In 1962, Christianity was removed from the public schools in the United States. 50 years later, a study was made on the effects: Criminal arrests of teens were up 150% according to the US Bureau of Census Teen suicides, in ages 15-19 years old, were up 450% according to the National Center of Health Services…
Category: Social Awareness
Being Put Down
One of the most common human experiences is to be put down. For my generation, how familiar are the words, “You are nothing but a second rate…trying hard…copycat.” We have been put down for so many reasons. The color of our skin, our accent, our religion, because of the mistakes we have done, because people…
Giving
Luke 14: 12-14 Jesus would always see things from the heart: He lambasted the Pharisees and Scribes because they were holy on the outside with their titles, places of honors, and vestments. However, God saw what was in their hearts. Despite the town willing to punish her, Jesus did not judge or punish a woman…
Prophet
Some time ago, I was watching on TV a discussion on “fake news.” It is very disturbing that people can actually do these things without morality anymore. They can do these things without guilt that what they are doing is wrong. Even worse, they will point out other people who are into fake news simply…
Travel Light
Luke 9:1-6 Whenever I am blessed with the opportunity to go on a pilgrimage, I cannot help but notice what is the strength of the Filipino and what needs to be improved. Our best strength is that we are warm. Once the bus driver asked me if the group that I was with are all…
Birth and Death
Just the other day, I had a very surreal experience. I celebrated Mass for a family in their mausoleum to remember and pray for their loved ones who moved on to the next life. During the final hymn, the choir sang “Happy Birthday.” Although it would be my birthday the next day, I said to…
Having A Life
“What would you do with your life if money were no object?” was a question posted on the internet. At initial thought, the responses were: to go on a grand vacation, to shop, to live a stress-free life. Upon deeper reflection though, the responses all boiled down to one thing: TO SERVE. To serve in…
One or Another
Luke 16: 9-15 During the time of Jesus, the thinking of the people was that if a man is rich, then he is blessed by God. Why? The thinking was that a rich person is happy because he has everything. However, is this truly the case? We all know that the strongest economies are: USA,…
Reunions
Reunions are opportunities to catch up with people we grew up with. In all the stories, one realizes that in life: First, nothing is permanent. Sometimes life is good, sometimes we are experiencing storms. Sometimes we are up, sometimes we are down. Second, one realizes that nothing is forever. Year after year, we say goodbye…
New Mindset
By now we have been regretting the many things that we ate during the Christmas season. I think the desire is to lose weight. Nowadays, on Facebook, one would encounter many formulas, many tricks, many types of diets, but I guess the one that is most interesting has this message in Tagalog: “Sa taon 2021,…
3 Ways 2 Your 1 God 