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…
Category: Evangelist: John
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…
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,…
Agapasme – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 21:1-19; 3rd Sunday of Easter You’ve probably heard this interpretation of John’s Gospel before. But it’s just so rich that it bears repetition. John’s Gospel was written in Greek, and with Greek sensibilities. The Greeks had four words for love: eros, storge, philia, & agápe, two of which appear in today’s Gospel. Eros is…
True Transfiguration – Ben Nebres, SJ
John 3:31-36, Thursday in the 2nd Week if Eastertide These months the concern and attention of many of us have been on the coming national elections and the candidacy of Ferdinand Marcos, Jr brings back memories of the 14 years of martial law. I was deeply involved in the events of those years, as Dean…
Manhu – Jett Villarin, SJ
John 6:24-35, 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time The Israelites did not know what it was, those fine flakes in the desert that were like “hoarfrost on the ground.” And so they asked, “Manhu?”, what is this? Ano ito? This ano from heaven was ano for their hunger. Manna for the Israelites, ano for us. Manhu…
Field – Jett Villarin, SJ
John 15:26-27; 16:12-15, Pentecost Sunday He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit…” Action-at-a-distance is a mysterious thing. In science, we explain how objects act on each other at a distance by postulating a medium that contains and connects them, a field which undulates and carries the action of one on…
Our True Vine – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 15:1-8; 5th Sunday of Easter Sisters & brothers, how do we know if we, the branches, are still connected to Jesus, the true vine? Can we tell by some sign that we remain in him and he in us? John’s Gospel is bursting with metaphors of Jesus. Jesus has seven “I am” sayings in…
Signed – Jett Villarin, SJ
Acts 5:34-42; John 6:1-15, Friday in the 2nd Week of Eastertide Our faith begins with a sign. It is a sign of pain and sorrow, a sign of suffering. But it is also a sign of God inside that pain, a sign of love present in our suffering. It is the sign of the cross….
Labyrinth – Jett Villarin, SJ
John 5:1-6, Divine Mercy Sunday When you go through the garden labyrinth at the Mirador Jesuit Villa in Baguio, you will eventually end in the center. However, while walking and winding your way on this path, you will find yourself sometimes moving farther away from the center. You will not worry; you won’t even think…
Rise – Mario Francisco, SJ
John 5:1-3; 5-16, Tuesday of the 4th Week of Lent It has been more than a year since the pandemic was declared, and while we have all found resilient and creative ways of coping with its effects on our lives and work, we are all experiencing quarantine fatigue. Even with the promise of the much-awaited…
One Lost Sheep 