Team Jesus

            This is actually my first time to reflect about a gospel reading and to read it out loud in front of certain people I know. When asked to make a reflection, I actually thought that making one out of bible readings would be a piece of cake but it got me wrong. It took me time and effort to know the real meaning of the passages I was reading.  Though it was short, it was actually conveying multiple messages for all of us. I have come to realize that just like an ordinary teenager— I know little about the bible. It actually felt good that for once, I took a break from my usual reading of novels and series to reading the bible instead.             So getting to the point, today’s gospel reading is about love, mercy and humility. Based on my understanding, Luke’s gospel allows us to reflect on our lives and see that we too, just like the two sinners on the cross, need to take the c...

Have you ever felt like giving up? Like everything doesn’t go the way you wanted it to be no matter how hard you try and the saddest part is the only thing you can do is wait until everything falls into place. In times like this, do we consider God as our lifeline? A problem-free life doesn’t exist. New day means another lesson learned. There are times when we learn things the hard way. Sometimes there are problems that is too hard for us to carry but giving up should never be an option. Life can be pretty messed up but when you think about giving up does it also mean that your trust in God is not that strong? God may not be by our side physically but he finds ways to talk to us to give us words of wisdom. It may be through prayers or it may be from the people around us. And we should remember that we have this life because we’re strong enough to live it. God tells us not to be afraid of tomorrow. Our strong faith in him is enough to face today. Yes, tomorrow might be a scary pl...

“If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn't rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead.” -Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism.           In all of the lessons you have learned about Jesus, in the faith you have accepted and have grown into, how far would you live up to His name and call yourself His? The first reading talks about seven brothers being tortured by a king, forcing them to eat pork in violation of God’s law. But even in great pain they endure, even with life at stake, they refuse not to let go of that faith they have in Jesus. For they believe that there is greater life after death given to the one who believe in Jesus. In taking up Jesus in our life: There is faith and there is life. Like the seven brothers,...

The gospel talks about Zaccheus. A tax collector and a rich man. The Jews considered the tax collectors as "sinners" because tax collectors became rich by getting more money from people than they were supposed to. Zaccheus heard that Jesus was coming so Zaccheus was very eager to see Jesus. But he had a problem... he was a short man. Because of this, Zaccheus cannot see Jesus passing because of the crowd who was also waiting to see Jesus. What he did was he climbed a sycamore tree. When Jesus reached the place where Zaccheus was, He asked him to come down because Jesus will stay in his house. People who heard Jesus grumbled and said "Jesus is going with a sinner." Zaccheus has seen Jesus' kindness so he decided to make things right in his life. He told Jesus that he would give half of everything he owned yo the poor and he would pay back by giving 4 times the amount he had taken. Jesus replied, "Salvation has come to this house today, because this man too ...