Light of the World

If you are sixty years old and up, one thing very noticeable is that the world has changed a lot in terms of the values of people and the way people live.  Mahatma Gandhi defined the seven deadly sins as the following: That is why the Gospel is always an urgent call for us to…

Time for the Lord

Ed. Note: This entry was originally for a birthday mass for a friend of Fr. Mon. We have included it as a post here, as the words are significant reflections for all of us during this Lenten season. When the Lord gave Moses the ten commandments, one of which was: Remember the Sabbath and keep…

Family

Once Peter asked Jesus, “We have left family, land, and houses for the sake of the kingdom. What is in it for us?” The response of Christ is, “He will receive much more family, land, and houses in this life and in the life to come.” In my 18 years of priesthood, one of the…

Calling from the Lord

Since time immemorial, people have always asked these questions: “Why are we here?”, “What is life all about?”, or “What is the purpose of existence?” In fact in the bible, Qoheleth, a king of Israel, once said, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”. This is a Jewish expression of a life of routine, a life of…

One with the Church

Once I was on a tour in HK and at that time, the British just turned over the country to China. The query was whether our workers would be affected? The tour guide guaranteed that Filipinos would still work in Hong Kong. Why? Because Filipinos have a sense of what is right and what is…

All Comes to an End

There is a book written by Sr Joyce Rupp, titled Praying Our Goodbyes in Life. She says in the book that life is short, and swift and nothing is permanent. Life revolves around two things – hellos and goodbyes. Hence she says, there will always be grief in the goodbyes of life. That is why…

Life’s Priorities

One thing about this generation is that we can do so many things in a given time because of technology. Anything we want, we can get immediately because of technology. Information, whether right or wrong, is so accessible because of technology.  Hence, how many of us will even realize that time just passes us by…

Christ is King

One of the big tourist attractions in Europe is the palaces and castles. The glory of the kings and queens, once upon a time.  The lands they owned, the number of soldiers that defended them, and their wealth are something to behold. In fact, in 2022, there are 10 countries with a royal family, including…

Persistence in Prayer

It is said the key to every success is “Persistency.” It is certainly one of the most common elements. In all aspects of our lives, persistence is very important. This is especially true in prayer. Which is what the Gospel is about. Three reasons why we should be persistent: With everything that is happening in…

God is a Promise Keeper

Matthew 1:1-17 When Adam and Eve sinned, the very first promise of God was the Messiah. In the Gospel of Matthew, there is a genealogy of all the ascendants of Jesus: From Abraham to David, 14 generations. From David to Babylonian Exile, another 14 generations. Finally, Babylonian exile to the Messiah another 14 generations. This…