Matthew 26:14 -27:66; Palm Sunday “And about three o’clock, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli,Iema sabachthani?” which mean “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Did God the father abandon Jesus on the cross? Everything I have been taught about God cries out, “No!” Just four months ago, we were singing…
Passion – Karel San Juan, SJ
John 11:45-56; Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent Tomorrow will already be Palm Sunday, and as we know, it commences the culmination of our Lenten Season, the Holy Week. It is good that today, Saturday, we already begin to dispose our hearts and our minds for this most sacred time with God. Our Church…
Empty Jars – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 4:5-42, Third Sunday of Lent In Jesus’ time, the village well wasn’t just a water source. It was the “singles’ bar” back in the day, if you will. Among many, shepherds, travelling merchants, and unmarried daughters stopped by the well to water their flock, get a drink, or fetch water for the house…and also,…
More! – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 4:1-11, First Sunday of Lent If we still believe that Genesis 3 is a literal story of moment number one of sin number one, how do we account for the following difficulties, like – did snakes really talk in the beginning of time? Why was the snake malicious if God created everything good? If…
Starts with P – Jett Villarin, SJ
Matthew 4:1-11; First Sunday of Lent In physics, we explain attraction by assigning certain qualities to objects that make them move toward each other. Usually these properties are binary or polar in nature. Thus in electricity, plus attracts minus, and vice versa. In magnetism, north and south. In the nucleus of an atom, protons that…
Soggy Cereal – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 9:22-25, Thursday after Ash Wednesday When I was on graduate studies abroad, my turn came to be community grocer. I made sure we had bread, milk, eggs, cheese, and cereals. One afternoon, an American scholastic, heavyset and hairy, waddled into the TV room where I was watching the news. Without excusing himself, he asked:…
Why We Sacrifice for Lent – Arnel Aquino, SJ
This is a an annual repost of a bonus Lenten Special: My personal thoughts on taking on some measure of asceticism during Lent, Deb, is that all throughout the year, we protect ourselves from being vulnerable. And rightly so because we don’t wish to be made doormats by the forces of life. The downside of…
Opposites – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 8:14-21B, Tuesday of Week 6 in Ordinary Time Don’t you find it interesting that into that ark Yahweh asked Noah to build, walked opposites. Not just opposite genders, mind you, but also opposites in purity and impurity. “Of every clean animal, take seven pairs; and of the unclean animals, one pair. Likewise, every clean…
Passport – Jett Villarin, SJ
Matthew 5:17-37, Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:20) If heaven were a country, entering it will take more than just fulfilling all visa requirements. Apparently, the scribes and Pharisees did not get this…
All About Freedom – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 5:17:37, Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Imagine a former slave of Pharaoh saying: “We’ve recently been freed from eight generations of slave life, thanks to Moses and his awesome God! Before them, we had no idea what freedom felt like. Well, now we’re free! No more slave drivers, whips, or clubs. We have a…
Off-Center – Jett Villarin, SJ
Matthew 4:12-23, Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus begins his ministry off-center. Not in his hometown Nazareth nor in the center of religion, Jerusalem. His proclamation of the good news is preceded by bad news. John’s arrest prompts him to move northward to Galilee, “west of the Jordan, the District of the Gentiles”, to a…
Emmaüs- Jett Villarin, SJ
14th January 2023 I was looking for Emmaus on the modern map. There is Abu Gosh, there is Latrun. We don’t know where Emmaus is but it seems to be west of Jerusalem. Our story opens on Sunday, after the heavy events of Good Friday. The two disciples are sad. They are leaving Jerusalem, walking…
One Lost Sheep 