I’VE BEEN preaching about Jesus’ popularity lately. The Gospel of Mark relates how people sought him anywhere he went to listen to his preaching, to witness and to experience his healing power and his ability to cast out demons. Even the notorious Herod manifested strong curiosity and admiration at Jesus’ power and popularity and at…
THE best things in life are the unexpected ones! This was true during the grand centennial celebration of my parish last Sunday. I didn’t expect the three thousand people that came to the historic event. This exceeded our seat allocation during Mass and the food preparation. But I didn’t expect also that the archbishop would…
MANY times in the middle of the night I wonder how I’m able to fulfill my responsibilities as pastor of an inner-city and multicultural church that has a great deal of pastoral and financial challenges. I’m amazed at my ability to overcome the hardship of serving people, of paying bills, of keeping ministries open, and,…
MUCH has been said about Bishop Gabino Zavala’s fall from grace, his resignation as auxiliary bishop of the San Gabriel Region after admitting that he fathered two children, now in their teenage years. Many feelings and thoughts have also been quietly kept in the hearts and minds of many priests and faithful. “It’s not like…
TAKE small steps at a time. This has been a recurrent advice that we hear from people and read from magazines as we make our New Year’s resolutions. We can’t hurry success or achievement in any endeavor whether it is exercise, diet, studies, work. We’ll have to take everything in stride. If you’re like me,…
THE holidays are over and now we’re back to our normal routines. Like many of you, I think of the activities and the events that will unfold before me as I take the journey of 2013, some of them are set while the rest are still unknown. What is set is that I continue to…
MY best Christmas gift this year was not another gadget or a nice polo shirt or a sweater. It was not a gift card or a ticket to a concert. It was something different. It was a surprise visit from someone I knew a long time ago, when I was a young associate pastor. The…
NO MATTER how good our intentions are in helping others, we will often find ourselves misunderstood, mistreated or misjudged by some people. I have found this true in my twenty years of ministry as priest and as someone who has been involved in works of charity. For example, some people would throw hurtful and harmful…
THE Good News is within us – within our minds and hearts. It’s the change that is happening within our lives, in the way we think about or perceive our everyday experiences and challenges. It’s the new way we feel towards others and about our selves. The Good news is our awakened hearts, our enlightened…
MERRY Christmas and Happy New Year! Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon! Throughout the Simbang Gabi Masses in my parish, I never got tired of reading and listening to the stories of the birth of Jesus, our Savior. There was always a thought or a word that struck me and spoke to me. There were always…
“THINK BIG”, I shared the other day in a meeting with a group volunteers. Big: not in the sense of property or material wealth, but “big” in the sense of dreams and visions. We can’t afford to be limited in our expectations; otherwise we become faint and lackluster. With big dreams and visions, we become…
IT’S A beautiful and solemn season. As a nation we pause and gather as families and friends on Thanksgiving Day to express our gratitude to God. This weekend, we start the First Sunday of Advent in preparation for Christmas, the birthday of our Savior, Jesus Christ. For us Filipino Catholics, the season is filled with…
“TRANSFORMING the Church involves partnership and participation.” I shared this reflection with some priest-delegates of the First National Assembly of Filipino Priests serving the Roman Catholic Church in the United States of America during a workshop I conducted on cultural integration in ministry. What an astonishing way was this manifested during this historic assembly as…
I’VE been talking to many people these days about the importance of having prudence in managing one’s life. It’s an attitude that calls for cautiousness and intelligence, not in theories or knowledge but in practical matters. Having prudence saves one from tensions, heartaches, and disappointments. It’s a conscious regard for actualities of people’s states of…
“SO WHAT did you talk about?” I asked a Catholic School teacher who came from a whole day of Religious Education seminar. “We talked about unity,” she answered. “Unity? What’s that got to do with teaching Religion,” I responded sarcastically, intrigued by her answer. “Well, we learned that it is important to work together with…
I LIKE how a fellow-priest interpreted the Parable of the Wedding Banquet of this Sunday’s Gospel. Initially, he didn’t find anything worst about the people who refused the king’s invitation to come to his son’s wedding banquet. In fact he found them to be good people: they took care of their families, worked hard to…
