3rd Sunday of Lent Sunday GospelLK 13:1-9
Some people told Jesus about the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way
they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!
Or those eighteen people who were killed
when the tower at Siloam fell on them—
do you think they were more guilty
than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!”
And he told them this parable:
“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard,
and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,
he said to the gardener,
‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none.
So cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply,
‘Sir, leave it for this year also,
and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it;
it may bear fruit in the future.
If not you can cut it down.’”
whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way
they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!
Or those eighteen people who were killed
when the tower at Siloam fell on them—
do you think they were more guilty
than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!”
And he told them this parable:
“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard,
and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,
he said to the gardener,
‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none.
So cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply,
‘Sir, leave it for this year also,
and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it;
it may bear fruit in the future.
If not you can cut it down.’”
GUIDE QUESTIONS IN WRITING THE GOSPEL REFLECTION:
1. WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF THIS GOSPEL IN TODAY'S SOCIETY PARTICULARLY TO THE YOUNG PEOPLE LIKE YOU?
2. WHAT KEY CONCEPTS FROM THE REVALIDA TOPICS CAN YOU BEST APPLY HERE.DISCUSS THOROUGHLY.
3. HOW CAN THIS GOSPEL ADDRESS THE OBSTACLES TO HUMAN SEXUALITY.
N.B. Lack of full name and without section minus 5.
Deadline March 20, SUNDAY 12midnight....late Gospels=ZERO
Karl Bautista Junior-I
ReplyDeleteWe teenagers tend to commit a lot of sins throughout our lives and we tend to not mind them since we do not put too much importance to it. We should always remember that no one is sinless but we can become close to God again after committing sin by repenting and confessing all our sins to a priest and ask for forgiveness. The topic from the revealed we can relate to this gospel is the legalisation of prostitution because even though prostitutes commit a lot of sins, they are still humans and they deserve to be forgiven. This can be related to sexuality by respecting the homosexual since they are also human and they deserve to be forgiven.
Camilo De Guzman Junior I
ReplyDeleteI feel the challenges that the youth go through that relate to the gospel is the fact that we just get stuck in our problems and our sins. Us youth have stopped asking for forgiveness. That is what God wants of us, he wants to repent and leave our sins behind. It relates to the gospel because of how no matter how much we sin or how little we in, if we do not repent, we will still end up on the same boat on the way to hell. Along with this is the parable of the tree, it relates to us because we are the trees. We are growing and growing in sin and no matter how much we grow, we need to be cut down to be replaced with better virtues and morals. Who cares about us growing in sin, even if it is so big and sturdy, we can always cut down our tree of sins and allow ourselves to fix ourselves and begin again as a pure God-fearing person.
The concepts from the revalida are about the obstacles to our true freedom and to our human sexuality. These obstacles are many, and have been committed by many people as well. However this gospel proves that even though we are given freedom to do these things, we must become better and not shy away from God’s plan and God’s truth. God’s plan and God’s love allows us to leave these obstacles even if we have indulged ourselves into them too many times and run to Him and His love, for that is true freedom.
Allyssa Aguillo Junior-I
ReplyDeleteEveryone commits different kinds of sin, it may be worse than others but that does not mean that we are better than them if our sin is only minor. In our generation, we are faced with a lot of situations where we need to make decisions. Sometimes we make the wrong ones which leads us to sin. We can never avoid committing sin but what we can do is to learn from it. True freedom can be connected to this gospel because we think that we are free to do anything that we forget the commandments and lessons that are made and taught to us. This gospel can address the obstacles to human sexuality because this makes us realize the sins we make. If we do a sexual activity with the person of the same sex, we commit sin. We can have freedom but we need to make the right decisions because of the consequences we might face in the future.
Beatrix Longa J-I
ReplyDeleteSin is very evident in todays society especially in the youth because we face many temptations and being still young, many are careless of their actions and tend to give in. The youth barely depend on faith and pray to God. Therefore it means we have a lack of faith or relationship with God. In the gospel he is asking us to repent for our sins, and this is what we barely do. We must ask forgiveness for he will do so. Although, we have learned many things to help us keep away from sin and what leads us to sin. Our true freedom gives us the capability to do this. Sin is the greatest obstacle to freedom. Therefore we must make the right choices and use our morality to do good, be chaste, and follow God.
Miguel Yambao JI
ReplyDeletein this world today many of people my age are losing sight of God's way. i admit that i too give in to sin from time to time. but i still remain quite a religous man despite of my loud and obnoxious character. what my generation tends to forget is their relationship with God. for all the sins we have committed we must ask God for forgiveness because he will forgive us because God loves us and our flaws. in order to thank him we need to do as he says and abstain from sexual acts as best we can.
This gospel clarifies how one sinning is one sinning. There is "you sinned more" when it comes to mortal sins. All are of the same magnitude and will bring you to hell if not repented. Jesus shows how, a man that commits adultery, is sinning just as bad as a man that kills someone. A sin is a sin, and therefor we should live a life following God. Using our freedom properly, therefor us habing True Freedom. If we were to practice True Freedom, we woul be living a Christ-like life. Meaning no sin.
ReplyDeleteJohan nepomuceno jr-i
ReplyDeletePeople who follow God's command but sin are no better than those who go against him because we need to repent our sins towards God. This also involves one person's conscience because it is in his conscience if he or she would repent his/her sins.
Jai Munji Junior I
ReplyDeleteSince we are a young generation, we tend to sin and be careless or numb with what's happening around us not taking others into consideration. Intentional of not, we should never forget to ask the Lord for forgiveness. If we don't as for forgiveness or if we don't repent, we only end up doing those sins again and again. We should continue praying to God strengthening our relationship with Him even more. A topic that I can relate to the revalida is freedom. In order to achieve freedom, we must follow God. We should make right choices and keep an open faith. Our sexuality is very important so we must take care of our bodies and not give in to sin or temptation.
Jonathan Gonzalez Junior I
ReplyDeleteThis gospel talks about our second chance with God. Even if we commit sin, especially as a teenager in this age, we are always welcome to come back to God, because he is forgiving and merciful to his children. Relating to the revalida, the topic which seems best is the prostitution ones, being prostitutes may commit sin because of drastic measure such as in dire need of money, or being forced on to by external pressure, but they are always ready to be forgiven by God, because no matter what they will always be children of God. In sexuality, using the prostitutes examples, they may choose to give away their sexuality, which would destroy their normal dignity, but their ontological dignity will always be there, ready to be with God in the days to come.
Sin has been evident throughout the history of our existence, and especially in the people of today as there are so many things that can tempt us to commit sin such as drugs, vices, and sex. The youth tend to do these things most often and they are ones that need the most guidance from their loved ones and from God. It is the biggest obstacle to our true freedom so we must keep it in check and learn from them to be truly one with God.
ReplyDeleteAlyanna Basbas | Junior-I
ReplyDeleteThe adolescent years are the years of exploration and discovery; in these years, most teenagers tend to make mistakes. To young people like me, this gospel reminds us that we are all human. God created us equally; we do not have any right to criticize others as we all make mistakes. The only being that can judge us is our Lord God, our Creator. This gospel reminds us to not set ourselves above others. Everyone sins – just because some people commit more mistakes than others, doesn’t mean that they are lesser than everybody else. Instead on focusing on our sins, we must remember to turn back to God and ask for His forgiveness. The almighty being that He is doesn’t care that you’ve done wrong – all God cares about is that you’ll come back to him and return to the path He has set out for you. The adolescent years are the years of exploration and discovery; in these years, most teenagers tend to make mistakes. This gospel can be related to ontological dignity, as this is the dignity that God has gifted us with and cannot be taken away. This gospel can also be linked to human sexuality, as well. By remembering that sin is the greatest obstacle to freedom, we may always be guided to God’s path. His will is the will we were (quite literally) born to do. We must always try to choose the right decision, even though it hurts you. Choosing to listen to the Eros instinct over the Thanatos instinct will guide us in making decisions that will benefit the community and pull you even closer to God.
Davenson Dela Paz Co JI
ReplyDeleteThe gospel has regaled us with the tales of Pontius Pilate mutilating the people in their own sacrifices and of parables inscribed in truth. The parable given instructed us on the gardener who gave the fig tree one more chance to do good. Just like the fig tree, we must repent for our sins or we will be smiten down and immolated. In today's society, people have been bathing in consistent sin. If we continue to do so, then we are no different from the Galileans who have perished. This gospel calls us to repent in the name of the Lord to be able to achieve happiness. As a matter of fact, the devil's temptation is nothing to true faith. We must practice true faith through its pillars and eliminate the obstacles to chastity in the many forms it possesses. This gospel serves as a warning sign that if we continue sinning in fron of God, we will be destroyed as the people were. Through fear and love, we will be able to achieve peace in the world and eternal happiness in God's Kingdom.
Vicky Manalo JI
ReplyDeleteAt present, we can view several challenges that are manifested in society. In this gospel, sin serves as that ultimate challenge. This continues only until both divine and civil punishment is brought upon us. In the youth, sin is prevalent through immoral actions of disobedience, disrespect, fraud, and excessive sexual involvement. However, the youth fails to genuinely repent as they continue to do these. Clearly, key concepts from the revalida can be applied, specifically the notion of freedom. As we know, sin serves as as the greatest obstacle to true freedom. In committing sin, we are blinded by the satisfaction and personal gain we receive, and fail to notice the essence of practicing freedom as real Christians. In addition, our ontological dignity is also obstructed. This is due to our immoral acts onto other individuals in society. Thus, as Christians, we must grow like the tree in this gospel, and allow ourselves to be cut down. In doing so, we gain true morals and learn to live in accordance with the Lord’s will.
We encounter challenges and obstacles every day and since we are the youth, we are exposed to a long list of temptations. God is watching us and is watching whether we will give in to the temptation or not. Every obstacle we encounter is basically a test for us given by God to see what we can do and if we know what the right thing to do is. We all make mistakes on the way and every time we commit a sin, He is willing to give us a chance to change our ways and go back to the right path. The good.
ReplyDeleteLuis Martinez
ReplyDeleteJunior - I
People nowadays tend to commit many sins but God believes that there is still hope for mankind to change for the better. We can apply the topic of conscience since people should start determining from right and wrong. We can apply human sexuality here since people shouldn’t be ashamed and should listen to the voice inside them since it would be for the best. We are free to choose our own preferences.
Janella Varias
ReplyDeleteJunior I
One challenge of this Gospel in the young people today, is that we tend to forget to ask for forgiveness from the Lord. We do not install in our minds that He always welcomes us back into His arms, even if we sinned against Him. He is forgiving and merciful due to His unconditional love for us. The Revalida topic “True Freedom” is manifested in here. True freedom can be achieved when we do good acts, and love God and others. If we abuse our freedom and take it the wrong way, God will be ready to forgive us for our sins, if we repent. The topic “Ontological Dignity” is also seen here. This is because our ontological dignity is the dignity that God gifted us with, and cannot be taken away. Even if we do evil acts, to the Lord, this will be nothing when we confess our sins. This Gospel is related to our human sexuality since many teenagers do irresponsible acts because of erroneous freedom. We must all be guided and find the light in our lives in order to be a child of God.
People commit many sins but god is always there to forgive him or her and give him or her another chance. Nobody is perfect everyone commits mistakes but god believes in us and he has hope that we’ll learn from our mistakes and that we won’t do it again. We always expect things to happen when we want it to happen we expect god to grant our prayers right away we have to learn to wait and know that god will give us what we need not what we want. Just keep on believing in him and have hope like he believes and has hope in us.
ReplyDeleteBernice Paraiso Jr I
DeleteMax Perez
ReplyDeleteJunior I
We do not really look at sin as a challenge, as it is done by everyone and is almost impossible to avoid. However, the real challenge is whether we learn to forgive sinners, whether it is one’s self or others. Sins that teenagers tend to commit include drugs, the viewing of pornography, and even pre-marital sex. Despite this, God forgives all, and we must learn to do the same. Forgiveness is a virtue that, when done, inspires others to do the same, and that is why we must let it continue throughout our daily encounters.
Job Mingoa Junior I CN: 25
ReplyDeleteGospel Reflection #3 Part 1
This gospel is all about Jesus saying how everyone is on equal footing no matter how grave one's sins may be and a parable on a fig tree. For the first part of this gospel, it's all about standards and prejudice affecting how we view everyone. No one experiences the exact same circumstances as another has. It has often been observed that the circumstances of others affect the way we view them. Take the case of rape victims. Most of them have never been open on the fact that they were rape because society's treatment of rape victims places them in an environment where they are treated harshly and left to rot when they never even consented to the sexual act in the first place. More common examples include discrimination of races, sexuality, gender, and/or even beliefs. Some others treat people with differing sexuality, gender, race, and/or even beliefs badly up until now. Under sexuality, there are still many who do not accept the existence of non-heterosexuals. Under race, there is still inequality lingering between males and females. Beliefs is another subject of discrimination. Take the case of the muslims. Some of them are being treated badly because of the behavior exhibited by Islamic Extremist Groups in West Asia, particularly ISIS, who have actually been blinded by their beliefs to promote their ideals throughout the whole world. Meanwhile, part two of the gospel takes note of the virtue of patience especially in nurturing ourselves. In our current society with technology speeding up everything, people nowadays expect fast results that many of us appreciate the things that gradual yet incremental hard work brings forth to us. That's why meeting fast results ends up with products that don't even bear fruit like the fig tree that was never nurtured. It is only when we have exhausted everything we can to fulfill our duties that we can be set free from all the burdens that our lives have struggled under, and with our death must leave a legacy like the fruit that sustains the health of an incoming generation to succeed us. In terms of key concepts, part one would focus on freedom while part two focuses on conscience. For part 1, freedom is the concept. Like I said, we are all on equal footing. Therefore, we have no right to trample on others despite glaring differences between our circumstances. The same applies to our freedom, and in order to prevent ourselves from pilfering others' freedom, we must learn to be responsible with our freedom. Our freedom is like a super power, and like a comic superhero once said, "With great power comes great responsibility." Ergo, there is no excuse for anyone to have their freedom taken away, for we have all been created equal. Part two of the gospel focuses more on our conscience. One of the theories that define conscience is John Locke's Nurture theory, where we all started with a blank slate (known as tabula rasa), and it all depends on the circumstances laid out by each of our respective environments to dictate what sexuality we have and how our conscience is shaped from these circumstances. How we are nurtured contributes to our growth and wellbeing in a hollistic manner, and it is through these that our currently shaped conscience bears fruit by means of how we act, think, or say. Like the fig tree, unless we are nurtured, we will never bear fruit to anything. we will all be mindless blobs of flesh that act like machines, or worse, we can never distinguish right from wrong, and we will never know if we're trampling other people's freedom.
Job Mingoa Junior I CN: 25
ReplyDeleteGospel Reflection #3 Part 2
That's why in terms of sexuality, we must treat everyone out of respect despite the sexuality he/she decided on. We can never blame them for that. Remember, we are all created equal. Thus, we have no excuse to hurt one another. This also relates to our conscience. If our conscience is currently distorted by the incorrect meaning of sexuality as portrayed by social media, then how we approach real people will be distorted to. Many bonds will be broken. Relationships will be destroyed, and we will never know how to truly love. Therefore, we must change our perception on sexuality first, then we can start the move to enlighten everyone on the true meaning of sexuality.
Anya Villanueva JI CN: 39
ReplyDeleteThis gospel challenges us to repent and to serve the Lord. The first part tells us that all of us are guilty of sin, but God stills sees our different amounts of sin as equal. We are all sinners, but God asks us in this gospel to repent so that we may be saved. The second part tells us that our lives should not go to waste. God gave us these lives to produce something good out of it, something fruitful. We can't go around wasting our time on things that are not important or that do not bring Him greater glory. The whole gospel challenges us youth to be more Christ=like. The Lord knows that we are sinners, but He is telling us that that is not an excuse to waste the precious gifts we gave Him. The youth of today are wasting those gifts and doing crimes or producing hatred and chaos. God asks us now to be the change and start bearing good fruit in the world. God gifted us with different talents and those should be used not just buried. We shouldn't waste what He gave us. We can start bearing this good fruit by repenting for our sins. Once we realize we're forgiven then will we be truly free to bring God greater glory.
Nikki Gatchalian – JI
ReplyDeleteAs young adults, we try to find out who we are and what we were meant to do. We explore and do certain things and sometimes those things aren’t good for us. We face problems, failures, and sometimes regret; so we tend to forget about what really matters, our relationship with God. In relation with the revalida, we push the limits of our true freedom. However, we must remember that in the end, it’s always going to end up with God and we must nurture our relationship with Him and our ultimate goal is to spend eternal life with our Father.
Bianca Fernandez JI
ReplyDeleteThis gospel is a reminder that the youth should not only repent for their sins, but actually mean it. It's one thing to confess, and another thing to confess and actually mean it. In my opinion, I believe that confessing your sins without meaning is pointless because it is like you are lying to the God. You claim that you will not commit these sins again, but you do anyway- and that is basically lying. God has given us so much chances, we should be thankful and stop taking advantage of it.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteRafael Valenzuela JI
ReplyDeleteIn reality we commit sins everyday, nowadays a simple "i'm sorry" is just not going to cut it anymore. It will now require a lot of repentance for us to be forgiven, that might take a lengthy amount of time but simply making an effort to forgive is already a good first step to being forgiven. Sin is already a big enough problem because it is the biggest obstacle that is preventing us from doing good and being moral so that we may do good on to others and ourselves, anything that hinders that is a problem that severe and a simple fix would simply be to actually feel sorry for what one has done
Jaime Dungo Junior I
ReplyDeleteThis Gospel everyone,we should repent our sins to change for the better. God will only save us if we work hard to be saved. It applies more into the youth by telling us to start early so that we won't have to make much shifts in our lives and to maintain being and living pure as this is they key to salvation from God.Freedom is the most relevant one because it tells us that being truly free is choosing what is right. In general this gospel is basically that we have Freedom From our Sins and Freedom For Repentance and Change. This Gospel addresses the obstacles as it thoroughly discusses that if we are sinners who constantly fall under these obstacles, we must shift the direction and change our ways from this as it is not good for our well being, it tarnishes our morality and it destroys our relationship with God.
TIFFANIE BEJAR JUNIOR I
ReplyDeleteThis Gospel, applying this to the Youth, is mostly about trusting in God. Even though we tend to give up with everything (like school), I want you to know that God is always there as seen in the Gospel. Sometimes, we do question the existence of God. We simply just have to trust the fact that He does exist. This shows that Christian anthropology is most relevant because we are made in the image and likeness of God, we are creatures of the Lord, and the like. The mere fact that we are created like Him should make us trust him more than ever. Sadly, this isn't always true anymore due to the different kinds of people and their faith and beliefs. This is an obstacle to human sexuality due to the fact that we must overcome all our desires, wants and etc. It takes great trust and control to one's self to remain chaste.
Daven Jalandoon JI
ReplyDeleteToday people sin whether its minor or major, and no matter the sin we dont really repent and ask forgiveness from God. However we should take note that no matter what we sin if we dont ask forgiveness or repent we will still perish. So we should still ask forgiveness as God will always welcome us into his arms no matter what sin we commit just as long as we repent. Just like in the parable, the sower gave the fig tree a second chance to bear fruit. Like God he gives us second chances for us to change for the better
Lance Salmingo JI
ReplyDeleteThe youth nowadays are unmindful of their sins. However, if they are surrounded by those who do good they would have a second chance if they repent their sins and follow the Word of God. God has given us many chances by "making the soil which we are planted on fertile so that we can bear fruit." However, the obstacles of human sexuality which we are facing challenges us to bear fruit. Pornography is one example where it troubles the youth. God gives those who indulge in pornography chances so that they may repent. But it is up to us if we would bear fruit.
Anton Tomas Junior I
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't only focus on the youth but also for everyone else because what its trying to say is that we commit sins almost everyday but we never ask for forgiveness. God is good thats why he gives chances which we must use to do good. Pre marital sex is an example where the youth gets in trouble with. But God gives chances and we must use that opportunity to ask for forgiveness.
People sinning is a very common occurrence. However, these people do not repent for what they have done. We should always remember the God is there for us no matter what we do. Per marital sex is one problem, especially with the youth. However, God is very forgiving this means that we can repent for our actions
ReplyDelete