Short, Simple and Personal reflections on the daily Holy Mass Gospel. I provide talks.
My Youtube: Pls. Subscribe, Like and Share. Thanks and God Bless You!!!
Friday, December 05, 2014
Wednesday, December 03, 2014
Reflection for December 5, Friday of the First Week of Advent; Matthew 9:27-31
Gospel: Matthew 9:27-31
As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed
him, crying out, “Son of David, have pity on us! When he entered the house, the
blind men approached him and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do
this?” “Yes, Lord,” they said to him. Then he touched their eyes and said, “Let
it be done for you according to your faith. And their eyes were opened. Jesus
warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this. But they went out and
spread word of him through all that land.
+ + + + +
+ +
Reflection:
What are
we willing to do to have faith? Are we willing to humble ourselves and kneel
before God and ask Him to give us the gift of faith? Faith is a gift that Jesus
freely gives to the humble. Even if you will not ask for it Jesus will give it
to you for as long as you humble yourself in front of Him.
In the
gospel for this Friday we have two humble blind men who cried to Jesus for compassion.
Why did they cry when they could have
shouted at Jesus to get His attention? They cried because they saw hope and
mercy in Jesus. For the two blind men Jesus was their only hope to have the
gift of sight.
Let us
also ask Jesus to give us the gift of Hope and faith for nothing is impossible
for those who humble themselves before God. Even the impossible is now very much
possible for as long as we have faith.
Whatever
we’re going through right now, believe that Jesus will heal us. And believe that
He will answer our pleas for nothing is impossible for Jesus. This is best
exemplified by the two incredible blind
men of deep faith in our gospel.
How’s
your faith in Jesus? - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Reflection for December 4, Thursday of the First Week of Advent; Matthew 7:21, 24-27
Gospel: Matthew
7:21, 24-27
(Jesus said to his
disciples) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of
heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
“Everyone who
listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who
built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and
buffeted the house. But it did not
collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these
words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house
on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the
house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
What will happen to
us if we always pray yet we don’t live our faith? For example we always pray
the Holy Rosary everyday or we go to Holy Mass every Sunday yet we don’t allow the
Holy Spirit to change us? We would easily succumb to worldly temptations and we
render useless our acts of worship for God.
The Philippines is a
catholic country, in fact more than eighty percent (80%) of us are Catholics
and the majority of our leaders are Catholics. yet corruption is deeply rooted
in our bureaucracy. Why is this so? This is for the reason that we are only
good at worshipping God but we don’t allow our worship for God to transform us.
What does Jesus want
from all of us? He wants us to worship Him and allow this same worship for Him
to transform us. So that we could become His true and faithful followers, it’s
very easy to pray so that others would see us. However, the real qualification
for us to be called a follower of Jesus is when we allow our worship for Him to
transform us.
What will happen to
us if we let our prayers to transform us according to the will of the Father in
heaven? We would be like a wise man who
built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and
buffeted the house. But it did not
collapse; it had been set solidly on rock (Luke 7:24-25).
Do we allow our
worship for God to transform us according to His will? - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Tuesday, December 02, 2014
My Reflections will resume soon please comeback. God bless you!
My Reflections will resume soon please comeback. God bless you! - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Reflection for Monday December 1, Monday of the First Week of Advent; Matthew 8:5-11
Gospel: Matthew
8:5-11
When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion
approached him and appealed to him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home
paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.” He said to him, “I will come and cure him.”
The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my
roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man
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 and said to those following
him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east
and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in
the Kingdom of heaven.”
+ + + + +
+ +
Reflection:
What brought
the centurion to Jesus? It was his great faith, when the centurion went to
Jesus for help for his servant he had nothing except his great faith. He firmly
believed in Jesus power to heal and he used his mighty faith to convince Jesus
to cure his servant.
Who is
this centurion? He is a roman officer that has people under his command, he
also is not a follower yet he has great faith in Jesus. Don’t we want this kind
of faith also? Of course we all want our faith to be like the centurions. Therefore
we must prayerfully ask Jesus to give us the same faith. But do we ask Jesus to
give us the gift of faith? Is the gift of faith always part of our prayer request
for Jesus?
If Jesus
could give that great faith to a non-follower like the centurion why can’t He
give us the same faith considering that we are his followers? Faith is a gift
that Jesus freely and generously gives to anyone who prays for it.
What is our
usual prayer to Jesus? Is it always to have the things of this world. Let us
not forget that the things of this world are passing and temporary. While faith
will not pass, it’s not also temporary.
Faith will
be with us until forever, it will accompany us in our journey beyond this world
going to the eternal Kingdom of the King of Kings no other than Jesus Himself.
Give us
the gift of faith O Lord Jesus, most especially the one who is reading this
reflection right now. Amen. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Friday, November 28, 2014
Reflection for Sunday November 30, First Sunday of Advent; Mark 13:33-37
Gospel: Mark
13:33-37
Jesus
said to his disciples: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time
will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his
servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on
the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is
coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the
morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I
say to all: ‘Watch!’”
+ + + + +
+ +
Reflection:
What does
it mean to be watchful? It means to always be prepared and alert for anything
that may happen or arrive. But why do we need to be watchful? Why not simply become
passive and complacent? We need to be watchful because this is what Jesus wants
us to become for He will manifest His presence to us at any moment of our
lives.
Why did
Jesus told the disciples to be watchful when He was still with them? Jesus was
actually preparing already His disciples for His eventual arrest and separation
from them. And as they do their mission without Him, they should always do it
with vigor, motivation and with clean intention. For He may manifest Himself
again to them anytime, therefore they must never be complacent and passive.
Today is
the first Sunday of advent, this means coming or arrival of something very
important. What is the significance of this command of Jesus for us? We too are
being encouraged by Jesus to be watchful and prepared for His coming. But how should we prepare?
First is
by submitting ourselves to the Healing Sacrament of Reconciliation or
Confession. All of us are sinful; we sin through our Thoughts, Words
and Actions. These many sins that we commit make us ill-prepared for
the coming of Jesus.
Second is
we have to forgive those who caused us pain, if this tells us that we have to reach-out to them in humility so be it. This is very
difficult to do but if we say that we know Jesus then we must be prepared to
embody Jesus. By doing so we bring Jesus to them and who knows it may
be through us that they will have an awareness of the living presence of Jesus
in their lives.
Are we
prepared to be watchful? - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Reflection for Saturday November 29, Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 21:34-36
Gospel: Luke 21:34-36
Jesus said to his disciples:“Beware that
your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the
anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For
that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant
at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations
that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”
+ + + + +
+ +
Reflection:
What
would make us succumb to disorderly behavior, drunkenness and the anxieties of
daily life? We will succumb to this unhealthy behavior/lifestyle when we close
our hearts to the love of Jesus. Lest we forget, the devil is always present in
our environment and always trying to look for the right opportunity to snatch
us away from the love of God.
Some of
us may not believe that the devil is present in our environment but he is. This
is the reason why there are evil events and things around us. If there’s no active
presence of the devil in our environment there would have been no crimes and
other evil things but the devil is present.
In our
gospel for this Saturday, Jesus tells us this: :“Beware that your hearts do not
become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and
that day catch you by surprise like a trap (Luke 21:34).
The cure
for this warning of Jesus is none other than Himself! If we have a close and
personal relationship with Jesus we would be able to ward off any kind of
temptation that the evil one will cleverly throw at us.
If the
devil is always around waiting for the right timing to temp us. Jesus is always
there also always knocking at our hearts so that he could enter our lives. And
once we already have Jesus in our lives the devil will flee from our
environment. Therefore we must always open our hearts to Jesus for as long as
we exist in this world.
Are we
willing to open our heart to Jesus so that He could exorcize our many evils? - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Reflection for Friday November 28, Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 21:29-33
Gospel: Luke 21:29-33
Jesus told his disciples a parable. “Consider
the fig tree and all the other trees. When their buds burst open, you see for
yourselves and know that summer is now near; in the same way, when you see
these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near. Amen, I say to
you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken
place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
+ + + + +
+ +
Reflection:
A man was asked, what is your greatest fear
in Life? The man replied, I fear death for I don’t know what would happen to me
when I die.
We all
have our own set of fears, we fear losing somebody we love, we fear losing our
job. And the worst fear perhaps is the same as with the man who was asked about
his greatest fear. However why fear when
Jesus is always there to soothe and take away our fears?
Many of us
have so many fears for the reason that we don’t have Jesus in our lives and we don’t
have a personal relationship with Him. This is basically the reason why we have so
many fears. But, why don’t we try to have discover more about Jesus through our
faithful presence at Holy Mass? Why don’t we try to discover more about
Jesus by reading about His life in the
bible?
Jesus in
our gospel tells us that heaven and earth will pass away but His words will not
pass away (Luke 21:33). Indeed, everything will pass away or we may pass away
first before everything pass away. Nevertheless whatever happens and whomever
passes away first we have nothing to fear for as long as we have Jesus in our
lives. - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Reflection for Thursday November 27, Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 21:20-28
Gospel: Luke 21:20-28
Jesus said to his disciples: “When you see
Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that its desolation is at hand. Then those
in Judea must flee to the mountains. Let those within the city escape from it, and
let those in the countryside not enter the city, for these days are the time of
punishment when all the Scriptures are fulfilled. Woe to pregnant women and
nursing mothers in those days, for a terrible calamity will come upon the earth
and a wrathful judgment upon this people. They will fall by the edge of the
sword and be taken as captives to all the Gentiles; and Jerusalem will be
trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are
fulfilled.
“There will be signs in the sun, the moon,
and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the
waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the
world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the
Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these signs
begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at
hand.”
+ + + + +
+ +
Reflection:
There are
two sets of human sufferings that come to us. The first set of suffering is one
that we create for ourselves. For example a drunkard who has been told time and
again by his relatives to stop for it would result to his getting sick
eventually. But the drunkard would not listen to the wise counsel, eventually
he ended-up with cancer of the liver caused by his excessive addiction to liquor.
The
second set of sufferings that comes to us are those sufferings that we don’t
bring to ourselves. Example of this is sickness that comes with getting old or
any kind of suffering that we don’t create for ourselves.
In our
gospel for this Thursday Jesus speaks about the destruction of Jerusalem and its
people. They could have easily avoided this kind of sufferings if they listened
to the messengers of God (the prophets) who called on them to leave behind their
sinful ways. But they did not, they continued to sin they killed the messengers
that God sent them including His Son Jesus.
As we close
the curtains of this liturgical year and as we enter Advent. We are called by
God to listen to His voice who calls upon us to humbly repent from our
sinfulness. And the best response that we could ever do is to humbly submit
ourselves to the Healing Sacrament of Confession.
Reflection for Wednesday November 26, Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 21:12-19
Gospel: Luke 21:12-19
(Jesus said to His disciples) Before the end happens, however, They will
seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to
prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my
name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare
your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that
all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. You will even be
handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put
some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a
hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your
lives.”
+ + + + +
+ +
Reflection:
Jesus talks about persecution. Jesus tells the disciples: They will seize and
persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and
they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name (Luke
21:12).
Persecution
is a reality for all of us followers of Jesus it comes to us in many forms such
as through condemnation, isolation and the worst is death. Should we be
troubled about being persecuted for our Catholic faith?
Yes and No, yes; for the reason that we are humans we have fears and once we allow this fear (Such as fear of being persecuted for our faith) to dwell in our hearts this is torture.
No because we have hope and faith in Jesus and this hope and faith in Jesus can conquer our fear of persecution. Our hope and faith in Jesus will even fuel us to face peacefully our persecutors even at the cost of our own lives. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Yes and No, yes; for the reason that we are humans we have fears and once we allow this fear (Such as fear of being persecuted for our faith) to dwell in our hearts this is torture.
No because we have hope and faith in Jesus and this hope and faith in Jesus can conquer our fear of persecution. Our hope and faith in Jesus will even fuel us to face peacefully our persecutors even at the cost of our own lives. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Monday, November 24, 2014
Reflection for Tuesday November 25, Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 21:5-11
Gospel: Luke 21:5-11
While some people were speaking about how
the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said,
“All that you see here–the days will come when there will not be left a stone
upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”
Then they asked him, “Teacher, when will
this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to
happen?” He answered, “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my
name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come. Do not follow them! When you
hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must
happen first, but it will not immediately be the end.” Then he said to them, “Nation
will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful
earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and
mighty signs will come from the sky.
+ + + + +
+ +
Reflection:
Do you have fear of destructions and wars?
Of course we all have these fears, we fear wars and destructions because it may
be the sign of the end times. But why fear? When Jesus is telling us in our gospel
today not to be terrified!
We are human beings and as such it’s
natural for us to have fears in our hearts most especially when we see on TV
destructions and wars. But Jesus words are more powerful than any wars and
destructions combined!
In our gospel for this Tuesday Jesus
mentions about destructions and wars. Jesus mentioned these words in the gospel
hundreds of years ago. And what He mentioned then is actually happening right
now. As you read this reflection there are many ongoing wars and destructions
in many parts of the world. Are we going to tremble in fear? Of course not!
For
the reason that we know deep in our hearts that there’s hope! And this hope is
given to us by Jesus. In the gospel Jesus tells us not to be terrified for He
is far more powerful than any wars and destructions.
Therefore what we must do is to have hope
and faith in Jesus for when we have Jesus in our hearts we have nothing to
fear. Even the most destructive wars and calamities we will not fear!
Do you still have fear in your heart?
Surrender it all to Jesus let Him take over your life. - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Reflection for Monday November 24, St. Andrew DÅng-Lạc, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs; Luke 21:1-4
Gospel: Luke 21:1-4
When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy
people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow
putting in two small coins. He said, “I tell you truly, this poor widow put in
more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their
surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her
whole livelihood.”
+ + + + +
+ +
Reflection:
Do you know that you cannot outdo God’s
generosity? Do you know that the more you give that more that you would receive?
Many generous people including the poor widow who gave her whole livelihood
knows all about this. Perhaps this is not the first time that the poor woman in
our gospel offered her whole livelihood to the treasury.
Maybe she has been doing this act of extreme
generosity for so many times already and time and again this poor yet generous woman
has proven that whatever she gave out of her poverty comes back to her a
hundredfold times.
You may ask, if what the poor woman gave
comes back to her many times over. Then why is she still poor? Yes she is still
poor based in our own materialistic
eyes, but she is actually very rich in terms of her faith and spirituality this
is the reason why she could give everything including her earnings from her
livelihood.
To be materially poor is OK for as long as
you are rich in faith and spirituality. For what is the essence of material
wealth when it can easily fly away from our hands anytime?
Are you extremely generous like the poor
woman in our gospel? - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Friday, November 21, 2014
Reflection for Sunday November 23, Solemnity of Christ the King; Matthew 25:31-46
Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46
(Jesus
said to his disciples) "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all
the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations
will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his
right and the goats on his left. 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."
+ + + + +
+ +
Reflection:
A politician
wanted to be the king of his town. So he said to himself: I need all the money
that I could have so that I could use it for my campaign this coming election.
To hasten his plan he aligned himself with the rich and rub elbows with them
with the end in mind that they would contribute to his election campaign.
While
planning for his campaign strategy his wife asked him, what are you going to do
with the poor who comprise the majority of this town? The ambitious politician
said to his wife, don’t worry I will pretend that I am one with them so
that I could use them and have their votes.
Today is
the Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King! What is the difference of Jesus
kingship to this ambitious politician? The divergence between Jesus’ kingship and
the kingship of this ambitious politician and ours too is like heaven and
earth.
Our
mindset of kingship is one that dabbles in lavishness and one that craves for
respect and adulation. The kingship of Jesus dwells in humility, simplicity and
service. Our mindset of kingship is to use the poor to serve our selfish ends
the kingship of Jesus is to serve the poor without any ulterior motives
whatsoever. The earthly kingship that many of us and our politicians aspire for
is a total contradiction with the Kingship of Jesus.
Come to
think of it, what if we all align our understanding of kingship with the
kingship of Jesus? The world that we are presently in would become a much
better place to live. There would be no greed and corruption in government most especially there would be equality and no discrimination. There would be no more hunger
because the poor would be properly taken care of but
this is like wishing for the moon right now.
Each and
everyone of us has his/her little kingdoms to administer. Say for example if
you’re a parent or a bread winner, your kingdom is your home. If you’re a priest
your kingdom is your parish, if you’re a politician your kingdom is your town.
Do you
use the humble and selfless Kingship of Jesus in managing and leading your
little kingdom? - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Reflection for Saturday November 22, Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr; Luke 20:27-40
Gospel: Luke 20:27-40
Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came
forward and put this question to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, If
someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the
wife and raise up descendants for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the
first married a woman but died childless. Then the second and the third married
her, and likewise all the seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. Now
at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been
married to her.” Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and
remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the
resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no
longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because
they are the ones who will rise. That the dead will rise even Moses made known
in the passage about the bush, when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the
living, for to him all are alive.” Some of the scribes said in reply, “Teacher,
you have answered well.” And they no longer dared to ask him anything.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Why are we striving to live a life worthy in the eyes of God? This is
for the reason that we believe in the resurrection. We believe that after our
walk in this world is already over we would be raised once again to a new life
that is very much different from our present life right now.
The Sadducees who do not believe in the resurrection put in-front of
Jesus a situation about a woman who married one after the other seven brothers.
Their question for Jesus was to whom would the woman belong after all of them
dies? Would she belong to brother number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7? They’ve asked
this question to prove to everyone that there is no resurrection. Otherwise if
there is a resurrection then there would be a dilemma for the woman and the seven
brothers who married her.
But Jesus incisively answered the Sadducees that life in the resurrection
is very much different from their present lives. During the resurrected life
there would be no more marriage, no more death for everyone will be like angels
according to Jesus.
We must all aspire for this resurrected life that Jesus mentions to us
in the gospel. We start by living a life founded in our close relationship with
Jesus. A life that is clean and righteous before the eyes of God and men.
Is your present lifestyle worthy of resurrection in heaven with Jesus? - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Reflection for Friday November 21, Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Luke 19:45-48
Gospel: Luke
19:45-48
Jesus entered the
temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to
them, “It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it
a den of thieves.” And every day he was teaching in the temple area. The chief
priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to
put him to death, but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose
because all the people were hanging on his words.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Today is the
memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was said that when the
Blessed Virgin Mary was around three years old. She was brought to the temple
as an offering to God by her parents Anna and Joachim. This was to fulfill a
promise made by the couple to God when they were still childless.
There was an article
that I’ve read about a confession of a young man who went through a medical
procedure called sex change. From male he became female, after a few months of
going though the procedure this young man was already full of regrets.
According to him he was being deeply bothered by his conscience and he felt that something was wrong with the function of his body. I can’t remember if he died but there was something very unfortunate that happened to him after going through that procedure.
According to him he was being deeply bothered by his conscience and he felt that something was wrong with the function of his body. I can’t remember if he died but there was something very unfortunate that happened to him after going through that procedure.
Are we aware that
our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? Are we aware that Jesus is deeply
saddened when we try to alter the physical composition of our body? Today
with the help of science we could make ourselves appear younger. We can even
make our bodies a walking expression of who we are by tattooing it.
Reflection for Thursday November 20, Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 19:41-44
Gospel: Luke 19:41-44
As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying,
“If this day you only knew what makes for peace but now it is hidden from your
eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade
against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will
smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave
one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of
your visitation.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Why is it
that some people are so peaceful and not worried about life even if the environment
around them is worrisome? The reason behind is they’ve learned to surrender
everything to Jesus. They listen to Jesus by way of their active prayer life
and they’ve let Jesus take control of their lives and not them taking control.
When
Jesus was nearing Jerusalem He was very sad and He wept for its people because
they did not listen to God’s call of repentance (Through the prophets). They
purposely blinded themselves to the reality of repentance, why? Because they
love to sin and they liked what this sinful world offered them, they never
cared to be concerned of the punishing outcome of their sinfulness.
Jesus
loves us so dearly that He wants all of us to listen to Him. So that we could
be spared of the dreadful punishment that is due to those who do not care to
listen to Him. He also weep for us
everytime we sin, everytime we don’t to listen to Him.
When
everything is said and done and we are already suffering for the reason of our
sinfulness we have nobody to blame but ourselves. However, why let this very
harsh event called punishment come to us? When we could actually avoid it by
means of opening our hearts to the love and mercy of Jesus. - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Monday, November 17, 2014
Reflection for Wednesday November 19, Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 19:11-28
Gospel: Luke 19:11-28
While people were listening to Jesus speak, he proceeded to tell a
parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the Kingdom of God would
appear there immediately. So he said, “A nobleman went off to a distant country
to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return. He called ten of his
servants and gave them ten gold coins and told them, ‘Engage in trade with
these until I return.’His fellow citizens, however, despised him and sent a
delegation after him to announce, ‘We do not want this man to be our king.’ But
when he returned after obtaining the kingship, he had the servants called, to
whom he had given the money, to learn what they had gained by trading. The
first came forward and said, ‘Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional
ones.’ He replied, ‘Well done, good servant! You have been faithful in this
very small matter; take charge of ten cities.’ Then the second came and
reported, ‘Your gold coin, sir, has earned five more.’ And to this servant too
he said, ‘You, take charge of five cities.’ Then the other servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your gold coin; I
kept it stored away in a handkerchief, for I was afraid of you, because you are
a demanding man; you take up what you did not lay down and you harvest what you
did not plant.’ He said to him, ‘With your own words I shall condemn you, you
wicked servant. You knew I was a demanding man, taking up what I did not lay
down and harvesting what I did not plant; why did you not put my money in a
bank? Then on my return I would have collected it with interest.’ And to those
standing by he said, ‘Take the gold coin from him and give it to the servant
who has ten. But they said to him,
‘Sir, he has ten gold coins. He replied, ‘I tell you, to everyone who
has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be
taken away. Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king,
bring them here and slay them before me.’”
After he had said this, he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
A
successful businessman suddenly died, when his soul was about to separate from
his body he saw an angel and a devil. He naturally veered away from the devil
and he put himself at the side of the angel. When they were about to enter the
heavenly gates God was there to ask him this question: What can you say about
your life on earth? The man said, I was a successful business man when I was
still alive and I did no wrong to anyone.
Then God
said that’s very good! But have you done something for my kingdom? The man was
not able to answer for he did nothing to help grow the kingdom of God. Then God
commanded the angel to bring him to the other side of the fence where the environment
was very hot and humid for he did nothing to advance the kingdom of God.
What is
your present preoccupation right now? Are you very busy with the things of this
world? Like how to expand your business and how to grow bigger your money and
so forth. Many of us are perhaps like this: very earthly and always very busy
with earthly things. But if we are all busy with the affairs of this world
where would we end-up after our journey in this world is already over and done with?
Where would we end-up if we do nothing for the kingdom of God in this world?
In our
gospel for this Wednesday a nobleman gave his servants gold coins so that they
could do something to make it grow. Some of them were able to increase its
value yet there was one who simply kept
in a handkerchief what was entrusted to him. He did nothing to grow the money
entrusted to him by his master.
In our
faith life doing nothing is never an option or faith in Jesus that is kept to
oneself is never an alternative. We must share this faith that Jesus has
entrusted to us in whatever manner possible so that it could grow also.
Are we
productive servants of Jesus? - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Reflection for Tuesday November 18, Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 19:1-10
Gospel: Luke 19:1-10
At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.
Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a
wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because
of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a
sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he
reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for
today I must stay at your house.” And he came down quickly and received him
with joy. When they saw this, they began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to
stay at the house of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,
“Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have
extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because
this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and
to save what was lost.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Was it
only Zacchaeus who was seeking an encounter with Jesus? Was Jesus not also
seeking an encounter with Zacchaeus? Yes
Jesus was also seeking an encounter with Zacchaeus! Why? For the reason that
Zacchaeus was a sinner like all of us. And what made it more interesting for
Jesus to seek out Zacchaeus was his desire also to see Jesus.
Before
Jesus arrived at Jericho He already had in mind Zacchaeus He knew that this
chief tax collector was looking for Him and ready to change his sinful ways. With
this factor present the encounter of Jesus and Zacchaeus happened. After their
meeting Jesus subsequently went to the house Zacchaeus to purify his house. As
well as to liberate Zacchaeus of any form of sinfulness and right then and there
his conversion and liberation from any form of sinfulness happened.
How could
we relate this gospel episode with our personal lives? Like Zacchaeus we too
are sinful we may not be thinking yet of walking away from our sinfulness. Yet
Jesus is already knocking at our hearts so that he could also have a personal
encounter with us.
If we say
that we are not ready yet to walk away from our sinfulness because we enjoy
sinning, then when will we be ready? Next month or next year? It may be too
late already, nothing is certain with our life anything can happen the next
seconds or minutes.
Therefore
we must also be like Zacchaeus who responded to the desire of Jesus to meet
him. Let us not delay anymore let us rush to meet Jesus now for tomorrow may be
late already.
Are you
prepared to have a personal encounter with Jesus today? - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Reflection for Monday November 17, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious; Luke 18:35-43
Gospel: Luke 18:35-43
As Jesus approached Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside
begging, and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening. They
told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David,
have pity on me!” The people walking in front rebuked him, telling him to be
silent, but he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me!” Then
Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him; and when he came near,
Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He replied, “Lord, please
let me see.”Jesus told him, “Have sight; your faith has saved you.” He immediately
received his sight and followed him, giving glory to God. When they saw this,
all the people gave praise to God.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Who is Jesus to you? Is Jesus the hope and salvation of your life? The
blind man in our gospel had his hope and salvation anchored in Jesus. When he
heard that Jesus was passing by he shouted with all his might, “Jesus, Son of
David, have pity on me!” His shout comprised his prayer with faith in Jesus.
From a hopeless situation the blind man suddenly found hope and
salvation because Jesus passed by him. And Jesus did not disappoint the blind
man because He asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Then the blind
man said in reply, Please let me see my Lord and immediately he receive his
sight and he became a follower of Jesus from thereon.
What separates the blind man from us? It’s his persistent and
persevering faith, it’s faith that can move mountains. This is what separates
this blind man from us, what if we are in the shoes of the blind man? Would we simply give-up because we were rebuked and sternly told
to be silent?
But this blind man, when he was rebuked and told to be silent the more
that he persisted and the more that he cried to Jesus for help. And because of his persevering and persistent
faith he was heard and given the gift of sight by Jesus.
What is it that we want from Jesus? Let us not give-up, let us be persistent and
have faith for Jesus will soon hear us. - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)