Reflection for May 28, Solemnity of The Ascension of the Lord; Matthew 28:16-20

Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."

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Reflection:

Have you been given a responsibility by your Parents, Boss, parish Priest or by somebody whom you highly respect? Did you faithfully follow the given responsibility without questions?

In today’s gospel before Jesus ascends into heaven He commissioned first his disciples by telling them: “Go and make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you (Matthew 28:19-20).

The apostolic succession of the church tells us that this commissioning is still being said by Jesus to the Ordained Ministers of the church. To paraphrase this command Jesus is also telling us this: Spread the Good News about me as well and you need not worry for I am with you.

These are powerful and profound words from Jesus addressed to all of us: Spread the good news about me. Have we already responded to this command of the Lord? Have we already shared the words of Jesus in bible to somebody?

Today we celebrate the feast of Jesus’ ascension to heaven. What does this mean to us? Does this mean that Jesus has completely left us without giving us something to hold-on? Did Jesus leave us holding an empty bag and wandering what’s in store for us? No, Jesus did not leave us alone.

It is very easy to say that I will share Jesus to my loved ones or to a complete stranger. But the question is are we able to give flesh to this command of Jesus or are we able to walk our talk? It takes a lot of courage a lot of bravery to live and share Jesus.

Yet we have nothing to fear because as we abide to Jesus’ command; the Holy Mass is always there to strengthen us, the Sacraments of the church are always there to guide us.

Jesus himself assures us: “behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20)." – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Saturday May 27, Sixth Week of Easter: John 16:23b-28

Gospel: John 16:23b-28

Jesus said to his disciples: "Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

"I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father. On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father."

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Reflection:

An old man on his death bed was calling on Jesus to bring him into His kingdom. His relatives were whispering among themselves that he was already hallucinating. Then, suddenly the dying man breathed deeply and said to them: Jesus is here now and He’s holding my hand after which the dying man breathed his last with a peaceful smile on his face.

The name of Jesus is very powerful it can give us peace and serenity it can ward-off evil thoughts and spirits. But do we invoke Jesus name often? Maybe yes or no or perhaps we only remember to call on Jesus when we are in dire need of Him. But after we’re through and over with our difficulties we once again forget Him.

The name of Jesus is very powerful let us never forget to always invoke it. Let us call upon the  powerful name of Jesus when we are tired of the daily grind of life. Let us call upon the powerful name of Jesus when we are losing hope. Let us call upon the powerful name of Jesus when we are sick and so forth.   

In good times and in bad times let us always remember to call on Jesus. Let us ask Him to bring our prayers to the Father. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Friday May 26, Saint Philip Neri, Priest: John 16:20-23

Gospel: John 16:20-23

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice and no one will take your joy away from you. On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.”

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Reflection:

Are you afraid to go through suffering/s? We all are, as much as possible we don’t want sufferings in our lives. What we want is a suffering free life but suffering free life is not a possibility for believers of Jesus. For without sufferings we would not be able to intensely feel the abiding presence of Jesus in our lives.

Jesus will help us conquer our sufferings for as long as we steadfastly hold on to Him. For example, if a person is suffering from a terminal sickness yet in spite of this sickness he/she continues to intensely hold on to his/her faith in Jesus. Through his/her steadfast faith Jesus will sooner or later deliver him/her from his/her suffering/s. This could happen through physical healing or mortal death.

In our gospel for this Friday, Jesus tells His disciples: You will weep and mourn (John 16:20). Jesus told them this for His hour of arrest, passion and death would soon come. Yet they will be joyful and triumphant after a period of time. Joy and triumph that nobody can take away from them. Joy and triumph which are brought about by Jesus resurrection and triumph over death.

What is important in life is we continue to steadfastly hold on to Jesus no matter how severe the trials that we may face. For there surely be triumph over our trials if we remain unwavering in our faith in Him.

Trials are nothing Jesus is everything!  – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Thursday May 25, Sixth Week of Easter: John 16:16-20

Gospel: John 16:16-20

Jesus said to his disciples: "A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me." So some of his disciples said to one another, "What does this mean that he is saying to us, 'A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,' and 'Because I am going to the Father'?" So they said, "What is this 'little while' of which he speaks? We do not know what he means." Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, "Are you discussing with one another what I said, 'A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me'? Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy."

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Reflection:

Are you afraid to be separated from someone you love?

Separation from someone we’ve idolized or loved is one of the hardest feelings that we can ever experience. For example when a close relative dies it’s as if a part of us dies as well, thus we will feel incomplete from thereon. That’s how heart wrenching some separations are.

Here in the gospel Jesus was saying goodbye already to his disciples for He knew that He would soon be arrested, tortured and be killed.  However, He was also saying that a little while later you will also see me, He was referring about His resurrection three days after He dies.

Unlike permanent separation from a friend or relative who dies, the disciples’ separation from Jesus was temporary for He resurrected from the dead after three days. We make  Jesus always present and alive within ourselves when we follow His teachings. And when we make a positive impact in the lives of others especially the poor.

Let us always allow Jesus to be seen and felt within us through our humility and humble acts of selfless service for others. – Marino J. Dasmarinas     

Reflection for Wednesday May 24, Sixth Week of Easter: John 16:12-15

Gospel: John 16:12-15

(Jesus said to his disciples) “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”

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Reflection:

How can we feel the presence of the Triune God (God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in our lives? We need to live our lives according to how Jesus wants us to live it based on the commandments of love (Luke 10:27). Everything starts with following these commandments and once we follow and live it, we would have an awareness of the presence of the Holy Trinity.  

Therefore we must learn to live Jesus’ commandments of love. But do we live these love commandments of Jesus? Are we not being selective when we give our love to our fellowmen? For example, the command of Jesus pertaining to love of our neighbor, it’s so easy to follow this when the person is loving us in return. But when the person is hurting us it’s now very difficult for us to give our love. The challenge for us is to love even more those who are not loving us in return.

The situation is basically the same on how we express our love for God. For many of us God is easier to love when HE answers all our prayers. But when HE doesn’t answer our prayers it’s sometimes difficult for us to express our love for God.  The challenge therefore for all of us is to  love God and neighbor in good times and in bad.

Do we have an awareness of the presence of the Holy Trinity in our life? If our answer is no, then, we must start to follow Jesus’ commandments of love. Not according to how we want to follow it but according to how Jesus wants us to follow and live it. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Tuesday May 23, Sixth Week of Easter: John 16:5-11

Gospel: John 16:5-11

Jesus said to his disciples: "Now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: sin, because they do not believe in me; righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned."

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Reflection:    

Have you experienced saying goodbye to someone?

          

Saying goodbye permanently to a love one or a friend is always a heart wrenching experience. We may even wish that there would be no more goodbyes anymore. But the reality of life is that we shall say goodbye permanently someday whether we like it or not we shall say goodbye on a time that God has willed for us.

But let us not let our goodbye be a forgetful experience by not doing something indelible in the lives of our fellowmen. As we live in this world let us do something good that will remain forever in the minds of those who know us.

So that when our time to say goodbye come our beautiful deeds would forever be imprinted in the hearts of those who know us.

Jesus in our gospel reading today was indirectly saying goodbye to the disciples but more than two thousand years had passed since then He still remain a positive influence in our lives. Why? This is for the reason that He did the greatest good for all of us. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Monday May 22, Sixth Week of Easter: John 15:26-16:4a

Gospel: John 15:26—16:4a

Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

                                                          

“I have told you this so that you may not fall away. They will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me. I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you.”

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Reflection:              

A man was trying very hard to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in his life. He would always be murmuring, come Holy Spirit I need you, he would say this a couple of times to no avail.

We will not be able to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit by saying come Holy Spirit alone. We must live our lives always attuned to the teachings of Jesus; we must live and breathe the teachings of Jesus so to speak.

Then as we live and breathe His teachings we would slowly but surely begin to feel the empowering presence of the Advocate or the Holy Spirit. Let us always live the teachings of Jesus. Let us never be afraid to share and live it because this is the only means where we can truly discern the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

In the gospel, Jesus speaks to the disciples about the Advocate which is no other than the Holy Spirit. Jesus will give it to them in His own time of choosing what they need to do is to simply be faithful to Him and His teachings. This is what we need to do as well for us to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit within us. 

Therefore inviting the Holy Spirit to come into our lives is not enough we first have to be faithful to Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas