Quote of the Day
Jean de la Bryere
“Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness.”
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Matthew 16:13-19
We should not take lightly the authority to forgive sins. That we have a sacrament for this purpose means that God places a high priority upon the goal of cleansing us from our sins. Because this is God’s priority, it also ought to be ours. Let us seek to make regular Confession a part of our lives.
Matthew 16:13-19
13 When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. 18 And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
my reflections
think:Let us seek to make regular Confession a part of our lives.
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1 Peter 5:1-4
When we celebrate this Feast of the Chair of Peter, we are really celebrating the authority given to the Pope to lead the Church in its mission to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Jesus gave Peter the authority and responsibility to teach the People of God what it means to be a Christian. This ultimately means that each of us has the responsibility to read the documents that come forth form the Vatican as part of our discovering the mind of Christ for our lives.
1 Peter 5:1-4
1 I exhort the presbyters among you, as a fellow presbyter and witness to the sufferings of Christ and one who has a share in the glory to be revealed. 2 Tend the flock of God in your midst, [overseeing] not by constraint but willingly, as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly. 3 Do not lord it over those assigned to you, but be examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
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KnoW Jesus in a personal Way
We often hear the stock phrase, “Walang personalan, trabaho lang” in situations where people are wont to do their work faithfully and diligently without allowing their personal life to affect them; or, in situations where one affects other people personally with his or her action and he justifies the action as “trabaho lang.”
There are situations in life when one needs to detach himself personally from his work, like in the case of counselors of their clients or doctors of their patients. Otherwise, the work may suffer. If a counselor gets too involved personally, his objectivity can be affected. There are cases of doctors not wanting to perform surgeries on family members because they are “paralyzed” even with just the thought of it. So, this situation is indeed justified.
But there are situations when such an order does not apply. Take today’s gospel for example. Jesus would have been content with the thought that Peter has reached this point in his life that he has substantial knowledge of Jesus that he has acquired from “others.” But Jesus wanted something more from him. Jesus wanted Peter to have a personal knowledge of Him.
This is a constant theme in the life of Jesus with His disciples. He commended Mary for choosing the better part and it shall not be taken from her, He said. He wanted first to be assured of Peter’s love for Him before He gave him the mandate to feed His sheep. He chose the twelve apostles first, to be with Him and, second, to be sent out to proclaim the message (Mark 3:14).
As Christians, we need to develop a more intimate and personal relationship with Jesus and allow everything else to flow from that. Our minds are probably filled to the brim with knowledge of Jesus coming from others. The time is already rife for us to claim those knowledge for our selves. Fr. Sandy Enhaynes
Reflection Question:
Do you know Jesus in a personal way?
Jesus, I long to know You intimately as my Savior, brother and friend. Draw me to You
with Your grace and love.
St. Margaret of Cortona, penitent, pray for us.
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G O S P E L
It is a sad day when the arguments of one’s enemies or detractors become as facile as the ones we hear today against the power of Jesus to drive demons from a possessed person. It is a sign that they are “clutching at straws” and do not really have any basis to criticize the actions and words of Jesus. The only honorable position to take in this situation is to keep quiet and disappear or submit to the teachings of Jesus.
Luke 11:14-23
14 Jesus was driving out a demon [that was] mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute person spoke and the crowds were amazed. 15 Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” 16 Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. 17 But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. 18 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. 19 If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. 22 But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. 23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
my reflections
think:If people are not going to be true to what they say, then we live in a poor reflection of Gospel truth.
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Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
1 Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD; let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us joyfully sing psalms to him. 6 Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the LORD who made us. 7 For he is our God, and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides. Oh, that today you would hear his voice: 8 “Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the desert, 9 where your fathers tempted me; they tested me though they had seen my works.”
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Jeremiah 7:23-28
Sincerity is important to civilized living. If people are not going to be true to what they say, then we live in a poor reflection of Gospel truth. Unfortunately, this is so often the case today. When a politician says something, it is not being cynical to question if they really mean it. This shows us how far we have to go before truth is truly honored in our society.
Jeremiah 7:23-28
23 This is what I commanded them: Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper. 24 But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed. They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces, to me. 25 From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day, I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets. 26 Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed; they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers. 27 When you speak all these words to them, they will not listen to you either; when you call to them, they will not answer you. 28 Say to them: This is the nation which does not listen to the voice of the LORD, its God, or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech.
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favorite pastiMe
Have you spoken ill of someone lately? Too straightforward, huh? But if we’ll go by this joke that has been going around—gossiping or even slander has been fast becoming the favorite pastime of Filipinos— then the question should hit us hard. So, has it become our favorite pastime? There are indications that it has. How else would you explain the mushrooming of TV shows that feed on this desire of the people to hear famous people bad-mouth each other on air?
A famous actress was asked on national TV, “What occupies much of your spare time?” She immediately blurted out matter of- factly, “Panglalait!” Then she laughed till she almost choked, finding her own response very thrilling. The station was so roused by her response that it made use of that scene in their advertisement to drum up more interest in the show.
It is very unfortunate that every so often our mind tends to entertain thoughts on what is bad in people. What is contained within translates externally, so we tend also to enjoy listening more to disparaging stories than those that extol others.
Let us consider our own tendencies. How often have we engaged in talks during coffee break about what we see as bad in our bosses? To how many people have we shared some defamatory stories about people whom we dislike? How many people have fallen prey to our “panglalait”?
When we see ourselves falling into this propensity remember that Jesus was not spared from the slanderous minds of His time. To do it to others now is to continue to malign the presence of Christ in others. Let us pray that we may be more unsullied in our thoughts of others and virtuous in our actions toward them. Fr. Sandy Enhaynes
Reflection Question:
Do you enjoy gossiping about others?
Lord, let me be prudent in speaking about others. Give me the grace to speak only of what is good and gives honor to another.
St. Hilary, pope, pray for us.
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Oh, This Life
“And I told them to live the way I had commanded them, so that things would go well for them.” – Jeremiah 7:23
“Mommy, we have no more coffee, no sugar, not even rice for cooking!” complained my daughter. No more supplies? Well, that’s not the only thing we run out of. There were times when our pantry was stocked but our LPG tank was empty, or we had no water to boil for drinking. Once, I came home to total darkness because we failed to pay our electric bill. We had to contend with buzzing mosquitoes, the heat of the day and our nostrils blackened by soot because of the kerosene lamps we used at night until the bill was paid.
The truth is, had I been in my past life — before I was incarcerated at the Correctional Institution for Women — things would have been different. Then, I never lacked for what I needed. But after having served my sentence of over two decades and now that I’m back in free society, I have to deal with making ends meet and providing for my family. I palpitate just thinking about how I will cover for all our needs.
But Jesus is compassionate and merciful. He blessed me with a good job despite the fact that I’m an ex-con. And I hold on to His promise that as I heed His commands, my life will be all right and I’ll never go wayward. Beth Coral
REFLECTION:
How good it is to be with the Lord! Despite trials and adversities, hold on to Jesus and you’ll never go wrong.
Dear Jesus, always guide me and be my light so that I will never stray.
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Do good, tell the truth, be kind…
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due,
when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
Say not unto thy neighbour,
Go, and come again,
and tomorrow I will give;
when thou hast it by thee.
Proverbs 3:27,28 KJV
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The wicked borrows and does not pay back,
But the righteous is gracious and gives.
Psalm 37:21 NASB
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When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD,
he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.
Better a little with righteousness
than much gain with injustice.
Proverbs 16:7,8 NIV
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Thanks be unto God for his amazing gift:
Jesus Christ, the only begotten
Son of God is the object of our faith;
the only faith that saves is faith in Him.
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