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…
Category: Peace
Power and Character
Luke 7: 1-10 There is a saying that if you wish to find out the true character of a person, give that person three things: First, give him/her money Second, let him/her hit rock bottom Third, give him/her power Throughout history we know of people who started very simple, then rose up to the very…
Last Days
Luke 17:20-25 To get a feel of what people are thinking, one just has to go to the internet. One of the most talked-about topics is the question – Are These the Last Days? Why the question? First, look at the natural disasters: earthquakes, storms, and droughts in one place and so much rain in…
Forgiveness
John 20:19-23 One of the most difficult things to live with is when you know you have wronged or hurt someone. The worst scenario is when the person you have hurt passes away. I was once at a funeral wake and before the start of the Mass, a sibling of the deceased came in and…
Competition
As a priest, one reality of the ministry is that we are always compared to others. Fr. A sings better, Fr. B is very good in Filipino, Fr. C is always present and so easy to invite, Fr D gives good homilies, etc. Intentionally or unintentionally, this causes intrigue and competition. In a reading from…
Invitation
Just after All Saints and All Souls’ Day, Christmas is truly just around the corner. Yes, there will be parties, homecomings, weddings, and baptismal invitations. However for many reasons, we are not able to attend all simply because that traffic is bad, there are so many invitations, time is limited, and yes, health due to…
Love One Another
How often does it happen to families that when the patriarch and matriarch are gone, the children go their separate ways? Even worse, they fight each other over property. We have all heard stories and can just shake our heads in disbelief about what a sibling can do to another sibling. Jesus was about to…
Relationships
Matthew 18: 15-20 When is a relationship worth saving? This is the question we ask ourselves when a relationship has gone astray. We all know this: people change, we change, circumstances change. We get hurt intentionally or unintentionally. When do we know it is time to say goodbye or give our all to save a…
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…
3 Ways 2 Your 1 God 