Noong panahong iyon, sinabi ni Hesus
sa kanyang mga alagad, “Pakinggan nga ninyo ang kahulugan ng talinghaga tungkol
sa manghahasik. Ang mga nakikinig ng Salita tungkol sa paghahari ng Diyos
ngunit hindi nakauunawa nito ay katulad ng mga binhing nahasik sa tabi ng
daan.
Dumarating ang Masama at inaagaw ang nahasik sa kanilang puso.
Inilalarawan ng binhing nahasik sa kabatuhan ang nakikinig ng Salita at
masayang tumatanggap nito kaagad. Ngunit hindi ito tumitimo sa puso nila kaya’t
hindi sila nananatili. Pagdating ng mga kapighatian o pag-uusig dahil sa
Salita, agad silang nanlalamig.
Inilalarawan
naman ng naghasik sa dawagan ang nakikinig ng Salita, ngunit naging abala sa
mga bagay ukol sa mundong ito, at naging maibigin sa mga kayamanan anupat ang
Salita’y nawalan na ng puwang sa kanilang puso, kaya’t hindi makapamunga. At
inilalarawan ng naghasik sa matabang lupa ang mga nakikinig ng Salita at
nakauunawa nito. Sila’y namumunga: may tigsasandaan, may tig-aanimnapu, at may
tigtatatlumpu.”
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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Who is an exemplary leader?
An exemplary leader leads by example. He
does not aspire to a position of leadership to be popular, to be seen, or to
give orders while enjoying the trappings of the position. He ascends to a
position of leadership because he wants to be a person for others and to serve,
even at the cost of his life.
In the gospel today we see a mother asking
a favor from Jesus (If her two sons could seat beside Jesus) but the mother had
no full comprehension of the destiny that awaits Jesus. If only she knew she
would not have asked Jesus that favor.
Why is it that many are attracted to serve
in the church? They want to serve because it’s an opportunity for them to
be seen, to be in the spotlight. However, after they are given their assigned
task they have a sudden realization that this is not what they wanted to do
because it involves sacrifice and humility. And for obvious reasons they don’t
last in their ministry.
To serve in the church alongside Jesus
always involves sacrifice and humility. We don’t serve because we want to be
influential, to be popular and powerful. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
On that day, Jesus went out of the house
and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into
a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore.
And he spoke
to them at length in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he
sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on
rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil
was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for
lack of roots.
Some seed
fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on
rich soil and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has
ears ought to hear."
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Do you listen
to Jesus when He speaks to you?
Jesus is
always sowing the seeds of the gospel to you. With the hope that His sown seeds
would eventually grow in our hearts and bear countless fruits
through our words and actions. Some of us don’t even care to listen or we
listen but after listening we completely forget it.
But there are
also those who listen, imbibe and let the seeds of the gospel bear fruit in
their lives by living and sharing it. In that process they allow themselves to
be God’s channel to bless other people’s
lives.
We all have
this liberty on how we would receive these seeds of the gospel that God
generously sows upon us. However let us not abuse this liberty by choosing to
ignore it. Let us listen to it, let us allow it to take root in our
hearts.
Let us allow
these very same words of God to transform us therefore we would become the seed
sown on rich soil. As such we will share it to as many people as possible
and we will also give life to the same words of God by living it.
Do you want a
new perspective in your life? A perspective that is free from worldliness,
sinfulness and other forms of worries brought about by this world? If yes, open
your bible, read and reflect on the words of Jesus and allow it to sink deep
into you. So that it would take root, grow and bear much fruit. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
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.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
How can we become relatives of Jesus?
Jesus Himself reveals the secret to us:
“For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and
mother." And what is the will of the heavenly Father for us? It’s for us
to do good always and to be collaborator of Jesus in spreading the good news.
Jesus also cited the disciples as His
mother and brothers for they were all faithful followers. We do not know the
personal background of each disciple but surely some of them were sinners like
us. But notwithstanding their sins they still chose to follow Jesus and
completely left behind their sinful past. Thus, Jesus called them His mother
and brothers.
Therefore, the moment we choose to follow
Jesus we already are called His relatives. What does to follow Jesus mean? It’s
to follow Jesus by immersing our feet in the river of sacrifice, love,
forgiveness, mercy, compassion and so forth.
How about you? Have you already immersed your
feet in the river of sacrifice, love, forgiveness, compassion and the like?
Have you finally decided to follow Jesus and leave behind your
sinful past?
Jesus yearns for you to become his
relative too! – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Noong panahong iyon, samantalang
nagsasalita pa si Hesus, dumating ang kanyang ina at mga kapatid. Naghihintay
sila sa labas at ibig siyang makausap. May nagsabi sa kanya, “Nasa labas po ang
inyong ina at mga kapatid, at ibig kayong makausap.”
Ngunit
sinabi ni Hesus, “Sino ang aking ina, at sinu-sino ang aking mga kapatid? Itinuro
niya ang kanyang mga alagad at sinabi, “Ito ang aking ina at mga kapatid!
Sapagkat ang sinumang sumusunod sa kalooban ng aking Amang nasa langit ang siya
kong ina at mga kapatid.”
On the first day of the week, Mary
Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and
saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to
the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord
from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”
Mary stayed
outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw
two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where
the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid
him.”
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did
not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are
you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you
carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.”
Jesus said to
her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew,“Rabbouni,” which means
Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended
to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and
your Father, to my God and your God.’ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the
disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he told her.
+ + + +
+ +
Reflection:
Do you search
for Jesus?
If you search
for Jesus you will find Him. If you attend Holy Mass Jesus is there, if you
open your bible and read the first four gospels of the New Testament you will
find Jesus there and if you pray the Rosary Jesus is there as well.
Mary
Magdalene intensely searched for Jesus, she went to the tomb while it was still
dark and was so distressed when she did not find the body of the Lord. However
she did not stop looking for HIM she went on with her search until Jesus
appeared to her.
The sole
secret to find Jesus and to develop closeness with Him is to continuously
thirst for HIM like we thirst for water. As water quenches our thirst and
invigorates our bodies the Lord also does this to us and more. HE will quench
our thirst and HE will invigorate our weary bodies.
HE will do
many more incredible things for us provided we continuously search and thirst
for HIM. After finding Jesus we will now have to share Him so that our
fellowmen will be blessed as we’ve been blessed by Jesus. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
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.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
A woman went to her neighbor to seek advice for
her many problems. The neighbor asked the troubled woman this question: “Is
Jesus an integral part of your life? For example, do you always pray to the
Lord? Do you always attend Holy Mass?” The woman said no, and then the neighbor
advised her to make time for Jesus.
In the Gospel, a
vast crowd was running after Jesus (Mark 6:34) because they knew that Jesus
would straighten out their lives. They were not only after Jesus because they
wanted to be cured and fed. Some perhaps were pursuing Jesus because they
wanted to simply see Him and that would be enough for them to heal their body
and soul.
The vast crowd who was following Jesus wherever
he goes saw in Jesus a good shepherd who will not only feed and heal them. They
also saw in Jesus someone who will give them precious advice and guidance.
What does this mean to you?
This means that whenever you have issues and
concerns in life that seem difficult to resolve, you have to go to Jesus in
prayer. You need to bend your knees before Him and ask for His help and
guidance. Because Jesus is always there for you ever ready to guide and help
you as you encounter the many challenges of your life.
Do you always pray to the Lord? – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
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 fulfill 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.
+ + + + + +
Reflection:
What are you going to do if you know that
powerful people are after your life? Of course you would do what Jesus did: You
will also withdraw to a place where you will be safe. But unlike Jesus who
continued to do HIS acts of mercy even if HIS life was already in danger. You
may not do anything except hide and protect your life, this is what separate
Jesus from all of us.
For Jesus the greater good is not to
protect HIS life but to continue to serve the people that HE dearly loved. This
love for HIS people eventually culminated in HIS death on the cross.
But not all of us are afraid to give our
very life for the sake of our fellowmen. There are others who selflessly gave
their lives so that others may live and be free. This is best exemplified by
our heroes who selflessly gave their lives for our sake.
Let us therefore be like Jesus, let us not
be afraid to give our time, treasure and even our life for His mission. Because
someday we will be able to harvest our reward from the Good Lord. We may not
receive it in our lifetime.
But will certainly receive it eventually
when our journey in this world is over and that is already in heaven.
- Marino J. Dasmarinas
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.”
+ + + + + + +
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 financial difficulty, 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 and trust Him. 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 yet 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
Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who labor
and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for
yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
+ + + +
+ + +
Reflection:
The story is
told about a young man who was struggling to find his place in this
world. He was already at the point of surrender. He murmured to
himself, “I am a total failure” in the abyss of his frustration he thought of
ending his life.
Until he was
advised by a friend to seek God and surrender every burdens that he has in his
heart. So, he went to Holy Mass regularly and he read his bible, after a few
weeks he developed a deep friendship with Jesus and he surrendered his
everything to Him.
Many of us
have this tendency to allow ourselves to be eaten up by the frenetic pace
and materialism of this world. We get too busy in fact very busy because we
want to satisfy our many temporal wants. But come to think of it, why are we
punishing ourselves too much just to satisfy our worldly desires? Why are many
of us favoring this world over God when what we earn from this world can
actually be taken from us anytime? When we can go out of this world
anytime?
In our gospel
for today, Jesus invites us all to go to Him. We who are so busy with this
world, we who tend to forget the primacy of God over this world. When are we
going to open our hearts to this invitation of Jesus? When we are already old
and sickly? Let us not wait for that time to come. Let us build a relationship
with Jesus now and let us respond to His invitation now. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
At that time Jesus exclaimed: “I give
praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden
these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the
childlike.
Yes, Father,
such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my
Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father
except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
What is the
key to know Gods will for you? It’s humility, a humble person is ever
ready to listen to the voice and will of God. He/she doesn’t go against the
will of God he/she rather allows God’s will to work in his/her life. In the
process of allowing God’s will to rule his/her life he/she discovers more about
God.
When you are
humble you open yourself to the countless blessings that emanates from God. You
may ask, how am I going to be humble in front of God? You have to follow the
rules of Jesus and of the church which Jesus founded through St.
Peter.
For example
the teaching of Sunday Holy Mass obligation, a humble person would always see
to it that he/she is always present in this sacred celebration. Another example
is our humble submission to the sacraments most especially the Sacrament of
Reconciliation. A humble person would always find time to confess his/her sins
to a priest who acts in the person of Jesus Christ.
Jesus always
looks kindly to those who are childlike and humble. Why? Because this is the
nature of God: He loves those who are humble and He reveals Himself more to the
childlike and humble.
Do you want
to know more about God? And do you want to have a deeper friendship with the
Lord? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Jesus began to reproach the towns where
most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. “Woe to
you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your
midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in
sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell
you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than
for you. And as for you, Capernaum: Will you be exalted to heaven? You
will go down to the netherworld.
For if the
mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained
until this day. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom
on the day of judgment than for you.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Do you get
frustrated or even get angry every once in a while? It’s ok for as long as your
frustration and anger is for a good reason. And for as long as your anger
doesn’t stay for long in your heart. For example, you advice a relative
or a friend to mend his/her ways but she/he doesn’t listen to
you.
In his
humanity Jesus also gets frustrated like us and it is shown in the gospel. When
He reproached the towns of Chorazin and Bethsaida due to their refusal to repent.
Jesus wanted the inhabitants of the two towns to change their wicked ways and
accept His good news.
Some of us
are like the people of Chorazin and Bethsaida full of stubbornness, so; we
continue to sin. Yes, we believe that there’s a God but believing is very
different from listening to God and letting Him live in our hearts.
Sin in
whatever shapes and forms is a clear and present danger in our lives. We must
not only avoid sin let us also confront sin so that it will permanently banish
from our system of existence. Sin is the devil in disguise and whomever
embraces sin will eventually be destroyed by sin. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
Jesus said to his Apostles: “Do not think
that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace
but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter
against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s
enemies will be those of his household.
“Whoever loves father or mother more than
me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not
worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not
worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life
for my sake will find it.
“Whoever receives you receives me, and
whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
Whoever receives a prophet because he is a
prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man
because he is righteous will receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever
gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he
is a disciple–amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”
When Jesus finished giving these commands
to his Twelve disciples, he went away from that place to teach and to preach in
their towns.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
What is this sword that Jesus speaks about
in the gospel?
It’s the sword of truth and righteousness!
Jesus came into this world to bring the sword of truth and righteousness and
this sword of truth and righteousness pierces anyone who stands in the way.
Man against his father? Daughter against
her mother? Indeed, if anyone stands in the way even if they are our relatives
we should not be afraid to speak in the name of truth and righteousness. We
should not be afraid to voice out what we think is right no matter who gets
hurt. In the same manner that we should not be afraid to voice out our
sentiments even if the person whom we are going to address has the money,
influence and power.
Sometimes we have second thoughts if we
are going to speak our mind in the name of Jesus. We ought not to think twice
we must have the courage to say what’s in our minds in the name of the sword of
Jesus’ truth and righteousness.
The church always speaks out its mind
whenever there are issues or policies that hurt the people of God. The church
is not afraid to contradict anyone in power even if it creates temporary
enmity. Why? For the simple reason that the mission of the church is to speak
for God and to speak the truth no matter who gets hurt. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them
out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them
to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick –no food, no sack, no money
in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.
He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house,
stay there until you leave from there. Whatever place does not welcome you or
listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony
against them.” So, they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out
many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
What were the apostles thinking when they were sent to their mission by Jesus without bringing any provisions? Perhaps they were worried, so questions arose like, "What are we going to eat?" and "Would we be able to survive this difficult mission?" But eventually their questioning minds were overwhelmed by their faith and trust in Jesus. And so, they move ahead and became successful missioners of Jesus.
Sometimes it’s hard to imagine how God will sustain us or how we can survive the difficulties of life, until we learn to hold on to our faith and give our full trust and confidence to the almighty hand of Jesus. Many of us fail in our endeavors because we lack faith and trust in the Lord. Instead of trusting the Lord, we rely on ourselves. So we fail, and the main culprit is our feeble faith.
Trust and faith were the two main ingredients that made the twelve apostles successful in their mission. Trust and faith in Jesus must also be our guiding light as we move on to do our mission for Christ, or as we move on to live our life for Jesus.
Let us not allow ourselves to be intimidated by the challenges that may confront us, no matter how difficult. Why? Because the Lord will always be with us to help us as we help Him advance His teachings.
In hindsight, has God forsaken anyone who helped Him spread His teachings? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
