Cardinal Tagle Leads Lectio Divina at St Patrick's Cathedral Melbourne August 2014

1Reflection for Sunday August 31, Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time; Matthew 16:21-27

Gospel: Matthew 16:21-27

Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.  You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?

Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay all according to his conduct.”

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Reflection:

When do we have a true encounter with Jesus? It’s when we are burdened by the worries and suffering/s of this world this is where we have a personal encounter with Jesus. Never would we have a personal encounter with Jesus if we are enjoying the fruits of this world. It’s always through our worries and suffering that we have a true discernment of the presence of Jesus in our lives.

When Jesus told the disciples that he will go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed. Peter was adamant with his protestation, Peter even told Jesus, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” Why did Peter oppose this suffering statement of Jesus? Was he concerned of the welfare of Jesus? Or Peter was afraid that if Jesus would suffer and eventually die, they too would experience suffering/s because Jesus will not be with them anymore to protect them.   

Nonetheless, Jesus told them that if they really want to follow Him they must be ready to suffer and embrace suffering as well! For its only through suffering that they would be able to develop deep intimacy with Jesus. We would never develop a personal encounter with our Lord if we are averse with suffering and if we are enjoying life’s hedonism.

But reality bites! We would rather enjoy life than suffer or face hardship and we would rather enjoy life than truthfully follow Jesus. There are even some rich and even famous celebrities who chose to commit suicide than face their suffering/s.

It’s only through our suffering/s and trial/s that Jesus comes to our lives. It’s through our moments of defeat and persecution that the abiding presence of Jesus is clearer to us.  It’s when we carry our own cross that we feel that Jesus is walking with us and helping us to carry it. Let us never be afraid to face our sufferings and to carry our cross no matter how heavy and difficult. For we will be able to hurdle all of these trials if we invite Jesus to help us.

Are you going through some difficult moments in your life right now? Invite Jesus to come into your life and ask Jesus to heal you. He will never refuse you. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Repleksyon para sa Agosto 31, Ika-22 na Linggo sa Karaniwang Panahon; Mateo 16:21-27

Mabuting Balita: Mateo 16:21-27

Mula noon ay ipinaalam na ni Jesus sa kanyang mga alagad ang mangyayari sa kanya. Sinabi niya, "Dapat akong magtungo sa Jerusalem at magdanas ng maraming hirap sa kamay ng mga pinuno ng bayan, mga punong pari at mga tagapagturo ng Kautusan. Ako'y papatayin, ngunit sa ikatlong araw ako'y muling mabubuhay."

Dinala siya ni Pedro sa isang tabi at sinimulang pagalitan, "Panginoon, huwag nawang itulot ng Diyos! Kailanma'y hindi iyan mangyayari sa inyo." Ngunit hinarap siya ni Jesus at sinabihan, "Umalis ka sa harapan ko, Satanas! Hadlang ka sa aking landas. Ang iniisip mo'y hindi sa Diyos kundi sa tao." Sinabi ni Jesus sa kanyang mga alagad, "Ang sinumang nagnanais sumunod sa akin ay kinakailangang itakwil niya ang kanyang sarili, pasanin ang kanyang krus, at sumunod sa akin. Ang naghahangad na magligtas ng kanyang buhay ay mawawalan nito; ngunit ang mawalan ng kanyang buhay alang-alang sa akin ay magkakamit nito. Sapagkat ano ba ang mapapala ng isang tao makamtan man niya ang buong daigdig, ngunit mapapahamak naman ang kanyang sarili? Ano ba ang maibabayad ng isang tao para mabawi niya ang kanyang buhay? Sapagkat darating ang Anak ng Tao na kasama ang kanyang mga anghel, at taglay ang dakilang kapangyarihan ng kanyang Ama. Sa panahong iyo'y gagantimpalaan niya ang bawat tao ayon sa ginawa nito.

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Repleksyon:

Kailan po ba tayo nag kakaroon ng totoong ugnayan kay Jesus? Ito ay pag tayo ay pinahihirapan ng ating mga problema at pasakit sa buhay. Dito tayo nag kakaroon ng personal at mas malalim na ugnayan kay Jesus.  Hindi tayo mag kakaroon ng malalim na ugnayan kay Jesus pag tayo ay nag e enjoy sa mga kasaganahan ng mundo. Palaging sa pamamagitan ng ating mga problema at pasakit lamang mas lilinaw ang presenya ni Jesus sa ating mga buhay.    

Nang sinabi ni Jesus na siya ay magtutungo sa Jerusalem at magdadanas ng maraming hirap. Sa kamay ng mga pinuno ng bayan, mga punong pari mga tagapagturo ng Kautusan at papatayin. Ay nagalit sa kanya si Pedro at sinabi pa ni Pedro kay Jesus "Panginoon, huwag nawang itulot ng Diyos! Kailanma'y hindi iyan mangyayari sa inyo." Bakit nga ba ayaw ni Pedro sa mga pananalitang ito ni Jesus? Siya ba ay nag aalala sa kaligtasan ni Jesus? O baka naman nag aalala si Pedro na pag pinahirapan si Jesus at pinatay sila rin ay makakaranas ng pag hihirap?

Pero ganun paman ay sinabi ni Jesus sa kanila na kung talagang gusto nilang sumunod sa kanya.  Kailagan handa rin silang kalimutan ang kanilang mga sarili at mag pasan ng kanilang sariling krus. Dahil sa pamamagitan lamang nito sila makakasumpong ng malalim na ugnayan kay Jesus. Hindi tayo magkakaroon ng malalim na ugnayan kay Jesus kung ayaw nating yumakap sa ating mga pagsubok sa buhay at panay lang tayo sa pag papasarap dito sa mundo.

Pero mahirap layuan ang katotohanan na mas gusto pa natin na mag enjoy tayo sa mundong ito kaysa mag pasan ng ating krus at harapin ang ating mga pagsubok at sumunod kay Jesus. Meroon pa nga diyan na mga mayayaman at kilalang mga personalidad na dahil sa ayaw nilang mag pasan ng kanilang krus at harapin ang kanilang mga pagsubok sa buhay ay mas ginusto pa nila na tapusin nalang ang kanilang buhay sa pamamagitan ng pag su suicide.   

Sa pamamagitan lamang po ng ating pagdaan at pagharap sa ating mga pagsubok mas makikilala natin si Jesus. Sa pamamagitan lamang po nito mas magiging malinaw sa atin na kasama pala natin si Jesus sa pag pasan ng ating krus at hindi niya pala tayo iniiwan.

Huwag tayong matakot na harapin ang ating mga pagsubok at mag pasan ng ating krus gaano man ito kahirap at kabigat. Sa dahilan na malalampasan din natin ito pag humingi tayo ng tulong kay Jesus.   

Ikaw ba ay dumadaan sa mabigat na pag subok ngayon? Manalagin ka kay Jesus at hingin mo sa kanya ang kanyang tulong dahil  hindi ka niya pababayaan. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Saturday August 30, Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time; Matthew 25:14-30

Gospel: Matthew 25:14-30

(Jesus told his disciples this parable) “A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one–to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. Likewise, the one who received two made another two. But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money. After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five. He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ Then the one who had received two talents also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.’ His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’”

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Reflection:

The shortcoming of the third servant in our gospel is he kept to himself what was given to him by his Lord. He could have invested it, he could have done something to make it grow but he never did because of his fear for his Lord. If we allow our fears to conquer us it will eventually paralyze us and it will prevent us from becoming fruitful children of God.

Each and everyone of us was given by the Good Lord talents according to our abilities. Let us make the most of this talent/s that He has given us by using it for His greater glory. Let us not be discouraged by our limitations and struggles for God is always there to guide and help us.   

What is the talent that the Good Lord entrusted you? Use it not only for your own advancement, use it also to advance His kingdom in this world. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Thursday August 28, Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church; Matthew 24:42-51

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Gospel: Matthew 24:42-51

(Jesus said to his disciples) “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come. “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so. Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards, the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

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Reflection:

What are we going to do if we’re assigned a responsibility? We will do whatever it takes to properly accomplish the responsibility immediately.  There will be no dilly dally we will immediately do what we have to do because this is the responsibility given to us.

In our gospel for today Jesus tells the disciples: Be prepared for the son of man will come at an hour you do not expect. What kind of preparation did Jesus wants from His disciples? Of course it is to live their lives the way Jesus lived His life, this they could achieve through their humility, their concern for the poor and by living their lives in the service of others.

How should we prepare for the coming of Jesus? Should we prepare by making ourselves busy on how to increase our material wealth? Of course not! The preparation that Jesus speaks about is the same preparation that He required from His disciples. So that when He knocks we would be able to let Him enter our lives.

Therefore, we must not always busy ourselves on how to increase our wealth. For material wealth is not the be all and end all of life.  The best preparation for the coming of Jesus into our lives is to create time for Him no matter how busy we are for this is the only way we could prepare for His coming.    

How are we preparing for the coming of Jesus? - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Tuesday August 26, Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time; Matthew 23:23-26

Gospel: Matthew 23:23-26

Jesus said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. But these you should have done, without neglecting the others. Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.”

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Reflection:

Why do we follow Jesus? Do we follow Him because we are obliged by our faith or we follow Him because of our deep love for Him? When we follow Jesus because we see it as our obligation; it does not create a deep transformation within us. We simply follow for the reason that it creates a positive self-image for us and it ends with the positive self-image: No interior cleansing and transformation.

When we follow Jesus because we love Him, we allow the love of Jesus to deeply transform us. For example if we follow Jesus because we love Him, we will be forgiving, we will not store hatred in our hearts. And we will abhor anything that is bad and evil because we give Jesus the freehand to transform us.

Our discipleship with Jesus must always be rooted in our love for Him and not because this is dictated by our faith. For this is what true discipleship is all about, a discipleship that creates a very deep transformation within our being.

Let us therefore examine ourselves and reflect for we may be only following Jesus because we are obliged by our faith or even by our position in the church and community. If this is so it’s about time that we allow Jesus to interiorly renew us. 

This would only commence when we forgive those who’ve hurt us. When we are willing to build bridges than walls and when we humble ourselves before those whom we've hurt by asking for their forgiveness. - Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for Sunday August 24, Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time; Matthew 16:13-20

Gospel: Matthew 16:13-20

Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and 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.” Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

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Reflection:

Do we boast about the things that we do and own? For example we post on facebook the things that we own or the beautiful places that we’ve been through with the motive of letting others know about who we are. Do we boast about how intelligent we are and how profound our knowledge about Jesus and the catholic faith?

The intellect that we have and everything that we have we did not earn by your own effort alone. The Good Lord has a hand on what we know and what we have today. Even our personal success we did not earn it by our own effort, the Good Lord has His hand on it also.

In our gospel today, Peter hit the jackpot when he correctly answered this question of Jesus, “Who do you say that I am?” But Jesus immediately told Peter that it was not through his own intellect that he know Jesus for it was God who enlightened him to know the real identity of Jesus.

We can perhaps relate with this statement of Jesus to Peter. Because there may be times that we boast also about who we are and what we know and have. Jesus reminds us that everything is a gift and grace from the good Lord. Who we are today or how successful we are today is God’s gift to us. That’s why we must not allow ourselves to be carried away by our success no matter how big. 

The Catholic church that we have today was founded by Jesus through Peter. Jesus did not do it because Peter was the favored one or because Peter was always in the thick of things in the life of Jesus. Peter was chosen for the simple reason that it was the will of God and not Peter’s will.

We must therefore stay humble and we must continue to firmly plant our feet on the ground. No matter how successful we are for everything is a gift from God and everything emanates from God’s good will. - Marino J. Dasmarinas