniwala
kayo sa akin na nasa Ama ako at nasa akin ang Ama. Kung hindi dahil sa akin,
maniwala kayo dahil man lamang sa mga gawa. 12 Talagang-talagang sinasabi ko sa inyo, magagawa rin ng
nananalig sa akin ang gawang ginawa ko; at mas dakila pa kaysa mga ito ang
gagawin niya. Sapagkat sa Ama ako papunta. 13 Anumang hingin n’yo sa Pangalan ko’y gagawin ko upang
luwalhatiin ang Ama sa Anak. 14 At
kung may hingin kayo sa akin sa Pangalan ko, gagawin ko.
When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when the found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
Do not work for food that perishes but for
the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For
on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” So they said to him, “What can we do
to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the
work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”
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Reflection:
A man was once asked why he attends the celebration of the Holy Mass everyday. He said that he does so because he wants to be nourished by Jesus everyday. Then he said these very profound words: “I don’t have the heart to refuse Jesus who always offers Himself to me during Holy Communion.”
In almost everyday of our lives Jesus always offers Himself to us by way of Holy Communion inside the celebration of the Holy Mass. He is the food that does not perish and He is the food that gives eternal life. We often times take Him for granted for the reason that we don’t go to Holy Mass often even if we have the luxury of time.
But when are we going to Jesus? When we are in dire need of Him already? Let us not wait for the time to come when we will be forced to go to Jesus. Because we are already sick or a few breaths away from death.
Let us take advantage of the present moment that we have every day let us go to Jesus now. For everything is ours to gain, we will not lose anything except our sinfulness the moment we decide to go to Jesus.
Do you always go to Jesus who always
offers Himself to you in the celebration of the Holy Mass? – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
24 Kaya nang mapuna ng mga tao na wala roon si Jesus ni ang kanyang mga alagad, suma¬kay sila sa mga bangka at nagpa-Capernaum sa pag¬hanap kay Jesus. 25 Nang matagpuan nila siya sa kabilang ibayo ng dagat, sinabi nila sa kanya, “Rabbi, kailan ka dumating?” 26 Sumagot sa kanila si Jesus at sinabi: “Talagang-talagang sinasabi ko sa inyo, hinahanap n’yo ako hindi dahil sa nakita n’yo sa pamamagitan ng mga tanda kundi dahil sa tinapay na kinain n’yo at nabusog kayo.
27 Magtrabaho kayo, hindi nga para sa pagkaing nasi¬sira kundi para sa pagkaing nama¬malagi hanggang buhay na magpa¬kailanman. Ito ang ibibigay sa inyo ng Anak ng Tao, siya nga ang tinatakan ng Diyos Ama.” 28 Kaya sinabi nila sa kanya: “Ano ang matatrabaho namin para maisa¬gawa ang mga gawa ng Diyos?” 29 Sumagot si Jesus at sinabi sa kanila: “Ito ang gawa ng Diyos: patuloy kayong manalig sa sinugo niya.”
Gospel: John 21:1-19
At that time, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the
Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way. Together were Simon Peter,
Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two
others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They
said to him, “We also will come with you.”
So they went out and got into the
boat, but that night they caught nothing. When it was already dawn, Jesus was
standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered
him, “No.” So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat
and you will find something.”
So they cast it, and were not able to
pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said
to Peter, “It is the Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he
tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. The
other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about
a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish.
When they climbed out on shore, they
saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some
of the fish you just caught.” So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net
ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many,
the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.” And none of
the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” Because they realized it was the
Lord. Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like
manner the fish. This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his
disciples after being raised from the dead.
When they had finished breakfast,
Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than
these?” Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus
said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He then said to Simon Peter a second time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you
know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” Jesus said to him the
third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that
Jesus had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him,
“Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and
go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” He
said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he
had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”
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Reflection:
Do you sometimes feel abandoned by
Jesus? There are times that we go through some arid stages in our life. We feel
abandoned by our friends, relative and even Jesus, But does Jesus abandon us?
Never will the Lord abandon us.
With the death of Jesus the disciples
had no other option but to go back to their former way of life none other than
fishing. It must have been difficult for them to go back to fishing for they’ve
been detached from it for three long years. Perhaps they even thought that they
would never go back to fishing but their Lord and Master died on the cross.
Therefore, there was no other choice
for them but to go back to their former job as fishermen. From being fishers of
men they go back again to being real fishermen. After three long years they
went fishing for the very first time, it must been very hard for them. Perhaps
when they were at sea they were still thinking of Jesus and terribly longing
for His presence. That’s why they failed to concentrate on fishing so they
caught nothing.
Then the feeling of weariness,
loneliness and the feeling of being abandoned was immediately replaced by joy
and hope when they saw Jesus waiting for them ashore. Jesus asked them, have
you caught anything? They said none, then Jesus told them put once again your
nets at sea where you are right now. No need for you to go far, drop it where
you are right now! And then the miracle happened they caught an enormous number
of fish.
Relating this gospel with our personal journey with Jesus. There would also be episodes of weariness, loneliness and perhaps feeling of abandonment. But in the midst of these episodes let us continue to have faith in the Lord for Jesus will make His way back to us when we least expect it. Never will the Lord abandon us. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Mabuting
Balita: Juan 21:1-19
1 Pagkaraan ng mga ito, muling ibinunyag ni Jesus ang sarili sa
mga alagad sa may Dagat ng Tiberias. Ganito ang kanyang pagbu¬bunyag. 2
Magkasamang naroon sina Simon Pedro, Tomas na tinaguriang Kambal, Natanael na
taga-Cana ng Galilea, ang mga anak ni Zebedeo, at dalawa pa sa mga
alagad niya. 3 Sinabi sa kanila ni Simon Pedro: “Aalis ako para mangisda.”
Sinabi nila sa kanya: “Sasama kami sa iyo.”
Lumabas sila at sumakay sa bangka nang gabing iyo’y wala silang
nahuli. 4 Nang madaling-araw na, nakatayo si Jesus sa dalampasigan pero hindi
nakilala ng mga alagad na si Jesus iyon. 5 Tinatawag sila ni Jesus: “Mga bata,
wala ba kayong isda?” Sumagot sila sa kanya: “Wala!” 6 Kaya sinabi niya sa
kanila: “Ihagis n’yo ang lambat sa bandang kanan ng bangka at ma-kakatagpo
kayo.” Kaya inihagis nga nila at hindi na nila makayang hilahin iyon dahil sa
dami ng isda.
7 Kaya sinabi kay Pedro ng alagad na iyon na mahal ni Jesus: “Ang
Panginoon siya!” Nang marinig ni Simon Pedro na ang Panginoon iyon, ibinigkis
niya ang [kanyang] damit dahil hubad siya, at saka tumalon sa dagat. 8 Dumating
namang sakay ng maliit na bangka ang iba pang mga alagad pagkat hindi sila
kalayuan mula sa pampang kundi mga sandaang metro lamang. Hila-hila nila ang
lambat ng mga isda.
9 At pagkalunsad sa lupa, nakita nilang may nagbabagang uling
doon, na pinagiihawan ng isda, at may tinapay. 10 Sinabi sa kanila ni Jesus:
“Magdala kayo mula sa mga isdang nahuli n’yo ngayon.” 11 Kaya sumakay si Simon
Pedro at hinila sa pampang ang lambat na puno ng sandaa’t limampu’t tatlong
malalaking isda. At kahit na napakarami’y hindi napunit ang lambat.
12 Sinabi sa kanila ni Jesus: “Halikayo’t mag-almusal!” Walang
maka-pangahas sa mga alagad na mag-usisa sa kanya: “Sino ba kayo?” dahil alam
nilang ang Panginoon iyon. 13 Lumapit si Jesus at kumuha ng tinapay at
ipinamahagi sa kanila. Gayundin sa isda. 14 Ito ngayon ang ikatlong pagbubunyag
ni Jesus sa mga alagad matapos siyang ibangon mula sa mga patay.
15 Pagkapag-almusal nila, sinabi ni Jesus kay Simon Pedro: “Simon,
anak ni Juan, mahal mo ba ako nang higit sa pagmamahal nila?” Sinabi nito sa
kanya: “Oo, Panginoon, ikaw ang nakaaalam na iniibig kita.” Sinabi sa kanya:
“Pakanin mo ang aking mga kordero.” 16 Sinabi sa kanyang makalawa: “Simon, anak
ni Juan, mahal mo ba ako?” Sinabi nito sa kanya: “Oo, Panginoon, ikaw ang
nakaaalam na iniibig kita.” Sinabi sa kanya: “Ipastol ang aking mga tupa.” 17
Sinabi sa kanyang makaitlo: “Simon, anak ni Juan, iniibig mo ba ako?” Nalungkot
na si Pedro dahil makaitlo siyang sinabihan: “Iniibig mo ba ako?” kaya sinabi
niya: “Panginoon, ikaw ang nakaaalam ng lahat; alam mong iniibig kita.” Sinabi
nito sa kanya: “Pakanin mo ang aking mga tupa.
18 Talagang-talagang sinasabi ko sa iyo, nang bata-bata ka pa, ikaw mismo ang nagbibigkis sa iyong sarili at palakad-lakad ka saan mo man naisin. Ngunit pagtanda mo’y ididipa mo naman ang mga kamay mo, at iba ang magbibigkis sa iyo sa hindi mo nais.” 19 Sinabi ito ni Jesus sa pagbibigay-tanda sa paraan ng kamatayang ipanluluwalhati ni Pedro sa Diyos. At pagkatapos nito ay sinabi niya: “Sumunod ka sa akin!”
When they had rowed about three or four
miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they
began to be afraid. But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” They
wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore
to which they were heading.
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Reflection:
Where do you go when you are fearful or when there’s an absence of peace in your life? Do you go to Jesus and ask Him to calm you and give you peace?
As we continue to live we would be encountering many fears and many of these fears will certainly unsettle us. Yes, we worry about these fears but after a while we also learn to submit everything to Jesus and the moment we do we already have peace.
While the disciples were on a boat on their way to Capernaum they encountered a strong wind and they were certainly bothered by it. What would have happened if Jesus was with them? Jesus would have told them, keep calm don’t worry for I am with you. But Jesus was not with them so they were all fearful.
Many fears bother us when there’s an absence of Jesus in our lives. Why? Because there’s an absence of stability, serenity and peace. Even if a person is rich or powerful if he/she doesn’t have Jesus there would certainly be absence of peace and calmness.
You will only have peace in your life if
you have Jesus, if you don’t have Jesus expect the absence of peace to bother
you. Wealth will not give you peace; power will not give you peace only Jesus
will give you this elusive peace. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
19 Pagkasagwan
nila nang may lima o anim na kilometro, napansin nilang naglalakad si Jesus sa
dagat at palapit sa bangka. Nasindak sila. 20 Ngunit sinabi niya sa
kanila: “Ako siya; huwag kayong matakot.” 21 Nang isasakay na nila sa
bangka, bigla namang nasa pampang na na pupuntahan nila ang bangka.
Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place.
So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat.
When the people saw the sign he had done,
they said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.”
Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him
king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Do you believe that Jesus can do miracles in your life?
The precursor to Jesus’ miracle of the loaves and fish was a boy who had five barley loaves and two fish; we cannot speak of this miracle without him. The boy was generous enough to give what was for him alone, he did not mind if he would be hungry; he simply shared his food for others to eat.
Out of the selfless heart of the boy, Jesus miraculously multiplied the five barley loaves and two fish and they were able to feed the more than five thousand followers. And they still had some more to gather and it filled twelve wicker baskets.
We see here the enormous benefit of selfless sharing; sometimes we don’t share because we think that what we have is only enough for us. However, if we would learn to share we would also notice that what we share comes back to us a hundredfold. It is already immaterial how big or small the food or anything that we share what is important is we are very much willing to share whatever blessing that we have.
There are similarities in the institution of the Eucharist and this miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. Jesus instituted the Eucharist in remembrance of the Passover meal and coincidentally Jesus did this miracle of the loaves when the Passover feast was near. Jesus also took the loaves and gave thanks and distributed it to them. These are actions that He did during the Institution of the Eucharist.
Why did Jesus tested Philip? Because Philip had a shaky faith, he was with Jesus all along witnessing His miracles and all. Yet he was still doubtful that’s why Jesus tested him. Are we not like Philip once in a while? We are impatient sometimes and we doubt if Jesus would grant our prayers before Him.
If only we know that Jesus will never abandon us, yes there would be testing of our faith. For as long as we hold on He will always be there for us in His own time of choosing. Let us be patient and wait, let us pursue and not give up on our life’s aspirations, ambitions and visions. He will eventually help us achieve what we want.
After doing the miracles of the loaves and after having so much fragments leftover. Naturally the crowds were amazed. Who would not be? So it’s time now to hail and exalt Jesus with praises. But Jesus would have none of it. True to his humility and self-effacing character He simply walked away to the mountain to be alone perhaps to pray and thank God for the blessing of the miracle of the loaves.
In this occurrence we see how different is
Jesus from us, we love it when we are being honored, praised for the things
that we do. We are tickled pink by it and our ears flap in agreement, often
times we don’t do things without people noticing us. We want people to see what
we do and we want them to praise us (like politicians and public officials).
Let us all wake up from this egotism and selfish attitude. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
5 Kaya pagkatunghay ni Jesus at pagkakita niyang marami ang taong pumupunta sa kanya, sinabi niya kay Felipe: “Saan kayo makabibili ng tinapay para makakain ang mga ito?” 6 Sinabi niya ito bilang pagsubok sa kanya dahil alam na niya kung ano ang napipinto niyang gawin. 7 Sumagot sa kanya si Felipe: “Dalawandaang denaryong tinapay ay hindi sapat sa kanila para makakuha ng tigkakaunti ang bawat isa.”
8 At sinabi naman sa kanya ng isa sa kanyang mga alagad na si Andres na kapatid ni Simon Pedro: 9 "May maliit na bata rito na may limang tinapay na sebada at dalawang isda. Ano ito para sa pagkarami-raming tao?” 10 Madamo sa lugar na iyon kaya sinabi ni Jesus: “Paupuin n’yo ang mga tao.” Kaya nag-upuan sila, halos limanlibo ang mga lalaki.
11 Kaya kinuha ni Jesus ang mga tinapay at pagkapagpasalamat, at ipinabigay sa mga nakaupo. Gayundin naman sa mga isda – gaano man ang gustuhin nila. 12 Nang busog na sila, sinabi niya sa kanyang mga alagad: “Tipunin ninyo ang natirang mga piraso para walang masayang.” 13 Kaya tinipon nila ang mga tira ng mga pinakain, at labindalawang bakol ang napuno ng mga pira-piraso mula sa limang tinapay na sebada.
14 Pagkakita
sa tandang ginawa ni Jesus, sinabi ng mga tao: “Ito ngang talaga ang Propeta
parating sa mundo.” 15 At alam ni Jesus na parating sila upang agawin siya
para gawing hari kaya lumigpit siyang muli na siya lamang mag-isa sa
bulubundukin.
For the one whom God sent speaks the words
of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit. The Father loves the Son and
has given everything over to him. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,
but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains
upon him.
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Reflection:
Why is it hard for many of us to convince others to go to church for Holy Mass and why can’t we share Jesus with them? This is for the reason that many of us don’t live the teachings of Jesus we don’t live our faith in other words.
What must we do if we are in this kind of predicament? Should we easily give up or should we change our ways and live our faith? It’s no brainer that the right choice is to change our ways and not give up. Because if we would give up, who will evangelize them? We leave them to be evangelized by those from other faiths?
We must teach our faith but we must do it with humility, patience and love. We have to employ humility, patience and love so that we could open their hearts to the teachings of Jesus and our faith. For example our gospel for today tells us about the love of God for His Son. How would they know about this if we would not teach them?
We have to teach them using humility,
patience and love. We will always become effective evangelizers/sharers of our
faith if we are humble, patient and loving. For these are the qualities of
Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
33 Pinagtibay
naman ng tumanggap sa kanyang patunay na totoo ang Diyos. 34 Sinasabi nga
ng sinugo ng Diyos ang mga salita ng Diyos sapagkat walang sukat na ibinibigay
sa kanya ang Espiritu. 35 Mahal nga ng Ama ang Anak, at ipinagkatiwala sa
kanyang mga kamay ang lahat. 36 May buhay magpakailanman ang nananalig sa
Anak. Hindi naman nakikita ng ayaw manalig sa Anak ang buhay kundi namamalagi
sa kanya ang galit ng Diyos.
