Category: QUESTIONS

‘WHY DON’T YOU BREAK YOUR RULES?’ (Mt 5:17-19):  27 February 2008 (Wednesday)

Today’s Readings

I still remember that afternoon in June 1991 when I stepped out of the library and was greeted by a darkened sky.  It was too early for sunset.  It turned out that the eruption of Mount Pinatubo had injected tons of volcanic ash into the sky, creating a thick haze over the city.

In the next few days we learned of the death and destruction caused not only by the eruption and the ash fall, but also by–of all things–the arrival of a typhoon.  As we know, those events of 1991 drastically changed the landscape of Pampanga and the lives of its people.

“HOW MANY SECOND CHANCES DO I GET?” (Mt 18:21-35): 26 February 2008 (Tuesday)

Today’s Readings

There are times in your life when you just have to ask God, “How many second chances do I get?”  These are the times when you’ve gone wrong–sometimes very wrong–and you know deep in your heart that no one who knows what you’ve done is ever going to accept you or love you or forgive you for what you’ve done.  You could have sworn that any minute now, the earth would open up and swallow you alive.

“WHY DO WE GET MISUNDERSTOOD AND REJECTED?”  (Luke 4:24-30):  25 February 2008 (Monday)

Today’s Readings

Some years ago I was involved in a local production of “Sino Ka, `Shua?” (“Who Are You, `Shua?”) starring the late RJ Leyran.  The video was adapted from a one-man play in English written by Rev. William Burke   It’s the story of Jesus (“Y’shua” in Aramaic) as narrated by a fictional childhood friend who reminisces about his best friend years after the crucifixion.  He does so with regret because like so many others, even as he tells his story, he fails to understand the strange and radical prophet that his friend has turned into.

“MUST WE GO HUNGRY FIRST?”  (Lk 15:1-3, 11-32):  23 February 2008 (Saturday)

Today’s Readings

I hadn’t really paid much attention to British singer Robbie Williams until someone lent me a DVD of his Knebworth concert.  It was a great concert that featured some really profound and provocative songs.  At one point, he listened to the millions in the audience sing the words to his song “Feel.”  He looked around him self incredulously and broke down.

“WOULD YOU GIVE UP YOUR THRONE?” (Mt 20:17-28):  20 February 2008 (Wednesday)

Today’s Readings

I recently saw “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” starring Cate Blanchett, a sequel to her 1998 film.  Although like the first, it struck me as a bit too anti-Catholic and anti-Jesuit, the movie nevertheless offered a moving portrait of Elizabeth I, who had to deal with the threat of Spain’s rising power as well as Catholic plots against her life.  Central to all these conflicts was her cousin, the Catholic Mary Stuart, whom many Catholics believed to be the rightful queen of England and whom Elizabeth had imprisoned and was forced to execute.