For those of us living in Australia or in New Zealand, if you take notice, you’ll see that on all of our coins, we see the image of King Charles III (or the late Queen Elizabeth II on older coins) - whoever is the ruling monarch in England. For us nowadays, we don’t really take a lot of notice of it.
The first reading, from the Prophet Isaiah, recounts how much the Lord loves us by providing good things for us. This is the God for whom we are looking. The challenge is really to look for God in our day to day lives.
We are celebrating today the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time. We are invited to reflect on the themes of stewardship, responsibility, and accountability in our relationship with God.
One night, when I was about to go to bed, it was already 11:30pm. Suddenly, my phone rang. At first, I thought, “Maybe it is a scammer.” So I didn't want to answer. But then I thought, “Maybe it is from a nursing home or a hospital.” So I picked up.
I’d like to borrow a very good story from Miguel de Umanumo, a Spanish philosopher and novelist from the 20th century about the origin of hell. The setting was at the gates of heaven.
The Gospel on this 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time presents us with Jesus’ beautiful teaching on forgiveness and an encouragement for us to forgive one another, as God forgives all our wrongdoings.
When I was a seminarian, we had an evaluation system called “Fraternal Correction”. My classmates would write positive things about me and also things to be improved about me. And I did the same for them.
As I walked through the heart of European cities Cologne, Brussels and Amsterdam, I saw so many gothic church buildings standing in the midst of high energy bustling crowds below. Many of these churches are no longer functioning as worshipping places but museums for tourists to admire as ‘relics’ of once-upon-a-time civilisation of Europe.
In my parish, I often meet people who remind me of those I knew during my diaconate training in Noble Park and Keysborough.
One day, I was reading my Facebook page as I always do at certain times of the day and I saw this beautiful quote, “God doesn’t say NO to our prayers. God has three answers, either he says, 'Yes, at a later time,' or 'I have a better idea'.
How did you encounter Christ? This was a common question when I was a seminarian when we were asked about our vocation story.
If you enter in any Filipino house, the first thing that the owner will ask you, and it is almost like a greeting, is, “Have you eaten?”
Last weekend, I travelled back to Melbourne to celebrate the funeral of Jeannate who was one of my supporters during my time there as a deacon. She was always encouraging me, checking in on me, and helping me whenever she could. Her death came very suddenly, and it was hard to say goodbye.
One of the most frustrating things for a farmer is to have weeds in the fields. They steal whatever nutrition is there for the grain. Sometimes, when I’m in the garden, this is really a headache and I try my best to remove them and be careful that it won’t affect the other plants. Otherwise, I just have to leave it.
Today, all the readings invite us to have trust in and totally lean on the Word of God. As a matter of fact, the Word of God is Truth and God Himself.
