Opinion

I once had a poignant experience with a dying young man (an alumnus of ours) who was literally a lost soul. He spent the last years of his life trying to “experience all that the world has to offer” (as he put it). As he saw his inevitable end coming, he struggled to make sense of his life.“Unsay pulos sa kinabuhi, dre ?” he asked me. It’s a statement I find difficult to translate in English because of the overload of implications and emotions it carries. Literally, it means “What’s the use of life?” It’s a question that asks for the purpose of life but also expresses sentiments of regret, frustration and blaming. Paraphrased, it sounds something like, “I did not ask for life, and I was given one which I messed up. So, why was I made to live in the first place?”His question left me...

This is a story of contrasts. Of how similar events can generate vastly different responses from the public at large and equally different outcomes for the players.Carlos Yulo won two gold medals in the recent Olympic in Paris in 2024. This bought attention, honor and received well-deserved recognition from the City of Manila, Congress, Senate, multinational corporations and even the Office of the President along with material awards.Meanwhile Christopher Fadriga of Negros Occidental also won a gold medal in Paris in 2021 in the International Competition on Cacao beans, his entry Criollo Cacao entry, a rare and almost extinct variety, which was brought to the Philippines during the Galleon Trade between Mexico and Philippines. He was largely unnoticed in his own country but got th...

Like Bartimaeus, we are all blind. We may not be afflicted with the blindness of the eyes, but we all certainly suffer from some blindness of the mind and of the heart. We do not know everything about ourselves and about the world. The Johari window shows us that we all have “blind spots” in our consciousness.Ironically, we live in a time when every kind of Information is readily available with google or AI. Yet today we are more ignorant and more estranged from the truth than the generations before us. With fake news, conspiracy theories, scams, misinformation, and deception freely pouring on the internet, we are less confident and more insecure about any knowledge. We feel the need to subject every information to fact-checking.Philosophers and sociologists attribute this unsettli...

For the third time Jesus reveals his imminent passion and death to his apostles as they make their way to Jerusalem. The apostles’ reaction remains the same. They still do not understand what Jesus is telling them or perhaps they simply do not want to. All they have in their head is the glory that awaits them when Jesus, the Messiah, will finally establish his kingdom in Jerusalem.James and John are quick to upstage the other apostles in securing their position by sneaking and asking Jesus to allow them to sit one on his right and the other on his left in the kingdom. The other ten are of course furious at being cheated (na-isahan) by the two scheming brothers.Once again Jesus patiently takes the occasion to teach the apostles how the kingdom of God is diametrically opposed to the ...

(I thank Fr. Marvin Labasan for gracing my column this Sunday with his insightful homily.)What is a “suitable partner”?In our culture, which idolizes the concept of “the one” and “the Mr. or Mrs. Right,” we simply equate the idea of a suitable partner with someone who shares our interests, makes us feel good, or seems perfect for us.But what does it mean to have a “suitable partner”?Our first reading today tells us that God found it is not good for man to be alone. Despite the beauty and richness of the garden, with its animals and plants, nobody seemed suitable for him. This is why the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and from one of his ribs, He made a woman. Fr. Lana says that Eve was not made out of Adam’s head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be t...

When Joshua asks Moses to stop Eldad and Medad from prophesying because they were not present at the bestowing of the Spirit, Moses replies, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!” Likewise, when John complains that somebody, who is an outsider, is casting out demons using Jesus’ name, the Lord responds, “Do not prevent him… for whoever is not against us is for us.”It may help to remember that earlier, the apostles were unable to drive a mute spirit that possessed a boy. (Mk 9:14-29) Hence, their jealousy and resentment at the success of an unaccredited exorcist is only understandable.Jealousy is an ugly thing that has been with us since Cain and Abel (since Adam and Eve, actually). It diminishes us and renders us petty and bitter, “actin...

In today’s gospel, Jesus speaks of his passion, death and resurrection for the second time. Again, the apostles fail to grasp the meaning and gravity of his words. It may also be that they are reluctant, if not unwilling, to accept Jesus’ message because it contradicts and frustrates their own expectations. That is why even in their lack of understanding, they do not dare to ask Jesus, lest he reveals more plainly what they dread to hear. They would rather hold on to their traditional idea of the Messiah and hope to take their coveted place once the new kingdom is established in Jerusalem.And so, when Jesus inquires what they were discussing on the road, they remain awkwardly silent. They were arguing who was the greatest among them. They were positioning themselves and jockeying for p...

Today’s reading indicates a turning point in Mark’s gospel. For some time now, the disciples have been faithfully following Jesus as an extraordinary preacher and a powerful healer. Although they do not yet know him fully, they have an inkling that he must be more than just a great prophet. At the calming of the storm in the lake, they are awestruck and ask each other, “Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him.”When Jesus asks his disciples at Caesarea Philippi who they say he is (after hearing what others say of him), Peter replies in their name, “You are the Christ (Messiah).” This is the moment of truth for the disciples, a moment of clarification about their hesitant guesses, and a moment of confirmation of their long suspicion that Jesus is indeed the Messiah. With Jesu...

While Jesus performs many of his miracles with a simple word or touch, in today’s gospel, Jesus heals the man with a speech impediment in a most graphic and dramatic way. Sensitive to the man’s condition, Jesus pulls him away from the crowd in order to spare him from embarrassment and humiliation. Then he puts his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touches his tongue. The gesture poignantly shows how Jesus identifies physically with the man’s infirmity to awaken faith in him. Looking up to heaven, he groans and utters the word, “Ephphatha,” which finally opens the man’s ears and loosens his tongue.Pope Benedict XVI gives an insightful comment that the word, “ephphatha - be opened”, sums up Christ’s whole message and all his work. The context of the event confirms the idea. Note ...

With a little over a month before the filing of certificates of candidacy for the 2025 elections, talks are rife on how  the final line-up in Bacolod City will look like?The El-Bee poster circulating on social media points to Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran who is on his third and last term in his post and is rumored to be running for the congressional seat and Mayor Albee Benitez who will seek re-election for the chief executive position.The congressional post is open with third termer Rep. Greg Gasataya stepping down.El Cid acknowledged that those came from his supporters but that there are no final talks yet. However, in the past few months, El Cid who belongs to another political camp has been visible in Albee’s circle and this has prompted the talks that perhaps, he migh...