This Christmas, eFocal Point has cooked up a holiday food special to satisfy your appetite! Savor the flavors wonderfully captured on video as we showcase the culinary talents of PAO's prime movers, Drs. Carlos Naval and Ruben Lim Bon Siong. We also bring you a taste of sumptuous Noche Buena as we take a peek into the homes of Drs. Allen Cloma, Louie De Grano, Ronnie Noche and Ben Pedro.
The only food that satisfies By Jacqueline H. King, MD
Throughout the ages and for many of us, food takes center stage in every special occasion. In our predominantly Christian country, Christmas is the most anticipated event of all and its celebration is never complete without the abundance of food on the table. But despite the scrumptious delights that are whipped up for the holidays, man's hunger lingers and cravings are left unsatisfied.
It is interesting how our culture perceives increased consumption as the solution to this hunger. Yet, the late Blessed John Paul II once noted that, "Even if all the physical hunger of the world were satisfied…the deepest hunger of man would still exist."
Man is confronted by a deep hunger of the heart. We yearn for meaning. Hey, we ask ourselves, what is life all about? We long for commitment. We seek for someone or something to commit our lives to, but we end up drifting from one relationship to another, hopping from one job to the next, in vain. We search for a deep encounter with God and with others. It does not help that we live in
a techno-driven, narcissistic age of Facebook and Twitter where encounters are superficial and self-serving. We are broken and we crave for "wholeness". We want to be healed from our pain, afflictions, addictions and loneliness so that we might be made whole again.
Indeed, man suffers from a deep hunger that needs to be fed, and the only food that satisfies is Jesus Christ.
Two thousand years ago, God took on flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. He was born in Bethlehem, which means "House of Bread" in Hebrew, or "House of Meat" in Arabic, and He was laid in a "manger" (Luke 2:7), which refers to a trough from which animals eat. At the words of consecration in each Eucharistic celebration of the mass, bread becomes the flesh of God. Dominus est --- It is the Lord! It is the same flesh born of the Virgin Mary in
Bethlehem, given to us in the form of bread, as food for our salvation. Oh, what marvelous mystery! Christmas is in reality, a Eucharistic revelation and "the spirit of Christmas fulfills the greatest hunger of mankind"
(Loring A. Schuler).
In the midst of the holiday rush and shopping frenzy, it is easy to lose sight of Jesus. It is therefore important to make room for quiet reflection, repentance and conversion of heart. Only then can we worthily receive Jesus, who alone can fully satisfy our hunger for meaning, commitment, intimacy and wholeness.
On behalf of the editorial board and staff of the eFocal Point, I wish you
God's choicest blessings and divine nourishment to fulfill your deepest yearning. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Jacqueline Hernandez-King, MD
Editor-in-Chief
Kindly refresh the page to view the updated article polls.
The Beginning and the End
By Carlos G. Naval, MD
President, PAO
As we approach the end of the year, we know that a new year is about to begin. Another year of the expected, of the unforeseen, of the exciting, and of the mundane. We don't exactly know what will happen but we do know that it's not going to be the same as this year. Some events will affect us...
Thoughts of Food: NOCHE BUENA By Emiliano Bernardo III, MD
A party isn't a party without food, and a gathering isn't a great one without great food. As we already know food is the center of any Filipino event and the mother of all events on the Filipino calendar is Christmas. Though from a purely religious-Christian perspective, Easter should be the biggest event of all, but probably...
This Christmas, eFocal Point has cooked up a holiday food special to satisfy your appetite! Savor the flavors wonderfully captured on video as we showcase the culinary talents of PAO's prime movers, Drs. Carlos Naval and Ruben Lim Bon Siong. We also bring you a taste of sumptuous Noche Buena as we take a peek into the homes of Drs. Allen Cloma, Louie De Grano, Ronnie Noche and Ben Pedro.
The only food that satisfies By Jacqueline H. King, MD
Throughout the ages and for many of us, food takes center stage in every special occasion. In our predominantly Christian country, Christmas is the most anticipated event of all and its celebration is never complete without the abundance of food on the table. But despite the scrumptious delights that are whipped up for the holidays, man's hunger lingers and cravings are left unsatisfied.
It is interesting how our culture perceives increased consumption as the solution to this hunger. Yet, the late Blessed John Paul II once noted that, "Even if all the physical hunger of the world were satisfied…the deepest hunger of man would still exist."
Man is confronted by a deep hunger of the heart. We yearn for meaning. Hey, we ask ourselves, what is life all about? We long for commitment. We seek for someone or something to commit our lives to, but we end up drifting from one relationship to another, hopping from one job to the next, in vain. We search for a deep encounter with God and with others. It does not help that we live in
a techno-driven, narcissistic age of Facebook and Twitter where encounters are superficial and self-serving. We are broken and we crave for "wholeness". We want to be healed from our pain, afflictions, addictions and loneliness so that we might be made whole again.
Indeed, man suffers from a deep hunger that needs to be fed, and the only food that satisfies is Jesus Christ.
Two thousand years ago, God took on flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. He was born in Bethlehem, which means "House of Bread" in Hebrew, or "House of Meat" in Arabic, and He was laid in a "manger" (Luke 2:7), which refers to a trough from which animals eat. At the words of consecration in each Eucharistic celebration of the mass, bread becomes the flesh of God. Dominus est --- It is the Lord! It is the same flesh born of the Virgin Mary in
Bethlehem, given to us in the form of bread, as food for our salvation. Oh, what marvelous mystery! Christmas is in reality, a Eucharistic revelation and "the spirit of Christmas fulfills the greatest hunger of mankind"
(Loring A. Schuler).
In the midst of the holiday rush and shopping frenzy, it is easy to lose sight of Jesus. It is therefore important to make room for quiet reflection, repentance and conversion of heart. Only then can we worthily receive Jesus, who alone can fully satisfy our hunger for meaning, commitment, intimacy and wholeness.
On behalf of the editorial board and staff of the eFocal Point, I wish you
God's choicest blessings and divine nourishment to fulfill your deepest yearning. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Jacqueline Hernandez-King, MD
Editor-in-Chief
Kindly refresh the page to view the updated article polls.
The Beginning and the End
By Carlos G. Naval, MD
President, PAO
As we approach the end of the year, we know that a new year is about to begin. Another year of the expected, of the unforeseen, of the exciting, and of the mundane. We don't exactly know what will happen but we do know that it's not going to be the same as this year. Some events will affect us...
Thoughts of Food: NOCHE BUENA By Emiliano Bernardo III, MD
A party isn't a party without food, and a gathering isn't a great one without great food. As we already know food is the center of any Filipino event and the mother of all events on the Filipino calendar is Christmas. Though from a purely religious-Christian perspective, Easter should be the biggest event of all, but probably...
