Reflection for December 18, Friday of the Third Week of Advent; Matthew 1:18-25

Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.  She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus.

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Reflection:

If only all husbands are like Saint Joseph, there would be no broken marriages; there would be no suffering wives, there would be no suffering children that ultimately bear the trauma of their parents’ separation.

Joseph initially planned to divorce Mary quietly until the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:20-22).”

When he woke up, he humbly did what was commanded to him by the angel of the Lord. What if Joseph brushed aside the message of the Lord? The Blessed Mother would have been in a very difficult situation. She could have died through stoning a brutal punishment for those who bore a child out of wedlock.

 There would be no birth of Jesus; therefore there would be no savior for mankind. But thanks to Joseph who listened to the Lord. With Joseph’s acceptance of the responsibility the plan of God was laid out without anymore hindrance.     

God has a plan for you also, just like Joseph who listened and obeyed; God wants you also to listen and obey.  – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for December 17, Thursday of the Third Week of Advent; Matthew 1:1-17

Gospel: Matthew 1:1-17

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Abraham became the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse, Jesse the father of David the king. David became the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon became the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asaph. Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah. Uzziah became the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amos, Amos the father of Josiah. Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the Babylonian exile.

After the Babylonian exile, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, Eliud the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.

Thus the total number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen generations; from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations; from the Babylonian exile to the Christ, fourteen generations.

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Reflection:

Can you still trace back the ancestry where you are from?  Some of us may still be able to trace it back some may not anymore. The importance of tracing back our roots is we somehow will have an idea about who we are and who our relatives are.

The gospel reading shows the many names of the family tree of Jesus. Just like us many members of Jesus’ lineage are flawed like King David who had an immoral affair with Bathsheba.  Solomon was a bigtime womanizer; he was not faithful to the Lord as well.

 Jesus ancestors were not perfect like us but God chose Jesus to belong into that family tree. To show to us that despite our sinfulness God still wants us to belong to Him.

God in His infinite wisdom believes in our capacity to change for the better we who are sinful. God knows that deep in our hearts we yearn to leave behind our sinful life. He believes that someday somehow we shall be able to see the light. And that light is Jesus.

God is offering us Jesus who is ever ready to redeem us from our sins no matter how grievous our sins are. God is so merciful that He doesn’t discriminate whoever we may be. He doesn’t judge us. He rather looks at our desire to renew our lives and leave behind our sinfulness. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for December 16, Wednesday 1st day of Misa de Gallo (Simbang Gabi), in the Philippines; John 5:33-36

Gospel: John 5:33-36

(Jesus said to the Jews,) You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth. I do not accept testimony from a human being, but I say this so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light. But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.

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Reflection:

The people during Jesus’ time thought that John was the promised messiah but John humbly told them that he’s not. After John was beheaded Jesus started His three years public ministry. Jesus called for repentance, Jesus’ healed the sick, gave hope to the hopeless and the like.

But they still found fault and did not believe. This is due to the scheming of the high priest and those who were in position of authority. In this season of advent Jesus calls us to believe in Him, to learn from Him, to have hope and to give hope on His behalf and to repent from our sins.

As we witness for Jesus the devil will temp us to put ourselves prominently in front than Jesus. The devil will temp us to own for ourselves the wisdom that we have. But let us fight these temptations by looking at John, by following his humility and fidelity towards Jesus. 

As John has said: It is necessary that He must increase and I must decrease. (John 3:30) This must also be our guiding principle Jesus must always shine brightly in our life. How about us? Never mind, let us simply fade away and let Jesus take the center stage. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for December 16, Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent: Luke 7:18b-23

Luke 7:18b-23

At that time, John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” When the men came to the Lord, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’” At that time Jesus cured many of their diseases, sufferings, and evil spirits; he also granted sight to many who were blind. And Jesus said to them in reply, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”

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Reflection:

The disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus, are you the one who is to come? Jesus did not directly answer this question from the messengers of John the Baptist. Instead of directly admitting that He was it Jesus told them about the miracles that He does for the people.

We can only guess the reason why Jesus did not directly admit that He was the messiah. But instead of admitting it Jesus told the messengers about the miracles that He does for the people. Perhaps we can attribute this to Jesus’ desire to maintain a low profile so that he could silently do His mission for the greater glory of God.

Jesus could have easily admitted it and told the messengers that He is the awaited messiah. But He never did, Jesus simply mentioned the things that He does for the people. What if we are in the shoes of Jesus? How would we react to the tempting question?

When we are faced with the same situation let us always follow what Jesus did. Let us never take advantage of the chance to be popular. Let us continue to be self-effacing and humble for this is God’s will for us. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for December 15, Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent: Matthew 21:28-32

Matthew 21:28-32

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: “What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son said in reply, ‘I will not,’ but afterwards he changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did his father’s will?” They answered, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him.”

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Reflection:

Aside from Jesus and the man and his two sons there are others who play an important role in the gospel reading. They are the following: Chief Priest, Elders of the people, Tax collectors, the prostitutes and John the Baptist.

The chief Priest and the elders of the people are those who were always in their place of worship but ironically they oftentimes are wanting or lacking in terms of living their faith. Jesus is actually telling the chief Priest and the elders of the people about their faith that lacks action.

The chief Priest and the elders of the people  represents the Son who said, Yes, sir, but did not go to work in the vineyard. They also did not listen to the call of John the Baptist to turn away from their sins and completely repent.

The tax collectors and the prostitutes were obviously the sinners who humbly repented. They represent the Son who said: “I will not go to the vineyard”, but afterwards changed his mind and went and did his father’s will. They listened to the call of John the Baptist: “Repent and change your ways for the kingdom of God is forthcoming.”

What is the relevance of the gospel to our lives? We who are all sinners like the tax collectors and prostitutes and the son who initially said: “I will not go to the vineyard.” But afterwards changed his mind and went. We are being called by Jesus to repent from our sinful ways. It’s not anymore John who calls us out to repentance but Jesus Himself.

We must listen to this clarion call of Jesus for this is what He desires for us all. To lead lives according to His will and not according to our sinful will. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for December 14, Monday, Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church: Matthew 21:23-27

Matthew 21:23-27

When Jesus had come into the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” Jesus said to them in reply, “I shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for me, then I shall tell you by what authority I do these things. Where was John’s baptism from? Was it of heavenly or of human origin?” They discussed this among themselves and said, “If we say ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’  But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we fear the crowd, for they all regard John as a prophet.” So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.” He himself said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

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Reflection:

Are you in a position of authority?

Authority is synonymous with power and there are many who do not know how to properly use their authority. They use their authority to oppress, bully, corrupt and to look down to those who are powerless and poor.

The chief priests were like that they were always at the back of Jesus watching his every move so that they could humiliate Him. Aside from the fact that they are threatened by Jesus popularity amongst the ordinary people. They also perceived Jesus as powerless and lowly that’s why they make it a habit to oppress Him.

Jesus has the greatest authority that anyone of us could have but how did He used it? He used it with humility, He used it to cure, He used it to comfort people, He used it to give hope and to serve. Never did He boast about it, never did He told anyone to worship Him because of His authority.

If you are a parent, how do you exercise your authority in your home? If you are a manager/leader, how do you exercise your authority in your sphere of environment? If you are a politician, how do you exercise your authority on your constituency? If you are a priest, how do you exercise your authority in your parish? If you are a teacher, how do you exercise your authority to your students?

The best model on how to exercise authority is the model of Jesus: Authority used with humility and authority used for the greater glory of God.

How do you exercise your authority? – Marino J. Dasmarinas    

Reflection for Sunday December 13, Third Sunday of Advent; Luke 3:10-18

Gospel: Luke 3:10-18

The crowds asked John the Baptist, “What should we do?” He said to them in reply, “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” He answered them, “Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.” Soldiers also asked him, “And what is it that we should do?” He told them, “Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages.”

Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ. John answered them all, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached good news to the people.

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Reflection:

A troubled husband was asking the Lord for enlightenment. Thus; he said to the Lord. Lord help me I am so burdened by my problems, my wife and children are not speaking to me, I feel so alone in our house.

 All of a sudden the husband heard the booming voice of the Lord which said, your wife and children are not talking to you because you’re arrogant and domineering. The Lord further said, change your ways by being more humble, gentle and loving. So the troubled husband followed the advice of the Lord and it immediately had a positive result. The divided family became one and they lived happily ever after.  

In the gospel, before the crowd asked John, what should we do? John had already preached to them about repentance and renewal of their wicked lifestyles.

Why is repentance very important? Repentance is important because it makes us more worthy before the Lord. Repentance also straightens our crooked lives and it brings us closer to the Good Lord.

Why is it that many of us live problematic family life? The reason is very simple, we refuse to hear John’s call for renewal and repentance. We continuously refuse to embrace humility, forgiveness and gentleness.

Why not listen to the preaching of John the Baptist? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for December 12, Saturday Our Lady of Guadalupe: Matthew 17:9a, 10-13

Matthew 17:9a, 10-13

As they were coming down from the mountain the disciples asked Jesus, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” He said in reply,* “Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

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Reflection:

Why is it that we often recognize the importance of someone after he had left us? Or we don’t listen to the voice of our conscience to repent until we realize later that we are in a problematic situation?

The call of Jesus for repentance continuous until this very hour, he speaks to us through people around us and through our conscience. We should not ignore it, we should rather listen to it because to listen and repent is the right course of action that we must take.

Like John who prepared the way for Jesus, we too should become the modern day John. Thus we should also gently call for repentance to those within our sphere of environment. This is for the reason that this is a call of duty for us Catholics.

Lest we forget that by virtue of our Baptism we are the modern day John. Therefore, we have to call for repentance and conversion also. For this call to be effective we have to do this with gentleness, with mercy and compassion.

It is obvious that Jesus is pertaining to John as the second coming of the prophet Elijah. But majority of the people then did not recognize the call of John to renew their lives because they were busy with the things of this world. They have no time to listen to the messenger of God yet they created time to serve their own selfish interest.  

We have nothing to lose if we tread the way of John. Yes it will not be a walk in the park and there will be challenges as well. But if Christ is with us who will be against us? Nobody for we have Jesus at our backs silently supporting us. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for December 11, Friday of the Second Week of Advent: Matthew 11:16-19

Matthew 11:16-19

Jesus said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”

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Reflection:

Whenever biographies of famous personalities are to be written. Publishers would try to make the exterior of the book as attractive as possible so that it would create an immediate exterior attraction to the buying public. especially to those who have superficial knowledge of the personality involve.

Jesus was called names such as glutton, drunkard, friend of tax collectors and sinners by the Pharisees and scribes. Because that’s what they saw, they based their unfair judgments on what their eyes saw. If only they knew that the real motive of Jesus was the conversion of tax collectors and sinners they would not have unfairly judged Jesus.

The same is true with John he was labelled as someone who is possessed by a demon. Perhaps the reason behind such unfair name calling is based on the physical appearance of John. And John’s preference to live in the desert before coming out to prepare the way for Jesus to name a few.

Oftentimes we are like the Pharisees and the scribes for we judge also based on what we see and hear about our neighbor. We base our judgment on the exterior and the superficial. But is this right? Of course not!

It’s not correct to throw judgment based on what we see or observe for what we see is a scant representation of the whole person. Let us know first the person before judging. And if there’s an opportunity to talk to him/her so that we could have a clearer picture of the person’s personality let us do so.

Are you often times quick to judge? – Marino J. Dasmarinas     

Reflection for December 10, Thursday of the Second Week of Advent: Matthew 11:11-15

Matthew 11:11-15

Jesus said to the crowds: “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force. All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

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Reflection:

What are you going to do if you see that something is wrong in your family or in the community where you belong? You are going to create order and make things right.

John the Baptist did this when he called for the people to repent for the kingdom of God is at hand (Matthew 3:2). John saw firsthand the sinfulness of the people of his time. Thus he called for repentance, renewal and order.

John also gave his life for the sake of morality when he criticized King Herod for coveting Herodias the wife of his brother Philip (Matthew 14:1-12). The sinfulness of humanity was creating damage in the kingdom of God.

Someone has to take the cudgels for God and it is John the Baptist. He is the messenger sent by God to create order and bring once again righteousness. John courageously faced the powers that be during his time even at the cost of his life.

As we live our lives we may be witness to immorality, corruption and the countless evils of our society. Let us not think twice to denounce it, to speak out for what is moral and right. Even if will bring us trouble, if temporal trouble would be the result for speaking out for what is right and moral, so be it.

Evil pervades in this world because we choose to bow and kowtow to the scheming of evil people . We choose to be cowed instead of being courageous. To defeat evil we therefore have to make a stand and speak out whatever it may cost us. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for December 9, Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent: Matthew 11:28-30

Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus said to the crowds: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

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Reflection:

There’s a story about a very rich man who was so burdened by his problems. He tried many ways to solve, he thought his money would help him solve his problems, to no avail. He went to his friends and indulge in drinking sessions and vices yet it did not solve his problems.

He was living like a ship without a rudder aimlessly drifting to nowhere, he didn’t know it but he was slowly wasting his life. Until he meet a relative who was an active member of the church. He opened-up to him and the relative listened.

At the end the relative had only one advice: “Go and spend time with Jesus in the adoration chapel. Then, don’t miss Sunday Mass and when you are at Mass be attentive and listen to every word being spoken for many of it will speak to you. You also read your bible for Jesus will also speak to you there. To cut short a long story, he made a devotion to the adoration chapel, went to Holy Mass as often as he could. And regularly read his bible.

After a few weeks he already had a normal family life. Yes, from time to time there were still problems that need to be sorted out. But he knows now where to go. Not to his vices, not to his money not even to his friends. But to Jesus in the adoration chapel, to Jesus in the Holy Mass and to Jesus  in the Holy bible.

In the gospel Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.

Why does Jesus invites us to go to him? We who are sinful and we who are beset by our many burdens. This is for the reason that Jesus loves us dearly, Jesus doesn’t want us to waste our life by finding earthy solutions to our burdens.

Take this offer of Jesus by surrendering your life to Him. And see for yourself the miracle that He will create in your life the moment you surrender it to Him. - Marino J. Dasmarinas