Chapel of San Padre Pio at San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago, 2017.
Praise and glory to you, O Lord our God and almighty Father! You never cease to amaze us, doing great marvels for us your people. Despite our sins, you always make yourself present among us in so many ways.
In the first reading from Ezra, you have used the pagan king of Persia, Cyrus, to be the instrument in fulfilling your promise to Israel to bring them back home from their Babylonian exile.
In our modern time, you have sent us San Padre Pio to prove and show to us that worrying is useless in this age when we believe and rely more with science and technology than with you, a loving and personal God who had come to us in Jesus Christ.
Teach us to be like San Padre Pio to “pray, hope and not worry” by embracing Christ crucified, by bearing all the pains and sufferings in love contrary to the ways of the world seeking power, wealth, fame, and pleasures.
From Google.
May we befriend silence and prayer than the noise of the world; may we persevere in patiently waiting for you than be in the foolish “rat race” with no winner at all; and, may we believe in things we cannot see with our eyes contrary the modern dictum to see is to believe.
Give us the courage of San Padre Pio to bring out your light, Lord, especially at this time when people claiming to be liberal and progressive are calling for so many rights that are outrightly wrong, destroying the human person, family, and society.
May our hands bear the wounds of your crucifixion, Lord Jesus, like San Padre Pio in praying to you and serving you through those most in need. Amen.
They always reveal something about us. Medical doctors say our hands’ texture and color indicate our health condition. Psychics always read our palms to see our past, present and future. And every suitor always asks for the hand of his beloved for marriage.
In fact, it is always fascinating to observe the hands of a man courting a woman. See how he would always hide his hands inside his pockets or at his back as he puts his best foot forward to impress the lady he is courting. If he wins her heart, they get engaged and that is when they keep on holding each other’s hands until they get married.
There are a lot great beauty and profundity in our human hands that always come in handy for daily living!
“It is my wish, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument.”
1 Timothy 2:8
I love St. Paul’s expression of men praying “lifting up holy hands” which is the sum or integration of prayer and action. Very picturesque, showing us how we must conduct ourselves with God and one another by living in peace and harmony as brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. That is why today until next Sunday, our gospel from St. Luke would be challenging us on how authentic our life is as seen from last week’s parable when we experienced God as a loving Father embracing us despite our sins.
This Sunday, the Lord is asking us, “what’s in our hands”?
What are we holding on, literally and figuratively speaking?
Whatever our hands touch and hold are always linked with our whole selves. They cannot be separated from our body for our hands extend us to other people and even with things. Our hands reveal the balance or imbalance within us, the truth and lies we hold on deep inside us.
Photo by Jim Marpa in Carigara, September 2019.
“No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Luke 16:13
In our gospel today, Jesus is not asking us to “dirty our hands” with sin. What he wants us to realize from his parable is to be like the wise steward or “hired hand” who used all his resources and intelligence in securing a sound future by doing something finally good to those he had cheated.
Like that hired hand, what are the main concerns of our hands? Do we use our hands for good or for evil? Would we dare to use our hands extensively to achieve eternal life by entering through the “narrow door” Jesus told us last month by keeping our hands busy in doing good, serving the poor and needy?
Our hands are a blessing from God, including the fruits of its labor.
How unfortunate that like during the time of the prophet Amos whom we have heard in the first reading today, we use these very blessings from God to curse and trample others especially the poor and the weak. How ironic and sad that the very hands we use to care for others are the very same hands that beat and even kill others perfectly expressed in the term “blood in one’s hands”. Worst of all, the very hands that pray to God are the same hands that hurt others!
Betania Tagaytay, August 2017.
The late Jaime Cardinal Sin of Manila used to narrate a short story about the gracious hands of God. He said that most of the time, the hands of God caress us, pat our shoulders and even soothe us whenever we are in pain. But, sometimes, the hands of God tap us, even “spank” us when things do not seem to favor us. What matters most, according to Cardinal Sin, whether we are caressed or tapped, the same touches come from God’s loving and healing hands always filled with grace.
In the gospels, we find many instances of Jesus using his hands to raise the sick, to touch the eyes and mouth in restoring senses, and to bless, break and share bread with his friends and sinners alike. When he expressed his immense love for us and the Father, Jesus stretched out his arms and offered his hands on the cross on Good Friday.
Just imagine how with all our sins, God with a stroke of his hand can make us all vanish but chose not to do so and let our trespasses pass. Like the master in the parable we have heard, God is giving us all the opportunities to work with our hands in lovingly serving the people he has entrusted to us in our homes and offices, school and parish, and community.
But unlike that master who still fired his hired hand despite his resourcefulness, God is not judging us into doom. In is infinite love, God gave us Jesus Christ his Son to bring us back to him in eternal life. It is for this that we lift up our hands to him every day, especially in the Holy Mass we celebrate. The best prayer we can offer God is for these “blessed hands” to reach out to everyone in love and forgiveness, kindness and peace. Amen.
Lawiswis Ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-21 ng Setyembre 2019
Larawan kuha ni G. Chester Ocampo sa Catanduanes, Abril 2019.
Isang gabi pagkaraang magdasal at magnilay kinailangang pansinin at sagutin isang nagtext sa akin: kanyang tanong ay napakalalim bumaon din sa aking loobin.
Aniya'y, "bakit nagkaganito ang buhay namin?" isang tanong tumimo sa akin marahil ilang ulit din sa inyo dumating nakaka-praning, ang hirap sagutin bagkus maraming katanungan pa rin.
Ang hirap naman kasi sa atin kapag maganda buhay natin dinaraanang landasin ayaw suriin sa pag-aakalang kasiyahan magpapatuloy pa rin hindi alintana lahat lilipas din.
Kapag ito ang naitatanong natin mas malamang mga salarin ng suliraning kinalalagyan natin tiyak hanggang ngayon ay mga tulog at lasing pa rin hindi kayang aminin ni tanggapin kanilang pagkukulang din.
Kaya kung ikaw ay nagtatanong "bakit nagkanito buhay natin?" tiyak ikaw ay gising at higit na mapalad pa rin iyong maaapuhap balang araw dahilan nitong hantungang hindi para sa atin.
Mga taong nagpapasakit sa atin kadalasan maraming sugat at sakit na dalahin sadyang kaawa-awa kung tutuusin ni hindi nila batid bakit nagkanito buhay natin sigaw ng kanilang loobin sila'y pansinin at saklolohan natin!
Larawan kuha ni G. Chester Ocampo sa Catanduanes, Abril 2019.
Feast of St. Andrew Kim Taegon and Companion Martyrs, 20 September 2019
1 Timothy 6:2-12 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 8:1-3
St. Andrew Kim Taegon, first Korean priest with his lay associate St. Paul Chong Hasan with 113 other Koreans died as martyrs between 1839 and 1867.
Thank you very much Lord Jesus for this wonderful Friday… not because it is the end of another week of work and studies but most of all, to remind us in this modern time how we must still confess our faith in you with the feast of the first Korean martyrs led by their first native-born priest St. Andrew Kim Taegon and his lay associate St. Paul Chong Hasan.
Every time we think of Korea, first things that come to our minds are their modern technologies and their very hip K-Pop culture.
How beautiful to reflect that deep in their modernity are the blood spilled and values instilled by their early Christians who have truly followed St. Paul’s admonition to St. Timothy.
But you, man of God, avoid all this. Instead, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:11-12
Amid the modern life we now have, remind us always Lord like St. Paul that our fulfillment lies in you alone who is coming back again at the end of time. As we await for your return, may we live out our faith in you amid the changing times, always holding on to things of the above and eternal that never change and shall remain the same.
Like your women companion in your ministry, teach us Jesus to remain simple in following you without much fanfare and pomp pageantry. Amen.
1 Timothy 4:12-16 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 7:36-50
Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte, Atok, Benguet, 01 September 2019.
It has been raining for quite some time, Lord, dampening our moods. Some of us have been trying hard cheering ourselves up despite the rains and gloomy skies that have gotten inside inside us too!
Thank you very much for your soothing words of encouragement through St. Paul, sweet Jesus.
Beloved: Let no one have contempt for your youth, but set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity… Do not neglect the gift you have, which was conferred on you through the prophetic word with the imposition of hands of the presbyterate.
1 Timothy 4:12, 14
There are times Lord Jesus when we just hit it so low, when everything does not seem to be going in the right directions, when we feel even under attack.
How reassuring are your words through St. Paul reminding us of our giftedness and the gifts we have to offer you and others.
More reassuring were the words you spoke about that “sinful woman” who came to anoint you with oil and perfume as you dined with a certain Pharisee.
“Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feel since the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. So I tell you, her may sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”
Luke 7:44-47
So nice of you to remind us today to keep on doing what we think and feel as good and beautiful, to see ourselves still blessed despite our weaknesses and sins like that woman who has so much goodness to share like the oil and perfume she poured on you, Lord.
We pray for those going through hard times these days due to many problems not only with others but with their very selves – those feeling so guilty with their sins, feeling bad with themselves due to failures, or just having the “blues”.
We pray for those having difficulties with their loved ones who are sick and simply misunderstood even unwelcomed. Those having problems with family members who refuse to admit their faults for all the problems their family is going through.
Lastly we pray for those of us misunderstood and boxed or labelled. O Lord, help us bring out the goodness and giftedness we have inside to fill our homes, offices and schools with your fragrance, sparkle, and presence. Amen.
1 Timothy 3:14-16 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 7:31-35
Cross atop Dominican Hills overlooking Baguio City, January 2019.
Lord Jesus Christ, how I wish we have a very reassuring and powerful St. Paul by our side these days when your Church comes under attacks from the outside and even from the inside.
Beloved: I am writing you, although I hope to visit you soon. But if I should be delayed, you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth.
1 Timothy 3:14-15
How unfortunate that our leaders in the Church and other institutions seem to be so silent these days amid the ongoing attacks against your “household” by SOGIE Bill and the Divorce and Dissolution of Marriage Bill.
How unfortunate also is the growing indifference within your “household” with these raging issues today that we are like what you have described in the gospel:
“To what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge , but you did not weep.”
Luke 7:31-32
Give us the strength and courage to stand for what is true in keeping our faith alive amid the rising tides of progressivism and modernity not only in the society but even within your household, Lord.
Let us follow more your voice, taking into our hearts the seriousness of these attacks on faith and morals that totally disregard your existence and plans. Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-17 ng Setyembre 2019
Relasyon at ugnayan hindi emosyon at damdamin ang sabi natin na pangunahin turo sa atin ng talinhaga ng alibughang anak.
Kay gandang larawan ng Diyos ang nakintal sa ating puso't isipan nang ilahad ng mahabaging ama sa dalawang anak niya na sila ay iisang pamilya, binibigkis ng buhay na mula sa kanya.
Ano mang kasalanan ay mapapatawad maging kamatayan ay malalampasan nitong habag at awa ng Diyos na ibinuhos kay Kristo Hesus para sa ating mga alibughang anak niya.
Ganyan ang habag at awa ng Diyos bilang Ama na dumadaloy din mula sa kanyang pagiging ina nang mawika niya, "hindi kita malilimutan kailanman katulad ng isang ina sa kanyang anak na mula sa kanyang sinapupunan."
Para sa kanilang kaisipan, ang habag at awa ay "hesed" --- damdaming napaka-lalim gaya ng pag-ibig nagpapahiwatig ng maka-amang katapatan at pananalig.
Nagmumula ito sa sinapupunan o "raham" --- yaong matris ng kababaihan na siyang kanlungan ng simula ng buhay, lundo ng katuwaan pagsapit ng kagampan kapag napawi mga agam-agam, pagsilang ng bagong buhay.
Kapag umiiral habag at awa sa ating buhay doon tayo buong-buo sa pagkatao nagiging ganap at banal tulad ng Diyos puno ng buhay at pagmamahal.
Kaya't kapag mga patayan ay naglipana at pagkitil sa buhay ang nakikitang paraan upang lunasan maraming kasalanan at kasamaan nasisira ating kapatiran, di maglalaon, tayo ang mababaon.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-16 ng Setyembre 2019
Maraming salamat, Rdo. LA Bautista sa kanyang pagninilay para sa Misa kahapon.
Ang Pagbabalik ng Alibughang Anak ni Rembrandt. Mula sa Google.
Hindi ko pa rin mapigilan pagnilayan at namnamin kahulugan ng talinhaga ng alibughang anak at ama niyang mahabagin.
Ugnayan at relasyon, hindi emosyon batayan ng Mabathalang awa at habag ang siyang tinuturo ng Panginoon dapat sana tayo ay magkaroon.
Kapag namamalas natin tanawing hindi nakagigiliw tulad ng mukhang nahahapis at tumatangis, kapansanang nakahihindik o kapalarang mapait ating damdami'y naaantig, kaya tayo ay naaawa.
Ngunit, wala naman tayong magawa kungdi lumuha at kung mayroon man maibibigay, kaunting barya ay tama na; kaya naman kung hapis sa kalooban ang tinitiis hindi natin ito pansin kaya kahirapan ng iba ating pang diniriin.
Ito ang masaklap nating nakakalimutan Katulad ng magkapatid sa talinhaga na kapwa alibugha: Dahil sa kanilang pagkagumon sa mga kayamanan Ugnayan nila sa ama at isa't-isa, nawalang tuluyan.
Masdan at namnamin, sinasabi ng Ama sa atin, "Anak, lagi kitang kapiling; lahat ng akin ay sa iyo rin. Dapat tayo magsaya at magalak kapag inyong kapatid Ay nagsisisi at nagbabalik" (Lk.15:31).
Ang Diyos ay ipinakilala sa atin bilang Ama sapagkat buhay nating lahat sa kanya buhat na tulad ng sino mang ama, sinisikap itaguyod at pangalagaan protektahan at ipaglaban kung sakaling pagbantaan.
Relasyon at hindi emosyon ang batayan at pinagmumulan ng awa at habag sa atin ng Diyos nating Ama kaya naman kahit ito ay mawala at mamatay kanyang hihintayin, hahanapin, at bubuhayin pa rin!
Our gospel this Sunday of the parable of the prodigal son speaks so well of what we may describe as the “wildness and wideness” of God’s love and mercy for each one of us, especially the lost and rejected. It is a love that goes “time after time”….
Lying in my bed I hear the clock tick And think of you Caught up in circles Confusion is nothing new Flashback, warm nights Almost left behind Suitcase of memories Time after
Sometimes you picture me I’m walking too far ahead You’re calling to me, I can’t hear What you’ve said Then you say, go slow I fall behind The second hand unwinds
If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me Time after time If you fall, I will catch you, I will be waiting Time after time
Written and originally performed by Cyndi Lauper, “Time After Time” is her second single she co-wrote with Rob Hyman that was released in January 24, 1984. It was an instant hit and earned very positive reviews for Lauper.
It is a story of unconditional love despite its being over.
The lover promises to continue loving her beloved despite their separation.
It is a kind of love that is so divine like the merciful father in the parable of the prodigal son. A love so true as it recognises the other person as a “somebody”, a part of the lover. A love that persists time after time because we remain a family despite our separation of distance or even of feelings.
We have chosen the 1988 cover by the jazz duo of husband and wife Tuck and Patti because of its more solemn rendition. The guitar and voice ensemble of the duo for me is one of the music world’s great treasure we are so thankful not only in delighting our senses but most of all in making us experience some of the most beautiful songs of our time.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe, Week XXIV-C, 15 September 2019
Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14 ><)))*> 1Timothy 1:12-17 ><)))*> Luke 15:1-32
Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 23 August 2019.
Today we conclude the series of “table talks” by Jesus with three parables narrated while dining; but, unlike the other Sunday when he was with prominent people, this time we find the Lord among the notorious ones of his time.
Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Luke 15:1-2
It is the perfect setting where Jesus bared what we may call as “the wildness and wideness” of God’s love and mercy for everyone, especially the lost and rejected. This explains why Luke 15:1-32 is the “heart” of the third gospel also known as the Gospel of Divine Mercy. So, please bear with me reflecting today’s long but lovely gospel.
The first two parables are about things – a sheep and a coin – that were lost and later found. There is nothing extraordinary about losing things that we also experience today. But, in narrating these parables, Jesus ended both with a saying to explain their meanings and significance to introduce the third parable of the lost son.
“I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.”
“In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Luke 15: 7, 10
Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte, Atok, Benguet, 01 September 2019.
For the past two Sundays, we have been reflecting about the importance of our personhood, of how God comes first to our very persons, of the need for us to be true and humble because God meets us right in our weaknesses and sinfulness. Jesus warned us the other Sunday that “for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk.14:11). As they say, bloom wherever you are planted for God’s grace is more than enough for each one of us!
Such is God’s love us that Jesus demands total faith in him that “if anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Lk.14: 26). In our lives as his disciples, there would be countless times when no explanations, no reasons are enough why we choose to love and forgive, to be kind and understanding except the very person of Jesus Christ. That is what we call as communion, oneness with the Lord, of always preferring Jesus above anyone and anything!
This is the very reason why the Pharisees and scribes were complaining against him: the tax collectors and sinners were turning to Jesus and not to the Laws they represent! And that continues to happen in our time when some people insist more on religion and vocation, roles and rituals, totally forgetting and even disregarding the very person of God who calls us to himself in Christ!
The Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt (c.1661-1669). From Google.
Then he said, “A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’ So the father divided the property between them. After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.”
Luke 15:11-13
Feel the solemnity of Jesus in introducing this parable, shifting from lost sheep and lost coin to lost son, from things to persons because the elder son is also lost. It is the father who eventually restored the lost personhood of the two sons when he lavished them with his love and mercy towards the end of the story. And that is why this parable is so lovely as it reminds us of how unconsciously we are “dumping” our own personhood despite our bloated egos. Slowly we are becoming robots or worst, even zombies without feelings and personal relations with others and with one’s self.
Just like the two sons in our parable who both define sonship in terms of servile obligations that is utilitarian and contractual in relationships, not as a family.
The Prodigal Son by John Macallan Swan, 1888. From Google.
Coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here I am, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”
He (elder son) said to his father in reply, “Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughtered the fattened calf.”
Luke 15:17-19, 29-30
The prodigal son remembered his father when he was starving, thinking more of the food he could have if he returns home as a servant, not as a son. See how in the midst of sin, he never thought of his father as his parent, of himself as a son. He was convinced that the path to reconciliation with his father was becoming a hired worker, forgetting the very fact he is the youngest son.
The same is true with the elder son who refused to join the celebration when his brother had returned home, feeling so bad that his long years of service to his father deserve him a reward. In a sense, he is worst than the prodigal son: no father, no brother – just himself alone!
Both sons have a slanted view of their father, a very truncated one that is self-isolating, very constricting like the Pharisees and scribes who have forgotten their being persons, of being interrelated with one another in God. Very much like us today that slowly as the ties that bind us as family and friends are slowly being severed by so many things, we also start to lose many of our values like “malasakit” or concern for one another.
The father redefined their – and ours, too – relationships as family that lead to joy and celebration.
He (father) said to him, “My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.”
Luke 15:31-32
Santorini. Photo by Dra. Mai Dela Pena, 2016.
Today, Jesus reminds us, and assures us too that no matter what happens with us, we will always be his brothers and sisters, beloved and forgiven children of the Father.
We call and relate with God as Father because as his children, he is our giver and keeper of life.
And should this life get lost, God as our Father, can also be so “prodigal” to “wastefully” love us and bring back this life to us for we are more valuable than anything else in this universe. That’s how wild and wide is his love and mercy. Amen.
