Matthew 18:21-35, 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time You must have heard about the story of, or at least the name, Ingrid Betancourt. She was a prominent politician in Colombia, a former senator and anti-corruption activist. At the height of one presidential election campaign in which she was a candidate, she was kidnapped and held in…
A Eulogy for Sacred Trees – Mark Lopez, SJ
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time/2nd Sunday in the Season of Creation My love affair with trees began when I was 17 years old. I remember jogging around the Subic Naval base then, where I was spending my summer as an intern, jogging at the edge of beautiful rainforests, the likes of which I was seeing…
A Time to Clear the Air – Mark Lopez, SJ
Matthew 18:15-20, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time/1st Sunday in the Season of Creation On this first weekend of the season of creation, let’s begin where many mystics of various faith traditions usually begin – by taking a long, deep breath . . . and by being mindful of how the divine is not only outside…
Zero Tolerance – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 18:15-20, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time If China came to invade us and stayed a few years outlawing any citizens’s organizations, imagine how many religious and para-religious communities would be decimated, or even killed: like the Couples for Christ, the Iglesia ni Kristo, the charismatic communities, and who knows, maybe even Catholic parishes. That…
Correction – Jett Villarin, SJ
Matthew 18:15-20, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time About love, 6-year old Nikka has this to say: “If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate.” For that matter, if you long to love God, if you desire redemption, if you want to fulfill the law, St Paul…
My Favorite Horror Movie – Johnny Go, SJ
Matthew 16:21-27, 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time A few years ago, I watched a film called “The Exorcism of Emily Rose.” I expected a full-blown horror movie in the tradition of other Exorcist movies, complete with all the scary special effects like 360-degree head turns, shaking beds, and lots of vomiting. Instead, to my disappointment,…
Martyr – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 16:21-27, 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time An Australian scholastic lived with us many years ago. When he noticed that I took my studies very seriously, he said: “Hey, Arnel, back in Australia, Jesuits have a saying: ‘You’re no good to us, dead.’” I didn’t get it then. So, he explained. “It means that the…
Discernment – Bobby Yap, SJ
Matthew 19:16-22, Monday in the 20th Week of Ordinary Time The Gospel we have just proclaimed is the Gospel assigned for Monday of the 20th Week of the Year. We did not choose a special gospel for our ORSEM mass but simply used the Gospel assigned for today. As it turns out, today’s gospel reading…
Choose Love – Eric Velandria, SJ
Matthew 15:21-28, 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time On our fifth month of community quarantine, are we not alarmed that our Covid-19 infection cases have already breached 100,000, surpassing the number of cases in more populous Indonesia? Recently, SWS reported that two out of ten families experience hunger daily. And 1.7 out of ten Filipinos are…
Never Give Up on Praying – Ro Atilano, SJ
Matthew 15:21-28, 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time What have been your prayers lately? Have you ever prayed for something that was seemingly impossible and you felt you like needed to move mountains? Have you prayed for something over and over again and God was seemingly quiet? Have you experienced almost giving up, even giving up…
Kata-holos – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 15:21-28, 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time First, let’s explain the most troublesome spot in the Gospel where Jesus seemed to have referred to the Canaanite woman as a “dog.” According to some scholars, Matthew’s community back in the day had two voices, like two schools of thought: the particularist and the universalist. Christians with…
Original Blessedness – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Luke 1:39-56, The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary When you and I were children, oh, 500 years ago, our elders taught us that Mary was “taken up to heaven, body and soul.” Why was that special? Well, “when ordinary people like us die,” our elders said, “our souls go to heaven, leaving our bodies…
One Lost Sheep 