Dear Parishioners, Today is a very special day not only because it is Pentecost Sunday – the birthday of our church – but also because today our young brothers and sisters who have been preparing for the last several months will finally receive Jesus Christ in the Eucharist as they have today their First Communion. I am sure most of us can…

Dear Parishioners, The celebration of Mother’s Day is one of the most special days that we celebrate worldwide. All of us have mothers – biological or adoptive. Our mother was our first home as we developed inside her womb. Our mother’s embrace was the first embrace we experienced when we were born. Our mother was our first source or nourishment as we…

Dear Parishioners, May is the month of Mary and that is the reason why there are so many Marian devotions during the month of May. May Crowning is one of them. It is a tradition in the Catholic Church wherein we crown our Blessed Mother with flowers. The crown of flowers signify her virtues and through her intercession we pray that we…

Dear Parishioners, I love you. A few days ago, we celebrated a memorial Mass for a parishioner who had the wonderful habit of saying “I love you” to everyone. It reminded me of my call to be an instrument of love to all the people that I minister to as a priest of God – I do what I do because I…

Dear Parishioners, I would like to share with you a reflection I had during one of our daily Masses. The Gospel is about Jesus Christ as the Bread of Life. Some time ago, after the celebration of the liturgies of Holy Week, I took some days off to be with my brother priests and relax. We were having some beer as we…

Dear Parishioners, Now that we are in the Easter Season on our way to Pentecost, I would like to thank all those who helped in the preparations for the celebrations during the Lenten Season leading to the Easter Triduum and Easter Sunday. In my reflections and prayers after the celebrations during the Holy Week, I was led to appreciate the many volunteers…

Dear Parishioners, “Peace be with you.” I was reflecting on this message of Jesus Christ to his disciples and I realized how connected God’s peace is with his mercy. We all know that God is merciful but we tend to take for granted the peace in our hearts that flows from his mercy. The disciples who were feeling abandoned and hopeless were…

Dear Parishioners, HE IS RISEN ALLELUIA!!! A Russian poet once said “Love is not love if it has no future.” Reading that line from the poet in the light of what Jesus Christ has done for us, it is so true. What Jesus revealed to us during his passion was His love for the Father and for us. Now, His resurrection shows…

Dear Parishioners, Today we officially enter Holy Week as we celebrate Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord. We have begun the holiest of all weeks in our liturgical calendar and I hope that we all go through this week mindful of what God has done for us out of His great love for us. Again, let us not take for granted the…

Dear Parishioners, We are on the home stretch! After this coming week we will be celebrating the Holy Week. I am sure that I am not the only one saying, “It seems like we just celebrated Christmas!” Time flies so fast and if we are not very conscious about it, we might miss out on very important moments of our journey to…

Dear Parishioners, Recently, I was visiting another parish to help with their Reconciliation Services, and I saw a quotation posted in the bulletin board in their sacristy. The quotation is from the Dalai Lama: “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” Reading that quote not only helped me in hearing the confessions that evening, but it also made me realize that…

Dear Parishioners, “If you do not repent, you will all perish…” There is a sense of urgency in these words of Jesus and we should pay attention and listen to Him. It seems that Jesus wants to strike fear in all our hearts – “…you will all perish as they did!” – but I think if we are not afraid of perishing…

Dear Parishioners, During this Holy Season of Lent, there are a lot of things that we should be mindful of – things that we should do so that our relationship with our God can truly grow and bear fruit in the lives that we are living. Last Tuesday during the daily Mass, the Gospel reading was from Mt. 6:7-15 where Jesus Christ…

Dear Parishioners, We are already in the Holy Season of Lent. It is a penitential season so let us all be mindful of the faith practices that we are expected to do. There are times when we might feel like these practices are optional, no it is not. All Catholics from age 14 are expected to abstain from meat on Fridays and…

Dear Parishioners, On Wednesday, we will begin the Holy Season of Lent as we put ashes on our foreheads. Putting ashes on our foreheads is admitting our sinfulness. When we come forward to receive ashes on Ash Wednesday (this coming Wednesday), we are saying that we are sorry for our sins, and that we want to use the Season of Lent to…