We live in a modern world that’s monochannel. People are constantly thinking and overthinking. This is why a lot of people fall into addictions. They escape the tiring cycle of their thoughts through drugs, alcohol, gambling, porn, and even phone addiction. (People scroll mindlessly to get a constant dopamine high.) 

But older cultures are multichannel. They’ve built rhythms into their schedule where they are able to shift their mental states. They do this through prayer, rituals, meditation, working with their hands, tending their gardens, or simply “wasting time” with family and friends. 

Changing mental states is something we need to learn because it’s not even in our vocabulary. By shifting mental states, we break the endless cycle of our thoughts running on exercise wheels. And that’s when we find peace. 

Dear friend, let me give you the special gift of a powerful pause. I invite you to take a break for 30 seconds. 

Breathe. Be still. Don’t think. Be with God. Allow Him to love you today! Bo Sanchez (bosanchez@kerygmafamily.com) 

reflect

God gave us a body and mind for a beautiful purpose. How can you better care for them from now on? 

Dear Father, thank You for blessing us with all that we need. May we use them but not abuse them. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Saint Aubin, pray for us.

Life is the most precious of all the gifts we have been given. Without the gift of life, we can do nothing. Yet the world is focused on the pursuit of violence and death. This is not a good example for today’s children. What can we do to promote the good of life in our communities? If we Christians fail to develop a culture of life, then there will be little hope for the rest of the world. 

¹ God from the earth created man, and in his own image he made him. ² He makes man return to earth again, and endows him with a strength of his own. ³ Limited days of life he gives him, with power over all things else on earth. ⁴ He puts the fear of him in all flesh, and gives him rule over beasts and birds. ⁵ He created for them counsel, and tongues and eyes and ears, and an inventive heart, and filled them with the discipline of understanding. ⁶ He created in them knowledge of the spirit; with wisdom he fills their heart; good and evil he shows them. ⁷ He put the fear of himself upon their hearts, and showed them his mighty works, ⁸ That they might glory in the wonders of his deeds and praise his holy name. ⁹ He has set before them knowledge, a law of life as their inheritance; ¹⁰ an everlasting covenant he has made with them, his justice and his judgements he has revealed to them. ¹¹ His majestic glory their eyes beheld, his glorious voice their ears heard. ¹² He says to them, “Avoid all evil”; each of them he gives precepts about his fellow men. ¹³ Their ways are ever known to him, they cannot be hidden from his eyes. ¹⁴ Over every nation he places a ruler, but God’s own portion is Israel. ¹⁵ All their actions are clear as the sun to him, his eyes are ever upon their ways. 

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 103:13-14, 15-16, 17-18

R: The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him. 

¹³ As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him, ¹⁴ For he knows how we are formed; he remembers that we are dust. (R) ¹⁵ Man’s days are like those of grass; like a flower of the field he blooms; ¹⁶ The wind sweeps over him and he is gone, and his place knows him no more. (R) ¹⁷ But the kindness of the Lord is from eternity to eternity toward those who fear him, And his justice toward children’s children ¹⁸ among those who keep his covenant. (R) 

Gospel | Mark 10:13-16

Children have a special place in the heart of Jesus. We can learn something from their innocence and the natural trust and deference they have for their parents. We should develop the same trust and deference to God and His will for us. Let us pray to grow in our understanding and experience as children of the living God. 

Gospel Acclamation

Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom. 

¹³ People were bringing children to Jesus that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” ¹⁶ Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them. 

Read the Bible in one year! Read 1 JOHN 1 - 5 today.

What was our national bird before it became the Philippine eagle? Maya. What is our national house? Bahay kubo. What is a typical business for us? Sari sari store. 

For the writer Nick Joaquin, Filipinos have a propensity for the small. We grow up believing we are small. We feel small. We think small. We act small. We dream small. Our sense of smallness unconsciously forces us to compensate for it by overachieving, by acquiring more things, by social climbing, and by putting on branded clothes just to feel great. 

But good news—it is in our smallness that God came. When God became a child at Christmas, He humbled Himself to become small and limited like us. God loves us so much that He dignified our smallness and made it holy. He became small in order to make us great. By seeing ourselves as He sees us, we begin to own our smallness and discover its gift in our lives. This allows God to rearrange our priorities so that our greatness can solely come from within—a humble, grateful, and magnanimous heart that transforms us and those whom we meet. 

Today, Jesus encourages us to come to Him in our smallness. Do not wait to be great or pretend to be great before approaching Jesus. Come to Jesus in your smallness. Allow Jesus, who was once small like us and who now encourages us in our smallness to come to Him, to accept us in our smallness, and accompany us toward greatness. We don’t have to do it all alone. Fr. Bros Flores, SJ 

reflection question

What do you find small in you? 

My Lord Jesus, allow me today to see Your greatness in my smallness. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ____________________________________