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.
6/10/2018
Daily Guidelines: June 10, 2018June 10, 2018 – Sunday
Mark 3:20-35 Today’s gospel mentions a lot about division--separated families, discrepancy of beliefs that cause conflict, broken relationships . . . Division is a reality that most of us have seen and perhaps experienced in our lives.
Today, we can examine ourselves: What is it that perhaps creates conflict within me and triggers division among the people around me? What shatters my life and my relationship with God? What separates me from others? There are certain situations, attitudes, people in our lives by which we feel broken and through which we unconsciously cause division and conflict. Today, we can come to Jesus, our model of oneness and source of strength, and place in His hands ourselves and our situations that need wholeness and healing. There is nothing that he cannot be back in its right place and make whole again. #PrayVD
6/9/2018
Daily Guidelines: June 9, 2018Jue 9, 2018 – Saturday Luke 2:41-51 In the Father’s houseMary and Joseph’s experience in today’s gospel could be our own. We sometimes lose sight of Jesus and when we recognize this, we tremble and try to look for him. Jesus knows we can experience the same and so he tells us now where to exactly find Him.
“Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" The Father’s house is more than just a physical structure. It is the Eucharist; also the Word of God that Jesus was praying about and listening to when he was found in the temple. Sometimes, our hearts seem hard to recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread and grasp him through the Word of God. In those moments, we can ask our Mother to give us her immaculate heart so we can always encounter Jesus in the Father’s house – pondering, always trusting, treasuring everything even if many times she could not understand. #PrayVD
6/8/2018
Daily Guidelines: June 8, 2018June 8, 2018 – Friday
John 19:31-37 Pierced but not brokenHave you experienced loving yet getting hurt in return? You are not alone, for Jesus experienced the same. Ever since, his heart had been radiating hope, mercy, faith, and compassion to the people he encountered. However, some of these people were the ones who pierced his heart when he was denied, persecuted, accused, and put to death.
To love is to risk getting pierced. And sometimes, experiences like this hold us back from loving again. Our hearts are hardened when we experience rejection from others. Yet, today, we are invited to continue loving and draw strength from the Sacred Heart of Jesus – to the heart that many times were pierced by our sins yet was never broken – so we can go to Him and He can fix our own brokenness. Sacred Heart of Jesus, make us courageous so we can risk to love like you. Amen. #PrayVD
6/7/2018
Daily Guidelines: June 7, 2018June 7, 2018 – Thursday
Mark 12:28-34 Love as I have lovedHow much do you love God? What if he loves you as much as you love him? Good thing, this is not the case!
God has given us his love freely and he desires that we, too, love him just as he loves us – with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength – and love others as we love ourselves. This is not only the greatest commandment, but expresses also the greatest dream God has for each of his beloveds. Perhaps, loving God the way he wants us to love him does not guarantee that we will never make mistakes as Christians. But surely, this will help us see hope and compassion when we fall into temptations. Our love for God will move us to strive to love as he loved, and live as he lives. It may be tough, but surely, God’s love got us! In what concrete ways God is inviting you to love Him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength? #PrayVD
6/6/2018
Daily Guidelines: June 6, 2018June 6, 2018 – Wednesday
Mark 12:18-27 Truth is not easy to define for us. What is real to a person may not always be real for another. Yet, however we define it, we decide and live each day based on the things we believe are true. We eat breakfast because we believe in the truth that it will help us get through all the day. We ride a jeepney because we believe that it will bring us to our destination faster than walking.
Many claim that they know the truth and they hold the same. But the deepest truths can only be found in Jesus. The Truth is Jesus Himself. “I am the way, the TRUTH, and life.” (cf Jn 14:6 ) As Christians, we are called to live not in the human perspective but in the light of the truth of God. And when we do so, we can never be wrong nor misled. For it is living in and with the Truth that we can find meaning in life. Today, the gospel invites us to believe what Jesus has spoken, “He is not God of the dead but of the living.” (Mk 12:27) Live this truth and be open to the great things the living God can do in your life. #PrayVD
6/5/2018
Daily Guidelines: June 5, 2018June 5, 2018 – Tuesday
Mark 12:13-17 There is nothing that does not belong to God.Seemingly, questions are asked to get clarity. But such was not the case when the Pharisees and Herodians questioned Jesus about paying taxes to Caesar. Their questions were intended to put him in a trap. But Jesus knew their heart, and so he said to them, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
What do you believe belongs to Caesar and that to God? Often times, we proportionate Caesar to worldly things as God to eternal ones. But isn’t it that when we spend so much time and energy discerning what is equally of Caesar’s and God’s, we are actually fighting a losing battle? There is nothing that does not belong to God--The world and all that is in it belong to the Lord; the earth and all who live on it are his. (Psalm 24:1) Only when we do not withhold from God what is due to Him, giving to others follows. Lord, as we give what is due to you, may it move us to be generous with others. #PrayVD
6/4/2018
Daily Guidelines: June 4, 2018June 4, 2018 – Monday
Mark 12:12 If God is all you have, you have all you needIf you’ve lived in the province, you’re familiar with tenant farmers. Tenant farmers are people who farms the land of another person and pay rent or with portion of the grown crops.
Each one of us is a tenant farmer of God. We do not fully own anything in this world. Not the family you built, the business you started, the community you founded, not even your own life. But sometimes, we act like the tenant in today’s parable. We tend to think that we are the sole responsible in what we have and attain in life; and then we start to fear losing it. We do everything to protect it even at the expense of others. But in reality, we only share and receive God’s generosity. And only when we recognize it that we can become free from the danger of being possessive. And eventually, we will realize that we do not need to own anything in the first place, because the “everything” that we need in life has been sent to us thousands of years ago– Jesus. If God is all we have, we have all we need (cf John 14:8). Then in that sense, everything already belongs to us. #PrayVD
6/3/2018
Daily Guidelines: June 3, 2018June 3, 2018 Mk 14:12-16, 22-26 Be one with HimHappy 1st Sunday of June! Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. The gospel started with an attitude of the disciples asking where Jesus want them to go for the preparation of the Feast of Passover. Jesus instructed them to see a certain man carrying a water, go to its house and follow Him. In the Feast, Jesus said to his disciples, “"Take it; this is my body. Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.”
At this point, we are invited to carry and imitate the attitude of the disciples to be one with Jesus in the celebration of turning the bread and wine into His body and blood in the celebration of the Eucharist. In our life, we become busy chasing a lot of things, filling up our list of to-do’s, going to a lot of places and many more but Jesus opens and invites us to His feast where we can receive Him fully and lovingly. Also, Jesus wants to share the feast to everyone, not only to us disciples. Today, let us ask for the grace and openness of our hearts to be one with Jesus today. Mama Mary, we ask you to pray for our consistency to receive the body and blood of Christ and let it dwell on our hearts to bring us eternal life. #PrayVD
6/2/2018
Daily Guidelines: June 2, 2018June 2, 2018
Mk 11:27-33 We do not knowIn our lives, there is always a presence of authority. It can be someone we love, we trust or respect. Today's gospel speaks about questioning where does it comes and who gives it. The scribes asked Jesus by what authority does He operates and who gave him the authority to do such things.
Sometimes, we fear things we do not know, yet we want to believe such things just because it came from someone who is powerful than us. Fame from the people whom we look up to, acceptance from the people we want to please and many more. We are same with the scribes who got fearful when asked by Jesus. However, Jesus tells us one thing: "Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things." Today, we are invited to give our full trust to God for the things we do not know yet. Mama Mary, we pray for the wisdom to discern big decisions involving the different authorities surrounding our life. Amen. #PrayVD
6/1/2018
Daily Guidelines: June 1, 2018June 1, 2018 - Friday
Gospel - Mk 11:11-26 Believe it and it shall be yoursToday's gospel reveals a different side of Jesus which we usually don't see. We are used to Jesus preaching, healing the sick or instructing his disciples. However, he also did things that surprised people. In today's Gospel, he cursed a fig tree and became angry when he saw people buying and selling at the temple.
As the beloved sons and daughters of God, we also do things that might surprise Him: not following his will, his words and his ways. Jesus wants to cast away our sins and our old ways. Sometimes doing away with our bad habits and attitudes seems impossible, but Jesus said, "Have faith in God." We are invited to strengthen our faith, let us believe that we will receive what we need. The Lord knows what we are asking in prayer. Mama Mary, renew our hearts so that we may believe and hope only in the Lord. #PrayVD |
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