Often people confess Anger as a sin. It is explained that Anger, per se, is an emotion. When parents get angry at their children because they are not studying, it is not a sin; When a boss gets angry at an employee because she has not performed well, that is not a sin. When citizens…
Category: Mercy & Forgiveness
Love for Children
During the time of Jesus, he had a preferential option for the disadvantaged: the poor, women, the widow, the sinner, the prostitute, and yes, the children. Children during the time of Jesus were treated as second class citizens. Hence, they were closest to the heart of Jesus. That is why he scolded his apostles for…
Fault Finder
Once, there was an experiment made. A white sheet of paper with a small block dot in the center. When people were asked “What do they see?” the most popular answer was the “black dot.” Not the white sheet of paper, but the small black dot. We human beings are not perfect. We have all…
Holistic Healing
One day, I anointed two elderly women. The first one, the son said, “please keep open your evening schedule for mommy’s masses. The doctor says she can go anytime. It has been a month already and she is still alive. No respiratory, no dialysis, no extraordinary measures”. The second one just came from a stent…
Being Prepared
Some time ago I visited three wakes. The first was a 14-year old girl who died of leukemia. She finally rested after two years of in and out of the hospital. The second wake was an unexpected death of a 55-year old man who had a heart attack. Everyone thought he was fit and athletic,…
Divine Mercy
When people hurt us, we have the tendency to confront and give them a litany of the things that we have done for the person. “I did this… I did that…. I gave you this… I gave you that… I helped you with this… I helped you with that…. how can you be so ungrateful?”…
Christian Persecution
Is it said that two-thirds of the 2.3 billion Christians in the world today live in dangerous neighborhoods. They are often poor. They often belong to ethnic, linguistic, and cultural minorities. And they are often at risk. Hence, every month, we hear of a Christian being killed. Not too long ago, a priest, Fr. Mark…
Saying Goodbye
Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross has journeyed with so many people who were about to die, that her famed model, The Five Stages of Denial, has become the accepted standard of examining terminally-ill emotions. They are classified as: Denial – “No, I am not going to die” Anger – “Why me? There are so many other people…
Wealth and Compassion
Perhaps it is the desire of most people to be rich. Most people think that either it will solve many of their problems, or they will simply be happier with more money. The lure indeed of that beautiful house, beautiful car, and the nicest things in life. In fact, someone once said, “I have been…
Cleanliness from the Inside
It is said that we Filipinos are a mystery. We value cleanliness, yet look at our surroundings: We will clean our own backyard but we will dump the garbage in public places. We take a bath at least two times a day, even when it is winter, but look at the litter all over the…
3 Ways 2 Your 1 God 