Category: Lifestyle Columnists

I LIKE Gerald Darring’s down-to-earth description of the Kingdom of God in his book, To Love and Serve: Lectionary Based Meditations. He states: The Kingdom of God is a space….

WHY the COVID-19 pandemic will most likely be with us for years is vividly demonstrated by the following well-publicized news: “A federal appeals court has called President Joe Biden’s vaccine and testing…

Part 1 of 2 MANY years ago, on a visit to my father’s grave site on a quiet, lush, manicured patch of Forest Lawn Glendale, my husband, daughter and I…

THE Gospel Reading from Mark 13:24-32 this Sunday (November 14) provokes a sense of vigilance and urgency in us with the following words: Learn a lesson from the fig tree….

MY grandson Colin, 11, finally got his first COVID-19 vaccine last Thursday, November 4, after eagerly waiting for months “because someone ahead of him had opted out,” his mother, my…

(Continued from last week …) Half a lifetime later and half a world away, I have forgotten much about the murdered American soldier. Buried in the mists of time, his…

SOME of you must have heard of Pope Francis’ call for a “synod on synodality.” And you might have asked what it’s all about. First of all, synod (from Greek synodos, assembly)…

JUST for kicks during my halcyon days as a full-time working /full-time grad student at the University of the Philippines long ago, I had agreed to act as medium for…

FOLLOWING our series of articles on COVID-19 the past few weeks, we have received more than two dozen questions from our readers. We have integrated them in this Q&A: Are…

TRAVEL is a pure metaphor for our life’s journey. There are two choices in the way we can travel. We can travel light or we can load up on stuff…

“Clarity is kindness,” Brene Brown, renowned author and speaker on emotional intelligence, would often say. She’s right. When things are “muddy” or our vision is blurred, we get confused and…

“Clarity is kindness,” Brene Brown, renowned author and speaker on emotional intelligence, would often say. She’s right. When things are “muddy” or our vision is blurred, we get confused and…

DO people need (is it safe) to be vaccinated against COVID-19? The almost 6.5 billion COVID-19 vaccines given have shown the vaccines are safe and effective. The massive global deaths…

WE live in the Age of Information. You could say it is both a blessing and a curse to live during what could very well be “the best of times,…

WHAT is reflux heartburns? Reflux Heartburns is a milder stage of Reflux Esophagitis, which is an inflammatory condition where hydrocholoric acid, normally produced by the stomach to aid in the…

WHAT is your greatest fear? Some say that for most men, the greatest of fears are the fear of death, fear of failure and fear of public speaking. I know…

LIKE many of us, the wealthy man in this Sunday’s Gospel was searching for wisdom and direction in life. He was also concerned about his right relationship with God and personal…

YOU have become a collector over the years. Memories, good and bad, you have them, by the bucketful, stacked in yellowing photographs in frayed and tattered albums. You used to…

IT’S a jubilee year in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. It’s because we are celebrating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the first California mission, Mission San Gabriel. Archbishop…

WITH the politicization of the COVID-19 pandemic, CDC preventive guidelines, vaccines, and booster shot, people are so confused and scared, and are making the wrong choices, unwise decisions, and endangering…

(Conclusion 1 of 2 parts) (Continued from last week …) You hope that a smattering of beautiful memories, yours as well as of those you leave behind, are indelibly marked…