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...

--> 3 rd Sunday of Lent (A) March 23, 2014 COMING. COME. NOW The woman who came to Jesus at the well was not named. But hey, she had a title – and a reputation to boot!  Samaritan woman! What more could she ask? She was not named, but that didn’t mean she was not known! In fact, she was well known. Her reputation preceded her everywhere she went, and I have no reason to think Jesus did not know a thing or two about her. Well, in point of fact, Jesus did know. He knew enough to put her off-guard and lead her to ask questions that were evasive, even non-sensical, with absolutely nothing to do with what the Lord was trying to gently explain to her. Times, there are in anyone’s life when we’d rather ask academic or theoretical questions. These are moments when the painful truth sits so close to us and makes us uncomfortable. I hear and see such very often in social media. I post on help that should go the way of typhoon victims who suf...

Second Sunday of Lent (A) March 16, 2014 A GLIMPSE OF THE GLORY THAT AWAITS US Teasers and previews are a common thing in our internet-saturated lives nowadays. Go and see a movie and before you could see the main feature, they show you first a slew of “better things to come” … a series of “coming soons” and a preview of the movies coming “next summer to a movie theater near you.” Well, the Lord did something similar yet eminently and literally more lofty and heavenly. But first, a preview … This, the book of Genesis (first reading) does. The Lord tells Abram: “I will make you a great nation … I will make your name great … I will bless those who bless you.” … A vision of things to come! … Abraham was given a preview. But Timothy is given a retro view – a view of what has happened, what has been done, and what God has wrought in fulfillment of what was promised to Abram: “He saved us and called us to a holy life.” … A visio...

--> First Sunday of Lent (A) March 9, 2015 Matthew today tells us of the three temptations of Christ. It sure makes one think of a smorgasbord. Jesus was given three choices, and all three have to do with something that touched him to the core. Who doesn’t want food after fasting so long? Who does not want to be served and protected by minions who would surely come to your rescue at all cost? Who among us would not want a promotion beyond imagination and be able to control all nations and kingdoms? The offers all sound - pardon the pun – very tempting indeed. Food is good anytime, all the time, especially that time when you have foregone it for so long. Being catered to and protected by others is always good, for anyone, for everyone. And being on the saddle is always better than being at the beck and call of someone else. Wait! These are all ephemeral goods. Food is good, yes, but it is not the only good. Honor and prestige are both go...