PAN DE LA SEMANA

[BREAKING THE BREAD OF GOD’S WORD] Solemnity of the Epiphany January 3, 2016 EPIPHANY: CHRISTMAS+ The liturgy goes for a splurge today. There is much allusion to light, to brilliance, to shining and rising splendor and the refulgence of God’s glory. The Church pulls out all the stops today and celebrates what used to be the original Christmas feast – with more than just a twist! We celebrate much more than the birth of the Savior. We also celebrate the “unveiling,” the “manifestation” – the epiphany, for short – of who the Child is – for us and in Himself. He is Savior. He is Son of God. He is the human visible face of the invisible God, who had been revealing Himself gradually in and through the unfolding events in history. Once upon a time, a technique in painting called “chiaroscuro” was the fad. It was basically a technique that played on a contraposition between two seemingly opposing elements: light and shadow, clarity and cloudiness. Today’s feast,...

EPIPHANY SUNDAY January 4, 2015 WHAT KIND OF A STAR ARE YOU? Just over the holidays, when millions were reeling under the fury of typhoon Seniang in the south, a star-studded, politician-filled, and a royal-styled “royal wedding” was held in Manila. No, don’t get me wrong … I am not going to rail against any royal wedding, whether real or pretended. Neither am I going to rant against the bigwigs who graced the occasion. Weddings, after all, in Jewish culture, treated the couple as royalty for the day. But I do want to say a thing or two about stars … stars who attended … wannabe stars who could only follow the media hype all delivered in a blow-by-blow account, figuratively while Rome was burning (or Mindanao and the Visayas drowning in floods) … starry-eyed vicarious stars for the day who wouldn’t want to miss any minute of the gorgeous pageantry called show business at its best and at its worst in the Philippines, (even if the pile ...

Epiphany Sunday January 5, 2014 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE WISE AND THE DISCERNING Isaiah was profuse in joy a-coming: “See, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. See, dakrness covers the earth and thick clouds the peoples; but upon you the Lord shines.” Isaiah, too, was wise. He said wise things and foretold the coming of caravans and dromedaries “bearing gold and frankincense.” The psalmist was emphatic in his wise prophecies, too: “Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.” But Paul, in his own right, was also wise about what he discovered late in his life: “the mystery was made known to me by revelation … that the Gentiles are co-heirs, members of the same body, and co-partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” I have doubts, however, whether the Magi were as wise as Matthew appears to have reported they were. They were worldly-wise, to be sure. They knew how to read maps and astrological signs. They could s...

Epiphany Sunday January 6, 2013 LESS IS MORE! Today, we celebrate what used to be known as the “little Christmas.” In many European countries, the real gift-giving day is today, Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. During the day of the “bigger” Christmas, I actually talked about what’s right with the gift-giving culture associated with Christmas. I shared with you something eminently personal, a deep experience that has touched me immensely, as I go on doing my ministry as priest, over the past 30 years! Epiphany now calls me to reflect a little more on this topic, but this time, I focus on the essential – on the “little”, that is, on the lesser, which ultimately redounds to what is more, what is greater, what is higher. The bigger Christmas, whether we like it or not, had to do with the more. We had more lights, more fun, more food, more celebrations, more parties, more everything. Prior to the big day, we even had...

Solemnity of the Epiphany (B) January 8, 2012 Readings: Is 60:1-6 / Eph 3:2-3.5-6 / Mt 2:1-12 The Gospel passage of today taken from Matthew tells of Herod being “greatly troubled.” Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown, indeed. Someone high up there, with supposedly all the resources at his disposal to assure him of continuing power, has suddenly become so preoccupied about holding on to it, threatened by the news of one who passes off as the “newborn King.” But if misery loves company, worry seeks for it and looks for sympathizers. Anxiety, like water, seeks its own level, and it seeks for every susceptible nook and cranny, holes and depressions, and the worry-wart tries his level best to spread, not the good news, but the bad news of his lack of serenity and peace of mind. King Herod was “greatly troubled and all Jerusalem with him.” Like Jerusalem under the hegemony of the worry-wart Herod, many people of our times, perhaps including ourselves, are worried s...