THE Feast of St. John, the Apostle, celebrated two days after Christmas, presents us with his inspiring example of eagerness to look for Christ. As the gospel reading of the day tells us, the youngest apostle ran ahead of Peter and arrived at the empty tomb first once they were told
December 27, 2022
THAT’S right! If we are truly and consistently Christian, fear would have no place in our heart other than that wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit himself that is the fear of the Lord, which is a healthy kind of fear. The fear of the Lord is the fear of offending
December 26, 2022
INDEED, a day of great joy! The Son of God, the perfect image that God has of himself and the image after whom we are patterned, is finally born to be with us and to give us “the way, the truth and the life” that is proper to us. We should
December 24, 2022
Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE) Talamban, Cebu City Email: roycimagala@gmail.com THAT otherwise amusing story of how the baby of Elizabeth and Zechariah was to be called John instead of Zechariah as their neighbors suggested (cfr. Lk 1,57-66) somehow tells us that in our life we have to contend
December 23, 2022
THE Magnificat, that most wonderful prayer of praise said by Our Lady during her visit to her cousin, Elizabeth, gives us the idea that in order for us to level up to the dignity of God’s image and likeness, children of his, sharers of his life and nature, we need to
December 22, 2022
IT’S worthwhile taking note of that detail in the gospel where Our Lady, upon learning that her cousin, Elizabeth, was also conceiving a son in her womb, immediately went to visit her to offer some help. (cfr. Lk 1,39-45) The meeting of the two gave rise to the most wonderful expressions
December 21, 2022
AS we approach that most wonderful event of the birth of Christ on Christmas Day, we are reminded of how his mother, Our Lady, believed the message of the Archangel Gabriel that she was going to be the mother of the Son of God. (cfr. Lk 1,26-38) She tried to clarify
December 20, 2022
THE secret is to assume the identity of Christ and his attitude toward all forms of human weakness and limitations. He himself assumed our human weaknesses even to the extent of making himself like sin without committing sin, if only to save us from our fatal predicament. (cfr. 2 Cor 5,21)
December 19, 2022
AS we approach Christmas, it is heartwarming to note that in our country, we have this blessed expression of popular piety called the Aguinaldo Masses. It truly shows the kind of faith and piety we have as a people. Though expressed with some human fanfare, it cannot be denied that such
December 17, 2022
THERE is that gospel episode where some Jewish leaders started to persecute Christ because Christ, by making an invalid walk, appeared to them as making himself equal to God. (cfr. Jn 5) They just could not accept that. That was when Christ told them that what he did to that invalid,
December 16, 2022
IT is said that after the messengers of St. John the Baptist left, Christ immediately described who and how St. John was. (cfr. Lk 7,24-30) “What did you go out to the desert to see – a reed swayed by the wind?” he asked. “Then what did you go out to
December 15, 2022
WE are reminded of this warning in that gospel episode where St. John the Baptist told his disciples to ask Christ if he truly was the “who is to come, or should we look for another?” (cfr. Lk 7,19) And the response of Christ was classic. “Go and tell John what
December 14, 2022