Matthew 5:1-12, Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time I. Anyone who is a parent, a teacher or has dealt with young children knows the strategy of deflection; a strategy that is used in order to avoid having to give an answer in the present moment. When a child is set upon something which you do not…
Month: January 2017
Poor in Spirit – Rudolf Horst, SVD
Matthew 5:1-12a, Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time The Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes challenge us all. When Jesus calls blessed the poor in spirit and those hungry for righteousness, he is also condemning the self-satisfaction that leads to sloth, a deadly disease that’s risen to epidemic proportions in the world. Jesus’ “Sermon on…
Whose Blessings – Johnny Go, SJ
Mark 34:35-41, Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time For me, it’s not easy to read the Beatitudes–not to mention to preach about it. Maybe it’s because in the Beatitudes, our Lord Jesus blesses the very people the world considers cursed. Consider his list: the poor in spirit the mourners the meek those who seek justice the…
Pondering the Beatitudes – RB Hizon, SJ
Matthew 5:1-12a, Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time I remember once being completely taken by an evangelical youth group that somehow made me feel and think that I was completely invincible. And because of that, albeit in the “name of Jesus” completely “happy.” After having received Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior, I was convinced…
To Hand Over – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 4:12-23, Third Sunday in Ordinary Time I don’t exactly remember how that conversation started. But I will remember for a long time what dad said to me around those days after we laid mom to rest. “Anak, wala kaming gaanong maiiwan sa inyong magkakapatid ha? (Son, we won’t have much to leave you, ok?)”…
How do you imagine the Kingdom? – Francis Alvarez, SJ
Matthew 4:12-23, Third Sunday in Ordinary Time In our Gospel today, we hear Jesus preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). The Greek word translated as “repent,” metanoeite, comes from meta (beyond) and nous (mind). Literally, metanoeitemeans “to go beyond the mind.” More elegantly, it can be rendered “to go…
Don’t Surrender – Willy Samson, SJ
Matthew 4:12-23, Third Sunday in Ordinary Time For many years, a giant ruled the Kingdom of Himosh. Every day, the giant went up to the hill and challenged the villagers; but no one dared to accept because of the giant’s enormous size. One day, a little boy accepted the challenge and started walking towards the giant. To everyone’s…
Ever Widening Circles – Mark Aloysius, SJ
John 1:29-34, Second Sunday in Ordinary Time I. When I was a young child, there was an animation called The Spiral Zone which I used to faithfully follow. In this animation, the bad guys would set up a generator from which an ever widening hemisphere enveloped the entire land, called the spiral zone. Within this…
Out of Fashion – Johnny Go, SJ
John 1:29-34 Humility seems to have gone out of fashion these days. Just look around and listen to all the talk around you. It seems to me that on any given day, brashness trumps humility. Somehow the louder you speak, the more confident you come across, the more blatantly you flaunt your power, the more…
To Protect and to Protest – Norlan Julia, SJ
Matthew 18:1-5, Feast of the Sto Niño The feast of Sto. Niño, is strictly speaking, a liturgical feast celebrated only in the Philippines. In other countries, there is no feast day assigned for Sto. Niño. Yet, where there are communities of Filipino anywhere in the world, the feast of Sto. Niño is celebrated with the…
Beyond the Child Jesus – Rudolf Horst, SJ
Matthew 18:1-5, Feast of the Sto Niño Even though the Christmas season ended last Sunday, we celebrate one more feast that is closely connected with Christmas: the feast of the Infant Jesus. We look at this child with tenderness. But the liturgy reminds us that this child is not just a baby. He is Jesus,…
Totally Dependent – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 18:1-5, Feast of the Sto Niño Like many of you, I flew home to Davao for a few days during the holidays to spend time with my dad. I hadn’t done that for a long time, to be with family for my birthday. My biggest thanks to God was that even as I turned…
One Lost Sheep 