Minutes before he died on the cross, Jesus cried out in a loud voice: “Eli, Eli, la’ma sabach-tha’ni?”—“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me!” (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34). This lament, considered Jesus’ fourth last word before he died, is one of the Seven Last Words, compiled from the passion and death narratives of...
Category: Faith
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Holy Week is Prayer Week
‘Tis the season of prayer as we’re into the most hallowed part of the year, the Holy Week. There is no arguing it: We can never underestimate the immense power of prayer. Having spent a considerable number of years in a seminary and almost completing a priestly formation, I can only reminisce, with nostalgic yearning,...
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Crossing the Rubicon of faith and reason (or what Athens has to do with Jerusalem)
One drizzly afternoon, I went to see my seminary contemporary of long ago, Msgr. Lito Maraya, at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Sto. Nino in Tacloban City, Leyte, to deliver pre-ordered copies of my book. After I handed him the books, he invited me for coffee and, of course, some kumustahan. “Glad that you came, pais,”...
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Pope Francis: Learn from the Transfiguration of Jesus
In his message for Lent 2023, which was released on Feb. 17, Pope Francis urged the faithful to “listen to Jesus” as he recalled God the Father’s command to the disciples during the Transfiguration. In the story, which is proclaimed every Second Sunday of Lent (March 5 this year), Jesus is transfigured on a mountain...
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Believing, praying and manifesting in 2023
With the coming of the new year, there’s no denying that sundry wishes and high hopes are again sprouting aplenty, ranging from the most trivial to the grandiose, even to the bizarre. The new year—or every new year, for that matter—offers no guarantee of smooth sailing. But it’s our natural inclination to crave what we...
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Press in denial: Recalling the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI
Even before I arrived in Rome in 2005 to cover the funeral of Pope John Paul II, the Eternal City was rife with talk on who would succeed him. If one would make a trope of the Colosseum and revive its fortunes but only in the imagination, it could stand for a betting arena, with a mob...
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In Bethlehem, where Jesus was born: of unspeakable peace
(Last of two parts) In November 2019, I joined a pilgrimage organized by Sr. Nimfa Eborra, a Bible scholar and a licensed spiritual guide in Israel. With me also as pilgrims were my sister and her husband, my brother, and our niece. It was actually my fifth trip to the Holy Land. My first was...
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In Bethlehem, where Jesus was born: of universal significance
(First of two parts) It was in the morning of Nov. 26, 2016, when I first set foot in Bethlehem. I remember that the Church (also called Basilica) of the Nativity was quite full of pilgrims. I also remember hearing a soft babel of voices speaking in different languages. The Nativity Church is among the...
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Our Lady is our mother for always
Dec. 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, is a special nonworking holiday nationwide by virtue of Republic Act. No. 10966. The law calls Our Lady “the principal patroness of the Philippines,” but more than that, she is the “mother” of millions of Filipinos who look to her as the fount of love...
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‘Undas’ and life after life (not death)
What’s the meaning or derivation of the local word “Undas,” referred to in English as All Souls’ Day? In Mexico, “Dia de los Muertos” means “Day of the Dead,” which in Tagalog is “Araw ng mga Patay o Namayapa.” In Spain, “honra” means “honor” or “respect”—hence, “to respect or honor the dead.” In the Philippine...