SOMEONE sent me a podcast about how one should speak so that people listen and not get turned off. Among the mistakes that should be avoided in this regard are the following: neglecting to prepare, using filler words, talking too fast, talking too softly, forgetting to make eye contact, using distracting
March 31, 2025
THERE’S always hope despite whatever stupidities we commit or fall into. That, I think, is what the parable of the prodigal son, (cfr. Lk 15,11-32) among many other instances in the gospel, is telling us. Yes, we can be so bad as to lose what we may call as our sense
March 29, 2025
THIS is the condition proper to us in this world. We have to see to it that we are detached from the things of the world so we can fully give ourselves to God. We have to be wary of our tendency to be easily attached and trapped in our worldly
March 28, 2025
THAT’S from Psalm 95,8 that is often used in many liturgical prayers. And rightly so, since we are notorious precisely for not listening to God but prefer to listen to our own selves and to the things of this world. We should learn how not to harden our hearts so
March 27, 2025
THAT’S what we can conclude if we are to follow what Christ himself said: “Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets, I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or
March 26, 2025
A NUMBER of precious considerations can be drawn when we consider the significance of this Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, when the Son of God gets conceived as man in the virginal womb of Mary. One is that God always takes the initiative to come to us, to be
March 25, 2025
A GOOD number of times, the Bible reminds us of the need of this virtue of sobriety. The following passages are a few of the examples: 1 Thessalonians 5,6-8: “Let us be awake and sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”
March 24, 2025
THIS is what we can gather from that gospel parable about a certain man who planted a fig tree in his vineyard and who after 3 years sought for a fruit but did not find one. (cfr. Lk 13,6-9) Frustrated, he wanted to cut it down, but was appeased by the
March 22, 2025
IN all our relationships, especially with God, the ideal condition to pursue and achieve is that of intimacy and ardor. While this would require tremendous effort and sacrifice, we should convince ourselves that pursuing it would be all worthwhile. Of course, we should not forget that we would need, first of
March 21, 2025
By Fr. Roy Cimagala That parable about the rich man and the beggar Lazarus (cfr. Lk 16:19-31) clearly reminds us that we need to live the Christian spirit of poverty, which, if understood properly, is not about what you have or do not have, or how much wealth you have or do not have. It
March 20, 2025
INDEED! Otherwise, our pursuit for knowledge not motivated by and oriented toward love for God and others would only be a pure exercise of self-indulgence, prone to many other anomalies like pride, vanity, lust, greed, envy, etc. that definitely would undermine our true identity and dignity as persons and children of
March 19, 2025
By Fr. Roy Cimagala WE can never overemphasize the importance of this virtue of humility. It helps us to be simple and sincere, transparent and consistent to our beliefs and words. We can avoid what Christ once complained about the Pharisees of his time when he said, “Do and observe all things whatsoever they tell
March 18, 2025