Reflection for Tuesday July 19, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time; Matthew 12:46-50

Gospel: Matthew 12:46-50

While Jesus was speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him. Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.” But he said in reply to the one who told him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

+ + + +  + + +

Reflection:

How could we become relatives of Jesus?

Jesus Himself reveals the secret to us: “For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother." And what is the will of the heavenly Father for us? It’s for us to do good always and to be collaborator of Jesus in spreading the good news and to follow Jesus.

Jesus also cited the disciples as His mother and brothers for they were all faithful follower. We do not know the personal background of each disciple perhaps some of them were sinners like us. But notwithstanding their sins they still chose to follow Jesus and completely left behind their sinful past. Thus, Jesus called them His mother and brothers.

Therefore, when we choose to follow Jesus we already are called His relative. What does to follow Jesus mean? It’s to follow Jesus by immersing our feet in the river of sacrifice, love, forgiveness, mercy, compassion and so forth.  

How about you? Have you already immersed your feet in the river of sacrifice, love, forgiveness, compassion and so forth?   Have you already decided to follow Jesus and leave behind your sinful past?

Remember that Jesus yearns for you to become his relative also. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Monday July 18, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time; Matthew 12:38-42

Gospel: Matthew 12:38-42

Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” He said to them in reply, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here. At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.”

+ + + +  + + +

Reflection:

A woman who was in her early forties was getting desperate already for she was getting old  yet she couldn’t find the right man for her. So while at church she said to the Lord, Lord give me a sign so that I’ll have the man for my lifetime.

Then she said to the Lord the first man who wears a red tee shirt is the one for me Lord. Lo and behold a well built and handsome man wearing a red tee shirt suddenly entered the church. But to her dismay the handsome man was with his wife and children. The desperately seeking woman said to the Lord, this is not my day Lord, until next time.

Many of us ask for signs and wonders from the Jesus, isn’t our faith more than enough to carry us through with our journey with Jesus? If our faith in Jesus is rock solid we would never ask for any sign whatsoever for signs is of no use if we have faith in Jesus?

Our faith is more than enough to carry us through our journey with Jesus in this world. Our faith is more than enough to conquer all our fears and problems in this world. We will be able to survive whatever may come to us because we have faith. And we believe that our faith will carry us through than any dreadful signs from this world.

Let us not be like the scribes and Pharisees in our gospel who asked Jesus for a sign. Let us rather continue to hold-on to our faith in Jesus. Let us continue to strengthen this faith in Jesus by our consistent prayer life. By our frequent presence at Holy Mass, by our frequent visitation at the Adoration Chapel and by daily reading the bible most specially the life of Jesus. If we do these acts of faith we would never anymore ask for a sign.

Instead of asking for a sign why don’t we ask Jesus to strengthen our faith? – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for Sunday July 17, Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time; Luke 10:38-42

Gospel: Luke 10:38-42

Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.

+ + + + + + +

Reflection:

What makes us anxious and what influence our worries? It’s our detachment from Jesus. When a person is detached from listening to Jesus he/she is easily overtaken by anxiousness and worries.

This doesn’t mean that if we always have our regular listening time with Jesus we would already be immune from anxiousness and worries. We would still have our own share of worries because it’s part of life. However, we will always be able to handle and manage these pressures and anxiousness of daily life for the reason that we are connected with Jesus.

Jesus obviously favored Mary’s act of listening to Him. Why? Because it's more important to listen first to Jesus than do other chores. The same is true with our relationship with Him. If we will spend more time in prayer to Jesus we will learn more from Him. And we will receive more blessings and enlightenment from Him.

If we have our regular listening and prayer time with Jesus we are always connected to the source of eternal power. Thus we will always become His useful and productive followers for the reason that we have within us the source of eternal  power none other than Jesus Himself.

Just imagine a light bulb not connected to the source of electric power? It will never be useful or it will never radiate light no matter how big the wattage. This is the same with a journey in this world bereft of connection from Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas     

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.

+ + + +  + + +

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.”

+ + + +  + + +

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.”

+ + + +  + + +

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.”

+ + + +  + + +

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