Spirituality is having the belief that there is a power greater than oneself; that there are things outside one's control. It is living life in a deeper, more profound way, having a deep sense of life's 'truths'. Spirituality has been defined consistently by scientists as the search for or connection with “the sacred”. The Sacred … Continue reading Tips on Practical Spirituality (Part 1)
Hanapbuhay
The Filipino word for work is HANAPBUHAY. It is such a beautiful word because it captures what work is supposed to be in our culture. Work is not just about earning money, it is about finding life (hanap = to find + buhay = life). The word hanapbuhay reminds us that we should see work, … Continue reading Hanapbuhay
The Son Who Stayed
I wrote a prayer from the perspective of the Prodigal Son in my previous post. This is a reflection from the perspective of the Elder Son, the one who stayed behind to be his father’s heir. What things in your life right now do you do only for the sake of responsibility? How has your … Continue reading The Son Who Stayed
Prayer of the Prodigal Son
This was something I wrote just before I left the Jesuits. It’s a very special poem for me, not only because of the things I went through when I was writing the poem, but because in many ways, it is something that continues to be true for me today. We journey through life thinking that … Continue reading Prayer of the Prodigal Son
Barbwires
Many years ago, I was in a talk given by Fr. James Keenan, SJ, one of the premier moral theologians in the world. He recounted his experience of visiting the memorial inside the Nazi concentration camp of Dachau, in Germany. Like Auswitch, Dachau has come to symbolize the Nazi atrocities during the war. Around 70,000 … Continue reading Barbwires
You Are the Average of the Five People You Spend the Most Time With
The title is taken from Jim Rohn, an American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker. And this was scientifically proven -- Christakis and Fowler found out that if a friend of yours became obese, you have a 45% chance of becoming obese yourself within four to five years. They also found the same results for smoking … Continue reading You Are the Average of the Five People You Spend the Most Time With
From the Already Good to the Really Better
by Eric Santillan One of my batchmates when I entered the Jesuits in 1999 is a guy named Lito Ocon. Lito is one of my closest friends and he was ordained several years ago. He's now the Chaplain of the Philippine General Hospital, the hospital in the centre of the fight against COVID 19 in … Continue reading From the Already Good to the Really Better
From Bitter to Better: Dealing with Life’s Baggages
"Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him." Aldous Huxley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDFQVLHdcXw&feature=youtu.be One idea connected to relationships and abundance is uncluttering. Uncluttering is a term coined in the 1930s to mean “removing clutter from your physical surroundings”, to make what you have and where you are neat and orderly. I have connected it … Continue reading From Bitter to Better: Dealing with Life’s Baggages
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