Pilar Abra Parish

28/02/2026

24/02/2026

Ang kapangyarihan ng boses ng sambayanan

24/02/2026

Thanks for being a top engager and making it on to my weekly engagement list! 🎉 Peig PS, Ednalyn A Pescozo, Prince Biado, Delia Molina, Joey Gorospe Adres, Nicole Sotelo, Melody Peralta Belisario, Geilan Mark Dacquel, Alexander Tuzon, Gary Renz

24/02/2026

THE FILIPINO CATHOLICS PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE
IN THE RESTORATION OF PH DEMOCRACY

The 1986 People Power Revolution showed how Filipino Catholics helped restore democracy in the Philippines. After years of dictatorship under Ferdinand Marcos, many Filipinos longed for freedom and honest leadership. The Catholic Church became a strong moral voice, encouraging people to stand for truth, justice, and peaceful change instead of violence.

A key figure during this time was Jaime Sin, the Archbishop of Manila. Through Radio Veritas, he called on the people to gather along EDSA to protect military leaders who had withdrawn support from Marcos. His appeal moved millions of Filipinos to peacefully assemble, pray, and show unity. His leadership gave courage to ordinary citizens to take part in the historic movement.

Religious sisters and priests were also present at EDSA. Images of nuns kneeling in front of tanks while praying the Rosary became powerful symbols of faith and courage. Instead of fighting with weapons, they offered prayers, flowers, and songs. Their peaceful presence helped prevent violence and reminded both soldiers and civilians to choose peace.

Because of this united and prayerful action, Marcos fled the country, and Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency. Democracy was restored without a violent uprising. The Filipino Catholic faithful demonstrated that prayer, peaceful resistance, and solidarity can transform a nation. The EDSA Revolution continues to inspire the world as a testimony that faith and courage can overcome oppression.

24/02/2026

LABANG NAIPANALO KASAMA ANG SANTO ROSARYO

THE BATTLES OF LEPANTO;
THE 5 BATTLES OF LA NAVAL, AND;
EDSA PEOPLE POWER

Today, as we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the People Power Revolution, let us talk how the victory attributed to the intercession of the Most Holy Rosary:

• THE BATTLE OF LEPANTO:
—Battle of Lepanto, (October 7, 1571), naval engagement in the waters off southwestern Greece between the allied Christian forces of the Holy League and the Ottoman Turks during an Ottoman campaign to acquire the Venetian island of Cyprus.

• THE 5 BATTLES OF LA NAVAL
—There were five battles fought in 1646 between the Dutch and the Spanish forces: the first in October, the second and third in late July, the fourth in September, and the fifth in October. In the end, the Dutch suffered 500 casualties, with two ships sunk and three damaged beyond use. The Spanish side suffered only 15 casualties, and the worn Manila galleons emerged still serviceable after seeing much action.

• THE EDSA PEOPLE POWER

The EDSA People Power Revolution gathered millions of Filipinos from all walks of life on February 25, 1986, to march along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), the main artery of Metro Manila, to end the dictatorship of President Ferdinand E. Marcos and began a new era marked by true freedom and democracy.

In fact, the EDSA miracle has been compared to the Battle of Lepanto in the 16th century against the Ottoman Turks and the Battle of La Naval de Manila in the 17th century that repulsed the Dutch forces in their attempts to invade the Philippines in 1646, when Mary’s intercession through the praying of the Holy Rosary.

The battles of La Naval de Manila were waged at sea, while EDSA was won on the highway. The battles of La Naval de Manila repulsed non-Catholic aggression, while EDSA toppled an oppressive dictator. From the Christian perspective, I dare say, those were battles between good and evil, and the good won, hence, a miraculous victory.

At EDSA, the Virgin Mary’s intercession made a million praying people, with roses and rosaries, block advancing military forces. At La Naval de Manila, the inferior navy called the shots against superior forces, and the Catholics won.

At EDSA, the advancing superior forces were ordered to fire but did not, and the Filipino people won. The most significant fact remains, that, by people power, Filipinos achieved the impossible and brought down a seemingly unshakable strongman.

24/02/2026

Liturgical elements and observances during Lent

23/02/2026

Liturgical Elements and Observances during Lent

22/02/2026

When Pastors and Priests Replace the Holy Spirit with ChatGPT: The Rise of AI-Made Homilies Is Dangerous to Our Spiritual Life

As a minister, if you simply open your laptop one hour before preaching, type a prompt into ChatGPT, and ask it to generate a homily for you, then something is seriously wrong with your ministry.

You are not just unprepared, you are spiritually lazy and you are dangerous to the people of God.

A homily or sermon is not a speech, not a content, not a religious motivation. A homily is meant to be inspired.

When you allow a machine to produce your homily from start to finish, it simply means that the message you deliver was not born in prayer, not shaped by silence, and not carried by the Holy Spirit.

It becomes AI speaking to the people, not a shepherd speaking from the heart of God.

The problem is not AI, the problem is the minister. Using AI or ChatGPT is not a sin.
The real sin is using it to replace your interior life.

If you already prayed with the Gospel, if you already listened in silence, if you already wrote down the movements of your heart and then you use AI only to improve grammar, clarify structure, or connect your message with current social realities, that can be a legitimate and even helpful tool.

But if, as a man of God, you type: “Generate a Sunday homily from Luke 11”
and that becomes your entire preparation, then the issue is not technology. The issue is your laziness.

In our homiletics classes in the seminary, we were taught something very serious and very demanding, we must read the Gospel days before Mass, meditate on it slowly, listen for the direction of the Spirit,
and allow the Word to first wound us, heal us, and convert us.

Only then can the Holy Spirit truly communicate to the people through us. The pulpit is not a stage for productivity.
It is an altar of responsibility.

An empty preacher is far more dangerous than an uneducated one.

The people of God do not need smarter sermons. They need wounded, praying, listening, obedient ministers.

Because only a heart that has knelt can speak words that raise others up.

If you are a pastor, a priest, an evangelist, a reverend, or a preacher, this message is for us.

We were not called to become content producers, motivational speakers, or spiritual copy-and-paste ministers. We were called to be men and women who first listen to God before speaking about God. The pulpit is not a place for shortcuts. It is a sacred space where prayer, tears, silence, and obedience must come before words.

The future of preaching does not depend on smarter tools. It depends on deeper knees, quieter hearts, and ministers who are still willing to listen to God before daring to speak for Him.

Rev fr Prince Chidi Philip

21/02/2026

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT
MASS PRESIDER: FR. DAVID MARCK TAVERNER