Loyola Schools Office of Campus Ministry

19/05/2026

Hello everyone!

Join us this afternoon as our graduating seniors share a momentous experience in their Atenean journey.

Let Joie, Mark and Remy relay to us the beauty they found in God and silence during their Seniors' retreat.

📻 Campus Minister on Air
📅 May 19, 2026 at 2:00 PM
📍 Radyo Katipunan 87.9 FM

10/05/2026

LOVE UNVEILED: God’s Love Through a Mother’s Touch

Join us this May 12 (Tuesday) for a special Mother’s Day episode hosted by Cshe Sanchez and Kat Alvarado. Together with our guests, we’ll explore the dynamic, and at times complex, relationship we have with our mothers. We’ll also reflect on how this mirrors our relationship with our Blessed Mother Mary.

📻 Campus Minister on Air
📅 May 12, 2026 at 2:00 PM
📍 Radyo Katipunan 87.9 FM

Be guided. Be inspired. Be blessed.
💙 See you on air

03/05/2026

Ever wondered what went on behind LST's international conference this year? Our guests in our episode this Tuesday will share their experience working behind the scenes of the International Conference on Ignatian Spirituality and the lessons they learned along the way.

Catch us live on Radyo Katipunan 87.9 FM, Tuesday, at 2:00 o' clock in the afternoon with our guest sharers, Bro. Erwin Rosique, MSC and Ms. Pat Enriquez.

Hosted by your friendly campus ministers on air, Wilson and Vince.

Be guided. Be inspired. Be blessed.

20/04/2026

Dear Friends,

You are invited to a time to be still, to reflect, and to encounter the gentle presence of Christ. Whether you're seeking clarity, comfort, or simply a quiet moment with God, this hour offers a sanctuary for your soul. All are welcome.

We warmly invite you to join us this Wednesday, April 22, from 5:45 PM to 6:45 PM at the College Chapel for a time of prayer and silence. May this moment of quiet be a space to listen, to be refreshed, and to draw closer to the Lord.

(Good also to begin your finals week, dear Senior students with a Holy Hour)

See you there!

11/04/2026

We are back in the joy and light of the Resurrection, and we have something meaningful to share with you!

In the spirit of new life and hope, we are delighted to introduce our two new Campus Ministers, Rohini Vargas and Katrina Alvarado. Join us as we journey with them and hear how the grace of this Easter season continues to shape their calling to serve and accompany others in their spiritual lives.

Tune in for a special post-Resurrection episode this Tuesday at 2 PM, April 14. We will be broadcasting live on Radyo Katipunan 87.9 FM and the Loyola Schools Office of Campus Ministry pages.

05/04/2026

Happy Easter, dear Friends!

EASTER VIGIL 2026
Fr. Arnel Aquino SJ

Emptiness is often not a good word for us, is it, sisters & brothers? Emptiness is not exactly where we want to stay for too long, if at all. Emptiness is scary. It evokes loneliness, separation, loss. When I came here for college, my mom in Davao couldn’t enter my room for 2 years. I left a lot of stuff in there. But she could only see emptiness that she couldn’t stand. Seven years later, when I finally joined the Jesuits after teaching in Davao, kuya wrote me the saddest Christmas card that said: “Your place at the table is now vacant, ‘Nel. We will miss you on Christmas Eve.” It was my turn to have a dose of that when I was a formator in San Jose Seminary. I dreaded semestral & summer breaks when the seminarians couldn’t get out of there fast enough, because I’d be the only soul left in the 4-storey St Ignatius Building from sunset to sunset. Funny, I was never really scared I’d see the mother & child ghosts that haunted that building, as people said they did. No; it was coming home to a dark, empty place I couldn’t stand.

I’m sure you’ve had your own brushes w/ emptiness, sisters & brothers: like that chair where daddy used to sit & watch TV; that bed where ate used to dump all her books after school; that dining room…after you’ve married off all the kids. Yeah, we eventually learn to live through the emptiness. Kasi lahat naman ng bagay nakakasanayan kahit mahirap. But something within us still militates against it. And for good reason. My theory is, deep in the Christian psyche, we know God created us all ex nihilo, out of nothing. And we spend a good deal of life energy warding off any return to nihilo, to any kind of nothing, to emptiness. Horror vacui, it’s called. The dread of emptiness.

Now the empty tomb…that was quite a different story. The 2 Mary’s found it gaping wide open. But it announced something quite astonishing: that Jesus had already left it. He was no longer there. He was gone. Notice what the messenger said? “Come & see the place where he lay.” He invited the 2 Mary’s to lean into the emptiness, not to avoid it; to peer into the darkness, not to look away, from where there was now nobody. In other words, on the 1st Easter morning, Jesus’ empty tomb turned from a hole shut in w/ tragedy, to a window flung open to eternity. Grief walked in at sunset. Joy walked out at dawn.

If you think about it, sisters & brothers, not all emptiness is such a bad thing, after all. And this is not strange to us. We just don’t think of it all the time. We’ve actually had experiences of happy emptiness. Whenever our parents cooked our favorite food, for example, they were only too thrilled when we polished off our plates, w/ the kalderos & kaserolas so much easier to wash, kasi ubos! Basyo. Outside Mercury Drug, just across Ateneo, nothing makes Kuya Uping merrier than going home w/ an empty bilao, after selling away all his banana cue, lumpia, & carioca in a day’s lako. And what about that bedroom at home, which you turned into a mini-hospital for the long, painful illness of the beloved? When they fully recovered & moved out—or when they mercifully passed—the room felt less & less like a loss, & more & more like exhaled breath. You didn’t quite have the words for it, but this emptiness was mercy. This emptiness was grace. Or naranasan n’yo na ba ‘yung magtanim ng malalim na sama ng loob, kasi sinaktan kayo ng pagkasama-sama? After several years of making good your life despite your wounds, bigla mong nakita uli ‘yung hinayupak na nakasakit sa ‘yo. But wonder of wonders, you weren’t triggered anymore. ‘Yung…wala lang. Wala na. Oh, you didn’t throw yourself into the person’s arms para mag-Dawn-Zulueta kayo sa tabing-dagat. But you were able to honestly say, & w/ great self-surprise, “Hmmm. Okay na ako. I’m really okay.”

Sisters & brothers, because Jesus rose from the dead, his Resurrection gave emptiness a different grammar. Without the all-encompassing power of the Resurrection, all our emptiness would’ve always stayed dreadful. Thanks to the Resurrection, when cruelty & death did not have the last say—our emptiness today is not always a subtraction, but also a completion. Not always a failure, but an accomplishment. Not always a sign of dearth, but a sign of fullness & grace. Thanks to God raising His Son back to life, not all our emptiness is a shadow that loss & defeat leave behind. Emptiness can also become the signature of victory & new life. On Good Friday, Jesus’ tomb was dark w/ death. On Easter, his empty tomb caught the first light of dawn.

But God is not finished with us yet, sisters & brothers. We have yet to see the fullest power of the Resurrection. And when that happens, we hope we all live to see the day when prisons, rehab centers, sanatariums are all empty, & also dialysis centers, cancer wards, emergency rooms, & hospitals. In the fullest power of the Resurrection, we hope to finally see God shake hollow our guns & missiles, our military camps & war rooms. We hope to see the day when our world will be empty of Trumps, Netanyahus, & Khameneis, when the graves they’ve dug will just be holes on the ground, & nothing more.

Sisters & brothers, Jesus’ Resurrection tells us that there is nowhere in the universe outside of us & nowhere in the universe inside of us, that is not already filled with God’s life & God’s light. It is only us who despair over divine absence. But even in our despair, God is already there. We know this & believe this. We just read & sang of it all from the prophets & the psalms.

So we go, sisters & brothers. Go with our empty plates & our empty bilaos & the empty rooms in our hearts. Because tonight, of all nights, we’ve read & sung & remembered once again, that the emptiest places in our lives were never really empty at all. They were Risen Jesus making room, so he can fill them with Himself. Emptiness need not be dreadful, sisters & brothers. God has often made it a favorite place to begin again…& again…& again.

01/04/2026

"No matter the preference, it will always be a taste of home."

The Office of Campus Ministry successfully held an Online Film Recollection yesterday, March 31, 2026, featuring the short film "Ang Huling Adobo."

In line with Holy Week, the film moved us to pause and reflect on the love and sacrifices of the people around us.

A simple meal shared on screen reminded participants that the most ordinary moments—family dinners, conversations, and time spent with loved ones—can become the most meaningful and impactful memories.

Listen with patience.
Say “thank you” often.
Forgive and let go.
Help without being asked.
Pray for others.

Ikaw, ano ang huling adobo mo?

31/03/2026

"Roll away the stone!"

The Office of Campus Ministry successfully concluded its Online Lenten Recollection yesterday, March 30, 2026, with the theme, "Bless Our Darkness, Be Our Light", reflecting on the gospel of St. John about the raising back to life of Lazarus.

Guided through a meaningful reflection by Fr. Munching de Guzman, SJ, participants were reminded of these three key points:
- Resilience
- Realignment
- Humility

God is already at work within us, even in the midst of our struggles.
The "stones" in our lives are not meant to be moved alone - we need one another to lift what weighs us down.
And when God calls us out of darkness, we are invited to unwrap ourselves from things and habits
that keep us from being "alive".

From darkness to light, God is not finished with us yet.

In this Holy Week journey, we are invited to "roll that stone away."
Not alone, but with one another.

29/03/2026

This Palm Sunday, we’re invited to see disruption not as despair, but as a call for courage and discernment in the midst of uncertainty. As your teachers in DLQ 10 (Discerning Life Questions), we offer these points to invite you to reflect with us in noticing where the Spirit
might be guiding us. The disruptions we face are not only challenges but also opportunities—opportunities to practice courage, to act in ways that reflect our deepest values, and to contribute to the common good rather than simply reacting from our immediate anxieties and fear.

Signed,

Wilzel A. Adriatico
Anamarie Avecilla
Remmon E. Barbaza
Pamela Joy Mariano Capistrano
Tinnah M. dela Rosa
Javier Miguel A. Galvez
Maria Alessandria R. Go
Michael J. Liberatore
Maria Lovelyn C. Paclibar
Stephanie Ann Y. Puen
Agustin Martin G. Rodriguez
Lesley Anne A. Rosal
Jacqueline Marie J. Tolentino
Roy Allan B. Tolentino

19/03/2026

Solemnity of St. Joseph,
Spouse of Mary
March 19, 2026
Homily | Fr. Arnel Aquino, SJ

Whenever we talk about St. Joseph, we often say he was “a quiet man,” did you notice? Two possible reasons for this. First, Joseph appears only in the infancy narratives, then, no more. But even there, he has no speaking lines. He’s “quiet.” The 2nd reason why I personally think Joseph was a quiet man, was because he was a carpenter. All the carpenters I’ve known are quiet. Mang Roger in Sacred Heart Novitiate; Kuya Teodor & Mang Remy in San Jose Seminary; Kuya George in Arrupe; Lakay in LST. Lahat tahimik. Maybe because they need to concentrate, practicing the dictum: “More talk, more mistakes; less talk, less mistakes.”

Naisip ko rin, siguro si Joseph, kung mag-isip, math & geometry: size, shape, weight. Tingin niya siguro sa mga bagay-bagay: estimates, plans, blueprints. “Measure twice. Cut once,” Sukatin mong ilang beses para minsan lang ang tabas. Otherwise, you pay to replace something you cut too short. So, Joseph’s world must’ve swirled in the silence of calculation & calibration.

Then, we’re told that Joseph was a righteous man. So, he must’ve been exacting in his religion, too. Not only did he measure his life by the numbers on his ruler, but also by the word of Law: what to pray, how to wash, when to go to Temple, what not to eat, not to touch, not to even look at, lest he became impure! ‘Yung buhay niya sukát sa medida (tape-measure), at sukát din sa relihiyon.

E’ ang Diyos, as you & I know, nambubulabog. No matter how you live by the straight & narrow, how neatly aligned your principles, bubulabugin pa rin ‘yan ng Diyos.

Joseph & Mary were about to get wed. But before they lived together, a euphemism for “bago sila nagsiping,” Mary became pregnant. Joseph, the righteous human, malamang kinausap niya ng masinsinan si Mary. “Magsabi ka ng totoo. Kanino ‘yang batang ‘yan? Hindi akin ‘yan, beh. Kanino ‘yan?” Mary must’ve been forthright with him: “Jose, dinalaw ako ng isang sugo raw ng Diyos. The child I bear is of the Holy Spirit.” Joseph surely understood the words, angel, bear, child, Holy Spirit. But not how Mary put them all together in one sentence that left him out of the picture. “Hindi ito kasya sa plano ko,” thought the exacting carpenter. “Hindi ito moral,” thought the devout Jew. And since Romans were known to abuse & even r**e women, imagine Joseph’s most excruciating suspicion. He was duty-bound by the Law to report Mary’s adultery to the Sanhedrin. Instead, he decided to divorce Mary quietly. Which really wouldn’t have solved the problem anyway. Kasi kapag lumaki na ang tiyan ni Mary & there was no husband to claim that the child was his, Mary was still doomed. The only way Joseph could save Mary was to take her as his wife & accept the child as his own. Just like God told him in a dream through an angel.

In doing exactly this, Joseph proved to the whole world that he was indeed a righteous man, even if in the eyes of the Law, all this was a punishable scandal. Sisters & brothers, Joseph went against his own measured life, against his own principled religion, to protect the mag-ina. Ever done that? Part w/ your neatly curated principles & go against the grain of your dearly held religion in order to protect someone?

That’s what I love about Joseph, dear sisters & brothers. Matuwid na tao, pero hindi rigid, hindi rigorista. Oh, he knew the letter of the Law very well & would never compromise his religion & morals just like that. But a mother-&-child’s safety & survival rested on his carpenter’s hands. So, he violated his own exactness for the sake of his neighbor. I bet he suffered quietly for nine months, swinging from despair to hope, doubt to certainty, & back. What if Mary’s story is just an alibi? But what if it’s really the Messiah? Was my dream really God or only me? It was the worst mess; a monkey-wrench God had thrown into his well-measured, carefully calculated life & faith.

Joseph, therefore, was not just a righteous man. More than that, he was a man of great love. Back then as well as today, that’s a difficult combination. What happens more often, back then & today, is how the very righteous, the people who live by the letter of the law, the rules, the policy, can tend to be quite the most unloving people around. Moral nga but hurtful. Righteous nga but angry. Religious nga but self-absorbed. Lawful but heartless. Efficient in systems but deficient in humanity.

When the child Jesus grew up, he became exactly like Joseph & God, his fathers on earth as in heaven. Kung anong puno, siyang bunga. In the eyes of the self-righteous, Jesus broke every rule in the land, ministering to the unclean, the impure, the possessed. But his fathers on earth as in heaven? They wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Like Joseph, sisters & brothers may we value being merciful more than being right. May we prize humaneness over efficiency. May we save others first before our systems. May we put suffering people before policy. And may we never replace love w/ the Law. St. Joseph, husband of Mary & father of Jesus, pray for us.

19/03/2026

Behind every beautiful santo in our Holy Week processions is a quiet story of love and devotion.

Meet the camareros — the faithful lay caretakers who prepare, dress, and safeguard these sacred images year after year. For them, this is more than a task; it is a prayer, a tradition, and a calling.

This Tuesday on CM on Air, we listen to two voices:
✨ a longtime devotee who has cared for an image for over 30 years
✨ and a young camarero of the Carucaruhan de Binangonan, where faith is passed on through the next generation

Join us as we reflect:
How do these sacred images shape not just our traditions, but our lives?