Mark 7:1-23, 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time The people in this week’s Gospel are quarreling about who has and who hasn’t washed his hands for dinner. If you were a follower of the Jewish custom in that time, you would know that every person was required to wash up before eating. The rule was “a…
Category: Season: Ordinary Time
Externals – Jett Villarin, SJ
Mark 7:1-23, 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Appearances can be deceiving. When it sets, the sun becomes a very big red balloon. So too when it rises rose-tinted on the horizon. Overhead, it is smaller and whiter. And yet it is the same sun. In the Scripture readings today, we are warned about the appearances…
Do’s and Don’ts – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Mark 7:1-23, 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time It happened again last week. I heard from a friend yet another story of a priest who refused to bless the body of a troubled teenager who took his own life. The mother pleaded with the priest desperately and tearfully, my friend said. The young man had always…
Memory – Mark Aloysius, SJ
John 6:60-69, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time There is this urban legend which states that goldfish have a memory span of about three seconds. If one were forced to live in such a small glass bubble, perhaps amnesia might be the only means of coping. These days I wonder if our collective memory span would…
Avatar – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 6:63-68, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time I was watching a talk show the other night. The host did his usual stand-up comedy routine to open the show. He started out, making jokes about Trump and his addiction to Twitter. Then he joked about people who made the stupid mistake of posting pictures on Facebook…
Watching What We Eat
John 6:51-58, 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time My dear friends, if I were to ask you, which part of your body you use to eat, what would you say? To be honest, until quite recently, I would have considered this a stupid question. Which other part of my body can I eat with if not…
Hook, Line and Sinker – Johnny Go, SJ
John 6:51-58, 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Last night someone who had gone to an anticipated Sunday Mass bumped into me and surprised me with his reaction. He said: “The Bread of Life?! Again?!” He’s right. This is the third Sunday that the Gospel reading has been about the Bread of Life–and what he doesn’t know yet…
God as Food – Vic Balthazar, SJ
John 6:41-51, 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time “I am the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to me will never hunger, whoever believes in me will never thirst!” The Gospel episode continues John’s series of “I am” discourses. “I am” as you know is the phrase that God used to name Godself before Moses. In a…
When the Baby Won’t Eat
John 6:41-51, 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time My dear friends, have you ever seen someone trying to coax a moody baby to eat? Perhaps you’ve done it yourself. It can be quite a challenge. The adult knows that the infant needs food to grow. But, for some reason, it refuses to eat. Maybe it’s sleepy,…
Communion – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 6:41-51, 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time My maternal grandfather was an inveterate sabungero. Unlike our lola who went to mass daily, he went to church only on Christmas. The rest of the Sundays, “nagsisimba siya sa sabungan,” his own children joked. Kung sa bagay. In every sabungan (cockfight) was a man called “Kristo.” He…
The Itch We Cannot Scratch…
John 6:24-35, 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time My dear friends, have you ever had an itch that you just can’t seem to scratch? Do you know what it feels like? It can be quite frustrating. No matter how hard or how often I may drag my fingernails across that spot on my body, where I…
Hunger in a Time of Abundance – Johnny Go, SJ
John 6:24-35, 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Our Gospel today is literally good news. Our Lord makes us an important promise: “Whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” Jesus is not talking about physical hunger or physical thirst, obviously. Rather, he is referring to an existential hunger…
One Lost Sheep 