Every once in a while, I get certain persons coming to me for confession, and instead of confessing their sins, they begin a tirade of how other people caused them to sin, putting the blame on other people and refusing to admit their own wrongdoing. Such persons seem to try and justify that the wrong
It is easy for us to give praise and thanks to God for all that He has done for us. After all, words are easy to utter and people may say things without necessarily mean what they say. For example, a person may say certain things to sound good, or to flatter another, but how
Going forth and preach the Good News is a command Jesus has given to each and every one of us. This command is not to be taken lightly, as it is one of great urgency and importance. Today’s Gospel reminds us of this great urgency and importance: “Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send
Being possessed by an evil spirit is certainly no laughing matter. A possessed person has little or even no control of himself or herself, and what a relief it would be to be rid of such possession. It is quite understandable then why a person who had been freed from possession would want to stay
Nowadays, most people are living busy lives, and with the cost of living going up, it seems as if there is hardly any time for anything else besides work and earning a living. In the midst of the chaos we experience in life, we also need to deal with family, friends and even members of
We come across different people who listen or hear news differently, depending on what sort of news is being conveyed. Some people listen or hear in a prejudiced manner. They shut their minds, and may be ignoring what is being said, or even not really listening at all. Some people listen or hear in a
Every once in a while, we come across people who have mastered the art of putting on an appearance or seem to have a “poker face,” where real thoughts and emotions are hidden or buried, and what is shown is merely an illusion. For example, such a person may be angry with someone or something,
It is not easy for some of us to let go of something. For example, some of us find it difficult to let go of our wealth and property; some find it difficult to let go of our children or loved ones; some find it difficult to let go of our habits or certain ways
How many of us have trust and confidence that God listens to our prayers? Perhaps we may say that we have trust and confidence, but how many of us would have trust and confidence that God would answer our prayers? Perhaps this is where our trust and confidence may be tested, since God does not
今天我们庆祝圣母始胎无染原罪节。在今天的读经，我们看到违反了天主旨意的亚当，在恐惧和羞耻中躲避天主。另一方面，我们看到玛利亚服从地回应天主说：“看，上主的婢女，愿照你的话成就于我吧！” 玛利亚或许会怀疑和害怕她答应天使之后所带来的后果，但玛利亚依然完全信赖天主。尽管她将面对许多的困难和挑战，她还是对天主说：主，我愿意。玛利亚是一位忠信的门徒、她是第一位相信耶稣的人、也是第一位接受耶稣而且让耶稣取得人的形体。 玛利亚答应了天使，接受了一个她从未想过的生命、接受了那把将刺透她的心的剑、接受了十字架、接受了那未知的未来以及给予他的儿子无限的支持。天主不断地寻找我们、祂爱我们、祂关心我们。天主呼唤我们，就像他呼唤亚当一样“你在哪里？”我们如何回应呢？我们是否想亚当一样，为我们的罪恶感到羞耻然后害怕地躲起来，期望天主不要再理会我们。还是我们像玛利亚那样，回应说：“看，上主的婢女，愿照你的话成就于我吧！” 让我们以玛利亚作为我们门徒的模范，反省我们如何回应天主的召叫。我们是否选择性地回应天主、只选择那些合我们心意的事情？还是我们要像我们天上的母亲玛利亚一样，为光荣天主而完全奉献？
