AS the second semester ends this school year, I can’t help but thank God for the the privilege and the blessing of teaching seminarians at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California. I never thought that I would be coming to this institution to teach after twenty-two years of parish ministry. Although this was a temporary…
WE all need guidance in our lives. We need wisdom to make right decisions, to act justly, and to live according to God’s law of love. For, indeed, there are times when we are at the crossroad of life, when we ask ourselves, “Am I doing the right thing? Will this bring peace, harmony, and…
CAN real love exist in a community where people are related not by blood but by common faith and beliefs? Can neighbors genuinely care for one another without sacrificing privacy? Can strangers become instant friends? Can a friendship of two persons endure despite a long absence from each other? To all these questions, I say…
IN OUR Roman Catholic Church tradition, viaticum (Eucharist) is the giving of communion to a person who is dying as part of the last rites. This practice assures the dying person that instead of dying alone he or she dies with Christ who promises him or her eternal life. Thus, as the dying person receives…
JESUS’ resurrection scene this Sunday in the Gospel of John is filled with concrete images and questions, such as “going fishing”, “caught nothing”, “Anything to eat?”, “tucked in his garments”, “lightly clad”, “jumping into the sea”, “a charcoal fire”, “having breakfast”, “one-hundred fifty three large fish”, “a hundred yards”, “Do you love me?”. Oftentimes, these…
AFTER the Easter Vigil Mass in my church last week, I congratulated one of the youngsters that I baptized and joked with him, “So, now that you’ve already received the three sacraments, the next step for you is to become a priest. What do you think?” He looked at me with disapproval and said, “I…
AT THE conclusion of the Chrism Mass in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels last Monday, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez led the packed Church in cheers,”Viva El Nuevo Papa! Viva!” Everyone present, including bishops, priests, deacons and religious, followed his loud shouts of joy and excitement. We feel this enthusiasm and happiness about our…
AS I grow older and wiser in life and ministry, I realize how wicked a man or a woman can be, how evil can posses his or her heart and mind. The plots and scenes of malice, wrath, revenge, deceit, jealousy, hurt, murder and other forms of evil that many of us watch on soap…
“REMEMBER not the events of the past, the things of long ago, consider not; see, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:16). Aren’t these words that God spoke to the Israelites during their Babylonian exile relevant to our times now that we have a new pope? I…
THE word “prodigal” means lavish, profuse, or wastefully extravagant. In the Gospel this Sunday, the younger son was prodigal because he profusely squandered his inheritance from his father on meaningless diversions. On the other hand, the father was “prodigal” because he lavishly forgave his wayward returning son: running to him even before he reached their…
OUR Roman Catholic Church has entered a period called “sede vacante” (the empty chair) since Benedict XVI’s retirement last Thursday. The Pope Emeritus has taken refuge at Castel Gondolfo, the palace used by popes as a summer retreat. He will be there temporarily until renovations on the monastery inside the walls of Vatican City are…
AMOUR (French for “love”) is an Oscar contender for best foreign film that you would want to watch if you’re looking for a dramatic movie that confronts one’s humanity to its deepest core with regards to sickness, old age, and death. It is a brutally realistic, torturing, and depressing film, a yet so extraordinarily and brilliantly…
MULTITUDES of people flocked our Catholic Churches again last Ash Wednesday to observe the beginning of Lent, a forty-day period of prayer, fasting and almsgiving in preparation for Holy Week and Easter. Despite the fact that some came on this day only “to get ash” on their foreheads, still we could see people manifesting their…
I’VE heard them preach for the first time in class, all nineteen of them who have followed Jesus to be his future priests. They come from varied ages, some in their 20’s and others in their 30’s and 40’s. They also come from different cultures, states, dioceses, and religious orders. There are some who heard…
“BEFORE I formed you In the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.” Such were the words of God to Jeremiah whom he called to be a prophet to Israel. This calling was not going to be easy. Jeremiah would have to gird…
I FEEL privileged to be part of this year’s formation of seminarians of St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California. Being a professor of Homiletics for nineteen students in 2nd Year Theology gives me a sense of fulfillment of being able to help future priests to become good preachers and pastors. This, indeed, is a great…
THE circumstances, consequences, and services of my father’s death and all the gatherings and prayers of families and friends are still vividly present in my mind. I’m sure that it’s the same for every member of my family. Although the wounds of our hearts are still tender with grief, our hearts are full of gratitude…
ALTHOUGH my father’s death was inevitable and imminent because of hospice care, it still has been a very difficult and depressing time for us, his children. It’s true what many people say: “You’ll never be completely prepared for a death of a loved one.” For two years, my father had suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary…
SCENES of my own family gathering last Christmas still live in my mind: the joyful noises of my nephews and nieces running around the house; the circle of siblings and in-laws watching football and a Filipino movie; the munching of family secret dishes; the ever-impressive tender care that my siblings give to my ailing father;…
I FEEL so blessed! This has been my sentiment during the past days of Advent. I feel blessed because of having been a historic and significant part of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church for almost eleven years now, especially in its centennial year. These years of service went by so quickly; and every year brought…
“ As we celebrate Gaudate Sunday this Third Week of Advent, let’s heed to the call of St. Paul in his Letter to the Philippians to “rejoice in the Lord”, to “have no anxiety at all, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving make your requests known to God!” A HOLLY Jolly Christmas! This…
THERE is still a great need for conversion in each of us. When we think that we’re doing well with the practice of our faith, other people call our attention to some of our unchristian attitudes and ways. We may not like what we hear from them; we may disagree with their assessment about us,…
THERE are times when I need to be alone and to be quiet, away from the noises and the busyness of life. There are times when I prefer to stay away from public occasions, when I would rather be anonymous. During these times, I would close my room, sit comfortably on a chair to mediate,…
CORA Oriel, the publisher of Asian Journal, shared with me an amazing story from New York Times regarding a devastation of recent Hurricane Sandy. This happened in Breezy Point in the New York City borough of Queens. One hundred homes in this wealthy neighborhood that sits near the Atlantic Ocean burned to the ground. One of them is…
THE Scripture readings this Sunday are filled with positive images. Mark’s Gospel might distress us with images of the darkening of the sun and the moon and the falling of stars, but it dominantly reflects triumphant pictures of “the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory”; of angels coming down…
WE began this month of November with two feast days that are close to our hearts as Catholics: All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. These subsequent feast days set the mood for the coming holiday season, one that should be reflective and solemn; one that connects with the images of fall season: the falling…
WHAT do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked Bartimaeus, the blind man in this Sunday’s Gospel. Wasn’t this the same question he raised to James and John, the sons of Zebedee, in last Sunday’s Gospel when the two brothers asked him for a favor? This seemed to be a recurring behavior of…
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, in business? Can we forgive and understand those who annoy us, who do not share our…
PARTS of the joy of my recently concluded Holy Land Pilgrimage were the company of two young brothers in their 20s and my conversations with them. Often after supper, we would still spend long hours together, talking and sharing deep thoughts about life and faith with one another. One night, the older one asked me,…
