Matthew 28:1-10, Easter Vigil Fasten your seatbelts. I have some particle physics stuff to tell you. I know physics can be difficult but don’t worry. One graduate physics professor advised us once: if you don’t know the answer to the question, just say “energy”. Let’s try this. What keeps the sun shining? (Energy) Why is…
Category: Season: Easter
Inhale, Exhale – Ulysess Cabayao, SJ
John 20:19-23 (Solemnity of the Pentecost) One way to think about the Pentecost is to think about how we breathe. One of the biblical metaphors for the Spirit is breath—it is known as ר֫וּחַ (ruach) in Hebrew, πνεῦμα (pneuma) in Greek, and spiritus in Latin. The association of breath with spirit is not unique to…
Default – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 14:23-29, Sixth Sunday of Easter I once had lunch with a dear friend sometime ago. As we got settled in our seats, I asked her straightaway, “O, how’s name-of-husband doing?” See, a few weeks before that, I received a text from her that said, “Arnel, please pray naman for name-of-husband. He’s becoming really cranky….
Learning – Jett Villarin, SJ
John 14:23-29, Sixth Sunday of Easter We see things fall to the ground and we matter-of-factly say gravity. Think about it. What is it about the mass of an object anyway that attracts another object with mass, the way we were taught in elementary physics? What happens with “massless” and speedy stuff like light, which…
Knowing When to Quit – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 10:11-18, Fourth Sunday of Easter 2015 I’ve read this beautiful Gospel passage so many times in my life, I thought I would no longer find any new message in it, until I pondered over it again this week. I’m sure you’ve noticed that the phrase Jesus keeps repeating here is “lay down my life”….
Hungry – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 21:1-19, Third Sunday of Easter The worst thing about religious life is being far from family. But the best thing about religious is being far from family—because when I visit, they share with me deep-down things that they’d normally keep to themselves if I were with them all the time. I was in Davao…
The Gentle Rain of Mercy – Norlan Julia, SJ
John 20:19-31 (Second Sunday of Easter/Feast of Divine Mercy) The quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene I This year’s Divine Mercy Sunday takes…
Doubt – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 20:19-31, Second Sunday of Easter/Feast of Divine Mercy “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Don’t you find that rather rude? I mean, when Thomas’ best friends told him that the Lord…
Easter Newness – Jett Villarin SJ
Easter Vigil 1999 Loyola House of Studies A parishioner once commented that their priest’s homily was like the peace and mercy and of God. Like the peace of God, it surpasses understanding. Like the mercy of God, it endures forever. J If this evening’s Easter homily endures beyond your endurance, please be merciful. * *…
Because of Easter – Jett Villarin, SJ
Luke 24:1-12, Easter Vigil 2010 One-dimensional. That was how Mayweather described Pacquiao’s fighting style. I guess it means a limited repertoire of moves, predictable, monotonous. Easter can be understood in a one-dimensional sense too. We can for instance reduce Easter to the afterlife (“pie in the sky when you die”). However, we do not really…
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…
What is Easter? – Francis Alvarez SJ
How did you wake up today, Easter Sunday? With great joy and hope overflowing from the Easter vigil you attended the night before? With relief that finally Lent is over and you can eat meat again on Fridays? With dread that the short vacation Holy Week afforded is over and you have to return to…
One Lost Sheep 