PAN DE LA SEMANA

21 st Sunday Year B August 26, 2012 DISCIPLES AND BELIEVERS It seems to me the third time in these past few weeks that we have exactly the same response after the first reading: “Taste and   see the goodness of the Lord.” Why, you might wonder? Why not? This is also the nth time in a row of Sundays when we are given repetitive reminders about the great Sacrament of the Eucharist. But before I delve into something at one and the same time sacrosanct and deeply theological stuff, let me lay the human foundations first. Let me first remind you what transpired in the first reading, and what the second reading seems to be calling our attention to. The first reading reminds me of a graduation ceremony. The time has come to say goodbye and reap rewards at the end of a well-done journey and well-spent time working. Joshua, who led the people into the promised land, on behalf of Moses, was just about to say good-bye. But parting, among other th...

20 th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B) August 19, 2012 THE HOUSE THAT WE ARE CALLED TO BUILD! We all make mistakes. The human capacity for error stays with us for as long as we live in and move around mortal earth. To err is, indeed, quintessentially, human! Sometimes, in my quiet moments, the memory of the many times I committed monumental mistakes haunts me. Whilst I cannot say I want to recall them, such memories come unbidden, uninvited, and unwanted. At those instances, I must admit, a flurry of self-embarrassment fills me from head to toe. But I must tell you, too, that I learned immensely from those mistakes. Some of those learnings are still in time for me to do something about, like having learned to hold my tongue on particular tension-filled situations. But there, too, are some learnings that I cannot do anything about anymore, like the learning that I got already as an adult, that it is never wise, nor good – and, definitely not beneficial – to be playi...

19 th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) August 12, 2012 PROPHETS ARE PEOPLE TOO! Elijah was apparently weary, tired, and despondent. Jezebel wanted him dead. His prophesies against the false god Baal was taking its toll on his social capital. He was rejected. No … it was more like hated to the bone, abhorred for speaking the truth that hurt people no end. Rightly or wrongly, at times, such as now, I feel like a little Elijah – treated by people who think they have a divine right to judge me, as pariah. Elijah definitely had feelings, too. He definitely experienced more than just fear from the scheming Jezebel. He must have felt the heat and the pressure. And when he could no longer stand the heat, he literally went out of the proverbial kitchen, like a beaten dog, tail tucked behind the legs. Prophets, for all the colorful and, at times, hard-hitting language they use, are definitely people too … But the pressure and the heat in our postmodern times, com...

August 5, 2012 18 th Sunday Year B FOOD THAT PERISHES, OR FOOD THAT ENDURES? We complain about many things. We complain about the traffic, now getting worse and worse by the day. We complained a lot last week when a “shallow low pressure area” (whatever that means, caught us all off-guard) and wrought havoc all over complacent Metro Manila area. We complain about leaders when they don’t   deliver as promised. We rant and rave about a multiplicity of things, mostly, to be sure, about things that don’t last … things that don’t matter much except satisfy us for a short while, and not much more. The Israelites were brought out willingly from slavery in Egypt. They were not forced. They were not misled. They were not prevailed upon. But soon, the complaints started pouring, even as manna kept coming. The bitterness got growing, and the growling became more intense, even as the quails kept them filled – but never satisfied! The complaints were all directed a...