Hope

A friend of mine was talking about his business. He said, five years ago, he was supposed to close his business – there were so many problems such as: revenue, manpower, equipment breakdown. Today, he is most bullish about his business. What happened? Three years ago, they started letting go of people including the problematic…

Waiting

Our faith tells us that Jesus came into this world so that he may save us. In The Gospel it says that Jesus said, “‘I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” In other…

Ash Wednesday

There is a saying that each person has two lives. The second life, one discovers when he or she finds out that there is only one life. In a little while, ashes will be imposed on our foreheads. It is a reminder that we came from ash and to ash we shall return. In other…

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…

Mission

Not too long ago, I said goodbye to two people who were very dear to me. In what was supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, became one of the most difficult times of the year. The passing away of a loved one reminds us that life is short, swift and uncertain….

Watch

When one crosses the age of fifty, watching has become a part of life. We watch our weight, we watch the food we eat, we watch the people we deal with, we watch our finances, we watch our plans more intently, we even watch our steps. Some the things we watch because at this point…

Paradox of Life

It is said that life is a paradox. Five examples: In the Gospel, Jesus gives three paradoxes of life as well: Let us continue to live out a life that is full of paradoxes. One of the greatest paradoxes came from St. Mother Teresa: “That is you love until it hurts; there can be no…

Burden

There are two sayings about people we encounter. First, “Each one of us is either coming off a trial or headed to a trial.” Then there is also, “Be kind to all the people you encounter, you do not know what battles they are fighting.” Either of the two reminds us that whether we like…

The Storms of Life

Ed. Note: This was a homily from a memorial mass for the Laurel family last year. As is always the case with Fr. Mon, we are including it here because his words of wisdom apply to all of us and our daily lives. Someone once said, “Life is like the weather: there are sunny days…