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WOUNDED FOR LOVE
I am sure you know at least one person who has left the Church due to a hurtful experience within it. This individual, once identifying as Catholic, has abandoned their religion because of disappointment with a priest or with people in the Church. Perhaps they encountered a priest who was unfaithful to his vow of celibacy or was affected by the political stance of a clergy member. Alternatively,…
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WRONG QUESTIONS
Many of our problems in life come from our bad practice of asking the wrong questions. We ask the wrong questions. Therefore, we also get the wrong answers. The first wrong question that the Lord wants to correct is “How many will be saved?” That is a wrong question because the correct question is “How will we be saved?” The Lord does not give us numbers. The Lord shows us the way. We will be…
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CHURCH SCANDALS
We have seen scandals in the Church, in church organizations, in the hierarchy. When a priest, a bishop, a cardinal, or even a pope leads other people to sin, that is called “spiritual murder.” It is murder because the one who is supposed to give life snuffs out the faint life of somebody. The one who is supposed to be a channel of blessing becomes a channel of sin. That is spiritual murder. On…
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NOTHING
September 28, 2000 Feast of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz and companion martyrs. After telling their stories, sometimes joyful, sometimes sad and shocking, friends ask me a familiar question: “What do you think?” My friends know my standard answer, “Wala. Nothing. Okay lang.” “Nothing” seems to have become, for me, a standard word. Honestly, I like the word, nothing. As I celebrate my 40th birthday, you ask…
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THE CARDINAL'S LADY
Dear Bishop Gabby, Everyone has a little nook, drawer, box, “tampipi” where we keep our precious little mementos. We may have photos, figurines, medals, a letter or two. Yes, there are those of us in this age of e-mail, text messages, beeper messages who do keep precious letters. Letters from loved ones or initial scribbling of our own letters we have stashed away, sometimes even under our beds.…
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CALL ME SOC
Dear Fr. Joey, Your parishioners address you as Father Joey, while some of our youth leaders affectionately dub you “Derps”. To me, you’re simply Joey. I trust that you harbor no qualms about this informal salutation. Similarly, I’d kindly ask you to refer to me as “Soc”. Not Monsi, not Mons, but just Soc. It resonates deeply with my essence. There exists no shade of disrespect in calling each…
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WE BELONG TO GOD
Dear Fr. Raul, When men commit crimes and are sentenced, they are sent to the National Penitentiary in Muntinlupa. Women offenders, on the other hand, are sent to the Correctional Institute in Mandaluyong. A few months ago, I organized a group of friends to visit the inmates at the Correctional so that I could say Mass with them. The visit also entailed bringing the ladies some food to eat,…
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LIKE A FALLEN LEAF
Dear Wibb, I am writing to you from Puerto Azul. I am attending a seminar for the ongoing renewal of priests. While walking in the garden, my attention was caught by a leaf that I saw falling from a tree. I caught the falling leaf with my hands. In my mind, I knew that the fallen leaf was a symbol of me. I need some rest. It feels like I am falling out and my backache is bothering me again. That…
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