Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Reflection for Tuesday August 5, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time; Matthew 15:1-2, 10-14
+ + + + + + +
Gospel: Matthew
15:1-2, 10-14
Some
Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your
disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands when
they eat a meal.” He summoned the crowd and said to them, “Hear and understand.
It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles the man; but what comes out of
the mouth is what defiles one.” Then his disciples approached and said to him, “Do
you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” He
said in reply, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be
uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. If a blind man
leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.
+ + +
+ + +
Reflection:
Whom
would you prefer a person who observes the tradition of washing of hands before
eating a meal or a person who doesn’t observe this tradition? We would
obviously prefer the one who observes the tradition.
But what
if those who observe the tradition do it only for people to see them doing it and
there’s no interior cleansing that happens to them? And those who don’t observe
the tradition are the ones who are interiorly clean. We would now prefer those
who do not observe the tradition but they are clean from within their hearts.
Jesus is
not against the washing of hands per se but what He is against is the
external display of holiness. For example, what is the use of our religious
devotions if there is no internal transformation that occurs in our hearts?
Reflection for Wednesday July 30, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time; Matthew 13:44-46
Gospel: Matthew 13:44-46
Jesus said to his disciples: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure
buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes
and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the Kingdom of heaven is
like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great
price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.”
+ + + + + +
Reflection:
Every now and then we hear news of rich and famous people committing
suicide. We can’t help but ask, Why did they end their life? They almost have
everything, this is what we think from outside looking in, that they almost
have everything; but do they really have everything?
If they have everything why would they end their life? They may have
everything that this temporal world could offer them but a very important
component of their lives is missing and it is the Kingdom of heaven which is
God.
Many of us aspire to be materially rich and famous but when we get rich.
And we almost have everything that this world could offer us we find out that
something is still missing in our life. Who or what is this missing link in our
life? HE is Jesus and to find HIM is to find our greatest treasure and most
precious pearl.
But how could we find Jesus if we are always busy with our many worldly
undertakings? How could we find Jesus if we seldom listen to HIM in the silence
of our hearts?
Our lives will never be the same once we truly find the greatest
treasure and the most precious pearl which is no other than Jesus.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Repleksyon para sa July 27, Ika-17 na Linggo sa Karaniwang Panahon; Mateo 13:44-46
Mabuting
Balita: Mateo 13:44-46
"Ang kaharian ng langit ay katulad ng
kayamanang nakabaon sa isang bukid. Nahukay ito ng isang tao ngunit agad itong
tinabunan. Tuwang-tuwa siyang umalis at ibinenta ang lahat ng kanyang ari-arian
upang bilhin ang bukid na iyon." Ang
kaharian ng langit ay katulad din ng isang negosyante na naghahanap ng mga
mamahaling perlas. Nang makakita siya ng isang perlas na napakahalaga, umuwi
siya't ipinagbili ang lahat ng kanyang ari-arian at binili ang perlas na
iyon."
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Friday, July 18, 2014
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Reflection for Saturday 19, Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time; Matthew 12:14-21
Gospel: Matthew
12:14-21
The Pharisees went
out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. When Jesus realized
this, he withdrew from that place. Many people followed him, and he cured them
all, but he warned them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what had
been spoken through Isaiah the prophet: Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved in whom I delight; I shall place my Spirit upon him, and he will
proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not contend or cry out, nor will
anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, a
smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory. And in
his name the Gentiles will hope.
+ + + + + +
Reflection:
What are we going to
do if we know that powerful people are after our life? Of course we will do
what Jesus did; we will also withdraw to a place where we will be safe. But
unlike Jesus who continued to do HIS acts of mercy even if HIS life was already
in danger. We may not do anything except to hide and protect our life, this is what
separate Jesus from us.
For Jesus the
greater good is not to protect HIS life but to continue to serve the people
that HE dearly loved so much. This love for HIS people eventually culminated in
HIS death on the cross.
But not all of us
are afraid to give our very life for the sake of our fellowmen. There are
others who selflessly gave their lives so that others may live and be free.
This is best exemplified by our heroes who selflessly gave their lives for our
sake.
In hindsight, what
is the reason why we want to protect our life to the detriment of our
fellowmen? The simple reason perhaps is we love our life more that we love
Jesus and our fellowmen. We perhaps are simply unconcerned with the greater
need of our fellowmen otherwise we would not think twice to give our treasured
time and life for others.
Self-preservation is
never an option for those who truly follow Jesus. - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
My Reflection for Thursday June 26, Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time, Matthew 7:21-29
Gospel: Matthew
7:21-29
(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. Many will
say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we
not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then
I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you
evildoers.’
“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.”
When Jesus finished
these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as
one having authority, and not as their scribes.
+ + + +
+ +
Reflection:
Where is your life anchored
today? Is it anchored on this world or anchored on no one else but God? It’s
very tempting to anchor our life to this world. For who would not want riches,
influence, power and the like? We would be hypocrite if we say that we don’t
want these all.
Yes we do want these
all, however what will happen to us if we become worldly? If God simply becomes
just an option for us where we go when we are in need of HIM and when we are
not anymore in need of HIM we don’t go to HIM anymore.
the reality of our
life is we were not created to become permanent citizens of this world. We are
mere temporal passersby in this world, sooner or later we will leave this world
and all the worldly possessions that we have accumulated. Where would we end-up
in the afterlife if we only live for this world?
It’s always better
if we accumulate our life with God, this means that we worship God and we do
what HE wants us to do. But this is not always the case we often times worship
HIM only and we don’t do what Jesus wants us to do.
Therefore we continue to
become slaves of this world.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
1Reflection for June 15, Sunday; Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity; John 3:16-18
Gospel: John 3:16-18
16 For God so loved
the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not
perish but have eternal life. 17 For God sent the Son into the world, not to
condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 18 He who
believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
How do we give our
love to our spouse or to our friend perhaps? There are times that this love is with
condition, we love when we receive love in return. But when the love that we
give is unrequited this love wanes until it finally evaporates from our hearts
and this is how we normally love.
In our readings for
this Sunday most especially the gospel, God opens our hearts to a much deeper
kind of love. A love that cannot be measured by anything, love that has no limits and a love that is coupled with humility and
sacrifice.
God’s love is not like
how we express our love. For we are always conscious about what we could get
back in return for the love that we give. This is the complete opposite of God’s
love. Love in the eyes of God is when we are willing to sacrifice even at the
cost of our very own life.
Today is the solemnity
also of the Holy Trinity, the three persons in one God. How are they able to
exist without any conflict? How could they be one yet three? They harmoniously co-exist
because they have the love of God.
The Holy Trinity for
many of us is a mystery but not anymore for some of us. Why? Because they already
have in their hearts the love of God, let us therefore ask the Holy Trinity
covert our hearts according to His love.
If God lovingly gave
HIS very own son so that we may live and have life, what can we give God in
return?
Saturday, May 31, 2014
1Reflection for June 1, Sunday; Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Matthew 28:16-20
Gospel: Matthew
28:16-20
The eleven disciples
went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw
him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All
power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded
you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
A military man was
about to be assigned in a faraway place so he said to his wife: Properly take
care of the children. Teach them about our faith and teach them values so that they’ll grow-up to become
responsible and God fearing individuals. The wife seriously followed the
command of his husband. She taught their children the basic tenets of the faith
and she educated them about good manners and values. After fifteen years he
came back, his children were all grown-up and he was so happy for the reason
that they were all responsibly brought-up by her wife.
Jesus in our gospel
episode for this Sunday is about to leave HIS disciples for heaven but before
doing so. He gave them this marching order: Go, therefore, and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And
behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20).” The
disciples lived to the hilt this command of Jesus. In fact many of them were
martyred for the sake of advancing the gospel of Jesus.
To whom does these
powerful words of Jesus speaks to now? It speaks to us with the same fervor
during this very moment. Who is our
target? Is it the population at large? The target is not the population at
large, the target is the members of our family, let us creatively share Jesus’
teachings with them. And let us encourage them to attend Holy Mass.
The words of Jesus are
like endless stream of pure water it flows with the passing of time and it
speaks to us now. What will be our response?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)