When we see someone with a very nice car, very nice house, plenty of money and with many friends, we say that the person is blessed. On the other hand, when a person does not have any of this material wealth, we do not consider that person as blessed. Is being blessed a matter of…
Month: January 2020
Angels
John 1:47-51 A friend of mine went up to Baguio for a vacation. One evening they were traveling, and because they were not so familiar with the place and because of the fog, they went off road and were in danger of falling to the ravine. Out of nowhere came a gentleman who helped them…
Compassion
Because of technology, news and information get around so swiftly. On one hand, the good, the true and the beautiful. On the other hand, the lies, the deceptive and the fake news. The thing is as human beings, we judge too swiftly and easily. Take for example the story of a policeman who was in…
Good Times, Bad Times
There is a story of a king and his aide. The king accidentally cut his finger and the only thing the aide had to say was, “God is good.” Thinking that the aide was mocking him, the king had the aide jailed. A few months after, the king decided to take the horse to go…
Stress
In everyday conversation, one of the things people complain about is the traffic. The sheer volume of cars is one thing and the driving habits are another thing. Someone was buying bibingka and parked his car literally in the middle of the street. One would ask oneself: “Are the vehicle’s hazard lights a signal to…
Convenient Religion
In today’s times, the name of the game is convenience: If you need to eat, just have the food delivered; if you want to buy something for the house, the stores are open 24 hours a day; if you want to watch a movie right now, just go to the internet. We all want it…
Know Your Neighbor
I once celebrated Mass in the middle of two residential condominium buildings: on my right was clean and orderly and the one my left was dirty and in disarray. Why the big difference? The one to my right followed the rules of the condominium and thus it was clean and orderly. The one on my…
Service
Many years ago there was tension between the Philippines and Hong Kong because of the killing of the Hong Kong tourists in Luneta. When emotions were high, there was a Hong Kong journalist who wrote an article about our country being a “Nation of Servants.” Certainly, he was not only referring to the Filipina servants…
Judging by Appearance
A social experiment was made with a person made to dress in very ordinary street clothes and enter an expensive car dealership. At first, none of the salespeople were minding him. Then he was treated shabbily, and he was not even allowed to test drive a car or even just to sit and get a…
In Need of Healing
As a priest, we get many requests for prayers. By and far, the most popular are prayers for healing. Nowadays, there are just so many people dealing with sickness. While our bodies will someday fade away – from ashes we came and from ashes we will return – it doesn’t help that our lifestyle is…
3 Ways 2 Your 1 God 