I am sure you know at least one person who has left the Church due to a hurtful experience within it. This individual, once identifying as Catholic, has abandoned their religion because of disappointment with a priest or with people in the Church. Perhaps they encountered a priest who was unfaithful to his vow of celibacy or was affected by the political stance of a clergy member. Alternatively, they may have become annoyed with their parish priest’s persistent and insistent fundraising tactics, causing them to stop attending Mass altogether. These people are frustrated by the Church. They hav ..read more

  WHEN PRIESTS CRY…   Meditation by Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas, Archbishop of Lingayen Dagupan, on the occasion of Chrism Mass on March 28, 2024 at the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist, Dagupan City   Beloved brothers in Christ:   Today as we gather again to remember the memorable day of our ordination, let us make a spiritual journey to those months preceding our ordination when we were scrutinized about our suitability for priestly ministry. The seminary fathers questioned our maturity and tested our capacity to understand, retain and transmit the basics of the ..read more

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In one short paragraph, Jesus astonished the people around Him for two significant reasons. Firstly, they were astounded by His preaching. Secondly, they were astounded by His healing. Why were they astonished by His preaching? Because He spoke only the truth. Truth possesses its own power. It requires no sugar coating. It needs no techniques. When truth is conveyed as truth, it invariably carries a liberating power. When our words fail to astound others, could it be because we speak from fear or seek favors? Truth is fearless and does not pursue favors. Truth is truth, and that is its inheren ..read more

By nature, we like miracles. When we hear about a miracle or read about it, we rush to the miracle site because we want to experience the supernatural through those miracles. Human beings probably like miracles a lot, but God does not like miracles. That is why miracles happen very rarely. God does not like them. God does not like miracles to be an everyday reality in our lives. What God wants is not miracles but faith. God enjoys receiving faith from us. It is not that God is stingy with miracles. It is this—for people who have no faith, they will be able to explain it and say it is not a mir ..read more

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 to relationships, to marriage, and even friendships. We are at a party and deep in our hearts we want to say, “I am lonely.” What causes this feeling? What causes this feeling of boredom, this feeling of loneliness, this feeling of doing many things and yet not doing anything? We can relate to how ..read more

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 immediately felt the accepting attitude of Jesus. When God takes away our physical sight, experience teaches us that our other senses are sharpened. Such was the case of the blind man. He could not see with his eyes, but he could sense and see with the heart. On the other hand, the crowd around Jesus, the Apostles following the Lord, could se ..read more

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. There were ten lepers. They were told to do something. They were healed along the way. The nine chose to be dutiful. They were obedient. What’s wrong with that? The Lord told them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” They have not yet reached the priests and they got well. So they just said, “But th ..read more

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 often unadmitted, is self-interest. We want to give because we want to get something in return. Investment, so to speak. We give something because we know that we will get something even more in return. It can come in business. Sometimes, it can also come in Church, in prayer. We s ..read more

Let me clarify a point very carefully before I go on. When the Lord said, “You are going to catch a fish and you will see a coin inside the mouth of the fish. Therefore, at that point, pay the tax.” That does not refer to any miraculous catch. It is not a miracle. What it actually means is this. You have a debt to pay, you have a loan to pay, you have a tax to pay. If you have an obligation, go to the sea and fish for the whole day, you will have enough money to pay your loan, to pay your debts, to pay your tax. In other words, this Gospel is not about a miraculous catch of a fish with a coin ..read more