Jesus
came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were
astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is
he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers
James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Are not his sisters all with us? Where did
this man get all this?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A
prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house.” And he
did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.
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Reflection:
Do you
sometimes have a selective treatment with your fellowmen? The town mates of Jesus treated Him with
disdain because they knew Him as one of them. They knew His family background
and they couldn’t believe that Jesus would be able to do such an exceptional
lecture in their synagogue.
Instead
of welcoming Him they treated Him with disdain. For they couldn’t accept that
this man whom they know very well is now able to talk with wisdom. What drove
them to belittle Jesus? It was their arrogance and high sense of themselves.
Jesus town mates could not accept that this son of a carpenter could now become
a preacher in their synagogue.
Our
arrogance and high regard of ourselves will do us no good. It even deprives us
of so many blessings from Jesus. Just like what happened to His town mates who were
deprived of many blessing from Jesus when they did not accept Him.
Instead
of being arrogant be humble, be respectful and always treat everyone as better
than you are. Don’t try hard to raise yourself in the consciousness of others,
let Jesus do it for you. Thus you will earn the respect of everybody. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
Jesus
said to the disciples: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the
sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and
sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it
will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from
the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be
wailing and grinding of teeth.”
“Do you
understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” And he replied, “Then every
scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of a
household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” When Jesus
finished these parables, he went away from there.
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Reflection:
A
desperate man was set to end his life, when he was about to do it he heard the
voice of God which told him not to end his life. The man told God, I am a grievous
sinner my Lord I don’t deserve to live anymore, I deserve to die and be in
hell. The Lord told the man, I love you my son no matter who you are and no
matter what you have done.
The love
of God is like a net thrown into the sea which collects fish of every kind
(Matthew 13:47). It does not discriminate; it catches every fish, the good and
bad alike. The love of God is like this also, it’s for each and everyone of us:
sinner and non-sinner alike.
Yet this
love that God gives us freely is not also being forced upon us. We also have
the freedom if we would respond by renewing our lives or we continue with our
sinful ways. If we renew our lives and permanently walkaway from sin then we
save our lives.
But if we continue on sinning notwithstanding the
fact that God has already called us. We therefore have to be ready for the grievous
consequence that may befall us. It’s no
brainer therefore that we have to discontinue our sinful lives and take
advantage of the love of God that he perpetually offers us.
Let us
choose to embrace the love of God and permanently dump into oblivion the sinful
offering of the devil. For the simple reason that the love of God is heaven on
earth. While the sinful offering of the devil will bring us nowhere but hell. -
Marino J. Dasmarinas
Many of
the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother
[Lazarus, who had died]. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to
meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been
here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask
of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha
said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus
told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if
he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do
you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you
are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.
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Reflection:
Who is
Jesus to you? Is He your best friend that you always go to whenever you are
disturb by the many worries of this world? Jesus was the best friend of the
sisters Martha and Mary they have that close interaction with Him.
When Jesus was going to their house to comfort
them about the death of their brother Lazarus. Martha went to meet Jesus while
He was still on His way to their house. Martha
said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died
(John 11:21).
If Jesus was an ordinary friend Martha would
not have bothered to meet Jesus, she would simply wait for Jesus to arrive in their
house. But Jesus was their close friend, thus He met Him halfway.
How could
you have a close friendship with Jesus? You have to ask Jesus to be your friend.
You have to ask Jesus to increase your faith, you have to attend Holy Mass as
frequent as you can. You have to learn more about the life of Jesus by reading your
bible.
The best
thing that could ever happen to your life is not to have the riches of this
world. For it will fade away and you will leave it someday. The best thing that
could ever happen to you is to have the friendship of Jesus. For He will always
be there for you until forever. This is the best thing that could ever happen to
you in this world.
Jesus
dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and
said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He said in reply,
“He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed
the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One, and the
enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the
harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so
will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they
will collect out of his Kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They
will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and
grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of
their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
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Reflection:
How are
you living your life today? Are you living it in accord with what Jesus wants
you to live it?
Many of us live life as if there is no
tomorrow, we live life to enjoy whatever this world could offer us, including
sin. But life lived for this world alone is not the real life; there is
something more profound than the life that we enjoy in this fleeting
world.
The
profound life is a life lived in the company of Jesus. But how could we
discover the movement of Jesus in our lives? There are so many ways to discern
this movement of Jesus in our lives.
For
example you will discover that Jesus wants to have a relationship with you
through a relative or a good friend. Through a written commentary that you just
read out of nowhere and this written commentary made you think about how you
are living your life today.
The good
friend and the written commentary that you’ve read are part of the many seeds
that Jesus sows in your heart. And Jesus expects nothing less from you than to
listen to Him because Jesus always wants nothing but the best for you.
At the
end of the gospel Jesus speaks about harvest time or judgment day. When would
this be? This will be at the end of our lives, when we die to be more specific.
We will be judged according to what we’ve done in this world. If we listened to
Jesus we will have a place in His kingdom.
How are
you living your life today? - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus
proposed a parable to the crowds. “The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed
that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet
when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the
birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.”
He spoke
to them another parable. “The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took
and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was
leavened.” All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to
them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:
I will
open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the
foundation of the world. illustrate the same point: the amazing contrast
between the small beginnings of the kingdom and its marvelous expansion.
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Reflection:
How does
the kingdom of God starts in your heart? It starts small, then if you nurture
it with prayers, by reading the bible and your faithful presence at Holy Mass.
It slowly grows little by little until it fully blooms so that it can bless
others and in the process you become a blessing to your brethren.
But not
everyone has this kind of experience. To many of us the kingdom begins small
also yet it does not grow it instead dies. Why? Because we don’t exert an
effort to nurture it, we don’t ask Jesus to bless our faith so that it could
grow.
The
mustard seed parable in our gospel is an allusion of Jesus’ desire to help us grow
in faith. This seed of faith that He initially gives us during our baptism. And
as we grow Jesus also desires that we also grow in faith so that others can
learn from us.
How’s the
seed of faith that Jesus sowed in your heart during your baptism? Did you allow
it to grow by nurturing it and by asking Jesus to help you grow in faith? If it
grew, has anyone been blessed by it already? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus went across
the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him because they saw the signs he
was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat
down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus
raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to
Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” He said this to test
him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two
hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have
a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to
him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what
good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there
was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five
thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed
them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When
they had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left
over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled
twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been
more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This
is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” Since Jesus knew
that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew
again to the mountain alone.
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Reflection:
There’s a story of a
married couple who always find it hard to sustain their family's basic financial needs. A relative advised them to always be present in the Holy Mass
celebration in their village’s chapel. The married couple asked their relative,
why is there a need for us to always be present during Holy Mass? Their
relative told them that they need to be present because this is where they
meet, interact and be one with the Bread of Life which is Jesus Himself.
The big crowd in the
gospel was running after Jesus, primarily because of His miracles, healings and life
changing sermons. The crowd was more than five thousand and Jesus was
naturally concerned for their welfare.
He therefore wanted to feed them but there was no enough bread and fish. So
what Jesus did was he asked for whatever bread and fish that they have.
Upon getting hold of the bread and fish, He looked-up in
thanksgiving to God. Thereafter
Jesus gave the bread and fish to the crowd and He was able
to fed them all. They also had plenty to spare, twelve wicker baskets and some
fragments. It was not only the crowd’s physical hunger that was satisfied by
Jesus, He also satisfied their spiritual thirst.
When you attend Holy Mass, you are also feed by Jesus with the same bread which He gave
the crowd. It happens when you partake of His Body and Blood during Holy
Communion. During Holy Communion you are also nourished
physically and spiritually by the Bread of Life, Jesus Himself!
This is what occurs
when you attend Holy Mass. You’re always being nourished by Jesus
Himself, the same Jesus that fed the crowd who were following Him in the gospel.
when you are
already standing in line for Holy Communion. Pray with your mind and heart and
humbly ask Jesus to satisfy your spiritual hunger. Ask Jesus to increase your
faith, pray also for contentment and peace in your life. He surely will give-in to your prayer.
Will you go to Holy
Mass this Sunday so that you could partake of the Bread of Life? – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
The mother of the sons of
Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him
for something. He said to her, “What do you wish?” She answered him, “Command
that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left,
in your Kingdom.” Jesus said in reply, “You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We
can.” He replied, “My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and
at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been
prepared by my Father.” When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the
two brothers. But Jesus summoned them and said, “You know that the rulers of
the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over
them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great
among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be
your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and
to give his life as a ransom for many.
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Reflection:
What does it mean to be a
follower of Jesus? Does it mean to wield power and influence? Does it mean to
be popular in your community? None of the above. To be a follower is to be
ready to serve without any hidden agenda. To be a follower is not to
desire greatness or any form of influence.
The mother of the sons of
Zebedee desired her two sons to sit beside Jesus in His kingdom. Why did she
ask for this? She asked because she did not know the real essence of a follower
of Jesus. If only she knew that a follower should be the epitome of humility
she would have not asked for that exalted position.
The mother of the two sons is
the typical representation of the modern parents of today. They want their
children to be in the spotlight. To be in-front and have all the attention that
they could gather.
But if this is the mindset of
parents today, what are they teaching their children? They’re teaching their
children to have an arrogant mindset instead of a mindset of humility. Their
teaching their children to seek prominence whenever they do good instead of
simply fading away.
If you want to grow in faith
and if you want to be exalted by Jesus. Learn therefore to be humble. Learn not
to desire greatness in whatever form. Learn that humility is the only passport
towards Jesus. –Marino J. Dasmarinas