I am uncomfortable with throwing around the word “miracle” too easily. In many cases I prefer to speak of Divine Providence, working in history and bringing together a series of contingent—might have been different—events and human decisions to bring about a definite outcome. Let us look at the Edsa 1986…
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Prof. Randy David has written recently (Inquirer Opinion, 1/9/13) on the Black Nazarene devotion and the contradictions it reveals regarding the role of faith in Philippine society. As always, his is an insightful and incisive analysis. He pulls no punches in taking the Catholic Church to task for failing to…
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In a coauthored book “On Heaven and Earth,” the future pope, then Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, hit the nail on the head by offering an alternative understanding of the oft-abused and misused term “charity.” From a Catholic perspective, he says, “Christian charity is the love of God and neighbor. It…
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I never had the chance to see Nelson Mandela in person. But I have experienced what is, I suppose, the next best thing. I have listened to Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak. Ten years ago, Tutu was invited to deliver the keynote address for a peace conference at the Kroc Institute…
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While surfing the cable channels one Saturday afternoon, I chanced upon Karen Davila’s interview with 60-year-old singer Freddie Aguilar about his romantic relationship with a 16-year-old girl. This piece of news was something I belatedly came to know about over a lunch conversation with colleagues at work but did not…
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Don’t expect Pope Francis to soften the Church’s teaching on abortion anytime soon. In a talk last Sept. 20 to gynecologists, he insisted: “Every unborn child, condemned unjustly to being aborted, has the face of the Lord, who before being born, and then when he was just born, experienced the rejection…
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When in his State of the Nation Address President Aquino paid tribute to acts of citizenship by ordinary civil servants and citizens by telling them “Sona mo ito (This is your Sona),” I wished he had cited one program of his administration which for me epitomizes the idea of the government…
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Just for a change, people need to hear about a priest who isn’t screaming about contraception, divorce, and same-sex marriage. That’s what I told Father Jack. It may have been the only reason he agreed to let me write this piece for his 70th anniversary as a Jesuit. Father Jack…
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Lampedusa? Where/what is that? If you are wondering, you are not the only one as the local press has been resoundingly silent about the very first trip of Pope Francis away from the confines of Rome. It was not to his own Buenos Aires or some other great city, not…
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John XXIII’s impossible miracle
Almost 51 years since his canonization was first proposed, the pope dearest to my heart, John XXIII, born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, is now a saint. It has been long enough. I confess I have looked upon John Paul II’s rapid rise to sainthood with some pique. John XXIII would chide…