PAN DE LA SEMANA

[BREAKING THE BREAD OF GOD’S WORD] 14 th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B CALLED AND SENT TO RAISE UP A FALLEN WORLD The first reading almost sounds like a reality check … The Lord tells the prophet: “I am sending you to … rebels who have rebelled against me … to [people] hard of face and obstinate of heart.” Paul, in the second reading, almost sounds like he is giving us another dampener … another sob and sad story: “a thorn in the flesh was given to me … insults, hardships, persecutions and complaints.” It is hard for me at this point in time, not to identify with both Ezekiel and Paul. I feel like I am a little weak lamb in the midst of wolves. But today, I need to be reminded. Today, as in all other Sundays, I need to be given a shot in the arm. And it is more than just consoling to note that even the Lord Jesus, when he went back to his own country, was given far less than a hospitable and warm welcome. They doubted him. They could not believe that ...

--> 5 th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C February 10, 2013 DO NOT BE AFRAID! It was definitely a religious experience of an extreme kind … awesome enough as to make Isaiah cry out: “Woe is me, I am doomed!” Jews of old then believed that no one sees God and still live! But Isaiah saw more than just God. He saw himself too, warts and all … “I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King the Lord of hosts!” Isaiah was honest about what he saw in himself. No use pulling the wool over everybody’s eyes. No use denying it. But once he got to admit and accept what he was, something beautiful happened … For himself. For the people. For us all. Isaiah himself without much fanfare tells us how: “I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’ ‘Here I am, send me!’” In the last two reflections over the past two Sundays, I have ranted about how dif...

4 th Sunday Ordinary Time (Year C) February 3, 2013 KNOWN, DEDICATED, APPOINTED, SENT! Whoever thinks Jesus had a nice time preaching in his own hometown Nazareth probably never heard what he said about it … “No prophet is accepted in his own country.” There was rejection. There was cynicism and skepticism. Who was he anyway? … the son of the carpenter? … one who grew up alongside us … What has he got more than we all have? Jeremiah fared no better. He always had a mouthful to tell his friends, who soon became his foes after he told them what didn’t sound like music to their ears. But today, I have bitter, but good news to would-be prophets among you: “They will fight against you but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” Last week, I shared with you how difficult now it is to be a prophet like Jeremiah. For speaking the truth and going against the tide of public opinion (read: rigged surveys!...