I once celebrated Mass in an upscale subdivision. After the Mass, I was speaking to two couples. Since I realized that they did not know each other, I introduced them to each other. Couple A asked Couple B, “What street do you reside on?”. They realized they lived in the same street. Couple B asked…
Category: Social Awareness
The Most Respected Professions
Forbes Magazine came up with an article of the most respected professions in the U.S.: No. 5, Engineer; No. 4, Military Officer; No. 3, Firefighter; No.2, Scientist; No.1, Doctor. While there are varied reasons why people would reflect a certain profession, the fact remains that priesthood is not in the top 5. It is not…
Know Your Neighbor
I once celebrated Mass in the middle of two residential condominium buildings: on my right was clean and orderly and the one my left was dirty and in disarray. Why the big difference? The one to my right followed the rules of the condominium and thus it was clean and orderly. The one on my…
Service
Many years ago there was tension between the Philippines and Hong Kong because of the killing of the Hong Kong tourists in Luneta. When emotions were high, there was a Hong Kong journalist who wrote an article about our country being a “Nation of Servants.” Certainly, he was not only referring to the Filipina servants…
Judging by Appearance
A social experiment was made with a person made to dress in very ordinary street clothes and enter an expensive car dealership. At first, none of the salespeople were minding him. Then he was treated shabbily, and he was not even allowed to test drive a car or even just to sit and get a…
Giving is Life
The person who is perhaps the most giving in the world is none other than our mothers. Mothers are always giving. In fact, we arrived in this world because of Mothers. Notice the term used is “giving birth.” Because of Giving, we have life. In the Gospel, someone gave seven loaves of bread and few…
Love One Another
Local elections are most ideal when people work together for the common good of the country. Yet this seems to be not the case. Just go to social media and you will realize that there is so much negativity. Further, it is not only about politics and it is not only in this country. Just…
What Matters In Life
Matthew 10:37-42 One thing on my bucket list is the Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela or the Camino de Santiago. I have stories of people doing at least 100 km of walking for days. In the many stories that I have heard, I realize that each person has his or her own pace when walking….
Following the Law
Once I celebrated Mass in a condominium complex. In front of where the Mass was being held were two condominium buildings. One was very nice, very clean, and very orderly. The other building was very dirty, chaotic and a place you would not be excited to go home. After the Mass, I asked a resident…
Inheritance
After the blessing of a house, and on my way out, I noticed a 4-story building that was rundown near the property. I got surprised because the community was very progressive. I asked what happened to the building, “Why are the owners not taking care of it?” She gave a history of the building: A…
3 Ways 2 Your 1 God 