Category: abundance in God

Jesus our Good Shepherd, the Gift & the Giver Himself

The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fourth Sunday in the Easter Season, Cycle B, 21 April 2024
Acts 4:8-12 ><}}}}*> 1 John 3:1-2 ><}}}}*> John 10:1-10
Photo by author, dusk at Anvaya Cove in Bataan, 15 April 2024.

My kinakapatid is turning 60 this week with a dinner to be prepared by an Italian chef. His sister texted me for my main course and I chose lamb chops. And immediately she replied, “Pareho tayo. Mary’s little pet… the one who takes away the sins of the world.” Her wit floored me that I had to agree with a text, “Right. The most biblical and holiest food.”

Sorry for some little bragging as we celebrate this fourth Sunday in Easter as “Good Shepherd Sunday”…

We Filipinos have a hard time getting the “feel” of the shepherd because we have never had that image in our culture. Hence, it is a most welcomed development that there is now a growing popularity in tending sheep in the country while the Filipino palate had finally discovered a taste for lamb.

Come to think of this: the sheep exists only for two reasons, for food and clothing. They are meant to be slaughtered unlike dogs or cats or birds kept as pets. Another notable thing with sheep is the fact it is the only land animal that go against the flow when crossing a river like the salmon!

Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, at Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort in Infanta, Quezon, 03 April 2024.

I love those characteristics of the sheep, for slaughtering which is almost like offering and always going against the tide. Exactly just like our Lord Jesus Christ who identified Himself as the good shepherd.

Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep… This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to raise it up again. This command I have received from my Father (John 10:11, 17-18).

See the flow of the Lord’s statements.

Photo from https://aleteia.org/2019/05/12/three-of-the-oldest-images-of-jesus-portrays-him-as-the-good-shepherd/.

First we notice here His use of the “I AM” which for the Jews refers to God when He told Moses “I AM WHO AM.” Clearly, Jesus was declaring to the people at that time that He is the Son of God, the awaited Messiah or Christ.

This scene was shortly before the feast of the dedication of the Jews after Jesus had healed a man born blind, a miracle never heard of at that time. It was a big issue then as authorities refused to accept that Jesus did indeed healed the man born blind.

Secondly, Jesus mentioned four times in just three verses the act of “laying down his life for the sheep” (vv. 11, 17, and 18). It sounded so good to hear how Jesus loves us so much that He would lay down His life for us his sheep; but, those were not just mere words Jesus expressed but a reality that happened at the Cross on Good Friday that He actually explained after this discourse at their Last Supper!

Keep in mind that we are now going back to the earlier discourses and teachings of Jesus that only became clear to the disciples including us today after Easter. We shall be having a lot of these “flashbacks” to understand and love Jesus more and His teachings.

Photo from https://aleteia.org/2019/05/12/three-of-the-oldest-images-of-jesus-portrays-him-as-the-good-shepherd/.

According to Pope Benedict XVI in his first book of the Jesus of Nazareth series, “The Cross is at the center of the shepherd discourse” (page 280). When Jesus said “This is my Body… This is my Blood”, He meant really Himself being given for us; Jesus did not merely give something for us but His very self as seen on the Cross on Good Friday.

That is how Jesus gives life – by giving up His life for us so that when He arose, we then share in His being a good shepherd through our little dying to ourselves because of love, giving life to those around us.

As the good shepherd, Jesus was the first to enter death, to be slaughtered but this time minus the violence and gore of the Cross that was the worst punishment of all time when He said “I lay down my life in order to take it up again”. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.”

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Yes, there was victimhood but more than that was His being an offering never forced nor imposed by anyone or by circumstances. Jesus did it all for love!

Though He was handed over (paradidomi) and betrayed by Judas, Jesus was totally free, actively passive went to his Passion and Death because He was very certain of His Resurrection.

We experience the same thing many times in life when we have to make great sacrifices like when we have to allow a loved one to die after a long illness. Death is a grace and a blessing when freely given too by those around the dying, freeing the dying person of any guilt when he/she finally goes.

The same thing is true when friends and lovers separate either because they have found other loves to pursue or worst, have fallen out of love with us despite all our love for them. It is the most unkindest cut of all breakups and separations, excruciatingly painful as we blindly give up our relationships ironically for love. More than the persons and circumstances involved, we freely choose to let go – magparaya in Filipino – because deep in our wounded and hollowed heart is the hope they may grow in their new love.

Here we are like Jesus the Good Shepherd because even in the death of our relationships is still found our love. Like Jesus Christ, we do not simply give something but our very selves. The Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner beautifully expressed this when he described Jesus is both “the Gift and the Giver.”

Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD of the sheep’s wool, 03 April 2024.

Love is better shown than said. Love cannot be defined but only be described for it is so wide and vast in its nature and scope. Love simply shows itself. That is why when we speak of love, we use comparisons and analogies and yet, they are not enough. How much more when we speak of the love of God?!

This Sunday, Jesus spoke of His love like every human being using the language of parable and allegories. But truly Divine, we find so much more when He claimed “I AM the good shepherd.” It is His total person and self, His being both the Gift and the Giver.

The good news is, because of His giving of self, we too have become like Him able to give ourselves wholly in love. Like Peter in the first reading, we experienced great powers within us not innately ours but God working in us, enabling us to empower others by healing them not literally but figuratively speaking.

When Jesus declared “I AM the good shepherd”, He reminds us of being the children of God, His indwelling, our being an “I AM” of God Himself. Like Him, we are good shepherds able to love in Christ to the point of being foolish as St. Paul experienced.

Like the sheep, let us continue to forge on with life’s many difficulties, even if many times we have to go against the flow of the world that is always selfish and misleading. Let us pray:

Dearest Jesus,
help me to give more of myself
not just of something from me;
help me to lay down my life
for my friends even if it means
not just losing myself but
losing them in order to gain You;
help me to remain in You,
my Good Shepherd,
to never go astray
because life and love
are found only in You,
the Gift and Giver.
Amen.
Have a blessed week ahead!

“Rationing” God?

The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Second Week of Easter, 11 April 2024
Acts 5:27-33     ><))))*> + <*(((((><     John 3:31-36
Photo by author, Bolinao, Pangasinan, April 2022.
Once again,
O Lord,
Your words 
are very amusing today:
"For the one whom God sent
speaks the words of God.
He does not ration his gift
of the Spirit" (John 3:34).
It sounds so funny
yet so true, dear Jesus!
We not only ration the
Holy Spirit but we also
ration every good gift
You give us as if it would
run out, as if You would 
stop blessing us,
as if You are not God.
Forgive us, Lord,
when we ration
especially Your love
to others, when we 
do not realize that love
and life and every blessing
You give are meant to be
given and shared fully
with others.

“We gave you strict orders did we not, to stop teaching in that name. Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and want to bring this man’s blood upon us.”

Acts 5:28
Dearest Jesus,
fill us with courage
like Your Apostles
after Pentecost that 
we too may give all
to fill the world
with Your Good News
of salvation
in You,
with You,
and through You!
Amen.

Lent: God “now here”, we “nowhere”?

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Fourth Week of Lent, 11 March 2024
Isaiah 65:17-21     ><)))))*> + <*(((((><     John 4:43-54
Photo by author, September 2020.
God our Father,
you are so amazing!
You never fail to surprise us,
never runs out of mysteries
that convey deep truths so
difficult to dissect and understand
but just enough to be experienced
and savored to be delighted
again and again
when remembered
and realized
like when you said
through the Prophet Isaiah:

Thus says the Lord: Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind. Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create; for I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be delight.

Isaiah 65:17-18
Later, John the Beloved
in his Book of Revelation linked
this idea of new heaven and new earth
with the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21:1-2)
with both passages speaking of a world
free of pain and sickness,
no weeping nor wailing
with no kids dying before
their time and no one living
below 100 years old.
Wonderful!

Of course, your words are
symbolic though we are sure
it would literally happen some day;
but what we are sure now is how
your words have paved the way
for the coming of Jesus Christ
who bridged the gaps
among us;
in Jesus Christ,
the reality of physics
is experienced daily like
in that remote healing of
a royal official's son in
Capernaum.
Our loving Father,
we do not expect to live
lives without pain,
sickness,
or tragedy
even though we wish
that so often;
grant us the grace
to remain committed
to Jesus and his Way of the
Cross to experience the peace
only he can give for he is always
NOW HERE, present in us
and among us
when so often
we are NOWHERE
by his side.

Let us remain in you,
O Lord,
let us stay with you,
in you, 
even if nothing seems to happen 
because 
that is when 
our faith and trust 
in you are deepened
like with that royal official.
Amen.
Photo by author, September 2020.

Shamefaced in Lent

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Second Week of Lent, 26 February 2024
Daniel 9:4-10     <*((((>< + + + ><))))*>     Luke 6:36-38
Thank you, Lord,
"great and awesome God"
(Daniel 9:4) for another month
about to end as we entered 
the second week in Lent;
by this time,
let us feel more your mercy
and forgiveness,
your immense love
despite our repeated sins
that have actually
habitual to many of us.
Like Daniel your prophet,
make us "shamefaced"
before you instead of being
shameless.

Justice, O Lord, is on your side; we are shamefaced even to this day: we, the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and all Israel, near and far, in all the countries to which you have scattered them because of their treachery toward you. O Lord, we are shamefaced, like our kings, our princes, and our fathers, for having sinned against you.

Daniel 9:7-8
Before we can be
merciful as you are 
merciful dear Father
according to Jesus Christ,
let us be shamefaced first
of all for our sinfulness;
many of us have lost that
sense of sinfulness,
becoming shameless
and so thick-faced
that saying it in Tagalog
is best, "makapal
ang mukha".
This Lent,
teach us to be
ashamed of our sins
and iniquities;
teach us to let go 
of our many excuses
and alibis that only
make our face grow
thicker like the soles
of our feet; make us
realize the more shame 
we put on our selves 
when we feel so
self-righteous
that we have no room
to be kind and understanding,
even caring and 
forgiving of others.
This Lent,
let us start
being shamefaced,
of having a healthy 
mistrust of our selves
so that we begin to trust you more,
O Lord, and become like you,
loving and merciful,
and eventually a vessel
of your blessings for others.
Amen.

Lent is seeing God in others

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the First Week of Lent, 19 February 2024
Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18   ><))))*> + + + <*((((><     Matthew 25:31-46
Photo by Mr. Jay Javier in Quiapo, Manila, 09 January 2024.
Today I pray dear God
to your directive since the
Old Testament until the coming
of your Son Jesus Christ:
"Be holy , for I, the Lord your God,
am holy" (Leviticus 19:2).
But, what is really to be holy,
what is to be like you,
God?
Perfect.
Loving.
Kind.
Good.
Merciful.
Forgiving.
Caring.
Understanding.
Warm.
Open.
There are so many other
traits and characteristics I can think
of you as being holy,
O God,
that we have to imitate
to be like
you
that makes holiness
 so difficult,
elusive,
and impossible!

Who can really be like you
when we are so different from you?
But, thank you in sending us
Jesus who not only made it
possible for us to be holy
like you, God,
but also made it
simpler:

“Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me… Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least one, you did not do for me.”

Matthew 25:40, 45
On this blessed season
of Lent,
teach us to fast 
and be empty of ourselves,
of our pride,
and of our sins
so we may be filled with YOU;
holiness is first of all 
being filled
with you, O God,
that we feel,
we see,
we think
of others like you,
that is, of seeing you
in each one of us.
When we begin to
realize and experience 
that you fill us, O God,
then we learn to be
generous in sharing
more of ourselves, 
of our time,
of our talent,
of our treasure,
and most of all,
of you dear God
dwelling in us
with others;
we can only be holy
not when we try being
like you but more of finding
you first in us
in order to find you
in others too!

Then, 
maybe we stop
fighting,
committing every sin
against each other
if only we can see you
dwelling,
filling 
each one of us.
Amen.

God does everything so well

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 09 February 2024
1 Kings 11:29-32, 12:19  ><)))*> + ><)))*> + ><)))*>  Mark 7:31-37
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, an orange-bellied flowerpecker (Dicaeum trigonostigma) somewhere in the Visayas, December 2023.
Today, dear God,
I share in the joy
of the people at the time 
of your Son Jesus
when he healed a deaf in the
district of Decapolis:

They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Mark 7:37
Yes, loving Father,
you have done all things well,
so very well in fact,
in Jesus Christ our Lord
that I am also exceedingly astonished
with your love and mercy.

When I look back to my life
even amid all the storms and
failures I have had,
you still have done
 all things well in my favor;
when I remember those sufferings
I almost gave up and quit,
you have done all things
in my favor, making me stronger
and better, even wiser today;
when I look back to the many
losses and defeats I have had,
you still have done all things well
in my favor, teaching me the
values of perseverance, patience,
and fulfillment, as well as
the differences between
 happiness and joy,
success and fruitfulness.

Dear Father,
keep us open to your grace
and wisdom and plans for us;
most of all,
keep us open to Jesus Christ
who comes to us always even
in paths we least expect to find him,
in backward routes no one takes,
and in foreign territories
we refuse to venture into.
Let our daily prayer include
his command,
"Ephphatha"!
Amen.

Endings are beginnings

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 01 February 2024
1 Kings 2:1-4, 10-12  ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>  Mark 6:7-13
Photo by author, Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 12 July 2023.
Praise and glory
to you God our loving Father!
Thank you for January,
thank you very much for February;
as we start this second month
of the year, you remind us 
how in life every ending is also
a beginning.

When the time of David’s death drew near, he gave these instructions to his son Solomon: ”I am going the way of all flesh. Take courage and be a man. Keep the mandate of the Lord, your God, following his ways and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees as they are written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in whatever you do, wherever you turn.”

1 Kings 2:1-3
Give us the grace of
ageing gracefully, Father,
like your servant David;
give us the courage
and sincerity to accept,
to embrace when we are 
"going the way of all flesh";
yes, we all wish a life of joy
and happiness with less pains
and difficulties but as we forge on
life, we have experienced,
we have realized,
and proven so many times
that hardships and hurts
are inevitable parts of this life,
even separations and death
that David perfectly called
as way of the flesh.
Joy and fulfillment
happen when we embrace
these shadows and darkness 
for it is in those spaces
where lights are most visible
and life is most meaningful;
give us, Lord Jesus,
the courage to let go,
to leave our extra baggages
behind in order to travel light
in this life proclaiming your 
good news;
make us realize that true wealth 
is in having less of the material
and more of the spiritual;
most of all, every ending
is also a beginning,
hence, the need for us
to prepare those next to us.
Amen.

Facing evil

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 29 January 2024
2 Samuel 15:13-14, 30; 16:5-13  <*((((>< + ><))))*>  Mark 5:1-20
An illustration of the healing of the Gerasenes demoniac from Pinterest.
On this final week of January
as we approach in two weeks the
Season of Lent,
you teach us today,
dear Father with many 
lessons about "facing" evil;
at first, I felt evil is always
"confronted", something we always
fight head on but from the 
two readings today, 
your words tell me O Lord
there are times we just have 
to stand firm against evil without
necessarily fighting it out right away
but not condoning it either.

But the king replied: ”What business is it of mine or of yours, sons of Zeruiah, that he curses? Suppose the Lord has told him to curse David; who then will dare say to, ‘Why are you doing this'” Then the king said to Abishai and to all his servants: ”If my own son, who came forth from loins, is seeking my life, how much more might this Benjaminite to do! Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. Perhaps the Lord will look upon my affliction and mae it up to me with benefits for the curses he is uttering this day.”

2 Samuel 16:10-12
Give me, O God, the same
patience of David to accept the
evils happening to me as I am guilty
of so many evils too;
like David, let me be mindful always
of my own evil ways and sins that
definitely will haunt me,
will chase me,
and will charge me later
in recompense for my own
sins too.
There are times, Lord,
that I must accept 
how I deserve some evil to befall me
as a result of my own sinfulness
like David.
If ever the evils that come to me
are undeserved,
keep my cool and patience,
as well as goodwill
like Jesus Christ your Son
and our Lord;
after healing the Gerasenes demoniac,
he was driven out from the town
by the people;
many times,
people do not understand
anything at all when evils
befall us and others;
maintain my peace
within me, Lord,
that I may not react against
my accusers like you
especially when they all get it wrong;
let me tower over everyone else
with firm faith in you,
dignity in silence,
and clear conscience
when people wrongly
 accuse me of deeds
I am not guilty of
for you alone is my
salvation.
Amen.

Prayer against jealousy

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 18 January 2024
1 Samuel 18:6-9, 19:1-7  <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*>  Mark 3:7-12
Photo by author, sunflower farm in La Trinidad, Benguet, 12 July 2023.
"In God I trust; I shall not fear."
Let those words of the psalmist
today be my prayer too, dear Father
especially when jealousy slowly
creeps into me,
when people around me do better,
when they seem to be more
loved or liked or accepted;
like King Saul in the first reading
today, there are times I am filled
with insecurities
with my own self,
with my strengths
and abilities,
most especially,
with your love.

Jealousy arises easily in our hearts… When we truly enjoy God’s unlimited generosity, we will be grateful for what our brothers and sisters receive. Jealousy will simply have no place in our hearts.

Fr. Henri Nouwen
How true were the words
of the late Fr. Henri Nouwen;
jealousy arises easily
in our hearts;
sometimes they just come
without us even
thinking about it;
problem is,
many times we entertain
and let it take over us,
feeling we are a victim
of something,
 like King Saul,
or the elder brother in
the parable of the prodigal son,
or those early workers
in the parable of the vineyard
who felt they should be paid more
than those late workers
who were paid with same wage
as theirs.
When good things happen
to others,
teach me to rejoice
with them,
let me be thankful
too for their being blessed
by you;
let me not be jealous
of whatever they have
for you never fail to bless me
too with so many things
they do not have;
let me be more trusting
in your generosity,
O God,
to never have fear of you
running out of blessings
and other good things 
for each one of us
according to our own abilities;
let me rejoice
when other people
are blessed like in the gospel today
because whatever good things
that happen around us
are signs
you are with us
in Christ Jesus.

Instead of looking on what
others have,
let me look what I have,
and always,
let that be YOU
in Christ Jesus!
Amen.