This homily was delivered at the Grade 8 Thanksgiving Mass on 20 March 2013.
This is my third graduation homily in a row, so I’m in serious danger of boring myself, so I thought I’d start today by playing a little game with all of you. It’s called “Stand if it’s you. Sit if it’s not.” In other words: If the statement applies to you, stand up. If it doesn’t, remain seated.
This homily was delivered at the Thanksgiving Mass for the Grade 7 students on 19 March 2013.
St. Joseph, whose feast we celebrate today, was a man of few words. For such an important person, we have no idea what he actually said. He left no writing, and the two gospel authors who mention him–Matthew and Luke–do not quote him at all. As a result, we know very little about him besides his trade, his family tree, and of course, his relationship to Mary and Jesus.
But if we ever found ourselves in the situations he found himself in, I think we would have more than a mouthful! Just think:
He found Mary to be with child, and he was sure the child did not belong to him. And then an angel asked him in a dream to marry her anyway. When they went to Bethlehem and it was time for Mary to give birth to the so-called Son of the Most High, they couldn’t even find any decent room!
This homily was delivered at the High School Graduation Mass for XS 2013 on 18 March 2013.
For the past twelve years, each time I deliver the homily during a Graduation Mass, I have always secretly felt like an unofficial graduation speaker because when you think about it, the homily is really my last chance as the School Director to address the seniors and to give them some parting words of wisdom before we send them off to the world.
This homily was delivered at Mary the Queen on 17 March 2013.
Everyone loves a trick question, and today’s gospel reading is one: a trick question that’s also a trap. The scribes and Pharisees think they’ve come up with the perfect trap for the Lord. They drag a woman out into the public square and present to him a dilemma: This woman has been caught in adultery. According to the law of Moses, she should be stoned. What to do?
This homily was delivered at the blessing of the Oratory of St. Francis Xavier on 09 March 2013 in Xavier School Nuvali built in memory of John Gokongwei Sr. and Juanita Marquez-Lim Gokongwei.
We’ve never had a chapel before. I mean in all its 57 years of existence, Xavier School has never had a full-blown school chapel. Neither of our first two campuses–not the first one in Echague nor the one in San Juan–had the benefit of an entirely separate structure just to house a chapel. But today, thanks to our benefactors, we finally have an oratory for the very first time in the history of Xavier School, here in Nuvali.