Manalangin Tayo

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Ika-23 Linggo sa Karaniwang Panahon)

10 September 2023

 

First Reading: Ez 33:7-9

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9

Second Reading: Rom 13:8-10

Gospel: Mt 18:15-20

 

Reflection

By: Renato C. Vibiesca

 

Walang palya ang pagsisimba namin tuwing Linggo. Ako, ang misis ko at ang aming dalawang anak ay sinisiguro na sama-sama kaming nagsisimba at bibihira naman na hindi kami magkakasama. Ang paniniwala kasi namin ay lalong pinatatatag ng pagsisimba tuwing Linggo ang aming pamilya. Pero sa pananalangain ay higit pa sa pagpapatatag ng pamilya ang gustong sabihin ng ating Ebanghelyo ngayon. Aaminin ko na sa loob ng dalawampu’t limang taon ng pagsasama namin ng aking kabiyak ay bibihira kaming nananalangin na magkasama, bukod sa pagsisimba naming ng Linggo. Tulad ng karamihan sa atin ay nakasanayan na ang pagdarasal nang mag-isa. Pagkagising sa umaga’y nagpapasalamat tayo at nagpupuri sa Diyos sa buhay na muling ipinagkatiwala sa atin at madalas na hinihingi natin na gabayan tayo sa buong araw na ating gugugulin. Sa gabi naman ay magpapasalamat muli at magmumuni-muni sa nagdaang araw upang humingi ng kapatawaran sa Diyos sa mga nagawang kasalanan bago matulog.  Ganito ang klase ng pananalangin na madalas na nakasanayan ng karamihan sa atin pero nang dumating ang Pandemya, para tayong ginising sa pagkakatulog, binulabog tayo ng samu’t saring pangamba, alalahanin sa buhay, at pagdududa sa kinabukasan. Ngunit dahil sa ating pananampalataya sa Diyos ay mas naging matingkad ang maraming aral na ibinigay sa atin sa panahon ng Pandemya.

Sa panahon ng Pandemya, ipinapahiwatig sa atin na hindi sapat ang nakasanayan nating pananalangin na mag-isa lang. Ibig ng Diyos na manalangin tayo araw-araw  nang sama-sama, na nagkakaisa, na buo ang pamilya kasama ang Panginoon sa harap nila. Malaking hamon sa karamihan ang magsama-sama araw-araw upang magdasal dahil hindi na nga ito ang nakasanayan ng karamihang pamilya. Hindi ba’t mas madalas lang nating ginagawa na magsama-sama sa pananalangin tuwing may mga espesyal na okasyon tulad ng piyesta, padasal sa patay, mga pasiyam o pang 40 days na dasal, mga pakikiisa sa pabasa tuwing mahal na araw, tuwing simbang gabi, at sa mga kasal o binyag.

Pero biniyayaan tayo ng Diyos ng maraming pagkakataon na magkasama-sama nang maranasan ang madalas na lock-down. Ako, ang misis ko at ang dalawang anak ko ay hindi na lamang tuwing Linggo nagdarasal nang sama-sama mula noon. Sa pananalangin namin nang sama-sama ay mas natutuklasan namin na mas marami pa palang dapat ipagdasal. Ipapabatid din sa atin na ang pananalangin nang sama-sama ay pagkakataon upang madama na kasama natin ang Diyos sa ating harapan tulad ng sinasabi ng ating Ebanghelyo.  Higit sa lahat ay pinalalakas ng pananalangin nang sama-sama ang ating pananampalataya na tiyak na diringgin ng Diyos ang anumang hilingin natin sa ikabubuti ng ating pamumuhay. Walang duda na malaking biyaya sa pamilya ang pahayag ng Ebanghelyo: “Sinasabi ko pa rin sa inyo: kung ang dalawa sa inyo rito sa lupa ay magkaisa sa paghingi ng anumang bagay sa inyong panalangin, ipagkakaloob ito sa inyo ng aking Amang nasa langit. Sapagkat saanman may dalawa o tatlong nagkakatipon dahil sa akin, naroon akong kasama nila."

Prayer

Panginoong Jesus, kami’y nananalig na lalo mo pang pag-iibayuhin ang pagbibigay sa amin ng mga biyaya na magbibigkis sa amin upang sama-sama kaming manalangin sa araw-araw. Buo ang aming pag-asa at pananampalataya na lagi Mong ipagkakaloob sa amin ang mga kahilingan naming higit na makabubuti para sa aming pamumuhay at upang lalo pang mapalapit sa Iyo at makapiling Ka magpasawalang-hanggan. Amen.

Follow Me

 

  Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

26 June 2022 

 

First Reading: 1 Kgs 19:16b, 19-21

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

Second Reading: Gal 5:1, 13-18

Gospel: Lk 9:51-62

 

Reflection

By: Fely Santiago

 

"Speak, Lord, your servant is listening; you have the words of everlasting life."

"Trust and obey, there's no other way." I fondly remember my late Papa with these words that he often said. He is a man of Christ. I got my spirituality from him. My Papa was a very prayerful man. And these words have also become my guiding principle in my spiritual journey. I always prefer to go where the Lord leads me because in God we can have everything. This is His promise in Matthew 6:33 "seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you."

How often do you listen to the Lord? Mostly, we come to God asking for favors. Let us also spend time in prayers just to be in God's presence and let our hearts respond to His love. Also, listen to what God may be trying to tell us and from there, we might know the answer to our prayers. Prayer is a conversation with God. It requires talking and listening. May we learn to be still and listen in our prayers, and imagine Jesus sitting beside us. I would love to picture myself in my prayer time with my head on His lap. I picture the gentleness in His eyes and the smile full of love as He gazes on me. I can be totally honest with Jesus as I tell Him of my worries and my cares. I open up my heart to Him as I tell Him of my fears and doubts. Then, I ask Him to help me to place myself fully in His care, to abandon myself to Him, knowing that He always wants what is best for me. And most importantly, I listen to His response. He often tells of how much He loves me and encourages me to put my trust fully in Him. "Magtiwala ka lang."

God wants us to experience real freedom if we put our trust and obey Him. What most often stops us from achieving freedom is our tendency to be caught up in fears and expectations about what we 'ought' or 'should' be. Our usual automatic responses tie us down and inhibit us from exploring new areas of growth. Let's ask and pray for a greater sense of inner freedom and that we might preach the fresh and challenging possibilities that God wishes us to realize. Our God is a BIG God and with Him are limitless possibilities.

Prayer

Lord, I ask for the grace to know that doing Your will is a joy because Your will is my deepest desire and You are always willing what is best for me. Thank You for the gift of freedom Lord. Grant that I may always choose to follow You. Keep me ever mindful of Your ways, of Your love and concern for all people. May I respond to Your call today. Teach me to recognize Your hand at work in my daily living. All this I pray, in the Mighty Name of Jesus. Amen.

Best Love Letter (B.L.L.)

6th Sunday of Easter

10 May 2015

Proclaim a joyful sound and let it be heard; proclaim to the ends of the earth: the Lord has freed his people, alleluia.

First reading                                      Acts 2:1-11

When Pentecost day came round, they had all met in one room, when suddenly they heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven, the noise of which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and something appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak foreign languages as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech.

  Now there were devout men living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, and at this sound they all assembled, each one bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language. They were amazed and astonished. ‘Surely’ they said ‘all these men speaking are Galileans? How does it happen that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; people from Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya round Cyrene; as well as visitors from Rome – Jews and proselytes alike – Cretans and Arabs; we hear them preaching in our own language about the marvels of God.’

Psalm                                               Psalm 103:1,24,29-31,34

Second reading                               1 Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13

No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ unless he is under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

  There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always to the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people, it is the same God who is working in all of them. The particular way in which the Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose.

  Just as a human body, though it is made up of many parts, is a single unit because all these parts, though many, make one body, so it is with Christ. In the one Spirit we were all baptised, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink.

Gospel                                         John 20:19-23

In the evening of the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.

‘As the Father sent me,

so am I sending you.’

After saying this he breathed on them and said:

‘Receive the Holy Spirit.

For those whose sins you forgive,

they are forgiven;

for those whose sins you retain,

they are retained.’

Reflection

By Theresa Ballo

The Gospel for this Sunday is a beautiful love letter for me. The writer expresses His commitment to consistently put another person’s welfare and happiness before His very own.  Each line speaks of faithfulness and loyalty. Each word was crafted with a sincere understanding of my well-being, as if He is really in my situation. The message talks about trust and confidence that I am capable of something great, bigger than I think of myself. Yet, this love is not self-seeking. It asks for my “YES” also. He respects that I have a choice and saying “Yes” to His invitation promises abundant grace and lasting peace. Who else could better write this love letter but the person who embodied all these qualities? None other than our brother, our best friend and our saviour, the ONE who laid down His life for all of us - - Jesus.

One afternoon, while I am walking in the school corridor, a grade four student approached and asked me if I can call her for counselling ASAP. When I asked what happened, she answered this, “Ms., my BFF and I are already FO!” In my head, here we go again, these little girls language, B-F-F means Best Friends Forever, but FO? What is FO?!  I smiled and politely asked her, “What do you mean by F-O?” Then she replied, “Friendship Over po” I really have high regards for people who are working in the school setting. Simply because they have greater chances to show love to cute, developing, and exploring young minds.They have opportunities to either tolerate or get annoyed with their “own” language that develops on an hourly basis. Good thing if you’re dealing with just one kid but when you’re dealing with a hundred of them, you better fall head-over-heels in love with reading using social media just so you can enter their world. And for me this is LOVE.

This is also the love of a spouse to his/her partner when he/she puts the other spouse’s needs and desires before one’s own. It’s the love that focuses on good qualities than mistakes done and one that forgives and keeps no record of wrong. It’s the love parents have for their children when they still play with their child even though they’re too tired from work. It’s when they choose to attend Parents’ Meeting or a bonding activity in school than to finish a pile of work.  This is the willingness to lay down one’s life for another person, to take a taste of pain just to protect someone from it.

For some reasons, there are times it becomes difficult to love. When students are too noisy, kids are whiny, spouses are irritating or even parents that are hard-headed. With acquaintances and strangers, it can be even more difficult. Sad but true, it is often hard to see God in them, especially when they are rude and do not think the way we do.

“It is not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain.” He picked me! He picked me! He picked you!

How do we respond to this wonderful calling? How do we bear fruit that will remain? By teaching in the streets? By going to the mountains and preach? By feeding a hundred? If you have that desire in your heart, why not go that extent? Moreso, I think that Mother Teresa truly understood and lived this Gospel. Her way of life, her goal, was just to do everything with love– to see the face of Jesus with whom she interacted. How could Mother Teresa cared so much for the dying, the wretched, and the poorest of the poor? I read in one of her interviews, she obtained this grace, to love like Jesus through prayer.

Prayer is our private conversation with Him. Spend some time with Him so we will learn the great “How tos” in loving our loved ones and the strange brothers and sisters around us. I love this beautiful analogy I read somewhere, God wants to pour graces upon us, to quench our thirst for Him but we must come to the well to drink – to fill up. Prayer time is when we meet Him at the well!

Prayer

Father, in Your perfect love You have offered me the opportunity to have a closer relationship with You. Thank You for giving me the best of friends in the universe. Thank You for giving me the grace not to get tired from loving. Enlightened my hazy understanding at times, especially towards strangers. Bless my spirit to be open and accepting to others. May I be able to see You in them so I can respond even more. Through Your Spirit transform me into the person I was created to be, the reflected image of Your love. Amen.

Slow Down and Listen

" Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men. "

First Reading: Jonah 3:1-5, 10

The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: "Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you." So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the LORD'S bidding. Now Nineveh was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day's walk announcing, "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed, when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth. When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.

Resp. Psalm: Psalms 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

Second Reading: 1 Cor. 7:29-31

I tell you, brothers, the time is running out. From now on, let those having wives act as not having them, those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning, those using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away.

Gospel: Mark 1:14-20

After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen.

Jesus said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." Then they abandoned their nets and followed him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.

  Reflection:

by Fely Santiago

 Jesus said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Then they left their nets and followed him.

Have you listened to God? In your prayer time do you hear Him when He speaks to you? Do you follow what He says or you just ignore, insisting on your own will? Or do you ever have a prayer time? Everyday you could just be caught up with the “busyness” of life!

This week, Jesus invites us to follow Him, as friends and disciples. He invites us to follow so we can also invite others to follow Him. This is a good week for us to contemplate with Jesus. What is His mission for us? What does Jesus wants you to do?  What’s your purpose? How much do you want to turn and follow Him? The disciples immediately responded to His call. They immediately left their nets and followed Him. How about you? What is stopping you to follow the call of Jesus?

If we don’t listen and are not doing the mission that Jesus has for us, we could feel emptiness in our life. We could be so busy doing all things, waking up each morning with so many things in our  “to do” list. And at the end of each day, we are still left with so many things undone and we feel we have not done anything. It could be a sign that we need to slow down and listen to the voice of God.

We can pray to Jesus for the strength to leave the patterns and habits of our lives that so often turn us away from Him. And ask for the grace to make a new beginning. If we can sit with our hands open in humility, we can accept that we can't do this on our own. But know in our hearts that with the help of God, nothing is impossible.

Again, let’s start the year listening to God more often. Slowing down so we can hear what God wants us to do. And only then can we find true peace and joy if we respond to God’s call immediately. And this could just simply be a call to pray everyday!

 Prayer

Lord Jesus, let me not delay to answer Your call. Give me the wisdom and strength to follow where You want me to go. Because it is only in following You that we find true peace and true joy amidst all the turmoil and adversities in this life. I know Lord that You are just a prayer a way. Let me start each day with a prayer so I can hear You. In Your name with the Holy Spirit, I pray. Amen.

Listen...

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
17 July 2011


We are God’s people, the sheep of his flock: come, let us worship him, alleluia.

First reading Wisdom 12:13,16-19
There is no god, other than you, who cares for every thing,
to whom you might have to prove that you never judged unjustly;
Your justice has its source in strength,
your sovereignty over all makes you lenient to all.
You show your strength when your sovereign power is questioned
and you expose the insolence of those who know it;
but, disposing of such strength, you are mild in judgement,
you govern us with great lenience,
for you have only to will, and your power is there.
By acting thus you have taught a lesson to your people
how the virtuous man must be kindly to his fellow men,
and you have given your sons the good hope
that after sin you will grant repentance.

Psalm: Psalm 85:5-6,9-10,15-16

Second reading Romans 8:26-27
The Spirit comes to help us in our weakness. For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words, and God who knows everything in our hearts knows perfectly well what he means, and that the pleas of the saints expressed by the Spirit are according to the mind of God.

Gospel Matthew 13:24-43
Jesus put a parable before the crowds, ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel all among the wheat, and made off. When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, the darnel appeared as well. The owner’s servants went to him and said, “Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?” “Some enemy has done this” he answered. And the servants said, “Do you want us to go and weed it out?” But he said, “No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it. Let them both grow till the harvest; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn.”’
He put another parable before them, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the biggest shrub of all and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and shelter in its branches.’
He told them another parable, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.’
In all this Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables; indeed, he would never speak to them except in parables. This was to fulfil the prophecy:
I will speak to you in parables
and expound things hidden since the foundation of the world.
Then, leaving the crowds, he went to the house; and his disciples came to him and said, ‘Explain the parable about the darnel in the field to us.’ He said in reply, ‘The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels. Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears!’

Reflection
By Fely Santiago

Whoever has ears ought to hear

Above line was also the last line of the Gospel last week. “Whoever has ears ought to hear.” It really emphasizes the importance of listening. That’s why God gave us two ears and one mouth so we speak less and listen more.

Have you listened to God? What is it that He wants you to do? If God were trying to tell you something, would you know? 
 If God were reassuring you or challenging you would you notice?
 Let us ask for the grace to be free of our own preoccupations
 and be open to what God may be saying to us because even in our prayer time we get so many distractions – noise outside, that tasks that need to be completed, problems to be solved, pain in our body, and many others.

Let us take the time to hear our name being called by the Lord. He chooses us because He know us, trusts us and most of all, loves us.

Let us listen to Him. God speaks to us any time of the day, anywhere we are. So whether we are praying or even in the midst of what we are doing, or in the midst of an outburst of emotion, let us hear what God maybe saying to us. Listen more so we will be ready to hear the calling of God to love others more, to be His disciple in spreading the good news.

Jesus makes it very clear to those who want to follow Him that it will not be an easy life. The life of discipleship, of loving others is about being disciplined in all things especially those that have to do with our faith. This means being willing to make the hard choices involved in avoiding sin and doing good. If we are not ready to do this then we should pray for the grace of surrender.

Dear Jesus, You always welcomed little children when You walked on this earth. Teach me to have a childlike trust in You. To live in the knowledge that You will never abandon me. Give me the grace to listen more so I can love more. Amen.