WE get a treat of three parables in this Sunday’s Mass. The first and second parables are  preparatory to the third one, a much longer parable. The first one is…

AS we celebrate the New Year, let’s remember the famous words of Dag Hammarskjold, the Swedish diplomat and second Secretary-General of the United Nations, “For all that has been, thank…

OF ALL the universal themes in life, “family” is one that is closest to our hearts. It one of the “favorite things” that we can talk about and one that…

ONCE again, the Simbang Gabi Masses in our parish have been filled with excitement, joy and faith. Each early morning has been a period of reflection, heartfelt songs and prayer. Each homily…

I WAS in awe of the beauty of the liturgies and the devotion of our parishioners during the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe last Thursday. I marveled at the…

I HAD a marvelous Thanksgiving holiday with my family in the Bay Area. The day after a lovely Thanksgiving  dinner, we spent time shopping, chatting, and eating more home made…

I’VE said many times in my homilies that our Christian spirituality or piety is not just about receiving grace but also about sharing grace. It’s not just about the Church…

WE’VE all heard the urging of the Holy Spirit to help victims of Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda in the Philippines. We’ve all been moved with compassion and kindness as we saw pictures…

ARCHBISHOP Socrates Villegas has written a prayer in behalf of Filipinos on the tragic devastations of Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda. Here’s an excerpt of his prayer: Lord we are in great need….

THE First Reading of last Sunday’s Mass from the Book of Wisdom still echoes in my mind. “For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have…

SOME time ago, a parishioner caught my attention when she expressed her concern about the “forgotten souls”: those who have no one praying for them anymore. They may be the…

MANY of us need to have a wider understanding of the concept of prayer. Some of us think that prayer is just coming to church for an hour on Sunday,…

“THE word of God is not chained,” St. Paul says in his letter to Timothy as he was suffering in prison, chained because of his passion for spreading the Gospel…

“WE are worthless servants, we have only done our duty,” a secretary of a Cardinal referred to these words of the gospel years ago during a dinner-tribute for his superior….

“THERE  is so much arrogance in this society,” my friend complained when the receptionists of the gym where she exercised regularly treated her rudely. On that day she didn’t know…

IF WE only knew fully what were getting into, perhaps we may not have taken a path or decided on a kind of life. It could be a marriage, a…

I STILL think fondly about my enjoyable trip to Guatemala and El Salvador. I think not so much about the places that I visited but the warm encounters that I…

ONE of my great mentors in the seminary taught me and my peers not only to be holy but also to be prudent, not in the sense of acquiring a…

WE get a treat of three parables in this Sunday’s Mass. The first and second parables are  preparatory to the third one, a much longer parable. The first one is…

IF WE only knew fully what were getting into, perhaps we may not have taken a path or decided on a kind of life. It could be a marriage, a…

I STILL think fondly about my enjoyable trip to Guatemala and El Salvador. I think not so much about the places that I visited but the warm encounters that I…

IT WAS eight o’clock on a quiet night in the municipality of Izalco in Sonsonate, El Salvador. The parish priest, Padre Napo and his vicar, Padre Jorge, invited me to…

More than division, the Gospel today speaks of passion:  ‘I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism…

A priest flew thousands of miles to spent a month with the community of Mother Teresa in Calcutta, India. He was in a stage of discernment for God’s further purpose…

“VANITY of vanities. All things are vanities!” Some thinkers say that these words from the Book of Ecclesiastes are the harshest words of the Old Testament Bible and yet the…

GOD knows those of us who work so hard and who patiently fulfill our responsibilities and obligations. God knows our fidelity to him and our persistence to live and believe…

POPE Francis’ homilies are getting popular nowadays. One of the reasons is that they’re simple, clear, practical, down-to-earth,  honest, direct to the point, and devoid of highfalutin theological discourse. For…

“BE not afraid!” These are the words that I remember most from John Paul II as he spoke to youth during World Youth Days. His successor, Benedict XVI, would convey…

In his book, The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic, Matthew Kelley asks: “Have you wandered what God is really like? How would you describe him?” He then answers his own…

ELTON and Rosie finally had their church wedding last week. It was a beautiful and down-to-earth ceremony with few relatives, friends, and members of their Charismatic community. At the reception,…