“THUS says the Lord: I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and petition…”  Zechariah 12:10 Have you ever…

NO one is ever late for God’s mercy and forgiveness. This contention is what Pope Francis has always reflected on in all his actions and words, especially in promulgating 2016…

“WE worry a great deal about the problem of church and state. Now, what about church and God? Sometimes there seems to be a greater separation between the church and…

JESUS, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this…

“WHY do we hear all this stuff about the Trinity?” The question burst from a man in the audience of a talk of mine. “Why can’t we just be good…

“THE Spirit is present only when charity, joy, peace, patience, endurance, kindness, generosity, faith, mildness, and chastity are deeply in our lives—and permeate the air around us.” –Fr. Ron Rolheiser,…

“MAY the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call… – (Ephesians 1:18)” What is an “enlightened heart”? This question…

A LONGTIME theology professor of St. John’s Seminary once gave a homily that struck me. He said that in his forty years of teaching the dogmas of the Catholic Church…

“BEHOLD, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them as their God….

We often hear that “politics” exists not only in governments but also in corporations, schools, civic organizations, and even in churches. We find this contention to be true when we…

Many years ago when I was an associate pastor, there was a young man named Nick who spoke boldly in front of hundreds of his fellow youth about his Christian…

AT St. John the Baptist in Baldwin Park, California, they do something big at the conclusion of the Holy Thursday liturgy. The priests and the parishioners transfer the Body of…

AN explosion of new life and hope happened on that Easter morning when Jesus resurrected from the dead after three days in the tomb. It was an explosion that brought…

CAN you think with your heart? In other words, can you have a critical mind and at the same time have intense feelings of love, compassion, sympathy and care for…

“REMEMBER not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new!” (Isaiah 43:16) “My theology professor asks me to write a…

SACRED Heart Church in Covina, California held a “24 Hours for the Lord” celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. From 12 pm on Friday, March 4, to 12 pm on…

JESUS, can we drink the cup that you drink or be baptized with the baptism with which you are baptized? Can we really do this? Can we accept failures? Can…

I STILL remember an incident when a parishioner confronted me after Mass to tell me how delighted she was to see me change. “Father, you’ve grown so much, you’ve changed,”…

RA Paulette has spent his life for the past twenty-five years pursuing his passion, which is transforming caves into breathtaking, poetic and massive pieces of art out of sandstones. Every…

“ People love us — priests — despite our imperfections. They see us as representatives of Jesus Christ on earth; they esteem us for our noble works and our sacrifices….

“ Our understanding of God speaks of a low Christology: the God of the Scriptures, the God who became human like us, and the God who entered our broken human…

A MAN was inside a church kneeling in front of a big statue of Santo Niño. In his prayer, he said: “Santo Niño, please help me win the lottery. I…

I FOUND myself in the middle of a wave of people, mostly young men, parading barefoot before the image of the Black Nazarene. We were like bees or small fish…

PIA Wurtzbach, the newly crowned Miss Universe, the latest pride of the Philippines, has become a celebrity with her interviews on almost every television channel here in the US.  Her…

SOME friends invited me to go out with them for breakfast after a Simbang Mass. I accepted their invitation without hesitation so that I could spend time with them before…

MANY Filipinos worldwide posted pictures of Simbang Gabi Masses on social media such as Facebook. Their photos showed happiness, harmony and contentment. There were even pictures of parishioners attending Simbang…

THUS the total number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen generations; from David to the Babylonian Exile, fourteen generations; from the Babylonian exile to the Christ, fourteen generation. …

It’s hard not to be affected by the recent terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. It’s so close to home, only less than a hundred miles away. It makes us…

WE don’t often think of Church as contemplative. We think of it more as an active and engaging Church that deals with setting goals and planning ways to transform the…