PAN DE LA SEMANA

[BREAKING THE BREAD OF GOD’S WORD] 29 th Sunday in Ordinary Time – B October 18, 2015 HOLDING FAST TO OUR CONFESSION The first reading talks about the patient suffering of the prophesied Messiah, the suffering servant, through whom, “the Lord’s will shall be accomplished.” The second reading, from the letter to the Hebrews is some kind of a pep talk to people ever tempted to give up on what they believed. It was a plea to fellow believers to hold on, “since [they] had a high priest who has passed through the heavens.” The Gospel passage reminds us of a temptation that is every bit as real as the temptation to give up – the ever lurking danger and temptation of asking for what is not due us, looking for something greater than us, and aiming for something that is not meant for us. I know the feeling. Who among us has not at any point in our lives aimed for something that is beyond us? Who among us has not wanted to get something that we really do not deserve, ...

First Sunday of Lent Year C February 17, 2013 ADMIT, ACCLAIM, ACKNOWLEDGE! No less than the Lord Himself was tempted … not once, not twice, but thrice! This is a story we hear each year, always on the first Sunday of Lent, such as today. If you went to Mass last Ash Wednesday, you would remember the reminder: “Remember man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return!” That reminder, of course, is but one of several, including: “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” Reminders! … This is what and who we are as believers. We are a people of the reminder, a people of the memorial! This Eucharistic celebration, as you know, is an anamnesis – a memorial that, at one and the same time, looks back and looks towards the future. What do we look back to? Let the first reading remind us … Like the Jews of old, we were once aliens living in a foreign land. We were (and still are!) sinners, who were once enslaved by sin, exiled … far from hom...