Friday, January 23, 2015

Reflection for January 26, Monday; Sts.Timothy and Titus, Bishops; Mark 3:22-30

Gospel: Mark 3:22-30
The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “By the prince of demons he drives out demons.” Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided he cannot stand; that is the end of him. But no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house. Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin. For they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.
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Reflection:
What is the antidote to evil possession or who can defeat the devil? It’s no other than Jesus only Jesus can defeat the devil. As time progress the devil also progresses; before we only attribute the presence of the devil to evil possession.

 But not anymore today! The devil of today doesn’t only present itself by way of evil possession. It presents itself in manifold ways such as: greed, lust enslavement to the modernity of time and so forth. Who can defeat the devil today? It’s still Jesus the same Jesus that defeated the devil in our gospel.   

Jesus doesn’t change He is the same Jesus yesterday, today and tomorrow. His power to defeat the devil is still present today as it was present yesterday. But do we allow Jesus to dwell in our lives? Do we still have time for Him in this era of high-technology and high-definition gadgets?  

We must at all times give time for Jesus so that we could always ward off the devil from our midst. If you always have Jesus in your life you give no room for the devil to dwell in your life.

Do you give time for Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for Sunday January 25, Third Sunday in Ordinary Time; Mark 1:14-20

Gospel: Mark 1:14-20
After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel. As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Then they abandoned their nets and followed him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.
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Reflection:
What is the prerequisite in following Jesus? Its repentance and belief in His gospel message, we cannot follow without repentance and firm belief in His gospel message.

 When Simon, Andrew, James and John responded to His call they did not simply respond. Along with their response to Jesus came their desire to repent. They also did not only leave behind them their livelihood and families they also left behind their sinfulness or anything that made them sin.

When the four of them went along with Jesus to become fishers of men they were already renewed by Jesus. They were also equipped by Jesus with practically anything that they would be needing as they go about their mission.

What is the relevance of the gospel to us and to our faith life? We too are being called by Jesus to a life of renewal and repentance. We too are being called by Jesus to follow Him and become fishers of men. Why does Jesus calls us to a life of renewal and repentance? This is for the reason that we are all sinners, no one of us is sinless.

The recent visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines was not only a visit per se. It was also a clarion call for all of us for a life of renewal and repentance. Hundreds and millions of us went to the streets to see the Pope and to greet him. What now after that encounter with Pope Francis?

Let us not waste our encounter with the Pope by doing nothing let us allow it to move us towards our renewal and repentance. The visit of the Pope was also Jesus' direct call to all of us to follow Him so that we too could become His instruments of renewal and repentance by doing so we become fishers of men too!    

To positively respond to Jesus' call of repentance and belief in His gospel message is the best action that we could ever do to our life.

What are we going to do to this call of Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Reflection for January 24, Saturday; St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor; Mark 3:20-21

Gospel: Mark 3:20-21
Jesus came with his disciples into the house. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.
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Reflection:
What happens when we get to serious with our vocation for the Lord? They normally would label us as someone who is out of his/her mind. For example when we prioritize God over money, when we shun friends even relatives from our environment friends/relatives who do not bring us any good. and instead we focus our time and energy  for the glory of God. They would really label us as somebody who is out of his/her mind.

But come to think of it, who is out of his/her mind? Those who focus their time and energy for the greater glory of God or those who focus their time and energy to this world only? If you focus your attention to this world what will happen to you when you die? Where will you end up if you allow yourself to be possessed by this world?  

Jesus was labeled as out of His mind for the reason that He was very zealous in His mission for the Lord. He allowed Himself to be possessed by His mission for the Lord rather than embrace worldliness.

There really are people who will not understand us for the things that we do for the greater glory of God. We must move on nevertheless and continue doing our mission for Jesus. Let us just pray for the enlightenment of those who do not understand or refuse to understand what we do for the Lord.  – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Reflection for January 23, Friday of the Second Week; Mark 3:13-19

Gospel: Mark 3:13-19
Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him. He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons: He appointed the Twelve: Simon, whom he named Peter; James, son of Zebedee,and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus; Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
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Reflection:
What is the relevance of the selection of the twelve apostles to you? It reminds you that you also have a mission for the propagation of the faith. You may say, I know nothing about the faith therefore I can do nothing for I know nothing.

The twelve that was chosen by Jesus know nothing also about the faith; many of them were in fact laborers and sinners. Yet they were called by Jesus to follow Him. Therefore to say that you know nothing is not an excuse because you will know if you will only try to know something about the faith.

Jesus will not fail you He will even equip you so that from knowing nothing you will now know something. And this something that Jesus will give you will soon grow if you will continue to respond to His call.  

Be not afraid to respond, be not afraid to dive into the deep waters of our faith for Jesus will always be with you. Begin your mission in your family first which is your domestic church. Gently evangelize them about Jesus and about our Roman Catholic faith through your healing words and actions. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for January 22, Thursday of the Second Week; Mark 3:7-12

Gospel: Mark 3:7-12
Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” He warned them sternly not to make him known.
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Reflection:
Do you always go to Jesus in prayer everyday? It’s is a must for all of us believers so that He could always bless and heal us.  If we will not sought Jesus, to where would we go? We go after the ephemeral riches that this world is always offering us?  

Until we become hooked to the many temporal offerings of this world. Then slowly but surely the devil will see to it that he gets hold of us as we go after the many tempting offerings of this world.

In our gospel people from all over the place went after Jesus because they knew that only Jesus could heal and help them. They sought Jesus like a priceless diamond so that they could be healed of their many sickness.

Let us learn from them by seeking Jesus as well in everyday of our life through our prayers, our presence at Holy Mass and other forms of devotions that will show our deep love for Jesus.  Let us not wait for the time that we are already sick before we embrace Jesus.

Let us go to Him now so that as we go on with our journey in this world we will have Jesus journeying also with us by our side. And as He journeys with us He will surely see to it that He will always be there for us. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for January 21, Wednesday Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr; Mark 3:1-6

Gospel: Mark 3:1-6
Jesus entered the synagogue. There was a man there who had a withered hand. They watched Jesus closely to see if he would cure him on the Sabbath so that they might accuse him. He said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up here before us.” Then he said to the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” But they remained silent. Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death.
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Reflection:
Do you always help when you see somebody in need of help? Or you sometimes make excuses so that you would not be obliged to help. Like pretending not to see anyone who is in need of your help. For example you see a poor man who is in dire need of help, what are you going to do to that poor man? Pretend not to see his obvious need of help?

When Jesus went to the synagogue there was this man with a withered hand. He did not ask Jesus for help but Jesus knew that he needed help so Jesus called him and right after restored his withered hand.

All of us also encounter people who are in need of our help. Perhaps many of us simply pretend not to see them for we don’t want to be disturbed. But there are those who would proactively go out of their way to give help even if they are not asked and these people are like Jesus and they have the heart of Jesus.

Let us always be proactive when we give help and let us always be sensitive to their needs. For there really are people who will not ask for help even if they obviously need help. They will simply leave everything in the hands of God and keep silent in the midst of their agony and distress. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for January 20, Tuesday of the Second Week; Mark 2:23-28

Gospel: Mark  2:23-28
As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to him “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath? He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest  and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions? Then he said to them “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
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Reflection:
Why was Jesus so popular with the common people of His time? Because He violates some religious norms for the greater good of the people that He loves so dearly.  For example the picking of grain during Sabbath day, doing this was prohibited based on the Jewish religion. But Jesus dared to violate this law for the good of His disciples.

Laws or religious norms are good for the reason that it will teach us obedience and discipline. But there are times that we have to violate it so that it could serve a higher and nobler purpose. In the gospel the nobler or higher purpose why Jesus violated the Sabbath law was to feed the hungry stomachs of His disciples.

Jesus violated the Sabbath law for the reason that humans are more important that laws. We  can amend a law or extinguish the life of a law but are we willing to extinguish the life of a human being to serve the law?

In a deeper sense Jesus is teaching us that the important need of a person (In this case the need for food) is far more important than any law. For Jesus it’s always the good of His followers than the observance of any kind of religious law/s.

This norm of Jesus stands until today we are His priority more than any other rule/law in this world. How about us, is Jesus our priority more than any other undertaking in this world? – Marino J. Dasmarinas