PAN DE LA SEMANA

--> 5 th Sunday of Lent (A) April 6, 2014 NOT IN THE FLESH, BUT IN THE SPIRIT! Mourning the death of someone you love and feel very close to, is most difficult. Presiding over funeral services of the same person is even more trying. But it can also be difficult to find the right words to say in the presence of family who has just suddenly lost a loved one. People, on occasions like these, can be overeager and overzealous to help. In their desire to make the bereaved feel better, they thoughtlessly and cluelessly say words like “Don’t be too sad. It is God’s will. Just accept it and you will feel better.” In their desire to sound consoling and empathic, they also say: “I know exactly how you feel. But God has a plan for you.” Some others would mutter something like: “Don’t be upset. He or she is in a much better place now.” They are nice-sounding words, but the times I have gone through mourning myself, I was angry with God...

5th Sunday of Lent (A)            April 10, 2011 Life that is more than just life ... new life, to be exact; life that will never end; life that can accrue even from death, whether material or spiritual ... This is the good news of today ... good news that cannot be ignored or made light of! The whole world smacks of all that is not life nowadays ... even now strife and rebellion, legitimate in many cases, are taking place in many countries all at one and the same time.  Leaders who have been enjoying worldly life and all its perks for decades, simply refuse to give up power, position, perks, and perch. Reluctant migrants scamper out of Libya, Yemen, Ivory Coast and other countries precisely in search of a life that is unhampered, untrammeled by personal agendas of leaders who, in the first place, are not life enabling, but life disabling. People are entombed for many reasons, under many forms, and countless guis...