How Do You “Konek Konek” IV: Pro-Life Sunday
In three previous articles on the topic "How Does One Konek Konek?" I have shown that one can relate liturgical readings to one another using the "free association of ideas". I have said that it is a...
View ArticleEven God Can Be Silent
A propos the Pope's message for World Day of Communications, Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi, a world-renowned exegete comments on the theme of God's silence. God's silence, he writes, has two faces, one...
View ArticleJesus’ Cry on the Cross
The first time my attention was called to this passage was when I was in high school. I overheard the conversation of two fellow students of which one was a Baptist and the other a member of the...
View ArticleLike a Ruminant
Last Sunday, as I preached on the Parable of the Sower, I mentioned that at a time when Christians didn’t have the luxury of owning a copy of the Scriptures, they went to Sunday Mass, the only place...
View ArticleSt. Valentine and his Dublin Shrine
Valentine was a holy priest in Rome, who, with St. Marius and his family, assisted the martyrs in the persecution under Claudius II. He was apprehended, and sent by the emperor to the prefect of Rome,...
View ArticleWhere is “Ten Augustinian Values”?
Where is the site for Ten Augustinian Values?" I've been asked this question several times and in several ways for the past few months. The reason is that the website that used to house the article...
View ArticlePutting Our Lives in God’s Hands
If we read James 4:13-17 out of context, it would seem as if he is rebuking some businessmen simply because they would like to earn some profit for themselves. But if we see the passage within its...
View ArticleIn the Shadow of the Cross
Here is a list of passages from the writings of Paul where the words "cross" and "crucified" appear. The Christian has been claimed under the sign of the cross. And Paul illustrates this in different...
View ArticleAugustine and Prayer
This morning I gave a lecture on Augustine's idea of prayer at the CSA-Biñan as part of the school's program in understanding Augustinian core values. During the course of the preparation for the talk,...
View ArticleOf 2012 and Augustine’s Sermon 97
Today, the movie "2012" -- a film based on the prediction that the world will end in 2012 -- began to be shown in our cinemas. Providentially, yesterday and today, the Gospel readings from Luke refer...
View ArticleThe Journey of the Mind to God
Bonaventure's Journey of the Mind to God concludes with the chapter on the rest of the mind. Such a "rest" is not the rest that results from the mind's reaching a conclusion. The rest involved is the...
View ArticleMatthew 18:15 and Fraternal Correction
The first line of this selection, Matthew 18:15 is associated in Catholic minds to "fraternal correction". Seen in context, however, the verse does not speak about correcting a brother in sin but about...
View ArticleDiscerning One’s Vocation
You probably have read Rick Warren's "The Purpose-Driven Life." From a Catholic point of view, what he did in and with that book is not new. The Catholic equivalent of his "Purpose-Driven Life"...
View ArticleMy Interest in the BEC
My interest in Basic Ecclesial Communities started when I did research on Latin America's Liberation Theology. I found BECs interesting because it made me realize that theology is not something one...
View ArticlePREX and Other Things
Last Sunday we saw fourteen new graduates from our Parish Renewal Experience. Together with this new group, four others who finished our first BEC Ministry Training Program also received their...
View ArticleA Problem of Thinking
Christian formation in the parish these days cannot be limited to just waiting for the faithful to approach the sacraments. This is a narrow view of the Church that reduces it to its sacramental...
View ArticleThe Mysteries of Light: Christian Life in a Nutshell
During one of the sessions I had with the sisters in retreat at Novaliches, I talked about the "Mysteries of the Light" as the Christian life in a nutshell. I read the Pope's Rosarium Virginis, but...
View ArticleHome Altars and Family Prayer
I write this on the Feast of the Dedication of John Lateran, the first Church building of Christianity, given to the Pope (was it Miltiades?) as a gift by Constantine. The Church building came after...
View ArticleIn Humble Service: I and Community in Creative Tension
Unhappiness is caused by the feeling that somehow I do not fit in the greater community. Feelings of rejection are aroused precisely because I expect to be accepted for who or what I am WITHOUT...
View ArticleLight of the World
How does one reconcile a passage like Jesus saying "I am the light of the world" (Jn. 8:12) and "Ye are the light of the world" (Mt. 5:14)?. Augustine in his De doctrina christiana III, mentions a rule...
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