John 15:1-8, 5th Sunday of Easter I’ve always wondered about seedless grapes or seedless watermelons. I mean, they’re convenient and nice, but how do you keep them going? It must be by some biological magic that they keep showing up on our tables. I would think that seedless fruit are like celibates. They’re a dead…
Category: Evangelist: John
Reason for Living – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 10:11-18; 4th Sunday of Easter If mom and dad initiated me into Sunday mass, it was my Uncle Will who initiated me into spirituality. He was the kind of Catholic who constantly pursued deeper knowledge and wisdom in faith, prayer, and church life. So, he read inspirational books and saw spiritual directors like Frs…
The Jesus We Come to See – Nemy Que, SJ
John 12:20-33; 5th Sunday of Lent “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” The Greeks, who made this request in our Gospel reading, were surely not expecting amessiah. But they had heard about this man, Jesus, and wanted to see him forthemselves. They had no doubt heard about how he had healed the sick, raisedLazarus from…
What Needs to Die – Karel San Juan, SJ
John 12:20-33, Fifth Sunday of Lent “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” Jesus compares us to a grain of wheat. If it falls to the ground and dies, it…
A Whole New World – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 3: 14-21, 4th Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday) When I was formator in San Jose Seminary, we had seminarians from a college seminary in the province, run by very traditional priests. The priests themselves were trained in Europe by a group of clerics we Pinoys would call katoliko-sarado-de-candado; Roman Catholics of the strict persuasion….
FOMO – Jett Villarin, SJ
John 1:35-42; 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time This little phone in our pockets reminds us that we are always on call. It need not always be a person that wants our attention. It can be news or pictures or short movies or whatever. It is hard to resist the buzz that signals a call. Hard…
God naman – Arnel Aquino SJ
Christmas Day 2023 Could God have been entirely luminous, mystical, and otherworldly in his coming into our world? He could’ve, couldn’t he? I mean, he created everything from absolutely nothing. He unleashed plagues, parted the Red Sea, rained fire down from heaven to clobber King Ahab’s false gods. He sent for a flaming chariot that…
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…
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…
One Lost Sheep 