PAN DE LA SEMANA

30 th Sunday Year A October 26, 2014 LOVE COSTS. LOVE HURTS. LOVE HEALS. LOVE SAVES Social media has apparently made the world a more loving, and more connected world. Yes … not even PLDT with its watchword “keeping you in touch” has ever succeeded as well as facebook to keep people in touch. Facebook, Google+, Linked In, Twitter and other micro-blogging networks have all edged out the voice-call industry in connecting people in real time. Why, facebook has even redefined “friendship.” Google+ has invented a wide array of relationships, from circles, to family, to acquaintances, to close friendship. We are connected and related in every way imaginable. But we can also ignore posts, statuses, twits, - and, yes – even “missed calls.” We can pretend like we never saw them, and just quietly remain a “lurker” rather than an active “liker.” It means being connected, without really being engaged and involved. The love that the readings speak of today cannot be th...

29 th Sunday Ordinary Time Year A October 19, 2014 AS WE OUGHT Good, old Jose Feliciano crooned that “love comes from the most unexpected places.” Well, you and I know that very well. Amorous feelings come our way without us planning for them, wanting them, and developing them. Feelings come and go, of course, and, when the dust has settled, sort of, when feelings are gone, real love and commitment remain, whether feelings are there or not. God’s graces and gifts, too, come through the intermediary of the most unexpected people … yes, including Cyrus who was idolized by the Jews for giving them back their liberty and self-esteem. The famous Edict of Cyrus gave the possibility for the Jewish exiles to go back to their promised land and rebuild their homes, their temple in Jerusalem, and reboot their lives once more (1 st reading). They say God writes straight with crooked lines. This time, according to the report of Isaiah...

28 th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A October 12, 2014 IN WANT. IN PLENTY. BLEST. IN ALL THINGS! Everybody loves a feast. Fiesta, in rustic Philippine settings, had always been a day to look forward to and look back to. It was, and still is, a time to splurge, a day to be thankful, an occasion to celebrate. All sorts of mirth-making are done with abandon, at least for one whole day in the year. Fiestas in the Philippines refer to ALL. All are invited. All are happy. All are in the mood to act and behave like life is good … all the time. All stops are figuratively pulled to do that once-a-year celebration without restraint. Why do I think of such things today, you might ask? Simple. All three readings are profuse about giving all, doing all, sharing all … to all … for all sorts of reasons … “in verdant pastures,” with “cups overflowing,” “all the days of our lives.” I am one who can appreciate a glass of good, rich, ...

27 th Sunday Year A October 5, 2014 WHAT RETURN SHOULD I MAKE? I love dogs. I once had 5 of them – in stark contrast to now that I only have two. I think I take good care of them.   I say this because the readings today speak also of love and solicitude – the overwhelming love of God for a people represented by a vineyard on a fertile hillside. Isaiah tells us that there was nothing the vineyard’s owner did not do for his vineyard. But Isaiah goes on … the vineyard did not produce as expected. And there was nothing that could lead anyone to question the reaction of the sorely disappointed owner. “Tell me,” Isaiah seemed to say, “could you blame me for feeling this way?” One reason I like dogs is they ostensibly seem to know how to return attention for attention; loyalty for tender loving care; obedience in return for its master’s solicitude. We all want to feel important time and again. We all want to feel attended to and followed loyally once in a while. And ...