Birth and Death

Just the other day, I had a very surreal experience. I celebrated Mass for a family in their mausoleum to remember and pray for their loved ones who moved on to the next life. During the final hymn, the choir sang “Happy Birthday.” Although it would be my birthday the next day, I said to…

David and Goliath

Aside from fairy tales, many of us grew up listening to bible stories: Samson and Delilah, Adam and Eve, and one of the most popular, David and Goliath. How fascinated are we, that with a slingshot, a small boy can bring down a powerful, huge giant! Against all odds… My dear friends, how many times…

Having A Life

“What would you do with your life if money were no object?” was a question posted on the internet. At initial thought, the responses were: to go on a grand vacation, to shop, to live a stress-free life. Upon deeper reflection though, the responses all boiled down to one thing: TO SERVE. To serve in…

Like Father, Like Son

For any son who adores and loves his father, one of the greatest compliments he can receive is “You are like your dad”, “You look like your dad”, “You talk like your dad”, “You have mannerisms like your dad,” or “I am reminded of your dad when I see you.” Since time immemorial, the Jews…

New Mindset

By now we have been regretting the many things that we ate during the Christmas season. I think the desire is to lose weight. Nowadays, on Facebook, one would encounter many formulas, many tricks, many types of diets, but I guess the one that is most interesting has this message in Tagalog: “Sa taon 2021,…

A Mother’s Prayer

Matthew 15:21-28 Once in a wake, our group was talking about death and the difficulty that the family deals with. One commented which everyone agreed – the most difficult thing is when it is the parents who bury their children. That is why even the Irish has a saying, “May you never bury your children.”…

God’s Time

One thing technology has brought us is that we can do things in an instant: Once when one had to do research, one had to go to the library. Now, just go to the internet. Once it would take hours to prepare one’s favorite food, now just dial a number and order it. Once to…

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Seemingly, many people nowadays experience fear, anxiety, worry, and depression. Further, how many people do we know that have suicidal thoughts or have actually committed suicide? Why are these experiences getting prevalent? It could be that there is so much uncertainty, it could also be that because we have lost our moral compass as there…

John of the Cross

If one would study the history of the Church, one would realize that there were moments in her long history that the Church went astray. God in his goodness and in his love for the Church would send reformers to renew the Church. Today we celebrate the memorial of one of them – John of…

Words to God, Words from God

Words are very powerful. Notice when one is down and a friend or a loved one utters kind and inspiring words, how it lifts us up, how it gives us strength, and how it gives us comfort. On the other hand, when people who we do not know say something nasty or unkind, we continue…