Opinion

Today’s short gospel marks the beginning of Jesus’ long farewell discourse given at the last supper. He tells his apostles, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”Why does Jesus call it a new commandment? Is it not essentially the same as the “old” commandment written in Leviticus 19:18, which speaks of loving one’s neighbor as oneself? In substance, they are the same: love your neighbor. What is new is the standard of love. Jesus asks his disciples to love one another, not just as they love themselves, but as he loves them.On that evening, Jesus demonstrates his love by kneeling in front of his disciples and washing their feet. The following day, he shows the extent of his love by giving up his life for them. The ...

“Dominus est.” (It is the Lord) These are the words uttered by the apostle John when he sees the resurrected Christ standing on the shore of Lake Tiberias. He and the other six disciples have spent the whole night fishing at sea without catching anything. At early dawn they return to shore and Jesus appears to them. But they do not realize it is Jesus. Why is it that only John recognizes the Lord? I can only think of two possible reasons: John’s simplicity of heart and love for Jesus.Jesus proclaims the pure of heart blessed because they shall see God. (Mt 5:8) John is the youngest of the apostles, and hence the more innocent and perhaps the least corrupted? He is often referred to as the virgin apostle. But more than bodily continence, purity of heart here refers to the honesty of a p...

Yesterday, we had the rare honor and privilege to concelebrate at the funeral Mass of our beloved Pope Francis. A few days ago, I came to Rome together with some of our priests and lay faithful to attend the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis. Instead, as divine providence would have it, we found ourselves participating instead at the solemn Eucharistic celebration and final commendation of Pope Francis.Much has been written and said about the extraordinary legacy of the great Pope Francis: his special love for the poor and the marginalized, his humility and simplicity that became the hallmark of his ministry, his advocacy for our common home, his insistent appeal for peace and care for migrants, among many others. Indeed, he was a great leader not only of the Church but of the world...

Today, we begin the solemn celebration of Holy Week, as we recall the last days of Jesus on earth. It was during these days when he fully accomplished the Father’s mission for him to save humankind through his passion, death and resurrection (the paschal mystery). And because of the pre-eminent fruit of the paschal mystery, which is our salvation, the Church has always kept these days as the most important and sacred in her liturgical calendar. Thus, the name: Holy Week.Let us endeavor to keep these days truly holy by spending time in prayer and reflection (instead of having fun in beaches and mountains). Let us accompany Jesus as he goes through his suffering and death. His final days were days of deep darkness and utter rejection. The extreme pain he suffered was not only physical, b...

In today’s gospel, Jesus arrives in the temple area to teach, when some Pharisees and scribes bring in a woman caught in adultery. They make her stand in the middle and ask Jesus’ verdict on her. They remind him at the same time that the law of Moses prescribes nothing less than death by stoning. The gospel notes that their motive is “to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him.” As in previous attempts, their question is meant to put Jesus in an air-tight dilemma of self-condemnation. To pardon the woman (and be consistent with his message of mercy) would be to go against the law of Moses, while to send her to death would be to violate the Roman law which forbids killing by private citizens.The insensitivity of the religious leaders in dragging the unfortunat...

Today’s gospel further develops last Sunday’s message wherein Jesus warns: Repent or perish. To repent means to return to God and failure to do so means to perish. Biblical scholars have an interesting way of explaining this with today’s gospel. When the prodigal son received his inheritance, he set off to “a distant country” (cora macra), which in Greek means “the great emptiness.” That is precisely what awaits us when we leave the Father’s house – the great emptiness and total loss. When we turn away from God, we turn away from life. For God is life and the source of all life.Whenever we hear the parable of the prodigal son, we often focus our attention on the younger son who squanders all his property until he hits rock bottom. In his abject misery, he realizes his gross mistake and...

Today’s gospel mentions two tragic incidents, one caused by human cruelty, the other by an accident. The first concerns a group of Galileans who were summarily executed in the temple on the orders of Pontius Pilate. The second recounts the fall of the tower of Siloam which claimed the lives of eighteen persons.The popular belief was that misfortunes struck the victims because of their sins (much like our own belief in “gaba” or karma). Jesus instead posed the question whether the victims of Pilate’s cruel order were greater sinners than all the other Galileans, and whether the victims of the accident in Siloam were more guilty than everyone else in Jerusalem.Answering his own question, Jesus said, “By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”...

The story of the Lord’s transfiguration happens eight days after Peter’s profession of faith and Jesus’ first prediction of his suffering, death and resurrection. Jesus follows up his prediction with his teaching on discipleship as taking up one’s own cross. The disciples do not listen to Jesus. They, in fact, do not want to hear him talk about his passion and death. They have followed him in the hope of getting a share of the power in the kingdom he is about to establish.Such is the disposition of Peter, John and James, as Jesus takes them to the mountain to pray. While Jesus is praying, his face changes in appearance and his clothes become dazzling white. Moses and Elijah appear beside him, and the three talk about the exodus that Jesus is to accomplish in Jerusalem. What is the mean...

The gospel reading every first Sunday of Lent tells about the temptation of Jesus. Before commencing his public ministry, Jesus spent forty days of prayer and fasting in the desert where he was tempted by the devil.Temptation is a reality which we all experience. It is a given fact of life, and no one is exempted. Even Jesus, whom the devil acknowledges and addresses as “the Son of God”, was not spared. We thank the evangelists for recording the story of Jesus’ temptation because it offers us valuable lessons on how to face our own temptations.To overcome temptation we need first to acknowledge the reality of the Evil one. “The devil is real,” Pope Francis often reminds us. “In this generation, like so many others, people have been led to believe that the devil is a myth, a figure,...

Time was when we would wake up in the morning and start the day listening to the radio newscast or reading the newspaper. We began each day with a fair knowledge of what was going on in the world and in our locality. We trusted the media knowing that its practitioners were persons of high professional and ethical integrity.Unfortunately, that was a long time ago. Today, we feel the need to double check every news we get, especially from social media. Fake news has become an uncontrollable plague as people have no scruples spreading "their own truths.” Even leaders, both national and world, blatantly lie and deceive their own people. What is sad is that the public is equally gullible.This is truly alarming because if left unchecked fake news will eventually kill all social and polit...