Beware of the leaven of the world
Sailing
by Fr. Roy Cimagala
8h ago
CHRIST one time warned his disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod which they did not understand at first. (cfr. Mk 8,14-21) It took them time to understand that the leaven Christ was talking about was not the leaven of the bread but rather the doctrine or the teachings, the laws and the ways of the Pharisees and Herod.   The same warning remains valid and in effect up to this time, since there is no doubt that we are today flooded with all kinds of doctrine and ideologies that are becoming more and more in conflict with Christian doctrine and ways.   We ..read more
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Our need for God is constant and indispensable
Sailing
by Fr. Roy Cimagala
1d ago
IT’S the most basic need we have, since God is and should be everything to us. Our need for him is much more than our need for air, food, etc. Without him, we can only go nowhere, and worse, the animal part of our humanity takes over, and we know what that means.   It’s amazing that many popular love songs today regard the human objects of the lovers as everything to them. “You’re my everything” goes one title of such songs. Lines like “You give me strength when I am weak,” “You are the light that guides me in the dark,” “You are my inspiration in my moments of dryness,” etc. abound ..read more
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How to be trusting and to be trustworthy
Sailing
by Fr. Roy Cimagala
3d ago
GOD himself tells us how that is going to be. “Cursed be the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord,” he said in the Book of Jeremiah. (17,5) And he continues: “Blessed be the man that trusts in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his confidence.” (17,7)  No amount of human power, no matter how formidable, if not animated by the power of God, can stand the test of time with all the different conditions, challenges and trials we are going to meet in life. It would just be a matter of time before failure, in all its forms, can take place. Only God ..read more
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“He has done all things well”
Sailing
by Fr. Roy Cimagala
4d ago
THAT what the crowd said after they witnessed a miraculous healing of a dumb man by Christ. (cfr. Mk 7,31-37) On Valentine’s Day which is popularly known as a day of celebrating love, we should strengthen our conviction that the real standard of love is when, like Christ, we do everything well and win the same praise from others.   Love is not just sweet words, good intentions and nice feelings. It’s deeds done well. It’s doing things the way Christ would do things. We should love the way God through Christ loves us. This is the only way we can say we are truly loving. We should be ..read more
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“Blessed are those who fear the Lord”
Sailing
by Fr. Roy Cimagala
5d ago
THAT’S from Psalm 128,1. The verse is often used as a responsorial psalm in many of the Masses during the year. And it definitely talks about a healthy kind of fear that is nothing other than a gift of the Holy Spirit. It’s a fear that protects and prevents us from offending God through sin, through disobedience to his loving and saving will for us.   We have to know when to be afraid and when not. We have to distinguish between a good fear and a bad fear, a healthy one and a sick one. We need to know how to handle and deal with our fears that are unavoidable in our life.  &nb ..read more
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“Thorn in the flesh”
Sailing
by Fr. Roy Cimagala
6d ago
THE phrase appears in St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, describing St. Paul’s affliction that was meant to keep him from becoming arrogant. We can just speculate what that “thorn” specifically was. What is clear is that the flesh, if not properly animated by the Spirit of Christ, is always a traitor. It simply goes with its own erratic ways.  ] We need to be always wary of this danger, and try our best to dominate our flesh with the proper spirit of Christ which is a spirit of love, of generous self-giving. And this is where the heart plays an important role, seeing to it that ..read more
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Pursuing the good without God
Sailing
by Fr. Roy Cimagala
1w ago
THIS is how self-righteousness is developed. When we would just depend on our own ideas about what is true, good and beautiful, independently of God, there is no way but for us to fall into this trap of self-righteousness which is always marked with rigidity, proneness to rash judgments, critical thoughts, bitter zeal, etc. It would be a pursuit of the good without charity and mercy.   We are reminded of this danger in that gospel episode where Christ’s disciples were accused by the self-righteous Pharisees of eating with unwashed hands. (cfr. Mk 7,1-13) That was when Christ told th ..read more
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“Pilgrims of Hope”
Sailing
by Fr. Roy Cimagala
1w ago
THAT’S the theme of the Jubilee Year 2025 as declared by Pope Francis last year. The Jubilee Year began last December 24 and will end on January 6, 2026. The idea behind is to encourage everyone to make pilgrimages that hopefully would foster forgiveness, conversion as well as a joyful celebration.   Indeed, our life here on earth can be likened to a pilgrimage toward our ultimate destination, which is heaven. It should be not be understood simply as a trip from one place to another, from one state of life to another. It’s a journey that should be eminently marked with a religious p ..read more
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Let’s be bold and aggressive in our Christian life
Sailing
by Fr. Roy Cimagala
1w ago
THAT gospel episode about Christ commanding Peter to “go to the deep and lower down your nets for a catch” (Lk 5,4) reminds us, among other things, that we should be bold and aggressive in our Christian life, stretching ourselves to the limits to do apostolate and actively cooperate in the continuing work of human redemption.   Peter at first told Christ that he tried to fish the whole night before and caught nothing. But because of his strong faith in Christ, he just obeyed what Christ told him, and lo and behold, he caught a big amount of fish. Fully astonished, he could not help ..read more
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Martyrdom can be due to some silly reasons
Sailing
by Fr. Roy Cimagala
1w ago
THAT’S what we can gather from the story of the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. (cfr. Mk 6,14-29) What an absurd turn of events it was! That martyrdom by beheading was simply triggered by King Herod not wanting to lose his face before some people. He made a crazy promise to a dancing girl that eventually led him to make a crazy judgment—the head of St. John the Baptist in exchange for the delight of a dance!   Indeed, we can expect this kind of phenomenon if we are not guided by faith. When our reasoning and our human ways of resolving issues end up grasping at straws, not anymor ..read more
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