The Underpinning

By Fr. Roy Cimagala Given the fact that we in this world will always have to contend with complicated situations, challenges, difficulties, trials, and the like, we need to follow what Christ advised his disciples once: “Be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.” (Matthew 10:16) In this way, we can manage to go through …

By Fr. Roy Cimagala This is what Christ is proposing to us. It is quite intriguing, but to be sure it is what truly is proper to us. We need to somehow lose ourselves to win what is truly necessary for us. We cannot deny that we are notorious for sticking to our own will …

By Fr. Roy Cimagala When Christ summoned his 12 apostles, sending them out two by two and giving them authority over unclean spirits, he clearly told them also to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick — no food, no sack, no money in their belts, etc. (cfr. Mark 6:7-13) The instruction may …

By Fr. Roy Cimagala In that gospel parable describing the kingdom of heaven as a treasure buried in a field and as a merchant searching for fine pearls for which the main characters would be willing to sell everything they had just to get that treasure and those fine pearls (cfr. Matthew 13:44-46), we are …

By Fr. Roy Cimagala The clear lesson we can learn from the parable about the wheat and the weeds (cfr. Matthew 13:24-43) is that we should just have hope amid all the trials and challenges in our earthly life, since God will take care of everything. We should avoid overreaching our capacity to resolve all …

By Fr. Roy Cimagala The secret is to be like a child, simple and humble. We can draw that conclusion from the words of Christ himself: “I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to the little …

We, of course, need to eat bread also. After all, we are also material beings that need to be fed and nourished by material food, such as bread. But since we are also spiritual and supposed to be supernatural beings — in fact, eminently so — we should not limit ourselves to natural food. We …

By Fr. Roy Cimagala With Ash Wednesday, we once again begin the season of Lent when, as a way to pursue spiritual growth, self-reflection and preparation for Easter, we are encouraged to go through the process of repentance and conversion, deepening our relationship with God through prayer, fasting and self-discipline, and focusing on caring for …

By Fr. Roy Cimagala That intriguing story of how St. Matthew, a tax-collector, was called by Christ to be one of his apostles (cfr. Matthew 9:9-13) brings out the truth of our Christian faith that God can choose anyone to pursue a special vocation and ministry, irrespective of how that person is. It should be …

By Fr. Roy Cimagala This is very fundamental and indispensable for us to know. Otherwise, we would have a wrong idea of what our life is all about. God loves us first before we learn to love him and everybody and everything else in return. Thus, we need to know what that divine love involves …