Adapted from the homily given during the Easter vigil at the Church of the Gesu, Ateneo de Manila, 8 April 2012by Fr. Jet Villarin, SJ When we were novices, we led a structured life. We woke up at 5am, prayed, went to mass, ate, studied, worked the fields, played, and prayed again till the sun … Continue reading Joy
King
Homily for the Solemnity of Christ the King, 2010by Fr. Jet Villarin, SJ If you're of this century, I suspect that relating to Jesus Christ “our sovereign king” might not come easy. Admittedly, the image of Christ the King can be quaint and ancient for many. Kings and lords are the stuff of Shrek stories … Continue reading King
Pushing Boundaries
by Pat Nogoy SJ “How does love change? The better question is: how do we change because of love. The answer is simple: Continuously, Foolishly, Endlessly.”—Ann Packer, A Dive from Clausen’s Pier Seated on a vast lawn overlooking the valley in one humid afternoon, a recent graduate whom I have guided was sharing her difficulties … Continue reading Pushing Boundaries
Think
In a way, I am grateful for some of the esoteric and elegant math I’ve learned in physics. It gives me a nosebleed idea of the way God thinks. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.”
When I Say I Love You
What do I mean when I say “I love you?”
From the onset, what seemed to be an over-run expression especially during Valentine’s is actually problematic. There is the subject “I” and the object “You.” What is fundamentally revealed in the structure of the sentence with the addition of the verb “love” is a relation and if we wonder further, we can ask: What happens when a totally different I relate to a totally different You through love?
Arms
The Amorites are losing. If you cannot tell someone that he or she has body odor and thus in need of urgent deodorizing, you can say, “the Amorites are losing.” This can be convenient code, a diplomatic way to tell someone smelly. Let me explain. In the first reading today, Moses tells Joshua to engage Amalek and the Amorites in battle. Moses assures Joshua that he will be “standing on top of the hill” with Aaron and Hur, and he will have his arms raised. In the heat of battle, the Israelites discover that “as long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight.”
Greater Than Death and Absurdity
For the reality of God persists; its notion knocks hard on the doors of minds and imagination. People seem to not stop in talking about it. Blame it on the culture or the institutional Church, perhaps. However, if one chooses to be open and to simply listen, may be one can stumble upon some truth of this reality we call God. Not only an abstract concept or a reality proven by logic. Not only a reality that exists and in which all other beings participate in their existence. Not only a trace of a completely Other. Not only something or someone that can be dismissed in silence. Not only an idea to be talked about.
Balloon
Imagine you are a flatlander, that is, someone who lives on a flat, two-dimensional surface, as ants do. A triangle on this surface will not be seen by you as a triangle. If you walk along its sides, you will only see three segments connecting each other at three sharp corners. Similarly, a sphere that crosses your universe will only be recognized by you as a circle, well, not even a circle since all you'll ever see will be a smooth curving line with no corners.
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