Luke 6:39-45; 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time It is not possible to live in this world without making judgments. Judging is a function of the intellect as it determines whether or not an idea is compatible with another. Whenever we choose, we judge. A mother, for instance, leaves the house, goes to the grocery store,…
Author: ninangdeb
Words – Jett Villarin, SJ
Luke 6:39-45, 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time “Shake up the sieve and the rubbish soon appears.” You would think that this saying from Ecclesiasticus (our first reading today) is all about shaking things up to sort out the bad from the good. It may be so but the shaking that is referred to here is…
Spots – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 6:39-45, 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time I heard a sad story recently. This person’s mom in the province died a few months ago. But when the family approached the parish to arrange for her funeral mass, the parish said it was constrained from accepting her body into the church. The rule was if someone died without having been sacramentally married, mass would not be allowed for his/her mortal remains in the church. Mass could be celebrated wherever…
Thou Shalt Not – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 9:38-40, Wednesday of Week 7 in Ordinary Time The Gospel today reminds me of one time, when I sat with Fr. Bill Kreutz, S.J., over coffee and he asked me, “Arnel, why are our students going to Victory Chapel across the street?” I think Fr. Bill knew the answers to his own question. But,…
”Love” thy Enemy – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 6:27-38, Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time In the time of Jesus, the slap most commonly done was a backhanded slap. A backhanded slap was what masters gave slaves, or commanders gave soldiers, or centurions gave Jews. A backhanded slap, therefore, was not only a punishment, but also a reminder of status: “I am master, you’re…
Zero = Love – Fr Harold Parilla
Luke 6:27-38, Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time One morning I was driving back to the seminary in Cagayan de Oro from an early morning parish mass. In one intersection, I made the mistake of stopping at the rightmost lane while waiting for the green light to turn on. The driver of the taxi right behind…
Language of Love – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 8:22-26, Wednesday of Week 6 in Ordinary Time Jesus knew the law very well. He knew it since he was 12. So, he was well aware that he was committing a triple whammy of impurities that day. Whammy #1: he talked to a blind man, whom the law considered unclean. Then, he touched him…
The Greatest Bargain – Rodney Hart, SJ
Luke 6:17, 20-26, Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Today’s readings present the Beatitudes as they are found in the Gospel of Luke. Luke, a Gentile convert, addressed his version of the Beatitudes primarily to Gentile converts to Christianity. Luke’s audience was poor. Many were slaves or low-born. Their choice of Christianity only made their situation…
As I am Seen – Mark Aloysius, SJ
Luke 5:1-11, Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time In the chapel of the Jesuit community where I reside, in the Lady Chapel of Campion Hall, there is a mural of the nativity, painted by the botanist Charles Mahoney, which depicts the birth of Jesus set in deep winter in rural England. At first glance we see…
Burnout – Johnny Go, SJ
Luke 5:1-11, Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time I suspect very few people knew it then, but in the last two years that I was running a school, I was also running on empty. For several reasons, I found myself precariously on the brink of a burnout. I had worked too hard and cared too little…
Emptiness – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 5:1-11, Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Don’t you find it strange that right after a huge catch of fish, Peter suddenly falls on his knees before Jesus and makes a confession: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man”? You know, sisters and brothers, in almost all the retreatants I have accompanied…
Never Abandoned – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 6:1-6, Wednesday of Week 4 in Ordinary Time We have a dear, dear lady who works for us, Nancy. She’s by far one of the most industrious people I’ve met in my Jesuit life. She’s in her early 30s, shorter and much thinner than I. But she’s a dynamo. She’s always doing chores. Even…
One Lost Sheep 