(An excerpt of the homily of the Most Rev. Romulo G. Valles, D.D., during the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time/Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary at San Pedro Cathedral Parish, September 8, 2024) If we go to the 1st reading today from the Prophet Isaiah: “Thus...
The Teresian Daughters of Mary (TDM) have played an integral role in advancing the mission of evangelization in the Archdiocese of Davao, now celebrating its 75th year. As a community deeply rooted in the teachings of St. Teresa of Avila and inspired by the pastoral...
WE should have no doubt about this truth of our faith. Christ himself said, “Whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.” (Mk 8,35) There is no greater loss we can have in this life than the loss...
WHEN Christ said that no blind man should lead another blind man, since both of them would just fall sooner or later, and that no disciple is greater than his master and can only be perfect when he is like his master, (cfr. Lk 6,39-42)...
I BELIEVE it’s when we manage to love our enemies that we can truly say we are real Christians. That’s because we can only do that when we truly identify ourselves with Christ. It definitely is an identification that does not take place on the natural...
THAT was clearly spelled out for us in the Beatitudes as articulated by Christ. (cfr. Lk 6,20-26) As long as we believe and live out what Christ taught, whatever human disaster, disadvantage and inconvenience as viewed according to human and worldly standards can be converted...
IT’S amazing that Christ had to excuse himself from his very busy schedule in order to pray. He is God himself. He should have no need to pray. But as the gospel many times say, he had to go somewhere to talk to the Father. As...
THEY often go together and we are very much prone to them. Thus, we have to be properly guarded, training ourselves to practice restraint and to be quick to rectify once we fall into them. We are reminded of this phenomenon in that gospel episode where...
Cycle, a period of time within which a round of regularly recurring events is completed. Apocalypse, revelation, in Christian religion, it refers to the last book of the New Testament, describing the signs of the end of the world (for some it is rapture.) Most...
When I was diagnosed as hypertensive last August, I realized the importance of having money saved for emergency purposes. Since it was unexpected, I was able to do a series of laboratory procedures as requested by my doctor without worrying where to get the money...