It has been more than four years since the pandemic hit us. Of course, there were many people to whom we said goodbye to. Many people were displaced financially. There are still many people who are dealing with mental health: depression, fear, anxiety, worry, and even anger. Yet, there are far more people who never…
Category: Social Awareness
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…
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…
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…
True Wealth
One of the desires of families as it was then and as it is now, is to preserve whatever wealth they have. One way this becomes a reality is through marriage. Yes, there are people who enter marriage not principally out of love but to preserve the wealth. That is why in the Gospel story…
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…
Come Follow Me
Editor’s Note: This was a homily from last October 4, the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi. As the life of St. Francis has lessons we can all learn from, we are including this here today. In the music industry, there is what is called “Fandom”. They are passionate and devoted fans who are…
Trusting God
Once a parishioner came to me and asked me to help him pray for this big deal that he is working on. He said that if is a success, he will give a big amount to the Church. I told him it was best to look at his motivation. First, if you are not giving…
3 Ways 2 Your 1 God 