John 3:14-21, Fourth Sunday of Lent I grew up dreading “the loss of heaven and the pains of hell,” like we say in the act of contrition. My mom and her mom instilled that dread in me, for good or for ill. When I couldn’t finish the rice on my plate, for instance, they would…
Category: Author: Arnel Aquino, SJ
Anger – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 2:12-35, Third Sunday of Lent I grew up in an angry home. We lived with my maternal grandparents who were migrants from Ibaan, Batangas, where they were quite poor. Venturing to Davao, my grandfather worked his way up from maglalako ng kulambo to landowner. But that whole arduous climb made him and lola such…
Fire and Wire – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 11:29-32, Wednesday of the 1st week of Lent There’s a little mantra that neuroscientists believe: “Cells that fire together wire together.” Whenever our body does something, there is a particular network of that fire together, enabling the body to precisely do what it does. You read a book, that’s a particular network of neurons…
Opposites – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 1:12-15, First Sunday of Lent The story of Noah and the flood is not a Genesis original. It’s from a much older Babylonian myth called Atra-Hasis. That’s also the name of the story’s hero. In the myth, the demi-gods grow weary of the mortals they’ve created out of clay. So they plan on destroying…
Unselfie – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 6:1-6; 16-18, Ash Wednesday If today’s Gospel were written in 21st-century vernacular, maybe it would say: “When you do righteous deeds…when you give alms…when you pray…when you fast, please…take care not to post it on Facebook, or announce it on your blog, or humble-brag about it. Most of all, take care not to take…
Burn – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 1:40-45, Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Have you ever been moved with pity so deeply that you felt it in your guts, na sobra kang awang-awa na parang hinalukay ang bituka mo? The last time I felt very deep pity was last Monday. I was waiting for a cab down in Barangka. I decided…
Voices – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 1:21-28, Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time The Jesuits are in charge of chaplaincy in Philippine General Hospital and I had the opportunity to go on a month-long summer exposure there many years ago. I will never forget that day when I was assigned to the children’s ward. Late one afternoon, they rolled a bed…
Related – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 10:13-16, Feast of the Santo Niño On the first week of the new year, I went home to Davao to visit with my dad for a week. One day, I decided to walk from the Jesuit Residence to San Pedro Cathedral. My mom used to love hearing mass there. The church is a good…
The Who – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 1:35-42, Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Do you know that we have students in Loyola School of Theology who are in their late 40s and 50s? One is even in her early 60s. Lay people. Some of them have retired early. Some are still working part-time. But they’ve all decided to either do an…
Roadblocks – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 1:1-8, Second Sunday of Advent The following stories were told by friends directly involved in the situations I’m about to share with you. So they’re not fake news. A very devout woman ran frantically to a priest-friend of mine one day. She was coming from a troubling confession with another priest. After several years…
Watch – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 13:33-37, 1st Sunday of Advent Last Friday, while I waited for my Augustinian friar friend outside San Agustin Church, I overheard a conversation between a visitor and the manang running a food stall in the premises. In thick Visayan accent, the lady said, “Excuse me po, katedral po ito?” “Hindi po,” manang replied. “San…
Nevertheless and However – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 25:31-46, Feast of Christ the King The Gospel today is not just about the “end of the world.” Although many of us priests love to jump on “end of the world” scenarios to hurry people off to confession in preparation for Advent. But the Lord’s message today is not just about the end of…
One Lost Sheep 