My best Christmas gift
FOR my Pastor’s Notes this 4th Sunday of Advent, let me share you this reflection I wrote several years ago: My best Christmas gift in December 2011 was not a…
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The secret of the best Christmas
I thought I have forgotten what the real Christmases were like, but, I remembered. Christmas comes but once a year, made up of equal parts of love, good cheers, gentleness…
COPD from GERD
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a consortium of various progressive lung diseases, including chronic bronchitis, refractory (non-reversible asthma), and emphysema, characterized by increasing shortness of breath. About 24 million…
A Christmas Story: The innkeeper’s untold tale
“As he told the story of that wondrous night to Luke, Joshua carefully removed himself from the narrative. It was to be between him and God alone.” …
Greetings on this third Sunday of Advent!
“We want to see Christians manifest joy in their faith.” AS many of you know, I spent five years working in seminary to train future priests. A big part of…
My Christmas box
IN both fiction and reportage, I’ve always made known that the winding down of autumn and ushering of winter puts me in a heavy and philosophical mood. I’m thinking about…
Disputed heart study
A recently published article in the New England Journal of Medicine alluded to a study that concluded, in essence, that intensive medical treatment had the same results as interventional therapy…
Remember the wonder
“Lest we forget ……… CHRIST is the reason for this season.” “REMEMBER the Wonder” was a catchy TV ad slogan for Wonder Bread, an iconic bread company that fled the…
Fatima, Portugal: ‘A window onto a new inner world with the light of Heaven within’
Part I of II “Each thing becomes a window onto a whole new world, an inner world, composed of the light of Heaven within everything.” – A Course in Miracles…
The ‘unkabogable’ love of Vice Ganda and Ion Perez
WHAT could be more romantic than a reciprocated love? Is it a love that you proudly declare and show off for the whole world to know and see? Such is…
December 7, 1941: The Pearl Harbor moment
HOW could it have happened? Pearl Harbor and its awful treachery and death, is one of the worst defeat ever suffered by the U.S. It is a tragic story of…
Advent: a season of fierce hope!
THE Old Testament Reading this Sunday is one of my favorite Scripture readings during Advent. It speaks so much of promises of hope, harmony, and peace. Its contrasting images capture…
Ampalaya for diabetes?
Philippine Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, on January 29, 2008, issued a circular, rescinding a previous one released in 2003, reinstating ampalaya (Momordica charantia) on the Department of Health’s list…
The power of prayer
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” — Pierre Teilhard de Chardin AT a breakfast after mass at the Holy…
Part III: Tradition, fear and spirits
THE past two articles touched on different spirit presences, how they communicate and why are they still lingering. Now let us be aware of actual occurrences and how to react…
So much Grace to be had when your life is into right doings
“A Warrior of the Light knows that he has much to be grateful for. Angels help him in his struggle; celestial forces place each thing in its place, thus allowing…
Deep and reverent appreciation for God’s gifts
IT’S Thanksgiving Day here in the U.S. Happy Thanksgiving Day to all! As I reflect on the beauty of this day, I remember a thanksgiving homily that my fellow priest,…
PH Commission on Filipinos Overseas Secretary Francisco Acosta meets LA Fil-Am community
PICTURE a man across the hall. He carries his everyday business suit like they were black tie and tails, and his demeanor gave the impression that he had been born…
Vaping: a faster killer!
While cigarette smoking destroys lungs (first, with recurrent respiratory infections, then emphysema, COPD, and worst, lung cancer) over decades of inhaling more than 4,000 (not 400) different toxic substances, 200…
Two magical words
Conclusion of 2 parts “Gratitude is the memory of the heart.” — Jean Baptiste Massieu (Continued from last week’s issue…) So okay, your partner is the consummate slob and you…
A day of thanks and giving
THIS great holiday of thanks and giving is not a date on a calendar, but a state of the mind. In a kind of thought about our capacity to realize…
Have you offered your life to wrongdoings, Mr. Trump?
“It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes. Distinctions in society will always exist under every just…
Christ’s Kingdom
ON this last Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Solemnity of Christ the King, I’d like to use Archbishop Socrates Villegas’ insights on the kingship of Christ. A deck of cards…
The Entrepreneur Mindset: Seeing your clearest what
Seeing my vision Entrepreneurial Vision is more of a Business Plan written and seen. As the saying goes “You cannot see what you do not write”. A lot of entrepreneurs…
Our amazing body
THERE is nothing on earth more amazing, more wonderful, than the human body. Even the most powerful computers and artificial intelligent robots we have today still pale in comparison. The…
Two magical words
“…And I think about those people who mean so much to mevAnd for so many years have made me so very happy And I count the times I have forgotten…
Part II: Tradition, fear and spirits
WHEN our dearly departed loved ones come and visit us what do we do? We must be attentive to what they are trying to convey. There must be a message…
The conquest of Kilimanjaro
ROMEO Balboa’s photos are unrelated to stories that make an antidote to the unhappy news of the day. He sets as an example to the rest of his colleagues just…
The entrepreneur awareness Mission: Finding your deepest WHY
THE importance of having your Mission Statement 1. Achieve clarity of Purpose As in any other business organization, your Mission Statement will give you a clear PURPOSE of why you…
Focusing on goodness
“We can’t close our eyes and ears to the tragedies and changes happening in the world.” “THAT’S too scary to think about,” one person would say, referring to this Sunday’s…
