PAN DE LA SEMANA

Catholic Homily/Sunday Reflections 30 th Sunday in Ordinary Time(B) October 25, 2009 Clarity seems to be the banner-headline of today’s liturgy. Mark the evangelist, for the brevity of his account, shines out in at least this one aspect – the clarity of detail about a blind man whom he took pains to record by name – Bartimaeus! Blind persons tend to lose their identity and individuality in this cruel world. People often just refer to the handicapped as the “blind man,” the “limping girl,” or the “one-eyed swordsman,” or any other unsavory appellation other than their own names. Somehow, it is almost like as if people with marked handicaps lose their right to be unique, to be worthy of being known, to be treated as individual persons. But if Mark was clear on the name, I must add that the one he named for posterity showed even greater clarity … on two counts. First, Bartimaeus called on Jesus as “Son of D...

Catholic Homily / Sunday Reflection 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) October 11, 2009 Not all that glitters is gold … That much we were told … ever since we were kids in school. Too bad, too many of us go by the standard of what is readily visible and palpable. Today the first reading from the Book of Wisdom offers us a totally different view … something that represents the total reverse of what material man usually holds on to. “I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. I preferred her to scepter and throne.” In our days and times, we know what we want … or so we think. The recent massive floods in Metro Manila are a testament to this. We think we know what we want – more comfortable and spacious homes, more comfort, ease, and convenience, more votes from what politicians call “constituents.” Real estate developers catered to what people think they want. They pampered them with hu...

Novena in Honor of the Sweet Name of Mary Dulce Nombre Cathedral-Basilica Hagatna, Guam 7th Day: September 4, 2008 Based on 1 Cor 3:18-23 / Lk 5:1-11 Yesterday, we spoke about something that sounds so earthly and at the same time so heavenly, literally and figuratively – Mary, the star of the sea, stella maris , a title so old and yet so new, so ancient and yet so relevant, as I tried to explain yesterday. I would like to add a few more ideas related to this title of Mary, Star of the Sea. First and foremost, the gospel passage today refers to an incident right beside a body of water, the Sea of Galilee or Lake of Gennesareth. It is really a relatively small fresh water lake, but which the Jews back then called sea of Galilee, around which the daily lives of people then revolved, for the most part, and around which many incidents in the Lord’s life revolves, too, this gospel incident included. My reading of this passage is rather simple. It is a confirmation of what we said in respons...