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…

The Cross

We have seen in the movies, and some of us in real life, when a cross is placed in front of a person who is possessed, the evil person shrieks in anger and fear. Why? The Cross reminds the evil spirit that by the death of Christ on the cross, he has conquered death and…

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…

Authority

Once I went for a blessing and on my way out, I noticed a building that was dilapidated. I queried why the owners did not take care of the building when commerce and business in the place were booming. The neighbors said that the property ownership was transferred to a son who did not tell…

The Good Shepherd

Many children grew up complaining about their parents. Then eventually, when they had a better grasp of life, they realized all the love, giving, and forgiving of their parents. Once they had children of their own, those who were once children, had the realization as parents – dad was right after all, mom was right…

Life Goes On

The most important event of the Church is that Christ was resurrected. Otherwise, If Jesus did not rise, we should not be here. After the Resurrection, Jesus showed himself for the third time to Simon Peter and even ate with the apostles. While they were still in disbelief, the fact remains, it did not end…