By Fr. Roy Cimagala Christ said it very clearly. “This is how all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another,” he said. (John 13:35) And in another instance, he described how this love for one another should be. “This is my commandment, that you love one another, even …
The Underpinning
Developing a compassionate heart
By Fr. Roy Cimagala It is said that when Christ saw a big crowd as he disembarked from boat, he was moved to pity and started to preach, cure the sick and even feed them with just a few loaves of bread and a few fish which he miraculously multiplied to the utter consternation of …
If privileged, never feel entitled
By Fr. Roy Cimagala We are reminded of this aspect of Christian life in that gospel episode where the mother of the apostles, James and John, requested Christ to have her sons sit beside him, one on his right and the other on his left, at the Kingdom. (cfr. Matthew 20:20-28) Of course, mothers will …
The Christian art of detachment
BY FR. ROY CIMAGALA It’s a virtue before it is an art. Detachment that is proper to us is a virtue that comes as a result of the spirit of Christ. And we can only have that spirit if we are open to God’s grace and faithfully follow the consequences and implications of such grace. …
We ought to die in order to live?
By Fr. Roy Cimagala We have to be ready to understand as quickly as possible some of the incredible teachings of Christ. One of them is that we need to die in order to live. (cfr. John 12:24-26) “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it …
Unafraid with the things of God
By Fr. Roy Cimagala That gospel episode where Christ shocked his apostles when they saw him walking on the water (cfr. Matthew 14:22-36) reminds us that the ways of God can overwhelm us and even throw us into the grip of fear. We should just remember what Christ told his apostles. “Take courage, it is …
Lessons from the sower and the seed
By Fr. Roy Cimagala The parable of the sower and the seed (cfr. Matthew 13:1-9) prods us to undertake the urgent and most necessary task of spreading the Word of God widely and abidingly. It also urges us to be that good soil that brings good and plentiful fruit of God’s Word. Nowadays, we cannot …
Always nourish the faith
By Fr. Roy Cimagala We are familiar with the story of the doubting Thomas who later on turned to be a fervently believing Thomas. (cfr. John 20:24-29) It’s a story that can only remind us of our duty to always nourish our faith to such an extent that Christ’s words to Thomas can also be …
How can we recognize Christ?
By Fr. Roy Cimagala “It is the Lord!” (John 21:7) That was the excited reaction of the disciple, who the gospel described as the one Jesus loved, when Christ’s disciples made an abundant catch of fish after being told by Christ, who at first the disciples did not recognize, to cast their nets over the …
Christ sends us to everyone else
By Fr. Roy Cimagala “Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:21-22) Though addressed to his apostles, these words can also be addressed to all of us who …