Category: blessedness

We are workers in the Lord’s vineyard

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sunday in the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 24 September 2023
Isaiah 55:6-9 ><}}}}*> Philippians 1:20-24, 27 ><}}}}*> Matthew 20:1-16
Photo by author, Church of Dominus Flevit, Jerusalem, May 2017.

We now come to the final installment in the series of teachings by Jesus Christ of what we described as delicate issues affecting even us today. Two Sundays ago it was about fraternal correction, last week was forgiving, and today, something about work and pay that are indeed very delicate for many of us, even ticklish.

Recall that love is the main motivation why we must correct those who sin and go wayward in life. It is also love that moves us to forgive those who repeatedly sin against us.

In today’s parable of the workers in the vineyard, Jesus is also teaching us about love that results when we learn to be just and generous with others because these two are the minimum requirements of love. It is in our field of work and in the issues of pay and wages when our being Christians are most tested when our senses of justice and generosity are blurred and worst, when we even forget God.

Photo by author, 2018, Davao City.

Like last Sunday, Jesus used another parable today to use a simple story of daily life that appeals to our common experiences. What is very interesting is how both parables of the Lord incited hearers to take sides and adopt positions. Last Sunday we too felt indignant against that servant who was forgiven of his loan so huge but could not let go of the debts of his fellow worker that was so little in amount.

But today’s parable has a different twist that we felt swept off by our feet when Jesus through the landowner reacted differently at the grumbling of those workers who worked longer in the vineyard and received same amount with those who worked for less hours yet paid equally.

“When those who have started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last workers worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat. He said to one of them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?'”

Matthew 20:9-16

Did we not feel surprised, even shocked? Did anyone cry unfair? How could the landowner – God – pay everyone the same amount when others worked so less than the rest?

How sad that when talks are about work and pay, we always insist on justice, especially if we feel the ones shortchanged. And worst, we used it also as our norm for salvation, for entering heaven with some openly declaring who would go to heaven and who would not!

And that is actually the context of the parable when Jesus said “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard” (Mt.20:1). This is not just about social justice and just wages but about the goodness of God. The vineyard is God, and heaven. Our salvation. Harvest time means judgment day as well as gathering of everyone in God to receive his blessings of love and salvation, healing and forgiveness.

Jesus Christ came to us like that landowner who never stopped looking and searching for us especially those lost and sinful. Truly a God so loving and merciful, he wants us all saved that as early as dawn and as late as 5 o’clock in the afternoon, he kept looking for workers to be blessed, to have something to bring home and share with their families and loved ones at the end of the day. What a beautiful imagery of God our Father who sent us his Son Jesus Christ so we could all come to him. Here we find the previous two parables still operating in the full sense wherein the landowner’s search for more workers into his vineyard was like Christ’s mandate for us to correct and forgive those who sin.

Photo by author, Church of St. Anne in Jerusalem, May 2017.

This Sunday, Jesus is telling us that each one of us is so loved by God who is overly generous, blessing us with everything we need, giving us all the chances in life to become better.

Therefore, let there be no room among us to own and box God and his blessings! Let us not usurp God’s power and generosity for others. We are all his children. Let no one assume to one’s self that he/she is more worthy to God nor he/she is more entitled much less a favorite of God! Please. Especially those who claim only they would enter heaven?

Today, Jesus is telling us we are all his servants, we are all his workers in his vineyard. Those workers hired at dawn were given a job because God is good. From his kindness, he gave them a silver coin for their wage. It is the same good and loving, kind and generous God who hired the other workers at 9am, noon, 3pm and 5pm with the usual salary. Therefore, it is very wrong for those hired at dawn – for anyone of us today – to complain to God of not receiving more than the others just because we have served longer than them. We have no right at all to command and direct God how he must give or dispense his blessings because whatever we receive from him is out of his goodness and never of our own merit.

Moreover, those workers hired at dawn should actually be grateful to God in giving them work while at the same time rejoice too that God had called others later to receive a decent pay to bring home. Here we find a similarity in the attitude of the elder brother in the parable of the prodigal son who also complained to their father the party thrown for the return of his younger brother (Lk.15:11-32).

We are all workers in the Lord’s vineyard, God’s beloved and forgiven children. What kind of workers, or children of God, are we then?

May we always remember St. Paul’s admonition two Sundays ago to “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another” (Rom.13:8). Like in the previous two Sundays, Jesus is inviting us today to imitate him and his ways, to shift_ our existence, our views, our person into higher levels in him, with him and through him. It is the same reminder by Isaiah in the first reading that we must let go of our human ways and thoughts to trust in God’s wisdom always. There are times emotions can run high with us sometimes especially when it comes to remunerations, whether material or spiritual but like the Philippians, we must trust that ultimately, everything in this life is the work of God, even the success of Christ’s gospel. All we need to do is trust in him, be like Jesus, merciful and forgiving. Most of all, generous and loving. Amen. Have a blessed new week!

From Facebook, Easter 2021: “There is an urgency to announce the joy of the Risen Lord.”

True blessedness

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, 13 September 2023
Colossians 3:1-11   <*{{{>< + ><}}}*> = <*{{{>< + ><}}}*>   Luke 6:20-26
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Convent, Baguio City, 23 August 2023.
Direct our thoughts
this day to you O Lord,
our loving God and Father
in heaven!

Let us seek what is above
where Christ is seated 
at your right hand, O God; 
let us think of what is above,
not of what is on earth 
for we have already died 
in sin with our life now hidden
with Christ in you, dear God;
most of all, let us put to death,
then, the parts of us that are earthly:
immorality, impurity, passion,
evil desire and the greed that
is idolatry (Colossians 3:1-3, 5).
Many times we forget these,
dear God, spending too much time
and efforts that later amount to nothing
as we pursue things of the earth;
we not only destroy our selves
but also the people you have gifted us 
to be our companions in this life;
how easy for us to profess our love
for mankind without recognizing
those people we meet each day
as our beloved, missing the trees
for the forest!
How lovely when your Son
Jesus our Lord came,
he looked up to us so often,
as if telling us to look up too,
not down on ourselves and 
to one another; normally, we
look up to you, dear God 
because you are above us
but Jesus looked up to us
to show us how blessed we are:

Raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours.”

Luke 6:20
Loving Father,
let me remember that
true blessedness is having
nothing except you;
true blessedness is
being looked up to
by Jesus,
remembered,
cared for, 
and
accompanied
in this life back to you
in Heaven.
Indeed, as St. John Chrysostom
had taught us,
you, O God, ask us
so little
but gives us
so much!
Amen.
Photo by author, Mount St. Paul, La Trinidad, Benguet, 2017.

Every here & now always the right place & right time in God

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Twenty-third Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 11 September 2023
Colossians 1:24-2:3   ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>   Luke 6:6-11
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 2017.
Dearest Father in heaven:
Is there really being at the
wrong place at a wrong time?
It has been 22 years since 9/11
when so many lives were lost,
many families and relationships
were broken by those terrorist attacks;
recently, over 2000 people perished 
in a massive earthquake in Morocco;
everywhere, bad things happen to
many people because they were
at the wrong place at the wrong time,
Father?

I know, dear God,
life is not that simple
or simplistic, of being at the
wrong place at the wrong time;
if you are everywhere, Father,
how could there be 
a wrong place and
a wrong time?

Brothers and sisters: I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his Body, which is the Church…

Colossians 1:24
NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 11, 2001: (SEPTEMBER 11 RETROSPECTIVE) Smoke pours from the twin towers of the World Trade Center after they were hit by two hijacked airliners in a terrorist attack September 11, 2001 in New York City. (Photo by Robert Giroux/Getty Images)
But as I prayed with St. Paul,
I realize something more deep,
more profound, even mysterious,
than our common excuse of 
being at the wrong place at the
wrong time:  every here and now
is always a right place and 
right time in you, O God our
loving Father!

St. Paul was at the right place and 
right time on that day on his way
to Damascus to persecute
the Christians to meet Jesus Christ;
all throughout his life, as he 
completely surrendered to Jesus,
St. Paul found everything falling
into its right place in you, O God.
Many times, 
people and nature
may seem to put us 
at the wrong place 
and the wrong time, 
but you always ensure, O God,
in Christ Jesus that everything
will work out in our favor 
like that man with a withered hand
planted by the scribes and
Pharisees at the synagogue 
on a sabbath to see if Jesus
would heal him.

But he realized their intentions and said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up and stand before us.” And he rose and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than do evil, to save life rather than destroy it?” Looking around at them all, he then said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so and his hand was restored.

Luke 6:8-10
There are many ways of looking
at every situation in life,
either as a blessing
or a curse or a bad luck
as some would usually say;
but with you, dear Jesus
who had come to bring God
closest to us, 
every time,
every place 
is always the right one, 
a blessed one.

Open our hearts
to your loving presence,
Father, in Jesus Christ
who suffered and died
to rise again for us
to experience life 
amid death,
joy amid sufferings,
and light in darkness.
Amen.
Photo by author, Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infant, Quezon, 04 March 2023.

Praying for integrity

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest & Doctor of Church, 13 June 2023
2 Corinthians 1:18-22   <*((((>< + ><))))*>   Matthew 5:13-16
Photo by author, Mount Sinai, Egypt, May 2019.
Today, O Lord Jesus,
I pray for the gift of integrity,
of wholeness in you,
holiness not of being sinless
but filled with you like
St. Paul and St. Anthony of Padua
whose memorial we celebrate today.

Brothers and sisters: As God is faithful, our word to you is not “yes” and “no.” For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed to you by us, Silvanus and Timothy and me, was not “yes” and “no,” but “yes” has been in him. For however many are the promises of God, their yes is in him. Therefore, the Amen from us also goes through him to God for glory.

2 Corinthians 1:18-20
In our world that thirsts for integrity
when many people find ways to 
compromise their faith and beliefs
with the gall of defending themselves
by refusing to call their dissimulation a lie,
teach us, dear Jesus to be like St. Paul
in taking your example at the Cross as 
basis of our integrity in you 
by dying too for what is
true and good and just.
Give us the courage 
to mean what we say 
by proving it with our actions.
Like St. Anthony of Padua who said,
"Actions speak louder than words;
let your words teach
and your actions speak."

O dear Jesus,
let us realize it is not enough
to be blessed and imbued with your
beatitudes; let our blessedness 
be visible like light
and be experienced by others
like salt as our lives of integrity
give flavor to the bland taste
of lies and dishonesty
of the world.
Amen.

Our blessed Motherland

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time, Philippine Independence Day, 12 June 2023
2 Corinthians 1:1-7    ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*>   Matthew 5: 1-12
Sunrise at Atok, Benguet by Ms. Jo Villafuerte, 01 September 2019.
Glory and praise to you,
God our loving Father
for this gift of Independence Day;
forgive us for the many times
we have taken it for granted,
when we waste all opportunities
to love and serve our blessed
Motherland.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.

Matthew 5:5
Help us to be "meek" or better,
be "gentle to inherit the land" 
by having that inner strength within us
to stand for what is true and just,
for what is good and holy
by first being a good citizen
of this country so hurt,
so forgotten by its own people
since the beginning.

Dearest Jesus,
fill us with encouragement
to never lose hope for our country,
to inspire more people to love
our blessed Motherland by
choosing the right persons to lead us,
those willing to suffer and sacrifice 
for the sake of the least and marginalized
and most especially,
to care for this only country we got
you have blessed abundantly
up to future generations of
Filipinos serving fellow Filipinos.
Amen.

God above all

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Ninth Week of Ordinary Time, 09 June 2023
Tobit 11:5-17   ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[><   Mark 12:35-37
Photo. by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2023.
Thank you dearest Lord
our God and loving Father
for the week past, for the
achievements and failures too,
for joys and hurts, for everything.
You are above all, God our Father;
all good things come from you
and if ever bad things happen to us
as a result of our sins and wrong
decisions or due to evil in the world,
you are very much aware of its
happening to us,
always ensuring that despite its
negative impact on us,
it would still lead to something
good and beautiful for us.
Like in the blindness of Tobit.
Give us the grace of patience
and perseverance, and much faith
and trust in you to await your day
of redemption,
your day of salvation,
your day of healing
and coming.

Then Tobit went back in, rejoicing and praising God with full voice. Tobiah told his father that the Lord God had granted him a successful journey; that he had brought back the money; and that he had married Raguel’s daughter Sarah, who would arrive shortly, for she was approaching the gate of Nineveh.

Tobit 11:15
Vanish all our doubts on you,
Lord Jesus Christ;
let us realize how the very
scriptures identify you
as our Messiah and Lord of all,
the fulfillment of God's promise
of Old; most of all, let us submit
to your power and authority
for you are our Lord and God alone.
Amen.

Sino ang “special”?

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-30 ng Mayo 2023
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, exhibit ng Sto. Nino sa Malolos Cathedral, Enero 2022.

Kailan ko lamang napag-ukulan ng pansin – at pagninilay – itong isang bagay ukol sa mga tinagurian nating “special child”, yaong mga isinilang na mayroong iba’t-ibang kapansanan sa pangangatawan, pag-iisip at pandamdam (emotional).

Mabuti nga sa panahong ito ay “special” na ang tawag sa kanila kesa noong dating panahon namin na wala pang mga “sped” o special education. At least, hindi pa laganap lalo sa mga lalawigan. Noon basta hindi normal ika nga ang isang tao lalo na mga bata na ipinanganak na mayroong kapansanan na tinatawag na Down Syndrome, “mongoloid” ang tawag. Kaya naman ako noon sa mura kong isipan at katangahan, hindi ko mawari bakit siya kumain ng lapis o pencil na noo’y Mongol ang tatak?! Sorry po pero yun talaga naisip ko noong elementary ako lalo na nang biniro ng guro namin isang kaklase na palaging kagat-kagat ang lapis niya na magiging mongoloid siya sa ginagawa niya! Siyempre, ako man noo’y palaging kinakagat ang lapis at marahil kaya ako kung minsan ay parang special din.

Pero wala pong biro at mabalik tayo sa ating paksa, pansin ko lang sa pamilya ng mga kapatid nating mayroong mga naturang kapansanan na madalas at mabilis nila kaagad sinasabi na ang kanilang anak o kapatid ay “special”. Minsan mararamdaman mo rin kanilang lungkot marahil hindi sa ano pa man kungdi ang pag-aalala paano magiging buhay ng kanilang special child lalo na sa pagtanda nila.

Noong ako ay batang pari pa sa isang barrio na aking minimisahan ay mayroong special child na palaging nagsisimba. Masayang-masaya ang batang iyon sa pagsisimba at halos sumigaw sa pagsagot at pag-awit sa Misa. Napansin ko tumatahimik siya at masugid niyang tinitingnan ang lahat ng nangungumunyon.

Kinausap ko ang bata na siguro ay labing-limang taong gulang na noon. “Ibig mo ba na magkomunyon? Alam mo ba ko kung ano yun tinatanggap?” Sabi niya sa akin ay si Jesus daw iyong nasa Banal na Ostiya. Kaya kinausap ko kanyang magulang na di makapaniwalang pwede iyon. Inihanda ko ang special child at makaraan ang ilang linggo, siya ay binigyan namin ng “first communion”. Tuwang-tuwa ang bata at kanyang mga magulang. Hanggang ngayon siya ay masayang nagsisimba sa kanilang bisita.

Dati naman sa pinanggalingan kong parokya ay ipinahanap ko sa mga katekista ang lahat ng mga bata na sampung taong gulang pataas na hindi pa nakukumpilan. Isang teenager na special child ang kanilang natagpuan sa aming depressed area. Pinuntahan namin upang kausapain at himukin ang mga magulang ng special child na siya ay pakumpilan yamang libre naman. Nagulat ang ama na puwede daw palang kumpilan kanyang anak at noon siya ay naiyak nang ikuwento sa akin na kaya dalawa lang kanilang anak. Natakot daw siyang special muli ang ikatlong anak nila.

Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Baguio Cathedral, 2018.

Bakit nga ba tinatawag na special child mga batang isinilang na mayroong iba’t-ibang kapansanan at pangangailangan? Hindi ba kapag special dapat ay mahusay at magaling. Halos perfect, hindi ba?

Special child ang tawag sa kanila kasi sila ay espesyal sa Diyos. At higit na espesyal sa lahat ang kanilang mga magulang at kapatid na pinili ng Diyos upang ipagkatiwala sa kanila ang Kanyang mga special children. Sila lang marahil sa dami ng iba pang ama at ina at mga kapatid ang may higit na pagmamahal at malasakit upang arugain at palakihin ang special child ng Diyos.

Noong magbuntis ang kapatid ko sa kanyang ikatlong anak, siya ay nakunan. Malungkot na malungkot ang kapatid ko noon dahil hirap siya sa pagbubuntis. Ipinaliwanag sa akin ng kanyang doctora na kapag daw ang sanggol sa sinapupunan ng ina ay na-detect na magkakaroon ng kapansanan o sakit, mayroon daw mekanismo mismo yung baby na mag automatic shut off para di na siya lumaki at mabuhay pa. Kaya nakukunan ng baby.

Samakatwid, natural sa plano ng Diyos na lahat ng isisilang ay buo at walang kapansanan ngunit kung sakaling mayroong makalusot at mabuhay hanggang mailuwal ng kanyang ina bilang special child, ito ay kalooban ng Diyos. Siya ay biyaya ng Diyos. Regalo ng Diyos. Kaya sinasabi ng iba “suwerte” daw ang special child. Malaking biyaya ng Diyos ang bawat buhay, lalo na kung mayroong kapansanan dahil sila ay pinahintulutan niyang isilang at mabuhay para sa isang misyon para sa ating lahat. At ito iyon: espesyal bawat isa sa atin sa Diyos.

Noong isang linggo ay nagmisa ako sa pumanaw na kapatid na special child ng isang ka-opisina. Natapat noong araw na iyon ang ebanghelyo ay napakaganda sa wikang Inggles na ganito ang sinasabi:

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying: “Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”

John 17:24

Kay sarap namnamin mga salita ni Jesus, “Father, they are your gift to me.” Sa Tagalog ay hindi ganoon ang pagkakasalin at hindi binanggit ang kataga na regalo o gift. Ito yung tagpo ng kanyang pananalangin para sa kanyang mga alagad matapos ang kanilang Huling Hapunan bago siya dakpin noong Huwebes Santo.

Sino ba tayo para ituring ni Jesus na regalo o gift sa kanya ng Ama?

Sa kabila ng ating maraming kapintasan, kakulangan at kasalanan, iyan ang katotohanan: regalo tayo ng Diyos Ama di lamang sa isa’t-isa kungdi maging sa Anak niyang si Jesus.

Tayong lahat ay regalo ng Diyos. Napakahalaga, lalo na yaong mga mayroong kapansanan at iba’t ibang kahinaan sa pangangatawan at buhay.

Sa bawat special child ay mayroong extra-special na ina at ama at mga kapatid. Kaya kung ibig mo ring maging extra-special sa Diyos, kaibiganin, tulungan, at pahalagahan mga special children at kanilang pamilya. Amen.

Larawan kuha ni G. Jim Marpa, 2018.

Jesus, the basis of our relationships

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Saturday, Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima, 13 May 2023
Isaiah 6:19-11 ><}}}*> Galatians 4:4-7 ><}}}*> Luke 11:27-28
Praise and glory to you,
God our loving Father 
for the gift of your Son Jesus Christ
who gave us his Mother,
the Blessed Virgin Mary 
to be our Mother too
and model in discipleship!
On this Feast of our Lady of Fatima
on the occasion of the 106th year 
of her apparition in Portugal,
may be we reminded anew of her calls
to prayer, penance, and conversion
for peace in the whole world.

Most of all,
may we imitate Mary in always
listening, accepting, and doing your word:

While he was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

Luke 11:27-28
May we keep your words, Jesus,
in our minds and in our hearts
that true blessedness is in
believing and doing your words;
most of all, that the basis of our
relationships is not blood nor belief
nor anything else except you, dear Jesus.

It is only when our relationships
are based on you, Jesus, that there can
be true prayer, penance and conversion
because you are the way and the truth and the life;
everything becomes clear when seen
in your light,
everything becomes acceptable and fair
when measured in your person,
everything becomes bearable
when taken in your love.
Help us, dear Jesus,
to know you more clearly,
to love you more dearly,
and to follow you more closely
so we may attain peace
which is the fruit of love and justice
in you.
Amen.

New beginnings

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 16 February 2023
Genesis 9:1-13   <*(((>< + ><)))*> = <*(((>< + ><)))*>   Mark 8:27-33
Photo by PhotoMIX Company on Pexels.com
Blessing.
Blood.
Covenant.
Three things you repeatedly
said, O God our Father,
to Noah after the great floods
to mark the new beginnings
not only for him but also for us
today.

You blessed and consecrated man anew
in Noah and his sons,
telling them to go and multiply
with all the animals at their disposal
while assuring them with absolute
respect for human life.
With Noah, you gave the
rainbow as the sign of your
covenant to never again
destroy bodily creatures
on earth with floods.
How lovely, O God,
are your blessings and covenant
with Noah and his sons that
reached its highest point in
Jesus Christ who, upon his death
on the Cross looked like a rainbow
with arms outstretched between 
heaven and earth,
establishing the everlasting
covenant sealed with his own blood
as he himself predicted at Caesarea Philippi
after being identified as the Christ.
Everyday you ask us, Lord,
like at Caesarea Philippi,
who do we say you are?
Unless we are able to 
recognize you truly in our
own experience,
in our own being
as the Christ who suffered
and died for us on the Cross,
we can never experience 
the fresh new beginnings
you offer us daily just like
to Noah and his sons.

Let us see in Christ's Cross -
the new and perfect rainbow -
the new beginnings you
promised after the great flood,
being fulfilled daily in Jesus.
Amen.