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,...

[BREAKING THE BREAD OF GOD’S WORD] Solemnity of Mary Mother of God January 1, 2016 SON-TALK; MOTHER-TALK As the Son rises to our consciousness, so, too, does the figure of His Mother rise in our collective imagination and appreciation. Christmas Day, the time when the world bows in worship to the coming of the promised Messiah, is followed a full week after by the celebration in honor of the one through whom the human birth of the 2 nd Person of the Blessed Trinity came to happen. The Divine Son rises in His full human and divine nature. The Mother rises to the occasion and allows herself to be the necessary instrument for the miracle of the Incarnation to happen. This, my dear friends and readers, is what we honor Mary for essentially – for her unique role in the unfolding drama and story of salvation. That role is unrepeatable, even as it is humanly speaking, inconceivable. No less than St. Paul recognizes the depth of this mystery. He acknowledges...

[BREAKING THE BREAD OF GOD’S WORD] Second Sunday of Advent – C December 6, 2015 BY WAY OF THE SIMPLE AND THE HUMBLE Baruch is certainly one prophet we need in our times. We are robed in mourning and misery in our own ways, too. But that is not the part we need to highlight from him. What we need is the assurance the Lord tells us through him: “For God will show your splendor to all under the heavens.” But there is more reassurance coming from a younger prophet, named Paul: “the one who began a good work in [us] will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.” But I reserve the best for last – from the Gospel of Luke. You see, Luke had an eye for details because he was a scientist – a doctor. And what details he tells us today! It was the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. And Pilate was governor and Philip was tetrarch of this and Lysanias was ruler of that … And you thought that it was all about royalty, huh? His story began with bigwigs...

30 th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C October 27, 2013 Sirach today smacks of sincerity … on God’s part primarily, not his own. He speaks of a God who truly listens, who “judges justly and affirms the right.” This is what the psalmist also was convinced of. He was convinced enough for him – and us – to acclaim: “The Lord hears the cry of the poor.” I write this short reflection in between sessions, as I preach to group of teachers from Imus, Cavite. Serendipitously, we speak of pretty much the same stuff that today’s readings speak of – the need for everyone who wants to grow towards emotional, psychological and spiritual maturity, to become straightforward, not duplicitous and deceptive. Sadly, in our times, double-talk is all we get from leaders and pundits alike. In the Philippine context, the pork barrel has supposedly and officially been abolished. But it has been resurrected even before it was scrapped, through other fancy and very creative (an...

28 th Sunday Year C October 13, 2013 GRANT, GIFT, GRATITUDE? Certain words have all of a sudden become very popular in the Philippines … one of them is “scholars.” These poor deserving and brilliant students from the boonies suddenly became the focus of legislators’ undying proclamations of love, largesse, and lasting generosity. Another is the word “gift.” The word has become synonymous with “grant,” with “incentive” or – let us now name it – everlasting “gratitude.” Few people, of course, actually believe the legislators have the welfare of “scholars” uppermost in their minds, and only the most gullible would be led to believe that whatever monies were distributed post factum (read: the passage of something wanted by the big man on top) had to do with selfless grants, or altruistic “gifts” or philanthropic expressions of endless “gratitude.” Be that as it may, we should accept one thing at least … Today’s readings do have a word ...

24 th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C September 15, 2013 SELFISH, SELFIES, GENEROUSLY, GODLY! You know the type. They are everywhere … at churches, malls, planes, airports, restos … why, even rest rooms! They take countless pics of themselves in various poses and facial expressions, with matching hand gestures for accent. And they post them via social networking sites for the world to “like” rant and rave on! Psychotherapists now are almost one in claiming that the internet has been steadily churning out narcissists one facebook or twitter pic or instagram post at a time. There is even a new term for all this … “impression management.” Narcissists spend a mighty long time each day “managing” one’s posts and pics in order to give the best impression of oneself as possible. Selfies, they are now called. Incidentally, it is no accident of linguistics that it happens to rhyme with selfish, which in plain language, narcissism is all ab...

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!...