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,…
Category: Season
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….
God of Things – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 6:24-35, 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time I received this text from a friend yesterday. “Good afternoon, Father. I’m presently preparing kids for first communion. But I have a SpEd kid (special education) in the group who can’t follow what’s happening. P’ano ‘yan, Father?” Now, this is a very kind person and a dear friend….
Good Shepherd, Bad Shepherd – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 6:30-34, 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time Very often, our desires lead us like shepherds lead sheep. Whether we’re immediately aware of it or not, in many, many ways, we are shepherded by what we think fulfills our desires. We who go to Church will readily say,“My shepherd is Jesus Christ.” And we’re not being…
To be Shepherded – Johnny Go, SJ
19 July 2015 Mark 6:30-34 (Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time) In today’s Gospel reading, the sight of the crowd summoned the shepherd in the Lord. What did it, we are told, was that they were like a shepherd-less flock of sheep. Nothing, after all, moves the heart of the Lord as much as his desire…
Soul and Body – Arnel Aquino. SJ
Luke 24:35-48, Third Sunday of Easter 2015 Napansin po ba ninyo na nauso ang mga pelikula at tv show tungkol sa zombie at sa bampira? Dati-rati, uso ang multo. Pero ngayon, mas uso na yata ang zombie at bampira. Sa tv ngayon, halimbawa, limang seasons na ang The Walking Dead. Sa pelikula naman, hindi ba…
One Lost Sheep 