Reflection for October 15, Thursday Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church: Luke 11:47-54

Gospel: Luke 11:47-54

The Lord said: “Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets whom your fathers killed. Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them and you do the building. Therefore, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and Apostles; some of them they will kill and persecute’ in order that this generation might be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who died between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood! Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.” When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many things, for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.

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Reflection:

Do you listen to those who care for you and to those who give you meaningful advice? Or you don’t care to listen for the reason that you want to drive your own life?

In our lifetime there shall be people who will come into our lives to give us advice and to guide us. Or people who by the example of their lives would make us think to change our life for the better and live behind sinfulness.  Some of us will care to listen to them but many will simply ignore and continue to live sinfulness.

Why is it that many don’t care to listen? Stubbornness is already inherent in our mindset that is why we don’t listen. We want to live life that way we want it. And our usual reason is: This is my life not yours! Many of us even get angry with those who give us advice. What happens to those who don’t listen? They learn their lesson the hard way: their lives become mired in sin and they naturally suffer for it.

Nevertheless there’s still hope we can reverse the vicious cycle of sinfulness. We just need to change our way of life. Or follow the advices given to us by people whose only desire is for the good of our own wellbeing. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for October 14, Wednesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 11:42-46

Gospel: Luke  11:42-46

The Lord said: “Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.”

Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.” And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”

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Reflection:

Are you a good leader? For example in your house do you walk your talk or do you lead by example?

We read in the gospel that Jesus is angry with the Pharisees and with the teachers of the law. Why? It’s for the reason of their superficial faith and leadership. The Pharisees were supposed to be the leaders of their community and therefore it was expected of them that they will lead by example.

They love to lead and tell people what to do but it stops there. When it comes to living their faith they’re deficient. Jesus wants them to walk their talk and to lead by example. Unfortunately the Pharisees and the teachers of Law are not like that in the gospel.

  

A good leader leads by example; he doesn’t only give orders he also shows the way. A good leader should not only be superficial in his actions he must walk his talk even if nobody is watching him. Some of the Pharisees were the personification of fake leadership and exterior show of piety.

It is very important that we live our faith and we practice what we preach. These were the factors that moved Jesus to give His woes to the Pharisees and the scholars of the law. They were supposed to be role models but they were only good at telling their subjects to do this and that but when it comes to doing it themselves they were inadequate.

The very clear lesson for us is this: we must practice and live what we learn about our faith. We must not limit ourselves to giving orders, we must lead the way. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for October 13, Tuesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 11:37-41

Gospel: Luke 11:37-41

After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”

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Reflection:

What do we do when we invite people to dine in our house? Of course we discreetly observe them especially if our invited guest are few the more that we observe them. We sometimes pretend to be busy but we still observe them quietly.

However, amidst our observation Jesus wants to tell us something: let us not judge them based on their external behavior. Because our judgment based on what we see do not really represent who they really are. There’s a whole lot more that we could discover from our fellowmen if we would not be quick on judging them.

It feeds our ego when we are noticed based on our external appearance: What we do, the clothes that we wear, our physical appearance etc. The more that we are noticed the more that we will reinforce our external actions. These are all superficial, before God these egocentric actions count for nothing before the eyes of God.

What counts before God are those that are not seen by our eyes. What counts before Him is what is inside us not what is outside of us. Those that are not seen such as: a pure conscience, a caring, forgiving and loving heart and a mind that has no place for ill thoughts.

Perhaps, the Pharisee in our gospel invited Jesus to his house not out of his goodwill and kindness. He invited Jesus because he wants to see if Jesus would subscribe to the many rituals of their Jewish faith.

Are we not like the Pharisee? When friends come to our house we also observe them as to how they would behave. And based on what we saw we will now conjure our unfavourable conclusion towards them.

But our judgment is often wrong for we don’t know the heart of the person and besides it’s hard to judge based solely on the few times that we’ve observed them. Let us not judge quickly and let us not judge based on what we see.

Are you quick to judge? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for October 12, Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 11:29-32

Gospel: Luke 11:29-32

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.”

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Reflection:

We meet or we are acquainted with Godly people for a good reason. They don’t just come into our lives it’s always for a good reason.

For example, if you become friends with a good and Godly person. God led you to this person for you to become good and godly also. You did not become friends with him/her for you to be bad. Jesus sent this person to you so that you’ll be converted this is always the reason.

Some of us may listen to this Godly friend thus we become good and godly also. But unfortunately this is not always the scenario because there are many who don’t care to listen. No matter how many times God call them to renewal they will really not listen.

Jonah, in our gospel was sent by God to the people of Nineveh to call for their repentance.  And they listened to him that’s why God spared them from punishment. After Jonah there were many more prophets who were sent by God they called also for conversion.

Until Jesus came, many listened to Jesus call for repentance and conversion. But sad to say many more did not listen also. There was hardness in their hearts, they ignored Jesus they instead continued to embrace sin.

Jesus call of repentance did not stop with Him, the call for repentance continues to flow until this very moment. And we now are the ones who are in-charge to call for repentance and conversion.  

What have you done so far to echo this call of repentance by Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Sunday October 11, Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time; Mark 10:17-30

Gospel: Mark  10:17-30

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother." He replied and said to him, "Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth." Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" The disciples were amazed at his words. So Jesus again said to them in reply, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God." Peter began to say to him, "We have given up everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come."

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Reflection:

There is a story of two neighbors, one was rich and the other was poor. The rich’s neighbor’s family was always busy and they hardly have time for God. The poor neighbor’s family would always see to it that they have time to worship Jesus at Holy Mass. They also have time to pray as a family in their house.

After fifteen (15) years there was a reversal of fortunes for these two neighbors. The rich family became poor and the children did not become successful. The poor family on the other hand became rich and the children were successful in their chosen careers.

Our obsession and greed with earthly treasures if not corrected will always lead us away from loving and following Jesus. This could also lead to our downfall and disgrace.

What is the use of earthly treasures if we have no peace of mind? What is the use of a big house and enormous property if this is the cause of disagreements and arguments in the family? What is the use of temporal wealth if it will take away communication in the family?

It’s better to be poor for as long as you have God in your family. It’s better to stay in a small house in the company of God rather than a mansion without the presence of God. It’s better not to own any material treasure for as long as you have the greatest treasure which is no other than Jesus.

In our gospel for this Sunday, there is this man who was at the threshold of following Jesus. Yet he walked away from Jesus because he couldn’t give up his material treasures. Material treasures which by the way are temporary and material treasures which always disturbs our minds instead of giving us peace of mind.

How about you, will you give up your temporal treasures in favor of having Jesus in your life? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for October 10, Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 11:27-28

Gospel: Luke 11:27-28

While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

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Reflection:

Are you properly taking care of your mother? Many of us today pamper our mother with material things. But when a mother is old and already a member of the senior citizens club she is not anymore concerned with material things. She is more concerned with the love and care that she will receive from her children.

A mother will never say to her children to give her love and care rather than material things. Yet she will greatly appreciate it if she would be given love and care by her children love and care that she richly deserves. Let us not forget that our mothers carried us in their womb for nine long months and we gained nourishment from their milk as well.

In the gospel, a woman who is obviously an admirer of the Blessed Virgin Mary told Jesus: “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed (Luke 11:27).” She perhaps said this to honor Mary for properly rearing Jesus.

Yet Jesus gave the more profound honor to His Mother Mary by saying: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it (Luke 11:27).” For the Blessed Mother heard the word of God, she treasured it in her heart and observed it.

How is your relationship with your mother? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for October 9, Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 11:15-26

Gospel: Luke 11:15-26

When Jesus had driven out a demon, some of the crowd said: “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

“When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest but, finding none, it says, ‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’ But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there, and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.”

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Reflection:

What motivates us to accuse falsely or to destroy the good reputation of our fellowmen? Its greed, anger, envy and other negative emotions. These emotions are so dangerous that it could even lead us to kill. All of these are devious instruments of the devil. All of these are used by the devil to entice us to be at his side.

How could we refuse these enticements of the devil? We must always pray, we must always do good and we must at all times be focused on our mission to spread the teachings of Jesus through our words and actions.

By doing good Jesus was accused as being with the Demon, what a reckless accusation emanating from the crowd! Is it Jesus siding with the demon or the crowd siding with the demon? The demon will never do good it will always seek to create chaos and manufacture baseless accusations.

Come to think of it, by accusing Jesus the crowd allowed themselves to be used by the demon himself. In like manner we also allow ourselves to be an instrument of the demon when we purposely accuse people even without a grain of truth.

The demon or devil is a clear and present danger to all of us. It’s always there imminently present looking for the right timing to lure us. However if we are close to Jesus and we practice and live the teachings of Jesus. We have nothing to worry for the simple reason that the devil can do nothing to us.

Do you always live the teachings of Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas