We live in a throw-away generation. Just look at how we treat material things: If a new one comes along, discard the old one. If you lose something, just replace it with a new one. When something is of no value, then just throw it away. The sad reality is that this is also how…
Category: Church Traditions
Spiritual Warfare
Ed. Note: This was a mass that Fr. Mon celebrated during one of his trips to Israel, at the famed Monastery of Stella Maris on Mount Carmel in Haifa In the world that we live in there is the seen and there is the unseen. This is professed by our faith. In the unseen, there…
Denial and Rejection
As people, we need people. In fact, it is people that give real happiness in life. Hence, one of the most painful of all human experiences is being “denied” – “You can choose your friends, but not your family” is typically said when we are disowning someone in the family. Further, being rejected is also…
Call to Sainthood
Ed. Note: This is a homily from last night’s mass at San Carlos Seminary, celebrating Fr. Mon’s 60th Birthday. Happy Birthday Fr. Mon! Thank you always, for the gift of your words, which have touched so many of our lives. Just last week we attended a conference on seminary formation in Iloilo. The experience nationwide…
Sickness and Evil
One of the hardest of human experiences is being sick. When dealing with sickness, let us remember that we are body and soul. Both are interrelated… that is, when the body is sick, the soul is affected and when the soul is deep into sin, the body is affected. In the Gospel, we often hear…
Hope
People have always talked about the paradox of time. The past is the past, yet there are some people who continue to dwell in the past. The future is just a promise, yet there are people who continue to keep their sights on the future, forgetting that the only time we have is now. The…
Father and Son
Although each life is unique, each life is special and no two persons are the same, we have qualities that we inherit from both our father and mother. Hence, since the first hero many sons are their fathers, it is such a great compliment when people say, “You are like your father”. In the Gospel,…
Light in Darkness
One day I was watching a video with a student who was defending transgenders. While inclusion is very important, while equality is very important, while discrimination is something we should fight for, we should also be very careful of the dangers of allowing and accepting philosophy and ideas that are not the truth. Then when…
Faithfulness
When Adam and Eve sinned by eating the apple in the garden, God told the serpent in the Book of Genesis, “ And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” This passage is…