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…
Category: Author: Arnel Aquino, SJ
Climb – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 19:1-10, 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time Ah, Zacchaeus, one of my favorites. I wonder why (!) You should hear the Gospel in Tagalog. “Pumasok si Jesus sa Jerico…May isang tao roong ang pangalan ay Zaqueo, pinuno ng mga maniningil ng buwis at napakayaman. Sinisikap niyang makita si Jesus, ngunit sa dami ng tao, hindi…
Repentance – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 18:9-14a, 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time When priests hear confessions, once in a while there will be someone who would come in and say, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned, my last confession was this-and-that. These are my sins. Father, I was very angry with someone because…” and what follows would be a litany…
The Answer to our Prayers – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 18:1-8, 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time I’ve been praying to God to work on my younger brother, to make him more responsible than he’s been all his life. Dad is 80 now, but he’s still “lawyering”. He says he loves working. But I know that he’s carrying Jonathan and his family on his shoulders…
Righteous – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 11:42-46, Wednesday of Week 28 in Ordinary Time I’m sure you’ve noticed in the Gospels that Jesus was much kinder to prostitutes and tax collectors than to Pharisees and teachers of the law. I don’t believe for one second that Jesus condoned prostitutes and tax collectors. He precisely tried to turn them around when he…
Signs – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 11:29-32, Monday of 28th Week in Ordinary Time I have a few good friends who at some point in their lives prayed a particular novena. And while they did, they hoped to be given a sign at the end of nine days whether God’s answer to their petition was a “yes” or a “no”….
No Such Thing as Too Much Thanks – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 17:11-19, 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time In the time of Jesus, when a so-called leper claimed to have been healed, religious law required him to submit himself to the examination of a priest. The priest would start observing the person’s sores, note their size, shape, and color. Through many weeks, months sometimes, the patient made…
Our Father – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 11:1-4, Wednesday of 27th Week in Ordinary Time I hadn’t picked up the rosary for many, many years since I was ordained. Mom pretty much forced us to pray it with her every October and May; even as a child, I had already found it too repetitive for me to really mean what I…
Losing Faith – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 17:5-10, 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time People who know me well also know that there was a particular stretch in my life when I served as my parent’s quote-unquote “marriage counselor”. Even as a little child, I’d know dad and mom fought again because they’d be killing each other with silence. So when I…
Heaven and Hell – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 16:19-31, 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time Well-meaning Catholics through the years have understood today’s Gospel as an authoritative description of heaven and hell. This image of heaven and hell has lasted us for centuries: that between heaven and hell yawn a dark, final chasm that God leaves un-bridged for all eternity. To a fault,…
Home – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 9:9-13, Feast of St Matthew the Apostle Did you ever notice this detail—that soon after Jesus calls tax collector Matthew from where he sat at work, Jesus eats at his house. Whenever I reread Matthew’s vocation story, I miss this detail because I race towards Matthew being the tax collector that he was, and…
Instant – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 16:1-13, 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time Let me read to you a text I received recently from a dear friend. He says, “Arnel, can you remember in your prayers my son who is frustrated in his job? Very talented boy, as you know, but gets frustrated easily. He already quit two jobs, same reason….
One Lost Sheep 