Reflection for June 20, Monday of the 12th Week in OT; Matthew 7:1-5

Gospel: Matthew 7:1-5

Jesus said to his disciples: “Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”

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Reflection:

Why is it that we are judgmental? This is for the reason that we feel superior than the person that we are judging or we have this attitude of dominance. Otherwise if we don’t feel superior we would not dare judge others as good for nothing.

But very clearly in our gospel for today we hear Jesus is telling us to stop judging. This is difficult to follow for those who have superiority complex but easy to follow for those who are docile, and humble.

It’s always very tempting to be judgmental most especially if the person is at fault. However, what would we get from judging others? Nothing except to increase the value of our arrogance and to increase the worth of our egos! Instead of judging, why not simply advice and impart words that heals rather than words that condemn.  

When we perceive that someone is a sinner let us always think that we are sinners too! So that we would not be tempted to judge them. The reality of our lives is we are all sinners that is why we have no right to condemn or to judge our fellowmen.

We can only bring others to Jesus when we are not judgmental, when we are compassionate, loving and forgiving. For who are we to judge? We are not Jesus, even Jesus doesn’t judge, therefore; we have no right to judge.  

There are sinners because many of us do not dare impart Jesus’ compassion, forgiveness and love.

Are you judgmental? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Sunday June 19, 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time; Luke 9:18-24

Gospel: Luke 9:18-24

Once when Jesus was praying by himself, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’” Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.” He scolded them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.

He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”

Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

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Reflection:

Do you want to grow in your relationship with Jesus and are you willing to suffer for Jesus?

Our personal relationship and knowledge about Jesus is always brought about by the frequency and intensity of our prayer life. For example, the more that we incorporate prayer in our daily lives the more that Jesus becomes clearer to us and the more also that we become closer to Him.

It is in this process of being close to Jesus that we allow ourselves to suffer for Him.  Not suffer for the sake of suffering but to suffer joyfully for Him and for His people.

 For example, if we help and give food to those who are in need our pockets will suffer. When we give our priceless time and energy for the sake of the people of God our bodies will suffer for the simple reason that we will be tired. But the true joy and fulfillment of this kind of suffering is unfathomable.

Jesus in the gospel invites us all to have this prayerful life, to emulate Him who always pray to the Father in solitude. In the process of our prayerful life the true identity of Jesus will crystallize in our lives. And without us knowing it we are already sharing Him by the way we live.

We will surely suffer if we follow, share and live Jesus. However, let us not be afraid of this kind of suffering since this kind of suffering is actually a blessing.  – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for June 18, Saturday of the Eleventh Week in OT; Matthew 6:24-34

Gospel: Matthew 6:24-34

Jesus said to his disciples: “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’ All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.”

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Reflection:

There was a man who literally wanted to test God’s providence, so he said to God: “God I will go to a remote mountain. I will be wandering there for a month and I will bring nothing with me except what I’m wearing.

On the first week he sustained himself with fruits that were within his reach. Then on the second week he accidentally stumbled on a small community of tribesmen. Once they saw him they wondered why he was different from them. They said to themselves this man must be God sent, so they treated him like a king and in return he taught them a lot of things that could be useful to them.

After a month he bade them goodbye, he was now fully convinced of God’s eternal providence.

In the gospel Jesus said to his disciples: “If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’ All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all (Matthew 6:30-32).”

The secret to a happy and fulfilled life is to serve God in whatever capacity and abandon our lives to His providence, he will provide for us for so long as we trust him our lives. Let us not be worried let us not be afraid.

Jesus himself said this: “Do not be troubled; trust in God and trust in me.” (John 14:1) – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for June 17, Friday of the Eleventh Week in OT; Matthew 6:19-23

Gospel: Matthew 6:19-23

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be.”

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Reflection:

There were two friends named Romeo and Lito. Romeo was a man of the world, he was very obsessed on getting rich. He engaged in business spending a major portion of his time thinking how he could further grow it. He was very successful at it because he ended up as one the richest in their town. He was a very busy man and due to his busyness God was never part of his life.

Lito was the exact opposite of George; he was not obsessed with getting rich. He was content with his job in the government. He was a very pious man, doesn’t miss to worship Jesus at Mass and he was a helpful presence in their community.

Eventually both of them died, Lito had a smooth transition towards heaven but Romeo was not as fortunate. He was denied entry by Saint Peter for he stored treasures on earth where moth and decay destroys and thieves break in and steal.

Whether we admit it or not majority of us are people of this world, we are so concerned with our materials wellbeing and the exterior impression that others would have on us. We forget that what we have in this world are all temporary. It’s like “Chasing the wind” so to speak. All these material things that we have right now will eventually slip from our hands sooner or later.

What is important is we store up treasures in heaven.  Where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. This is best exemplified by being always connected with God and by doing acts of mercy and love.

Let us always bear in mind that all of us are just passersby in this world, this is not our permanent dwelling. Thus we have to put forward God first before anything that is from this world. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for June 16, Thursday of the Eleventh Week in OT; Matthew 6:7-15

Gospel: Matthew 6:7-15

Jesus said to his disciples, “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

“This is how you are to pray: ‘Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’

“If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”

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Reflection:

How important is prayer to your life? If you have five things to do everyday, is prayer included in that five?

When we pray with our heart we allow the good Lord to nourish our parched spirits. Through our prayers we also invite the good Lord to come into our life. And it’s also through our humble prayers that we slowly but surely develop our intimacy with Jesus.

In our gospel Jesus teaches us how to pray: It’s simple, short and direct and it does not beat around the bush. We must be frank, persevering and honest to Jesus for He knows what we need beforehand. We must also be sincere and always humble in prayer before our God.

For example, do we close our eyes when we pray the Our Father? Does this prayer make us sometimes cry when we pray it? Do we still kneel when we pray this prayer? These are all acts of piety that will help us have a more personal connection with Jesus.  

Jesus is also reminding us to re-examine our life of prayer. For we may be just praying for the sake of praying thus it’s already without spirit and fire.

How do we pray the Lord’s prayer? Do we still pray it with all our heart and being or we simply babble it with our minds wandering somewhere else? – Marino J. Dasmarinas