During my prayer time on March 13, 2020, I felt a nudge from the Holy Spirit. I heard Him say in my heart, “Do a show on Facebook. You don’t know what you are getting into. It will help your sanity and it will help many.”

Following that voice, I asked my wife if she could join me. She agreed and even gave a name to it: Quaretreat. Why that name? It was during the COVID-19 quarantine. We figured, instead of being fearful during the lockdown, we would take time to reflect and receive hope from God—just like in a retreat. 

Six years later, we are still doing the show but with a different name: Quarestart. The purpose has not changed though. We still aim to remind people about God’s love. And by His grace, it has helped thousands all over the world. Do you feel a nudge from God? Follow Him and receive His abundant blessings.

Arun Gogna (gognuts@yahoo.com)

reflect

“God is always speaking, but it takes a tuned-in heart to discern His voice.” (AbcRadio.fm)

Lord, let me obey when You call me to do something, go somewhere, or change something in my life. Amen.

St. Eusebius of Vercelli, bishop, pray for us.

The Day of Atonement is the Jewish equivalent of the Christian’s Good Friday, or maybe even the whole Easter Triduum. I find it fascinating that there are a number of socially mandated realities attached to its celebration every fifty years. The duty to care for the poor and to achieve a certain level of social equality is important to a harmonious society. 

¹ The Lord said to Moses on Mount Sinai, ⁸ “Seven weeks of years shall you count—seven times seven years—so that the seven cycles amount to forty-nine years. ⁹ Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month let the trumpet resound; on this, the Day of Atonement, the trumpet blast shall re-echo throughout your land. ¹⁰ This fiftieth year you shall make sacred by proclaiming liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when every one of you shall return to his own property, every one to his own family estate. ¹¹ In this fiftieth year, your year of jubilee, you shall not sow, nor shall you reap the aftergrowth or pick the grapes from the untrimmed vines. ¹² Since this is the jubilee, which shall be sacred for you, you may not eat of its produce, except as taken directly from the field. ¹³ “In this year of jubilee, then, every one of you shall return to his own property. ¹⁴ Therefore, when you sell any land to your neighbor or buy any from him, do not deal unfairly. ¹⁵ On the basis of the number of years since the last jubilee shall you purchase the land from neighbor; and so also, on the basis of the number of years for crops, shall he sell it to you. ¹⁶ When the years are many, the price shall be so much the more; when the years are few, the price shall be so much the less. For it is really the number of crops that he sells you. ¹⁷ Do not deal unfairly, then; but stand in fear of your God. I, the Lord, am your God.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 7-8

R: O God, let all the nations praise you!

² May God have pity on us and bless us; may he let his face shine upon us.   ³ So may your way be known upon earth; among all nations, your salvation. (R) ⁵ May the nations be glad and exult because you rule the peoples in equity; the nations on the earth you guide. (R) ⁷ The earth has yielded its fruits; God, our God, has blessed us. 8 May God bless us, and may all the ends of the earth fear him! (R)

Gospel | Matthew 14:1-12

Wealth is not the only element that contributes to social status. Another element is the amount of power a person exercises. Herod abuses his power. He knows that ordering the death of John the Baptist is wrong, but he still does it because he fears the reaction of his influential guests. He is the most powerful man in the room. What has he to fear? I find it difficult to understand his thinking. Perhaps, he is just waiting for an excuse to rid himself of the embarrassment of John the Baptist’s opinions.

Gospel Acclamation

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

¹ Herod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesus ² and said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why mighty powers are at work in him.” ³ Now Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, ⁴ for John had said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Although he wanted to kill him, he feared the people, for they regarded him as a prophet. ⁶ But at a birthday celebration for Herod, the daughter of Herodias performed a dance before the guests and delighted Herod ⁷ so much that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for.  ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹ The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests who were present, he ordered that it be given, ¹⁰ and he had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. ¹² His disciples came and took away the corpse and buried him; and they went and told Jesus.

Read the Bible in one year! Read 1 MACCABEES 5 - 6 today.

Sangkalan is an interesting Tagalog word. Its root word is isangkal, a verb, which means to wedge, to place in between, or to use as a tool to attain something else. Sangkalan is an object used for practical ends that do not benefit the object itself. In that sense, a sangkalan can mean a chopping board, a driving wedge, or an object that, when placed where it is needed, will redound to the practical good of another person or object.

St. John the Baptist today became the classic sangkalan for Herodias to go through her illegitimate affair without complications. He became a tool for Herodias’ daughter to please her manipulative and scheming mother. John also became fair game to Herod’s character flaw and weakness that made him give way to the evil machinations of a woman like Herodias.

All of us are capable of this—when we sacrifice someone else just so we can meet our own selfish ends. John the Baptist was made into a veritable sangkalan—a chopping board, quite literally and figuratively, except that his head was on the chopping block this time. He was used as collateral damage to the primary end of keeping an illicit relationship devoid of any hindrance, moral or material. What types of sangkalan do we love to use in our own lives just to go ahead? Chismosos y chismosas in our culture (Maritesses of social media fame) ride on gossipmongering just to have more likes and followers in their social media accounts. They do bombastic exposés about celebrities’ lives just to outdo others in the mad race to get those much-coveted clicks.

John the Baptist was used as a sangkalan. He paid a steep price for uttering the truth. Are we guilty, too, of turning others into sangkalan for our own ends? 

Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

reflection question

Do you tend to use a sangkalan just to go ahead and achieve what you want in your life?

Lord, help me to always be honest and straightforward in my dealings. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _____________________________________