WORD ALIVE FR. BEL SAN LUIS, SVD During the days of the Civil War in America, a guard was caught sleeping on duty. For that, he was sentenced to death. When Pres. Abraham, Lincoln heard about it, he himself talked with the guard and ordered the penalty be commuted. * * * His generals complained,...
WORD ALIVE FR. BEL SAN LUIS, SVD When Mt. Pinatubo erupted in 1991 causing great devastation to Zambales and Pampanga provinces, many deemed it as God's wrath over two "cities of sin" located within those provinces. The Mt. Pinatubo tragedy may be compared to the ones mentioned in the gospel of...
WORD ALIVE FR. BEL SAN LUIS, SVD A patient, who was being wheeled into the operating room, pleaded with the young doctor: “Doc, please be gentle with me; this…this is my first time to be operated on!” The surgeon, who also looked nervous, glanced at her and blurted out: “Do…don’t worry,...
WORD ALIVE FR. BEL SAN LUIS, SVD There's an amusing story about a young man who was constantly bedeviled by sensual thoughts. Feeling guilty, he consulted a priest-friend. "Don't worry," the priest assured him, "these thoughts popped out in our minds. They're not sinful but only enticements. But...
WORD ALIVE FR. BEL SAN LUIS, SVD A parish priest happened to meet one of his parishioners in a mall and said, "Johnny, I haven't seen you in church for a long time. What happened?" "Father, I've stopped going to church. There are a lot of hypocrites there." Whereupon, the priest smiled and said:...
WORD ALIVE FR. BEL SAN LUIS, SVD Everybody wants to be happy. But happiness is a very elusive thing. And the reason is we don't agree on what it means to be happy. Some maintain that you can be happy if you have lots of money, including ill-gotten. Others believe in the saying, "Eat, drink and be...
WORD ALIVE FR. BEL SAN LUIS, SVD The gospel of this 5 th Sunday relates about Jesus calling his first apostles — a band of simple fishermen. The Lord must have made a deep impression on them that "they left everything" — their work, their boats, their families — and followed him (Lk 5:11)....
WORD ALIVE Fr. Bel San Luis Once there was a professor in theology at a Catholic university. On his first day, he asked the students to write down what their notion of Jesus was. While going over the papers later, the professor was amused by the many curious answers. There was one that particularly...
WORD ALIVE FR. BEL SAN LUIS, SVD There was once a woman who brought her child to church for baptism. "What's the baby's name?" asked the parish priest. "Toyota," said the mother. Taken aback, the priest said, "Why that name?" " Kasi po Father," she replied, " iyong panganay ko ay...
WORD ALIVE Fr. Bel San Luis A story is told about a Franciscan, a Jesuit, and an SVD who paid homage to the Christ Child in Bethlehem. The Franciscan was interested in the manger to serve as reminder of the poverty and simplicity their Order professed. * * * The Jesuit was more interested to have...
WORD ALIVE Fr. Bel San Luis An elementary school teacher was telling her class about statistics which indicate that more twins are being born these days than in the past. "Why?" asked a little boy. "Because," replied a tiny girl, "little children are afraid to come into the world alone." * * * That...
Word Alive Fr. Bel San Luis The fourth and last Sunday of Advent focuses on the personages surrounding Jesus, the center of our Christmas celebration: Mary, Joseph, and her cousin Elizabeth and Zacariah. * * * Some years ago in a pilgrimage, I had visited the "hill country" called Ein Karem, the...
