The popular social media like Facebook and Instagram are used by different people for varied reasons. One of them is to connect with friends and relatives or search for them there. People want to show and see photos of family members and friends, especially those whom they have not seen for a long time. This makes the eventual connection or reconnection possible. Classmates and long-lost relatives have found and reconnected with each other through Facebook and other social

Some animals are more humane than some humans. Tom and Kate Evans are more human than other men. These men have appropriated unto themselves the prerogative that belongs to God alone.These men are supposed to heal and protect human life. Or at least to be fair when they have failed to provide a cure. But instead, they became judges of a death panel. Their words of "best interest of the child" are deceptive, and "authoritativeness" at best. Tom and Kate just wanted to give the

Little Alfie Evans, a British child just starting his life and seriously sick, was sentenced to death by people who have vowed to heal him and, failing, chose to prescribe death by unplugging his life support. The same was ordered by human beings in power who assumed they had power to decide who should live and who should die. The Holy Father had reminded the world – including the hospitals and courts that perpetrated the deed – that the only master of life is God. They had

Many, many years ago, I worked in a small computer outfit run by a couple who loved dogs and cats. The two cats they left in their house but the dog they brought to their office everyday where they could keep a constant eye on it. The couple loved their dog "BJ" very much. I clearly saw that. They fed their dog only expensive commercial dog food. When it got sick they brought it to the veterinary clinic nearby. They even bought it health insurance. They petted it all the ti

On my way to work, I often hear on the radio offers of identity theft protection from outfits like "Life-L..." and "My-Iden..." which tout their ability to discover and monitor such fraud and to help repair any damage done by identity thieves. For a regular fee, of course. Identity theft is perpetrated by people motivated by dishonesty and greed, those who can access our private information either technologically or otherwise. They all cause serious injustice and injury to t

Joey is one of the two grandsons I have. We love him very much. The other one is Jerome, but he is not with us anymore. I baptized him still-born and we all love him very much also. We know that he is with Jesus and he is praying for us, the family he did not get a chance to know but who loves him to high heavens. Joey is eight years old and does very much like a boy his age does. But in some ways he is different from many, I think. When he was about two he already exhibited

Today is not just another day. It is not just the day after yesterday, nor the day before tomorrow. Yesterday is over and done. It was probably full of memories, both good and bad, happy and sad, of something to rejoice about, or to better forget about. Tomorrow is still to come . . . if it comes. Today is what we have. It's all we have. But it has a lot of possibilities. Whatever we do today may right a wrong or not, or it may make tomorrow better or not. Today has a lot of

When I was in elementary school, I had a regular supply of Tagalog and English comic books. My mom subscribed to the biweekly “Pilipino Komiks” for me. The subscription was to continue for as long as I maintained my class standing. My dad also occasionally bought me English comic books featuring Superman, Batman, and Robin. Kapitan Kidlat (Captain Lightning) was my favorite comic book hero then. As a young boy, I enjoyed reading about these fictional characters’ adventures

In my childhood (and that was many, many years ago), we did not have even a rotary phone at home. There was no need for us to have one at that time. At that time, there were no wireless phone handsets either, and no smartphones you can bring anywhere to communicate with others. In my childhood, my brothers and friends made our own play phones. We took a pair of empty milk tin cans, joined them with a piece of cotton string as long as 25 feet, positioned ourselves outside so

(An Easter Week Meditation) This Easter week I have attended two funeral Masses and presided at a wake service. These were for parishioners who have died. This Saturday, I will attend another funeral Mass for a religious sister. At the two funeral Masses, family members who spoke words of remembrance mentioned that their deceased loved ones are now in a better place and have gone home to God. The same happened at the wake service when a family member said that her brother is