WORD ALIVE Once a distraught man knelt in front of a life-size crucifix and poured out his many problems and sufferings. He was startled when the Lord suddenly spoke from the cross: “Alright, stop crying now. I know how you feel. Let’s exchange places. I’ll carry all...
WORD ALIVE A man once bragged that he read the Bible from cover to cover several times. But someone remarked, “People who read the Bible from cover to cover, know only the cover.” Just reading the Bible is not enough. What’s most important is to ponder God’s message or what he is...
WORD ALIVE Tomorrow is the feast of the Sto. Niño in the Philippines. It is immensely popular among Filipinos. Rich and poor, young and old alike maintain a strong, if not fanatical, devotion to the Holy Child. * * * On the feast, big and mini statues are dressed endearingly in...
WORD ALIVE On the eve of the graduation of a senior high school class, a dedicated and unassuming teacher was invited to a class farewell party. In her inspirational talk, the teacher said, “Someday you will all be successful in life. But remember, a peso is not a peso without one centavo. I am...
WORD ALIVE The gospel in this 25th Sunday relates about the envious workers. In Christ’s parable, the workers who were hired in the morning complained and protested that they were paid the same wage as those hired in the afternoon. “A gross injustice,” they grumbled. * * *...
WORD ALIVE The topic of this 24th Sunday is forgiveness. In Jesus’s parable, the king represents God who wishes to write off our debt of sin completely. However, there’s a condition. That is, we should also forgive our enemy. * * * It’s not easy to forgive. One time, when I was a...
WORD ALIVE A lot of love stories end with the words: “And they lived happily ever after.” Is that really true? There’s a guy who got married expecting to have lasting marital bliss. After a couple of years, he was asked by the priest who solemnized his wedding how things were getting...
WORD ALIVE The gospel for this 19th Sunday relates about our Lord walking on water. Somebody joked that he did this because he could not afford the exorbitant fare charged by the profiteering boat owners! * * * When Jesus was walking on the Sea of Galilee at about three o'clock at...
WORD ALIVE In today’s Sunday gospel, Jesus Christ relates about the Kingdom of heaven which is likened to a treasure buried in a field. A person finds it, hides it and sells all that he has and buys that field. The other parable is similar to the previous one wherein a merchant finds a pearl of...
WORD ALIVE Not too long ago a carjack incident happened when a lady tried to stop the carjackers by blocking the way of her brand-new car from being stolen. But the carjackers were determined. They did not only shoot her but even bumped her as they fled away with the car. The grieving father...
WORD ALIVE A professor in a college English class said to his students, “If you will just take a new word and use it 100 times, it will be yours forever.” Whereupon, a young woman in the class looked dreamily out of the window and sighed, “Piolo, Piolo, Piolo...” Jesus’ parables have been...
WORD ALIVE In today’s gospel, Jesus teaches the Christian commitment of hospitality or welcoming people into their homes. Hospitality is an important part of Christian charity. Jesus himself was often a guest in the house of Martha and Mary since he was an itinerant preacher. * * * One night,...
