PAN DE LA SEMANA

24 th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) September 11, 2011 N.B. I am posting this in advance as I am not sure I can post anything during my three week travels from place to place in three different countries. Death and decay, wrath and anger, unforgiveness and vengefulness seem to be the rule of the day in our times. As we commemorate the 10 th year of the ignominious mass murder done on the World Trade Center twin towers in New York, we see the undeniable reality of a world enveloped in a culture of death and decay – and more! We all have stood witness to at least some of it … the unforgiveness, the selfishness, the insatiable greed of people who think not much about the common good. In the Philippines, for example, the reality of people in the know who get away with a whole lot of things (including almost 2,000 containers) that bleed the country dry of potential revenue and concomitant chance for it to join the league of respectable and respected nations all over the world, sta...

23 rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) September 4, 2011 A lot of neonatal studies (research done on newly born babies) has shown that bonding with a primary caregiver, usually the biological mother, seals the future emotional well-being of the child in many and far-ranging ways. Emotional deficits happen where bonding does not take place at the right time, in the right doses, as it were. Other studies show just how much more powerful and solid that bonding is when both biological parents are there for the child, physically and psychologically. Two makes for a powerful pair. But everyone knows this is not just a matter of putting one and one together to make two.   It has to do with what goes on between those two, what transpires between those individuals, and what type and depth of bonding ensues between father and mother. Two may make a formidable pair, but love between the two, that is shared with the child is ultimately what seals the child’s future adjustmen...

22 nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) August 28, 2011 It is not to be passed off as old wives’ tales … or the stuff that we now call “urban legends” … Persecution does happen. Everywhere. Anywhere. But it is, sort of, understandable if it happens in non-Christian territories … or in uncivilized remote places (if the likes still exist in this shrinking world). But it does happen where supposedly, Christianity has taken root for many hundreds of years. It does happen right where we are, where faith has been part and parcel of tradition for decades, if not, hundreds of years. We see it right at the tips of our noses … the growing and gnawing anti-Catholicism on the rise, even from those who claim to be catholics, whilst believing only in stuff they want to believe, and tossing out what does'nt jibe with their personal takes on a motley number of issues. We hear it right from those who claim they graduated from catholic schools. One high profile legislator even had the nerve...

21 st Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) August 21, 2011 “Spokespersons” abound in our days and times. So many claim to speak for others. Politicians love to talk endlessly about the needs of their “constituents,” claiming that they speak for the voiceless and the faceless. So many “cause-oriented” groups claim to speak for the poor, the unjustly treated, the downtrodden, the marginalized, etc. In the Philippines, the invention of “party-list” groupings has almost become a cottage industry, with party-lists multiplying like mushrooms everytime the national elections draw near. As a Principal of a small school once again, I see this once too often in my job. Someone knocks at my door and minces no words and blurts it right off: “teachers are asking this or that …” … “students are complaining about one thing or another,” and all I can rely on at any given moment is their word that they indeed “speak” for the group they claim to speak for. But having been there; done tha...

20 th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) August 14, 2011 Somewhat irreverently, and embarrassingly, I might add, the image that comes to me as I prepare for this Sunday’s liturgy is the burger joint famous in California called “IN & OUT.” It markets itself as the quintessential “all-american burger,” with milk shakes and all, and everything else that more health-conscious individuals properly would not consider “kosher.” I must say that it is good … to the last bite, as they say … and what a bite one makes as one sinks his or her teeth willingly in the sandwich that has become a by-word all over the world! In and out … The readings talk about being “in” – that is, belonging. It talks about the inclusivity of salvation as given by God. But they also talk about being “out” – being outside the original fold for which the Lord’s message and gift of salvation was originally intended. They talk about being both “in” and “out”   … “all who keep the Sabbath free from profanation, and ho...

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) August 7, 2011 Today is a day very close to my heart. The readings refer to “strong winds,” “crushing rocks,” “earthquake,” “fire,” “cave” and “darkness.” And all this comes only from the first reading. From St. Paul, we hear words like “sorrow” and “anguish,” being “accursed” and being “cut-off.” The Gospel has more. After the impromptu catering service, courtesy of the good Lord, out on the grassy meadows, when they went to a far away place, out to sea, they were tossed by waves … in the darkness, mind you. Rightly then, does the Gospel refer to the disciples as “terrified.” Terror … the dark … sorrow and anguish bring out the best – and the worst – in us. For one, they make us complain. They make us angry. The Israelites are notorious for this. Out of Egypt, delivered from slavery, in no time, they found the gall to complain to the Lord for allowing Moses to get them out. They complained about most everything … food, accommodation...