It is the final Sunday in Lent as we enter its final week with temperatures soaring into the 30’s as we get into the heat of summer in the country. To soothe us in our Sunday feature, we have chosen Lee Ritenour’s classic smooth jazz Is It You? from his 1981 album Rit.
An American jazz-guitarist, Ritenour is considered as one of the great movers in the jazz scene since the late 1960’s until now, being a part of so many groups and individual musicians in producing great music and tunes that unknown to many of us have were surely delighted and even uplifted.
Is It You? is one of those music by Ritenour with Eric Tagg doing the vocals as well as co-writing it along with Bill Champlin.
So characteristic of Ritenour’s jazz experiments fusing it with rock and pop, Is It You? speaks of a man’s feelings of doubts amid strong convictions of being ready to love a woman he is asking if she too is ready; hence, the question, Is It You?
Someone’s just outside, knocking at my door A stranger, somebody unknown Someone’s in my dreams, can’t get it off my mind, yeah I’m tired of being alone Someone’s trying to find an easy way inside Come on, I’m right here at home, right at home
Is it you? Is it you? Is it you? Is it you, you, you?
Who’s that deep inside me, sneaking around my heart? Are you somebody in love? Show me what you’re doing and tell me who you are Hey, I’m ready for love, for love
Is it you? Is it you? Is it you? Is it you, you, you?
If it’s you, come out in the open You don’t need to hide your love If it’s you, you know I’m hoping ‘Cause it’s way too late to run away Don’t run away from love, my love Is it you?
Photo of a convolvulus tricolor from BBC Gardeners World Magazine.
Many times we felt that way too that despite the uncertainties we feel, there is that strong thrust from within to dare step forward and make the move to find out like Ritenour if is it you?
In some ways, it must have been the feeling too of those Greek converts in Jerusalem that Palm Sunday who asked Philip if they could see Jesus. They too had that strong feeling towards Jesus after hearing the many good things about himself, his teachings and his miracles. When they said they wanted to see Jesus, it was more than seeing him literally because the Lord was never in hiding. The Greeks, like us and Ritenour in his song, were seeking something more, something deeper, something about faith (https://lordmychef.com/2024/03/16/lent-is-believing-in-order-to-see-jesus/).
There lies the beauty of life, of following Jesus: while the world tells us that to see is to believe, Jesus tells us that to believe so we would see; the world tells us to enjoy life without inhibitions one’s enjoyment, Jesus tells us that it is in dying that we truly live.
Both happens when we dare to ask, when we dare to step forward and take the plunge, of giving one’s self in love. To ask of seeing Jesus, of seeing somebody special, of asking if is it you is also believing in him or the other person.
Believe. And you shall see that indeed, it is you, Jesus!
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Fifth Sunday in Lent-B, 17 March 2024 Jeremiah 31:31-34 + Hebrews 5:7-9 + John 12:20-33
From Google.com.
We now come to the penultimate Sunday of Lent before entering the Holy Week on Palm Sunday as we listened to the final installment of John’s narration of Jesus Christ’s final six days in Jerusalem before his Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
Our gospel today is actually set on Palm Sunday when Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem.
Some Greeks who had come up to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.
John 12:20-26
Praying at the wailing wall of Jerusalem, May 2019.
As we have been telling you, John’s gospel teems with many symbolisms and hidden meanings in the way he narrated events and scenes like when those Greeks asked Philip and Andrew to see Jesus.
If they simply wanted to catch a glimpse of Jesus, they could have easily satisfied themselves because Jesus never hid at that time. He had just entered Jerusalem, so warmly welcomed by the people, even by those Greeks perhaps. Most likely, they must have heard many things about Jesus that they wanted to go farther in requesting to see him. Hence, it was more than a request to have an audience with Jesus but something about their faith in him as they were pagans converted to Judaism.
We have to remember here that John used the verb “to see” to also mean “to believe” in his gospel account like when he narrated on Easter morning how Peter and the “other disciple” ran to the empty tomb “and he saw and believed” (Jn.20:8).
Keeping that detail on Easter morning at the empty tomb, we now understand why John never told us if Jesus met at all the Greeks requesting to see him because to see and believe Jesus is to accept and embrace wholly his Passion and Death on the Cross. This is why John jumped into Christ’s monologue upon being told by Philip and Andrew on the Greeks’ request.
Photo by author, 2018.
What a beauty we have here because we are those Greek converts too, constantly searching, seeking to go farther in our faith in Jesus despite our sins. As we get older and mature, we realize how our days are numbered, that we will definitely die someday and meet God.
Lately I have been thinking why do we really have to be happy on our birthday – much less why greet celebrators a happy birthday when in fact every birthday is a step closer to death, is it not? I am not being morbid but it is the truest matter of fact in life. Life is a lifelong process of preparation for death. What comes next when we age? Death.
However, our faith in Jesus tells us it is not simply death as an end but a blessed death that leads to fullness in life, literally and figuratively speaking.
That is where the beauty of Christ’s parable of the grain of wheat lies, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.”
We do not simply die in the end or even in the in-betweens of life through those failures and losses, defeats and wrong moves. We get better in life as we forge on.
It is the undeniable truth written in our hearts as God told Jeremiah in the first reading, that we are God’s, we solely belong to him no matter how hard we try to flee from him and disobey him in our sins, he would always find us even if we get lost. St. Augustine said it so well, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
There is always that inner longing for God our Creator and End. That is why God sent us Jesus his Son as the author of the Letter to the Hebrews explained in the second reading so that through all our darkness and confusions, sufferings and trials, especially in those daily deaths that weaken us in our desire to search and follow him we may still find to have the strength and courage to forge on in wanting to see him by being with him where he is always – at the Cross.
Photo by author, 2018.
This is the grace of this fifth Sunday in Lent: we believe so we may see, we die in order to live. Both believing and dying in order to see and to live are grace from God freely given to us even if we are not worthy at all.
The world tells us always that to see is to believe but Christ tells us that first we must believe so that we would see; it is the same thing with living – die to one’s self in order to live fully because “whoever loves his life loses it.”
When we read or watch the news, many times we feel so exasperated and hopeless with the world. Imagine a resort right in a natural wonder there in the Chocolate Hills of Bohol? Or, land developers covering swamps without any considerations for others and the environment? Or, the mess and wastage happening in our offices, schools and homes? Do not forget us your priests living far from witnessing Christ in charity and service?
It’s a crazy world! And in all these abuses, the more we have become empty and lost that is why in the process, more and more of us never stop to believe and see, to hope and pray like those Greek converts seeking Jesus, for only in him we find rest and peace. Let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, many times I really do not know where I am going; I cannot see the road ahead of me while many times I wonder if I am really following you and doing your will; but at least, Jesus, I am sure it is still you whom I wish to see, it is you I always desire even if many times it does not show because this time I am sure you alone is my God, my life, my fulfillment. Therefore, like the psalmist, "Create a clean heart for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me" (Psalm 51:12-13). Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 15 August 2023
Revelation 11:19, 12:1-6, 10 ><}}}*> 1 Corinthian 15:20-27 ><}}}*> Luke 1:39-56
“The Assumption of the Virgin” by Italian Renaissance painter Titian completed in 1518 for the main altar of Frari church in Venice. Photo from wikidata.org.
Glory and praise to you,
O God our loving Father
in calling the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be the Mother of your Son
our Lord Jesus Christ!
In calling her to bring into
the world Jesus Christ,
we are saved;
in calling her to be the Mother of Jesus,
we are given the chance to
bring Jesus too
by being like her.
Like the Virgin Mary,
let us cooperate with your grace
O Lord by being open, listening
your word always;
likewise, may we also believe and act
on your word O Lord like Mary;
most of all, may we be one with you,
dear Jesus in your Passion and Death
on the Cross like Mary so we may join
you in your Resurrection too.
As we celebrate this
Solemnity of Mary's Assumption
Body and Soul into heaven,
may we keep in mind this is our lofty goal
in life, that while here on earth,
let our admiration and joy
for Christ's coming be inseparable
from his pains and sufferings;
O most blessed Virgin Mary,
truly the Ark of the New Covenant
as you entered heaven to share
in Christ's glory,
pray for us still on our earthly pilgrimage;
may we also be your Son's tabernacle
like you who visited Elizabeth
to affirm God's mission for us to make
him known and felt in this world
that has turned away from him
and from each other,
choosing to believe more
in science and technology;
may through our lives of holiness
like you, O blessed Mother Mary,
may we show others
a glimpse of the heavenly glory
God assures us.
Amen.
A Wedding Homily for a Nephew, Raymond Immanuel Alonzo & Charlene Patricia Moya
The Manila Cathedral of the Basilica Minore of Immaculate Conception, 07 July 2023
Ephesians 5:25-31 ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[>< John 15:12-17
All praise and thanksgiving to God our loving Father for this day, Immi and Pat! This is the day God had set to be your wedding day. Not last year, not next month nor any other day except this seventh day of July 2023.
Jesus Christ said in our gospel today, “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you” (John 15:16).
Surprised? Yes, Immi and Pat, you have both felt God surprising you many times since you met each other, mysteriously weaving your lives seamlessly together that today you are before him at his altar to pledge your love for each other.
Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte, Atok, Benguet, 01 September 2019.
That is what I wish to share with you this afternoon: keep that element of surprise in your lives together, Immi and Pat. Never lose that sense of wonder because it is when we are surprised that we start to believe; when we believe, we get closer and then we love. The more we love, the more we are surprised and the more we believe until that love matures into more than feelings but a decision and commitment to love until death.
Hindi ba, Immi and Pat, that is why you are here today because you have finally decided to grow together in this love because you believe in each other and most of all in God?
There were many occasions you were both surprised at the twists and turns in your lives as individuals, beginning at how you got to know each other in the office.
Hindi naman love at first sight iyon. Hindi nga kayo magka-type pareho kaya nag-aasaran kayo palagi.
You were opposites but the more you were surprised in discovering new things about each other, the more you gravitated to each other, the more you believe in each other, surprisingly realizing that actually, you are not opposites but share a lot in common.
That’s when you became good friends caring for each other, conversing more often with topics getting deeper like plans and views in life until one day, Pat had so much of these surprises as she juggled many things in her life and asked to speak with you, Immi, to avoid confusion and complicate things further in your friendship.
Wala pa siyang sinasabi maliban sa “mag-usap tayo” and you just told her, “Let’s go out on a date”.Iyon na yun! Kayo na! Dehins na hangout, date na. Wow, tamis!
The problem in our time is that everything, everyone is exposed. Even overexposed!
With social media all around us, everything is shown and displayed for all to see, leaving no room at all for surprises.
Many people these days want everything to be certain. Lahat segurista na ngayon.
No more surprises, no more faith because many of us have stopped believing. Remember, “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). That is why, when we are surprised, then we believe. Then as we believe more and get surprised more, we love.
Immi and Pat, always have faith, believe and be surprised with each other and with God.
The world tells us, “to see is to believe” but our faith teaches us, “believe so that we would see.” Remember when Jesus told Thomas a week after Easter, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed “(John 21:29b).
Keep that childlike attitude in you of being surprised always, of having that sense of awe and wonder. That is why kids believe and trust always.
Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte in Atok, Benguet, 01 September 2019.
Being surprised is being open with the simple realities of life, of the joys of being alive and sharing this life with a special someone in love. Being surprised is being open to getting hurt because we believe there is that special someone who would always take care of us, with whom we can be our true selves no matter what. Being surprised is being open to the realities and ecstasy of loving and of being loved in return. Being surprised is believing in God who is a God of surprises because he loves us so much.
In the Book of Genesis, we find Jacob falling asleep at Bethel with a stone as his pillow, dreaming of a stairway to heaven. It was so good because he saw God and his angels ascending and descending the stairway to heaven that upon waking up, Jacob had that sense of wonder and awe, “Truly the Lord is in this spot, although I did not know it!” (Gen.28:16). Jacob was surprised. Then he believed. And loved and served God. In 1971, we heard Jimmy Page and Robert Plant singing, “makes me wonder” over and over in their hit Stairway to Heaven.
But, Edith Piaf said it best in 1946, of how she was surprised in finding love with her classic song La vie en rose. No, I will not sing it but will just read it to remind you God’s many surprises for you, Immi and Pat.
I thought that love was just a word
They sang about in songs I heard
It took your kisses to reveal
That I was wrong, and love is real
Hold me close and hold me fast
The magic spell you cast
This is la vie en rose
When you kiss me heaven sighs
And though I close my eyes
I see la vie en rose
When you press me to your heart
I'm in a world apart
A world where roses bloom
And when you speak, angels sing from above
Everyday words seem to turn into love songs
Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be
La vie en rose.
Immi and Pat, God has a lot of surprises for you. Remain faithful with each other, remain faithful to Jesus Christ who have called and chosen you. Have Christ always between you in your relationship. Pray, believe and have trust in him so you both would see more surprises, more life, more love in your married life. God bless you, Immi and Pat! Amen.
For those wishing to listen and perhaps use this classic piece, here is its English version.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 10 July 2023
Genesis 28:10-22 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Matthew 9:18-26
Photo by author, Ubihan Island, Meycauayan, Bulacan, 31 December 2021.
Surprise us, dear God,
surprise us with your loving presence
in the simplest things today
like Jacob in Bethel:
When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he exclaimed, “Truly, the Lord is in this spot, although I did not know it!” In solemn wonder he cried out: “How awesome is this shrine! This is nothing else but an abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven!”
Genesis 28:16-17
In a world saturated in media
where everything and everyone is
exposed and shown,
bared and revealed,
we have lost the sense of awe and wonder,
of being surprised because
we believe we have seen all;
we are no longer surprised with
little wonders and miracles that
happen daily in life like
the infectious smiles and laughter
children, the thoughtfulness of a friend,
the warmth of a stranger,
or the flowers that color our paths.
We have lost our sense of awe
and wonder, of being surprised
because we no longer believe
in you, O God, nor in people, nor in nature.
Grant us, dear Father, the grace of
wonder and awe like the official and
the woman hemorrhaging in the gospel;
yes they have faith so great but also
have the sense of being surprised
that is why they came to Jesus;
what a surprise indeed, the official's
daughter was brought back to life
and the woman hemorrhaging was
instantly healed when she touched
the tassel of the Lord's cloak!
Forgive us, O God,
for not noticing your many
surprises to us daily;
open our eyes,
open our very selves
to life's many wonders
that point to you!
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle, 05 July 2023
Ephesians 2:19-22 <*((((>< +++ ><))))*> John 20:24-29
Caravaggio’s painting “The Incredulity of St. Thomas” (1602) from en.wikipedia.org.
Praise and glory
to you, Lord Jesus Christ,
for always believing in us,
coming to us,
calling us to follow you
despite our doubts and weaknesses
like St. Thomas the Apostle.
Most of all,
thank you dear Lord Jesus
for blessing us who have not
seen you and yet believed in you!
Jesus said to him (Thomas), “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
John 20:29
Let me follow you,
Jesus, for you are "the Way,
the Truth and the Life"
as you have told St. Thomas
at your Last Supper;
like St. Thomas,
comfort me with your presence
and understanding in times of
insecurities when pains and
disappointments make me doubt;
like St. Thomas,
give me the courage to conquer
my many doubts in life
and lead them to outcomes
brighter than any uncertainties
I often fear needlessly;
like St. Thomas,
let me persevere
despite the difficulties
of deepening my faith in you
by keeping me close to you,
"my Lord and my God".
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Irenaeus, Bishop & Martyr, 28 June 2023
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 7:15-20
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2023.
Thank you very much,
God our loving Father
for the grace of believing,
the beginning of everything
like what Abram experienced
in the first reading today,
"Abram put his faith in the Lord,
who credited it to him as an act
of righteousness" (Gen.15:6).
Only you, O Lord,
would know
what was going inside
the mind and heart
of Abram at that time
when he instantly believed and
trusted in your promise despite
his many questions and clarifications;
later on, St. Paul and St. James
including the author of the Letter
to the Hebrews would cite this
beautiful account of Abram's
humble submission to you,
O God, as a model of faith
and believing in you.
Perhaps, Lord, the problem
with us is that we believe in
everything,
in everyone:
we profess to believe in
you, O God,
the Father almighty
and yet we also believe
in luck,
in occults,
and in so many other things
and persons and yes,
powers and spirits;
we believe in you
but do not
trust you completely;
many times we believe
in what or who would
accommodates us,
pleases us,
and go for us.
Teach us, dear Jesus,
like Abram and St. Irenaeus
who offered his life by standing
on what he truly believed in you;
keep us simple, Jesus,
in looking at the fruits
as the unmistakable proof
of believing in you.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Third Week of Easter, 26 April 2023
Acts 8:1-8 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> John 6:35-40
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
Lord Jesus,
teach me to be a "devout"
person; not just righteous or
holy but devout as well
like those "Devout men (who)
buried Stephen and made a loud
lament over him" (Acts 8:2).
Yesterday, you taught us dear Lord
that whatever is in our heart is
reflected on our face;
today you teach us that
to be "devout" is still of the heart
which is to be of a good heart
ready to believe and act openly
with courage on that belief.
Only St. Luke used the adjective
"devout" to describe some persons
like Simeon who praised God upon
seeing Jesus when presented to the
temple by his parents; the Jews from
all over the world who came to observe
Pentecost day in Jerusalem;
the men who buried Stephen, and
Ananias who sought Saul while
still blind to bring him to the Church.
Many times dear Lord
our being devout is
self-serving when we merely
open our eyes for things
that are seen in our many
devotions, seeing more our selves
failing to see Christ in
the other persons
who have to be loved
and cared for, understood
and forgiven, accepted and
affirmed.
No wonder until now,
though we receive you Jesus
in the Eucharist, we do not
experience and feel your Body,
your Person because our hearts
are not open at all to you through
others especially the sick and
suffering. Amen.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fourth Sunday in Lent-A, 19 March 2023
1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13 + Ephesians 5:8-14 + John 9:1, 6-9, 13-17,34-38
Photo by author, sunrise at Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Bgy. Binulusan, Infanta, Quezon (04 March 2023)
We continue to journey with Jesus and his disciples towards Jerusalem for the fulfillment of his mission and like last Sunday, we take on a short stop-over today with him in the healing of a man born blind. It is another long story in these last three weeks of Lent that we hear from the gospel by St. John, filled with so many layers of meaning about our sense of sight or seeing which we often take for granted. Many of us are misled by the world’s insistence that to see is to believe when so often, we still fail to really see persons, things, and situations.
Experience has taught us that it is not enough for us to have eyes to be able to see, that after all, what Jesus has been teaching us is most true – believe and you shall see which is what our story of his healing of a man born blind is all about.
As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” – which means Sent. So he went and washed, came back able to see. His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is,” but others said, “No, he just looks like him.” He said “I am.” They brought the one once blind to the Pharisee.
John 9: 1, 6-9, 13
Photo from freebibleimages.org
Like last Sunday, let us just focus at the beginning of this long, beautiful story with many details still relevant to our own time like the apostles asking Jesus who’s to be blamed for the man being born blind, himself or his parents? Jesus clearly tells us how we must stop our blaming game and start believing and trusting God who makes himself visible even in unfortunate circumstances.
In the story of Jesus with the Samaritan woman, St. John revealed to us how God would come to our lives at “noontime” when we are hot or in the heat of our worldly pursuits including sins; in this healing of the man born blind, we are shown how God through Jesus comes to us right in our most sorry plight in life, when we are in darkness. See how so disadvantaged is that man born blind who not only had no sight but practically a nobody as he had nothing in life, begging for food and money in order to live.
And that is when Jesus Christ comes to us, when we are nothing and practically down in the dumps.
Photo from freebibleimages.org
And here the story gets better. In the original Greek text, we find that “he was blind from his genesis” which has double meaning of both birth and creation. In using the term genesis, St. John is telling us that Jesus is not someone who had come to bring back the world to its original set up before the Fall of our first parents by destroying earth.
Jesus came not to destroy earth and us to start anew but to restore us to our original status of blessedness by being like us so we could be like him. Here in this instance, Jesus created a new beginning for the man when he touched the man’s eyes with mud and having him wash in the waters of Siloam which mean the “Sent One”. We are reminded how Adam the first man was formed from the dust of the earth as Ash Wednesday would always tell us at the start of Lent.
In Genesis, after forming man from dust, God breathed on Adam and he became alive.
Photo from freebibleimages.org
In today’s gospel, Jesus spat on the mud and “smeared the clay on his eyes” to show the process of new creation. Spitting is Jesus infusing himself on the mud or earth that was put on the eyes of the man born blind. He then instructed the man to “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam – which means Sent” (Jn.9:7), a complete reference to him too as the Christ or the Messiah long awaited.
Clearly in this scene we find the sign of water like last Sunday, an image of the Sacrament of Baptism where we are all re-created into new persons in Jesus Christ who is himself the water who cleanses us of our sins and impurities, re-creating us into new persons with unlimited possibilities and chances in life because of our union with God.
The healing of the man born blind was his salvation, his being saved through his union with God in Jesus Christ.
The man born blind represents us all who need cleansing by Jesus Christ. Everyday, Jesus comes to us in our lowest points in life, when we are so sick and weak, when we are losing all hopes and inspiration in life, when we are lost and defeated, when we are deep into sin. Jesus gives us himself as our saving gift.
But it is just the beginning.
See how the man born blind did not have his sight right away with Jesus putting mud on his eyes; it happened after obeying the Lord’s instruction to wash himself in Siloam. We have to cooperate with Jesus Christ like the man born blind.
Recall how Jesus reminded Peter on Holy Thursday of the need for him to wash his feet in order to have “inheritance with me” (Jn.13:8). We have been washed and cleansed by Jesus in our Baptism which is perfected in our celebration of the Holy Eucharist he established on Holy Thursday. The more we immerse ourselves in Jesus in the Eucharist, the more we are cleansed, the more we have faith in him, enabling us to see clearer not just have sights of things before us but its meanings in the light of Christ.
We need to go back to Jesus in the Eucharist to be washed clean, especially our eyes to be able to see clearly.
How funny if you have entirely read this story of how the people could not believe with their eyes what they saw after the man born blind was healed by Jesus. They could not agree among themselves they have to consult their authorities, the Pharisees to verify if he was really the man born blind who was healed; but, when summoned the Pharisees questioned the man, they too refused to believe him, even insulted him. The worst part of the story was when the parents of the man born blind were called to verify if he was really their son who was born blind and now can see. Unfortunately, the parents refused to vouch for him, insisting they ask him personally for he was old enough to speak.
There are times in our lives that we could be left alone standing for Jesus Christ for what is true, what is right, what is just, and what is good because it is only us who could see everything clearly like that man born blind after his healing. That is why, it is not enough to have sights only but also insight to see the meaning of things happening at present, as well as hindsight to see the meaning of the past and foresight to find its meaning in the future. We need faith in God in order to see beyond the surface and superficial, to see the deeper meaning of persons and events like what God told Samuel in anointing Jesse’s youngest son David to be Israel’s new king.
But the Lord said to Samuel: “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7
To see things and events including persons, of finding Jesus working in the present moment (insight), in the past (hindsight) and the future (foresight) requires a lot of courage too to stand for Christ and his values of truth and justice, mercy and love, life and persons like that man born blind and later healed. Here we find American writer Helen Keller’s words ringing so truly, “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” Visionaries are people who dream with eyes wide opened, those who dare to see beyond because of their deep faith and conviction in their beliefs or whatever they held as true. Very much like our saints too who gave their lives for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Beginning this Sunday, let us heed St. Paul’s call for us to “Live as children of light”(Eph. 5:8) by following the light of Jesus Christ. Let us leave our blindness and darkness as well as shortsightedness by seeing to it we “Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness” (Eph. 5:11). Amen.Enjoy a blessed and insightful week ahead, everyone!
Photo by author, early morning rains at Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Bgy. Binulusan, Infanta, Quezon (04 March 2023)
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the First Week of Lent, 01 March 2023
Jonah 3:1-10 <*{{{{>< +++ ><}}}}*> Luke 11:29-31
Photo by author, 08 February 2023.
O loving Father,
teach us to believe again
during this blessed season of Lent;
help us rediscover our faith
to believe in you again amid our many
sins and guilt feelings;
help us to believe again in people
after so many betrayals by friends and family;
most of all, help us to believe again
in ourselves despite our failures
and weaknesses.
So many times we are like your
prophet Jonah,
so reluctant in answering your calls,
so stubborn and hardheaded in our
biases and prejudices against others,
many times we resort to pessimism
and cynicism with how life in the world
is going, feeling lost and hopeless.
So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the Lord’s bidding. Now Nineveh was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,” when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.
Jonah 3:3-5
Help us in our unbelief, Lord!
Help us stop asking for many signs
except Jesus Christ present to us
in the Sacraments especially
the Eucharist and Confession
we often receive these days.
Help us to simply believe
and obey your words
like Jonah at Nineveh.
Amen.
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