THERE are times when our conscience confronts us with our sinfulness, usually the hidden and persistent ones, the way Christ confronted the sinfulness of the leading Jews of his time. (cfr. Lk 11,47-54) Instead of reacting the way these Jews did—they reacted with hostility toward Christ—we should be humble enough to
October 19, 2023
ON the Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist, celebrated on October 18, the gospel reading is about Christ appointing 72 disciples and sending them to places where he intended to go. (cfr. Lk 10,1-9) Somehow, a sense of urgency was injected in this commissioning when Christ told them, “The harvest is abundant
October 18, 2023
IT’S an idiomatic expression that means “to not understand or appreciate a larger situation, problem, etc., because one is considering only a few parts of it.” It’s an expression that aptly describes what was dramatized in that gospel episode where Christ was accused by a Pharisee who invited him for dinner
October 17, 2023
“THIS generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.” (Lk 11,29) Words of Christ that expressed his disappointment at
October 16, 2023
ONCE again, Christ uses a parable to impart to us the great truth of our Christian faith that we are meant to be in heaven, with God for all eternity where our definitive state of life is a sharing in the very life and nature of God himself, by whom we
October 14, 2023
“BY the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” (Lk 11,15) That was the reaction of some unbelieving Jews when Christ drove out a demon from a possessed person. They did not realize that their reasoning was marked by a contradiction. Thus, Christ pointed it out to
October 13, 2023
WE cannot deny that there are times when we can find ourselves in some emergency situation. We feel helpless, grasping at straws. And we find ourselves having no other alternative than to run to the nearest fellow who can lend us some help, going to the extent of pestering and disturbing
October 12, 2023
WE should repeat these words often. (cfr. Lk 11,1) We cannot deny that even if we have been praying already for the longest time, we still can learn how to do it better. These words of Christ’s disciples express the proper attitude we ought to have when we pray. They express
October 11, 2023
THAT rather amusing story of how the sisters Martha and Mary received Christ in their home highlights a very important aspect of our life. (cfr. 10,38-42) And that is that we have to know and live well the proper relationship between God and our work. As the gospel story narrates, both
October 10, 2023
INDEED, that’s how charity is. It’s all in, irrespective of how the objects of our charity are. They may reciprocate our love for them or not, they may like us or not. On our part we should just continue to love them if charity truly dwells in our heart. We are
October 9, 2023
THAT gospel parable about a landlord who leased his vineyard to tenants (cfr. Mt 21,33-43) reminds us that we should be faithful to whatever commitments we enter into. Commitments are an expression of an undying love which can only be carried out if we have true and undying love as well,
October 7, 2023
THIS is the mark of a true Christian. It’s when others see Christ in us. Remember Christ telling his disciples, “Whoever listens to you listens to me, whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” (Lk 10,16) We cannot overemphasize the fact that we
October 6, 2023
