Matthew 22:15-21, 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time “Is it lawful to pay census tax to Caesar or not?” If Jesus said yes, the hierarchs would charge him with blasphemy, punishable by stoning. Only God was king! If he said no, they’d rat him out to the Romans who could charge him with treason, also punishable…

Matthwe 21:28-32, 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time This confrontation between Jesus and the hierarchs happened after three critical events: First,  Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, which was like falling into the trap of his enemies; Second, the cleansing of the Temple, which gave his enemies categorical grounds to pounce on him, and third, the cursing…

Matthew 18:15-20, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time If China came to invade us and stayed a few years outlawing any citizens’s organizations, imagine how many religious and para-religious communities would be decimated, or even killed: like the Couples for Christ, the Iglesia ni Kristo, the charismatic communities, and who knows, maybe even Catholic parishes. That…

Matthew 16:21-27, 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time An Australian scholastic lived with us many years ago. When he noticed that I took my studies very seriously, he said: “Hey, Arnel, back in Australia, Jesuits have a saying: ‘You’re no good to us, dead.’” I didn’t get it then. So, he explained. “It means that the…

Matthew 15:21-28, 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time First, let’s explain the most troublesome spot in the Gospel where Jesus seemed to have referred to the Canaanite woman as a “dog.” According to some scholars, Matthew’s community back in the day had two voices, like two schools of thought: the particularist and the universalist. Christians with…

Matthew 13:24-43, 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time Many years ago, I asked my maternal grandfather what it was like during the Japanese occupation. I don’t remember now what he said. I do remember, though, what I felt after he said it. He was very brief but very resentful, enough to stop me from ever asking…

Matthew 16:13-19, Feast of Sts Peter and Paul, Apostles A big difference between Saint Peter and Saint Paul was their idea of “mission,” or more technically, their “missiology.” Peter thought that the mission Jesus entrusted to them was meant only for Israel, for the Jews. Now that the promised Messiah had come, the Jews must…

Matthew 10:26-33, 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time When I was still in school many years ago, I signed a petition. We were requesting for a change of professor. The petition was our last resort. We had already made more diplomatic requests but they all fell on deaf ears. Finally, the administration honored our petition, and…