Matthew 11:2-11, Third Sunday of Advent We just heard the word “joy”, in one form or another, six times. Isn’t this a naive, childish thing to do in today’s world? After all, the world is still flooded with evil, pain and tears. Every day the news reports about death in Iraq and Syria, violence in…
Author: ninangdeb
The World in your Suitcase – Johnny Go, SJ
Luke 1:26-38, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Just when I thought I had seen the best and last of J.K. Rowling, she surprises us with a wonderful prequel to the Harry Potter series called “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” Its protagonist, Newt (played by Eddie Redmayne in the film),…
A Shoot Springs – Mark Aloysius, SJ
Matthew 3:1-12, Second Sunday of Advent I. I wonder if some of you have made it to the Caravaggio exhibition here at the National Gallery. There is a painting there, on loan from the National Gallery of Ireland, that has an interesting Jesuit connection. The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio hung for many years in…
Reflections on Christmas with Kierkegaard and Meister Eckhart – Remmon Barbaza
Sometimes, something is so well-written that it deserves to be shared even if it isn’t a homily. When both teacher and students know that the center of their study is neither the one nor the other, but rather the matter at hand; when their whole attention is drawn to what lies before both of them;…
Wake-Up Call – Rudolf Horst, SVD
Matthew 3:1-12, Second Sunday of Advent Oh my God – what a Gospel! Like a lion roaring in the wilderness, so John the Baptist castigates those who came to him, especially the religious leaders. Are we not looking forward to Christmas, sing Christmas songs, put up a Belen with a cute Baby Jesus? And then…
Prayer, and then silence…- Mark Aloysius, SJ
John 17:11B-21, Feast of St Edmund Campion Perhaps the most well known piece of writing by Edmund Campion is a letter he wrote to the Privy Council in 1580, often referred to as Campion’s Brag. Allow me to read to you a well-known part of it: And touching our Society, be it known to you…
Un-busy-ing – Mark Aloysius, SJ
Matthew 24:37-44, First Sunday of Advent I. Have you ever heard the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by the Russian composer Rachmaninov? This rhapsody begins with a tune that I am sure all of you have heard, Caprice 24 by Paganini. In this first part of the rhapsody, we hear such a vibrant…
Watchful – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 24:37-44, First Sunday of Advent I grew up in Davao with my mom and lola constantly referring to the end of the world. After an earthquake, or news of a typhoon in Manila, or a big fire, they’d sermonize, “Ayan, malapit na ang end of the world. Galit na ang Diyos sa mga kasalanan ng…
Finding Noah’s Ark – Johnny Go, SJ
Matthew 24:37-44, First Sunday of Advent For many of us these days, despair is a real temptation. Some of us have actually sworn to keep away from our newsfeed and just get ourselves inebriated in premature Christmas carols. Can the news in the country, in the US, and in the world get any worse? And…
Another Advent – Rudolf Horst, SVD
Matthew 24:37-44, First Sunday of Advent We have entered another Advent Season. Why? Why does the Church lead us along the same path every year, repeating the same seasons, even the same readings? Is it for lack of creativity and imagination? No, the Church is always young, and never runs out of creativity. In every…
Breathe – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 21:5-19a, 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time This past week was a tough riddle for many of us, Jesuits. The other night, some brothers and I got together. We all wondered: “Are we the ones missing something here? Have we been standing for the wrong principles all this time?” Because no sooner did the Supreme…
Birthday Note
76 countries. 18,649 views. 102 followers. 116 homilies. Those are stats from our homily blog onelostsheep.net which turned a year old today. One year ago when Kat Limcaoco-Alcuaz and I succumbed to the urgings of Chary Mercado to start a blog with “good” homilies. We had been toying with the idea for some time already…
