GRADUAL CHANGE
I was looking for some important personal documents one day when I chanced upon some old photos. I was struck by how much weight I have put on since my days as a seminarian. Strikingly, we never really notice how…
Category Personal Blog
A RELATIONSHIP
I was sitting in a seminar room one day, attending a workshop, and the facilitator suddenly asked us, “How many of you here have a relationship?” My initial understanding of the question kept my hands down while I saw the…
RUNNING OR STUMBLING
Sitting at a dinner party table, a young mother lamented over her three-year-old we, who has been giving her quite a headache. Apparently, the child had resorted to all kinds of pranks, which really annoyed the mother to no end.…
A COMMON LANGUAGE
An American friend of mine defined a multilingual as somebody who speaks many languages. A bilingual person is somebody who speaks two languages. What do you call somebody who speaks only one language? American. The need to speak a common…
LEADERS AND HEROES
Some people enjoy looking at themselves as victims. These people consider themselves helpless, useless, and unlovable people who are always the innocent victims of unscrupulous and thoughtless fellow humans. They dig for sympathy, and they consider the pity of others…
THE BISHOP IS A FATHER
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines is 50 years old this year. I once asked a friend of mine what she thought of the Philippine bishops. There was some silence for a while. Then she hesitatingly answered that she…
SHINE LITTLE STAR
Have you ever looked up at the sky on a clear night? Is it not so magical to watch the sky studded with stars? Have you ever wondered how a star is born? My limited knowledge of the subject tells…
DO NOT FEAR
The Pope is fifty years old as a priest. I am writing this column from Rome where Cardinal Sin and I are attending the festivities, marking that jubilee in his priesthood. When he was elected Pope in 1979, as soon…
DO IT YOURSELF
One day as I sat in the sister’s quarters living room waiting for someone who had made an appointment to see me, I had a chance to appreciate the 80-gallon aquarium we have a the EDSA Shrine. I realized that…
MY DIAMOND SISTER
MY DIAMOND SISTER Seventy-Five Years of Blessings by Soc B. Villegas She was born on the feast of lights, a day called purification When Christ was brought to the temple for His presentation Pateros church was aglow for the candles’…
WISHES
The other day a friend came up to me and asked me, “Father, what is your wish?” Taken completely by surprise, I was quiet until she asked me again. Then I managed to ask, “My wish? Do you mean for…
AN INNER RHYTHM
I have always viewed processions as a sign of devotion—a gesture of love, particularly for Our Lady, who asked for them specifically. Sometime long ago, for a brief moment, I truly pondered on why she should ask for something like…