Category: HOMILIES

SHOWING OFF MY WOUNDS (John 20:19-31):  Easter

According to statistics, 11.5 million cosmetic procedures were done in 2006 in the United States alone.  Over 3 million received Botox treatments.  Almost 1.5 million underwent laser hair removal.  And  there were approximately 400,000 patients for liposuction and another 400,000 for breast augmentation.

Thanks to today’s advanced medical technology and an outrageously beauty-conscious culture, more and more men and women are going for cosmetic procedures.  An ad for the metrosexual lifestyle may as well go:  “Got a problem with a body part? Just fix it!”

FATHER, FORGIVE THEM (Luke 23:33-34):  31 March 2010 (Lent)

Reflections on the First of the Seven Last Words
Church of the Gesu
Ateneo de Manila University
31 March 2010

And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.  And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:33-34)

I don’t know about you, but I have a little problem with these first words of Jesus on the cross.  I have a couple of questions.

First of all:  Who’s ‘them’?  Who is He actually forgiving?  Our Lord could be referring to several groups of people who have wronged him before and during the crucifixion, people responsible for what happened in different ways and in varying degrees.  Who could these people be?

WHAT’S IN YOUR MANGER? :  24 December 2009 (Christmas Eve)

Note: This homily was delivered during the Christmas Midnight Mass in Xavier School last 24 December 2009.

Over 500 years before the very first Christmas, between 620 to 560 BC, there lived in Ancient Greece a famous storyteller. His name was Aesop, and he wrote children’s stories that were called fables. These fables always had a valuable lesson to teach not only children but even adults. I’m sure you’ve heard of some of them—like “The Tortoise and the Hare,” “The North Wind and the Sun,” and “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.”

THE ZECHARIAH IN US:  23 December 2009 (Simbang Gabi)

Note:  This homily was delivered last 23 December at the Simbang Gabi Mass in the Gesu,  Ateneo de Manila University.

Just one more day to go before the day we celebrate the birth of our Lord!

But not so fast! The past couple of evenings, we have been invited first to think about another birth—the birth of our Lord’s cousin, John the Baptist. Amidst all the excitement and rejoicing in that household that day, one person was strangely silent: the father of the newborn baby, Zechariah. In the gospel story today, he more than makes up for it by breaking his silence and breaking into song, giving us one of the loveliest songs in the New Testament.

NEVER HUNGER, NEVER THIRST (John 6:24-35): 02 August 2009 (Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)

Today’s Readings

Today’s Gospel Reading is about Jesus the Bread of Life, who promises that “whoever comes to me will never hunger and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”  These days we are grieving our loss of President Corazon Aquino, as though we have lost a family member.  No one can give a more powerful reflection on the Scripture today than her, who “never hungered, never thirsted” even in the worst of famines and droughts because of her strong faith in the Lord.