Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 03 November 2026
A week before Undas,
we went to Imus, Cavite;
it was my first time and in obedience
to my late mother's instruction,
we went to pray at the Cathedral Parish of
Our Lady of the Pillar.
According to tradition,
Saint James the Greater was discouraged
at his preaching of the Gospel in Spain
with very few converts;
the Blessed Mother who was still then
living in Jerusalem
appeared to him via bilocation
at the banks of Ebro River
in Zaragoza, Spain
while standing on a jasper column.
Mary gave the pillar to Saint James
with the instruction to build
a chapel in her honor there
that became the Cathedral-Basilica of Zaragoza,
considered as the first Marian apparition
in history that happened on the year 40,
second day of January.
Saint James eventually won many converts
and returned to Jerusalem where he was martyred
in the year 44 to become the first
among the Apostles to shed blood
for the Gospel.
His remains were later
translated back to Spain,
reaching its final destination
in the now famous Santiago de Compostela.
I have always wanted to go on a pilgrimage
to Santiago de Compostela in Spain
but it seems God has other plans for me;
while praying there at Imus,
it just dawned upon me that we can always
do that pilgrimage to any holy site
first in our hearts,
in our own
hallowed
hiddenness.
Right inside this
beautiful Cathedral in Imus
after praying,
I felt taking my iPhone
to observe the steps,
the internal camino
of many other pilgrims
coming there only with
their hearts for Jesus
with Mary.
Like this man silently,
intensely
praying.
I have realized that
hiddenness is a sacred presence
where each of us can be all by one’s self
focused on God
who is the root of our being and existence.
According to St. John Paul II,
God created man
first to be alone with Him.
And that is how it will be
to each of us in the end:
we die alone.
With God in Jesus.
We all have this gift of hiddenness
within whenever we desire to be still,
for some “me” time
to rediscover
and find
one’s self anew.
“In our society we are inclined to avoid hiddenness. We want to be seen and acknowledged. We want to be useful to others and influence the course of events. But as we become visible and popular, we quickly grow dependent on people and their responses and easily lose touch with God, the true source of our being. Hiddenness is the place of purification. In hiddenness we find our true selves” (Fr. Henri Nouwen).
Hiddenness is the passageway
to the great gifts of silence and stillness
that lead us to the deeper truths
and realities of life,
of self,
ultimately
of God.
Silence is the language of God;
silence precedes very communication by God
something we have refused to learn
about communication that is why
we quarrel a lot,
misunderstanding each other always.
We never dialogue
nor communicate
but simply talk, talk, and talk
without silence in order to listen
to others.
Hiddenness is God’s mode of presence
that cannot be captured
nor described in human terms.
That is why He is hidden.
It is not that God is hiding from us
but He is inviting us
to be intimately close with Him
to exclusively
and personally
experience Him,
be filled with Him.
It was the same thing
Jesus did on Easter,
remaining hidden
before finally appearing to Mary Magdalene
whom He stopped from touching Him
to signal her
and us today
of the new level of relating
with the Risen Lord in hiddenness.
In all Easter stories,
we are told how the disciples fell silent
whenever Jesus appeared to them.
In Emmaus,
after the breaking of bread,
the two disciples finally recognized Jesus
who immediately vanished
because Jesus wanted them
and us today
to follow Him personally
in His hiddenness
to find Him
and ourselves too.
Appearances,
images
and noise
are fleeting.
The most significant moments
and insights we have in life
are those that come from our long periods of silence,
of prayers and soul-searching.
This November
as we continue to remember
all those who have left us in this world,
let us keep its sacred origins
in the hiddenness of our hearts:
All Saints Day
for those souls already in heaven
and All Souls’ Day
for those who have departed
but still being purified in the purgatory.
Both invite us to “hide” in prayers,
in silent remembering
to experience God
and our departed loved ones
in the most intimate and personal manner
without the gadgets and things
that numb us of their presence.
Amen.
Have a blessed
and meanigful
All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days!
