Fr. Tony Pueyo, ordained in 1976, is a priest of the Archdiocese of Cotabato, Philippines. He is presently assigned as President of Notre Dame of Tacurong College. His former assignments were as seminary rector, parish priest, college president, and Vicar-General.
Whether this world will end with a great deluge or a great fire we do not know. Scientific theories abound and they make their way into the creative imagination of movie producers and writers. Predictions have been made as to the exact day or hour. Since the invention of the nuclear bomb, we have come to the awareness that such cataclysm is within our human powers. We are capable of destroying this world many times over. The issue of global warming is not just a theory. Now we see clear signs that it is indeed happening.
Date posted: 2009-11-12
If the poor can give out of their meager resources, so much more should the wealthier ones share what they can. Giving is making sacrifices. Only the giver really knows how much sacrifice he is making. And God, who sees the heart.
Date posted: 2009-11-04
Heaven does not only refer to the hereafter. Heaven is a state of being. Even now and in this world, we can somehow be connected to this dimension of existence. When we are able to love, forgive, accept, and share with others, then heaven is present
Date posted: 2009-11-02
We do not need calamities and catastrophes to motivate us to put our sense of values in order. We can ask ourselves now about what really matters in our life. Like Bartimaeus, we can pray for that which we really need and is really important.
Date posted: 2009-10-22
“Servire, non serviri,” to serve not to be served. This theme runs through all the readings this Sunday. As we celebrate World Mission Sunday, let us be inspired by the story of that great missionary who was proclaimed a saint by Pope Benedict last Sunday, Fr. Damien the leper. His life and his work illustrate what is meant by missionary service.
Date posted: 2009-10-17
Life is an adventure. There are times of crises and times of stability. There are ups and downs. Growth comes with every critical period. We learn to walk, talk, and socialize. From dependence we learn to be independent and interdependent. Hopefully, as the years go by, we grow to be more mature and we move from self-absorption to self-sacrifice.
Date posted: 2009-10-07
As one wise man said, “Eve is not taken from Adam’s feet that he may abuse her, nor is she taken from Adam’s head that she may rule over him, rather she is taken from Adam’s side that they may be partners in life.”
Date posted: 2009-10-02
Using the semitic forceful rhetorical device of hyperbole to bring home His point, His words are unforgettable. If anyone causes these little ones to sin, better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God maimed than to go to hell (Gehenna) complete.
Date posted: 2009-09-25
A class of high school seniors were talking about their desired careers. Each one expressed his desire to be a doctor, a teacher, an engineer, a priest, a politician, a soldier, and so on. Each one also justified his choice of profession “in order to serve the people.” The teacher then turned to a little boy in Grade One who was listening, “And what would you want to be?” The boy right away shouted, “ I want to be the People because everybody wants to serve me.&rdquo
Date posted: 2009-09-17
We learn to trust a person who demonstrates trustworthiness. Friendships, professional relationships, and intimate affective bonds grow and develop according to the level of our trust and knowledge of the other.
Date posted: 2009-09-12
We thank God that we have a voice, that we have a contribution to make. We can make a difference in this world. In some way we can make our voice be heard, even if we are not too loud. The crying voice of a child, the soothing voice of a mother and the gentle voice of a teacher can make a difference.
Date posted: 2009-09-04
This familiarization with the ways of God by studying and praying over the Word of God in the company of a like-minded community of friends may bridge the gap between understanding and action. From hearers of the Word, we become doers of the Word.
Date posted: 2009-09-04
Choosing Jesus and living according to His way is more than just waiting for a future heaven to come. It is to make heaven present at the now moment. Christian living becomes more challenging and exciting if we see life as bringing some bit of heaven on earth.
Date posted: 2009-08-21
It is in the Eucharist that people of diverse social backgrounds, economic status, and political persuasions come in fellowship. It is where both sinners and saints kneel in worship. As St. Paul warns, there is no place for discrimination in the eucharistic celebration. Hopefully. to experience the Eucharist is to experience a bit of heaven.
Date posted: 2009-08-07
Those who partake of the bread of life that makes them generous, compassionate, and loving are the people who can respond to the hungry’s cry, “Give us this day our daily bread.”
Date posted: 2009-07-30
There are strange sights on the highway that I often travel. One is likely to meet tanks and armored vehicles full of armed men. One also meets trucks with food intended for evacuees. Some vehicles bring bullets, others deliver bread.
Date posted: 2009-07-26
We are in search of leaders who care. We identify with the hopes of Israel to whom Jeremiah prophesied, “I will appoint shepherds who will take care of them. No longer will they fear or be terrified. No one will be lost” (Jer. 23:4). In the dark periods of their history, the people of Israel had their share of inept and corrupt kings. It was the prophets who kept their hope alive for deliverance by the coming of a messiah. Contrary to expectations of a military conqueror, the messiah came as a humble servant.
Date posted: 2009-07-18
Just last Sunday, people who were at mass in our Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception were shocked by a loud explosion right at the middle of the homily of our own Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, OMI. A bomb was exploded in a stall across the road facing the cathedral doors. Five were killed, including worshipers, and more than a score were wounded.
Date posted: 2009-07-09
St. Paul himself experienced personal difficulties in preaching God’s word. Inhis letters he mentioned being beaten, imprisoned, shipwrecked, and robbed in the course of his journeys. Beside these externally-imposed hardships, he had to deal with a personal weakness which he described as a “thorn in the flesh”.
Date posted: 2009-07-03
There is the amusing story of a man who was suffering from a disease of the legs so that he could not walk. Some relatives insisted on his being treated by a doctor. Other relatives wanted the local “herbolario” or medicine man. To keep the peace, the man decided that the doctor treat one leg and the indigenous healer treat the other leg. What leg got healed first is your end of the story.
Date posted: 2009-06-26
There is another approach to understanding the mystery, that is beyond the seeking for rational explanations. It is the way of “entering the mystery” or “living the mystery”. One may not understand it fully, but one engages himself in the consequences of believing the mystery. God is a mystery, but when I believe, then I live in a manner wherein God makes a difference in my life.
Date posted: 2009-06-04
The Spirit works with human beings who are willing to be guided by this powerful “breath of life”. The Spirit of the Lord seeks partners in this great work of renewing the face of the earth. A partner of the Spirit is one who opens up his mind, heart, and soul to receive the gift that the Spirit gives. He then uses that gift in the service of the church and the world.
Date posted: 2009-05-28
We are proud of the Filipino boxer, Manny Paquiao. The President of the Philippines has appointed him ambassador of peace after his latest boxing victory. The Christian disciple is also an ambassador. Your appointment as ambassador comes from a higher source. It is Christ who appoints you. Live in a manner worthy of your call.
Date posted: 2009-05-25
Jesus is more than just a heroic figure to emulate and an image to inspire us. Jesus continues to be a living presence in the world and in His community of friends. The Holy Spirit came down on the household of Cornelius and amazed the disciples that “the Holy Spirit should be poured out on pagans too.” So will the Spirit of Jesus amaze us and urge us to ge beyond what we think we are capable of, even to the point of heroic love.
Date posted: 2009-05-15
It is about time that we ask ourselves how we have contributed to the environment of sin. Sin in the form of greed, lust, deceit, pride, resentment, envy, gluttony, and laziness is becoming a way of life. Personal sin becomes structural sin.
Date posted: 2009-04-23
Peter jumped into the water and swam to Jesus on the shore. His attitude is like that of a child who gets excited at seeing his mother coming home. There is no hesitation or conditions. Only one thing matters – the beloved is here. We can compare Peter’s attitude to that of Thomas. Thomas doubted and he presented conditions, “Unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (Jn. 20:26).
Date posted: 2009-04-16
The way of Jesus goes beyond self-fulfilment. It is the way of self-transcendence. It is not about self-preoccupation. It is about self-donation. Jesus affirms the need for loving one’s self but it does not stop there. One has to love one’s neighbor as he loves himself, even to the point of giving up one’s life, “Those who love their life destroy it, and those who despise their life in this world keep it for everlasting life” (Jn. 12:25). Self-discovery and self-affirmation are only preludes to self-donation.
Date posted: 2009-03-26
The suffering that diminishes us may be the same suffering that can magnify us. As examples we may cite the various letters from prison that became sources of strength and inspiration. Our great national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal wrote the beautiful poem “Mi Ultimo Adios” while waiting for his execution. Who can forget its opening lines, “Adios Patria adorada, region del sol querida”? From his experiences of Hitler’s concentration camp, Dr. Viktor Frankl came up with logotheraphy and his book, “Man’s Search for Meaning.” The theologian Bonhoeffer who resisted Hitler wrote his “Letters from Prison”. St. Paul himself wrote some of his letters from prison (Col. 4:7-10).
Date posted: 2009-03-19
All our activities are to be done in the light of the first commandment (first reading), “You shall have no gods, except me” (Ex. 20:3). All other commandments follow from this. I venture to say that what made Jesus angry was the worship of money in God’s own house. Such worship of money is related to the present modern temptations of materialism, sensualism, and consumerism. These are the worship of things, pleasures, and commodities. This idolatry angers God.
Date posted: 2009-03-13
The season of Lent is a good time to create a holy space where a meeting with God can take place. It may mean literally going off to a mountain for a retreat or a recollection. The teachers of the spiritual life in the early years of Christianity, otherwise called the Church Fathers, preferred to go to the desert. There in silence and isolation they sought to overcome the forces of sin in themselves and even literally fought off the devil.
Date posted: 2009-03-05
We are bound to repeat history if we have not learned our lessons from it. How can there be social renewal if we deny the need for it? When there is no admission of wrongdoing, then there can be no repentance. How can we be sorry for sins which we do not admit we have ever committed?
Date posted: 2009-02-26
There are instances where a person feels so helpless, he is no longer able by himself to deal with a physical ailment, control a destructive habit (drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling), or cope with a debilitating social situation (loss of a job). During these times of hopelessness and darkness, we need friends to lift us up. The faith of these friends can also enkindle our own faith.
Date posted: 2009-02-20
Beside leprosy, there are other diseases today that leads to marginalization. The great freedom fighter Nelson Mandela of South Africa is not just an advocate of freedom and racial equality. He also advocates support for the victims of AIDS. This new form of leprosy is taking its toll on so many people around the world. He tells the story of visiting an AIDS patient. Many people accompanied him to the door of the house. After he talked to the patient and went out of the house, all the people fled away from him!
Date posted: 2009-02-12
Both Freud and Jung describe a meaningful life as having the essentials of love and work. When we live our lives in love and service, then life ceases to be a drudgery. Each day becomes an adventure.
Date posted: 2009-02-05
The conflict between good and evil today, is not as dramatic as demonic possessions. The modern forces of evil do not show themselves as frightening faces or as contorted bodies. As one movie title indicates, the devil today may wear Prada or any designer brand. He may be sending messages through the internet. He may be courteous, polite, well-educated and sophisticated.
Date posted: 2009-01-29
Why should anyone preach at all? I see two important reasons, first, because the Lord commanded it, and second, because something good ought to be shared.
Date posted: 2009-01-22
The United Nations as early as 1959, came up with the Declararation of the Rights of the Child. Philippine laws have been promulgated to guard children. We should support advocacies for the protection of children. Like Jesus in today’s Gospel, let us embrace the children and bless them.
Date posted: 2009-01-19
If God humbled Himself by coming among us as a man, so should we learn to be humble. The natural inclination is to insist on our own importance and to seek special privileges for ourselves. We want to be exempted from falling in line, from normal procedures, and even from traffic rules.
Date posted: 2009-01-08
The work of reconciliation of peoples is shown in the counselling and reconciliation of broken families. It is manifested in organizing communities and facilitating communal actions. It shows itself in advocacies for peace and inter-cultural dialogue. It is promoting ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue. It is engaging in a dialogue of life with people who may be different from us.
Date posted: 2009-01-02