When Jesus founded the Church, he gave it authority. “Peter you are the rock and on this rock I will build my Church… whatever binds on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever is loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:18-19) In this world, there is only one authority and that is…
Category: Peace
Social Sins
Ed. Note: This was a homily for a school mass. Student or not though, we can all relate to the lessons. In 1925, Mahatma Gandhi published in his newspaper Young India, a list of social sins. Almost 100 years later, now more than ever, these have become very relevant: For those of us in our…
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…
Inclusive
One of the most popular word nowadays is Inclusive. It is defined as not excluding any person, party or group. The basis for this in the matters of faith, is that all are children of God, with the only difference being blessed differently because of each mission given by God. Sadly though, discrimination is very…
Repentance
None of us are perfect, none of us live perfect lives. We all make mistakes, we all sin, we all hurt God, our neighbor, and ourselves. However, there are two realities in life. There are people who refuse to change: When we hear this, we know that these people will never change. On the other hand,…
Forgiveness
When it comes to relationships, the question always is, “Should I forgive this person who has hurt me?” To answer the question, another question is asked: Is the relationship worth saving? If yes, definitely forgive. If not, still definitely forgive. Why the same answer? Because forgiveness is not about the other person. It is for…
Judging Others
We all have judged others and we have all been judged as well. It is very typical for us to judge other people based on their appearance. According to a study, there are three reasons that are important to us, as to why we judge others: Of course, since we do not know that person…
Becoming a Better Person
There is a saying that what we were when we were born, is God’s gift to us. What we become, is our gift to God. Yet, to become a better person is not easy. We have to know our shortcomings, mistakes, biases fears, prejudices, and what trigger us. How do we get to know these?…
Mercy not Sacrifice
When I was a seminarian, I was able to join a Holy Week celebration in one of the provinces. During the procession, we went around the town, praying and singing. Very nice celebration. When the carozas returned to the Church, during the closing rites, the priests blessed all the Carozas. Suddenly there was chaos. People…
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…
3 Ways 2 Your 1 God 