PAN DE LA SEMANA

[BREAKING THE BREAD OF GOD’S WORD] 25 th Sunday OT_B September 20, 2015 AMPLITUDE, APTITUDE, ATTITUDE Allow me to go philological for today. Let us go by way of linguistics … I would like to think that amplitude comes from the root word “ample” which means enough. It refers to the state of something being sufficient, being adequate, or simply put, the state of fullness of something. Aptitude, as the root word states, is being the right fit for something, the state or condition of aptness, suitability or being good enough for something. An apt image of aptitude is that of a key that perfectly fits a keyhole and opens the locked door. Attitude is what one draws from within the self in reference to everything external to one’s self. It is that frame of mind or mold of heart that makes one either favorable or otherwise to anything and everything. Now, let us apply all three words to the three readings today. In classical Catholic imagination, my task as preac...

Palm Sunday-Year B March 29, 2015 DESTINY, DIGNITY, INTEGRITY I like how Dianne Bergant develops her reflection on Palm Sunday. Basing herself on the facts given by Scripture, the Lord, she says, knew what was coming, and was totally aware of what he was getting into by getting to Jerusalem. As I write, the whole world of media, both mainstream and social, are abuzz with all news and a whole lot of speculations about the plane that, very clearly, was made to crash deliberately on the French Alps. That was a destiny that depended totally on the free and deliberate choice on the part of one who had sole control of the plane with more than 140 people on board. Without in any way engaging in cheap psycho-babble and psycho-analyzing the by now most talked about name in the world, the fact is, the destiny of that flight was something that totally depended on that man. Today, Passion Sunday, we hear once again, the story of his trium...

Feast of the Holy Family (A) December 29, 2013 RISE, FLEE, AND STAY! Something serious and potentially far-encompassing in scope is happening in our culture. Today’s issue of Pugad Baboy captures some of it, but not fully. People still flock to the Church during the nine-day preparation period, but there are serious signs worship of God, honoring the saints, and participating in the liturgy are not their topmost goals. Many don’t even care to go in and use the pews inside … no, they stand outside or sit on a bench, ready to respond to texts and Viber and Tango alerts. According to Pugad Baboy comic strip, there are those who drive in, remain seated in their cars, and look more or less toward the direction of the altar, and “attend” Mass from a distance. I talked about this issue on Christmas morning, when huge malls like the Mall of Asia, were slated to be open all day of Christmas. I said that children behave in exactly the same way they d...