JANUARY 25 is the Feast of that dramatic conversion of St. Paul. It’s a feast that reminds us that Christ can choose anybody to work with him as an apostle, because in fact, everybody is meant to be one, if he truly is consistent with his human and Christian dignity. A
January 25, 2023
THAT’S true! Love and all its different manifestations always work for unity among ourselves, irrespective of our unavoidable differences and conflicts. In fact, these latter conditions can occasion a greater and purer brand of love. At the same time, hatred and all its cohorts do nothing other than divide us. They
January 23, 2023
IT’S interesting to note that, as the gospel of St. Matthew narrates, Christ somehow had to make some drastic changes in his plans when he learned that John the Baptist was imprisoned. (cfr. Mt 4,17-23) He left Nazareth and withdrew to Galilee to live in Capernaum. And yet such change of
January 21, 2023
IT’S intriguing to note that Christ would just appoint as his apostles practically anyone. It would look like his choice was done purely at random. He would even choose someone who would betray him. And many times, he would scold his apostles for their lack of faith and understanding. And the
January 20, 2023
AS persons, we are meant by definition to care for one another. We are meant to relate ourselves with everybody else one way or another. No man is an island, it is said. That is why we are given the proper faculties—our intelligence, will, emotions, passions, appetites, etc.—so that we could
January 19, 2023
WHAT is to be self-righteous? It’s when we base our idea of what is right and wrong, good and bad on our own estimation of things with hardly any reference to God. Or there might be some references to God, as usually the case, but in the end, it is our
January 18, 2023
WHAT is Pharisaical legalism? At bottom, it’s the understanding of law that is based only on our human ways, ignoring the ultimate basis of law who is God as revealed fully in Christ. As such, it tends to be rigid, to be quick to judge and to claim it has the
January 17, 2023
WHEN Christ said, “No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse,” (Mk 2,21) we are somehow reminded that in our life there is always need for continuing adaptation due to
January 16, 2023
ON this Feast of the Sto. Niño, we are reminded that irrespective of whatever status we have in this life, it is always necessary that we be like children. Why? Christ told his disciples clearly: “Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever
January 14, 2023
REMEMBER that episode when a paralytic was presented to Christ for curing under great effort? (cfr. Mk 2,1-12) Christ was so amazed at their faith that he not only cured the man of his illness but also forgave his sins, which was the more important thing the paralytic received that day.
January 13, 2023
IT’S quite intriguing that Christ would often tell the beneficiaries of his miracles to tell no one about them except to those who need to know. And in these cases, they were often told to go home or to the report to the priests. Obviously, many of these beneficiaries, deeply amazed
January 12, 2023
