Luke 16:19-31, 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time Well-meaning Catholics through the years have understood today’s Gospel as an authoritative description of heaven and hell. This image of heaven and hell has lasted us for centuries: that between heaven and hell yawn a dark, final chasm that God leaves un-bridged for all eternity. To a fault,…
Month: September 2016
The Ultimate Test of Character – Mark Lopez, SJ
Luke 16:19-32, 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time I sometimes wonder how many people will actually be allowed into heaven. And I wonder, what if, just what if, we were to be judged according to ways that we behaved in circumstances we thought didn’t really matter. For those of us who can drive a car, what…
What is Wealth for? – Francis Alvarez, SJ
Luke 16:19-31, 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s…
Home – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 9:9-13, Feast of St Matthew the Apostle Did you ever notice this detail—that soon after Jesus calls tax collector Matthew from where he sat at work, Jesus eats at his house. Whenever I reread Matthew’s vocation story, I miss this detail because I race towards Matthew being the tax collector that he was, and…
Instant – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 16:1-13, 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time Let me read to you a text I received recently from a dear friend. He says, “Arnel, can you remember in your prayers my son who is frustrated in his job? Very talented boy, as you know, but gets frustrated easily. He already quit two jobs, same reason….
The Lost Sons – RB Hizon, SJ
Luke 15:1-32, 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time My first assignment as priest was as a prison chaplain at the national penitentiary in Bilibid, Muntinlupa. It was had work. There were days when I said as many as six masses, heard confessions for hours and just listened to many painful and horrible stories of violence, loss…
The One that Got Away – Johnny Go, SJ
Luke 15:1-32, 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time Today’s Gospel is about the one that got away. We all have such a person in our life: Somebody we used to care for deeply, someone somehow entrusted once to our care, someone who inhabited our universe once upon a time and–for just that brief fairy tale moment–made…
Closer to God – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 14:25-33, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time A few years ago, my younger brother and his family flew over for a visit. They came to San Jose Seminary where I live. So I gave them a tour, which culminated in showing them my room. They entered, and looked up, down, and around in unusual silence. It…
Cost – Jett Villarin, SJ
Luke 14:25-33, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Would you not follow the one who could walk on water, turn water into wine, and multiply five loaves to feed five thousand? There they were, the multitudes, following him to Jerusalem. He knew he was going to end up on Calvary. They thought he was going to…
One Lost Sheep 