OUR PARISH PRIEST

  SANDALI, MERON PA! LK. 4: 21-30   photo by fr tam nguyen     Habang binabalikan kong basahin ang Lumang Tipan, naunawaan ko kung bakit talagang bayani ng mga Hudyo ang mga propetang sina Elias at Eliseo. Kasi naman, kahanga-hanga ang mga himala ng Diyos sa pamamagitan nila. Tingnan na lamang si Elias na bumuhay ng namatay na anak ng isang biyuda (binabanggit ito ni Hesus sa ebanghelyo ngayon), tumawag ng apoy mula sa langit, at naghati ng tubig ng ilog Jordan, at marami pang kababalaghan.   Si Eliseo naman, na nagmana ng espiritu ng kanyang amo na si Elias, nagpagaling ng ketonging pinuno ng mga sundalo (naalala din ito ni Hesus), nag-predict ng pagsilang ng isang sanggol at nang ang batang ito ay mamatay binuhay din niya ito, nagpakain ng isangdaang tao sa pamamagitan ng ilang tinapay, at marami pang ibang himala!   Bagamat napahanga ang mga tao, hirap silang tanggapin na may higit na kakaiba kay Hesus. Hindi ba karpintero...

  WAIT, THERE IS MORE! LK 4: 21-30   photo by fr tam nguyen     As I began to read the Bible again from the Old Testament onwards, I realized why Elijah and Elisha were mighty heroes for the Jews. They were simply amazing, with all the miracles God worked through them. Imagine Elijah resurrecting a widow’s son (as the Lord Jesus remembers in the Gospel), calling fire from heaven, and parting the waters of the Jordan, among others.   Elisha, inheriting the spirit of his master Elijah, cured the leprous commander Naaman (as Jesus again mentions), prophesying a child birth and resurrecting the child when it died, and multiplication of loaves to feed a hundred people, and many more!   Though amazed, the people had a hard time accepting that there was more to Jesus than they could see. Wasn’t he just the carpenter “son of Joseph?” How can he be the fulfillment of Scriptures? Surely, they heard of his marvelous miracles and powerfu...

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  ANG MAKILALA AT IPAHAYAG SI HESUS LK 1; 1-4, 4:14-21   photo: fr tam nguyen     Isang dukhang babae na ulirang asawa sa isang magsasaka at ina sa kanilang mga anak ang biglang dinapuan ng sakit na kanser ng sinus at unti-unting kinain ng kanser ang kanyang mukha. Kulang sa pera para sa gamot at konsulta, lumala ang kalagayan ng babae at naigupo siya ng karamdaman hanggang maratay na lamang.   Isang grupo ng mga madre ang nakaalam ng situwasyon. Dinalaw nila ang babae at ipinagdasal. Tinulungan nila ng anumang kanilang makakayang dalhin na pangangailangan ng maysakit. Higit sa lahat ay dinala nila sa babae at mag-anak nito ang mensahe ng Mabuting Balita ni Hesus na mahabagin at butihing Diyos.   Matapos ang Kapaskuhan at ang Pista ng Santo Niño, pumapasok na tayo sa karaniwang panahon sa piling ni San Lukas bilang ating gabay. Kakaiba ang Mabuting Balita ayon kay Lukas dahil ibang larawan ng Panginoong Hesus ang dala nito. L...

  KNOW AND PROCLAIM LK 1:1-4, 4:14-21   fr tam nguyen's photo     A poor woman who was a wife to a farmer and mother to their children was suddenly stricken with a debilitating sinus cancer that slowly ate parts of her once radiant face. Due to lack of money for medicines and medical consultation, the condition of the woman steadily weakened and her sickness progressed.   It was then that a group of nuns learned about her condition. They started to visit her to pray with her and the family. They supported her with whatever material resources they could bring. Most importantly, the Sisters brought the sick woman and the family the Good News of Jesus in action.   After all the Christmas feasts and last week’s Santo Niño celebrations, we now enter again into ordinary time with St. Luke as our guide. The uniqueness of Luke’s approach is that he tells the story of Jesus in a different light. Jesus, in St. Luke has a truly human fa...

  FROM PASTURE TO PARADISE: The Guiding Presence of La Virgen Divina Pastora By Rev. Fr. Mark Ancheta       A.     ORIGINS   From a lovely vision in Spain…   Tracing the story of the devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora takes us back to 1703 to a devout Franciscan with a deep love for Christ and a profound reverence for His Mother. The Capuchin friar named Isidro or Isidore in the convent of Sevilla, Spain (not to be confused with St. Isidore of Seville who lived in the seventh century) was meditating on the Lord Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd when he reportedly had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Divina Pastora de las Almas (Divine Shepherdess of Souls). Fray (Friar) Isidro later asked a painter, Alonso Miguel de Tovar, to depict what he saw in his vision. And he gave the following description:   “In the center and under the shade of a tree, the Blessed Virgin seated on a rock, radiating...

  HIGIT SA LAHAT, KAILANGAN NILA ANG MGA MAGULANG LK 2: 41-52       Nagulat ako sa sagot ng kaibigan ko nang kumustahin ko ang kanilang mga anak. Maayos naman daw ang mga ito; kung tutuusin nga daw ay tila mas matanda pa ang mga itong mag-isip kaysa sa kanilang mag-asawa. Dama kong may pagmamalaki sa puso ng kaibigan kong ito. Pero napaisip lang ako, kung mas mature pa ang mga anak niya, ano pa ang silbi niya sa buhay nila? Kailangan pa ba nila ng magulang?   Nauuso ngayon na sobrang paghanga ng mga magulang sa anak na tuloy akala nila ay hinog na ang pag-iisip ng mga ito. Maraming mga magulang tuloy ang gusto ay kilalanin ng mga anak,   hindi bilang magulang, kundi bilang kaibigan o kabarkada. Ayon sa mga pyschologists, ito ay isang pagpapabaya sa tungkulin ng magulang at hindi ito nakatutulong sa paglago ng mga bata.   Sa Mabuting Balita, baliktanaw tayo sa pagkabata ni Hesus ngayong pista ng Santo Niño. Sa tagpong ito...

  ABOVE ALL, THEY NEED PARENTS LK.2: 41-52       I was surprised at a friend’s reply when I asked about her children. She said her children are all great; in fact they are so ahead of their age that she thinks they even think more maturely than her and her husband. There is of course, a great deal of pride in her words when she presents her children to others. But if her children are more mature than her, what does it make of their mother in their eyes? Do they even need their parents to survive in this world?   We often see this growing trend, when parents idolize their children so much that they think they are almost complete in themselves. Many parents do not want to act as parents and project themselves to their children as friends, as gang, as contemporaries. Psychologists feel that this is actually an abandonment of the responsibilities of parenthood and that this attitude causes harm in the children’s development.   Th...