Reflection for August 13, Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 18:21–19:1

Gospel: Matthew 18:21–19:1

Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full. Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe. Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back. But he refused. Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!  I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”

When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.

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Reflection:

How do you feel after you’ve been through the Sacrament of Confession/Reconciliation? You feel light and free as if a big burden has been taken off from your back. This perhaps was the feeling of the servant in our gospel who asked forgiveness from his master/king.

But the irony is this: the servant who was forgiven by his master did not forgive a fellow servant who owed him a small amount of money. Something is terribly wrong here because the servant should have also forgiven his fellow servant. But he did not take advantage of the grace of forgiveness that was showered upon him by his master.  

Do you always take advantage of the grace of forgiveness that is graciously given to you by God during the Sacrament of Confession? God’s desire for us is to forgive as we have been forgiven. To forgive and forget the offense/s that is done to us as God has forgiven the countless offenses that we’ve done to Him. Think about if you don’t forgive, you’re imprisoned by your anger and you don’t have peace of mind. 

You have everything to gain and nothing to lose if you will forgive or if you become forgiving. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for August 12, Wednesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 18:15-20

Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20

Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church. If he refuses to listen even to the Church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

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Reflection:

A domineering husband would always shout at his wife whenever she commits mistake. Eventually the wife had enough of his domineering behavior so she decided to leave him for good and live her life in peace.

It’s always very tempting to show off our authority and power in the sphere of environment that we are in. Yet the more that we become authoritarian the more that we alienate ourselves from the people that we love. The more that we become domineering that more that we hasten our downfall.

Whenever there is conflict in our sphere of environment. The devil would always tell us to show-off our domineering behavior through the exercise of our authority.  But this kind of action will never heal conflict it will even exacerbate conflict.

Jesus has an advice for all of us on how to deal with those whom we have issues to settle.  The advice of Jesus is to always use the way of diplomacy and never the way of arrogance. To sit-down and talk as civilized and educated people, to stretch our patience to the limit and not to immediately get angry.

How do you behave when there are issues in your sphere of environment, say for example in your  family? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for August 11, Tuesday Saint Claire, Virgin: Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

Gospel: Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.

See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”

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Reflection:

A rebellious young lady has five children from five different men. She tried every sin that this world could offer her. There was no sign of repentance in her heart she continued to sin like it was breakfast in the morning. Her relative had already given up on her so they let her live her sinful life.

In the gospel Jesus speaks about searching for the lost sheep and searching for those who stray no matter where they are. Unlike us who often times give up on those who do not listen to us. Jesus doesn’t give up, He continuously search for those who sin or those who are lost. No sin is too big for the merciful heart of Jesus.

Each and every one of us are precious in the eyes of God, He holds us dearly in His loving heart. No matter if we are big time or small time sinners we are all precious in His eyes.

In so many ways the gospel invites us to self-reflection on how we feel towards those who sin. Have we already given up on them because they don’t listen to us? Or we continue to patiently wait or even search for them. Until we find them so that we could offer them our unconditional love.   

Do you easily give up on those who sin or you patiently wait and pray for  them until they see the healing light of Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for August 10, Monday Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr: John 12:24-26

Gospel: John 12:24-26

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.”

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Reflection:

What does it mean to hate your life in this world? It’s to give your life in the service of Jesus so that through you others may know Jesus. When you do not give your life for the mission of Jesus and just keep it to yourself you will not grow in wisdom and faith. Yes, you will grow in worldliness and hedonism but eventually your life will come to a halt. And that’s basically the end of it.

When you choose to give your life for the mission of Jesus you will not anymore enjoy this world as you enjoyed it before.  Yet you will also discover a more profound and deeper meaning in your life.

 Why? Because you chose to give your life for the mission of Jesus. You chose to throwaway your life away from the prying eyes of worldliness going to the direction of Jesus so that you could walk hand in hand with Jesus.

As Jesus gave away His very own life on the cross so that God’s kingdom in this world could grow and flourish. We too should not be afraid to give away our lives for the sake of the kingdom of God for this is where the true essence and meaning of life lies.

Where are you in your life right now? Have you already found the true essence and meaning of life with Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Sunday August 9, Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time; John 6:41-51

Gospel: John 6:41-51

The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven, ” and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

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Reflection:   

How can Jesus be the bread that gives life? This is very hard to believe for a non-believer. But for those who believe they know that Jesus indeed is the Bread of Life.

The Jews were protesting about Jesus’ pronouncement that He is the Bread of Life that came down from heaven (John 6:41). They know Jesus pretty well as the son of Joseph and Mary, some of them perhaps grew with Him.  How could then He become the Bread of Life?  

Faith and actual experience is what moves us to believe this sacred declaration of Jesus that He is the Bread that gives life. Why do we yearn to receive Jesus during Holy Communion? Because our love and faith in Jesus pushes us to do so.

Everytime we submit to the desire of our faith in Jesus to partake of Him during the Sacrament of Holy Communion/Eucharist. We also obey Jesus’ desire to dwell in us and to be with us. The Jews did not submit themselves to this desire of Jesus that’s why they did not believe Him.

Each and every one of us goes through an extra-ordinary experience whenever we partake of Jesus’ Body and blood. Many of us do not notice this extra-ordinary experience anymore for the simple reason that we treat this experience as an ordinary experience.  

  

Whenever we receive The Body and Blood of Jesus it’s not us who desire to be one with our Lord and Master. It is Jesus our Lord and Master who desires to be one with Him. It’s Jesus who calls each and every one of us to receive Him so that He could dwell in us and in the process He could transform and bless us.

What then is your responsibility? You have to share the miracle of the Bread of Life; you have to share what you know about Jesus no matter how limited and you have to allow Jesus to transform you according to His will. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for August 8, Saturday Memorial of Saint Dominic, Priest: Matthew 17:14-20

Gospel: Matthew 17:14-20

A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said, “Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Jesus said in reply, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured. Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out? He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

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Reflection:

What can your faith in Jesus do to you? It will move you to have hope and it will move you to hold-on to Jesus no matter how difficult the situation. The man in our gospel who asked Jesus to cure his son has faith in Jesus. Otherwise he would not have dared approach Jesus and asked for the healing of his son.

In contrast to the faith of the man was the lack of faith of Jesus’ disciples. What was the cause of the disciples’ lack of faith? Perhaps they treated Jesus as an ordinary mortal like them. Perhaps their reverence for Jesus was little by little being eroded by the trials of their discipleship.

If we treat Jesus as an ordinary mortal we too are susceptible to a spiritual disease called erosion of faith. And the result of this is we will be lukewarm towards Jesus. There would be less motivation on our part to continue to pursue Jesus. We would be more susceptible to doubts and spiritual apathy.

What then is the cure to our dwindling faith? We should pray and ask Jesus for the gift of increase of faith. We should be present and always paying attention to the Eucharistic Celebration (Holy Mass). We should partake of His Body as often as possible and we should give time for reading the words of Jesus in the bible.

If we will have time to do all of these, we surely will always have rock solid faith in Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for August 7, Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 16:24-28

Gospel: Matthew 16:24-28

Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay each according to his conduct. Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”

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Reflection:

What does the cross signify to you? Does it signify hardship and burden? During the time of Jesus the cross was a judgment given by the authorities to whomever they want. It was a sign of oppression, hardship and unfair judgment.

By saying to the disciples that they have to take-up their own cross if they desire to follow Him. Jesus was telling them that they have to be ready to be oppressed, ready to face hardships and ready to be unfairly judged. Many of the disciples took this challenge of Jesus and in so doing they found the real meaning of life.

Many of us seek the life of ease and comfort thinking that this is what life is all about. But life of ease and comfort is not the real essence of life. Could you find your life by living a worldly life? Could you find purpose in this world by living the lifestyle of the rich and famous? Many rich and famous personalities in this world committed suicide because they struggled to find the purpose of their lives.

It is only through following Jesus that you will find your life. Therefore you have to carry your cross for you to be called a true follower of Jesus. Never worry about how hard and difficult the cross that you would be carrying for Jesus. This is for the reason that Jesus will always be there to help you carry your cross.      

Would you be willing to carry your cross for Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for August 6, Thursday the Transfiguration of the Lord: Mark 9:2-10

Gospel: Mark 9:2-10

Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John, and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified. Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them.

As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant.

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Reflection:

Is heaven for real? Yes it is as evidenced by the transfiguration of the Lord. When Jesus brought along the three disciples (Peter, James and John) to have that mountain top experience. He wanted them to see that heaven is for real and not just a creation of the mind. Jesus wanted them to feel how it is to be in heaven.

Indeed, heaven is for real and it is open for all of us. But we have to do also our part so that we could be there. Of course we have to become faithful followers of Jesus and not followers in name only.  We have to become faithful followers and not fair weather followers.

Someday our journey in this world will be over and we all are surely hoping that we would be with Jesus in heaven. We therefore have to do our part no matter how small. We have to positively change so that we would have a chance to be with Jesus in heaven.

Nobody of us knows where we would end-up eventually, only God knows about it. But it’s a safe insurance that we ourselves be transfigured. From bad we now become good. From fair weather followers of Jesus we now become an all-weather follower.    

Are you willing to faithfully follow Jesus from now on? – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for August 5, Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 15: 21-28

Gospel: Matthew 15: 21-28

At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

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Reflection:

How is strong is your faith in Jesus? Can it endure severe testing from Jesus?

The great faith of the Canaanite woman whose daughter was tormented by a devil is very evident in the gospel. She was initially snubbed by Jesus but she persisted. She heard the disciples told Jesus: “Send her away.” But she did not budge a bit.

Then being a Canaanite woman, Jesus told her: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The more that she persisted; she knelt before and said: “Lord help me.”

After a few more dialogues Jesus saw how strong was her faith when He said: “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.

We too have our own special petitions for Jesus and we too must have been snubbed or ignored a number of times. It may even seem that Jesus is turning a deaf ear to our begging.

In spite of these all we must continue to have faith and be always persistent in following Him. God’s silence and rejections to our petitions is a test of faith for us. God wants to see until where are we willing to stretch our patience. He wants to see if we are still willing to walk an extra mile in our pursuit of Him.  

How strong is your faith in Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for August 4, Tuesday Saint John Vianney: Matthew 14:22-36

Gospel: Matthew 14:22-36

Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and precede him to the other side of the sea, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone. Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”

After making the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret. When the men of that place recognized him, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought to him all those who were sick and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak, and as many as touched it were healed.

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Reflection:

A young woman was praying to the Lord for a husband.  After two years of praying there was still no reply from the Lord. So she said, I give up my Lord for you are deaf to my prayer. The Lord replied to her telling her, if you did not give up. I would have sent you a handsome, humble and good man that would be your husband and best friend for the rest of your life.

Lack of faith can oftentimes lead us to give-up on our dreams; it can even lead us to doubt the abiding presence of Jesus in our lives.

When Peter saw Jesus walking on the sea, he asked the Lord to let him walk also on the sea going to Him. While walking going to Jesus Peter saw the big waves and it distracted him. Thus Peter began to sink, yet as he was sinking he had the presence of mind to call on Jesus. Therefore Peter cried out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” And Jesus immediately saved him.

Human as we are we oftentimes falter in our journey of faith with Jesus. But even if we falter in our faith life Jesus is still there for us to help and save us in whatever difficult predicament that we are in.  All we need to do is to ask the Lord to save us and Jesus will surely be there for us to save us.

How is your faith right now in the Lord Jesus Christ? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for August 3, Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 14:13-21

Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21

When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” He said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.” Then he said, “Bring them here to me,” and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over–twelve wicker baskets full. Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.

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Reflection:

A man who was given a few weeks to live by his doctors was able to live a full life. And the irony of it all is he was even able to outlive some of the doctors who gave him a few weeks to live.  When he was asked why he was able to beat his sickness he simply said this: I have faith that Jesus will heal me.

When a person has faith the impossible becomes possible, the faraway becomes within reach and the unbelievable becomes believable.

In the gospel, when Jesus saw the vast crowd his heart was moved with pity for them (Matthew 14:14). Yet the disciples were telling Jesus to let the crowd go for it was already getting late and there was no available food to feed them. But Jesus was able to feed the more than five thousand crowd and there was still plenty to spare.

Why did the disciples doubt the power of Jesus to feed the vast crowd? Were they (disciples) losing faith in Jesus?

When the odds are against you or when you are faced with a seemingly impossible situation. Never doubt the power of Jesus to see you through out of your difficult situation. Continue to have faith in the miraculous power of Jesus. Continue to believe that Jesus will make a way when there seems to be no way. – Marino J. Dasmarinas