I used to intern for a clinic in Ortigas Business District. Every day, during my commute, I’d walk from the train station all the way to Tektite Tower. One afternoon while commuting home, a young girl approached me asking for alms. I felt a tug in my heart to give. But when I checked my wallet, I didn’t have coins or smaller bills except for P100. I grudgingly handed her the money as I complained to God in my head. 

The girl’s expression at what I gave her convicted my heart. She grew teary-eyed and she beamed with a smile. She said, “Thank you! Now I just need P100 more to buy my mother’s medicine!”

A small inconvenience on my part turned out to be a lifesaving moment for another. 

For Jesus, the healing was a small gesture. But for the woman, it was freedom from an 18-year agony. May we not dilly-dally when we are called to help others. 

Niko Capucion (nikocapucion@gmail.com)

reflect

Is there anyone around you that God is asking you to help?

Lord, may I see with Your eyes, love with Your heart, and help with Your hands. Fill me up so that I can be poured out to the people around me. Amen.

Saint Florentius, pray for us.

Saint Paul often speaks of the flesh. Does he speak about our human bodies? No. He refers to the reality of our condition as sinful human beings who have been damaged by sin. Sin impacts our humanity and brings disorder and rebellion against the law of God. That is why we find it easier to do what is wrong than what is right. Only God’s grace acting deep within us can heal and overcome the effects of our sins. The more we surrender to the Holy Spirit, the more we are transformed within.

¹ Brothers and sisters: Now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless to do, this God has done: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for the sake of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ so that the righteous decree of the law might be fulfilled in us, who live not according to the flesh but according to the spirit. ⁵ For those who live according to the flesh are concerned with the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit with the things of the spirit. ⁶ The concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For the concern of the flesh is hostility toward God; it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it; ⁸ and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. ⁹ But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. ¹¹ If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

R: Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

¹ The Lord’s are the earth and its fullness; the world and those who dwell in it. ² For he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. (R) ³ Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? Or who may stand in his holy place? ⁴ He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain. (R) ⁵ He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, a reward from God his savior. ⁶ Such is the race that seeks for him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob. (R)

Gospel | Luke 13:1-9

People often associate tragedies and disasters with God’s judgment. In today’s Gospel, Jesus shows that the people who experienced these disasters were no worse than others. Disasters, while not directly caused by God, can be used by Him to make us aware of our short lives and lead us to reflect on how we are living in the light of eternity. 

Gospel Acclamation 

I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord, but rather in his conversion that he may live.

¹ Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. ² He said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? ³ By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! ⁴ Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? ⁵ By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” ⁶ And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, ⁷ he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ ⁸ He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; ⁹ it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’”

Reflect:

How do you make the most of your earthly life? 

What do you do to live a full life?

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

It is easy nowadays for us to be judgmental. The social media call-out and cancel culture have made it easy and normal for us to jump to conclusions with regard to other people’s behavior.

I am sure the death of those Galileans mentioned in the Gospel today, whose blood was mingled with their sacrifices by Pilate, was the talk of the town for the longest time. Their death was gory. Their reputation was in disarray. In their misguided theology at that time, they were believed to have done some big sin to merit such a horrific death. Or take the case of the eighteen who were buried alive. They, too, must have been guilty of something similar. Or so they thought!

The Lord did not confirm such a faulty theology, but He did use the two events as a privileged teaching moment, this time about those who were listening to Him.

It is really about me and you, right here, right now. It has to do with the need to be proactive, to be so focused on God and His Kingdom so as not to lose something much more important and valuable—eternal life with Him forever.

You and me—we belong to the ranks of people who sincerely long to see God’s face. That desire is so valuable and demanding of our whole heart, mind, and strength that it cannot be sidetracked and replaced by what seems to be the matter with other people. Again, the entertainment, showbiz-oriented culture that we live in makes us so focused on what happens to other people. 

Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

reflection question

How do you make sure that you are focused on God every day of your life?

Lord, I long to see You face to face when my time on earth is finished. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _________________________________