Matthew 3:1-12, Second Sunday of Advent I. I wonder if some of you have made it to the Caravaggio exhibition here at the National Gallery. There is a painting there, on loan from the National Gallery of Ireland, that has an interesting Jesuit connection. The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio hung for many years in…
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Who Is King? – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 23:35-43, Solemnity of Christ the King Neuropsychologist, Dr. James Fallon has studied the neuropathology of dictators. In a brief summary, he says in Psychology Today: “So, what binds dictators across history and geography? What traits do they share? They are usually charming, charismatic, intelligent. They brim with self-confidence and independence, and exude sexual energy….
Second Coming – Rudolf Horst, SVD
Luke 21:5-19, 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time As the liturgical year approaches its end, the Church is reminding us today of the meaning behind that small phrase in the Creed that we solemnly profess everySunday: “Jesus will come again in glory tojudge the living and the dead.” At that time, all the injustices…
Birthday Note
76 countries. 18,649 views. 102 followers. 116 homilies. Those are stats from our homily blog onelostsheep.net which turned a year old today. One year ago when Kat Limcaoco-Alcuaz and I succumbed to the urgings of Chary Mercado to start a blog with “good” homilies. We had been toying with the idea for some time already…
What does it mean to be humble? – Francis Alvarez, SJ
Luke 18:9-14a, 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time In our Gospel today, a Pharisee and a tax collector go to the temple to worship God. What do we need so that we can worship? It is the hollow in a cylindrical piece of wood that makes it a flute and enables it to produce music. In…
What do you do with difference? – Francis Alvarez, SJ
At that time, John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him…” (Mark 9:38). Why did John attempt to stop this other exorcist he chanced upon? John’s answer: “Because he does not follow us.” Because the other exorcist was not one of them. Because he…
The Lost Sons – RB Hizon, SJ
Luke 15:1-32, 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time My first assignment as priest was as a prison chaplain at the national penitentiary in Bilibid, Muntinlupa. It was had work. There were days when I said as many as six masses, heard confessions for hours and just listened to many painful and horrible stories of violence, loss…
The One that Got Away – Johnny Go, SJ
Luke 15:1-32, 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time Today’s Gospel is about the one that got away. We all have such a person in our life: Somebody we used to care for deeply, someone somehow entrusted once to our care, someone who inhabited our universe once upon a time and–for just that brief fairy tale moment–made…
Not by Pride – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 14:7-14, 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time I’m one of 10 Jesuit formators assigned to San Jose Seminary. Every year, San Jose holds an alumni homecoming, and it’s always well attended by graduates who are now priests and bishops and cardinals. Even alumni who have since left religious life still attend. So it’s a three-day…
Superlative – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 23:13-22, Monday of 21st Week in Ordinary Time (Queenship of Mary) We, human beings, are a superlative-seeking species. At home, we heard our elders say, “my favorite son”, “my brightest daughter”, “my naughtiest”. At school, superlatives were rewarded, too: valedictorian, first honor. They even spread the awards around so that differently-abled kids could also…
God’s Love, First – Arnel Aquino SJ
Luke 10:38-42, 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time My elder brother and I did very well in the Ateneo de Davao while we were growing up. We tried to land in the honor roll every quarter, and join elocution & spelling contests where we thought we excelled. As each school-year came to a close, kuya and I, in…
The Most Important Thing – Noel Y. Bava SJ
Luke 10:38-42 16th Sunday of the Ordinary Time Every time I read or hear this particular Gospel passage, I cringe in protest. There seems to be a monumental injustice happening and Jesus decides to side with the cause of the oppression rather than with the oppressed. Here we hear him chiding Martha who is obviously…
One Lost Sheep 