Opinion

While Jesus performs many of his miracles with a simple word or touch, in today’s gospel, Jesus heals the man with a speech impediment in a most graphic and dramatic way. Sensitive to the man’s condition, Jesus pulls him away from the crowd in order to spare him from embarrassment and humiliation. Then he puts his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touches his tongue. The gesture poignantly shows how Jesus identifies physically with the man’s infirmity to awaken faith in him. Looking up to heaven, he groans and utters the word, “Ephphatha,” which finally opens the man’s ears and loosens his tongue.Pope Benedict XVI gives an insightful comment that the word, “ephphatha - be opened”, sums up Christ’s whole message and all his work. The context of the event confirms the idea. ...

With a little over a month before the filing of certificates of candidacy for the 2025 elections, talks are rife on how  the final line-up in Bacolod City will look like?The El-Bee poster circulating on social media points to Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran who is on his third and last term in his post and is rumored to be running for the congressional seat and Mayor Albee Benitez who will seek re-election for the chief executive position.The congressional post is open with third termer Rep. Greg Gasataya stepping down.El Cid acknowledged that those came from his supporters but that there are no final talks yet. However, in the past few months, El Cid who belongs to another political camp has been visible in Albee’s circle and this has prompted the talks that perhaps, he...

Our readings this Sunday are about the Law or the Torah. Literally, the Torah means law, guidance or directive, and pertains to God’s revealed teaching for humankind. In its restricted sense, it refers to the first five books of the Old Testament (Pentateuch) which are traditionally ascribed to Moses, the recipient of God’s revelation on Mt. Sinai.The Torah is the source of Israel’s national pride. The Israelites are aware that they are just a small nation and cannot boast of great political power, like Rome, or philosophical and artistic brilliance, like Greece. Nevertheless, they see themselves standing above all other nations. “For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the Lord, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has statutes ...

Last week brought in family members from Manila and elsewhere who wanted to take advantage of the long weekend.Little did they know of course that about that same time, the power transformer in Alijis would cause outages in several parts in the city, though not in our home thankfully. However, our brother’s family were among those affected and though they checked in in one of the local resorts here on the first night, they transferred to our home after they were informed that it would take a couple of weeks for power to normalize.Thankfully too, my sister Inday, who was with her son, Commie, and his family, rented a home for the long weekend in one of the villages in town that was not affected by the power outage and so we had enough room for everybody to sleep in.First or...

In the first reading, Joshua summoned the people of Israel and asked them to decide whether to serve God or the idols of their pagan neighbors. Sensing his imminent death, he wanted the people to make a solemn recommitment to the covenant for he was aware of the real danger and temptation of idolatry surrounding them. In response, the people unanimously chose to serve God.The gospel presents a parallel scene wherein Jesus also made his disciples decide whether to believe in him or to leave him. This happened at the end of his long discourse on the Bread of Life in Capernaum. Many of his disciples found his words too hard to accept. First, he claimed that he was the bread that came down from heaven. “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother?” Then ...

The appointment of Rep. Jose Francisco “Kiko” Benitez as the new Director General of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) will leave a vacuum in the third district with nine months left till the next election.But I am happy for Cong. Kiko as I know this appointment will ignite his passion for education and expand his initiatives like digital transformation beyond the third district and Negros to the entire country.I got to sit down with Cong Kiko a few weeks back when he guested at the induction of the Rotary Club of Silay. At that time, the TESDA position was already being talked about after several endorsements from education and civic groups named him as a potential new chief for the agency.You could an see he was excited with the idea and wh...

For four Sundays now, we have been reading from Chapter 6 of John’s gospel, wherein Jesus gives his discourse on the Eucharist. Earlier, Jesus identifies himself as the bread that comes down from heaven and satisfies man’s deepest hunger. Today he becomes more explicit in saying that the bread of life he will give is none other than his flesh.Naturally, this claim causes a heated discussion among his listeners. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” They become even more disturbed when Jesus adds, “"Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink.”...

My classmate governors in Rotary Philippines planned a mini-reunion post our one-year term and we decided on Hanoi, Vietnam as our destination.  As the designated in-charge of travel, I solicited the help of Travel Lounge’s Sheila Saratan who created a package for us and she very well delivered as we came  home wanting for more. We arrived in Hanoi early morning and were brought straight to a Pho place upon request to have a taste of this Vietnamese soup with rice noodles, herbs and meat. It was a heavy breakfast but well worth it since Cebu Pacific does not offer even coffee on board their regional flights. I was used to flavoring  pho with the sweet-salty Hoisin sauce but in Hanoi, they only offer soy sauce and chili sauce for flavoring. It ...

Elijah has just beaten the prophets of Baal in a contest which proves beyond doubt that Yahweh is the true God. The victory should have convinced the Israelites to return to God, but to Elijah’s frustration, they continue to follow Baal. Not only that, he now runs for his life since the vindictive queen Jezebel vows to pursue him to his death. Totally exhausted in body and in spirit, he sits under a solitary broom tree and bitterly laments, “Enough, Lord… Take my life for I am no better than my fathers.”Elijah gives up and lays himself to sleep while awaiting death. But God does not give up on Elijah. He sends his angel not once but twice to wake him up and provides him bread and water. Strengthened by the food, the prophet continues his journey for forty days and forty nights unt...

It was around 9 p.m. Sunday when my phone started buzzing and in almost all group chats I am in, the news was about Carlos Yulo making history by bagging two gold medals in the Paris Olympics.That second gold moved the Philippines up the ladder of bemedalled countries to 21 from 31st place out of 184 participating nations and that is something.I was quite woozy by then but couldn’t help searching for that moment of glory online and like many Filipinos, I shed a tear and felt pride when our National Anthem was played at the awarding ceremony.What makes Yulo’s story interesting was that prior to the Paris games, he got ditched by his Japanese coach and had to hop from one country to another to train alongside other gymnasts and learn from them.His perseverance will be re...