Cleanliness of the Heart

There is a saying that “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” Hence, who does not want a clean house, a clean car, a clean bedroom, a clean chapel, and a clean person. In discussing cleanliness, a friend of mine casually said that we Filipinos are one of the top users of bath soap. He explained the…

Are You Prepared?

One of the questions often asked to me is if the end near. The bible says that on the last days:  There will be false prophets and false messiahs There will be wars and rumors of war  Nations will rise against nations  Christians will be persecuted Indeed all of these are happening so one might…

Does God Want Us Poor?

When we Christians read the bible, some of us get the impression that God wants us poor. How often has Jesus gotten mad at the rich? “Woe to you who are rich.” He also said that it would be more difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to…

Following Jesus

Luke 9:57-62 My brief vocation story is that before entering the seminary, I worked for PLDT. One reason for the difficulty in discernment is that back then, there was nothing to compare my life in PLDT to the life of a seminarian. Had it been transferring from one company to another, the decision-making would have…

God’s Ways

As human beings, one of the things we naturally resist is being told what to do. This usually happens when we outgrow our childhood. As teenagers, we thought we knew it all. We thought we figured out life. Life though, has ways of humbling us. It is only when we grow old and have children…

In Pursuit of Material Things

How often have I been asked to bless a house, store or office and noticed that there is an Altar at one end of the room, but on the other end, there is that “lucky cat” statue with the hands that goes up and down. On the other side yet, there is the frog with…

Power Over the Unseen

Matthew 8:28-34 Whenever people talk about the devil, I always recommend the film, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, which is based on a true story. There was a scene in the film wherein Emily Rose was speaking to Mama Mary. She asked why the exorcism was not successful. Mama Mary said that the demons will…

Responsibility and Blessings

Luke 10:13-16 Whenever my former officemates and I have a reunion and recall the good old days, we unanimously agree that the happiest days were when we were working as newly hired employees. During those days as rank and file staff, we had very little responsibilities. As the years went by though, we were promoted…

What is Your Story?

Matthew 13:10-17 If there is one thing that attracted people to Jesus, it’s that he told stories. Not only was he a very good story teller, but his stories were simple, relevant, deep, and profound. These are the stories we call parables. The Gospel of Luke has 24 parables; the Gospel of Matthew has 23…

Taking Care of God’s House

Matthew 17:24-27 It is said the Philippines and East Timor are only the two predominantly Catholic countries in Asia. The Philippines has the 3rd biggest number of Catholics and is the most present all over the world. Due to about 500 years of the Christianity, it is no surprise that the country has so many…