RVA Daily Reflection

Personal Relationship with Jesus

Author: Chrisma C. BangaoilTrue relationship with Jesus transforms and movesReflection Date: October 8, 2024 Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary TimeDaily Readings: Galatians 1:13-24; Luke 10:38-42
We hear two images of how we can define our personal relationship with Jesus in today’s readings.
The first reading tells us how accepting Jesus in our lives, that is conversion, gives us the power to be transformed into a dynamic zealot missioner of Christ. A life of faith then moves us into bringing the message of Christ to the world. Yes, we are to walk into the world and bring Christ in our daily encounters with different people. 
What made Paul more effective in evangelizing others is his steadfastness of spirit. He did not allow comments about his past to drag him. He knew that his conversion is not about him but the grace of God working in him. Instead, his faith journey was only marked with zealousness to bring Jesus to different people.
In the Gospel, we hear this popular story about Martha complaining to Jesus and Jesus in turn sort of scolding Martha. This scene shows the personal relationship or the closeness of the two. It was Martha’s confidence in the Lord that must have made her feel safe to complain to Jesus. Jesus, on His part, knew that Martha wouldn’t at all feel bad if her wish were not granted.
This story of Martha complaining to Jesus tells us to ‘give it to God’. When we are angry, when we are in trouble, or when we feel burdened, we give it to God. Whatever we are facing, no matter how big or small, we give it to God and let Him take care of our concerns. 
When we give our burdens to the Lord, He takes the yoke upon Himself. We no longer have to worry. He’s got it covered. 
Call to Action for Catholic Living: To grow in our relationship with Jesus, let us always exclaim today's psalm, Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.”

Love God, Love your Neighbor

Author: Chrisma C. Bangaoil
 Love God, Love your Neighbor
Reflection Date: October 7, 2024 Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary
Daily Readings: Galatians 1:6-12; Luke 10:25-37
 
The world had made a merchandise out of love. It has become just a byword, something that many find easy to blurt out but without meaning. Love has become synonymous to like or desire such that it has also become fleeting because like and desire are fleeting emotions.
Today’s readings exhort us to live the Gospel of Love because this is exactly how we can truly love and inherit the kingdom. How do we live this love that we profess for Christ? 
The Gospel tells us – love your neighbor. And yes, there’s a qualifier “as you love yourself”. 
But this is not the kind of self-love that we hear often these days. This self-love that the world promotes is selfish and directed only to the self. It’s Me-first and Me-only mentality.
Loving Christ through our neighbors is a sacrificial kind of love. It’s going out of our comfort zones just like what the good Samaritan in today’s Gospel did. He didn’t know the man but he helped him anyway – no questions asked, no conditions.
It is easy to say “I love you, Lord”. But how easy do we forget in exchange for something convenient and self-serving. The first reading tells us that. We easily forsake Christ for something else.
Call to Action for Catholic Living:  True love has eyes, ears, hands and feet. To be a true lover of Christ is to reach out to our neighbors, not only the ones we know and like, but even to those we do not know, the lost, least and the last. Let us act our love.

God’s Law, not Man’s

Author: Chrisma C. BangaoilNo one is above Divine LawReflection Date: October 6, 2024 Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary TimeDaily Readings:  Genesis 2:18-24; Hebrews 2:9-11; Mark 10:2-16 or 10:2-12
The readings today speak of divorce among others so it is tempting to say that those unmarried are not covered in today’s readings. But while the readings talk about God’s disapproval and prohibition of divorce, the readings also remind us to submit to the law of God, not when we like it or when it is convenient but out of love and obedience to Him.
The first reading highlights that it was out of the hardness of hearts of men that the law of God had been tweaked by Moses. In truth, however, whatever God has commanded from the very start remains true until today. What is good will always be good and what is evil remains evil no matter how we redefine or repackage it.
The readings tell us to be faithful no matter what the circumstances, no matter the inconveniences and no matter the opposition of the world. We are being strongly reminded that as Christians, we do not and should not live our life according to what suits our ego or what is convenient to us but always like children, obedient to and dependent on the will of the parents. 
The moment we think of ourselves as masters of our own lives, we become insistent on what we want and justify our actions as right and necessary. We create laws according to what suit our needs. We create laws to justify our crookedness. We promote our self-interests in the name of freedom of choice, inclusivity and call of the times.
So, what happens? We have laws that protect self-interests but destroy others. We have laws that are inclusive of a few but exclude those who are not accepting of our crooked idea. We have laws that protect individuals but destroy humanity.
Call to Action for Catholic Living:  There’s a big difference between obeying Divine Law and human law. Divine Law saves the soul. Human law protects vested interests that destroy the soul.
May the Lord bless us all the days of our lives that we may see the light in obeying God rather than man.

Rejoice in God

Author: Chrisma C. BangaoilBlessed are the eyes that see the Lord!Reflection Date: October 5, 2024 Saturday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary TimeDaily Readings: Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17; Luke 10:17-24
I often get remarks such as, “What do you get out of it?” or “Why do you do what you do?” They are referring to the mission that I do in Mindanao through our Love the Poor Program.
To the ordinary eyes, they see the difficulties that we go through, the danger that we face and the expense that we incur. But for us in the Love the Poor team, we see a glimpse of Christ each time. We feel Christ, smell Christ and hear Christ each time such that we are always looking for more and wanting for more mission opportunities.
This is the message of the readings today. When we go up the mountains to evangelize, this is when we fully experience the presence of God working in and through us. We see the joy among poor people. We see their peace, their hope and their faith. We see God providing for our mission in more ways than one, in circumstances that we do not expect and through people that we do not know.
It is in our most difficult and challenging mission work that we see the amazing hands of God guiding us and providing for us. The first reading exclaims the power of God over all things. That truly He is in-charge and if we surrender our cares and concerns to Him alone, He will take care of us just as He took care of Job. But we need to trust His ways.
The Gospel also echoes the power of the Spirit over all that is evil. But more than this is the gift to see and experience God when we allow Him to work in us and through us. 
Call to Action for Catholic Living:   The complications of the world blind and deafen us. A trusting heart, submitting to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, sees what the naked eyes cannot see.
May our hearts only have one desire so each day we pray, “Lord, let your face shine on me.”

Woe to the Entitled

Author: Chrisma C. BangaoilBe grateful! Reflection Date: October 4, 2024 Friday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi   Daily Readings: Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5; Luke 10:13-16
I saw this from a friend’s post: If Chivalry is dead, it’s because entitlement killed it.
He was talking about how many people feel like it’s your job when you open doors to them or let them go in the elevator first or offer them a seat that they don’t say thank you or even smile in response to the kind gesture.
There are many other kinds of ingratitude and entitlements that we see these days and not much appreciation of the small blessings that come in our way each day. This attitude has dragged us into stressful negativities leading to frustrations and depressions.
The readings today remind us to be mindful of the blessings, big and small, that abound. It is when we are mindful that we get to see, to hear and to experience God’s goodness. If we are not mindful of God’s goodness, we become ungrateful like the people of Chorazin and Bethsaida. We start complaining and sulking even at the smallest inconvenience. 
What does this make of us?
We become unhappy. How miserable is he or she who fails to see God’s goodness. This is the number 1 formula for unhappy miserable life – ingratitude! 
Call to Action for Catholic Living:  Let’s count our blessings! These abound even amidst a seemingly difficult life! It is when we count our blessings that we see more clearly the Source of all that is Good. St. Francis of Assisi lived a holy life because he chose to see and to listen to Christ among his beautiful creation.

Travel Light

Author: Chrisma C. BangaoilPut your confidence in the LordReflection Date: October 3, 2024 Thursday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary TimeDaily Readings: Job 19:21-27; Mark 1:15
Have you ever travelled not carrying or bringing much with you? Didn’t it feel more relaxing? There’s really less hassle especially during transit.
But many of us do not travel light. If we can only bring more, we would.
Our Gospel today reminds us that in our Christian journey, we are not to bring any—not even our sandals, not even a small bag. We are being reminded that if we truly want to grow in our Christian faith, that if we want to journey with Jesus, we need to give up even the most important thing to us. We can’t walk the way of Jesus and stay attached to convenience, ambition, power and all our self-centered motives.
The first reading tells us that all that we have are just passing because in the end only God can fill our longing.
So, while the world tells us to work hard and to have more for ourselves, our Christian faith is calling us to work hard not for ourselves but so we can do our mission relying solely on God’s grace. This is what it means to be alive – reliance on the provision of God as we fulfill our mission. 
Call to Action for Catholic Living: The psalm beautifully says it. “I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.” We put our confidence in the Lord.

Who is the Greatest?

Author: Chrisma C. BangaoilBe like a child.Reflection Date: October 2, 2024 Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary TimeMemorial of the Holy Guardian AngelsDaily Readings: Job 9:1-12, 14-16; Matthew 18:1-5, 10
One constant human concern is to be great. We have so many competitions to know who is the greatest. The world is so concerned about this.
In today’s Gospel, the disciples showed the same concern when they asked Jesus who is the greatest. But maybe to their dismay, Jesus did not name any of them. Instead, Jesus pointed to a child.
Imagine a group of scholars or honor students or a group of multi-awarded athletes or a group of government leaders or business executives asking who is the greatest among them and getting a response that it’s the ordinary man or woman by the door. I can almost hear the grumbling among these men and women who consider themselves great.
What’s special about a child, we may ask?
Jesus may not necessarily be only talking about age here. Obviously, we can never be children again. But we all can be childlike—that is, someone who is humble. This humility that Jesus mentioned speaks of our complete dependence on the Father, just like a child is completely dependent on his or her parents. 
Being a child is acknowledging that apart from God, our wealth, our career, our position, our degree or our possessions, mean nothing. We are to acknowledge the power of God over us. In the first reading, even in his great distress, Job acknowledged that God is most powerful.
Call to Action for Catholic Living: Jesus also pointed out that unless we welcome the children, we will not be able to enter heaven. Do we welcome the little ones—not only the children, but those who cannot help themselves, those needing our help? Do we reach out to them? Or, are we busier competing to be the greatest? 

Turn to the Lord

Author: Chrisma C. BangaoilDon’t lose faith in the face of adversitiesReflection Date: October 1, 2024 Tuesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary TimeMemorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church Daily Readings: Job 3:1-3, 11-17, 20-23; Luke 9:51-56
I am sure that each one of us has had this lowest point in our life. How did you cope? Was there any point that you felt so low that you somehow lost faith or maybe you questioned God because you felt like the Lord had abandoned you?
Such speaks of our humanness. We see that in Job at his lowest. Don’t we see ourselves in Job’s story? Don’t we curse everything we could when we are at our lowest?
I remember a good friend who shut herself off from the world and God because after she lost her mother; she also lost her job, her boyfriend of many years broke up with her and she found out that she had a tumor in her brain. She stopped praying. She stopped going to church. She had one big question: Why?
Our human mind finds it difficult to understand why a loving God allows bad things to happen to us. Job was faithful to the Lord. Didn’t he love Job? Why did he allow Job to suffer much? Can we blame Job for cursing the day of his birth? Many of us, when we experience deep pain and sorrow, also curse the day of our birth.
But God sees beyond this human nature which He very well knows and understands. There is something that he is teaching Job in his great suffering. This is clearly expressed in the Psalm: to turn to God alone in our distress; to entrust ourselves to God alone at our lowest. This is a strong invitation to keep our focus on God especially in our moments of distress—moments that the evil one uses to take away our focus from God.
The Gospel reading shows us how Jesus was focused on embracing his own suffering. He was set out to Jerusalem where he would find His ultimate suffering – His death on the cross. He could have turned back or delayed his journey to Jerusalem but the Gospel clearly tells us that no one can look back and be fit for the kingdom of God. 
Call to Action for Catholic Living: We cannot brag of anything if we do not embrace our cross just like Jesus did. This is only possible when we turn to God in prayers. This is exactly what St. Therese of the Child Jesus did. In her every small suffering, she turned to God and made these her small acts of offering.

Redefining Greatness

Author: Father Peter John Maria LouisThe Call to Humility and ServiceReflection Date: September 30, 2024 Monday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary TimeMemorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church Daily Readings: Job 1:6-22; Luke 9:46-50  
When the disciples argued about who among them was the greatest, Jesus used the moment to teach a profound lesson. Bringing a child into their midst, He said, "Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me," redefining greatness in the Kingdom of God.
Jesus calls us to focus on relationships and how we treat others, especially those who cannot repay our kindness. True greatness is not measured by power or prestige, but through humility, vulnerability, and serving the marginalized.
Call to Action for Catholic Living: In a world that often elevates success and status, we must examine our values. Are we driven by ambition or the desire to serve?
Let us embrace the heart of a servant, seeing Christ in everyone, and challenge society's standards of greatness by welcoming all with love and humility. Amen.

The Spirit Moves Freely

Author: Father Peter John Maria LouisEmbracing unity and empowermentReflection Date: September 29, 2024 Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary TimeDaily Readings: Numbers 11:25-29; James 5:1-6; Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48    
In the story of the elders of Israel, God's Spirit empowers many to prophesy, sparking jealousy from Joshua when Eldad and Medad prophesy outside the group. 
Moses responds with humility, wishing that all of God’s people would be filled with the Spirit, showing that the Spirit isn’t confined to a chosen few.
Similarly, St. James admonishes the rich for exploiting others, reminding us of the ethical responsibility that comes with wealth. Injustice and selfishness are called out, urging us to use our resources to lift up those in need.
In the Gospel, John points out someone outside their circle casting out demons in Jesus' name. Jesus broadens their understanding, saying, “Whoever is not against us is for us,” and emphasizes the importance of maintaining holiness and integrity, even at great personal cost.
The Spirit moves beyond human expectations, calling us to uplift one another's gifts instead of reacting with jealousy or fear, as Joshua and John initially did. Jesus and Moses model a humility that invites us to celebrate the diversity of talents within the community.
Call to Action for Catholic Living: We are called to recognize the value of each person’s unique gifts and to work together for God’s glory. The Spirit's work is not a competition but a collaboration for the good of all.  
Let us also have the courage to confront injustice and seek healing in our communities. Amen.