PERSEVERANCE

Once in a while, we come across children who have plenty of toys and children’s books, and yet go to their parents and say, “I am bored.” We see college students shifting from one course to another, not knowing what career path to take, and then they say life is boring. This attitude translates even

The blind man could not see. That is a fact. Yet, he warns to me that even if he could sense or see with his being, he could not see with his eyes, but he could sense with his heart. That is why he immediately felt the disgust of the crowd. That is why he

In Grade 3, I learned a poem about good manners: Hearts, like doors, will open with ease With very, very little keys. But don’t forget that two of these Are thank you, sir, and if you please. People who are grateful, people who know how to say thanks sincerely, win the hearts of people easily.

Why do people give? Why do people do good things for other people? Unfortunately, our motivations are not always clear and good. Unfortunately also, we are not always aware of the impurity of our motives. Why do people give and why do people do good things for other people? The first motivation, unexpressed but very

Most of us are familiar with the Serenity Prayer: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” The prayer has been adapted by many rehabilitation programs for dependents on drugs, alcohol, gambling, and even for sex

Children are expected to respect their parents. Younger people are expected to respect their elders. The laity are expected to respect priests. The priests are expected to respect their bishops. And the principle is—the higher, the more experienced, the older, the more deserving of respect. If we follow the same principle, then God is not

Nowadays, we call leprosy Hansen’s disease. In ancient Israel, leprosy was a general term for all sicknesses of the skin. Whether it was pimples, acne, eczema, leprosy, psoriasis, or buni, all of those skin diseases were considered leprosy. Anything that is a blemish on the skin was considered leprosy. Here was a leper. A leper

We are here to remember what Jesus did and give us. What did Jesus give us? Jesus gave us freedom. It is good to celebrate freedom in this Church that was built to remember the freedom we won in 1986. Jesus gave us freedom not only from enslavement to human masters but He gave us

Let us visualize this. There is a criminal—a woman caught in adultery. There are accusers and they are holding rocks to stone the woman. Figuratively and even literally, they have engraved the sin of the woman on the stone. We know how heavy a stone is. It is solid. We know how hard a stone