(A Homily on the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time) For the past 15 months, the world has seen millions of deaths caused by a deadly tiny virus. In many cases during this pandemic, victims' bodies were immediately buried or cremated without the usual final goodbyes and religious rites -- a sad situation for the dead and their loved ones. Since Man's creation, people die after a period of life on this earth, much of it with sickness and suffering. Death and suffering are a reality

Some Reflections on Father's Day Towards the end of the Mass, the priest invited all the fathers in the congregation to stand for special prayers and blessing. Today is Father's Day. Everybody cheerfully greeted the men "Happy Father's Day" as they tarried on their way out of the church with their families. A parishioner who I knew is still a bachelor greeted me and I said, "Thank you. When you get married and have children, I can also greet you "Happy Father's Day." He repli

"Lechon Baliwag" was the favorite rotisserie chicken we used to buy in Marikina, Philippines. Delicious, freshly grilled and with its Mang Tomas sauce, it is enough to feed a family of four. Another favorite was Andok's rotisserie chicken. In the U.S. Boston Market is what we get often as a respite from home cooking. People have to eat and rotisserie chicken is freshly cooked and affordable. Recently there is an article about Costco's $4.99 cheap and delicious rotisserie chi

The high school I attended in my old country is a private non-sectarian school. But since almost all the teachers and staff were Catholic, they encouraged us Catholic students in our Catholic practices and devotions. One of these was the First Friday Devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. When I graduated, I received a little hard-cover red book containing the history, prayers, the novena to the Sacred Heart, and the 12 promises He gave when He appeared to St. Mary Marga