She has lost a baby. She has lost her mother. And every morning, Rachel Villanueva-Cruz still chooses Victor.

Not because the pain is gone. Because choosing him is how she keeps going.

Rachel is a millennial wife and HR professional who has learned, slowly and not always gracefully, that grief and joy are not opposites. They are neighbors. And sometimes they share the same room.

Her marriage to Victor isn't a highlight reel. It's food trips and anime nights and dog watching on lazy afternoons. It's the quiet presence of someone who can't fix everything but shows up anyway. It's the daily, deliberate choice to say — still you. Still this.

In this episode of JOSh Friends, Rachel reflects on the Dark Night chapter of Finding God in the Mess by Brendan McManus SJ and Jim Deeds, a book a friend quietly passed to her during one of the heavier seasons. A chapter that didn't offer easy answers. Just an honest acknowledgment that darkness is real, that light returns, and that God doesn't wait on the other side of the mess to meet you.

For millennial wives, for grieving mothers and daughters, for anyone navigating a season where loss and ordinary joy exist in the same week, the same day, sometimes the same hour — this episode is for you.

Because moving forward doesn't mean forgetting. It means learning to carry the people you've lost into a life that still has room for love.

Finding God in the Mess by Brendan McManus SJ and Jim Deeds is available through JesCom Exclusives at jescom.ph/josh.

And this August, let Mahal Naming Ina by Fruto Ramirez SJ accompany your month — available on Spotify, Apple Music, and all major streaming platforms.

He's the one who filed the liquidation report before anyone noticed it was due. The one who buys food for his brothers, washes the dishes after, takes out the trash, runs errands for his mother's printing business — and still gets told he spends too much on himself.

Lucky Agbalo is a Communication student at Trinity University of Asia, an auditor, a research head, and a quiet operator who has spent most of his life learning to hold things by himself. Not because he wanted to. Because reaching out usually ended in indifference.

It was during his internship at JesCom that he came across Finding God in the Mess by Brendan McManus SJ and Jim Deeds. He wasn't looking for it. But sometimes the things you need find you in the right place rather than the right moment.

In this episode of JOSh Friends, Lucky reflects on a book that didn't give him answers so much as permission. Permission to stop punishing himself for the mess. Permission to believe that God isn't waiting for everything to be sorted before showing up. Permission to receive the same care he quietly gives to everyone else.

This Thursday, August 6, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration — the moment the disciples saw what had always been there. The light wasn't new. It was just finally visible.

For Lucky, that's the question this week is asking. What has always been there in him that he hasn't let himself see yet?

For students carrying more than their coursework, for the dependable ones nobody thinks to check on, for anyone who has gotten very good at holding things alone — this episode is for you.

Because God doesn't wait for the mess to clear. He's already in it. With you.

Finding God in the Mess by Brendan McManus SJ and Jim Deeds is available through JesCom Exclusives at jescom.ph/josh.

And this August, let Mahal Naming Ina by Fruto Ramirez SJ accompany your month — available on Spotify, Apple Music, and all major streaming platforms.

He grew up on stories of knights and heroes. Characters who went against the grain to do what was right, even when it cost them. He didn't realize that was going to become his actual life.

True Boo is the founding president of Knights, a Historical European Martial Arts club built around the study and practice of medieval sword fighting. Yes, there are actual swords. But what he was really building had nothing to do with blades.

After years of joining organizations that fell short, treating people as lesser than, running on inefficiency and poor leadership, he decided to stop waiting for someone else to do it right. He drafted a constitution, gathered people he trusted, and built the community he wished he had always been a part of. A home for the nerdy, the creative, the geeks who grew up dreaming of something bigger.

In this episode of JOSh Friends, True Boo reflects on Take and Receive by Bukas Palad Music Ministry, from the St. Ignatius of Loyola playlist on Spotify. A prayer rooted in the Suscipe of St. Ignatius of Loyola, asking God to take everything, liberty, will, mind, memory, and trusting that His grace alone is enough.

What True Boo found in that prayer was the thing nobody warns you about when you build something from nothing. The moment you create it, you have to start letting it go. Delegating. Trusting. Accepting that the vision you carried will one day be carried by hands that aren't yours.

He won't get to fully enjoy what he built. By the time Knights becomes what he knows it can be, he'll have graduated and passed it on. And somehow, that's the part that makes him most proud.

For founders, leaders, builders, and anyone who has ever poured themselves into something bigger than themselves, this episode is for you.

Because the truest form of leadership isn't holding everything together. It's building something strong enough to stand without you.

Stream Take and Receive by Bukas Palad Music Ministry on Spotify, Apple Music, and all major streaming platforms.

Journey with us through the St. Ignatius of Loyola playlist on Spotify this Ignatian Month: open.spotify.com/playlist/3IyOsXuqJO6pNHqXdjk19P

Support the ministry and explore more at jescom.ph/josh.

She designs film sets, manages campaigns, and leads creative teams in school. But if you ask Jazmine Bon what really drives all of it, the answer has nothing to do with grades or portfolios.

It's the thought of one day looking at her parents and saying — ako naman po.

Jazmine M. Bon is a Communication student at Trinity University of Asia, a production designer, social media manager, and creative leader who tells stories through visuals, design, and production. Behind every project she takes on is a motivation that runs deeper than any output she's ever submitted.

Her papa works as a captain waiter. On top of that, he drives for Grab. Two jobs. No complaints. And he never finished college — but he made sure his daughters would.

In this episode of JOSh Friends, Jazmine reflects on the Prayer for Generosity by St. Ignatius of Loyola, performed by Hangad, from the St. Ignatius of Loyola playlist on Spotify. A prayer asking God for the grace to give without counting the cost, to labor without asking for reward, to serve without seeking recognition.

She didn't find this prayer in a retreat or a homily. It found her. And when it did, she heard her father's whole life in it.

This Ignatian Month, as we journey toward the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola on July 31, this episode is for every student carrying more than their coursework. For every child of a parent who gave quietly and without complaint. For anyone still figuring out what generosity actually looks like when it's lived and not just prayed.

Because sometimes the most generous people in your life never used that word to describe themselves. They just showed up. Every day. Without counting the cost.

Stream the Prayer for Generosity by Hangad on Spotify, Apple Music, and all major streaming platforms.

Journey with us through the St. Ignatius of Loyola playlist on Spotify this Ignatian Month: open.spotify.com/playlist/3IyOsXuqJO6pNHqXdjk19P

Support the ministry and explore more at jescom.ph/josh.

In this episode of JOSh Friends, Callum reflects on Ignite by Where's the Sheep? — the theme song from the film Ignacio de Loyola — a song that found him not in a moment of triumph, but in the middle of the quiet. And what it named in him was the one thing athletes resist most: surrender. Not giving up the fight. Giving up the illusion that you're carrying it alone.

Callum "The Mighty" Roberts is 20 years old, a SEA Games Bronze Medalist in Greco-Roman Wrestling, multiple international gold medalist, and a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blue belt coach — all before most people have figured out what they want to do with their lives. But behind the medals is a stretch of time he doesn't gloss over: a sports depression that quietly hollowed out the drive, a major international loss that hit harder than expected, and the long, uncomfortable process of figuring out what he was actually fighting for.

This July, we enter Ignatian Month — the whole month leading to the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola on July 31. And the parallel between Callum's story and Ignatius's own runs deeper than it first appears. A soldier who lost everything on a battlefield. An athlete who lost something quieter but just as real. Both finding their way back not through winning — but through letting go.

For athletes, coaches, anyone who has ever gone through the motions of something they used to love — this episode is for you.

Because the fire doesn't start when everything is perfect. It starts the moment you put down what you've been carrying alone.

Stream Ignite by Where's the Sheep? on Spotify, Apple Music, and all major streaming platforms.

This Ignatian Month, journey with us through the St. Ignatius of Loyola playlist on Spotify: open.spotify.com/playlist/3IyOsXuqJO6pNHqXdjk19P

Support the ministry and explore more at jescom.ph/josh.

Here's the Spotify description to match:

From Meeting Expectations to Exceeding Them — For God

He was the studious one. Head down, notes organized, deadlines met. Excellence was the expectation — from his family, from himself. Leadership was never part of the plan.

And then he just kept showing up.

Ferdinand, a recent Communication graduate from Trinity University of Asia and youth ministry volunteer at St. Ignatius of Loyola Cathedral, never set out to become a student leader or a servant of the Church. What drew him in was simpler than ambition — a classmate who needed help, a gap that needed filling, a community that needed a bridge.

In this episode of JOSh Friends, Ferdinand reflects on Give Thanks to Our God by Himig Heswita, composed by Fr. Dom Bulan SJ and Gerard Enriquez SJ — the closing song from Place Me With Your Son, Himig Heswita's latest Mass album rooted in the Eucharist and the prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

At the heart of his reflection is a question the song quietly asks every time the Mass ends: what are you bringing with you when you walk out the door?

On this Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul — two men with complicated records and extraordinary callings — Ferdinand reminds us that God has never once waited for anyone to be ready. Peter wasn't. Paul certainly wasn't. And yet they were placed exactly where they needed to be.

For fresh graduates, young servants, choir members, and anyone navigating the gap between expectations and calling — this episode is for you.

Because you don't get placed where you're supposed to be by having everything figured out. You get there by showing up.

Give Thanks to Our God and the full Place Me With Your Son songbook are available through JesCom Exclusives at jescom.ph/josh.

And mark your calendars — Bayan Umawit: Ignatian MusicFest 2026, July 4, 2026, 7:00 PM, New Frontier Theater, Araneta City, Cubao. Bukas Palad, Hangad, and Himig Heswita live — with The CompanY as special guests.

On mic, she gives voice to characters, stories, and productions. Off mic, she's still learning to trust her own.

Ces Dela Cruz Guevara has spent her career behind microphones and in front of rooms — as a voice actor, dubbing director, script translator, host, and events producer. She knows how to hold a stage. What she's still figuring out is how to hold the quiet.

As a creative who juggles multiple careers and parish ministries, Ces carries two battles most people don't see: imposter syndrome that doesn't care how long your resumé is, and procrastination that isn't always laziness — sometimes it's just fear in disguise.

In this episode of JOSh Friends, Ces reflects on My Soul Finds Rest by Himig Heswita, written by Fr. Arnel Reyes SJ, from the album O, Bayan ng Diyos — a song rooted in Psalm 62 about anchoring yourself in God when everything else shifts.

At the heart of her reflection is her tatay. A man from a family of poor farmers in Nueva Ecija. Eldest of nine. Only finished Grade 6. Worked abroad for years with no connections and no backup plan — and still sent all five of his children to college. His weapon? Tibay ng loob at pananampalataya.

Now at 83, napakababaw ng kaligayahan ni tatay. Isda, gulay, gatas ng kalabaw — parang piyesta na sa kanya. He smiles whenever he sees you. He never made the hard parts sound hard.

For choir members, worship teams, parish musicians, and anyone who has ever confused being busy with being okay — this episode is for you.

Because rest isn't the absence of struggle. It's a decision about where you place the weight.

My Soul Finds Rest by Himig Heswita is available on Spotify, Apple Music, and all major DSPs. Support the ministry and explore more at jescom.ph/josh.

And mark your calendars — Bayan Umawit: Ignatian MusicFest 2026, July 4, 2026, 7:00 PM, New Frontier Theater, Araneta City, Cubao. Bukas Palad, Hangad, and Himig Heswita live — with The CompanY as special guests.

On air, he is DJ Bolero. Warm, steady, and always present.

Off air, there were seasons Bryan Calzado could barely get out of bed. Seasons of anxiety and depression that nobody saw, until music found him, or more accurately, until he let it find him again.

As a broadcaster, songwriter, choir conductor, and mentor to the Junior Parish Choir at the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice in Quezon City, Bryan has built a life around helping others discover and offer their gifts. But behind that calling is a deeply honest story about what it means to offer something to God when you're not sure you have anything left to give.

In this episode of JoshFriends, Bryan reflects on Day 7 of Love Him Ever More by Fr. Joe Laramie, SJ, a nine-day personal retreat built on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola and the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. At the heart of his reflection is a single question from the book:

"What are some of the gifts in your life? Which of these gifts is easiest for you to offer to the Lord?"

Woven through his story is the life of St. Anthony of Padua, whose feast day falls this Thursday, June 13, the patron of lost things, and a saint who only found his true calling by surrendering his own plans entirely.

For choir members, composers, music ministers, and anyone who has ever wondered if their broken, imperfect offering is still worth giving, this episode is for you.

Because what is lost can be found. And the mission begins not someday. It begins now.

📚 Love Him Ever More by Fr. Joe Laramie, SJ is available through JesCom Exclusives at jescom.ph/josh.📖 Begin your nine-day retreat today. All you need is an open mind, an open heart, and a willingness to show up.

You can't always tell what someone is carrying just by looking at their smile.

May Cu is known by those around her as warm, bubbly, and always smiling. As a Medical Assistant, she spends her days caring for others. As a mother of three, she gives everything she has to her children.

But in the middle of all that giving, she carries one of the heaviest kinds of grief. Over a short period of time, several members of her family were lost to acts of violence in her home province. And the fear hasn't ended — because those responsible have never been brought to justice.

Still, she shows up. She keeps smiling. Because three children are counting on her, and that is not something she can set down.

In this episode of JoshFriends, May speaks honestly about grief, fear, and the kind of strength that doesn't always look like strength. And woven through her reflection is Inay by Fr. Arnel Aquino, SJ — a song not just for moments of worship, but for the quiet nights when you need to be reminded that you are held, that you are loved, and that you are not alone.

This May, in the month of Mary, we reflect on what it means to be a mother. And what it means to need one.

- Stream Inay by Fr. Arnel Aquino, SJ on Spotify, Apple Music, and all major DSPs.- Bring it to your choir and community — music sheet available at jescom.ph/josh under JesCom Exclusives.- Explore more books, music, and resources at jescom.ph/josh.

There's a difference between being in the spotlight and being the reason the spotlight exists.

In this episode of JoshFriends, we sit with Margarita Claudette Bautista Galura — Executive Director of COSMIC Philippines, Corporate Secretary of the Philippine Madrigal Singers Music Inc. and the Andrea O. Veneracion Sing Philippines Foundation, former performing member of the Philippine Madrigal Singers, and one of the quiet, steady forces behind some of the country's most respected musical communities.

She reflects on a life spent navigating — concert tours across three continents, years of administrative leadership, and the ongoing work of sustaining choral and musical communities that shape generations of Filipino artists and faith communities.

Woven through her reflection is Stella Maris by Bukas Palad Music Ministry — a song for those who serve through music, and need a fixed point when the waters get rough.

This May, the month of Mary, we're reminded that the most enduring kind of leadership doesn't always stand at the front. Sometimes it holds everything together from behind — steady, faithful, and quietly lit by something that doesn't fade.

Whether you're a choir member, a worship musician, a music director, or simply someone who shows up Sunday after Sunday to help the community sing — this episode is your reflection for the month.

🎵 Stream Stella Maris by Bukas Palad on Spotify, Apple Music, and all major DSPs.📄 Bring it to your choir — song sheet available at jescom.ph/josh under JesCom Exclusives.📚 Looking for reads this season? Explore the full JesCom collection at jescom.ph/josh.