John 20:19-31, Divine Mercy Sunday A week after the glorious solemnity of the Resurrection of the Lord, we celebrate today Divine Mercy Sunday. But for quite a number of us, we go about this day with unexpressed questions in our troubled hearts: How can a merciful God allow the tragic loss of lives in another…
Category: Evangelist: John
Epitaph – Willy Samson, SJ
John 20:19-31, Divine Mercy Sunday Epitaphs are words honoring the deceased, most commonly inscribed on a tombstone or plaque. Most of the epitaphs are quotes from holy texts like the Bible. In the Philippines, the most common epitaphs are R.I.P (Rest in Peace) and S.L.N. (Suma-Langit Nawa). But in Manila North Cemetery, a funny…
My Lord and My God – Rudolf Horst, SVD
John 20:19-31, Divine Mercy Sunday Today is a very special day. It is not only the Second Sunday of Easter, meaning, we continue to celebrate Easter and so the Resurrection of Christ, it is also the Sunday of the Divine Mercy. Every year we hear on this Sunday the story about Thomas. We call him…
Horror Vacui – Johnny Go, SJ
John 20:1-9, Easter Vigil Two great mysteries bookend our Lord’s lives–and they feel so different from each other. At the beginning, of course, is the birth of our Lord, which we celebrate at Christmas, and in the end, we have his resurrection, which we commemorate today as Easter. The Christmas narrative seems to happen in…
What About Love? – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 18:1-19:42, Good Friday 2016 A little over a year ago, ISIS took a video as they incinerated a Jordanian pilot in a cage. My friends said that the footage was all over the net, but I resisted the temptation of watching it. I learned my lesson many years ago when a friend sent me…
Staycation – Mario Francisco, SJ
John 13:1-15, Maundy Thursday All gathered here could consider the next three days as staycation. We stayed to avoid traffic at expressways and airports as well as to save time and costs. Moving through everyday life 24/7, whether at work, school and even home, is tiring and burdensome. We all need rest of body and…
Fighting back with the Towel – Willy Samson, SJ
John 13:1-15, Maundy Thursday In boxing, when a trainer sees that his boxer is being badly beaten by his opponent, he throws a towel and the fight is over. Throwing in the towel then, is a sign of surrender and giving up. But in the arena of loving, it’s a different story. A towel around the…
Doodling with Love – Willy Samson, SJ
John 8:1-11, Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent When someone is doodling, he’s either bored to death or waiting for something or someone to come. When the Pharisees and angry crowd brought a prostitute to Jesus to be stoned to death as prescribed by the law, Jesus simply doodled something in the ground. For…
I Knew You Would Come – Fr Tito Caluag
John 11:1-45, Fifth Sunday of Lent Years ago I shared the story of two friends who fought together in World War I under the British forces. The story originally came from C. F. Andrews, an early 20th century Anglican priest, educator, social reformer and close friend of Mahatma Gandhi. “C. F. Andrews tells of two…
Golden Tears – Willy Samson, SJ
John 11:1-45, Fifth Sunday of Lent One day, God told his angels to gather tears on earth. After a week, they returned bringing millions of tears in containers. But much to their surprise, the tears turned into gold and stones. Gabriel asked God, “Why some of the tears turned into gold and some into stones?”…
Hitting Rock Bottom – Johnny Go, SJ
John 11:1-45, Fifth Sunday of Lent I was having brunch with a couple of good friends yesterday, and our conversation strayed into this matter of “hitting rock bottoms.” There are moments in our lives when, for different reasons, we find ourselves in the pits. Life feels like it’s in ruins; things have somehow fallen apart….
It’s Going to be OK – Mark Lopez, SJ
John 11:1-45, Fifth Sunday of Lent Let me start with a confession – about my own experiences of coming to confession before I became a priest. As a teenager, I used to be terrified of coming to confession, and really embarrassed to tell all my sins. Naturally, I don’t think any of us are comfortable…
One Lost Sheep 