Category: believing

Lent is believing in Jesus, the Resurrection & Life

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fifth Sunday in Lent, Cycle A, 22 March 2026
Ezekiel 37:12-14  +++  Romans 8:8-11  +++  John 11:1-45
“The Raising of Lazarus” by Italian painter and architect Giotto di Bondone (1266-1337), fresco inside the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy via commons.wikimedia.org.

We now come to the final Sunday of our Lenten journey into Easter with John still as our guide telling us Jesus Christ’s raising to life of his friend Lazarus who had been dead for four days.

The raising of Lazarus is a prelude for the greatest sign of all by Jesus as the Christ – his Resurrection at Easter after his Passion and Death on good Friday. Though very long, it is a lovely story that speaks of Jesus Christ’s deep friendship with us by being most present in our most painful suffering of all which is death of a loved one as well as our many “deaths” in life.

And like in every true friendship, Jesus invites us like the sisters of Lazarus, Martha and Mary, to believe in him.

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would have not died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world” (John 11:20-27).

When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled… (John 11:32-33).

Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” (John 11:39-40)

“The Raising of Lazarus”, 1311 painting by Duccio de Buoninsegna from commons.wikimedia.org

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” We are all like Martha and Mary who believed in Jesus Christ. Both expressed to Jesus their faith in him, of believing in him and his powers.

To believe is the starting point of every relationship. With God and with others.

It usually begins in our mind, in our intellect. We believe because we know and have learned their names and backgrounds, their likes and dislikes, and a host of others things. We can truly be friends with others even by believing only with our intellect that is why we understand their predicament and situations, the way they react. Almost everything, we know and have known that we are still the best of friends. Including with God.

Martha exemplified that kind of believing.

Martha is good. If she is the same “Martha, Martha” mentioned by Luke whom Jesus visited, she was well meaning like most of us.

She believed in Jesus. In God. In the scriptures when she told Jesus she knew Lazarus would rise along with all the dead in the resurrection on the last day.

Jesus never argued because it was good. Same with us.

Our friends do not argue nor break away from us with our kind of believing. After all it is reasonable and sane. But, believing from the mind, from the intellect is not enough. For a more intimate and engaging relationship in friendship, believing has to deepen and take root in our heart.

Believing leads to love.

Whatever kind of love, it starts in believing.

We love because we believe as we have claimed last Sunday.

But, believing and loving do not stop there.

How deeply, how truly we believe indicate how deeply, how truly we love.

Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.

Without any intentions of comparing and pitting the two sisters against each other on who is better, John presents to us where believing leads us.

Like Martha, Mary expressed how she believed in Jesus and his powers by telling him “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” But it was not merely coming from her mind, from her head, from what she knew of Jesus but more of how she felt with Jesus.

Notice at the start of this long story (verse 2) how John described Mary as the one who anointed Jesus – six days after this raising of Lazarus – with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair as expression of her faith and love for the Lord on his burial. Getting some help from Luke’s account again, we find Mary’s level of believing as deeper and matured when she chose to seat at the Lord’s feet to listen to his teachings when he came to visit them.

Mary came to Jesus with her total self – unashamed to weep in front of the Lord. She spoke no words, showed no clues of her “theology” like Martha’s faith seeking understanding by studying the scriptures.

It was Mary’s heart that spoke to Jesus that he was “perturbed” twice and “deeply troubled” seeing her. Even the Jews with her felt the Lord so moved by her that led us to the final scene of this beautiful story.

Feel the revelations at the cave where Lazarus was buried:

When Jesus asked the stone removed from the cave, Martha stepped in. And it was reasonable of her. We do it so often in various occasions like in funerals and deathbeds.

That was when Jesus reminded her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?”

Everybody fell dead silent.

Jesus then prayed aloud briefly to the Father, shouting for Lazarus to come out – alive, still covered with cloth. End of scene.

What’s next?

You tell me. Tell me how much you believe Jesus, how much you love Jesus. And how much you love like Jesus especially when everything, everyone is dead, dead silent, dead still for many reasons.

Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.

How much do we believe in Jesus, the resurrection and life?

Think of our many deaths in life. Not only in losing a beloved but our very own deaths – when we were buried and dead to sin and failures, disappointments and losses like the Israelites thrown into exile that Ezekiel the Prophet described in the first reading. What a beautiful imagery of God raising us to life, opening our graves of sins and failures, weaknesses and darkness, breathing into us his spirit, now better. Or maybe still struggling in life.

Believing in Jesus is believing like Martha and Mary most especially, unashamedly pouring out our pains and griefs to Jesus, baring our battered hearts and souls to him because we have felt, we have experienced his very passion and death in our own life, with those we love and serve.

In these trying times, Jesus invites us to believe more than ever in him by believing also with those severely affected by the hard times like the jeepney drivers and minimum wage earners. Let us try to live in spirit as St. Paul reminds us in the second reading by feeling their struggles, their fears, their sufferings so that they may not cry, “Lord, if you were here our families would have not gone hungry, would have not died” because we his disciples were here for them.

That is believing in Jesus the resurrection and life – being present with those suffering and dying. Solidarity.

Jesus is not asking us to think nor understand their pains and miseries. He is asking us to feel within us their pains and miseries so that like Mary we can bring Jesus to them and raise them to new life. Let us pray: 

Lord Jesus Christ,
before all these pains and
sufferings came to me,
you were there first 
to suffer and die for me
on the Cross.
Let me love you more
by loving others
especially those also
in pain and suffering.
Amen.

When less is more

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Andrew Dung-Lac & Companion Martyrs, 24 November 2025
Daniel 1:1-6, 8-20     ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*>     Luke 21:1-4
Photo by Mr. Chester Ocampo, UST-SHS, 04 November 2019.
Lord Jesus Christ,
give me a new perspective
today on this final stretch
of November
and of our liturgical calendar;
let me see this too familiar scene
with you at the temple with
new eyes:

When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. He said, “I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood” (Luke 21:1-4).

Every day,
dear Jesus I witness
a similar scene
but never bothered myself
to search for you,
to find you there,
also sitting,
looking,
observing
how we put our
offerings not only to
the treasury but to each day;
teach me to suspend every
judgment so I may see truly
the poor and the rich among us;
open my eyes and let me
move away from everything familiar
to converse and share moments
with that woman,
perhaps share a meal with her
and ask her,
"why give 
all those 
two small coins?"

I feel you, Lord
speaking also to me:
teach me to be content
and grateful with whatever
I have like that poor widow;
teach me to believe more,
to trust more in you;
most of all,
teach me to have less
for myself,
less of myself
in order to have more
of you.
Amen.

Begin with the End in sight

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 10 August 2025
Wisdom 18:6-9 ><}}}}*> Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 ><}}}}*> Luke 12:32-48
Our new College of Medicine Building with the lovely flowers of Banaba trees welcoming the new academic year this Monday, 11 August 2025.

One of the remarkable trends in management these past two decades is the emphasis on values-based approaches like The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by the late Dr. Stephen Covey. Second in his list is the title of our reflection this Sunday, “Begin with the end in sight.”

Actually we mentioned that in our reflection last Sunday but we stressed the word “end” begins with a capital “E” to refer to things of God and eternal life as in the End of all in death. This is the theme of the Lord’s teaching today he presented in three parables with the last two calling us to be faithful stewards awaiting their Master’s return in the End while the first one expressing the summary of his lessons, “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Lk.12:34). But unlike most Sundays, we reflect today on the second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews that shows us Abraham’s faith journey as an expression of Christ’s teachings on setting our sights with the End.

Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go (Hebrews 11:1-2, 8).

Photo by author, RISE Tower, Our Lady Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 06 August 2025.

We all believe in something, whether it is something good or something bad. However, what or who we believe in makes the difference because what or who we believe in determines how we live.

That is why Dr. Covey’s declaration is most true, especially when we talk of our End that is actually a Who – God. It is our faith in God who drives us in this life especially when it is dark and difficult, even painful so that we may achieve our End to be with him in eternity. The author of Hebrews found Abraham’s faith journey so remarkable as it enlightens too our own faith journey in God through Jesus Christ our High Priest as a context.

First, the author of Hebrews defined faith as “the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” Faith is more than trusting God in Jesus Christ. For the author of Hebrews, faith is more of knowing and understanding of what lies ahead though it cannot be seen. Faith here is more of having vision than sight, of seeing beyond things, so convinced of its existence even not seen like Noah who built an ark on God’s command even if there were no dark clouds nor rains visible at all. Faith for the author of Hebrews is like our Filipino expression “a…basta!” of having the conviction God created the universe even though no one saw the act of creation. It is something real that “only the heart can see” because it is also borne out of a deep relationship with God and with those we love. See now the three instances cited by the author of Hebrews in Abraham’s faith journey that are similar with our own experiences.

Photo by author, RISE Tower, Our Lady Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 06 August 2025.

“By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents… for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God” (Heb.11:9-10). Abraham was a “pilgrim” – a wayfarer – not only from his place of birth into the promised land but also on the journey from the present into the future and eternity. See how Abraham looked into the End at the start of his journey in God and with God walking on the path of what is to come.

All he had was faith in God. Surely there were times of darkness and distress along the way which the author of the Book of Wisdom in our first reading accurately described as “night of the passover” that reminds us of darkness hovering the path of God. Jesus reiterated this “night of passover” literally and figuratively speaking. Have faith in Christ whenever our journey gets tough and rough, when there are detours or when we actually get lost. God will find us to reach his city he made for us.

“By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age – and Sarah herself was sterile – for he thought that the one who made the promise was trustworthy” (Heb.11:1). We all know the story of Abraham and Sarah having their own son in old age, of the many twists and turns in their lives before Isaac was finally born and thus fulfilled God’s promise that Abraham became the father of all nations. In Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus Christ, Abraham is mentioned first as a testament of his faith in God that led to the birth of the Messiah.

Photo by author, RISE Tower, Our Lady Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 06 August 2025.

Many times we ask why God takes so long in fulfilling his promises to us. We wonder if God really called us to a certain vocation or profession or wanted this and that for us especially when in our prayers we are convinced of God’s will. Why does God keep us waiting?

Experience had taught us that more than a test of our faith, those waiting moments for God’s answer to our prayers were grace-filled moments of our own transformation into better persons so that we may value more his gifts to us, whether they are persons or things or moments. God is faithful. Remember the words of St. Paul, “God’s gifts and call are permanent and irrevocable” (Rom.11:29).

“By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son…He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol” (Heb.11:17, 19). This is the most moving and touching in the story of Abraham’s faith: he never doubted nor questioned God at all when he was asked to offer his son Isaac. Imagine how Abraham must have felt after waiting for so long for a son, then suddenly God asked him to offer him back Isaac?

See the unfolding of this scene in Genesis 22 with Abraham totally silent going up the mountain with Isaac who asked what shall they offer to God? Abraham simply assured him God will provide. Everything proceeded in silence until Abraham was to kill Isaac when an angel stopped him and told him how God was so pleased with his fidelity. This scene reminds me of the pain of many parents, especially mothers at the funeral of their son or daughter. It is the most difficult Mass for me to celebrate; normally, it is the children who bury their parents, not the other way around. When parents bury their children, no matter how young or old they may be, it is beyond words. I just try to believe more, to have more faith in God that he would bless and comfort the grieving parents.

Photo by author, RISE Tower, Our Lady Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 06 August 2025.

Abraham’s faith is a gift from God we too have all received and must deepen. It is easier said than done but we have to accept that nothing in this life is really ours to keep for all is God’s. And if ever God takes something from us, it is because he is giving us something even more than what we already have. That is why Jesus asks us in the gospel this Sunday to give up everything for him for he is our only End.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Luke 12:32-34).

This Sunday, Jesus invites us to examine where our treasure is for that is where our heart is, giving himself to be our treasure for he alone can lead us to our final End. Like Abraham, Jesus asks us to see beyond the present moment, to give up whatever we have, whether good or bad, people or things, even memories. It is very difficult and even painful but with faith in God, it could be our most liberating and grace-filled moment in life when we learn to forgive and be sorry, to be content, and finally start living by loving and be convinced we are loved because these are all we need in the End. Amen. A blessed week to everyone!

Photo by author, RISE Tower, Our Lady Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 06 August 2025.

(Mis)understanding Jesus

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Seventh Week of Easter, 02 June 2025
Acts 19:1-8     <*[[[[><  +  ><]]]]'>     John 16:29-33
Photo by author, mountains of San Antonio, Zambales from the side of Anawangin Cove, 2024.
Lord Jesus,
teach me
and help me
understand you.

I really wonder if
the disciples truly understood you
on that Last Supper:

The disciples said to Jesus, “Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. Now we realize that you know everything and that you do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe” (John 16:29-31)?

Oh how easy it is
to claim I have understood you
Lord Jesus
when in fact
more often
I misunderstand you
when difficulties and sufferings
 come my way
that I complain a lot;
when pains and disappointments
happen I lose interest
in following you;
when frustrations come
 because I cannot know fully
what is to come
after following you.
There are times
mediocrity seeps in me
that I become lackluster
making no effort to learn more,
to be more daring,
and to be a better
person and disciple
in following
and imitating you, Lord.
To understand you, Jesus
means to experience peace
always in you,
to keep on choosing you still
no matter what
because that is when
we truly enter in your presence
with nothing else important
but do your will.

Understanding you Jesus
is being open and ready
not to understand
everything about you
and still believe you
and trust you.
Amen.
Photo by author, mountains of San Antonio, Zambales from the side of Anawangin Cove, 2024.

Eating well, living well

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 18 August 2024
Proverbs 9:1-6 ><}}}}*> Ephesians 5:15-20 ><}}}}*> John 6:51-58
Photo by author, James Alberione Center, QC, 15 August 2024.

It is our fourth consecutive Sunday listening to the sixth chapter of John’s gospel that opened with the miraculous feeding by Jesus of more than five thousand people in a deserted place; Jesus fled from there, went back in Capernaum where people caught with Him and disciples as He began three Sundays ago His “Bread of Life” discourse now getting deeper while the drama among the crowd is heating up.

From murmuring last Sunday about Jesus who said “I am the bread that came down from heaven” (Jn.6:41), the people today quarreled among themselves after Jesus said “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (Jn. 6:51).

Photo by author, James Alberione Center, QC, 15 August 2024.

Notice the beautiful contrast of reactions by people to Jesus: from murmuring last Sunday, they sank deep into quarreling while Jesus leveled up to “the living bread from heaven” from merely “the bread from heaven” last week. For us to live well, we have to eat well by having Jesus Himself as our food and drink.

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me” (John 6:52-57).

Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera in Banff, Alberta, Canada, 07 August 2024.

Eating is the most common human activity anywhere, any time. Human life basically revolves around eating as we have seen since time immemorial how we have progressed following our search for food. We work to feed ourselves and loved ones. Without food, we die. Food is so essential that there is always food to share in our gatherings.

That is why Jesus chose the bread and wine as the signs of His living presence among us in the Holy Eucharist He established during the Last Supper on Holy Thursday. In the Eucharist, Jesus elevated the most ordinary human activity of eating as most sublime and Divine. In the Holy Mass, we share in Christ’s Body and Blood so we too may share our very selves with one another.

When Jesus said in Capernaum that the bread He is giving is His own flesh with His blood as drink, He was already preparing the people for the Eucharist while at the same time teaching them that eating is not everything. We have to eat well to live well. When tempted by the devil in the wilderness, Jesus right away taught us to remember that man does not live by bread alone but with every word from God. At the start of this discourse last August 04, Jesus challenged the people, “Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (Jn.6:27).

Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera in Banff, Alberta, Canada, 07 August 2024.

Many times, we get so used in our many activities that unconsciously, we miss life itself as we punish ourselves with exhaustion and sickness as well as emptiness.

Food is not just something that fills our stomach but must also lead into our heart and soul. Observe any cuisine and you get a taste of the culture and people it represents, even with strong hints of its geographical origin. In the first reading we find how the Book of Proverbs personified Wisdom as God to remind us that though He is transcendent and so above us, God is easily accessed even in the most ordinary instances like eating.

Wisdom has built her house, she has set up her seven columns; she has dressed her meat, mixed her wine, yes, she has spread her table. She has sent out her maidens; she calls from the heights out over the city: “Let whoever is simple turn in here; to him who lacks understanding, I say, Come, eat of my food, drink of the wine I have mixed! Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding” (Proverbs 9:1-6).

How lovely is that part of God calling us to come like Jesus in the gospel when He said “come to me all who are burdened” or when He ordered to “let the children come to me”. Is it not the same thing we say when we are about to eat, to come and get it?

Sadly these days, we seem to have retrogressed in our manner of eating. Social media rightly labeled it as “food porn” when we are flooded with everything about food and drinks minus its deeper meanings. Food is sadly seen in its material aspect that eating is more on filling the stomach, forgetting the soul because we have totally forgotten God and the people around us. No wonder that despite the growing food production and plethora of food we have these days, many still starve while the rest of us remain lost in life, more sick.

Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera in Banff, Alberta, Canada, 07 August 2024.

See, my dear friends, the great coincidence on the very Sunday Jesus began his bread of life discourse, it was also the opening of the Paris Olympics with a mockery of the Last Supper that led us into a kind of “quarrel” as organizers and their supporters insisted it wasn’t the Last Supper at all despite the clear indications and proofs.

“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Suddenly, we heard anew that same question by the people in Capernaum to Jesus reechoed in the Olympics at the capital city of the Church’s so-called “eldest daughter”, France. Of course, we know this bread of life discourse by Jesus refers to the Holy Eucharist and surely, the many defenders of the Paris Olympics are aware for many of them are Catholics. But, Jesus must have willed this gospel be proclaimed at this time coinciding with the Olympics for us to evaluate anew our faith in Him because at the very core of this bread of life discourse is the mystery of faith.

“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” In the gospel of Luke, we find a similar question by Mary at the Annunciation that is filled with faith, “How can this be?” (Lk.1:34); but today, like in Capernaum as exemplified by the Paris Olympics, that question is a renewed refusal to believe in the words of Jesus Christ. Worst of all as we noted earlier in our perceptions of food and eating these days, that question shows modern man’s insistence on everything material, totally disregarding our spiritual nature.

Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera in Banff, Alberta, Canada, 07 August 2024.

Like in Capernaum, many people today who refuse to believe Christ’s words resort to malicious and insidious arguments that it becomes useless to really converse with them as they would rather insist on their grossly material understanding and perception of life these days. Many prefer to quarrel these days than accept life’s many mysteries not merely seen nor tasted by the senses but experienced and realized through faith in God.

Life for them has become merely material which in Greek is bios as in biology. There is another Greek word for life which is zoe that refers to the eternal, divine life of God that Jesus repeatedly used in our gospel today.

Like last Sunday, Jesus did not engage Himself into debating with the crowd in Capernaum by simply repeating the words living and life to emphasize the total acceptance of Him – Body and Blood – in faith: “I am the living bread… my flesh for the life of the world. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.” These are the very same words too, life and living that Jesus would mention before His Passion and Death as well as after His Resurrection because eating His flesh and drinking His blood is to share in His life that is also the fullness of life. It is only in Christ Jesus can we find fulfillment in life. Let us pray:

Lord Jesus Christ,
help me watch carefully 
how I live, not as a fool
but as wise as St. Paul taught
us today in his letter to the Ephesians;
let us not be intoxicated 
with life's pleasures and worldly pursuits
but let us be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Photo by author, 15 August 2024.

Married life is being surprised always in order to believe and to keep loving

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 08 July 2024
Photo by Deesha Chandra on Pexels.com

Love is more than a feeling; it is a decision we make and renew daily especially when expressed in marriage. It is indeed very difficult but the most wonderful thing about being human. That is the reason why the first miracle of Jesus happened at a wedding in Cana and not in any festivity in the temple or a synagogue.

When couples love and keep that love alive, they level up in their existence, becoming holy like God because love, after all, is a gift from God. To be holy in a state of life is not being sinless but simply being filled with God, being open to God, to His surprises in order for us to believe in Him more and continue to love more.

Do not let divorce thwart this beautiful gift and plan of God to many men and women He calls to share in His love in marriage. Divorce will never solve the problems of married couples as it does not consider the spiritual and deeper human aspects of married life. Divorce is just intent on ending marriage that eventually result to more problems especially to the children.

Here is our sixth wedding homily exactly a year ago when my nephew Immi exchanged “I do” with Pat at the Manila Cathedral. We hope this may lead others to a deeper appreciation of marriage being a gift from God we have to care and protect.

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.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

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 this altar to pledge your love for each other.

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.

Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte, Atok, Benguet, 01 September 2019.

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 believed in each other, surprisingly realizing that actually, you are not opposites but shared 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, we believe; 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 you 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 author, 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 has 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.

From YouTube.com

“Is It You?” by Lee Ritenour (1981)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 17 March 2024
Photo by Paco Montoya on Pexels.com

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!

Here is Lee Ritenour with Eric Tagg.

From Youtube.com

Lent is believing to see 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.

Have a blessed week ahead, everyone!

From Google.com.

O Blessed Virgin Mary!

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.

Be surprised. Believe. Love.

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
Photo by PhotoMIX Company on Pexels.com.

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!

Photo by Elle Hughes on Pexels.com

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.

From YouTube.com.