Luke 12:49-53b, 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time We have a bunch of superstitious beliefs our elders have passed on to us regarding baptism, don’t we? “Kumare, pabinyag n’yo agad ang bata para hindi pasukan ng masamang espiritu. Sige ka, magkakasakit ‘yan parati.” “Kumare, pabinyag n’yo agad ang bata. Sige kayo, pag namatay ‘yang walang binyag,…
Category: Author: Arnel Aquino, SJ
Margin of Error – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 12:35-40, 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time When Michael Siaron’s remains were being entombed in a poor man’s cemetery last week, his mother screamed and sobbed. Over 2 weeks ago, we saw on the newspaper a picture reminiscent of the Pietà. In the middle of the street, an awfully young woman cradled a dead 29-yr-old…
God’s Love, First – Arnel Aquino SJ
Luke 10:38-42, 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time My elder brother and I did very well in the Ateneo de Davao while we were growing up. We tried to land in the honor roll every quarter, and join elocution & spelling contests where we thought we excelled. As each school-year came to a close, kuya and I, in…
Less Stuff, More People – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 10:1-9, 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time Fr Hernando Maceda was one of the most cheerful Jesuits I’ve ever known. He was a small guy, not much taller than I, but he had the biggest smile that I felt went from his face down to his good heart and back! Fr Maceda was from a wealthy…
Default – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 14:23-29, Sixth Sunday of Easter I once had lunch with a dear friend sometime ago. As we got settled in our seats, I asked her straightaway, “O, how’s name-of-husband doing?” See, a few weeks before that, I received a text from her that said, “Arnel, please pray naman for name-of-husband. He’s becoming really cranky….
Knowing When to Quit – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 10:11-18, Fourth Sunday of Easter 2015 I’ve read this beautiful Gospel passage so many times in my life, I thought I would no longer find any new message in it, until I pondered over it again this week. I’m sure you’ve noticed that the phrase Jesus keeps repeating here is “lay down my life”….
Hungry – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 21:1-19, Third Sunday of Easter The worst thing about religious life is being far from family. But the best thing about religious is being far from family—because when I visit, they share with me deep-down things that they’d normally keep to themselves if I were with them all the time. I was in Davao…
Heaven is Togetherness – Arnel Aquino, SJ
1 November 2015, All Saints’ Day Thanks to the stampitas that were so popular when I was growing up, for the longest time, my impression of the saints was that they were very solitary people with an uninterrupted line to God. I often envisioned saints on their knees, and their fingers interlocked in prayer, and…
Doubt – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 20:19-31, Second Sunday of Easter/Feast of Divine Mercy “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Don’t you find that rather rude? I mean, when Thomas’ best friends told him that the Lord…
Unlocked – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 16:1-7, Easter Vigil May binili ako sa Riverbanks nung isang araw. Nung palabas na ako kasama ng medyo makapal na mga tao, napansin ko na naman na isang glass door lang yung nakabukas. Yung kaparis niya, nakasara. Matagal ko na yun gustong itanong sa may-ari. Kung bakit ba magpapalagay ng dalawang swinging glass…
Transform – Arnel Aquino SJ
Luke 22:14-23:56, Palm Sunday I’m one of 10 Jesuits assigned to San Jose Seminary. This is the time of the year when we evaluate applicants from all over the country. In every batch of young men we evaluate, at least three or four have fathers who are drug addicts. Now I’m used to hearing young…
Worth More than Two Cents to Me – Arnel Aquino, SJ
This is a bonus Lenten Special. Just want to share what my SD sent me on understanding why we sacrifice during Lent : My personal thoughts on taking on some measure of asceticism during Lent, Deb, is that all throughout the year, we protect ourselves from being vulnerable. And rightly so because we don’t wish…
One Lost Sheep 