As we enter the 3rd Sunday of Advent, we are reminded of how the people to whom John the Baptist preached, started asking what they should do to be worthy of being baptized. (cfr. Lk 3,10-18) That’s when John the Baptist told them that while he...
THIS was what Christ once lamented about while preaching to the crowd. “To what shall I compare this generation?” he asked. “It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance,...
THAT should always be the proper condition of our life. In this regard, let us follow the example of Our Lady, the perfect person, who upon being told that she was going to be the mother of the Son of God, simply said, “Fiat mihi...
THE days before Christmas usually see us frenziedly preparing for the birth of Christ. It’s a natural behavior for someone who is very special to all of us. After all, Christ is God who makes himself man to save us, to recover us from our...
WE have to be more keenly aware of this truth of our faith. Our actions can and should have eternal value. And this can happen when everything we do is done with God and for God. It’s when we do things with love for God...
THAT’S right! While everyone is encouraged to pursue holiness, we have to understand that holiness should not just be kept to oneself. That would not be true holiness. Holiness, by the mere fact that we are all persons meant to always enter into relation with...
Christmas giving, as explained by Portia in Shakespeare's play "The Merchant of Venice," highlights the nature of mercy and kindness. "The quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth like a gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath, it is twice blessed, it blessed...
(An excerpt of the homily of the Most Reverend Romulo G. Valles D.D. during the 59th Parochial Fiesta of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Tibungco on Dec 3, 2024) Ug milingi siya [si Jesus], ngadto sa mga tinun-an ug miingon siya [si Jesus], “bulahan ang mga...
The Immaculate Virgin Mary was young when she conceived the Lord, yet she did not waver in her response to God’s call. Her fiat to the Archangel Gabriel marked her as the new Ark of the Covenant, bearing the fulfillment of God’s promise to save...
DECEMBER 8 this year, usually marking the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, is also the 2nd Sunday of Advent which takes precedence over the Marian solemnity. This happy coincidence, through the gospel reading of the day, (cfr. Lk 3,1-6) somehow reminds us that through...