Matthew 16:24-28 A lawyer friend once said, “fact is stranger than fiction.” He explained that you cannot imagine what parents will do to their children, children to their parents, one part of the family to the other, a person to the best friend, couples to each other, all because of money, properties, and inheritance. That…
The Greatest
One of the beauties of traveling is that we learn a lot. As the saying goes, if we don’t learn from History, we are bound to repeat it. When it comes to travel and history, one important lesson is that nothing lasts forever. What was once the greatest city is now all ruins; what was…
Who Owns Who
A blog had a survey, “What is one thing that you cannot live without?” Of course, the answers varied, but there were some very interesting ones: Gummy Bears, Pistachio Ice Cream, Vicks Vapor Rub, Vinyl Record Collection. The most mentioned items were money, family, and cellphones. In the Gospel, a rich man runs up to…
Trust in God like a Child
I came across a story of a flight that experienced turbulence. After the scary experience, a man asked a boy who was seated beside him if he was afraid or not. The boy responded, “no.” He explained, “My father is the pilot and I know he will take care of me.” Jesus said when it…
Cleanliness of the Heart
There is a saying that “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” Hence, who does not want a clean house, a clean car, a clean bedroom, a clean chapel, and a clean person. In discussing cleanliness, a friend of mine casually said that we Filipinos are one of the top users of bath soap. He explained the…
Are You Prepared?
One of the questions often asked to me is if the end near. The bible says that on the last days: There will be false prophets and false messiahs There will be wars and rumors of war Nations will rise against nations Christians will be persecuted Indeed all of these are happening so one might…
Does God Want Us Poor?
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…
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…
God’s Ways
As human beings, one of the things we naturally resist is being told what to do. This usually happens when we outgrow our childhood. As teenagers, we thought we knew it all. We thought we figured out life. Life though, has ways of humbling us. It is only when we grow old and have children…