In a previous column some years ago, I said that the "vox populi," the voice of the people, need not be "vox Dei," the voice of God. I cited as an example the crowd who welcomed Christ with hosannas when he entered Jerusalem for the...
I suppose it's basic and commonsensical that when we express our opinions and engage among ourselves in some exchanges of our personal views, ideas and preferences, we always need to be courteous first of all and then always to be constructive and positive in our...
We need to be wary of the danger of replacing God with our own philosophies, ideologies and theologies. This reminder was practically voiced out in Pope Francis' "Amoris laetitia," the apostolic exhortation on the family. In its point 311 we read the following words: "Although it...
That's "The joy of love" in English, the title of the latest papal document. It summarizes and integrates all the observations, findings and conclusions of the two Synods of Bishops on the family that took place in 2014 and 2015. More than that, it outlines the...
Christ, our savior, is risen, never to die again. This is the greatest news of all time. Nothing can outshine it. And with it, a dam-burst of happy consequences come our way. The only thing that can nullify this news is our freedom, that is, when...
IT happened in the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family in 2014. In fact, it exploded into a media firestorm. In tackling the question of gradualness in relation to the pastoral care of people with some moral irregularities, like the divorced and remarried, a...
Now that we are living in a world that is fast becoming very complicated, with a multiplying variety of mentalities, cultures, lifestyles, ideologies, beliefs, etc., we need to know how to be tolerant and intolerant that is proper to our dignity as persons who are...
It's good to be reminded about these very basic practical expressions of authentic charity especially since we are now in the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Our Catechism tells us that "the works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of...
In our relation with others, we need to remember that the first initiative should come from us, and that initiative should be that of love. We have to love everyone first before we can expect others to love us in return. Or even when we...
You think that as a priest I already know everything about the Eucharist? The answer is a big, flat No. Even if I must confess that I know quite a bit about it, and already have an extensive experience related to this most sublime sacrament,...
