When my mother was still alive, every time I went home, she would ask me, “Have you eaten?” I kept on telling her that in the priesthood they always feed the priests, from birth to death, and in joy and pain. In fact, people seem to enjoy the company of priests. The truth is, the…
Category: Hope
Finding Love
Ed. Note: This is a homily from one of Fr. Mon’s wedding masses last year. As today is Valentine’s Day, it is a fitting entry on marriage and relationships, with lessons we can all relate to. If a person’s vocation is married life, therefore the greatest adventure would be to find that one, true and only…
Conversion
Last year’s Simbang Gabi was memorable because I did it in Singapore. For nine nights at 8 pm, the Church was full. Maybe 90 percent Filipinos and 10 percent Singaporeans. The Dynamics of the Singaporeans is they are mostly converts to Catholicism, thus making them more serious and zealous in the faith. On January 25th…
Children
There was an article recently in the newspaper about the birthrate in the Philippines. In 2017, there were 2.7 children per woman. In 2022, the fertility rate was down to 1.9. The figure is 2.2 in rural areas and 1.7 in urban centers. This is already below the replacement level for two parents. Further, while…
Evil
Since time immemorial, people have asked these questions: The Gospel often reminds us of the reality of evil, the presence of evil and yes, its co-existence with the good in the world today. Hence, as Catholics, three things we can always do to deal with evil: In the world of seen and unseen, there is…
New Year
Just like that in a few hours we are finishing the year 2024 and welcoming the year 2025. Many articles have come out about good fortune and what superstitious practices can be done. Some of the more popular ones are: The list goes on and on. When asked why do we do all these, the…
God is Faithful
A Christmas carol says that this is “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”, but for those who have attended the Simbang Gabi Masses, the many Gospels tell us that the lives of people who were related to Jesus were affected and disturbed. Their lives have been altered to the point of a crisis. There…
Our Lady of Guadalupe
The Archdiocese of Manila is the oldest diocese in the Philippines, created in 1579 as a diocese and elevated as a metropolitan archdiocese in 1595. Manila was established as a suffragan diocese of Mexico in 1579 by Pope Gregory XIII. Hence many of the Mexican devotions were brought here to the Philippines. One of the…
Immaculate Conception
It is the desire of God that we human beings share his happiness. However, in paradise man and woman ate the forbidden tree, and original sin entered into our lives thus sending man and woman out of paradise. Yet, it is the desire of God that we human beings share his happiness and that is…
3 Ways 2 Your 1 God 