Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, ika-14 ng Hunyo 2019
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Mula pagkabata hanggang pagtanda Ikaw na San Antonio aming nagisnan Tinatawagan nang matagpuan Ano mang nawawala o naiwan saan-saan.
Minamahal naming pintakasi Tulungan nawa kami sapagkat dumarami At lalong lumalaki aming mga isinasantabi Na maski mawala tila wala kaming paki!
Kami'y nagagalit kapag nawawaglit Mga mumunting gamit at anik-anik Pinalalaki para nang buong sarili inapi Ngunit kaunting buti para sa katabi kinukubli?
Hindi kami mapakali at agad bibili Kapag nawala'y gamit na kawili-wili Ano't lagi naming hanap ay aliw at kaluguran Walang pakialam sa mga tiyan na kumakalam?
Nawawala na respeto at pag-galang Pati hinhin at kahihiyan di malaman kung nasaan Kinamimihasnan kalaswaan at kasalahulaan Mas hinahanap kasamaan kaysa kabutihan?
Sana kami'y iyong tulungan Muli naming matagpuan Daang pabalik sa Kabanal-Banalan Na palagi naming tinatalikuran at iniiwanan.
Kami po ang nagkulang Ni hindi na namin Siya namamasdan Wala na kaming nilalaang panahon Upang Siya ay dasalan.
Mahal naming patron sa amin lumingon Nawawala kami sa landas ng Panginoon Unti-unting nilalamon ng aming kapalaluan Nalulunod sa kayamanan, karangyaan, at kapangyarihan.
Kami ang nawawala, di namin alintana Buhay at kapwa amin nang binabalewala Poong Maykapal amin nang tinalikuran Gayon Siya ang aming uuwian at hahantungan.
Thank you very much Lord Jesus Christ for this Friday, for another weekend.
As the days moved on since Monday, we didn’t know how this week would move on for many of us: the pressures and stress at home, in the office and the school with all kinds of problems.
Some of us almost gave up life, Lord, because of sickness and loneliness, pains and sufferings, neglect and feelings of being misunderstood and unloved or unwelcomed.
But you were always there, Jesus, loving us, comforting us, assuring us of your presence and grace.
We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the Body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.
2 Corinthians 4:7-10
Let us continue your work Jesus. There are still plenty of things to be done this day: so many loving and acts of kindness, a lot of caring and understanding, some forgiving and asking sorry over there, with a lot of smiles and hugs to share so that those in despair may realize life is so beautiful, that it is good to be alive, that there is beauty even in our dirt and brokenness.
Every Cross is a plus sign, O Lord: afflictions and darkness, suffering and pains in life are an addition, never a minus or a subtraction! Amen.
Dominican Hills, Baguio, January 2019. Photo by author.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe, Thursday, Wk. X, Yr. I, 13 June 2019
2 Corinthians 3:15-4:1, 3-6 >< )))*> >< )))*> Matthew 5:20-26
Man “losing his head in prayer”. Photo by JJ Jimeno of GMA News, 27 May 2019.
Today we are celebrating, O Lord Jesus Christ, the feast of one of your most loved Saints, Anthony of Padua, the patron of those searching for any thing that is lost.
Most of the time, it is you Jesus whom we could not find. We always lose you not because you abandon us or hide from us but because we turn away from you. And that is why, in our pursuit of so many things of the world, we eventually end up more lost in life.
Help us to find our way back to you, Jesus. Transform us into your image by making us “gaze with unveiled face on your glory Lord” (2Cor.3:18) in prayerful meditation of the Sacred Scriptures and of the Blessed Sacrament like St. Anthony of Padua.
When the Israelites who were bitten by the snakes in the desert gazed at the bronze serpent Moses hanged on the cross, they were healed of their illness.
When Peter denied you thrice on Holy Thursday, your loving gaze on him made him sorrowful with his sin.
When St. John Vianney was asked by a farmer why he always spent a Holy Hour before you in the Blessed Sacrament, the holy priest said he simply looked at you as you looked at him too.
Lord Jesus Christ, the more we look at you, the more you look intently on us full of love. And the more we look at you, according to the Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the more we look like you!
Give us the grace to keep looking at you so that the more you look intently to us full of love and mercy, we experience your healing and comfort, wisdom and counsel, peace and joy. Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-12 ng Hunyo 2019
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Tuwing sasapit petsa dose ng Hunyo Problema sa ating mga Filipino Nahahayag sa pagdiriwang na ito Na tila hindi natin tanto kahulugan nito.
Ano nga ba ang wasto, Araw ng kalayaan o araw ng kasarinlan? Parehong totoo at magkahawig sinasaad ng mga ito Ngunit malalim at malaki pagkakaiba mga ugat nito.
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Kung pagbabatayan ating kasaysayan Araw ng kasarinlan ang petsang ito Nang bumukod at magsarili tayo bilang isang bansa Pinatatakbo ng mga sariling mamamayan at kababayan.
Ngunit totoo rin namang sabihing Higit pa sa kasarinlan natamo natin sa petsang ito Kaya nararapat tawaging araw ng kalayaan Nang lumaya ating Inang Bayan sa pang-aalipin ng mga dayuhan.
Larawan mula sa ABS-CBN News.
Maituturing bang may kasarinlan ating bayan Kung wala namang kalayaan linangin at pakinabangan Kanyang likas na yaman lalo na sa karagatan Gayong tayo ay bansang binubuo ng mga kapuluan?
Tayo nga ba ay nagsasarili at masasabing may kasarinlan Kung turing sa atin ay dayuhan sa sariling bayan Walang matirhan lalo na mga maliliit nating kababayan Dahil sa kasakiman ng ilang makapangyarihan sa pagkamkam?
Gayon din naman sana'y ating matingnan Kung tunay itong ating kalayaan Marami pa rin ang nabubulagan at hindi matagpuan Dangal ng kapwa na madalas ay tinatapakan.
Ang tunay na kalayaan ay ang piliin at gawi'y kabutihan Kaya ito ma'y kasarinlan dahil ito'y kakayahang Kumawala at lumaya sa panunupil sa sariling pagpapasya Walang impluwensiya ng iba kungdi dikta ng konsiyensiya.
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Kalayaan at kasarinlan kung ating pagninilayan Dalawang katotohanang nagsasalapungan Kung saan mayroong pagtatagpo ng kabutihan Paglago at pagyabong ng buhay tiyak matatagpuan.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Wednesday, Wk. X, Yr. I, 12 June 2019
2Corinthians 3:4-11 >< )))*> >< )))*> Matthew 5:17-19
Detail of “Ordination of the Seven Deacons” by Fra Angelico, 1447-49, Cappella Niccolina, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican. From Google.
My dearest Lord Jesus Christ, our Eternal High Priest: Like your Blessed Mother, my soul proclaims your greatness and my spirit rejoices in you O Lord on this great gift of ordination as deacon of our parishioner, Rev. Roel Aldwin and his two classmates, Rev. Howard and Rev. Laurence.
As his ordination day got nearer, the more I realized your goodness, your love and your mercy. So true are the words of St. Paul in our first reading today:
Brothers and sisters: such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that of ourselves we are qualified to take credit for anything as coming from us; rather, our qualification comes from God, who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life.
2 Corinthians 3:4-6
Thank you very much for new brothers in the ministry, for new co-workers in your vineyard, Lord. Indeed, you do not call the qualified but you do qualify your calls! As St. Paul had said, no one can lay claim for this great gift of being your “alter Christus” at the altar.
And so, I thank you for this rare gift of having a new deacon in my parish during my tenure. You know how much I have loved your parish amid the many difficulties and pains that continue up to this moment. I hope and pray that your people here would realize this immense gift of a deacon you have called from among them to serve your Church.
But what I like most Lord in your gift of the first deacon from our Parish is also your gift to me to be a better pastor to encourage Rev. RA to strive and persevere in his vocation with so much love and dedication. I am a sinner, Lord, and you know very well how I have discouraged with my words and actions some members of my flock. And despite all this, you have used me to guide our new deacon in his journey.
Soon, he shall find so many flaws among us priests in the ministry. Soon he shall find the many crosses and many crucifixions we shall go through. Soon he shall find that ultimately, no one else is to be followed except you alone, Jesus.
I pray that our new deacons may be the signs of your fulfillment of the Laws of love and mercy. Keep them faithful and obedient to your commandments, Lord, that they may be your indwelling, your presence in this world slowly plunging into darkness and coldness, like what you described as “a sheep without a shepherd”.
I pray for our new deacons to love you more, Jesus our Caller – and not your call so that as they serve in your name, it is you whom they proclaim, it is you whom they make known above all.
Jesus our High Priest, let us your priests and deacons decrease so that you may increase. Amen.
Tuesday, Week X, Year II, Feast of St. Barnabas, 11 June 2019
Acts 11:21-26;13:1-3 >< }}}*> >< }}}*> Matthew 5:13-16
From Google.
As we resume the longest season in our liturgical calendar called Ordinary Time, you give us a wonderful guide O Lord Jesus Christ in your Apostle St. Barnabas whose feast we celebrate today.
St. Barnabas lived out the meaning of his name, “son of encouragement” or “son of consolation” when he became instrumental in bringing Saul from Tarsus after his conversion to join the Apostles in Jerusalem. St. Barnabas was the first to vouch for the sincerity of Saul’s conversion who later came to be known as St. Paul.
When controversy arose among the early Christians, St. Barnabas encouraged St. Paul to join the discussions at the Council of Jerusalem so as to encourage too the Apostles to accept gentile converts into Christianity without going through the Jewish ritual of circumcision for men.
Eventually after that meeting, St. Barnabas encouraged St. Paul to direct their missionary efforts to the Gentiles that helped spread Christianity throughout the world.
When things went so wrong between him and St. Paul later due to their companion Mark at their second missionary journey that they have to part ways, eventually later before the death of St. Paul in Rome, St. Barnabas was able to encourage them to reconcile and let go of their differences before.
Grant us, Jesus Christ, the same gift of encouragement of St. Barnabas so we may be willing to transcend our weaknesses and sinfulness to cooperate with others to fulfill your work and mission.
We pray also for those losing hope, being discouraged by so many failures and events in their lives that push them to give up and abandon all your plans and dreams for them. Fill them with your Holy Spirit to be encouraged to persevere and to trust in you. Amen.
People with Disabilities being encouraged by Christian groups in Jordan to work in mosaic shops so they could hone their skills and earn for their family. Photo by author, May 2019.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Wk. X, Yr. II
Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church, 10 June 2019
Genesis 3:9-15, 20 >< }}}*> <*{{{ >< John 19:25-34
From Google.
As we resume the Ordinary Time today Lord Jesus, remind us not to take this longest period in our liturgical calendar lightly because it is “ordinary”. It must have been your will when you instructed Pope Francis last year to declare every Monday after the Pentecost as the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church.
Thank you Lord for reminding us today to always relive and fulfill the words you have spoken as you hung upon the Cross:
When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
John 19:26-27
How wonderful that in one of your final acts before your death, you ensured an adoption arrangement for your mother whom you would leave behind when you finally ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father.
But more than that, you are also teaching us that Mary as the image of the Church is also our home, that like the beloved disciple, we have to take her home we may come home to her.
Give us that grace in this Ordinary Time as your disciples that we take Mary your Mother as our Mother too, both as an individual and as the Church. What a great honor to be like your beloved disciple that you entrusted your Mother to us. May we be your true disciples always in loving union with you like Mary.
To love Mary and to protect her is to love and protect your Church O Lord that is now under attacks more than ever in history.
Forgive us for the many times we have wounded and hurt in so many instances the Church in the same manner we have done with our own mother.
Teach us to be like you, a faithful and loving son, who thought until the end at your brink of death the safety and security of your Mother and of your Church. Amen.
It’s Pentecost Sunday, the coming of the Holy Spirit to the first disciples of Jesus Christ who were filled with fire and zeal in spreading the good news from Jerusalem to the whole world. But more than an event in the past, Pentecost is something the Church needs so badly these days to continue the work of Christ in the world that has become cold and without direction and fulfillment.
What we need in the Church that has become so rigid and lethargic in one end and pompous and glitzy at the other end is a “perennial Pentecost”, the daily coming of the Holy Spirit to enlighten us again in following and sharing Jesus with others in loving service. We need the Holy Spirit to convert us and go back to Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and the Holy Eucharist which is the sacrament of love.
From Google.
The Blackbyrds’ 1975 hit “Walking in Rhythm” captures the image of somebody filled with the Holy Spirit who is so full of love and life, joy and excitement. The smooth rhythm and blues jazzy beat of the song is so moving and uplifting. It is exactly what the Holy Spirit does when its fire burns and purifies us to realize that our true greatness as human is in being small, in our ability to share to become a part of a larger whole.
“Walking in Rhythm” tells of a man so in love and passionately driven to come home to meet his sweetheart after being away for some time. He is walking in rhythm because he knew he would be complete again when he becomes one with his beloved.
That is essentially the meaning of being a Christian, of being a member of the Church: we become whole with others in Christ. Jesus is our head and we are the body. Every body is important. How sad that whenever we gather every Sunday during the Mass, we are on our own! The priest delivers a boring homily he himself does not understand because he had not prayed nor prepared at all. The congregation are on their own, some asleep, others with thoughts wandering, while the young are either texting or plugged to their playlists. We have to dispose ourselves to the coming of the Holy Spirit always. It is Pentecost or nothing if we want to walk in rhythm, to be fill with life and joy.
From Google.
Like the lover in “Walking in Rhythm”, or the apostles at the Upper Room in Jerusalem during that Pentecost, we have to open ourselves to give a space within us for the Holy Spirit to work in us, to fill us with life and joy. Most of all, with love.
Walking in rhythm Movin' in sound Hummin' to the music Trying to move on I'm walking in rhythm Singin' my song Thinkin' about my baby Tryin to get home....
After the last Mass tonight in every parish, the Paschal Candle is extinguished and from the ambo where it had stayed since the Easter Vigil, it is brought back to the baptistry to signal the start of Ordinary Time tomorrow.
As we have been reflecting these past days, life is a series of coming than of leaving. This is very true in today’s celebration of the Solemnity of the Pentecost: when Jesus ascended into heaven last Sunday, the Holy Spirit now comes to fire up the disciples to continue God’s presence in the world. Last Sunday we said the Ascension does not mean Jesus going to a particular place “up there” but his entry into a higher level of relating with us. Today is the fulfillment of that promise he made, that he would remain with us until the end of time in the power of the Holy Spirit sent by the Father.
Pentecost means fifty. After God handed to Moses the Ten Commandments at Sinai, the Israelites ratified that covenant 50 days after. Eventually when they entered the Promised Land, Pentecost became an agricultural celebration of their harvests that eventually extended into a celebration of weeks. When the Holy Spirit came on that Pentecost day in Jerusalem, it became the “coming out party” of the Church when the Apostles were emboldened to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to everyone.
In this evolution of the Pentecost from Sinai to Promised Land to the early Church, it has remained true to its essence as life in God. As such, we must keep in mind it is not an isolated event in the past but a reality we must allow to happen every day in our lives. If there is one thing very much missing in the Church these days, it is the Holy Spirit. We need a “perennial Pentecost” to fill us with life and zest in living the Gospel, from the bishops to the priests to every baptized Catholic. See the vibrancy among other Christian denominations. They are so alive while we Catholics as so rigid and lethargic. We need to be “fired up” by the burning fire of the Holy Spirit everyday. It is Pentecost or nothing!
Chair of St. Peter at the High altar of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. From Google.
Above the Chair of St. Peter at the Vatican is a stained glass depicting the coming of the Holy Spirit like a dove. According to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, that is in essence the Church which is like a window where God and man get in contact. At the middle of that meeting point or contact of God and man is the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, we can never be in touch with God and with others. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of love that binds us all with each other and with God in the same manner it unites the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity to remain as One God. This explains why we heard again today the Gospel three Sundays ago of Jesus teaching about love at the Last Supper.
Jesus said to his disciples: “If you love me, you will keep the commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to be with you always. Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.”
John 14:15-16, 23
These words are repeated today to present to us the new and definite context of the Pentecost flowing from that Last Supper discourse of Jesus about love, keeping his commandments, and coming of the Holy Spirit.
During his Last Supper, Jesus clearly showed that in the new covenant sealed by his blood, the Law is more than the personification of God: obedience to his commandments and to the Father is first of all an expression of love. Jesus is the new Torah, the new law of love found in his oneness with the Father. On this Pentecost Sunday, we hear again the Last Supper discourse of Jesus to remind us that being Christian is becoming united as one in him as “indwelling of the Father and the Son.”
That can only happen when we allow ourselves to be small. See that at the Ascension, we were presented with an upward movement that called for the need to be light and powerless in order to rise above. Now, Pentecost’s downward movement shows us the need to be small in order to be mixed or fused with God and with others. Every downward push leads to spreading out, of thinning out, of getting small.
As limited beings, our greatness can only be found in our ability to share, to be small to participate and become a part of a larger whole. In our very selves, we cannot do anything. I am so amused to realize this basic truth while watching those crime shows in Netflix like Narcos and Bad Blood where even the most evil men need to be small, to band together to be powerful. We all need conversion which is very essential to be truly great!
For true conversion to happen, there has to be love, even at least, an openness to love. It is no wonder that love is always presented in the fiery shades of red and orange because almost everything is purified and broken into little particles by fire. When love is intense, expect fire to be hotter with its hues of red and orange more aglow. Only when we are willing to be subjected to love’s purifying fire can we be truly filled with the Holy Spirit and its gifts, particularly joy.
Conversion and love demand constant dying into one’s self, of living in the spirit and not in flesh that St. Paul explained in the second reading. We can never be one in Christ without conversion, without getting off our ivory tower of pride and arrogance. We need to go down, if we have to lie face down, so be it. Most of all, oneness with others is impossible without conversion because we cannot insist on ourselves on others. We need to be broken, we need to smash our high walls that keep us away from others. That is what the Holy Spirit’s fire did on that Pentecost Sunday in Jerusalem, the very same thing needed to happen these days in our Church.
Every Sunday when we gather like the Apostles at the Upper Room during the Lord’s supper, we are invited to keep his commandments in love. This can only happen when we pray for conversion through the fire of the Holy Spirit. Let us be open to receive this fire of the Holy Spirit again every Eucharistic celebration so that after our gathering, we may set the world anew in fire with Jesus Christ’s loving presence. Amen.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 07 June 2019
Statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the Jesuits’ Sacred Heart Retreat House and Seminar Center, Novaliches, Quezon City. Photo by author, July 2018.
It is perhaps the most disarming question of all.
And too often, before answering the question, we try to brush it aside or even belittle it because we always feel the answer is very obvious and yet, it hits us so hard deep within that we could not answer it right away because it demands honesty and sincerity.
Do you love me?
Whether you are a priest or a religious or a layperson, much of the difficulty in answering this question lies on the fact that too often, it comes to us in those moments we have sinned to a loved one. When we were unfaithful and have not loved much as expected.
It was the context when Jesus asked Simon Peter three times “Do you love me?” after their breakfast at the shore of Lake Tiberias three weeks after Easter. Simon knew it so well that he felt sad after the third question of the Lord because it referred to his three denials of Jesus on Holy Thursday evening outside the residence of the chief priest. He must have heard the cock crowing again at that instance.
Church of Gallicantu (Rooster), the site where St. Peter denied the Lord thrice. Photo by author, April 2017.
I realized only last year as a guest spiritual director to our seminarians at the Theologate that our main problem as priests is when we get so focused with our vocation which is the priesthood, forgetting its very essence, Jesus Christ.
It is the Caller, not the call!
When we priests forget Jesus, even if we are so centered even obsessed with priesthood, problems arise. It is a misplaced priority. The call gets into our bloated egos that eventually deteriorate into careerism among us priests that we compete and complain a lot in our assignments. No more ministry because everything comes with a fee. Pains and sufferings have become costs of discipleship and not life.
Eventually, we end up being gods and kings, even larger than the Lord himself in our parishes or particular assignment. We become the standard of everything because we are all-knowing, so great at building churches and other structures, establishing every organization while consciously or unconsciously building cults around our very selves that in the process, we have evicted Jesus Christ completely from our hearts and the parish itself!
The same is true with couples. The husband and wife forget each other, getting focused more with married life and children until eventually, they just drifted apart, becoming strangers to each other and lose all love. This is most evident when couples enter into a sort of spiritual divorce, when they are “so far away” from each other though they still live together “for the sake of the children” or, as we always hear, “alang-alang sa mga bata.”
Love makes us see Jesus in himself and in others too.
In St. John’s account of the third appearance of the risen Lord to the seven apostles who have gone fishing at Lake Tiberias that Sunday morning, no one among them recognized him except the beloved disciple because he was the only one who remained loving Jesus.
When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus… who said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.”
John 21:4,6-7
Appearance of the Risen Lord at Lake Tiberias. From Google.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI recently answered some questions given to him for an interview before the Holy Week. When asked about the festering problem of sex scandal in the Church, he said that is a sign of how we priests have entirely forgotten Jesus Christ, especially to pray to him at the Blessed Sacrament.
That is very true. Jesus could no longer be seen among us, in our person, in our actions, in our way of living, and most especially in our churches that have become so empty of God and so filled of our selves.
We have forgotten the fact that before we were ordained priests, there was Jesus Christ first. We converse with him less in prayer because priesthood demands so much of our time and energy like a profession or a job. Slowly, Jesus is nowhere to be found in us and in our parishes. And that is when we also start to get lost as priests, eaten up by materialism and fame.
The same is true with couples who forget after several years of living together that before they were married, there was also Jesus Christ first in each other. When children start coming, more concerns are shifted on the couple’s career in order to earn more and live comfortably. Couples then forget each other, even their very selves who end up married with their jobs or profession. Eventually, they part ways because they could no longer see each other.
The difficulty in answering the question “do you love me?” is found in the way we do our work, when we just see tasks. No love, no person.
Whatever we do in life, we have to do it with more love because when we love, we remain attached with persons not with things. When we do thing with more love, we have direction because we think of persons, not just goals. When we do things with more love, we see persons because only another person can love, not things. See how Jesus told the crowd who have come with him to the wilderness to pray to the Master to send more laborers to work on the great harvest (Mt.9:38). He did not instruct them and us to pray for more money, more food and clothing because what we really need is love. Only people can love.
Jesus Christ did everything in love, filled with love. That is why he is so gentle and merciful with us sinners. In his love, he sees more the person being defaced by sins and evil, pains and sufferings. And that is why he died on the Cross, the ultimate expression of doing everything in love.
The next time you want to prove your love to anyone, do your work with love, no matter how imperfect your love is. Jesus will fill in the rest because you are so loved.
Live in the love of Christ.
If you have love in your heart, you have been blessed by God;
if you have been loved, you have been touched by God.
