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.”

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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.”

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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

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.”

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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.   

    

We are all sinful and we are all in need of Jesus’ Mercy, Forgiveness and Healing. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

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.”

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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

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.

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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 Dŭng-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.”

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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

Solemnity of Christ the King Carmona Cavite November 23, 2014