(An excerpt of the homily of the Most Rev. Romulo G. Valles, D.D., on the occasion of the 25th sacerdotal anniversary of Frs. Johnny Autida, Leonie Espana, Proceso Gimeno, Jr. and Ricky Penalosa at St. Francis Xavier College Seminary, January 14, 2024.) Fr. Johnny, Fr. Toto,...
January is the start of every year, this year let us welcome 2024 with a hopeful perspective. It's a time for a new beginning, leaving the past behind with a grateful heart. No matter how bad or difficult the past couple of years have been,...
When our first parents succumbed to temptation by eating the Forbidden Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, sin entered the world. Sin destroys unity with God. We disintegrate within. We shatter our inner-self, bereft of grace, and eventually fall into a...
THANKS to God, our devotion to the Sto. Nino remains strong, deep and growing. Yes, there may still be things that need to be made right and purified, but we cannot deny that this devotion has helped us greatly in pursuing the proper path toward...
WE are reminded of this beautiful Christian message in that story of King Saul and David. (cfr. 1 Samuel 24,3-21) The king, out of envy, planned to eliminate David. But David, who had the chance to eliminate the king, changed his mind. And when the...
THAT story of King Saul being envious of David because, as the crowd said, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands,” (1 Samuel 18,7) clearly tells us the lesson that we all are prone to this danger of envy and jealousy. This danger...
THIS story (cfr. 1 Samuel 17,32-33.37.40-51) simply tells us one important lesson: that as long as we carry out our struggles with God, no earthly obstacle, challenge or trial can really put us down, no matter how formidable they are and how weak we may...
THE story of how David was anointed to be king plainly tells us that God’s ways are inscrutable. (cfr. 1 Samuel 16,1-13) This story tells us that we need to trust in God’s mysterious ways rather be guided simply by our own estimation of things. As...
THE two are good and important and are, in fact, necessary in our life. But if we have to choose between them, we have to choose obedience. We are reminded of this truth of our Christian faith in the First Book of Samuel where the prophet...
Mr. Antonio Lopez serves as the editor-in-chief of a business magazine, a PhilStar newspaper columnist, and a magna cum laude graduate in journalism from the University of Santo Tomas (U.S.T.). In his PhilStar column on December 21, he expressed his thoughts about Filipino 15-year-olds, stating...