John 2:12-35, Third Sunday of Lent The first reading enumerates what we now call the Ten Commandments. Throughout the centuries, these commandments have been codified into a complex compliance checklist of 613 do’s-and-don’ts that have rendered the life of every devout Jew more burdensome and following the Ten Commandments more difficult. The second reading today…
Category: Evangelist: John
Why so Angry? – John Foley, SJ
John 2:13-25, Third Sunday of Lent Ready for a shocking picture of Jesus? The gentle savior has turned violent. This Sunday he erupts into unrestrained anger when he sees people vending oxen, sheep, and doves right within the temple, sees money-changers doing business within God’s own house! Not only is this unlike the Jesus we…
Market – Jett Villarin, SJ
John 2:13-25, Third Sunday of Lent Whether it is wet or dry or about stocks, a market is a place of exchange. Goods and services are traded there and the medium of exchange is usually money. When Jesus makes a scene in the Gospel story today by scourging the market, he does so for one…
The Who – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 1:35-42, Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Do you know that we have students in Loyola School of Theology who are in their late 40s and 50s? One is even in her early 60s. Lay people. Some of them have retired early. Some are still working part-time. But they’ve all decided to either do an…
The Endangered Art of Listening – Johnny Go, SJ
John 1:35-42, Second Sunday in Ordinary Time In the First Reading today, we have the somewhat charming story of young Samuel who mistakes God’s voice calling to him as coming from his master Eli. After being roused a third time from his sleep, Eli realizes it must be the Lord and directs Samuel to answer, “Speak,…
Called by Name – John Foley, SJ
John 1:35-42, Second Sunday in Ordinary Time We now begin what the Church calls “Ordinary Time.” Christmas season is over, and we begin to see Jesus at work. We begin with a significant story, found in the First Reading for Sunday. A young man named Samuel is sleeping in the temple, as he was allowed…
Hope – Jett Villarin, SJ
Christmas Eve In climate science, we are often asked how is it that we can predict next year or the next decade or even the next century when we cannot even forecast what will happen tomorrow? The short answer is: climate is not weather, not the day-to-day variation of hot and cold, wet and dry….
Listen Well – John Foley, SJ
Luke 1:26:38, Fourth Sunday of Advent An angel appears with a startling announcement to an otherwise insignificant housewife. Mary responds, “Let it be done unto me according to your word.” Is there a way to understand her heart as she utters these words, so dramatically significant to the human race? Let us take an “inside…
Light from Light – Mark Aloysius, SJ
John 1:6-8; 19-28, 2nd Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday) Have you ever looked at the moon and wondered at its beauty? Its shape transforming from a crescent to a disc as it dances across the sky, through the changing of the seasons. Luminously golden as it may appear to us who behold it, we know…
Holy Darkness – John Foley, SJ
John 1:6-8, 19-28, Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday) Darkness can terrify us. But the right kind of darkness can give us peace. A night of good sleep, for instance. Or a “lovely soft day,” as the Irish call those shady, rainy, drizzling days that are typical of Ireland and make it so green. I…
Sinless and Sorrowful – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 19:25-27, Friday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time, Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows I had very bad attacks of asthma when I was a child. If it weren’t for dad who’d stay up all night to rub my chest and my back, I wouldn’t have slept at all. Dad never had asthma. But…
Broken – Mark Aloysius, SJ
John 6:51-58, Solemnity of Corpus Christi If you have been following the BBC series Broken, which centres around the life of a Catholic priest in Liverpool, you would have noticed how the story is punctuated with Eucharistic motifs. Though much of Broken shows people in great difficulty, my favourite scenes were those of children, their…
One Lost Sheep 