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Category: Reflections and Insights

Divine Mercy and the Doorway of Stillness

Divine Mercy and the Doorway of Stillness

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Based on a talk by Rev. Fr. Pachomius Ma. San Juan, OSB On this celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday, a quiet question rises: How do we truly encounter mercy, not just as an idea, but as a lived reality? One surprising answer is this: through stillness. The invitation beneath the noise We often think of mercy in action. Acts of forgiveness, compassion, reconciliation. But before mercy becomes something we give, it is first something we receive. And we receive it…

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Unlocking the Doors: Faith, Doubt, and the Courage of Easter

Unlocking the Doors: Faith, Doubt, and the Courage of Easter

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Based on a homily by Rev. Fr. Pachomius Ma. San Juan, OSB The disciples were gathered behind locked doors, fearful, uncertain, and perhaps deeply disillusioned. The One they had followed was crucified. Their hopes, once alive with promise, now seemed shattered. In that closed room filled with anxiety and defeat, something unexpected happens. Jesus comes. He does not break down the door. He does not rebuke them for abandoning Him. Instead, He stands among them and offers peace. This is…

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Not the Righteous, But the Needy: A Good Friday Reckoning

Not the Righteous, But the Needy: A Good Friday Reckoning

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Based on a talk by Rev. Fr. Pachomius Ma. San Juan, OSB Today is Good Friday, the day we stand before the Cross. After forty days of Lent, of prayer, fasting, and sacrifice, we arrive here. And it’s tempting to ask: Have I done enough? Have I become better? Holier? Worthier? But as we look at Christ crucified, those questions begin to fall away. A Gospel passage from early in Lent tells of the call of Levi, the tax collector,…

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Maundy Thursday Ponderings

Maundy Thursday Ponderings

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Word to Live By: John 13:1-15 There’s much in the Gospel story or words of Jesus that we can’t immediately understand. He says little about the meaning of the washing of the feet except that it is about service, that we should do it too. By doing something in the example or name of Jesus, we often find its meaning. For the first time on Holy Thursday evening, Jesus offered his Body and Blood, the same body that would be…

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Church of the Transfiguration
When the Mountain Ends: The Light of the Transfiguration

When the Mountain Ends: The Light of the Transfiguration

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Based on a homily by Rev. Fr. Pachomius Ma. San Juan, OSB There are moments in the spiritual life that feel luminous, moments when everything becomes clear, when faith feels alive, and when God seems almost tangible. The Gospel account of the Transfiguration is one of those moments. On that mountain, the disciples witnessed something extraordinary. Jesus was transfigured before them in glory. The voice of the Father was heard. Moses and Elijah – two towering figures of Israel’s faith…

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Standing Where Christ Stands: Prayer as Presence in a Fractured World

Standing Where Christ Stands: Prayer as Presence in a Fractured World

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Based on a homily by Rev. Fr. Pachomius Ma. San Juan, OSB We never enter a new year empty-handed. We arrive carrying everything the last one has laid upon us. Losses we didn’t choose, disappointments that altered us, truths that stripped away our illusions of control. Trust has been shaken. Institutions we leaned on have faltered. Grief has left some of us without words. Fear, at one point or another, has found us all. Scripture does not deny this. Saint…

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Always Beginning- An Orientation to Christian Meditation

Always Beginning- An Orientation to Christian Meditation

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Based on a talk by Rev. Fr. Pachomius Ma. San Juan, OSB Every first Sunday of the quarter, our community pauses for what we call an orientation-themed reflection. For some, it is an introduction. For others, a reminder. For all of us, it is an invitation to begin again. That phrase, begin again, sits at the heart of Christian meditation as taught by John Main. No matter how long we have been practicing, we are always beginners. Meditation does not…

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Repentance as Return

Repentance as Return

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Based on a homily by Rev. Fr. Pachomius Ma. San Juan, OSB Every Advent, the Church asks us to stay awake, to be alert, to pay attention, not just to the world around us, but to the quiet terrain within. Last Sunday’s Gospel set the tone with a call to watchfulness. This Sunday adds the next step: repentance. And for many of us, that word arrives carrying heavy baggage. We tend to imagine repentance as a moral clean-up, a spiritual…

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Where Light Begins: Lessons from the Dark of Advent

Where Light Begins: Lessons from the Dark of Advent

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Based on an Advent recollection talk by Rev. Fr. Pachomius Ma. San Juan, OSB Advent has always carried a peculiar tenderness. While the world prepares for Christmas with noise, glitter, and speed, Advent itself prefers a quieter register. Gentle, muted, and contemplative. It is the season that invites us not into frenzy, but into stillness; not into spectacle, but into silence. There is a somber beauty to Advent, a subdued mood that asks the heart to slow its pace. In…

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The Eye That Cannot See Itself: Rediscovering the Authentic Self Through Meditation

The Eye That Cannot See Itself: Rediscovering the Authentic Self Through Meditation

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Based on a talk by Rev. Fr. Pachomius Ma. San Juan, OSB There are words that refuse to give themselves away too quickly. In Tagalog, salawikain comes close. A proverb, a riddle, a poetic whisper – its meaning shifts depending on who hears it. We sit with it, let it linger, and only over time does it begin to shape our understanding. Buddhist tradition treats the koan the same way: a statement that eludes instant comprehension, inviting the meditator to…

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