Reflection for Monday November 27, Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 21:1-4

Gospel: Luke 21:1-4

When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. He said, “I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.”

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Reflection:

Do you know that you cannot outdo God’s generosity? Do you know that the more you give that more that you would receive? Many generous people including the poor widow who gave her whole livelihood knows all about this. Perhaps this is not the first time that the widow in our gospel offered her whole livelihood to the treasury.

Maybe she has been doing this act of extreme generosity for so many times already and time and again this poor yet generous woman has proven that whatever she gave out of her poverty comes back to her a hundredfold times.

You may ask, if what the poor woman gave comes back to her many times over. Then why is she still poor? Yes she is still poor based on our own materialistic eyes, but she is actually very rich in terms of her faith and spirituality this is the reason why she could give everything including her earnings from her livelihood. 

To be materially poor is OK for as long as you are rich in faith and spirituality. For what is the essence of material wealth when it can easily fly away from our hands anytime?

Are you generous like the poor woman in our gospel? - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Sunday, November 26, The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe; Matthew 25:31-46

Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46

Jesus said to his disciples: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.' Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.' Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?' He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.' And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

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Reflection:

A dictatorial husband would always tell his wife and children that he is the king of their house. Being so, they are obliged to follow what he tells them to do. Therefore, whatever he tells his family they followed without question.

Do we have the kingship of Christ in our hearts right now? If our answer is yes, it is therefore incumbent upon us not to have a dictatorial mindset and attitude. This is for the reason that Jesus Christ was never a dictator. Jesus never exercised His authority with iron fist, He exercised His authority and power with love, gentleness and humility. 

Christ kingship is already here and now.  It resides in our hearts and minds if we are like those placed on the right side of the king. This happens when we feed those who are hungry and thirsty when we help a stranger at our doorstep.

When we care for the sick, when we visit those in prison. When we forgive those who have wronged us no matter how deep the wound that they have inflicted upon us. When we do all of these we make Jesus the king of our lives and His kingdom is already within us.

Is Jesus the King of your life?  – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Saturday November 25, Saturday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 20:27-40

Gospel: Luke 20:27-40

Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, if someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless. Then the second and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless. Finally, the woman also died. Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.” Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive. Some of the scribes said in reply, “Teacher, you have answered well. And they no longer dared to ask him anything.

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Reflection:

Mr. X is a man who believed in the resurrection but the thing is this: he doesn’t live his life worthy enough to attain it. Will he have this heavenly resurrection?

In our gospel for today Jesus tells us that those who are deemed worthy will attain heavenly resurrection. The obvious answer for Mr. X is he will not have a heavenly resurrection.

Who amongst us is worthy enough to have resurrection?  Not one of us is worthy enough to have it for we are all sinners. Does this mean that we will now carelessly live our lives in sin because nobody is worthy? Of course not!

A sinner can attain instant salvation/resurrection provided there is repentance. Let us look at the sinner on the cross with Jesus who humbly said: “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus said to him: “Amen I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”  (Luke 23:42-43)  

We must always faithfully follow the teachings of the church then let us just leave everything to the divine mercy of God. For no one among us are worthy to claim it for ourselves. For salvation and resurrection are purely a grace from God. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Friday November 24, Saint Andrew Dung-Lac, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs: Luke 19:45-48

Gospel: Luke 19:45-48

Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, “It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” And every day he was teaching in the temple area. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death, but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on his words.

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Reflection:
There is an article that I’ve read about a confession of a young man who had a sex change. From male he became female, after a few months of going through the procedure this young man was already full of regrets.

According to him he was being deeply bothered by his conscience and he felt that something was wrong with the function of his body. I can’t remember if he died but there was something very unfortunate that happened to him after going through that procedure.

Are we aware that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? Are we aware that Jesus is deeply saddened when we try to alter the physical composition of our body? Today with the help of science we could make ourselves appear younger. We can even make our bodies a walking expression of who we are by tattooing it.

Is this right? Of course not for God created our bodies to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. This is the reason why it does not deserve to be disrespected by the modernity of science and by our own wild imagination disguised as self-expression. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Thursday November 23, the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 19:41-44

Gospel: Luke 19:41-44

As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

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Reflection:

Do you obey Jesus when He tells you to stop sinning or to avoid those people who only make you sin? Jesus does this to you using people close to you, for example Jesus may use a relative,  a friend or a life incident to tell you to walk away from sin.  

During the time of Jesus, He directly called for repentance, some listened to His call. But many of them did not listen, they instead continued with their sinful way of life. In so doing they wrapped themselves with problems that they could have easily avoided if they only listened to Jesus.

Come to think of it, in our own personal lives there are also many instances that we are advised to live a clean life. To renew our lives and walk away from all our sinfulness, but do we listen? Often times we don’t listen because we love to follow our own sinful desires, we allow the devil to possess us instead of Jesus.

Jesus is the best friend that we could ever have, He is our best adviser therefore it is a must that we always listen to Him. We have everything to gain and nothing to lose if we always listen to Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Wednesday November 22, Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr: Luke 19:11-28

Gospel: Luke 19:11-28

While people were listening to Jesus speak, he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the Kingdom of God would appear there immediately. So he said, "A nobleman went off to a distant country to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return. He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins and told them, 'Engage in trade with these until I return.' His fellow citizens, however, despised him and sent a delegation after him to announce, 'We do not want this man to be our king.' But when he returned after obtaining the kingship, he had the servants called, to whom he had given the money, to learn what they had gained by trading. The first came forward and said, 'Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional ones.' He replied, 'Well done, good servant! You have been faithful in this very small matter; take charge of ten cities.' Then the second came and reported, 'Your gold coin, sir, has earned five more.' And to this servant too he said, 'You, take charge of five cities.' Then the other servant came and said, 'Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it stored away in a handkerchief, for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man; you take up what you did not lay down and you harvest what you did not plant.' He said to him, 'With your own words I shall condemn you, you wicked servant. You knew I was a demanding man, taking up what I did not lay down and harvesting what I did not plant; why did you not put my money in a bank? Then on my return I would have collected it with interest.' And to those standing by he said, 'Take the gold coin from him and give it to the servant who has ten.' But they said to him, 'Sir, he has ten gold coins.' He replied, 'I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king, bring them here and slay them before me.'" After he had said this, he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.

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Reflection:

A successful businessman suddenly died, when his soul was about to separate from his body he saw an angel and a devil. He naturally veered away from the devil and he put himself at the side of the angel. When they were about to enter the heavenly gates God was there to ask him this question: What can you say about your life on earth? The man said, I was a successful business man when I was still alive and I did no wrong to anyone.

Then God said that’s very good! But have you done something for my kingdom? The man was not able to answer for he did nothing to help grow the kingdom of God. Then God commanded the angel to bring him to the other side of the fence where the environment was very hot and humid for he did nothing to advance the kingdom of God.  

What is your present preoccupation right now? Are you very busy with the things of this world? Like how to expand your business and how to grow bigger your money and so forth. Many of us are perhaps like this: very earthly and always very busy with earthly things. But if we are all busy with the affairs of this world where would we be after our journey in this world is already over and done with? Where would we end up if we do nothing for the kingdom of God in this world? 

In our gospel a nobleman gave his servants gold coins so that they could do something to make it grow. Some of them were able to increase its value yet there was one who simply kept in a handkerchief what was entrusted to him. He did nothing to grow the money entrusted to him by his master.

In our faith life doing nothing is never an option or faith in Jesus that is kept to oneself is never an alternative. We must share this faith that Jesus has entrusted to us in whatever manner possible so that it could grow and have life.

When you share your faith you also enrich your spiritual life and you become a productive servant of the Lord. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Tuesday November 21, The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Luke 19:1-10

Gospel: Luke 19:1-10

At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they saw this, they began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”

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Reflection:

Was it only Zacchaeus who was seeking an encounter with Jesus? Was Jesus not also seeking an encounter with Zacchaeus?  Yes, Jesus was also seeking an encounter with Zacchaeus! Why? For the reason that Zacchaeus was a sinner like all of us and truth be told Jesus loves to have an encounter with sinners so that He could convert them. And what made it more interesting for Jesus to seek out Zacchaeus was his desire to see Jesus as well.

Before Jesus arrived in Jericho He already had in mind Zacchaeus He knew that this chief tax collector was looking for Him and ready to change his sinful ways. With this factor present the encounter of Jesus and Zacchaeus happened. After their meeting Jesus subsequently went to the house Zacchaeus to purify his house. As well as to liberate Zacchaeus from any form of sinfulness and right then and there his conversion and liberation from any form of sinfulness happened.

How could we relate this gospel episode with our personal lives? Like Zacchaeus we too are sinful we may not be thinking yet of walking away from our sinfulness. Yet Jesus is already knocking at our hearts so that he could also have a personal encounter with us.

If we say that we are not ready yet to walk away from our sinfulness because we enjoy sinning, then when? Next month or next year? It may be too late already, nothing is certain in this world anything can happen the next seconds or minutes.

Therefore, we must also be like Zacchaeus who responded to the desire of Jesus to meet him. Let us not delay anymore let us rush to meet Jesus now for tomorrow may be late already.

Are you prepared to have a personal encounter with Jesus today? - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Monday November 20, Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 18:35-43

Gospel: Luke 18:35-43

As Jesus approached Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging, and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” The people walking in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me!” Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He replied, “Lord, please let me see.” Jesus told him, “Have sight; your faith has saved you.” He immediately received his sight and followed him, giving glory to God. When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.

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Reflection:

Who is Jesus to you? Is Jesus the hope and salvation of your life? The blind man in our gospel had his hope and salvation anchored on Jesus. When he heard that Jesus was passing by he shouted with all his might, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” His shout comprised his prayer with faith in Jesus.

From a hopeless situation the blind man suddenly found hope and salvation because Jesus passed by him. And Jesus did not disappoint the blind man because He asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Then the blind man said in reply, please let me see my Lord and immediately he receive his sight and he became a follower of Jesus from thereon.

What separates the blind man from us? It’s his persistent and persevering faith, it’s faith that can move mountains. This is what separates this blind man from many us, what if we are in the shoes of the blind man? Would we simply give up and be silent because we were rebuked and sternly told to be silent?   

But this blind man, when he was rebuked and told to be silent the more that he persisted and the more that he cried to Jesus for help.  And because of his persevering and persistent faith he was heard and given the gift of sight by Jesus.

What is it that you want from Jesus? Don’t give up, be persistent and have faith for Jesus will soon hear you. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Sunday, November 19, Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time; Matthew 25:14-30

Gospel: Matthew 25:14-30

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. Likewise, the one who received two made another two. But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money. After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five. He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ Then the one who had received two talents also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.’ His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’”

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Reflection:

A talented inventor died a few years ago; he was praised by the world for his contribution to the advancement of cutting edge smart phone technology. He used his talent to the fullest extent until he died to feed the technology cravings of this world.

We all have talent/s that God has given us. However, we oftentimes selfishly use this talent to advance our own agendas such as to increase our wealth and status in life. There is nothing wrong with this kind of usage of our talents for we are humans. As such our tendency is to grow and nurture this talent/s to feed our human needs.

But Jesus gives us another idea on how to use the talent/s that He gave us by way of the parable of the talents in our gospel. He tells a parable of a master who went on a journey but before proceeding he called his three servants and he entrusted them his wealth. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one after which he proceeded to his journey.

After a period of time the master came home and he called the three servants so that he could be updated on what they’ve done with the talent/s that he entrusted them. We all know what happened; the first two were very enterprising for they were able to multiply the talents entrusted to them.

But the servant who was entrusted with one talent was not as enterprising as the two. Out of fear for his master he instead buried the one talent that was entrusted to him. Naturally the master was furious with this unproductive servant and we know already what happened to this unproductive servant.

Let us not only use our talents for this world alone.  It’s about time that we use our time, talents and treasures to plant the seeds of the kingdom of God in this world. Let us not worry even if we won’t be getting any worldly reward in return for God will take care of it someday. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Saturday November 18, Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 18:1-8

Gospel: Luke 18:1-8

Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, "There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, 'Render a just decision for me against my adversary.' For a long time, the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, 'While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.

The Lord said, "Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

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Reflection:

Is prayer an essential part of your everyday life? What do you do after you pray? Do you just lie down and wait for the answers to your prayers to fall from heaven?

The gospel for today shows persistent prayers coupled with corresponding actions. In our gospel there is a parable told by Jesus about a persistent widow who ask again and again from a judge for a just decision she never gave up until she got what she wanted from the judge.

When we pray we humble ourselves before God, we humbly open ourselves to the unlimited blessings that God could shower us. When we regularly pray we get to know Jesus more deeply. We become not only friends with Jesus but very close friends with Him, thus Jesus becomes an essential part of our lives.

Make prayer a part of your daily life and you will feel that Jesus is always with you. You will also observe a deepening of your relationship with Him who is always just a prayer away from you. When you are prayerful you also are always assured of the presence of Jesus in your life.  

Don’t you want to be with Jesus all the time? You therefore have to be prayerful. - Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Friday November 17, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious: Luke 17:26-37

Gospel: Luke 17:26-37

Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, someone who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise one in the field must not return to what was left behind. Remember the wife of Lot. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left.”  They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.

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Reflection:

Why does the church perpetually call us to leave behind our sinfulness? For example, the church since time immemorial had been tirelessly advising us to live a life worthy in the eyes of the Lord. For what reason is this call of the church?

This is to prepare us for the coming judgment day which unfortunately we don’t know when it will be. Therefore, the sooner we respond to this call of repentance the better for it would save us from unspeakable punishment.

The people during the time of Noah and Lot were preoccupied with immoral and worldly things; perhaps this was the reason why without any warning came the catastrophe. Why did it happen? It happened because they were very much preoccupied with the things that would satisfy their lust, their greed and their love to commit sin.

We never learn from these incidents because up to this very moment some of us continue to crave to commit immorality. Some of us are still very greedy we have no satisfaction and we continue to amass corrupted wealth.   We continue to commit sin; we continue to harbor the devil in our midst.

We better stop these sinful actions and repent before it completely destroys us. – Marino J. Dasmarinas