PAN DE LA SEMANA

20 th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B) August 19, 2012 THE HOUSE THAT WE ARE CALLED TO BUILD! We all make mistakes. The human capacity for error stays with us for as long as we live in and move around mortal earth. To err is, indeed, quintessentially, human! Sometimes, in my quiet moments, the memory of the many times I committed monumental mistakes haunts me. Whilst I cannot say I want to recall them, such memories come unbidden, uninvited, and unwanted. At those instances, I must admit, a flurry of self-embarrassment fills me from head to toe. But I must tell you, too, that I learned immensely from those mistakes. Some of those learnings are still in time for me to do something about, like having learned to hold my tongue on particular tension-filled situations. But there, too, are some learnings that I cannot do anything about anymore, like the learning that I got already as an adult, that it is never wise, nor good – and, definitely not beneficial – to be playi...

14 th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) July 8, 2012 We all know what it means … to be ignored, to not even be considered, to be rejected. Scriptures is full of such stories of rejection, with no less than the Lord Jesus Christ as the centerpiece. At times, you and I can feel – rightly or wrongly – that we are the poster boy or poster girl of such painful experiences. I had my own brush with such a “forgettable” chapter in my life … yes – forgettable in theory at least, but not quite in reality! One does not easily give up on such debilitating memories. Human nature tends to hold on to such things, and our fallen nature makes it even more difficult indeed, to “let by-gones be by-gones” – easier said than done, despite what they say about Christian forgiveness. Today, the day of the Lord, the 14 th in ordinary time, I would like to think I am one with everyone – and, I mean everyone – who ever felt the uncomfortable feeling of being resisted, being refused, being ...

Catholic Homily / Sunday Reflection Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (B) February 1, 2009 Readings: Dt 18:15-20 / 1 Cor 7:32-35 / Mk 1:21-28 Authority under any form or guise all over the world is not the most esteemed fact everywhere in our postmodern times. At best, authority is merely tolerated. At worst, it is looked down on and smirked upon. Royalties, or those trying hard to pass off as royalty are seen as anachronistic features in a world characterized by what some authors call the “compression of time” and the “contraction of space.” So, what are we doing here today, given the fact that the 1st and the 3rd readings both speak of authority? We can find a clue to this riddle if only we go right back to the testimony of God’s word. Human authority per se, is hardly acceptable in many cases during our times. But authority, in the mind of God, is something that is not man-made. It is not something self-imposed. It is a gift given, shared, entrusted, and allotted to whomever God so de...

Catholic Homily/Sunday Liturgical Reflections 1st Sunday of Advent - Year B November 30, 2008 Readings: Is 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7 / 1Cor 1:3-9 / Mk 13:33-37 Waiting is not one of the virtues of postmodern women and men of our times. Perhaps quickness of response to communication is, but not waiting. We want instant results. We want instant information. At the press of a SEND button, through the wonders of WAP, we have instant access to info about entertainment, about the weather, and a whole lot more. That may well be one of the reasons why the telenovela, the teleserie, the protracted soap operas of our times attract so many viewers. They have taken the place of the more difficult discipline of reading full-blown novels. Reading is no longer one of the more popular pastimes among our people. Sitting it out on a prolonged basis, allowing the mind to be taken up and transported to a different world, is something we would rather not do. We want to do multi-tasking. We want to watch and s...