Thursday, February 19, 2015

Reflection for February 21, Saturday after Ash Wednesday Luke 5:27-32

Gospel: Luke 5:27-32 
Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me. And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? Jesus said to them in reply, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”
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Reflection:
How do we treat sinners? Are we quick to condemn them for who they are? Or we are patient with them and even build bridges with them so that they would also feel the love and forgiveness of Jesus?

When we judge sinners we also immediately cut-off the chance for us to be an instrument of their healing and conversion. We are also pushing them deeper into the mud of sin. But why are we judgmental when we are sinners also? Why are we judgmental when we are not perfect, when we too are subject to judgment?    

There is a story of a sinner who finally decided to change his ways. So he gathered enough courage and presented himself to his parents to ask for forgiveness. But the parents did not forgive him they instead condemned him as good for nothing and useless.

In the days that followed they received a call that their son ended his life. If only they were not  judgmental they could have saved a life and became an instrument of conversion. But they choose not to forgive.  

When Jesus saw the tax collector named Levi who was labelled as sinners by those who knew him. Jesus never condemned the tax collector He instead asked Levi to follow Him and this sinner left everything to follow Jesus. We see the beautiful result when we don’t condemn.

In the heart of every sinner rest a sacred place that is reserved for someone who will not judge them. A sacred place exclusively for those who would be willing to forgive them and help them get-up and start a new life with Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for February 20, Friday after Ash Wednesday Matthew 9:14-15

Gospel: Matthew 9:14-15 
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.”
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Reflection:
What does fasting do to us? It cleanses our bodies, when we fast we dictate on our bodies rather than our bodies dictating on us. For example when we see a delicious food, our bodies would normally dictate upon us to eat that delicious food. This is always the scenario: Our bodies dictate upon us and we succumb to it.

However, when we fast, it’s the other way around we don’t succumb to this dictate we contradict it, for what reason? For the observance of certain customs and tradition in this case we can cite our fasting during Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

In our gospel, Jesus was questioned by the Pharisees why His disciples were not fasting. Jesus answered them this: They are not fasting for the reason that the bridegroom (Referring to Himself) is still with them. Therefore their tricky question was properly answered by Jesus.

Literal fasting when done for a good reason is valid but when it’s done for people to see or to get praise from people. It becomes invalid or useless it’s much better not to fast when we do it for show.   

But there’s a much meaningful and permanent fasting that God wants us to do. We permanently fast from oppressing others, we permanent fast from our arrogance and high sense of ourselves and we permanently fast from our greed and indifference.

Are we capable of doing this kind of fasting? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Monday, February 16, 2015

Reflection for February 19, Thursday after Ash Wednesday Luke 9:22-25

Gospel: Luke 9:22-25
Jesus said to his disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”

Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?”
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Reflection:
A man of the world was on the verge of ending his life, he decided to go to a cliff to jump so that he could end everything.  On his way he saw a church that has an inscription of the words of Jesus that says: Come follow me. He gave it a serious thought and decided to go to the church and inquire about it.

 There he was informed that it was a call to vocation in the service of the Lord. He thereafter decided not to end his life he instead responded to the instant vocation call. And soon after he found God and he also discerned the true meaning of his life with Jesus.

Many of us spend our lifetime to pursue our earthly ambition such as to be rich and powerful. And then when we reach the pinnacle of our ambitions we also discover that something is still lacking or missing. We yearn for something that is meaningful and something that would satisfy our inner being.   

This something that is meaningful that we yearn is no other than God. No matter how rich and powerful some of us may become we will still not have peace of mind. For the simple reason that only God will gives peace of mind only God will give us inner calmness and healing.

But the big question is this: Are we willing to give away our life to God so that He could save it and make full use of it? – Marino J. Dasmarinas   

Reflection for February 18, Ash Wednesday (Fasting and Abstinence) Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
Jesus said to his disciples: “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.When you give alms,do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that you may not appear to be fasting except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
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Reflection:
How does the season of lent affect you? Does this make you closer to God? There are three keys for you to have a meaningful observance of lent. The first is Almsgiving, the second is Prayer and the third is Fasting. In all of these three Jesus advocates silence and self-introspection and Jesus advocates contradiction to what this world would normally dictate you to do.

In Almsgiving, Prayer and Fasting Jesus advocates doing it in the privacy of your heart. Nobody will know except you and God alone not even your closest relative or friend.  Why? Because it is in silence and secrecy that you would also receive blessings from God (Most especially spiritual blessings).  For example, how could you have peace of mind? It’s through silence. How would you feel the presence of God in your life it’s in silence also.

God is not a loud or boastful God He is not like the many artificial Gods of this secular world that thrives in noise and publicity. Come to think of it, is it possible to have communion with Jesus through noise and publicity? Never. You will never have connection with Jesus through noise, publicity and other acts of self-promotion.    

As we begin our forty (40) days journey this lent let us try to look back about the loudness of our lives. Let us look at our facebooks and observe how we loudly promoted our lives there and let us ask ourselves this question: Has this self-promotion and sometimes hedonistic lifestyle led me in close communion with Jesus?

Lent is the time of year that the Good Lord gives us so that we could get closer and intimate with Him. It is His hope that through lent we could have a close encounter with Him and this we could best do in silence.

As the priest or lay minister put ash with the sign of the cross on your forehead. Close your eyes and silently pray this to the Lord: Lord Lead me back to you and bring me closer to you. – Marino J. Dasmarinas   

Reflection for February 17, Tuesday Sixth Week in Ordinary Time; Mark 8:14-21

Gospel: Mark  8:14-21
The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. Jesus enjoined them, “Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. They concluded among themselves that it was because they had no bread. When he became aware of this he said to them, “Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up? They answered him, “Twelve.” “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?” They answered him, “Seven.” He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”
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Reflection:
What do you do when you go through your life’s trials? Do you fully trust the Lord to make things better for you? Do you say, Lord I give to you all my worries and I trust the you will take care of it and you will give me help. 

If your mindset is to surrender everything to the Lord, it then speak volumes of you enormous faith in Jesus. Come what may you will trust Jesus more than trust yourself and anybody else. Is your faith in Jesus as strong as this that you trust Jesus more than anybody else?

In our gospel, when the disciples together with Jesus were already in the boat they found out that they had only one bread. And they were naturally worried, for how could this one bread fill all of their hungry stomachs?

In the midst of their worries Jesus reminded them about His miracle of the loaves where He feed the thousands. As if Jesus was telling them: Why are you worried that you will not be able to eat when I am with you!

The disciples failed their test of faith; they doubted if Jesus would be able to help them. Did they doubt or they simply forgot that Jesus was with them in that boat?

We all face our own set of test of faith. Perhaps many of us also fail this test of faith and we doubt if we will be able to achieve what we want in life. Or for the reason of our many worries we simply forget that we have a powerful friend and God in Jesus.

Let us doubt no more let us fully trust Jesus for He will never fail us. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Reflection for February 16, Monday Sixth Week in Ordinary Time; Mark 8:11-13

Gospel: Mark 8:11-13
The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation. Then he left them, got into the boat again, and went off to the other shore.
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Reflection:
What does it mean when we seek signs from the Lord Jesus? It means weakness of faith, it means that Jesus is not yet enough for us to hold-on for our salvation for we still need signs and wonders from Jesus. A true believer and a person of faith will not anymore seek a sign from the Lord. He/She will trust the Lord Jesus regardless of if he/she will see or not see signs from Him.

If we truly love the Lord and if we have faith in the Lord we will not anymore ask for a sign from Him. Why? Because His name alone is more than enough to deliver us from all of our fears and doubts.  This is for that reason that we always feel His abiding presence in our lives.

The Lord is with us the moment we reverently attend Holy Mass most especially when we partake of His Body and Blood during Holy Communion. The Lord speaks to us the moment we reverently read His words in the bible. Jesus is with us the moment we pray with reverence the Holy Rosary.  

If only we will invest time to dive deeper into the life of Jesus and our catholic faith we will not anymore ask for any signs from Jesus. Because as we invest time for Him, we will also notice slowly but surely His abiding presence in our lives.

Let us not ask for signs let us instead get intimate with Jesus and our faith by our faithful presence at Holy Mass. By having a daily habit of reading our bible and by humbly submitting ourselves to the healing Sacrament of Confession. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Reflection for Sunday February 15, Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time; Mark 1:40-45

Gospel: Mark 1:40-45
A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.

He said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”

The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.
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Reflection:
How would you react if we are the leper in the gospel that was healed by Jesus? Should you just keep silent about your miraculous healing or you tell everyone how Jesus healed you? Perhaps you would also spread the good news of your healing from Jesus for this is basic human nature.

The healed leper disobeyed the command of Jesus not to tell anyone of the miracle that he received from Him (Mark 1:44). Did Jesus get angry with his disobedience? Of course not! For Jesus perfectly understands that his disobedience is with a good reason.

The healed leper wanted everyone to know that Jesus heals! The former leper simply wanted to share the good news of his healing so that others could also receive healing from Jesus. Soon enough, the healing that Jesus did for the leper spread like wild fire and as a result of this, people from everywhere went to Jesus.  

Have you received a miracle from Jesus? For example healing from your sickness, healing of a family relationship or healing from an emotional spiritual sickness and the like. Don’t keep it within yourself! Spread the good news about the greatest healer who ever walked on this earth; no other than Jesus.– Marino J. Dasmarinas