Reflections of Faith
Read and be inspired by a reflection based on today's Gospel made by members of the Verbum Dei Family in Manila.
3/6/2018
Daily Guidelines: Mar. 6, 2018March 6, 2018 – Tuesday Mt 18:21-35 Forgive! Forgive! Forgive!In the Gospel, Jesus told Peter that he should forgive his brother who sinned against him not only by seven times but seventy-seven times. Jesus described the King of the kingdom of heaven as a king full of mercy. Whatever amount you owe to the king, as long as you beg for mercy, His compassion is so big that he will let you go and forgive your debt as long as you are compassionate and merciful to your brother who sinned against you.
Forgiveness is one of the important key as we journey this season of Lent—just as Jesus shows forgiveness as he goes through his passion. Forgiveness is an act of love. Forgiveness will make our hearts at peace. We all want to live a happy and peaceful life but we cannot attain total happiness and peace if we don’t know how to forgive. This time is the season to forgive those who need forgiveness and strive for happiness and peace in our hearts as we continue to journey this Lenten season. The invitation for us is that we ourselves reflect how merciful and compassionate our God is and put into our hearts the forgiveness we have received and testify to others how merciful and compassionate our God is. Through this, total happiness and peace will not stay only as an idea but will be a reality.
3/5/2018
Daily Guidelines: Mar. 5, 2018March 5, 2018 - Monday Lk 4:24-30 Jesus Wants to be at Home in Our HeartSJesus in the synagogue at Nazareth said to the people that no prophet is ever accepted in his own native place like Elijah and Elisha. Jesus also who is a native of Nazareth was also rejected by the people of his own native place.
Jesus really wants to be at home in our hearts because your hearts and mine is his own native place, even though he knows that he might be rejected, still he tries in every moment to remain in our hearts. Maybe our reason for not accepting Jesus in our hearts is that many times we don’t want to listen to the truth because it is hard to accept. The invitation of Jesus is for us to listen to Him. Listen to everything He wants to say to us and welcome Him into our hearts. God is saying to us all the things and all the truth we need to know. Sometimes we are thinking that we might not able to bear it but let’s trust God and let him live inside our hearts and he will be the one to give us strength so that we will become free and we continue our mission as disciples: to knock each and everyone’s hearts so that they will welcome Jesus.
3/4/2018
Daily Guidelines: Mar. 4, 2018March 4, 2018 Sunday Gospel: JN 2:13-25 Jesus Is On Fire!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. Jesus is on fire not because of his anger but because of His devotion, as written in Psalm "My devotion to your Temple burns in me like a fire".
What is God's temple by the way? Saint Paul said, we ourselves are God's temple. Like Jesus, are we on fire to clean and purify this temple? Today, we are invited to renew our hearts and let Jesus reign in us, destroy the old and Jesus will raise it up. Jesus knows us. To whom can we trust more this life we have but to the one who understands us better than ourselves, Jesus?
3/3/2018
Daily Guidelines: Mar. 3, 2018March 3, 2018 Saturday Gospel : LK 15:1-3, 11-32 He was Lost and has been foundToday's gospel is the famous parable of the prodigal son, we may say that we have already read it for many times but what if, we take one step backward from it and ask why did Jesus shared this parable in the first place? It is written that Jesus addressed it to the Pharisees and scribes who complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." Therefore, the core message of the parable is in this complain itself - welcoming the sinners and eating with them. Now, the main question for us is this, "Are we welcoming the sinners or rejecting them? Are we eating with them or excluding them?"
God loves us so much that he will run for us, despite of our indifference with others, may we love like Him so that we may say the same words of Jesus, "Now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found."
3/2/2018
Daily Guidelines: Mar. 2, 2018March 2, 2018 Friday 1st Reading: Gn 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a FastingOne brother said "let us kill him," the other said "throw him in the desert," while the last brother said "let us sell him." Joseph, not having the slightest idea of what his brothers were plotting to him, went to them. Let us reflect on this. Walking on this season of Lent, we are invited by the Church to abstain and fast, but not only from physical food, but also from our negative emotions, like what the brothers felt in the reading--anger, jealousy and greed.
Are we still walking on the right path, or we are turning on the other way? Let us identify these negative feelings we experience today, accept them, and bring them to the hands of God. Our God who is merciful, understanding and forgiving.
3/1/2018
Daily Guidelines: Mar. 1, 2018March 1, 2018 Thursday Gospel : LK 16:19-31 Why are you doing what you are doing?Jesus' parable today invites us to labor our talents not to build our own kingdom but the kingdom of God, not only to develop our own selves but the overlooked, not for our own security but for the many Lazarus of the world of today. Today is not much about giving or serving, but refocusing our motivation.
Let us reflect today our "why"--check our motivations--while having in our heart what Abraham said to the rich man in the gospel "My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented."
2/28/2018
Daily Guidelines: Feb. 28, 2018February 28, 2018 Wednesday Gospel : MT 20:17-28 Serve and LoveEach one of us is a "leader" in some way at some point--in politics, business, work, family or at class. Jesus today is reminding us that He came in this world not to be served but to serve, and in our pursue of living like Christ, we are called to do the same. What is one thing we can do today to serve our people? One concrete step could be preparing a coffee for our office guards or maintenance staff, cooking a meal for our siblings, or as simple as telling to a person what is good about them today. A smile can also be a powerful way to serve.
Serve and love, "do not wait for leaders, do it alone, person to person" - Mother Teresa of Calcutta
2/27/2018
Daily Guidelines: Feb. 27, 2018February 27, 2018 Tuesday
Gospel : MT 23:1-12 The Greatest Among You Must Be Your ServantWe all want to be great. We all imagined ourselves on the peek of success, where all look up on us, seek wisdom from us and praise us. But is that really the picture of greatness? Jesus flips that image upside down in today's Gospel. Saying that "The greatest among you must be your servant." Must. It's a necessity, an obligation that if we do not fulfill then we are not the greatest person in the room. God calls all of us to serve, therefore to be great, in His standards.
Today's invitation is simple: Be a servant.
2/26/2018
Daily Guidelines: Feb. 26, 2018February 26, 2018 Monday
Gospel : LK 6:36-38 Another ChanceToday is another day, but would it be that "another day" again? Where we judge people we meet by their appearance? Where we play the finger-pointing game? Where we cannot forgive those who wrong us?
Jesus is inviting us to see today as "another chance." Chance to change the gears of how we see and live. From judging to understanding. From hoarding to giving. Give and gifts will be given to you. But mind you, give more not because you know you will receive more, but give more simply because that's how you love more. "For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you." Today is another chance to love anew.
2/25/2018
Daily Guidelines: Feb. 25, 2018February 25, 2018 Sunday
Gospel : Mark 9:2-10 TransfigurationThe Transfiguration revealed Christ divine nature. Just like his baptism at the Jordan River, the heavenly voice proclaims that Jesus is the beloved Son of God.
“Listen to him!” (Mark9:7), this time it is a word addressed to his disciples. To them, witnessing the event was an intense spiritual experience! They saw Jesus transfigured and heard the voice of the Father! Distracted and confused from what they heard from Jesus about his suffering, death and resurrection. This encounter sealed their faith. How about our own experience of transfiguration? Only a profound personal encounter with Jesus will display that dazzling enthusiasm and joy in us. How about making your own project of life based on the four exercises - daily personal prayer, fraternal life, carrying your cross and missions? This lent is a good opportunity to live it out. |
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