To put me off a teaching career, Mom would say: “Those who can’t, teach.” The adage took on new meaning when Sister Gloria taught us sex education in high school. I salute her for grace under fire. We greeted with mocking incredulity her lessons on the mysteries of reproduction. By then…
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In the second week of Lent, as Catholics moved into their preparation for Easter, the Church asked us to reflect on the Lord’s parable of the rich man and Lazarus. We recall the story of the rich man dressed in the finest clothes, dining sumptuously every day, and the poor…
Leave a CommentBishop Teodoro Bacani had almost 250 priests in stitches with the following anecdote. A religious sister stayed for a few weeks in an urban poor community. With each scene of abject poverty she encountered, she would inevitably say, “Kawawa naman!” (What a pity!) Stumbling upon a naked, soot-covered child, she…
Leave a CommentDad was instinctively Catholic. He had scant catechism as a child. But while other boys played at being soldiers, he played at being a priest. He might have become one had he gone to a Catholic school. Instead he sent his children to Catholic schools, and improved his own Catholic…
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Early in the morning of Feb. 22, 1986, Bishop Francisco Claver, S.J. was called upon to put his money where his mouth was. Claver had been the main author of the bishops’ post-election statement which declared that in their considered judgment “the polls were unparalleled in the fraudulence of their…
Leave a CommentAs the nation heaps praise and admiration upon former government auditor turned whistle-blower Heidi Mendoza, I am reminded of two words: “common virtue.” This was the title of the last chapter of John Bradley Jr.’s 2000 bestseller, “Flags of Our Fathers.” The book is Bradley’s account of the lives of…
Leave a CommentWhat a difference a short meeting makes. The much-awaited encounter with President Noy happened on Dec. 23, 2010. Originally planned to be a “big” assembly of at least 300 participants, the meeting was an idea that came out of an earlier meeting between the President and six representatives of the…
Leave a CommentMy oldest nephew, on whom we pin great hopes, spent 16 years in that famous school in Loyola Heights, the one that instructs its students not just in reading skills but in Catholic teaching. He recently asked about the topic for my next article. I said: “The 20th anniversary of…
Leave a CommentI took a much-needed respite from my daily routine and work last November. After two years of planning and saving up, I made a trip to New Zealand with a cousin and friend to visit a younger cousin who lives in Auckland. We went around the north side of New…
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‘For he is our peace’ (Eph. 2:14)
As I watched Christ’s faithful gather symbolically in the Upper Room on Holy Thursday, around Calvary’s cross on Good Friday, and at the empty tomb on Easter Sunday, a wave of joy flowed over me. Swept up like a chip of wood on the surface of a boiling wave by…