Easter is entering Jesus, our Gate

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fourth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A, 26 April 2026
Acts 2:14, 36-41 ><}}}*> 1 Peter 2:20-25 ><}}}*> John 10:1-10
Photo by author, 09 February 2026, Museo Valenzuela.

In the next three Sundays beginning today, our gospel readings will bring us back to Jesus Christ’s teachings before his passion and death because all his pronouncements then are clearest when seen in the light of his resurrection.

As we have mentioned last Sunday, it does not really matter that many or everyone would see the Risen Lord in order to believe him. Like what Jesus had told Thomas the other Sunday, blessed are those who believe without having seen him while last week we have realized in the story of the two disciples returning to Emmaus that the mystery and beauty of Easter is found in the “breaking of bread” when our eyes are opened to recognize Christ who immediately vanishes. This breaking of bread is not just the Holy Eucharist but includes our many experiences when we too experience brokenness in life like the Jews addressed by Peter after the Pentecost.

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed: “Let the whole house of Israel know for certain that God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and they asked Peter and the other apostles, “What are we to do, my brothers?” (Acts 2:14, 36-37)

“The Road to Emmaus” painting by Ronald Raab, CSC, from ronaldraab.com.

What a beautiful expression by Luke, “they were cut to the heart” that means they were stirred, they were moved deep inside to a great reality, to a truth that led to their conversion.

It is in our own brokenness when our eyes are opened, our hearts are cut that we find Jesus and become converted.

Despite the scathing words of Peter on their sins on having Jesus crucified, the people did not feel “guilty” in the negative sense of being hopelessly mired in sin. The same thing is true with us: there are moments in life we realize deeply, truly feeling the hurt of having offended God in our many sins that actually leads us to conversion and be transformed into a better person as a disciple of Christ. True contrition does not stop in the realization of our sins, of the extent of the evil we have done; true contrition always leads to conversion. Though we are broken, we are not scattered. In fact, it is in our being broken that we become one, we become whole in Jesus Christ.

Guilt buries, conversion liberates because we find Jesus as the true gate to life. Yes, we realize the gravity of our sins but we experience freedom, we become free from the bondage of sin and evil to be free for Christ and for others. In Jesus as our gate in life, we enter a new phase of being free and faithful and loving.

So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I come so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:7-10).

Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, at Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort in Infanta, Quezon, 03 April 2024.

Every fourth Sunday of Easter is known as the Good Shepherd Sunday. Only John has this section of Jesus teaching actually to the Pharisees of himself as the Good Shepherd following the controversy in his healing of the man born blind on a Sabbath day.

But before Jesus spoke of his being the Good Shepherd, he first identified himself as the “gate” where the shepherd and the sheep pass through, the direct opposite of the Pharisees and priests of their time who have taken upon themselves as the final standard and arbiter of what is good and holy, of actually usurping the role of God so stern, so strict. And impersonal.

Hence, the distinction by Jesus in this passage between “thieves and robbers” like his enemies and himself as “the gate” and later “the shepherd”.

Whenever I bless homes, I always begin at the door. From the many house blessings I have made, I am not really impressed with the modern, “minimalist” doors with sleek metal handles. What fascinates me most are simple doors with bold colors like lively red or blue. For me, a door is something that exudes with security and protection, not necessarily massive, evoking power.

Photo by author, Angels’ Hills Retreat Center, Tagaytaty City, April 2025.

That’s Jesus Christ for me as the gate. My security and protection.

However, still with house blessings, I have always wondered why we Filipinos even abroad are so fond of two things so peculiar just to us: first is having a regular kitchen often for display and a dirty kitchen for daily use and second, side doors to pass through because the main door is kept locked, used only for visitors.

I think they both reveal something about our spirituality wherein we recognize Jesus our gate, our door, our shepherd yet, we still desire to have other doors and gates, perhaps even shepherds like buddhas and amulets we hung in our homes.

This we find when we examine our inner selves, the cacophony of negative voices that fill us, even entertain us like jealousy, envy, anger, resentment, bitterness, greed, and lust. There are times despite our having faith in Christ, we are filled with more negative than positive like curse than blessing, revenge than reconciliation, war than peace, and worse of all, death than life.

Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.

Where are they coming from?

Very often, we take them for granted, allowing them to percolate inside us until they boil and burst that we hurt others, most of all, our selves in the process.

“I come so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Jesus our door, our gate, our Good Shepherd invites us anew this Sunday to remain in him, to stay with him. Jesus calls us to break free from these other doors and gates that trap us within so that we may be free and faithful. Most of all, be more loving in the real sense.

Jesus invites us to examine our lives today, before having him and after having him. Like what Peter tells us in the second reading, we are reminded of the new freedom we have in Christ: “By his wounds you have been healed. For you had gone astray like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls” (1Pt.2:24-25).

During the Last Supper, Judas (not the Iscariot) asked Jesus why he would appear only to them and not to everyone and he replied with mysterious words, speaking about love and keeping his commandments so that he and the Father would dwell on his disciples (Jn.14:23-24). Actually, in speaking that way, Jesus was showing his disciples who include us today that his revelation is not about public display of power but of personal relationship in him based on love. In the whole discourse of Jesus during their last supper from the perspective of John, what is most essential is the love of Jesus and the love of his disciples. And this we shall explore in the next two Sundays before Jesus ascends into heaven.

Again, there is no need to see Jesus materially; the more we love, the more we believe, the more we see him in our hearts. Most especially when we pass only in him as our gate, lour door to life and fullness. Amen. A blessed week ahead to everyone.

Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.

Leaving, disbelieving

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Third Sunday of Easter, Cycle A, 19 April 2026
Acts 2:14, 22-23   ><}}}*> 1Peter 1:17-21   ><}}}*>   Luke 24:13-35
Photo by author, view from Jerusalem Temple, May 2019.

We heard last Sunday Jesus Christ’s coming to his disciples on the evening of Easter and a second time eight days later when Thomas was present, reminding us how Easter is a story of coming and believing, of believing and coming.

This Sunday we find an opposite movement and direction in the two disciples leaving Jerusalem in disbelief at the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing a debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him (Luke 24:13-16).

“The Road to Emmaus” painting by Ronald Raab, CSC, from ronaldraab.com.

Easter is also about leaving in disbelief. Not necessarily because of not believin like Thomas last Sunday.

Cleopas and the other disciple were leaving Jerusalem in disbelief which our Filipino language adequately express in “hindi makapaniwala” and “matay ko mang isipin” that both indicate a strong sense of belief with a dash of doubt because the story, the event, or the very person involved is beyond comprehension.

Or, bigger than reality like Jesus Christ and his very mystery of love for us.

Many times, we could not believe how good and loving God can be to us, so personal, so real and true but how can it be he “allows” bad things to happen to us or in the world.

Like the two disciples going home to Emmaus, we walk away from God to distance from him and everything and everyone to find our selves and see the real picture of what is going on when times are rough for us.

Those are the times we silently tell ourselves “this could not be happening” especially when it is so difficult, so unbelievable simply because – we believe. Hence, our usual litany of striving to be good, of serving the poor and needy, of going to Mass every Sunday, of always praying…

Look back in our many experiences in life when we could have died or have lost more or could have been a total wreck. Amazingly, despite our being in the opposite direction in life, consciously or unconsciously, that is when we feel more blessed. That’s when we are able to declare with conviction, “hindi ako pinabayaan ng Diyos, napaka-buti ng Diyos, and binigay niya pa rin ang lahat”. This is what the first reading reminds us of Peter’s speech before the Jews at Pentecost, at how God never left us, sending us Jesus Christ as fulfillment of his promise to Abraham and David.

Modern painting of the road to Emmaus from the internet.

Like in the road to Emmaus, Jesus journeys with us in the opposite direction only to bring us back to Jerusalem filled with joy by reminding us how everything that happens in our lives, Jesus had gone through the same sufferings too as foreshadowed and explained in the Sacred Scriptures.

Here we are reminded of the importance of personal prayer which is more than the mere recitation of prayers but having a relationship in God who never leaves nor abandons us.

Most of all, here we are reminded too of how the Sunday Eucharist opens ourselves to Christ’s reality and loving presence among us as experienced by the two disciples after Jesus had broken bread with them. It is called a Holy Communion because in that “breaking of bread”, we share in our common experiences of suffering and death. That we are not alone. Most of all, that we too like others rise to new life in Jesus Christ who suffered, died, and rose to life first for us.

From https://www.clarusonline.it/2017/04/29/i-discepoli-di-emmaus-andata-e-ritorno/

It can happen that our eyes too are prevented from recognizing Jesus like Cleopas and companion on the road to Emmaus because of our many fixations in life like that blessings can only be in positive things like good health, security like steady income, a rising career or a profitable business and endeavor.

But, experience has taught us so many times that blessings are not only found in good things but even in bad or negative ones like sickness, failures, losses and death. And when we look back, they were not really that bad at all because it was in our failures and losses, sickness and deaths when we realized and learned most in life.

Notice how Luke succinctly narrated the breaking of bread in the home of Cleopas in Emmaus, it was so swift unlike the building up of drama along the road to Emmaus. It was so simple because that’s how things happen in life too – so quick that the simplest things and gestures, even so bad can suddenly become so loaded with meanings that we realize God’s loving presence in us.

“Supper at Emmaus” by renowned painter Caravaggio. See the emotion depicted by Caravaggio with his trademark of masterful play of light and shadows. At the center is the Risen Lord blessing the bread that caught the two disciples who are seated in disbelief, one outstretching his arms and the others pushing back in his chair. The third character in the painting is the innkeeper unaware of the significance of the gesture of Jesus. It was at this instance that the two disciples recognized Christ as the travelling man with them to Emmaus.

During the COVID pandemic, on the first Sunday of lockdown when there was no public Mass, I started a motorized procession of the Blessed Sacrament in my former parish by mounting our big monstrance on the roof of a parishioner’s truck. I announced the route of our procession during our online Mass that Sunday and people waited.

What an amazing sight of the people’s deep faith in God as they knelt and bowed before the Blessed Sacrament whether on the main highway or the inside streets. Some were crying while everyone was deep in prayer.

There lies the great mystery of Easter: Jesus need not appear to us in person because as he vanishes in the Blessed Sacrament, that is when we recognize him!

In the most simple gestures of the Mass under the most simple signs of bread and wine, Jesus vanishes from our outward view and through this vanishing our interior or inner recognition opens up that we “see” him in the many instances he had touched us especially in our “heart-breaking” experiences in the past, our Emmaus road.

Photo by Ms. Anne Ramos, 22 March 2020, Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.

We know with certainty that “it is the Lord” – Dominus est – present in every breaking of bread because part of the Easter mystery tells us deep within that it is only in his vanishing that he truly becomes recognizable to us. That is why we have to stop all those “theatrics” in our liturgy as noted by many netizens this past Holy Week and Easter. Unknown to many priests and their alalays, the more we have gimmicks in the Mass or even in our sacred spaces, the more we “displace” and remove Christ.

After an hour every Sunday, we leave the Mass and go back to our usual way of life, facing life’s many challenges. Peter reminds us in the second reading to hold on to that “faith and hope in God” who gave us Jesus Christ, “the spotless unblemished lamb.”

Let us not forget this mystery of Easter that, the more Jesus vanishes, the more we recognize him because Jesus is more than enough than anybody or anything else especially when we in our Emmaus experience. Let us pray like Cleopas and companion “Stay with us, Lord” so we may show him in our witnessing especially when we could not find him in others. Amen.

From Facebook, 21 April 2021: “There is an urgency to announce the Joy, the joy of the Risen Lord.”

Easter is coming, believing

Lord My Chef Easter Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, 12 April 2026
Acts 2:42-47 ><}}}*> 1 Peter 1:3-9 ><}}}*> John 20:19-31
Photo by author, Don Bosco Batulao, Batangas, 07 April 2026.

My dear friends, while praying over the gospel this week, this line by the Lord kept on echoing within me. And every time it would echo, the Lord shortened the sentence like these:

“Have you come to believe because you have seen me?”

“Have you come to believe because…?”

“Have you come to believe…?”

“Have you come…?”

Easter is a story of coming and believing amid all the darkness and emptiness in life, of being locked inside like the disciples when Jesus came to visit them “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked.”

Before we can stay and remain in the Lord, we must first come. Like Thomas.

Or Jesus who actually comes first because he believes in us his disciples.

Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst… Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (John 20:26, 27-29).

Caravaggio’s painting “The Incredulity of St. Thomas” (1602) from en.wikipedia.org.

We are now on the eighth day of Easter also known as Divine Mercy Sunday that was instituted by St. John Paul II in May 23, 2000 as a “perennial invitation to the Christian World to face with confidence in divine benevolence the difficulties and trials that humankind will experience in the years to come.”

This we can see in Thomas also known as Didymus who was not present when Jesus first came to his disciples on the evening of Easter. See how Jesus as the one actually coming first because he is also the first to believe in us his disciples despite our many flaws. And absences or tardiness.

Joining his fellow disciples, Thomas came and believed on the eighth day after Easter. What Thomas had asked as proofs to believe in the Lord’s Resurrection were not really doubts to be taken negatively. It was not that Thomas did not believe but in fact, he wanted to believe more.

That is why he came the following Sunday. Because he believed.

Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.

Like us, there are times we feel at a loss in our faith in God when difficult and extraordinary things happen to us. We cry in desperation to God, seemingly doubting his presence or if he listens at all to our pleas but we come to pray because we believe. We cry only to someone we believe who can help us in our plight.

Coming and believing happen simultaneously: we come because we believe and we believe that is why we come.

Believing is more than an intellectual assent to a person or something.

Believing is entering into a relationship. There is something deeper that happens when we believe that is why we are moved to come, to draw near especially to a person.

When Jesus told Thomas “do not be unbelieving, but believe”, it was not a reproach but more of an exhortation he tells us too today to be intimate with him, to stay with him, to remain in him.

While the world tells everyone that to see is to believe, Jesus tells us that it is when we believe him, when we believe in him that we shall see. Even more. And clearly!

Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.

Believing is not actually concerned with proofs and evidence because whether with God or with another person, despite the many “proofs” we have gathered from all sources, none of them is actually the reason for our faith in God and with others. Or whatever like our vocation and profession.

Believing is the gift of faith nurtured in our relationships with God and with others.

It often starts so simple like when we pray the Apostles Creed and say “I believe in God” – in our believing and relating with God, we love, and love, and love even more even if there are pains and sufferings.

This we nurture by imitating the early Christians who devoted themselves to the teachings of the apostles that have been handed down to the Church, in communal life, and in the “breaking of the bread and prayers” which is the Holy Eucharist, the summit of our life as disciples of Christ (first reading).

That is why Peter in the second reading is all praises to those who believe and love Jesus even without having seen him: we continue to strive and persevere in life’s many trials because deep inside we experience the truth and realities of Christ’s resurrection, of his loving presence among us that leads us to profound joy and rejoicing in life. Most of all, with peace, the supreme gift of the Risen Lord.

Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.

Last March during my annual silent retreat as I turned 61 years old, my last reflection was Luke’s account of the Road to Emmaus, the gospel every evening of Easter.

In my meditation, I imagined myself joining the two disciples walking home to Emmaus. I was silent all throughout the journey, listening to their conversations until after the breaking of the bread in their home that opened their eyes to finally recognize Christ who had then vanished so quickly.

It was then when I actively joined the scene, telling the two disciples to return right away to Jerusalem. In my meditation, I felt the two disciples saying it was so dark and dangerous to travel back to Jerusalem. But I insisted, telling them, “maski na, tayo na!”

It was a turning point for me because for the past many years every time I go on my personal retreat and in my prayers, I always expressed to God my many fears in doing his will, refusing to follow him. I have always been like Jonah ever since in my relationship with God.

Last March was different. As I turned 61, I have come to believe more because I have become more daring.

There are still those fears in me about God’s will and plans but this time, I am no longer so concerned about my self but God alone – his will, his plans. And that is only when I felt truly at peace. Indeed, as John concluded his gospel today, Jesus does so many other things in our lives that is impossible to record but these few experiences we have of him are meant for us to believe him more, have life in him. Especially peace. Amen.

Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.

Wala na siya rito…

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-6 ng Abril 2026
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 Marso 2026.
Mula sa Ebanghelyo
ni San Mateo noong Magdamagang
Pagdiriwang ng Pasko 
ng Muling Pagkabuhay ni Kristo,
ating napakinggan pananalita 
ng anghel kina Maria Magdalena
at ang isa pang Maria na kasama niya,
"Huwag kayong matakot;
alam kong hinahanap ninyo 
si Jesus na ipinako sa krus.
Wala na siya rito..." 
Ngunit kagabi pa man
ako ay natatakot na
sapagkat sa mga marami 
kong nakita sa social media,
tila wala na nga si Jesus rito...
mula pa man noong visita iglesia,
sa pagpuprusisyon noong
Biyernes Santo hanggang sa
Dakilang Kapistahan ng Pasko ng
Muling Pagkabuhay:
Wala na nga si Jesus rito
dahil hindi lamang natin siya
muling ipinako at pinatay sa krus 
kungdi tinabunan ng ating 
kapalaluan at kaartehan 
sa pagdiriwang ng mga Mahal na Araw.
Hindi masama pagandahin
at pagbutihin altar ng repositoryo
sa visita iglesia ng Huwebes Santo
ngunit nasaan si Kristo na dinadalaw
at sinasamahan sa pananalangin
sa gitna ng kadiliman kung ang
nakapupukaw pansin sa mga tao
ay ang gayak at mga palamuti
na di na natin alintana 
pagkakahati-hati at pagkakawatak-watak 
nating mga alagad
tulad noong dakpin si Jesus 
dahil naging paligsahan 
saan mas maganda 
ang visita iglesia
nawala na nilalayong
mailapit ang tao sa Diyos 
at kapwa gaya ng panalangin 
noon ni Jesus sa Getsemani,
"ut unum sint."
Sakit ito sa maraming simbahan
lalo na sa Bulacan
na marahil siyang ginaya 
ng mga korap sa DPWH 
na kahit buo ang simbahan,
gigibain upang pagandahin,
punuin ng kanya-kanyang 
monumento at alaala ng kura
kaya wala na ring kalagyan 
maging ang Diyos 
sa kanyang tahanan,
hindi siya maramdaman
daig pa ng walang hanggang
mga sobre na ayaw nang
lagyan ng laman dahil
puro iyon na lang 
ang tunay na
nadarama at iniinda
ng mga nagsisimba.
Tapos na mga pagdiriwang
ng mga Mahal na Araw
ngunit mahalagang pag-usapan
at liwanagin ngayon pa lamang
mga kalabisan 
tuwing Huwebes Santo
at Biyernes Santo 
dahil palala nang palala mga ito,
tumatanda tayo ng paurong
hindi pasulong kaya hanggang
ngayon lugmok ating bansa sa
kabulukan sa kabila ng maraming
mananampalatayang Kristiyano
na hindi naman nakita pa si Kristo.
Nakakahiya at nakakasuka
kung bakit pinayagan ng ilang
pari at obispo pumasok kamalayan
ng turismo at pagkakakitaan
sa mga pagdiriwang sa simbahan;
nasaan mga dalubhasa 
sa pagtuturo ng liturhiya 
higit sa lahat ng katesismo
na siyang layunin ng mga prusisyon
lalo na kung Biyernes Santo?
Hindi mo na malaman kung
deboto o debobo mga camarero
at mga tao sumusunod sa mga karo
na pagkakatayog-tayog
pilit inaabot mga kawad ng kuryente 
at telepono na tila baga walang
ibang hilig kungdi ang "like" 
sa social media;
walang maramdamang rubdob
ng pagkakabighani o 
"mysterium fascinans" 
sa pagdaraan ng prusisyon 
dahil wala nang taglay
na ibayong hiwaga ng kabanalan -
ang "mysterium tremendum" -
bagkus sa halip ay katatawanan,
pagtataka at pagkalito hatid ng mga
kung anu-anong pinapakita sa karo
kaya hindi kataka-taka balang araw
bumaba muli isang anghel
at sabihin sa mga prusisyon
"wala na Siya rito."
Wala na nga si Jesus
sa prusisyon dahil kanyang
mga alagad ngayon 
hindi lamang inaantok 
kungdi tinatamad magdasal
kaya nagsasapawan 
hindi na maintindihan 
naka-record na pagrorosaryo;
nasaan ang pananalangin
mula sa puso? ang sakripisyo
ng prusisyon?
Wala si Jesus sa MP3
o ano mang naka-record
na pagdarasal ng Rosario
dahil si Jesus naninirahan
sa puso ng nananampalataya
na inihahayag sa kanyang 
bibig at mga labi;
pati ba naman pananalangin
ibig pa nating pagaangin?

Ang masakit na katotohanan 
sa maraming prusisyon
ginawa itong piknik sa walang
tigil na pagkain at pag-inom
habang nakahanay mga 
deboto at debobo
kasabay nang walang tigil na 
pagpitik ng selfie na tila
rumarampa kanilang mga
Poon!
Nang muling mabuhay
si Jesus at napakita sa 
mga alagad,
habilin niya sa kanila
ipahayag sa lahat ng bansa
Kanyang Mabuting Balita
ng kaligtasan;alisin na natin 
mga bato dumadagan 
sa kanyang katotohanan,
lumabas tayo sa ating yungib
ng pagkamakasarili,
magnilay at pag-isipan
paano muling matagpuan
si Jesus na muling nabuhay
sa ating magagandang tradisyon
na labis nang tinatabunan
winawasak ng mga 
makabagong teknolohiyang
hatid ay kababawan alang-alang
sa bonggang mga palabas lamang
walang lalim,
hungkag ang kalooban
kung saan
malinaw na 
wala nga
si Kristo.
Amen.
Larawan mula sa FB ni G. Joey Meneses Rodrigo, 05 Marso 2026.

Tingnan din ating blog sa mga deboto at debobo, https://lordmychef.com/2020/02/11/deboto-debobo/.

Holiness in Silence

Lord My Chef Recipe for Holy Saturday, 04 April 2026
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.

A blessed Holy Saturday to you. 

One of the most unforgettable scenes of COVID-19 pandemic when it started in the summer of 2020 was like what we have every Holy Saturday – empty streets with everyone away.

And silent. 

What a blessed Holy Saturday we have again today like six years ago as we are in the midst of another worldwide crisis in oil prices due to the US-Israeli war against Iran, inviting us to rediscover the beauty and value of silence.

Because holiness is found in silence, the very language of God. 

In the Bible, silence always precedes God’s appearances and revelations:

From the Book of Genesis in the story of creation when there was nothing – therefore, silent – to John’s gospel that said, “In the beginning was the word” to indicate there was only silence until “the word became flesh” (Jn.1:1, 14) in Jesus Christ who was totally silent during his growing up years in Nazareth and later frequently went into deserted places to rest and pray in silence during his ministry.

Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.

Here we find in Jesus that holiness is first found in silence and in rest, when we listen more to God to do his will.

On that first Holy Saturday when Jesus was buried in a tomb, the whole creation came to full circle.

See how after completing creation, God rested on the seventh day and made it holy (Gen.2:3) while Jesus was laid to rest on the seventh day too after completing his mission of salvation.

Silence and rest always go together.

This we vividly find in our Filipino word for rest which is magpahinga that literally means “to be breathed on”, to be filled with God which is what holiness is all about.

Like in the creation of the first man who was breathed on by God to be alive, Jesus breathed on his disciples locked in the upper room after greeting them with peace twice on the evening of Easter.

Silence is not being quiet, not an emptiness when we shut off all sounds and noise.

Silence is actually a fullness, of trying to listen to all sounds and noise in order to distinguish which to listen to. It is in silence when we hear our true selves, when we understand and feel others and most especially become one in God.

That is why when we rest, we return to Eden, like the garden where Jesus was buried. 

Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried. So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day; for the tomb was close by (John 19:41-42).

Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.

What a lovely image of God’s rest and silence in Eden and of Jesus laid to rest at a tomb in a garden because to rest in silence is to stop playing God as we return to him as his image and likeness again.

Today let us cultivate anew the practice of silence, of listening to the various sounds around us and within us and most of all, trying to listen to the most faint, the softest sound that is often the voice of God within us, reassuring us that in the midst of his silence, he never leaves us, that with him we are rising again to new life like Jesus Christ.

Let us be like those women who rested on the sabbath when Jesus was laid to rest. That like them, we may trust God more by being true to ourselves even in the midst of this oil crisis.

Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.

The women who had come from Galilee with him followed behind, and when they had seen the tomb and the way in which his body was laid in it, they returned and prepared spices and perfumed oils. Then they rested on the sabbath according to the commandment (Luke 23:55-56).

Imagine the more difficult situation those women were into during that time. But they dared to rest in silence in the Lord. Unlike us today worried only with prices of oil and other goods, without threats at all to our lives.

Silence is the domain of trust; people afraid of silence are afraid to trust.

Perhaps that explains why almost everyone is glued with their cellphones or stuck with earphones and EarPods to have each one’s own world, unmindful of others.

On the other hand, the most trusting people are the silent ones. And always, the most loving ones too.

Let us pray:

Help us to be silent today, 
O God our Father 
as we remember your Son Jesus Christ’s 
Great Silence – Magnum Silentium – 
when he was “crucified, died and was buried; 
he descended to the dead and on the third day he rose again.”
Breathe on us your Spirit of life and joy,
O God as we rest in you,
listening to your voice within us
so that we may follow always Jesus Christ's
path to Easter in the Cross.
Amen.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.

A rockin’ playlist for Holy Week

Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 29 March 2026
Photo by author, St. Ildephonse Parish, Tanay, Rizal, January 2021.

If you have a lot of cash to spend for a unique Holy Week just outside Metro Manila, I suggest you visit St. Ildephonse Parish in Tanay, Rizal and look for the Seventh Station of the Cross when Jesus fell for the second time on his way to the Calvary.

You won’t miss it as you enter the main door immediately to your left. Done by local artisans in 1785, these huge woodcarvings depict one of the most unique Stations of the Cross in the world where soldiers and characters including Jesus Christ have Malay features of brown complexion, large and round eyes, and “squared” body features. Everything was given a local taste to make the Station so Filipino like the soldier leading them blowing a carabao horn for a tambuli while another carried a bolo instead of a sword.

But, the most astonishing of all is a man so prominently portrayed at the middle wearing sunglasses, looking far outside. Yes, the dude wore shades!

Photo by author, St. Ildephonse Parish, Tanay, Rizal, January 2021.

Historians we consulted told us smoked glasses have been available in the Philippines during that time courtesy of Chinese traders. According to the catechists and volunteers we talked to while at the parish, they were told by their elders that man with sunglasses is the high priest Caiaphas who led the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus who declared him guilty of blasphemy in claiming himself to be the Christ, the Son of God.

But, why wear shades? Was it because he refused to see and accept the truth that Jesus indeed is the Christ, the Son of God just like us today who wear all kinds of colored glasses presenting our own image God too far from who he really is. Or, as my kinakapatid Dindo Alberto (+) who was my roadtrip companion at that time said it shows that rock and roll had long been in existence since the time of Jesus Christ, the real Superstar.

I believe Kuya Dindo that is why I prepared two rock and rollin’ music this Holy Week for you to listen and reflect while driving on your way to a visita iglesia to pray and be with family and friends.

I have always loved The Smiths since college especially when NU107 came out at the other end of the FM band in the late 80’s. Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now remains one of my personal anthems since it first came out in 1984.

When I was assigned as chaplain here at the Our Lady of Fatima University in Valenzuela in 2021, I was surprised to hear some of our college students singing and posting on their socmed There Is A Light that Never Goes Out – kids so young almost like my own pamangkins! And that’s one thing I like most with the Gen Zs and Millennials who also love and embrace our music and artists because they are simply the best. Period.

A week after Ash Wednesday last February 24, I used There Is A Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths in my monthly spiritual talk to our employees at the University and the Fatima University Medical Center as a fitting music and guide in our 40-day journey of Lent which is more of an inner journey into our hearts to find Jesus Christ, the Light who never goes out amid life’s many darkness. Moreover, Jesus is the Light who never goes out as he restores our sight from the blindness we go through like in the healing of the man born blind that was the gospel last March 15, fourth Sunday in Lent. See how its lyrics also apply either to Jesus speaking to us or to anyone seeking Jesus.

Take me out tonight
Where there's music and there's people
And they're young and alive
Driving in your car
I never, never want to go home
Because I haven't got one
Anymore

Take me out tonight
Because I want to see people
And I want to see life
Driving in your car
Oh please, don't drop me home
Because it's not my home, it's their home
And I'm welcome no more

Of course, composer Johnny Marr and lyricist-vocalist Morissey may have other meanings behind this song considered as their finest but still, it speaks about finding hope that leads us to believe in ourselves, in others and in God. In this mass-mediated world that declares to see is to believe, Jesus tells us the other way around, believe that you may see!

When we believe, then we truly “see” and that is when we love, love, and still love until it hurts even unto death because that is when we find meaning in life and everything. And everyone.

And if a double-decker bus
Crashes into us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten tonne truck
Kills the both of us
To die by your side
Well, the pleasure, 
the privilege is mine

Jesus Christ did just that that is why we have Good Friday; he rose from the dead at Easter and since then, has remained the Light who never goes out, lighting our paths in this time of many darkness in life.

Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.

Sometimes, sunglasses help us see clearly as they filter distracting lights and contrasts that blur our vision with the naked eyes. And so, here is our second rock n’ roll song for Holy Week, Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga’s Die With A Smile which we used also in our employees’ Lenten recollection at the University and Hospital last February 24.

Aside from the striking contrast of The Smiths’ There Is A Light That Never Goes Out that represented the punk, alternative, dark side in me, Die With A Smile represented the 1970’s funky groove I grew up with. And that is why I love and follow Bruno Mars: aside from having a Filipino blood in his Pinay mother, his experiments with music strongly rooted in the 1970’s make us from the older generation feel so welcomed and relate so well with him and his message of faithful love until the end of time.

Along with its lyrics that speak from the heart, the melody and great combination of the voices and talents of Bruno and Lady Gaga make Die With A Smile so lovingly touching, even mesmerizing that make you think of the only one you truly love most that you want to spend the rest of your life with until the end of the world – to die with a smile.

Ooh
I, I just woke up from a dream
Where you and I had to say goodbye
And I don't know what it all means
But since I survived, I realized

Wherever you go, that's where I'll follow
Nobody's promised tomorrow
So I'ma love you every night like it's the last night
Like it's the last night

If the world was ending, I'd wanna be next to you
If the party was over and our time on Earth was through
I'd wanna hold you just for a while and die with a smile
If the world was ending, I'd wanna be next to you

Holy Week remind us of our only one true and first love of all – God. We call this the Holy Week in Filipino as mga Mahal na Araw from the word mahal that means mahalaga or important and essential. That is why another word for love in Filipino is pagmamahal, literally to give importance. Not just pag-ibig which is more about liking as ibig means.

In these days of rising costs of fuels and commodities, anything expensive is described too as mahal in Filipino because they are so important and essential. Like the ones we love. Holy Week is mga Mahal na Araw, the holiest days when Jesus Christ expressed his deepest love – pagmamahal – for each of one of us by dying on the Cross because everyone is loved so immensely by God.

Again, Jesus was the first to have “died with a smile” because he offered his very self completely and freely, willingly for us because he loves us. And he had promised that he shall come again at the end of time. Are we willing to wait for him by loving truly those persons he had entrusted to us in this life?

Until our next music, have a blessed Holy Week and most blessed Easter everyone!

Holy Monday Prayer

Lord My Chef Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Holy Monday, 30 March 2026
Isaiah 42:1-7   +++   John 12:1-11
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.
Here is my servant
whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
upon whom I have put my spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
not crying out,
not shouting,
not making his voice heard in street.
A bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench...
(Isaiah 42:1-3).
Lord Jesus Christ,
our Suffering Servant,
let me be your servant too:
open my eyes
and free me from
whatever prison holding me
in darkness
like Judas
 your betrayer
at Bethany:
many times I break a bruised reed,
quenching a smoldering wick
by looking more at people
than seeing you in them,
counting things instead
of appreciating persons.
Jesus our Suffering Servant,
only you can bring peace
and justice in this world
troubled with wars waged
everywhere
but especially right in our hearts;
fill me with your Spirit
so I can love you more
and be loving like you
silently doing your work.
Amen.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.

Welcoming Jesus in life’s many contrasts

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, Cycle A, 29 March 2026
Isaiah 50:4-7  +++  Philippians 2:6-11  +++  Matthew 27:11-54
From influencemagazine.com.

We begin today the Holy Week with Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. Its long name is derived from the two celebrations that developed separately in Jerusalem and Rome during the first one thousand years of Christianity, one of the oldest in our liturgy.

As early as the fourth century, Christians in Jerusalem celebrated Palm Sunday at the city gate with a procession led by its bishop followed by people holding palms reenacting Christ’s entry into Jerusalem. Meanwhile in Rome, the Pope ushered the Holy Week with the proclamation of the long gospel account from the Lord’s Supper to his Passion, Death and Burial. Eventually in the 12th century, Jerusalem’s practice of a palm procession with the blessing of palms added by the French in year 800 reached Rome and was celebrated separately. After more than a 1600 years, it was only in Vatican II when the two celebrations from Jerusalem and Rome were merged into one that we now have its official designation as Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion.

From vaticannews.va

It is a beautiful story of how two distinct practices in Jerusalem and Rome, of two contrasting liturgies mirrored our different and unique journeys into the mystery of God in Jesus Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

And I love that contrast because our life is filled too with many contrasts that make it so beautiful and meaningful.

Contrast is when we compare differences between two or more things in order to highlight distinctive features like light and shadows, or pains and joys that make us see life fullest. Contrasts many times are a grace from God when he works in disguise among us, within us, as he writes straight crooked lines in our lives that eventually lead us to him and be fulfilled.

All our readings today present us with many contrasts that enable us to find and welcome Jesus coming to us like that Sunday in Jerusalem in the midst of our pain and sufferings, joys and fears. Three things I wish to reflect this Sunday.

Photo by author, Hagia Sophia, Turkiye, November 2025.

First contrast we find is the wisdom of God and the folly of man.

Read the longer version of the gospel from Matthew 26:14-27:66 and you find the many contrasts presented by the evangelist to highlight God’s wisdom in Jesus and man’s folly among the Jewish people led by their priests and elders, Pontius Pilate, and even with the prince of Apostles, Simon Peter!

At his trial before the Sanhedrin at the house of the high priest Caiaphas, Jesus was so comp-composed, silently listening to the many false accusations against him, and then shocked when he admitted amnd declared his being the Christ indeed (Mt.26:57-68)! And while all these were going inside the house of Caiaphas, outside was Peter denying Jesus thrice when asked of his being a disciple (vv.69-75)!

Again we see this glaring contrast of God’s wisdom in Christ and man’s folly in Pilate as Jesus remained silent during trial, answering briefly only when necessary that have put his enemies at the defensive posture (Mt.27:11-14). And how foolish they were in choosing to set free a known criminal in order to crucify the Christ (vv.21-26) which continues to these days in our own country as we keep on electing corrupt and inept people into office.

The most tragic of all is how some people while professing to be Christians are like those mob in Jerusalem still defending a known murderer now facing trial for crimes against humanity who had cursed God several times, made fun of women including those raped and under whose administration happened rampant and shameless corruption and decadence.

How sad that despite our supposed to be many advancements in science and technology that have completely altered our way of living and way of thinking, we have actually become more lost and empty than ever. Like Pilate and the Jewish people of that time with their elders, the more we assert our supposed to be superior knowledge on everything, the more we sink into emptiness and meaninglessness.

Let us not be blinded with our intelligence that have sent men to space and moon and shrunk the globe into a village but have made us grow more apart from each other; open our eyes and our hearts in Jesus Christ who is the truth because he is the only way in life.

Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.

Second contrast we find is that true power is in weakness not in strength.

Everybody at the trial and crucifixion of Jesus were at their own kind of “power play” especially the soldiers with the Jewish leaders and their cabal of followers (Mt.27:27-44). Imagine the very act of stripping Jesus or anyone for that matter of clothes – it is the most brazen display of power over someone. Not contented with that, they mocked Jesus while unconsciously recognizing him truly as king with the sign placed above his head, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews” (v.37). They would confirm this later at the death of Jesus when they declared “Truly, this was the Son of God!” (v.54).

At his trial and sentencing until his crucifixion, Jesus showed that true power lies in weakness and surrender as St. Paul eloquently expressed in the second reading today, “Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather he emptied himself” (Phil.2:6-7).

How sad the whole world is now plunged into a great disaster without any clear sight of an end in the war launched by the US and Israel against Iran. Who’s really winning? Despite the sophisticated and powerful weapons of the US and Israel, how come Iran still continues to launch many missile attacks against its neighbors and worst of all, control a supposed to be tiny strait that had sent fuel prices beyond reach of Tomahawk missiles!

Let’s look into our own lives, in those moments we “power tripped” against others: what happened? Have we really won over them or, are we now suffering its dire consequences, even paying the price of our too much pride and display of power and strength? Jesus shows us in his triumphal entry into Jerusalem until his Passion and Death, true power is in weakness and surrender. It is the only path to Easter because it is the path of life and love which we shall see next.

Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.

Third contrast we have seen in the passion of the Lord: life symbolized by blood is for love and caring, not for vengeance nor convenience. Not even a solution to a problem.

At the trial of Jesus, when Pilate felt at a loss that he could not set Christ free, he decided to wash his hands to free himself of any responsibility for his death: “I am innocent of this man’s blood. Look it to yourselves.” And the whole people said in reply, “His blood be upon us and upopn our children” (Mt.27:25-26).

It was the height of human arrogance and pride, of folly and insensitivity that sadly happens right in our homes, in our schools and offices, in the society and even in the church maybe.

Instead of using technology and the sciences for the care and preservation of human life symbolized by blood, these have actually objectified persons into things, from contraceptives to abortions, genetic manipulation and gender redefinition. We have become so impersonal that people are seen more in economic andn utilitarian terms especially infants and children as well as the sick and elderly, the most vulnerable ones among us. Worst, criminals and others labeled as misfits are disposed like things either through judicial or extrajudicial killings. So heartless.

See the contrast presented by Matthew in this aspect when at the Last Supper, Jesus “took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins'” (Mt.26:27-28).

Life is precious because it is vulnerable that is why God became human in Jesus Christ like us in everything except sin. Right after his birth, he faced the murderous threats of a king and now an adult, he offered himself freely to die on the Cross because he loved us so much so that we too may finally be able to love again like him as willed by God since the beginning.

Isaiah’s Song of the Suffering Servant in the first reading showed this contrast of Yahweh’s servant fulfilled in Christ Jesus of how he valued life so much, of bearing all pains and hurts because of love.

In his triumphal entry into Jerusalem up to his Passion and Death, Jesus showed us so many contrasts for us to see the bigger picture of life itself, of one another as brother and sister, of God who loves us so much. Take time to examine every contrast in life for God is surely in there, even sometimes in disguise. Amen. Have a blessed Holy Week ahead!

From artzabox.com

Lent is greeting, announcing Christ

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, 25 March 2026
Isaiah 7:10-14, 8:10  +++  Hebrews 10:4-10  +++  Luke 1:26-38
“Cestello Annunciation” by Botticelli painted in 1490; from en.wikipedia.org.

A friend informed me last Monday of the death of a former classmate in elementary named Nilo; his brother Mar had sent me a message asking me if I could possibly celebrate Mass at his wake: “A long time ago we met in a Mass in our Barrio chapel when you approached us and greeted ‘kumusta, Nilo, classmate!’ And I never forgot that smile on his face after you acknowledged him. Nilo was so happy with your coming to him… we will greatly appreciate if you can celebrate Mass for him in his wake.”

I was so touched with the message and despite my toxic schedule this week, I promised to come today to offer a Mass for Nilo.

That’s why while praying over today’s Solemnity of the Annunciation, I realized how in every greeting we also bring Jesus Christ, of how we make him present in others too.

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming of her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! Then Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:26-28)

Photo by Ar. Philip Santiago, Annunciation Basilica in Nazareth, October 2025.

The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord often falls in Lent, adding more meaning in our inner journey into our hearts to meet Christ in this blessed season.

Notice how in our Sunday and daily readings we find God greeting us, inviting us to come to him to set things right in our lives (Is.1:18). Here is a God so loving, pointing out our sins but never judging us but actually believing in us that we could change and be converted to become better persons.

The past three weeks have been so tiring but fulfilling for me as a university chaplain giving recollection and hearing confession later in our various university campuses. First thing I tell every penitent is how God is so happy with us when we come to the sacrament of reconciliation because he has long been waiting for us. God rejoices because we finally welcome him in our lives!

Though it could be painful and shameful to confess our many sins, it is actually the sign of grace working in us too because the moment we change our sinful ways, then we grow! When we see our sins, our weaknesses and limitations as humans yet still forge on in life to become better persons, to achieve greater things for others, that is God working in us.

That is why Luke tells us today how the angel greeted Mary during the annunciation using the Greek words “kaire” which is to rejoice and “charis” or “karis” for grace:  “Hail (or rejoice), full of grace!  The Lord is with you” (Lk.1:28). 

This is actually unusual because Jews greet each other with “shalom” for peace; why did Luke use kaire?

Because wherever and whenever there is grace, surely there is rejoicing like in those beautiful gospel stories we have heard the past three Sundays this Lent: the Samaritan woman, the healing of the man born blind, and the raising to life of Lazarus who had been dead for four days. In all these instances, it was Jesus Christ who came on his own to bring grace to everyone that everybody rejoiced.

Photo by Ar. Philip Santiago, Annunciation Basilica in Nazareth, October 2025.

Lent is the time to get real, to stop pretending. It is the time for us to finally admit our own limitations and weaknesses in order to create a space in our hearts and in our lives to let God fill us, to let God possess us. That is the purpose of the lenten practice of fasting.

Mary became the Mother of Jesus Christ not because of any special qualities in herself but simply because God is so good, so loving. Despite her fears and questions, she welcomed the angel Gabriel by saying “yes” to God’s plan of giving birth to the Messiah and Savior of mankind.

Can we be like Mary who said yes and allowed God’s power to “hover over us” to renew our lives in welcoming Jesus Christ? 

This was the problem of Isaiah with King Ahaz in the first reading who pretended to refusing God in asking for signs of his presence when actually he had already entered into alliances with other pagan kings in the region as the Babylonians were closing in them; he had doubted God already. Hence, Isaiah’s prophecy to insist that God is our protector: “Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel: God is with us” (Is.7:13-14; 8:10).

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

How sad that in this modern time when we rely more with our science and technology, we have not only shut out God from our lives but we have even refused to welcome him in his coming to us, asking us to open ourselves anew to him and his powers and plans. We have not only become impersonal but worst, we seem to have chosen death more than life, darkness than light. Just check on the news going on everywhere and we see how heartless we have become.

The late American spiritual writer and monk Thomas Merton rightly said, “We live in a time of no room, which is the time of the end.  The time when everyone is obsessed with lack of time, lack of space, with saving time, conquering space… The primordial blessing, ‘increase and multiply’ has suddenly become a hemorrhage of terror… In the time of the end there is no longer room for the desire to go on living.  Why?  Because they are part of a proliferation of life that is not fully alive, it is programmed for death” (Raids on the Unspeakable, pp. 70-72).

What a tragedy in our modern time when we are supposed to be more intelligent with so many inventions, more affluent with so many money, more real with everything being shown in social media, the more we are empty and lost. Our communications are all mass mediated, no more person to person that is warm, so filled with life that is vibrant and dynamic giving us so much reasons to believe, to love, to hope in life and the future.

The Solemnity of the Lord reminds us today of God’s coming among us like one of us in everything except sin. In Christ’s coming through the Blessed Virgin Mary, we are reminded how each one of us is a sign of God’s presence and coming. Every time we greet one another, every time we reach out to others in love and kindness, every time we are one with others especially the marginalized and neglected, we do the will of God (second reading) and become an Emmanuel, a God-is-with-us. Amen.

Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.