Mark 1:21-28, Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time The Jesuits are in charge of chaplaincy in Philippine General Hospital and I had the opportunity to go on a month-long summer exposure there many years ago. I will never forget that day when I was assigned to the children’s ward. Late one afternoon, they rolled a bed…
Category: Evangelist: Mark
Listen – John Foley, SJ
Mark 1:21-28, Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time The readings this Sunday evoke for me David Haas’ beautiful setting of the psalm for this Sunday. It is entitled, “If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts” (Haas). As a composer, I understand technical devices that make his setting work so well, but I don’t…
Related – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 10:13-16, Feast of the Santo Niño On the first week of the new year, I went home to Davao to visit with my dad for a week. One day, I decided to walk from the Jesuit Residence to San Pedro Cathedral. My mom used to love hearing mass there. The church is a good…
Roadblocks – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 1:1-8, Second Sunday of Advent The following stories were told by friends directly involved in the situations I’m about to share with you. So they’re not fake news. A very devout woman ran frantically to a priest-friend of mine one day. She was coming from a troubling confession with another priest. After several years…
Watch – Johnny Go, SJ
Matthew 13:33-37, 1st Sunday of Advent Yesterday I found myself wandering through a familiar street in a foreign country. The familiarity was comforting, but it was also wrapped in some sort of nostalgia. You see, I was sauntering through one of the alleys of Taipei’s famous Zhongxiao Dunhua shopping area, and the place felt quite familiar because I had spent…
Wandering, Wondering, Waiting – Bros Flores, SJ
Mark 13:33-37, 1st Sunday of Advent We wait. Everyday, we wait. We wait for the alarm clock to shake us out of our stupor. We wait for breakfast. We wait for meetings and classes—to begin and end. We wait for lunch to be served. Wait to end our day. We wait for our rides back…
Patience – John Foley, SJ
Mark 13:33-37, 1st Sunday of Advent Did you ever stay awake on Christmas eve as a kid? And sneak into a hidey hole in order to see the Christmas tree being decorated? I surely did. We kids also had big felt stockings hung on each of our bedroom doors, and I remember trying to keep…
Watch – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 13:33-37, 1st Sunday of Advent Last Friday, while I waited for my Augustinian friar friend outside San Agustin Church, I overheard a conversation between a visitor and the manang running a food stall in the premises. In thick Visayan accent, the lady said, “Excuse me po, katedral po ito?” “Hindi po,” manang replied. “San…
Watch – Jett Villarin, SJ
Mark 13:33-37, 1st Sunday of Advent Watch is the last word in the Gospel today. Reflecting on this, I usually let my mind wander and go wherever it leads me. There is the distraction of the Night’s Watch of Game of Thrones. And so I watch. I let YouTube deflect my thoughts for a while,…
Whose Blessings – Johnny Go, SJ
Mark 34:35-41, Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time For me, it’s not easy to read the Beatitudes–not to mention to preach about it. Maybe it’s because in the Beatitudes, our Lord Jesus blesses the very people the world considers cursed. Consider his list: the poor in spirit the mourners the meek those who seek justice the…
Live – Jett Villarin, SJ
Luke 24:1-12 (Easter Vigil 2016) Are we live? That was my question to the Arvisu pre-novices when I was giving a talk to them sometime ago. Yes, father, we are live. They were kidding of course even if the usual phone camera was trained on me. Those three monosyllables are a good way to start our…
Unlocked – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 16:1-7, Easter Vigil May binili ako sa Riverbanks nung isang araw. Nung palabas na ako kasama ng medyo makapal na mga tao, napansin ko na naman na isang glass door lang yung nakabukas. Yung kaparis niya, nakasara. Matagal ko na yun gustong itanong sa may-ari. Kung bakit ba magpapalagay ng dalawang swinging glass…
One Lost Sheep 