WORD ALIVE This Sunday is the feast of Ascension. We commemorate the end of the Lord's public ministry in this world. It does not mean that he is no longer with us. The evangelist Matthew writes Jesus’ declaration: “I am with you always until the end of the world.” Jesus has gone up to...
WORD ALIVE There’s a poignant story told when a destructive earthquake hit Turkey some years ago. After the temblor, rescue teams worked frantically, hoping that some people buried under the rubbles might still be alive. Eight days after the killer quake, miraculously a woman was found alive. So...
WORD ALIVE Once a student of a Catholic college was being initiated into a Catholic organization. He was asked: “What are the most important requirements of our Christian faith?” Without batting an eyelash, he replied, “Going to mass on Sunday and receiving Holy Communion.” Well, these are,...
WORD ALIVE Tomorrow is Good Shepherd Sunday. It is a day in the Catholic Church worldwide to focus attention on the religious vocations of priests, nuns and lay brothers, and to pray for more vocations. The need for priests and religious cannot be stressed enough. We need spiritual shepherds...
WORD ALIVE In today’s gospel, we read about the third appearance of the Risen Lord to two disciples at Emmaus. The manifestations served to confirm and bolster the sagging faith of his close followers. They had doubts and misgivings if he was really the expected Messiah. “Did he really rise...
WORD ALIVE An SVD missionary in one of the Pacific Islands related how surprised he was one day to be visited in his parish by a woman carrying a handful of sand. “Do you know what this is?” she asked. “It looks like sand,” replied the missionary. “What does this all mean?” “Well,...
WORD ALIVE In the vigil service of Holy Saturday tonight, Christians await the Lord as He comes forth from the tomb. The paschal candle symbolizes the Risen Christ dispelling the darkness of sin and death. This is dramatically enacted as the church, with all the lights switched off, is enveloped in...
WORD ALIVE There is a true story about a Russian general, the governor of a province in one of the former Soviet Republics. Concerned with the outbreak of a rash of petty crimes, he issued an edict that anyone caught and convicted would receive one hundred lashes. As fate would have it, the first...
WORD ALIVE “7 Last Words.” The SVD Mission Communications Foundation, Inc. will telecast online over ABS-CBN (Kapamilya channel) the “7 Last Words” on Good Friday, March 29 at 12 noon-3 p.m. Join us at the Divine Word Shrine in Christ the King Seminary, E. Rodriguez Blvd. We would like to...
WORD ALIVE One morning, a husband who had a quarrel with his wife went to church to attend Mass. When he came home, he looked for his wife and, finding her in the kitchen, embraced and lifted her up. Startled, the wife yelled, “Why did you do that? Did the priest tell you to be romantic?” The...
WORD ALIVE According to a Jewish legend, when God was about to create man, he consulted the angels that stood about his throne. “Create him not,” said the angel of Justice. “For he will commit all kinds of wickedness against his fellowman; he will be cruel and dishonest and...
WORD ALIVE In most stories of the gospel, Jesus Christ is depicted as a gentle, kind, compassionate man. However, in one incident at the temple, the Lord is seen fuming mad (Jn 2,13-22). Making a kind of whip of cords, "he drove sheep and oxen alike out of the temple area, and...
