I had just gotten up early last Christmas morning when the doorbell rang. It was John, the man who cuts my grass regularly. He greeted me with his usual big smile. On his hand were two recycled grocery plastic bags and he gave them to me, saying "Merry Christmas! I baked this banana bread for you and your wife. Eat it while it is still warm." I touched it. It was still warm. John is the other John M I talked about in a previous blog on this website who accidentally cut a vine

At dinner last night, one of our family members in our group commented that she noticed the absence of Christmas decorations and Christmas carols in stores and shopping centers they visited on land. All of us agreed with the observation. One ventured the explanation that the mood was most probably brought about by the devastation caused by hurricanes Irma and Maria that visited their islands recently. Up to a few years ago the atmosphere in shops and malls was very Christma

When I woke up this morning, the temperature was 15 degrees F, or -9.4 C. It was freezing cold. In Florida and the Philippines, especially in the summer, the temperature could go to the high 90s. We could never retire in Florida, nor even visit the Philippines, because of the unbearable heat (to us) there. But we can manage even with this kind of weather where we are. Speaking of cold and heat, our Lord said: “I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I

I did not expect to give a homily on this cruise but I thank Fr. Jack for the opportunity. I would like to offer a little reflection to you while we are at sea. Today is Friday of the 2nd week of Advent and so liturgically we are still in the period of preparation and waiting for the commemoration of the first coming of Christ. In today's Gospel Christ talks about the people of His time, comparing them to confused and disobedient children. He points out the inconsiste

A Christmas Homily “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us –“ (John 1:14) Today, Christmas Day, is a day of peace, joy and hope. For today we again celebrate the greatest expression of God’s infinite love for us: God, the Creator of the Universe becoming man to dwell with us in a visible form on this earth for a time so that we can dwell with Him in glory forever in heaven. We are all familiar with the story of the first Christmas, when Mary and Joseph wen

Ehrlickman (Erick) Pacheco is only one of the hundreds of Filipinos working in the dining rooms of cruise ship Holland America. I met some of them on a cruise to the Caribbean last week. I have always admired OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) who leave family and home for long periods of time to work in foreign countries just to earn a living for their families at the cost of much sacrifice. I purposely requested to interview Erick for a few minutes when he was serving my grou

At a recent Christmas party of a parish ministry, I was requested on the spot to give a “surprise talk” about the meaning of Advent and how it relates to Christmas. Briefly I said that Advent is a 4-week preparation for the commemoration of Christ’s coming on Christmas, and Christmas is a season of rejoicing for God’s love made manifest in His Son’s taking human flesh to dwell with us and to save us. When I was on my first year as a young seminarian out of high school many de

Yesterday morning I met Anthony K again when he visited the school after a long time. He is a former fellow employee who retired two years ago. His mother had died recently. I learned that four weeks earlier one of his brothers had also died. I mentioned that I had meant to at least give him a call or attend his mother's funeral. When I said that I saw his eyes turn misty and his voice broke. Yesterday afternoon, I talked to Sister Mary F who lives in the convent by the scho

(A Homily for the First Sunday of Advent) When I was driving to work the other day, I saw the license plate of the car in front of me when traffic stopped. The license plate of the car read: “IF ONLY”. I immediately wondered why the owner chose those two words for his or her special license plate and not any other two words, or the usual combination of letters and numbers. Why “IF ONLY”? He must have a reason for this. "If Only" is usually associated with a feeling of regret

Driving to work this morning, I saw the license plate of the car in front of me when traffic stopped. The license plate of the car read: “IF ONLY”. I immediately wondered why the owner chose that special tag -- 2 words instead of the usual combination of letters and numbers. Why “IF ONLY”? "If Only" is usually associated with a feeling of regret or remorse about a particular act, or omission of an act that produced an unwanted or undesired result or consequence. For example: