OFM Franciscans - Davao

11/05/2026

26/04/2026

Provincial Celebration for the Solemn Inauguration of the 8th Centenary of the Transitus of St. Francis of Assisi (1226-2026) , and the Year of St. Francis of Assisi (January 10, 2026-January 10, 2027)

17/04/2026

16/04/2026

𝑰𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝑶𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝑨𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒍 16 - 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑰𝑰𝑰 - 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚: 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑹𝒖𝒍𝒆, 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝑮𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒍, 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒔.

"𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑢𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠, 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑦, 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑙𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡, 𝑏𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑒'𝑠 𝑜𝑤𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑦. 𝐵𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝐶ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑏𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑦 𝐵𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑠." (𝑅𝐵 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 1)

04/04/2026

THE END OF THE BEGINNING
(Homily on Easter Vigil)

Tonight, we hang in the balance between the ‘no longer’ of Good Friday and the ‘not yet’ of Easter Sunday. We are dwelling in the in-between. We stand within the paradox of Holy Saturday—a day of profound silence that marks the end of the beginning. Here, on this bridge of hope, Mother Mary accompanies us through the stillness, waiting for that moment when the impossible becomes the only thing that is true.

1. The Tomb is a Womb: To the world, a tomb is a dead end. It’s where stories stop. Whether it’s a failed marriage, a lost job, or the death of a loved one, we all know the silence of the tomb. But in the eyes of God, that darkness isn't the darkness of a grave; it’s the darkness of a seed underground. The silence of Holy Saturday isn't an empty void; it’s the subtle breath of a New Creation about to burst forth. If you feel buried today, remember: you aren't being finished, you are being planted.

2. The Victory of the Victim: The world tells us that power belongs to those who can shout the loudest or use the most force. But the Vigil celebrates a King who conquered by dying. When we entered the waters of Baptism, we “died” to the fear of what the world can do to us. We rose with a life that violence and corruption cannot touch. The Spirit is alive in us precisely because it survived the very worst the world could throw at it. True power isn't the ability to walk over others; it’s the vulnerability to love even when it costs us everything.

3. Light Belongs to the Night: Notice that we don't light the Paschal Candle in the midday sun. We light it when it is pitch black. The paradox of our faith is that Christ’s light is most blinding when the night is deepest. When we see corruption in our newsfeeds or violence in our streets, we shouldn't despair. The light doesn’t wait for the darkness to leave before it shows up; it shatters the darkness from the inside out. One small flame in a dark cathedral changes everything. One person acting with integrity in a corrupt system does the same.

4. The “Already” and the “Not Yet”: Finally, we live in a strange tension. In this holy silence, we carry the heavy truth of our world—a world where conflict persists, where the poor bear the brunt of every crisis, and where leadership is too often marked by callousness and the rot of corruption. On the surface, the world looks unchanged. Yet, we stand here tonight and boldly proclaim that death is defeated.

We are grounded in the messy reality of earth, but we are breathing the air of the Resurrection. This tells us that hope is not a feeling; it is a fact. We don't wait for things to get better to have hope. We have hope because the “in-between” space is where God does His best work. Tonight, let us step out of the shadows and into this beautiful, impossible reality. Christ is risen; the world is different, and so are we.

03/04/2026

Today, Bro. Kyle helps us recall that the Franciscans transformed the Way of the Cross from a local Jerusalem pilgrimage into a universal prayer. May you have blessed and meaningful Good Friday celebration. Friars OFM Vocation Philippines

02/04/2026

THE HANDS

(Homily on Holy Thursday)

Let us look at the hands of Christ at the Last Supper. See how He moves. His hands are in supination—they are turned openly upward, a sacred posture of a beggar, a priest, and a lover.

The Breaking of Bread: These hands do not clench to hoard; they move outward to share. While the world’s “global crisis” is driven by the fear that there isn't enough, Jesus’ hands prove that in the “local grace” of the Eucharist, there is always enough when we break what we have.

The Washing of Feet: To hold the basin and the towel, Jesus had to move His hands lower than His heart. These are hands that are not afraid of the “dust” of our failures. He does not point a finger of judgment at the poor or the suffering; He uses His whole hand to lift them up.

Sharing with the Traitor: Most strikingly, Jesus extended His open palm even to Judas. Even when he knew those other hands were “clenched” around thirty pieces of silver, Jesus offered the ‘Bread of Life.’ He reached out to the one who would betray Him, proving that God’s hand is never withdrawn, even from those who seek to destroy Him.

Contrast the open palm of Jesus with the hand of the ‘evil one’—the war-monger, the corrupt politician, and the architect of violence. While Christ’s hands are turned upward in grace, the hands of the powerful move in pronation. This is the anatomical posture of the ‘detonator.’ It is a hand turned downward to crush, to dominate, and to exert control from a distance. In the ‘noise of the news,’ we see these hands: they do not touch the poor, they only manage them; they do not heal the wounded, they only sign the decrees that create them.

As Holy Thursday bleeds into Good Friday, the “supination” of Jesus reaches its peak. When the soldiers came to arrest Him, Jesus did not clench His fist to strike back. He did not “detonate” a revolution of fire. He allowed His hands to be bound. Finally, those hands were stretched wide on the wood. The ultimate act of “opening the hand” was allowing it to be pierced by a nail. By refusing to close His hand into a fist, He allowed the violence of the world to pass through Him, transforming a “victim of history” into the King of the Resurrection.

As we visit the Altar of Repose, we are faced with a choice between two "narratives" of power: Will we live by the Pronated Hand—pointing fingers, clenching our hearts in anger at the global crisis, and "crushing" those we disagree with? Or will we live by the Supinated Hand—opening our palms to the neighbor, breaking our bread with the hungry, and washing the "dust" off each other’s spirits?

In the country amidst the “noise” of corruption and the “weight” of poverty, our only hope is to become the Hands of Jesus. When you receive the Eucharist today, your hand becomes a ‘throne’ for the Broken Bread. Do not let that hand become a fist tomorrow. Amen!

24/03/2026

Wishing you a meaningful celebration of the Solemnity of the Annunciation! Let us reflect on Mary’s humble "Yes" by listening to this relfection from Bro. Rio Jusay, OFM.

21/03/2026

21/03/2026

𝐏. 𝐅𝐑. 𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐈𝐀 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎, 𝐎𝐅𝐌
(𝟏𝟖𝟔𝟑-𝟏𝟗𝟎𝟐)

Father Julián García Cano, OFM was born in Consuegra on January 28, 1863. He took the habit on May 16, 1878, and took his vows a year later, then he received his solemn profession of vows
on May 24, 1882.

He traveled to the Philippines in 1886; in 1891, he was the parish priest of Cuyapó (Nueva Ecija), and it was there that the Philippine Revolution of 1898 reached him. Having returned to Spain, he moved to the Vicariate of Almonacid de Zorita, where he passed away on October 26, 1902.

Source:

Abad Sánchez, Antolín. Necrologio de la Provincia Castellana de San Gregorio Magno, OFM. Madrid: 1974