BARRIL, Jhan Ray G.

September 13, 2021

BSMecE – III IRREGULAR SEA CFE105A 4036
Week 2: AUGUST 29

a. Sunday Mass
b. August 29, 2021 at 4:00pm to 5:00 pm
c. Actual Participation in the Church
d. St. Aloysius Gonzaga Parish

REFLECTION: What struck you most in your Sunday experience? Write a short reflection about
it.
Through investigating the customs and traditions of the Jewish people, washing of the
hands was not something that they simply do for hygienic purposes, but it is included as a
custom on purification. Here, the Gospel suggests how the Jews, especially the devout and those
of greater status strive for cleanliness in front of God, but, mainly for their status, and only thus
seen externally. Their way of achieving purity in the past is stuck to the preset customs
established by their so-called elders. Hearing about this once again, I realized that events of the
past will always happen in the future and will be relevant to the current. In the news circling
around the changing society these days, these events where the rich acts clean but harbors evil
purposes do exist. They exist in simple communities, in one society, in the Church, and
especially in the government right now.
However, one thing I would like to focus in my Sunday experience is that of hypocrisy
regarding purity but in terms of relationships. By relating the Gospel to my life, I remembered
not only how other people displayed this matter either fictional and actual but then it is also here
that I also pondered and remembered that there are times that I displayed hypocrisy as well.
There were times that I always strived for cleanliness, in terms of my relationship with others,
where the clean part means no “issues”. But there were times that I honestly became fake
towards them. At that time, I was trying to be clean with my relationship with them but deep
inside I knew that I envied them, had anger and grudges towards them. I knew and I still bear it
in my mind that even if these things were in the past, even if the event is only one thing that
portrays how I displayed hypocrisy, but with all honesty, I was glad that I was able to completely
mend that relationship I had with the people I wrong through that and the people I had grudges
against. This happened through the help of my Church brothers and sisters who helped me
overcome that kind of thinking of trying to appear okay with someone when it is not.
The Gospel together with how I was taught by my brothers and sisters in school and
church, reinforced to me how great it is if one drops his pride to change his heart for somebody
else. How rewarding it is to form a bond and to drop all the grudges you have against another
person because it is truly useless to only maintain a clean façade if the interior is dark and evil
and that maintaining a clean façade with darkness and emptiness beside it may ruin oneself in the
end. Finally, the Gospel reminded me of how great it is to start being real, instead of chasing that
fake purity and to start sharing love with them because without maintaining any facade may
constitute to having a great relationship with others.