Luke 4:1-13 (First Sunday of Lent) Some of us today would probably prefer a Valentine’s Day homily than endure another Lenten exhortation. But there is a pertinent theme in today’s Gospel that might resonate with the affairs of the heart. In the Gospel, the Devil prefaces his attempts to beguile Jesus with a seemingly innocuous…
Category: Season
Indelible – Jett Villarin SJ
Luke 4:1-13 (First Sunday of Lent) Is there a way to relate Lent to Valentine’s day today? After all, the word “lent” is embedded right there in va“lent”ine. 🙂 Could there be a connection? Anyhow, we can begin with the three temptations in the Gospel today. The taunt of the dark side is simple. The…
Nothing Without God – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 6:1-6; 16-18, Ash Wednesday 2016 For most of her life, my mom used to run a small botica in a marketplace. It was our bread and butter for many years. One morning, I woke up to the scariest sound I ever heard in my life: the sound of mom wailing. Our botica had burned…
Rend Your Hearts – Bros Flores, SJ
Matthew 6:1-6; 16-18 (Ash Wednesday) I hated Ash Wednesday while I was growing up. As soon as I was marked with the ash on my forehead, I felt bound to give up a lot of conveniences. I felt compelled to fulfill the Lenten practices: abstinence from meat on Fridays, giving up my favorite stuff during…
Trusting in Mercy – Danny Huang, SJ
Luke 5:1-11 (Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time) For the past 8 years, I have been privileged to enjoy a spectacular view from my office. As I sit before my computer, all I need to do is glance a bit towards my left, and outside my window, usually looming against a sky of brilliant Roman blue,…
Love knows No Bounds – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 4:21-30, Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Remember the first time Pope Francis celebrated Holy Thursday mass as pope? He went to a juvenile detention center in Rebibbia, outside Rome, and washed the feet of 12 people, two of whom were women—one of whom was a Muslim. Many of us Filipinos were touched by the…
Invisible Jars – Arnel Aquino SJ
John 2:1-11, Feast of the Sto Nino I’ve prayed over this gospel many times, over many years. But only recently did I seriously realize that the water Jesus turned into wine was not drinking water. It was water for ceremonial washing. Now, in a gospel like John which is exceedingly symbolic, the word “water” typically…
Are We There Yet? – Norlan Julia, SJ
Matthew 2:1-12 (Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord) “Do you know where you’re going to? Do you like the things that life is showing you? Where are you going to? … Do you get what you’re hoping for? When you look behind you there’s no open door; What are you hoping for? Do you…
Catcher – Jett Villarin, SJ
Luke 5:1-11 (Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time) I hope to catch you in a span of 800 words or so. It is a fond hope I have, a vain hope I sometimes feel. And it depends on the kind of fishnet my words can become, on how far and wide and deep I cast the…
Have A Defiant Christmas – Francis Alvarez, SJ
“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14). One December morning in 1863, at home on Brattle Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts – not very far from where we are tonight – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow heard the church bells ringing, and he wrote: I…
Rejoice, The Lord is Near – Jojo Magadia, SJ
Luke 3:10-18 (Third Sunday of Advent) The presepio displays in the churches of Rome during the advent and Christmas seasons is a tradition that many have grown to love. The presepio is simply what we would call the belen, the nativity scene whose basic characters are Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus lying in a…
The Foolishness of Love – Danny Huang, SJ
Mark 12:38-44 (32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time) I have always been struck that the poor widow Jesus notices in the temple had two coins. If she had been more reasonable, more prudent, she could have given one, and kept the other. Even that would have been a very generous donation: 50% of all her belongings….
One Lost Sheep 