Saint Peter Julian Eymard’s Birthday Most houses did not have air conditioning when I was growing up in Puerto Rico. I still remember my thighs being painfully peeled off my grandmother’s plastic-covered sofa every time I got up. At least we were allowed to sit on it; the nice furniture in our living room was […]

Love makes you do crazy things. Movies and books are filled with stories of people falling head over heels in love, willing to risk everything to pursue the object of their desire. The trite airport scene comes to mind… when the fear of losing love forever brings courage to risk ridicule and rejection in front […]

When my son was little, he would get quite upset whenever he witnessed someone breaking the rules, be it his siblings, friends, or even grownups. He just had to do something about it, usually telling me what was happening. Believe me, as much as I disliked his tattling; it was preferable to the times he […]

What did you go out to the desert to see?… (Luke 7:24). Three times Jesus asks the same question. He doesn’t even give them time to answer in between. It is like he is prodding their hearts, opening their minds, and preparing their eyes to see. In revealing to them the mission of John the […]

Two blind men cried out, “Son of David, have pity on us!”…And their eyes were opened. … they went out and spread word of him through all that land (Matthew 9:27,30-31). What did they see that compelled them to go on a mission, to leave their old life behind? What did Jesus see when he looked […]

Emmanuel… God is with us. Perhaps the first image that comes to mind when we hear these words is the babe in the manger on the front of a Christmas card. Unlike some of the pictures we see on Instagram of “chic-farm” weddings, with bales of hay and mason jars but no animal droppings in […]

I remember visiting the mall and coming upon a large map with a big star and an arrow saying, YOU ARE HERE. The funny thing is that I did not go to the map to find out where I was; I knew I was “here”… I went to find out where a particular store was. […]

In today’s first reading, Paul kneels before the Father and asks that you and I “may be filled with all the fullness of God.” He asks that we “may have strength to comprehend…and to know the love of Christ.” Why would we need strength for this? St. Thomas Aquinas once said, “I can write no […]

My firstborn son will turn thirty years old in a couple of days. I remember the day he was born as if it was yesterday. I remember heading to the hospital… the mixed thoughts and emotions that flooded my whole being. There was excitement, fear, relief, and apprehension, but above all, there was expectation. The […]

Our Lady of Sorrows I’ve often pondered the contradiction Our Lady of Sorrows presents… assumed into heaven, sharing in the glory of her Son, yet tears still being poured out for us in this exile, in this land that is not our home. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he […]