Team Jesus

In the gospel, John the Baptist preaches to the different kinds of peoples; the crowds, the tax collectors and as well as the soldiers. First, John the Baptist tells the masses to sacrifice their extra cloaks to the ones that do not have as he also taught them the value of generosity. As for the tax collectors, John the Baptist tells them to receive what is expected and do not ask for more. He taught them the value of contentment for the tax collectors in his time were famous for their corruption. Lastly, the soldiers were told not to commit extortion and to never falsely accuse anyone. John the Baptist introduced to them the value of real humility. These values that he has taught to the peoples were basically a reminder for us to become better Christians. We may not have the same titles from this gospel such as tax collectors or soldiers, but we must admit that there are times when we tend to act differently. As millennials, we become magnets to our prized possessions such as our ...

The gospel is taken from the book of John where Jesus and Pontus Pilate had their confrontation when the chief priests brought Jesus to him. They talked about whether Jesus was the King of the Jews. Jesus in reply said “ Mine is not a kingdom of this world, if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. As it is, my kingdom does not belong here.” We can relate to the word of the lord by looking deeper on what Jesus said. He said that his place was not here but on heaven. We too are like Jesus, We are living in a life that is only just temporary because there is something to look forward on and that is, eternal life. Many people can’t see this because they are blinded by greed and power. People puts their money first before their dignity and what is commonly happening is that we focus more often on what we have and not on the things that we have done good. We care too much on things of this world but we must never forget...

Who is Jesus For Me? He is the one that protects me and guides me in my life. As Peter Said Jesus is not just A Great Teacher, Prophet, and miracle worker. Jesus is The Anointed One, Consecrated by the father and sent in the world to redeem a fallen human race enslaved to sin and cut off from eternal life with God (Luke 9:20, Acts 2:14-36). Jesus is our savior, always guiding us to reflect on our sins and to do good things in our world today. The Word "Christ" in Greek is a translation of the Hebrew word for "Messiah"-Both words literally mean the Anointed One. Jesus was the one who saved me from my sins. The one who always guides me in my everyday life. The one who continues to lead me to become a better person. He is the reason why I live. He is the reason why I am in the Youth Ministry. I joined the Youth Encounter for an encounter with God, but not just with God but also with Jesus The Savior. The Encounter changed my Life and helped me to be a better p...

             Jesus is present when his word is read, and the bread is sanctified. In the gospel, the Jews had a narrow and literal understanding and they failed to realize that Jesus was actually referring to himself. Jesus referred to himself as the "Son of Man" countless times. The word was made flesh in Jesus. People had heard Jesus' stories and parables. They saw his compassionate attitude. They observed him weep but they also saw him in his cheerful mood and best of all, they saw him transport in prayer to his heavenly Father. The wholeness of Jesus' teachings, and the whole of his teachings, and the whole of his life, including the glimpse of glory we saw at his resurrection. They all point to the body, the flesh that we partake each day as we meditate on his person, ponder his life and allow it to transform us into his own body, his own flesh Jesus proclaims that the food He offers endures to eternal life. Bread is not just the word that mus...

Hunger, as defined by “The Free Dictionary”, is: a.)     A strong desire or need for food b.)   The discomfort, weakness, or pain caused by a prolonged lack of food. And lastly, c.)   A strong desire or craving We eat for numerous reasons: – either we’re bored, we’re stressed, feeling sad, or simply because it’s part of our daily routine as human beings. But does food alone satisfies our hunger? How about in terms of spiritual emptiness? Can it nourish our weakened spirit? a.)   A strong desire or need for food What is this desire that we need? When we hunger physically, we crave for food, feel empty in the stomach, and we feel weak. But when the spirit is malnourished, we become unenthusiastic to the things that were once our hobby and we are more vulnerable to temptations that lead us to sin. We become easily irritated and tend to shut away those people that care for us. "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?  Do we no...

In the gospel, Jesus performs one of His famous miracles in front of His disciples and the entire crowd: the multiplication of bread and fish. We see Jesus setting an example in front of His followers as He feeds them with food more than enough to suffice their hunger. This really shows that God will truly provide to those who are hungry, physically or figuratively. All we need to do is to believe, obey and trust in him. We may express our confidence in Him in our day to day lives through being Christ-radiating/Christ-like. We may radiate Christ in small deeds or actions such as reading the bible daily, spreading His word or by following His commandments. The smallest things may even produce large outcomes. For example by simply obeying our parents or even by following school policy, we may be one step closer to Christ-likeness. In return we must also be hungry for His word, hungry for more of Him. God should be worshiped and praised and we, as His children, are responsible fo...

Right now, we have different labels. You are a student, he is a musician, she is an accountant, he/she is a parent, etc. These roles give us responsibilities that we must fulfill. For example, being a student requires projects, exams and quizzes. While being a mother may include cooking for the family, paying house bills, and a lot more. And with these responsibilities, play a major role in creating our identities. Now think of that one role/occupation that keeps you busy. After, think of the tasks and responsibilities that fall under that role. Name all of it. Then answer these questions in your mind: Are you happy doing these things? Are you satisfied with what you have done so far? Or do you feel tired of doing these things? You have your own answers and I have mine. And I know, that with all these thing that we do everyday and with all the responsibilities and commitments we have to keep on track all the time, there are always points in our lives that we forget to rest. We ...

Jesus summoned the Twelve and s ent them out and take nothing for the journey but a walking stick, however, Jesus told them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” Today’s gospel tells us that we should be happy and contented of what the Lord gave us. We should be proud that God has given us family and friends who support us in our everyday life even thou they’re not perfect because we can see into them that God is in their hearts who affirms and compliment us. Whenever we are down God lift us up, whenever we have a problem God helps us and guide us. It also reminds us that despite of being rejected multiple times, we should strive to continue life and have the dedication to persevere to follow Jesus’ path. We shouldn’t be discouraged but instead we should be motivated because in every storm, there is a rainbow. In every circumstance...

Today, one important factor in our lives is our support systems. These are the people around us who lift us up, family, friends, girlfriend/boyfriend, etc. But some of these support systems are not consistent in showing their trust that it fails our expectations of what a friend/family really is. In life, a weak support system, affects us so much that if it goes negative, we cannot do something. Therefore we cannot progress. Just like Jesus, the people in His native place are the ones w ho have so many questions. Instead of believing, they question His abilities instead. Jesus found this discouraging. However, today is different. We are too attached with the people around us that we tend forget our greatest support system which is Jesus. He is the perfect support system that anyone could have. If your friends push you away, encourage yourself to be pushed closer to Jesus. With Jesus, everything goes right.If you feel that your whole family is against you, pause, take a ...

God has a perfect timing for everything. The woman had a hemorrhage for 12 years because Jesus wanted to give her the opportunity to give testimony to her healing. Also, as a result of Jesus taking time to find the woman who touched His clothes, Jairus’ daughter did not make it alive. The delay of Jesus resulted in a greater miracle because He didn’t just heal Jairus’ daughter, but resurrected her. We sometimes feel that the life in us has been drained, we feel like we are dying, we even feel that sometimes we’re dead, until we encounter Jesus that gives us hope and life. We are either touched by Jesus or, we reach out to Jesus ourselves. Faith has done great things to people. Blind people can see, sick people are healed, dead people brought back to life, and other miraculous events Jesus did. When things don’t go our way, we need to have faith in Jesus and never give up because He will never abandon us in times of trials. He is always there for us. He just wants us to have a str...

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus continues to talk about the Kingdom of God. He uses the image of a mustard seed being planted by a farmer, leaving it grow and comes back to harvest its fruits. He explained to His disciples, that yes, the mustard seed though small, can become one of the biggest and most productive plant. But if you leave it alone to grow and not take care of it, it will not become as productive as expected. Jesus is talking to us, the youth, to take care of the mustard seeds in our lives. These tiny seeds will grow and produce, if we always cling to God. God blessed us with so much gifts, talents and time. He blessed us with a community which nurtures us to grow and mature spiritually. Young as we are, we know we can produce much fruits by inviting young people to the BLD Youth Ministry. Armed with all these gifts and guided by the Holy Spirit, we can share our learning and experiences of God's love and His presence in our lives. We will gi...

In the Gospel, Jesus was rejected by his relatives and by the people of Jerusalem saying,  He was possessed by the prince of demons and that He was out of his mind. But, Jesus told them in the form of a parable his coming to plunder Satan and bring about his end. Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemies against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness but is guilty of an everlasting sin." With this, Jesus is reminding us to never mistake the Holy Spirit with Satan. He also emphasized that whoever does the will of God is His brother and sister and mother.  Reflecting on today's Gospel, I have recalled the times I took my problems negatively and mistook the Holy Spirit with something else. But having been nourished with the good news, I have come to realize that those problems were just "eye openers" to what God is trying to reveal through the Holy Spirit. ...

“Take it, this is My Body; this is my Blood of the covenant which will be shared for many.” -Mark 14:22, 24 Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. This is very symbolic for it is one of the sole foundations of our faith. In the Gospel, Jesus feasts with His disciples and shares His own Body and Blood. He says, “Take it, this is My Body; this is my Blood of the covenant which will be shared for many.” At this point, Jesus does not merely give food and drink to His disciples, but He also feeds them in a much deeper level. He welcomes them, enlightens them and heals them. This can be likened to what we experience during the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. We go to Church to feel God’s holy presence and receive nourishment, enlightenment and healing. The bread and wine that we partake are no longer that of its physical form; we are already partaking the real body and blood of Christ, which cleanses our whole mind, body and so...