Reflection for Tuesday January 24, Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church; Mark 3:31-35

Gospel Mark 3:31-35

The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house. Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him. A crowd seated around him told him, "Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you." But he said to them in reply, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."

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Reflection:

A homeless boy was given shelter by a compassionate family. They treated him as a member of their family and shouldered his education until college. After finding a job he generously gave back to the family. All the love and care that they gave him he gave back a hundred times.

The family who assumed responsibility for this boy is a relative of Jesus and this poor God fearing boy is a brother of Jesus. Why? Because Jesus tells us that whoever does the will of God is His brother, sister and mother.

How about those who do not live their lives according to the commandments of Jesus?  Who do no good to the poor and in need? Are they already cut-off from Jesus? No they’re not, for the simple reason that Jesus is a merciful and forgiving God, He patiently waits for those who are misguided, those who do not show compassion and love until they find enlightenment.

The infinite mercy of Jesus is always available for us no matter who we are yet Jesus is always challenging us to do good to our fellowmen. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Monday January 23, Third Week in Ordinary Time; Mark 3:22-30

Gospel Mark 3:22-30

The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “By the prince of demons he drives out demons.” Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided he cannot stand; that is the end of him. But no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house. Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin. For they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.

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Reflection:

What comes to your mind when you hear or read about Satan? Is it the usual concept of a dark and frightening figure with horns, tail and fork?

The devil is real but it doesn’t appear as what we’ve usually conceived it to be. Often times it disguises itself using other means so that we would not be able to identify it. Satan is real, in fact he is always around us taking his time until it sees an opportunity to take control of us.

It disguises itself in the appearance of an attractive woman or an attractive man   whom we still crave to covet even if we’re already committed or married. It disguises itself through a friends who wants to bring us to sleazy clubs and other sinful places.

 It masquerades as an uncontrollable sexual desire that tries very hard to take control of us. It presents itself in the form of money that will try to enslave and control us until such time that we already make it our God.

What is the antidote to this evil one? It’s your rock solid faith and friendship with Jesus. You therefore have to know more about Jesus by reading your bible and by your frequent presence at Holy Mass. So that you could easily ward off Satan the moment he presents himself to you. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Reflection for Sunday January 22, Third Sunday in Ordinary Time; Matthew 4:12-23

Matthew 4:12-23

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled: Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen. From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

As he 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. He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.

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Reflection:

Do you know that Jesus has been calling you to follow Him?

As Jesus was walking in 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 son of Zebedee and his brother John. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

What is it with Jesus that prompted these four fishermen to immediately respond to His call to follow Him? They could have delayed for a few days by telling Jesus to give them a few days to think it over. But they did not they instead immediately responded.

What did they see in Jesus that made them respond immediately? They saw in Jesus someone who would immediately deliver them from all of their struggles and problems.   And they saw in Jesus a friend who would stand by them until the end.  

To respond to God’s call is not all bed of roses, it’s full of trials, as the saying goes: “To follow Jesus is always right but it is not always easy.” This is true and this is exemplified by the lives of the apostles the Martyrs and Saints of the Church.

However amidst the trials we find great comfort in the abiding presence of Jesus. Who always walks side by side with us and who never fails to deliver us from our struggles in life. We take great comfort that Jesus is always there for us forever willing to listen to our hurts, forever willing to lighten our burden no matter how heavy.

Jesus is calling you as well, would you respond? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Saturday January 21, Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr; Mark 3:20-21

Gospel Mark 3:20-21

Jesus came with his disciples into the house. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."

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Reflection:

An intelligent young man decided to enter the seminary against the will of his parents and relatives. Being poor and the only child his parents wanted him to be a doctor so that he’ll become rich and eventually properly take care of his parents. But he was adamant in his desire thus he was labelled as someone that is out of His mind by his relatives and friends.

Jesus too was called as someone that is out of his mind by his relatives because He chose to live the life of an itinerant preacher. He chose to fight for the poor and oppressed, he chose to go against some of the Jewish laws specifically the law of the Sabbath. Thus earning the ire of the powerful Jewish elite.

Be not afraid to tread the less travelled road of Jesus. Follow it for so long as you are not steeping on the toes of anyone and you’re not doing any wrong. They may oppose it now but in God’s time they surely would be enlightened and they will understand you.

The voice of God is much superior than any worldly voice. You therefore have to hear it and follow it notwithstanding the contradiction and opposition. -  Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Friday January 20, Second Week in Ordinary Time; Mark 3:13-19

Gospel Mark 3:13-19

Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him. He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles, that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons: He appointed the Twelve: Simon, whom he named Peter; James, son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus; Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.

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Reflection:

Do you have regular solemn moments of reflection on your life? Solemn moment of reflections concerning your relationship with God, your family and an honest to goodness assessment of your life’s true purpose in this world.

Jesus had those solemn moments every now and then He would go to the mountain primarily to pray and commune with God. Then after His private moments in the mountain He would make important decisions. In the gospel, after going to the mountain He called and appointed the twelve apostles.   

You should also have your own private moments with God for you to reflect and know your real purpose in this fragile world. You should not allow yourself to be eaten by the frenetic pace of this world. Otherwise before you know it you are not anymore in touch  with God and God has no more say in your life.

This is very dangerous because the moment that God is not anymore in your life that’s also when the devil comes in to destroy your life. – Marino J. Dasmarinas   

Reflection for Thursday January 19, Second Week in Ordinary Time; Mark 3:7-12

Gospel Mark 3:7-12

Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” He warned them sternly not to make him known.

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Reflection:

Do you favor the powerful?

We normally converge with those who have power: Politicians, powerful government officials and healers. Nothings wrong with it for that’s our nature as humans we gravitate towards the powerful. What if they’re not in power anymore would we still gravitate towards them?

In our gospel Jesus is treated like a rock star people from all over the place were flocking to Him. For what reason? It was for his healing power. What if He had no power to heal? Of course there would be no pursuers or fans.

In the infancy of Jesus’ ministry hundreds up to thousands would follow because He had that power to heal, to speak wondrously and the like. But towards the end when He was about to be crucified the thousands evaporated like a dew in the morning.

Are we like that, we side with those who are in power but when they’re not powerful anymore we drop them like a hot potato? It should not be like that with our walk with Jesus, in good times and in bad we should always remain with Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas              

Reflection for Wednesday January 18, Second Week in Ordinary Time; Mark 3:1-6

Gospel Mark 3:1-6

Jesus entered the synagogue. There was a man there who had a withered hand. They watched Jesus closely to see if he would cure him on the Sabbath so that they might accuse him. He said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up here before us.” Then he said to the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” But they remained silent. Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death.

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Reflection:

Do you discriminate when you help?

To help those who are in need is for all season; it is not strictly confined nor enclosed to certain days or hours. As long as there are those who are in need of our help, then we must help by all means for this is what God wants us to do. 

We see it in the gospel today; there is this man with a withered hand but it so happen that it was a Sabbath day. Did Jesus thought of not curing this man because it is Sabbath day and His usual critics were closely monitoring Him?

No He did not! He instead called the man and said: Come up here before us and He said again: Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was restored.

We must not be afraid to help regardless of who the person is and immaterial of the circumstances that we are in. If we have the capacity to help by all means we must help. But the reality of it all is this: Some of us help selectively, we choose the person that we would help. Many of us specially help those who can reciprocate the help that we’ve done; perhaps this is human nature.

But Jesus is challenging us through our gospel that we must transcend it and not be selective on extending our help. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Tuesday January 17, Saint Anthony, Abbot; Mark 2:23-28

Gospel Mark 2:23-28

As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

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Reflection:

What would be your stand if you are made to choose between the observance of the law or the lawful need of our fellowman? Jesus gives us a clear choice, for Him it’s always the primary need of our fellowmen. As exemplified by His mention of David who violated the Sabbath to address their need to satisfy their hunger.

Rules and laws are created to create order and to prevent chaos. But there are times that it’s disregarded for a much higher and noble purpose. If the welfare of our fellowmen is at stake their interest  must come first. This is what we must always follow and we must also not create rules to serve our own selfish ends.

For example in a family setting, parents would normally have rules for their children to follow. However, we must always be amenable to bend these rules no matter how stringent. We do this if there is a valid need or reason. And when we want to show that we love our children more than the implementation of our house rules.

Jesus is a compassionate God, He would not mind if we violate rules for so long as there is a higher and noble purpose. – Marino J. Dasmarinas    

Reflection for January 16, Monday of the Second Week in O.T; Mark 2:18-22

Gospel Mark 2:18-22

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to Jesus and objected, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them and then they will fast on that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”

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Reflection:

What is wineskin? Wineskin is a dried goat or sheep’s skin used as a container for wine this is perhaps the equivalent of wine bottle or wine drum today. What is the relevance of the new wineskin which represents Jesus?

By our sinfulness we become the old wine that is not fit to be poured into the new wineskin. Yet if we desire to be poured into the new wineskin we have to decide to leave behind our old sinful lives.

Thus we become new wine that is very much appropriate for the new wineskin. And the moment we are poured into this new wineskin we become secure in other words the new wineskin which is Jesus Himself becomes our security blanket.

Jesus is always offering Himself to us so that we could have a secure life in this world. What He only asks from us is to leave behind our sinfulness and that’s it, Jesus now becomes our security blanket.

Has sin done you any good? No it did no good to you and it will never do good to you! You therefore have to leave it behind so that you could journey in this world hand in hand with your new wineskin and your security blanket which is none other than Jesus. -  Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Sunday January 15, Feast of the Sto. Nino; Matthew 18:1-5, 10

Gospel: Matthew 18:1-5, 10

The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.”

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Reflection:

Why did the disciples ask Jesus: “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” Were they expecting that Jesus would tell them that they’re the greatest in the kingdom of heaven because they are His disciples?

Instead, Jesus called a child and said: “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”

The key that will unlock for us the kingdom of heaven is the humility of a child that we must always emulate. The key that will invite the grace of the Holy Spirit upon us is the same childlike humility.

 It’s no brainer to ask why a child and not an adult?  Unlike adults, children have the simplest and purest minds. Children are not tainted by any form of sin and they are docile humble and obedient. Adults like us are sinful we defy God’s commandments to satisfy our whims and caprices.

As we celebrate the Feast of the Child Jesus or the Santo Nino we are also gently reminded that the children of today are not anymore like the children of yesteryear. Compared to children born forty or thirty or twenty years ago, children today are exposed to gadgets and internet. Gadgets and internet that sometimes corrupts their pure minds.  What intervention can you do to help these children being corrupted by gadgets and internet?

Due to the harshness of life many of our children today are also more exposed to poverty. Just look around and you will see. What intervention can you do to help these children being exposed to poverty? -  Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Sunday January 15, Second Sunday in Ordinary Time; John 1:29-34

Gospel: John 1:29-34

John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one of whom I said, 'A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.' I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel." John testified further, saying, "I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him. I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God."

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Reflection:

Sickness if not treated could eventually be fatal it could kill us because it will gradually defeat our immune system. Sin like sickness if not healed early could also lead to fatal consequence such as spiritual death. Wherein a person will have no more qualms of committing sin until he/she dies.

When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, he said this: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. John recognized the true identity of Jesus because he lived the virtue of humility to the hilt. There was no fakery and pretension, it was authentic humility.

We also always hear these words of John when we go to Holy Mass. The priest raises the Sacred Host and pronounces these very words of John at Holy Mass before Holy Communion as the faithful kneel and fix its gaze upon it with deep reverence.

Jesus will heal us from all of our sins no matter how grave. But we have to humble ourselves before Him. This kind of humble demeanor without a doubt is with John thus John was able to recognize the majesty of Jesus over anyone else.        

We will never recognize the magnificence of Jesus if we don’t have humility. And we will never fully grasp the reason why John called Jesus the lamb of God. If we are not ready to strip ourselves with anything that is contrary to the virtue of humility. – Marino J. Dasmarinas