The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music, 01 September 2019
Showa Kinen National Park, Japan. Photo by Dra. Mai Dela Pena, 2016.
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 14:11
Our gospel this Sunday is very timely as our headlines lately with the case of a transgender insisting on using the female toilet. Immediately, politicians jumped into the controversy for the media mileage without really reflecting more on its nature.
And the sad part of it all is perfectly hit again by our gospel today: when people choose places of honour, the more the disadvantaged members of the society are pushed to the margins.
“Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Luke 14:13-14
It is for this reason we have chosen Cyndi Lauper’s 1986 hit “True Colors” written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. The song was covered by Phil Collins in 1998 with a more jazzy beat which I prefer than the original.
Since its release, True Colors has become the unofficial music of the gay community especially with its message of showing one’s true colors.
But here we find the beauty of music that is always an expression of love, of what is good and true. True Colors speak so well of the gospel today which is about building our relationships with God and with others that starts with self-acceptance.
Jesus assures us that we all have “assigned seats” here on earth and in heaven; we simply have to accept who we really are for that is when we grow, when his grace and mercy work. True Colors is not about insisting on gays’ rights or the use of female toilets. It is about the gospel truth of accepting who we really are.
When Jesus said those who exalt themselves shall be humbled and those who humble themselves shall be exalted means be who you are and be your best self. If you are a father or a mother, be the best father or mother. If you are a priest, be the holiest priest. If you are a docotor, be the best doctor. If you are a husband or a wife, a brother or a sister, be your best self. If you are a male, be man enough to be your true self. If you are a female, be the loveliest woman.
In the end, everything and each one of us will be falling into our right places. No need to alter our bodies and everything just to insist who we really are.
And when we have become our true selves and better selves, that is when we are able to give ourselves to others in loving service.
See, when we choose other seats than those assigned to us and become an “epal” like most politicians, that is when we lost touch with those really in need among us. That is when we forget about humility which is being truthful to our very selves. It is only in being truthful to our selves can we truly be free to love and serve others to start building on our true relationships as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Instead of going to anybody for our concerns and problems, it is always best to come to Jesus always. And that starts right in our hearts first where we find our true colors, our true value as persons so loved by God inspite and despite of everything.
While praying over today’s gospel during the week, I came across this photo of Ms. Rosa Parks in my Facebook feed saying something like, “Rosa Parks made a stand for her rights by refusing to give up her seat in a bus 60 years ago.”
I love the caption and the play of words of the photo that convey the same message of our Sunday gospel: it is not where we seat but where we stand that matters most.
On a sabbath, Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table.
Luke 14:1, 7
For the next three Sundays beginning today while Jesus resolutely decided to journey to Jerusalem, he will be teaching us with some “table talks” as he spoke about the heavenly banquets as expressions of God’s vast ocean of mercy where everyone is welcomed. But, more than lessons on table manners and etiquette, Jesus is also teaching us of finding our own places in his kingdom here on earth where everybody is welcomed just like in heaven.
Key to appreciating our gospel today is found in the first reading:
My child, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God.
Sirach 3:17-18
From Google.
Remember that very central in the teaching of Jesus is the need to be like a child when he would always remind us that “unless you become like a child, you will never inherit the kingdom of heaven.” Being like a child is being humble and obedient, being open to learning new things that are all necessary in building relationships that lead to communion with God and with others. Heaven is the perfect communion of God and everyone but it has to start here on earth among us.
Jesus lived at a time when society and people were so fragmented, just like now. Everybody feels being entitled to heaven and on earth, to every position and honor everywhere even in the church.
While at a sabbath dinner hosted by a Pharisee, Jesus took the occasion to teach the people of the need to be humble to be accepted anywhere. According to St. Teresa of Avila, humility is walking in truth. Humility is being real!
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 14:11
Photo by Jim Marpa, 2018.
Jesus is telling us that for his grace and mercy to truly work on us, we have to be really who we are. In this age when life has been replaced with lifestyle and people have usurped the power and authority of God as well as the natural order of things, everybody feels entitled to everything insisting on their rights forgetting their responsibilities. Homosexuality is not a sin; what is sinful are homosexual acts. The challenge is for the person to accept his/her true self as a beloved child of God doing his/her best to be the bestest person. No need to alter one’s body nor be somebody else he/she is not. Homosexuality is not about insisting on something just for the sake of insisting or making a statement for one’s self regardless of others like in the use of toilets. We have a Tagalog expression that perfectly captures the Lord’s lesson, “lumagay ka sa dapat mong kalagyan”. Loosely translated, it means simply be where you are supposed to be.
Last Wednesday we celebrated the memorial of St. Augustine, one of the most famous and colorful saints of the Church. His life is a gospel in itself, showing us that nobody is too late to change and be a better person. Most of all, nothing is too late for God. Like St. Augustine, we must first accept who we are, be humble for our weaknesses for it is only when we accept that we start to grow and everything follows like acceptance by others. How can we expect others to accept us if we cannot accept first our very selves? This is the most beautiful mark of humility of children that make them so irresistible to adults: they have no guile, all-natural and no plasticity or synthetic fronts to be loved and appreciated.
More than table manners and etiquette, Jesus is teaching us that if we can be humble and accept who we are, we can definitely find our place in the kingdom of God, here on earth and in heaven. God loves us so much he has a plan for each on of us if we play our roles wholeheartedly. We will never experience his mercy and grace unless we become humble.
Photo by Reuters, 2018.
“Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Luke 14:13-14
To further ensure the lesson of his parable about each of us having a place in his kingdom here on earth, Jesus reminds us too while in the context of his sabbath dinner that for us to be able to establish a more humane society, we have to guard against stereotypes of peoples that we tend to box them into categories.
Jesus is asking us to radically change our prevailing social mores, suggesting a very different value-system in the here-and-now kingdom of God. Far from the cries of the communists for a classless society, Jesus tells us to see the value of every person rather than focusing on the few powerful, wealthy, and influential people we always deal with in exchange of so many favors.
It is a patronage system so prevalent everywhere especially in politics and in our social relationships like the compradazo system of getting ninong and ninang who are rich and famous to get influence and other perks and rewards. It is so unfortunate that some clergymen are so guilty of this that the Church’s credibility has eroded so much for the mistakes and sins of a few.
In this manner of patronage system, the poor and the weak are always left out to the margins, forgotten and even disregarded. What kind of Christianity do we have when we are so concerned with Christmas carols and counting the days before Christmas and be oblivious to the plight of the farmers and fishermen?
Lorenzo Atienza, June 2019.
What Jesus is telling us today is that those who have less in life should have more of God because, truly in the end, they are the ones who shall be exalted!
In these parable and admonition by Jesus, St. Luke our guide these Sundays is not only giving us an advice on how to prepare for the end times but also on how to live according to the Lord’s vision of a just and humane society in our imperfect world.
We in the Church play a very vital role in bringing about this change by witnessing the gospel that often brings about a reversal of fortunes in the end.
The author of the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that the ultimate goal of our Christian life is communion with God made possible by Christ’s offering of himself on the Cross. Do our Sunday Mass celebrations and Parish set-ups witness to the gospel values of a just and a humane city of God here on earth?
Lauterbrunnen Valley, Switzerland. Photo by Fr. Gerry Pascual, August 2019.
This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality.
1 Thessalonians 4:3
On this last Friday of August while so many people today await September for their silly Christmas countdown and carols, I pray, Lord, that we may value your call to holiness which is simply to become wise and practical, of staying out of troubles by being close to you.
How absurd that while everybody is so eager for Christmas, nobody is interested with its message and essence of being like you, of being holy and divine that is now more doable since your Son Jesus Christ became human like us.
Teach us, Lord, to be wise like those five virgins in your parable today.
To be wise and holy is first of all to be “reasonable”, that is, to always search and follow and stand by what is true. In this age of fake news and misplaced nationalism and rights, it has become so normal to be carried away by emotions, totally disregarding facts and reason.
Secondly, teach us O Lord to be orderly in our living, not only in “decluttering” our rooms and drawers of so many trash but most especially our very being. Where there is reason, there is always order. Chaos and disorder, confusions and mess happen when we become unreasonable as we fail to see the more essential things in life.
Last but not least, Lord, give us the gift of vision of the future which is always a result of being reasonable and orderly in life. Not just the gift of sight, O Lord which is a mere ability to see things. Grant us vision which is the grace to see beyond time and physical realities, to project and work on the future now.
The wise virgins have vision that they brought extra oil as they have anticipated the delay in the arrival of the groom; the other virgins were foolish because they lived only in the present, on what is physical just like most of us today. Amen.
Today, O Lord, I pray for my hardening heart. I have a festering anger deep in my heart against some people who have hurt me. And I am harboring a grudge against them like Herodias, the mistress of Herod.
Herodias harbored a grudge against John the Baptist and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so. She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for is courtiers, his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee. Herodias’s own daughter came in and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.” So she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”
Mark 6:19, 21-22, 24
What is so shameful, O Lord, like Herodias, I want to have the heads of those people. I want to get even with the pains they have inflicted against me. I want revenge.
But more shameful, Lord Jesus, is, unlike Herodias, I have not done anything wrong against these people. And no amount of pain can justify my grudge, my anger, my hatred against them.
This is what makes it more painful with me: the festering anger in my heart is slowly poisoning my soul, my very being.
Teach me, Jesus, to bear all pains like John the Baptist, suffering for you, suffering with you.
Give me the courage and strength to “gird my loin” as you told the Prophet Jeremiah so I may be able to control myself and be on guard against becoming like Herodias or, worst, Herod, who beheaded John in prison.
Let me rise above my instincts and feelings to be not like the evil doers and fake people who fight and malign me because you have assured me that they will never prevail over me, that you will deliver me for you are always with me. Amen.
“The Severed Head of John the Baptist”, a sculpture by the French artist Auguste Rodin in 1875. This is probably a representation of a guillotined criminal’s head during that time. From Google.
1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 ><)))*> ><)))*> Matthew 23:27-32
O God our loving Father! Today we celebrate the feast of one of your greatest saints of all time, St. Augustine.
His life story itself is a gospel, a good news of your love and mercy, of your salvation in Christ Jesus!
It is never too late to love you, O Lord, for our hearts are restless until they rest on you!
Like the song of the psalmist today, “You have searched me and you know me, O Lord” that despite my many sins, my great pride, you patiently wait for me to go back to you like St. Augustine.
In him, we have found hope and and chances to be become better and holy.
Like St. Augustine, give us the gift of humility of accepting our humanity, our weaknesses and sinfulness to be converted into better persons.
Like St. Augustine, may we use our intelligence for your greater glory and not for our selfish ends and other evils.
Most of all, purify our hearts always that it may always seek you and follow you. Amen.
Funeral of St. Augustine by Bennozo Gozzoli at Florence. At the time of his death, St. Augustine was a towering figure in the Church and the entire Western world at that time with his hundreds of letters, treatises and books that shaped our thoughts and provided foundations for our many doctrines still very much in use these days.
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 ><)))*> <*(((>< Matthew 23:23-26
How wonderful, O God, that on this feast of the patroness of mothers, St. Monica, the Apostle Paul identified himself as a mother caring the church he founded.
“Rather, we were gentle among you, as a nursing mother cares for her children. With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you not only the Gospel of God, but our very selves as well, so dearly beloved had you become to us.”
1 Thessalonians 2:7-8
Teach us to be like St. Paul in his passion and drive caring for those you have entrusted to us like “a nursing mother who cares for her children”.
But most especially, as we remember St. Monica who embodied true motherhood with her patience and perseverance and undying love for her wayward son St. Augustine, we pray also today for all mothers.
We pray, O Lord, for mothers in their old age, sick and fragile, afraid of the inevitable, feeling alone filled with so many doubts and uncertainties of what is coming, of what is next: give them the firm faith and enlightenment of mind and heart like St. Monica.
We pray for the departed mothers and may you grant them, O Lord, eternal rest and peace in your presence. May they reap the fruits of their hard work here on earth that have caused so much physical and emotional pains for them here on earth.
Photo by Jim Marpa, 2017.
We pray for the many suffering mothers, Lord: those sick with cancer and other diseases; for those who have to suffer and cry in silence due to lack of concern and understanding by their unfaithful husband or ungrateful children; for those mothers who have to leave home to earn decent living abroad, taking care of somebody else’s children while their own children are left home alone.
We pray, O Lord, for the widows who always feel alone and misunderstood by everyone especially by their grown up children, always trying to put up a front that everything is going well so as not to make others worry.
We pray also for mothers who take care of their sick children who suffer twice even thrice seeing their sons and daughters writhing in pain; bless those mothers who have lost their children for various reasons that shattered all their dreams and hopes for a wonderful future.
We pray, Lord, for mothers left behind by their own families and by the society, living on the streets or in some orphanages, unwanted, unloved. We pray also for mothers-in-law especially those “boxed” by their in-laws.
We pray for the young mothers especially the first-timers at a loss at how to care for their babies, for working mothers trying to juggle motherhood and career.
Do not forget also, Lord, the many mothers who have forgotten their children have their own lives to live too, who have wrongly thought they are always right, manipulating their children who eventually were pushed over the cliff and now lost. Help them and their mothers find their way back to you, O Lord, and to each others’ loving arms.
Bless also, O Lord, all the other mothers who are forced to work under unfavorable conditions due to poverty, for mothers languishing in jails especially the innocent ones, for mothers into some other forms of crusades and advocacies nobody cares.
Lastly, we pray for us all children and for the husbands too that we may keep in mind only you, O God, can love perfectly. A mother’s love is always imperfect but no matter how defective it may be, it is the best love she can give. Help us create a room for our mother’s imperfections filled with your divine love that would console them, soothe them, and make them feel they are loved and appreciated. Amen.
St. Monica with her son St. Augustine. She died at the age of 56, always depicted dressed like a nun with a black habit to symbolise her being a widow.
Lawiswis Ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-26 ng Agosto 2019
Mula sa Google.
Ano ba itong pinagsasabi ni Imee na technically wala tayong bayani kasi walang upisyal na sinasabi kung sinu-sino ating mga bayani?
Pati ba naman sa mga bayani kailangan pang gamitan ng technicality?
Kung sabagay, hindi rin masisisi si Imee sa pagsasabi at pag-iisip ng ganiri dahil ito ang nakadidiri: pamilya niya'y yaring nagpipilit kilalanin silang bayani!
Technically, Imee, maski pilitin mo kami kailanma'y hindi magiging bayani iyong dadi lalo na noong kami'y inyong dinale Nobyembre 2016 nang dalhin ninyo siya sa Libingan ng mga Bayani.
Kailangan pa ba ang technicality gayong nauuna palagi pagkabayani maliban lamang kapag wala naman talagang kabayanihang nangyari!
At ito ang higit na nakakadiri sa pinagsasabi ni Imee: hindi maikakaila, huling-huli pineke ng kanyang dadi pagkabayani na hindi naman nangyari at ni walang nakasaksi maliban kanyang sarili?!
Napatunayan ng U.S. Army noon pang 1980's sa masusi nilang pagsasaliksik na isang panloloko at walang katotohanan mga pinangalandakang U.S. war medals ni Marcos noong ikalawang digmaang pandaigdig.
Higit pa sa technicality kungdi historicity ang nagsasabi sino talaga ang bayani sapagkat tiyak na mamumulaklak at hahalimuyak ano mang buti naihasik ng sino man na bayan ang inuna bago ang sarili!
1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 8-10 ><)))*> Matthew 23:13-22
From Google.
We are now at the final stretch of the month of August, Lord, and everybody is thinking of September already, counting the days until Christmas.
How sad, O Lord, that we are so focused with the dates and we miss the event of your coming to us, of your birth. No wonder we also miss your great gift of calling us unto you, of making us your new chosen people.
St. Paul reminds us today of how you have loved us, God, of how we were chosen and called in Christ Jesus to become his body, the Church.
How sad that these days, churches and houses of worship have become more of places to meet for lovers and friends than for people to gather as a community of disciples waiting for the Lord’s coming again.
How sad that like the scribes and Pharisees of the time of Jesus, we have also become hypocrites living in the darkness of sin and self-centeredness, believing more in our selves than in you.
Lead us out anew, Lord, from the many darkness that blind us and prevent us from living a life of faith in you and love among our brothers and sisters. Amen.
Jungfrau Peak, the Swiss Alps. Photo by Fr. Gerry Pascual (Diocese of Iba, Zambales), August 2019.
Our Sunday music today is still about heaven as Jesus Christ concludes his four-week series of “shock preaching” about being ready for the end or death. From The Smiths’ groundbreaking alternative rock “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”, we offer you this Sunday Dionne Warwick’s classic soul and pop “You’ll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)”.
Composed by Burt Bacharach with lyrics by Hal David, the song was released in 1964 as the second single from Warwick’s third studio album. It was an international hit that has also been covered by many artists since then.
Its melody and beat are very light, even divine that are very uplifting especially on this rainy day. Most of all, its lyrics are simply honest and true: getting into heaven is trying our very best not to break anyone’s heart especially our loved ones’!
Mother told me always to follow the golden rule And she said it’s really a sin to be mean and cruel So, remember, if you’re untrue Angels up in heaven are looking at you
You’ll never get to heaven if you break my heart So be very careful not to make us part You won’t get to heaven if you break my heart
“You’ll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart)” is a feel good music by Warwick who has accompanied our generation for over 50 years reminding us about the more essential things in life like friends, love, relationships, and God. Unlike the Lord’s “shock preaching” wrapped in mystery, the song is straightforward that can instantly soothe our souls whenever we feel so down especially when the people we love are the ones who hurt us.
It can be very disappointing but amazingly, it is during those dark moments of our lives when Jesus comes to strengthen us and inspire us to keep on loving despite our imperfections.
I’ve been hearin’ rumors about how you play around. Though I don’t believe what I hear, still it gets me down. If you ever should say good-bye I’d feel so awful, the angels would cry.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe Week XXI-C, 25 August 2019
Isaiah 66:18-21 ><)))*> Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 ><)))*> Luke 13:22-30
The small door leading to the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, symbolic of the need to be lowly, to bow to meet our Lord Jesus Christ who became human like us to save us. Photo by author, May 2019.
The Lord concludes his series of “shock preaching” today with a big bang by dousing us with a big disappointment…
Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He answered them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.'”
Luke 13:23-25
It is very disappointing that after joining Jesus as he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem these past four Sundays in taking into our hearts his many earth-shaking lessons about the “end” only to find out that we could end up being locked out of the door to heaven. More shocking than the lessons last week is the disturbing revelation today that we have to be strong enough to enter through the narrow gate to eternal life.
How strong? We really do not know. But, we have learned from the Old Testament of the need to patiently obey and faithfully keep the commandments of God while the gospels remind us clearly to deny ourselves and carry our crosses even up to the point of dying with Christ.
Very difficult, huh…? And here’s more! Striving hard to enter the “banquet hall of heaven” is keeping in mind the important lessons we have heard these past three Sundays: life does not consist of possessions but of what matters to God (Lk.12:15,21; Aug. 04); that we must always gird our loins to be ready for death that comes like a thief at night (Lk.12:35,39; Aug.11); and, most of all, we have to go through our own passion and death like Jesus to be filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit to bring the peace of Christ into world (Lk.12:49-51; Aug. 18).
It is useless to count how many would be saved for there is enough room for us all in heaven. Through the Prophet Isaiah in the first reading, God wants us all to be with him in heaven despite his knowledge of our sins by sending us his Son Jesus Christ!
Thus says the Lord: I know their works and their thoughts, and I come to gather nations of every language; they shall come and see my glory.
Isaiah 66:18
The small door to the Church of the Nativity from the inside.
See again in our gospel today an apparent contradiction in the teachings of our Lord like last Sunday with his bringing of fire and division among us. When Jesus refused to give that man a definitive answer to his question “if only a few people would be saved”, the Lord in fact revealed something deeper than the initial disappointment we have felt about the gate of heaven being narrow that would be closed when the time comes. Again, he mentions the Eucharist, our Sunday Mass as the wonderful opportunity to be strengthened in order to get inside the heavenly banquet.
“And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
Luke 13:29-30
It is during the Sunday Mass when the Lord gathers us all together after a very difficult and disappointing week to refresh us, to strengthen us for another week of hurdling more problems, more trials in life. This is why before receiving him, we say, “Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” The Father gave us his Son Jesus Christ so we may have that strength needed to enter the narrow gate to heaven by doing more loving service to others, being kind and forgiving, being honest and generous. Yes, these are easier said than done but doable in Christ.
What is so surprising in our many experiences are the many times when in our many disappointments Jesus comes to guide us to new doors, new routes and new openings that mysteriously lead to new life for us!
Grotto of our Lady of Lourdes, Baguio City, January 2019.
Brothers and sisters: You have forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children: “My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.” Endure your trials as “discipline”; God treats you as sons. For what “son” is there whom his father does not discipline?
Hebrews 12:5-7
That is the mystery of God’s universal plan of salvation for us: the path may be filled with so many hardships and obstacles, the gate may be so narrow and difficult to pass through but he has made it possible for us to make it through by sending us Jesus Christ our Lord in leading this way to the heavenly Jerusalem. Authentic faith always involves pains and sufferings. When we embrace death like Jesus Christ, we also ensure life.
In every setback in life, we only have two choices always: either to be better or bitter. Choose to be better and that can only be through the narrow door of Jesus Christ by letting go of our anger and hatred, resentment and bitterness to give way to joy and peace, love and forgiveness. That is when God begins to surprise us!
Tam-Awan, Baguio, January 2019.
The author of Amazing Grace, John Newton was once challenged by a man after he had delivered a homily about heaven. Remember that Newton, as he claimed in Amazing Grace, was a “wretch” being a former slave trader after being a slave himself.
Newton was asked by a man to give something that would surprise him when he gets to heaven.
The former wretch replied that there would be three great wonders in heaven: first, he would see many people he never expected to be there; second, he would not find many church-goers he expected to see there; and third – which is the biggest surprise of all – is to find himself there in heaven when he knows very well his sinfulness.
Yes, my dear brothers and sisters, we are all sinners, now feeling disappointed with so many things in life. Just strive to be good and better persons as we celebrate every Sunday the Lord’s Supper and he will do the rest. And be ready to be surprised even before going to heaven! Amen.
