Easter Sunday 2020 The first Easter morning is the least consoling. It is welcomed with loss—those who woke up early in the morning to anoint their beloved dead with honest tears and deep grief. This loss was made worse by sudden fear—the dead is no longer there, the tomb empty. Loss and fear were compounded…
Author: ninangdeb
Bearers of Light and Hope – Nemy Que, SJ
Easter Sunday 2020 __________ The sun shines on everyone! It shines on both the good and the bad, on the rich and the poor, on the happy and the desolate. It shines even on those who try to hide from its light. And it shines most brightly on those who reflect its light. The sun…
Should We Celebrate Easter? – Madz Tumbali, SJ
Easter Sunday 2020 I remember a story by then Jesuit Conference for East Asia and Oceania President Fr Adolfo Nicolas about his home province, Japan, told when I was a novice. Hiroshima, 8:15 in the morning of 6 August 1945, an American B-29 Bomber dropped “Little Boy” on the city. The bombing immediately wiped out…
Christ’s Consolation & Challenge at a Time of COVID – Robbie Paraan, SJ
Easter Vigil 2020, Loyola House of Studies Matthew in our Gospel tonight seems to suggest a sort of Ignatian repetition. He communicates the same message first through the angel of the Lord, and then through the person of the Risen Christ. Like a good son of Ignatius, I chose to focus on this repetitio and…
Stories and Dreams – Jett Villarin, SJ
Matthew 28:1-10, Easter Vigil 2020 A toxic wind has been blowing into our world for several months now. This poison has kept us shuttered in our homes and hospitals. Death is in the air. We are afraid. We are anxious about the uncertainty of it all. We can only keep vigil and wait for this…
Truth Speaks to Power – Nemy Que, SJ
John 18:1-19;42, Good Friday 2020 Darkness. Silence. Growing up in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, Good Friday meant you wouldn’t hear blaring radios, people talking rowdily, and since this was in the seventies, no booming, muffler-less motorbikes. You could, however, if you tried hard enough, hear light footsteps that led you to the only place that mattered…
Our Cross – Willy Samson, SJ
Good Friday 2020 “Sorrow can lead us into one of four lands. The barren land in which we try to escape from it. The broken land in which we sink under it. The bitter land in which we resent it. Or the better land in which we bear it and become a blessing to others.”…
To Serve, Love and Count not the Cost – Nemy Que, SJ
John 13:1-15, Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper In normal times, the celebration of Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday) would have churches all over the country decorating the sanctuary of the church as early as the night before, arranging flowers and assembling an altar of repose, where the blessed sacrament will be placed for a night…
A Saving Love – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 21:1-11, Palm Sunday I’ve had asthma since I was born and hypertension since I was 23. So, when experts said that people with comorbidity had less chances of surviving Covid-19, that nailed me. And I felt nailed almost every day in the first two weeks of lockdown; nailed on fear, nailed on anxiety, nailed…
How can we abandon our Companion – Madz Tumbali, SJ
John 11:1-45, 5th Sunday of Lent As days and weeks progress, an experience of “resurrection” seems to be getting more elusive. From our first case of COVID 19 reported on January 30, 2020, we are now at 1,075 in the Philippines. At a global level, from the first report on November 17 last year in…
Coming Back from our Graves – Ro Atilano, SJ
John 11:1-45, 5th Sunday of Lent The world is becoming lonelier than ever. And we feel this more in the urban areas where people are more preoccupied with work and nerve-wracking “busy-ness.” Technology, social media in particular, has connected us to more people but, paradoxically, disconnected us from people near us, the ones who really…
Laetare – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 9:1-41, 4th Sunday of Lent Our Gospel today is bursting with ironies. Maybe it’s just fitting for Laetare Sunday. Because when you look at the story in a more light-hearted way, its ironies can actually bring a faint smile to your face. The man was born blind, so people presumed either he or his…
One Lost Sheep 