Reflection for Thursday December 1, First Week in Advent; Matthew 7:21, 24-27

Matthew 7:21, 24-27

Jesus said to his disciples: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house.  But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.

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Reflection:

Who do you listen to in this world? Do you listen to Jesus and shutout what this world is trying to dictate upon you? When you always listen to Jesus you have an impregnable anchor that nobody can destroy. Even the strongest of calamities will not be able to destroy much less discourage you for the simple reason that you have Jesus in your life.

Often times we are defeated by our problems, worries and sickness because Jesus plays no role in our life. What rule our life are the many worldly attachments which only make our life in this world burdensome and heavy. So when we encounter trials many of us are not able to withstand it.

Indulgence with the pleasures of this world makes us fragile physically and emotionally; it could even make us suicidal. We will be left with nothing except emptiness which will quickly lead us to nothingness.

Try making Jesus the anchor of your life and you will see that not even the worst of problems can defeat you or bring you down. Even the worst sickness will not be able to conquer you it may conquer your physical being but your spiritual being will remain strong.  And this is for the reason that Jesus is the rock solid foundation of your life. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Wednesday November 30, Saint Andrew, Apostle; Matthew 4:18-22

Gospel: Matthew 4:18-22

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.

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Reflection:

Are you ready to respond to Jesus’ call?

Jesus called ordinary fishermen to help Him advance the gospel, ordinary folks just like you and me. What is striking  in the gospel reading is their immediate response to the call of Jesus. When Jesus called Peter and Andrew they immediately left their nets (their livelihood) and they both followed Jesus.

The same occurrence happened when Jesus called the brothers Zebedee and John. Upon hearing the call of Jesus they left their boat and their father to immediately become a follower. When we hear God’s call for us to serve Him through the daily events in our lives we must immediately decide to follow Him; we must not be indecisive.

Let us take a closer look at the gospel for today because this is for us also. The four of them were ordinary fishermen, they were expert with their craft but they have no formal education about the faith. 

What does this mean to us? This simply means that a formal education about the faith is not a requirement to become an effective follower. What is important is the desire and willingness to respond to Jesus. For as long as we are ready to respond we all can have a humble role in the mission of Jesus. 

Let us not worry if we have no formal education about our faith because this is not the requirement of Jesus. What Jesus wants from us first is for us to be sensitive to His call, this is perhaps the first requirement sensitivity to His call. 

Jesus is always calling us to follow Him every second, every minute and hour that pass by. Let us be sensitive to this call of Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for Tuesday November 29, First Week in Advent; Luke 10:21-24

Luke 10:21-24

Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

Turning to the disciples in private he said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.

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Reflection:

Communication is an essential part to a successful marriage. The more communication time a married couple has the better that they would understand each other. Thus, communication facilitates smooth relationship and intimacy.

Jesus in our gospel for today communicates through His prayer with our Father the creator. He gives praise to the Father, Jesus did not only communicate to the Father to give praise. He communicated because he longs for His Father and it’s through this longing that He builds deeper oneness with Him.  

We too must always have this longing or thirst for God in every moment of our lives. We must always communicate with Him for He is our lifeline in this world. What would happen to us if we would not have our regular prayer moments with God? We become empty shells that looks sturdy outside but deep inside is spiritually shallow. 

Let us always have our regular prayer moment with God in everyday of our lives. Let us give praise to Him let us thank Him for all of the blessings that He has been giving us. Let us not wait for the time to come wherein we will look for God because we are already in dire need of Him.

Do you have your regular moment with Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Monday November 28, First Week in Advent; Matthew 8:5-11

Matthew 8:5-11

When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.” He said to him, “I will come and cure him.” The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.

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Reflection:

How deep is your faith in Jesus?

Aside from learning about the centurion’s deep faith in God what else do we learn from our gospel today? We learn how to deeply care and be concerned for our fellowmen no matter who they may be and regardless of their standing in our society.

The centurion is not an ordinary soldier he is an officer but he was very concerned of his servant that he went to Jesus with faith and asked for His healing. Considering his stature the centurion could have simply sent some of his underlings to Jesus. But he went personally to Jesus it speaks volumes of his goodness.

How many of us are caring enough for those who are lowly and poor; they are both neglected people of our society. How many of us truly care for our servants? Would we still care for your servant even if they cannot serve you anymore?  

On this Advent season perhaps Jesus is inviting our attention thru this gospel reading to take a closer look on the plight of the less fortunate: the poor, the servants. They’re everywhere and they badly need our help.

Who are the servants and poor that needs our love and care? They may be our poor siblings, our neighbor, our neglected children and parents or any nameless individual who is in need of our help. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Sunday November 27, First Sunday of Advent; Matthew 24:37-44

Gospel: Matthew 24:37-44

Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

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Reflection: 

What does it mean to stay awake? It means to always be ready for anything that may come to us. Does this mean that when we are ready we would be able to handle whatever that may come to us?

For example a tragedy in the family, would we be able to handle it? Yes and no. Yes we would be able to handle it if we always have a connection with Jesus. No, we may not be able to handle it if we are not connected with Jesus.  

Today is the first Sunday of advent, advent means arrival or coming of somebody who is important and this is none other than Jesus. We therefore have to be prepared for His coming by intensifying our relationship with Him. We have to steer away from anything that would make us sin, we have to listen more to Jesus than to this world. 

If this world dictates us that we have to be materially prepared for the coming birth of Jesus.  Jesus is asking us to be more spiritually prepared by repenting from all forms of sinfulness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, by reconciling ourselves with those whom we have offended and so forth. For what good it will do us if we are materially prepared yet we are spiritually unprepared?

When we go to the malls we would see the heightened worldly preparation for the coming birth of the Lord. New gadgets are on sale, other material things are also there to entice us to buy it. The best Christmas lights and decoration will also be present to capture our attention.

 However, Jesus is telling us that we have to stay awake by not allowing ourselves to be deceived by the commercialization of HIS season. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Saturday November 26, Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 21:34-36

Luke 21:34-36

Jesus said to his disciples: “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.

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Reflection:
Do you easily yield to temptations?

We are always vulnerable to the many temptations of this world. The temptation of the flesh, the temptation of money and many more secular temptations that will take us away little by little from God’s loving embrace.

What is the cure to these many temptations? We must always be connected with God by having an active relationship with Him. Active relationship means that we attend the Celebration of the Holy Mass, we read the scriptures and we translate this to a faith that is lived daily. This is the only way for us to avoid the many temptations of this secular world.

But majority of us do not take this seriously for we love the trappings of this world more than the intimacy that God constantly offers us.  Thus, we often times give-up the faith based values that was taught to us by the church.

After our life on this world comes to a close we will stand before God and He will ask us if we’ve been faithful to Him. Many of us will not be able to speak before God for we’ve failed Him. Let us not wait for the fearful day to happen. While there is still time let us mend our ways and tread the correct path that God is offering us.

Let us always bear in mind that there will be a day of reckoning which will happen anytime. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Friday November 25, Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time; Luke 21:29-33

Luke 21:29-33

Jesus told his disciples a parable. “Consider the fig tree and all the other trees. When their buds burst open, you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near; in the same way, when you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

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Reflection:

Are we aware that God is always manifesting Himself to us?

God uses creative ways for us to be aware of His presence: sometimes He comes to us through a friend who will share His words to us. He comes to us through events or even accidents in our lives. And there are many more ingenious manifestations of God in our lives for this is His desire: to introduce Himself to us. 

 But how do we react with these manifestations of God? Oftentimes this is ignored by us for the reason that we are so enamoured with what the world offers us such as: Wealth, Power, Treasures and the like. We therefore fail to discern that it was God because we have already been enslaved by this world.   

Then we get seriously sick that we are a few steps from death’s doorway and here we are cramming to know God. Here we are making amends with those whom we’ve hurt. And here we are trying our best to straighten our way of life.

Why wait for that time? Why not listen and get closer NOW with GOD while we are in the pink of health? Why not get close with God now? Why not reach-out and humble ourselves with those whom we have offended? Why not leave behind any form of sinfulness right now? – Marino J. Dasmarinas