PAN DE LA SEMANA

4th Sunday of Lent (A) April 3, 2011 This Sunday is a reality check for all of us. "Night is coming when no one can work." The Lord Himself recognizes it ... the reality of what Christian authors now call the "eclipse of God" in our times and days. I write at a time when the growing realization that the country I was born and grew up in and spent most of life in is fast experiencing the onslaught of the night that the Lord speaks of - the growing specter of the eclipse of God in culture, in politics, in the world of entertainment, and in all aspects of our societal lives. Nowhere is this clearer as in the heated debacle that repeatedly ensues with regard to the reproductive health bill. Both sides condemn one another of disinformation. Both sides accuse one another of misleading the people. But without reducing this reflection to an apologia of sorts for the Church that I love, I would like to suggest to my readers that the whole issue does not have to...

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...