I WAS happy to learn that in his New Year address, Pope Francis recommended jettisoning what he called as life’s “useless baggage” that includes empty chatter and banal consumerism. He advised setting aside a time of prayer everyday so as to be with God. In the...
AS part of the 9-year plan of preparation of the 5th centennial of the Christianization of the Philippines in 2021, our bishops have declared 2018 as Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Persons. It’s a good year-long occasion to reflect and deepen our understanding of the...
THANKS be to God, we still celebrate Christmas in our country in a religious way. In an increasingly secularized world, our way of celebrating Christmas indeed stands out. And our fervent prayer should be that this way of celebration persists till the end of time and,...
LIFE cannot help but be marked if not filled with routine and banality. We do the same things everyday. We follow more or less the same schedule. Any change, especially for the better, seems to take an eternity to happen. If we are not careful,...
YES, that’s what the liturgical season of Advent is. It’s a period of a love-filled waiting not only for the most joyous Christmas, the birth of Christ, but also and most especially of the second coming of Christ. We need to look forward to that coming...
IF we have the mind to follow Christ’s self-emptying and his advice to deny ourselves daily, it might be a good idea to make it a daily habit to give up something---be it a matter of comfort, preference, convenience, opinion, food & drink, etc. To be...
WHENEVER we come face to face with our limitations or our defects, mistakes, falls, etc., something that we could expect to be a usual occurrence in our life, given our weakened human condition, let’s be quick to assume the attitude once expressed by St. Paul....
THEY go together like inseparable twins. If love is true, then there will be zero bitterness even if a lot of pain and suffering are involved. Authentic love, which can only reflect God’s unconditional love for us, will make things sweet and meaningful. True love, as...
IF Christ had to empty himself if only to be like us and with us, should we not also try to reciprocate the same process of emptying ourselves so that we can be like him and be with him? St. Paul precisely had this in mind...
THIS is no gratuitous, baseless pursuit. We are not indulging in some fantasy when we exert the effort to make Christ alive in us. In the first place, because Christ himself is alive. He continues to be with us and is, in fact, actively intervening...
