There is a saying in tagalog, ,“Ang bungang hinog ay binabato.” (A stone is thrown to a ripe fruit). Then you have the crab mentality which Filipinos are known for: When someone is rising, the tendency is to pull others down. Why this reality? Because hatred and jealousy are two very damaging emotions. Even Jesus…
Category: Mercy & Forgiveness
Living Forever
Matthew 25: 31-46 Two very good friends made a promise to each other that if one goes ahead, the other would send a sign that she is okay in the next life. Many years later one of the two friends passed away. Many days after the burial, the one who was left was thinking of…
Faithfulness
When I was a newly ordained priest, my parish priest told me to give priority to couples celebrating their 25th and 50th anniversaries. Further, he explained why. We live in a world that is so consumeristic – when a new item comes along, we dump the old one. Sadly, it influences our relationships. Hence, with…
Eternal Life
We live in a world wherein there is the seen and the unseen, the good and evil, the wheat and the weeds, the spiritual and the material. There is life on earth and eternal life. We live in a world wherein it is not one or the other. We live in both worlds. In the…
Being Wise
Recently there are two people who were part of my formation that passed away. One was a priest and the other was a friend and a teacher. Both were younger than me. With this reality, again, I am reminded that life is short and uncertain and that at any time, God can call you. The…
The Greatest
There is a story of a school winning a basketball competition. Out of Jubilation, the students shouted and cheered, “We are number one.” After some time, the cheering and shouting died down. From the bleachers came a booming voice from one of the other school’s professors – “What is the problem of being number two”?…
Everlasting Life
Due to Covid, many people have been thinking about the meaning of life. Some of the realizations: In the Gospel, Jesus was asked if many will be saved. The response was of Christ, “It is how we live our life”. Hence, three things we can do to prepare ourselves: The three teachings of Christ when…
Priests in Crisis
One of the sad realities in the Church is that there are priests who are not faithful to their promises when they were ordained: celibacy, simplicity, and obedience. These three are meant to counteract the three realities of today’s world. The actual reality is, these three are interrelated. When one is compromised, the other two…
Meaningful Death
Once I attended a wake. While the relatives were very sad that their mother passed away, their greatest consolation was that she was prepared. She picked the dress that she would wear in the coffin. She had a list of priests who would celebrate Mass for her for the three days of viewing. She picked…
We Are Family
Matthew 18: 21-35 Once I was talking to a real estate broker and he mentioned that the best business nowadays is still Real Estate. He explained that land is not getting any bigger, yet there are more people and their incomes are increasing. Hence, property prices go up every year. He also mentioned something else…
3 Ways 2 Your 1 God 