Mastery in Resisting Temptation

   

First Sunday of Lent

09 March 2025

 

First Reading: Deuteronomy 26:4-10

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 91:1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15

Second Reading: Romans 10:8-13

Gospel: Luke 4:1-13

 

Reflection

By: Anabelle P. Balla

 

After a long day at work, I often find myself yearning to unwind with activities that require minimal effort. Sometimes, I enjoy going around the garden, capturing the beauty of the sunset through my phone camera, tidying up different areas of the house, watering our indoor plants, or even organizing my clothes for the next day. However, there are also moments when I succumb to the allure of online live selling, scrolling through Facebook, or binge-watching movie series. These habits have become temptations in my life that I strive to manage or eliminate entirely. It's no easy feat, especially since they've become ingrained as habits. Mastering the ability to switch off these cravings at will, such as stopping a series even when the episodes ends on a cliffhanger, requires immense self-discipline or self-mastery.

As the old saying goes, self-mastery is not easy. The pursuit of self-mastery is filled with challenges and is often a lifelong journey. It demands unwavering dedication, self-discipline, and a willingness to confront one's flaws and weaknesses. The path is often marked by setbacks and failures that test one's resolve. However, it is through overcoming these obstacles that we grow stronger and develop the ability to resist temptations.

Achieving self-mastery on our own can be challenging, but when anchored in our relationship with God, we may find it more attainable. God can provide us with the conviction, grounding us in values centered on Him, calming our spirits during times of emotional turmoil, and offering supportive circumstances that help us move away from temptations. We just need to reach out to Him and ask for help.

Embracing the path to self-mastery not only empowers us to achieve our personal goals but also enriches our overall well-being, including our relationship with God.

Prayer

Father, give us the strength and the mastery to resist temptations. With Your help, we can achieve progress. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

My Deeper Hunger

    

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

04 August 2024

 

First Reading: Ex 16:2-4, 12-15

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54

Second Reading: Eph 4:17, 20-24

Gospel: Jn 6:24-35

 

Reflection

By: Theresa B. Manio

 

In the Gospel, Jesus invites us to look beyond our material needs and personal desires, prompting us to seek the spiritual nourishment that only He can provide. The crowd was focused on the miracle of the loaves and fishes, but Jesus taught them to something deeper and far greater: the bountiful providence that comes from trusting in Him. He wanted to give us something that will feed our hungry hearts and souls, not just our stomachs. 

I have read somewhere that we all have hearts that are hungry for something. In my Grade 12 class in Personal Development, I shared with my students that the class will mainly revolve around answering three fundamental questions: Who am I? Where do I fit? What am I here for? These questions of identity, belongingness, and purpose can also be thought of as our personal hunger. We can be hungry for acceptance, self-worth, words of affirmation, rest, hope, and many more.

As we grow, we will be in constant struggle to satisfy this hunger in ways that would give temporary or short-term relief, when will we say that I am already satisfied? We can be very efficient with our work, make ourselves busy in the Church, join every ministry there is, engage in activities that look “holy” from the outside but actually distracts us from filling the hunger inside.

I think the Gospel is trying to remind us that Jesus is the one who can really satisfy our deeper hunger. If we’re hungry for identity, Jesus gives us a new identity as children of God whom he loves and favors. If we’re hungry to belong, Jesus makes us feel that there will always be a community in the Church that will welcome us. If we’re hungry for purpose, Jesus calls us to be part of God’s mission by being his follower who gives light to others and nurtures others' light. 

In my teenage years up until becoming a young professional, my deeper hunger is security. I was always anxious that people I care so much about would leave me, perhaps get tired of me, or would find someone else better than me. To keep them in my life, I was in constant struggle to please them, held them tight, and became a toxic person for myself. It’s like I'm poisoning my own self trying to be the best for other people. This life was really tiring. Not until I have recognized the presence of Jesus in my life. During my younger years, I only prayed to God and sometimes acknowledged the Holy Spirit , since I had a traumatic experience as a child, I thought Jesus abandoned me. He allowed bad things to happen. It took a long while of prayer, retreats, doing the sacraments, reading and understanding the Bible, being vulnerable to spiritual mentors that I get to feel and understand Jesus' presence in my sufferings and struggles. Since then, I never let go once more. I take care of my relationship with Him. When we have found this Bread for ourselves, we can share it to others who are hungry for the goodness of God in their lives too. 

I invite you to listen to God's promises, in His Gospels and sacraments,  bring our hunger to God in prayer and keep pursuing the goodness of God in Jesus, the Bread of Life. Let’s not settle for crumbs when we are offered a bountiful feast. 

Prayer

Dear Lord,

In a world full of temporary solutions, give us the grace to seek for your presence in our lives. Cleanse our motivations that it is not just blessings we ask from you but nurturing a deeper and personal relationship with Jesus. May we allow you to be in our lives, to transform us, to purify our thoughts and actions so that we can answer your invitation to become bread ourselves, sharing ourselves with a hungry world. Amen.

Staying in Love

Sixth Sunday of Easter 

06 May 2018

First reading                                                                      Acts 10:25-26, 33-35, 44-48
On Peter’s arrival Cornelius met him, and falling at his feet, worshiped him. But Peter made him get up, saying, “Stand up; I am only a mortal.” Therefore I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. So now all of us are here in the presence of God to listen to all that the Lord has commanded you to say.”
Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”
While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.

Second reading                                                        1 John 4:7-10

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.

In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Gospel                                                                     John 15:9-17

Jesus said to his disciples,

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.

You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. “If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you.”

Reflection

By Pietro S. Albano

All of us have experienced falling in love. A child falls in love with his/her parents, probably the first time he/she sees them. A teenager falls in love with an attractive classmate. An adult falls in love with another individual who shares his/her interests or values.  I guess Jesus' contemporaries fell in love with Him too, and for various sorts of reasons. It could be His gentleness and genuine care for people, especially the outcasts and sinners. It could be His miracles such as healing the sick, bringing the dead back to life, or feeding 5,000+ people. It could be His unconditional and saving love that brought Him to the cross.

Falling in love is one thing, however in today's Gospel, Jesus invites us to something much deeper. The key word in the Lord's invitation is abide or stay (in His love). Unfortunately, not everyone who fell in love with Jesus stayed in love with Him. Remember those people who sang "Hosanna" on Palm Sunday, but shouted "Crucify Him!" on Good Friday? 

And yet, there are those whose love for the Lord endured.Think of the Blessed Virgin Mary or Mary Magdalene and the other women who courageously stood by Jesus as He hang on the cross. Down through the centuries, people fell in love and stayed in love with Jesus, in spite of many untold hardships. I could think of the innumerable martyrs of our faith.

Jesus calls us to a personal relationship with Him where falling in love won't be enough. We must stay in love. And because we are called to love one another, our relationship with others (spouse/partner, child, colleague, etc.) will only be fruitful if we stay in love. Remember those who have been married or have been in a ministry or profession (priesthood, religious, teaching, etc.) for many, many, many years and you get the idea. It ain't easy - some people are unlovable, some keep on hurting us, some have attitudes we cannot take - but the Lord who loves us will never leave us.

Prayer

Risen Lord, thank You for loving us. Strengthen us in our resolve to stay in Your love so that we may love one another as You have loved us. Amen.

Textbook God

Solemnity of Christ the King
22 November 2009


Come, let us worship Jesus Christ, the King of kings.

First reading Daniel 7:13-14

I gazed into the visions of the night.
And I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven,
one like a son of man.
He came to the one of great age
and was led into his presence.
On him was conferred sovereignty,
glory and kingship,
and men of all peoples, nations and languages became his servants.
His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty
which shall never pass away,
nor will his empire ever be destroyed.

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 92:1-2,5

Second reading Apocalypse 1:5-8

Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the First-born from the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth. He loves us and has washed away our sins with his blood, and made us a line of kings, priests to serve his God and Father; to him, then, be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen. It is he who is coming on the clouds; everyone will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the races of the earth will mourn over him. This is the truth. Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’ says the Lord God, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.

Gospel John 18:33-37

‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ Pilate asked. Jesus replied, ‘Do you ask this of your own accord, or have others spoken to you about me?’ Pilate answered, ‘Am I a Jew? It is your own people and the chief priests who have handed you over to me: what have you done?’ Jesus replied, ‘Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this kind.’ ‘So you are a king then?’ said Pilate. ‘It is you who say it’ answered Jesus. ‘Yes, I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.’

Reflection
By Mayzelle Atienza

Is that you own idea or did others talk to you about me?

My earliest memory of serving God was when I joined our parish church choir as a child. I was in Grade One then which makes me 5 ½ years old. I stayed in that choir until I went to college in Manila and I only stopped because I had so many other extra-curricular engagements, both church-related and school-related activities. I cannot make the weekly practices in the province anymore.

At about the same time in Manila , I joined a Catholic youth group and committed my life to a personal relationship with God. It has been 18 years since I joined that group in college and it has been 29 years since I first joined the choir. One can say that I have a long, enduring relationship with God through all these years, and it’s true!

Recently, I joined a retreat and one of the questions my retreat guide asked me was how I see God. I was deeply surprised that I was giving her answers and describing to her a textbook God – someone I read and someone described to me by my grade school Catholic Catechism teacher. In all my years of serving God in different communities and capacities, my idea of God was what was taught to me before. I didn’t stop long enough to look deeper into my personal God to form a personal opinion of who He is in my life. I didn’t pause long enough amidst my busyness in service to know God as he deals with me personally. I don’t want to know God only like what the textbook says. I don’t want to know him just based on what others’ experience of Him. I want to know God as He is in my life, dealing with me uniquely and personally.




Dear Lord, grant us the grace to know you more intimately and to love you more deeply. Allow us to personally encounter you even in the most trivial happenings in our day to day life. Amen.