Body & Blood of Christ for the life of the world

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Solemnity of the Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ-A, 07 May 2026
Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 3:14-16 ><}}}*> 1Corinthians 10:16-17 ><}}}*> John6:51-58

*Photo from wikimedia.org of the nave with the classic altar of the Sta. Cruz Church in Manila.*

Of the many churches I have been to, the Sta. Cruz Church in Manila remains my favorite. Since childhood, I have always loved its beautiful apse of Byzantine glass mosaic of a sacrificial lamb symbolizing Jesus Christ whose blood flows like a river to the tabernacle amid a setting of mango, banana and fire trees.

The mosaic gives that feeling of the divine presence that may be a contributing factor too in keeping the solemnity of the many successive Masses celebrated there daily.

After leaving the high school seminary in 1982 while in college at UST, I still went to Sta. Cruz church by taking the Love Bus to Escolta after which I would walk across the street to my dad’s barber for a haircut then lunch at Panciteria Ramon Lee. It remained my refuge whenever I found myself deep into sins and troubles, with problems and difficulties, feeling lost and empty especially later in life while working.

It had played a significant role in my vocation story and that is why I remembered it while reflecting this Sunday’s gospel on the Solemnity of the body and Blood of Christ.

More than a gift offered to us individually in the Eucharist, Jesus intends his Body and Blood “for the life of the world” like that sacrificial lamb depicted at the apse of the Sta. Cruz church.

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (John 6:51).

*Photo by author, Chapel of St. Anthony De Padua, Alta D’Tagaytay Hotel, 02 June 2026.*

On this Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, we are invited to reflect on the meaning of the Holy Eucharist in our lives where the mystery of God in Three Persons, the Blessed Trinity we celebrated last week is revealed and becomes most real.

Faith in God is faith in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ present to us in the Eucharist under the signs of bread and wine. But, what does it mean really for us especially in the light of today’s gospel where Jesus said “and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” How can our individual life contribute in giving the life of the world, Jesus Christ himself?

In his encyclical letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia issued in 2003, St. John Paul II beautifully expressed that if Jesus can transform the bread and wine into his Body and Blood in every Eucharistic celebration, then he can transform us into better persons too.

So true! That is why the bestest time to pray is right after receiving Holy Communion because that is when Jesus Christ, Body and Blood, is present in our own body – speak to him in your most natural way. If you want, complain to him. Magsumbong ka rin sa kanya. Pour your heart out to Jesus who is Body and Blood inside you.

However, make sure too that you listen intently to him. When we listen to Jesus, we then enter into a relationship with him as we make him part of our lives as we too become part of his very life. That is when we are filled with his life which we in turn share with others and thus, give life to the world.

In the first reading we heard Moses calling us to “remember” not only those forty years in the wilderness by the Israelites but our own journey in the many desert of this life.

The word “remember” is from the root word “member” which means “part” plus the prefix “re” meaning again; to re + member a person and an incident is to make them a part of the present moment again which is the very commandment of Jesus at the Last Supper, “do this is remembrance of me.”

Now look: every week we go through our many exodus like in the first reading. We remember them especially at the start of every week because life is a daily exodus, of coming out from sickness into health, of darkness into light, of slavery into freedom, of sin into grace, of death into life. Yes, our many desert experiences in life were painful but they were all moments of grace too because that is when we realized that we do not live by bread alone, by material things alone – that we need God.

Hence, the first step for us experience this life of Christ as life for the world is to go back to the church, go back to the Holy Mass. These online Masses must be stopped. COVID pandemic is long gone.

The Mass presupposes actual presence because Christ is truly present with us in every celebration. We must learn anew to desire Jesus more in the Eucharist especially on Sundays.

In the Mass, we re-member Jesus in our lives after a week of busy activities and work; as we make Jesus a part of our lives anew, we see also ourselves needing much needed rest and comfort too in Jesus! Inasmuch as we re-member Jesus into our lives, it is actually us being re-membered into Christ who is also our food and drink to nourish us in this daily exodus in life.

Notice how in verse 14 Moses reiterated his call to the people to “remember” but this time what he told them including us today is “do not forget the Lord”: every Mass as our exodus is a way of casting off the temptation to live one’s life without God.

When we come to celebrate the Mass, especially when we are well disposed and prepared, we realize that we are always poor before God who alone can satisfy all our longings and needs.

To forget this is the sure path to catastrophe as many of us would attest.

With God, life; without God, no life.

This we find so clear with the Corinthians during the time of St. Paul that is why he addressed them in the interrogative tone:

Brothers and sisters: The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf (1 Corinthians 10:16-17).

The Corinthians at that time were already well aware of how the Eucharist make the Church whose head is Jesus Christ. Hence, the need for a communion or “participation” which is the word used in our translation. St. Paul was reminding them of what they knew in faith, that is, a Holy Communion in Christ which they must put into practice. This communion among the Corinthians would be put into risk when quarrels and divisions plagued their community later that prompted St. Paul to write them a second letter.

As part of the Mass, the Communion is when we receive the Body and Blood of Christ; but, in a deeper sense, Communion is unity in charity. It is Jesus Christ becoming human like us in everything except sin so that we can become holy and divine like him. This mysterious exchange of ourselves with Jesus, in Jesus, and through Jesus happens in the Eucharist where we are nourished and filled with the life of Christ whenever we receive the Holy Communion. May we share this life we have gained in Christ with others by witnessing his Gospel to give life to this sick and dying world – like that sacrificial lamb at the apse of my favorite church in Sta. Cruz. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead.

Husband & Wife, “suitable partners” in life

Lord My Chef Wedding Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Homily for the Wedding of Luiz & Jana Aranda
San Antonio de Padua Chapel, Alta D' Tagaytay Hotel, Tagaytay City
02 June 2026

*Photo by author, St. Anthony de Padua Chapel, Alta D’Tagaytay Hotel, Tagaytay City, 02 June 2026.*

Congratulations, Jana and Luiz! Finally, the day has come which we all waited for two years since you announced your plans of getting married. And of all present here today in this lovely chapel, Jesus is the most joyful of all.

Yes, Jana and Luiz: Jesus set aside this date of June two, 2026 in all eternity, not last year or next year, yesterday or tomorrow. Jesus set this date apart for you Jana and Luiz to make you “part” of each other as husband and wife – magkataling puso, magkabiyak.

Our first reading from Genesis tells us how God after creating the first man said, “it is not good for man to be alone…. let us create a suitable partner for him.”

I love that word “partner” from the root “part” which we call as bahagi and kabiyak in Filipino. Every whole is made up of a part; without a part, there is no whole.

That is what marriage is all about. As a sacrament or visible sign of Christ’s saving presence, marriage is two people – a man and woman becoming one, becoming a whole in Jesus.

Long before you met each other at 7-11 near Capitol Medical Center where you both worked as nurses, long before you were finally introduced to each other during a badminton game in 2017, when God created you Luiz, he said “it is not good for Luiz to be alone…let us create a suitable partner for him”.

And not just suitable partner, a very lovely one – Jana!

Of course, there are no perfect couples nor perfect marriage but every wedding like this is made in heaven because it is God who calls and brings together every man and woman to become husband and wife.

A couple becomes suitable partner for each other the moment they started dreaming of getting married, of spending one’s life someday with another person even they have not met yet. Any one who makes that vision of sharing his or her life with a beloved automatically becomes a suitable partner.

Kaya always have vision in life, Jana and Luiz.

Having a vision is looking beyond one’s self, looking beyond the present moment, and looking beyond material things. Most of all, having a vision is finding Jesus Christ in your lives always, Jana and Luiz because he was the one who really made ways for you to meet and finally become a part of each other in marriage.

Hindi ba Luiz?

Kaya nga walang kang isinama na iba nang manood kayo ng UST-FEU game noong 2017 UAAP season kahit na usapan ay magsama ka dapat ng ibang friends kasi noon pa lang feel mo na si Jana yung hinahanap mong maging part ng iyong sarili.

Kaya maski na ikaw ay FEU graduate, ipinadama mo kaagad kay Jana na graduate ng UST na part siya ng buhay mo kaya nag-cheer ka sa Tigers, hindi sa Tamaraw. At maski panalo kayo ng FEU sa game noon, pinili mong samahan ang pagdadalamhati ni Jana at marami pang taga-USTe para ipakita mo sa kanya na lalo’t higit sa gayong pagkakataon, ikaw ay bahagi – parte – sa kanyang kalungkutan.

At na-feel mo rin iyon, Jana.

At natiyak mo na si Luiz ang part ng buhay mo nang kahit hindi mo siya kaagad sinagot noon, hindi siya nagbago ng pagtingin at respeto sa iyo. Patuloy ka niyang niligawan, sinuyo at sinamahan sa lahat ngn pagkakataon upang madama mo na bahagi ka ng buhay niya. Palagi kang kasali hindi lang sa mga jokes at kuwento ni Luiz kungdi pati sa kanyang mga baon pagkain!

Hindi nagtagal, napasuko ng Tamaraw ang Tiger at naging kayo na noong January 2, 2018 matapos ninyong mag-usap pagkapanood ng “Coco.”

Hindi na ninyo maikaila pareho na kulang kayo kapag wala ang isa’t isa.

Lalo ito naging maliwanag sa inyong dalawa nang mag-COVID pandemic noong 2020: noon mo nadama Jana na nabubuo ka lang kay Luiz na tunay namang ipinadama sa iyo na ikaw ay bahagi na ng buhay niya. At pati ng kanyang pamilya nang kupkupin ka niya na bahay nila lumagi sa gitna ng maraming panganib at hirap ng panahon ng COVID.

You have always been a part of each other, Jana and Luiz. As well as your moms and siblings. Then, in God’s mysterious ways, you both got accepted to work at UK at the same time and the more you realized and felt each other as a part of each one. Most of all, that everything is a part of God’s plan.

Don’t stop in being a part of each other.

Most of all, inasmuch as you invited Jesus into your wedding today, make him a part of your daily life as husband and wife. Remember that Jesus is in your midst always – not in front, not at the back. Between the two of you so that whatever you do to each other, you do it first to Jesus.

Like in our gospel today.

How lovely to think that the first miracle of Jesus happened not in a temple nor a synagogue but in a wedding feast at Cana. the Sacrament of Matrimony is not everything and I assure you Jana and Luiz, a lot of difficulties would come along your way especially when you have children, when you get old and sick.

But, do not be afraid. You always have Jesus by your side to bless you and keep your love alive as you hurdle life’s many challenges.

Luiz when you work hard and stay faithful to Jana, you first work hard and stay faithful to Jesus. Same with you Jana: when you are loving and sweet to Luiz, you are first sweet and loving to Jesus. But, the moment you hurt each other with lies and infidelities, it is Jesus whom you first hurt.

Tuwing nagkakasal ako, mayroon akong tanong: sino ang unang babati kapag nag-away ang mag-asawa?

Sabi sa akin ng iba, iyon daw may kasalanan pero, mayroon kayang aamin sa dalawa ng kasalanan? Sabi naman ng karamihan, dapat daw lalake ang unang bumati pero hindi ba palaging sinasabi, ladies first?

I don’t want to put you on the spot, Luiz and Jana.

My take on this is simple: when couples and lovers have LQ or even friends have tampuhan blues, the one with most love to give is always the first to make the move for peace and reconciliation. Ang may higit na pagmamahal ang siyang unang babati.

That is why, let me close this homily with a simple request to you Jana and Luiz: please “delete” from your mind, from your consciousness that concept of “dasurv.”

It seems our society these days is afflicted with this disease of asserting each one of “deserving” a reward for various reasons. The moment we assert that we “dasurv” this or that because we worked hard or whatever, that is the time we become selfish, self-centered, and conceited.

When we insist on deserving something more, we forget our being a part of the whole.

When a husband or a wife claims to deserve something more, he or she then forgets his or her part-ner. We do not deserve anything at all in this life. Whatever we have is because of Jesus who made us deserving as you have realized in your life journey, Jana and Luiz.

Thank you for inviting us all to be a part of your wedding day. For our part, we promise to pray for you always that God may bless you abundantly with his grace of love and joy, kindness and mercy. Amen.

*Photo by author, Taal Lake from St. Anthony de Padua Chapel, Alta D’Tagaytay Hotel, Tagaytay City, 02 June 2026.*

Life is a mystery

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Solemnity of the Holy Trinity-A, 31 May 2026
Exodus34:4-6, 8-9  ><}}}*>  2Corinthians13:11-13  ><}}}*>  John 3:16-18

*Photo by author, Dolmabahce Palace, Istanbul, Turkiye, November 2026.*

“Life is a mystery.” It is the favorite expression of my Jesuit retreat master during our 30-day retreat in Cebu 1995, the late Fr. Arthur Shea. He would always tell me “life is a mystery” while touching his long, white beard whenever he could not answer my many questions about life and God.

After that retreat and 28 years later as a priest, it had become my favorite expression too not only when I could not find answers to my own questions but when people come to consult and ask me on almost everything.

And thank God for life’s many mysteries, especially his very own mystery of being one God in Three Persons as we celebrate this Sunday the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity.

The word mystery is from the Greek mysterion, something hidden but now revealed by God.

While it is true that a mystery is beyond human reason because it is divine, it may still be explained and understood though not fully. That is why it is described as non-logical or beyond reason but not illogical which lacks reason.

Most of all, a mystery is not a problem to be solved because it simply cannot be solved at all. In fact, we need to keep mysteries like secrets because mysteries give meaning and depth to our very existence, to our lives. In this age of social media when everyone thinks that everything needs to be shown to the point of being overexposed, life has become so artificial and hence, for many, empty of meaning. Unknown to many of us, the most wonderful things in life are those hidden and not seen by everyone like the mystery of God within us!

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life (John 3:16).

Our gospel this Sunday is very amusing like a mystery in itself; it is the shortest one we have in the entire year yet the most popular verse in the whole bible. But, how can it explain or enlighten us of God’s oneness in three persons?

As we have expressed at the very start, a mystery is not meant to be solved and explained but experienced. Our gospel is not even trying to prove to us about the existence of God because in our very being, it is already a given there is God. God does not prove himself but always shows himself.

Recall that it was taken from the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, a Pharisee who felt drawn to the Lord but was so ashamed to be seen by his fellow Jews that he came to visit him at night. We are all like Nicodemus “feeling” God so true deep within us but often afraid to accept it or even show it for fears of being called as old-fashioned and conservative or someone less scientific, less reasonable and less modern.

In that gospel scene, Jesus was inviting Nicodemus to enter into a relationship with him to fully experience God’s mystery because at that time, they tried explaining God like a concept to be learned and even memorized through their many laws and instructions. Unlike the Pharisees, Jesus simply taught Nicodemus that basic truth of God who “so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.“

Nicodemus eventually became a disciple of Jesus along with another Pharisee named Joseph of Arimathea who gave Christ’s burial site on Good Friday.

A mystery is a mystery because it is shared. It is nothing if it is merely in itself.

We are intrigued with stories and reports because they create relationships in us and with us. That is why God in himself as a mystery is a community of persons. Person implies relationship, taken from the Latin word persona which is the mask worn by stage actors/actresses to indicate their roles in a play or drama; hence, the term dramatis personae or list of actors in a play and their roles.

To a certain sense, there are three persons or personae, that is, “roles” in our God as we profess in our Creed: the Father as Creator of everything, the Son as the Savior, and the Holy Spirit as the Sanctifier. With God, his persona is eternal while ours like in drama or play, it is temporary.

The more we enter into relationships, the more we relate with other persons, the more we discover the many mysteries of this life and of God while realizing too in the process that we can only relate with persons and not with things nor even plants and animals. This is the gist of the similarly brief second reading from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, telling us to be close with one another as the Father’s children in Christ through the Holy Spirit. In sending us Jesus Christ his Son, God took the initiative to be closest to us as our breath in the Holy Spirit.

Every time we think of God, when we marvel at him and his creations, the more we find ourselves so different, even too distant from him while at the same time we also feel and experience in the most unique manner how closest we are to him.

Imagine this another great mystery of God that despite our sinfulness and worthlessness, he still so loved us and always caring for us. Like Moses in the first reading, we have experienced many times in life when God seemed to have actually walked beside us, even carried us during our lowest moments that in an instance we realized quickly the many “whys” he deals with us in life. We learn that God is so true and so close with us yet, remains the “All-Other” and the “Unknowable” whose mystery we cannot totally penetrate.

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

As we move on in life, we realize it is not about covering distances but going deeper within ourselves, of being transformed into better selves and persons like God, loving and merciful. Eventually we realize too that each one of us is in fact an indwelling of the Holy Trinity, an image and likeness of God himself. This we can easily learn through our most basic and simple prayer of all, the Sign of the Cross that many of us take for granted.

Every time we make the sign of the Cross properly, that is when we let God embrace us and wrap us with his mysteries.

In the sign of the Cross, God comes closest to us in our very selves, relating to us in our head being the Father who is over and above us always, the creator of everything; as the Son who became human like us born by the Virgin Mary passing through her womb, experiencing everything we went through except sin; and as the Holy Spirit on our shoulders giving us balance in this life. Next Sunday, we shall deepen this mystery of God in three Persons in ourselves with the solemnity of Christ’s Body and Blood we receive in the Holy Eucharist. Amen. Have a blessed week filled with God’s wonderful mysteries!

Love covers a multitude of sins

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Eighth Week, Memorial of St. Paul VI, Pope, 29 May 2026
1 Peter 4:7-13 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Mark 11:11-25

*Photo by author, 05 May 2019, Jerusalem, Israel.*

As we come to  nearly closing
the month of May,
your Prince of Apostles,
St. Peter leaves us with 
beautiful reminders so timely
and appropriate in this period 
of darkness and evil:

Beloved: The end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be serious and sober-minded so that you will be able to pray. Above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins (1Peter 4:7-8).

How lovely,
how powerful,
and so true
are your words to us
today through St. Peter:
we are living at the end of all
things and still,
here we are living as if
there is no end,
as if there is no death,
as if there is no judgment.

We have become so bad,
so dismal is the world
like that fig tree you have cursed,
Lord Jesus: so delightful in the eyes
but fruitless like us,
especially the rich and powerful
among us like our lawmakers
and public officials
so affluent,
dressed in fineries
without any benefit at all
for the society they have abused;
oh yes,
even our church is like
the temple of Jerusalem that
has become a den of thieves
than a house of prayer
when priests and bishops are
more concerned with money
and clout,
with self,
leaving You Jesus trapped
inside the Tabernacle.

Teach us conversion,
Jesus:
give us strength and will
to turn away from evil,
to closely examine our selves
for all our sins when we have
refused to love;
love can truly cover a multitude
of sins because when we truly love,
that is when we turn away from sin,
when we return to You, Jesus
found in the least
and taken for granted among us;
may our love for You through
one another be constant
because wherever there is love,
there is God;
when there is love,
there is no sin.

May we be
witnesses of Your love
dear Jesus
in this world so wounded by
sins and evil;
like your servant Pope St. Paul VI,
may we witness Your love
in our daily lives
caring for those in the margins,
for those sufferings
and especially for those
who are weak.
Amen.

*Photo by author, May 2017, in Ein Karem, Israel near the Church of the Visitation.*

“Here am I.”

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday after Pentecost, 28 May 2026
Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest
Genesis 22:9-18     <*{{{{><  +  ><}}}}*>     Matthew 26:36-42

*Photo by author, Dominus Flevit Church overlooking Old Jerusalem, May 2017.*

Lord Jesus Christ,
our Eternal Priest 
who calls and sends us
daily to spread your Good News
of salvation to everyone
with our giving of self like You,
bless us your priests in these 
troubled times:
everywhere we find and hear
selfishness and conceit,
lies and dishonesty,
infidelity and injustice;
we say the world has gone mad
and evil with all these darkness
enveloping us...

And where are we,
Your priests in the midst of all these?

Jesus went with the disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”

And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be done.” (Matthew 26:36, 40-42)

*Photo by author, Garden of Gethsemane, the Holy Land, May 2017.*

Forgive, us dear Jesus,
when we Your priests
cannot keep up with You in prayer;
oh, we are so busy watching
the world going by,
watching the corruption in government
unfolding,
watching the decay in our society
but unfortunately,
we cannot look squarely into our
own mess in the Church -
in our parishes
and communities,
in our ministry that has become
more of a work
often for performance
and clout;
worst of all,
we have lost that intimacy
in You, Jesus.

We no longer pray,
Lord Jesus.

We can't stay with You
even for an hour every day
because we are busy
with social media
like everyone.

Help us find our way back
to You, Lord Jesus:
let us imitate Abraham who
prefigured your own self-offering
in giving his beloved son Isaac
to the Father
without any question
at all;
many times,
we Your priests reason out
with many excuses and alibis
while at the other extreme,
many of us disregard reasons
at all in our mission
and ministry.

Keep us in love with You,
Jesus our Eternal Priest,
especially our bishops
supposed to have the fullness
of priesthood but cannot lead nor
guide us, much less inspire us;
give us the grace of Abraham
that we can always answer
 Your call
with a firm and unwavering
"Here am I."
Amen.

*“The Offering of Abraham” (c.1896-1902) painting by James Tissot, kept at the Jewish Museum in New York via moa.byu.edu*

When ordinary means extraordinarily

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Philip Neri, Priest, 26 May 2026
1 Peter 1:18-25 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Mark 10:32-45

*Photo by author, somewhere in Batangas, 15 May 2022.*

God our loving Father,
as we slowly move into Ordinary Time
in our Church calendar that began yesterday,
delete from our thoughts,
from our orientations,
from our consciousness 
the idea of anything called "ordinary"
as something less important,
less in value because it is
usual,
plain
and simple.
Ordinary.

Make us realize the word "ordinary"
implies orderliness
and regularity,
from the Latin root that
literally means "rule."

Make us realize, 
O Lord,
that the ordinary days,
the ordinary people,
and whatever we refer to as ordinary
actually make up the bulk of our lives
with You, O God,
the Supreme Ordinary of our lives!

Make us realize that whoever
or whatever we deem as ordinary
is the rule of the day -
so, let us stop 
taking them for granted
like leading our lives in You,
according to Your will,
witnessing Jesus Christ 
who had come to show us
the value and dignity
of our being human 
because it is the path,
the rule to fulfillment,
to life and to meaning
as St. Philip Neri 
realized early in his life
in turning away from a life
of ease and comfort
by embracing
then priesthood.

Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or land for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come” (Mark 10:29-30).

*Photo by author, Cabo de Roca, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 15 May 2025.*

Finally,
teach me,
dear Jesus,
to have this regularity of life,
of having order in my life
that begins and ends in You
because you have come to make me
and everyone truly special
by being closer to the Father
through one another. Amen.

Mary our model & companion in mission

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church, 25 May 2026
Acts 1:12-14 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> John 19:25-34

*Icon of Mary “Mater Ecclesiae” (Mother of the Church) in St. Peter’s Square from opusdei.org.*

Praise and glory to you,
God our loving Father
in bringing us this far:
it is almost June, 
half-way through 2026
as we begin Ordinary Time 
with the closing of Easter Season
yesterday, Pentecost Sunday;
thank you most of all 
to Jesus Your Son now seated
at Your right in heaven
in giving us His Mother
the Blessed Virgin Mary
whom we honor this Monday
as Mother of the Church.

From the very beginning,
from His birth to His public ministry
until His Crucifixion,
Mary has always been with Jesus
so that when He sent the Holy Spirit
as He had promised on that Pentecost Sunday
in Jerusalem, Mary was present with
the disciples praying in the Upper Room:
"All these devoted themselves
with one accord to prayer,
together with some women,
and Mary the mother of Jesus,
and his brothers" (Acts 1:12).

What a beautiful image 
of the church on its very first day,
as Your Body, O Lord Jesus,
gathered in prayer with Mary
Your Mother whom You have entrusted
to Your beloved disciple at the cross:
"When Jesus saw his mother
and the disciple there whom he loved,
he said to his mother,
'Woman, behold your son.'
Then he said to the disciple,
'Behold, your mother'" 
(John 19:26-27).

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, March 2024.*

As we resume today
Ordinary Time,
may we imitate Mary
Your Mother, O Lord Jesus,
in being a faithful disciple,
open to welcome
and accept You,
saying "Yes" to Your will
like at the Annunciation;
let our faith in You be firm
like hers at the wedding at Cana
when she told You immediately
how the newly-weds have ran out
of wine, instructing the servants
to do whatever "he tells you";
most of all, like Mary,
let us remain intimate with You,
Jesus in prayers,
her most important trait
as Your faithful and model disciple.

Teach us, dear Jesus,
to be like Mary Your Mother,
deeply absorbed in You
in prayers;
her standing at the Cross
was not a result of a spur in the moment
but the fruit of her long,
vibrant prayer life
 centered in You her Son;
unlike us, we come and pray
 to You only when we are
 going through trials and difficulties
but when everything is going well
in life, we hardly remember You, Lord,
nor pray at all.

All her life,
Mary lived in prayer,
in communion and oneness
in You, Jesus
that is why when the Church
was born on Pentecost,
Mary was there.
She has always been
with us as our Mother
and companion in mission,
appearing many times like
in Fatima, Portugal in 1917
to remind us to return to you,
Lord Jesus Christ;
let us be like Mary
in her discipleship that
is essentially 
a prayer life.
Amen.

*From cbcpnews.net, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City, 13 October 2022.*

Our daily Pentecost

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Pentecost Sunday-A, 24 May 2026
Acts 2:1-11  ><}}}}*>  1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13  ><}}}}*>  John 20:19-23

One of the reels I love watching in Instagram is Yuji Belleza, a young Japanese who speaks different languages, going around Europe talking to all kinds of people by speaking their native tongues.

What I like most with him is his openness to learn many things not just words and languages from those he interviews in his popular Instagram reels. It is precisely what Luke is telling us this Solemnity of the Pentecost: more than language facility, the most important in the spread and growth of the Church then and now is “openness” of Christ’s disciples.

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues of fire, which parted and came to rest on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as te Spirit enabled them to proclaim. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans?” (Acts 2:1-7)

From the Greek word pente for 50, Pentecost is a Jewish feast celebrated fifty days after the ratification of their covenant with God by Moses in Sinai; eventually, it became a feast of their first harvests upon entering the Promised Land that it was like a new beginning in life for them.

And rightly so for us Christians too. The Church started to spread from Jerusalem on that Pentecost Sunday to become the largest in the world today. More than a feast we remember today fifty days after Easter, Pentecost is an event we recognize and affirm to be happening daily in our lives as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Like the popular Japanese linguist Yuji on Instagram, we too experience “being at home” abroad when we find countrymen, people who speak our native tongue. Thank God for the millions of Filipinos spread around the world that you can surely meet anywhere, anytime you go abroad.

*Photo by author, Istanbul, Turkiye, 31 October 2025.*

Last year we went to Turkiye and found a Catholic church run by Franciscans near our hotel in Istanbul. We went early to introduce ourselves to the pastor, hoping we could concelebrate the Mass with him. The Irish pastor gladly welcomed us, telling us that the choir and lectors in charge that Sunday were Filipinos. Sure enough after the Mass, they all followed us to the sacristy to make mano and of course, picture picture!

You know that feeling of being “home” – safe and secured, peaceful and joyful upon finding someone who speaks your own language in a foreign land with different culture and language. And weather!

Many times God comes to us in a similar way – speaking and feeling exactly like us but, unfortunately, we disregard his words and instructions because we have our own agenda and plans until finally we realize in the end after losing everything how we should have listened and obeyed him.

On the other hand, there is also that feeling of being home even abroad when you are able to communicate and understand foreigners using only sign languages while uttering some words like you are in a charades game. Despite our many differences, there are those feelings of safety and peace, of forging on in our journey because understanding is always possible by simply being open. We can even communicate with deaf mutes for as long as we are open and creative. And patient too.

Many times, God communicates with us in the same manner – through signs but problem is we do not have the interest to engage with him because we have other plans in life so that when things go wrong, there is always that sigh of missed opportunities in disregarding God.

Pentecost asks us how open are we to God and others as disciples of Christ?

From last Sunday’s upward shift for us to rise in our relationships with God and one another, Pentecost shows us its downward movement to open ourselves to the leading of Holy Spirit to become one in our relationships despite our many differences.

Matthew told us last Sunday that when Jesus ascended into heaven, some of his disciples were still doubting him. Today, Luke tells us how all those doubts were finally cleared at the descent of the Holy Spirit who emboldened the disciples with wisdom and knowledge, courage and perseverance to proclaim Christ’s gospel to all nations despite the persecutions and other difficulties that followed.

*Painting by El Greco, “Pentecostes” (1597) from commons.wikimedia.org.*

Pentecost continues in our present time when we shatter those walls and locked doors of pride, selfishness and conceit, opening ourselves to the daily coming of the Holy Spirit. Luke used a simple word in his story that can help us have that attitude of openness to the Holy Spirit.

The word is devout – in Filipino it is “deboto” connoting a person so closed with his religious beliefs like “Catolico cerrado.”

But, devout as used by Luke means a person with a “good heart, ready to believe, and then act openly and with courage” (Timothy Clayton, Exploring Advent with Luke; page 125).

Only Luke used the word devout in the Sacred Scriptures when in his gospel he described Simeon as “righteous and devout” (Lk.2:25) who sang the Nunc Dimittis during the presentation of Jesus at the temple. He then used it thrice in the Acts as we have heard today of the “devout Jews” staying in Jerusalem on that Pentecost day when the Holy Spirit came (2:5); then “the devout men who buried” the first martyr Stephen (8:2), and finally calling Ananias a “devout observer of the law” whom God instructed to pray over and heal Saul of his blindness after meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus (22:12).

More than being faithful to God and the Catholic faith, a devout person is one who is always open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit like Simeon and Anna awaiting the coming of the Messiah at the temple. Moreover, a devout person is one who makes happen the plans of God like Ananias who at first hesitated with Jesus in taking in Saul.

Our Filipino Missal used an interesting translation of Luke’s devout as palasamba sa Diyos that literally means one who worships God often. Or, someone who prays always.

Openness happens in prayers because that is when we become rooted in God, when we allow him to form us like the clay in the potter’s hand. More than the recitation and expression of ourselves in words, prayer is entering a relationship with God whom we call “Abba” as St. Paul explained in the second reading. That explains too why the Holy Spirit came on that Pentecost while the disciples with Mary were at prayer.

When we have prayer life, we grow in our sensitivity of God in others that we learn to become respectful, fair and just, and kind. Thus, we promote peace and goodwill with others too.

This Pentecost Sunday, let us allow the Holy Spirit to work in us by focusing more on Jesus than in ourselves in our many devotions and practices filled with pomp and pageantry that only divide us disciples of Christ

Let us open ourselves to Jesus by being devout in the truest sense wherein we are more open with persons especially the poor and disadvantaged than with things and numbers in measuring development as a nation like the GDP/GNP and infrastructures.

Yes, Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven but he remains with us here in this life, in this world in the Holy Spirit, day in, day out through us making Pentecost a reality daily. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead.

Ascending in the power of Christ

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Cycle A, 17 May 2026
Acts 1:1-11 ><}}}}*> Ephesians 1:17-23 ><}}}}*> Matthew 28:16-20

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 18 March 2026.*

The past week is probably the most ugliest we ever have as a nation in recent years when power-hungry lawmakers seized power in the senate just to keep their cabals away from the legitimate powers of the legislature and international court.

Sorry for mentioning that this Sunday.

However, I hope you also find consolation in our celebration today of the Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus who invites us to examine the true meaning of “power” that was mentioned four times in the three readings we have heard:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might, which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come (Ephesians 1:19-21).

Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behod, I am with always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

How timely that we reflect this Sunday the “power” claimed by Jesus Christ as given to him and now shared with us his disciples after returning to heaven.

As Jesus concludes his earthly existence with his Ascension, let us go back to his ministry to reflect the different aspects of his power that we must imitate as his disciples.

First we find in Jesus is the power of prayer. He was always in prayer that even his disciples were so impressed and asked him to “teach them how to pray”. More than the words to say in praying, Jesus taught us the very attitude in praying: it is not forcing ourselves to God but submitting ourselves to God we call Father by recognizing one another as brothers and sisters.

Prayer for Jesus is power because it is primarily a relationship with God expressed in our relationship with each other. His ascension need not be taken literally as if Jesus was like a rocket launched into space; his ascension is more like a “leveling up” in his relationships with us and the the Father. For us to ascend like Jesus Christ through prayer means for us to be “lighter” by letting go of our selves, of our pride.

Prayer is power because it leads us to self-emptying (kenosis) that we become more loving and respectful of others, not manipulative; truthful and honest, not liars; and, more just and respectful of laws.

The more we pray, the more we see God and others as brothers and sisters that we work for peace and unity, not divisions and chaos because ultimately, prayer is power as it makes us find life not death as Jesus exemplified on the Cross.

*Photo by author, Manaoag, Pangasinan, 09 January 2026.*

Simultaneous with the power of prayer, we find in Christ the power of love and respect for persons.

It is one of his radical teachings, an integral part of his gospel of salvation of loving one another as he had loved us, of giving up one’s life for a friend, of finding God on the face of every one. Even among enemies!

It is power because when we love and respect every person, that is when we establish the kingdom of heaven here on earth. Love and respect for persons as power is prayer in action through our loving service for others.

Clearly, it is one power we lack so much in the country especially in government when officials are deep into corruption. Its most tragic part is at how people mostly the poor have allowed corruption to persist because they themselves could not love and respect their very selves, refusing to see beyond the material world. For them, man lives to eat. Then die. They would not even raise up their heads to look high above the clouds to dream and dare in life, to believe and hope in God.

Because sadly, many refuse to recognize the very power of Christ which is the Cross.

Because of the Cross, there is Easter. And then Ascension.

Without the Cross, nothing.

That is why for many life has become more of a mess, empty without meaning because they believe power is strength and force, of control and manipulation. Most of all, of subjugation.

Christ showed us in his Cross that life is always larger than what we see or even perceive as it is. Life is so wide and vast, so high and so deep we can never hold nor contain. Or even understand and explain.

Life is meant to be lived not solved at all. We hear it often said, “let go, let God.” Notice in this saying how the single letter “d” leads to the transition, transformation. That small letter “d” stands for our little daily deaths.

It is here we find the power of the Cross: when we surrender and submit, the world opens, we see more options, we see more life; when we suffer and cry, when we get hurt and bruised, we learn to stop and wait until healing comes and then we are renewed.

Most of all, when we experience those little deaths in taking our cross, in dying on the Cross of Jesus, that is when we find our greater self, when we experience Christ in us who had conquered sin and death because he is life himself. That is when we find true power because that is when we rise and ascend in Christ.

Events happening lately in our country and in the world, and most especially in our very lives do not look so nice and good. Even dismal. But, Jesus reminds us this Sunday of his true powers that enable to rise, to ascend in him. Most of all, he promised to be with us always. As we come nearer to the closing of Easter Season, let us ask anew ourselves and him how we can live out this new level of relationship in him, with him and through him. Let us wait in prayers to discover too his powerful answer. Amen.

*Photo by author, Mt. Arayat from Angeles City, Pampanga, October 2024.*

What must I do?

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Sixth Week of Easter, 12 May 2026
Acts 16:22-34     ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*>     John16:5-11

*Photo by Ms. JJ JImeno of GMA-News, 27 May 2019 of a man who seem to have lost his head while praying inside the oratory of the UP Parish in QC.*

"What must I do?"
Many times I find myself
in the same situation as the prison
guard of Paul and Silas asking
the same question,
"What must I do to be saved?"

How funny that the prisoners were
Paul and Silas but it turned out that 
after the earthquake shook the prison,
it was the guard 
who was the one really "imprisoned" -
just like me in the many times
I have been busy "guarding" 
and "keeping" things
around me I believe keep order;
there are times I find myself
so imprisoned to my duties
and responsibilities,
fears and apprehensions,
endless concerns and worries
that I could no longer
find myself,
my family, 
my friends,
and even God.

What must I do, Jesus?

Help me find
my way back home 
to you, 
Jesus.
Amen.