Malachi 3:13-20 ><}}}*> ><}}}*> ><}}}*> Luke 11:5-13
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, September 2019.
Nothing and nobody escapes you, O God. You know very well not only what is in our hearts and in our thoughts but you can also hear what we talk and discuss. Most of all, you know what we need.
Give us the grace to persevere in your words, Lord; to remain faithful in your precepts and promises.
Let us strive to bear pains, ready to sacrifice comforts because there are no shortcuts in this life.
Let us keep in our minds and our hearts that basic truth that “life is difficult”. In this world where everything seems readily available that many have disregarded your presence and even existence, teach us Lord to persevere, to be patient in waiting for your coming to fulfill us, to grant our prayers.
Teach us to value silence more than noise.
To surrender everything to you than be manipulative.
Let us find time to be alone with you and for you than be preoccupied with people and things.
Grant us the Holy Spirit, Lord, to fill us with your love and wisdom to always persevere in life for we hold on to your promise that
“…there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.”
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa at Otap, Carigara, Leyte. September 2019.
O dear God…
How could some people be like Jonah in our first reading today — prayerful and a man of God and yet be so mean not to see the value of every person?
Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry that God did not carry out the evil he threatened against Nineveh. The the Lord said to Jonah, “You are concerned over the plant which cost you no labor and which you did not raise; it came up in one night and in one night it perished. And should I not be concerned over Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot distinguish their right hand from their left, not to mention the many cattle?”
Jonah 4:1, 10-11
Forgive us, Lord, when things like money and gadgets, whims and desires blind our eyes not to see and recognize every person who must be loved and cherished.
Forgive us when there are times we forget all about respect, even civility especially when all we see are the sins and mistakes, weaknesses and shortcomings of people that make us speak ill them, judging them harshly with our words that we forget we never lose dignity and honor because we are all created in your image and likeness, Lord.
Please teach us, Jesus, like your disciples in the gospel today the right attitude of praying which is recognizing the value of every person so we can truly pray and say
“Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come.”
Luke 11:2
It is only when we value persons more than anything else can we truly mean our prayers to you, O Lord and God. Amen.
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa in Carigara, Leyte, September 2019.
Thank you very much, O Lord our God, for this wonderful Tuesday! Thank you for the changing of season with the coming of Amihan’s cool northeasterly winds replacing the warm and humid winds of Habagat.
Please do change also our perception of people around us, especially those we have boxed and stereotyped simply because they are not like us in beliefs, ways, and color.
Help us to believe in everyone’s ability to become better persons, receptive to your words and mercy like the people of Niniveh during the time of Jonas and of Mary, the sister of Martha whom Jesus visited in a village on his way to Jerusalem.
So often, we are like Jonas and Martha, so focused with our very selves that we are the only ones worthy of your love and mercy as if we have been endowed with special blessings and privileges from you.
How sad that we always feel so exclusive instead of being inclusive like you, sending rains to sinners and non-sinners alike.
May we let go of any hint of “self-entitlement” that have kept us apart from each other and worst of all, prevented us from truly being one in you whom we call “Our Father”. Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 07 Oktubre 2019
Larawan ay kuha ni Rdo. P. Gerry Pascual sa Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC, 09 Setyembre 2017 .
Maraming salamat, mahal naming Ina, Birheng Maria sa iyong pagsama sa amin tuwina ngayong inaala-ala iyong himala sa pakikipag-digma ng mga Kastila sa Look ng Lepanto dinarasal iyong Santo Rosario.
Kay sarap namnamin damang-dama namin sa bawat butil ng Rosario pakikiisa mo sa amin upang higit naming sundin butihin mong anak at Panginoon namin na siyang kapanatilihan ng Diyos sa piling amin.
Dahil kay Kristo Hesus na isinilang mo sa amin, Panginoong Diyos naging kapiling namin palaging dumarating maging sa gitna ng mga unos at sigwa nitong karagatan ng buhay namin tumatawag para kami ay sagipin.
Mula sa panganib ng karagatan at latian hanggang sa katihan kailanman ay hindi kami iniwan ni Kristo Hesus na iyong isinilang upang kami ay pangunahan pabalik sa aming tahanan doon sa kalangitan ikaw ngayon nakapisan.
Maraming salamat Mahal naming Ina Birheng Maria nawa amin kang matularan si Hesus ay masundan sa nakakatakot na karagatan at kapanatagan ng kapatagan kanyang mukha sa ami'y mabanaagan kami rin mismo maging misteryo ng iyong Santo Rosario.
Monday, Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, 07 October 2019
Jonah 1:1-2:1-2.11 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 10:25-37
Part of a painting in a church in Seville, Spain depicting the Battle of Lepanto Bay won through the intercession of Our Lady of the Rosary. From Google.
O God our loving Father, as we celebrate the memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, you have assured us again through the readings of today of your abiding love and presence among us.
In the first reading, you remind us how you continue to call us and send us to many missions and tasks in life even if we often doubt and refuse to follow you like Jonas.
Sometimes, we have to wait for the storms to hit us in this sea of life before we can realize that indeed, you are calling us, that you do believe in us to entrust us with specific tasks and mission in life.
Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima, Batanes, 2018.
And yet, in the many turbulence in this sea of life we are into, you never fail to save us and assure us of your love and mercy like at the Battle of Lepanto Bay in 1571 when the Holy League of Christians crushed the much feared and powerful navy of the Ottoman Turks.
Thank you in giving us the Blessed Virgin Mary as our Mother too to calm our many fears while in the high seas of life.
On the other hand, you dare to challenge us dear God to find you and share you among the most needy of this long and perilous road of life in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
From Google.
So often, we refuse to leave the security and comfort of our lives than cross the road to reach out to those in the margins left to die in sickness, hunger, and pain- alone.
Through the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ, may our eyes be opened, our faith be deepened to find and serve you Lord and Master in the storms of the high seas and in the security of the roads ahead us. Amen.
I was a newly ordained priest assigned to an all-boys’ high school in 1998.
People were looking up to me as a priest or a “man of the cloth” but my students and the younger generation counted me in as “one of them” when they learned my favorite bands at that time were the Eraserheads, Sugar Ray, and New Radicals. And like this blog, I would spice up my homilies in the Mass and reflections in class and recollections with modern music so our students could make “sakay” (ride) with God’s words and lessons from the Bible.
Just like our featured song on this lovely Sunday by the New Radicals released in 1999 from the only album they have released a year earlier called “Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too”, “Someday We’ll Know” is a song about love at the beginning was thought to be so perfect that later ended up in separation.
Two years after their split, the man was still wondering what happened to their seemingly perfect love, at why he was dumped for another guy by his beloved.
And the bittersweet part is the that the man in the song is wondering not out of desperation but because he still loved the woman, believing and hoping that…
Someday we’ll know Why Sampson loved Delilah One day I’ll go Dancing on the moon Someday you’ll know That I was the one for you I bought a ticket to the end of the rainbow I watched the stars crash into the sea If I could ask God just one question Why aren’t you here with me
Faith and love always go together. People who truly love are the most faithful!
In the gospel today, the Apostles asked Jesus Chris to increase their faith upon learning from him the many trials they have to go through in fulfilling their mission from him.
Sometimes in life when things do not go according to our plans, when bad things happen to us despite our efforts to become better persons, we cry out to God in pain, even complain at all the destruction and disorder we go through in life.
And every time we pray to cry out to God in pain or complain, it is a sign of grace that he is within us. Prayer is an ability we can only do with grace from God; that is why, when we pray, our prayers are already half answered because prayer is definite sign of God being with us.
When things are not going well with you now, have faith in God.
Keep praying, keep believing, keep trusting God because someday we’ll know….
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe, Week XXVII-C, 06 October 2019
Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4 ><)))*> 2 Timothy 1:6-8 ><)))*> Luke 17:5-10
This “screen grab” is the accompanying photo to a post of a very good friend expressing his doubts and frustrations about his efforts in deepening the faith of their students at Dr. Yanga’s Colleges in Bocaue, Bulacan.
Oh, yes! That is one of the most innovative schools in the country you must have heard winning top honors for the country in almost every international robotics competition these past ten years or more.
And the very good news is how its president, Sir Michael Yanga, credits all the fruits and successes of their school to their strong emphasis on faith and values formation of students and faculty despite their being non-sectarian. Every year they celebrate a “God-centered Week” while every Monday, Sir Michael holds deepening sessions of the gospel with their students. Below is his post that struck me so much after he felt low last week when God uplifted his spirit with that photo he received.
Of course, I “loved” the post and commented, “this is God writing on your student’s palm, Mike, using you as his pen and ink.”
The following Thursday, I used his post for my homily and blog.
And I am using it again today because it is more than a homily but a gospel– a “good news” so good that must be shared with everyone especially those feeling weak and tired, even doubtful in their faith in Jesus Christ like the Twelve.
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
Luke 15:5-6
Photo of a flower of the mustard plant in Israel during our 2017 pilgrimage.
After narrating the parable of the rich man and Lazarus last Sunday, Jesus continues teaching his apostles about the demands of discipleship, foremost of which is the need for a firm faith at the start of St. Luke’s 17th chapter.
In four verses, the Lord warned the Twelve of the many temptations to sin they would face as they followed him. Without mincing any words, Jesus harshly told them how it would be better for any one of them to be tied with a millstone around his neck and be thrown into the sea than to cause others to sin. He also admonished them to rebuke those who sin but asked them to be forgiving to those who repent even if they repeatedly commit sin.
This is the context of our gospel today which is also directed to us that surely like the apostles, we would would have reacted to Jesus with the same request, “increase our faith, Lord” for it is so difficult to be good with all the tensions and complexities of life these days. We might even complain to him like the Prophet Habakkuk in the first reading in exasperation with all the evils going on as we strive to remain firm in our faith in God!
How long, O Lord? I cry for help but you do not listen! I cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not intervene. Why do you let me see ruin; why must I look at misery? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and clamorous discord.
Habakkuk 1:2-3
God never takes it as sin on our part when we complain to him like Habakkuk or when we ask him why bad things happen to us despite our efforts to faithfully follow his commandments. God knows very well and understands our cries within as prayers and expressions of our deep faith in him!
Sometimes, God allows us to hit rock bottom to make us stronger in our faith so we would love him more and trust him more. See how when we are so down and feeling weak when God would suddenly come to our rescue at the “nick of time”, sending us someone or something to remind us of his presence and fidelity like the Facebook post my friend received to assure him his talks are bearing fruit, that in fact, he likes them very much!
This is the reason why in explaining his teaching about the powers of faith, Jesus narrated this parable about “unprofitable servants”. In some older translations, the word used was “useless” that sounds so harsh and insulting. But, when seen with the eyes of faith, it is something so beautiful because our faithfulness as servants of God is a grace in itself he gives us so that we can do everything for him!
Whenever we are able to continue with our mission against all odds, with much difficulties even with pains, it is pure grace from God as our hearts are purified and made clean that enable us to see him in love as we reflected last Sunday in the attitude of Lazarus. And whenever there is grace and gift from God, there is always joy like the servants who have done what they are obliged to do.
“Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’? Would he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat…’? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’ ”
Luke 17:7-8, 9-10
Desolation is always a prelude to consolation.
Photo by Chester Ocampo, ICS Chapel, 2015.
Whenever we cry to God with our doubts and complaints at how things are going as we fulfill our mission to him, we actually express our faith and love in him. Rejoice because that is all due to him who is within us, reassuring us of his reliability and help in everything. Let us heed St. Paul’s call through Timothy to “stir into flame the gift of God” we have within us (2 Tim. 1:6) through prayers and constant struggle with our faith.
When things get difficult for us, when trials threaten to overwhelm us, look into Christ crucified who cried to the Father with “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Mt.26:47) before he died. Jesus was there first to suffer and die for us before our sufferings came. May we have that faith in him to rise to new life again. Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 04 Oktubre 2019
Mula sa Be Like Francis Page sa Facebook.
Minsan daw ay nagimbal kaibigang Kardinal ni San Francicso na banal nang kanyang malaman dukha nilang pamumuhay na sa kanyang palagay labis na kahirapan hindi naman dapat nilang pagdaanan.
Katuwirang ipinaliwanag ni San Francisco kay Kardinal Hugolino kay gandang pagnilayan sa malalim nitong kahulugan: "kung tayo'y maraming kayamanan," aniya ng ating banal "kakailangan din natin mga sandata upang mga ito'y ipaglaban at pangalagaan."
Sa kanyang isipan at banal na kalooban, ang pag-ibig ay namamatay kapag tao'y nagkamal maraming ari-arian; hanapin kanyang paliwanag kung masasagot kanyang mga katanungan na tila bugtong di lamang sa isipan kungdi pati na rin sa puso at kalooban:
"Mapagnanakawan mo ba na tao na walang ano man? Maari mo bang gutumin ang nag-aayuno? Mayroon ka bang sisirain sa taong namumuhi sa parangal at pagkilala? Ano nga ba magagawa sa taong aba at dukha?"
Para kay San Francisco ang mga dukha ang tunay na malaya kayang ipaubaya lahat pati sarili sa Bathala upang makagawa ng kabutihan sa kapwa na siyang simula ng ating kapatiran at ugnayan pati sa kalikasan.
Mula sa Reuters.
Sa ating panahon ngayon karukhaan ay pinag-uusapan batay sa kawalan ng ari-arian na kabaligtaran ng kung ano mayroon ang mayayaman na kadalasan mga bagay nabibilang at nabibili gaya ng kapangyarihan.
Ngunit kung ating pagninilayan ano mang mayroon ang mayaman ay wala pa rin o "NOTHING" kung Inglesin natin dahil ang higit na mahahalaga ay hindi nakikita ni nabibili o nabibilang gaya ng pera at iba pang kayamanan.
Gayun din naman hindi masasabi ng sino man na siya ay dukha at "walang wala" ika nga dahil kung tutuusin natin ang lahat ay palaging mayroon pa rin o "SOMETHING" kung Inglesin din natin.
Harinawa'y mapagtanto natin sa pagdiriwang ng kapistahan ni San Francisco na butihin ito mismong buhay natin ay dakilang kayamanan na dapat ipagpasalamat natin sa karukhaan ng loobing maialay gaya ng Panginoon Hesus natin.
Ang Krus ng kapilya ng San Damiano na isinaayos ni San Francisco batay sa tinig na kanyang narinig habang nananalangin doon.
Friday, Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, 04 October 2019
Baruch 1:15-22 ><)))*> 0 <*(((>< Luke 10:13-16
One of the scenes from Benozzo Gozzoli’s series of frescoes from the life of St. Francis (1450) that captures the saint’s “Sermon to the Birds” and the dedication of his basilica at Assisi. Photo from Google.
Praise and glory to you, Lord God our loving Father for this week about to close with the celebration of another great saint, Francis of Assisi.
Two things I wish to thank you in giving us St. Francis of Assisi.
First is his total dedication in listening to you alone.
St. Francis accomplished so much for you and had so much impact not only to the Church but for the whole world until now because he intently listened to your voice, to your calls, and to your instructions.
It does not really matter if he got your words literally or figuratively speaking like when he was praying inside San Damiano chapel and heard your voice saying, “Go, Francis, and repair my house, which you see, is falling into ruins.”
Or, when St. Francis finally found his vocation in life after listening to Matthew 10:9 in the Mass and felt you Jesus speaking directly to him to go preach the kingdom of God without extra clothes and money that right after that, he threw everything away to preach penance, brotherly love, and peace.
How ironic that in this world of modern means of communications, the more we have become fragmented than ever because we have lost the values of silence, prayer and listening to self, others, and you, O Lord.
Jesus said to them, “Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
Luke 10:16
Teach us, dear Jesus to be poor and empty like St. Francis so we may always open our ears and our hearts to seek your voice, to listen to your words, and most of all, to follow your will.
From Be Like Francis at Facebook.
Second thing I am so grateful with you Lord in giving us St. Francis is his deep sense of gratitude to you that he was able to see our universal brotherhood in you God our Father.
Did he really preach to hundreds of birds and told them to be thankful to you dear God for their freedom and for your care to them? I believe it must be true because where there is gratitude, there comes peace and serenity that attract than dispel people and animals alike.
Teach us to be grateful with whatever we have, Lord because the moment we learn to thank you and anyone here on earth, then we we realize our being one. In his gratitude for your wonderful gifts to him, St. Francis not only embraced you Jesus on the Cross but also saw everyone as family with brother Sun and sister Moon, brother Wind and sister Water. And even cousin Death.
Again, O Lord, in this age of affluence, the more we feel empty and lacking as we tend to acquire more of material things. Teach us to repent for our sins like St. Francis and Baruch in the first reading, to acknowledge everything we have including our sins.
It is only in being thankful that we are able to realize who truly reigns in us like St. Francis. Amen.
Our loving Father, today I pray to you for more understanding of your words like the first reading.
Twice successively Nehemiah told us how
Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly which consisted of men, women, and those children old enough to understand.
Nehemiah 8:2, 3
Then, a few more verses, your prophet tells us
Ezra reads plainly from the book of the law of God, interpreting it so that all could understand what was read.
Nehemiah 8:8
Until, finally, Nehemiah concludes today’s reading with a solemn pronouncement:
Then all the people went to eat and drink, to distribute portions, and to celebrate with great joy, for they understood the words that had been expounded to them.
Nehemiah 8:12
Dearest God, I pray for all who read and pray our blog each day. I pray that they may understand your words.
Most especially, I pray for us priests and lay preachers to always read, study, and pray your words.
Let us be the first to understand your words by praying that you, being the “harvest-master”, to send more laborers for your harvest.
Most of all, to truly understand your words, O God, let us be emptied of ourselves so we may only be focused on Jesus Christ, the word who became flesh. He alone is the one we must preach and share in word and in deed. Amen.
