Reflection for November 20, Wednesday; Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time: 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:

What is our mission in this world? Our mission is to become productive followers of the Lord and how can we become productive followers? If we spread the faith, we avoid sin and we do good we become productive followers. If we don’t do anything we become unproductive follower.

The good Lord would always want us to share our faith so that we could grow for this is the only way for us to bear fruit.  But many of us are afraid to share and our excuse is we don’t know anything about Jesus and about our Catholic faith.

How could we know if we don’t strive to know more about Jesus? Therefore the secret to know more about Jesus is to discover more about Him. The more that we discover the more that we would have the tools to become His productive followers. Let us begin this discovery journey by our presence at Holy Mass.

We therefore have to know more about Jesus so that we could mature in faith and in the process we would be able to share what we know about the Lord. Jesus has already equipped us with the needed grace through our Baptism and Confirmation.

The responsibility is in our hands now. – Marino J. Dasmarinas   

Reflection for November 19, Tuesday; Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time: 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:

Who is Zacchaeus?

He is a corrupt chief tax collector, a bigtime extortionist and a bigtime sinner too! It would seem that this sinful man would drown in his sinfulness and be sinful for the rest of his life. But Jesus intervened in the life of this sinful man so from being sinful he repented and became a renewed man.  

God works in mysterious ways in our lives, He always calls us sinners to become His faithful followers.  Zacchaeus is such kind of a man, a sinner like you and me. His call to conversion may seem like his own initiative but no it was not his own. It was Jesus who called him, it was Jesus who spoke to his heart to tell him to return the money that he stole and leave behind his sinful life.

Jesus always calls us to conversion He uses many avenues to do it for us. There are times that He bothers our conscience. There are times that He uses other people for us to follow Him, let us be sensitive to this intervention of Jesus in our lives.

Life is never the same when we live it without Jesus, we may temporarily enjoy what this world would offer us. But at the end of the day everything that this world offers us is passing and temporary. Let us carefully discern this, let us wake up with our love affair with sin and materialism while we still have time to walk away from it.

And after we walk away from materialism and sin we immediately go to Jesus so that we can receive the same forgiveness and healing that Zacchaeus received.    – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for November 18, Monday; 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:

Does it pay to be persistent and to have faith in Jesus?

It always pays to be persistent in any endeavor that we are in; because eventually our persistence will bear fruit. How many success stories were anchored on the word persistence? Perhaps thousands even millions already, they toil in silence persistently working hard and never giving up until they achieve success.

The blind man in the gospel was also very persistent he never gave up shouting: “Son of David.”  Even if he was being censured by those around him he still persisted. Eventually his persistence bore fruit for he eventually got Jesus' attention. However, it was not only persistence that brought the blind man to Jesus. He also has powerful faith in Jesus.

Afterwards, 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.” What if the blind man was not persistent and his faith wanting? What if he listened to the rebukes of the people around him? He would not have been healed by Jesus.

Let us always be persistent and let us always have this powerful faith in Jesus in any good that we ambition to do. We may not see any ray of hope now but Jesus will certainly respond to us in His own perfect time.

Are you always persistent when you want something from Jesus and do you have a powerful faith in Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Sunday November 17, Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time: Luke 21:5-19

Gospel: Luke 21:5-19

While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, “All that you see here the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.

Then they asked him, “Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?” He answered, “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ Do not follow them! When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.

“Before all this happens, however, they will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.

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Reflection:

There’s a story about a man who was full of cynicism, fear and worry. Nothing occupies his mind except these three. He once was asked by a friend, if he believed in God, he said: “No, I don’t believe in God.” When the friend asked why, he answered: because no one has introduced me to your God or told me anything about your God.

Near the man and his friend was another friend named Jessie a practicing catholic who heard their conversation. He asked the fearful man if he could spare an hour for him every Sunday evening so that he could share Jesus and his catholic faith with him. The man said: “Yes I can give you may one hour or perhaps not only one hour even more than one hour and let’s do it as soon as possible.”

So it happened, on a Sunday Jessie went to his friend’s house and he shared everything that he knew about Jesus and his Catholic faith. The man was a very interested student he imbibed everything that was taught to him. And the result was, it created a thirst for Jesus in his life.

The man read books that dealt with Jesus and the  Catholic church and it eventually led to his baptismal in the church. After his Baptism, the man was not anymore fearful or worrisome for the reason that he already has Jesus in his life.

In the gospel, Jesus speaks about the end times; he talks about the fragility of life and the destruction of material things that surrounds it. He also talks about persecution even death. Yet He tells them not to fear or worry about it for He will take care of them.

End times scenarios are very real and it’s currently happening to many people at this very moment. What is the cause of these hopelessness and desperation?  They do not know that there’s someone like Jesus who saves, who inspires and who gives infinite peace of mind and hope.

We need to make a big difference in the lives of these people who do not know Jesus yet; we need to introduce Him to them. Why? For the reason that countless lives have been saved by Jesus with the help of those who were courageous enough to share Jesus with them. But there are still many who are getting desperate and who needs to know Jesus.

We therefore need to do something about it and not be worried of the consequences. Because Jesus himself said this: You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives (Luke 21:17-19).  – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Linggo Nobyembre 17, ika-33 na Linggo sa Karaniwang Panahon: Lucas 21:5-19

Mabuting Balita Lucas 21:5-19

5 May ilan namang nag-uusap tung­kol sa Templo, at sinabi nila na may maga­gandang bato ito at mamahaling pala­muti. Sinabi naman ni Jesus: 6 “Darating ang mga araw na walang matitirang magkapatong na bato sa lahat ng inyong nakikita; iguguho ang lahat.” 7 Nagtanong sila sa kanya: “Guro, kailan ito mang­ya­yari at ano ang tanda na sumapit na ito?”

8 Sumagot si Jesus: “Mag-ingat kayo at baka kayo madaya. Maraming aang­kin sa aking pangalan sa pagsasabing ‘Ako ang Mesiyas; ako siya,’ at ‘Palapit na ang pana­hon.’ Huwag kayong sumunod sa kanila. 9 Sa pagkabalita ninyo sa digmaan at mga kaguluhan, huwag kayong mali­galig; mangyayari muna ito pero hindi pa ito ang wakas.”

10  At sinabi niya sa kanila: “Magdi­digmaan ang mga bayan at magla­laban-laban ang mga kaharian. 11 Mag­kakaroon din ng malalakas na lindol sa ma­raming lugar, magkakaroon ng tag­gutom, mag­kakaroon ng mga kakila-kilabot na bagay at ng malalaki ring kaba­­balaghan sa langit. 12 Pero bago sumapit ang lahat ng ito, dadakipin kayo at uusigin; ibibigay kayo sa mga sinagoga at dadalhin sa mga kulungan at ihaharap sa mga hari at mga gobernador dahil sa aking pangalan. 13 Sasapit ito sa inyo para makapag­pa­totoo kayo sa akin.

14 Isaisip ninyo na huwag ikabalisa ang pagtatanggol sa inyong sarili 15 dahil ako mismo ang magbibigay sa inyo ng mga salita at karunungang di matata­galan o masasagot ng lahat ninyong ka­away. 16 Ipagkakanulo kayo ng inyong mga magulang, mga kapatid, mga kamag-anak at mga kaibigan, at papatayin nila ang ilan sa inyo. 17 At kamumuhian kayo ng lahat dahil sa aking pangalan. 18 Su­balit hindi maaano isa mang buhok sa inyong ulo. 19 Sa in­yong pagpapaka­tatag, ang mga sarili ninyo mis­mo ang inyong makakamit.

Ang Mabuting Balita ng Panginoon.

Reflection for November 16, Saturday; 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:

Does God always answer our prayers? The gospel would tell us that He always answers our prayers. But the reality of it all is there are times that God doesn’t answer our prayers. There are times that God fails us. We don’t know the reason behind these unanswered prayers only God knows.

If God seems deaf to our prayers would it be right for us to stop kneeling in prayer before God? We need not stop praying even if we get no answer from God. For the simple reason that our prayers before God gives us hope. Our prayers before God brightens our gloomy day. Our prayers tell us that amidst our life struggles there is a powerful God who is ever ready to listen notwithstanding the nature of His reply.

It's already immaterial if God answers or not because our prayers are not only limited with God answering or not answering it. Our prayers before God is much bigger that the reply that we expect from Him. This is for the reason that the gift of prayer in itself is already an enormous blessing from God.

What happens to us when we pray and after we pray?  When we pray we connect with our loving and powerful God and after we pray we become hopeful and we feel relieved, right? Therefore, the gift of prayer that Jesus had gratuitously given us is a balm that immediately soothes our wounded and burdened lives.   

We therefore have to pray as often as we can since a life without prayer is a life without hope and a life bereft of the presence of God.

Do you have a healthy prayer life? – Marino J. Dasmarinas      

Reflection for November 15, Friday; Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time: 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:

When are we going to walk away from our sins? Should we still delay and wait when the most opportune time comes? It might not come and it might be too late already. We should change our ways right at this very moment for we do not know until when our life will be.

The people during Noah’s time were merrymaking and sinning until the floods came so they died without repentance. Same as with the people of Sodom and Gomorra who were engaged in grievous sexual sins they died without repentance as well.

What is sin that many of us are so smitten by it? Sin is the bait or trap of the devil for us to be in his kingdom. Many of us fall into this bait for the simple reason that we are enticed by the attractiveness of sin. This is basically the reason why we sin. But sin will bring us nothing but troubles and problems and it will surely not bring us any good in the end.

Let us take time to read and listen to the words of Jesus in the bible and let us be faithful to Jesus’ teachings. And He surely will find a way for us so that we could walk away permanently from sin. Sin doesn’t offer us any good at all and sin will not bring us except chaos until it destroys us. So we have to avoid it no matter how attractive it may be. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Reflection for November 14, Thursday; Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 17:20-25

Gospel: Luke 17:20-25

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus said in reply, “The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.”

Then he said to his disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. There will be those who will say to you, ‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’ Do not go off, do not run in pursuit. For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.”

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Reflection:

When do you say that the kingdom of God is within you already? It is when you are not afraid of anything that may happen to you for you know that somebody very powerful is in charge. If you already have Jesus in your life you would even embrace death because you know that death is the last passage before you meet God.

How could you have His kingdom within you? It’s when you faithfully follow Him in your words and deeds. It’s when you have your regular moment of prayer with Jesus.  This is when you would feel the presence of God in your life.

For those who believe that Jesus Christ is their Lord and savior the kingdom of God is within them already. For those who choose to follow the path of sacrifice of Jesus the kingdom of God is within them already. For those who are meek and humble the kingdom of God is within them already.

For those who surrender their lives in the hands of God amidst the chaos and worries of this world the kingdom of God is within them already. The kingdom of God is also your rock solid faith in Jesus for He is your safe refuge whenever you are being battered by the trials of daily life.   

Do you already have the kingdom of God? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

1Reflection for November 13, Wednesday; Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin: Luke 17:11-19

Gospel: Luke 17:11-19

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”

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Reflection:

Do you always thank the Lord for all the blessings that you receive from Him everyday?

In our gospel, ten lepers were healed by Jesus but only one a Samaritan (considered as an enemy of the Jews) was grateful enough to express his gratefulness to Jesus. What happened to the other nine? They went back to their normal lives with the gift of eyesight courtesy of Jesus, yet they never went back to Jesus to express their gratitude.  

The Samaritan in the gospel speaks to us by his faith and deed of gratefulness; he tells us to always have faith and to always be grateful to the miracles that Jesus gives us everyday. For example, do we not forget to thank Jesus for the gift of life every morning?

Many of us are so busy that we forget to say our prayer of thanksgiving upon waking up. Many of the young people today, instead of saying their prayer of thanksgiving, they instead check first their smart phones for new messages and updates.  

Let us never forget to express our thanksgiving to Jesus first no matter how busy we are. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

1Reflection for November 12, Tuesday; Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr: Luke 17:7-10

Gospel: Luke 17:7-10

Jesus said to the Apostles: “Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’? Would he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished’? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.

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Reflection:

What does it take to be a servant of the Lord? It requires humility; a true servant whose only desire is to serve is at all times humble. He/she is ever ready to do what the Lord requires him/her to do. He/she will never complain she will patiently do the given task.

For many of us, to serve in the church is an opportunity to be popular in the community so that we could advance our own selfish agendas. This is not the desire of Jesus; the desire of Jesus is for us to simply serve with no hidden motives whatsoever.

Let us not hunger for recognition when we serve God for recognition will eventually come to us if we always serve with humility. To be a true servant of God is to humbly and silently work in His vineyard. Not conscious of any recognition or honor for this is how a true servant behaves.

To become a true servant of God is to silently accept the hurts that is thrown at you and leave it all up to God. For God will not let a true servant be destroyed by anybody. Eventually, a humble servant will be saved, justified and exalted by the Lord. - Marino J. Dasmarinas   

Reflection for November 11, Monday; Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop: Luke 17:1-6

Gospel:Luke 17:1-6

Jesus said to his disciples, “Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the one through whom they occur. It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’ you should forgive him.”

And the Apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

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Reflection:

Jesus has a lot of things to say to us in this gospel reading about Sin, Forgiveness and Faith.

First: We must always be careful not to be a conduit for our brothers and sisters to sin. And if we see somebody committing sin in whatever manner we must always have the courage to advice them to avoid sin. Sometimes we think twice if we would advice a sinner simply because we are afraid of the consequence of our actions. We should not allow these factors to deter us because it is our moral obligation to correct those who go astray.

Second: We must always forgive those who have done us wrong no matter how deep the wound that they have caused us. If God can forgive who are we not to forgive? Let us always remember that the more we keep deep seated resentment and anger in our hearts the more that we allow them to hurt us. Try to forgive and you will feel as if a big burden has been taken off your back.

Third: No matter how hard the times are right now, we must continue to have faith for it is in having faith that we manifest how deep our love and hope for God. The apostles said to Jesus: "Increase our faith."

Isn’t this what we also want to have in our life an increase in our faith on Jesus? If this is so, we should not only ask, we should do something about it by thirsting for Jesus. In other words we have to walk our talk. If we will not work for it, our increase of faith will not drop like manna from heaven.  

God smiles to those who exert effort to know Him and He surely showers His wisdom upon them. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Reflection for Sunday November 10, Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time: Luke 20:27-38

Gospel: Luke 20:27-38

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 out ‘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.

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Reflection:

The story is told about a man who did not believe in the resurrection. So he did everything that he wanted to do including many actions that made him very sinful. When he was dying already he saw Satan at his bedside and he asked Satan: “Why are you here?”  Satan immediately replied, I’m here to bring you to my kingdom so that you can spend the rest of your life there.

It’s very hard to think that there is no resurrection like what the Sadducees believed. For example if there’s no afterlife what then is the purpose of our life in this world? What then is the purpose of our worship and faith in an eternal God?

We follow Jesus and we try to live His teachings because we believe that by doing so. We would be with our Lord after our earthly journey is over already. To deny that there is no resurrection is like to deny that there is no heaven and hell in the afterlife.

But we know that there is heaven and hell and this heaven and hell is not an exclusive domain of the afterlife. For example, if we live our life in this world contrary to the teachings of God. We would experience hell even while we are still alive. On the other hand if we live our life according to the teachings of the Lord we would experience heaven even if we are still here in this world.

There is resurrection and there is an afterlife. We must believe this because this is the teachings of our faith and this is the reality. Therefore, we have to live a life that is worthy in the eyes of the Lord. We have to avoid whatever forms and shapes of sin, why? So that we can begin to prepare for our own resurrection in heaven someday.

Do you believe in the resurrection? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Ang Mabuting Balita para sa Linggo Nobyembre 10, ika-32 na Linggo sa Karaniwang Panahon: Lucas 20:27-38

Mabuting Balita Lucas 20:27-38

27 Lumapit noon ang ilang Sadduseo na mga taong tutol sa pagka­buhay. 28 At itinanong nila kay Jesus: “Guro, isinulat ni Moises para sa amin: ‘Kung may magka­kapatid na lalaki at mamatay na walang anak ang isa sa kanila, kailangang kunin ng kanyang kapatid ang kanyang asawa para mag­pasibol ng supling sa kanyang kapatid.’ 29 Ngayon, may pitong magka­kapatid na lalaki. Nag-asawa ang panganay at namatay na walang anak. 30 Kinuha ng pangalawa ang biyu­da, 31 at pagkatapos ay ng pa­ngatlo naman, pero hindi nagkaanak ang pito. Namatay sila 32 at sa bandang huli’y namatay rin ang babae. 33 Sa pagkabuhay, ka­nino sa pito siya maituturing na asawa? Ang pito nga ang umangkin sa kanya.”

34 Sinagot sila ni Jesus: “Nag-aasawa ang mga ta­ong nasa daigdig na ito, lalaki man o babae. 35 Ngunit hindi na mag-aasawa ang mga ituturing na karapat-dapat sa kabilang-buhay at sa pagkabuhay ng mga patay, lalaki man o babae. 36 Hindi na nga sila mamamatay. Kapantay na sila ng mga anghel at mga anak sila ng Diyos matapos silang ibangon. 37 Tiyak na may pagkabuhay ng mga patay; ipina­hiwatig ito kahit na ni Moises sa kabanata ng palumpong nang tawagin niyang Diyos ni Abraham, Diyos ni Isaac at Diyos ni Jacob ang Panginoon. 38 Hindi siya Diyos ng mga patay kundi ng mga buhay, at buhay na kasama niya silang lahat.”

Ang Mabuting Balita ng Panginoon.

Reflection for November 9, Saturday; Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome: John 2:13-22

Gospel: John 2:13-22

Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated there. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace. His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, Zeal for your house will consume me. At this the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his Body. Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the Scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.

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Reflection:

Why is Jesus so angry? Because they have desecrated the holiest place of worship: the temple. They’ve turned it into a marketplace to say the least and they were not simply selling and dealing goods there.

There were other things that were evolving: greed, deceit and many more that made Jesus really mad. Jesus told them: “Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace (John 2:16).” Don’t we hear Jesus speaking to us too? Telling us the same words born out of His anger from what He saw in the temple area or from what some of us do when we are at church.

How do we behave when we are at church most specifically when we are inside the church? The church is our sacred place of worship a place where we encounter God. Thus, we must observe proper discipline when we are inside or within its vicinity.

Do we still deep our finger into the Holy water font, make the sign of the cross and genuflect before entering the church? Do we still sit quietly and pray to Jesus while our eyes are fixed on the tabernacle?

Our church is our safe refuge when we are troubled by our many worries. This is where we encounter and receive Jesus during Holy Mass. Therefore we must observe proper discipline when we are in this Sacred and Holy place of worship. – Marino J. Dasmarinas