“UNLESS your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5,20) With these words, Christ is telling us how our righteousness should be. And that is that we have to have the righteousness that truly...
“Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one that asketh, receiveth: and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.” (Mt 7,7-8) The words of Christ...
“This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” (Lk 11,29) With these words of Christ, we are somehow asked to develop a strong faith by going through continuing conversion all throughout...
YES, we have to be most wary of these two spiritual anomalies that can easily come to us. In that gospel episode where Christ talked about the last judgment, he told the goats—the evil men—that precisely they had these anomalies. “Depart from me, you accursed, into...
WE have to be wary of the danger to turn our prayer into mere babble of words. Christ pointed this out when he said: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.” (Mt...
The Church gives this season of Lent as a time for repentance. There is sadness amidst us brought about by the realization of the sins we commit. But there is also joy as we savor the love and compassion of the Lord giving Himself for...
The most famous historical event in Philippine history was the so-called Edsa Revolution. Thousands of people swarmed into Edsa Avenue on 25 February 1986 to face the armored tanks of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Who were these brave individuals and what did they...
(An excerpt from the Homily of Most Rev. Romulo G. Valles, D.D., Archbishop of Davao, February 26, 2022 during the live streamed mass Ordination to Diaconate of Bro. Emmanuel V. Angelitud, OCD, at the Discalced Carmelite Fathers Holy Family Novitiate House Rambutan St., Tugbok Proper,...
IT’S intriguing to note that Christ allowed himself to be tempted by the devil. (cfr. Lk 4,1-13) Although we can presume that the devil would have no chance to succeed in his effort, Christ must have allowed this event to happen to teach us how...
“Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?” (Mt 9,15) That’s taken from the gospel of Friday after Ash Wednesday. It’s Christ’s response when he was asked why his disciples do not fast as often as those of the Pharisees....