“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, OMI This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday—the great feast when we commemorate that time when the Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles and assembled as…

“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 is what we should ask one another and ourselves as we celebrate Ascension Sunday. For it seems that an “enlightened heart” is what each of…

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 and serving as a priest, he has seen how the Holy Spirit has played a big part in the life of the church. “Dogmas are…

“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. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has…

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 understand politics as “the art or science concerned with winning and holding control over government” and of “competition between competing groups or individuals for power…

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 faith. He was filled joy, passion and courage as he shared his faith and personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He spoke with genuine concern for…

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 Christ in a huge monstrance to an elaborately decorated hall. You should see the faces of the people as they do this—they are filled with…

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 conversion to billions of people in the world. Peter and John run fast to the tomb of Jesus that Sunday morning upon hearing Mary Magdalene’s…

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 other people? Jesus was able to do this as he entered the city of Jerusalem before his crucifixion and death. He fully knew what was…

“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 homily on sin to people who are in jail,” a seminarian shared with me over dinner last week. “Well, that’s interesting. Just make sure you…

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 Saturday, March 5, priests from the parish and the surrounding parishes of the deanery were scheduled to hear confessions. To prepare for this event, parishioners…

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 we accept imperfections in people, in church, in government and in business? Can we forgive and understand those who annoy us, who do not share…

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,” she told me. Upon hearing her words, two things flashed in my mind: something that was wrong with me needed to change, and something that…

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 day, alone with his dog, Ra Paulette would scrape and sculpture sandstones of Northern New Mexico’s caves. Some of his friends think that he is…

“ 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.  They see our lives as meaningful and edifying.” A PRIEST’S life can be filled with joy — that is, if a priest loves working with…

“ 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 condition.” FOUR and a half centuries – that’s how long the Filipino people have venerated the image of Santo Niño de Cebu. It’s one of…

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 promise that I will be here every day after work in front of you to pray a novena in your honor.  And if I win…

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 swarming around the image. For some outsiders, this piety is crazy, but as one devotee paraphrased Pope Francis’ famous quote, “Who are we to judge?”…

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 physical beauty and grace, of course, has impressed the world, but what has impressed me more is her strong determination to succeed in life. She’s…

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 Christmas. I haven’t seen them or talked to them for a long time. They have been my friends since my early years as a priest….

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 Gabi Masses in flooded churches.  That was quite remarkable, wasn’t it? It showed people’s religiosity and devotion to these nine days of Simbang Gabi Masses…

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.  Matthew 1:17 Where are you from? What’s your last name? Are you related to somebody I know? These are questions we ask or hear from…

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 think of our own security and that of our children. Are we all safe even to worship in our churches and to shop in public…

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 world with the  spirit of the Gospel. Yet, being a contemplative Church is a vital element of a true Church. In fact, it is a…

IN his recent podcast, “The Light of Faith,” my college classmate, Archbishop Socrates Villegas, of the Archdiocese of Lingayen, Pangasinan, explains the positions and titles in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. He talks about the orders of deacon, priest and bishop and the titles of Monsignor, Archbishop and Cardinal. In the end, he says…

I still get a kick out of remembering my younger sister’s chitchat with her son, Tristan, while in the car on the way to school. Noticing that my nephew was putting gel on his hair, my sister asked him, “Tristan, why are you fixing your hair well?  Are you trying to impress a girl in…

“BUT the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever.”  — Daniel 12: 3 The Book of Daniel and Mark’s Gospel Reading this Sunday sound scary for many of us because they speak about “a time unsurpassed in distress” in…

“THE jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.” 1 Kings 17:14 These words from Prophet Elijah to the poor widow of Zerephath are so meaningful. They are words of fulfilled promise, of an answered prayer, and of…

“WHOEVER or wherever you are in life, as I see you in front of me in prayer, I feel very close to you, not in any sentimental way, but as a man who has lived your lives interiorly and knows about the pain and joy you hold in your hearts.” — Henry Nouwen The above…