Matthew 18:15-20, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time When was the last time you received feedback, sisters and brothers? Was it from family or friend, or from officialdom? How did you take it? Was it a bitter pill, but swallow, you did anyway, because it was true and necessary? Or was it so one-sided and unfair,…
Category: Author
Ouch! – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 16:21-27; 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time My friend told me this story when she came for a visit last month. There’s this professor; famous, published, often quoted, but feared. He’s that type who knows he’s good. But he has ways of reminding you that he is, ‘yung ganong klase. And you know how people…
Great – Jett Villarin, SJ
Matthew 15:21-28; 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time At first glance, Jesus is somewhat testy and heartless in the Gospel story today. You can see it right there in the exchange between him and the Canaanite woman, an outsider. When the woman calls out to him, he first gives her the silent treatment. When she continues…
Crumbs – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 15:21-28; 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Many of us, Catholics, take it for granted that because Jesus was (and still is) both human and divine, God must have wired his brain to perfection, right? Every year, I have students who start out their course in Christology thinking that Jesus didn’t have to be taught…
Wheat over Weeds- Arnel Aquino SJ
Matthew 13:24-43, 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time In his last two years on earth, Jesus left the life of fixing and building things so he could fix and build people instead. As a skilled carpenter, he could assess a project before even driving the first nail in. So, Jesus must’ve foreseen right from the start,…
Cathoholic – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 14:1-12; Fifth Sunday of Easter Ever heard the word, “cathoholic”? I chuckled the first time I heard it a few years ago. I kinda suspected what it meant before I looked it up. Cathoholic: a Catholic who’s drunk with Roman-Catholic beliefs, traditions, rituals, morals, but misses out on the Christic values, like option and…
Scars – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 20:19-31, Divine Mercy Sunday On my left wrist is a scar shaped like a J, what’s left of four stitches from when I was in third grade. I was carving soap for a project when I mindlessly slammed my arm down a carving tool. It cut my wrist open, bad enough for dad to…
Solemnity – Nemy Que, SJ
Good Friday 2023 When Good Friday, all day-long, was prayer,When the whole town sang their grief,When everyone prayed to be embraced by the wounds of the suffering Jesus,Enveloped by the pain, keeping vigil until resurrection dawned.——————— This was how Good Friday was observed generations ago in the old town of Vigan, Ilocos Sur. Good Friday…
Abandoned – Francis Alvarez, SJ
Matthew 26:14 -27:66; Palm Sunday “And about three o’clock, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli,Iema sabachthani?” which mean “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Did God the father abandon Jesus on the cross? Everything I have been taught about God cries out, “No!” Just four months ago, we were singing…
Passion – Karel San Juan, SJ
John 11:45-56; Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent Tomorrow will already be Palm Sunday, and as we know, it commences the culmination of our Lenten Season, the Holy Week. It is good that today, Saturday, we already begin to dispose our hearts and our minds for this most sacred time with God. Our Church…
Empty Jars – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 4:5-42, Third Sunday of Lent In Jesus’ time, the village well wasn’t just a water source. It was the “singles’ bar” back in the day, if you will. Among many, shepherds, travelling merchants, and unmarried daughters stopped by the well to water their flock, get a drink, or fetch water for the house…and also,…
More! – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 4:1-11, First Sunday of Lent If we still believe that Genesis 3 is a literal story of moment number one of sin number one, how do we account for the following difficulties, like – did snakes really talk in the beginning of time? Why was the snake malicious if God created everything good? If…
One Lost Sheep 