PAN DE LA SEMANA

Second Sunday of Easter (A) April 27, 2014 HONEST THOMAS Times there are when people want and seek our honest opinions about something. More often than not, given our Filipino culture that almost makes it mandatory for us to please the other party, we think of answers that are less than sincere, less than honest. When some person of stature asks for our opinions, we end up giving him or her the answer that we think he or she expects to hear. Thomas has received some kind of a bad rap in the past for being sort of skeptical. “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Indeed, on account of this, he has come down in history as the “doubting Thomas.” He was a skeptic alright. He doubted. He did not give outright credence to what he heard. But Thomas, beyond being skeptical, was really honest about what he thought. And he told it like it is, wi...

Tonight, we come face to face with darkness. Our paschal triduum reaches its highest point when new fire and the light it brings shall pierce the darkness. Darkness, and the intimations of death that are associated with it shall now be vanquished. Sin, the ultimate darkness and sign of death par excellence, is now vanished for all time, for all men, for always. This Good News is something we all cannot remain silent about. We have been redeemed. We have been bought for a price. We are all called to move from darkness into God's wonderful light. This is Easter Good News. We are an Easter people, and "alleluia" is our song, as St. Augustine aptly puts it.

Holy Saturday Waiting is so very hard to do nowadays. In our digital generation, internet-saturated times, everything is instant ... everything happens in real time ... We hate delayed telecasts. We abhor slow connections. We despise having to wait at all. But the coming of the definitive Word of victory is something worth waiting for!

Magkahalong lungkot at tuwa ... magkapatong na dalamhati at pag-asa ... naghuhumiyaw na pag-ibig; nagpupumiglas na pananampalataya ... Ito ang Biyernes Santo ... dito umiikot ang tadhana ng daigdig ... makasalanan ... marupok ... nguni't minahal ng Diyos nang walang kahulirip!

I am indebted to Grace Olson for this beautiful, touching, short poem.

--> Palm Sunday April 13, 2014 THE APPOINTED TIME It was, very aptly stated, the appointed time! The words came from Jesus, no less: “My appointed time draws near.” First, we need to clarify what the appointed time is not. First, it is not coincidental. It did not come out of happenstance, from out of the blue. Second, it was not something totally unexpected, totally uncalled for, totally out of the Lord’s foreknowledge, and beyond his level of awareness. Jesus saw it coming. Jesus, by then, had total grasp of what and who he was, and what his mission from the Father was. The appointed time is the “hour” that has come – the time of salvation, the moment of truth, the time that was foreordained, foreseen, foretold and prophesied ever so gradually from generation to generation. It was the beginning of the hour of fulfillment, that was part of the mystery long hidden but now gradually revealed, and gradually unfolding. It was the appointed “hour” fo...

--> 5 th Sunday of Lent (A) April 6, 2014 NOT IN THE FLESH, BUT IN THE SPIRIT! Mourning the death of someone you love and feel very close to, is most difficult. Presiding over funeral services of the same person is even more trying. But it can also be difficult to find the right words to say in the presence of family who has just suddenly lost a loved one. People, on occasions like these, can be overeager and overzealous to help. In their desire to make the bereaved feel better, they thoughtlessly and cluelessly say words like “Don’t be too sad. It is God’s will. Just accept it and you will feel better.” In their desire to sound consoling and empathic, they also say: “I know exactly how you feel. But God has a plan for you.” Some others would mutter something like: “Don’t be upset. He or she is in a much better place now.” They are nice-sounding words, but the times I have gone through mourning myself, I was angry with God...