There is a saying that the only thing permanent in the world is change. All in this world is passing and fleeting, hence change is inevitable. Even if change is a reality though, people by nature do not want to change. Truly it is so hard to change: there is inconvenience, there is uncertainty, there…
Category: Peace
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…
Works of God
Every now and then, I get blessed with a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Of course, we come across different tour guides with different perspectives, specializations, and points of view. One of the things they would always talk about is the Six-Day War in Israel which happened during June 5 – 10, 1967. Although Israel…
Do They Know It’s Christmas Time?
In the US, there was a survey made by Gallup Poll that says in 2021, only 81 percent of Americans believed in God. The survey started way back in 1944. Up to the 1960s, 98 percent believed in God. Up to 2011, it was 92 percent believed. Up to last year, 17 percent do not…
Looks
Matthew 3:1-6 We have a saying, “Do not judge the book by its cover.” Why? Typically, people judge people by their looks. In one of the more known Gospel stories regarding visual judgment, Jesus talks about people who got shocked by the appearance of John the Baptist. He was wearing camel’s hair and eating wild…
Denial and Rejection
As people, we need people. In fact, it is people that give real happiness in life. Hence, one of the most painful of all human experiences is being “denied” – “You can choose your friends, but not your family” is typically said when we are disowning someone in the family. Further, being rejected is also…
Time to Hold On and Time to Let Go
A study found that the main source of true happiness is none other than relationships. As we know though, there is no relationship that is perfect and there is no relationship that has not been tested. The typical questions when it comes to strained relationships: Yes, we commit mistakes, we have our own bad side,…
Light in Darkness
One day I was watching a video with a student who was defending transgenders. While inclusion is very important, while equality is very important, while discrimination is something we should fight for, we should also be very careful of the dangers of allowing and accepting philosophy and ideas that are not the truth. Then when…
Peace
Even before Covid, as priests, we already got a sense that many people are experiencing mental health issues – fear, worry, anxiety, depression, fear, and even suicidal thoughts. Then when Covid came, it even made things worse. That is why the words of Christ are very important – “Peace be with you.” Peace is not…
Greatness
There is an article that states that all of us have desires. These desires are what lead us to greatness and being the greatest. The seven desires are: That is why, even when Jesus was already grieving about his coming passion and death, what was in the mind of the mother of the sons of…
3 Ways 2 Your 1 God 