Category: conversion

Following Jesus, our true Star

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe of the Epiphany of the Lord, 05 January 2020

Isaiah 60:1-6 ><}}}*> Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6 ><}}}*> Matthew 2:1-12

From Google.

A very blessed Merry Christmas to you, my dear reader and follower! As I have been insisting to you since January first, we are still in the Christmas Season as we celebrate today the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord.

It is the third major celebration of Christmastime after the Nativity of the Lord (December 25) and Mary Mother of God (January 01).

In some parts of the country especially the countrysides, they regard Epiphany in equal standing with Christmas, calling it “Three Kings Sunday” known as “Pasko ng Magsasaka” (Christmas of Farmers).

So, please, do not cut the Christmas Season short and stop greeting others with a happy new year.

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

Matthew 2:1-3
From Google.

Jesus Christ is our one and only true Star

Epiphany is from the Greek word epiphanes that means revelation or manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ to the whole world symbolized by the “magi” or wise men from the East.

While there are many sources that confirm to us both in history and tradition that the magi were from Persia (Iran) who have truly paid homage to the Infant Jesus, evidence pointing to the reality of the star of Bethlehem are still scarce but slowly developing.

Though it is still important to establish the factual basis on the existence of the star of Bethlehem, we who believe in Jesus Christ need to focus more on the theology behind this detail from Matthew’s Christmas story which refers to the Lord himself.

We all search for a “star”, something great and noble in life.

It is a given, a gift that every person is capable of rising above one’s self for something lofty and greater than himself/herself.

Too often, we pursue stars that are so common and ordinary – perhaps low and dull ones – like wealth and fame. Eventually we mature that we follow bigger and more luminous stars that are higher and found deeper in space so to speak like wisdom and peace within.

But no matter what we search in life, whatever star we follow, the saints and our faith teach us how we all desire and long only for the one and only true star of all, Jesus Christ.

St. Benedicta dela Cruz (Edith Stein) said that “anyone who seeks the truth eventually finds God” while the great St. Augustine eloquently wrote in his Confessiones, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI beautifully said it in one of his books:

“The key point is this: the wise men from the east are a new beginning. They represent the journeying of humanity toward Christ. They initiate a procession that continues throughout history. Not only do they represent the people who have found the way to Christ: they represent the inner aspiration of the human spirit, the dynamism of religions and human reason toward him.”

Jesus of Nazareth, The Infancy Narratives (page 97)
Old Jerusalem, May 2017. Photo by author.

Lessons of the Magi

Last January first, we reflected how we must make that conscious decision to empty ourselves of our pride to be filled with the Holy Spirit so we can bring Jesus into the world today like Mary the Mother of God.

Today on this Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, we are invited to imitate the magi, to be wise men too in continuing the beautiful Christmas story by always seeking, following and submitting ourselves to Jesus Christ, our only true star in life.

There are three important lessons we can learn from the magi in being truly wise to seek and follow Jesus:

First, welcome darkness and chaos in life. The most life-changing and enriching moments we have are also the most adversarial ones. Remember the “AQ” or adversarial quotient experts are now proposing as true indicators of success in life?

More than success is fulfillment which we desire most when we are in desolation, when we are in the middle of a storm and trial in life, when we are in darkness.

Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. See, darkness covers the earth, and the thick clouds cover the peoples; but pon you the Lord shines, and over you appears his glory.

Isaiah 60:1-2

In the gospel, we have heard how “King Herod was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him” (Mt.2:3) upon hearing from the magi the birth of “the newborn king of the Jews” signified by the star they saw from the East.

Troubles and chaos are great motivators for us to seek better things like meaning in life!

Pilgrims entering through the narrow door of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, May 2019. Photo by author.

Second, dark moments in life are are an invitation to pray more, especially in meditating the Sacred Scriptures, the word of God.

Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, Herod inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet…

Matthew 2:4-5

The bible is the word of God and when we pray it, it is God himself who speaks to us directly. It is not enough to read and study the Sacred Scriptures like the scribes and chief priests summoned by King Herod.

They knew the book but refused to recognize the Author, God himself.

The scribes and chief priests got it right that the Christ was born in Bethlehem but were not wise enough to join the magi in paying homage to him.

Prayer is a call to communion with God that requires humility and total surrender of self which leads us to lesson number three in following Jesus our true star in life.

From Google.

Third and last but not least lesson from the magi is what are you willing to give in order to follow the Star, Jesus Christ?


The magi from the East were rightly called wise men because they knew very well the most important things in life, the most essential. They did not merely leave the comforts of their home and country to follow the star of Bethlehem.

They were willing to give up so many things just to find Jesus Christ!

This 2020, many of us are having new year’s resolutions, so many plans and dreams and aspirations in life.

It is always good to reach for the stars but we must always keep our feet on the ground as Casey Kasem would always say at the end of his American Top 40 program during the 80’s.

And keeping those feet on the ground is working hard for our dreams with a lot of sacrifices. Keeping feet on the ground is doing all the hard work and avoiding shortcuts.

The magi did not mind going into Jerusalem, asking around amid dangers of suspicions from the powerful, just to find Jesus Christ. Most of all, they have brought gifts with them, precious commodities of that time to signify their sincerity in finding and following Jesus.

How about us today, in this age that is marked with so may people feeling entitled to everything in life?

This early in his Epiphany, Jesus is already showing us the path we have to follow, the way of the Cross, of forgetting one’s self, of setting aside our ego, of letting go and letting God.

Unless we are able to forget our ego, we can never imitate the magi in being wise “to depart for their country by another way” (Mt.2:12) to avoid King Herod.

That is the ultimate indication of being wise, that after finding Wisdom, we change our ways, our lives and live in Jesus Christ, the Holy One. Amen.

Merry Christmas!

From Desicomments.com. Last line should be “Lift our eyes”, not “Life”.

Witnessing Jesus Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Friday, Optional Memorial of the Holy Name of Jesus, 03 January 2019

2 John 2:29-3:6 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> John 1:29-34

From Google.

Praise and glory to you, O Lord Jesus Christ, whose name alone is so powerful and merciful, always taken for granted by those who refuse to enter into a deep communion and friendship with you.

See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.

2 John 3:1-2, 5

So many times Lord, we take your love for granted.

Most of the time, we take you for granted.

Give us the courage to testify to your most Holy Name, your holy presence like John the Baptizer.

May our lives be a witnessing to your love and mercy, kindness and justice as we try our very best to spread your good news of salvation from sins. Amen.

“The Dream” by Michael Franks (1993)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music, 08 December 2019

Advent wreathe at the Malolos Cathedral, 04 December 2019.

Advent is the season of hope when we are encouraged to work on to fulfill God’s grand design for lasting peace here on earth. It is a time for us to dream with eyes wide open!

I had this dream
In which I swam with dolphins
In open sea a transparent blue
(Maybe you dreamt it too)
And on the earth
The trees grew heavy with blossoms
The rainforests had not died
And the Amazon shined like an emerald
Somewhere, somehow, some way
We must hold back the dawn
While there’s still time to try
Keep the faith, keep the dream alive

That is why we have chosen for this Second Sunday of Advent jazz master Michael Franks’ The Dream from his 1993 album “Dragonfly Summer”. It is a song very similar with Isaiah’s prophecy in the first reading of a “peaceable kingdom” where

“the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them.”

Isaiah 11:6

Considered as a leader of the “quiet storm” or “smooth jazz” movement, a genre of jazz music mixed with pop and rock tempo, Franks has collaborated with some of the great musicians of the world in the last 40 years with his compositions covered by many artists from the wide spectrum of the music world proving his genius and versatility.

For me, Franks is the Walter Becker/Donald Fagen of jazz, always precise and almost perfect in every piece of music that is intelligent and exquisite but never snobbish and definitely without pretensions. Like Steely Dan, his music is picturesquely evocative that one can feel and even see the timbre of every voice and instrument.

Gifted with a cool and sophisticated voice, Franks can sound playful like with “Eggplant” and “Popsicle Toes”, philosophical and dead serious with “Tiger in the Rain” and lovingly romantic with “Rainy Night in Tokyo” and “Lady Wants to Know”.

His music and lyrics are simple yet profound, always fresh and relaxing not only to ears but also to one’s soul that’s very inspiring.

Going back to our featured music on this second Sunday of Advent, Franks’ The Dream challenges us to test and keep our faith in order to work for a lasting peace here on earth.

I had this dream
That we were all one family
Which war and famine could not undo
(Maybe you dreamt it too)
Our family name
Was either Kindness or Compassion
We recognized each other
And we recognized the light inside us

Dream on in Christ, dream with Michael Franks!

Advent is for healing

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul

Second Sunday of Advent-A, 08 December 2019

Isaiah 11:1-10 ><}}}*> Romans 15:4-9 ><}}}*> Matthew 3:1-12

Cathedral Basilica Minore of the Immaculate Conception, Malolos City, Advent 2019.

Advent is a season we are invited to look forward, to dream of the ideal, of the best things we wish we all have in this destructive world we live in.

It is the time for healing our wounds and brokenness as we look forward to the fulfillment of God’s promise of lasting peace brought by Jesus Christ’s coming more than 2000 years ago.

On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him… Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted… Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips. Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like ox. The baby shall play by the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair. There shall be no harm or ruin on my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea.

Isaiah 11:1-2, 3, 4, 5-9
“Peaceable Kingdom”, a painting based on Is.11:1-10 by American Edward Hicks, a Quaker pastor (1780-1849).

Jesus is coming again to heal our destructive world

Last November 28 we celebrated Red Wednesday to remember the more than 300 million Christians worldwide persecuted in various forms because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Many of them were tortured and/or murdered while others were denied of work, housing and liberty for carrying the cross and confessing their faith and love for Jesus Christ.

According to some reports, about 80% of wars and conflicts in the world today are due to religion. How tragic – and scandalous – that religion is tearing us apart than bringing us together as peoples believing in a God who is loving and merciful!

But despite all these destructions going on, Isaiah’s prophecy challenges us to keep our hopes alive for a better future, to look forward for the coming again of Jesus Christ, “the shoot that shall sprout from the stump of Jesse” to heal our destructive world.

Advent assures us that it is never too late for the Lord to make peace and justice spring forth in our dying world like a stump of tree.

Isaiah’s vision is an imagery of God’s test of faith to us all to make it Jesus Christ’s peace a reality in this fragmented world, calling us into conversion so that we shall be “filled with knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea.”

It is a call made louder and clearer by St. John the Baptist at the wilderness that still echoes to our own time today.

Healing our destructive world starts within me

Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, September 2019.

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance… Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Matthew 3:7-8,10

The season of Advent is not only inviting us to look forward for a new world order where there would be lasting peace and justice, when all our tears would be wiped out, with perfect joy replacing our pains and sufferings. Advent is calling on us to look forward in renewing our relationships with God and with one another by beginning within our own hearts.

And make no mistake that St. John’s preaching and call were not only meant for the Pharisees and Sadducees of his time but also to us all Christians of today to “produce good fruit of our repentance” because being sorry for our sins is just the first step to conversion.

Whenever there is true repentance in our hearts, there must also be a change in our very selves, in our living. And only then can we expect of a better and more beautiful world coming like Isaiah’s vision because from true repentance comes justice and mercy.

St. John was very clear: it is Jesus Christ who is coming whom we shall await and prepare to meet right in our hearts. He is coming not to destroy the world – and us – but to restore everything into life anew.

Skies over the desert of Sinai in Egypt, May 2019.

Meeting Christ in the desert

Sometimes we get discouraged by some people and many situations that throw us off-balanced, tempting us to abandon all our efforts to be healed of our wounds and brokenness, in striving to become better persons.

Like St. John the Baptist, we have our own desert of desolation and bareness that purifies us further in preparing the way of the Lord, in meeting the Lord to be healed.

It is in our own desert of desolation and bareness where we are healed as we learn to be empty of ourselves like St. John in order to conquer first our selfish desires with silence and prayer, not with activities as we are all bent in doing these days.

In our world saturated in media with cacophony of voices telling us to do everything to be rich and popular and famous, the more we become empty and lost, broken and wounded.

“St. John the Baptist Preaching in the Wilderness” by German painter Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1779). From Google.

Like St. John the Baptist, we have to break free from the trappings of the world by retreating into our own desert right inside our hearts in order to listen more to the voice of the coming Christ we must proclaim fearlessly in words and in deeds.

St. Paul assures us that all that scripture foretold in the past has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ who is coming again at the end of time. Despite the many destructions in this world, despite the many setbacks we have in life, may we imitate St. John the Baptist in awaiting Christ in our own desert for he is most faithful in his promise and presence. Amen.

Advent is regaining our sight and vision

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 06 December 2019

Advent 2019, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Bagbaguin, Santa Maria, Bulacan.

Advent and Lent are two beautiful seasons in our Church calendar that prepare us for the great feasts of Christmas and Easter, respectively. Both have violet as motif though Advent is supposed to have a more bluish hue to distinguish it from Lent’s penitential character.

They both invite us to “look forward” into that future glory of Jesus Christ when he comes again at the end of time to establish “new heaven and new earth” where peace would finally reign, removing all sufferings and pains, wiping away all our tears to fill us with perfect joy.

On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book; and out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. The lowly will ever find joy in the Lord, and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 29:18-19

Advent is renewed relationships

More than the promise of a new order of things in the Second Coming of Christ, Advent invites us also to look forward into renewed relationships with God through others.

Our Advent Candle 2019.

Jesus Christ comes first in our hearts, his new manger. Unfortunately, we seem to have forgotten Jesus, remembering only his birthday and its trimmings. Fanned by social media, people are going crazy as early as August with their own Christmas countdown with those memes of Jose Mari Chan poised to sing his popular “Christmas in Our hearts”, forgetting its beautiful message of opening our hearts to Jesus through one another.

How sad that more than ever, people are so excited with Christmas for the wrong reasons like gifts and money, parties and vacations but not Jesus himself.

Advent invites us to “actively wait” Christ’s coming by renewing our relationships with our family and friends in every here and now of our daily living.

As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying out, “Son of David, have pity on us!” When he entered the house, the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they said to him. Then he touched their eyes… and their eyes were opened.

Matthew 9:27-29, 30

Need to remove our “blindness”

Advent is a season to remove our blindness to Jesus present in us and in every person we meet. Our gospel today tells us a short story of Christ’s healing of two blind men with a twist of humor.

According to St. Matthew, the two blind men kept following Jesus after teaching a crowd, begging him to restore their sight.

How they were able to follow Jesus, your guess is as wild as mine… but, most funny is how they followed Jesus home to finally heal them!

Go figure it out. How did it happen if both men were blind, following Jesus every step of the way into his home?

But they both teach us a valuable lesson not only for this Advent but for everyday living: of the need to remove our blindness so we may see Christ coming to us day in, day out.

How sad when most of us have eyes but cannot see or even refuse to see Jesus Christ coming to us personally and among other people especially our family and friends, among the ordinary and usual people we meet everyday in our lives.

Last Tuesday amid heavy rains and winds of Supertyphoon “Tisoy”, two elderly couples in the parish requested for the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.

After hearing their confessions, anointing them with Oil, and giving them the Holy Communion, I decided to stay longer when I found out they live by themselves despite having six children living in the vicinity with their many apos!

Making things worst for the couple are the two children living abroad: one in the States have totally cut ties with them without any communication in 15 years while the other living Down Under refusing to help them in their medical needs.

May the light of Christ heal us of our many blindness so we may see him among our families and friends.

The way we live and what we hope

I have been told the elderly couple I have visited were not really that “good parents” and neighbors as well. But, I explained to everyone after my visitation that is not important, nor the issue at hand.

What matters most is who would take care or look after these two elderly people, an arthritic father and a mother stricken with stroke? Must we allow ourselves to be blinded by past sins and hurts and pains that we fail to see Christ coming in the present?

Yes, this is easier said than done but, in this life, we only have two choices to make, either we become better or bitter. Make the right and better choice always!

Last Sunday I told my congregation that the way we live dictates our hope.

Photo by Jo Villafuerte at Atok, Benguet, 01 September 2019

Those who strive in life to do what is good, to become better in whatever form are those who truly hope. And truly love because they believe in the future, they look forward to something better if not in this life, maybe after.

But those who do nothing in this life, those who feel resigned, “enjoying” their miseries in life are the ones who do not hope. And surely do not love at all for they see only death and destruction, nothing to look forward to. They do not mind hurting even killing others because they believe there is no future at all.

Indeed, as TIME Magazine’s Lance Morrow wrote in 1991, the opposite of love is not really evil but hopelessness. Very true.

As we end this first week of Advent moving closer to Christmas, let us pray for the grace of Jesus Christ to heal us of our many blindness in life so we may see him anew in us and in others too. A blessed weekend to you!

Advent is looking forward

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Friday, Advent Week-I, 06 December 2019

Isaiah 29:17-24 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Matthew 9:27-31

Advent in our parish, 2019.

Time flies so fast, O Lord, and we are almost over with the first week of Advent! How reassuring are your words today especially in the first reading of the wonderful things coming soon, in fact happening now in Jesus Christ’s coming.

Thus says the Lord God: but a very little while, and Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard, and the orchard be regarded as a forest! On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book; and out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. The lowly will ever find joy in the Lord, and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel…

Isaiah 29:17-19

I know, Lord, and yes, I can see clearly now that great things are coming for us who faithfully await your coming. There shall be joy and justice, healing and consolation for those who suffer and cry.

Keep our eyes opened, remove our blindness to see the more essential things in life especially you so we may always experience your presence, your coming. Amen.

Staying in the house of the Lord

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Thursday, Advent Week-I, 05 December 2019

Isaiah 26:1-6 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Matthew 7:21, 24-27

Chandelier of the Malolos Cathedral, 04 December 2019.

Let me stay in your “house”, O Lord, and help me keep your house rules, too. I am sorry when most of the time I simply want to rest and drop by your “house” with no plans of really living there, of listening to your words and doing your will.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”

Matthew 7:21

Forgive me Lord when I have become so complacent as your disciple, as a Christian, relying solely on my name and affiliation with you without working so hard to be like you.

Help me to be holy like God our Father, listening to your words intently and faithfully acting on it at all time so that I may be wise and most of all, be filled with your peace:

A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace; in peace, for its trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever! For the Lord is an eternal Rock!

Isaiah 26:3-4

So many times, Lord Jesus, we take you for granted… just like the people in our own homes. But when things go wrong, they are the only people we can count on to receive us, to love us, and to forgive us. Very much like you, Jesus.

May this Season of Advent make us more open to you not only to receive you but also to keep you. Amen.

Petra in Jordan, May 2019.

Loving shades of God

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Monday, Advent Week I, 02 December 2019

Isaiah 4:2-6 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Matthew 8:5-11

Sunrise at the Lake of Galilee, the Holy Land, 2017.

O God our loving Father, who among is truly worthy to receive you under our roofs?

Who among us is truly worthy of receiving you in our sinful selves?

No one, O dear God!

Yet, you still sent us your only Son Jesus Christ to live among us, to dwell among us sinners so that unworthy as we are, we may be worthy to receive him.

Just say the word, Lord, like with the centurion’s request to you in today’s gospel.

Cleanse us, our minds, our lips, and our hearts so that we may be worthy to receive you into our lives in your daily coming. Most especially in your Second Coming, Lord Jesus.

Unworthy as we are, let us come to you with clean hearts and receive you Jesus in your sacred banquet of the Holy Eucharist, the foretaste of that banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.

For over all, the Lord’s glory will be shelter and protection; shade from the parching heat of day, refuge and cover from storm and rain.

Isaiah 4:6

Come, Lord Jesus! Amen.

Trees at the Sacred Heart Novitiate in Novaliches, Quezon City, 2017.

“I Can See Clearly Now” by Johnny Nash (1972)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music, 01 December 2019

Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2018.

A blessed Sunday to you my dear follower and reader!

It’s the first day of December, the final month of the year but at the same time the start of a new year in our Church calendar with the Season of Advent, the four Sundays before Christmas.

From the Latin adventus that means coming, Advent has a two-fold character on the two comings of Jesus Christ: beginning today until December 16, all readings and prayers are focused on his Second Coming; from December 17 to the 24th, we shift our sights to the first Christmas when Christ was born in Bethlehem 2000 years ago.

Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man.”

Matthew 24:37-39

Nobody knows when Jesus Christ is coming again but he assures us that it will be sudden and unexpected like in the days of Noah. It is useless to know exactly when it would be because it may be any time. According to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, between the two comings of Christ is his third coming – that is, in every moment of our lives.

Contrary to common beliefs, the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time known as parousia will not necessarily be catastrophic. It all depends to our attitude: if we are negligent of our Christian duties to love and serve those in need, then we end in disaster like what Jesus tells us in the gospel today.

Jesus is coming again not to destroy the world but to bring it to perfection, into new heaven and new earth. What he is asking us is to be like him, Christ-like, to be his presence by allowing us to let his light shine through our words and deeds.

Here to inspire us to glimpse Christ’s coming to our daily lives is Johnny Nash in his 1972 hit “I Can See Clearly Now”.

Composed and produced by Nash himself, I Can See Clearly Now evokes a very Advent spirit of active waiting and vigilance. Its musical arrangement laced with reggae influences from Nash’s earlier collaborations with Bob Marley gives the song with some touch of solemnity that makes it so perfect for this First Sunday of Advent.

Happy listening and may the song open your eyes too to Jesus Christ’s love for you!

Advent is “putting on Christ”

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul

First Sunday of Advent-A, 01 December 2019

Isaiah 2:1-5 ><}}}*> Romans 13:11-14 ><}}}*> Matthew 24:37-44

From Google.

A blessed first Sunday of Advent to you my dear reader and follower! Today we begin another new year in our Church calendar with this season of Advent. Both the word “Advent” and its concept were borrowed from ancient Rome when provinces prepared for the coming, or “adventus” of the emperor to visit the occupied territories of his empire.

But, Jesus is more than any emperor of the world for he is true God and King of kings, the one who had come, always comes, and will be coming again at the end of time to judge us, both the living and the dead. This Season of Advent gives us the opportunities to intensely prepare for the Lord’s adventus that always begins in our hearts.

Advent has a two-fold character: beginning today until December 16, the readings and prayers set our sights to the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time or the parousia. From December 17-24, focus shifts to the first Christmas when Jesus was born in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago.

According to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, between these two comings of Christ is his third coming that happens daily in our lives, so ordinary but very sudden like in the time of Noah.

Photo by author, sacristy of our Parish, Advent 2018.

Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man.

Matthew 24:37-39

Staying awake, actively waiting for the Lord.

Jesus is definitely coming at the end of time. It is useless to be concerned when that would be because it will be sudden and unexpected. What matters most is our attitude of “staying awake, actively waiting” for the Lord’s coming again.

The Lord cites to us the example of Noah whom God had instructed to build an ark in the Old Testament for the coming great flood meant to cleanse the earth of sins and evil.

To actively wait for the Lord’s parousia means to be a sign of contradiction like Noah who faithfully obeyed God’s will in building an ark and later gathering into it all the animal species of earth.

Imagine the insults Noah had to endure from people laughing at him while building the ark. Yet, he never wavered and faithfully fulfilled his task before the Lord.

From Google.

Jesus cites three other instances of displaying the right attitude in actively waiting for his Second Coming: the two men out in the field, the two women grinding, and the master of the house.

One of the two men in the field was taken while one of the two women grinding was also taken because they were responsibly fulfilling their tasks when the parousia comes; their respective counterparts were most likely doing nothing or very lazy that they were left behind.

The mini parable Jesus inserted at the end shows us the imagery of the master of the house staying awake to keep the thief from breaking into the house in the middle of the night.

These are all about having the right attitude as disciples of Jesus actively awaiting his return. From Noah to the other man in the field, the other woman grinding, and the master of the house, we find from their attitudes of active waiting budding forth their hope in God.

Generally speaking, the way we live our lives determines also how we hope in the Lord.

And this we find in St.Paul’s exhortation to the Christians of Rome:

Brothers and sisters: you know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and lust, not in rivalry and jealous. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provisions for the desires of the flesh.

Romans 13:11-14
Altar table at the Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Bagbaguin, Santa Maria, Bulacan, Advent 2018.

Putting on Christ to show his light to dispel darkness.

St. Paul wrote the Christians in Rome more than 2000 years ago to remind them of the fierce spiritual warfare between good and evil, light and darkness while they were living in the midst of a pagan world and culture.

It was a very difficult time to be truly Christians but St. Paul felt the need to remind everyone of the ever-present reality of the parousia. Like in most of his letters, he captured by the grace of the Holy Spirit the beautiful imagery of disciples with the right attitude awaiting the Second Coming as “putting on the Lord Jesus Christ”.

Putting on our Lord Jesus Christ is not just a mere call to be morally perfect persons but for us to strive in making the light of Christ shine on us so that we may manifest Jesus more in us and in our lives.

Simply put, it is becoming “Christ-like”, a true Christian who is “dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:11), one who lives differently by making Jesus more present especially in these difficult and troublesome times.

The time of St. Paul was no different with our present age with growing materialism and consumerism among peoples, including Christians afflicted with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s “dictatorship of relativism” that have removed God from every aspect of human life, including Christmas itself!

See how we are so focused on Christmas countdowns than with the very reason of the Season, Jesus Christ. See how the media equate Christmas with material things, sugarcoating it with sentimental feelings as most Christmas songs nowadays indicate.

Advent is seeing more of Jesus, than of time.

On this first Sunday of Advent, our sights are redirected anew into Christ’s Second Coming with our important task of making him present in our very selves.

As children of the light, we slowly discover and realize how our definitive salvation is slowly moving towards its fullness in Christ’s parousia when everything is totally changed by God with peace finally reigning supreme over all.

Violets on the pedestal of our Patron Saint, John the Evangelist.

This was the vision of Isaiah a long, long time ago.

It had been fulfilled in Christ’s first coming in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago and it is being fulfilled daily through people filled with hope in God’s justice and love.

In the days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills. All nations shall stream toward it; many people shall come and say: “Come, let us climb the Lord’s mountain…” They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. O God of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!

Isaiah 2:2-3, 4-5

People who keep on wondering and asking when will Jesus come again are not really interested with the Lord’s Second Coming but only with themselves like the people during the time of Noah – oblivious to anything else and busy with their own pursuits.

The more we think of the WHEN, the less we think of the WHO of Advent. Let us put on the Lord Jesus Christ to be filled with his light until all darkness in life is dispelled. Amen.