The Underpinning

By Fr. Roy Cimagala “Beware of false prophets!” (Matthew 7:15) That’s what Christ told his disciples. These days, this warning assumes a most urgent character, since we cannot deny that we are having many people who are presenting themselves as prophets and yet their messages can stir serious doubts in us. There is indeed a …

By Fr. Roy Cimagala Christ said it very clearly. “It is not anyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21) Indeed, we always have to be open to God’s will and ways that oftentimes can be …

By Fr. Roy Cimagala Nothing is lost if we dare to ask God for some miracles or some special and extraordinary favors. If God sees that it would really be for own good, he will surely grant it. If not — and he can only be the one to know if what we are asking …

By Fr. Roy Cimagala We need to be clear about this. Our Christian faith is not optional in our life. It is neither relevant only to some affairs and concerns in our life. It should be the main guide in all our affairs, be they in matters of the sciences and technologies, of politics and …

By Fr. Roy Cimagala That’s what we can gather from that gospel episode where Christ first forgave the sins of a paralytic man before curing him of his disability. (cfr. Matthew 9:1-8) And that’s simply because it is the spirit and not just our bodily or biological constitution that truly gives us the life and …

By Fr. Roy Cimagala Those two parables Christ told his disciples that compared the Kingdom of God to some seed that when planted on earth would just grow, become big and bear fruit (cfr. Mark 4:26-34) highlight the truth of our faith that God always provides for our needs but we also have to do …

By Fr. Roy Cimagala Christ once told his disciples, and now us, that we should be the salt and light of the earth. (cfr. Matthew 5:13-16) In other words, we should give the proper flavor and provide the proper light so all of us can be led to our proper destination. This basic truth about …

THE UNDERPINNING By Fr. Roy Cimagala If we really are serious in following Christ, we should set no conditions and, instead, open ourselves to whatever and wherever God’s providence would lead us. This is a truth of our faith that is highlighted in that gospel episode where a scribe wanted to follow Christ who told …

By Fr. Roy Cimagala That rather amusing gospel episode about those who were so amazed at the preaching of Christ in the synagogue that they could not believe that someone just like them, coming from the same place and whose family they knew, could preach the way Christ did (cfr. Mark 6:1-6), tells us that …

By Fr. Roy Cimagala They often go together and we are very much prone to them. Thus, we have to be properly guarded, training ourselves to practice restraint and to be quick to rectify once we fall into them. We are reminded of this phenomenon in that gospel episode where the usual critics of Christ …