How wonderful that our celebration of his final vows coincides with the Solemnity of Christ the King, whose readings and significance guided my reflections as I prepared this homily. That we celebrate Nono’s profession and lifetime commitment as a full-fledged Jesuit during this feast serves as a categorical reminder of…

In the Gospel, Jesus says: “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Mt 12:50). In other words, belonging to Jesus is not based on bloodline, but on relationship—on companionship, on shared mission. During your retreat, you prayed about the Passion and…

This day is God’s gentle assurance to you: You are not alone in this mission. You are surrounded by the loving prayers of our Jesuit Saints and Blessed, by your brother Jesuits, by the Ateneo de Iloilo community, and by the wider Iloilo family who walk with you. Hindi ka…

My dear ordinandi, love Jesus by loving the poor. Wash their feet as the pathway to holiness. But do it as a community or in the name of the community of Jesuits. And be servants of the Word, not owners or proprietors.

Let your lives speak that message—not just through your words, but through your presence. Be men who listen deeply, accompany gently, pray humbly. Be signs that God is still calling, still loving, still walking with His people. And never forget: the hope you give will come from the hope you…

But for us, who have received hope through the lives of our bearers of hope. This hope impels us to pass it on. It is a call to become what we have received: Bearers of hope. For Others. Where is hope? We are where hope is. Fellow pilgrims, together, this…

My dear brothers, you are to be ordained. More than the great joys of ministry, what will sustain you is the interior life, not social media, not the crowds, not the many demands of your mission. It is the daily return to God in solitude, in silence, in the examen…

Our mourning is real. We saw the signs—his difficulty walking, his frailty, his wheelchair, his struggle to breathe—but today we still feel his death came too soon. Just days ago, we saw him from the loggia of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome delivering his Urbi et Orbi blessing. His voice…

With the passing of Pope Francis, many of us feel we have lost a well-loved family member, a father and a grandfather, a friend and a close companion, a hero and an ally. We have lost a champion of the poor. We have lost a prophet who courageously spoke for…

The Spiritual Exercises enlist various methods of prayer in the search for God’s will. Fr Raf was an effective mentor not only on fostering a life of prayer through the Spiritual Exercises (retreats) but also in promoting materials for prayer by publishing a number of books on the subject.