Short, Simple and Personal reflections on the daily Holy Mass Gospel. I provide talks.
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Monday, February 1, 2016
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
Sunday, January 31, 2016
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
Saturday, January 30, 2016
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
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