Light of the World

If you are sixty years old and up, one thing very noticeable is that the world has changed a lot in terms of the values of people and the way people live.  Mahatma Gandhi defined the seven deadly sins as the following: That is why the Gospel is always an urgent call for us to…

Envy

It is the desire of many people to be successful. Hence, they study hard, they work hard, and they learn from the experts. On the long way to the top though, these people have certainly encountered obstacles, challenges, and mistakes, and may have even hit rock bottom. Every step of the way there were envious…

Time for the Lord

Ed. Note: This entry was originally for a birthday mass for a friend of Fr. Mon. We have included it as a post here, as the words are significant reflections for all of us during this Lenten season. When the Lord gave Moses the ten commandments, one of which was: Remember the Sabbath and keep…

Good News

After several years I am assigned back to the seminary. If there is one thing I noticed, the number of seminarians has gone down. Almost the entire building is empty. This is true with the other seminaries in the complex as well. In my conversations with other religious, this also seems to be the trend….

Jealousy

One of the most difficult of all experiences is when we compare our life to others. Eventually, three realities arise: Even Jesus was not spared from Jealousy. He preached with authority; He gave hope to people; He cured the sick and drove away demons. Yet, what did his enemies say? “He got his powers from…

Family

Once Peter asked Jesus, “We have left family, land, and houses for the sake of the kingdom. What is in it for us?” The response of Christ is, “He will receive much more family, land, and houses in this life and in the life to come.” In my 18 years of priesthood, one of the…

Come Follow Me

As human beings, we follow and idolize people we are interested in. There is something in them or in their lives that attract us, or there also could be something in them that we want or are envious of. For example, on Twitter, some of the most followed people include Barrack Obama with 133M followers,…

Calling from the Lord

Since time immemorial, people have always asked these questions: “Why are we here?”, “What is life all about?”, or “What is the purpose of existence?” In fact in the bible, Qoheleth, a king of Israel, once said, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”. This is a Jewish expression of a life of routine, a life of…

Fasting

With so many health issues nowadays one of the things recommended is FASTING. It does have many benefits: weight loss, improved blood sugar levels, decreased inflammation, and enhanced health heart. FASTING is also used to minimize cancer and diabetes. Yet, FASTING is not only good for the body, but it is also good for the…

Double Life

A president of a company was looking for a replacement. He called five of his most talented employees who could succeed him. He gave them each a seed of a mango tree and said, “Show me the plant one year from now”.  After one year, all came back with full-grown plants, except one person. He…