Reflection for Friday September 9, Saint Peter Claver, Priest; Luke 6:39-42

Gospel: Luke 6:39-42

Jesus told his disciples a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.”

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Reflection:

Are you self-righteous?

Every once in a while we all become guilty of this offense called self-righteousness. We see ourselves as someone who is above all,  we are quick to point out the offense of our fellowmen. Why is this so? Is this brought about by our self serving perception that we are closer to God than anyone else? Is this brought about by our social and economic status?

It’s all of the above and more. But the problem with self-righteous individuals is they only see the shortcomings of others but not their own. They are very quick to judge the wrongs of others but not their own.

The moment we judge others we also open our very selves to judgment. By judging them forcefully invite them to disrespect us. If we don’t want others to judge us let us stop being judgmental and let us abhor condemnation. 

Instead of judging why not motivate? Why not apply gentle correction, why not understand and forgive? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Thursday September 8, The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23

Gospel: Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23

The Book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Abraham became the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse, Jesse the father of David the king.

David became the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon became the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asaph. Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah. Uzziah became the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amos, Amos the father of Josiah. Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the Babylonian exile.

After the Babylonian exile, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, Eliud the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan,Matthan the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.

Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”

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Reflection:

Do you believe that parents play a critical role in the life of their children?  

Today is the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, why is Mary so humble and docile to the will of God? Is it an inherent character of Mary? The humility and docility of Mary is a gift from God.

But it was also influenced upon her by her parents: Joachim and Anna, it was said that they were childless until an angel appeared to Anna and told her that she would conceive. Somehow the appearance of the angel to Joachim and Anna would tell us what kind of individuals the parents of Mary.

Both of them loved God deeply—both of them were prayerful, humble and docile to the will of God. Therefore God gifted them with a new child and that is Mary. Mary is an epitome of humility and docility as well. Without Mary Jesus would have not been born; thus a savior was born because of the humility and docility of Mary.

As we remember the birth of the Blessed Mother let us not forget the role of her parents. Let us also not forget to inculcate upon our children the importance of humility and docility. For it will define their character as they grow-up.

Have you taught your children the values of humility and docility? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Wednesday September 7, Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 6:20-26

Gospel: Luke 6:20-26

Raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,

for the Kingdom of God is yours.

Blessed are you who are now hungry,

for you will be satisfied.

Blessed are you who are now weeping,

for you will laugh.

Blessed are you when people hate you,

and when they exclude and insult you,

and denounce your name as evil

on account of the Son of Man.

Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!

Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.

For their ancestors treated the prophets

in the same way.

But woe to you who are rich,

for you have received your consolation.

But woe to you who are filled now,

for you will be hungry.

Woe to you who laugh now,

for you will grieve and weep.

Woe to you when all speak well of you,

for their ancestors treated the false

prophets in this way.”

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Reflection:

What is the main requirement to get closer to Jesus? It’s to suffer for the sake of the advancement of the kingdom of Christ in this world. Without suffering for Christ there would be no intimacy with Jesus.

 Many of us are so afraid to suffer for Christ sake because we are selfish. We only think of ourselves and not think of others, we only are concerned of what we can get from this present world and forget about what is after this world.

In the process of our desire to get closer to Jesus many will hate us even distance themselves from us. But what the heck! We have to understand that we don’t live in this world to be in this world. We live in this world now so that we can go to heaven someday.

Our motivation in existing in this world should always be heaven to be with Jesus. Otherwise if our motivation is centered in this world we would never have peace. We may have all the things of this world yet we still will have no peace for there’s an absence of Christ in our lives.  

Therefore, let us not be afraid of the challenges that we might face for the sake of advancement the kingdom of God in this world. For this is the reason of our existence in this world. He made us to exist in this world so that we could bring others closer to Jesus.

Have you already suffered for Christ and have you already brought somebody closer to Jesus? If your answer is yes, you are surely blessed! – Marino J. Dasmarinas    

Reflection for Tuesday September 6, Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 6:12-19

Gospel: Luke 6:12-19

Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.

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Reflection:

Why did Jesus called the twelve to be His apostles?

There was a reason why Jesus called the twelve disciples to be His apostles and that is to help Him spread the good news of our salvation. Looking back on the lives of these apostles except for Judas all were faithful servants of the Lord. They were His eyes and ears they were His collaborators in His mission.

The apostles did not lead lives of ease and comfort in fact except for Judas almost all of them were martyred in doing the mission that Jesus bestowed upon them. What is the significance of this call on the apostles in our lives?

By virtue of our Baptism we too are called to collaborate with Jesus and the apostles to spread the good news of our salvation. We are called to lead Holy lives so that others may see Jesus in us; we are called to be patient, to persevere and to be enduring in our discipleship.

If we say that we love Jesus it amounts to saying that we are always ready to suffer and to be humiliated for the sake of the advancement of His kingdom. This is the mark of a true and faithful disciple/apostle.

Are you ready to suffer for Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Monday September 5, Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 6:6-11

Gospel: Luke 6:6-11

On a certain sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the Sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him. But he realized their intentions and said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up and stand before us.” And he rose and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” Looking around at them all, he then said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so and his hand was restored. But they became enraged and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

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Reflection:

Do you have the guts to defy someone so that you could do something positive to your fellowmen?

Jesus cured the man with a withered hand notwithstanding the presence of the Pharisees and the scribes who were keenly watching Him. Jesus defied the Pharisees and scribes who were strictly observing the Sabbath law.

Jesus put more importance on the need to help the sick man rather than be afraid. What an unquestionable courage. Let us say that there shall come a time that we will also be in the same situation with Jesus. What shall we do then?

Would we simply forgo helping those who are in need because we are afraid that we might offend someone who is very influential? Or we will be like Jesus who courageously faced the very powerful Pharisees and scribes.

The best path to take is to be courageous like Jesus, to help those who are in need no matter the threat against us. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for Sunday September 4, Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time; Luke 14:25-33

Gospel: Luke 14:25-33

Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’ Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”

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Reflection:

A dying man was given two choices by the angel of God. One choice was to be well again and live a worldly life and the other one was to die immediately and enter the pearly gates to be with Jesus. The dying man chose to die and be with Jesus, baffling as it may seem for many of us yet the dying man made the right choice. 

What is the essence of life if it’s only lived for this world? What is the reason for living if it’s empty of Jesus’ presence? To choose to follow Jesus over this world is to discover the real meaning of life in this world. To fill your life with Jesus is to finally discover the real reason why you’re existing and breathing in this world.

The core of life is a life lived in union with Jesus. Surely, Jesus will forgive us if we contradict Him by immediately jumping into discipleship without careful thinking -- Jesus is a God of love and forgiveness anyway.         Because if we carefully think first we may be overwhelmed by the daunting task of discipleship. And we immediately back-out without even trying and experiencing how it feels to be a follower or a disciple. 

Whereas, if we immediately decide to follow Jesus we will right away have an experience about how to be His follower. If we find it hard or difficult let us never hesitate to call on Jesus. For He is always there for us, by our side walking with us as we wade through the flood of difficulties and challenges of being a follower or a discipleship. – Marino J. Dasmarinas       

Reflection for Saturday September 3, Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor; Luke 6:1-5

Gospel: Luke 6:1-5

While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath, his disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. Some Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry? How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”

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Reflection:

What kind of Lord and Master is Jesus? He is a loving and caring Lord and Master, He will always see to it that His people are properly taken care of no matter what the circumstances are. If there’s a need and a precedence to violate certain laws so be it for as long as it could help His people.

When Jesus defended His disciples from the rebuke of the Pharisees (From picking and eating grains on a Sabbath day) He was simply saying that the need of His disciples always takes precedence over any observance of the Jewish law/s.

Jesus was indirectly saying to His critics that they sometimes have to be flexible also anyway they did not commit any criminal act. The disciples were simply hungry and that was it they simply have to satisfy their need.  In fact King David also did that in the old testament as told to them by Jesus(1 Samuel 21:2-7).

Here we see what kind of Lord and Master Jesus is, He properly takes care of His people. Jesus is even willing to violate the sacred Sabbath law for as long as it would be beneficial to His followers. By virtue of our baptism we already are followers of Jesus we may not be faithful to Him all the time. Nevertheless, His love, care and concern for us will always be there by our side no matter the circumstances we are in. - Marino J. Dasmarinas