PAN DE LA SEMANA

Solemnity of Mary Mother of God January 1, 2012 Readings : Nm 6:22-27 / Gal 4:4-7 / Lk 2:16-21 I write painstakingly using a Chinese keyboard, where I make tons of errors as I type. My new toy doesn’t have MS Office for MAC, so I have to make do with an ancient machine, with Chinese characters to boot! It is New Year, and many people mistakenly think it is a Church feast. It is not. Whilst it starts a new civil year, it just coincides with the octave of Christmas, which is the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God. Last week, Christmas Day, the focus was on the Son, God who took on flesh for our salvation. Today, the focus is on the mother of the Son of God, through whose cooperation, the miracle of the Incarnation took place. This is both the historical and theological truth, the kind for which an entire people of faith pauses, stops, reflects, and celebrates with then full capabilities a community of faith can muster. It is just like Christmas today, which really means everyday th...

Christmas Day (B) December 25, 2011 Readings: Is 52:7-10 / Heb 1:1-6 / Jn 1:1-5.9-14 One original Pinoy product is the brand of therapeutic and casual footwear called "Happy Feet." It had humble beginnings that all started with a visit to a foot doctor in Germany, to alleviate a foot malady of a family member. It became a by-word in no time, and actually attained a level of popularity for some time. Although I never got to own even one, I was quietly admiring the growing product line, along with the fact that it had gone mainstream for a great many years by now. I couldn't help but think of feet today, the second holiest day of the Christian calendar. I couldn't help but think of feet, for that matter, for a number of reasons: First, I am aware that fellow "kababayan" Romy Garduce (of Everest fame!) is still aiming at completing the world's mythical seven mountains, with just one more mountain to go. Not bad for one who hails from the tropics, and w...

Fourth Sunday of Advent (B) December 18, 2011 David sure had brilliant ideas! He simply was convinced he had to do it, and no one else, he thought, was worthy enough to do what he planned to do – build God a house, and move the Ark of the Covenant from a tent to some place more worthy of it. Or so, he thought! Hubris … pride and sinful vanity, no less! Far from what he was many years before, a nameless, faceless, powerless lad who did nothing more than shepherd his lowly flock of sheep, his position of power and prestige got the better of him, and thought he should do something that was really ultimately, God’s to do. Something good, something noble, something laudable, no doubt ... nothing sinful, nothing remiss, nothing amiss … but something that can make one of holier, more humble stock feel ill at ease … But God, in His wisdom, had other plans. No … it was not for David to build God a house, but it was God’s prerogative to make use of David’s very own p...

3 rd Sunday of Advent (B) December 11, 2011 Whistleblowers, in our time, are a dime a dozen. They have sort of become a fad, a trend. They blow the whistle on anything imaginable – from huge corporations guilty of not just penny pinching at the expense of their workers, but  evading big social responsibilities, to presidents, prime ministers, and other political bigwigs caught with their proverbial sticky fingers in the cookie jar of massive corruption and all … Hordes of people adore them. Many idolize them and put them atop pedestals of semi heroism. They become instant celebrities and guests of endless talk shows and their faces hog the TV screens on a daily basis. We just love people who spill the beans and squeal about the shenanigans of people in power. Whilst not all of those who claim to be whistleblowers actually tell the truth, we give them credit for at least being avowedly, and supposedly, at the service of liberating truth. But...