When we Christians read the bible, some of us get the impression that God wants us poor. How often has Jesus gotten mad at the rich? “Woe to you who are rich.” He also said that it would be more difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to…
Category: The Commandments
Following Jesus
Luke 9:57-62 My brief vocation story is that before entering the seminary, I worked for PLDT. One reason for the difficulty in discernment is that back then, there was nothing to compare my life in PLDT to the life of a seminarian. Had it been transferring from one company to another, the decision-making would have…
In Pursuit of Material Things
How often have I been asked to bless a house, store or office and noticed that there is an Altar at one end of the room, but on the other end, there is that “lucky cat” statue with the hands that goes up and down. On the other side yet, there is the frog with…
Power Over the Unseen
Matthew 8:28-34 Whenever people talk about the devil, I always recommend the film, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, which is based on a true story. There was a scene in the film wherein Emily Rose was speaking to Mama Mary. She asked why the exorcism was not successful. Mama Mary said that the demons will…
What is Your Story?
Matthew 13:10-17 If there is one thing that attracted people to Jesus, it’s that he told stories. Not only was he a very good story teller, but his stories were simple, relevant, deep, and profound. These are the stories we call parables. The Gospel of Luke has 24 parables; the Gospel of Matthew has 23…
Doing Everything When Sick
One of the most difficult of all human experiences is to be sick. Some sicknesses are temporary, some can last a lifetime, and some, in the worst cases, can be terminal. In the many Anointing of the Sick experiences, I noticed that when it is the children that are sick, the parents suffer even more….
Baptismal Promises
Every Easter Vigil or every time we stand as god parent for a baptism, we renew our baptismal vows. Do you reject Satan? Do you reject all his works? Do you reject all his empty promises? Why is this very important and significant? It is because most of us were baptized when we were infants….
Do You Love Me?
When it comes to numbers, the Jews are one of the best as they are and as they were. Hence, in the bible, all the numbers cited have a meaning. One example is that there are a lot of threes in the bible: God has three persons: God the Father, God the Son, God the…
Desert Experience
On a trip to the Holy Land, we ventured one day in the desert of Egypt. For hours there was nothing to see except sand, stones and cactus. The mountains were barren and there were a few trees. Our tour guide explained that at night it gets very cold and during the daytime, it is…
Love or Ritual
In the Jewish tradition, there are 613 laws known as mitzvot, all of which are meant to show their love for God. Humanly speaking, this can be very hard and very confusing. How does one show love for God with all these laws? Perhaps, the question of the scribe is the most practical, “Which is…
3 Ways 2 Your 1 God 