Monday, Feast of the Dedication of St. Mary Major, 05 August 2019
Revelation 21:1-5 >< )))*> <*((( >< Luke 11:27-28
Mural painting of Mary and Child Jesus at Monte Sant’ Angelo, Citta Longobarda, Italy. Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago. 2018.
Praise and glory to you, our loving Father in heaven for this new day, Feast of the Dedication of St. Mary Major, the first Marian Shrine and one of the Mother Churches in our eternal city of Rome.
Indeed, you make all things new as St. John had seen in his vision at Patmos when he wrote the Book of Revelation.
And the best part of it is how you make all things new with Mary, the Mother of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Give us the grace to be like Mary intimately one with you and your will in Christ Jesus.
Help us to be open in receiving your word, bearing fruit in words and in deeds as we share it with others. Amen.
Dome of St. Mary Major in Rome. Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago, 2018.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-09 ng Hulyo 2019
Imahen ng Inmaculada Concepcion sa tuktok ng kampanaryo ng Katedral ng Malolos. Larawan kuha ni Lorenzo Atienza, 12 Hunyo 2019.
Nakakagulat, nakakagimbal Marami ang nagulantang Sa balitang napakinggan Lalawigan ng Bulakan Number one ngayon sa patayan.
Kadluan ng katagalugan Na siyang wika ng mga makata Dito sa Bulakan iba na yata sinasalita: Tokhang na mula sa Bisaya Nawala na ang puso sa pananalita pati sa gawa.
Nasaan mga namumuno ng pamahalaan at Simbahan Paano nagkaganyan itong duyan ng kasaysayan Naging bukirin ng patayan Nang hindi namamalayan o Dahil wala tayong pakialam?
Noon pa mang makalawang taon Pinakamaraming natokhang noong linggo ng Bulakan Natabunan lamang ng balitang pagpatay Ng mga pulis sa walang kamalay-malay na kabataan Kian kanyang pangalan doon sa Kalookan.
Pansamantalang tumigil mga patayan Kinasuhan mga berdugo ni Kian Ngunit kanilang hepe sa Kalookan Binigyan ng pabuya upang pamunuan Pulisya sa buong lalawigan ng Bulakan.
Ano na nga ba nangyari sa atin, mga kababayan? Di lamang nanunungkulan kungdi pati mga mamamayan Wala na ba tayong pakialam Mga dating luntiang sakahan ay tinambakan Upang gawing paradahan ng mga container van?
Bago pa dumating ang tokhang Pinatay na rin mga ilog at sapa natin Kaya maraming lupain naging dagat-dagatan na rin Habang hinahayaan nating gahasain Bulubundukin ng Sierra Madre upang samsamin kayamanan natin.
Nawala na yata pasintabi Pati mga simbahan ginigiba, iniiba Kabanalan hinalinhan ng kaartehan Diyos hindi ni makita o maramdaman Puro palabas, nawala na napapaloob na kahulugan.
Halina at magsuri, magmuni-muni Ating pagbulayan kahulugan nitong buhay Matatagpuan kung ano ating niyuyungyungan Madalas siya rin nating pinahahalagahan At tiyak naroon din ating kayamanan.
Mabuting Pastol, kaawaan at kalingain aming lalawigan na tila pinabayaan ng iyong mga pinagkatiwalaan! Larawan ng luklukan ng Katedral ng Malolos. Kuha ni Lorenzo Atienza, 12 Hunyo 2019.
Statue of St. Peter at the left side of the entrance to the Minor Basilica of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Malolos City. Photo by Lorenzo Atienza, 12 June 2019.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for this Solemnity of your two leading Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul. Thank you in giving us the opportunity to confront ourselves anew of this very ironic problem we have in your Church: the difficulty of doing your work with our fellow disciples.
You know it so well, Jesus, of how often we wish to be left on our own than work with others because we have totally forgotten we are your stewards. We have forgotten how our very selves are an offering to you.
“I, Paul, am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have completed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.”
2 Timothy 4:6-7
Most of the time, we are so concerned with our titles and ministry, programs and achievements and so many other things forgetting the most essential, YOU, “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt. 16:16).
Give us the grace of wisdom and humility, Jesus, to be in communion with your fellow workers in the vineyard as well as with the sheep of your flock, like St. Peter and St. Paul who both transcended their differences, focusing only on YOU as our bond communion.
Teach us to be like St. Peter that despite his many flaws like impetuous generosity to the point of presumptuousness with moments of being hesitant, we may have his kind of solid loyalty to you Jesus. Most of all, like St. Peter, let us not resist the Holy Spirit who upsets our convictions to lead us where we do not want to go with you and for you.
Teach us also to be like St. Paul who was so bold and daring, always asserting his backgrounds as a Roman citizen and a former Pharisee, always insisting his being your Apostle and yet very conscious of his being fragile like a pot of clay or earthen vessel of your grace. Like St. Paul, give us the courage to resolutely go outside our comfort zone to proclaim your gospel to the nations amid the pains of being torn by our own people at home.
Prevail upon us, Lord Jesus, your servants that we may give you our faith and love to be your witnesses and mirrors of your living Church. Amen.
St. Paul’s statue at the right side entrance to the Minor Basilica of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Malolos City. Photo by Lorenzo Atienza, 12 June 2019.
After the last Mass tonight in every parish, the Paschal Candle is extinguished and from the ambo where it had stayed since the Easter Vigil, it is brought back to the baptistry to signal the start of Ordinary Time tomorrow.
As we have been reflecting these past days, life is a series of coming than of leaving. This is very true in today’s celebration of the Solemnity of the Pentecost: when Jesus ascended into heaven last Sunday, the Holy Spirit now comes to fire up the disciples to continue God’s presence in the world. Last Sunday we said the Ascension does not mean Jesus going to a particular place “up there” but his entry into a higher level of relating with us. Today is the fulfillment of that promise he made, that he would remain with us until the end of time in the power of the Holy Spirit sent by the Father.
Pentecost means fifty. After God handed to Moses the Ten Commandments at Sinai, the Israelites ratified that covenant 50 days after. Eventually when they entered the Promised Land, Pentecost became an agricultural celebration of their harvests that eventually extended into a celebration of weeks. When the Holy Spirit came on that Pentecost day in Jerusalem, it became the “coming out party” of the Church when the Apostles were emboldened to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to everyone.
In this evolution of the Pentecost from Sinai to Promised Land to the early Church, it has remained true to its essence as life in God. As such, we must keep in mind it is not an isolated event in the past but a reality we must allow to happen every day in our lives. If there is one thing very much missing in the Church these days, it is the Holy Spirit. We need a “perennial Pentecost” to fill us with life and zest in living the Gospel, from the bishops to the priests to every baptized Catholic. See the vibrancy among other Christian denominations. They are so alive while we Catholics as so rigid and lethargic. We need to be “fired up” by the burning fire of the Holy Spirit everyday. It is Pentecost or nothing!
Chair of St. Peter at the High altar of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. From Google.
Above the Chair of St. Peter at the Vatican is a stained glass depicting the coming of the Holy Spirit like a dove. According to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, that is in essence the Church which is like a window where God and man get in contact. At the middle of that meeting point or contact of God and man is the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, we can never be in touch with God and with others. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of love that binds us all with each other and with God in the same manner it unites the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity to remain as One God. This explains why we heard again today the Gospel three Sundays ago of Jesus teaching about love at the Last Supper.
Jesus said to his disciples: “If you love me, you will keep the commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to be with you always. Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.”
John 14:15-16, 23
These words are repeated today to present to us the new and definite context of the Pentecost flowing from that Last Supper discourse of Jesus about love, keeping his commandments, and coming of the Holy Spirit.
During his Last Supper, Jesus clearly showed that in the new covenant sealed by his blood, the Law is more than the personification of God: obedience to his commandments and to the Father is first of all an expression of love. Jesus is the new Torah, the new law of love found in his oneness with the Father. On this Pentecost Sunday, we hear again the Last Supper discourse of Jesus to remind us that being Christian is becoming united as one in him as “indwelling of the Father and the Son.”
That can only happen when we allow ourselves to be small. See that at the Ascension, we were presented with an upward movement that called for the need to be light and powerless in order to rise above. Now, Pentecost’s downward movement shows us the need to be small in order to be mixed or fused with God and with others. Every downward push leads to spreading out, of thinning out, of getting small.
As limited beings, our greatness can only be found in our ability to share, to be small to participate and become a part of a larger whole. In our very selves, we cannot do anything. I am so amused to realize this basic truth while watching those crime shows in Netflix like Narcos and Bad Blood where even the most evil men need to be small, to band together to be powerful. We all need conversion which is very essential to be truly great!
For true conversion to happen, there has to be love, even at least, an openness to love. It is no wonder that love is always presented in the fiery shades of red and orange because almost everything is purified and broken into little particles by fire. When love is intense, expect fire to be hotter with its hues of red and orange more aglow. Only when we are willing to be subjected to love’s purifying fire can we be truly filled with the Holy Spirit and its gifts, particularly joy.
Conversion and love demand constant dying into one’s self, of living in the spirit and not in flesh that St. Paul explained in the second reading. We can never be one in Christ without conversion, without getting off our ivory tower of pride and arrogance. We need to go down, if we have to lie face down, so be it. Most of all, oneness with others is impossible without conversion because we cannot insist on ourselves on others. We need to be broken, we need to smash our high walls that keep us away from others. That is what the Holy Spirit’s fire did on that Pentecost Sunday in Jerusalem, the very same thing needed to happen these days in our Church.
Every Sunday when we gather like the Apostles at the Upper Room during the Lord’s supper, we are invited to keep his commandments in love. This can only happen when we pray for conversion through the fire of the Holy Spirit. Let us be open to receive this fire of the Holy Spirit again every Eucharistic celebration so that after our gathering, we may set the world anew in fire with Jesus Christ’s loving presence. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Receipe for the Soul, Tuesday Easter Wk. III, 07 May
The crowd said to Jesus: “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do?” (Jn.6:30)
Thank you Lord Jesus in bringing us here to your Holy Land, for seeing the places you have visited to preach and to heal. Most of all in being one of us to bring the Father closest to us.
Long before we have come – and douted God – you have been here. Everything was created in you, with you.
When I look at the barren desert and wilderness with old cities and oases still there, the more I see your signs of presence.
You are life, Lord.
Problem is when we destroy nature rather than enhance it like the farmlands here in the Dead Sea area.
Worst of all Lord when we hide you from the people because of the elaborate designs of our churches that have become so kitschy or baduy.
Teach us to appreciate your noble simplicity and beauty like the many churches here in the Holy Land.
Teach us priests especially to keep in mind your church is your house of prayer and encounter, not of show and comfort.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-20 ng Abril 2019
Larawan mula sa Google.
Ano nga ba ang kabuluhan Nitong mga panata na sinasakatuparan Kung wala namang kahulugan Maliban sa ito'y nakagisnan?
Inyong pagmasdan itong ating mga nakagawian Na pawang puro kaluhuan Puro palabas wala na sa kalooban Kaya nawala na sa atin ang kahulugan.
Pagkakataon sana upang ating masalamin At mapaglalim mga minanang kaugalian natin Ngunit nagiging isang malagim na tanawin Karima-rimarim na pag-uugali ng marami sa atin.
Larawan mula sa GMA News.
Isang kabataan nadismaya sa nakita Nang gawing malaking basurahan simbahan nila Ng mga nag-visita iglesia na walang pakundangan Nilapastangan at sinalaula tahanan ng Diyos.
Hindi lamang iyan sa Antipolo Kungdi maging mula Aparrri hanggang Jolo Eksenang ganyang kagulo Ng mga Katolikong sira ang ulo.
Larawan mula sa Google.
Anong uri nga ba ng pananampalatay mayroon tayo Mga Filipino diumano Katoliko sarado Hindi mababago anila pagiging Kristiyano O sarado isip at puso sa katotohanan ni Kristo?
Ngayong "nakahimlay" Panginoon natin Suriin mga pagkukulang natin Kung bakit mga pagdiriwang at gawain Sa simbahan nawalan ng taginting.
Mga simbahan ba natin maituturing na bahay dalanginan pa rin Kung punung-puno ng mga palamuti, walang katapusang mga pagawain? Puro flat screen at tarpaulin mga dingding Lahat na lamang naka-recording, ang Diyos wala nang dating.
Nasaan na ang marubdob na pakiramdam Kung ang simbahan mistulang tindahan At ang masaklap na katotohanan minsan o palagian Kay Father walang maramdamang kabanalan.
Madalas nating mapakinggan itong kasabihan Kung ano ang gobyerno, ganoon din ang mga tao; Huwag nating kalilimutan ang katotohanang iyan Sa simbahan ma'y matatagpuan una doon sa mga kaparian.
Altar at the Carmelite Monastery in Israel with a unique Crucifix. Photo by Dra. Mai B. Dela Pena, 2011.
Today I am celebrating my 21st year in the priesthood. This is the first time our ordination anniversary falls on a Holy Thursday when we celebrate the institution of the two Sacraments most closely linked with us priests and the Church, Holy Eucharist and Holy Orders.
When we were ordained by Archbishop Rolando J. Tria-Tirona 21 years ago at the Malolos Cathedral, there were so many things going on in my mind and in my heart. But there was one thing that had remained very clear with me since that day: I am being ordained priest at the age of 33, the very same age Jesus was crucified on the Cross. From then on until now, I have kept in my heart that priesthood is suffering and dying on the Cross in Jesus and with Jesus centered on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.
John 13:1
Of the four evangelists, it is only St. John who repeatedly mentions the expression “hour of Jesus” in his gospel account. For him, the very life of Jesus is a journey and preparation to his “hour” which is his crucifixion and death. The hour of Jesus is his passion. The word passion is from the Latin verb patior that means to undergo, to pass through, evoking some form of suffering and pain.
The hour of Jesus started in his Last Supper. It was a very long hour so to speak. And very dark. However, it was also the finest hour of Jesus when he poured out his immense love and mercy for us. Beginning at his supper when he washed the feet of the Apostles to his agony in the garden when he perspired with blood to his arrest reaching it darkest point in his crucifixion and death, the darkest hour of Jesus is also his finest hour when he was able to bear all sufferings and insults, including death because of love. Jesus showed us that in fact, love is the very process of passing over, of going beyond our means and capacity in order to transform and become better persons. That is why our darkest hour is also our finest hour when we are transformed in Jesus because precisely that is when we truly love. It is also for this reason that the Eucharist is called an agape which is the Greek word for the highest form of love that does not expect anything in return. That is the love of Jesus Christ. And supposed to be the love of us priests.
Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.
Jesus washes feet of Apostles. From Google.
Msgr. Epitacio Castro, one of our retired priests, has a favorite expression with his being a priest: “pinag-uubra lang ako ng Diyos”. True. God is just making do of us as priests because nobody is worthy of being one. We are the worst men around! We are also sinners like you, even more sinful than most of you. In the Eucharist, we priests experience that great love of Jesus Christ when he tries to make us fit as his priests, transforming us into men like him. It happens every time we are one with him in his hour of suffering and death. Priesthood is a life of leaving and loving, of passing over and transformation. The day we were ordained, our Last Supper began, our passion began because that is also our hour in Jesus Christ. Every time we celebrate the Holy Mass, we priests are reminded that our hour had come to pass, challenging us to love more. Pray for priests who no longer love the Eucharist; something is terribly wrong with them.
I am a sinner. But it is a tremendous grace of God through the Eucharist that I continue to leave and pass over, from sin to holiness and grace, from darkness to light, from selfishness to selflessness, from desperation to hope, from grief to joy. And all because of the power of love of God overflowing in the Eucharist. How can I resist to love and to forgive, to let go and move on, to be patient and to persevere when right in the Eucharist I could feel Jesus truly present, entrusting himself to me who is so untidy with sins and weaknesses? How could I not believe in him when Jesus is the first to believe in me despite my many self doubts? Every celebration of the Eucharist is an imitation of Christ when we priests go down to wash and kiss the feet of the people we serve whom we also hurt and hurt us too!
They say the darkest nights are the longest nights. Very true especially for us priests. Be patient with us when we forget so many things, when we change so often in our plans because every time there are celebrations, our hour goes over time too. Bear with us, pray for us when we sometimes become irritable even grouchy because aside from your many problems and burdens we help you carry, we have our own struggles and problems too. That hour of Jesus remains with us even after every Mass when you all go home to your own family while we priests are left alone in our parish thinking about the next celebrations. The hours are long and the nights are so dark and all we have is that flickering light of faith, hope, and love in Jesus in our hearts.
But, though the darkest nights are the longest nights, they also say that only the brave who dare walk the darkness can see the brightness of the stars above. Courage does not mean having no fear but the ability to face our fears. And, oh! We priests have many fears too, including the fears of rejection, of being misunderstood, of being boxed, and most of all, of failing. We are what you call as “warrior is a child” — “They don’t know that I come running home when I fall down. They don’t know who picks me up when no one is around. I drop my sword and cry for just a while, ‘Coz deep inside this armor, The warrior is a child.
In the Eucharist, we priests truly share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ because that is also when we feel transformed in his love, when we pass over with so much pains from the many experiences we have in our very selves and with others. Indeed, without the Eucharist, we are not priests! Every time I raise Christ’s Body and Blood, I pray that Jesus may make me whole in body, mind and heart, that he may wash me of all my sins, doubts and fears. Nobody else in the Mass perhaps, except us priests who truly feel the meaning of praying these words before receiving communion, “Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my shall be healed.”
Maybe you have all seen the photos after the fire that razed the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris this Holy Tuesday. Intact were the altar table with the huge cross beaming with light. What a beautiful reminder to us all, especially us priests, that in this life, our darkest hours are also our finest hours when we are one with Jesus Christ. No fire nor anything can ever destroy us because Jesus had overcome every evil even death for us. Every destruction and darkness are a prelude to the light and new creation of Easter Sunday that begins right here in the hour of the Eucharist of Jesus. Let us remain in Christ in love in passing over, in leaving behind the pains and hurts of the past with much love in our hearts to move on in this life. Amen.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 03 April 2019
From Google.
A follower is protesting the title of my Lenten blogs called “40 Shades of Lent”. She, or he, wrote us that “Our Roman Catholic Church is pure and sacred to be associated with a title of a pornographic movie.” Our follower also suggested to us to “Please inform your Bishop and Priests before posting these titles on social media.”
Our follower is absolutely right that the title of my lenten reflections is indeed from E.L. James’ novel published in 2011 and later adapted into a movie in 2015. I have never read it nor seen any of its movie adaptations that were both a hit and a trending topic in 2016. At that time, I thought of having a series of reflections for Lent distinct from my regular Sunday homilies I have called “The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe” since 2006. I thought that if everybody was talking about “50 Shades of Grey”, why not ride on the strong recall of the brand by having my “40 Shades of Lent” where people can find the many colors and meanings of our sacred season?! After all, Lent’s motif of the color violet comes in many shades and hues, too!
That’s it, pancit! In no way does the title “40 Shades of Lent” becomes erotic or, as our follower described, pornographic simply because of its similarity with the book or movie title “50 Shades of Grey”. But her, or his, contention has opened for us a springboard for discussion regarding the way we deal with modern media if you can bear with me.
From Google.
We live in a “mass-mediated culture” where every baby is now born with a mouse. If Jesus were with us today, maybe He would have directed us priests to “feed my geeks” instead of telling us to “feed my sheep”. Since the time of the great St. John Paul II to Pope Francis today, the Holy Fathers have all recognized this reality, asking us to find ways in proclaiming the Gospel among the young people without losing our Christian identity.
“The question confronting the Church today is not any longer whether the man in the street can grasp a religious message, but how to employ the communications media so as to let him have the full impact of the gospel message.”
St. Pope John Paul II , “Religion in the Mass Media” (Message, 1989 World Communication Day
The need for an equilibrium in our approach with media.
The two most media savvy Popes, St. John Paul II and Pope Francis have both noted in their speeches that young people today practically live in the world of media; hence, the need to reach out to them. Problem with us in the Church, both among the clergy and the laity, is when we respond in both extremes when some end up succumbing to the world of media while there are those at the other end rejecting it altogether or in some forms. What we need is some degree of equilibrium wherein we try to keep technology and media in their proper places. See the many instances when priests embrace media and technology so much that churches lose the sense of sacred with giant video screens all over with a barrage of tarpaulins in all sizes that make one wonder if it is a house of worship or videoke bar. On the other hand, there are those who reject media and technology, stepping back in history like in a parish in Poland recently where priests and the faithful burned some books including the Harry Potter series they deemed as sacrilegious and have evil forces.
It is difficult to achieve such equilibrium or balance in our dealing and use of modern media in the ministry for as long as we remain in our Pharisaical stage, of associating almost everything in the world and of the world as evil and sinful especially books and music. The gospel accounts teem with many instances when the Pharisees and scribes questioned Jesus eating and drinking with tax collectors and known sinners of His time. How sad that until now we still don’t get what He had said during that time.
Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.
Mark 7:15
From Google.
Equilibrium is first achieved in the constant examination of our hearts so we can respond properly to the spirit of modernity not easily reconcilable with the demands of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Attaining that equilibrium calls for a return to the contemplative spirit where we try to maintain our spirit of silence and prayer amid the constant changes in thoughts and beliefs including values often due to the growing efficiency of technology. Let me share with you the very words of a communication expert to conclude this piece that I hope may enlighten us to see the various shades of colors, including shadows and lights that surround us in this modern world today.
The contemplative spirit is not easily acquired, but without it people find it hard to discern the valuable from the worthless, or the enduring from the transitory. Contemplation puts us in touch with reality in a world in which a host of communication technologies work to sustain a multitude of illusions and images: a media world. The contemplative spirit helps us to see and hear beyond and through the sights and sounds we take for granted. The contemplative spirit is an attitude of mind and heart that enables us to focus on the essential, important things. It refuses to be hurried into premature rejection or acceptance of technology. If we Christians allow it to inform our use of communication technologies we shall learn to be realistic, but always hopeful, able to love and reverence our culture even as we strive, with God’s help, to transform it.
James McDonnell, “Communicating the Gospel in a Technological Age: Rediscovering the Contemplative Spirit”.
Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches. Photo by author, July 2018.
Your Mass readings today complement the disturbing and shocking news headlines of sex abuse in the Church festering for the last 30 years or so.
What is so shameful and disgusting with this news is the fact you have never failed in warning us against hurting the little children including women and the poor who have nothing in life except you.
Those sins are so grave that moved you to harshly declare that “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea” (Mk.9:42).
We make no excuses O Lord for these grave sins against children. No words, no programs and no compensation could ever bring back their lost innocence and dignity from the hands of your priests and servants. It is a betrayal of the highest degree like what Judas Iscariot did to you.
We are angered by their sins, Lord; but, worst of all, we are deeply angered by our inaction that allowed them to continue with their evil deeds in the guise of mercy and compassion.
But, Lord, there is also something sickening than this news when our brother priests are falsely accused of sexual misconduct. We pray you keep and protect them. We pray for faithful priests to be spared of these false accusations.
You know very well O Lord you have more faithful and celibate priests working in silence and hiddenness than the unfaithful ones. Yet, we still pray that you continue to help us heed your words of wisdom through Ben Sirach (Sir. 5:1-10):
“Let us stop relying on our wealth, power, and strength in following the desires of our hearts.
Let us stop being so sure that no one could prevail against us or subdue us for God will surely exact punishment against us.
Most of all, let us not delay our conversion and stop being overconfident with your forgiveness, adding sin upon sin, for your wrath alights with the wicked.”
Have mercy on us all your priests, dear Jesus, keep us faithful to you our Lord and our God. Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.
During His Last Supper, Jesus rose from His seat to wash the feet of His apostles to show them what position is all about: loving service to one another. See in this icon from Google there are only 11 apostles present; Judas left the Last Supper to “unseat” the Lord. Above is the word “mandatum”, Latin for “command”, Christ’s command for us to love by leaving our seats of power and comfort to stand with Him at His Cross.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 22 February 2019
If you are a Catholic and a regular Mass-goer, most likely you always follow the “Roman seating position” – that is, you always sit at the back, avoiding the front seats even in other gatherings outside the church.
According to Msgr. Gerry Santos who used to give us retreats and recollections while we were seminarians, the “Roman seating position” is a carry-over from the martyrdom of the early Christians who were always seated at the front rows of the Colosseum in Rome who were forcibly pushed to be devoured by hungry lions and beasts below.
Of course it is a joke but it holds so much grain of truth because we often refuse to take the front row seats for fears of being put on the spot, of making a stand. How ironic that in this age when seating positions matter so much for us, we have forgotten that more important than the position and prestige that come with the seats we occupy – literally and figuratively speaking – is the stand we take in every issue we face. Protocols dictate in so many occasions how seats indicate power and authority; the throne is always reserved to the highest in rank like kings and presidents. And the closer one is seated to the one in command, the wider is one’s sphere of power and influence too. Unfortunately, this is not everything because every seat of power and authority is always a call to serve, to make a stand for what is true and what is good.
Jesus Christ showed us the true meaning of our seating positions during the Last Supper on Holy Thursday evening when He rose to remove His outer garments to wash the feet of His apostles (Jn.13:1-15). It was a task left for slaves only but Jesus used it as a gospel parable in action to show us that what matters most in life is not where we are seated with Him but where we stand with Him. It was exactly what He meant when He said that anyone who wishes to be the greatest must be the least and the servant of all.
Recall my dear readers how during that evening of the Holy Thursday when John the beloved disciple sat not only beside Jesus but even rested his head on His chest to signify their intimacy as friends (Jn. 13:23). That touching gesture of friendship and love took its summit the following Good Friday when John the beloved was the only one of the Twelve who remained standing with the Lord at the foot of His Cross with the Blessed Mother Mary. In that scene we see how John literally stood his ground as the beloved disciple by remaining faithful and loving with the Lord from His Last Supper to His Crucifixion. Peter, the prince of the Apostles, was nowhere to be found on Good Friday after denying Jesus thrice during His trial before the Sanhedrin the night of His arrest. Very interesting was Judas Iscariot who committed suicide after realizing his grave sin in betraying the Lord. See how he had left the Lord’s Supper to deal with His enemies for His arrest. What an image of the traitor who could not stay on his seat during the Lord’s Supper was the same one who could not stand to face Him again at the foot of the Cross. See how those people who refuse to sit with us are also the ones who never stand with us, stand for us like Judas, a traitor!
I tell you these things even if Holy Week is still more than six weeks from now but in the light of the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter which is about the Primacy of Rome or the Pope as Vicar of Christ and successor of St. Peter. We celebrate this Feast to remember St. Peter and his successors love and service to the Church as examples we must all emulate. In 110 AD, St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote the Christians in Rome to describe to them the Church of Rome as the “primacy of love” and the “primacy of faith”. Every power and every authority signified by the chair or cathedra in the Church as well as in the world when we speak of “seat of power” must always be seen in the light of Jesus Christ’s example of loving service at His Last Supper. This is especially true for us priests who are united in Christ and with Christ in the Eucharist.
This festering problem of sexual abuse in the Church is largely due to our deviation from this primacy in love for Jesus as priests. We have been so focused with our seats – positions and titles – that we have forgotten to stand with Christ at the foot of His cross, standing for what is good and true, just and right. We have been so focused with the “party” of the Supper of the Lord and have forgotten Jesus Himself. Seminarians have been so focused with the vocation and the call, with ordination, forgetting the more essential, the Caller Jesus Himself! And that explains why some in the clergy and those in the hierarchy come up with so many excuses and alibis for the many things we do in our ministry, in our churches, in our parishes, and in our lives because we are only concerned with our office and position but never the Master.
When we love Jesus or any other person, we do not have to justify our actions. Love that is true and pure does not need justifications. But the moment we start making justifications, something is wrong like when we justify our special relationships, no matter how deep or shallow it may be for clearly, there is no primacy in love for Jesus and the Church.
When we justify our vices, our lifestyles, our business endeavors that Canon Law prohibits, clearly there is no primacy in love for we cannot be poor for Christ.
There is no problem with having advocacies as priests but when we are aligned with ideologies contrary to Christ, or when we play in partisan politics, there is neither primacy of faith nor primacy of love. It is the Lord who changes the world, not us, not our programs, not our ideas.
It is our duty as priests to love like Christ but to adopt children and raise them as our own children using our names, there is no celibacy, only stupidity.
Like Jesus, we need money to get our programs going but when we lack transparency and accountability, that is stealing and banditry.
When all we have is the ministry, the priesthood without prayer periods, without the Eucharist, we only have the call but not the Caller Jesus Christ Himself.
More than ever, today Jesus Christ is asking us all His priests to make a stand for Him, to stand with Him, to suffer with Him and to die with Him by leaving our seats of comfort and seats of power.
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