Following Jesus like Matthew in lights and darkness

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year II
Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle
Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13     <*{{{{><  +  ><}}}}}*>     Matthew 9:9-13

*Caravaggio’s painting, “The Calling of St. Matthew” from en.wikipedia.org*

That beautiful painting by Caravaggio, “The Calling of St. Matthew” completed in 1600 for the French congregation of San Luigi Francesi in Rome is said to be the favorite of the late Pope Francis among the many other masterpieces found in the eternal city.

If given another chance to go on a pilgrimage to Rome, I have vowed to personally see that painting by Caravaggio along with his two other masterpieces, that of the meeting of Thomas Didymus with the Risen Lord and his breaking of bread at Emmaus that all evoke body movements and inner motions among the characters that lead us to continue the beautiful story of the painter’s subjects.

But I can’t wait to go there in Rome to view those paintings; through the wonder of internet, let us reflect on this Feast of St. Matthew using this painting characterized by lights and darkness, from his sitting to his rising and standing to follow Jesus while working as a tax collector.

As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him (Matthew 9:9).

Sitting. Many centuries from now, anthropologists and other experts will study our generation on how humans have evolved – or retrogressed – with our spending too much time sitting. Doctors warn of the many health risks that result in prolonged sitting like obesity and heart disease.

Sitting is an important human movement especially in studying and learning lessons through reading and writing, meeting and discussions.

Imagine St. Matthew when he was called by Jesus, while sitting at the customs post: here we find sitting at its worst imagery of being stuck on our seats of comfort and complacency, sins and other vices. Worst is see how in our modern time we have given so much premium on where we sit to insist on our ego trips and sense of territory as well as claims to fame and prominence not realizing that what really matters in life is not where we sit but where we stand (https://lordmychef.com/2019/02/22/it-is-where-we-stand-that-matters-most-not-where-we-sit/).

See in Caravaggio’s painting how everybody is seated at the table with St. Matthew dressed in the artist’s period of the 1600’s to show that Jesus continues to come in our own particular time in history.

Most of all, the gospel tells us that St. Matthew was seated at his customs post when called by Jesus but Caravaggio’s painting portrays them to be inside a tavern to tell us that we are also St. Matthew whom Jesus visits and calls daily while we are busy or drunk sitting at our comfort zones, in our vices and sins, in our complacency and mediocrity.

And like St. Matthew, we, too, are invited to rise and follow Jesus right away!

This brings us to the second movement of man so important, that of standing.

Following Jesus demands that we must first rise from our seats to make a stand for Jesus and his teachings of love and kindness, mercy and forgiveness, service and self-sacrifice. Notice how St. Matthew, the fat man at the middle with a black hat like a beret pointing to the man bowed down to the table.

See and feel the hesitancy of St. Matthew – like us – always wondering, asking God, “is it I, Lord?” So many times we cannot believe Jesus really looking for us, wanting us, calling us, believing in us!

And in all that beautiful interplay of light and darkness by Caravaggio in his painting, we feel the eyes of Jesus looking at our beloved apostle as if telling him, “yes, you, Matthew; Follow me”.

Cast all your doubts if Jesus were really calling you, believing in you, trusting you – he does! Jesus always comes to each of us in the most personal manner like with all his apostles, telling us, “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit” (Jn.15:16).

Don’t you hear how Jesus is calling you daily, asking you, “will the real you please rise up and stand for who you really are”?

See yourself the way Jesus sees you – forgiven and beloved, precious and loved. No need for us to look good before Jesus. Just rise and stand with him!

*Photo by author, St. Michael Retreat House, Antipolo, July 2026.*

Walking. It is not enough for us to remain standing. Making a stand for Jesus means to follow him in his path of justice and love, mercy and forgiveness, being small and the least serving the weak and the poorest of the poor.

To walk in Christ is to be like Christ because Jesus himself is “the way the truth and the life” (Jn.14:6).

Walking in Christ is following the “road less travelled” that leads to the Cross of self-offering and sacrifice, of love and acceptance.

Notice in Caravaggio’s painting how he portrayed Jesus in his own traditional clothes along with Simon Peter – and they are both barefooted!

There seems to be a slight commotion wherein Simon is like warning the man with a sword close to him to be still, to not make any move for they are walking away soon once St. Matthew rises and stands from his seat. Look at the feet of Jesus and Simon; they are all set to walk, as if telling St. Matthew, “come on, let us go!”

But where to?

While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” He heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners” (Matthew 9:10-13).

*The two disciples walking to Emmaus not recognizing Jesus was with them.*

Following Jesus, walking on his path of the cross means going to those forgotten by us and the society, walking to meet those who are not like us – in beliefs and way of thinking, in clothing and appearances, in disposition and backgrounds.

It can be a lonely walk filled with pains and sufferings, and yes, disappointments like the two disciples who walked back to Emmaus on Easter without realizing Jesus was the stranger who had joined them along the way. That is the beauty of walking with Jesus, in Jesus, and to Jesus: you never see him nor recognize him right away but he is always with us, walking with us by our side even if we are going the opposite direction in life!

Walking the way of Jesus is tough and rough. It is not easy but it is the only way we must follow. That is why we need to rest in Jesus, with Jesus who asks us to be seated again as he washes our feet to comfort and console us, and prepare us for longer walks in the journey.

*Photo by Ms. JJ Jimeno, UP Parish Diliman, June 2019.*

Kneeling. Of all the body movements modern man has forgotten is kneeling. Again, look at Caravaggio’s painting, take a peek below the table and notice the robust knees of St. Matthew, look at the soft throw of light on his right leg and the softer tone on his left.

Caravaggio must be telling us something about the healthy lower body of St. Matthew despite his sitting position. See Caravaggio’s genius in throwing that soft light on St. Matthew’s legs and knees that were made strong not only by long hours of standing and walking with Jesus but with longer time of kneeling and praying after the Lord’s Ascension.

Kneeling is one very important gesture and body movement we must regain to truly follow Jesus and regain order in ourselves and in our nation. It is the best praying position for it signifies surrender and humility before God. In fact, for the Hebrews, the knee is the symbol of strength that to bend one’s knees – to kneel – means to submit one’s self to God the all-powerful.

How sad when people refuse to kneel because their knees or expensive pants and clothes might get dirty. Worst of all is when we have refused to kneel and bend our knees because we feel so strong and able to accomplish a lot that we would rather be pursuing our own interests than following Jesus.

Like Caravaggio’s painting of “The Calling of St. Matthew”, our lives and nation are into a great darkness due to the pandemic and the worsening decadence in every aspect of our society.

It is not a time to be a fence-sitter or a bystander; Jesus calls us to arise and make a stand against the pervading evils, asking us whom are we really following in this journey in history and life.

Amid the gloom are streaks of light bringing hope and reason, truth and goodness, inviting us to learn from the call of St. Matthew to…

Sit and learn more of Jesus
Rise and stand with Jesus
Walk and follow Jesus
Kneeling always at the foot of his Cross
to truly follow him our Lord and Master.
Amen.

Doing the work of God

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 20 September 2026
Isaiah 55:6-9 ><}}}}*> Philippians 1:20-24, 27 ><}}}}*> Matthew 20:1-16

*Photo by a friend at Seabrook, Washington, 06 September 2026*

From fraternal correction to forgiving those who sin, Jesus continued teaching his disciples on their way to Jerusalem about some important aspects of living together as a community of disciples, his Church he had founded on Peter the Rock while in Caesarea Philippi five Sundays ago.

Today we hear Jesus teaching us about “work” – another issue in our time that has become so complicated as more employees and workers assert to the point of overextending their rights and privileges without any consideration to others.

We have a Tagalog word for that, pananaghili.

It may sound so beautiful but it is so negative in meaning. Pananaghili is an ill-feeling of envy and jealousy toward another person’s better lot like success, possession, or pleasures like when we complain of others more compensated in doing less or nothing when we did all the work. Exactly like the parable of Jesus this Sunday:

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give what is just.’ So they went off. And he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o’clock, the landowner found others standing around and said to them… ‘You too go into my vineyard.’ When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first… So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled agains the landowner… ” (Matthew 20:1-6, 7-8, 10).

*Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima, Batanes, September 2018.*

Let us return to that Tagalog word pananaghili which often starts at home when we feel being “cheated” by a sibling, when a brother or a sister getting more favors because we feel our parents play favorites. Well, sometimes our pananaghili may be valid with a lot of basis, and sometimes nothing at all except a feeling of entitlement on our part.

But, here is the point that work is lined up with fraternal correction and forgiving: our attitude toward work always result in our kind of relationships with one another and ultimately with God.

Jesus reminds us anew to level up ourselves in looking at all these things especially work. Notice that at the start of his parable, Jesus clarified that work is something to be seen in the realm of the kingdom of heaven, always in relation with God.

Actually, work is always a call and gift from God that is why we must always be grateful by being responsible in our work. This is best expressed by another Tagalog word, hanap-buhay for work not just trabajo. Hanap-buhay literally means to “search life” or life’s meaning. Work is not just trabajo from the Spanish trabajar tinged with that curse in the Old Testament after the fall of Adam and Eve when God said “by the sweat of your face shall you get bread to eat” (Gen.3:19).

*Photo by author, RISE Tower, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, August 2025.*

In the New Testament, right here in this parable, Jesus shows us that work is a sharing, a participating in the work of God. The whole earth is God’s vineyard we are cultivating, we are harnessing. Here we find the interrelationships of man and creation, of environment we all have to care for. In our work, it is God whom we please and seek. We do not work simply to eat and survive; we work to reflect God in whom we are all created in his own image and likeness which is love.

That is why Isaiah invites us in the first reading to seek the Lord, to call upon God while he is near even in our work, in our ministry, in our duties and responsibilities wherever we may be. And when, where do we feel closest to God?

I find it very striking that most often, there is only a hairline difference when we are closest and farthest from God that happens in the realm of sin. What a paradox that we feel God closest when we are most contrite of our sins, and God farthest when we are deep in sin.

Sometimes sin is not that bad at all: when our conscience is bothered with an evil we have done, we become aware of God’s presence, whether near or far. The mere fact we are bothered by our conscience, that is God so near us. Like what the workers hired first felt – they could not outrightly complain to the landowner directly that they just grumbled. Sounds like us, is it not?

This is the purpose of Christ’s parable this Sunday: to bother our selves to examine our nearness and distance from God that is most clear in the area of our work where we are most challenged to be responsible and faithful. See how the landowner representing God confronted one of those workers grumbling against him:

‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one then same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish my own money?’ (Matthew 20:13-15)

Remember what we reflected last Sunday: when we sin we not only transgress against another person but firstly with God that it is useless to compare our sins with others that we simply have to forgive because we all sin against God.

In our work whether at home or in the office or wherever, we complain a lot of God being unfair, that we deserve more when in fact God is most just. We forget that truth and reality that God has been most generous with us always. Problems happen the moment we start thinking of being superior than others, of being entitled, assuming a lot of things in our own favor.

Although we cannot deny the fact of many unfair practices happening especially in our country, it all leads to each one’s fidelity to God: if we are truly the disciples of Christ called Christians, whether as an employer or employee, justice must prevail all the time among us. That is why the Church through Pope Leo XIII issued in 1891 Rerum Novarum for the protection of the rights of workers especially women following the excesses of the Industrial Revolution. Historians agree Rerum Novarum is one of the most important document ever produced in the past century with most impact that gave the world the principles of just and living wage, eight hour shifts, private ownership among others.

This Sunday, all our readings affirm God’s words through the Prophet Isaiah that “my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways”, calling us to rise above our very selves in the service of one another for the glory of God.

Retired Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban expressed this perfectly last week when he reminded the senators to not just see the impeachment proceedings in the eyes of laws but most of all to serve justice to the people. His words apply not only to the senators but to everyone especially those with direct impact to the lives of the majority of people so loaded with too much sufferings from the horrendous traffic to poor basic services. Like St. Paul, retired Chief Justice Panganiban seemed to be telling everyone to “conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ” especially those in government. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead.

Following Jesus

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 18 September 2026
1 Corinthians 15:12-20 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 8:1-3

*Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, in Portugal, March 2022.*

Thank you, Jesus
for inviting me to join
you in your journey:
there were many occasions
you have called me
like when I was sick,
when I felt lost,
when I felt empty,
when I coul not find any
direction in life,
when I was searching 
for meaning in life;
I found more than 
what I was looking 
for in joining your 
journey -
I found myself,
I found others like
family and friends,
most especially
I have found you
the very being
and good news of life.

Jesus journeyed from one town and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. Accompanying him were the Twelve and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward, Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their resources (Luke 8:1-3).

On dear Jesus,
keep me in your journey,
let me take your path,
let me proclaim your good news
to others, in season
or out of season;
let me show them your direction
to new life
here and hereafter,
always arising from
our falling and finally
from our sleeping
into eternal life.

Teach me,
Jesus,
to be generous
in sharing everything
I have in this journey
with you;
teach me to never
count the cost,
to never think of my
own glory nor of my name
except that I do always
your will.
Amen.

*Photo by a friend in Seabrook, Washington, 06 September 2026.*

Praying to be comfortable with self

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Year II
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 7:36-50

*Photo from Getty Images of painting by Frenchman James Tissot of sinful woman anointing and kissing the feet of Jesus in the house of Simon (Lk.7:36-50).*

After praying over today's
scriptures, I realized, 
Lord Jesus
one gift I think I must ask
from you especially now
I am already old:
the grace of self-composure,
of being at home with my self,
of being comfortable 
with my true self.

A certain Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. Now, there was a sinful woman in the city who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee. Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment, she stood behind him at his feet weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears. The she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and anointed them with the ointment. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner” (Luke 7:36-39).

Lord Jesus,
"mahihiya po ako -
sa aking sarili,
sa inyo
at sa iba pang naroon
kung nasaksihan ko po ito
ng personal."

It was not an embarrassing
moment actually
but why all the reactions of
Simon and his guests
who were his fellow Pharisees?

Because the woman
was so truthful,
sincere
and honest;
she did not mind at all
the spectacle,
the respected people around
when she did a public contrition
of her sins to Christ;
it is not really
about us imitating her
but imitating you,
Jesus who was never
bothered by that sinful woman
in coming to you,
washing your feet with her tears,
wiping them dry with her hair,
and anointing with oiled perfume.

You were so free,
Jesus,
from what others may say
being approached and touched by
a sinner as Simon had thought;
you were so free,
Jesus,
to focus solely with the woman
and appreciate her kindness;
you were so free,
Jesus,
to forgive her for all her sins
after admitting
her own sinfulness,
so unlike the others
present there,
judging the woman,
casting doubts on you, Jesus
especially after you have
forgiven her sins.

There are times,
Lord,
despite the presence
of other people,
I am so absorbed with my self
that most often I am suspicious
of what others are thinking of me
that I cannot truly listen
and understand their words
because I am so insecure with myself;
truly, the more I talk of others,
the more I talk of myself!

Teach me, Jesus
to be comfortable with my self,
to be at home with my true self,
to be at home with my self
so that I may truly express myself
to you, Lord;
teach me to be like St. Paul
who had no any insecurity
at all in claiming himself
to be "the least of the Apostles"
being the persecutor of the early
Christians;
teach me to be comfortable
with my true self
so that I may focus more
on your abounding grace
bestowed on me despite
everything
so that like you
I may focus more
on those needing your loving
presence and grace.
Amen.

*Photo by author, patio of St. Agnes Church in Jerusalem, May 2017.*

Love never fails.

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, 16 September 2026
Memorial of Sts. Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs
1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 7:31-35

Love never fails.
In other translations,
love never ends.

How lovely,
Lord Jesus;
and so challenging
because many times
I think of at least an end
to "loving" like when Peter
asked you last Sunday
"how many times must I forgive
my brother who sins to me...
is it seven times?"

When you said it is
"seventy times seven" -
that is clearly what love
that never fails.

As I pray to you,
I realized every age,
every generation in 
history always thinks
itself as the worst,
almost hopeless
like during this time in 
our lives not only in the world
but in our own country:
everything is chaos and disordered,
injustice and corruption are
the norms followed ironically
in this predominantly Christian
nation where money not
only talks but even shouts.

But, here we are still
Jesus: alive and kicking, 
fighting and surviving,
eagerly awaiting our 
new dawn of salvation
in you, Jesus;
grant me patience
and perseverance to keep
loving especially when it seems
to be no longer feasible
and even not doable;
like Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian
during their time,
it was not persecution per se
that was the problem
but divisions among early
Christians especially in the 
refusal of some in forgiving
and readmitting apostates to
to the faith; dear Jesus, 
teach us to be flexible,
more loving than legalistic
like your former Pope St. Cornelius
and his friend St. Cyprian the bishop
who both insisted those who denied
their faith while facing persecution 
may be forgiven and be readmitted;
it was clearly choosing to be more
loving than to be legalistic.

Teach me,
Jesus, to learn to read
the signs of the times
and most specially your 
divine will in dealing with the 
many complicated issues we 
now face in our being Christians.
May in everything 
we let love prevail for wherever there
is love, you are always there, Lord
because that is when we have
communion and oneness in 
you.
Amen.

Ang Himig Natin…

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-15 ng Setyembre 2026

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Morong, Bataan, 21 Hulyo 2026.*

Sa gitna ng kadiliman
bunsod ng brownout 
ng gabing kasagsagan
ng pag-ulan noong isang buwan
ay aking binalikan, pinakinggan
at sinabayan "Himig Natin"
ng Juan Dela Cruz Band
wala lang, trip trip lamang
pero ngayon aking muling
ninamnam titik at musika
hindi lang ito rak en roll
kungdi akma sa ating
panahon ngayon.

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda brownout sa kasagsagan ng habagat noong 29 ng Agosto 2026.*

Ako’y nag-iisa
At walang kasama
Di ko makita
Ang ating pag-asa

Hindi ba ito ating
nadarama ngayon,
nag-iisa,
walang kasama
at di makita ating pag-asa?

Mga taga-San Jose
sumigaw ng tubig! tubig!
sa gitna ng larong basketball
doon sa Minuyan ngunit
sila'y sinumbatan,
pinagsabihan ng kanilang Mayora
sa tinagurian niyang pambabastos
at kawalang-hiyaan
gayong mga gripo ilang buwan
nang tigang,
walang tubig;
kanino sila dudulog
sino gagawa ng solusyon
sa gayong kalaking problema
ng taong-bayan?

Bukod sa lubak-lubak
na mga daanan
mga taga-Bulacan
di na nawalan ng baha
na ayaw nang bumaba
taun-taon lumalala
habang ang punong lalawigan
iginigiit maski saan
na wala siyang alam
sa bilyun-bilyong piso
na halaga ng flood control
sa lalawigan nakalaan
sukat naglaho sa scam
ng mga damuhong kababayan
sa DPWH na nakipagsabwatan
sa mga makapangyarihan:
sino nga ba dapat
nakakaalam ng higit
para sa kapakanan ng
taong-bayan kung mga 
inaasahan iginigiit 
wala silang alam
marahil dahil 
wala ding pakialam!

Kung ganyan lamang
katuwiran at tugon ng mga
nanunungkulan sa tuwing
mapupuna kanilang kapabayaan
at kakulangan di lamang sa
kaaalaman kungdi 
pati malasakit at pakialam,
sawimpalad talaga itong
ating bayan bakit
nga ba sila pa ang 
napili at inihalal?

Ang himig natin
Ang inyong awitin
Upang tayo’y magsama-sama
Sa langit ng pag-asa

Ito ang himig natin
dapat nating awitin
tutulan
labanan
kalabisan
at kawalanghiyaan
ng mga nasa kapangyarihan;
panagutin mga mandarambong
huwag nang ibalik sa puwesto
mga mangmang at
walang alam 
na ring napatunayan
sa pamamahala at
kaunlaran ng kabuhayan.

Higit sa lahat,
huwag na silang
pagtiwalaan ng
katungkulan,
huwag na huwag nang
iboboto maging mga kaanak
ibigay ang pagkakataon
sa mayroong
paninindigan
at malasakit
lalo sa maliliit
at nahihirapan.

Iyan ang himig natin
dapat nating awitin
mula sa ating puso at
kalooban
pagbabago ng kaisipan
at kamalayan
may pananagutan
sa kapwa mamamayan
ngayon at sa kinabukasan.

*Larawan kuha ni Bb. Bernadette Reyes ng GMA News, Sto. Domingo, QC, 29 Agosto 2026.*

Ako’y may kaibigan
At s’ya’y nahihirapan
Handa na ba kayong lahat
Upang s’ya’y tulungan

Sino nga ba ating
mga kaibigan
maaring pagkatiwalaan
kapag tayo ay nahihirapan?
Wala kungdi tayong
maliliit kanilang ginigipit!
Napakasakit isipin
na sa halip pag-usapan
sa larangan ng agham at
buhay ng mga naninirahan
sa lugar ng ginagawang paliparan
bilyunaryong negosyante
nagbigay ng pabuya 
isang milyong piso
sa makapagsusumbong sa kanya
ng mga sumasalungat sa 
proyektong sinira na 
maraming kalikasan
at buhay doon.

Sino ang ating kaibigan
maaring sulingan
sa panahon ng kagipitan
kung kanilang kaagapay
mga makapangyarihan
ng lipunan
taglay di lamang salapi
kungdi pangalang nagkukubli
sa higit na maraming
kasamaan kesa nagawang
kabutihan sa nakaraan?
Mayroon pa bang
natitirang taong marangal
pagpapahalaga sa buhay
at katauhan
kesa salapi at huwad
na kaunlaran?

Pakinggan
sabayan
at namnamin
ang awiting nagsimula
ng Pinoy rock 
noong dekada sitenta;
katulad ng mabuting uri
ng alak,
lalong sumasarap
habang tumatagal,
sa tuwina ay 
napapanahon
itong himig natin.

Mula sa YouTube.com.

Good grief

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, 15 September 2026
Hebrews 5:7-9     <*{{{{><  +  ><}}}}*>     John 19:25-27

*Photo by the late Mr. Noli Yamsuan, Manila Cathedral, 15 July 2012.*

A day after the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, we celebrate the Memorial of our Lady of Sorrows or Mater Dolorosa, the grieving Mother Mary at the foot of the Cross of Jesus Christ.

For a better appreciation of the scene, I recalled the one particular detail provided by Matthew, Mark, and Luke at how the area was enveloped in darkness from noon to three in the afternoon situating it in John’s most unique element of the Crucifixion:

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 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.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home (John 19:25-27).

*Photo of painting from stswithuns.org.uk.*

As I prayed over this scene, the expression “good grief” came to my mind.

Good grief is an expression so similar with the second Beatitude of Christ taught at his sermon on the mount, “Blessed are those who mourn (grieve), for they will be comforted” (Mt.5:4).

What is blessed with mourning or good with grief when you have lost a loved one or in pain and suffering? Or, when things are not going well with one’s self and life?

As we reel from the recent monsoon rains or habagat, grieving cleanses out eyes and whole body system like the rains that wash away all dirt and trash in the surroundings. Though grief and storms inconvenience, even immobilize us for some time, overall crying and rains enable us to reassess our priorities and directions in life like the painful lessons the floods have taught us, if we have indeed learned.

There at the Cross, John noticed and presented us this most moving scene before the death of Jesus to show us the new reorientation also in our lives as disciples led by the first and model disciple of all, Mary with the beloved disciple. Clearly here we find a new direction in their lives and eventually in the life of the Church Jesus had founded.

Grief is good and blessed because it leads us to God, to self, and to others as both Mother Mary and the beloved disciple exemplified in their lives.

Grief is the default browser of faith, enabling us to hold on to God when everything and everyone slip from our grasps, when we realize God looming over us despite the darkness that envelops us like during the Crucifixion. Imagine the tremendous faith the Blessed Virgin Mary and the beloved disciple both have during that most crucial moment when they were the only ones who have remained with Jesus while all the other disciples have gone hiding in fear.

In the many artistic depictions of the Crucifixion, we can find that like Mary and the beloved disciple, we are are most human when in the face of grief because that is when we accept and affirm our weakness as a person – whether we are the one grieving or comforting someone grieving. Grief is good because that is when God calls us most to be his very presence in the darkest hours of sufferings and pain.

*Lady of Sorrows from a triptych by the Master of the Stauffenberg Altarpiece, Alsace c. 1455; photo from fraangelicoinstitute.com.*

In my 28 years as a priest, I have comforted and grieved with so many people, family and friends, even strangers. And it seems that of all the things I have said and done as a priest and an individual, it was those moments of grieving with those who have lost a loved one or going through difficulties are what people most remembered of me because I have realized too with the deaths of my dad and mom, grieving is the pathway to home – to ourselves, to our beloved and to God. John tells us how since that day on the beloved disciple took Mary into “his home.”

Our Filipino word for home literally came from crying and grieving – tahanan which is from “tahan na” or stop crying. We stop crying or tahan in our own home, tahanan because that is where we feel loved and cared, safe and accepted no matter what.

During funerals, I tell people to simply grieve and please, do not ask anybody to stop crying or tahan. When we allow those in pain to cry and grieve, eventually in the process they stop when they finally find a reason to moving on and start living.

*“Mater Dolorosa” also known as “Blue Madonna” (1616) by Carlo Dolci. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.*

It is here where we find too the goodness in the good grief of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Lady of Sorrows: she was deeply in pain minus the theatrics of some during funerals. It was purely good grief for Mary because at that most crucial moment, she must be lovingly praying.

That is the beautiful reminder to us of this memorial of Mater Dolorosa: the more we must handle life with prayer in order to believe more and love more when everything is dark and even dead. At the Crucifixion, we find the words of the author of the Letter to the Hebrews so fulfilled and true not only in Jesus but also with those who stood with him like his Mother Mary and beloved disciple:

In the days when he was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him (Hebrews 5:7-9).

Amid all the hardships and difficulties many of us are facing these days of rains and floods, of corruption among our officials and leaders as if we are again standing at the foot of the Cross of Jesus Christ, it is a most opportune time of “good grief” for us to stand for what is true and good, fair and just, honorable and honest. Like our Lady of Sorrows the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us draw out faith and strength and courage from Jesus Christ who had won over death and sin on the Cross. Amen.

What goes up must first go down

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, 14 September 2026
Numbers 21:4-9 ><}}}}*> Philippians2:6-11 ><}}}}*> John 3:13-17

*Photo by author, Basilica of Our Lady of Manaoag, Pangasinan, 09 January 2026.*

Today’s celebration of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross started in the fourth century with the miraculous discovery of the True Cross by Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, on 14 September 326, while she was on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Being the queen Mother, she ordered through her son the emperor the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre that was dedicated nine years later with a portion of the True Cross placed inside it on September 13, 335. The following day, the Cross was brought outside of the church to be venerated by the clergy and the faithful.

In the year 627, during the reign of the Emperor Heraclius I of Constantinople, the Persians conquered the city of Jerusalem and removed a major part of the Cross from its sanctuary. The emperor then launched a campaign to recover the True Cross which he regarded as the new Ark of the Covenant for the new People of God.

Before embarking into war, Emperor Heraclius went to church wearing black as a sign of penance, then prostrated himself before the altar and begged God for courage. His prayer was granted as he won the war and recovered the Cross from the Persians. He brought the Cross back to Jerusalem in 641 amid great celebrations by carrying it on his shoulders. Upon reaching the gate leading to Calvary, the emperor could not go forward! Heraclius and his retinue were astonished and could not understand what had happened until the Patriarch Zachary of Jerusalem told him, “Take care, O Emperor! In truth, the imperial clothing you are wearing does not sufficiently resemble the poor and humiliated condition of Jesus carrying His cross.”

Upon hearing those words, the emperor removed his shoes and bejewelled robes, put on a poor man’s clothing and was eventually able to proceed to Calvary and replaced the Cross inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where a number of miracles happened during the occasion: a dead man returned to life, four paralytics were cured, ten lepers were healed, 15 blind men were given their sight, with several possessed people exorcised and many sick people totally healed!

*Photo by author, inside the upper chapel of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where the site of Crucifixion is believed to be located, May 2017.*

Very notable in this story were the words of the Patriarch of Jerusalem to Emperor Heraclius: it was only after he had taken off his royal clothings and put on those of the poor was he able to carry the Cross into Jerusalem.

It is the same thing that is asked of us today: it is so easy to display the cross inside our homes and cars, or wear it as a jewelry or even as a tattoo on our skin and mean nothing at all unless we have the cross inside our hearts, our very being. More than the many signs of the cross and imaginary drawing of its lines we draw on our chest is the need for us to empty ourselves of our pride and sins so that we can be filled by Jesus Christ.

*Photo by author, Chapel of St. Francis Xavier, Sacred Heart Novitiate, QC, March 2024.*

Brothers and sisters: Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:6-8).

Called kenosis in Greek, self-emptying is the way of the Cross of Christ. It is choosing love and mercy than self-centeredness and self-righteousness; sacrifice than satisfaction; fairness and justice than greed and possession; bearing all the pains and perseverance than complaining and whining about difficulties and trials in life like the Israelites in the wilderness (first reading); and, thinking more of others than of one’s self.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic had taught something very beautiful and amazing about the positivity of being negative, when negative was actually positive – healthy and COVID free! Remember how during those days when we would always wish we would yield negative results in our swab tests for COVID?

When we look at the sign of the cross (+), it is a positive sign, a plus sign. Though the cross calls us to let go, to be detached and dispossessed, it is actually an invitation to have more of God, of life and fulfillment!

For us to rise, to go up, we must first go down that is contrary to the ways of this time of affluence when everything is practically easily available even fame and wealth. Today’s feast reminds us that like the Cross of Christ, life is more of letting go and of giving than of having like God who “so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that he who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn.3:16). St. Francis of Assisi said it perfectly why the Cross is an exaltation, a triumph:

For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen. Have blessed week ahead!

*Photo by author, St. Paul Spiritual & Renewal Center, Alfonso, Cavite, 19 August 2026.*

To err is human, to forgive, divine.

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 13 September 2026
Sirach 27:30-28:7 ><}}}}*> Romans 14:7-9 ><}}}}*> Matthew 18:21-35

You must have heard that quote so often, “To err is human, to forgive is divine” from the English writer Alexander Pope’s 1711 poem An Essay on Criticism where he originally wrote “To err is human, to forgive, divine.”

For many it has become a cliche because it is so difficult to forgive. Especially if it has to be done repeatedly. It is among the hardest teachings of Jesus Christ along with the love of enemies, of doing good to those who hate us, and lending without expecting anything back.

In a sense, forgiving is the twin teaching of fraternal correction which Jesus taught us last Sunday; the more difficult it becomes when the wrong done is against us that we feel much like Peter in asking Jesus how many times must we forgive:

Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not even seven times but seventy-seven times (Matthew 18:21-22).

NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 11, 2001: (SEPTEMBER 11 RETROSPECTIVE) Smoke pours from the twin towers of the World Trade Center after they were hit by two hijacked airliners in a terrorist attack September 11, 2001 in New York City. (Photo by Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

Like fraternal correction, forgiving is a major concern in this modern time when the means and forms of evil have become sophisticated like terrorism and online scams that unfortunately happen not only on the world stage but right into our personal lives and relationships too.

We have all experienced being pushed to the limits as our patience is exhausted when a beloved is the one sinning against us that is both unacceptable and most unkind of all especially if the sin is committed repeatedly, prompting us to ask God like Peter how many times must we forgive our brother or sister. The figure “seven times” given by Peter is not the literal number but refers to the very many times we have forgiven somebody to wear out our patience.

What Peter was asking was a freedom from calculation of repeatedly forgiving one who repeatedly sins because that kind of forgiveness does not come naturally to any of us humans. Repeatedly forgiving someone who repeatedly sins is most difficult because it abuses our very person, our being Christian.

And there lies the bigger problem and difficulty about repeatedly forgiving someone who repeatedly sins who most often is dearest to us like your husband or wife, our parents or one of your children or a sibling.

The truth is, inasmuch as we ask like Peter so often how many times we must forgive our loved ones, the crux of the problem in forgiving is actually deep inside our hearts we still love them that we just forgive and forgive them. That is the mystery, the most baffling of all: why do we keep on forgiving somebody who keeps on sinning. Recall St. Paul’s words last Sunday “to owe no one except the debt of love” so that the more we love, we realize we can love like Jesus after all because forgiving is actually the work of God in us, with us, and through us in Christ.

Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount… Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount… Instead, he had him in prison until he paid back the debt. His master summoned him and said to him, “You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you? Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart” (Matthew 18:22-24, 27-28, 30, 32-35).

*St. John Paul II meeting and forgiving his assassin Mehmet Agca in prison two years after the failed assassination attempt to his life at St. Peter’s Square, 13 May 1981.*

Jesus explains in his parable that forgiving is actually a work of God, divine in nature as Alexander Pope tells us in his famous line “to err is human, to forgive, divine.”

We forgive because we are forgiven beloved. Jesus grounds this teaching not in willpower but in being like God the master in his parable, “Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?”

Jesus knows us so well as humans, sinful and weak who could not generate forgiveness and mercy out of nothing; it is very clear in his parable that we simply have to let flow towards others something of the forgiveness and mercy we have already received from the Father through him. Ben Sirach stressed this in our first reading, reminding us that our own capacity to receive forgiveness from God is bound up with our willingness to forgive those who have sinned against us.

Worthy of keeping in mind too that Jesus tells at the onset of his parable that forgiving is about the kingdom of heaven, not of this world wherein our debt to God is beyond measure like that servant. While we may argue that we are better than those criminals in jails or those corrupt officials now either sick to stand trial or have fled, it is pointless to compare and “measure” our sins because every sin is not only against another person but to God himself – the Perfect One who is love himself.

When we forgive, that is when we level up our existence, when we live in Christ as St. Paul says in the second reading because our lives belong to God and to one another, not as the world tells us to control our lives and be masters of the universe. It is when we forgive that we are truly a church, a body of believers Jesus founded on Peter in Caesarea Philippi because that is when we live and die in Christ, becoming his vessels of mercy and forgiveness.

Most of all, it is in forgiving that we become truly free as a human, when we break free from the past hurts and grievances that pin us down, preventing us from moving forward in life. When we refuse to forgive those who have wronged us, we actually yield to their power and control. Hence, in all practicality, it is always best to forgive.

But there is something most deep and true about forgiving which clearly manifests our own mortality and rootedness in God who is our origin and end, “Remember your last days, set enmity aside; remember death and decay, and cease from sin!” (Sir. 28:6)

This Sunday, we are reminded to check and be aware of any resentments and anger we may still be carrying as we refuse to forgive lest we end like that unforgiving servant. Take this time to forgive for life is really too short to waste in keeping those grudges. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead!

Praying for self-discipline

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 11 September 2026
1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-27 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 6:39-42

It has been twenty-five years,
Lord Jesus, 
when the beginning year 
of the new century
was marred by senseless deaths
from terrorist attacks in various
US cities; more than the images
are the indescribable 
pains and hurts 
that still remain not only among
friends and families of those
who have died but also
for the whole world
that has ever been more
in precarious situations
ever since; today, 
we are stunned by 
news from tech experts
of how AI could actually
wipe out the human race
in the next ten years
like in the movies?!

*Photo by a friend in Washington State, 28 July 2026.*

Twenty-five years into
the new millennium,
peace and fulfillment
remain elusive not only
for the world 
but for each of us humans
because we have gone astray
from you, O Lord;
we have worshipped the 
new gods of technology -
gadgets and social media
that leave us more empty
and lost and enslaved
by our endless wants
and make-believe realities.

Now more than ever
we need to imitate St. Paul,
to be with discipline,
with virtues and principles
not with algorithms:

Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we, an imperishable one. Thus, I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing. No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:25-27).

*Believed to be the best photo of the tennis season, Alexander Eala in Wimbledon photographed by WTA’s Robert Prange, a.k.a. Jimmie48.*

Teach us to be truly
your "disciples" -
followers, 
ones who follow,
ones with discipline
not whims nor impulses;
it is only with discipline
can we truly look and
confront our true selves
to become better persons
than seeing what's wrong
with others; teach us 
discipline, Jesus,
that we may strive 
to trust you more
and reach out to you
for help and grace because
we are weak in ourselves;
let our soul and heart
yearn only for you, 
Lord, for in you
we find true peace 
and fulfillment.
Amen.