After eight years I once again returned to the seminary. It was then I realized that there are fewer seminarians for the priesthood. When I left for a new assignment in 2015, the count was about 160 seminarians spread within a 10-year program. Now it is less than 100. According to a study, the four…
Category: Life and Death
Peace in the Family
A sociologist once said, if you want to destroy a nation, no need for war, famine, pestilence, economic sabotage, or pandemic. Just destroy the most basic of all social units, which is the family. In other words, it is most essential to keep the family intact. But the reality is how do you keep a…
Forgiveness
As a priest, one of the more meaningful experiences in the ministry is to hear confessions of people who are about to transition to the next life. Typically, it is a long confession: Further, after the confession, the typical question is, “Has God really forgiven me of my sins?” The well-known parable of the prodigal…
Healing
One of the most difficult of all human experiences is being sick. Typically, we would do anything and everything to get healed: In the Gospel, we hear of two cases of sick people. One thing in common was that both were already desperate. The first case was the synagogue officer: He fell at his feet…
Peace and Family
Whenever we celebrate Mass for a deceased parent, we are honoring their memory. A testimony that these have indeed bore fruit is that peace is further in the family. Peace is a very important theme in Gospel readings because we are told: If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able…
Best Friend
There is a saying, “Things are never quite as scary when you have a best friend.” What are the qualities of best friends? In the Gospel, Jesus healed a paralytic because of faith – the faith of his friends. Hence, when a good friend passes away, three things we remember: Thank you, Lord for the…
Persecution
According to the group Open Doors USA, 360 million Christians in 2021 lived in countries where persecution was “significant.” Roughly 5,600 Christians were murdered, more than 6,000 were detained or imprisoned, and another 4,000-plus were kidnapped. In addition, more than 5,000 churches and other religious facilities were destroyed. This is something that should not be…
Hope in the Goodbyes of Life
There is a saying that life is a series of hellos and goodbyes. This is only natural in a world wherein nothing is permanent and all is passing fleeting. A few days ago, we welcomed 2024 with hope. Also, we looked back at the past with all the joys and pains, ups and downs, good…
Being Prepared
For those who are in their 50s and above, and especially after going through Covid, we are reminded that we are only passing by in this world. Hence, every now and then we ask ourselves: Am I really prepared to go? Will I leave the world a better place to live in? Will my children…
One and Only
We live in a throw-away generation. Just look at how we treat material things: If a new one comes along, discard the old one. If you lose something, just replace it with a new one. When something is of no value, then just throw it away. The sad reality is that this is also how…
3 Ways 2 Your 1 God 