PAN DE LA SEMANA

33 rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A November 16, 2014 VALUE BEYOND PEARLS We all want security. We all look for safeguards against an uncertain future. And so, people invest and put their money in security bonds and pre-need plans. Yes … even if the very same pre-need and security companies in the Philippines actually lack security and eventually fold up, owing to a multiplicity of factors, not excluding being involved in erratic and dysfunctional Philippine politics. People invest because they believe in ultimate value, not necessarily of money now, but of emerging needs that would require tons of money later. But there are simple investors and wise investors. The former just think in terms of what they can get in return for what they place today, and mind you, what they mean is hefty returns in cash! But smart investors who see value beyond money and beyond pearls and precious metals and gems, invest in stuff that do not necessarily glitter … here and now. They...

Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran November 9, 2014 ONE FOR ALL; ALL FOR ONE! There are many ways to approach the readings of today. Two are readily available at hand. The first is to focus on the righteous anger of Christ, directed against those who have turned the temple into a marketplace. Indeed, one artist by the name of Alfonso Osorio depicts an “angry Christ” in the Church of St. Joseph the Worker in Victorias City, Negros Occidental. Another is to focus on the readings’ spiritual meaning for us here and now, and therefore, to see beyond the material temple that Jesus the Lord was speaking of, towards our self-understanding as collectively, the new “temple” that offers worship to the God Christ felt righteously angry for. The first is enveloped in layers of hermeneutical nuances that would make this reflection more a Bible-study session than an exhortation. The second is what seems to be indicated by our needs for here...

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 ...

26 th Sunday Year A September 28, 2014 A PAST WORTH LOOKING INTO; A FUTURE WORTH AIMING FOR They say every saint had a past and every sinner has a future. Agree! St. Lorenzo Ruiz, for his glorious martyrdom in Japan, originally did not go there to seek for that cruel death. He had other motives. He had other plans. Not that were bad of themselves, but they definitely were not what eventually he suffered and died for. We all were children once upon a time. We all felt picked on by our parents, who always seemed to have a ready command or a quick errand for us children to do then. Who among us did not have a ready answer for either of them, or both? “Why me?” “Not again!” “I am busy!” “I got tons of homework to prepare for school!” What child did not answer thus, at least on a few occasions: “Yes, Dad. Count on me. I will do it later,” and then went his/her merry way playing games with neighborhood kids until he or she felt hungry? Wha...