Do Good because God praises you for doing it.

 Gospel text (Jn 5:31-47): Jesus said to the Jews: “If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true. But there is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true. You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth. I do not accept human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light. But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form, and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf. But you do not want to come to me to have life.

“I do not accept human praise; moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me; yet if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: the one who will accuse you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Reflection:

In this Gospel, Jesus emphasize that a testimony about us should be from different person and not you yourself. If you do a testimony about yourself you will surely give what is favorable to you. You will surely make it more convincing and even add some descriptive words that can exagerate. In short, bias. So, we must allow other people to testify for us. On the other hand, Jesus emphasize also that we only accept praise from God. How can you get the praises from God? By doing good deeds. Everytime you do something good, God always praises you.

Solemnity of St. Joseph

 Gospel text (Mt 1:16.18-21.24a): Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.

Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.

Reflection:

Todays Gospel is about the solemnity of St. Joseph as husband of Mother Mary. We know that this kind of conception through the Holy Spirit is no longer to happen. This is the only conception through the Holy Spirit - The conception of Jesus, the son of God. However, this is somewhat like a responsibility given to guided by the Holy Spirit. A responsibility that sometime we coudn't believe it is true. A responsibility that is given to us that we coudn't believe we can do. We even wanted to let it go but the Holy Spirit will always there to let you take the responsibility and accept it. So, never worry to accept anything that is given to us by God because He is there to help us through the Holy Spirit.

If you are not with me, you are against me

 Gospel text (Lk 11:14-23): Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed. Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.

But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

Reflection:

The Gospel is really clear as regards to take side with Jesus. He said that If a person is not with Jesus is against him. This applies to everyday life. The people who are not with us are against us. So, we must be careful in keeping neutral because whoever is not with God is against God. Jesus who is the son of God tells us this. We must stand for God in what whatever situation.

Forgive Seventy Seven Times

 Gospel text (Mt 18:21-35): Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.

That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”

Reflection:

The Gospel today says we must forgive seventy seven times. The emphasis of this Jesus in this Gospel we must forgive one another. It is very hard to forgive a person who keeps on doing wrong against us. As human, we could hardly forgive the second time around because we extended already the first time the person done wrong against us. If the person commits wrong against us for the second time around, it means his or her remorse is not serious. We can only forgive a person if that person is truly remorseful of what he/she had done wrong against us.

"No prophet is accepted in his own native place"

 Gospel text (Lk 4:24-30): Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth: “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

Reflection:

"No prophet is accepted in his own native place." In this Gospel, it is clear that Jesus himself manifests that we cannot be accepted in our native place. That is why some if not all leaders for a place usually came from the outside of the place. However, there are some who is also accepted but may be a place who really wanted to have leaders who grows in the place as the person really familiar and knows the problems to be solved in that particular place. But we will no longer wonder what is the reason why certain person cannot be accepted in that place. He may be a native that is not acceptable in his own land. 

'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'

 Gospel text (Mt 21:33-43.45-46): Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: “Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey. When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’ They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?”

They answered him, “He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times.” Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes’? Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them. And although they were attempting to arrest him, they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.

Reflection:

In this Gospel, Jesus threw again a parable about the tenant who rejected their landlord. This reflects us being we rejected Jesus. As the son of God, He had a perfect life in Heaven and yet He went to the earth just to rescue us from sinfulness. What Jesus did was really a sacrifice just to join us in this earth and experience being human. Our Father in heaven gives us all the blessings, however, we abused it and never give back to Him. When the Father, sent His son to us we never treated Jesus as the messiah and the son of God. We even mocked and crucified Him. So, whatever blessings Jesus gives to us, we must return it to God. For the kingdom of God is for those who return the fruits we bear back to heaven.

Be a servant first before you'll be Great

 Gospel text (Mt 20:17-28): As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve [disciples] aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached him 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 cup that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We can.” He replied, “My cup 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.”

Reflection:

Some of us wanted to be great. We have innate desire to lead and be great. However, this ambition of ours may or may not come true. In the gospel, the mother of the two brothers personally asked Jesus that whenever Jesus will be at the kingdom, the mother wanted them to sit beside Jesus. This means that our future is not ours to decide. It is God's. God alone can determine our future. But, in the last paragraph of the Gospel it says, "Whoever wishes to be great shall be a servant, whoever wishes to first among you shall be your slave." We must serve one another in order to come to the Kingdom of God.

Humble Yourself

 Gospel text (Mt 23:1-12): Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens [hard to carry] and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’

As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Reflection:

In todays Gospel, we have heard that Jesus discourage anyone to be called "Father" because we have only one Father in heaven. Almost all of us wants honor and fame. We even wanted to be called the father of all. If anyone call us the father we must live the responsibilities that attached to it. Until now, we still called anyone the father even if Jesus discourage it thousands of years ago. And that is nowadays we call anyone "Father", aside from being father of the family because of we have done greatness in contribution to humanity. In order to achieve greatness we must humble ourselves.

Jesus Changes the Commandment

 Gospel text (Mt 5:20-26): Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny”.

Reflection:

In this Gospel, the command of Jesus is very hard. In the old commandment saying "Thou shall not kill" is very easy to follow because killing by nature is bad. We have our moral values not to kill and that is innate in every human being. While getting angry to people that commits something bad to us is also normal in humans. But Jesus is changing "Thou shall not kill into by just merely getting angry to others. Getting angry to others is not easy to hold. It is very easy not killing a person who stole a mobile phone from us but surely you get angry with him/her. We should pray always to extend a patience to everyone that surrounded us.

Ask, Seek, & Knock (A.S.K.)

 Gospel text (Mt 7:7-12): Jesus said to his disciples; “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him. “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets.”

Reflection:

In this Gospel, Jesus specify that whatever you need ask, seek, and knock. With these three words God will provide. Jesus promise these three so we need to claim it so that whatever you ask in prayer it will given to you. Just pray continuously.