PAN DE LA SEMANA

[BREAKING THE BREAD OF GOD’S WORD] Corpus Christi Sunday Solemnity of the Body & Blood of the Lord – Year B June 7, 2015 BUILD ME UP, FILL ME UP! We all know how the people of Israel were at some point wandering aimlessly in the desert. After being led out of slavery in Egypt, and after the initial euphoria at being liberated wore down, they felt empty. They felt like vagabonds – journeyers without a sure destination. If I were in their shoes, I would probably be reminded of that old song that says: “Why do you build me up, Buttercup baby, just to let me down, and mess me around?” But today’s readings dispel our worst fears about being left alone to fend for ourselves. Let me tell you why… For one, the Lord, through Moses, led them to a clear sign of God’s fidelity to His promises. He called and engaged them in a covenant, which is basically, a mutual agreement. That agreement was sealed in the most visible, most p...

[BREAKING THE BREAD OF GOD'S WORD] Trinity Sunday May 31, 2015 ALL GOD HAS COMMANDED     Oneness…fullness…completeness…totality…wholeness…The Solemnity of the Most Blessed Trinity today seems to remind us of all the foregoing concepts – and more!  The readings today were all from books written well before the term “Trinity” was introduced in theological discourse. But Scripture that has come down to us through the centuries reflects the “lived theology” of the community of believers. Obviously, the reality of the Trinity preceded the terminology. The faith in the Trinity antedated the invention of a term (or a symbol) to stand for the truth held in faith in people’s minds and hearts, long before the word was uttered in their mouths. All God has taught… all God has uttered… and all God has commanded! This represents the body of truths celebrated by the early Church in the liturgy. An ancient dictum says it all: Lex orandi, le...

Corpus Christi (A) June 22, 2014 FOR REAL. FOR CERTAIN. FOR ALL TIME. FOREVER! Of late, there has been an increasing mistrust for fake food and everything fake from a certain country. Let us hide its identity under the name “China.” In my latest visit to Hong Kong, I was told that certain people in that country have mastered the art – and the business! – of producing fake everything: fake eggs, fake beef, fake milk, not to mention all the fake “signature” items that can be found everywhere where they sell cheap goods. In our country, we have fake public servants who actually serve no more than their own pockets, their family, their best interests, and definitely not the common weal. Let us also hide them under the collective title of “congressman or senator.” Of late, too, certain places I am very familiar with have also seen a number of fake priests, who do nothing more than sprinkle holy water to business establishments … for...

Trinity Sunday (A) June 15, 2014 GRACIOUS AND MERCIFUL IS GOD! We have all kinds of names for people who are gruff, rough, uncouth and unrefined. It is hard to pin down just what it is that stands out in their obnoxious character, but we simply know that there is something sorely missing. Thus, one who does not know how to close doors, turn off faucets and lights after using, or one who behaves like he is the only person in the whole wide world, unmindful of others’ welfare, comfort and needs is simply ungracious, dense, selfish, self-centered and a whole lot more. We don’t like such people around. We avoid them. We steer clear of them, and some of them can even literally throw their weight around, and make everybody else’s lives revolve around their own. They can be very well connected, but never attuned; they can also be very much engaged, but never involved. They can very busy, but never really productive. They can even work at cro...

--> Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord – Year C June 2, 2013 ALL WE HAVE AND ALL WE NEED! Today is a day of miracles. I know it sounds far fetched, but I mean it. Everyday when Mass is celebrated counts as a day of miracles. Bread and wine are changed into Christ’s Body and Blood … that’s for sure! … sure enough for those who have faith, those who believe, those who take God seriously, and take Him for His Word. We all take some things very seriously. There are those of us who believe everything that mainstream media says, or all that our favorite celebrity endorses. There, too, are those who believe all survey outfits, or even any charlatan, “celebutante” or “cewebrity”  who happens to be “popular” enough to have a digital following. I have no problems about whom you believe or follow with dogged devotion. But I do propose to fellow believers to believe more on what God teaches us today. We have no less than God’s Word tod...

June 10, 2012 Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord (B) ACCEPTING AND DOING! The focus of today’s readings, understandably, is on the blood of sacrifice. That blood is connected with the seal or proof, or witness – if you will – of the covenant between God and His people. The blood is poured. The blood is consumed in some way, and the blood is offered, first, for expiation, and second, as sign of consummation of the supreme agreement between two parties – God, on the one hand, and his people, on the other. The response is as much a promise as an assurance: “Everything the Lord says, we will do!” The pledge pronounced by the people actually stands for two things: acceptance, first and foremost … as if, indeed, to say, “we accept everything the Lord says …” But that is not all … the second part is a promise: “we will do as He says!” Accepting and doing … this, among so many other things, is what we can reflect on today, the Solemnity of Corpus Chris...

Solemnity of the Body & Blood of the Lord (A) June 26, 2011 There was a time the Solemnity of Corpus Christi was celebrated with solemn processions, Benedictions, and many benedictions at select stations all over the main thoroughfares of every parish everywhere.   Those were the days before clogged traffic blocked our streets … before sidewalks disappeared to Disneyland like, multi-colored lamp posts that would change with the change of administration … before religious pluralism and downright indifference took over our culture, and relegated purely “religious” matters, so called, to private chapels and oratories. The disappearance or waning of the practice, however, is not to say the faith in the Real Presence of the Eucharistic Lord is also gone. It is here. It is alive. It is real. And it is here to stay … more in our hearts, if not in our streets… more in our thoughts and minds, if not in practice. Come to think of it, the Real Presence of the Lord   unde...

Solemnity of the Most Blessed Trinity (Year A)  June 19, 2011 Context and framing mean a whole lot towards getting a holistic, balanced understanding of anything of importance. Today’s readings, chosen to highlight the truth about the Most Blessed Trinity, are no exception. God’s revealing and manifesting Himself through Moses as reported by the Book of Exodus (34:4b-6;8-9 First Reading), is a case in point. In anthropomorphic language (weak analogies based on human categories, mentality, and standards), God’s self-revelation is preceded by near abandonment of what even Moses himself acknowledges as “a stiff-necked people.” After doing away with the true God, and fashioning for themselves a golden calf for a false god, the Lord went on to prove that, unlike wicked and fickle people, He was, indeed, “a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.” These same sterling and startling qualities of God are further echoed by Paul’s letter to the Co...