Ipaglalaban tayo ng Diyos sa demonyo

Lawiswis Ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-21 ng Nobyembre 2023

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Mirador Jesuit Villa, Baguio City, 24 Agosto 2023.*

Marami ang natuwa sa ibinahagi ko kamakailan dito na hindi tayo tatawagin ng Diyos sa kamatayan kung hindi tayo handa, biglaan man itong pagkamatay gaya ng aksidente o matagal na pagkakasakit (https://lordmychef.com/2023/11/14/bai-sa-langit-ang-ating-tagpuan/).

Sabi ko nga sa inyo, kumbinsido ako na mas maraming nasa langit kesa nasa impiyerno. Gagawa at gagawa ng paraan ang Diyos upang masagip ang isang kaluluwa kesa mapahamak sa walang hanggang apoy ng impiyerno.

Tinawag tayo ng Diyos hindi upang parusahan, kundi upang iligtas sa pamamagitan ng ating Panginoong Jesu-Cristo.
1 Tesalonica 5:9

Maraming pagkakataon ko ito napatunayan bilang pari, lalo mula noong 2021 nang maging chaplain ako dito sa pagamutan. Hindi ko makakalimutan yung isa naming pasyente noong isang taon bago mag-Undas.

*Larawan kuha ni Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD sa France, 2022.*

Pagkaraan kong magmisa ng Miyerkules ng tanghali sa aming Basic Education Department, nakatanggap ako ng sick call sa aming emergency room. Kaagad ako pumunta at inabutan ko ang isang matandang lalaki na naka-oxygen at maraming mga aparatu na naka-monitor sa kanya.

Lampas 90 na kanyang edad at ang sabi sa akin ng duktor ay maaring pumanaw ang pasyente ano mang oras. Sa malakas kong tinig, sinikap kong kausapin ang pasyente, sinabihan ko siyang magsisi sa kanyang mga kasalanan habang siya ay aking dinarasalan at papahiran ng Banal na Langis. Bumalik ako sa aming university pagkatapos noon.

Laking gulat ko nang sumunod na araw ng Linggo sa aking paghahatid ng Komunyon at pagbabasbas sa mga may-sakit sa aming pagamutan: buhay pa rin iyong pasyente sa pinuntahan ko ng Miyerkules sa ER!

At nang sumunod na araw na naman ng Linggo, naroon pa rin ang naturang pasyente – buhay! Maniwala kayo, umabot pa ng ikatlong araw ng Linggo ang naturang pasyente na dinalaw ko at dinasalan. Nagtataka na rin mga duktor at nars na kung ilang ulit na rin iyon nag-delikado ngunit biglang lumalakas na di mawari.

Noong ikatlong araw ng Linggo na iyon, kinausap ako ng panganay na anak na babae na umuwi mula sa Amerika. Nalaman ko na tatlo silang magkakapatid na puro babae, pawang mga may asawa na rin sila. Filipino-Chinese sila na may-ari ng malaking negosyo sa Bulacan. Wala na ang kanilang ina na pumanaw sa sakit na cancer noon pa.

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 12 Hulyo 2023.*

Laking gulat ko at nangilabot din ako sa kuwento ng panganay na anak na babae: mahilig ang kanilang ama sa mga occult practices gaya ng pagkausap sa kaluluwa ng mga yumao nilang kamag-anak at iba pang mga espiritu, ang pag gamit ng mga anting-anting, mga tarot cards, ouija board at marami pang iba.

Bago daw iyon maglubha, pilit na ipinapasa sa isa sa kanilang magkakapatid ang “kapangyarihan” na nakuha sa yumao nilang lola na ina ng kanilang ama. Inutusan daw silang kunin at dasalin mga aklat-dasalan ng kanilang ama na nasa tila wikang Latin. Noon lamang daw nila nakita mga iyon bagama’t naaalala nilang patagong ginagamit ng tatay nila mga iyon noon pa man.

Noon ko naisip na kaya hindi pa pumapanaw ang naturang pasyente na ibig ipasa kanyang mga occult practices sa kanyang anak. Tinanong ko magkakapatid ano kanilang saloobin at pare-pareho silang ayaw nilang tumulad sa kanilang ama. Natuwa naman ako sa kanilang desisyon kaya ipinaliwanag ko na rin sa kanila ang kahulugan at mga implikasyon ng occult practices ng tatay nila. Kailangan kako na “madeliver” siya mula sa impluwensiyang iyon ng demonyo at ikalawa, wasakin mga gamit niya kayat ipinakuha ko iyon habang ako naman ay umuwi ng parokya upang kunin ang aklat ng exorcismo ni P. Jocis Syquia.

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Pambansang Dambana ng Birhen ng Fatima, 06 Nobyembre 2023.*

Pagbalik ko ng parokya, una kong ginawa ay nangumpisal ng aking mga kasalanan sa kasama naming pari. Kumain lamang ako ng kaunti at saka nanalangin sa harap ng Santisimo Sakramento. Pagkaraan ng isang oras, bumalik ako sa ospital upang ganapin ang deliverance prayer sa pasyente ayon sa aklat ni P. Syquia. Muli ko siyang pinahiran ng Banal na Langis at nanalangin kami ng kanyang pamilya pagkaraan ng deliverance session.

Pagkaraan noon ay dinasalan ko at binasbasan mga aklat-dasalan, anting-anting at iba pang mga gamit sa occult ng pasyente na pinagsama-sama ng kanilang boy sa isang black plastic bag. Hindi ko na binulatlat pa ni hawakan mga iyon. Basta, mahigpit kong pinagbilinan yung boy na sunugin lahat ng mga iyon at itapon sa ilog mga abo. Huwag na huwag ka ika ko magtatago ni kukuha ng isa kungdi ay mapapasama kanyang buhay. Hapon na nang maka-uwi ako ng parokya at ang una kong ginawa ay manalangin muli sa harapan ng Santisimo Sakramento.

Umuwi ang naturang pasyente kinabukasan araw ng Lunes. Wala pa raw isang oras sa bahay habang nakahiga sa bago niyang hospital bed, payapang pumanaw ang naturang pasyente. Ayon sa mga nars, nagbalik doon ang panganay na anak na babaeng kumausap sa akin upang magpaabot ng pasasalamat at naikuwento nga paanong pumanaw ang kanilang ama.

*Larawan ni Lucifer, ang Satanas, mula sa wikipediacommons.org.*

Muli, mga ginigiliw ko, noon ko napatunayan ang lalim at lawak, ang di masusukat na pagmamahal sa atin ng Diyos na hindi niya tayo tatawaging mamatay nang hindi pa handa.

Pakiwari ko ay sa tatlong linggong iyon mula nang pahiran ko ng Langis sa ER ang naturang pasyente, nakipagbuno at babag sa demonyo si San Miguel Arkanghel sa utos ng Diyos upang agawin at iligtas ang kaluluwa ng taong iyon.

Isinulat ko rin ito upang tigilan na rin sana ng mga makababasa nito ang anu mang uri ng mga occult practices pati na mga tawas at pagpunta sa mga faith healer, manghuhula at espiritista. Magpatingin muna sa duktor kung mayroong karamdaman. Lakipan ito ng taimtim na pananalangin at matibay na pananalig sa Diyos nating makapangyarihan sa lahat. Amen.

Our hallowed hiddenness

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 31 October 2023

Whether you choose to celebrate Halloween in its truest sense which is the Christian and sacred celebration of All Saints or, the popular and pagan manner that is scary or spooky, November first reminds us always of things that are hidden and not seen.

What is really scary whenever November first approaches is the insistence of so many benighted souls including many Christians who highlight the erroneous pagan practice of dressing evil when halloween literally means “hallowed eve” or “holy evening” before the day set aside for all “holy souls” already in heaven we call “saints”. Any soul who enters heaven is considered a “saint”, that is, holy even if not recognized or canonized by the Church.

Remember the old Our Father translation when we used to say “Hallowed be thy name”? That’s it! Hallowed is the old English for holy. Where people got that idea of halloween as evil is clearly from the devil! And part of that sinister ploy by the devil in making evil funny and acceptable – and visible – is happening in the social media where everything must be seen, shown and exposed. Notice the expression “as seen on TV” to sell and market products while Facebook users brag their rule of thumb “show pictures or it never happened”.

Not everything can be seen and must be seen and shown. Recall how Genesis portrayed Adam and Eve hiding in shame, covering themselves with leaves after eating the forbidden fruit but these days, which could be the second phase of the Fall, men and women are not ashamed at all of their sins and scandals that instead of hiding, they make known to everyone deeds better kept in private, saying words better kept unsaid. They have absolutized the truth, baring all in total disregard of persons’ dignity and unity of the community. We have lost decency because we have also lost our sense of hiddenness, of privacy through silence and stillness.

*Photo by author, sunrise at the Pacific from Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort in Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.*

Hiddenness is a sacred presence where each of us can be all by one’s self focused on God who is the root of our being and existence no matter how one may call Him. St. John Paul II said in one of his writings that God created man first to be alone with Him. And that is how it will be to each of us in the end: we die alone. With God.

We all have this gift of hiddenness within each one of us. This we experience in our desires to be still, to go to the mountains or anywhere for a retreat or introspection, for some “me” time to rediscover and find one’s self anew.

Hiddenness is the passageway to the great gifts of silence and stillness that everyone needs to maintain balance in this highly competitive world filled with so much noise where everybody is talking, including cars and elevators. Compounding the problem of noise within and outside us are the cameras everywhere that entertain us and safeguard our well-being. But, are we really safer these days with all the CCTV’s and Face ID’s we use?

Many times, we have actually stripped ourselves of the innate mystery of being human, of the beauty and gift of personhood that some have tried to reveal using the camera but failed because we are beyond seeing. We do not notice how the cameras actually rob us of respect when unconsciously we give ourselves away to the world with our photos and videos spreading far without our knowing. Worst, we have allowed the camera to invade our hiddenness without us realizing that its effects backfire to us as we rarely have the time to analyze the possible outcomes of our photos and videos that usually tend to show what is negative and bad than what is positive and good about us. Our fascination with cameras perfectly capture our Filipino term palabas that literally means “outward”, a mere show without substance inside (loob). As a result of these sounds and images saturating us daily, the more we have become confused and lost because we do not have our grounding or “bearing” found only in hiddenness.

“In our society we are inclined to avoid hiddenness. We want to be seen and acknowledged. We want to be useful to others and influence the course of events. But as we become visible and popular, we quickly grow dependent on people and their responses and easily lose touch with God, the true source of our being. Hiddenness is the place of purification. In hiddenness we find our true selves.”
Fr. Henri Nouwen

*Photo by author, Anvaya Cove in Morong, Bataan, July 2023.*

We need to regain our hallowed hiddenness if we wish to grow and mature truly as persons – emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. With the phone and TV always around us even in the church, everybody and everything has become so ordinary and cheap.

Regaining our hiddenness is learning to put our technology in its proper place to be grounded in God in silence, the one commodity that has become so scarce these days since the invention of the Sony Walkman more than 40 years ago that spawned all these gadgets all over us now.

Silence is the language of God which leads us to Him and to our true selves. Every communication by God is always preceded by silence, something we have refused to learn as the most basic requirement of every communication. No wonder, we quarrel a lot, ending up more confused than ever because we never listen to others in silence. We never dialogue but simply talk, talk, and talk.

Genesis tells us in the beginning when God created everything, there was silence before He said, “Let there be light” while the fourth gospel solemnly tells us, “In the beginning was the Word… And the Word became flesh” (Jn.1:1, 14). Both instances evoke the beauty and majesty of God in grand silence.

All books in the Old Testament especially those of Psalms and of Job teem with many instances of God in silence amid every sunrise and sunset, in the gentle breeze and vast skies and oceans. In the New Testament, all four evangelists reported nothing Jesus said and did in childhood until the age 30 except for his lost and finding in the temple when 12 years old; Jesus was totally silent all those “hidden years” of his life in preparation for his ministry that lasted only three years, accomplishing so much whereas we speak all our lives and still end up empty. Most of all, the evangelists tell us too how Jesus frequently invited his disciples to a deserted place to pray, be silent and rest to be in communion with God his Father.

Hiddenness is God’s mode of presence that cannot be captured nor described in human terms. That is why He is hidden. It is not that God is hiding from us but He is inviting us to be intimately close with Him to exclusively and personally experience Him, be filled with Him.

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

It was the same thing Jesus did on Easter, remaining hidden from the disciples. When he finally appeared to Mary Magdalene who tried to touch him, Jesus stopped her to signal to her and to us all of the new level of relating with the Risen Lord in hiddenness. In all Easter stories, we are told how the disciples fell silent whenever Jesus appeared to them. In Emmaus, after the breaking of bread, the two disciples finally recognized Jesus who immediately vanished too! Why? Because Jesus wanted his disciples including us today to follow him personally in his hiddenness to find him and ourselves too.

Appearances or images and noise in life are very fleeting. Very often, the most significant moments and insights we have in life are those that come from our long periods of silence, of prayers and soul-searching.

This November 1 and 2 as we remember all those who have left us in this world, let us keep its sacred origins: All Saints Day for those souls already in heaven and All Souls’ Day for those who have departed but still being purified in the purgatory. Both dates invite us to “hide” in prayers, in silent remembering to experience God and our departed loved ones in the most intimate and personal manner without the gadgets and things that numb us of their presence. Amen. Have a blessed All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days!

Intensity of praying

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 20 September 2023

*Photo by Mr. Ryan John Jacob, December 2022.*

Every time we pray is a moment of grace from God, not only to the one praying or pray-er but most of all to others. To see somebody at prayer is a sight filled with great wonder and blessings from God because every prayer period is a divine operation.

Please don’t get me wrong. Whenever we pray and others see us, it always has an effect on them. Many times we have heard some people saying nasty things at the sight of those deep in prayer especially here at social media with ready templates casting moral aspersions on pray-ers as hypocrites and show offs. People who do that most likely do not pray at all, do not know anything about prayer. Most likely, they are a variant of the self-righteous Pharisee in the Lord’s parable (Lk. 18:9-14). Prayer moments are founts of grace not only for pray-ers but for others as well.

My point is simple. Just keep praying. Follow your inner leading to pray, to stop by a church or a chapel, to kneel and make the Sign of the Cross because every time we pray, our prayer is already answered by God. Not only for us but for others too.

*Photo by author, Our Lady of Fatima University, 13 September 2023.*

The other day I shared with you how my mother had taught us how to pray. Today I share with you an aspect of prayer I have learned from my father who witnessed to us the essence and beauty of praying.

As far as I can remember in my early childhood days until I have become a priest, my immediate, unforgettable image of my dad is being a man of prayer, a man at prayer.

Every morning before he would go to office, I have seen him praying in front of our altar of Christ the King and Sacred Heart. It was a ritual I have come to unconsciously imitate that would start with the lighting of candles before the sacred images, after which he would genuflect making the Sign of the Cross in deep silence and as he rose after a few moments of pause, that is when he pulls out his Rosary. That’s every morning before leaving for work he had continued until his retirement.

When he comes home in the afternoon, his ritual began with washing himself to change clothes before going to the altar with the usual lighting of candles, silent genuflection while making the Sign of the Cross. He would leave the candles burning to go down and join us kids in front of the grotto to pray the Angelus at 6pm while listening to Radio Veritas.

On weekends, he did the same routine in the afternoon. Daddy spent Saturdays and Sundays doing his two favorite things, cooking in the morning and reading in the afternoon. Oh, he read everything from old newspapers and magazines to his many book collections and finally in the afternoon, his two staple reading companions – that big, red Holy Bible and that little green book called “My Spiritual Diary” by the Daughters of St. Paul which I could not remember where I have kept.

*My mom and dad always together, our first teachers about God and prayer.*

When people ask me how my vocation started, I tell them my parents never encouraged me to become a priest. In fact both were surprised when I sought their permission to enter the seminary after grade six. But, I believe it was my father who unconsciously planted the seeds of my priestly vocation when I would always see him praying since childhood.

When my only brother Willy, our youngest, was born prematurely at eight months in December 15, 1973, dad gathered us three siblings in our sala downstairs near his big escritorio to inform us of his condition, of how he was very sick inside the incubator and would have to stay longer in the hospital for treatment while my mom might come home before Christmas. Then he told us almost in whisper as his voice would crack that we pray hard for Willy and mommy. We did not understand then what he meant to pray hard. All I remembered was how that night I saw him in bed alone as my mother was still in GSIS Hospital (now East Avenue Medical Center), staring at the ceiling as he held his rosary on his chest. Decades later when I was back in the seminary, he told me that was the only time he really learned to pray hard when Willy was born prematurely. I never understood dad’s words of “praying hard” except that like him, I have tried to pray always.

I have no claims to holiness for I am a sinner. And that is why I always pray even if at times I doubt my prayers or if God listens at all to me! But God never fails to console me at times when people tell me how they have learned to pray after seeing me prayed.

Parishioners notice us priests when we pray or not. Both here and abroad, I have heard lay people saying how they love seeing us priests pray because they are touched. Imagine that simple act of praying as a form of witnessing to Christ. What is wonderful is that parishioners learn to pray more for their priests when they see them praying which leads to more grace and blessings for everyone from God!

Of course, we pray not to be seen but prayer is our life as priests and lay alike. We are all blessed when we pray. Period. No one can judge if we are praying right except God. What matters is we keep praying. Hence, give us your priests those sacred space and sacred moments to pray most of all! Don’t invite us out at night anymore.

Though Jesus had instructed us that “when you pray, go into your inner room to pray in secret” (Mt.6:6ff), he does not tell us not to pray in public. What is essential in prayer is being true and humble before God, of going inside our selves – our inner room in secret – like in Christ’s parable of the proud Pharisee and sinful tax collector at the temple (Lk. 18:9-14).

Prayer is being one with God. We call it communion. It happens most truly when we pray and others see us that they too are moved to be one with God. And that is when communion starts to happen, when we truly follow Jesus as his disciples by praying together.

*Photo by Mr. Red Santiago, January 2020.*

He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
Mark 8:34, 38

For us to be truly the Church, the Body of Christ, we have to be a community of disciples at prayer. Together. In Christ, with Christ, through Christ. Amen. Have a blessed and prayerful remaining half of the week!

That precious, sweet “Yes”

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of the Queenship of Mary, 22 August 2023
Isaiah 9:1-6 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Luke 1:26-30

*Photo by author, St. Scholastica Spirituality Center, Baguio City, 22 August 2023.*

YES. Perhaps the most sweetest word we all wish to hear but also the most difficult word for us to say. We want others always saying “yes” to our requests and questions but we are so afraid, so hesitant telling it to others. Very often, we hide our “yes” in cloudy expressions like maybe, will try, or simply not say it all. Especially with God.

How funny that every vocation story of any priest and religious started with that simple “yes” – a “yes, Lord”! Or, “opo, Panginoon, susunod ako”!

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Luke 1:38

How amazing that such a very simple word of three letters – yes – could be so powerful enough to change one’s life. Even history. And how could such a very short word with just one syllable be so difficult to say!

With every yes in life we hear, it becomes so sweet because we are affirmed. We feel valuable and precious when people say “yes” to us. However, we are very cautious in saying “yes” to others, especially to God and in the name or presence of God because when we say that “yes”, it becomes our very life.

Every “yes” becomes a commitment, a vow, a promise to keep. Not only for us priests and religious but everybody, especially husband and wife saying yes on their wedding day; doctors, lawyers and other professionals saying yes to uphold life, justice and freedom; children saying yes to obey their parents and teachers; everybody has to say a yes in different ways every day everywhere in many occasions and situations. Many times it looks so simple, sometimes it could mean life and death.

Every yes is precious and sweet because it is the beginning of love. That is why we need to affirm and stand with that yes day in, day out in our lives.

Like Mary, her “yes” to God did not happen just once but everyday in her life, reaching its highest point at the Cross when her Son Jesus Christ died. She must have had the most painful yet bittersweet yes too when she held Christ’s lifeless Body immortalized in Michaelangelo’s La Pieta.

But it was Mary’s yes that brought us Christmas and Easter, leading to Pentecost in the birth of our Church, and led her to heaven. That is why, we celebrate her Queenship today, a week after her Assumption.

O most Blessed Virgin Mary,
our Mother and Queen,
help us to say yes like you to God,
not once but every day in our lives;
pray for us to remain faithful in our yes
to him through our loved ones,
through his people and flock;
pray for us to keep our yes to God
simple like yours, trusting him always
even if our yes would lead us to the Cross
so that our yes would bring us also
to his presence in heaven.
Amen.

Masama magreklamo, pananalangin ang dumaing

Lawiswis Ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-7 ng Agosto 2023

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, takipsilim sa Tagaytay, ika-8 ng Pebrero 2023.*

Madalas maitanong sa akin ng mga tao kung kasalanan daw ba, o masama, ang magreklamo sa Diyos? Bago sila sagutin, lagi kong hiling na liwanagin muna kung sila ba ay nagrereklamo o dumaraing sa Diyos?

Malaki pagkakaiba ng dalawang salitang ito na tila magkapareho lalo na kung ating uugatin ang kanilang pinagmulang wika na Latin, Pranses, Kastila at Inggles. Marahil dahil sa pagsasalin-salin ng mga salitang reklamo at daing, naiba kanilang kahulugan kaya mahalaga nating maunawaan upang makatulong sa ating wastong pakikipag-ugnayan sa isa’t-isa at sa Panginoong Diyos.

Hindi po ako dalubhasa sa linguistika o pag-aaral ng mga wika ngunit ibig ko na pagnilayan ang pagkakaiba ng reklamo at daing mula sa kanilang pinagmumulan o pinagbubuhatan. Ang reklamo ay mula sa isipan habang ang daing ay buhat sa puso at kaibuturan ng kalooban. Sa pagkakaibang ito ng kanilang pinagmumulan natin makikita kanilang kasamaan at kabutihan.

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda mula sa Jordan tanawin ang ilang ng Israel noong Mayo 2019.*

Masama ang pagrereklamo dahil ito ay sinasadya o wilfull sa Inggles. Mayroong malisya at masamang paglalayon bunsod ng maling pag-gamit ng kaisipan o intellect na kung saan pinangingibabawan ito ng kasamaan.

Sa pagrereklamo, mayroong pagpaplano at pag-aaral sa paglalahad ng hangad na hindi lamang maaksiyunan at solusyunan ang hinaharap na suliranin o katayuan kungdi maungkat pa ang ibang mga isyu ng nagrereklamo. Katulad lamang ito noong tayo ay mga bata pa na bubulung- bulong kapag masama ang loob kung nauutusan.

Sa pagrereklamo, naroon ang isang proseso ng kaisipan at hindi lamang bunga ng emosyon o damdamin na kapag naibulalas na ay tapos na. Naroon palagi ang paghahanap ng butas at kung anu-ano pang mga bagay na maaring isisi at ipula saan man at kanino man.

Kitang-kita ito sa karanasan ng mga Israelita doon sa ilang matapos sila ay hanguin ng Diyos sa pamumuno ni Moises mula sa pagkaalipin sa Egipto. Tingnan at suriin paanong nagreklamo mga Israelita noon kay Moises nang sila ay magutom at mahirapan sa paglalakbay.

Kaya, nagreklamo na naman sila. Ang sabi nila, “Kailan pa ba tayo makatitikim ng masarap na pagkain? Mabuti pa sa Egipto! Doon, isang hingi lamang namin ay mayroon na agad isda, pipino, pakwan, sibuyas, at bawang. Dito walang makain kundi manna.
Bilang 11:4-6

*Ang eskultura ng ginawang ahas na tanso ni Moises sa tikin sa lugar kung saan mismo nangyari na ngayon nasa pangangalaga ng mga Paring Franciscano sa Jordan. Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Mayo 2019.*

Pagmasdan ang masakit na bahagi ng bawat reklamo, masdan paanong magsalita mga reklamador na tila wala kang nagawang mabuti para sa kanila.

Kadalasan ang problema ng mga reklamador ay hindi lamang sa ayaw na ayaw nila ng hirap at tiisin sa buhay kungdi wala din silang tiwala sa kapwa kaya naman puno sila ng pangungutya at paghahamon. Dito natin mababakas ang malalim na kasamaan ng reklamo na isang uri ng manipulasyon at pambabraso upang maimaniobra at maipilit ang sariling kagustuhan na tanda ng kawalan ng pasensiya sa buhay at ng pagtitiwala sa iba lalo na sa Diyos.

Maraming pagkakataon ang pagrereklamo ay nagiging isang panunumbat, panunukat, at paghahamon maging sa Diyos na maaring ikabunga ng hindi maganda.

Mula sa Bundok ng Hor, nagpatuloy ang mga israelita patungong Dagat ng mga Tambo upang lihisan ang Edom. Dahil dito, nainip sila sa pasikut-sikot na paglalakbay na yaon. Nagreklamo sila kay Moises, “Inialis mo ba kami sa Egipto para patayin sa ilang na ito? Walang kaming makain ni mainom! Sawa na kami sa walang kwentang pagkaing ito.” Dahil dito, sila’y pinadalhan ni Yahweh ng makamandag na ahas at sinumang matuka nito ay nmamatay.
Bilang 21:4-6

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda sa Mt. St. Paul, La Trinidad, Benguet noong 2017.*

Sa kabilang dako naman, hindi masama, lalong hindi rin kasalanan ang dumaing sa Diyos. Kung tutuusin ay maituturing na isang pananalangin ang ating pagdaing sa Diyos!

Bakit?

Muli, makikita natin ang pinagmumulan ng ating pagdaing na walang iba kungdi puso natin.

Maraming pagkakataon, ang ating pagdaing ay bumubukal mula sa kaibuturan ng ating sarili dahil sa matinding hirap at pagtitiis. Wala kang mapagsabihan dahil labis na ang kawalan ng pagpapahalaga sa iyo ng ilang tao na dapat sana’y kumilala sa iyong mga pagpapagal at, hindi sa anu pa mang dahilan, ay tumanaw ng utang na loob man lamang sa iyong kagandahang-loob.

Kaya naman natural at hindi mo na rin mapigilan pag-uwal mula sa puso at kalooban mga nararamdaman lalo na sama ng loob maging pagtatampo sa ilang tao. At maski sa Diyos na tila baga walang pakialam sa iyo. Pero ganoon nga ba? Hindi!

Dumaraing tayo sa Diyos kahit tila pakiwari natin malayo siya o walang pakialam dahil wala na tayong ibang matakbuhan kungdi siya na lamang. Hindi masama na tayo ay dumaing sa Diyos at ihayag pagtatampo sa kanya dahil pagiging totoo ito sa sariling nararamdaman.

Dito sa nararamdamang ito rin nakatago ang kagandahan nitong pagdaing na isang panalangin din sapagkat sa bawat hinaing, naroon ang pagsusumamo sa Poong Maykapal na siya lamang ang mayroong magagawa sa atin. Hindi magagalit ang Diyos sa atin dahil batid niya kung baga tayo ay “naglalambing” sa kanya katulad ni Moises sa ilang pagkakataon.

Hindi kaila kay Moises ang iyakan ng lahat ng sambahayan na nakatayo sa pintuan ng kani-kanilang tolda. Nagalit nang labis ang Diyos, kaya nabalisa si Moises. Itinanong ni Moises kay Yahweh, “Bakit ninyo ako isunuong sa ganitong kalaking pasanin? Bakit ninyo ako ginaganito? May nagawa ba akong laban sa inyo? Ako ba ang nagsilang sa kanila? Hindi ko sila kayang alagaang mag-isa. Napakalaki ng gawaing ito para sa akin! Kung ganito rin lamang ang gagawin ninyo sa akin, mabuti pa’y mamatay na ako ngayon din kaysa maghirap nang matagal.”
Bilang 11:10-12, 14-15

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda sa may St. Catherine Monastery, Mt. Sinai, Egypt, Mayo 2019.*

Tayo ma’y nakapagdrama na rin siguro ng kung ilang ulit tulad ni Moises sa Diyos ng ganito. E, pinansin ba tayo ng Diyos? Siyempre hindi! Bagamat hirap na hirap tayo ngunit, heto pa rin tayo, buhay na buhay!

Ganoon kaganda ang pagdaing – maihinga lang ay naaayos na ang lahat sa atin, gumagaan ating pasanin dahil ang totoo dama natin ang Diyos sa piling natin.

Kapag tayo dumaraing sa Diyos, doon niya tayo tiyak dinirinig dahil doon tayo pinakamalapit sa kanya kay Kristo Jesus doon sa Krus. Tuwing tayo ay batbat ng hirap at sakit lalo na sa mga pula at reklamo ng mga taong tinutulungan at kinakalinga natin, doon tayo nakabayubay sa krus kasama si Jesus at katulad ni Jesus.

Kapag wala tayong narinig kungdi reklamo ng maraming tao sa kabila ng ating pagsisikap para sa kanila, doon tayo nagmamahal na tunay gaya ni Jesus.

Hindi tayo makareklamo kanino man maliban sa Diyos dahil sa ating kaibuturan, batid natin siya lang ating maaasahan. Hindi labi ang nangungusap sa atin kungdi puso at kalooban sa kapangyarihan ng Espiritung Banal gaya ng sinasaad ni San Pablo (Rom. 8:26-27).

Kayo kung ikaw ay pagod na sa bigat ng mga pasanin sa buhay, nabibingi na sa mga reklamo at patutsada ng mga “magagaling” na tao sa paligid mo, chill lang. Okey lang magbuntung-hininga tulad ni Jesus (tingnan Marcos 8:11-13) nang mapuno sa kakulitan ng mga kalaban.

Ibuhos iyong daing, pati luha, sa Diyos na tanging sa ating nakauunawa. Higit sa lahat, nagmamahal at natutuwa dahil sa kabila ng maraming reklamo ng iba, gumaganap tayo sa kanyang misyon at ipinagagawa. Amen.

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda sa San Juan, La Union, ika-24 ng Hulyo 2023.*

May birthday pa ba sa langit?

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-26 ng Hulyo 2023

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, takip-silim sa may Silang, Cavite noong Agosto 2020.*

Sa araw na ito, ika-26 ng Hulyo ay ating pinararangalan ang mga nakatatanda sa atin bilang paggunita kina San Joaquin at Sta. Ana, mga magulang ng Mahal na Birheng Maria, Lolo at Lola ng Panginoong Jesus.

Sa aming pamilya, espesyal ito noon pa man dahil kaarawan ng aking yumaong ama na si Wilfredo na isinilang noong Hulyo 26, 1932. Pumanaw siya noong ika-17 ng Hunyo 2000, kaarawan ng aming Ina. Kaya mula noon hanggang ngayon ay parang drama ang aming buhay na magkakapatid tuwing sasapit ang mga buwan ng Hunyo at Hulyo dahil naroon ang magkahalong tuwa at lungkot sa birthday ng aming mga magulang gayon din ang pagpapanaw ni Daddy.

Dahil dalawang taon pa lamang ako na pari nang pumanaw aking ama, hindi pa ako nakapagmisa patungkol sa kanyang kaarawan tuwing ika-26 ng Hulyo. Gayun din sa aking ina. Dahil sa napakasakit niyang karanasan, hindi ko pa rin siya naipagmimisa nang patungkol sa kanyang birthday na death anniversary nga ng kanyang kabiyak ng puso at aming ama. Dangan din kasi ay mahigpit ang bilin ni Mommy nang mamatay si Daddy, hindi na siya magbe-birthday celebration.

*Ang aking yumaong ama sa kanyang opisina, Bureau of Forestry, 1972.*

Nakakatawang isipin, puwede nga bang hindi magbirthday dito sa lupang ibabaw? Bagaman palaging death anniversary ni Daddy ang aming pagdiriwang tuwing June 17 na birthday ni Mommy, mayroon pa rin kaming pansit o spaghetti, cake at ice cream para sa kanya!

Darating at darating ating birthday na parang kuliling ng tindero ng ice cream ngunit kapag tayo ay namatay, wala na tayong birthday celebration. Ang kamatayan natin sa lupa ang birthday natin sa langit kaya iyon ang higit nating dapat alalahanin!

Kaya sana po ay huwag ninyo masamain itong aking sasabihin: tigilan na po natin itong kalokohan at kahibangan ng pagbati ng “Happy Birthday in Heaven” sa mga yumao nating mahal na buhay.

Inaamin ko na ako man ay ilang ulit napatangay sa kamaliang ito ng pagbati ng happy birthday in heaven sa Facebook. Nguni’t simula ngayon na sana ay ika-91 kaarawang ng aking ama kung nabubuhay pa siya, hinding hindi na ako babati kanino man ng happy birthday in heaven.

Wala na pong birthday sa langit o kabilang-buhay dahil iyon ay kawalang hanggan na po.

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Mt. St. Paul, La Trinidad, Benguet, Mayo 2017.*

Noong mamatay ang aking ama sa kaarawan ng aking ina, iyon ang paliwanag ko sa kanya: ganyan po kayo kamahal ng Daddy; birthday niya sa langit, birthday po ninyo dito sa lupa.

Kaya nga ang kapistahan palagi ng mga banal ay ang petsa ng kanilang kamatayan o nang paglilipat ng kanilang labi. Bukod tangi lamang sina Jesus, Birheng Maria at San Juan Bautista ang ipinagdiriwang natin ang mga kaarawan ng pagsilang sa lupang ibabaw.

Ang kamatayan natin ang ating petsa ng pagsilang sa buhay na walang hanggan. Move on na tayo…

Sa dalawamput-limang taon ko sa pagkapari, isang bagay napansin ko na madalas ang mga petsa ng kamatayan ay sadyang makahulugan kesa petsa ng kapanganakan. Palagi mga petsa ng kamatayan ng mga mahal natin sa buhay malapit o may kinalaman sa mahalalagang petsa sa buhay natin. Sabi nga ng iba, madalas namamatay ang tao malapit sa petsa ng birthday nila.

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Anvaya Cove sa Bataan, Mayo 2023.*

Sa dati kong parokya, nagrereunion ang isang angkan tuwing araw ng Pasko, Disyembre 25 dahil iyon ang kamatayan ng kanilang Lola. Nang suriin ko, ipinanganak ang Lola nila ika-24 ng Marso! Sabi ko sa kanilang angkan ay napakaganda ng petsa ng kamatayan ng Lola nila bagamat masakit kung iisipin dahil araw iyon ng kasiyahan dapat. Nguni’t wika ko sa kanila, isinilang sa lupa inyong Lola sa bisperas ng petsa ng pagkakatawang-tao ni Jesus o Annunciation (Marso 25) habang isinilang naman Lola nila sa langit nang pumanaw siya ng ika-25 ng Disyembre. Tuwang-tuwa sila sa paliwanag ko kaya tuwing Pasko, ako ay pinamamaskuhan ng magkakamag-anak!

Pagmasdan ninyo mga lapida sa sementeryo: palagi naroon ang petsa ng kapanganakan at kamatayan. At pagkatapos ay wala nang kasunod kasi nga wala nang hanggan!

Noong wala pang social media lalo na iyang Facebook na dahilan ng pagkabobo nating mga tao dahil nga puro tayo palabas, kapag dumarating petsa ng pagsilang ng yumao nating mahal sa buhay, ang palaging sinasabi ay “nobenta’y uno na sana siya kung buhay pa ngayon” (he would have been 91 years old today had he not died).

Tingnang ninyo. Mas tumpak ang kaisipan at pananalita ng matatanda kesa sa atin ngayon. Kung araw ng kapanganakan ng yumaong mahal sa buhay, magpost na lang ng simpleng “naaalala ka pa rin namin” o “buhay kang palagi sa aking alaala” o “ikaw pa rin ang aking tanging mahal” na siyang tunay at totoo kesa “happy birthday sa langit” na isang kasinungalingan.

Inuulit ko, wala na pong birthday sa langit.

Huwag na kayong babati ng happy birthday in heaven. Ang birthday ay sa lupa lamang. Mag-level up na tayo ng pananaw, kaisipan at kamalayan katulad ng mga pumanaw na nasa kabilang buhay na. “Ang mga bagay na panlangit ang isaisip ninyo, hindi ang mga bagay na panglupa sapagkat namatay na kayo at ang inyong tunay na buhay ay natatago sa Diyos, kasama ni Kristo” (Col. 3:1-2).

Maraming salamat po at maligayang kapistahan sa mga Lolo at Lola muli!

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, takip-silim sa Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan, Hunyo 2020.*

The riches of Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Homily, Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, 16 June 2023
Deuteronomy 7:6-11 ><}}}*> 1 John 4:7-16 ><}}}*> Matthew 11:25-30

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2023.*

It has been two months since I celebrated by silver anniversary of ordination to the priesthood. Until now, I still continue to reflect and relish on this immense gift of priesthood, still asking with the same sense of awe and wonder since ordination day, “why me, Lord?”

As I reflected this week the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus which is dedicated for the sanctification of us priests, I have realized how I have remained the same sinful, insecure and fearful man ordained 25 years ago with my six other classmates. As I get closer to becoming a senior citizen in 2025, the more my past sins and stupidities, carelessness and vices are coming back like “Facebook Memory”, reminding me how I have them kept under control, that they could burst and be out in the open if I get careless.

But in the midst of all these darkness and weaknesses still in me, the more I feel so blessed and consoled, and overjoyed by the fact that I still have that same desire to proclaim Jesus Christ to everyone, of how beautiful this life is because of the Lord’s immeasurable love for each of us. Whenever I look back to my past with all my sinfulness and weaknesses amid my getting older, the more I am eager to make Jesus known to everyone while I am still strong and able. There is that feeling of being like St. Paul in saying, “To me, the very least of all the holy ones, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the inscrutable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for all what is the plan of the mystery hidden from ages past in God who created all things” (Eph. 3:8-9).

Or, like in our first reading, I could identify with the Israelites being reminded by Moses in the wilderness that “You are a people sacred to the Lord, your God; he has chosen you from all the nations on the face of the earth to be his people peculiarly his own. It was not because you are the largest of all nations that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you, for you are really the smallest of all nations. It was because the Lord loved you” (Dt.7:6-8).

Beautiful!

Love, love, and love!

That is the “inscrutable riches of Christ”, his immense love for us, dying for us, coming for us even if we are worth nothing at all. And it is because of that love of God for us that we have become so worthy that he gave us even his only Son, Jesus Christ.

That is the essence of this celebration of the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Love.

A reality we all experience and know but could not define for it has no limits. Love can only be described and best expressed in actions than in words.

See this Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus comes right after the Solemnities of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Most Precious Body and Blood of Jesus these past two Sundays. Both celebrations speak of love: the latter is about relationships based on love and the former is about giving of self in love.

Now that we are well into the Ordinary Time of our liturgical calendar, our celebration today tells us to remember throughout this year this most basic truth and reality of our faith – that we are so loved by God.

Beloved, let us love one another because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.
1 John 4:7-9

Love is symbolized by the heart, the very core of every person. That is why I love the Spanish word for heart which is corazon, evocative of the core, of the deeper self. And of course, love is the very the person of God.

Of all the writers in the Bible, St. John is the one who most frequently used the word “love”, an indication of its centrality in his thoughts. Moreover, he clarified that this love is not human love because its origin, motives and effects are supernatural in nature who is God himself.

Being the very self and also the riches or wealth of Christ, love is for sharing, for giving. Never for keeping. Because of its supernatural nature, love is inexhaustible. The more you give it, the more you share, the more you have it!

In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.
1 John 4:10-12

*Photo by Ms. April Oliveros, March 2023 at Mt. Pulag.*

Let me repeat that last sentence, “if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.”

The more we love, the more we are able to see and recognize God and other people amidst the darkness around us. Likewise, the more we love the more we see our true selves too despite dark spots within us.

Love is the law of life. To love God by loving ourselves and others is not an obligation imposed from outside. It is the very proof of our faith and union with God in Jesus Christ.

Jesus makes this very clear to us today in the gospel that opens with him praising the simple people, those who were child-like who welcomed him and his preaching. They were the ones Jesus referred at his sermon on the mount, “Blessed are the poor” because love is not an intellectual structure or system to be learned or analyzed. Love is a call to be disarmed of everything we hold onto so we can totally love and follow Jesus Christ.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus came to reveal to us God our Father. And to know the Father is not through the head or intelligence but through our heart that is like Christ’s, meek and humble, filled with love.

By becoming human like us in everything except sin, Jesus who is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15) enables us to feel and experience God now closest to us than ever. Most of all, we are able to love and still love especially when the going gets tough and rough.

Here Jesus shows us that love is not absence of sufferings. In fact, love is truest and noblest when there are sacrifices and sufferings as exemplified by Jesus in his life and death on the Cross.

There are times we feel grouchy, so sensitive when people seem to ask even demand so much from us.

Sometimes we wonder why are we the ones always giving, always loving, always forgiving. Sometimes we even ask God why are we the ones going through all these trials in life, why are we the ones afflicted with this sickness, why are we given with a special child, why your child had gone ahead of you to eternal life?

So many whys, so many questions.

Rest today in Christ. Feel his embrace. Listen to his silence. Be filled with his love. As you ask Jesus with all those questions, realize that each cry, each lamentation is the “inscrutable riches of Christ”, his very love perfected in your labors and burdens. Amen.

Jesus, meek and humble of heart,
Make my heart like thine!

Roots

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 10 April 2023
A photo-reflection of our rootedness in God while at the Sacred Heart Novitiate last March 20-22, 2023.

In the lush rolling hills of Novaliches
that is now fast disappearing are
23 hectares of pastureland and mini forests 
inside the Sacred Heart Novitiate
of the Society of Jesus.

Thank God it had opened
anew its doors to retreatants like me
wishing to have a "vacare Deo"
or vacation in the Lord.

A retreat
or a vacare Deo
is a return to our roots,
God.

While preparing for the formal
start of my retreat last March 20,
I felt the roots of the many trees
speaking to me
 in this Bethel of mine
where like Jacob in
Genesis 28:10-19,
I met God.
Sometimes,
I wrestled with Him
like Jacob too
in Peniel/Penuel
(Gen. 32:23-33).

How interesting
the words "true" and "truth"
along with its cousin "trust"
came from the old English
"treowe"
for tree.

According to experts,
the Anglo-Saxons worshipped trees
they called "treowe"
because they evoked firmness
and solidness;
the more rooted is the tree,
the more firm does it stand.
Like truth.

Whatever that is true, firmly standing
like a tree or treowe always has extensive 
network of roots, creating linkages
and interconnections from which came
that image of the 
"family tree".

When there are interconnections,
linkages,
there are relationships.
People with the most
wonderful relationships
are also the truthful ones
because they are trustworthy.
Reliable.
Like God.
Our root.
Our rootedness
who connects us with
everyone.

When we are rooted
and grounded in God,
nothing can ever disturb us
like a big, big, tree.
We can withstand all storm,
bear the sun's heat
remaining firm
and aglow
 with God's majesty
in daytime and in darkness.

Lovelier than the tree,
thank God
for creating me.
Hallelujah!

Deaths in Lent

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 27 February 2023

Lent is my favorite season in our Church calendar: partly because of my melancholic tendencies and mostly, its closeness with the realities of life, of its daily “passovers” and exodus that eventually lead to Easter. That is why for me, life is a daily lent.

This became truest to me yesterday afternoon, the First Sunday of Lent when one of our elderly priests, Msgr. Vicente “Teng” Manlapig died past 3:00 PM at the Fatima University Medical Center in Valenzuela City where I serve as chaplain.

I am still in the process of gathering the many insights and realizations I have had these past three weeks when Mons. Teng was confined with the final five days in the ICU. What is so remarkable for me which dawned upon me yesterday is the fact that Mons. Teng is the second priest I had taken cared and died in the season of Lent. The first was the late Msgr. Macario Manahan in March 16, 2014, the Second Sunday of Lent at that time.

Yes, another monsignor I took care and died in the season of Lent. I was then assigned in San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista Parish in Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan when Mons Macario retired in an apartment with his adopted family in the next barrio to my parish. Like Mons. Teng, I gave him daily communion and anointing of the sick during his final stretch of about two or three weeks before death. The only difference is that Mons. Macario passed away in my presence that Sunday afternoon; I visited Mons. Teng Sunday morning before he expired in the afternoon.

I have been wondering what must be God’s message for me in making me directly involved with two elderly priests dying in the season of Lent.

It seems to me for now that Lent is the best time for us priests to die because it leads to Easter. It would be a great extra bonus perhaps for us priests to die on Easter Sunday like the Jesuit Father Teilhard de Chardin or on Divine Mercy Sunday of the Easter Octave like the great St. John Paul II or at New Year’s eve like Pope Benedict XVI recently.

In my 24 years in priesthood, I have found our life, and death, follow a certain pattern. That is another topic I intend to develop further but for the moment, here is God showing me a pattern in priestly deaths in Lent which is the season characterized by prayer, fasting, alms-giving and penance.

Thursday night, Mons. Teng he asked to me listen to his “story” which turned out to be a confession, his final one. And what a tremendous grace from God for it was a triumph against his final temptations by the devil. How wonderful that he died yesterday, the First Sunday of Lent when the gospel from Matthew was the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness. The hospital ICU is the modern wilderness of temptations where there is the macabre atmosphere of gloom and dead-seriousness, cold and lifeless with just the eerie beeps and whirring or humming of various machines accompanying patients in separate cubicles along with doctors and nurses garbed in overalls and masks like in those movie scenes of invasion by aliens or zombies.

I must confess that after witnessing another death of a senior priest this season of Lent with my ministry this past year being in the hospital, I actually feel more afraid than ever of getting old, of getting sick.

It seems to me for now 
that Lent is the best time for us priests 
to die because it leads to Easter.

I cannot say I am ready. No. The more I see myself afraid and so unprepared. It would be a big lie no fool would ever believe to claim I am ready to get sick and die. And even if I felt so tired and sleepy watching over Mons. Teng these past weeks, I could not pray in silence to God and ask him that he spare me those sufferings. Yes, the sense of entitlement crossed my mind many times like the thought “siguro naman, pwede na ako ma exempt, Lord” but no! I could not ask God. I feel so ashamed. It felt so bad on the taste-buds. Whenever such thoughts crossed my mind, there was always something or someone inside me preventing me from asking God for that privilege. Or grace? Because our suffering in sickness is precisely the very gift and grace of being one with Jesus Christ in the wilderness, fighting the devil’s temptations.

The gospel said it so well yesterday that after Jesus triumphed over his temptations, “the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him” (Mt.4:11). See that it was Thursday when I heard Mons. Teng’s final confession, Friday night was the last time he received the viaticum because Saturday morning he could no longer speak, could not eat that I had to consent into the insertion of an NGT for his feeding Saturday night until he slowly deteriorated Sunday morning after I had anointed him again with oil and died around the hour of the great Mercy of God at 3PM.

The same thing is true with Mons. Macario. For about two weeks, I would rush to his apartment mostly at night and midnight to anoint him, pray for him, and give him the viaticum. Once I even celebrated Mass for a peaceful death around midnight when we thought he was about to expire which eventually came a few days after he had met and presumably reconciled with a family member. It was the Second Sunday of Lent, March 16, 2014 when he died. The gospel was the Transfiguration of Jesus. If there is anyone who would truly experience the Cross of Christ on the way to transfiguration, it is surely us, his priests.

A few years ago a friend commented to me that he thought priests were exempted from sickness and other sufferings. He could not believe that we priests get cancer, suffer stroke and other debilitating sickness. In fact, I told him that suffering is our life. One of the priests with tremendous impact on me was our formator in high school seminary, Rev. Fr. Leopoldo Nazareno we called “Fr. Naz” who spent maybe 40 years of his life with Parkinson’s disease that was so rare at that time in the 80’s.

Am I afraid of getting sick, of dying? Yes. Very much! But, what can I do? Like Jesus in the the garden of Gethsemane, even if I pray that God would take away this cup, it is still his will not mine.

Maybe for a good reason, to suffer unto death is the ultimate gift of priesthood. Even in old age for us priests, there is still the essence of victimhood, of offering. It is when out deathbed becomes our eucharistic table and altar where we finally offer ourselves to God in union with Jesus our Eternal High Priest, no longer the bread and wine because we could not celebrate the Mass nor even receive Holy Communion. It would be very sad for a priest to die not a martyr, a witness of Christ on the Cross, loved and forgiven like the “good thief”.

That is what I have seen in these two deaths of priests in the season of Lent: the immense and immeasurable mercy and love of God for us all, especially us priests. Yes, we are sinners, even more miserable than others. But, still loved and forgiven by God. May we strive more to be holy priests, thinking more of the people than ourselves. Pray for us your priests, and help us fix our eyes unto God more clearly through you, the people, the sheep of his flock. May we your priests find that life is a daily Lent, a daily passover, a daily carrying of the Cross and Crucifixion in Christ that leads to Easter. Amen.

Imitating, praying with Mary in 2023

The Lord Is My Chef Christmas Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, Eighth Day in the Octave of Christmas, 01 January 2023
Numbers 6:22-27 ><}}}}*> Galatians 4:4-7 ><}}}}*> Luke 2:16-21

A blessed Merry Christmas everyone! Our Mass on this first day of 2023 is not for the new year but in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Mother of God because her Son Jesus Christ is true God and true Man. Of all human beings, she is therefore the best model for us to follow in welcoming every new year.

First thing we notice with Mary is her prayerful silence at the birth of Jesus Christ, the very new year in humanity when henceforth, time is reckoned in relation with his birth that is why we have those initials BC for “Before Christ” and AD for “Anno Domini” or “Year of the Lord”.

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.
Luke 2:16-19

I come from the town of Bocaue in Bulacan known as the “fireworks capital” of the Philippines and I have never liked our manner of ushering every new year with a bang. Even the Chinese are ashamed at how we overdo our fireworks and firecrackers during the new year. What I hate most are the human lives lost every year because of pyrotechnics.

Life always begins in silence. Destruction comes in loud noises just like what we do every new year with fireworks and firecrackers. It is Jesus Christ who drives out the evil spirits from our lives and the world since he came to the world more than 2000 years ago and here we are, calling all the evil spirits back!

In my former parish, we used to have a Holy Hour after our Mass of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God in the evening of December 31. Like Mary, we pray in silence to Jesus to thank him for all that have happened the past year, for everything, whether good or bad.

Let Jesus come and dwell in our hearts tonight and tomorrow. Pray with your family and loved ones. Pray by yourself.

Secondly, like Mary, let us treasure all our memories of the past year in our hearts, both the good and the bad ones especially the people who have touched us and hurt us too.

Silence is the door through which God enters our heart and soul, enabling us to have that meaningful awareness of Jesus in us and among us, helping us to see the larger picture of life with its many realities. One of my favorite writers, T.S. Eliot wrote in his very long Four Quartets that “tragedy occurs when we have the experience but miss the meaning”. Very true!

Most of all, it is in silence where we grow deeper in faith, hope and love of God because silence is the domain of trust. That is why saints and monks and every holy person of high level of spirituality are lovers of silence. Silent people are the most trusting ones to God and to others.

I have been dwelling this week on that scene when the shepherds came with all their noises and talks while Mary sat in silence along with St. Joseph, the patron saint of silence.

What was Mary thinking or praying? Was she asking for a better year in their lives after all the trials and difficulties she and Joseph have in having Jesus?

I don’t think she prayed for a better year ahead like many of us wishing in Facebook that 2023 would be better.

If we have Jesus Christ in us like Mary, every year, every day is always the best. If I may say so, every today becomes the least joyous days of our lives in Christ. Read and pray the gospel to see how the lives of Mary and all the other disciples went through the most wonderful and spectacular experiences in having Jesus.

Like Mary after giving birth to Jesus, she never prayed nor wished for a better year despite her being the Mother of God because nothing is better than living each day in Christ our Savior.

It is useless and futile to get all those lucky charms nor consult fortune tellers on what is in store for us this 2023. Mary knew nothing at all what was in store for her in giving birth to Jesus, much less in following him as his foremost disciple. All she was certain at that time time was the name to be given to her child, Jesus that means “God is my savior”.

Jesus is still and will always be our only certainty in life – day in, day out in every year. Let us not lose Jesus. Like Mary, let us treasure him in our hearts where he dwells. Let us pray with Mary:

Lord Jesus Christ,
on this passing of 2022
as 2023 comes, make me silent
in you, trusting you like your Mother
and our Mother too, 
the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Thank you for everything; 
despite the many disappointments
and failures, trials and sufferings, 
hurts and pains amidst the more 
joys and laughters I have had from
people you have given me this 2022,
teach me to trust you more that everything
in the past year indicates more better days are ahead!
I pray only for one thing this new year
as your disciple, Lord:
like Mary, let me love and trust you more,
never let me leave you,
keep me at your side even 
at your Cross.  Amen.