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Reflection:
Do you have regular solemn moments of reflection in your life? Solemn moment of reflections concerning your relationship with God, your family and an honest to goodness assessment of your life’s true purpose in this world.
Jesus had those solemn moments, every now and then He would go to the mountain primarily to pray and commune with God. Then after His private moments in the mountain He would make important decisions. In the gospel, after going to the mountain He called and appointed the twelve apostles.
We should also have our own private moments with God for us to reflect and know our deeper purpose in this fragile world. We should not allow ourselves to be eaten by the frenetic pace of this world. Otherwise before we know it we are not anymore in touch with God and God has no more say in our life. This is very dangerous because the moment that God is not anymore in our life that’s also when the devil comes in to temp and eventually destroy our life.
We therefore must always allocate our
daily private moments with God. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Ito ang
labindalawang hinirang niya: Si Simon na tinagurian niya ng Pedro, Si Santiago
at si Juan, na mga anak ni Zebedeo, sila’y tinagurian niyang Boanerges, na ibig
sabihi’y mapupusok; sina Andres, Felipe, Bartolome, Mateo, Santiago na anak ni
Alfeo, at Tadeo; si Simon na makabayan, at si Judas Iscariote na siyang
nagkanulo sa kanya.
He told his disciples to have a boat ready
for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. He had cured
many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch
him. And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and
shout, "You are the Son of God." He warned them sternly not to make
him known.
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Reflection:
Why do you follow Jesus? Many were pressing themselves towards Jesus because of His healing touch. Do we also follow Jesus for the reason of the miracles that we can receive from Him? But it’s not all the time that Jesus would heal us. There would be times that we will still be sick no matter how hard we push ourselves towards Jesus.
Let us not lose faith in Jesus even if He doesn’t heal us physically because the Lord has His own reasons. Perhaps it’s a test of our faith; perhaps Jesus wants us to journey with Him in His suffering towards Calvary. The more that healing seems elusive that more that we must intensely follow Jesus.
How about the miraculous healings of Jesus? Does Jesus wants His miraculous healings publicized? No! Jesus would never want publicity from His miracles and healings. The more that His actions are unknown the more the He likes it, the more that He is not given credit the more that He appreciates it.
This is attributed to Jesus’ Humility and Self-effacing behavior. Let us therefore forget about prestige and honor and let us not fret if we are not given honor for the things that we do. It’s already enough that we do silent acts of kindness with no one noticing it.
Would you want to emulating the humility
and self-effacing attitude of Jesus? - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Nagpahanda
si Jesus sa kanyang mga alagad ng isang bangkang magagamit niya, upang hindi
siya maipit ng mga taong dumaragsa. Marami na siyang pinagaling, kaya't
pinagdumugan siya ng lahat ng maysakit upang mahipo man lamang nila. Bawat
inaalihan ng masamang espiritu na makakita sa kanya ay nagpapatirapa sa harapan
niya at sumisigaw, "Ikaw ang Anak ng Diyos!" At mahigpit silang
pinagbawalan ni Jesus; ayaw niyang ipasabi kung sino siya.
But they remained silent. Looking around
at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, Jesus said to the
man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against
him to put him to death.
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Reflection:
Do you always help when you see somebody in need of help or you sometimes make excuses so that you would not be obliged to help? Like, pretending not to see anyone who is in need of your help. For example you see a poor man who is in dire need of help, what are you going to do to that poor man? Pretend not to see his obvious need of help?
When Jesus went to the synagogue there was this man with a withered hand. He did not ask Jesus for help but Jesus knew that he needed help so Jesus called him and right there Jesus restored his withered hand.
All of us also encounter people who are in need of our help. Perhaps many of us simply pretend not to see them for we don’t want to be disturbed. But there are those who would proactively go out of their way to give help even if they are not asked and these people are like Jesus and they have the heart of Jesus.
Let us always be proactive when we give help and let us always be sensitive to their needs. For there really are people who will not ask for help even if they obviously need help. They will simply leave everything in the hands of God and keep silent in the midst of their agony and distress. Therefore, we must do something to help them. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Tinawag ni Jesus ang lalaking patay ang kamay: "Halika rito sa unahan!" Tinanong niya pagkatapos ang mga tao, "Alin ba ang ayon sa Kautusan: ang gumawa ng mabuti o gumawa ng masama sa Araw ng Pamamahinga? Magligtas ng buhay o pumatay?"Ngunit hindi sila sumagot.
Habang
tinitingnan ni Jesus ang mga nasa paligid niya, galit at lungkot ang nabadha sa
kanyang mukha, dahil sa katigasan ng kanilang ulo. Bumaling siya sa lalaki at
sinabi, "Iunat mo ang iyong kamay." Iniunat naman ng lalaki ang
kanyang kamay at ito'y gumaling. Umalis ang mga Pariseo at nakipagsabwatan sa
mga kampon ni Herodes upang ipapatay si Jesus.
How he went into the house of God when
Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests
could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them,
“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of
Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
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Reflection:
What would be your stand if you are made to choose between the observance of the law or the lawful need of your fellowmen? Jesus gives us a clear choice, for Him it’s always the primary need of our fellowmen. As exemplified by His mention of David who violated the Sabbath to address their need to satisfy their hunger.
Rules and laws are created to create order and to prevent chaos. But there are times that it’s disregarded for a much higher and noble purpose. If the welfare of our fellowmen are at stake their interest must come first. This is what we must always follow and we must also not create rules to serve our own selfish ends.
For example, in a family setting, parents would normally have rules for their children to follow. However, we should always be amenable to bend these rules no matter how stringent. We do this if there is a valid need or reason. Stringent rules can also be bent when parents want to show that they love their children more than the implementation of their house rules.
Jesus is a compassionate God, He would not
mind if we violate religious rules for so long as there is a higher and noble
purpose. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
Sinagot sila ni Jesus, "Hindi pa ba ninyo nababasa ang ginawa ni David noong si Abitar ang pinakapunong saserdote? Nang siya at kanyang mga kasama'y magutom at walang makain, pumasok siya sa bahay ng Diyos at kumain ng tinapay na handog sa Diyos. Ayon sa Kautusan, ang mga saserdote lamang ang may karapatang kumain niyon, ngunit kinain iyon ni David, at binigyan pa ang kanyang mga kasama.
Sinabi
pa ni Jesus, "Itinakda ang Araw ng Pamamahinga para sa kabutihan ng tao;
hindi nilikha ang tao para sa Araw ng Pamamahinga. Kaya't maging ang Araw ng
Pamamahinga ay nasa ilalim ng kapangyarihan ng Anak ng Tao."
But the days will come when the bridegroom
is taken away from them and then they will fast on that day. No one sews a
piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away,
the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. Likewise, no one pours new wine
into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine
and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”
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Reflection:
What is a wineskin? A wineskin is a dried goat or sheep’s skin used as a container for wine this is perhaps the equivalent of wine bottle or wine drum today. What is the relevance of the new wineskin which represents Jesus?
By our sinfulness we become the old wine that is not fit to be poured into the new wineskin. But if we desire to be poured into the new wineskin we have to decide to leave behind our old sinful lives.
Thus we become new wine that is very much appropriate for the new wineskin. And the moment we are poured into this new wineskin we become secure. In other words the new wineskin which is Jesus Himself becomes our security blanket. Jesus is always offering Himself to us so that we can have a new life in this world. What He only asks from us is to leave behind our sinfulness.
Has sin done us any good? No it did no
good to us and it will never do good to us in the future! We therefore have to
leave it behind so that we could journey in this world hand in hand with our
new wineskin and our security blanket which is none other than Jesus. -
Marino J. Dasmarinas
"Walang
nagtatagpi ng bagong kayo sa lumang kasuutan; pag urong ng bagong kayo,
mababatak ang luma at lalong lalaki ang punit. Wala rin namang nagsisilid ng
bagong alak sa lumang sisidlang-balat. Kapwa masasayang ang alak at ang
sisidlan. Bagong alak, bagong sisidlang-balat!"
And whoever
receives one child such as this in my name receives me. “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.”
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Reflection:
Why did the disciples ask Jesus: “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” Were they expecting that Jesus would tell them that they’re the greatest in the kingdom of heaven because they are His disciples?
Instead, Jesus called a child and said: “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3-4)
The key that can unlock for us the kingdom of heaven is the humility of a child that we must always emulate. The key that can invite the grace of the Holy Spirit upon us is the same childlike humility.
It’s no brainer to ask why a child and not an adult? Unlike adults, children have the simplest and purest minds. Children are not tainted by any form of sin and they are docile humble and obedient. Adults like us are sinful we defy God’s commandments to satisfy our whims and caprices.
Life nowadays is not easy as well many of our children today are also more exposed to poverty than before. We just need to open our eyes wide and we would see it. What intervention can we do to help these children? - Marino J. Dasmarinas
Ang sinumang nagpapakababa na gaya ng
batang ito ay siyang pinakadakila sa mga pinaghaharian ng Diyos. Ang sinumang
tumatanggap sa isang batang ganito dahil sa akin ay ako ang tinatanggap.
“Ingatan ninyo na huwag hamakin ang isa sa maliliit na ito. Sinasabi ko sa inyo: sa langit, ang kanilang mga anghel ay laging nasa harapan ng aking Ama.”
I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel. John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him.
I did
not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On
whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will
baptize with the Holy Spirit. Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son
of God.”
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Reflection:
Would we be willing to give our life so that others may live? Jesus did that for us, He gave His very life on the cross so that we may live and have life. What have we given Jesus in return? Have we thought of silently helping the poor and unwanted which Jesus always represent?
We often have this me and myself mentality; me first, myself first before the wellbeing of others. But Jesus did not think of Himself first, it was us first and never Himself otherwise He would not have freely given His life on the cross.
Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world as John the Baptist referred Him to be in our gospel. Let us not simply forget this ultimate sacrifice of Jesus by doing nothing, by not helping the poor and unwanted. We have to do something good for them no matter how small or insignificant for this is our responsibility.
Just imagine the good that we will be doing if we would help the poor and unwanted. What we do to the poor and unwanted we do to Jesus. We help the poor we help Jesus, we give water and food to the poor and unwanted we give it to Jesus. Let us never worry for whatever help that we silently give to the poor Jesus will give back to us in manifold ways.
Have you silently given help to the poor? - Marino J.
Dasmarinas
