Reflections

One Half Piece of Medium Size Chicken

By Fray Keneth Pahamutang, OAR / May 6, 2024 / Comments Off on One Half Piece of Medium Size Chicken

“We eat not to get full but to share.” These were the words that stuck in my head after overhearing a group of women discussing the food shortage in Cuba. At first, I didn’t understand it because what I used to know was that we eat to satisfy our hunger, to get full, and then…

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Reflection: 4th Sunday of Advent

By Fray Bernard C Amparado OAR / December 24, 2023 / Comments Off on Reflection: 4th Sunday of Advent
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ADVENT IN A NUTSHELL

By Fray Onz Antonio, OAR / December 2, 2023 / Comments Off on ADVENT IN A NUTSHELL

First Sunday of Advent (December 3, 2023) • Central to the celebration of Advent is the need for a vital space for God in our hearts. Advent as a preparation for Christ’s coming is nothing more and nothing less than a self-emptying patterned upon the self-emptying of Christ himself. (Jesus “emptied himself, by taking the…

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TRANSFIGURATION (Cycle A)

By Fray Hubert Dunstan Decena, OAR / August 5, 2023 / Comments Off on TRANSFIGURATION (Cycle A)

          This mystery in the life of Christ is so important that we read this gospel two times a year: on the 2nd Sunday of Lent and on August 6th. [And on Cycle C, it is read a third time on Sat. 6th  Week in Ord. Time, which is today Feb. 19.] While Jesus was…

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Homily: Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Fray Hubert Dunstan Decena, OAR / January 23, 2023 / Comments Off on Homily: Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Is. 8:23 – 9:3; 1Cor. 1:10-13, 17.Matt. 4:12-23.           Matthew opens our Gospel passage with a statement of fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah. Galilee, the land of Naphtali and Zebulun, was engulfed in darkness when the Assyrians conquered it in 733-32 and put in pagans occupiers to live among them. Now at Jesus’ coming…

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Sto. Nino (a reflection)

By Fray Hubert Dunstan Decena, OAR / January 14, 2023 / Comments Off on Sto. Nino (a reflection)

Is. 9:1-6; Eph. 1:3-6, 15-18Mt. 18:1-5, 10.           Why did God enter our country in the image of the Holy Child? What is his message to us? In Mt. 18:3-4 we read, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself…

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Let us Pray for missionaries around the world

By Jose Mario Bautista Maximiano / October 4, 2022 / Comments Off on Let us Pray for missionaries around the world

Let us Pray for missionaries around the world, but most specially for the great Spanish missionaries who journeyed with us in our 500 years of Christianity–to them our grateful hearts go. During my talk a week ago at the first CBCP-initiated dialogue between the Church and the government under BBM, I was blessed to have…

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Sunday Reflection: 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

By Fray Alexus Mansueto, OAR / February 20, 2022 / Comments Off on Sunday Reflection: 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

“The LORD will reward each man for his justice and faithfulness.” These words of David from our 1st Reading this Sunday reminds us of our responsibility to be just and faithful. To be just is to act justly or with justice, to give what is due to others with respect and dignity. To be faithful…

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Sunday Reflection: 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

By Fray Alexus Mansueto, OAR / February 13, 2022 / Comments Off on Sunday Reflection: 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

“Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord.” These are the words of the Prophet Jeremiah in our 1st Reading this Sunday who reminds us where true blessedness and hope is found. This is an invitation for us to examine ourselves of to whom we put entrust our lives.…

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Sunday Reflection: Feast of the Holy Family

By Fray Alexus Mansueto, OAR / December 26, 2021 / Comments Off on Sunday Reflection: Feast of the Holy Family

1st Reading      1 Samuel 1:20-22, 24-282nd Reading     1 John 3:1-2, 21-24Gospel             Luke 2:41-52 Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. This celebration is very well connected with our celebration of Christmas. Here we celebrate the beauty of family life that God has planned from the beginning. In the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary,…

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