Reflection for Friday August 3, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 13:54-58

Gospel: Matthew 13:54-58

Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, "Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter's son' Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas' Are not his sisters all with us' Where did this man get all this?" And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house." And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.

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Reflection:

Are you quick to disrespect your fellowmen based on what you know about them?

Disrespect had been the feeling of Jesus’ town mates toward Him because they were familiar with Him. To them He was just a carpenter’s son; they knew Him so well that‘s why they belittled Him.

But looking deeper into their hearts we may also see that they were full of envy and hatred toward Jesus. They were envious of the adulation that Jesus received from the people. Envy and hatred are harmful emotion that darkens our judgment. It prevents us from achieving total wellness in both mind and body.

Jesus knew of His townmates envy, disdain and lack of faith in Him that’s why He did not do miracles in His native place. If only they were not disrespectful and judgmental of Jesus. If only they were not lacking in faith, they could have received many miracles and healings from Jesus.

Do you sometimes act like the town mates of Jesus? -  Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Thursday August 2, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 13:47-53

Gospel: Matthew 13:47-53

Jesus said to the disciples: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus, it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

“Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there.

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Reflection:

Do you know how to fish using a net?

When a net is thrown into the sea it catches every fish that it could. It doesn’t discriminate it gets everything that is within its reach.

Our church is like a net thrown into a sea of humanity. It doesn’t categorize neither discriminate. Everyone is welcome; good or bad, black or white, sinner and non-sinner everyone is welcome to enter our church. For this is what Jesus wants us to do; invite everyone to enter and eventually join our church.

But don’t we somehow discriminate and judge others for the simple reason that we don’t like them or we don't like what wear and do? The moment we judge, it’s like saying that God only wants the righteous to be in HIS church. It’s like saying that the net which is thrown into the sea is a discriminating net, but it’s not. For the net is for every fish that it could catch.

This is perhaps an eye opener for all of us; we who are often times judgmental and we who discriminate. Let us leave judgment to the Lord for who we are to judge. Let us humbly continue to share and live our faith with the end in mind that we could convince others whomever they maybe to follow Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Wednesday August 1, Saint Alphonsus Liguouri, Bishop and Doctor of the Church: Matthew 13:44-46

Gospel: Matthew 13:44-46

Jesus said to his disciples: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.”

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Reflection:

What are you willing to give up to have the kingdom of God in your life?

Jesus depicted His kingdom as treasure and pearl that whoever would find it will give up everything just to have it. Indeed, the kingdom of God is a priceless treasure and pearl that we must all try very hard to possess. For what it will do us if we have treasures in this world yet we don’t have God in our lives.

The riches of this world are all passing and temporary we will leave it all somewhere along the path of our lives. Whether we like it or not we have to leave everything that we have in this world. So what will remain?

The one that will forever be there for us is God; the one that shall bring us to heaven is our steadfast faith in God. These temporary things that presently surround us will not be able to bring us to our eternal heavenly destination. It’s only through God that we will be able to go to heaven.

In our gospel; the person found the true treasure of life that is Jesus; he willingly gave up everything just to have Him. The same also with the merchant when he found the true pearl of his life that is Jesus he sold everything in his possessions so that he could possess the greatest pearl that is Jesus.

Let us not yield Jesus for the temporary riches and trappings of this world for what is inside this world are all temporary and passing. But Jesus will always be there for us until we are able to reach His kingdom in heaven.

Would you give up your worldly possessions for the kingdom of God? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Tuesday July 31, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest: Matthew 13:36-43

Gospel: Matthew 13:36-43

Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

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Reflection:

How are you living your life today? Are you living it in accord with what Jesus wants you to live it?

 Many of us live life as if there is no tomorrow, we live life to enjoy whatever this world could offer us, including sin. But life lived for this world alone is not the real life; there is something more profound than the life that we enjoy in this fleeting world. 

  

The profound life is a life lived in the company of Jesus. But how could we discover the movement of Jesus in our lives? There are so many ways to discern this movement of Jesus in our lives.

For example you will discover that Jesus wants to have a deep friendship with you through a relative or a good friend. Through a written commentary that you just read out of nowhere and this written commentary made you think about how you are living your life today.

The good friend and the written commentary that you’ve read are part of the many seeds that Jesus sows in your heart. And Jesus expects nothing less from you than to listen to Him because Jesus always wants nothing but the best for you.

At the end of the gospel Jesus speaks about harvest time or judgment day. When would this be? This will be at the end of our lives, when we die to be more specific. We will be judged according to what we’ve done in this world. If we listened to Jesus we will have a place in His kingdom.

How are you living your life today? - Marino J. Dasmarinas 

1Reflection for Monday July 30, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 13:31-35

Gospel: Matthew 13:31-35

Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. “The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.

He spoke to them another parable. “The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.”

All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.

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Reflection:

Almost everything in life starts small. For example, when we were born in this world we were small. Then, due to the nourishment that we received from our parents we got bigger and bigger, this is how life starts.

What would make us grow in faith so others could benefit from us? It’s the spiritual nourishment that we give to our life. For example, we go to church and attend Holy Mass without fail and we enrich our minds by our reading of the bible. As we do these acts of faith we would be surprised to discover that we slowly grow in faith. And we will be further astonished that as we grow in faith we also learn how to share our faith. 

  

these two parables that Jesus gives us today in the gospel is a reminder for all of us. We, who all want to grow in faith. If we want to grow in faith and if we want others to benefit from our wisdom. 

We must therefore feed ourselves with our regular presence at Holy Mass, we must feed ourselves by way of regular reading of the bible and we must not forget to translate what we learn from Holy Mass and reading of the bible to actual acts of faith.

Jesus will certainly want us all to grow in faith. But how can we grow in faith and how can others benefit from us through our faith? If we seldom attend Holy Mass and if we seldom read the bible? How can we grow in faith if we seldom pray the Rosary? And how can we grow in faith if we don’t help those who are in need most especially the poor?

Our faith is a gift from God but we must also nurture this gift of faith by our actual acts of faith so that it could grow. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Sunday July 29, Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: John 6:1-15

Gospel: John 6:1-15

Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

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Reflection:

Do you thirst for the spotlight after we’ve done something important? More often than not it’s yes! We all want to be in the spotlight to be the one holding the starring role. In other words we want attention and honor given to us.

But how did Jesus handle Himself after miraculously feeding the five thousand who were following Him?  Not minding the adulation and spotlight, Jesus simply walked away from them all and went to the mountain to be alone with God.

Jesus was supposed to be proclaimed king by those He fed. But Jesus did not want that kind of worldly honor and attention. What was important for Jesus was He did what was expected of Him. Jesus is so unlike with all of us, we who always thirst for honor and recognition.

By His action of shunning recognition and honor Jesus is teaching us humility. He is teaching us that after we have done our part for the greater glory of God it’s time to move on. It’s time to silently evaporate from the prying eyes of the crowd and be alone with God so that God could strengthen us and make us humbler.

Let us not look for the spotlight when we serve God or when we do things for God. Let us be content to silently fade away and let the goodness of God create a lasting impression in the hearts of those that we serve.  

How do you serve God? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Saturday July 28, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 13:24-30

Gospel: Matthew 13:24-30

Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from? He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.”

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Reflection:

Do you sometimes contradict the will of God for your life? For example, a married man and woman who choose to engage in a sinful and adulterous relationship. It's no-brainer that the will of God for both of them is not to engage in that immoral relationship. But, they disregarded God’s will to satisfy their lustful, shameless, wicked and bestial will.

Perhaps we wonder, why there are people who choose to go against the will of God. Instead of living  life attuned to the desire of God they live it according to what they want even if what they want is sinful. Therefore, in pursuing what they want they immerse themselves into hedonism and sin. Thus, they become the sales representatives or the walking advertisements of the devil in this world.

However, why does Jesus allow sin? Why does He allow it to exist and in the process temp or even destroy us, when He can easily eliminate even exterminate it from our environment?

God has a purpose for allowing sin to exist. For us to avoid, confront and eventually kill it. We must remember that by virtue of our baptism we became Jesus’ extension in this world. Hence, Jesus expects us not only to avoid, not only to confront but to kill sin immediately the moment it rears its devious head.  

What if they will not or we will not stop sinning? We must prepare for its many consequences including death. In the Bible Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans tells us that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

Nevertheless, why go to the extent of experiencing the very painful wages of sin when we can avoid or walk away from it? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Friday July 27, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 13:18-23

Gospel: Matthew 13:18-23

Jesus said to his disciples: "Hear the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom without understanding it, and the Evil One comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold."

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Reflection:

How do you respond to the words of God when you encounter it? Do you take time to ponder and reflect upon it even for a short time?

We understand that we are always busy, but we must not let this busyness take us out completely away from God. We must allocate some of our precious time for God otherwise we might become walking beings that is totally enslaved by this world. Walking being that is entirely at the mercy of power, riches, flesh and other worldly undertakings that is attractively sugar coated so that it could completely veer us away from God.

Jesus’ wants us to be the rich soil at all times: to hear the word, understand it and live it. This is the reason why He gives us people that will introduce and guide us to God. But some do not even care to listen, some do care to listen but after a while they forget it, some listen and they remember but they forget to practice it in their daily life.

What Jesus wants from us is to hear the world of God, to reflect upon it and to apply it in our daily lives.  By doing so we now become the seed that was sown on the rich soil which bore fruit and yielded a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.

Do you take time to listen, reflect and live the words of Jesus in the bible? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Thursday July 26, Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Matthew 13:10-17

Gospel: Matthew 13:10-17

The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?” He said to them in reply, “Because knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.

Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: You shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed look but never see. Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and be converted and I heal them.

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed 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:

How do you measure success in life? Do you measure it by your wealth and power or you measure it with your closeness to Jesus? Many of us today measure it by our wealth and power this mindset is primarily influenced by this world.

But is this true success? No, a truly successful life is always measured by our closeness to Jesus. For what would wealth and power mean to us when it can be taken away from us anytime? What would wealth and power mean to us when we grow old and become slave by old age? During that time wealth and power will not matter anymore to us for someone will be in charge of us and will take control of us.

What is the use of wealth and power if we are isolated and empty deep inside us? What is the use of wealth and power if we could hardly sleep at night? For the simple reason that we worry so much about our wealth which is sometimes dirty wealth?  

Jesus’ disciples were very blessed because awareness of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven has already been granted to them by Jesus. They understood that the true essence of life is to be with Jesus and not to be with this world.

Blessed are those who know that life’s success is achieved by our closeness to Jesus. And never with the ownership of the things of this world which is by the way temporary and transitory.

How do you measure success in your life? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Wednesday July 25, Feast of Saint James, Apostle: Matthew 20:20-28

Gospel: Matthew 20:20-28

The mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something. He said to her, “What do you wish?” She answered him, “Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your Kingdom.” Jesus said in reply, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We can.” He replied, “My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus summoned them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

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Reflection:

Do you love to be infront, do you love prominence and do you love to always be in the starring role?

Prominence or to be with someone influential is something that we all want. For example, we love to post pictures on facebook and other social media portals the places that we’ve visited.

We love to post pictures of these beautiful places. This is perhaps human nature, who wouldn’t want to post pictures of nice and idyllic places?  We all want it, but the essence of life is not about advertising the famous places that we’ve visited or the famous personalities that we’ve been seen with.     

The true essence of life is to serve anyone who is need of our help. It doesn’t matter anymore if the acts of service and compassion that we do are seen or not what is important is we’re able to help. As we follow Jesus let us always be reminded that HE never walked in this world to gain publicity and prominence.

Jesus walked on this world to serve and not be served, HE never aspired to become famous. All He wanted was to simply follow the will of God for HIM no matter how difficult it was. This must also be our guiding principle.

Many are attracted to serve in the church not because they want to help advance the teachings of Jesus. Their attraction comes from what the church could give or what they could derive from the church and Jesus if they would serve.  But we all know that this kind of motive is built upon a person’s self-image and therefore useless.

True service in the vineyard of the Lord is all about humility. Not thinking of what we can derive from the church, but what we can humbly give to God and His church. True service for the church is not about having power and influence it’s actually based on losing power and influence for the greater glory of God.

Obviously, the mother in our gospel for today and many of us too are still not aware of this. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Tuesday July 24, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 12:46-50

Gospel: Matthew 12:46-50

While Jesus was speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him. Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.” But he said in reply to the one who told him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

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Reflection:

Are you a member or have you been a member of a church ministry?

Members of church ministries often address each other as brother and sister. As such they treat each other as relatives through Jesus. They are there because they want to help Christ advance His mission and teachings; this is the sole reason and purpose.

However, helping Jesus advance His mission and teaching are not limited to those members of church ministries. Even who are not members can help as well in their own little way. For example sharing the life of Jesus inside the family, which I think rarely, happens now. Or if we live and teach the lessons and values of Jesus but not everyone does this.

Let us always remember that we become brothers and sisters of Jesus when we share in His mission. And when we are not ashamed to live His teachings and His values. Let us not be ashamed to do this for there are rewards that await those who share the mission of Jesus.

You may not yet see the reward/s now but surely there will be a reward. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Monday July 23, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 12:38-42

Gospel: Matthew 12:38-42

Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” He said to them in reply, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here. At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.

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Reflection:

There is a story of a man who was fond of asking signs from God. Instead of God responding to his call for a sign. It was instead the devil who responded to him and he gave what the man wanted. This became a habit of this man: he would always ask for a sign and without him knowing it the devil would always gladly grant his request. Eventually the man became the slave of the devil.

We have to be careful in asking for signs because somebody other than God might respond to our call.  And pretend that he is God this somebody is none other than the devil who always tries to seduce us with his own brand of signs and miracles. Yes the devil is also capable of creating his own brand of signs and miracles. This he does to entice his victims to follow him instead of God.

Instead of asking for signs from Jesus, why not ask Jesus to increase our faith? Why not always be present in the Eucharistic celebration (Holy Mass). Why not humbly submit ourselves to the Sacrament of Reconciliation as often as possible?

Why not have time to reflect about the words of Jesus in the bible? Why not always do good and desire the good of our fellowmen? If we do all these, this would result in our increase of faith. Thus we will not be asking for signs anymore for the reason that we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Are you fond of asking for signs? Be careful somebody other than God might respond to you. – Marino J. Dasmarinas   

Reflection for Sunday July 22, Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Mark 6:30-34

Gospel: Mark 6:30-34

The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

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Reflection:

There’s a story of a young man who was so focused in his career He aimed to be the best n his chosen field. To make a long story short the man eventually reached the pinnacle of his career. In the process of focusing on his career he forgot about the importance of God in his life.  

After working so hard to spread the good news of Jesus, the Apostles were invited by Jesus to go to a quiet and deserted place. Why in a quite and deserted place? Why not in a place with full of food and joyfulness? We all know the reason why in a quite place, Jesus wanted them to be fully charged spiritually and be connected with God.

This is what many of us seems to forget, we tend to forget to go to our own quite place every once in a while.  A quite place where we can be alone with God. We talk in silence to God, we unburden to God all our worries and we let Him direct us not us directing ourselves.

 We Oftentimes allow ourselves to be eaten by the culture of work and busyness of this world.  But where would this lead us? It will lead us to nowhere; to an environment where there is no more God. To an environment where work, busyness and hedonism is already our God and soon we become creatures of this world.

The danger of this modern world that we are presently in right now is it’s slowly taking us away from God. It tries very hard to substitute God with work and material things but this will never give us peace and contentment. Only GOD will give us peace and contentment, only through GOD that we would discover a deeper and meaningful life. 

There’s more to life than what this world offers you. And you could only discover it if you would have a regular quite time with God. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Saturday July 21, Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 12:14-21

Gospel: Matthew 12:14-21

The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place. Many people followed him, and he cured them all, but he warned them not to make him known. This was to fulfil what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet: Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I shall place my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not contend or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope.

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Reflection:

Do you make ways to avoid a troublesome situation whenever it presents itself to you?

The Pharisees were planning to put Jesus to death yet Jesus knew about this evil plan of action of his persecutors. In the midst of threats and pressure on His life Jesus chose to avoid them. He could have confronted them because He also had His own followers at that time.

But he calmly walked away from trouble He instead chose to serve His people by healing them. What do you do when you are faced with the same situation? Do you mindlessly confront or you to think of ways to avoid it so that you could serve a higher purpose?

For example, somebody is challenging you to a fight would you meet that mindless challenge or you will decline? The wisdom filled action is to decline the mindless challenge. You do this because you have a higher purpose in life and you simply choose not to stoop to his/her level.  

Jesus chose to take the higher road by not meeting those who were running after Him and this is always the right action to do. Let us therefore emulate the example of Jesus. He is never arrogant, never violent and He always takes the high and educated road. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for Friday July 20, Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 12:1-8

Gospel: Matthew 12:1-8

Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath. He said to the them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”

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Reflection:

What is in the heart of Jesus? It’s mercy and compassion for His people. Mercy and compassion that is ever ready to transgress sacred laws such as the Sabbath law.

Being God the Son Jesus perfectly knew that what He was doing was right. But the Pharisees did not know the true identity of Jesus. So they questioned the decision of Jesus to allow His disciples to pick and eat the grains on a Sabbath day.

Do you know Jesus deeply? Do you feel His presence in your life? If you don’t know Jesus deeply and if you don’t feel His presence in your life. You will also question some events or trial/s that occurs in your life.

For instance when you go through severe trials such as sickness and the like. You might also question the Lord Jesus and ask Him this question: Why am I going through this trial or why did you allow me to go through this episode in my life?

But if you know Jesus and if you feel His presence in your life  you will never question Jesus thus you will simply bow to His will. Why bow to His will? This is for the reason that you know that something greater is in store for you. That you don’t see and know now but you will certainly see and feel in your life in the future.  

Ask Jesus therefore to give you the gift of knowing Him deeply and the gift of His living presence in your life. – Marino J. Dasmarinas