Is Your Belief Based only on Blessing? – Francis Alvarez, SJ

John 9:1-41, Fourth Sunday of Lent When Jesus heard that [the Jews] had thrown [the man who had been blind] out, he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” (John 9:35) If I were Jesus, I would have asked that question earlier in the story – just after the man…

Totally Dependent – Arnel Aquino, SJ

Matthew 18:1-5, Feast of the Sto Niño Like many of you, I flew home to Davao for a few days during the holidays to spend time with my dad. I hadn’t done that for a long time, to be with family for my birthday. My biggest thanks to God was that even as I turned…

Heavens Deep – Arnel Aquino, SJ

Solemnity of the Nativity of our Lord As a child, I used to love the Christmas tree. But the older I got, the parol very naturally supplanted the tree,  and became for me the symbol for Christmas; especially the simpler ones, the parol ribbed with kawayan, skinned with papel de hapon or cellophane, & with…

A Messy Christmas – Joel Liwanag, SJ

John 1:1-18, Solemnity of the Birth of our Lord As a way of preparing myself for Christmas, I once tried to contemplate the nativity scene following the prayer method proposed by St. Ignatius of Loyola in his Spiritual Exercises. Using the power of my imagination, I began by trying to feel the cool gentle breeze…

Magnify – Arnel Aquino, SJ

Luke 1:46-56, Monday of the 4th Week in Advent Napansin po ba ninyo na yung mga Joyful Mysteries na tinatawag, ‘pag sinuri nating mabuti, hindi naman sila gano’n ka-joyful. (Have you noticed that the Joyful Mysteries, upon closer inspection, are not really joyful?)At least not 100%. Annunciation? Mary must have been fully aware of the scandal…

Our Family Tree – Arnel Aquino, SJ

Matthew 1:1-17, Saturday before Fourth Sunday of Advent Long, long ago, in kingdoms far, far away, a genealogy was the typical way of starting a book, especially the story of a great man. In his Gospel, Matthew shows that the Messiah was a descendant of  King David, just as the prophets had foretold. Question: Was Jesus’…

Un-busy-ing – Mark Aloysius, SJ

Matthew 24:37-44, First Sunday of Advent   I. Have you ever heard the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by the Russian composer Rachmaninov? This rhapsody begins with a tune that I am sure all of you have heard, Caprice 24 by Paganini. In this first part of the rhapsody, we hear such a vibrant…

Watchful – Arnel Aquino, SJ

Matthew 24:37-44, First Sunday of Advent I grew up in Davao with my mom and lola constantly referring to the end of the world. After an earthquake, or news of a typhoon in Manila, or a big fire, they’d sermonize, “Ayan, malapit na ang end of the world. Galit na ang Diyos sa mga kasalanan ng…