Reflection for Monday November 21, The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Luke 21:1-4

Luke 21:1-4

When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. He said, “I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth,  she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.

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Reflection:

Do we give from the heart?

Jesus in our gospel favored the generosity of the poor widow for the simple reason that it came from her heart. There is no string attached in her giving, it did not camo from her excess money, she gave whatever little amount she had.

This gospel invites us also to examine ourselves not only when we give to our church. It invites us also to reflect our motive of giving when we give to the poor or to anyone who is in need for that matter.

The ideal giving is to give from the heart. The amount of what we give is immaterial what is important is it originates from our heart and not from our head. In the gospel, it was not only the poor widow who gave some wealthy people also gave. However, Jesus is more pleased with the giving of the poor widow because her giving is pure and untainted by any form of ulterior motive.    

Whatever we give from the heart comes back to us a hundredfold. On Luke chapter six verse thirty eight (6:38) Jesus tells us this: “Give and it will be given to you, and you will receive in your sack good measure, pressed down, full and running over. For the measure you give will be the measure you receive back. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Sunday November 20, Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe; Luke 23:35-43

Gospel: Luke 23:35-43

The rulers sneered at Jesus and said, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God.” Even the soldiers jeered at him. As they approached to offer him wine they called out, “If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.” Above him there was an inscription that read, “This is the King of the Jews.”

Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.”The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.

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Reflection:

Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. This was one of the pointed words of one of the two criminals hanging on the cross beside Jesus who was Himself dying on the cross. Christ means messiah or savior, how could it be that Jesus the supposedly savior of the Jewish people was dying on the cross?

Isn’t Jesus powerful? He made the lame walk, He opened the eyes of the blind, He cured the sick, He spoke with mesmerizing authority, He feed thousands with two fish and five loaves and there are many more miracles attributed to the power of Jesus. Yet, He is now on the cross powerless and dying.

Come to think of it, why did this powerful man became powerless and helpless on the cross? He could have easily bolted out of the cross and reduced to nothing everyone who made life difficult for Him. Why did He restrain Himself?

It was His infinite love for us that Jesus restrained Himself from taking revenge from His persecutors. Jesus went through the agony of death because He wanted to save us and He wanted to tell us how much He loved us. It was all because of His infinite love for us that Jesus stripped Himself of His kingship.      

What have we done so far to reciprocate this infinite love of Jesus? Have we feed the hungry? Have we sheltered the homeless? Have we clothed the naked? Have we visited the sick and imprisoned? Have we helped bury the dead? Have we given alms to the poor?  – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Saturday November 19, Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 20:27-40

Luke 20:27-40

Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, If someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless. Then the second and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.” Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive. Some of the scribes said in reply, “Teacher, you have answered well. And they no longer dared to ask him anything.

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Reflection:

Do you believe in the afterlife?

The afterlife/everlasting life is very different from this present life where we are in. Our life here has an eventual ending. The life everlasting has no ending there shall be no more suffering for us there.

It will be a heavenly experience for all of us there. But the sad reality is this: Not all of us will have that divine experience. Some will go to the other side where it will endlessly be hot; where there exist eternal suffering.

In the gospel, Jesus was asked by the Sadducees (who did not believe in the resurrection) regarding a woman who married seven brothers in different time period. They said: “In the afterlife whose wife will that woman be?”

Jesus gave them a glimpse of what it is in the resurrection when He said: “The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise.

We should strive to be in that place by doing good and by following the way of Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Friday November 18, Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 19:45-48

Luke 19:45-48

Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, “It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” And every day he was teaching in the temple area. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death, but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on his words.

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Reflection:

After cleaning the temple of impurities Jesus taught there daily, Jesus is still teaching us up to this very minute. Teaching us how to properly live our lives, teaching us that life is not so much of material and intellectual accumulation. For Jesus life is service, life is humility, life is sacrifice, life is about simplicity and the like. 

What was Jesus everyday teaching topic during that time?  We could only guess that it was about behavior when inside the temple. And perhaps He was also teaching them about life and how to properly live it. Is there a template on how to properly live our life? Of course there is and it’s no other than the life of Jesus himself. To live according to His life is the perfect life template, but would we dare to live the life of Jesus?

Let us be teachers also like Jesus, let us teach our children about Jesus, let us teach them how to behave at church. Let us teach the life of Jesus by our way of life, if we say the life of Jesus we might be tempted to say that His way of life is not anymore relevant in today’s technology driven times.    

But the life of Jesus is more relevant today more than ever. Think of the corruption of our value system, think of how we devalue life itself by killing it while inside a mother’s womb. Jesus is a man for all season and for all times. He is always relevant regardless of time and space. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Thursday November 17, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious; Luke 19:41-44

Luke 19:41-44

As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace–but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.

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Reflection:

What will happen to us if we will not listen to meaningful advice?

For example, Carlo who is a drug pusher and addict was counselled by his wife to stop. But Carlo ignored his wife’s advice after a few months Carlo was caught by the police and was imprisoned for life.

When we ignore meaningful advice something that we don’t like will come upon us. We will not know when will it come to us but it will certainly come to us. So what are we going to do if someone is giving us meaningful advice? We have to listen and reform so that nothing untoward would happen to us.

Why did Jesus weep over the people Jerusalem? This is for the reason that they did not listen to the messengers of God and to Jesus who wanted nothing but their welfare. They shut their eyes and ears to God as if God did not exist.

As we continue with our journey in this world there would be people who will give us meaningful advice. People who will tell us to disengage from a friend or people who will tell us to stop doing wrong.

We have to listen to them not because they know better than us. We have to listen for the reason that God sent them to us so that we could straighten our crooked lives. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for Wednesday November 16, Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 19:11-28

Luke 19:11-28

While people were listening to Jesus speak, he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the Kingdom of God would appear there immediately. So he said, “A nobleman went off to a distant country to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return. He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return.’ His fellow citizens, however, despised him and sent a delegation after him to announce, ‘We do not want this man to be our king.’ But when he returned after obtaining the kingship, he had the servants called, to whom he had given the money, to learn what they had gained by trading. The first came forward and said, ‘Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional ones. He replied, ‘Well done, good servant! You have been faithful in this very small matter; take charge of ten cities.’ Then the second came and reported, ‘Your gold coin, sir, has earned five more.’ And to this servant too he said, ‘You, take charge of five cities.’ Then the other servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it stored away in a handkerchief, for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man; you take up what you did not lay down and you harvest what you did not plant.’ He said to him, ‘With your own words I shall condemn you, you wicked servant. You knew I was a demanding man, taking up what I did not lay down and harvesting what I did not plant; why did you not put my money in a bank? Then on my return I would have collected it with interest.’ And to those standing by he said, ‘Take the gold coin from him and give it to the servant who has ten.’ But they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten gold coins.’ He replied, ‘I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king, bring them here and slay them before me.

After he had said this, he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.

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Reflection:

What is our mission in this world? Our mission is to become productive followers of the Lord and how could we become productive followers? If we spread the faith we become productive followers if we don’t do anything we become unproductive follower.

The good Lord would always want us to share our faith so that we could grow for this is the only way for us to bear fruit.  But many of us are afraid to share and our excuse is we don’t know anything about Jesus and about our Catholic faith.

How would we know if we don’t strive to know more about Jesus? Therefore the secret to know more about Jesus is to discover more about Him. And the more that we discover the more that we would have the tools to become His productive followers.

We therefore have to know more about Jesus so that we could mature in faith and in the process we would be able to share what we know about Him. Jesus has already equipped us with the needed grace through our Baptism and Confirmation.

The responsibility is in our hands already. – Marino J. Dasmarinas   

Reflection for Tuesday November 15, Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 19:1-10

Luke 19:1-10

At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” And he came down quickly and received him with joy.  When they saw this, they began to grumble, saying,  “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.”  But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.

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Reflection:

Who is Zacchaeus? He is a chief tax collector, a bigtime extortionist and a bigtime sinner too! It would seem that this sinful man would drown in his sinfulness and be sinful for the rest of his life. But Jesus intervened in the life of this sinful man so from being sinful he repented and became a renewed man.  

God works in mysterious ways in our lives, He always calls us sinners to become His faithful followers.  Zacchaeus is such kind of a man, a sinner like you and me. His call to conversion may seem like his own initiative but no it was not his own. It was Jesus who called him, it was Jesus who spoke to his heart to tell him to return the money that he stole and leave behind his sinful life.

Jesus always calls us to conversion He uses many avenues to do it for us. There are times that He bothers our conscience. There are times that He uses other people for us to follow Him, let us be sensitive to this intervention of Jesus in our lives.

Life is never the same when we live it without Jesus, we may temporarily enjoy what this world would offer us. But at the end of the day everything that this world offers us is passing and temporary. Let us carefully discern this, let us wake-up with our love affair with sin and materialism while we still have time to walk away from it. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Monday November 14, Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 18:35-43

Luke 18:35-43

As Jesus approached Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging, and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” The people walking in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me!” Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He replied, “Lord, please let me see.” Jesus told him, “Have sight; your faith has saved you.” He immediately received his sight and followed him, giving glory to God. When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.

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Reflection:

Does it pay to be persistent and to have faith in Jesus?

It always pays to be persistent in any endeavor that we are in; because eventually our persistence will bear fruit. How many success stories were anchored on the word persistence? Perhaps thousands even millions already, they toil in silence persistently working hard and never giving up until they achieve success.

The blind man in the gospel was also very persistent he never gave up shouting: “Son of David”.  even if he was being censured by those around him. He still persisted amid the censure; eventually his persistence bore fruit for he eventually got Jesus' attention. However, it was not only persistence that brought the blind man to Jesus. He also has powerful faith in Jesus.

Afterwards, Jesus asked him: “What do you want me to do for you?” He replied, “Lord, please let me see.” Jesus told him, “Have sight; your faith has saved you.” What if the blind man was not persistent and his faith wanting? What if he listened to the rebukes of the people around him? He would not have been healed by Jesus.

Let us always be persistent and let us always have this powerful faith in Jesus in any good that we ambition to do. We may not see any ray of hope now but Jesus will certainly respond to us in His own perfect time.

Are you always persistent when you want something from Jesus? Do you have powerful faith in Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Saturday November 12, Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr; Luke 18:1-8

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:

How persistent are we when we have prayer petitions before God? If God seems silent and unheard of; do we easily give-up that He will hear our prayers petitions? Do we lose our faith when we don’t hear/feel any signs from God about our pleadings?

In the gospel Jesus gave the disciples a parable about a Judge who neither feared God nor respected any human being and a widow who was very persistent with her petition before the judge to grant her a just decision against her enemy.

Initially it would seem that the judge would not grant her request but the widow was very persistent and she never gave-up thus she continued on badgering the judge. Eventually the judge granted her petition for a just decision.

We all have our own silent prayers before God, we may have been praying for weeks, months, even years and it may seem that God is absent and quite. Let us not lose hope let us continue to storm the heavens with our prayers.

 For in His own time of choosing and when we least expect it He definitely will respond to our prayers. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for Friday November 11, Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop; Luke 17:26-37

Luke 17:26-37

Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, someone who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise one in the field must not return to what was left behind. Remember the wife of Lot. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left.”  They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.

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Reflection:

What happens when we don’t anymore listen to God? We have no qualms of committing sin. Sin becomes a wicked way of life until this kind of lifestyle destroys us. We will not fully comprehend the wickedness of sin until it’s too late already.

This is how the devil actually works, it hides sin through eye-catching appearance that it becomes attractive to many of us. We therefore have to recognize the warning signs or the red flags that will tell us that we are siding with the devil. And what are these?

When we begin to love this world more than we love God. When we indulge in hedonistic actions, when we don’t anymore give ear to meaningful advice. All of these are the red flags that will warn us that we are self-destructing.    

We are self-destructing for the reason that the presence of God is not anymore present in our life.  And we all know what happens to the life of a person when he shuns God there’s no peace and contentment only temptations and troubles.

Do you want this kind of life?  – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Thursday November 10, Saint Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church; Luke 17:20-25

Luke 17:20-25

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus said in reply, “The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.”

Then he said to his disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. There will be those who will say to you, ‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’ Do not go off, do not run in pursuit. For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.

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Reflection:

A man was always busy with the things of this world, he was busy making himself rich for he thought that it would give him fulfilment. But the more that he became rich the more that he became busier with the things of this world.

Where can we find the kingdom of God? We certainly cannot find it if we are always busy with the things of this world. We cannot find the kingdom of God if we continue to allow this world to dictate upon us. By accumulating the things of this world which we will leave behind someday.

A woman was asked: “Where does the kingdom of God rest?” She calmly said: “its here and now in my heart.” This woman was a prayerful woman, she lives her faith and she was always a constant presence in the Eucharistic Celebration.

The kingdom of God is ours for the taking if we learn to become prayerful, if we learn to live our faith and if we prioritize our one hour presence at Holy Mass over our many worldly activities. Worldly undertakings which only brings us further away from the Kingdom God. – Marino J. Dasmarinas