“Bro J, I have a student who admires your faith. He’s been inspired by your talks and videos. I want to surprise him with a video greeting from you.” 

This message was a humbling but pleasant request from a teacher I didn’t know for a student I wasn’t familiar with. While I’m aware that we appear on social media and in public events, I realized that others do watch our videos and read our posts. The fact that the student’s teacher made such a request showed that I was known to them both. I have some level of influence I was unaware of. 

Friends, you’re being followed. No, not in a stalker kind of way, but in a positive influential way. Each post we compose, every video we broadcast, and most especially, every live presentation of ourselves have significant impact on others, whether we know it or not. Such is our impact and our great responsibility. 

As Saint Paul exhorts others to follow him, let us live our lives in a way that’s worth following. 

J Yogawin (coachj@jyogawin.com)

reflect

How can you have a positive influence on others?

Jesus, may I follow You, and may others do so through me. 

Saint Dentlin, pray for us.

First Reading | Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18

Let us reflect on God’s promises to Abraham. These promises show the scope of God’s power and the depth of His love for us, His people (see also Genesis 12:1-3). God promises Abraham to give him descendants as many as the stars. In other words, Abraham’s descendants shall be innumerable. This means we are also counted among them, provided we live our lives in faith like Abraham, our father in faith.

⁵ The Lord God took Abram outside and said: “Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.” ⁶ Abram put his faith in the Lord, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness. ⁷ He then said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as a possession.” ⁸ “O Lord God,” he asked, “how am I to know that I shall possess it?” ⁹ He answered him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰ Abram brought him all these, split them in two, and placed each half opposite the other; but the birds he did not cut up. ¹¹ Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram stayed with them. ¹² As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram, and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him. ¹⁷ When the sun had set and it was dark, there appeared a smoking brazier and a flaming torch, which passed between those pieces. ¹⁸ It was on that occasion that the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River, the Euphrates.”

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14

R: The Lord is my light and my salvation.

¹ The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid? (R) ⁷ Hear, O Lord, the sound of my call; have pity on me, and answer me. ⁸ Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks. (R) Your presence, O Lord, I seek. ⁹ Hide not your face from me; do not in anger repel your servant. You are my helper cast me not off. (R) 1³ I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living. ¹⁴ Wait for the Lord with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord. (R)

Second Reading | Philippians 3:17–4:1 (or Philippians 3:20–4:1) 

Paul focuses on living his daily Christian walk. This life will be meaningless if this is removed from our faith in Christ. Even eating is a useless task if we do not believe in Christ; all it does is prolong our mortal life. Faith in Christ gives us added time to experience His love, discern His will, and serve Him. What a difference faith in Christ makes!

¹⁷ Join with others in being imitators of me, brothers and sisters, and observe those who thus conduct themselves according to the model you have in us. ¹⁸ For many, as I have often told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ Their end is destruction.Their God is their stomach; their glory is in their “shame.” Their minds are occupied with earthly things. ²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. ²¹ He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself. ^4:1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord.

Gospel | Luke 9:28-36 

In the Transfiguration, we learn about the divine origins of Jesus and see His place in the plan of salvation. Jesus surpasses the Law and the prophets no matter how important these have been to Israel. Jesus fulfills the Law and draws them together in His person as the definitive revelation of God’s love for us. May we draw hope and inspiration from this story—hope that we will become one with Jesus like Moses and Elijah, and inspiration that we will give our lives in the service of the Gospel as the great men and women of faith have done in the past.

Gospel Acclamation

From the shining cloud the Father’s voice is heard: This is my beloved Son, hear him.

²⁸ Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray. ²⁹ While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. ³⁰ And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. ³² Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. ³³ As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But he did not know what he was saying. ³⁴ While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. ³⁵ Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” ³⁶ After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen.

Reflect:

“Let us listen to the holy voice of God which summons us from on high, from the holy mountain top. There we must hasten . . . like Jesus who is our leader and has gone before us into heaven. There, with Him, may the eyes of our mind shine with His light and the features of our soul be made new; may we be transfigured with Him and molded to His image, ever become divine, being transformed in an ever greater degree of glory.” (St. Anastasius of Sinai)

Read the Bible in one year! Read GENESIS 16 - 18 today.

Beautifully Bittersweet

One time, I had a delightful visit and catch-up with a good friend and his family. His daughter is my baptismal goddaughter. Just as I bade goodbye to them, my goddaughter rushed outside to see me. She was sobbing, and I asked her why. She told me she was watching a lovely film. I couldn’t fathom at first why she wanted to watch something that could make her upset. She explained that the movie wasn’t all sad. She said it was bittersweet, and jested, “Ninong Father, I had a ‘good cry.’ The film tasted like dark chocolate made with little sugar!”

Our daily life is indeed a complex tapestry of joy and sorrow, dark and light, bitter and sweet. While we cherish moments of happiness and fulfillment, it is crucial to acknowledge the sad and complex truths that weave through our existence. That life, in all its glory and promise, is inherently finite, fragile, and fleeting. That even our deepest relationships and connections inevitably evolve or fade away. Consequently, it is only by reflecting and accepting these realities, with faith and surrender, that we can achieve peace and contentment, develop gratitude and wonder, and navigate life’s challenges with greater wisdom and resilience. 

The Transfiguration reminds us that Jesus’ suffering and glorification are interlaced and inseparable, that “it was necessary that the Messiah should suffer [these things] and enter into His glory” (Luke 24:26). Through His suffering, Jesus leads the people out of their bondage to sin and death into the freedom of God’s children. 

In the Transfiguration, the disciples, then and now, behold the glorious face of Jesus. We gaze into an infinite beauty that is forever joined to sorrow and suffering. And it is in-between such face of delight and danger, bitter and sweet, that hope finds its home in our hearts. 

Fr. Paolo Asprer, SSP

reflection question

How have you found hope amidst your life’s joys and sorrows?

Father, may the Spirit that sustained Your Son Jesus in His passion and death lead us to acknowledge and accept that joy and sorrow are not enemies, but bedfellows or siblings. Amen. 

Today, I pray for: _______________________________________