PAN DE LA SEMANA

August 5, 2012 18 th Sunday Year B FOOD THAT PERISHES, OR FOOD THAT ENDURES? We complain about many things. We complain about the traffic, now getting worse and worse by the day. We complained a lot last week when a “shallow low pressure area” (whatever that means, caught us all off-guard) and wrought havoc all over complacent Metro Manila area. We complain about leaders when they don’t   deliver as promised. We rant and rave about a multiplicity of things, mostly, to be sure, about things that don’t last … things that don’t matter much except satisfy us for a short while, and not much more. The Israelites were brought out willingly from slavery in Egypt. They were not forced. They were not misled. They were not prevailed upon. But soon, the complaints started pouring, even as manna kept coming. The bitterness got growing, and the growling became more intense, even as the quails kept them filled – but never satisfied! The complaints were all directed a...

Sixth Sunday of Easter (A) May 29, 2011   I am amazed at how people focused and bent on doing something, find every reason under the sun to justify whatever it is they want. We all know that. We always find what we are looking for. The New Agers call it the Law of Attraction, using pseudo science and pseudo spirituality to talk about attracting positive ions to oneself, by sheer force of focus and mind control.   They speak about the Age of Aquarius, replete with planets aligning and forces gathering to bring about a new age of splendor, a new age of peace, and everything nice, fine, and dandy. Wishful thinking, no less … But one has to give it to them that they do have a ready answer at hand to non-believers. The conviction with which adherents of the “flower power” movement of yore stood for what they believed, is, indeed, remarkable. So is the rabid enthusiasm of those who are for or against the RH bill in Philippine setting. Both sides are ready with reasons gal...