Our Gospel for Feb 14. The Demand for a Sign.

Mk 8:11-13

 

The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus,

seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.
He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said,
“Why does this generation seek a sign?
Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
Then he left them, got into the boat again,
and went off to the other shore.

Hiningan si Jesus ng Tanda

Marcos 8:11-13

 ¹¹Lumabas ang mga Fariseo at nagsimulang makipagtalo sa kaniya. Hinahanapan siya ng isang tanda mula sa langit, upang subukin siya. ¹²Dumaing siya sa kaniyang espiritu na sinasabi: Bakit mahigpit na naghahangad ng tanda ang lahing ito? Tunay na sinasabi ko sa inyo: Hindi bibigyan ng isang tanda ang mga tao sa panahong ito. ¹³Pagkaiwan niya sa kanila at pagkasakay muli sa bangka, tumawid siya sa kabilang ibayo.

Our Gospel for Feb 13. The Fulfillment.

Mt 5:17-37 or 5:20-22a, 27-28, 33-34a,37
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses
that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But I say to you,
whoever is angry with brother
will be liable to judgment.

“You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery.
But I say to you,
everyone who looks at a woman with lust
has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

“Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
Do not take a false oath,
but make good to the Lord all that you vow.
But I say to you, do not swear at all.
Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’
Anything more is from the evil one.”

Our Gospel for Feb 12. The miracle of the seven loaves and fishes.

 Mark 8:1-10

In those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat,Jesus summoned the disciples and said,
“My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat.
If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way,and some of them have come a great distance.”
His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread
to satisfy them here in this deserted place?”
Still he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”
They replied, “Seven.”
He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them,
and gave them to his disciples to distribute,
and they distributed them to the crowd.
They also had a few fish.
He said the blessing over them
and ordered them distributed also.
They ate and were satisfied.
They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets.
There were about four thousand people.
He dismissed the crowd and got into the boat with his disciples
and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

Pinakain ni Jesus ang Apat na Libong Tao

 Marcos 8:1-10

 ¹Nang mga araw na iyon, ang mga tao ay napakarami. Walang makain ang mga ito kaya tinawag ni Jesus ang kaniyang mga alagad. Sinabi niya sa kanila: ²Ako ay nahahabag sa mga tao, sapagkat tatlong araw na silang sumasama sa akin at walang makain. ³Kung pauwin ko sila sa kanilang tirahan na hindi pa nakakakain, manlulupaypay sila sa daan sapagkat malayo pa ang pinanggalingan ng ilan sa kanila.    
 ⁴Sinabi ng mga alagad: Papaano mapapakain ng sinuman ang mga taong ito ng tinapay sa ilang na dakong ito?
   
 ⁵Tinanong niya sila: Ilan ang inyong tinapay diyan?
   Sumagot sila: Pito.
   
 ⁶Iniutos niya sa napakaraming tao na maupo sa lupa. Nang makuha niya ang pitong tinapay at makapagpasalamat, pinagpira-piraso niya ang mga ito. Ibinigay niya ang mga ito sa kaniyang mga alagad upang idulot sa mga tao. Idinulot nila ang mga ito sa mga tao. ⁷Mayroon din silang ilang maliliit na isda. Nang mapagpala niya ito ay ninais din niyang ito ay maidulot sa kanila. ⁸Kumain ang lahat at sila ay nabusog. Kanilang kinuha ang lumabis na pira-pirasong tinapay. Nakapuno sila ng pitong kaing. ⁹Iyong mga nakakain ay halos apat na libo. Nang magkagayon, pinauwi sila ni Jesus. ¹⁰Kapagdaka, nang siya ay sumakay sa bangka kasama ng kaniyang mga alagad. Nagtungo sila sa mga sakop ng Dalmanuta.

Our Gospel for Feb 11. The Healing of a Deaf Man.

Mark 7:31-37

Jesus left the district of Tyre
and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,
into the district of the Decapolis.
And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment
and begged him to lay his hand on him.
He took him off by himself away from the crowd.
He put his finger into the man’s ears
and, spitting, touched his tongue;
then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him,
“Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”)
And immediately the man’s ears were opened,
his speech impediment was removed,
and he spoke plainly.
He ordered them not to tell anyone.
But the more he ordered them not to,
the more they proclaimed it.
They were exceedingly astonished and they said,
“He has done all things well.
He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Ang Pagpapagaling sa Lalaking Bingi at Pipi

Marcos 7:31-37


 ³¹Muling umalis si Jesus sa lupaing nasasakupan ng Tiro at Sidon, at dumating siya sa lawa ng Galilea hanggang sa sakop ng Decapolis. ³²Kanilang dinala sa kaniya ang isang lalaking bingi na nahihirapang magsalita. Ipinamanhik nila sa kaniya na ipatong niya sa lalaking ito ang kaniyang mga kamay.    
 ³³Nang mailayo siya ni Jesus mula sa napakaraming tao, isinuot niya ang kaniyang daliri sa mga tainga nito. Pagkatapos, lumura si Jesus at hinipo ang dila nito. ³⁴Sa pagtingala niya sa langit, siya ay dumaing at sinabi sa lalaki: Efata. Ang ibig sabihin nito ay: Mabuksan. ³⁵Kaagad na nabuksan ang mga tainga ng lalaki. Nakalag ang tali na pumipigil sa kaniyang dila at nagsalita na siya nang malinaw.
   
 ³⁶Iniutos sa kanila ni Jesus na huwag itong sasabihin kaninuman. Ngunit kung gaano silang pinagbawalan ay lalo naman nilang ipinamamalita ito. ³⁷Sila ay lubhang nanggilalas na nagsasabi: Ang lahat ng kaniyang ginawa ay napakabuti. Ginawa niyang ang bingi ay makarinig at ang pipi ay makapagsalita.

What You Should Never Forget .

 

I remember this day like it was yesterday.

        This happened a couple of years ago.

I went home excited, mentally planning our Father-Son trip to the mall. (Each week, I try to have a date with my boys. Sometimes together. Sometimes separately. That day, I was going to have a date with my eldest boy, Bene.)

       But as I arrived home and stepped down of my car, my phone rang.

       “Bo, are you already at the wedding?” my friend asked me.

       “Huh? What wedding?” I asked.

       “The wedding of Amina…”

       Wham! It was like I was hit by a bat on the head. I totally forgot about the wedding! 

        How can I now tell Bene?

        The little guy was so looking forward to our date.

       When I entered the house, I greeted him and said, “I’ve got a problem about our date …” I told him about the wedding. 

        That was when my wife said, “Son, can you go with Daddy to the wedding? That’ll be your date.” (Thank God for my wise wife.)

        A few minutes later, my son and I were riding the car in our matching barong tagalogs. 

         It turned out that we were early for the wedding, so we walked to a coffee shop beside the church, and talked and laughed together as he ate his favorite cinnamon roll.

       The wedding was superb! 

        It was also a wonderful time for me to give mini-lectures to my little pupil—in whispers at the back pew—on marriage, family, and love. 

       After the wedding, the reception was at the exclusive Polo Club.

       While waiting for the dinner to begin, we had a phenomenal time sitting down on the grass (yes, still in our barongs) under the canopy of stars—and chatted the night away.

       “I don’t want to be a cowboy anymore, Daddy,” he said.

       “No more?” This was a shock to me. It had been his declared dream ever since he was two. In fact, his first word wasn’t “mama”. It was “horse.” (I’m not kidding.)

       He piped up, “I don’t want to be a Cowboy anymore. I just want to ride horses for pleasure.”

       “Okay. What do you want to be?”

       “A businessman.” (Six-year old kids have a way of declaring their dreams as though it’s as sure as the planet is round. I wonder what age we lose that confidence?)

        “That’s great. You can own a ranch. How many horses do you want to own?”

       “About ten,” he grinned.

       “How will you earn to maintain the ranch?” I asked.

       “Kids can ride my horses for P20 each…”

       “Uh…, isn’t that a bit too cheap?”

       “They can also feed my rabbits if they pay something. And I’ll sell my customers snacks and have a restaurant in my ranch.”

       “That’s fantastic.”

       “My ranch will also have an imaginary forest.”

       “A what?”

       “An imaginary forest. Parents will be afraid if their kids go to a real forest with real animals. So I’ll make an imaginary forest with robotic animals—even some legendary creatures like dinosaurs, unicorns, mermaids,...”

        “Mermaids?”

        “Yes, because there’ll be a lake in my ranch. With a shipwreck. Kids can also visit the shipwreck.”

After planning for his future, we got our plates and stood in front of the buffet table for the entire evening. Because the food was so fabulous, we didn’t bother to sit down. That night, he ate seven sticks of barbecue and I gobbled up 50% of the European cheeses there. 

In other words, my date with Bene was a ball. 

If I didn’t have a weekly date with him, how will I know about his dreams? I would have missed hearing that he didn’t want to be a Cowboy anymore, that he wanted an imaginary forest, robotic animals, a lake and a shipwreck for kids to visit and have fun…

I was even more convinced of my family goals when I read the frightening statistics from David Perdew about “fatherless kids”. According to statistics, children from a fatherless home are:

·        Five times more likely to commit suicide

·        Thirty-two times more likely to run away

·        Twenty times more likely to have behavioral disorders

·        Fourteen times more likely to commit rape (this applies to boys)

·        Nine times more likely to drop out of high school

·        Ten times more likely to abuse chemical substances

·        Nine times more likely to end up in a charitable institution

·        Twenty times more likely to end up in prison for a long period of time

          Fathers—and mothers—your kids need you.

David Perdew says we either pay now or pay later.

And when you pay later, it always costs more.

 

I suggest you pay now.

 

Have a fantastic 2011—especially with your family.

 

May your dreams come true,

 

 

Bo Sanchez

 

PS. Never Forget Your Family.  Except for God, nothing else is more important. Get powerful inspiration and instruction on how to build your own family. It’s never too late. Log on at www.FamilyReborn.com now!

 

PS2. By the way, my wife and I homeschool our boys. We know it’s a bit crazy. But I believe it’s one of the best decisions we’ve made. If you’re interested in homeschooling your children, log on at www.CatholicFilipinoAcademy.com now.