Team Jesus

In today's Gospel, Jesus wants to tell us that if there are things, people or habits in our life that hinder us from maintaining a healthy relationship with God, then we must keep it away from us. I encounter situations like these.. As a teenager, sometimes, I find it hard to avoid occasions that lead to sin. There are many temptations around me, at school, at home or everywhere I go. We have this thing called "weakening of Christian sense of sin" and it is where we consider sin as not a sin anymore because it is being practiced today in our generation or it is said to be a "trend". Though sometimes, I may be one of those kids of today who goes with the trend, I still know my limitations as a person. I still know what's right and what's wrong and that's why I'm so thankful to become a part of this Youth Ministry because it reminds me that I am a child of God and I should respect myself and others. I should not be drowned by these worldly desires ...

Everyone wants to be the first: the first in line, the first in class, the first to see a movie, the first to post a picture, the first to know a secret. But Jesus tells us to be humble. He said, "Whoever wants to be the first must be last of all and the servant of all." It does feel good to be the first. You'll feel superior among others, you'll feel like no one is better than you. But that should not be your mentality. In fact, that is the complete opposite of what you should think. Being the first, like what Jesus said, means being the last. Why do you have to be the last when you want to be the first? Isn't that just confusing? I know, I ask that question too. But that is the paradox of being the first. Being the first means that you should humble down yourself and not be prideful. Being the first means that you should think of others first before yourself. Being the first means not getting your reward here on earth but instead claiming a bigger reward...

In our daily lives, we both encounter and experience many things. They may be simple yet difficult, or may be very difficult yet seem so simple. We may say it is possible but sometimes at the back of our minds we think it’s impossible.  The question is, “Who is the person behind who would make things simple and possible?” Only God alone. Believing in God makes all things somehow simple and very possible. When we don’t have faith in the Lord, we think that everything is impossible and very difficult.  “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.” In denying oneself, we need to give up anything that we would want or seek that would obstruct our doing the will of God. It isn’t wrong if we want something. It means we must place Jesus and his will as our priority in life and not our wants and desires. "Taking up your ...

There have been times where we have not felt whole. It’s as if there’s something missing. And for as long as we can, we look for that missing piece. We yearn for it.   But for those who cannot find it, they search for cures. Feeling incomplete can bring oneself so much doubt and pain and we need something or someone to remedy that. In The Book of Mark, the Gospel usually ends with Jesus healing someone. Here, in Mark 7: 31-37, Jesus is seen healing a deaf and mute man. That man wasn’t whole, as per human standards. He was, after all, deaf AND mute. People saw him as a broken man who needed help. That is why a crowd had brought him to Jesus to be healed. And healed he was. I feel like we are all that deaf-mute man. I don’t know everyone’s struggles, but what I do know is that I have them too. We all do. There are times when I feel insufficient beside other people. It seems as though there’s a huge arrow pointing at me that reads, “She can’t do what they can!” and I don’...