Ngunit pinagwikaan sila ng mga alagad. Datapwat sinabi ni Jesus, "Hayaan ninyong lumapit sa akin ang mga bata. Huwag ninyo silang hadlangan, sapagkat sa katulad nila naghahari ang Diyos." Ipinatong niya sa kanila ang kanyang mga kamay, saka umalis.
So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore,
what God has joined together, man must not separate. They said to him, “Then
why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss
her?” He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed
you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I say to you,
whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries
another commits adultery.
His disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a
man with his wife, it is better not to marry. He answered, “Not all can accept
this word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of
marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others;
some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of
heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.
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Reflection:
How’s your married life?
From the beginning up until this very moment
separation is never in the agenda of God. God’s desire for married couples is
to remain married until death. Yet, some contradict this agenda of God by
introducing separation in the marriage. Some contradict this agenda of God by
betraying the sacred marriage vows, not once, not twice but many
times.
But come to think of it, why do married couples
separate? They separate because there is an absence of God in their marriage.
They separate because they allow the temptations of the devil to overpower God
and His command to make marriage Sacred and Holy. This is the primary
reason otherwise they wouldn’t separate if there’s an active presence of God in
their marriage.
When God is left out of the marriage or the teaching
of God is not taken seriously. The devil is given the opportunity to create
havoc in the couple’s married life. And the devil will never stop until it
finally destroys the marriage covenant of the couple.
Therefore, make Jesus an active player in your
marriage. How are you going to do this? Have time for Holy Mass as a
family. Have time for prayer as a family and have time for reading and
afterwards reflection of the words of Jesus in the bible as a
family.
Is Jesus an active member in your marriage? – Marino
J. Dasmarinas
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached
my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the
Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his
lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty
has done great things for me, and holy is his Name. He has mercy on those
who fear him in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, he has
scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their
thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good
things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his
servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made
to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever.”
Mary remained with her about three months and then
returned to her home.
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Reflection:
A rich and generous woman always gave to anyone in
need, whether or not they asked for help. A close friend, amazed by her
generosity, asked, 'Why are you so generous? Don’t you keep something for
yourself?' The generous woman replied, 'I am not a permanent dweller in this
world. Sooner or later, I will be leaving, and my acts of generosity are my way
of preparing for my journey to heaven, where I will permanently dwell with my
God.
Today is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary. This dogma was defined by Pope Pius XII on November 1
1950. It states that the immaculate Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, after
completing her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly
glory.”
The solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
reminds all of us of what awaits us when our time to depart this world comes.
We are also destined for heaven someday but we are still presently in a
journey. Therefore we are called to do good and to touch lives.
In the gospel, the Blessed Mother went to visit her
cousin Elizabeth for she knew that her cousin was in need of her help. It was
an unexpected visit from the Blessed Mother which her cousin Elizabeth deeply
appreciated. They shared lots of stories about themselves. They strengthened
each other’s morale, love and bond. Thus, the Blessed Mother stayed with her
cousin until she gave birth.
After Elizabeth gave birth, Mary went home happy and fulfilled for she has done something worthy and important in the life of her cousin Elizabeth. When we do something worthy and important towards others we would also feel that happiness and fulfillment. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church. If he refuses to listen even to the Church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.
Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed
in heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about
anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly
Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in
the midst of them.”
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Reflection:
Mr. A and Mr. B have been friends for more than thirty years. Like in other friendships, they have their share of disagreements. Ninety-five percent of these disagreements stem from their strong sense of self, or ego. Whenever they disagree, it usually takes them almost a month before they talk again—all because of their egos.
In the gospel reading it says: “If your brother sins against you go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.” This is not easy to do, if someone sins against us would we still be willing to go to the individual at fault just to tell him about it? Isn’t our mindset the other way around?
To reach out to someone who did us wrong is hard to do, unless we have the virtue of Humility. The normal scenario here would be like this: You sinned against me or you did me wrong, you therefore have to apologize to me and not me going to you to tell you that you sinned against me.
It takes great humility to say: I’m sorry or to apologize. However, this is what we are called to do as followers of Jesus for the simple reason that Jesus is the number one model of humility.
We may not know this but truth be told, if we are humble we silently earn the respect and admiration of everyone. If we are humble we are always peaceful and the more that Jesus is seen in our lives. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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. What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred
sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the
hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he
rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the
same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones
be lost.”
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Reflection:
A rebellious young lady had five children from five different men. She indulged in every sin this world could offer her. There was no sign of repentance in her heart; she continued to sin as if it were her daily routine. Hence, her relatives had already given up on her.
In the gospel, Jesus speaks about searching for the lost sheep and seeking out those who stray, no matter where they are. Unlike us, who often give up on those who do not listen, Jesus doesn’t give up. He continuously searches for those who sin or are lost. No sin is too big for the merciful heart of Jesus.
Each and every one of us are precious in the eyes of the Lord, He holds us dearly in His loving heart. No matter if we are big time or small time sinners we are all precious in His eyes.
In so many ways the gospel invites us to reflect on how we feel towards those who sin. Have we already given up on them because they don’t listen to us? Or we continue to patiently wait or even search for them. Until we find them so that we could offer them our unconditional love.
Do you easily give up on those who sin or
you patiently wait and pray for them until they see the healing light of
Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes,” he said. When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him, “What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax?
From their subjects or from foreigners?” When he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the subjects are exempt. But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give that to them for me and for you.”
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To pay or not to pay the temple tax, of course Jesus did right when He decided to pay. What if Jesus decided not to pay the temple tax? He would have been a bad example to His followers and He would have given His opponents a window of opportunity to persecute Him earlier than expected.
For Jesus, doing right is always His top priority; doing wrong is never in His mind. His focus is always on doing what is good and right. We must also strive to do good and do right at all times.
Although we are not required to give a certain percentage of our income to the church. In hindsight this gospel invites us also to examine our generosity toward our church, how generous are we in giving to our church? For example, during Holy Mass, how generous are we during offertory? Do we give from the heart or we give out from our spare or crumbs?
We must give generously for whatever we
give generously to the church the Good Lord will give back to us a hundredfold. We can never outgive
God because the more that we give Him the more that we would receive from Him.
– Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
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Reflection:
How can Jesus be the bread that gives life? This is very hard to believe for a non-believer. But for those who have faith, they know that Jesus is indeed the Bread of Life.
The Jews were protesting Jesus’ pronouncement that He is the Bread of Life that came down from heaven (John 6:41). They knew Jesus well as the son of Joseph and Mary, and some of them perhaps grew up with Him. How, then, could He become the Bread of Life?
Faith and actual experience are what move us to believe in Jesus' sacred declaration that He is the Bread that gives life. Why do we yearn to receive Jesus during Holy Communion? It is because our love and faith in Him compel us to do so.
Every time we submit to our faith's desire to partake of Jesus in the Sacrament of Holy Communion/Eucharist, we also obey His desire to dwell in us and be with us. The Jews did not submit to this desire of Jesus, which is why they did not believe in Him.
Each and every one of us undergoes an extraordinary experience whenever we partake of Jesus' Body and Blood. However, many of us no longer notice this because we have begun to treat this profound experience as something ordinary.
Whenever we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus, it is not just our desire to be one with our Lord and Master, but rather it is Jesus who desires us to be one with Him. It is Jesus who calls each and every one of us to receive Him so that He may dwell in us, transforming and blessing us in the process.
So, what is your responsibility? You must share the miracle of the Bread of Life, share what you know about Jesus, even if it is limited, and allow Jesus to transform you according to His will. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Kaya’t sinabi ni Hesus, “Huwag kayong magbulung-bulungan. Walang makalalapit sa akin malibang dalhin siya ng Amang nagsugo sa akin. At ang lalapit sa akin ay muli kong bubuhayin sa huling araw. Nasusulat sa aklat ng mga propeta, ‘At silang lahat ay tuturuan ng Diyos.’ Ang bawat nakikinig sa Ama at natututo ay lalapit sa akin. Hindi ito nangangahulugang may nakakita na sa Ama; yaong nagmula sa Diyos ang tanging nakakita sa Ama.
“Sinasabi ko sa inyo: ang nananalig sa akin ay may buhay na walang hanggan. Ako ang pagkaing nagbibigay-buhay. Kumain ng manna ang inyong mga ninuno nang sila’y nasa ilang, gayunman’y namatay sila. Ngunit ang sinumang kumain ng pagkaing bumaba mula sa langit ay hindi mamamatay. Ako ang pagkaing nagbibigay-buhay na bumaba mula sa langit. Mabubuhay magpakailanman ang sinumang kumain nito. At ang pagkaing ibibigay ko sa ikabubuhay ng sanlibutan ay ang aking laman.”
Whoever serves me must follow me, and
where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves
me.”
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Reflection:
Do you love your life in this world?
Jesus gives us today a contradictory or baffling
statement by saying: “Whoever loves his life loses it and whoever hates his
life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.” How could this
be?
The simple answer to this paradoxical statement by
Jesus is this: We love our life if we love the trappings of this world such as
wealth, power and other worldly possession. It also includes other
self-centered attitudes such as greed, lust, arrogance, egotism to name a few.
We will certainly lose our life if we could identify to any of these characteristics.
We hate our life in this world but preserve it for
eternal life if we have Jesus like behaviors such as: Humility, Selflessness,
Prayerfulness, Kindheartedness, Mercy, Forgiveness, Compassion and many more Jesus
like virtues.
Therefore we are given two choices: To love our life
in this world or two hate it. Surely there would be those who would choose to
love their life in this world but for what price?
The problem of loving our present life for the sake of
this world is we are slowly but surely closing the door for Jesus to enter our
life. Yet we open it widely for Satan to enter and eventually drive our
life.
Discover the true meaning of life by serving Christ
and by loving Him. Discover the true meaning of life by denying yourself of the
many useless and sinful excesses of this world.
Have you already discovered the true meaning of your
life? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
What profit would there be for one to gain
the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his
life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and
then he will repay each according to his conduct. Amen, I say to you, there are
some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man
coming in his Kingdom.”
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Reflection:
During the fifteenth century a rich and educated man named Bernadino Realino left everything for Christ. At 26 he was already a lawyer, a doctor and a town mayor, he had everything that a young man could ever ask for.
When he was 34, he went to attend a retreat and during that retreat he felt an overwhelming call from Jesus to become a priest. Thus, he left everything to become a priest and from that moment onwards he devoted his life to serve the poor.
This saint found the real meaning of his life by leaving all of his earthly riches and attachments in favor of Jesus. He found his heavenly wealth by leaving behind his earthly wealth. He knew that nothing compares to Jesus.
This is an eye opener for all of us who are so very enamoured by material wealth and earthly power. Many of us are so taken by the things of this world that we take Jesus for granted in favor of this world. But everything from this world is passing and temporary, someday we will leave it behind.
We will have neither earthly influence nor riches if we decide to follow Jesus. We would be losing many of our friends if we follow Jesus. But all of these earthly trappings are immaterial compared to the life that awaits us if we decide hear the call of Jesus.
To hear the call of Jesus is to be willing to leave behind our sinfulness, our arrogance and egotism. To hear the call of Jesus is to be willing to be present at Holy Mass and read the bible. To hear the call of Jesus is to have the courage to leave behind friends who do nothing to us except to influence us to sin. To hear the call of Jesus is to desire to serve the poor and downtrodden without expecting anything in return.
Are you willing to leave everything for the sake of Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to
rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He
turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You
are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
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One important thing that I noticed about him was he never complained why he was poor and suffering. As I go to him every Sunday never did I hear him complain about anything. He carried his suffering without questioning God until he eventually died. Perhaps he knew that to suffer was part of his discipleship with Jesus.
When Jesus told Peter and the disciples that He must undergo sufferings for the accomplishment of His mission. Peter reacted with indignation, perhaps Peter couldn’t accept the fact that this powerful and charismatic man would suffer. Perhaps because of the power of Jesus peter thought that Jesus was already immune of suffering/s. But Jesus was not exempted from suffering HE had to go through it for it was part of His destiny and mission.
How about us, don’t we question Jesus why we have to go through sufferings? Don’t we question Jesus, why me Lord considering that I am your follower? Perhaps Jesus would tell us this: Take courage my child, your suffering/s is a reminder that I am always here for you call on me because I am ever ready to help you carry your suffering. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her. Jesus’ disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.”
He said in reply, “It is not right to take
the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord,
for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”
Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done
for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.
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Reflection:
How do you define your faith in Jesus? It’s when you don’t give up on what you want from Jesus. You continuously badger Him with your prayers until He answers it.
The Canaanite woman had this kind of faith, she never gave up on her prayer request for Jesus to heal her daughter tormented by a demon. There were many obstacles stacked against her, foremost of this was her being not a Jew but it did not matter to her. She persisted and she even argued with Jesus until she passed Jesus’ examination of her faith. After which her daughter was healed by Jesus.
This gospel relates with our own journey of faith with Jesus also. Anyone of us could be that Canaanite woman who badgered Jesus no end until she got the healing that she wants for her daughter.
However, unlike the woman from Canaan who persisted until the very end we may not have the will to badger Jesus. We may have quit already and said to ourselves, “I give up on my prayer for Jesus because He seems to be deaf.” What we do not know is the delay is just part of the testing of our faith.
Every trial that we go through is our own test of faith. For example, the harshness of life that many of us are presently going through this is just a test of our faith and will to survive. Let us therefore not give up and let us continue to pray to the Lord for He will soon hear our prayers. - Marino J. Dasmarinas
When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” He said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.”
But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.” Then he said, “Bring them here to me,” and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over–twelve wicker baskets full. Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.
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Reflection:
The story is told about a poor woman who got sick with a serious sickness being poor she naturally cant afford the expensive medication process. So, she said to Jesus: “O my Lord I have nothing except my faith, I will go to the nearest hospital and simply entrust everything to you.”
And she went to the hospital, upon arriving a kind hearted doctor asked her: “What can I do for you.” The woman said: “I’m very sick please help me and the doctor said: “Don’t worry I will help you get healed.” While she was being assisted by the doctor the woman saw a gleaming pin of the sacred heart of Jesus attached to the doctor’s coat.
When we have faith the impossible becomes possible, the faraway becomes within reach and the unbelievable becomes believable.
In the gospel, when Jesus saw the vast crowd waiting for Him, His heart was moved with pity for them. Thus, Jesus cured those who were sick (Matthew 14:14). When evening came the disciples told Jesus to let go of the vast crowd so that they can buy their food. But Jesus would have nothing of His disciples’ suggestion.
He instead told His disciples to feed them but there was no food except for the five loaves and two fish. So, Jesus asked for the five loaves and two fish and it was all what Jesus needed to feed the vast crowd.
Because of the harshness of life, many are losing hope. However, there is hope, and it is offered to us by Jesus in the gospel. All Jesus asks of us is to continue to have faith. The same faith of the crowd who waited for Jesus’ healing and the same faith of the crowd who were fed by Jesus by means of the multiplication of the five bread and two fish.
Let us never doubt the power of Jesus to see us through out of our difficult situation. Let us continue to pray and have faith in the power of Jesus. Let us continue to have faith that Jesus will make a way when there seems to be no way. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus answered them and said, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.
For on him the Father, God, has set his seal." So they said to him, "What can we do to accomplish the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent." So they said to him, "What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?
What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat. So Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
So they said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst."
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Reflection:
During the latter part of Saint Catherine of Siena's life, she was unable to eat or drink water. What sustained her during that crucial period was her daily reception of Jesus through Holy Communion. She was sustained for a number of years by the Bread of Life until she eventually died.
In this Sunday's Gospel, Jesus boldly tells us that He is the true Bread of Life, the one we must seek and always hunger for. Why? Because once we find Jesus, we will never hunger or thirst for the material things of this world, which are fleeting and can be taken away from us at any time.
There are people who treat material possessions, money, power, and influence as their own "bread of life." However, this is not the true Bread of Life but merely the temporary bread of the world. There is no satisfaction with this worldly bread because the more we possess, the more we crave it. We will continuously hunger and thirst for this bread of the world until it completely possesses and destroys us.
But what if we seek the true Bread of Life, which is Jesus? We would find satisfaction with whatever we have. We would no longer crave material possessions, wealth, or power, and we would experience less pressure. Instead, we would be serene and peaceful because Jesus, the true Bread of Life, is with us.
Let us always hold close to our hearts this powerful statement of Jesus: "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst" (John 6:35). – Marino J. Dasmarinas
