1Reflection for Sunday June 7, Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi); Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

Gospel: Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?" He sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there. The disciples then went off, entered the city and found it just as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover. While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, "Take it; this is my body. Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

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Reflection:    

A husband went to a place to buy medicine that would save his wife’s life. When he was about to return home with the medicine there was no more available vehicle. That he could ride for it was already midnight. So he made the decision to sacrifice and walk back home so he could save his wife’s life. He arrived dead tired but through his sacrifice he was able to save his wife’s life.

Sacrifice is an essential part of life, particularly in married life. There would be times that you would be called to sacrifice  so that you could save his/her life or even your marriage.

Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). The sacrifice and offering of Jesus Body and Blood through bread and wine. It served as the disciples nourishment as they did their mission without anymore the physical presence of their Lord and Master. Through Jesus offering and sacrifice of His Body and Blood the disciples would also learn to sacrifice and offer their very own lives for the advancement of the mission of Jesus.

Until this very moment we receive the same Body and Blood of Jesus whenever we partake of it during Holy Communion. It serves as our nourishment as we continue to exist in this world. It motivates us to be like Jesus who became selfless for the sake of humanity.

The breaking and sharing of the Body and Blood of Jesus. Communicates to us that we too should learn to share, to become selfless for the greater good and welfare of others most especially the poor and unwanted.

Have you offered or sacrificed your time, your treasure or even a part of your life to advance the mission of Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas          

Reflection for June 5, Friday, Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr; Mark 12:35-37

Gospel: Mark 12:35-37

As Jesus was teaching in the temple area he said, “How do the scribes claim that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said: The Lord said to my lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies under your feet. David himself calls him ‘lord’ so how is he his son? The great crowd heard this with delight.

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Reflection:

Who is the savior of your life? For many of us our savior is money, there are even those who cannot function properly without money. This is so because they rested their lives already on money. Yet money is not the savior, money may even become our passport to hell.

The real savior is Jesus Christ He is the one referred to as the son of David. Jesus family line connects backward to King David, through Joseph’s acceptance of his responsibility as the foster father of Jesus and by flesh and blood through the Blessed Mother.

The word Son of David means savior, this is the reason why many times in the New Testament Jesus was addressed as the Son of David. For example, the woman whose daughter was possessed by a demon (Matthew 15:22), the two blind men (Matthew 20:30). The poor blind man Bartimaeus (Mark 10:47), all of them called Jesus Son of David. They did this for they knew beforehand that Jesus was the promised Messiah or Savior.

How about us? Do we know something about Jesus? Do we know that Jesus can help us in every aspect of our lives? Do we know that Jesus can also make miracles in our lives?

 Let us strive to discover and know more about Jesus. Let us invite Him to come into our lives. – Marino J. Dasmarinas    

Reflection for June 3, Wednesday Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs; Mark 12:18-27

Gospel: Mark 12:18-27

Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and put this question to him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, ‘If someone’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first married a woman and died, leaving no descendants. So the second brother married her and died, leaving no descendants and the third likewise. And the seven left no descendants. Last of all the woman also died. At the resurrection when they arise whose wife will she be? For all seven had been married to her.” Jesus said to them, “Are you not misled because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven. As for the dead being raised, have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God told him, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not God of the dead but of the living. You are greatly misled.”

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Reflection:

What is your idea of the afterlife? Jesus gives us a glimpse of what life is in the afterlife. He tells us that there’s no more human activity in heaven such as marriage for we all will be like angels there (Mark 12:25). But are we going to heaven after our lives are over and done with in this world?  Nobody is sure about this, only God knows where we would we end up after we cease breathing.

But on hindsight even if we don’t hold our destiny after our life is over we also have to do our part. We have to live our lives pleasing to the eyes of God and not pleasing to our own eyes only.  What does it mean to make our lives pleasing to the eyes of God? We have to live the teachings of God and not the teachings of this world.

If we decide to follow Jesus let us follow Him from the moment we decide until the end of our lives. We should not allow sin or anything that contradicts the teachings of God to momentarily derail us. It must be authentic discipleship for Jesus all the way until we stop breathing!

Let us therefore make it a part of our prayers to ask Jesus to bring us to heaven when our time comes. Let us ask Him to shower us His infinite mercy for we all have fell short of His expectations. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for June 2 Tuesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time; Mark 12:13-17

Gospel: Mark 12:13-17

Some Pharisees and Herodians were sent to Jesus to ensnare him in his speech. They came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion. You do not regard a person’s status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?” Knowing their hypocrisy he said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at. They brought one to him and he said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this? They replied to him, “Caesar’s. So Jesus said to them “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God. They were utterly amazed at him.

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Reflection:

What is your obligation to Jesus? Your obligation is to follow His teachings. And as stated by Jesus in the gospel paying the rightful tax to the government is one of them. We disobey Jesus when we don’t pay the taxes due to the government.

The question of paying the census tax had a deeper meaning for it was created to trap Jesus. Yet Jesus was able to wiggle out of this seemingly complicated situation. This was the reason why at the end of the gospel the emissaries of Jesus’ opponents were utterly amazed at Him (Mark 12:17).

As shown in our gospel, Jesus always makes a way when there seems to be no way. He will always make things possible for us. And He will always be there to help us solve our problems no matter how complicated it may seem.

Where are you in your life right now? Are you in a predicament where you think that you’re about to surrender to your problems? Are you at the point of being overwhelmed by your problems? Call on Jesus and pray to Him. He is there just a prayer away, ever ready to help you solve your problem. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for June 1 Monday, Saint Justin, Martyr; Mark 12:1-12

Gospel: Mark 12:1-12

Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent them another servant. And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully. He sent yet another whom they killed. So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed. He had one other to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, put the tenants to death, and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this Scripture passage: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes? They were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the crowd, for they realized that he had addressed the parable to them. So they left him and went away.

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Reflection:

Do you know that all the things that you have right now is not yours?  All the things that you have right now are owned by God. God gave it to you, you may have worked very hard for it but at the end of the day it’s God who allowed you to prosper.

 It’s not through your own effort alone that you’ve achieved success its God who allowed you to have success and be where you are right now.  What have you given back to God in return?

Jesus in our gospel shares a story about a man (owner) who prepared his vineyard for it to be leased. The tenants had no problem of achieving growth and financial success in that vineyard for the owner had prepared it for them.

Then, harvest time came the owner was naturally asking for his share but the tenants were so greedy that they gave nothing to His messengers they all killed them including the very son of the owner of the vineyard.

Transplanting that parable to our present time we find that the man who owned the vineyard is God and we are the tenants. And as such we are expected to give back to God a certain part of what we have right now.

Life is short; let us therefore give back to God while we are still alive. Let us payback the generosity of God or let us move it forward by helping the poor. For example by adopting a poor relative and taking care of his/her education. There are a hundred more ways on how we can give back to God.

What have you given God in return? Have you given Him some of your talent, time and treasure? When you give back to God you allow Him to bless you more. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Sunday May 31, Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity; 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 all 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."

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Reflection:           

What is the visible manifestation of the presence of the Most Holy Trinity? It’s the love and unity in the family. The teachings of the Most Holy Trinity is a mystery that nobody can unravel. Yet when we see a unified and loving family we are reminded of the Holy Trinity. This is for the reason that the Most Holy Trinity is a unity of love amongst God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit.

What is this love that unifies God the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit? In his first letter to the Corinthians Saint Paul said this: “Love is patient, kind, without envy. It is not boastful or arrogant. It is not ill-mannered, nor does it seek its own interest.  Love overcomes anger and forgets offenses. It does not take delight in wrong, but rejoices in truth.  Love excuses everything, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Perhaps this is the kind of love that unifies the Holy Trinity and surely this is the kind of love that binds a family.

We could just imagine if this Trinitarian love is present inside every family. There would be no broken families, no suffering children and spouses. But the reality of many modern families today is it’s so modern and hi-tech that it hardly has personal and heart to heart interaction. The modern family of today interacts in a modern way also through their expensive gadgets. And this result to impersonal interactions which if not corrected could easily break apart a family when it’s tested by trials.   

The Trinitarian love was lived to the hilt by the old school and traditional Holy Family of Joseph, Mary and their son Jesus. Their family is the most visible manifestation of the unity and love of the Most Holy Trinity. This Holy Family is ever ready to listen to the voice of God and always docile to follow the will of God.

How’s your family right now? Does it have the Unity and Love of the Most Holy Trinity? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

1Reflection for May 30, Saturday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time; Mark 11:27-33

Gospel: Mark 1:27-33

Jesus and his disciples returned once more to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders approached him and said to him “By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them? Jesus said to them, “I shall ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me. They discussed this among themselves and said “If we say, ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’? they feared the crowd, for they all thought John really was a prophet. So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know. Then Jesus said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.

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Reflection:

Do you know where the authority of Jesus is coming from? The ruling power during Jesus time wanted to know the origin of His authority. Why were they interested to know? Was it for the reason that their own power base was being threatened by Jesus popularity among the ordinary people?

When our own survival is threatened we normally would do everything within our capacity to   defeat the incoming power. Even if the incoming power is doing what is right and noble. We would still do something to defeat it by any means possible.

Such is our flawed self-serving behavior; we don’t want to be upstaged by anyone. We always want to be in front and have the starring role, perhaps this is part of our human insecurity.

Jesus never had any insecurity for He simply did His mission without questioning anyone’s authority. The priority for Jesus was not authority or power it was first and foremost the well being and interest of the people.    

How about us? Do we put so much weight on authority? Or we just keep on doing what is good without being conscious with any authority? – Marino J. Dasmarinas