Reflection for Thursday October 20, Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 12:49-53

Luke 12:49-53

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

+ + + + + + +

Reflection:

There is a story of a brother who rebuked his wayward sister for not living her life properly. While in the process of reprimand the sister angrily walked out from his brother. She told him not to meddle in her life and he is already dead as far as she is concerned. By having the courage to correct a wayward behavior the brother unexpectedly created enmity and an enemy for himself.

This is the reality of a life with Jesus there would be times that we will be hated and ostracized by our fellowmen. But we must not be bothered by these temporal difficult circumstances in our lives. We must always have the courage to speak-out and correct a wayward behavior no matter what the cost because this is part of our mission as followers of Christ.

If we will not correct a wrong behavior and just go with the flow even if it’s wrong. We are then betraying Christ and sad to say, we are not also a true follower of Christ. For the simple reason that we are afraid to create an enemy for the sake of Jesus Christ.

We will always pay a worldly price that is sometimes painful to accept for the sake of our passionate discipleship for Jesus. We may even temporarily or even permanently create enemies or lose friends and even relatives for HIS sake. Let us not be afraid of having frayed relationship for the sake of our faithful disciples for Jesus.

You are already complete if you have Jesus in your life. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for Wednesday October 19, Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs; Luke 12:39-48

Gospel: Luke 12:39-48

Jesus said to his disciples: “Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

+ + + + + + +

Reflection:

Are you prepared for the coming of the Lord?

Here in our gospel Jesus tells us to be prepared for we do not know the time of His coming. Aside from being prepared Jesus gives us another responsibility none other than to share whatever we know about Him. It’s not enough for Jesus that we know Him.  He wants us to move on and do the next step and this is to share what we know about Him.

The Christian faith that God has given to us is not to be kept to ourselves. We must share and live it for it is in sharing and living our faith that we are able to completely follow Jesus. To whom we would share? Start within your family most especially your children. If you are able to successfully evangelize you will have no problem of what will happen to them when they become adults.

But the dilemma of many of us is we don’t share with our children what we know about Christ. Not because we know nothing about Jesus, many of us actually don’t have a shortage of knowledge about Jesus. In fact many of us know abundantly about Jesus but the problem is we don’t live and practice what we know about Christ and His teachings. This is one of the major reasons why we are not able to share Jesus with our children and with our friends.

We must aspire to learn more about Christ Jesus and after learning more about Him. We must live what we’ve learned from Him, thus we become prepared for His coming anytime. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for Tuesday October 18, Saint Luke, Evangelist; Luke 10:1-9

Luke 10:1-9

The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.’”

+ + + + + + +

Reflection:

Are you doing something to share the teachings of Jesus?

Like the seventy two which Jesus sent ahead of Him. We too are laborers in the vineyard of the Lord, what is the implication of this to our life? We are also called by God to share and live the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus told the disciples: “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.” This is very true until to this very day. Based on statistics ninety nine percent (99%) of the church are composed of lay people or people who are not in any way doing something for the church and only one percent (1%) are members of the clergy.

The harvest indeed is plentiful; therefore in our own little way let us also be laborers like the seventy two. Let us spread and live the teachings of Jesus, let us not be afraid for God will be with us and surely He will not only provide for us He will also be there for us.

Have you already done something to share the teachings of Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Monday October 17, S Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr; Luke 12:13-21

Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. 

He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”

+ + + + + + +

Reflection:

Which would you prefer to have the treasures of this world of to possess treasures about God? Many of us would certainly prefer to have worldly treasures rather than possess knowledge about God. Why? Because this is what this world is teaching us: to have and accumulate worldly treasures.

How about the choice to possess God? Perhaps only a few would prefer to possess God. This materially centered world would always dictate upon us to have whatever material possession that we can possess so that we can attain success.

But earthly success is not in the vocabulary of God, what God wants us is not to become successful in this world but for us to become His fruitful followers. We were not created by God to become materially successful but to become spiritually bountiful and fruitful.  

We were created by God to become spiritually fruitful so that others can learn from us about God.  Earthly success will count for nothing at the end, what will count during that time is the relationship that we have built with God and His people.

Life that is built around chasing earthly wealth and power is empty and meaningless. On the other hand life that is centered upon God is fruitful and meaningful.

Are you seeking for a meaningful life?  -  Marino J. Dasmarinas   

Reflection for Sunday October 16, Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time; Luke 18:1-8

Gospel: Luke 18:1-8

Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’ For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.’” The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

+ + + + + + +

Reflection:

Does God always answers our prayers? The gospel would tell us that He always answers our prayers. But the reality of it all is there are times that God doesn’t answer our prayers. There are times that God fails us. We don’t know the reason behind these unanswered prayers only God knows.

If God seems deaf to our prayers would it be right for us to stop kneeling in prayer before God? We need not stop praying even if we get no answer from God. For the simple reason that our prayers before God gives us hope. Our prayers before God brightens our gloomy day. Our prayers tell us that amidst our life struggles there is a powerful God who is ever ready to listen notwithstanding the nature of His reply.

It's already immaterial if God answers or not  because our prayers are not only limited with God answering or not answering it. Our prayers before God is much bigger that the reply that we expect from Him. This is for the reason that the gift of prayer in itself is already an enormous blessing from God.

What happens to us when we pray and after we pray?  When we pray we connect with our loving and powerful God. And after we pray we become hopeful and we feel relieved. Therefore, the gift of prayer that Jesus has gratuitously given us is a balm that immediately soothes our wounded and burdened beings.   

We therefore have to pray as often as we can since a life without prayer is a life without hope and a life bereft of the presence of God.

Do you have a healthy prayer life? – Marino J. Dasmarinas