REFLECTIONS TODAY One of the surest signs that something is not from God is when there are divisions, factions, quarrels. While at times one may have to stand for one’s principles and thus resist evil or oppression, our ultimate goal is to pursue and preserve love, peace, and harmony. When Jesus...
#MINDANAO John Tria I traveled the length of the Davao Cotabato highway last week. I caught sight of the famous gorgeous sunset over the Moro Gulf. Travelling the five-hour stretch between Davao and Cotabato cities, at daytime and nigh time, I passed many parts of a four-lane, well-lit highway,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY MATTHEW 4:12-23 When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled: Land of Zebulun and land...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In our jobs, there are certain days when we feel like we get swarmed by too much work, things to accomplish piling one on top of another, and we do not even have time to eat or at least enjoy what we eat. In church ministry, this can also happen: on certain days we are just too...
REFLECTIONS TODAY We know that, as God, Jesus could have carried out his ministry single-handedly. Yet, because he chose to fully immerse himself in the human condition, it means that he could not do everything by himself all at once. He thus needed companions, co-workers, and partners in mission....
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Gospel narrates Jesus being very active and “successful” in his ministries of healing, teaching, and driving out demons. People from all over come in order to experience his power. He and his disciples have to be very creative in order to meet the excessive demand. We...
REFLECTIONS TODAY What can catch our attention in today’s Gospel is that Jesus looks with anger at those who condemn him for healing a man with a withered hand on a Sabbath. But this is immediately explained by the next words: he “grieved at their hardness of heart” (v 5). Some of us may be...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The First Reading declares that God is faithful to his promise as he made good the promise he made to Abraham. The Hebrews only needed to be faithful, patient, and enduring in their efforts to imitate their models. God’s faithfulness to his promise may not come in the form or...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Letter to the Hebrews in the First Reading makes a very striking and instructive declaration about Jesus as the High Priest, namely, that “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered” (v 8). Before this, the author says that when Jesus lived as a human...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Mt 18:1-5, 10 The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever...
REFLECTIONS TODAY We often hear it said, as St. Paul also says, “Bad company corrupts good morals” (1 Cor 15:33). In fact, parents usually warn their children to choose who they associate or make friends with. The fear is that one becomes what one’s companions are. While this has truth in it,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY If the healing miracle narrated in today’s Gospel happened today, it would surely make the headlines, not just because of the healing itself, but the way this happened. Can we imagine an already paralyzed man having to be lifted up to a roof and from there, through a hole,...
