“Indeed, Our Lord has measured out our years and of those years that have resolved to leave us on this earth he has marked out one which shall be our last one” As we celebrate All Saints Day today and All Souls Day tomorrow, let us take time to reflect on the words of St. …
Tag Archives: Spirituality
The joy of conforming to the will of God
“Why is loving God a source of contentment and happiness?” Last week, I examined the writings of St. Alphonsus Ligouri on the importance of the virtue of living in conformity with the will of God. To the holy man, living according to one’s will and not of God’s is the same as idolatry, since in …
Praising God for our Suffering
“To those who love God, all things work unto good.” This is the last of my series of columns on the will of God, my attempt to try to make sense of the sickness and death around us. I wrote these reflections during a difficult time for my hometown, Cagayan de Oro, Davao City, and …
The Will of God
“Faith gives us all the courage to embrace our grief and continue to love.” In times of extreme adversity and calamity, such as during this pandemic, many of us are asking these questions: Why do bad things happen to good people? If God is loving and compassionate, then why would that all powerful Being allow …
What the Holy Spirit makes us proclaim
“God is good! God is great! God loves us all!” This Sunday is the Solemnity of the Pentecost, which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Virgin Mary and the Apostles in Jerusalem, as narrated in the Acts of the Apostles, and is regarded as the birth of the Church. This happens ten …
The Great Commission for the pandemic
“Now is not the time to be selfish, to be cruel and to retreat inside our cocoons of comfort.” The reading for this Sunday – Ascension Sunday – is the presentation of what is known as the Great Commission of the Faith. In the Gospel narrative, Jesus commands his disciples to “Go, therefore, and make …
The Vine and the Branches
“Christ calls on us to nurture this relationship and reciprocate his unbounded love.” “I am the vine and you are the branches. As long as you remain in me and I in you, you bear much fruit; but apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not remain in me is thrown away as …
Tony La Viña 