Once three men were enjoying a hearty dinner. One was German, the other American and the third was Filipino. As they were eating, they noticed pesky flies swarming over them. When the insects became too bothersome, the German couldn’t take…
Have you ever experienced being rejected by the very people whom you thought would help you? Have you ever experienced being given the silent treatment, as if you did not exist? It is not as if they don’t know you.…
There was a period in our history when the task of teaching, directing, and counseling was mostly limited to priests and religious sisters. And then came the era of Tiya Dely and Kuya Cesar, and Helen Vela and Bob Garon,…
It is understandable that for people who are wealthy and living comfortably, it is very difficult to give up their possessions and life of ease to follow the Lord. And yet in the Gospel, Matthew, the tax collector, once called…
There is a common desire among human beings—of whatever race—to belong. We want to belong to a family. We want to belong to a church. We want to belong to a company. And, indeed, very sorry is the life of…
We all have differences. We come from different backgrounds. We had different upbringings. We studied in different schools. We have different addresses. We work in different offices. In other words, there is no one person who is perfectly similar to…
There was a woman preparing a meal for people. And according to the Book of Proverbs, the meal is wisdom. This woman cooks wisdom and shares wisdom with others. The first definition of wisdom is “to live for others.” The…
Some people like their homes very much. These are people who love to say, “There is no place like home.” They don’t like to travel because, as far as they are concerned, traveling would only mean experiencing discomfort. They say,…
If we give ourselves time to reflect, it will not be difficult to realize that our life is actually a long search for something. Once upon a time, there was a poem that said, “Life, life is looking for things…
There is a drama program on television entitled “Maalaala Mo Kaya.” I believe the title comes from a popular wedding celebration song. It is sung by people in love. It is sung to friends who are leaving. The message of…
The readings for today are about women – married women. In the first reading, the woman is given a name – Sarah. In the Gospel, the woman is unnamed. Both women married seven times. Can you beat that? Seven times!…
I had a classmate in the seminary who is now a parish priest in a rural town in Zambales. He tells me that he usually goes around the parish, visiting the farmers and those who work in the forest. One…