Reflection for Saturday October 22, Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 13:1-9

Luke 13:1-9

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them–do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”

And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’”

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Reflection:

What does sin do to us? It makes our life miserable and problematic but sin in any form does not immediately show its true color. It sugarcoats itself first as pleasure or something that would make life enjoyable for us. Then when we are deep into it already it shows its hideous identity.

Jesus through our gospel calls us to change our ways and repent from our sinfulness. Jesus has been very patient with us even if we have been offending Him for so many times. He patiently calls us everyday to permanently walk away from our sinfulness while there is still time. Let us listen to His call of repentance.

When are we going to listen? Should we wait until such time that we are already incapacitated or when we are already on our deathbeds? It might be too late already, let us listen to Him while there is still time, let us listen to Him while we are still in the pink of health. Jesus loves us so dearly that He wants us to be liberated from the enslavement of sin. This liberation will only happen if we would listen to His call of repentance. 

What if we don’t listen to Jesus call of repentance? What would happen to us? We allow ourselves to be continuously enslaved by the devil and we all know that the devil will bring us nothing but misery. Do we want our lives to be miserable? Of course not! Nobody wants to live a miserable life. Let us therefore listen to the call of Jesus for us to repent and walk away from our sinfulness.  

The Lord is always kind and merciful, the Lord is always forgiving. Let us therefore humble ourselves before Him by submitting ourselves to the healing Sacrament of Reconciliation/Confession. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Friday October 21, Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 12:54-59

Luke 12:54-59

Jesus said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does; and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate, make an effort to settle the matter on the way; otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the constable, and the constable throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.

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Reflection:

A philandering and irresponsible husband was always being advised by his mother to change his ways and focus his sole attention to his family. But the lure of temptation was too attractive to let go for the man so he did not listen to his mother.  After some time the limits of his wife’s patience has finally reached its boiling point.  So she and her children left Him, being alone he finally realized how irresponsible he was.

This is who many of us are we keep on sinning and hurting the feelings of those that we love. We are numb to well meaning advice because by its earthly nature sin is attractive. And the devil will keep pushing sin to us (disguised as pleasures) until it destroys us completely.

However, Jesus has a message for us in the gospel. It’s for us to completely walk away from our sinfulness before it destroys us. For the reason that the moment we allow sin to take hold of us it will destroy not only us but even those that we love dearly.

In our gospel Jesus denounced the crowd for their hypocrisy, they could predict the clouds and the weather. However they were purposely deaf to His call of repentance, aren’t many of us like them? We only listen to the dictates of this world but we shut our ears when it comes to Jesus!

 Let us listen to Jesus who always call upon us to repent because this is the right course of action to take. Jesus teachings may be unacceptable to us initially because it will entail painful purification and a change of lifestyle. But purification with Jesus always involves temporal difficulties that will eventually translate to a life of tranquillity and contentment.

Would you care to listen to Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

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.

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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.”

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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.’”

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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.”

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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?

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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      

Reflection for Saturday October 15, Saint Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church; Luke 12:8-12

Gospel: Luke 12:8-12

Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.

“Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.”

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Reflection:

Do you want to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life?

One of the major requisites for us to have an awareness of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to first acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Then, after that the gift of the presence of the Holy Spirit and everything else about the church would follow.

And this is when the Holy Spirit begins to work wonders in our spiritual lives. It opens us to the various avenues about the majestic history of the church and the many truths about it. We also start to become more aware of the true purpose of our life in this world.

As the Holy Spirit opens us to the many truths of the church it simultaneously works in our lives by purifying us of our many sins. It enlightens us to the gifts of: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and Fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2-3).

Let us therefore seek out Jesus Christ first by knowing more about Him. Let us be faithful to Him and we surely would feel the outpouring gifts of the Holy Spirit. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

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