Category: consolation

We are all St. Barnabas!

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle, 11 June 2024
Acts 11:21-26, 13:1-3     ><]]]]'>  +  <'[[[[><     Matthew 10:7-13
Photo by author, Mt. St. Paul, La Trinidad, Benguet, 2016.
Praise and glory
to You, God our loving Father
for this memorial of St. Barnabas,
one of the first to embrace Christianity
after the Resurrection of your Son
Jesus Christ.

A Levite Jew born in Cyprus,
his original name was Joseph but
upon joining the Apostles in Jerusalem,
he was nicknamed Barnabas 
which means "son of encouragement"
or "son of consolation" whom  
St. Luke described as "a good man,
filled with the Holy Spirit and faith"
(Acts 11:24).
Fill us, dear Jesus 
with the same goodness and faith
of St. Barnabas, truly children of 
encouragement and consolation,
believing in our brothers and
sisters especially those have withdrawn
from the ministry and apostolate 
for various reasons 
including shame and embarrassment 
for past mistakes and sins like St. Paul.

Then he (Barnabas) went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a large number of people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

Fill us with your gift
of peace, Lord Jesus,
to imitate St. Barnabas
who vouched for St. Paul's sincerity
of conversion
as well as in encouraging
and consoling the early Christians
who were persecuted for their
faith in You.
Help us imitate St. Barnabas
in his beautiful disposition of
focusing more on You, Jesus
than in the problems and personalities
we encounter in fulfilling your mission;
most of all,
grant us the humility of St. Barnabas
to reconcile later with St. Paul
 after a serious disagreement
that led to their parting of ways
as companions in their mission.
Make us realize,
Jesus,
that saints like St. Barnabas
do not fall from Heaven
but are people like us who have many
and complicated problems in life;
let us arise from our sins
and mistakes like St. Barnabas
who showed in his life that holiness
is not being sinless but being humble
to admit one's sins and faults,
going through conversion daily
with a willingness to forgive others
to be reconciled anew
in You, Jesus.
Amen.

St. Barnabas,
Pray for us!
Photo by Ms. Analyn Dela Torre, March 2024.

Praying for tenderness of heart

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus-B, 07 June 2024
Hosea 11:1, 3-4, 8-9 ><}}}*> Ephesians 3:8-12, 14-19 ><}}}*> John 19:31-37
Photo by PhotoMIX Company on Pexels.com
Being tender and
caring are essentially your works,
O God, made known to us
by your Son Jesus Christ
in His Most Sacred Heart
where there is enough room
for each one of us
wounded and hurting to find healing;
bitter and disgusted to have rest
and solace; lost to find way back home.

Thus says the Lord: When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms; I drew them with human cords, with bands of love; I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks; Yet. though I stooped to feed my child, they did not know that I was their healer.

Hosea 11:1, 3-4
I must admit, O God,
that I have not yet really known You
that until now, I lack your tenderness
and care for others;
to have tenderness like You, Lord,
is first of all for me to be intimate
with You, my Father,
my Life,
my Mission;
You have nurtured me as your son
but I never recognized You fully
that is why many times I followed
my doubts and negative thoughts
than You.
So many times I pray
yet still so far from You,
O God!
Lord Jesus Christ,
"dwell in my heart through faith
so that I may be rooted
and grounded in love"
(Ephesians 3:17)
because when my love with God
is superficial,
all my relationships are also skin-deep
that make me forget my love experiences,
giving more emphasis on others'
shortcomings, expectations,
and returns;
tenderness is being like You, O God,
 of having a big heart able to accommodate
 those suffering because You know and realize
 the gravity of what others are going through;
more than a feeling,
tenderness is love and mercy in action
because it is to feel what others
are going through.
Jesus,
meek and humble of heart,
make my heart like Thine,
close to the Father,
close to His children.
Amen.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.

Hindi ka nag-iisa

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 24 Marso 2024
Ikaapat na Huling Wika ni Jesus
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Kapilya ni San Francisco Javier, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, 20 Marso 2024.

Mula sa tanghaling tapat hanggang ikatlo ng hapon ay nagdilim sa buong lupain. Nang mag-iikatlo ng hapon, sumigaw si Jesus, “ELOI, ELOI, LEMA SABACHTANI?” ibig sabihi’y “DIYOS KO, DIYOS KO, BAKIT MO AKO PINABAYAAN?”

Mateo 27:45-46

Sa tagpong ito ating mababanaagan kadakilaan ng pagmamahal sa ating lahat ng Diyos, Siya na ganap, walang kapintasan at kakulangan (perefect) ay piniling maging katulad nating hindi ganap (imperfect) bilang tao sa lahat ng bagay maliban sa kasalanan kay Kristo Jesus.

Pinili at mas inibig ng Diyos kay Kristo na maging tao upang maranasan hirap at sakit natin maging ang kamatayan, lalo’t higit ang magdusa at mamatay na nag-iisa at iniwanan ng lahat doon sa Krus.

Ano mang paghihirap at pagdurusa ay nagiging napakabigat kapag ika’y nag-iisa, na walang kasama ni karamay. Ito pinakamasaklap sa panahon natin ngayon maging sa ating bansa na dati rati’y walang mga bahay ampunan para sa matatanda ngunit nagyon ay naglipana na dahil sa maraming matatanda ang iniiwan, tinatalikuran di lamang ng mga kamag-anakan kungdi pati ng lipunan. Ito ang dahilan kung bakit si Santa Mother Teresa ay bumuo noon ng samahan na mag-aalaga sa mga tinaguriang “poorest of the poor” sa India nang makita niya maraming may-sakit sa Calcutta namamatay nang mag-isa. Hindi lamang ito totoo sa mga mahihirap na lugar kungdi maging sa mga mauunlad na lupain ay maraming matatanda ngayon ang namamatay na lamang ng mag-isa sa buhay.

Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Baguio City, 2023.

Iyan man ay pinagdaanan ni Jesus lalo na noong ipinako siya sa krus na halos iwanan siya ng lahat. Sa labingdalawang alagad niya, naghudas ang isa habang ang pinuno naman nila ay ikinaila siya ng tatlong ulit kaya’t nagtago noon kasama ang iba pang mga alagad. Tanging si Juan na minamahal na alagad ang nanatili sa paanan ng krus ni Jesus kasama ang kanyang Ina na si Maria at ilan pang mga kababaihan.

Nasaan ang mahigit limang libong tao na pinakain ni Jesus sa ilang? Wala din doon ni isa sa mga pinagaling niyang mga may-sakit. Nawala at naglaho ang lahat ng tao na tuwang-tuwang sumalubong kay Jesus noong Linggo ng Palaspas.

Ngunit kailan man ay hindi naramdaman ni Jesus ang pagiging mag-isa doon sa Krus. Tulad ng sino mang mabuting Judio, dinasal ni Jesus noon ang Salmo 22, ang awit ng panaghoy, ng pagpapakasakit at buong pagtitiwala sa Diyos.

Ito ang mabuting balita ng pagkamatay ni Jesus sa Krus: mula noon tayong mga tao ay hindi na mag-iisa sa mga hirap at tiisin nitong buhay maging kamatayan dahil kasama na natin ang Diyos kay Jesus.

Ito ang ating consolation o consuelo, wika nga.

Mula sa dalawang katagang Latin na con (with) at solare (alone) na ibig sabihin ay samahan ang nag-iisa, naging pinakamalapit at tunay na kaisa tayo ng Diyos sa tuwing tayo ay nasa gitna ng mga tiisin at hirap sa buhay maging kamatayan dahil sa pagdamay sa atin ni Jesus doon sa Krus upang sa gayon sa kanyang muling pagkabuhay tayo man ay kanyang makasama at makaisa.

Sapagkat siya ma’y tinukso at nagbata, kaya ngayo’y matutulungan niya ang mga tiutukso.

Hebreo 2:18

Sa tatlong taon kong pagiging chaplain sa Our Lady of Fatima University at Fatima University Medical Center, nakita ko at naranasan sa maraming pagkakataon paano mga tao – bata man o matanda, mahirap at mayaman, may sakit o karamdaman maging mga malalakas at malusog ang pangangatawan – ay nararanasan ang pangungulila at pag-iisa sa gitna ng kanilang mga paghihirap at pagdurusa sa buhay. Marami sa kanila ang mag-isang umiiyak kasi maraming ginagawa o nasa kung saan-saan kanilang mga mahal sa buhay. Maraming pagkakataon nga naitatanong ko na lang kung mayroon pa bang umuuwi ng bahay o nakatira sa kanilang tahanan? Is anybody still home?

Larawan ng convolvulus tricolor mula BBC Gardeners World Magazine.

Halina at ipagdasal ang bawat isa, lalo na yaong mga nahihirapan, nagtitiis ng mag-isa sa buhay:

Diyos Amang mapagkalinga,
ibinigay mo sa amin 
ang Iyong Anak na si Jesus
upang aming maranasan Iyong
pag-ibig at habag,
ang Iyong pagpapagaling at pagkandili,
ang Iyong kapanatilihan at kapayapaan
upang hindi na kami mag-isa pa sa buhay na ito;
maalala nawa naming palagi
na kung kami man ay dumaraan sa 
napakatinding pagsubok sa buhay
na tila nag-iisa at walang karamay,
naroon si Jesus pinakamalapit sa amin
dahil Siya ang unang nagpakasakit
at namatay doon sa Krus
para sa amin.
Amen.

Physician for the sick world

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist, 18 October 2023
2 Timothy 4:10-17   <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]*>   Luke 10:1-9
Painting of “Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin” by Flemish painter Roger van der Weyden (1400-1464); photo from en.wikipedia.org.  
Merciful Father,
thank you for sending us
St. Luke the Evangelist
whose feast we celebrate today:
a physician,
an artist,
and a disciple of your Son
Jesus Christ.

"The Lord appointed seventy-two disciples 
whom he sent ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place
he intended to visit"
(Luke 10:1).
Regardless of our state
in life, we, too, like St. Luke
are called to preach 
and write the gospel of 
Jesus Christ with our 
lives,
with our silent witnessing
of his glory and humility,
kindness and firmness,
art and humanity,
intimacy in prayer
and most especially,
special concern for
women and children
until now so abused in
in so many homes
and in every nation.
Help us, dear Jesus, 
to be like St. Luke, 
a physician
for this world so sick
with wars and other
inhumanity to one another
perhaps due to our lack of
genuine love and respect
for women; what a joy to
read and pray St. Luke's
gospel account teeming 
from the very start with those
wondrous stories of Mary
and Elizabeth who brought
us into the New Testament
with their sons!
Help us imitate St. Luke
as a true physician
who accompanied
until the end his mentor
St. Paul the Apostle:

"Beloved:  Demas, enamored 
with the present world,
deserted me and went to Thessalonica,
Crescens to Galatia,
and Titus to Dalmatia.
Luke is the only one with me"
(2Timothy 4:10).
O God,
how painful to think
everybody is saying that
the world population has to be controlled
when so many among us everywhere
are suffering alone,
dying alone? 

Let us realize like St. Luke 
Jesus Christ's declaration that
"The harvest is abundant but the 
laborers are few" (Lk. 10:2)
that we may go too to your abundant
harvest to heal and console,
comfort and assure the many people
in pain and suffering.
Amen.

St. Luke,
Pray for us!
Photo by author, La Trinidad, Benguet, 12 July 2023.

Our Cross, Our Consolation

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
The Seven Last Words, 04 April 2023
Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 2014.

From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachtani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Matthew 27:45-46

God is perfect. So perfect in fact He is all beauty and majesty. Perfectly whole and holy. But He chose to be like us human in everything except sin in Jesus Christ to experience pain and suffering. Even death. And right there on the Cross, Jesus felt the most painful pain of any suffering – that of being abandoned.

Any suffering becomes most unbearable, most painful when we are alone, when family and friends abandon us. Worst is when even the society would not care at all! That is why St. Mother Teresa thought of serving the “poorest of the poor” when she saw the sick of Calcutta dying alone.

It is the most miserable situation anyone could be. To suffer alone, abandoned with no one to even look at, no one to listen to one’s cries of pain, no one to even comfort and ease one’s physical, emotional and spiritual sufferings.

And sadly, it is in fact a reality happening daily in our lives, not only in the slum areas but even in the most sophisticated facilities where the sick and the elderly literally await death alone.

Jesus went through the same experience too, abandoned by almost everyone. Of the twelve Apostles, one betrayed Him, the leader denied Him thrice, going into hiding along with the other ten except for the youngest of them, John the Beloved who stood with Mother Mary there at the foot of the Cross along with two other women. Not one of those He had healed nor fed came.

But Jesus never felt alone on the Cross. Like any good and pious Jew, He prayed Psalm 22, a psalm of lament, of suffering and total trust in God.

And that is the good news of Jesus dying on the Cross. From then on, humans have never been alone in life’s pains and sufferings, even death because God has consoled us in Christ through the Cross. From the Latin words con solare that literally mean to be with one who is alone (solo), God has become most closest and truly one with us in our sufferings and death in Jesus Christ so that we too may be one in Him and with Him in His Resurrection.

Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

Hebrews 2:18

In my two years as chaplain of Our Lady of Fatima University and Fatima University Medical Center, I have seen and experienced first hand how real some people – young and old alike, sick and those with strong and robust bodies, rich and poor alike many times feel alone in their sufferings and miseries. Many are crying in pain alone, by themselves because the wife or husband or children or parents and friends are so busy or away for various reasons.

Is anybody still home?

Let us pray for one another, especially those suffering alone.

God of all consolation,
You gave us Your Son Jesus Christ
in order to experience Your love and mercy,
Your healing and comfort,
Your presence and peace
so that we may never be alone;
may we always remember when we are
in our most trying moments in life,
when we feel alone and abandoned
because that is when Jesus is most closest
with us, us present right in our sufferings,
right where we are on the Cross.
Amen.
Never say, “walang-wala ako” because we always have God – “laging mayroon tayo, ang Diyos.” When there are storms, that is when rainbows appear, like the outstretched arms of Jesus on the Cross, consoling us, assuring us He is with us, ever-present. Photo by author, 04 March 2023, Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Bgy. Binulusan, Infanta, Quezon.

Lent is God consoling us, assuring us

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the First Week of Lent, 28 February 2023
Isaiah 55:10-11   <'[[[[>< +++ ><]]]]'>   Matthew 6:7-15
Photo by author, OLFU-QC, Basic Education Dept., 20 February 2023.
Praise and glory to you,
O God our loving Father!
Thank you for this wonderful
gift of Lent, of being so close 
to us, consoling us in our
pains and disappointments,
assuring us of your love and
most especially of your plans 
for us!  Help us to be more open 
to your coming, to your presence, 
to your words.

Thus says the Lord: Just as from the heavens the rain and the snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:10-11
Your Son Jesus Christ taught us
to call you Father, Abba, 
for indeed, you are a Father to us
who taught us how to walk
and stand and fight in this life;
as a Father, you are so loving 
and caring, ready to rescue us 
in times of distress; let us come
to you, call you, and to listen to you;
let us rediscover the beauty
and value of silence this Lent
so we would hear and learn 
your plans for us because 
there is no need for us to speak to you  
as you know very well our thoughts;
what matters is that we hear
and learn your plans for us!
May we "look to you, O Lord, 
so we may be radiant with joy
in the midst of our brokenness
and rise from our crushed spirits"
(Ps. 34:6, 19) in order to bring 
your loving assurance
and consolation
to those burdened
and lost like us.
Amen.

Prayer of upliftment

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the First Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 11 January 2023
Hebrews 2:14-18     ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>     Mark 1:29-39
Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2022 in France.
Lord Jesus,
allow me to imitate today 
your Apostles Simon and Andrew,
James and John in "immediately 
telling you" (Mk. 1:30) 
of how sick and down with all kinds 
of problems our own family members
and relatives, friends and everyone
going through trials in life;
come, Lord Jesus, "grasp their hands"
like Simon's mother-in-law 
and "help them up" (Mk.1:31).

Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

Hebrews 2:18
At this very moment,
Lord Jesus, I pray for those
going through their medical
exams - please calm them,
assure them of your presence;
accompany too, dear Jesus,
those going through dialysis,
chemotherapy,
surgery, and other medical procedures
for their ailments;
comfort and console those
living separately who have to endure
the pains and troubles of worrying
their loved ones going through
difficulties in far and distant lands;
touch and ease the pains of those
who have experienced failures
and disappointments, even frustrations
to assure them that it is better to be
fruitful than successful in life;
uplift, O Lord, those with sagging
spirits in being good,
in being holy,
in being honest and true,
in being faithful and just;
touch them, Jesus,
pat their shoulders
that they may forge on
with you in being good.
Amen.

Advent is God’s consolation

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Second Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Ambrose, 07 December 2022
Isaiah 40:25-31   ><]]]]'> +><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>   Matthew 11:28-30
Photo by author, 02 December 2022.
How wonderful are your words
this second week of Advent,
God our loving Father:
Monday you reminded us to
strengthen each other,
Tuesday you asked us to comfort
one another,
today, you console us
with this part of Isaiah's 
"Book of Consolation":

Why, O Jacob, do you say, and declare, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God?” Do you not know or have you not heard? The Lord is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint nor grow weary, and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny. He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak he makes vigor abound.

Isaiah 40:27-29
Forgive me, loving Father,
in those times I doubted you,
when I complained to you as if 
I am entitled; looking back to those
trying times when I felt alone and
abandoned, struggling and fighting
by myself, silently crying unknown to
anyone, there was YOU always with me,
standing by my side, defending me,
fighting my battles,
even carrying me when I am lost
and defeated.
Indeed, you never left me,
I was never alone for you have 
always been with me - con solare -
one with me in my pains and sorrows,
trials and sickness; in Christ Jesus,
you chose to suffer and die to be one with me
- con solare - by helping us carry our yoke,
giving us rest in you you, 
making it lighter and 
easier to carry.
Like St. Ambrose,
teach us to speak your words
of wisdom to those in darkness,
to appreciate also your silence
so we may be instruments of your
consolation to those feeling alone
to assure them you are one with us
when darkness surrounds us.
Amen.
Photo by author, 02 December 2022.