Reflection for Friday December 2, First Week in Advent; Matthew 9:27-31

Gospel: Matthew 9:27-31

As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying out, “Son of David, have pity on us!” When he entered the house, the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they said to him. Then he touched their eyes and said, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” And their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” But they went out and spread word of him through all that land.

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Reflection:

What causes spiritual blindness? It’s our love affair with this world, love affair means that we are overly concerned about how we look. We are overly concerned of the external impression of our fellowmen about us. And we are overly fixated with chasing material wealth, power and other worldly appendage. All of these cause our spiritual blindness.

In the gospel, we have two physically blind men who are not blind spiritually because recognized the presence of Jesus who was passing by them.  Thus, they shouted toward Jesus “Son of David, have pity on us!” And very  quckly Jesus did not disappoint them.

We must not allow this world to rob us of our spiritual vision for the simple reason that this is where we would discover the true essence and meaning of life. We have to understand that life is not about earthly riches, influence and so forth for what is the use of riches and influence if we don’t have Jesus in our lives?

The moment we decide to faithfully follow Jesus our spiritual blindness will be cured and we will see things differently very different from how we see it before. We would be able to discover that nothing matters in this world except the love and light of Jesus.

Jesus Himself said this: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). – Marino J. Dasmarinas

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