Mabuting Balita: Lucas 6:17, 20-26
Noong panahong iyon 17 Pagkababa ni Jesus kasama ang labing dalawa
tumayo siya sa isang patag na lugar. Naroon ang maraming alagad niya, at
napakarami ring tao mula sa buong Judea at Jerusalem at mula sa baybaying dako
ng Tiro at Sidon.
20 Tumingala noon si Jesus sa kanyang
mga alagad at sinabi: “Mapapalad kayong mga dukha sapagkat sa inyo ang kaharian
ng Diyos. 21 Mapapalad kayong mga nagugutom ngayon sapagkat bubusugin kayo.
Mapapalad kayong mga umiiyak ngayon sapagkat tatawa kayo. 22 Mapapalad kayo kapag
kinapopootan kayo ng mga tao at itinatakwil at iniinsulto, at sinisiraang-puri
dahil sa akin. 23 Magsaya kayo at lubos na magalak sa araw na iyon sapagkat
malaki ang inyong gantimpalang nasa Diyos; gayundin ang ginawa ng kanilang mga
ninuno sa mga propeta.
24 Ngunit sawimpalad kayong mayayaman
sapagkat tinatamasa na ninyo ang inyong ginhawa! 25 Sawimpalad kayong mga busog
ngayon sapagkat magugutom kayo! Sawimpalad kayong humahalakhak ngayon sapagkat
magluluksa kayo’t iiyak!
26 Sawimpalad kayo kapag pinag-uusapan kayo nang mabuti ng lahat ng tao dahil ganoon din ang ginawa ng kanilang mga ninuno sa mga bulaang propeta.
His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?” Still he asked them, “How many loaves do you have? They replied, “Seven.” He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd.
They also had a few fish. He said the blessing over them and ordered them distributed also. They ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets. There were about four thousand people.
He dismissed the crowd and got into the
boat with his disciples and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
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Reflection:
What kind of God is Jesus? He is a God of compassion and mercy, Jesus feels our loneliness when we are lonely. Jesus cries with us when we cry. Jesus feels the heavy load that we carry when we are so burdened by it. Does this feeling of compassion and mercy stops with Jesus empathy? No, Jesus never stops of thinking of ways on how He can lighten the burdens that we carry.
We see this deep compassion and mercy of Jesus in our gospel today. When Jesus saw the crowd who had been following them for days He had deep compassion for them for they were already hungry and tired. And His mercy and compassion led Him to think on how He could feed them.
So Jesus asked His disciples for whatever food that they may have and out of seven loaves and few fish Jesus miraculously multiplied it to feed almost four thousand. This is how merciful and compassionate Jesus is to those who follow Him.
What does this gospel tell us? This tells us that we will never go hungry the moment we decide to faithfully follow Jesus! Jesus will never let us go hungry for He will take care of our food and He will take care of our needs. This may be hard to believe for others but this is very true! Jesus provides for those who faithfully follow Him.
Are you a faithful follower of Jesus? –
Marino J. Dasmarinas
4 Sumagot ang kanyang mga alagad: “At paano naman makakakuha ng tinapay para pakainin sila sa ilang na ito?” 5 Tinanong sila ni Jesus: “Ilan bang tinapay meron kayo?” Sumagot sila: “Pito.”
6 Pinaupo ni Jesus sa lupa ang mga tao, kinuha ang pitong tinapay at nagpasalamat sa Diyos. Pinagpira-piraso niya ang mga ito at ibinigay sa kanyang mga alagad para ihain; at inihain nila ang mga ito sa mga tao. 7 Meron din silang ilang isda. Binasbasan ito ni Jesus at iniutos na ihain din ang mga ito.
8 Kumain
sila at nabusog at inipon ang mga natirang pira-piraso – pitong bayong.
9 Apat na libo ang naroon, at saka sila pinauwi ni Jesus. 10 Agad
siyang sumakay sa bangka kasama ang kanyang mga alagad at pumunta sa lupain ng
Dalmanuta.
He put his finger into the man’s ears and,
spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said
to him, “Ephphatha!”— that is, “Be opened!” — And immediately the man’s ears
were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. He
ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more
they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has
done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
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Reflection:
The story is told about a man who was diagnosed to have a terminal sickness, of course he was bothered, who would not be? But the man had great faith in Jesus so he earnestly prayed for his healing. He went to Mass everyday, he prayed the rosary regularly and he read his bible fervently.
As the days, weeks and months passed by there was observable decline on his physical appearance. But those around him noticed also the increase in his faith and confidence in Jesus. They’ve noticed the peacefulness and calmness that he exudes so unlikely of a dying man.
We are presented in the gospel a story of physical healing, a deaf man was able to speak again through the healing power of Jesus. With the help of those around him the deaf man was brought closer to Jesus. After which he begged Jesus to lay His hand on him.
Jesus took the man away from the crowd. And in the stillness of the environment Jesus groaned and said, “Ephphatha!” which means be opened. The man was immediately healed, he was able to hear and speak once again.
Eventually, everyone of us will get sick and everyone of us will also pray for physical healing from Jesus. But not all of us would experience physical healing like what the deaf man experienced in the gospel. Some of us would experience deep spiritual healing, the same spiritual healing that the terminally sick man in our story received from Jesus.
We must therefore take steps also to get
closer and build a relationship with Jesus. Let us take the initiative and do
it by ourselves now. Let us not wait for the time to come that we will go to
the Lord because we are already in dire need of Him. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
33 Matapos siyang ihiwalay ni Jesus sa mga tao, inilagay niya ang kanyang daliri sa tainga ng tao at dumura at saka hinipo ang kanyang dila. 34 At tumingala siya sa langit, nagbuntung-hininga at sinabi: “Ephphata,” na ang ibig sabihi’y “Buksan”. 35 Nabuksan ang mga tainga ng tao at biglang nakalag ang dila niyang nakabuhol kaya nakapagsalita siya nang tuwid.
36 Tinagubilinan
sila ni Jesus na huwag sabihin ito kaninuman ngunit habang pinagbabawalan sila,
lalo naman silang nagpapahayag. 37 Labis na namangha ang mga tao at sinabi
nila: “Pinaiigi niya ang lahat: nakaririnig ang bingi at nakapagsasalita ang
pipi.”
He said to her, “Let the children be fed
first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the
dogs.” She replied and said to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat
the children’s scraps.” Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go. The
demon has gone out of your daughter.” When the woman went home, she found the
child lying in bed and the demon gone.
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Reflection:
What is the key for us to have what we want from Jesus?
It’s persistence, if we think that Jesus doesn’t hear our prayers, we should continue to beg Him to grant us what want. We should never give up because giving up is a sign of our lack of faith in Jesus.
The Syrophoenician woman in our gospel never gave up on her prayer request even if she was already being tested by Jesus. She persisted and humbly beg Jesus to cure her daughter possessed by the devil. Eventually her persistence bore fruit for when she went home she found out that her daughter was not anymore possessed by the devil.
As we continue our journey in this temporal world, we surely will be facing a lot of problematic situations. Let us not let these disappointing events bring us down and let us not let these situations separate us from Jesus. The more we encounter trials in our lives the more that we go persistently to Jesus for help.
For it’s only Jesus and it’s only through Jesus that we would be able to survive the many trials and tribulations in this world. What if for example we persistently pray to Jesus for help and he does not help us? What are we going to do? We simply have to continue to pray and have faith, the more that we are ignored by the Lord the more that we have to pray and have faith.
How’s your faith in the Lord? – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
27 Sinabi naman ni Jesus sa kanya: “Bayaan mo munang mabusog ang mga anak. Hindi tama na kunin ang tinapay sa mga bata at itapon ito sa mga tuta.” 28 Sumagot ang babae: “Totoo nga, Ginoo, pero kinakain ng mga tuta sa ilalim ng mesa ang mga nalalaglag mula sa mga bata.” 29 At sinabi sa kanya ni Jesus: “Dahil sa sinabi mong ito, lumabas na sa iyong anak na babae ang demonyo.” 30 Kaya umuwi ang babae at nakita niya ang bata na nakahiga sa kama; lumabas na nga ang demonyo.
When he got home away from the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable. He said to them, “Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)
“But what comes out of the man, that is
what defiles him. From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts,
unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness,
envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they
defile.”
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Reflection:
Where does the desire to commit sin emanates? It first emanates from within us. It begins when we think about it and if we don’t stop thinking about our desire to commit sin it slowly progresses. Until we actually give flesh to our desire to sin by actually doing it.
For example, the desire of a husband/wife to betray their marriage vows. He/she starts by thinking about it and when she/he sees that the situation is conducive to commit the act of sin/betrayal. The spouse will now succumb to commit this immoral sin. Therefore, the desire to commit sin originates from within us first.
How then could we avoid sin? We pray to Jesus and ask His help to exterminate whatever sinful desires that we have in our minds. Then we also have to do our part by taking action to rid ourselves of the desire to sin and by confronting the sin and stepping on it so that it would die. Because if we pray yet our actions are not according to what we have been praying for we would still commit sin sooner or later. As the saying goes God help those who help themselves.
But come to think of it, why do we commit sin? The simple answer is we don’t take our faith in Jesus seriously this is the reason why we commit sin when we want to commit it. Are we not tired yet of sinning? Are we not tired yet of mortgaging our lives to the devil? When we continuously mortgage our lives to the devil through sin, there is the danger that we may not anymore be able to get out of it!
It’s about time that we change this cycle
of sin, it’s about time that we rid ourselves of any sinful thoughts and
desires. It’s about time that we free ourselves from any problems and complication
brought about by sin. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
17 Pagkalayo
ni Jesus sa mga tao, nang nasa bahay na siya, tinanong siya ng kanyang mga
alagad tungkol sa talinhagang ito. 18 At sinabi niya: “Wala rin ba kayong
pang-unawa? Hindi ba ninyo nauunawaan na sa bituka pumupunta ang anumang
pumapasok sa tao mula sa labas? 19 Sapagkat hindi sa puso ito pumapasok
kundi sa tiyan at pagkatapos ay itinatapon sa labas.” (Sa gayo’y sinabi
niya na malinis ang tanang mga pagkain.)
20 At
idinagdag niya: “Ang lumalabas sa tao ang nagpaparumi sa tao. 21 Sa puso
nga ng tao nagmumula ang masasamang hangarin – kahalayan, pagnanakaw, pagpatay
sa kapwa, 22 pakikiapid, kasakiman, kasamaan, pandaraya, kalaswaan,
pagkainggit, paninira, kapalaluan, kabuktutan. 23 Ang masasamang bagay na
ito ang nagpaparumi sa tao.
And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.) So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?” He responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:
This people honors me with their lips, but
their hearts are far from me; In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines
human precepts. You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”
He went on to say, “How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order
to uphold your tradition! For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother,
and Whoever curses father or mother shall die. Yet you say, ‘If someone says to
father or mother, “Any support you might have had from me is qorban”’ (meaning,
dedicated to God), you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother.
You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on.
And you do many such things.”
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Reflection:
Are you very strict with the observance of your customs and traditions?
The Pharisees were very particular of their customs/traditions they follow it to the letter. So, when they saw that Jesus’ disciples ate their meals without washing their hands—they told Jesus about it.
They said to Jesus: “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?" and Jesus told them: You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition." He went on to say, "How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition!
We see that Jesus puts more weight on the commandments of God more than their traditions the interior rather than the exterior, the inside conversion rather than the fake exterior observance of their laws.
The conversion that Jesus desires for us is one that involves change of our hearts and mindsets. For example, from indulging in sin we now try our very best to avoid sin. From staying in an environment where we’ve sinned, we now completely walk away from that environment and so on. For Jesus, what matters most is not our external acts but our internal conversion and renewal. - Marino J. Dasmarinas
5 Kaya
tinanong siya ng mga Pariseo at mga guro ng Batas: “Bakit hindi isinasabuhay
ng iyong mga alagad ang tradisyon ng mga ninuno? Hindi nga sila naghuhugas ng
kamay bago kumain.”
6 At sinabi sa kanila ni Jesus: “Tama ang propesiya ni Isaias tungkol sa inyong mga mapagkunwari. Nasusulat na “Pinararangalan ako ng mga ito sa kanilang labi, at malayo naman sa akin ang kanilang mga puso. 7 Walang silbi ang kanilang pagsamba sa akin at kautusan lamang ng tao ang kanilang itinuturo.”
8 Pinabayaan nga ninyo ang utos ng Diyos para itatag ang tradisyon ng mga tao.” 9 At sinabi ni Jesus: “Mahusay na pinawalang-bisa ninyo ang salita ng Diyos para tuparin ang inyong tradisyon. 10 Sinabi nga ni Moises: ‘Igalang mo ang iyong ama at ina’, at ‘patayin ang sinumang sumumpa sa kanyang ama o ina.’ 11 Ngunit ayon sa inyo, masasabi ninuman sa kanyang ama o ina, “Inilaan ko na para sa Templo ang maaasahan ninyo sa akin.”
12 At hindi na ninyo siya pinapayagang tumulong sa kanyang ama o ina. 13 Kaya pinawalang-bisa ninyo ang salita ng Diyos sa tulong ng sarili ninyong tradisyon. At marami pa ang mga ginagawa ninyong ganito.”
Whatever villages or towns or countryside
he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they
might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were
healed.
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Reflection:
The story is told about a man who was sick with cancer that asked the Lord, “Why am I suffering Lord”? I can’t bear my sickness anymore and I can’t bear the pain of going through the procedure of chemotherapy anymore.”
In the gospel, those who were able to touch the tassel of Jesus’ cloak were very fortunate for they received healing in return. It speaks volumes of their faith and the power of Jesus.
But not everyone who has faith is healed. There are those who have faith but they continue to suffer from their sickness. Sometimes it may baffle us why they physically suffer considering that they also have faith that they also love Jesus.
The healing that Jesus gives us is not always physical, oftentimes its spiritual which means that we're given the grace to accept our physical sickness and the grace to completely surrender our life to the great power and mercy of Jesus.
There are people who are still happy in spite of their physical sickness for they’ve learned to offer to God their suffering. They’ve learned that the suffering that they’re undergoing is nothing compared to the suffering that Jesus went through.
There will come a time that we will also get sick and will suffer as well. Let us never forget to offer our suffering/s to Jesus. Let us ask Jesus to help us endure our suffering/sickness. Though it may be difficult, let us learn to accept it and continue to have that enormous faith in the Lord.
How’s your faith in the Lord? – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
