Jesus and
his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he
asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said in reply, “John
the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And he asked
them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the
Christ.” Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.
He began
to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the
elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three
days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said,
“Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings
do.”
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Reflection:
What does
Christ mean?
Christ
means the chosen one or the savior and Peter got it right when he replied to
Jesus: “You are the Christ (Mark 8:29).” Unlike the other disciples Peter knew
the real identity of Jesus. But up to that point in the gospel his knowledge of
the true identity if Jesus was still limited because when Jesus said that He
will suffer greatly he didn’t believe.
Peter
only knew of the powerful Christ not the Christ who would suffer and eventually
die on the cross. Isn’t this our mindset as well? We know Jesus Christ as the
powerful one who would save us from our troubles. Yet there is an important
side of Jesus that we also have to know and that is the Christ who suffered and
died on the cross at calvary.
It is
said that: “To follow Christ is always right; but it is never easy.” Jesus was
actually foreshadowing the path that Peter has to go thru when He said that He
must suffer greatly and be rejected.
This is
also Jesus’ own foreshadowing for us: We have to go through suffering as well
for the sake of the teachings of Jesus. This may be hard to swallow for many
but that this is really how it is: Suffering is part and parcel of our faithful
discipleship!
If we
really are true and faithful followers of Jesus Christ we must expect
sufferings and rejections. We will suffer when we stand for what is right, we
will be rejected when we push what is moral. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
When
Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethsaida, people brought to him a blind man
and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him
outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on the man
and asked, “Do you see anything?”Looking up the man replied, “I see people
looking like trees and walking.” Then he laid hands on the man’s eyes a second
time and he saw clearly; his sight was restored and he could see everything
distinctly. Then he sent him home and said, “Do not even go into the village.”
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Reflection:
Jesus
asked the blind man: “Do you see anything?” Let us try to modify this question
of Jesus in such a way that it is addressed to us who are often times blinded
by the things of this world. It will be like this: Amidst the trappings of this
world do you see anything worthy about me?
I certainly
don’t know what would be our individual answers to this question but one thing
is sure Jesus wants to penetrate our hearts. He wants to reside there so that
we will not be blinded by the temporary things of this world.
If you
will not have that instant feeling of Jesus in your heart just be patient,
engage in prayer as often as you can. Pray for enlightenment and for
discernment so that the hazy image of Jesus could become clearer in your mind. Until it becomes crystal clear then allow Jesus
to fully engulf your whole being.
The
moment you surrender your life to Jesus you will lose your appetite for the
things of this world. You'll simply be satisfied with simple things for your
eyes are not anymore blinded by the temporal things of this world. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
The
disciples had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in
the boat. Jesus enjoined them, “Watch out, guard against the leaven of the
Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. They concluded among themselves that it was
because they had no bread. When he became aware of this he said to them, “Why
do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet understand
or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and
not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five
thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up? They
answered him, “Twelve.” “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand,
how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?” They answered him,
“Seven.” He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”
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Reflection:
Do you
allow the enticement of this world to take off your focus on Jesus? For example
the Sunday obligation to celebrate Holy Mass. Many of us today sometimes do not
pay much attention to the highest form of worship inside the church. We
sacrifice it for our man worldly undertaking that only pull us away from Jesus.
Do you allow this to happen to you?
In the
gospel Jesus admonished his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees
and Herod. He used the leaven as a metaphor that they should not be convinced
by the inducement of the Pharisees and Herod to leave him for them.
Both the
Pharisees and Herod represents power, the power of religion and government which
for all intents and purposes are worldly and temporary. Jesus was actually telling
His disciples not to leave Him for what they represent. In effect Jesus was
telling them not to favor the world over their love for God.
The
secular world has many inducements such as: power, money, greed, popularity,
lust, ego, self-centeredness etc… We should be careful of these worldly
appendages, we should not let ourselves be deceived by these temporal
inducements.
Let us
rather continue be steadfast with our love, fellowship and fidelity with Jesus
through our words and actions. For what would we gain if we have all the
things that this world can if we don’t have God? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
The
Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus, seeking from him a sign
from heaven to test him. He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, “Why
does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to
this generation.” Then he left them, got into the boat again, and went off to
the other shore.
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Reflection:
Do you
need to see a sign to believe?
A woman
wanted to see a sign from her beloved so that she could finally say yes to him.
So she said if this handsome man would bring me flowers and chocolates that
would be the sign that he loves me. Lo and behold the man came knocking at their
gate with flowers and chocolates. To make a long story short she finally said
yes to him but after a few months they broke up.
Unlike
the love of a suitor which is often times bounded by time, Jesus love for us is
always there it’s not bounded by time. What are the signs of God’s love? The food on the table, the new life in the
morning and countless more! These are obvious signs of Jesus infinite love for
us.
But often
times these are still not enough for us, we still seek more signs to strengthen
our faith in Him. When we seek additional signs from Jesus it also shows how
feeble our faith in Him. Otherwise if we have full faith and confidence we
would not anymore seek or ask for whatever sign/s. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus said to his
disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I
have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and
earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will
pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks
one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be
called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these
commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. I tell you,
unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will
not enter the kingdom of heaven.
“You have heard that
it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be
liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be
liable to judgment; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable
to the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery
Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that
your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go
first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court. Otherwise your
opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to
the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not
be released until you have paid the last penny.
“You have heard that
it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who
looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his
heart. If your right eye causes you to
sin, tear it out and throw it away It is better for you to lose one of your
members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right
hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to
lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.
“It was also said,
Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce. But I say to you,
whoever divorces his wife - unless the
marriage is unlawful - causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a
divorced woman commits adultery.
“Again you have
heard that it was said to your ancestors, Do not take a false oath, but make
good to the Lord all that you vow. But I say to you, do not swear at all; not
by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool;
nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your
head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your ‘Yes’ mean
‘Yes,' and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’Anything more is from the evil one.”
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Reflection:
Imagine a world
without laws, there would be no order; there would be chaos and anarchy.
Imagine life without following the laws of your country. And let us imagine
ourselves not being faithful to the teachings of God. There would also be
disorder in our lives; we will have no peace of mind.
In our first reading
according to Sirach, we are given choices,
life and death, good and evil. We are made to choose whichever we like.
If we like death and evil, it’s really up to us; if we like good and life, it’s
also upon our hands. God gave us the freedom but this freedom is not absolute
because He wants us to carefully discern our choices. For example if we choose
death disguised as fulfillment of the law over life or evil desires over good
where would these faulty choices bring us?
But what if we
choose life and we choose to do good. Of course we would have peace of mind we
will not be bothered by our conscience for the reason that we followed what God
wants us to do. And this is absolutely what God wants us to always do in our
lives!
For example in our
gospel, Jesus gives us teachings about Anger (Matthew 5:21-26), teachings about
Adultery (Matthew 5:27-30) and teachings about Divorce (Matthew 5:31-32). Just
imagine if we will follow all of these teachings. There would be peace and
serenity in our lives most specifically in our married lives. But are we
following these teachings or laws of Jesus?
These laws were
given to us by Jesus to serve as our lighthouse as we continue to sail in this
world. We follow these commands not because we fear it. We follow it because we
love Jesus who is the spirit behind His laws. Therefore if we follow we’ll have
peace in our lives and we’ll be much closer to Jesus in this world and beyond
this world.
Imagine a peaceful life and imagine a life
very close to Jesus, would you not want to have it? – Marino J. Dasmarinas