Mark 10:35-45; 29th Sunday in Ordindary Time When our good friends are on their way to the top, we often say, “Huwag mo kaming kalimutan ha?” (“Don’t forget us, ok?”) We do that in jest and affection. “Huwag mo kaming kalimutan” is really our way of saying, “Congratulations! Happy for you! Good luck!” James and…
Category: Author
Follow Me – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 10:17-27; 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time The rich man presumed that inheriting eternal life could be totally in his control, like it was all up to him. He must have been familiar with being in control. First, he claimed he had complied with all the commandments from his youth. I presume not just the…
Gift and Responsibility – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 9:30-37; 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time I vibered kuya the other day and asked, “Kuyz, as family court judge, what are the top three reasons why families fight over inheritance?” “One,” he replied, “the sense of entitlement where heirs claim to need or deserve more because the others are already well-off on their own….
Feedback – Arnel Aquino SJ
Mark 8:27-35; 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time Don’t you find it interesting, sisters and brothers, that even Jesus asked for feedback? Many of us secretly dread asking that question.“Who do people say that I am?” The snap survey got positive results, fortunately: “John the Baptist; others Elijah; still others, one of the prophets.” But Jesus…
Pure – Jett Villarin, SJ
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23, 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time I do not know what pure virgin coconut oil or olive oil is but just the sound of it makes me want to choose it over the non-virgin one. We do not want things adulterated with other so-called lesser ingredients. We prefer pure breeds to mongrels….
Pick and Choose – Joel Liwanag, SJ
John 6: 60-69, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Have you ever come across the term “cafeteria Catholic?” Patterned after the analogy of being in a cafeteria, where you get to pick and choose the food that you want to eat, cafeteria Catholics are those who simply pick and choose the Church teachings they want to…
What’s your Index? – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 6:41-51; 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time In the first reading, we see a despondent Elijah. His mission to King Ahab and his equally weird wife, Jezebel, backfired. There was a killing spree afoot against prophets. So, Elijah ran for his life as his life ran out of fuel. Feeling like a failure, he just…
Who is Ignatius? – Danny Huang, SJ
Feast of St Ignatius de Loyola, 31st July 2024 There is an interesting article on the website of the British Province, Thinking Faith, which is entitled “My own personal Ignatius.” Ten persons–Jesuits, lay people, religious women–share who St. Ignatius is for them, what it is about Ignatius that inspires or touches them most. A former…
Bounty – Jett Villarin, SJ
John 6:1-15; 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time Is it not wondrous that from one seed alone you can get more seeds later? Is it not a miracle that this one seed can grow to become a plant which flowers into fruit that bears even more seeds? We can sort of explain away this biological miracle…
Trinity – Jett Villarin, SJ
Matthew 28:16-20, Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity We commonly think of an object as either here or there. It cannot be here and there and everywhere at the same time. In the quantum world of the very small however, things get weird. Surprisingly, a single particle (such as an electron) can bi-locate. It can…
Irrepressible – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 20:19-23, Pentecost Sunday The New Testament Greek word for soul or spirit is pneuma. But that’s only the translation of the Old Testament Hebrew, ruah, breath or air or wind. Hence, when used of God, ruah & pneuma and mean breath of life, or an atmosphere or ethos of sacredness, or the unstoppable force…
Air – Jett Villarin, SJ
John 20:19-23; Pentecost Sunday The Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins once compared the Blessed Virgin to the air we breathe. Today, Pentecost, in celebration of the Holy Spirit coming into our lives, we will compare the Holy Spirit to the air that surrounds and sustains us. Like the atmosphere, the Holy Spirit helps us listen,…
One Lost Sheep 