What makes the Philippines different from the rest of Asia? For one, our favorite sport is basketball and the rest of Asia loves football. When it comes to basketball, we know that height is might. However, if there is one thing that the Filipino fans appreciate when it comes to our players is that what…
Category: Family Values
Each Life is Important
If there is so much trouble in the world today, it is because we do not value life as it already is. We do not value people as they already are. Other things are given importance more than people. Once upon a time, the safest place for a human being was the womb of the…
Pride and Humility
Luke 10:17-24 Once upon a time in the history of humanity, there was one being that was beautiful, strong, intelligent, and powerful. Eventually she “wanted to be like God.” On one hand, she was a creation who was simple and humble. Yet when she was asked whether she wanted to be the Mother of God,…
St. Therese of the Child Jesus
St. Thomas Aquinas once said: “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” That is why it is so hard to argue about religion because of this reality. In the Gospel people often ask for signs. After all the miracles, after all the healings and teachings…
Becoming a Better Person
Luke 10:8-15 One of the typical complaints of people who refuse to become active in the Church is that they see the sins, they see the shortcomings, they see that going to Church is no different than not going. Yes, it seems the gossip, the fighting for position, the backbiting, the infighting, and the wrong…
Forgiveness
Certainly, all of us have been hurt. If somebody curses us, then out of instinct, we curse back. If somebody puts one over us, we will inevitably wait for the right opportunity to put one over that person. How often have we heard: it is life that they got, it is life that we will…
A Mother Suffers Even More
John 19:25-27 There is a saying that you can sacrifice without loving but you cannot love without sacrificing. In my many requests for prayers, one notices that when the child is suffering the mother is suffering even more. Today we celebrate the memorial of our Lady of Sorrows. Since the life of Jesus had many,…
Darkness Looms
Who would ever thought that we would have witnessed and experienced lockdowns? People staying at home, the economy grinding to a halt, and most of all…fighting a new virus. As if that was not hard enough, just read the news. Racism-related hate crimes in the US and beyond, new disagreements and wars in the Middle…
Tita Angeling (A Reflection on Mothers)
Ed. note: This was the Ninth Day homily of Tita Angeling, a friend and parishioner who passed away last year. — When the family went through the things of Tita Angeling, they discovered the greatest heirloom ever. No, it was not jewelry, though we know that Tita Angeling was fond of them. It was her…
Sin and Sickness
Before my father passed away, a priest arrived at the Emergency Room at 2:00 p.m. and administered the Anointing of the Sick. I was very appreciative of the priest because he administered the sacrament with solemnity. The sacrament was not only for my father; it was also for us the family. It was such great…
3 Ways 2 Your 1 God 