Reflection for Friday October 14, Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 12:1-7

Gospel: Luke 12:1-7

So many people were crowding together that they were trampling one another underfoot. Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples, “Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.

“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops. I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more. I shall show you whom to fear. Be afraid of the one who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna; yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one. Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.”

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Reflection:

Does God know everything about us?

Yes, God knows everything about us; including those sins that we think are known only to ourselves He knows too! What is the proof that God knows about it? Our conscience which eternally bothers us whenever we sin our sins would continue to bother us until we ask forgiveness or we make amends to the person whom we have hurt.  

God is an all knowing and all-pervading God. We therefore have to shape up and walk away from sin while we still have the luxury of time. We also have to do away with the sinful thoughts that we keep in our minds.

It would be much better if we always align all our thoughts and actions with God. So that when our time to leave this world comes we would be ready. Thus, from here we go straight to heaven because we have tried very hard not to sin.

However, we are weak as humans we often times sin but there is always a remedy for sin which is repentance and this is best exemplified the moment we humbly submit to the Sacrament of Confession/Reconciliation. – Marino J. Dasmarinas   

Reflection for Thursday October 13, Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 11:47-54

Gospel: Luke 11:47-54

The Lord said: “Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets whom your fathers killed. Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them and you do the building. Therefore, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and Apostles; some of them they will kill and persecute’ in order that this generation might be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who died between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood! Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.” When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many things, for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.

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Reflection:

Why were the Pharisees and scribes angry with Jesus? It was for the reason that Jesus was telling the truth about their hypocrisy and double speak!  The truth hurts but Jesus doesn’t mince words He tells it as He sees it.  So Jesus tells it directly to them without fear because He wants them to open their minds about their pretentions and double standard.

When somebody corrects us and tells negative things about us; let us accept it as a constructive criticism and let us look at it on a positive way.  Where we can learn and further improve, if we close our minds to criticism it’s like saying that we don’t want to improve. And those who do not want to improve and those who refuse correction will never become better individuals.  

Let us remember that nobody is perfect except God. We all have our own flaws and shortcomings and these are natural for we are imperfect humans. We all are subject to our own frailties and weakness.  What is important is we accept corrections and we make it as our reference point for us to become better and useful citizens of this fleeting world.   

Let us therefore always be humble let us be open to advice, let us always be open to reproaches and let us make these as a springboard for us to become a much better person. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Wednesday October 12, Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 11:42-46

Gospel: Luke 11:42-46

The Lord said: “Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.”

Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.” And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.

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Reflection:

Do you live what you say? For example you will say to your children that they should live simply yet your lifestyle is not simple because you want expensive things. How will your children follow and believe what you say?

Jesus is angry with the Pharisees because many of them were full of pretension their external actions were very much different with their internal thought. They command the people to do this and that yet they themselves were not willing to do it.

What Jesus wants for the Pharisees then and for us now is to lead by example; let us mean what we say and live what we say. This is where we are often lacking, yes we go to church and yes we worship God. But do we translate these to living acts of faith?

Let us not be like the Pharisees and the scholars of the law who are very good only at giving orders. Let us be like Jesus who put into action every word and phrase that He said.

Jesus lived every word that He preached, for example Jesus preached simplicity of lifestyle, He therefore lived this simple lifestyle. Jesus preached about forgiveness and He lived His preaching of forgiveness as well.

Do you live a simple lifestyle and are you forgiving? – Marino J. Dasmarinas     

Reflection for Tuesday October 11, Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 11:37-41

Luke 11:37-41

After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”

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Reflection:

Maria is very particular with external appearance she would always dress well. The exterior of her house was always refreshing to the eyes. Her neighbor was wondering how come she’s able to afford such luxuries considering that she had no job to speak of?

 One morning a rich woman was shouting in front of her house telling her to leave her husband alone otherwise she would be forced to bring her to court for having a relationship with a married man.

Many of us are very particular with what others will see from us. As much as possible we would always try to paint an attractive picture of ourselves. This is who many of us are, very much driven with the exterior, fleeting and those that do not last for a lifetime.

Jesus is not taken with this show of misleading exterior appearance. What counts for Jesus is our attitude most especially when nobody sees us. For example, how do we react when we see a poor in front of our house. Do we do something to help the poor? Or we simply don’t care; anyway no one is looking at us, so might as well not mind the poor.

Jesus knows everything about us, we cannot keep anything from Him. He knows our hidden secrets, our double talk and the façade that we try so very hard to display so that we could create an impression of wealth and extravagance. - Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for Monday October 10, Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 11:29-32

Luke 11:29-32

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.”

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Reflection:

Do you ask for signs from before we decide on something? For example, if you’re a female, would you ask for a sign if the man courting you is the right one for you? And based on that sign you now would decide to say yes or no to that man.

Jesus is much bigger than the signs that we ask for from God. If we have Him in our hearts we need not ask anymore for signs. But do we allow Jesus to have a special place in our hearts? Jesus has a simple request for all of us for Him to dwell in our hearts. The simple request is our repentance from all of our sins. This is His simple request for all of us, so that He could dwell in our hearts.

During the time of Jonah the people of Nineveh listened to Jonah’s call of repentance. Otherwise there would be destruction upon them. So they listened, they’ve put on sackcloth to show God that they are sorry for the many sins that they’ve committed and they are ready to walk away from it.

Why do we continue to embrace sin when it will not do us any good? Why do we continue to embrace sin when we know for a fact that sin is evil and it eventually will destroy us? It’s very hard to comprehend why many of us continue to sin. Perhaps we continue to sin because we don’t allow God to come into our life.

If you will love this world more than you love God you certainly will continue to sin. However, God is always there for you no matter how sinful you are, ever ready to embrace you with His infinite love and forgiveness. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Prayer:

I am sinful creature of this world O Lord and I am tired of sinning for it has not brought anything good into my life. I seek for your forgiveness O Lord and I seek for your love, this I pray in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.    

Reflection for Sunday October 9, Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time; Luke 17:11-19

Gospel: Luke 17:11-19

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”

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Reflection:

Do you believe in the healing power of Jesus?

There is a true story of an eighteen year old young man who was diagnosed with a severe sickness. His doctor told him that he needs to undergo a dangerous operation upon reaching the age of thirty five otherwise he will die. Having nothing except his faith this man relied on nobody except Jesus.

As years passed by this man eventually reached the age of thirty five yet nothing serious has happened to him neither did he go through a dangerous operation. He is still alive and in the pink of health. In gratitude for the healing that he received from Jesus he is right now silently doing his little share to advance the words of God.

Our faith in Jesus can easily heal us of any form of sickness no matter how severe. We simply have to ask Jesus with faith and He surely would give it to us. Yet in every healing that we receive from Jesus there is also that unwritten responsibility that we have to do which is to give thanks and to pay it forward in whatever means possible.  

The ten lepers who were healed by Jesus obviously had faith otherwise they would have not been healed.  But amongst the ten it was only the Samaritan who did not forget to go back to Jesus to humbly express His thanksgiving. How about the nine who were also healed, where did they go? Perhaps they went back to their old environments and resumed their life there.

Whom are we going to emulate here the nine Jews or the humble Samaritan?  The answer is no brainer we have to follow the example of the thankful and humble Samaritan.

Do you always express your humble thanksgiving to Jesus by helping those who are in need most especially the sick? – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for Saturday October 8, Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 11:27-28

Luke 11:27-28

While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

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Reflection:

Do you observe and hear the word of God?

Why is there abortion, terrorism, crime, abuse of the environment, egocentric people and so forth? Because we don’t hear and observe the word of God. There are those who listen to God’s words but they don’t live it.

Jesus is not a self-centered God same as with the Blessed Mother they don’t want honor for themselves. Truth be told, honor is the least that they want; let us look at their lives, did they run after honor? They shunned it! They simply listened to the word of God and followed it.

This is actually the cure for the chaotic world that we are in right now: To hear/read the world of God and follow it. We mustn’t not seek personal honor that only deluge our bloated egos.

We have to remember that we only become effective followers of the Lord when we model our lives with the simple and humble lives of the Jesus and Mary. Our modern and technology driven times would always dictate us to chase upon honorific titles.

To love the limelight and be the center of attention but it‘s actually nothing before God. What counts in the heart of God is our readiness to humbly hear His word and live it. Thus, we become blessed in His eyes.

Do you listen to the word of God and do you live it? – Marino J. Dasmarinas