1 Samuel 1:9-20 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Mark 1:21-28
Inside our church from the altar table. Photo by author, November 2019.
Hanna replied to Eli, “Think kindly of your maidservant,” and she left..
1 Samuel 1:18
While praying over your words, O Lord, of that scene at the temple when Eli mistook Hannah to being drunk while praying intensely to you for a child, it reminded me of Taal Volcano’s restive behavior, of her spewing ashes and causing tremors.
But despite all these, Taal remains lovely and magnificent.
Sometimes, Lord, that is what exactly we need in life: to think kindly of others always.
The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
Mark 1:22, 27
Purify our thoughts, Lord, to always think kindly of others.
To always have that disposition for silence and being non-judgmental with others to always listen to them and be open to their thoughts and feelings as well.
Like you, Lord Jesus Christ, enable us to share in the power of your words, to speak with authority by entering into that daily union with you in silence and prayers.
May we learn also from the gentle Taal: to be still and silent, to speak only when necessary so that everyone listens intently to her inner rumblings when she finally “speaks”.
We continue to pray for those severely affected by Taal’s eruptions, most especially that they may remain kind with people and nature alike in this trying moments of a major calamity.
We pray for businessmen to have a heart, to think kindly of those affected by Taal’s eruptions and stop jacking up prices of much needed goods. Amen.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, 13 January 2020
Photo by my high school seminary friend, Mr. Chester Ocampo, taken at the UST Senior High where he teaches art (2019).
Life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone..
John Mellencamp, “Jack & Diane” (1982)
Maybe this is part of getting old, of maturing. Of learning to grapple with life’s mortal realities and still be excited with living. It is a grace that is both fulfilling but also deeply moving and often, chilling.
An uncle and a friend have commented to me in our recent chats how 2020 had come in hard and difficult with so many sickness and deaths in the family.
Some relatives have to fly to Singapore on New Year’s Day to support a cousin whose husband had an office accident that left him in comatose for five days following a brain surgery. He eventually died and had to be cremated a few days later.
December 11 I had to drive to Manila to visit and anoint the father of my best friend from high school seminary who arrived December 2 from the States, fell ill December 4, and had to spen Christmas and New year in the hospital.
Less than 24 hours after being discharged January 3, he died the following morning after talking with my friend based in Chicago, three days short before eldest daughter arrived to accompany him and wife back to New Jersey this week.
Meanwhile last January 2, I had to rush again this time to Quezon City for the wake of our high school seminary classmate Rommel who had died of multiple complications morning of December 31.
He is the third to “rest in peace” in our batch of 18 men who graduated the minor seminary in 1982. We last saw him in our reunion, September 9, 1990 (9-9-90).
Suddenly, I felt myself in some kind of a time warp when everything seemed to be not too long ago, as if we have just graduated recently, or that my dad and their dads have just passed away one after the other these past months.
Death can sometimes be magical when life is lived in love
I realized that when we have so much love for everyone like relatives and friends, including parishioners in the last eight years, time stands still after their deaths. You do not count the days and weeks and months and years you were together and when they have all gone.
They all seem to be still present because you are focused on how those departed have enriched your very life, your very person no matter how fleeting or long ago you were together.
Death can sometimes be magical, most of all grace-filled, when our lives are lived in love.
Life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone…
John Mellencamp, “Jack & Diane” (1982)
Photo by author, our sacristy 2019.
Memories and knowledge fade, but love remains
Finally I had the chance to visit my mom – for Christmas! – evening of January 6. It was so good that just before leaving, a cousin arrived with his family to visit also my mother who is the younger sister of his mother, my Tita Celia.
It was only at that evening we have finally confirmed that Tita Celia has Alzheimer’s, the reason why her ways and attitudes have been noticeably erratic in 2019 as she was slowly losing grip of her senses.
And now, it is almost all gone according to my cousin whose sadness I strongly felt as he narrated to me the deterioration of his mother, of forgetting and losing so many things, of not recognizing familiar people like relatives and friends.
That same night, we also learned from him how our moms’ younger brother seem to be having signs of the onset of Alzheimer’s disease that are very similar with Tita Celia.
Again, I found myself in a “time warp” while they were happily conversing I was silently trying to recall the last time I have seen my mother’s siblings now afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, wondering if they will still recognize me if I visit them later.
Moreover, I also realized how afraid I am with the prospects of getting sick in old age than of dying, sooner or later!
In fact, I was so scared that I had a nightmare that same night: in my dream I found myself lost, apparently with Alzheimer’s as I was searching for my parish rectory, looking for my bedroom, asking people about my parish staff, crying like a child.
What a relief when I woke up Tuesday morning that it was just a dream, that I was in fact in my bed, inside my room, in my parish rectory, so alive and still whole!
It seems it is easier to think and accept of one’s death than of getting sick and incapacitated later in old age. It is something we have to slowly come to terms with while still younger and stronger, and perhaps wiser.
How?
As I recalled our conversations with my cousin Louie that Monday night at home, I was amazed at his great love for his mother, Tita Celia. I remembered how he would always have pasalubong for his mother even upon coming home from school!
Maybe that is why even she had forgotten most of us her relatives, she always remembers Louie her son because he is the one who has truly loved her next to the late Tito Memo, her husband. The same is true with others taking care of their old parents afflicted with Alzheimer’s: they are recognized and remembered because they love.
Our memories and knowledge may be erased but the love we have in our hearts, the love we have experienced always remain even if everything has failed in life. That is why St. Paul declared that “love is the greatest of all gifts of God”.
Life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone…
John Mellencamp, “Jack & Diane” (1982)
With my former students at the Cubao Cathedral after the wedding of their classmate. I felt so proud, and old, that afternoon seeing them all with their career and family, of how they have maintained their friendships all these years like brothers, of they love one another. Photo by Peter dela Cruz, one in blue.
To live is to love
December 2019 and January 2020 are perhaps my most “marrying months” in my 21 years of priesthood.
Aside from the weddings of friends and students I have officiated these past two months, three more are coming next month of February.
Again, as I saw friends and especially former students getting married, I could not believe at how fast time had passed.
Should I really be surprised when I find out my former students already in their early 30’s, some with families of their own and children whom they instruct to kiss my hand, calling me Lolo Fr. Nick?
It was a very “existential” experience that they are already old, and most of all, I am really that old after all!
Maybe that is what my married friends are telling me of the joy of fatherhood, of having your kids getting married, of having grandchildren, of the inner satisfaction that you have brought life to fruition.
That you have truly loved and now being loved.
It is perhaps the joy of getting old, of maturing, of dying or even forgetting everything when afflicted later with Alzheimer’s that you start to fade from the scene and hand over the stage to the next generation, thinking that life will still go on after us because you have loved much.
What really matters in the end is how we have lived and loved the people around us, of how we have enriched each other’s lives so that as the young ones discover life’s meaning in love, we who are older find life’s fulfillment still in the love from the relationships we keep.
Here’s a hill-billy rock music about love to drive your Monday’s blues away.
Monday, Week 1, Year 2 of Ordinary Time, 13 January 2019
1 Samuel 1:1-8 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Mark 1:14-20
Photo by the author, Taal Lake, July 2019.
Almighty God and Father, we implore your love and mercy today as we start the Ordinary Time to help us find the more essential things of life this 2020.
May the eruption of Taal Volcano yesterday remind us of the need to seek always the meaning of life which is more important than anything else because everything is passing.
How wonderful it is to recall from today’s gospel how your Son Jesus Christ had called his first four apostles at the shores of the Lake of Galilee, something very similar with the setting of Taal Lake and Volcano.
At this trying time of a major calamity, may we also hear his voice, follow his call to be his disciples and find the true meaning of life in you as we pray for the safety of all people affected by Taal Volcano’s eruption. Amen.
“Bridge Over Troubled Water” is a song by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel released in January 1970, 50 years ago today as a follow up single to their other hit classic “The Boxer”.
The following year 1971, it won five awards at the 13th Annual Grammy Awards including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
Ranked number 48 in Rolling Stones’ 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, Bridge Over Troubled Water became Simon & Garfunkel’s biggest hit single, considered as their signature song covered by more than 50 artists making it also as the most performed songs of the 20th century.
No wonder with its beautiful poetry composed by Paul Simon set in a soothing melody with a touch of gospel music that continues to touch so many lives to this day.
And that is why we have chosen it to be our Sunday Music to accompany our reflections on today’s Feast of the Baptism of Jesus Christ that closes the Christmas Season.
From Google.
When Jesus became human being born as a child in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago, he became our Bridge both par excellence and non pareil.
In coming down to us, he became one of us truly human in everything except sin so that we can become like him who is divine and holy. In his Passion, Death, and Resurrection we have partaken through the Sacrament of Baptism, we have all become sons and daughters of the Father in heaven through him in the Holy Spirit.
Hence, every morning that we wake up, whether we are filled with joy and anticipation or saddled with pains and anxieties for the new day due to past failures, Jesus joins us in all of our dealings and tasks of each brand new day.
When you’re weary, feeling small When tears are in your eyes, I’ll dry them all (all) I’m on your side, oh, when times get rough And friends just can’t be found Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down
When you’re down and out When you’re on the street When evening falls so hard I will comfort you (ooo) I’ll take your part, oh, when darkness comes And pain is all around Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down
From Google.
No matter what you are going through today, as you strive to be good, to be loving and caring with others even if they do not reciprocate all your love and concern, when your loved ones are oblivious to your sacrifices for them, keep doing good for the Father is so well pleased with you like Jesus Christ, our Bridge over troubled water.
Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7 ><}}}*> Acts 10:34-38 ><}}}*> Matthew 3:13-17
From Google.
Today is our “holy birthday” as children of God, the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus. That explains the sprinkling of Holy Water at the start of our Mass to remind us of continuing the Christmas story the whole year through as sons and daughters of God.
With this feast, we close the Christmas Season by celebrating the great mystery of Christ’s Nativity when he became human like us so that we can become divine like him as children of the Father in heaven.
Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you and yet you are coming to me?” Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him. After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Matthew 3:13-17
We are the children of God
Sunrise at Atok, Benguet. Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte, September 2019.
Every morning when we wake up, the same thing happens with us with Jesus at Jordan: as we arise whether filled with joy or saddled with so many pains and worries from the previous day or night, Christ joins us in every brand new day as his brother and sister in the Father.
Despite all our anxieties and fears with every new day of work and school, the heavens open and the Holy Spirit comes down to us with our Father in heaven declaring to all his creation, “This is my beloved child, with whom I am well pleased.”
That is the mystery of Christmas we must celebrate daily when Jesus became human like us in everything except sin. In Baptism, we have become sons and daughters of the Father in his Son Jesus Christ our Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit.
That coming down of Jesus to John to be baptized in Jordan is the message of Christmas, of how God became human like us to be one with us in our dirt and stain so he may cleanse us in his Passion and Death in order to share in the glory of his Resurrection .
That is why Christmas is a continuing story we have to keep on telling and sharing with our life of holiness with others.
As children of God, we are called to holiness
Please don’t be scared with the call to “holiness”, my dear reader and follower.
Holiness is not being sinless.
Holiness is being filled with God.
Holiness is following Jesus who calls us to be holy like the Father in heaven with all of our imperfections and sinfulness.
Morning in our Parish. Photo by author, 2019.
So many times in our lives, as we strive to lead holy lives by being good individuals, we also feel so tired and exhausted that we question or wonder if we are still doing the right things in life especially when we try to be faithful to God and with others.
There are times we just cry and suffer in silence in order not to hurt with our words and actions those people dearest to us who are oblivious or even do not care at all to the pains and difficulties they cause us.
Like a slave driver boss, demanding and exacting parents, a perfectionist husband or wife or partner, a naive sibling.
It is very difficult to be holy, to be like Jesus who is so loving and merciful, kind and understanding.
And that is why he chose to come to us, to be with us, to help us, to assure us that “the Father is so well pleased with us”!
Flowers at our Altar, Epiphany Sunday 2020. Photo by author.
God is well pleased with us
Three things I wish to share with you this lovely Sunday, especially for some of us feeling tired and exhausted this early with our many tasks and responsibilities at home, the school, the office, and even the church and community.
First is get it done. We all have roles to play in life. Remain faithful and stay focused with the mission not with the person. Yes, it is easier said than done but like Jesus instructing John for his baptism, he said, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Mt.3:15). It must have been so difficult for John to baptize Jesus the Son of God but the Lord told him anyway, get it done! And just as John did his role, everything happened according to God’s plan.
Second is give others the chance to do the will of God. Sometimes many of us have that “messianic complex” as if we are the saviour of the world. No! That is Jesus alone and he has tasked all us with specific roles in doing his mission. Let others do their part. Stop monopolizing all good deeds because when there is a monopoly of holiness, certainly there is already a pervading evil. Jesus as the Christ is the definitely the holy one but he told John to baptize him and he in turn “allowed” the baptism to take place.
Third is do whatever is good. Always. That’s what Jesus told John, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Mt.3:15). Doing what is righteous is doing what is good, what is holy, what is just. But, it is not that easy. I know.
“Minsan nakakapikon na magpakabuti lalo na kapag tila walang pakialam yung mga ginagawan mo ng kabutihan.”
We have felt so many times that being good, doing what is right can take its toll. We always wonder “when is enough really enough” with people who have made it their way of life of hurting us, of stressing us, of being pain in the ass.
We want to scream, to spill the beans, to unmask them to reveal them as fakes and hypocrites!
But, don’t!
Do not be like them.
Be good like Jesus, the one prophesied by Isaiah in the first reading.
Thus says the Lord: Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations, not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench…
Isaiah 42:1-3
Baby Jesus on a bed of white roses in our Sanctuary area, Epiphany 2020. Photo by author.
In the second reading, we heard St. Peter preaching after the Pentecost of how “Jesus went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him” (Acts 10:38).
Whatever difficulty you are going through at this very moment, you are still God’s beloved child with whom he is well pleased. God is always with you. Continue the beautiful Christmas story with your life of loving service, even to people who hurt you.
1 John 5:5-13 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 5:12-16
Flowers at our Altar, Epiphany Sunday 2020. Photo by author.
Dearest Jesus Christ:
Today we pray for those losing hope in life, for those about to give up living because they are saddled with so many problems and sufferings.
And most especially with sins and guilt feelings as carryover of the troublesome 2019.
We pray for those who cannot move on with their lives due to so many heartaches and losses and wrongs last year that they see themselves so dirty like the leper in the gospel today, refusing to aspire to become better, refusing to dream again of good things in you.
It happened that there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”
Luke 5:12
“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean…
Forgive us Lord when sometimes we seem so hopeless.
“Kung ibig ninyo… kung ano po ang gusto ninyo… bahala na po kayo.”
Flowers at our Altar, Epiphany 2020. Photo by author.
Help us remember St. John’s reminder in the first reading that you, O sweet Jesus, is our life because you are the only one to whom “there are three who testify, the Spirit, the water, and the Blood”(1 Jn. 5:7-8) that refer respectively to your divine nature, human nature, and death on the cross.
You are the only one, Lord Jesus, who has overcome death because you are indeed Life itself!
Thank you very much for always willing the best for us and may we reclaim your wonderful gift of life to us daily. Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-09 ng Enero 2020
Hindi pa tapos ang Pasko ngunit iyo na bang napagtanto ano hanap o nais mo sa bagong taong ito?
Tayong lahat ay katulad ng mga Pantas o Mago na naghanap sa Kristo nang sumilang ito noong Pasko.
At iyon ang tunay na karunungan hanapin sa kaitaasan ang kalaliman nitong buhay na sa Diyos lamang matatagpuan.
Mula sa Silangan tinuturing silang puno ng karunungan kalangitan ay palaging tinitingnan ng mga palatandaan sa buhay nagpapayaman.
Kaya kung mga Pantas tutularan tatlong bagay ating kailangan upang tala ay masundan at si Kristo ay matagpuan:
Una'y huwag matakot sa mga kadiliman ng buhay sapagkat mga bituin ay maningning kapag kalangita'y balot sa dilim.
Sa bawat kadiliman ng buhay may pagkakataong binibigay upang makapagdasal at magnilay makagamay direksiyon ng patutunguhan.
Sa pananalangin dinadalisay puso at kalooban upang sarili maialay kapalit ng minimithing makakamit magpapayaman sa katauhan.
Ganito ang takbo nitong ating buhay ano man iyong gusto at hanap hindi basta nakakamit dapat magsumakit.
Ngayon pa lamang sa epipanya ng Panginoon landas ng kanyang kalbaryo at krus agad nang matatagpuan sa siya ring landas na sinundan ng mga Pantas ng Silangan!
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, 09 January 2020
Thursday after Epiphany, Traslacion of Black Nazarene at Quiapo
1 John 4:19-5:4 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 4:14-22
Photo from MyPilipinas.com
Praise and glory to you, O Lord Jesus Christ! Every year on this date as we continue to celebrate Christmastime, you bless us with a unique Epiphany at the Traslacion of the Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno in Quiapo, Manila.
Many cannot understand the immense power of your image as the “Nazarene” as the gospel today tells us how you came home to Nazareth, your origin.
More than indicating to us your origin at Nazareth, the only place in the New Testament never mentioned in the Old Testament, your being called a Nazarene according to Matthew and Isaiah reveals to us your very essence as the “nezer” or the “shoot from the stump of Jesse” (Is.11:1), the new beginning of life here on earth with your coming as our Saviour from sins. You O Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise in the Old, of the coming of the Emmanuel born by a Virgin.
The millions of people who flock to your annual Traslacion can never be wrong, Lord, in having experienced your manifestation or epiphany with them when they were so burdened with so much sufferings in life.
A debilitating disease maybe or serious sickness of loved ones.
Utter darkness and despair before hopeless situations.
Or a crushing defeat and failure in life.
You were there, Lord Jesus the Nazarene helping us all with our heavy crosses in life.
Help us to continue to love you, to love your Cross, and most of all, to love our neighbors so we may truly imitate you as Jesus the Nazarene by keeping your laws. Indeed, all these devotions are nothing without love that always entails pains and sufferings.
For the love of God is this, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world. And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.
1 John 5:3-4
Help us, Lord Jesus, to carry our Cross and follow you always faithfully and lovingly. Amen.
Nuestro Señor Padre Jesus Nazareno, have mercy on us!
Wednesday after Epiphany of the Lord, 08 January 2019
1 John 4:11-18 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Mark 6:45-52
Flowers at our Altar, 05 January 2020. Photo by author.
We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.
1 John 4:16-18
How true are the words and reflection of your beloved disciple, Lord Jesus Christ! Indeed, when there is fear, that is when we refuse to love or at least fail to love.
When we are afraid of losing honor and losing possessions, when we are afraid of being disadvantaged and being out of the limelight, when we are afraid of being forgotten and unrecognized… those are the moments we fail to love because we cannot let go of our self, of our ego.
Teach us, Jesus, to take into our hearts your manifestations of your presence and power, of your love and concern for us so that our fears of being forsaken may be lessened.
Give us the grace to face our fears especially in moments of darkness and trials when we act like your disciples who cannot recognize your coming by walking on water at the middle of a storm at the sea.
Refresh our memories, Jesus, to recall those many moments you have come to our rescue to save us from so many problems and situations in the past so we may now completely trust you and give you our very selves in loving service.
Help us to let go and let God by dying to ourselves. Amen.
Tuesday After Epiphany of the Lord, 07 January 2020
1 John 4:7-10 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Mark 6:34-44
Baby Jesus near our ambo, Christmas 2019. Photo by author.
Praise and thanksgiving to you, O Lord Jesus Christ in coming to us, in becoming human like us that we have experienced and realized deeply all about love.
Christmas itself can be spelled as L-O-V-E.
It is your birthday yet you were the one who gave us yourself as both “the gift and the giver” according to the great Karl Rahner, SJ. Most of all, even it is your birthday we celebrate, we are still the ones receiving gifts at Christmas!
In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent us his son as expiation for our sins.
1 John 4:7-10
In our gospel today, Lord Jesus, you have shown us that your being “love” is your very person because love is being with others, a gift of presence, of staying and remaining with the people.
Love, dear Jesus, is exactly what you did in the feeding of the more than 5000 people in the wilderness when you blessed, broke and gave the little bread you have with the people.
At our sacristy, December 2019.
Love, dear Jesus, is exactly what you did in the feeding of the more than 5000 people in the wilderness when you divided the two pieces of fish to be shared with the crowd there in the wilderness.
And still, Lord Jesus, after feeding them, love is still being the one to pick up the pieces of leftovers to be kept by the 12 among themselves.
You are love, dearest Jesus because your very person is love, a giving of self to others.
