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Starting December 3, we will be offering a one-of-a-kind online Advent experience to prepare for what we expect to be a very different kind of Christmas this year.

WORK FROM HOPE is a self-scheduled, self-paced “do-it-yourself” recollection that features Bible reflections, prayers, songs, and other interactive activities that will hopefully enable you to observe this season of waiting.

You’ll be familiar with the approach and style if you attended our Holy Week Pandemic Retreat this year (PRAYING BETWEEN THE LINES)–or any of our annual online retreats since 2008.

The “WORK FROM HOPE” Online Advent Recollection will be made available from the 3rd of December 2020 until the 31st. You decide when and how fast/slow you want to do the recollection. You will probably need to allot about an hour of your time for the whole experience, and we recommend that you make sure that hour is free not only from disruption, but also distractions.

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Join us and spread the word. 🙂

Today’s homily is based on Matthew 25:1-13.

Do you feel like you’ve been running on empty? “Running on empty” is a phrase we use to refer to people on the brink of exhaustion–be it physical or emotional. It’s a reference to automobiles running so dangerously low on fuel that it might just stop running any moment now. It basically means you’re on the verge of a breakdown or burnout.

“Running on empty” is a modern metaphor, but I propose that our Lord’s parable today could be very well about that–even if he told his story long before the invention of automobiles.

This homily is based on Mt 5:1-12.

Believe it or not, one of the most spiritual movies I’ve seen is “The Matrix,” which came out in 1999.  Written and directed by brothers Larry and Andy Wachowski, this futuristic science fiction film is filled not only with great special effects and some fascinating action sequences, but also with a lot of religious and philosophical symbolisms.  Its two sequels have managed to surpass the special effects and the box office earnings of the original, but when it comes to depth of meaning, in my opinion, they don’t even come close to the first.  

This reflection is based on Matthew 22:34-40.

I know what you’re thinking. It’s what I’m thinking too: These are two impossible commandments the Lord gives us.

When our Lord is asked in the Gospel about the single greatest commandment, he gives not one but two answers. He says: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

And as though that’s not hard enough, Jesus adds: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

In today’s Gospel reading, our Lord utters his famous line:  “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and repay to God what belongs to God.”  At first glance, he seems to be proposing a division between our usual lives and our so-called spiritual lives.  Sort of like Sunday Christianity, when people act like Christians only when they go to Sunday services.  As for the rest of the week, they act “normally”–that is, not in any particularly religious or even moral way.