WORD ALIVE Fr. Bel San Luis The message of this 3rd Sunday of Advent is – “Gaudete,” a Latin word which means “rejoice” or “be joyful.” That’s why the liturgical color is pink. Incidentally, it’s the color of a presidential candidate in the 2022 national election. With the birth...
WORD ALIVE Fr. Bel San Luis Here is a test for you. You are sleeping and then dreaming. A hold-upper is running after you. You turn sideways, but every side you turn to, you find another guy holding a knife coming after you. Too scared, you don’t know where to run to. You’re blocked. How can...
WORD ALIVE Fr. Bel San Luis Today is the feast of Christ the King of the Universe. Is Christ really a king? Standing before Pilate, Christ did not deny it. But then he said, "My kingdom does not belong to this world" (Jn 18:36). Jesus' reply means he was not the kind of king Pilate imagined: a...
Word Alive FR. BEL SAN LUIS, SVD One night, a stormy rain stranded a couple on a remote country road. Unable to go any farther, they got out of their car and walked toward a dimly lit farmhouse. When they reached the house, an elderly couple, carrying a kerosene lamp, met them at the door....
WORD ALIVE FR. BEL SAN LUIS, SVD Somebody once said, “There are two things we cannot escape in this life — paying taxes and dying.” The first is certainly not true because we know too well that there are tax evaders. But with death, that’s a 100-per-cent certainty. No wonder, one funeral...
WORD ALIVE FR. BEL SAN LUIS, SVD One Sunday morning after saying Mass at the Sacred Heart Church in Kamuning, Quezon City run by our SVD confreres, a couple approached me with their baby, cuddled by the wife. "Father, we're from this parish," they greeted. "We're lay missionaries working in Papua...
WORD ALIVE Fr. Bel San Luis Once a priest was complaining why his bishop was naming “monsignors” again. “That’s no longer practiced,” he said. And the bishop said to a friend, “You know, sometimes I wonder why when I give the purple attire to some priests, the faces of other priests...
WORD ALIVE Fr. Bel San Luis How hard it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God” (Mk 10:25). * * * The words of Jesus are very disturbing and threatening for the rich. What does the...
WORD ALIVE Fr. Bel San Luis Once a husband was examining his and wife’s marriage certificate. He looked at the back, trying to find something. Seeing what he was doing, the wife blurted, “What are you doing? You have been scrutinizing that marriage certificate for a long time already.” The...
WORD ALIVE Fr. Bel San Luis The news, which originated from CNN Philippines last Sept. 21 and circulated through other media outlets, averred that “Christ the King Seminary in Quezon City tested positive for COVID-19, the local government says.” “Twenty-five of the 59 individuals in the...
WORD ALIVE Fr. Bel San Luis One time I was talking with a barangay chairman. I asked him why he keeps on running for the top barangay position. His reply was: “I want people to have a high regard for me and my family. I want people to recognize me.” I admired the man’s frank response but I...
WORD ALIVE Fr Bel San Luis A lot of love stories end with the words: “And they lived happily ever after.” Is that really true? There’s a young man who got married expecting to get lasting marital bliss. * * * After a couple of years, he was asked by the priest who solemnized his wedding how...
