CROSS IS A BLESSING
I was once asked why I always mention St. Charles (or San Carlos) Borromeo in my Masses. St. Charles Borromeo, the Archbishop of Milan, is the patron saint of San Carlos Seminary in Guadalupe, Makati where I graduated. He was…
Category Personal Blog
SAY ONLY WHAT YOU MEAN
The Jews thought that the command of the Lord was that a person should not make a false oath. The Lord tells us that we should not swear, we should not take an oath at all. It is quite a…
HEAVEN ON EARTH
There was a time when I administered the last sacrament to a dying old lady. About 10 minutes after she received the anointing, she passed away. The family had a very good disposition about her death, and one of the…
ENTHUSIASM
Sometimes I wonder what the Lord was looking for in the twelve men whom he called to be his apostles. When you go over the criteria that the Lord laid out for these men who would surround him, the quality…
JUNK FOOD
We often lament the popularity and prevalence of junk food in our society. Junk food has become a part of our daily life. Whenever we get hungry, we readily grab a bag of potato chips and a bottle of softdrinks.…
WHY NOT TODAY?
From the life of St. Augustine we can draw so many examples. But let me just zero in on one aspect of his life: St. Augustine never was content with going half way, he always went “all the way.” Nowadays,…
WE ARE PROPHETS
The Lord Jesus Himself calls John the Baptizer the greatest of all prophets. He says there is no one greater than John the Baptizer who is venerated in the Church as a prophet, a forerunner of Jesus Christ. When we…
Happy New Year!
HE IS TOO GOOD FOR ME!
Have you ever asked yourself, “Why are there some people we seem to hate naturally?” These are people who do no wrong to us, who have not crossed us, or who by themselves are not shameful but who somehow irritate…
BORN AGAIN
If you were asked a question today, right now, “Are you a born again Christian?” you would probably feel uneasy about answering. You would probably answer “No.” Unfortunately, the term “born again Christian” has been abused to the point that…
COME BACK TO ME
What is the most important and basic characteristic of our Christian religion? For the natural religions, it is always man searching for God. When tribal pagans slaughter animals to offer their blood to their god, this signifies man’s desire to…
COURAGE IS NOT RECKLESSNESS
In the Gospel reading we see the Pharisees plotting to kill Jesus, so He ran away. In doing so, He appeared to be a coward who had lost His guts. However, we must remember that courage is not to be…