Author: lordmychef

Marriage is completing each other

The Lord Is My Chef Wedding Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Homily, Wedding of Dra. Arianna Julia Enriquez & Dr. Dexter Falcon
Santuario de San Jose Parish, Greenhills, Mandaluyong
28 February 2025
Photo by Deesha Chandra on Pexels.com

Congratulations, Dra. Arianna and Doc Dexter in choosing to get married in the Church. Many people these days disregard the Sacrament of Marriage, sadly seeing it more in human terms and most sad of all, many would rather follow superstitions than faith in getting married.

When I was still in a parish in Bulacan, a couple met with me due to a problem with the date they wanted to get married that fell on a Saturday. I offered to them a Friday but the mother of the bride said “araw po ng mga mangkukulam ang Biyernes!” Whoa! Did you know that?

Trying to hide my laughter, I told the couple how about on a Thursday which is my day off and would just cancel it to officiate their wedding. The mother again interjected, “nakupo Father… lalo na po ang Huwebes! Araw ng kasal ng mga tikbalang!” I could not contain myself anymore and I told the mother, “Katoliko pala mga tikbalang dito sa inyo!”

I mentioned this experience because in the provinces, very few couples get married in the month of February like you. Your Tita, Dra Mylene knows this very well… happy birthday po! When people find out you were born in February, they say “kaya ka pala ganyan, kulang-kulang.” And that’s how most people see February – kulang or incomplete – that is why even couples avoid it as a date for their wedding.

Of course that is not true. Every day is a perfect day for wedding for each day is blessed by God – most especially the days of February, the most perfect month in number of days. February was added to our calendar to complete the 365 days of revolution of Earth around the Sun to make it a year. It is February that completes the year as it fills the missing days following the miscalculations by the early Romans.

Photo by Irina Iriser on Pexels.com

And that’s marriage. A man and a woman get married to complete each other.

Remember God’s declaration in the first reading, “It is not good for man to be alone.”

See how in creating the woman, God cast a deep sleep on man and took his rib to form it into a woman. The man was totally unaware of what was going on when God created and gave him the woman as his “suitable partner.”

This is most true with you, Dra. Arianna and Doc Dexter: you were both totally unaware in the beginning of how God worked silently in the background that you would eventually complete each other as friends, as lovers and now as husband and wife.

You have realized after your long relationship from pre-med to med proper and now as full-pledged doctors that you both cannot be complete without each other that even if you were separated by time and distance, you still made efforts to be together because that is love. You have realized that you can only be complete and whole with each other. Ikaw lang, sapat na!

Nothing is so toxic and difficult, nothing is most joyous when you think of each other, when you love each other. And so, simply love, love, and love! Huwag kayong magbibilangan! No need to have the numbers “224” tattooed on your arms like Philmar and Andi Eigenman.

When you have an LQ, who must make the first move to reach out and make peace?

Some couples say the man should make the first move but what happened to the rule “ladies first”? Others say the first to reconcile and say sorry is the one who started the lover’s quarrel but, would anyone really admit that?

The answer is this: when couples have an LQ, the one who has the most love to give must be the first to make the move for peace and reconciliation. Yung higit na nagmamahal ang unang kikibo.

Love is not a competition and love cannot be really measured. The true measure of love is when you love without measure. Nobody is perfect; hence, human love is also imperfect. Only God can love us perfectly. That is why, just keep on loving each other, letting your love flow to each other by taking care of each other.

That is the beautiful imagery of the ribs – inside the rib cage, the most vital organs of the body are protected and kept safe like the heart, the lungs, the liver. Lalo na ikaw, Doc Dexter: you are lacking in one rib and that is Dra. Arianna. Alagaan mo siyang mabuti. Boss namin siya…

God willed in all eternity that the two of you get married today not tomorrow nor next year nor last year. It was God who set February 28 as your wedding date because on this day God completes you.

However, though the husband and the wife complete each other, it is Jesus Christ who cements their union in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. Jesus is the “gold paint” in the Japanese kintsugi art of repairing broken pottery.

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of joining together the broken pieces of a jar or a vase with a glue and then pain with gold its cracks to make the broken piece more beautiful. Along this line of thought is St. Paul the Apostle who described us as “earthen vessels” – palayok in Tagalog: so delicate and easily broken yet God still fills us with Himself and His grace because He loves us so much.

And that is my second final reflection for you dear Dra. Arianna and Doc Dexter: love is not natural but supernatural – it is divine because it is rooted in God! Love is more than a feeling which is natural. Love is a decision, requiring your cooperation with God who pours out His blessings to you since you met despite your imperfections and flaws. That is the meaning of Marriage as a Sacrament – it is more than a human and natural bond but a supernatural, divine union of man and woman who become the signs of Christ’s saving presence in the world.

Heed the call of Jesus in our gospel today, “remain in me and make my joy complete.”

How lovely is your love story! Clearly of divine origin that you met in a theology class during your senior year in college. You did not meet in a party nor in any of those rows of restaurants across Ateneo or at the parking lot. You met in a theology class where you learned about God.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

And the more you discovered God, the more you discovered each other, realizing in the process that the more you need God to make you both complete which is the principle and foundation of St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises.

We are able to love because God loved us first as the beloved disciple wrote in his first letter. That is the mystery of love, of married love specifically that Ben & Ben said so well in their song, “Mahiwaga… Pipiliin ka sa araw-araw… Mahiwaga… and nadarama sa iyo ay malinaw.”

When I think of this mystery of divine love in married couples, the image that comes to my mind are the “praying hands”. Each hand represents the husband and the wife. They retain their individuality as they freely pursue growth and maturity and fulfillment in life and career. Both hands are flexible and can move freely.

But, look at these two praying hands: as you get closer with each other, you also create a sacred space between you for Jesus Christ. Like that glue painted gold in the Japanese art of kintsugi, it is Jesus who makes you one and complete, it is Jesus who joins you together in his love.

Hence, whatever you do to each other, you do it first to Jesus. When you are faithful and true to Dra . Arianna, you are first faithful and true Doc Dexter to Jesus. The same with you Dra. Arianna: when you bake pastries and cakes for Doc Dexter, it is Jesus whom you first make happy and delighted.

But the moment you Doc Dexter cheat and lie to Dra. Arianna, you first fool Jesus. When you make taray to Doc Dexter, you first make taray to Jesus, Dra. Arianna.

Handle your life always with prayer. Every day, invite Jesus into your married life, Dra. Arianna and Doc Dexter in the same manner you have both invited Him today on your wedding day. God bless you always, Dra. Arianna and Doc Dexter! May today be your least happiest day in your life as couple! Amen.

Photo by Emre Kuzu on Pexels.com

There is always hope

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Eighth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 03 March 2025
Sirach 17:20-24     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     Mark 10:17-27
Photo by author, Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.

To the penitent God provides a way back, he encourages those who are losing hope and has chosen for them the lot of truth. Return to him and give up sin, pray to the Lord and make your offenses few (Sirach 17:20).

In that long poem by
your faithful French writer
Charles Peguy (1873-1914),
you claimed O God that
hope is your favorite virtue
because it surprises you.
How lovely,
dear Father to imagine
you our God,
all-powerful
all-knowing
is still surprised,
something we have lost
in this time
when everything
is predictable,
nothing ever hidden.
Many times
I see myself that young man
in the Gospel
running to you in Jesus,
excitedly asking what must
I do to inherit eternal life?
But, when you answered
and asked me to give up
my possessions,
I balk,
I turn away sadly
because I just can't
give up all I have.
But, then
comes your greatest
surprise of all when we
reject you,
when we turn away from you:
you still look at us filled with
love!
There is always hope in you, 
Lord if we can just go back
to you in Jesus;
there is always hope 
in this world,
in this life
because you never run out
of surprises for us
because "all things are
possible for God" 
(Mark 10:27).
Amen.

The heart of the disciple, the heart of discipleship

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 02 March 2025
Sirach 27:4-7 ><}}}}*> 1 Corinthians 15:54-58 ><}}}}*> Luke 6:39-45
Photo by Denniz Futalan on Pexels.com

The last time we have celebrated the eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle C was in 2001 when just like this year, the Season of Lent started late in March. In fact, the other last two Sundays of sixth and eighth in Cycle C were last celebrated in 2010 and 2007, respectively.

It is worth noting this because as Jesus delivered his Sermon on the Plain, we find that contrary to claims by many in this modern time, the teachings of Christ are actually taken directly from life as he reveals to us the truth in our hearts. Two Sundays ago, Jesus taught us the paradoxical happiness of our lives, of being poor, hungry, weeping, and maligned than rich, filled, laughing and well-spoken of; last Sunday, he taught us of the need to love truly that is rooted in God by loving without measure, loving even our enemies.

This Sunday, Jesus tells us something we often debate about as it usually puts us into a bind even a quandary on what to say and do.

Jesus told his disciples a parable, “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye” (Luke 6:39, 41-42).

Photo by author, Hidden Valley Springs Resort, Calauan, Laguna, 20 February 2025.

Very often in many instances, most of us choose to be quiet than speak out against evil and other irregularities among us and in our society because of this teaching of the Lord. Many are afraid to notice the splinter in the brother’s eye lest they too might have a wooden beam blocking their views of themselves.

And that is why, evil persists everywhere that eventually, many of us become silent partners in the many sins happening around us which is very far from the demands of Jesus for us to choose what is right and good, to always make a stand for him even on the Cross.

See the flow of the Sermon on the Plain, of how Jesus is first of all never condemning nor judgmental of anyone. We have reflected his four “woes” were actually invitations for the rich et alii to change their ways in life, to think more of things that do not pass like wealth and other material things.

Secondly, last Sunday, Jesus directed our intentions into our hearts, to probe our hearts and find his grace of supernatural or divine love poured in there so that we can love selflessly without measure like him.

This Sunday, Jesus still directs us into our hearts, to examine whether we are truly his disciple or a hypocrite as someone who says something yet does the opposite. It is not opposite his exhortation last week for us to be merciful like God our Father rather a challenge to examine what we practice, our Christian praxis.

“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear a good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles. A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:43-45).

Photo by Mr. Lorenzo Atienza, leftmost section of the stained glass at the National Shrine of Our lady of Fatima in Valenzuela City, 25 February 2025.

It is clearly a lesson in holiness, in integrity of every disciple! Do we walk our talk? The most basic norm of morality is that what we know in our mind and what we feel in our heart is what we say and therefore what we do.

Where are we now? Everybody is speaking about corruption while the devils celebrate everywhere as we are all entangled in all forms of corruption not only in the streets and government offices but even in our homes, in schools and offices and yes, right inside the church in many parishes.

Now we come full circle with Christ’s opening to his parable, Can a blind person guide a blind person? And this is what is now happening in the world, in our lives, in our country and in our parishes. Nobody would want to speak because nobody would want to examine one’s heart and follow the path of Jesus.

It is in our deeds that one is recognized as a true disciple. Let us not forget that. And let us not be afraid to examine constantly the value of our many ways and practices.

Photo by author, St. Paul Spirtuality Center, Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 05 January 2025.

One of the famous bishops and saint both recognized by the Eastern and Western Churches is St. John Chrysostom who served as Archbishop of Constantinople until the early 400’s. He is called the “golden mouthed” because of his gift in eloquence most true in his witnessing Christ, always meaning what he said like in this homily that sounds so 2025:

The Church is in an extremely critical state, and you think that all is going well. The fact is that we are plunged into countless sins, and we do not even know it!

You wonder why. We hav e churches, money, and everything else. There are places for assembly, people come there everyday; surely this is not nothing?

But it is not thus that we judge the state of the Church. Then how?, you ask.

Whether we lead a truly Christian life. Whether everyday we make ourselves spiritually more rich, bearing fruit, whether great or small; if we are not content simply with flfilling the law and expediting our religious duties.

Who is a better person, after having frequented the church all month?

This is what we must look for! After all, even what appears to be a good action is only a bad action, when one does not follow it up… If we bring nothing to fruition through it, it would be better to stay home (from Days of the Lord, vol. 6, page 62).

Photo by Mr. Lorenzo Atienza, 25 February 2025.

The kind of life we lead is the final test of our discipleship, the proof of what is in our hearts. St. Francis of Assisi used to tell his followers whenever they would preach to use only their mouth if necessary. Our actions speak louder than our words.

This is the biggest problem in the Church today: our lack of credibility as bishops and priests when our lives are far from what we say and teach.

God shared with us his power of the words. In the Bible, we find how his words and his being are always one since the story of creation into the coming of Jesus Christ who could heal with just mere words being the word who became flesh.

This is the whole point of Ben Sirach in our first reading this Sunday, reminding us that inasmuch as the potter knows the quality of his work after it has passed through fire, the same thing is most true with our words. We have to harness and master our speech, our words so that we walk what we talk.

We master our power of the words in our prayer life as St. Paul assured us in today’s second reading how in the Lord our labor is not in vain (1 Cor. 15:58). Let us pray to the Holy Spirit especially this Sunday as we approach the Season of Lent with Ash Wednesday. Let us keep our zeal for Christ not nonly for his words and teachings but most especially in his life and witnessing. Amen. See you at Ash Wednesday.

Campus Ministry, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City.

Friends are gifts from God

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 28 February 2025
Sirach 6:5-17     ><}}}}*>  +  ><}}}}*>  +  ><}}}}*>     Mark10:1-12
Photo by author, Sakura Farm, Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.
Thank you very much
dear Father for February
and most especially
for the gift of friends
you gave us.
Your servant Ben-Sirach
was so right after all,
"Let your acquaintances be many,
but one in a thousand your confidant.
When you gain a friend, 
first test him,
and be not too ready to trust him"
(Sirach 6:6-7).
Heal us in Jesus,
Father,
of the many hurts
and pains some friends
have caused us:
those who have left us in time
of distress;
those who have become an enemy;
the boon companion who left us
in time of our sorrow;
those who have turned against us
and avoided us when we were down;
and those who took advantages
of our goodwill
(cf. Sirach 6:8-12).
For our friends who came
for reasons and seasons
and now gone,
bless them, Jesus;
and for those friends
who have remained
because of love,
bless them more!
Friends come from you,
Jesus, one of the greatest gifts
one can receive for it is a unity of souls
that give nobility and sincerity to love,
a kind of love only you Lord
had designed;
therefore, 
let us work on our friendships
but never change our friends
into someone they are not
gifted to be;
it is only then a friend
becomes a treasure
we cherish and nourish,
never to be given away
like in divorce and
adultery that Mark tells us
today in the gospel
(Mark 10:1-12).
Amen.
Photo by author, Sakura Farm, Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.

In pursuit of wisdom

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 26 February 2025
Sirach 4:11-19     ><]]]]'>  +  ><]]]]'>  +  ><]]]]'>     Mark 9:38-40
Photo by author, Hidden Valley Springs Resort, 20 February 2025. 
Let me pursue wisdom,
Let me follow and seek you,
God my Father
in order to find life and meaning;
unlike knowledge,
wisdom is not an intellectual pursuit
that can be gained through reading
and academic studies;
pursuing wisdom is finding you,
Lord which is very slow,
always within the realms of 
failures and disappointments,
calling us to acknowledge our
fears and anxieties
because wisdom is lived
and experienced.

Wisdom breathes life into her children and admonishes those who seek her. He who loves her loves life; those who seek her will be embraced by the Lord… bringing him happiness and reveal her secrets to them and she will heap upon him treasures of knowledge and an understanding of justice (Sirach 4:11-12, 18).

Wisdom is knowing you,
 God;
loving you,
 God;
seeing everything
in your perspective,
immersing myself in you
to be one in you,
one with you
to understand and appreciate
each of your creation;
hence,
embracing wisdom
is embracing Jesus
your Son, Father
who came to show us
everything
in the light of justice
and fairness,
charity and love
not with petty rivalries,
and envy of earthly
entitlements
 that can be so fleeting
and never satisfying
nor contenting.
Let me love your law,
therefore,
Lord
like the psalmist today
so that I too
may have
peace
in Jesus.
Amen.
Photo by author, Hidden Valley Springs Resort, 20 February 2025.

Ang Simbahan at ang EDSA ’86

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-25 ng Pebrero 2025
Larawan mula sa wikipedia.org.

Hindi maikakaila ang mahalagang papel ng Simbahang Katolika sa tagumpay ng People Power 1986 na sinasagisag ng National Shrine of Mary, Queen of Peace mismo sa kanto ng EDSA at Ortigas Avenue kung saan pinigilan ng mga madre, pari, seminarista at layko ang mga sundalong sasalakay sana noon sa mga “rebeldeng” nasa Kampo Crame.

Sa gitna ng maraming pagbabago sa pag-usbong ng maraming matatayog na gusali, nananatiling paalala ang dambanang ito ng katotohanang wala tayong magagawa sa buhay natin kung nakahiwalay tayo sa Diyos sa pamamagitan ni Kristo Hesus kasama ang kanyang Ina na si Maria (Juan 15:5).

Nguni’t ipinahihiwatig din ng simbahang ito ang malaking bugtong sa ating panahon ngayon, kung ano na ang nangyari sa diwa ng EDSA 1986 na tila sa paglipas ng panahon ay unti-unti nang nalilimutan ng marami? Tingnang kung paano sa ngayon ang EDSA ang tanda ng lahat ng magulo at mali sa ating bayan, taliwas sa dating ningning at karangalan nito. Higit sa lahat, kay laking kabalintunaan ng ating kasalukuyan na ang mga pinatalsik ng EDSA noon ay hindi lang basta nakabalik ngayon kungdi sila pang muli ang namumuno, muling nananahan mismo sa palasyo ng Malacanang!

Larawan ni Jaime Cardinal Sin sa Villa San Miguel, 23 Pebrero 1986, kuha ni Alex Bowi/Getty Images.

Anyare? Kung paanong naging mahalaga ang papel ng Simbahang Katolika noon sa tagumpay ng People Power 1986, pagkalipas ng halos apat na dekada ay masasabi ring malaki ang kinalaman ng mga pari at obispo sa pagkupas at pananamlay ng diwa ng EDSA sa ngayon.

At taliwas sa larawan ng EDSA Shrine ang ating makikita sa ngayon ay ang pagkalango ng maraming mga obispo at pari sa kapangyarihan ng pulitika mula noong Pebrero 1986.

Wala nang nakasunod sa yapak ng karunungan at kabutihan ng yumaong Cardinal Sin na masasabi nating hindi namulitika at lalong hindi pulitiko noong 1986. Isang tunay na pastol ng kanyang mga kawan, inihatid ni Cardinal Sin tayo noon sa mayamang pastulan at malinis na batisan ika nga. Kung hindi sa kanyang panawagan sa Radyo Veritas noong gabi ng Pebrero 21, 1986, napulbos na marahil ang Kampo Aguinaldo at Krame, hindi na naging Pangulo si Tabako at umigsi buhay ng alamat na si Enrile.

Maraming pari at obispo iba nakita sa pakikibaka noon ni Cardinal Sin. Nakaligtaan nilang tularan ang buhay-panalangin (prayer life) ni Cardinal Sin na siyang bukal ng kanyang kabanalan o, kung di kayo papayag ay espiritualidad. Sa kabila ng maraming kontrobersiya sa kanyang mga sinasabi noon, isang mababanaagan palagi sa kanya ang malinaw na tanda ng buhay na pananalangin. Mayroon siyang prayer life kaya mayroon din siyang kababaang-loob at malasakit sa maliliit.

Maliban sa ilang natitira pang katulad ni Cardinal Sin, maraming obispo at pari ngayon ang sampay-bakod o amuyong sa mga pulitiko at mayayaman. Marami sa kanila mga TH na social climber nagkukunwaring “social activist” na puro burgis ang kasama pati asta at salita.

Larawan kuha ni Pete Reyes kina Sr. Porfiria “Pingping” Ocariza (+) at Sr. Teresita Burias nananalangin upang pigilan mga kawal sasalakay sana noon sa mga rebelde sa Kampo Crame noong People Power 1986.

Kung noong EDSA ay tanda ng kanilang paglilingkod at kawang-gawa ang kanilang mga sutana na sumasagisag sa kanilang kaisahan sa Panginoong Jesu-Kristo, maraming mga obispo at pari ngayon dinurungisan kanilang habito na naging pasaporte palapit sa mga mayayaman at makapangyarihan.

Nakakalungkot ang maraming obispo at pari na nagsisiksikan sa pagmimisa para sa ilang mayayaman habang napakaraming maliliit na ni hindi mabasbasan kanilang mga yumao, ni hindi madalaw para dasalan mga may sakit. Minsang magkawang-gawa, naka-Facebook naman!

Ang pinakanakakasuka sa lahat na tiyak taliwas sa diwa ng EDSA 1986 ay ang mga obispo at pari na sunud-sunuran sa mga mayayaman at makapangyarihan. Nawala na ang kredibilidad ng mga kaparian na taglay noon ni Cardinal Sin dahil alam na alam ng mga pulitiko at mayayaman ang kahinaan ng mga obispo at pari – kuwarta, kuwalta, salapi at pera. Kitang-kita ito sa mga kasalan at lamayan. Maski sa tolda, magmimisa mga obispo at maraming pari para sa anibersaryo ng gasolinahan, sisindihan mga Christmas lights ng kanilang tindahan, magtutulak ng wheelchair ng milyunaryong lumpo, at iiwanan mga parokya maski Linggo para makimisa sa libing ng yumaong donya o don. Istambayan ay Starbucks, tanghalian sa lahat ng eat-all-you-can at bakasyon sa abroad, first class pa sa eroplano sagot ng mayayaman at pulitiko. Nasaan diwa ng EDSA? Wala! Nilamon at tinabunan ng buhol buhol na trapik ang EDSA!

Noon sa EDSA 1986, humingi ng tulong sa mayayaman para sa mga kawal at mga tao pero ngayon, hindi na nahihiya mga obispo at pari ipasagot sa governor at mayor kanilang mga party at outing. Hindi lang donasyon sa mga pagawain sa parokya hinihingi nila kungdi mga sariling pagawain sa bahay at sasakyan.

Nakakahiya. Nakakapanlumo.

Larawan ni Linglong Ortiz, 23 Pebrero 1986.

Kung paanong ang mga pari at obispo ang naging malaking bahagi ng tagumpay ng EDSA People Power noong Pebrero 1986, sila ngayon ang isang malaking dahilan sa pagkawasak ng diwa nito. Hindi na madama ng mga maliliit kanilang mga pastol na nanginginain sa mga handaan, iniwanan mga maralita sa kanilang kariton.

Nawa makita muli naming mga pari at obispo ang malaking estatwa ni Maria, ang Reyna ng Kapayapaan doon sa bubong ng simbahan sa EDSA at matanto rin paanong nanatili si Maria malapit sa Anak niyang si Jesus at sa mga tulad niyang anawim, mga maliliit. Hindi sa panig ng mga mayayaman at makapangyarihan.

Pansinin na habang tumatagal ang EDSA, tila nawawala na pagkakaisa natin sa Diyos kay Kristo kasama ang kanyang Ina na si Maria na dapat sana ay pangunahan ng mga obispo at pari. Iyon ang diwa ng EDSA noon na hindi ko makita ngayon. Pansin din ba ninyo?

The gift of EDSA 1986

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Souyl by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 25 February 2025
Sirach 2:1-11     ><))))*>  +  ><))))*>  +  ><))))*>     Mark 9:30-37
Photo by Pete Reyes, Sr. Porfiria “Pingping” Ocariza (+) and Sr. Teresita Burias praying the rosary to protect mutineers during the EDSA People Power Revolt in February 1986..
Praise and glory to you,
God our Father
for the gift of EDSA People Power
Revolution that peacefully
ended this day 39 years ago;
your words in today's first reading
are so true:

Compassionate and merciful is the Lord; he forgives sins, he saves in time of trouble and he is a protector to all who seek him in truth (Sirach 2:11).

But what happened after 1986
at EDSA?
We have forgotten, Father
everything!
We have turned away from you,
refusing to stand for justice,
evading trials and difficulties;
we have become impatient in times
of "crushing misfortune";
worst of all,
we have stopped trusting you
unlike those five days of EDSA.
How sad in the years
that followed after 1986,
we "argued" along the way
like your disciples on "who is
the greatest among us" until
the unexpected happened
when a monster came to power
calling you "stupid" as he spewed
indecencies and murder from his mouth
until suddenly, 
the ones we kicked out
are back,
now denigrating the significance
of EDSA 1986.
Photo by Linglong Ortiz, 23 February 1986.
Help us learn anew
the lessons of EDSA 1986;
let us return to you
and continue the revolution
in our hearts;
like the psalmist
in today's responsorial psalm,
may we "commit our lives
to you, Lord"
 for you will surely
help us
like in EDSA 1986.
Amen.

Karunungan vs. katalinuhan, kabutihan vs. kabaitan

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-24 ng Pebrero 2025
Mula sa Pinterest.

Kay ganda ng serye ng ating mga unang pagbasa sa Banal na Misa ngayong huling linggo bago magsimula ang Kuwaresma sa Miyerkules ng Abo ika-lima ng Marso 2025.

Napapanahon ang mga pagbasang ito mula sa Aklat ng Ecclesiastico ngayong binubura sa kamalayan natin ang mahalagang yugto ng ating kasaysayan, ang EDSA Revolution ng 1986.

Tamang-tama din ang mga naturang pagbasa sa gitna ng mga balita ng mga pagmamalabis ng maraming nasa kapangyarihan di lamang sa pamahalaan at lipunan kungdi pati na rin ng mga pari at obispo natin sa simbahan. Kung sa bagay, matagal nang usapin mga iyan sa simbahan na palaging hinahayaan nating mga Pilipino dahil na rin sa kawalan natin ng kamalayan sa pagkakaiba-iba ng marunong sa matalino at ng mabuti sa mabait na siyang paksang ibig kong talakayin ngayong bisperas ng EDSA People Power Revolution.

Tingnan muna natin ang karunungan at katalinuhan.

Larawan kuha ni Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images sa Laoag City, 08 Mayo 2022.

Ang karunungan (wisdom) ay tanda ng kabanalan dahil ito ay pagtulad sa Diyos na siyang Karunungan mismo. Ang maging marunong (to be wise) ay hindi lamang malaman ang maraming bagay-bagay sa mundo at buhay kungdi makita at mabatid pagkakaugnay-ugnay ng mga ito. Pag-ibig at pagmamahal ang hantungan palagi ng karunungan at kabutihan.

Ang maging marunong ay magkaroon ng mahusay at matalas na isipan na pinanday ng puso at kaloobang nakahilig sa Banal na Kalooban ng Diyos. Dinadalisay ng buhay pananalangin, nakikita ng karunungan ang kabuuan ng lahat ng mga bagay-bagay sa liwanag ni Kristo. Buo at ganap ang karunungan dahil mula ito sa Diyos, nagtitiwala sa Diyos at nakabatay sa Diyos ang lahat ng pagsusuri, pagtitimbang at pagpapasya sa lahat ng bagay.

Mula sa Panginoon ang lahat ng karunungan at iyon ay taglay niya magpakailanman. Sino ang makabibilang ng butil ng buhangin sa dagat, o ng patak ng ulan, o ng mga araw sa panahong walang pasimula at katapusan? Sino ang makasusukat sa taas ng langit o lawak ng lupa? Sino ang makaaarok sa kalaliman ng dagat at sino ang makasasaliksik sa Karunungan? (Sirac 1:1-3).

Sa kabilang dako naman, ang matalino ay pagkakaroon ng matalas na isipan. Magandang katangian ito ngunit hindi ito pinaka-mahalaga dahil sa ating sariling karananasan at kasaysayan, kay daming matatalinong Pilipino pero bakit ganito pa rin ang bayan natin?

Sa pamahalaan maging sa Simbahan, palaging ipinangangalandakan katalinuhan ng mga upisyal at nanunungkulan. Kaya nga sa sikat na sitcom na Bubble Gang, mayroong karakter doon na kung tawagi’y Tata Lino na puro katatawanan ang mapapakinggan.

At sa sawimpalad nating mga Pilipino, mas pinapaboran natin, mas hinahangaan palagi mga matatalino kesa marurunong. Bilib na bilib tayo sa mga tao na maraming tinapos na degree sa mga pamantasan dito sa bansa at ibayong dagat. Isa iyan sa malaking problema sa Simbahan: maraming pari at obispo ang matatalino ngunit walang puso ni Kristo, puso ng Mabuting Pastol. Sa dami ng matatalinong Pilipino, bakit ganito pa rin ang ating bayan maging Simbahan?

Bulok. Kung hindi man ay nabubulok.

Dangan kasi, mga matatalino matalas lang ang isipan ngunit walang puso o pitak man lamang doon para sa kapwa at sa Diyos kaya madalas, ginagamit kanilang katalinuhan sa kabuktutan at sariling mga interes at pangangailangan.

Kay ganda ng talinghagang gamit natin diyan – lumaki ang ulo. Yumabang at naging palalo sa sobrang katalinuhan, walang ibang pinakikinggan kungdi sarili lamang. Naku, lalo na iyan sa mga pari at obispo ng Simbahan!

Ang katawa-tawa sa malalaking ulo iyan ng maraming namumuno saan man, sa hindi maipaliwanag na kadahilanan, maraming matatalino puno ng kabag sa tiyan at hindi kataka-taka, walang ibang nagagawa sila kungdi umutot ng umutot. Kaya mabaho at mabantot sa maraming anomalya at kalabisan itong ating bayan maging Simbahan! Hindi ba?

Larawan ni Roger Buendia/Presidential Museum and Library via esquiremag.ph.

Noon pa man, sinasabi ko nang palagi magkaiba ang kabaitan at kabutihan. Madalas ang taong mabait nating tinuturing ay pleaser sa Inggles. Utu-uto, lahat puwede, lahat pinapayagan para walang kaguluhan pero ang katotohanan, lalo lamang gumugulo mga sitwasyon kapag kabaitan ang pinairal.

Alam na alam ito ng maraming mag-aaral na gusto nila mabait na guro na lahat ay puwede. Ganun din mga tao sa pari at obispong mabait. Lahat puwede para walang gulo. Akala nila…

Pero, mayroon bang natututunan sa mga maestra o maestro na mabait? Wala. Aminin natin mas marami tayong natutunan sa mga guro pati magulang at boss at pari na istrikto o mahigpit.

Ganoon ang mabuting tao (good person) – maliwanag sa kanya ang tama at mali. Hindi puwedeng payagan o pagbigyan ang mali. Mayroong diwa ng pananagutan palagi ang mga mabubuting tao na kadalasan ay istrikto rin naman. Sa mabuting tao, basta tama at kabutihan, hindi pagtatalunan o pag-aawayan samantalang mga mababait, lahat pinapayagan.

Ang mabuting tao, hindi niya iniisip ang sarili niyang kapakanan at kaluguran bagkus kabutihan ng karamahan at ng iba pang tao kesa kanyang sarili. Yung mababait, sarili lang nila iniisip. Kaya pinapayagan ang lahat ay upang magkaroon ng mga kaibigan at mga mangungutangan ng loob sa kanila. Popularity-oriented kadalasan mga matatalino at mababait.

Kaya naman, mapapansin natin na magkasama palagi ang karunungan at kabutihan at ang katalinuhan at kabaitan. Ang marunong ay tiyak na mabuti sapagkat higit sa kaalaman ang kanyang nilalayon ay kabutihan at kapakanan ng karamihan. Iyong mabait madalas ay matalino kasi sa Inggles makikita natin ito ay tumutukoy sa sanity o pagiging matinong pag-iisip o sane. Kapag sinabing “nasiraan ng bait”, ibig sabihin, nasira na ang ulo o nabaliw katulad ng maraming mga henyo na sa sobrang talino na walang iniisip kungdi sarili lamang.

Larawan mula sa en.wikipedia.org.

Noon sa EDSA, nadama ko at naranasan karunungan at kabutihan nina Cardinal Sin, Pangulong Aquino, Hen. Ramos at ng maraming mga tao na dumagsa doon hindi upang makipag-away at makipagtalo kungdi makipagkasundo at umunawa. Napaka saklap kay bilis nabaligtad ang lahat. Napalitan ng mga baliw mga marurunong at ng mga sakim ang mga mabubuti.

Sana sa mga panahong ito na ating ginugunita ang makasaysayang EDSA People Power ng 1986, muling pag-isipan at pagnilayan nating mabuti ang ating pinahahalagahan at pinaninindigan. Para sa Diyos, para sa Inang Bayan.

*Tunghayan mga dati nating nalathala sa paksang pagkakaiba ng kabutihan at kabaitan.

Magkaiba ang Mabait at Mabuti
Hindi mabuti ang mabait

Praying for wisdom

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 24 February 2025
Sirach 1:1-10     ><))))*>  +  ><))))*>  +  ><))))*>     Mark 9:14-19
Photo by author, Hidden Valley Springs Resort, Calauan, Laguna, 20 February 2025.
Your words today O Lord
God our Father 
are so timely
when some people in power
try to erase from our consciousness
the grace of EDSA People Power 1986;
your words O Lord
are so timely 
when some people in power
dilly dally with their authority
refusing to serve justice to those
who belittle the laws of the land,
without any decency at all with
themselves and with others;
your words dear God
are so timely
when we your people
will elect again our next batch
of lawmakers and leaders.

Your words,
O Father are so timely
that we may finally wake up to the reality
of the great difference between
wisdom and intelligence:
how sad people put more
premium on intelligence though
important but always abused
and misused for personal gains;
wisdom is different because
it is YOU, O God!
Wisdom is finding you,
seeing the whole of everything,
our interrelatedness,
more of "looking into"
than "looking at"
because wisdom
is holiness.

All wisdom comes from the Lord and with him it remains forever. The sand of the seashore, the drops of the rain, the days of eternity: who can number these? Heaven’s height , earth’s breadth, the depths of the abyss: who can explore these? Before all things else wisdom was created; and prudent understanding, from eternity.

How sad
the world looks more, 
follows more
and believes more
people of high intelligence,
so brilliant but empty of humanity,
filled with technology
driven with utility;
let us desire more of wisdom,
of being wise,
of wrapping with prayer
our every endeavor;
let us grow in wisdom 
by growing in Christ
who clearly taught us today
how certain kinds of exorcisms
and other ministry
"can only come out
through prayer"
(Mark 9:29).
Amen.
Photo by author, Hidden Valley Springs Resort, Calauan, Laguna, 20 February 2025.