After eight years I once again returned to the seminary. It was then I realized that there are fewer seminarians for the priesthood. When I left for a new assignment in 2015, the count was about 160 seminarians spread within a 10-year program. Now it is less than 100. According to a study, the four…
Category: Sacrifice
Money and Happiness
We live in a society that always pursues money. Why? It is the belief that it buys happiness. Hence, a study was made where it was found that indeed it does – but only after a certain amount. Once that amount is reached, no matter how much more money you have, it does not bring…
More Than the Usual
When Adam and Eve sinned, the very first promise of God was the Messiah. Although it took 42 generations from Abraham to Jesus, God never forgot his promise. In fact, Simeon was so happy to see the Messiah to the point that he said, “Lord let your servant go in peace. For I have seen…
Most Important
In our everyday lives, we are barraged with so many things to do. Just to get it right on what is the most important and what can be set aside, a management tool was made to help us decide. The first window is called DO FIRST – this is both important and urgent. The second…
Good Catholic, Good Citizen
One thing people observe about the Philippines is that it is truly a Catholic nation. Nowhere else in the world do you feel the complete traditions of Holy Week, as well as the full celebration of Christmas. Only in the Philippines! On the other hand, how can we be a Catholic country yet so corrupt?…
Healing Family
An article once said that if proof is needed of how broken the world is today, just look at the family. What is referred to as a “modern” family means either no mother or no father or a lack of both. As priests assigned in a seminary, we notice that the human development of a…
Changes
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…
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…
Burden Free
Matthew 11:28-30 How many of us, from time to time, complain that we are tired of life already? Never-ending problems, always in debt, a sickness that won’t get healed, a loved one who has gone astray, a broken relationship, nothing is happening to a person we are helping, too many battles in life, or maybe…
3 Ways 2 Your 1 God 