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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...

IT’S NOT JUST A TALENT SHOW Sunday - 33 Suddenly there were talent shows one after another, first from foreign television. And when it landed in our country, we had Pinoy Idol, Pilipinas Got Talent, Talentadong Pinoy and Showtime. Not only Filipinos, but people around the world went on a talent craze, a talent infection. The gospel speaks of talents. But talent here does not mean show business prowess like dancing and acting. Talent refers to the good things we receive form the Lord. God distributes talents; he distributes varied gifts to all his children. There are several lessons we need to remember about talents. First, we do not receive the same or equal talents. The Lord says, the master distributed talents, “according to the ability of each” person. Nobody has a monopoly on all talents. Susan Boyle was booed in Britain when she appeared as a lousy, unappealing country girl. But when she belted out her tunes, she brought the house down an...

THANK YOU, FATHER OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF MANILA! SALAMAT PO MAHAL NA CARDINAL DENCY ROSALES! SA INYONG RETIREMENT, PATULOY NINYO KAMING IPAGDASAL… “The poor may not say it, but they look to us for accompaniment. This will take place when we respond with awareness of their presence. Can we put a “spirit” to this hunger of the poor that transcends the longing for (only) food? But company is more than accompaniment. In the example of Jesus accompaniment or being with others is really brotherhood. (Fraternity). We are brothers of the poor.” - His Eminence Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, DD, Emeritus Archbishop of Manila, brother of the poor… (photo taken when the Cardinal visited the wake of my father on a Palm Sunday morning, a gesture that will never be forgotten by a grateful, unworthy brother priest. salamat po!)

WHY WISE AND FOOLISH? Sunday - 32 This is one of the most recognizable parables and also one of the most instructive about this life and the next. The gospel speaks of virgins about to attend a wedding ceremony. They were tasked to welcome the bridegroom and accompany him to the wedding feast. Five were wise virgins. Five were foolish. What does this classification mean - wise and foolish? Why not wise and ignorant? Ignorant would mean that these virgins were unaware of some things and therefore not guilty of not having oil for their lamps. Why not wise and dumb? Dumb would mean that they were simply incapable of thinking and reflecting deeply on things. Why not wise and lazy? Lazy would imply that these virgins were just plain sloppy in their task. The Lord Jesus preferred to call the virgins, wise and foolish. The foolish ones knew what they needed to do but simply refused to do it. While the wise virgins brought oil together with their lamps,...