Reflection for July 16, Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in OT; Matthew 12:14-21

Gospel: Matthew 12:14-21

The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place. Many people followed him, and he cured them all, but he warned them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I shall place my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not contend or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope.

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Reflection:

Are we peace loving people? Or we are lovers of conflict and chaos? If we follow Jesus it is a must for us to be peace loving.  Jesus was a peaceful man He abhorred any form of violence for He knew that no one wins with violence.

When the Pharisees were looking for Jesus to arrest Him and put Him to death He peacefully withdrew out of their sight. Not because He was afraid of them but because Jesus was a peaceful man and besides, it was not yet time for Him to face them.

Withdrawal from a conflict is not always a sign of cowardice in fact it is a sign of bravery. We are brave enough to withdraw from a conflict because we know that we have a much higher purpose in life than those who wants to engage us with violence.  

What will happen if we face violence with violence? We all become losers for nobody wins with violence. Mahatma Gandhi once said: “An eye for an eye makes everyone blind."

Let us always take the high road when there are provokers of anger by not stooping down to their level. Instead of confronting anger with anger why not offer peace and love? Why not   humbly walk away? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for July 15, Friday Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church; Matthew 12:1-8

Gospel: Matthew 12:1-8

Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.” He said to the them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”

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Reflection:

A strict father suddenly realized that his strictness with his children was slowly creating a wall between him and his children. He carefully thought on how he could banish the wall that he himself created. So he said from now on I will not be strict anymore I would be more compassionate, approachable and merciful.

After a week the wall that created a gap between the father and his children has completely banished. The children were more open to their father and it created an ideal father and children relationship.

Mercy, understanding and openness are always higher than rigidity and strictness. Rigidity and strictness tears people apart it create walls of communication and it foment strangeness and separation. On the other hand mercy, understanding and openness brings us closer, it breaks walls and it heals wounds.

Let go therefore of your hatred, let go therefore of your pent-up emotions, let go and let the mercy of Jesus rule your heart. Let us always desire to be merciful because Jesus himself is merciful. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for July 14, Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in OT; Matthew 11:28-30

Gospel: Matthew 11:28-30

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.”

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Reflection:

A young man who was trying very hard to find his place in this world was at the point of surrender. He murmured to himself, “I am a total failure, in the abyss of his frustration he thought of ending his life.

Until he was advised by a friends to seek God and surrender every burdens that he have in his heart. So he went to Mass regularly and he read his bible, after a few weeks he developed a personal intimacy with Jesus and he surrendered his everything to Him.

Many of us have this tendency to allow ourselves to be eaten up  by the frenetic pace and materialism of this world. We get too busy in fact very busy because we want to satisfy our many temporal wants. But come to think of it, why are we punishing ourselves too much just to satisfy our worldly desires? Why are many of us favoring this world when what we earn from this world can actually be taken from us anytime?

In our gospel for today, Jesus invites us all to go to Him. We who are so busy with this world, we who tend to forget the primacy of God more than this world. When are we going to open our hearts to this invitation of Jesus? When we are already sick? Let us not wait for that unfortunate time to come.

Let us build a relationship with Jesus now and let us respond to His invitation now. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for July 13, Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in OT; Matthew 11:25-27

Gospel: Matthew 11:25-27

At that time Jesus exclaimed: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

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Reflection:

What is the life of Jesus? It’s a life of simplicity, prayer and humility.

Simplicity is synonymous with humility and this is the life of Jesus, this ought to be our life too. Jesus even if He was equal with God always found time also to pray regularly to  the Father to communicate with Him, unburden to Him and praise Him. This we ought to do also.

To grow in wisdom, we need to be simple and humble. God doesn’t want self-righteous, self-centered and ego tripper personalities. Unknown to us, if we are simple and humble we are also creating a fertile environment for God to come and dwell in our hearts. Unknown to us our simplicity and humility radiates through our persona and this is felt by those whom we encounter.

As what Jesus did, it is very important that we reserve time for God to talk to Him and feel His presence in the stillness of our hearts and minds. This will strengthen our bond with God. A good point to start is to have a prayer time every morning upon waking-up.

It’s here where our minds are still fresh and not yet cluttered by the daily worries of life. The same thing at night when we are about to sleep, let us also pray and talk to God. We thank HIM for the day that HE gave us and we humbly ask HIM to be with us as we take our temporary rest at night.

If we think we don’t have yet the virtue of humility let us be patient and continue to ask the good Lord to bless us with the grace of humility. For it’s only through our humility that we will know God and HIS great plan for us.

Do you live humility and do you always find time for Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for July 12, Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in OT; Matthew 11:20-24

Gospel: Matthew 11:20-24

Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum:

Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the nether world. For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

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Reflection:

Why do we sin?

We sin because we allow the devil to take control of our lives. Once the devil is in control already sinning becomes an ordinary routine. We don’t anymore have guilt of conscience, we become numb already from the criticism. We even have the temerity to be angry with those who are criticizing us.

So we enjoy sin since it brings us endless earthly gratification. Until we get caught and so we receive our due punishment. But why keep on sinning and why wait until we get caught? Why don’t we stop sinning, permanently walk away from it and embrace the unconditional love of Jesus?

In our gospel reading for today we notice Jesus reproaching the towns of Chorazin and Bethsaida. For they refused to hear God’s call for them to permanently walk away from their sinfulness.

Every now and then God will gently nudge us to remind us that there’s no good with sin. That sinning will bring us nothing but problems and misfortunes. We may enjoy the fruits of our sinfulness but this kind of enjoyment is short lived. Eventually we will be caught and be punished.

Why not walk away from sin and embrace the forgiveness, mercy and love of God? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for July 11, Monday Saint Benedict, Abbot; Matthew 10:34-11:1

Gospel: Matthew 10:34-11:1

Jesus said to his Apostles: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s enemies will be those of his household.

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.

Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple–amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”

When Jesus finished giving these commands to his Twelve disciples, he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns.

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Reflection:

What is this sword that Jesus speaks about in the gospel?

It’s the sword of righteousness! Jesus came into this world to bring the sword of righteousness and this sword of righteousness pierces anyone who stands in the way.

Man against his father? Daughter against her mother? Indeed, if anyone stands in the way even if they are our relatives we should not be afraid to speak in the name of righteousness we should not be afraid to gently voice out what we think is right no matter who gets hurt.

In the same manner that we should not be afraid to voice out our sentiments even if the person whom we are going to address has the money and power.

Sometimes we have second thoughts if we are going to speak our minds in the name of Jesus. We ought not to think twice we must have the courage to say what’s in our mind in the name of the sword of Jesus’ righteousness.

The church always speaks out its mind whenever there are issues or policies that hurt the populace. It’s not afraid to verbally rebuke anyone in power even if it creates enmity and wedge between them. Why? For the simple reason that this is the mission of the Church which Jesus founded through St. Peter. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Sunday July 10: 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time; Luke 10:25-37

Gospel: Luke 10:25-37

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?" He said in reply, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." He replied to him, "You have answered correctly; do this and you will live."

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn, and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, 'Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.' Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?" He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

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Reflection:

How can we best share the love, compassion and mercy of Jesus? It’s when we go out of our way to help someone in need. It’s when we forgive someone who’ve done us wrong. And it’s when we go out on a limb to convey that God is alive within us.

The Samaritan in our gospel even if he was an enemy  of the Jews did the unexpected when he helped the man who was robbed and in near death. He could have simply walked by just what the priest and Levite did and completely ignore that man in the throes of death.

But the Samaritan did not only stop to help the dying man he brought the dying man to a house to ensure that he would regain his wellbeing.  In other words the Samaritan showed mercy, love and compassion to the dying man who was deviously victimized robbers.

Who is this Samaritan who mirrored the qualities and character of Jesus? We don’t know. But perhaps it’s safe to conclude that this Samaritan is a true follower of Jesus. The samaritan was not a follower in name only but a follower in words and in deeds.

If we call ourselves follower of Jesus, this story of the good Samaritan should also be our own life story : we should  also be merciful, loving and compassionate. Even to those whom we think do not anymore deserve our Mercy, Love and Compassion.  

Otherwise we are just like the priest and the Levite who were both servants in the temple of God: servants in name only. -  Marino J. Dasmarinas