Jesus was
going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and
began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this,
they said to him “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the
sabbath. He said to the them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his
companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of
offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could
lawfully eat? Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests
serving in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent? I say to you,
something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I
desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For
the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”
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Reflection:
What is
in the heart of Jesus? It’s mercy and
compassion for His people. Mercy and compassion that is ever ready to transgress
sacred laws such as the Sabbath law.
Being God
the Son Jesus perfectly knew that what He was doing was right. But the
Pharisees did not know the true identity of Jesus. So they questioned the
decision of Jesus to allow His disciples to pick and eat the grains on a Sabbath
day.
Do you
know Jesus deeply? Do you feel His presence in your life? If you don’t know
Jesus deeply and if you don’t feel His presence in your life. You will also
question some events or trial/s that occurs in your life.
For
instance when you go through severe trials such as sickness and the like. You
might also question the Lord Jesus and ask Him this question: Why am I going
through this trial or why did you allow me to go through this episode in my
life?
But if
you know Jesus and if you feel His presence in your life. You may never question Jesus and you
will simply bow to His will for you.
Ask Jesus
therefore to give you the gift of knowing Him deeply and the gift of His living
presence in your life. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus
said: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of
heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my
burden light.”
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Reflection:
Are you
already tired with the drudgery of your life? Do you want to be refreshed?
Jesus has an offer for you! In the gospel Jesus tells you this: “Come to me;
you who labor and burdened by the daily grind of life.
Why does
Jesus wants you to go to Him? Because Jesus wants to help you carry whatever
that burdens you right now. He wants to ease your pains and sufferings; Jesus
wants to help you in carrying whatever that cross might be.
Respond
to this call of Jesus and you will never regret making that decision. What will
happen to you if you respond now? The cross that you carry will become lighter
this is for the reason that Jesus is now helping you carry your cross.
You will
have hope as bright as the morning sun. And there will be many more positive
things that will happen to your life if you would respond to this offer of
Jesus. Respond now and see and feel for yourself the miracle that will unfold
in your life.
You have
everything to gain and nothing to lose if you would respond to this offer of
Jesus.- Marino J. Dasmarinas
Prayer:
I humbly
respond to your offer of help my Jesus. I am burdened by the many trials of my life.
Help me withstand these trials, help me ease my burdens. I humbly look to you
for help my Lord for I know that you will never refuse to help me. Embrace me
from now on with your merciful and compassionate love. Amen.
At that
time Jesus exclaimed: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for
although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have
revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All
things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except
the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the
Son wishes to reveal him.”
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Reflection:
What is
the key to know Gods will for you? It’s childlike humility, a humble person is ever ready to listen to
the voice and will of God. He/she doesn’t go against the will of God he/she
rather allows God’s will to work in his/her life. In the process of allowing
God’s will to rule his/her life he/she discovers more about God.
When you
are humble you open yourself to the countless blessings that emanates from God.
You may ask, how am I going to be humble before God? You have to follow the
rules of the church which Jesus founded through St. Peter.
For
example the rule of Sunday Holy Mass obligation, a humble person will always
see to it that he/she is always present in this sacred celebration. Another
example is our submission to the sacraments most especially the sacrament of
reconciliation. A humble person will always find time to confess his/her sins
to a priest who is there in the person of Jesus Christ.
Jesus
always looks kindly to those who are childlike and humble. Why? Because this is
the nature of God: He loves those who are humble and He opens Himself more to
the humble.
Do you
want to know more about God? And do you want to have a deeper intimacy with
God? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus
began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since
they had not repented. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the
mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would
long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more
tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And as for
you, Capernaum: Will you
be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.
For if
the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have
remained until this day. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land
of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
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Reflection:
Do you
get frustrated or even get angry every once in a while? It’s ok for as long as
your frustration and anger is for a good reason. And for as long as your anger
doesn’t stay for long in your heart. For
example, you advice a relative or a friend to mend his/her ways but she/he
doesn’t listen to you.
In his
humanity Jesus also gets frustrated like us and it is shown in the gospel. When
He reproached the towns of Chorazin and Bethsaida due to their refusal to
repent. Jesus wanted the inhabitants of the two towns to change their wicked
ways and accept His good news.
Some of
us if not majority of us are like the people of Chorazin and Bethsaida full of
stubbornness. Yes, we believe that there’s a God but believing is very
different from listening to God and letting Him live in our hearts.
In
pushing His good news to us Jesus touches us in so many ways. There are also
times when He uses our fellowmen and other forms of modern medium such as the
internet in order to touch us. Yet we often times don’t listen or pay
attention, we remain stubborn and continue to commit sin.
God
desires our company and friendship. He wants us to have that special
relationship with Him. Yet we don’t pay attention and we continue to sin, but
until when we are going to sin? Until such time that sin could destroy us?
Let us
run away from sin because sin is evil and whomever embraces sin will eventually
be destroyed by sin. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus
said to his Apostles: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the
earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a
man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law; and one’s enemies will be those of his household.
“Whoever
loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son
or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his
cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses
his life for my sake will find it.
“Whoever
receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
Whoever
receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and
whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a
righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of
these little ones to drink because he is a disciple–amen, I say to you, he will
surely not lose his reward.”
When
Jesus finished giving these commands to his Twelve disciples, he went away from
that place to teach and to preach in their towns.
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Reflection:
There’s a
saying that goes, “No pain no gain”. How could there be gain in pain? Why not
gain without pain? When you gain something without pain what you gain can
easily fly away and it can easily be forgotten. But when you gain something
that is accompanied with pain and sacrifice you will treasure it and properly
take care of it.
Would you
be able to know Jesus more deeply without going through life’s many pains? No
you will not gain Jesus and you will not have an up close and personal encounter
with Him. For there’s no easy way going to Jesus.
you have to pass through the many painful
obstacles of life in order to find Jesus. You may even have to give-up every
inch of your worldliness in order to find Jesus. Therefore self-sacrifice is an
important ingredient in finding Jesus in your lives.
Would you
be willing to go through pains and sufferings so that you could experience an encounter
with Jesus? If you really desire Jesus in your life you will embrace without
any second thought suffering/s and pains.
But worldly
life has already conditioned us to veer away as much as we could from our
crosses and pains. No small wonder that many if not majority of us have not yet
found Jesus in our lives. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
Jesus summoned the
Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over
unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a
walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to
wear sandals but not a second tunic. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a
house, stay there until you leave. Whatever place does not welcome you or
listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony
against them.” So they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out
many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
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Reflection:
A young man was
considering a career in writing for God. But he was hesitant for he knows deep
in his heart that he will not intellectually measure-up to such a huge
responsibility. And this is for the reason that he doesn’t have any background
in writing.
He told a friend
about his desire and his intellectual shortcoming. The advice of his friend was
to move forward and follow his desire. He was also told by his friend
not to be disturbed by his intellectual shortcoming for God will fill whatever
he was lacking.
The twelve apostles
who were sent by Jesus to their mission are like many of us. Many of them were
ordinary fishermen who became fishers of men courtesy of Jesus. Perhaps when
they were about to be sent by Jesus to their mission many of them were asking
themselves this question; will I measure-up with this huge responsibility? Perhaps, some were
even thinking of backing out and then simply return to their old jobs. But
Jesus was there to assure them of His support so they went ahead with their mission.
Jesus gave them full
authority over unclean spirit (Mark 6:7). Jesus instructed them to take nothing
for their journey except for a walking stick (Mark 6:8). As if Jesus was
telling them to simply follow and not be bothered by their inherent weaknesses
and shortcomings. For He will fill-up whatever is lacking in them.
They followed the
order of Jesus and trusted their mission to His guidance. Therefore they became
successful in their mission. They drove out many demons and they cured the sick
upon their anointment of holy oil (Mark 6:13).
Often times we don’t
achieve what Jesus wants us to do for Him because we don’t trust Him and we
lack faith in Him. For the same reason we are also afraid to take the first
step towards the realization of our mission for God. Therefore we get stuck and
we fail to not only move forward we also fail to achieve our mission for
Christ.
If you desire to
follow Jesus you have to follow Him with faith and you have to learn to fully
trust Him. Do you always have faith and
trust in Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus
said to his Apostles: “No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his
master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, for the
slave that he become like his master. If they have called the master of the
house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household! “Therefore do not be
afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor
secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the
light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid
of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the
one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold
for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s
knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid;
you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before
others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me
before others I will deny before my heavenly Father.”
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Reflection:
What is
the mark of a true and faithful follower of Jesus? It’s the mark of obedience, a
true follower will obey the command of Jesus to share His good news. But you may say that sometimes
it’s hard to share Jesus because the environment is not conducive for sharing
Jesus. If this is the case when are you going to share Jesus?
If you
wait for the right environment to share Jesus. That right environment may not
come at all, so you will not be able to share Jesus? As the apostles were commissioned by Jesus to share
the gospel we too are tasked to do the same. Let us not wait for the right
environment to share Jesus because every environment is right for Jesus.
No harm
will fall upon you if you share Jesus because you are sharing the good news of
humanity’s salvation. If you share Jesus you will be able to change lives and
you will be able to give hope which many of us badly needs today.
The
apostles treated with sacredness their commissioning from Jesus and as a result
of it they became very successful in their mission. How about you? When are you
going to share Jesus? Would you still wait for the right environment? It may
not come, why not share Jesus now? And in the process be blessed by Jesus as
Jesus blesses others’ lives though you. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus
said to his Apostles: “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of
wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.
But
beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their
synagogues, and you
will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and
the pagans. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or
what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For
it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through
you. Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children
will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by
all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved. When they
persecute you in one town, flee to another. Amen, I say to you, you will not
finish the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”
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Reflection:
Are you
ready to give your life for the mission of Jesus? This is a very hard question
to answer but there are many already who dared to willingly give their lives
for the mission of Jesus. What fuels them to give their lives when they have a
choice to save it?
It’s their witness for Jesus, its Jesus who strengthens
them to endure and continue with their mission even at the cost of their lives.
To be a real follower of Jesus is easier said than done. It’s easy to say I am
a Christian but to live this Christian pronouncement is another story altogether.
How about you? Are you willing to give your life for the mission of Jesus?
When you
give your life to Jesus you will face persecution as well. But what is
consoling here is the midst of your trials and persecution you also will feel
the abiding presence of Jesus in your life. Because Jesus has never abandoned
anyone who gave his/her life for His mission in this world.
Be not
afraid to give your life for the mission of Jesus. For when you decide to do so
you will soon after find the real purpose of your life. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus
said to his Apostles: “As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of
heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive
out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give. Do
not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; no sack
for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick. The laborer
deserves his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person
in it, and stay there until you leave. As you enter a house, wish it peace. If
the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return
to you. Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words— go outside that
house or town and shake the dust from your feet. Amen, I say to you, it will be
more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the Day of Judgment than
for that town.
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Reflection:
Do you
expect to receive something in return for the things that you do for the greater glory of
God? Better not expect because when your expectations are not meet you will be
disappointed. Just do good and be content with the fact that you’ve done a good
deed to your fellowmen.
Money
rules they say, but for those who follow Jesus money does not rule and money
doesn’t dictate. It’s Jesus who rules and dictates, when you allow Jesus to
rule and dictate your life. You are free from worries that emanates from this
world and you are not beholden to anybody in this world.
When
Jesus was sending off his twelve apostles to their mission. One of His specific
declarations for them is this: not to let money or anything that is worldly rule
over them. Jesus instead wanted His apostles to let Him rule their lives.
When you
let Jesus rule your life you will not anymore care with worldly possessions.
You instead will be satisfied with what you have no matter how meager the
things that you have. For you already believe that the essence and fullness of
life is not measured by material ownership.
What is
with material things when it can be taken away from you anytime? Seek to have
Jesus in your life for when you have Jesus you have everything. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
Jesus
summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to
drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. The names of the
Twelve Apostles are these: first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James,
the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and
Matthew the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; Simon the
Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus.
Jesus
sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, “Do not go into pagan
territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at
hand.
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Reflection:
Where
does The Kingdom of Heaven lies? It lies within you and it has been with you
since you’ve been baptized. But you may say, if the kingdom of heaven is within me, why is
it that my life is still problematic? This is for the reason that you refuse to live
your life according to God’s will for you. You are living your life according
to your own will and not according to God’s will.
So what
happens when you live your life according to your own terms? You open your life
to many problems, problems that you could actually avoid if you only live your
life according to the will of God. But many of us do not have an awareness of the will of God because we overpower it with our own selfish will for ourselves.
It’s not
difficult to know God’s will for you, by going to Holy Mass you will begin to discern
God’s will for your life. By reading your bible you will discern the will of
God for you. By your frequent interactions with Jesus through your prayers you
will discern the will of God for you.
Many of
us are lost in this world because we are not always in touch with Jesus. Yet we
are always in touch with materialism and other worldly things. Thus we have no
awareness of the kingdom of heaven that resides within us already. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
A
demoniac who could not speak was brought to Jesus, and when the demon was
driven out the mute man spoke. The crowds were amazed and said, “Nothing like
this has ever been seen in Israel.” But the Pharisees said, “He drives out
demons by the prince of demons.”
Jesus
went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming
the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight
of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were
troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his
disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master
of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”
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Reflection:
How does
the gospel speak to you today? Does it tell you that you need to do something
for the kingdom of God? Jesus tells the disciples in our gospel and He tells
this to you too! “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few (Matthew
9:37)”.
Indeed,
the harvest is abundant yet those who venture to volunteer their time for the
glory of God’s kingdom are still few. We don’t know the reason behind but
perhaps we could guess that we have become very materialistic. We devote our
entire time for our own glory in this world. So we forget that there is a much
greater glory beyond this world that awaits us and that is the kingdom of God.
When we
are near death already the labors that we have given to this world will not
matter anymore. We will not think about how big our bank accounts. We will not think about our
many worldly achievements.
What we
will be thinking about is the status of our soul after we die. This is what
confronts a dying person: The status of his/her soul after it departs from
his/her body. Therefore to avoid this dilemma let us do something for the
advancement of the kingdom of God in this world.
Any
effort that we do today for God no matter how small. For so long as we
sincerely do it for His greater glory. Will be permanently etched
in the heart of God and will become our
passport to heaven when our departure time comes. - Marino J. Dasmarinas
While
Jesus was speaking, an official came forward, knelt down before him, and said, “My
daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus
rose and followed him, and so did his disciples. A woman suffering hemorrhages
for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. She
said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.” Jesus
turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved
you.” And from that hour the woman was cured.
When
Jesus arrived at the official’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd
who were making a commotion, he said, “Go away! The girl is not dead but
sleeping. And they ridiculed him. When the crowd was put out, he came and took
her by the hand, and the little girl arose. And news of this spread throughout
all that land.
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Reflection:
Do you believe
that Jesus can cure you of whatever that ails you? The woman who had been
bleeding for twelve years believed that she would be healed by Jesus. She believed that the moment she
touched even the tassel of Jesus cloak she will be healed. What a display of
deep faith!
Sometimes
we don’t get what we wish from Jesus because we doubt. We allow the devil to disturb
our faith in Jesus thus we don’t get what we want. We see in the gospel a woman who had been
suffering from hemorrhages she obviously has deep faith. Faith that is willing to
overcome whatever obstacles that are put in front of her. Do you have the same deep faith as this
woman in the gospel?
When
Jesus noticed this woman of faith, He told her, “Courage, daughter! Your faith
has saved you (Matthew 9:22).” And the result was immediate physical healing
coming from Jesus and surely the woman was completely healed.
Are you
suffering from any form sickness right now? Prayerfully ask Jesus to heal you! Beseech
Him to give you the same healing that He gave the woman in the gospel. Jesus
will surely heal you for He will not refuse anyone who approach Him with deep
faith. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus departed from
there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the
sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were
astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom
has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the
carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and
Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took
offense at him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in
his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not
able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by
laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.
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Reflection:
A successful man who
died was being given lavish praises by his relatives and friends during his
eulogy. Lavish praises that he richly deserved for he was a good and humble
man. Lavish praises that they purposely did not tell him while he was still
alive for they envied him.
When Jesus went back
to the place where he grew up in Nazareth. He went to their Synagogue to give a
lecture and He did it with wisdom and eloquence. Yet Jesus did not receive any
congratulatory acknowledgement not even a simple handshake. Or a gesture
of recognition from his former town mates.
Instead Jesus
received from them derision and scorn. Because they could not accept that a
former carpenter could speak to them with so much wisdom and eloquence. A former
carpenter whom they knew very well could someday speak in their house of
worship. So they belittled Jesus instead
of giving Him a well-deserved recognition.
Don’t we also act
often times like the town mates of Jesus? We are very quick to judge and
belittle our fellowmen and even our relatives who achieved a certain degree of
success in their lives.
Why are we very quick to belittle? Why are we very quick to give unjust judgment? This is
because of our very high regard of ourselves, perhaps this is brought about by
our riches, education and status in life.
We place ourselves
in a pedestal so high that we cannot anymore bend our knees in humility. We
cannot anymore recognize worthy achievement because our eyes are already
clouded with the cataract of our egos and high self-image.
If we are quick to
draw judgment and scorn we also open ourselves to the same judgment and scorn. –
Marino J. Dasmarinas
The
disciples of John approached Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast
much, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding
guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when
the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one patches
an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from
the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine into old
wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are
ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are
preserved.”
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Reflection:
What can we learn from our gospel today? We learn that when we already have Jesus in our lives we are already like a fresh wineskin. Fresh or new wineskin is
sturdy and strong. It can withstand the pressure when a new wine is poured into it.
This is
what we become when we already have Jesus in our lives. We can withstand
whatever problems that life would bring to us. Nobody and no problem no matter
how difficult can break us because we have Jesus in our lives.
It’s so
hard for many of us to feel the presence of Jesus because we
hardly have time for Him. We don’t invest time with Jesus yet we can invest
time for other things. Some of us would even reason out that we hardly have time
to be with Jesus because of the many pressures of life.
But how
come we have time for other things? For example, why is it that we can squeeze time
to do facebook and for other worldly things? If we can do facebook and for other worldly
things. Why can’t we have time for Jesus our life giver? This is the paradox of
our modern time right now: We don’t have time for Jesus yet we create time for other worldy things.
If you
want to have a fresh and positive viewpoint about your future and about life in
general. Let Jesus come into your life do not close your heart to Him in favor of
the things of this world. Which would bring you nothing in the end except more
troubles and pressures.
Is Jesus
already an important component of your life? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Thomas,
called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the
other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But Thomas said to them, “Unless
I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and
put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Now a week later his disciples were
again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were
locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to
Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it
into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said
to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe
because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have
believed.”
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Reflection:
Do you sometimes
need an affirmation of your faith in Jesus? That is perfectly ok because it show
signs of your growing faith. If you want your faith in Jesus to be affirmed you
simply have to be sensitive to the movement of Jesus in your life.
For
example the new life that is given to you every morning. It’s not a routinary flow of life that you wake-up every morning. It’s Jesus giving you a new life
every morning! If you are sensitive to the movement of Jesus in your life. You
would discover that the dawning of a new day that you experience every morning is
a miracle from Jesus.
Thomas
needed an affirmation of his faith from his Lord and Master (John 20:25). He
wanted to see first the wounds of Jesus before he believes. He wanted to touch it and put his finger into the very wounds of Jesus before he believes that Jesus had resurrected (John 20:25).
Are we
not like Thomas too? We often times want our faith in Jesus to be affirmed by
His signs? Jesus has been giving us signs that He moves in our lives everyday,
we simply have to be sensitive to these signs. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
After
entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own town. And there
people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their
faith, he said to the paralytic, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.” At
that, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” Jesus
knew what they were thinking, and said, :Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which
is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But
that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”– he
then said to the paralytic, “Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” He
rose and went home. When the
crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such
authority to men.
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Reflection:
What does
this story of the paralytic who was brought to Jesus tells us? It tells us that
we too need to go to Jesus for Him to heal us and to forgive us of all our
sins. This tells us also that we also need to bring others to Jesus to be
healed and forgiven by Him too!
We all
have a need for Jesus in our lives. We may not need Him now because we are in
the pink of health. But time will certainly come that we will be forced to go
to Him even beg Him so that Jesus could heal us also.
Let us
not anymore wait for that time to come when we are already sick before we go to
Jesus. Let us go to Him now while we are healthy or in the pink of health Let
us not delay for tomorrow may be late already.
In like
manner we too are encouraged by the gospel to bring others to Jesus. This we
could do best through our acts of love, mercy and compassion. For we can’t
bring others to Jesus without loving them, without showing them our mercy and
compassion.
We
certainly can’t bring others to Jesus if we judge them. Let us
rather help them and try to understand them and be more patient with them. So
that they could be enlightened by Jesus as Jesus has enlightened us. – Marino
J. Dasmarinas
As Jesus
got into a boat, his disciples followed him. Suddenly a violent storm came up
on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he was asleep. They
came and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” He said to them,
“Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the
winds and the sea, and there was great calm. The men were amazed and said,
“What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?”
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Reflection:
Do you always
seek the help of Jesus when you pass through the storms of your life?
While in
the boat with Jesus the disciples encountered a very powerful storm. They were
naturally terrified so they asked Jesus for help, they said to Him; “Lord save us we
are perishing (Matthew 8:25)!”
How many
times have you encountered storms in your life? Many time over perhaps, in
every storm that you encounter always remember that Jesus is always there for
you. Ever ready to help you and bring you out safely of these storms that you
encounter and may encounter still.
What if
Jesus was not with the disciples during that fateful night when their boat was
being battered by the storm? To whom would they be asking for help? To no one,
they could have all perished in that violent storm. But Jesus was there to save
them all.
This is
the advantage of having Jesus in your life. You always have somebody very
powerful to rescue you whenever you are in distress. You always have somebody
who will take away your fears, even your biggest and greatest fears.
Do you
always seek the help of Jesus whenever you pass through the storms of your
life? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
When
Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do
people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist,
others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them,
“But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ,
the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon
son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly
Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my
Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will
give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be
bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
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Reflection:
Do you
know Jesus? Yes you know Jesus but do you feel the presence of Jesus in your
life? Knowing and feeling Jesus are two different things. Many of us know Jesus
but not as many feel His majestic presence in our hearts. We don’t feel the presence of Jesus in our hearts because we lack time for Jesus, that’s how
simple it is. We don’t feel the presence of Jesus in our lives for the
simple reason that we lack time for Him.
Peter did
not only know Jesus, he felt also the presence of Jesus in his life. Peter felt
the presence of Jesus in his life
because Peter had time for Jesus. Among the disciples it was Peter who was always with Jesus it was Peter who had more time for Jesus. Peter went with Jesus to the mountain of transfiguration.
When Jesus walked on water Peter saw Jesus and even asked Jesus if she could go
to him. And there were many other events that Peter was always in the company Jesus.
If you
want to feel the gentle, saving and calming presence of Jesus in your life. You
only have to do one thing and that is to spend more time with Jesus. Be with
Him at Holy Mass, hear Him speaking to
you and telling you stories and parable by reading your bible. Hear Him assuring you of
His abiding presence in your life through your prayers. And be with Him by visiting Him in
the Eucharistic Adoration Chapel.
Do you want
to feel the presence of Jesus in your life? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
When Jesus had
crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him,
and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus,
came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him,
saying, “My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on
her that she may get well and live. He went off with him, and a large crowd
followed him and pressed upon him.
There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for
twelve years. She had suffered
greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she
was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up
behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, “If I but touch his
clothes, I shall be cured.” Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in
her body that she was healed of her affliction.
Jesus, aware at once
that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who
has touched my clothes?” But his disciples said to Jesus, “You see how the
crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’ And he looked
around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her,
approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the
whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace
and be cured of your affliction.”
While he was still speaking, people from the
synagogue official’s house arrived and said, “Your daughter has died; why
trouble the teacher any longer? Disregarding
the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official “Do not be
afraid; just have faith.” He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside
except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they arrived at the
house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping
and wailing loudly.
So he went in and
said to them, “Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but
asleep.” And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out. He took along the
child’s father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room
where the child was. He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha
koum,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” The girl, a child of
twelve, arose immediately and walked around. At that they were utterly
astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she
should be given something to eat.
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Reflection:
What does an
encounter with Jesus do to us? It gives us hope and it cures us. There’s a
story of a woman who had a terminal sickness. She was told by her doctor that
she only had two months to live. But this woman was a woman of strong faith.
She attends Holy Mass every day and does other things to strengthen her faith
in Jesus.
When she was told that
she had two months to live, she told her doctors, I will prove all of you wrong
I’m going to beat this severe sickness with my faith in Jesus. True enough,
after two months the woman of faith was still alive and totally free from her
severe sickness.
We have in our
gospel two stories of faith, hope and healing coursed through an encounter with
Jesus. The first one is the story of
Jairus a synagogue official whose daughter was in death throes. Jairus went to
Jesus to plead Him to cure his young daughter. Seeing the faith of Jairus Jesus
went to his house to cure and bring back to life Jairus’ daughter.
The second story of
faith hope and healing is an unnamed woman who for twelve long years had been
suffering severe hemorrhages. She heard that Jesus would be passing by her way. It gave her hope and it further strengthened her faith. So she did her best to
touch even the cloak of Jesus for she believed that by simply touching it she
would be healed. And she was able to touch Jesus cloak and was indeed
immediately healed.
There could be a
third story of faith, hope and healing by Jesus. And this third story could be
your own story. What is your testimony of faith, hope and healing by Jesus?
Share it so that others faith and hope in Jesus could be strengthened!
All of us one way or
the other have our own story of encounter with Jesus let us not keep this story within
us. Let us share it so that others may know Jesus and hopefully have also an
encounter with Him. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
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 but the children of the
Kingdom will be driven out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing
and grinding of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion, “You may go; as you
have believed, let it be done for you. And at that very hour his servant was
healed.
Jesus
entered the house of Peter, and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a
fever. He touched her hand, the fever left her, and she rose and waited on him.
When it
was evening, they brought him many who were possessed by demons, and he drove
out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick, to fulfill what had been said
by Isaiah the prophet: He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.
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Reflection:
Why is
Jesus a magnet to people most especially to who are in need? Because Jesus
never refused anyone who asked for His help most especially those who are presistent. Jesus was always available, Jesus
would always have time for them regardless of who they are and where they came
from.
The
centurion/soldier in our gospel came from a faraway place and certainly not a
follower of Jesus. But he knew Jesus and he heard of His miracles so he
ventured to see Him. And when he saw Jesus he asked him to cure his servant.
Jesus never had any second thought of helping the centurion; he even offered to
go his house to personally cure the centurion’s servant.
This gospel
episode invites us to reflect if we also make ourselves available to those who
are in need of our help. Often times we are not willing to help because it will
disturb us. It will affect our personal finances and schedules but it’s not every day that
we are asked for help.
The best
way to share our faith and to share Jesus is not though eloquent or bombastic preaching. The best way to share our faith and to share Jesus is when
we make ourselves available most especially to those who are in need. And to
those who can’t give back the help that we’ve given them.
Do you
take time to make yourself available to those who are in need of your help most
especially the poor? – Marino J. Dasmarinas