PAN DE LA SEMANA

Catholic Homily/Reflection 1st Sunday of Advent- Year A The second and third readings’ insistence, not without a tone of urgency, to “rise and shine” and “conduct ourselves properly as in the day,” is striking. There is no mistaking it. It is urgent. It is important. And it is imperative that one gets to realize that, while waiting for something imminent and sure, one really has no time to lose, no moment to spare, no opportunity to waste and let go. The insistence can be summarized simply thus: it is now the hour! It is now the hour! Whilst it is true and obvious that in our days, people are hard pressed for time, and are quite incapable of waiting, it is also true that for many people in a mad rush towards something undefined, the sense of urgency can often be more a sign of neurotic attachment to being occupied and busy with something. People rush out of their work places, only to kill time in front of the TV screen, watching and getting involved in telenovelas , or let time fritter...

Catholic Homily/Reflection 1st Sunday of Advent - Year A By Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB Advent has come once again. The rhythm of the Church’s liturgical calendar once more reawakens us to a fresh start, a new beginning, a renewed sense of expectation. There is newness all around us. In temperate zones, the breathtaking sights of “Goldengroves” of once lush greeneries turned orange, crimson, ochre, red, yellow, and then brown, fade away gradually, and give way to an apparent starkness and barrenness of winter, giving way to images of life preparing to burrow under cover of cold, chilly snow. In the rest of the world gifted with more sunshine and warmth, cool, dry, refreshing breezes take the place of wet, wild, and windy storms, or scorching heat, as the sun withdraws a bit from the scene, causing longer nights and shorter days – and milder weather. All over the world, there is a reason that comes with the season, to start afresh, make new plans, and adapt oneself to the changing conditio...

Catholic Homily/Sunday Reflection Solemnity of Christ the King By Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB Over the past few weeks, we have been reflecting on some reversals that the Gospel accounts present: the Pharisee and the Publican, Zacchaeus the tax collector, and his dramatic turn-around towards the Lord and his fellowmen, and the powerless widow who nevertheless influenced the unjust judge by her persistence. Make no mistake about it. Scriptural evidence is clear with regards to whose side God is on. He is on the side of the powerless, the poor, the orphan, and the widow. More than that, He has a soft spot for those who call on Him in trust, in unflinching and unflappable faith. Today, we are face to face with one more such reversal … the ultimate reversal of the cross, an overturning of something that all of humanity associated with defeat, with death, with shame, and utter humiliation. No matter contemporary and past society’s attachment to a culture of power and prestige, pomp and circumst...

Catholic Homily/Sunday Reflection for the 33rd Sunday of Year C OF SET-UPS, UPSETS, AND RESETS By Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB Last week, we alluded to the importance and necessity of having perspective. To have perspective is to have a frame on which to set a picture, a ground on which to locate a seemingly smaller reality. To have perspective is to be endowed with a point of view, to see the bigger picture, as it were, and not to miss the bigger forest for just a few trees. The seven brothers and their heroic mother of last week’s first reading, definitely had perspective. That perspective of faith in the resurrection was what gave them the courage, the strength, and the endurance to withstand a painful and cruel – grisly – death. On that score, the Sadducees, disbelieving as they were, of the resurrection, lacked the necessary perspective to see beyond earthly existence. Their ridiculous – if, impossible – scenario in the impertinent question posed to the Lord, betrayed their utter lack...

Catholic Homily/Reflection on the 32nd Sunday of Year C November 11, 2007 A “WHY” TO HELP US DEAL WITH THE “HOW” Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB Gruesome, if not grisly, is an apt word to describe the “how” of today’s report on the death of seven brothers (1st Reading), along with their mother. But today’s first reading is to be seen, not in the light of even more gruesome “reality TV” shows and telenovelas that are a collective case of “art imitating life.” Seen against the backdrop of the almost daily reports of some suicide bomber and terrorist-inspired explosion that instill immense fear to countless numbers of people all over the world, the horrific deaths suffered by the seven heroic brothers (and their even more heroic mother) can perhaps occasion, at best, a passive shrug from a desensitized people such as we all are, … (“So, what else is new?” is what me might be tempted to ask), or at worst, a plain indifferent stare of unchristian – and, uncaring – resignation. But we would be mis...