PAN DE LA SEMANA

Catholic Homily/Sunday Reflection 5th Sunday of Easter(C) May 2, 2010 Desire for novelty seems to be the basic engine that drives commerce all over the world. Business thrives on this relentless thirst for newness. Every year, car makers churn out new models, with ever increasingly sophisticated new features. House builders come out with ever bigger, ever more comfortable, and ever more luxurious homes, built farther and farther away “from the madding crowd” of congested – if, polluted – inner cities, towards what is euphemistically called “new developments,” otherwise known as “urban sprawl.” People tire of old stuff, and traditional brands of cosmetics and grooming products give way to an endless array of concoctions and creams and facials and lotions galore – all at the service of that search for the ultimate sign of newness which is youth and everything associated with it. People ought to listen to today’s good news with extra attention, speaking as it does about ultimate n...

Catholic Homily / Sunday Reflection 4th Sunday of Easter(C) April 25, 2010 Diversity is a fact of earthly life. The whole ecological system around which life on planet earth revolves, is based on healthy diversity. Without diversity and natural differences, the world would be a drab, dreary, uninteresting, and monotonous place. Why, a symphony would never merit being called as such if there were only one musical instrument playing one single melodic line in perfect unison and colorless uniformity! As is true for everything in this world, there is merit in diversity. There is beauty in a healthy mélange of different attributes, traits, and textures.   This is also where the beauty of what we believers refer to as the Church lies. This is the foundation of the glorious splendor of the multi-faceted mosaic that is the Church made up of different peoples, races, colors, and nations. This is the beauty of the “miraculous catch of 153 fishes” of last week’s gosp...

The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement Catholic Homily/Sunday Reflection 3rd Sunday of Easter (C) April 18, 2010 The Risen Lord was not one who would do the rounds of the conference circuit giving talks and rousing testimonies about what had befallen him and the ultimate reward that had been given him from above. Surely, after a harrowing and ignominious death on the cross, after all the humiliation and the degradation, after all the denials and the disarray among the ranks of his followers that ensued after his death, after the one time Judas sold him for 30 miserable pieces of silver, after the three times that even Peter himself denied that he knew him … surely there would be reason to bask in the glory of the resurrection and give everybody that “I-told-you-so” attitude. No, the risen Christ was busy doing service to the very same people, some of whom did him a whole lot of disservice. Today, the evangelist John once more reminds us of what his dying on the cr...

Christ the source of resurrection and life.(From an Easter homily by an ancient author): An article from: Catholic Insight <p><p><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=pandel-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1120148294&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="padding-top: 5px; width: 131px; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px;" marginwidth="0" ...

Catholic Homily/Sunday Reflection Easter Sunday (C) April 4, 2010 In many parts of the world, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere, everything smacks of “new life” budding forth at this time of year. Spring has gone full swing, just starting, or just about to burst forth in total splendor. The dreary cold and dark winter slowly gives way to the vibrancy and sprightliness of spring, promising changes galore. Those places below the equator, while not having to wake up from a cold spell at this time of year, have their own version of “newness” and welcome changes. In places where summer is just taking hold, schools and classes are winding down, beaches and resorts begin to blossom with frolickers, and tropical trees become laden with luscious, juicy and cool refreshing fruits to quench a dry, parched populace, in stark contrast to what nature seems to be doing – lying naturally fallow for a time, only to wake up...

Catholic Homily/Reflection Easter Vigil Mass (C) April 3, 2010 The world has been in a protracted bad Friday for so long now… a tad too long. Since 9/11/2001, March 11, 2004, and so many other dates we’d rather forget but cannot, we have gone from fear to terror, from sadness to one disappointment after tragic disappointment, from lukewarmness to fervent prayer like Jesus did yesterday: Eli, eli, lema sabachtani? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The Holy Father, too, in a particular way, and along with him, the church has been in a protracted bad Friday in the recent weeks and months – on account of the crucifixion done by a few rotten eggs in the Church that have catapulted the Church once again, to the Calvary of biased media attention. Tonight, armed with centuries old rich symbolisms and Biblical images, we have gathered here because, in the words of one issue of National Catholic Reporter, “something happened this Easter memorial night that makes all our bad Fridays g...