Making Friends With The Lord Jesus

Today, the Lord proceeds to choose his twelve apostles. Among his choices, we find men who were not perfect. Judas Iscariot is there—his personal choice, who turned out to be his betrayer. Peter was included, and he denied Our Lord three times. The rest deserted Jesus when he needed them the most. Why should we be surprised or shocked that, among those in the ranks of the hierarchy of the Church t...

We read about the unclean spirits leaving the bodies of those they tormented. They scream the identity of Jesus. But the Lord stopped them. Of course, the devil is the enemy, and Jesus did not want His fame to be based on their declarations. Moreover, people might understand his kingship incorrectly. The devil is a liar by nature. Who knows what he has in mind as he apparently propagates Jesus&#39...

Here comes another thorny question about what can be done on the Sabbath. The Pharisees tend to be finicky about the requirements of living the day properly. They see problems with whether it is fine to do good for others or not. There is this man with a withered hand in the synagogue. Our blessed Lord uses him as an example to show the absurdity of the Pharisees' position.

Today, the Lord teaches us the obligation we all have to form our consciences properly. This arose when some of the Jews called him out when they observed his disciples picking ears of corn. They pointed out the anomalous nature of such action from the point of view of the time it was done. It was the Sabbath. Certain things or actions should be avoided, as the Lord rested on the Sabbath. Their lo...

It is an amazing thing that Jesus makes use of the question of the Pharisees--that was actually a protestation against Jesus--to make a revelation about God and Man. They asked Him about why his disciples did not follow what the others were doing, even those reputable ones such as the disciples of John the Baptist. He replied saying that how can they fast when the bridegroom is around. Who was he...

We celebrate today the annual feast of the Santo Nino based in Cebu Cit. We unite ourselves to the Cebuanos in approaching the Divine Trinity through the Second Person who became flesh. Today, we contemplate again the child Jesus in Nazareth. We are made to recall that God became a baby and who grew up under the care of holiest couple in history, namely, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph. We...

We cannot get it better than how Jesus looks for us, sinners. That is what we are, children of God but sinners. He came to this world to look for each of us to cure and save us, to forgive our sins. He does not behave like Steven Spielberg who is looking for the appropriate and adequate actor or actress for his movie. He is looking for those who see themselves as sinners, faulty, weak, struggling...

Today, Jesus accepts the challenge posed to him about his ability to forgive sins. He cured a paralytic to show that he can manage things that cannot be seen but happening in the soul.

The gospel today teaches us how to ask God for a favor. This way stresses the good will of the Lord to want to cure a leper. Thus, this sick man gains the favor he asks the Lord. We can imitate this manner of begging from the Lord.

We witness today how a poor leper asks Jesus to cure him of his leprosy. Let us learn this sick man how to approach the Lord and get what we need.

The Lord today shows us His example in entering the house of Simon and cured his mother-in-law. Let us study what he does there!

Jesus went to the synagogue and taught. This gives us a couple of standards we need to examine ourselves in. First, Jesus attended synagogue. Today, we have our churches. Let us visit Our Lord in our churches. There we find the portal to eternal iffe, not eternal death. Second, Jesus taught. As Christians, we need to teach others the truth of all kinds. How do we chase this standard?

Jesus calls Peter, James and John in today's gospel. Prior to that move, however, he calls everyone who would listen that since the Kingdom of God was at hand, then they needed to repent of their sins. God wants to forgive our sins so that he could call us and send us to the mission he had in mind when he created us. Sin is what holds us back!

The Lord sought baptism from his cousin John the Baptist. That was an interesting move. Why did he seek that? He was not a sinner, since he was God. John was convinced after initially hesitating to accede to Jesus' request to be baptized. Listen to the homily to find out the meaning of the Baptism of Jesus.

Today, we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus Christ. Learn more about it by listening to the homily.

Today's gospel reminds us to find our place and role under the sun. God creates each of us for a clear and definite purpose. Our task is to discover it and pursue it. It this way, can we be happy here and later in eternity. We need to accomplish that role. We do not have to envy anyone since we are each different from any other in the past, present or future. St. John had no problem in giving way...

Jesus as the Messiah long awaited by Israel fulfilled all the messianic prophecies about him in the Scriptures. Today, he declares it openly. Man, then, reacts to him. Admiration and thanksgiving were spontaneous. But he also begins to have enemies out of envy for him.

Let us learn more about what happened to Jesus after He multiplied the loaves of bread and fish to feed a crowd of at least five thousand men

Now that Jesus has grown up more, the Church presents our Savior as the Prophet. Little by little Jesus takes up his role that was and is the reason He came to become flesh and be with us and be identified with us sinners. It is not that He only was beginning to save us. He was saving us since second number one of becoming flesh. Let us watch him, not like the Pharisees were doing to catch him doi...

The Church begins a shift in her gospels to a mature Jesus. Christmas season is about to end. Jesus is now presented as a mature adult. Today's gospel tells us about Jesus moving out of his home in Nazareth to Capernaum, which is by the sea of Galilee. He fulfills a prophecy in the Old Testament that as Jesus approaches the next stage of His stay on earth, He is preparing the stage for His lau...

The Church celebrates today Jesus' manifestation to the Gentiles through the appearance of the Wise Men from the East in the stable to see Jesus. While the shepherds represented the Israelites that God wanted to show Himself to to save them, He let the Wise Men from the East find Him to mark God's resolve to save the Gentiles also. The Epiphany means manifestation.

We have this Name that is above all other names in the universe. This name is "Yahweh saves" or Jesus. When a husband dreams and speaks aloud during the dream and utters the name of a woman not his wife, he is in for a quarrel with his wife since he uttered in his sleep another woman's name. That's how important one's name is. It refers to a specific person. We have been give...

The first day of the year 2026, just like in any first day of the year of any, our holy Mother the Church ends the Christmas Octave. It began with Jesus and it ends with the one who carried Him for 9 months and now we look to the arms carrying and embracing the Create Baby. Mary! Listen to the homily on this great first day of the year!

The Christmas Octave is about to end. Today we look at the Baby laid in the manger in Bethlehem. The gospel is taken from the first chapter of St. John, from what is called the Prologue of his gospel. We read there about the Word or Logos in Greek. The Word became flesh. Tomorrow, we look at the Mother of God.

Look at how Anna, the prophetess behaves with respect to the Lord and the Temple and the challenge this poses to each of us.