Reflection for February 1, Monday of the Fourth Week; Mark 5:1-20

Gospel: Mark 5:1-20

Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the sea, to the territory of the Gerasenes. When he got out of the boat, at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him. The man had been dwelling among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain. In fact, he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains, but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the hillsides he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones. Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and prostrated himself before him, crying out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me!” (He had been saying to him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”) He asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “Legion is my name. There are many of us.” And he pleaded earnestly with him not to drive them away from that territory.

Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside. And they pleaded with him, “Send us into the swine. Let us enter them.” And he let them, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine. The herd of about two thousand rushed down a steep bank into the sea, where they were drowned. The swineherds ran away and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. And people came out to see what had happened. As they approached Jesus, they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion, sitting there clothed and in his right mind. And they were seized with fear. Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened to the possessed man and to the swine. Then they began to beg him to leave their district. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him. But Jesus would not permit him but told him instead, “Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed.

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Reflection:

Do you plead to Jesus to change you and make you a better person?

The man possessed by the legions of devil pleaded with Jesus not to drive them away from the territory instead they wanted Jesus to send them into the herd of pigs. So Jesus did what they wanted: He allowed them to enter the group of swine/pigs. However the herd rushed into the sea where they drowned.

Why did Jesus did not annihilate the legion (evils) instantly instead He allowed them to transfer to the herd of swine only to die by drowning? Perhaps, Jesus acceded to their request because Jesus wanted them to convert and get rid of their evil ways, but they did not.

In our own very life we would always encounter life changing occurrences. Such as survive a major health problems or major accidents. And it serves as our wake-up call from God to change our ways and leave behind sinfulness. There are some of us who get an awareness of this life changing episode so we change and leave behind our sinfulness. However there are also those who refuse to change and they move-on with their sinful ways.

What would happen to those who refuse to leave behind sinfulness? To those who continue to ignore God’s call to conversion? To those who were given by God a second chance but refused to grab it? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

1Reflection for Sunday January 31, Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time; Luke 4:21-30

Gospel: Luke 4:21-30

Jesus began speaking in the synagogue, saying: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’ And he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away.

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Reflection:

Do you have an attitude of exclusivity? For example you want to reside in an exclusive community so that those who are not members and those who are not rich will not be able to disturb your peace. You want to be in the company of those who are rich because it enhances your status of being member of an exclusive group of people.

Jesus is not in favor of this exclusive mentality, Jesus mindset is inclusive regardless of who you are. Even if you are poor and uneducated, Jesus desires everyone to come to Him and He reaches out to everyone regardless of faith. Regardless of physical appearance, status in life, learned or not. Jesus welcomes everyone for He is for everyone.

In the gospel, Jesus town mates were angry with Him because they wanted Him to be their exclusive property. His town mates wanted Jesus to exclusively heal and do miracles in their community. But Jesus wanted to reach-out even to those who were not members of their faith.

Our exclusive mentality if we allow it to envelope us would detach us from reality. It will dictate upon us to have a superiority mindset. It will force us to look down on others especially the poor and unlearned and regard them with contempt and condescension. – Marino J. Dasmarinas      

Reflection for January 30, Saturday of the Third Week; Mark 4:35-41

Gospel: Mark 4:35-41

On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples: “Let us cross to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”

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Reflection:

Are you easily rattled when you pass through stormy episodes in your life? Or you remain calm amidst the storms because you know that Jesus is always there for you.

The disciples were in a boat together with Jesus when it suddenly encountered a violent storm. They were terrified for they thought that the boat might not be able to withstand the storm.  Why were they terrified when Jesus was with them? Perhaps they were overtaken with fear that’s why they suddenly forgot that Jesus was with them.

For as long as we exist in this world we would continue to encounter also worrisome moments in our life. But we have nothing to worry if we have faith, we have nothing to worry if we have a personal relationship with Jesus.

 We simply have to constantly be connected with Him for the reason that He will take care of everything. Jesus will calm us in the midst of our distress. Jesus will make a way when there seems to be no way.

 All He asks from us is to have faith and this we can have if we ask Him to give us the gift of faith. Because faith is a gift that Jesus gives to those who sincerely ask for it.

Prayer:

O Lord in the midst of the many storms in our life we beseech you to give us the gift of faith. So that we would be able to withstand whatever worrisome situation that we may encounter. Forgive our feeble faith, forgive us for not trusting you and for not always recognizing that you’re with us and you always walk with us. Amen. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) 2016, Testimony of Ms Marianne Servaas 1/26/2016

Reflection for January 28, Thursday; Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church; Mark 4:21-25

Gospel: Mark 4:21-25

Jesus said to his disciples, “Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light. Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear.” He also told them, “Take care what you hear. The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given to you. To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away."

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Reflection:

There was a man who had an enormous thirst for the knowledge about God. He reads his bible everyday in the process he could already remember majority of the bible verses. But he was selfish and not willing to share what he knew about the bible with his friends.

He defends his selfishness by saying: How could they be encouraged to read the bible if I would share my knowledge with them? He further said that it would be better for them to invest some of their time in reading the bible also.

But this is not what Jesus commands us Jesus doesn't want us to be stingy with whatever knowledge we know about Him. Jesus doesn’t want us to create self-serving reason to escape sharing what we know about God.

Jesus wants us to be generous with our knowledge about Him. He wants us to share Him with others. Most importantly, Jesus wants us to live His teachings. So that it could spread even to the farthest corner of the world.  

When we share and live the teachings of Jesus we become like lighted lamps in the midst of darkness. This is the purpose why we are in this world; to be Christ light which brightly illuminates those who are in darkness. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for January 27, Wednesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time; Mark 4:1-20

Gospel: Mark 4:1-20

On another occasion, Jesus began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land. And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them,  “Hear this! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain. And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” He added, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”

And when he was alone, those present along with the Twelve questioned him about the parables. He answered them, “The mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables, so that they may look and see but not perceive, and hear and listen but not understand, in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.”

Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy. But they have no roots; they last only for a time. Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Those sown among thorns are another sort.

They are the people who hear the word, but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit. But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”

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Reflection:

Do you want to grow in faith?

Sometimes we may wonder why others do not grow in faith yet others grow in faith? The secret for those who grow in faith is the time that they invest with God. For example if we would have a solemn daily prayer life we would be assured that God will look kindly upon us and He will give us the gift of faith.

We have in our gospel the parable of the sower who is no other than God. He sows the seeds of faith in our hearts but not everyone of us are able to grow and deeply nurture the seeds of faith that He sows. For the reason that we lack time for God but the paradox is we have time for this world and we even create time for this world. But do we have time for God? Do we create time for God?

Faith is a gift from God but at the same time we have to open and use this gift of faith we should not take it for granted. Otherwise this gift will not blossom, grow and have deep roots within us. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why our faith doesn’t blossom because we take it for granted.

When are we going to get serious with our faith in God? When are we going to live our faith? So that it could finally blossom and bear abundant fruit. When we are already sickly and near the cliff of death? – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for January 25, Monday Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle; Mark 16:15-18

Gospel: Mark 16:15-18

Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

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Reflection:

Have you already shared Jesus and the gospel to anyone? Jesus tells the apostles and us too: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”

Perhaps more than half of us would be saying that we’ve not yet shared the word of God and what is the reason? Perhaps lack of time is not the reason because if we can give time to our other worldly activities why can’t we have time to share the words of Jesus?

To share our faith and Jesus is the duty of every baptized Christian no one is exempt from this responsibility. But how can we share if we don’t regularly read the bible? If we seldom go to Holy Mass? So we read first and we give time to be present at Holy Mass and then we share the blessings and knowledge that we’ve imbibed.

Saint Jerome has said: “Ignorance of the bible is ignorance of Christ.” This is very true, for us to effectively share Jesus we must know Him first. How can we share what we don’t have or know? But if we seldom read the words of God in the bible and if we seldom go to Holy Mass. There’s no way for us to share our faith for the simple reason that we cannot give what we don’t have.  

Let us not be stagnant followers of Jesus, let us not be satisfied with this status quo. Let us read God’s words in the bible afterwards let us live it and then let us have the courage to share it in whatever means possible.

Share your faith within your family first, to your spouse, children and to the other members of your household. And see for yourself the miracle that Jesus will create in your life and in your family the moment you share Him.  

When you share Jesus you assure yourself of a sacred space in heaven when your life in this temporal world is over and done with already. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

1Reflection for Sunday January 24, Third Sunday in Ordinary Time; Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

Gospel: Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

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Reflection:

A group of young people asked a learned man of faith about Jesus and the Catholic faith. He answered them and was able to satisfactorily address their questions. But when pressed to share some more of his wisdom he politely refused to do so. He told them that they should also read and study so that they would learn too.

But what this learned man of faith doesn’t know was  the group who’ve asked him to share more of his wisdom were uneducated (they don’t know how to read and write). If only this learned man of faith were generous enough to share his time and wisdom. He could have blessed and watered barren minds thirsting to know more about Jesus and the universal faith. He could have been an instrument of evangelization and propagation of the faith. But he chose to be selfish and egocentric and he kept to himself what was supposed to be generously shared.

In the gospel we read about Saint Luke who was very generous about his knowledge of the faith. He wrote everything about the teachings accurately and then he shared it with Theophilus.

In the second part of the gospel we also read about Jesus who was just through with His mission. Instead of resting for a while He went directly into the synagogue for the Sabbath day. There He movingly read the scroll about the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord (Luke 4:18-19).”

in the first reading we also about the Priest Erza who generously read about the laws of God to all people from daybreak till midday. While reading it he touched hearts and minds thus it moved his audience to tears. The crowd was touched by the Holy Spirit for the reason that the Priest Erza passionately shared the book about God.

My friend, you may not be that learned/knowledgeable about Jesus and our faith but you certainly know something that others don’t. Why not share what you know about Jesus and His message of salvation. If you’re not used to preaching before an audience use the many platforms available in the internet. Have no fear because the Holy Spirit will be there to empower you.

Why not take this extra step for Jesus? You will certainly touch hearts, empower minds and change lives too! – Marino J. Dasmarinas    

Reflection for January 23, Saturday of the Second Week; Mark 3:20-21

Gospel: Mark 3:20-21

Jesus came with his disciples into the house. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

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Reflection:

Are you quick to judge someone based on what you see? Jesus was called as somebody who is out of His mind by His relatives. Why? Because Jesus dared to do something out of the ordinary. Just imagine instead of enjoying a quite life as a carpenter Jesus did the extra-ordinary.

 Jesus ventured into something that is totally alien to His environment and background. Jesus left His comfort zone to become a nomad, a healer and itinerant preacher. And Jesus relatives couldn’t believe and accept His unorthodox decision.

This is perhaps the reason why they called Him as someone who is out of His mind. Did Jesus’ relatives really know who He was during that time? Yes perhaps they knew Him but they had no idea about His true identity. They judged Jesus based on their superficial knowledge about Him.   

The trouble with judging others is it blinds us of our own faults and shortcomings as if we are perfect, as if we don’t sin. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for January 22, Friday of the Second Week; Mark 3:13-19

Gospel: Mark 3:13-19

Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him. He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles, that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons: He appointed the Twelve: Simon, whom he named Peter; James, son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus; Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.

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Reflection:

How do you deal with betrayal?

Jesus appointed the twelve to be His apostles; it means that they would be His supporter, helper, co-missioners and co-propagators of the gospel. It means also that they would stick it out with Jesus until the very end even at the cost of their life.   

Unfortunately there was one who betrayed Him in exchange for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-16). Betrayal is an unfortunate incident that happens to all of us, sometimes those whom we trust or even love are the very people who would betray us.

But we must learn from Jesus on how He handled Judas’ betrayal. He did not seek revenge for He knew that nothing good would come out of it. He just let it be and He continued to do His mission and let Judas deal with himself.

Eventually Judas was bothered by his conscience and had a realization he returned the money to the chief priest. Then, he went away and hanged himself (Matthew 27:3-5).

There would be those who will betray our trust even love. How should we react if say for example we pass through this betrayal? Should we get back at him/her and get even? Of course not! If we get even we are no different from the person who betrayed us.

Let us follow Jesus’ example when he dealt with Judas betrayal. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for January 21, Thursday; Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr; Mark 3:7-12

Gospel: Mark 3:7-12

Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” He warned them sternly not to make him known.

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Reflection:

Do you believe in the saying, to see is to believe?

Large number of people from Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idulmea, Jordan, Tyre and Sidon were following Jesus because of the physical and spiritual healing that He has done for them. And after experiencing healing from Jesus they surely would spread it through word of mouth and by other means.

This kind of situation is no different in our time right now. Whenever we hear that someone heals in the name of Jesus it immediately goes viral, it spread and soon after populate the internet world. And naturally we would all go there (if we could) and see and experience it for ourselves as they say: “To see is to believe.” We therefore go to see and once we see it as if on cue we would now immediately believe.

On the other hand there’s that silent majority who follow Jesus not because of His miracles and healings. They follow Him for the simple reason that they feel it in their hearts their need for Jesus, immaterial of His miracles and healings. It doesn’t even matter if he would be able to heal or not. They follow already for their love and thirst for Jesus.

The ideal and true followers are those who follow even without experiencing miracles. Are you one of those? Or you still need to see and feel a miracle before you follow Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas