John 12:22-30, Fifth Sunday in Ordinary One of the methods of prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola in the Spiritual Exercises is imaginative contemplation. The exercitant is asked to immerse himself into the Gospel scene using the imagination–seeing what the Gospel characters see and feeling feel. In using this method, the exercitant builds a relationship…
Category: Evangelist: John
Love that Restores – Mark Lopez, SJ
John 12: 20-33, Fifth Sunday of Lent If you’ve ever felt run down, or barren inside, or destroyed, today will be a good day to pray. Today will be a good day for you to try to listen to God telling you. “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the…
Glory – Ron Rolheiser, OMI
John 12:20-33, Fifth Sunday of Lent We all nurse a secret dream of glory. We daydream that in some way we will stand out and be recognized. And so we fantasize about great achievements that will set us apart from others and make us famous. The daydreams vary but, inside them, always we are at…
Suffering – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 12:20-23, Fifth Sunday of Lent Don’t you find it interesting that just as Jesus says his hour of “glorification” has come, in the very same breath, he talks about grain that dies before it bears fruit, and life that we must lose before we gain it back. “Glorified” means lifting up to a place…
Keeping Score – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 3:14-21, Fourth Sunday of Lent I grew up dreading “the loss of heaven and the pains of hell,” like we say in the act of contrition. My mom and her mom instilled that dread in me, for good or for ill. When I couldn’t finish the rice on my plate, for instance, they would…
Listen to the Light – John Foley, SJ
John 3:14-21; Fourth Sunday of Lent Ignoring God cannot be a good thing. We all know that. But the readings on this Fourth Lenten Sunday drive the point home. The First Reading says the people of Judah “added infidelity to infidelity,” worshipping false gods, polluting the sacred temple, vigorously ignoring the real God. Read the…
Anger – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 2:12-35, Third Sunday of Lent I grew up in an angry home. We lived with my maternal grandparents who were migrants from Ibaan, Batangas, where they were quite poor. Venturing to Davao, my grandfather worked his way up from maglalako ng kulambo to landowner. But that whole arduous climb made him and lola such…
Upside Down – Bros Flores, SJ
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…
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,…
One Lost Sheep 