OUR PARISH PRIEST

RELEASING YOUR COLLECTION OF BAGGAGE New Year 2012 A delivery package arrived last week with a carved wooden car inside. It is a collector’s item because it was made by a highly-skilled and famous young Filipino carver from Paete. It is the latest addition to my collection of trinkets that grow as the years go by. We love collector’s items. We collect all sorts of things. Aside from religious items, I have a collection of books, of pictures, of memorabilia from my previous assignments. What do you collect for yourself? But one thing about collections is this: we cannot bring all our collection wherever and whenever we want to. A friend of mine said, he couldn’t bring his books with him to a new assignment because they were too heavy. When a friend’s house was renovated, she could not take her puppies to her rented condominium. You know that when fire or flood threatens we can only take with us the most important things, and normally, we priori...

REQUIEM FOR A DEAR FRIEND, BERT SINGSON Bro. Bert is such a special person in my life as parish priest, as former parish priest of his community at Holy Family’s. And so when Jeanny called on the phone to inform me that he was rushed to the emergency room, I didn’t hesitate to follow him there right away. I prayed the Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for him while on the way. God has shown his favor by allowing me to administer the Holy Anointing and grant Absolution and Apostolic Pardon to Bro. Bert. In this homily, I want to pay tribute to Bro. Bert, from the vantage point of a parish priest looking at the spiritual legacy of his admirable parishioner. I met Bro. Bert and wife, Sis. Bie when they paid me a visit shortly after I came to Holy Family. They expressed their joy at my coming and their hopes for my ministry. They were very cordial, respectful and authentic in that encounter that I can still vividly remember how they looked that day. ...

AND SO THIS IS CHRISTMAS… “What is Christmas?” - we are always asked. What is its real meaning in a world that speaks only of the commercial value of this great Christian holy day? There is a picture that reminded me of the real meaning of Christmas. Lola Aurelia’s husband, Lolo Luis, who was suffering from dementia, left the house and was missing for two weeks. Unsatisfied by reports that said the old man was seen here and there and by the slow success of the search, Lola Aurelia, took matters into her own hands. She would look for him herself, roaming the streets of Manila with flyers of “missing person” pinned on the front and back of her clothes. She also handed to passersby other copies of the flyers. One day, a young photojournalist took the picture of a weary Lola Aurelia seated on a pavement, tired after a day’s search. The picture landed on Facebook. With the spread of sympathy for her sacrifices, Lola would soon have a definite reu...

POPE BENEDICT XVI ON CHRISTMAS God’s sign is his humility. God’s sign is that he makes himself small; he becomes a child; he lets us touch him and he asks for our love. How we would prefer a different sign, an imposing, irresistible sign of God’s power and greatness! But his sign summons us to faith and love, and thus it gives us hope: this is what God is like. He has power, he is Goodness itself. He invites us to become like him. Yes indeed, we become like God if we allow ourselves to be shaped by this sign; if we ourselves learn humility and hence true greatness; if we renounce violence and use only the weapons of truth and love.

TYPHOON SENDONG IN A DEADLY RAMPAGE OF MINDANAO JUST DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS… SOME PEOPLE WILL AGAIN DOUBT GOD’S LOVE… BUT SOME WILL START SHARING GOD’S LOVE…. HOW ABOUT YOU, WHAT WILL YOU DO?

WHY MARY? Advent 4 Today we revisit the biblical account of the Annunciation and we encounter the figure of Mary, the maiden of Nazareth, again. Why is Mary important in our approach to Christmas? Is it just because of her role as natural mother of the Divine Son of God? Yes, the crib is not complete with her there. Christmas cards are all the warmer and more tender when she is seen caressing her baby boy. But Mary is not a mere spectator, not a decoration, not an addendum to the Christmas story. There is a quality in Mary that poses a challenge to our life of faith. There is something in her life that makes us rethink the way we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Mary teaches us how to make room for Jesus. Before the angel came, Mary had whole life neatly planned before her. She was in a peaceful and religious Jewish home. She was engaged to be married to Joseph. Nothing seemed to upset the normal routine of a simple country girl. But then...

HAPPY AT THE TOP? Advent 3 There is a game show on television where the contestants are asked what they want to do with their lives. Almost everyone, especially the young, say they want to be a television or movie star. The host then screamed: What is it with you people? Why do you all want to be entertainment personalities?!? No doubt, many people, the young and not so young, think that exposure in the world of entertainment makes you famous, rich and powerful. And they think that these things are the ingredients for happiness in this life. Becoming a celebrity pushes you up high where everyone can see and admire you. And that will definitely make you happy! Today, the advent theme is joy, happiness in the Lord! What a great topic. We all need joy in our lives. God is telling us that He is the author of joy, the source of joy. From first reading, to the responsorial psalm, to the second reading, the cogent call is unavoidable – rejoice in t...

History and Significance of Dogma of Immaculate Conception Interview With Father Jesús Castellano Cervera ROME, JULY 18, 2004 ( Zenit.org ).- The dogma of the Immaculate Conception, proclaimed 150 years ago, rediscovers in its profundity the _expression "full of grace," says a consultor of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Discalced Carmelite Father Jesus Castellano Cervera, a specialist in Marian studies, reflects in this interview with ZENIT on the origin and significance of this dogma. Next month John Paul II will make a pilgrimage to Lourdes, the place in France where the Blessed Virgin appeared in 1858 and confirmed the truth of her immaculate conception. Q: What is the history and significance of this dogma? Father Castellano Cervera: It is a long and complex history. It goes back to the understanding of the mystery of Mary in her privileged relationship with God and with the mystery of salvation, to which she is associated from the first moment of...

THE ROLE OF THE MESSENGER Advent 2 In this time of fax machines, emails, and social networking, who needs a messenger? Do we still need these delivery men and women who walk or ride bicycles and motorbikes as part of their jobs? I was surprised that in a tv show, it was revealed that a great many offices still employ messengers. Aside from the personal touch that comes with a human being knocking on your door, the messenger is also one of the most reliable means of getting to a client or business partner since he defies traffic, delivers and collects on time and achieves instant feedback from customers. In the business world, a messenger delivers packages or letters. But in the Bible, a messenger does more than deliver. St. John the Baptist in this Advent gospel according to Mark, states that his mission is to prepare the road. His role is more than just to announce. His role is to ensure that the recipient is ready for an encounter with the One who sends the message. Our lives ar...

GETTING INTO THE PERFECT SHAPE ADVENT - 1 The first reading from Isaiah is a sincere admission of humanity’s guilt for sin and wrongdoing. People have strayed from the right path and abandoned the way of the Lord. Isaiah leads us to ponder how we have hardened our hearts, how unclean we have become, how polluted our actions have become. And yet, as sincere is the acknowledgement of sins is the confidence in the power God. God, though he might have been angry with our infidelity, is the only one we can turn to once we start desiring to reform ourselves. Nothing can dim the fact that God is our father, the father who remains devoted even to wayward children. And then Isaiah turns to an image of God the Father that is most unusual but very instructive and true – God is a potter, and we are clay in his hands. Have you ever seen a potter at work? The clay he shapes in his hands never turn out perfect at once. First, it is disfigured. Then it brea...

Prayer for the New Archbishop of Manila God our Father, our shepherd and guide, you tend your Church in many ways, and rule us with love. Look with love on your servant, Luis Antonio, whom you have chosen to watch over your, flock with a shepherd’s care. Help him to be a faithful teacher, a wise administrator, and a holy priest. May his word and example inspire and guide the Church and his watchful care bring us your blessing. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE KING OF LOVE, OUR SAVIOR IS Christ the King Going through the gospel for today’s Christ the King solemn feast, I heard in my mind the familiar, calming chant of Taize: Ubi caritas et amor, ubi caritas, Deus ibi est (where there is charity and love, there God is). As we summarize another liturgical year by celebrating the Kingship of Christ in our lives, we are forced to consider how the Kingdom of God can really be present in our world today. We proclaim Jesus our King. We await his Kingdom to come in fullness and make itself manifest as sovereign reality and truth in our world. It is His Kingdom and yet we are entrusted with a share of responsibility in its blossoming. How do we hasten the Kingdom of Christ on earth? Some people say, by Prayer. To find praying people is truly inspiring. People who go to Mass, spend time in adoration chapels, faithfully recite the Rosary or read the Bible. But to think that we can only pray for the Kingdom is a big mi...