THROUGH UNTRUE Fr. Rolando V. dela Rosa, O.P. One of the poems I love to read and reread is "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. It tells us that choosing between two equally attractive options is difficult. It is like standing at a crossroads, and you cannot decide which path to follow. But once...
THROUGH UNTRUE Fr. Rolando V. dela Rosa, O.P. My friend Erick once enjoyed a big number of "friends" and "followers" on social media. But when he started posting religious messages taken from the Bible, many unfriended, unfollowed or ghosted him. One person even sent him this message: "Reading your...
THROUGH UNTRUE Fr. Rolando V. dela Rosa, O.P. Imagination is one of our most unused, disused, and abused human faculties. The emphasis on cold, rigorous, and logical reasoning has somehow reduced imagination to a mental workshop for illusions and delusions. Blame this on the influence of western...
THROUGH UNTRUE Fr. Rolando V. dela Rosa, O.P. Many people ask, “Is there life after death?” For us Christians, this has been definitively answered by Jesus when He resurrected from the dead. Our final destination is not the grave. We are meant to live forever. The crucial question is, “After...
THROUGH UNTRUE Fr. Rolando V. dela Rosa, O.P. My friend, Peter, who is barely 40 years old, cheerful and happily married, was suddenly diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. He does not smoke or drink and has a healthy lifestyle. He is a conscientious and law-abiding man, a good husband, and above all, a...
THROUGH UNTRUE Fr. Rolando V. dela Rosa, O.P. In our gospel reading today, Mary sits idly listening to Jesus while her sister Martha is doing all the work. Martha complains: "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me" (Luke 10:40). The answer...
THROUGH UNTRUE Fr. Rolando V. dela Rosa, O.P. President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. received exuberant applause while delivering his inaugural address. I myself was moved by his sincerity and firm resolve. He seems poised to realize our dream of a better and brighter Philippines during his incumbency. He...
THROUGH UNTRUE Fr. Rolando V. dela Rosa, O.P. In today's gospel reading, a young man enthusiastically volunteered to be a follower of Jesus, but he received this reply: “Foxes have dens, the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Mt. 8:20). What Jesus...
THROUGH UNTRUE Fr. Rolando V. dela Rosa, O.P. Today, 50 days after Easter Sunday, we celebrate the solemn feast of Pentecost, traditionally considered the birthday of the Church. One of the enduring qualities of the Church is holiness, precisely because of the presence and activity of the Holy...
THROUGH UNTRUE Fr. Rolando V. dela Rosa, O.P. In the past, whenever I read today's gospel reading, I used to focus on these words: "I give you a new commandment, love one another" (John 13:34). Today, I put more emphasis on the succeeding words: "As I have loved you." These words indicate HOW we...
THROUGH UNTRUE Fr. Rolando V. dela Rosa, O.P. According to Chaos theory, what we consider ordinary, insignificant happenings can have far-reaching influence on subsequent events. A metaphor for this is the "butterfly effect." A butterfly flapping its wings can trigger a powerful typhoon elsewhere....
THROUGH UNTRUE Fr. Rolando V. dela Rosa, O.P. It is a common saying that truth is stranger than fiction. But today, fiction is stronger than truth. Just look at the impact of surveys on our choice of leaders. It is a case of numerical "might is right." Survey firms legitimize their findings by...
