Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church, 25 May 2026 Acts 1:12-14 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> John 19:25-34
Icon of Mary “Mater Ecclesiae” (Mother of the Church) in St. Peter’s Square from opusdei.org.
Praise and glory to you, God our loving Father in bringing us this far: it is almost June, half-way through 2026 as we begin Ordinary Time with the closing of Easter Season yesterday, Pentecost Sunday; thank you most of all to Jesus Your Son now seated at Your right in heaven in giving us His Mother the Blessed Virgin Mary whom we honor this Monday as Mother of the Church.
From the very beginning, from His birth to His public ministry until His Crucifixion, Mary has always been with Jesus so that when He sent the Holy Spirit as He had promised on that Pentecost Sunday in Jerusalem, Mary was present with the disciples praying in the Upper Room: "All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers" (Acts 1:12).
What a beautiful image of the church on its very first day, as Your Body, O Lord Jesus, gathered in prayer with Mary Your Mother whom You have entrusted to Your beloved disciple at the cross: "When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold your son.' Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother'" (John 19:26-27).
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, March 2024.
As we resume today Ordinary Time, may we imitate Mary Your Mother, O Lord Jesus, in being a faithful disciple, open to welcome and accept You, saying "Yes" to Your will like at the Annunciation; let our faith in You be firm like hers at the wedding at Cana when she told You immediately how the newly-weds have ran out of wine, instructing the servants to do whatever "he tells you"; most of all, like Mary, let us remain intimate with You, Jesus in prayers, her most important trait as Your faithful and model disciple.
Teach us, dear Jesus, to be like Mary Your Mother, deeply absorbed in You in prayers; her standing at the Cross was not a result of a spur in the moment but the fruit of her long, vibrant prayer life centered in You her Son; unlike us, we come and pray to You only when we are going through trials and difficulties but when everything is going well in life, we hardly remember You, Lord, nor pray at all.
All her life, Mary lived in prayer, in communion and oneness in You, Jesus that is why when the Church was born on Pentecost, Mary was there. She has always been with us as our Mother and companion in mission, appearing many times like in Fatima, Portugal in 1917 to remind us to return to you, Lord Jesus Christ; let us be like Mary in her discipleship that is essentially a prayer life. Amen.
From cbcpnews.net, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City, 13 October 2022.
Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A, 03 May 2026 Acts 6:1-7 ><}}}}*> 1Peter 2:4-9 ><}}}}*> John 14:1-12
Photo from Our Lady of Fatima University official page at FB.
We are celebrating our 60th foundation anniversary at the Our Lady of Fatima University (OLFU) and the Fatima University Medical Center (FUMC) next year. As part of our year-long celebrations beginning last February, we are building 60 homes in two Gawad Kalinga sites in Bagac, Bataan and Trece-Martirez, Cavite.
It is the second time we have embarked on the same project when our administrators, faculty and employees as well as students volunteered to build and delivered 50 homes through GK too ten years ago in celebration of our golden anniversary.
Our University President Dra. Caroline Santos-Enriquez explained that it is not enough for us to provide our people with good, quality education we have always strived in the last 60 years when many are without a home because when people have homes of their own, they are filled with hopes and that is when they truly start to dream for a better future.
Such a desire in having one’s own home is deeply rooted in the Bible. Jesus Christ’s third beatitude in his sermon on the mount, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land” (Mt.5:5) refers to the longing of the Israelites not only for their own homeland but also for their own homes too.
That is why at his last supper, he mentioned something so similar to that aspiration of his disciples but this time on a deeper level.
Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way” (John 14:1-4).
It is very interesting that in the Hebrew language, the name they use to commonly address God is HaShem written as השם for “The Name” because they cannot utter the word YHWH or Yahweh as we pronounce written as יהוה which is so sacred for the Jewish people.
Now take a look at the first letter of HaShem shaped like a house, השם while its third last letter looks like a door or a small “n” in our english alphabet. It is the same shape of the letter Yod they use to write YHWH – יהוה.
According to a spiritual writer I have read, God’s very name connotes a house, a home and a door that imply “relationships”. Remember last Sunday when Jesus introduced himself as the “gate” through whom the shepherd and his sheep pass through?
Jesus now deepens this lesson he taught us last Sunday as he moved to its next scene which is his last supper.
Imagine the silent stillness of the room heavy with emotion.
With lamps flickering in the evening light, we feel the ebb and flow of intimacy and uncertainty just like in our own homes during times of crisis.
And in the midst of it all is Jesus speaking with comforting assurance.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.”
What is troubling you at this very moment or lately these past days or weeks?
Many times, what really troubles us most is the fear of being left out, of being alone. That is why money and sickness as well as death trouble us a lot. We are afraid of having nobody by our side not only to defend and comfort us but simply be with us. Here we find the value of having our own home where we feel safe and secured with loved ones.
Being left out, being alone is perhaps the deepest pain one could ever have. That is why we are troubled when people we love and care for threaten us of walking away from us to be on their own. Every time a beloved leaves us by choice or by circumstances, whenever we feel “apart” from others and separated, we feel losing a part of very selves because each one is also our part. Jesus came, suffered and died for us on the Cross so that in his Resurrection, we would never be apart from him and everyone anymore, here on earth and hereafter.
Photo by author, Manaoag Basilica, Pangasinan, 09 January 2026.
Jesus assures us today of his presence among us, of being with us and in us – a relationship so personal like having our own home and dwelling place in heaven. But, are we ready and willing to walk his path, to stand by his truth and live his life?
Vis-a-vis the things that trouble us, what is our deepest yearning at the moment? Are we still in the same level with Philip relying more on the physical and material aspects of relationships?
In my previous post after my annual retreat, I have mentioned to you my dear friends of my decision to rest a little from my daily blogs. Not really as a respite from my busy schedules but more of finding Jesus anew. During that retreat in March, I realized the thing that most bothered me lately was being far from God. I have been praying to blog, not for God.
Many times, we serve God in others without really being centered in Him, without any relationship at all with Him in Christ Jesus. And we priests are often guilty of it, of too much ministry without Jesus that lead us to burnout and exhaustion, most especially the lack of love for others. Anything especially relationships without Jesus eventually dies naturally because he indeed life himself.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.
The Apostles realized this early in the Church as we have heard in the first reading that they assigned seven deacons to serve the Greek-speaking converts to Christianity lest they forget Jesus Christ in prayers.
The same is true with us. It can happen that we feel we are doing God’s work, following his will but we are not in him in Christ. That is why Jesus clarified with Thomas: his very person is the way the truth and the life. And that is because he is the “cornerstone” of our very lives as explained by Peter in the second reading.
We are the “living stones” who make up the Church, the mystical body of Christ both visible and invisible. As God’s “chosen people” and “royal priesthood”, we have a deep spiritual bonding in Christ nourished and sustained in our prayers and liturgy. As disciples of Christ, we move visibly adjusting and innovating in our ways like the Apostles by remaining focused on the person of Jesus who is our everything.
Going back to our housing project at OLFU at FUMC, I was amazed at the faith of some of our recipients of the new homes we’re building in Trece-Martirez, Cavite who came to see me after the groundbreaking ceremonies. They told me how for so many years they prayed together as families to have their own homes and now it is slowly becoming a reality; hence, if I could bless – finally – their images of the Virgin Mary, Sacred Heart and Divine Mercy they have kept in their rented homes for many years.
They were so thankful for the blessing but, unknown to them, I felt more blessed in them as I felt God reassuring me that whatever troubles me in life, Jesus places great trust in us in continuing his mission here on earth. Let us remain in him and hold on to his words, “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.” A blessed week ahead to everyone! Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin & Doctor of Church, 29 April 2026 Acts 12:24-13:5 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> John 12:44-50
Photo by author, Bolinao, Pangasinan, April 2022.
While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, completing their fasting and prayer, they laid hands on them and sent them off (Acts 13:2-3).
As we move in your Spirit Lord Jesus Christ, moving with you and moving to you, teach us to be set apart from the rest like what you did to Barnabas and Saul; give us the docility to follow your movement away from others we have been comfortable with in order to move where we may experience discomfort and be dislocated; give us the same grace you gave St. Catherine of Sienna who saw the whole Church as her community, recognizing the need for unity through reconciliation; in this time of too much tensions happening in the Church within and outside, give us the courage to be set apart like St. Catherine to confront the growing rifts among the clergy and the faithful.
Let us realize, dear Jesus, that sometimes we need to be set apart to speak your words that bring light into the world so darkened by sins and evil that many times I perpetrate. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday, Memorial of St. Scholastica, Virgin, 10 February 2026 1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30 ><]]]]’> + ><]]]]’> + ><]]]]’> Mark 7:1-13
Photo by author, Museo de Valenzuela’s replica of “Arkong Bato” with the pointed facade of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima as background, 21 January 2026.
How true were the words of your great King and Servant Solomon, O God our mighty Father, that nothing like "the heavens and the highest heavens" can contain you much less the temple he had built or anything that we have in this time; yet, you have promised us to hear our prayers when we come to pray to you, to call on you in temples and churches human hands have made that are not enough to have you.
Forgive us, Lord, when we try to "contain" you, "keep" you in specific places not just churches and temples and oratories; most of all, forgive us, Lord, when we lack the reverence and intimacy we must have with you when inside the church and other sacred places; Jesus' words in today's gospel cuts us to the heart of our hypocrisies, "This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teachings as doctrines human precepts" (Mark 7:6).
O dear Jesus present in the Blessed Tabernacle, empty me of my pride so that You may reign in my heart always. Amen.
Photo by author, Chapel of the Carmel of the Holy Family Monastery, Guiguinto, Bulacan, 23 January 2026.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-18 ng Nobyembre 2025
Larawan mula sa starforallseasons.com
Hindi ko po napanood ang pelikulang iyan noong 1982 pero usap-usapan dahil daw sa sobrang ganda lalo ng aming mga mommy at tita na libang na libang sa Betamax. First year college ako noon at sa sobrang sikat ng pelikulang iyan, isang drayber ang nagpinta sa jeepney niyang nasasakyan ko patungong Recto ng signage na “gaano kadulas ang minsan?”
Pero iba po ang kuwento ko sa inyo. Hindi pelikula o pakuwela kungdi sa Bibliya.
Naalala ko ang pelikulang iyan dahil sa Unang Pagbasa sa Misa ngayong araw ng Martes mula sa ikalawang aklat ng Macabeo kung saan ang isang nobenta anyos na Hudyo, si Eleazar ay hinimok ng kanyang mga kaibigan na kunwari ay kumain ng baboy upang hindi siya patayin ng mga paganong mananakop.
Mas gusto ko ang salin sa Ingles nang sabihin ni Eleazar sa kanyang mga kababayan na patayin na lang siya ngayon din kesa magkunwari pa. Aniya ano ang mabuting halimbawa ang maiiwan niya sa mga kabataan kung sa kanyang katandaan ay magtataksil siya sa Diyos sa pagkain ng ipinagbabawal.
“At our age it would be unbecoming to make such a pretense… should I thus pretend for the sake of a brief moment of life, they would be led astray by me, while I would bring shame and dishonor on my old age” (2 Maccabees 6:24, 25).
Ito yung nagustuhan kong sinabi ni Eleazar, should I thus pretend for the sake of a brief moment of life?”
Iyon yung matindi sa sinabi niya, pretend for the sake of a brief moment of life.
Magkukunwari o magsisinungaling ba ako maski minsan sandali sa buhay ko?
Hindi ba kadalasan iyan ang palusot natin mula pa noong panahon nina Eba at Adan marahil? Minsan lang naman titikim… minsan lang naman gagawin… minsan lang naman nagkamali o nagkasala.
Totoo naman minsan-minsan ay sablay ating mga desisyon at nasasabi. Hindi rin maiwasan minsan minsan ang pagkakasala at pagkakamali. Pero, iyon nga ang punto ni Eleazar marahil upang ating pagnilayan, gaano kadalas ang minsan?
Yung minsan-minsan na iyan ang nakakatakot dahil madalas ang minsan katumbas ay wala ng wakas. Minsan ka lang magkamali o magkasala o magkunwari, maaring ikawasak o gumuho at maglaho lahat ng ating mga plano at pangarap na ilang taong pinagpagalan at pinagpagurang mabuti. Kadalasan, marami sa ating mga sablay sa buhay ay dahil lang sa binale-walang minsan.
Mapapatawad tayo ng Diyos sa ating mga kasalanan pati ng ating mga kapwa tao subalit, yung minsang pagkakamali o pagkakasala ay hindi na maibabalik ang dating kaayusan. Madalas yang minsang pagkakamali o pagkakasala ay mayroong tinatawag kong “irreversible consequences”.
Kapag ikaw ay nakapatay o maski nga lang masangkot sa krimen ng murder, siguradong maiiba ang takbo ng iyong buhay. Tiyak iyon, kahit na ika’y matapagtago at hindi makulong dahil habang buhay kang uusigin ng iyong konsiyensiya. Iyang minsan lang na pagkakamali dala ng init ng ulo o kalasingan ay hindi na mababago ng gaano mang kataimtim na pagsisisi dahil hindi na maibabalik ang buhay na nawala.
Ikalawang halimbawa na palagi kong sinasabi sa mga kabataan noon pa man na mayroong irreversible consequences ay ang mabuntis ng wala sa panahon. Patatawarin kayo ng Diyos maging ng inyong mga magulang ngunit kapwa ang babae at lalake maiiba na takbo ng buhay pagkatapos ng minsang pangyayari. Mapanagutan man o hindi.
LAOAG CITY, PHILIPPINES – MAY 08: A dog walks past campaign posters supporting presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in a residential neighborhood on May 08, 2022 in Laoag City, Philippines. The son and namesake of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., who was accused and charged of amassing billions of dollars of ill-gotten wealth as well as committing tens of thousands of human rights abuses during his autocratic rule, has mounted a hugely popular campaign to return his family name to power. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. enjoys a wide lead in opinion polls against his main rival, Vice President Leni Robredo, owing to a massive disinformation campaign that has effectively rebranded the Marcos dictatorship as a “golden age.” Marcos is running alongside Davao city Mayor Sara Duterte, the daughter of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte who is the subject of an international investigation for alleged human rights violations during his bloody war on drugs. (Photo by Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)
Ikatlong halimbawa naisip ko ngayon lang ay ang maling pagboto sa bawat halalan.
Isang lingkod ng simbahan ang nagtanong sa akin na pagtitiisan na lang daw ba natin ang kasalukuyang pangulo gayong sinabi na ng kapatid nitong siya ay adik?
Bagamat batid kong siya ay DDS, pinagsikapan ko pa ring pagpaliwanagan. Sabi ko sa kanya, sila lang ang magtitiis, hindi kami kasi sila lang ang bumoto sa tambalang BBM at Sara noon.
Hindi sila nakinig sa sinasabi at paliwanag nating iba ang kandidato sa pagkapangulo at bise nito.
Ganyan kako ang demokrasya, parang pag-aasawa: hindi ka nakinig sa paliwanag ng iba, tapos nagkamali ka sa iyong pinili – aba, pagtiiisan mo. Minsan ka lang nga gumawa ng desisyon ngunit hindi mo sinuring mabuti ni pinagdasalan, pagdusahan mo. Ganun talaga. Kaya hindi uubra ang pagpapababa sa kasalukuyang pangulo na katulad ng sinasabi ng ilan na magdiborsiyo ang mag-asawa dahil minsan lang nagkamali.
Huwag tayong palilinlang sa minsan. May kasabihan sa Ingles na the devil is in the details: nasa mumunting bagay o detalye ang demonyo na mismong uri ng ating minsan na madalas ituring lang naman.
Pag-aralang mabuti mga bagay-bagay lahat na may kinalaman sa pagpapasya na makaka-apekto sa takbo ng buhay natin. Hindi maaring sabihin minsan lang dahil kung madalas ang minsan-minsan, bisyo na iyan!
Pagnilayan po natin yung minsan… gaano kadalas yung ating minsan na sa atin ay nagpahamak? Salamuch kaibigan. God bless!
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 30 October 2025 Thursday in the Thirtieth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I Romans 8:31-39 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 13:31-35
Brothers and sisters: If God is for us, who can be against us? What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will angusih, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? As it is written: For your sake we are being slain all the day; we are looked upon as a sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us (Romans 8:31, 35-37).
What else can I say to these profound words by St. Paul?
They are so true even with us until now with a new kind of paganism hostile to the official teachings of the Church as they prefer to worship self in their body and in their thoughts, overextending their rights, redefining even gender and other natural institutions, glorifying wealth and fame, protecting animal rights and environment without any regard for persons especially in their weakest stages in the womb and old age... the list goes on, Lord but what's most sad, even tragic the attacks and hostilities are not really from unbelievers but from those who claim to be Christians and Catholics.
Keep us strong and faithful, Lord Jesus, never let us separate from you; fill us with courage too to remain steadfast in your ways and teachings, to speak the truth, to protect fellow believers and defenders of faith and most of all, to keep loving your beloved Body, the Church. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 28 October 2025 Tuesday, Feast of St. Simon & St. Jude, Apostles Ephesians 2:19-22 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 6:12-16
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2025.
Brothers and sisters: You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you are also being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).
How lovely to hear those words of St. Paul in these times of great divisions among us not only in politics but in almost every topic! What is most painful, O Lord Jesus Christ is how some among us have become numb and callous of each other, unmindful of things they say especially of those suffering and in pain; with the little cellphone each of us holding so addictively the whole day, we have created our own self-centered world totally unmindful of others.
On this Feast of your two great Apostles, St. Simon and St. Jude who were poles apart in their differences as persons and backgrounds, may we realize that we are not "strangers and sojourners" but are" fellow citizens", and "members of the household of God" in you, Jesus Christ who is at the center of this household as cornerstone.
Help us, Lord Jesus, to imitate Sts. Simon and Jude who built up your Church, your household of God here on earth; fill our hearts with the zeal and ardent love for you and your Church like Simon called the Zealot: in this time when Catholics in the country are declining in numbers as well as in professing their faith, may we have the enthusiasm to make you known, Jesus, in our loving actions of witnessing; grant us also the strength, clarity and courage like that of St. Jude Thaddeus in dealing with the many contradictions of the world we live in today as Catholics and Christians: "But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And convince some, who doubt..." (Jude 20-22).
Bless us, dearest Jesus, through the help St. Simon and St. Jude, to rediscover the beauty of our Christian faith and of our Catholic Church by working hard to build it up without tiring through our silent and peaceful witnessing of the Gospel. Amen. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 26 September 2025 Friday, Memorial of Sts. Cosmas & Damian, Martyrs Haggai 2:1-9 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 9:18-22
Photo by author, the wailing wall of Jerusalem, May 2017.
God our loving Father, we praise and thank you for the magnificent places of worship we have for you, churches so beautiful, so wide to accommodate us especially on Sundays to praise and worship you; but, dear God, forgive us when we forget so often that its glory is not in us nor because of us but from your divine presence, in the presence of Jesus Christ not only in the Tabernacle but among the people as you have told us through Haggai your prophet.
For thus says the Lord of hosts: One moment yet, a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will come in, and I will fill this house with with glory, says the Lord of hosts (Haggai 2:6-7).
That prophecy has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ your Son, our Savior who now asks us daily with his same question to the Twelve: "Who do the crowds say that I am?"
Grant us the courage and strength you gave Peter as well as the early Christians to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ - something so subversive at that time, so dangerous as it disregarded the earthly rulers especially the Roman emperor; so much have changed, Lord in our time when the church has become so elaborately decorated like our faith but deep inside is hollow that no wonder we can't even profess your being Lord just before every meal especially in public places; grant us the same courage you gave the brothers Cosmas and Damian who treated the sick for free in your name, who dared the powers and stood firm in their faith in you. Amen.
Photo by author, Chapel of the Angel of Peace, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, March 2025
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com)
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-12 ng Setyembre 2025
Larawan kuha ni G. Aaron Favila ng Associated Press, Barasoain Church, Malolos City, 22 Hulyo 2025.
Hindi ko malaman kung ako ay matutuwa o maluluha sa mga larawang nalathala noong panahon ng pagbaha sa aming lalawigan ng Bulacan; kamangha-mangha aming pananampalataya nagpapatuloy mga pagdiriwang ng sakramento lalo na ang kasal kahit lumusong sa baha nagsisimba at paring nagmimisa parang eksena sa pelikula pagmamahalan ng mga magsing-ibig pananalig kailanma'y hindi padadaig sa buhos ng ulan bumaha man.
Nang sumabog na parang dam mga balita ng scam ng flood control program sa lalawigan ng Bulacan, galit at pagkainis aming naramdaman itong mga pagbaha pala ay kagagawan ng kasakiman ng mga halimaw sa kagawaran kakutsaba sa kasamaan mga pulitiko at contractor habang mga mamamayan walang mapuntahan sa araw-araw na lamang malapit nang maging aquaman kalulusong sa baha alipunga hindi na nawala.
Larawan kuha ni G. Aaron Favila ng Associated Press, Barasoain Church, Malolos City, 22 Hulyo 2025.
Isang bagay
ang aking pinagtatakhan
noon pa man
siya ko nang katanungan:
ano ang pahayag
nitong ating simbahan
sa malaswa at malawak
na sistema ng nakawan
na nasentro sa Bulacan
lalo't higit
unang naapektuhan
maraming mga simbahan?
Nasaan ating tinig
at pagtindig
laban sa katiwaliang ito
na matay mang isipin
kay hirap ilarawan
maski paniwalaan!
Mayroon bang kinalaman nakabibinging katahimikan pag-Hermano at pag-Hermana ng mga nasa pulitika dahil sila ang mapera handang gumasta sa mga kapistahan dahil kanilang pakiramdam banal na kalooban ng Diyos kanilang sinusundan kaya naman sila ay pinagpapala at pinayayaman sa patuloy na donasyon sa simbahan habang kapwa ay ginugulangan pinagsasamantalahan?
Masakit man sabihin at mahirap aminin itong mga ghost projects at korapsiyong ating kinasasadlakan ay atin din namang kasalanan at kagagawan sa patuloy na pagboto sa mga bulok na kandidato na sumasalaula sa ating lipunan; tumitindi ang kasamaang ito sa tuwing mga politiko at mga kawaning ganid ang parating nilalapitan upang hingan ng lahat ng pangangailangan sa simbahan maski libreng tanghalian na walang kinalaman para sa ating kaligtasan!
Larawan mula sa Facebook post ni Dr. Tony Leachon, “KLEPTOPIROSIS: When Corruption Becomes a Public Health Crisis”, 08 Agosto 2025.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 25 August 2025 Monday, Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time, Year I 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 8-10 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 23:13-22
Photo from The Fatima Tribune, Red Wednesday at the Chapel of Angel of Peace, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 27 November 2024.
Today I wonder, God our Father, what if Paul your Apostle or Jesus Christ your Son were to visit our church today, what would they find out? Would Paul be proud of us like the Thessalonians of his time?
We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father, knowing, brothers and sisters loved by God, how you were chosen… In every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything (1Thessalonians 1:2-4, 8).
Oh how I envy the Thessalonians that Paul along with Silvanus and Timothy were so proud of their "faith and labor of love and endurance in hope"; most of all, of their "conviction" that he had no need to say anything, as in, "walang masabi". So beautiful! How I wish Paul could say the same things today to our parish, to our community of believers with their vibrant faith, hope and love.
What I dread, O Father is when Jesus comes and begins speaking the same way to us his priests and bishops:
Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter (Matthew 23:13).
Shame on us, Lord Jesus, your priests and bishops! If you were here today, you would surely say the same things to us: many of us your priests do not pray at all that many have forgotten to pray properly and celebrate liturgy meaningfully; many would rather go on vacation and recreation than celebrate Mass and sacraments for your people; yes, Lord Jesus, "woe to us" your servants for many of us have no plans of going to heaven at all with the kind of Eucharist we celebrate that people have lost faith in you and your church. Forgive us, Jesus, your priests for being blind fools, following the limelight of the world than your path of the Cross; lead us back to you, Jesus, so that your flock may be enlivened again in their faith, hope and love like the Thessalonians of your great Apostle Paul. Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com)
Photo from The Fatima Tribune, Red Wednesday at the Chapel of Angel of Peace, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 27 November 2024.
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