Lagura: Divine Word revisited
YEARS have passed since the bitter wrangling and painful parting of ways between the labor union and the administration of the Divine Word University in Tacloban took place. The closing down of the once excellent center of higher learning dedicated to the Divine Word serving the Eastern Visayas...
Lagura: Come, Holy Spirit, fill our hearts
WITH the onset of the monsoon rains the island of Leyte, from Dulangan to Tacloban sheds its pale brown complexion and turns into verdant green. The life-inducing rain from above allows the earth to give forth clear signs of life, and life in abundance. There will be joy, for after some months...
Lagura: Divine Word revisited
YEARS have passed since the bitter wrangling and painful parting of ways between the labor union and the administration of the Divine Word University in Tacloban took place. The closing down of the once excellent center of higher learning dedicated to the Divine Word serving the Eastern Visayas...
Lagura: May as the month of Mary
ONE lovely yet cold evening in spring, the Fil-Am community of St. John’s Catholic Church in Milpitas, California gathered in the newly built grotto to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. Braving the biting cold the faithful sang and prayed with their pastor, Fr. Norman—a native of...
Lagura: Poor, humble servant of the Lord
TOWERING over the city of Montreal is the Oratory of St. Joseph—the huge and lovely work of love which Bro. Andre started from a very humble and small beginning.
Bro. Andre (Alfred Bessette) was born in the Canadian province of Quebec in August 9, 1845. His father, Isaac Bessette, died...
Lagura: Easter, Easter eggs, and the Lord’s resurrection
A PARISHIONER once asked, “Where does the word “Easter” come from?” Actually “Easter” comes from an old German or Saxon word, Eostre, which means spring, for it was really the name of the goddess of spring.
Lagura: From the shadow of Lent to the glory of Easter
BONG and Daryl mingled with a host of devotees who stayed and prayed inside the remarkably cool and beautiful National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Together with them on that lovely afternoon were many others coming from different lands. Above them was the immense copula richly plated...
Lagura: Turn away from sin in Lent
EARLIER this week the fun-loving Brazilians celebrated their carnival (from the Latin carni [meat] and vale [goodbye]. Farther north, the merry-making Creoles and Cajuns of New Orleans had their Mardi gras [fat-Tuesday]. These two festivities ushered in the season of Lent which we call cuaresma...
Lagura: Knowing the Lord and doing his will
YOU will surely be startled when someone goes up to you and say, “Have you been saved? And “Have you accepted Jesus in your life?
Lagura: More precious than many sparrows
ST. Therese of the Child Jesus, whom the whole world knows as “the Little Flower,” remembers that as a child she and her father gazed one cold but clear winter night at the stars. To her delight she spotted the constellation, The Orion; the young child clap her hands pointing to the T at the...
Lagura: Mary as Consolation of the afflicted
IN the early days of this month hundreds of pilgrims begin to make their journey to Lourdes in search of healing, forgiveness and consolation from Our Lady who is rightfully called, “Consolation of the afflicted” (Consolatrix pauperum et infirmorum). Gently nestled at the foot of the Pyrenees...
Lagura: At the heart of the divine law
THE engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton sent multitudes into euphoric jubilation. At the same time, however, their legions of well-wishers are crossing their fingers that their marriage will fare better than the fairy-tale wedding of Prince Charles and the lovely Lady Diana Spencer,...
Lagura: Salt of the earth, light of the world
A TEACHER in a well-known Catholic university boasted of his being liberal as regards the moral teachings of the Church. His dean confronted him especially on the topic of abortion, for the teacher maintained that the woman has all the right to do whatever she wishes with her body and the matter...
Lagura: The truly blessed one
MacArthur once said, “We are as young as our dreams, as old as our fears.” Yet, this may not fully explain the popularity of the “MV Philippine Dream” in the port of Mactan on which many literally get aboard in order to indulge their dreams of riches, and with them, power and fame. Their...
Lagura: Miracle from the Sacred Heart
FR. PETE'S 78 year-old father, Ricardo, felt a blunt pain in his chest late that night. So he got up from his bed, but as he did so he tottered and started falling down. Instinctively he put out his left arm to cushion his fall. However, when he did so, his left thumb accidentally poked his...
Lagura: The Lord’s Baptism, and ours
“HE must also be a sinner!” was the thought that ran through the minds of the Jews as the Jesus approached John the Baptist to be baptized. Actually, for the early Christians this thought also bothered them when they remembered and talked about the baptism of the Lord.
However, from the...
Lagura: Joseph, a man of all seasons
ONCE there was a man told his four sons to go to a distant land in order to see a fabled apple tree. The eldest went in winter and reported that he saw a barren, bent and dried-up tree. The second son went in the spring and differed in his report, for he found buds sprouting with the promise of...
Lagura: Rose-colored vestments for joy
ONCE again, on the Third Sunday of Advent, the priests wear rose-colored(pink!) vestments for mass. [On this Sunday some parishioners naughtily wear pink shirts with these words boldly printed in front: “Real men wear pink!”] Curiously some will ask, why so, for what purpose? Normally, the...
Lagura: Why we have a tree at Christmas
IN the early part of the 20th century Filipino homes displayed a belen at Christmas. One day I asked my mother if we could have a Christmas tree like some houses in the neighborhood. But my mother of happy memories put down her foot firmly and said, “No, the tree is for Protestants. We are...
Lagura: Advent seen in yet another
THE church of Our Lady of Victory displays a majestic picture of Our Lord placed just behind the main altar. For several years now the parishioners have time and again gazed at it and wondered what the letters in Greek found above the face of the Lord mean.
Lagura: Long live, Christ the King
PILATE's eyes widened when he heard Jesus say, “Yes, I am a king, and for this purpose I was born. And I came to bring truth to the world. All who love the truth are my followers.” (John 18:37b)
At a time when many distrust politicians and governments, when business leaders are held in...
Lagura: Despite gloom, a message of hope
IN the dark nights of November and when the year is about to end, people start to talk about death, the end of the world. Likewise, interests are renewed in the message of gloom and doom from the Book of Apocalypse. TV channels will probably stage re-runs of Marlon Brando’s “Apocalypse Now” and...
Lagura: We believe in the resurrection of the dead
RELIGIONS are often measured by their belief in the life to come. Happily our Christian faith holds to the resurrection from the dead as an important doctrine we all have to believe in and live by.
Lagura: Keeping the faith on All Saints’ Day
“YES, I choose life!” were the words boldly emblazoned on the bright-yellow shirts which a group of young people wore when they attended the early mass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral. All received Holy Communion with full reverence and in all seriousness, as if they were preparing themselves for...
Lagura: Along the mission trail
ON the slopes of a hill overlooking St. Wendel Missionhouse in Saarland, Germany two young Filipino SVD missionaries, Fr. Jun Alda and Fr. Simon Boiser, pray before the burial plots of SVD brothers and priests who have been laid to rest after many years of labor in the mission lands. Among the...
