Christmas Day 2023 Could God have been entirely luminous, mystical, and otherworldly in his coming into our world? He could’ve, couldn’t he? I mean, he created everything from absolutely nothing. He unleashed plagues, parted the Red Sea, rained fire down from heaven to clobber King Ahab’s false gods. He sent for a flaming chariot that…
Author: ninangdeb
Immeasurable – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 1:18-25, Simbanggabi Alam n’yo po, lahat ng naging kakilala kong karpintero, tahimik. I can still name all of them: Manong Imo, who lived with us for a long time; Mang Rudy, when I was in the Novitiate, Mang Remy and Kuya Teodor, fantastic craftsmen in San Jose Seminary. And today, we have Kuya Loloy…
Grounded – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 1:1-8. Second Sunday of Advent From 1968 to the 1990s, archaeologists dug up several purification pools around wherethe Temple of Jerusalem once stood. Mikvoth, they were called, the precursors of our holy waterfonts today. For the Jews, the Temple was the holiest place on earth. You didn’t just waltz into itlike you and I…
Power – Jett Villarin, SJ
Matthew 25:31-46, Solemnity of Christ the King In electricity, power is energy per unit time. It is usually measured in watts. A two horsepower air conditioner, for example, is about 1500 watts or 1.5 kilowatts (kw). The electricity we pay for however does not depend on power. It depends on energy, which is power multiplied…
God’s – Jett Villarin, SJ
Matthew 22:15-21, 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time A musical instrument such as a violin makes its unique sound from waves of air that ripple from the action of the bow on its strings and the echoes from its wooden body. Another instrument, the flute, pipes its sound by creating a different set of waves from…
Love Never Passes Away – David Xu, SJ
Matthew 21:33-43, 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us a parable about a landowner and his vineyard. The landowner leaves the vineyard in the hands of his tenants to tend. However, the tenants behaved far from expected. They seized, beat, stoned, and even killed, the landowner’s servants. This happened again and…
Cornerstone – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 21:33-43, 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time You know how difficult it is to enter Ateneo, right? It’s legendary now. These past months, there’s been a regular turnover of new guards at the gates. So, all faces are unfamiliar to them including ours, campus residents. So, whether we’re in a car or on foot, we…
It’s not where you start – Munching de Guzman, SJ
Matthew 21:28-32, 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time Two sons were asked, “Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.” The first son said “I will not,” but changed his mind and went. The second son said, “Yes, sir!” but did not go. Today’s Gospel reminds us that our starting point matters less – what…
Naysayers – Jett Villarin, SJ
Matthew 21:28-32, 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time The first son said no, he won’t go to the vineyard. But he changes his mind and goes instead. The second said yes, but backs out on his word. Our Lord asks, which one did the will of his father? The Gospel today is not about being true…
Timeless – Jett Villarin, SJ
Matthew 20:1-16a; 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time Did you know that clocks here in Manila run more slowly than in Baguio or in the mountains? That’s because massive bodies warp space and time. And so GPS satellites that keep time and location have to be tweaked every so often because the time up there is…
90 Seconds – Jordy Orbe, SJ
Matthew 18:21-35; 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time Our readings today invite us to reflect on two hot-button themes in Christian spirituality: anger and forgiveness. Perhaps someone we know has anger management issues. Maybe we are bearing the burden of deep-seated, long-standing anger. Certainly, this is something I hear quite often when in confessions. Anger can…
The “F” word – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 18:21-35; 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time Peter’s question was a typical question Jews would ask rabbis. Something like the following: “Rabbi, on a Sabbath, how many steps may I do to feed my donkey, so I don’t violate the Sabbath rest? Rabbi, how many days after my wife’s childbirth is she considered impure? If…
One Lost Sheep 