Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 16 July 2025 Wednesday, Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Exodus 3:13-20 ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> Matthew 11:25-27
Photo by author, Sonnenberg Mountain View, Davao del Sur, August 2018.
Today, O Lord your words bring us to the mountain as we celebrate too the Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel; in the first reading you brought Moses to your mountain in Horeb to see you in the burning bush while the Memorial of our Blessed Mother today reminds us of the early monks who banded together to pray at Mount Carmel.
When the Lord saw him coming over to look at it more closely, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses! Moses!” He answered, “Here I am.” “Come, now! I will send you you to Pharaoh to lead my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He answered, “I will be with you; and this shall be your proof that it is I who have sent you: when you bring my people out of ??Egypt, you will worship God on this very mountain” (Exodus 3:4-5, 10-12).
How lovely was your conversation, Lord with Moses, so similar with our conversations when we would readily answer your call with the declaration "Here I am" that suddenly when you hand us our mission, we balk and question you, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?"
Many times we are like Moses - while showing humility with some fears in our quick response to your call, we suddenly doubt ourselves upon learning the mission you entrust us with whereas you simply assure us of your presence, of being our companion with your simple statement "I will be with you." Such is your simplicity, Lord.
Teach us to be like Mary your Mother, dear Jesus Christ, simple and childlike filled with humility, always open to God and his plans; after all, you call us first of all for a relationship with you not with a task to be achieved.
May the Brown Scapular given by Mary to St. Simon Stock be a reminder of our relationship with God in Christ with Mary; always open to his will but most of all faithful and obedient to his call of communion and oneness. Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 15 July 2025
From the internet.
Bless me, for I have sinned: this Father is a “dinosaur” so afraid of modern technology, so hesitant even in upgrading my cellphone and laptop. And most of all, always suspicious of messages in social media.
Generally, I am more inclined to mistrust everything in the net. But, something happened this Monday that I feel like changing this attitude.
I have celebrated Mass of the Holy Spirit in our Cabanatuan City campus before noon when I found multiple “message requests” from some people asking if I know their former boss at NEDA, Mr. Joseph T. Lalog, a first cousin we fondly called Kuya Jojo.
My initial reaction was budol. Scam.
But when I read that he was in the ER of a hospital in EDSA, I prayed and finally hit the number sent to me by a certain Byron to inquire about Kuya Jojo. After a brief introduction, I was told Kuya Jojo had just died after being rushed that morning to the Victor R. Potenciano Medical Center (VRPMC) in EDSA, Mandaluyong City.
Kuya Jojo was allegedly found by a janitress lying on the floor in one of the restrooms of Shangrila Mall morning of July 14, 2025. He was rushed by the mall’s emergency response team to the ER of VRPMC where doctors tried to revive him but later declared as dead around noon that Monday.
The people at the ER checked Kuya Jojo’s contacts in his cellphone and like my initial reaction, his former staff and colleagues at work thought it was also budol until after they have personally called the hospital with some of them going there to verify the report.
That was when Byron and his colleagues at NEDA who were under Kuya Jojo tried reaching out to us by checking his Facebook contact lists of “Lalog” and “Tobias”. And similarly, we all suspected it could be a scam because Kuya Jojo had always been healthy without any vice at all. He was a varsity of the track and field team at De La Salle University where he finished AB Political Science.
What convinced me to set aside my doubts and press that number provided by Byron was his message that my Kuya Jojo would always speak to him about my being a priest. He asked in one of his texts, “kayo po ba si Father Nick pinsan ni Sir Jojo?” With that, I finally felt deep inside this must be true. Not a scam. Or budol.
Mahirap palang maging netizen, mabuhay sa internet.
You know that daily or maybe every second of struggles just to verify and check whether those messages and information in the social media are true or not.
Baka niloloko ka lang? O, ako lang ang OC, takot at duda sa social media?
Ang hirap lalo na sa gitna ng maraming kuwento ng pangloloko at mga budol ng kung sino sino sa social media at internet na kahit kaming mga pari niloloko o ginagamit sa pangbubudol!
At ang pinakamahirap sa lahat – kapag binabanggit na pangalan ng mga taong malapit sa iyo katulad ng pinsan kong buo na si Kuya Jojo. Ang hirap at nakakatakot paniwalaan mga texts na namatay o kung napano na…
That entire stretch of travel from Cabanatuan City to EDSA, I felt being warped between reality and virtual reality, between the net and the real world. What if this is not true? Paano ako?
Aside from those things running in my mind, I was also thinking of my elder relatives. How am I going to break the news? How reliable were those people if they were really the colleagues and staff of my cousin even after I spoke to one of them on phone?
As I thought of my cousin lying on the floor of the CR of the mall, suddenly I remembered last Sunday’s gospel of the good Samaritan. It was like a modern version. My cousin almost dead or already dead on the marble floor of the restroom when a janitress had the courage and mercy to call their emergency response team.
Most of all, of the most kindred souls of Kuya Jojo’s friends and colleagues who never gave up on reaching out to us. They are all the modern good Samaritans who “treated him with mercy” (Lk.10:37).
Photo by author, 14 July 2025.
I arrived 4:30 PM in the hospital where the ER doctor in charge briefed me of Kuya Jojo’s death. Soon Byron arrived and told the doctor my cousin’s medical condition while the funeral service sent by my uncle in Los Baños finally arrived at around 8:00 PM.
At the morgue, I gave the final blessings for Kuya Jojo before being transported to Los Baños where his wake will be held at the Heaven’s Gate Memorial Park in Bgy. Anos. After thanking and blessing Byron and the hospital staff, I booked my ride home as I had earlier sent home our university driver to rest for another trip to our Pampanga campus the following morning.
In less than ten minutes I was on board my Grab ride to Valenzuela City, still wondering what had happened that Monday. As I scrolled on my Facebook and Instagram with its bright light filling my ride, I felt a sense of relief that Jesus is very much present in the internet, in social media. St. Paul wrote it so well more than 2000 years ago that “where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more” (Rom. 5:20).
No matter how bad we see the world including the internet these days with its many sins and evil, God assured me that night that there are still far more good people, good Samaritans than evil ones. We simply have to make the right choice always by choosing Jesus who remains “the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn. 14:6). God bless everyone!
*Thank you to the staff and colleagues of the late Joseph T. Lalog at the NEDA. We do not have yet the details of his wake and interment as his sisters are arriving only this Thursday. On behalf of our clan, thank you and may God bless you more!
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 15 July 2025 Tuesday, Memorial of St. Bonaventure, Bishop & Doctor of the Church Exodus 2:1-15 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 11:20-24
Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte, Atok, Benguet, 03 September 2019.
Sometimes I wonder O God how it feels to be in front of you, of what to feel when you are so like us humans - sadly frustrated, exasperated.
Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes” (Matthew 11:20-21).
Forgive us, dear Jesus when we are so callous and numb before you, not feeling you at all because we are so absorbed in our own pride and foolishness, justifying our sinful ways that we hardly feel you, because we could not feel others nor ourselves as our bloated egos numbed our humanity; we have lost our sense of sinfulness and could no longer appreciate what is good and beautiful, right and orderly; we have become like those two Hebrews Moses caught fighting each other that instead of feeling his care and concern for them, they felt separated he would kill them like the Egyptian officer.
How true were the words of our Saint for today, the most pure Bonaventure who wrote, "If you do not know your own dignity and condition, you cannot value anything at its proper worth."
Help us realize Jesus how once mighty cities like Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum remains in ruins to these days, never to have recaptured their old glory days because since your time, they never saw their dignity and condition as your beloved ones; let us not fall into ruins too because of our unrepentance for our sins. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 14 July 2025 Monday, Memorial of St. Camillus de Lellis, Priest Exodus 1:8-14, 22 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 10:34-11:1
What a lovely Monday dear God when your words are "come" and "welcome" - two words that indicate challenges in our relationships, challenges we refuse to face and resolve, challenges that are so difficult to accept nor understand.
A new king, who knew nothing of Jospeh, came to power in Egypt. He said to his subjects, “Look how numerous and powerful the people of the children of Israel are growing, more so than ourselves! Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase; otherwise, in time of war they too may join our enemies to fight against us, and so leave our country” (Exodus 1:8-10).
Jesus said to his Apostles: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law” (Matthew 10:34-35).
Many times we come to foreign countries like Israel in Egypt upon your own sending, Father, but instead of opportunities and green pastures, we come to many sufferings and trials like our OFWs and immigrants; and there are times that because of our being a follower of Christ, a wedge is driven between us and our family or friends or colleagues.
What are you teaching us, Lord in every coming?
That life is a series of coming, never of going, and, whenever we come, we take up our crosses and follow you, Jesus.
The difficulties and trials that come our way teach us to "welcome" these in itself as the opportunities and blessings in disguise we have actually "come" for!
“Whoever receives you receives me, whoever receives you receives the one who sent me” (Matthew 10:40).
How lovely in other translations that to receive is to welcome; what matters most in life and discipleship, dear Jesus is we always come to you, come to where we are sent and most of all, to welcome every coming as your very presence like St. Camillus who lovingly served the sick in whom he found you in each one of them. Amen.
St. Camillus de Lellis, Pray for us!
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 2023.
Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe, 13 July 2025 Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C Deuteronomy 30:10-14 ><}}}*> Colossians 1:15-20 ><}}}*> Luke 10:25-37
Photo by author, Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon, 17 March 2023.
Jesus continues his journey to Jerusalem with his disciples, teaching us with some important things “to do” following the questions of some people along the way.
Last Sunday Jesus taught us the five do’s and five don’ts of discipleship; today, he teaches us what we must do to inherit eternal life with the parable of the good Samaritan.
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.” (Luke 10:25-30)
First thing we notice is our similarity with the scholar of the law who already knew the answer to the question “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” We know deep in our hearts the answer and like in the gospel, we have felt Jesus affirming us many times like the lawyer. But, Jesus wants us to revisit his parable of the Good Samaritan this Sunday to realize its meaning as we continue to imitate the lawyer with the same question “who is my neighbor?”
But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
Photo by author, Grand Canyon Woods, Batangas, March 2025.
The Filipino translation gives us a better picture of the lawyer justifying himself, “Sa hangad ng eskriba na huwag siyang lumabas na kahiya-hiya, tinanong niya uli si Jesus, ‘Sino naman ang aking kapwa?'”
See how Jesus did not give a straightforward answer but situated the lawyer including us today into something very concrete so that we stop thinking more and start feeling more. That was the problem with the scholar of the law and with us today: we analyze everything that we have become “over thinkers” but not necessarily “critical thinkers”. We know so many things about our faith but, we still ask for more clarifications because we think more than feel more.
As a chaplain giving recollections and talks to our students, I have seen many young people today are over thinkers but not critical thinkers. I always remind them that critical thinking is about comprehension and analysis of data and information gathered. Over thinking is different. It is not of the mind but of the heart because overthinking is lack of trust. It is a vice when we worry a lot – over think – because we lack trust with others and with ourselves. And ultimately with God!
Photo by author, Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 12 July 2023.
The scholar of the law was overthinking when he asked “who is my neighbor?” because for them at that time, their neighbors were just their fellow Jews. Sad to say, until now our society remains stratified into categories of people like ice cream – the old rich and famous as “all-time favorites”, the recent rich and popular as “flavor of the month” and the ordinary folks as “dirty ice cream” or sorbetes cheaply sold in carts pushed usually by old men.
Of course we know everyone is our neighbor or whoever needs us. But the problem with this all-encompassing view is that it leads us to casuistic argumentation, a kind of over thinking like when we start citing exceptions and excuses or alibis. That is why Jesus used the characters of a priest and Levite who were examples of holiness vis-a-vis a Samaritan who was an enemy of the Jews at that time.
The priest and the Levite passed by the victim of robbery to maintain the Jewish purity law of not touching a corpse to perform their tasks and duties in the temple, both were “overthinking” of their rites and rituals than the dying person. Holiness for Jesus is beyond names and titles but more of the heart seeing and feeling the other person like the Samaritan who alone acted out of his good naturedness as a person, even beyond giving first aid to the robbery victim.
From forbes.com, 2019.
Many times we are like the priest and Levite when we come up with many arguments like “do I not have any other obligation” or “does it really fall on me personally” and so on and so forth when confronted in real life with some people so badly injured or in need of attention.
We overthink with what would happen if we personally get involved with somebody in trouble that people these days are more quick in pulling out cellphones to record an accident and mishap instead of doing something to help.
We over think like the lawyer in the gospel, forgetting to feel more of the other person. That is why in answering his question, Jesus threw it back to him him in another form that is more personal and experiential, “Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”
Photo by author, 2019.
St. Therese of the Child Jesus wrote in her journal more than a hundred years ago, “I have understood that true greatness is found not in the name but in the soul.”
Beautiful! If we would just look more into our heart, into our soul, we find Jesus, we find our true self, and we find everyone our neighbor to be loved and respected, cared and understood. This is what Moses is telling us in the first reading that the Lord and his commandment are right there in our hearts.
That is exactly what the scholar of the law felt after hearing the story of the good Samaritan that he forgot all labels and categories, answering Jesus’ question with, “The one who treated him with mercy.” There is no need to justify ourselves, of who we are, or even ask who is our neighbor. Everyone is our neighbor because everyone is a brother and sister in Christ; hence, no need to ask that question at all!
But, there is still something deeper to this. When Jesus ended their conversation with the instruction to “Go and do likewise”, the Lord is telling us this Sunday that whenever we encounter a person in need of help, regardless of who she/he is, let us put ourself in that person’s place for it is them – not us – who shall recognize us whether we acted as neighbor to them, or saw them as neighbor!
Photo by Mr. Chester Ocampo, UST Senior High School Building, 2019.
Recall those moments we were down when those dearest to us abandoned us and of all people, the least we expected were the ones who acted as neighbor to us. It is when we are down and low when we come to recognize our neighbor, not when we are up and able, when we feel proud asking what must I do to gain eternal life.
Stop all these over thinking. Simply remember and find Jesus in every person who is the “image of the invisible God” who “reconciled all things for him”(Col.1:15, 20) for he alone is our truest neighbor always present when needed most. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead, everyone!Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com).
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 11 July 2025 Friday, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot, Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time Genesis 46:1-7, 28-30 <*{{{>< + ><}}}*> Matthew 10:16-23
For those still moving places, changing careers, pursuing new love, hobbies and interests; for those in their senior years embarking on new journeys in life, for those who have finally decided to leave their "comfort zones" to dare live life authentically, let us learn from Jacob, aka, Israel:
Israel set out with all that was his. When he arrived at Beer-sheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. There God, speaking to Israel in a vision by night, called, “Jacob! Jacob!” He answered, “Here I am.” Then he said: “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you a great nation. Not only will I go down with you; I will also bring you back here, after Joseph has closed your eyes.” (Genesis 46:1-4)
Photo by author, Egypt, May 2019.
Thank you, dear God our loving Father in calling us and sending us still to missions despite our age and unworthiness; just be patient with us. Accompany us in this new journey we take in life; be our companion.
Thank you, dear God our loving Father in believing in us, in trusting us after all these years of hiding and running away from you; keep us faithful to your call and direction.
Thank you, dear God most of all for Jesus, in sending him to us who commissioned us to be like "sheep in the midst of wolves"; enlighten our minds and our hearts with your Holy Spirit so we may be "shrewd as serpents and simple as doves" (Matthew 10:16) in this world that values youth and technology, forgetting persons to be loved and cared and cherished like you.
Like St. Benedict who in his old age continued to follow you in new directions in his life and ministry, give us the courage to do the same for your greater glory. Amen.
St. Benedict, Pray for us.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City
VATICAN CITY, VATICAN – MAY 08: Faithful in St. Peter’s Square participate in the first blessing of Pope Leo XIV immediately after the white smoke on May 08, 2025 in Vatican City, Vatican. White smoke was seen over the Vatican early this evening as the Conclave of Cardinals took just two days to elect Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who will be known as Pope Leo (Leone) XIV, as the 267th Supreme Pontiff after the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday. (Photo by Ivan Romano/Getty Images)
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 10 July 2025 Thursday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I Genesis 44:18-21, 23-29; 45:1-5 <*{{{>< + ><}}}*> Matthew 10:7-15
Photo by author, August 2024.
“Come closer to me,” he told his brothers. When they had done so, he said: “I am your brother Joseph, whom you once sold into Egypt. But now do not be distressed, and do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here. It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here ahead of you.” (Genesis 45:4-5)
Dear God our Father:
give me that magnanimity
of Joseph to his brothers,
give me that same kind of
attitude of being better
than bitter with life's many
trials and difficulties caused
by others especially those closest
to us; what a tremendous grace
for Joseph after all those years of
pains of being sold and lost in a far-away
country, he remained faithful to you
and you gifted him the wisdom
to save not just a nation
but the whole region.
Photo by author, Alfonso, Cavite, 2024.
Teach us to be empty always to never carry so many baggages and luggages, so many wealth and extras in life journeys whether they be positive or negative because in life, it is always that attitude of emptiness for you and your plans that matters for us to fulfill your mission, everything else is incomparable to you as our most cherished gift and treasure; for those going through many trials these days especially when the days are dark and rainy, teach us to have fun and celebrate life with much love in you. Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 09 July 2025 Wednesday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I Genesis 41:55-57, 42:5-7, 17-24 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Matthew 10:1-7
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2025.
Praise and glory to you, most loving God our Father in making us so strong beyond our knowing like Joseph in the first reading when he met after so many years his brothers who have sold him into Egypt; I could feel the strong tensions within him, of bursting into tears of joy and sadness, pain and healing when he finally met again his brothers who disowned him and sold him --- Of that lingering feeling within him of being lost, a lost one so sadly lost not due to his but own brothers' making.
When Joseph’s brothers came and knelt down before him with their faces to the ground, he recognized them as soon as he saw them. But Joseph concealed his own identity from them as soon as he saw them and spoke sternly to them. The brothers did not know, of course, that Joseph understood what they said, since he spoke with them through an interpreter. But turning away from them, he wept (Genesis 42:6-7, 23-24).
I pray dear Jesus today for those many children so lost these days after they were given away by their own mother or after their parents have breakup in marriage; fill their emptiness within with your loving presence, Lord, while making them realize human love is always imperfect like our relationships; make them choose to become better not bitter despite their broken homes.
Most especially, I pray for those lost in life - those who have lost their dreams, their faith, their belief in others; help us find them, Jesus and lead them back to you. Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 08 July 2025 Tuesday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I Genesis 32:23-33 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 9:32-38
Photo from wikipedia.org, “Jacob Wrestling with the Angel” by Leon Bonnat (French, d.1922).
Once again, you challenge us O Lord to get closer to you like the readings yesterday; but, this time much, much closer like in wrestling.
Jacob was left there alone. Then some man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. When the man saw saw that he could not prevail over him, he struck Jacob’s hip at its socket, so that the hip socket was wrenched as they wrestled. The man then said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go until you bless me.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be spoken of as Jacob, but as Israel, because you have contended with divine and human beings and have prevailed” (Genesis 32:25-27, 29).
How I love this scene,
God most powerful yet
so loving,
so engaging,
always inviting us to a wrestling
but nobody would dare
not because we are afraid of you
but more because of pride -
we do not want to lose,
we always want to be on top,
always in control
even with you,
O God;
remind us always,
Lord,
that every fight
we have in this life is
already assured of victory in you.
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36).
Like that Angel wrestling with Jacob, you finally wrestle with us in your Son Jesus Christ who became truly human like us; and like your Angel at Peniel, humans prevailed over you, Lord; your heart is always moved with pity, stirred to bow down to us from your immense love and mercy; we are all Jacob, Israel who prevailed over you not because we are stronger but because we believe and rely only on you, Lord.
Let us pick up your fight, Jesus; let us not be proud and be humble to wrestle with you because whether we win or lose our battles in life, we still prevail for after every fight and struggle, we are transformed into a better person in you, O most loving Jesus. Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City
Photo by author, Chapel of St. Francis Xavier, Sacred Heart Novitiate, March 2024.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 07 July 2025
Photo by author.
For the first time in 25 years since daddy’s passing, I did not deliver any homily during his death anniversary Mass in our home last June 17, 2025. My sisters readily agreed when I told them after the gospel proclamation “hindi na ako mag-homily at baka maiyak lang tayo.”
It was the second time we celebrated daddy’s death anniversary after mommy’s passing last May 7, 2024 but, it was only at that time when I truly felt the deeper realities of both parents being gone, of being “ulilang lubos”.
Perhaps that’s because we have been preoccupied for over two decades with mommy’s grief when dad passed away right on her 61st birthday before dawn of June 17, 2000. We were at a loss how to pacify her with such a surreal date for the two most loving couple we have known first hand. During my dad’s wake, we have to warn everybody not to mention anything about mom’s birthday.
From then on, mommy practically stopped celebrating her birthday even when she turned 70, 75, and 80 as we threw small gatherings at home for her siblings and friends but she would always remind us all not to forget it was also daddy’s death anniversary.
That is why I have always dreaded the days approaching June 17 because I felt sad for her. I thought after her death last year, it would be different because we would no longer see mommy sad on her birthday mourning dad’s death. I told myself, “hindi na malulungkot si mommy… hindi na rin kami malulungkot.”
But I was wrong.
Hindi na nga malungkot ang mommy ko ngayon pero ako naman ang malungkot – malungkot na malungkot. Noon ngang araw ng Linggo bago mag-June 17, naalala ko ang mommy at daddy bigla kaya naluha ako sa bahagi ng Ama Namin noong aming Misa sa Dambana.Wala na sila dito. Iyon una ko nadama, ulila na nga kami at saka pa lamang naisip ko magkasama na sila sa buhay na walang hanggan.
Indeed, the pains of losing our loved ones never decrease through time but actually increase. Those pains will remain until we are reunited with them in death and eternity.
There are pains in life meant to remain, that cannot be removed like a hole or a scar in our hearts not to burden nor hurt us but to uplift us actually. These wounds keep us in persevering in love to keep our relationships alive with those left behind after the deaths of our loved ones like parents or children. These wounds enable our hearts to sing of faith, hope and love in God all merciful who would one day unite us all together as one family after our days on this earth. These pains make us see the very thin line separating us from eternity, telling us that life goes on among us even after death. They open our eyes to see beyond, to have visions of the future.
Photo by author, my mom’s kitty bank, 10.5 inches to the tip of ears.
While these things were running through me during our family dinner that night, my brother presented to me mommy’s “kitty bank” which is older than I am, 61 years old. It is one of her most cherished possessions she truly took great care as far as I can remember.
I have been thinking about it recently if it were still around though I never had any interest with it when growing up as a child except that I enjoyed counting the rare coins inside mostly dating back to the American occupation with the usual designs of the US flag and an eagle.
That evening on dad’s 25th death anniversary that could have been mom’s 86th birthday if she were still alive today, I felt a very strong attraction with that “kitty bank” whose face seemed to be speaking to me.
Photo by author, my mom’s kitty bank, circa 1964.
As I held it closer to see its many fissures and tapes following the wear and tear of over 60 years, I saw mommy again, of how she loved us and life so much, especially cats, dogs and fish, and most of all, plants- being a certified tita herself. Our house may be small but mommy lovingly took care of her pets and plants, always talking with them even after having a stroke.
Like the cat with its nine lives, death is never the end but the prelude to new life or, more lives hereafter.
And that is the nobility and giftedness of every mother – even after they are gone, they continue to bring forth and nurture life. God bless everyone… and the cats.
lordmychef.com 