In this season of Lent, teach us, Lord, to be consistent in our contrition; let us realize that true contrition for our sins is not only when we have cried, nor when we have beaten our breasts with mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa, nor when we say sorry to everyone we have sinned.
Being sorry for our sins before you, God our Father, is being consistent - when our contrition leads us to change our evil ways and most of all, when we become consistent in our prayer and lives that we stop with our sins and evil ways.
Azariah stood up in the fire and prayed aloud: “For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation, brought low everywhere in the world this day because of our sins. But with contrite heart and humble spirit let us be received; as though it were burnt offerings of rams and bullocks, or thousands of fat lambs, so let our sacrifice be inn your presence today as we follow you unreservedly; for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame.
Daniel 3:25, 37, 39
Most of all, O God, to be contrite for our sins is being consistent also in being forgiving with our fellow sinners; every day, we call you God "Our Father", asking you to forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us but so often, we just say these words without really acting on them, fulfilling them by forgiving our fellow sinners; to be sorry for our own sins is to see also the pure heart of another sinner asking for forgiveness of sins.
To be contrite is to be consistent in forgiving others from one's heart because a truly contrite heart sees and feels a fellow contrite heart too! Amen.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the Second Week of Lent, 27 February 2024 Isaiah 1;10, 16-20 <*[[[[>< + + + ><]]]]*> Matthew 23:1-12
Praise and glory to you, God our Father, for this Season of Lent! Though it is characterized with sobriety due to the the spirit of penance, you have ensured it not to be dull nor drab with the joy of Easter we all anticipate. And so, what a joy to listen to your words today of the bursts of reds you promised to cleanse and turn into white as snow.
Come now, let us set things right, says the Lord. Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool.
Isaiah 1:18
Your words make me wonder, Lord, why sins be like scarlet and crimson? Could it be because both shades evoke power we humans always abuse that consciously or unconsciously, we draw blood that in the process take life of others because of our sinful desires and schemes; forgive us, O Lord, for our hypocrisies that have killed others literally and figuratively.
In Jesus' name, help us, O God to "set things right", to be true and humble before you for "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (Matthew 23:12); let us set things right by being fair and just especially to those weak and marginalized; let us set things right by giving back what we have stolen from others; let us set things right by being concerned with others through love and good works that uplift people physically, morally, and spiritually. Amen.
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera in Calgary, Alberta, 21 February 2024.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the First Week of Lent, 23 February 2024 Ezekiel 18:21-28 <*[[[[>< + + + ><]]]]*> Matthew 5:20-26
“Water Lilies” (1916-1919) painting by Frenchman Claude Monet from lopificio.it
As we come to close the first week of Lent today, your words in our Responsorial Psalm are so true, O God because nothing can be hidden from you, “If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?”
Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
Matthew 5:23-24
When does a "brother has anything against us", Lord Jesus?
The Filipino translation “kung may sama ng loob sa iyo ang iyong kapatid” implies the problem lies with the brother, not us; but, here you are telling us we are the offender, who are obliged, even ought to be “reconciled with him first then offer your gift” as we are the guilty one!
Forgive us for acting immaturely clean and innocent when our feuds and animosities with others are due to our pretending to be the offended ones when in fact, we are the offender.
Let us get real with ourselves beginning this Lent for we can never fool you, God our Father.
“When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies, it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die. But if the wicked, turning from wickedness he has committed, does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life; since he has turned away from all the sins that he committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.”
Ezekiel 18:26-28
Thank you dear Father for being true with us always that we may also get real with you and everybody else. Amen.
Lawiswis Ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II Kapistahan ng Pagbabalik-loob ni San Pablo, Ika-25 ng Enero, 2024 Gawa ng mga Apostol 22:3-16 ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> Marcos 16:15-18
Painting ng “The Conversion of St. Paul” ni Luca Giordano noong 1690 mula sa wikipedia.org.
“Magbago ka na!” Iyan ang mga salitang madalas nating marinig at sinasabi sa mga tao na alam nating mayroong masamang pag-uugali at gawain. Madalas bitiwan mga salitang iyan tuwing Bagong Taon at mga Mahal na Araw.
Ngunit, maari nga ba talagang magbago ng pag-uugali o ng pagkatao ang sino man? Ibig bang sabihin yung dating iyakin magiging bungisngis o dating madaldal magiging tahimik? Iyon bang matapang kapag nagbago magiging duwag o dating palaban magiging walang kibo at imik?
Kung isasalin sa sariling wika natin ang salitang “conversion”, nagpapahiwatig ito ng pagbabago tulad ng na-convert sa ibang relihiyon o sa ibang anyo o gamit. Ngunit sa bawat pagbabago, mayroong higit na malalim na nababago na hindi namang ibig sabihin ay nag-iiba o naging different.
Kasi iyong sinasabing conversion ni San Pablo o ng sino pa mang tao ay hindi naman pagbabago ng pagkatao kung tutuusin; sa bawat conversion, hindi naman nababago ating pagkatao talaga kungdi ating puso na naroon sa ating kalooban.
Kaya tinatawag itong pagbabalik-loob, di lamang pagbabagong-buhay.
Binabalikan natin ang Diyos na nananahan sa puso natin, doon sa kalooban natin.
Higit na malalim at makahulugang isalin ang conversion sa katagang “pagbabalik-loob” dahil ang totoo naman ay bumabalik tayo sa Diyos na naroon sa loob ng ating sarili.
Dito ipinakikita rin na likas tayong mabuti sapagkat mula tayo sa Diyos na mismong Kabutihan. Kailangang pagsisihan mga kasalanan, talikuran at talikdan kasamaan na siyang mga balakid sa ano mang pagbabalik-loob at saka pa lamang mababago ating pamumuhay.
Katulad ni San Pablo, sino man sa atin na makatagpo sa liwanag ng Diyos, nagiging maliwanag ang lahat kayat atin nang hahangarin ang Diyos na lamang at kanyang kalooban. Nananatili ating katauhan at pag-uugali ngunit naiiba direksiyon at pokus.
Kapansin-pansin na bawat nagkakasala wika nga ay malayo ang loob sa Diyos na ibig sabihin ay “ayaw sa Diyos” gaya ng ating pakahulugan tuwing sinasabing “malayo ang loob”. Ang nagbabalik-loob ay lumalapit, nagbabalik-loob at pumapaloob sa Diyos.
Pangangaral ni San Pablo sa Areopagus sa Athens (larawan mula sa wikipedia.org).
Isang magandang paalala sa ating lahat itong Kapistahan ng Pagbabalik-loob ni San Pablo na hindi malayo at hindi rin mahirap maabot, bumalik sa Diyos sa pamamagitan ni Kristo Jesus. Maari itong mangyari sa gitna mismo ng ating sira at maruming sarili.
Hindi nabago pagkatao at pag-uugali ni San Pablo kung tutuusin: nanatili pa rin siyang masugid, matapang at masigasig. Nabago lamang ang direksiyon at pokus o tuon ng kanyang pag-uugali at pagkatao. At siya pa rin iyon. Inamin niya sa ating unang pagbasa ngayon na siya ay “isang Judio, ipinanganak sa Tarso ng Cilicia ngunit lumaki rin sa Jerusalem. Nag-aral kay Gamaliel at buong higpit na tinuruan sa Kautusuan ng mga ninuno at masugid na naglilingkod sa Diyos” (Gawa 22:3).
Nanatiling masugid sa Diyos si San Pablo ngunit naiba na ang batayan na dati ay sa mga Kautusan at tradisyon ngunit sa kanyang pagbabalik-loob, si Jesu-Kristo na ang batayan ng kanyang pananampalataya. Personal niyang naranasan si Jesus kaya gayon na lamang kanyang pagiging masugid na alagad. Sinasabing kung hindi siya nadakip at nakulong hanggang sa patayin marahil ay umabot siya sa Africa sa pagpapalaganap ng Mabuting Balita.
Hindi rin nabawasan kanyang tapang; bagkus pa nga ay higit pa siyang tumapang. Lahat ng hirap tiniis niya at hinarap gaya ng pambubugbog sa kanila, ma-shipwreck sa isla, mabilanggo ng ilang ulit at ni minsan hindi umatras sa mga balitaktakan at paliwanagan sa mga Judio at maging kay San Pedro ay kanyang kayang salungatin at pagsabihan kung kinakailangan.
Gayon na lamang ang malasakit ni San Pablo sa Panginoong Jesu-Kristo at kanyang Mabuting Balita kaya naman sabay ang pagdiriwang ng kanilang Dakilang Kapistahan ni San Pedro tuwing ika-29 ng Hunyo dahil magkapantay kanilang kahalagahan sa pagpapatatag, pamumuno at pagpapalaganap ng pananampalataya at Simbahan.
Ordinasyon sa pagka-diyakano sa Katedral sa Malolos, ika-12 ng Hunyo 2019.
Alalaong-baga, katulad ni San Pablo, ano man ating pagkatao at pag-uugali siya pa ring mga dahilan kaya tayo tinatawag ng Panginoon upang maglingkod sa kanya; ililihis at ihihilig lamang niya mga ito ayon sa kanyang panukala at kalooban.
Kaming mga pari kapag inordenahan ay ganoon pa rin naman pagkatao at pag-uugali ngunit nababago direksiyon at tuon sa bagong estado ng buhay at misyon.
Gayun din ang mga mag-asawa. Lalabas at lalabas tunay na pagkatao at pag-uugali ngunit hindi iyon mga sagwil upang lumago at lumalim sila sa pagmamahalan at pagsasama bilang mag-asawa.
Wika nga sa Inggles, “God does not call the qualified; he qualifies the call.” Maraming pagkakataon tinatawag tayo ng Diyos maglingkod sa kanya di dahil sa tayo ay magagaling at mahusay; madalas nagugulat pa tayo na mismong ating kapintasan at kakulangan ang ginagamit ng Diyos para tayo maging mabisa sa pagtupad sa kanyang tawag.
Madalas at hindi naman maaalis na sumablay pa rin tayo at sumulpot paulit-ulit dating pag-uugali. Kaya naman isang proseso na nagpapatuloy, hindi natatapos ang pagbabalik-loob sa Diyos. Araw-araw tinatawagan tayong magbalik-loob.
Larawan kuha ni G. Jim Marpa sa Dabaw, 15 Enero 2024.
Gaya ni San Pablo nang siya ay ma-bad trip kay Juan Marcos na iniwan sila ni Bernabe sa una nilang pagmimisyon. Batay sa kasulatan, ibig pagbigayn pa ni San Bernabe na muling isama si Juan Marcos sa pangalawang pagmimisyon nila ngunit mariin ang pagtanggi at pagtutol ni San Pablo kaya’t sila ay naghiwalay ng landas bagamat nanatili silang mga alagad ni Kristo. Sa bandang huli naman ay nagkapatawaran sila.
Ganoon din tayo, hindi ba? Walang perfect. Ang mahalaga araw-araw nagbabalik-loob tayo sa Diyos dahil araw-araw lumiligwak din tayo sa ating maling pag-uugali at mahunang pagkatao.
Higit sa lahat, sa ating patuloy na pagbabalik-loob, doon lamang magiging maliwanag sa ating ang kalooban ng Diyos na palagi nating inaalam sapagkat batid nating ito ang pinakamabuti para sa atin. Ang kalooban ng Diyos ang magtuturo sa atin ng tamang landas na tatahakin upang ating buhay ay maging ganap at kasiya-siya.
Subalit kadalasan tayo ay nabibigo, naguguluhan kung ano ang kalooban ng Diyos dahil akala natin para itong tanong na isang pindot ay malalaman kaagad ang sagot tulad ng sa Google. Mahirap mabatid kalooban ng Diyos kung tayo ay malayo sa kanya dahil sa mga kasalanan. Kaya tulad ni San Pablo, idalangin natin sa Ama sa pamamagitan ni Jesu-Kristong Anak niya na magpatuloy tayo sa pagbabalik-loob upang manatili tayong nakapaloob sa Diyos. Amen. San Pablo, ipanalangin mo kami!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, 106th Anniversary of Last Apparition in Fatima, 13 October 2023
Joel 4:12-21 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 11:15-20
From cbcpnews.net, 13 May 2022, at the Parish of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City.
Praise and glory to you,
God our loving Father
in sending us your Son
Jesus Christ who gave us
his Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be our Mother too!
As we remember today
the 106th year
of her last appearance at
Fatima in Portugal,
we pray most especially anew
for her intercession
for peace in the world,
peace in our Church,
peace in our hearts.
Her apparitions at Fatima
were the most amazing
proofs of your love and mercy
to us in recent history,
reminding us of the need
to reform our lives,
to be converted,
and be reconciled with you,
Father,
through Jesus Christ.
Sadly, until now,
we have refused to heed
her calls of true conversion
so there would be true
reconciliation among us
in Jesus with a new and
stronger commitment
to live our Christian life.
Every year at the start
of Lent on Ash Wednesday
we hear the same words of
your prophet Joel calling
on us today in the first reading
"to gird ourselves and weep and
fast for the day of the Lord is near"
(Joel 1:13-15) but we never heed
them; 106 years ago, the Blessed
Virgin Mary called on the same
things from us and yet,
we have remained stubborn.
Forgive us, Father.
We have strayed so far
from you; our eyes feast on
the many wondrous deeds
you continue to do in our lives
but our hearts are so far from you
like those people who tested Jesus
after he had driven out a demon
(Lk. 11:15-26);
how unfortunate and sad
when many of us today
believe more in the power of
the devil under so many
disguises in technologies
and modern thoughts
and lifestyles by
continuing to refuse
to surrender
ourselves to your
healing power
in Jesus Christ.
Through our Lady of Fatima,
teach us humility and simplicity
like her visionaries in 1917,
the siblings St. Francisco
and St. Jacinta Marto
and their cousin now declared
Venerable Sr. Lucia;
like them, help us put into our
hearts not just in our minds
your calls of repentance
and conversion so there
will truly be reconciliation
among us and be committed
in working for lasting peace.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Homily for the 106th Anniversary of Last Apparition in Fatima, 13 October 2023
Isaiah 61:9-11 ><}}}}*> Galatians 4:4-7 ><}}}}*> Luke 11:27-28
Today – October 13, 2023 – is the 106th anniversary of the last apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima, Portugal when the “Miracle of the Sun” happened, witnessed by about 70,000 people. It was her sixth apparition to the three young children at Cova da Iria that started in May 13, 1917.
Except for the month of August when authorities jailed the three children on August 13 on their way to Cova da Iria to force them to recant their earlier statements of the apparition, the Blessed Mother appeared to them on August 19 at the nearby Valinhos where she repeated her calls for prayers and sacrifices as well as the request for them to come every 13th day until the coming October when she reveals herself after a great miracle.
What is significant with the 13th day of each month that Mary appeared in Fatima from May to October 1917 that we have continued with this 13th Day Devotion?
From Pinterest.com.
The Blessed Mother never explained to the three children, now St. Francisco and his sister St. Jacinta Marto and their cousin Sr. Lucia dos Santos why she appeared to them every 13th day of each month.
According to later interviews with Sr. Lucia who became a Carmelite sister and the last to die of the three children in 2005, she believed as the fruit of her prayers that the number 13 signified the Blessed Trinity. Sr. Lucia explained that number “13” illustrates to us that there is one (“1”) God in three (“3”) Persons (she was recently declared Venerable by Pope Francis to pave the way for her sainthood).
Here we find anew in the Fatima apparitions the consistency of truths found in our Church teachings and doctrines, specifically, the Blessed Trinity, that there is One God in Three Persons. Saints have also tried to explain the Blessed Trinity in simple analogies like the number 13 reflection of the Venerable Sr. Lucia.
In a 2022 article by Catholic author Joseph Pronechen that appeared in Soul magazine (see, https://www.bluearmy.com/the-significance-of-fatimas-13th-day/), he presented how the number “13” has many biblical foundations to be chosen by the Blessed Mother in Fatima as date of her apparitions. Foremost of this is found in the Old Testament Book of Esther.
Esther was among the Jewish exiles living in Persia after the Babylonian captivity. She was said to be so lovely and beautiful that the Persian king, Ahasuerus chose her to be his Queen among his many wives. Her uncle named Mordecai was the King’s most trusted adviser too that earned the jealousy among Persians in the royal court. Both Mordecai and Queen Esther remained faithful to God despite their royal positions. Esther then discovered a plot by some of the King’s men to exterminate all the Jews in Persia, especially her uncle Mordecai. It was at this instance that she prayed so hard to God for her to be able to warn her King of his men’s evil plot against the Jews even it could have cost her own life.
By the grace of God, Esther was able to muster all the strength and courage to speak to King Ahasuerus to foil the evil plot of his men set on “the 13th day of the twelfth month of Adar” (Esther 3:7).
The Persian king truly loved Queen Esther and ordered the arrest and execution of his aide (Haman) to prevent the murder of so many Jews. Queen Esther thus saved her fellow Jews on the 13th day of the Jewish month of Adar! And because of her intervention, King Ahasuerus ordered Jews in his kingdom to freely worship their God with assurance of protection from enemies.
Like Queen Esther, the Blessed Virgin Mary is also our Queen being the Mother of the King of kings, Jesus Christ. Every August 22 we celebrate her Queenship and in the Glorious Mysteries, we meditate her being Queen of heaven and earth.
Most of all, like Queen Esther, the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima intervened on October 13, 1917 to save the world from the ongoing WWI that began in 1914 and ended the following year in 1918. Sad to say, the world was plunged anew into the darkness of WWII that was more deadlier in 1939-1945 as predicted by our Lady at Fatima if the world would not heed calls for repentance and conversion of sinners. In recent history we have witnessed how our Queen Mother Mary saved St. John Paul II on May 13, 1981 – her feast day as our Lady of Fatima – from a deadly assassination attempt at St. Peter Square in the Vatican. Again, the world is in the darkness of deadly wars right in the Holy Land and in Ukraine by Russia whom the Virgin Mary had specifically mentioned in her October 13, 1917 apparition at Fatima.
When are we going to follow her maternal instructions of repentance and conversion, something which she merely repeated from similar calls by Prophets in the Old Testament and by her Son Jesus Christ in the gospels?
If we truly consider Mary is our Queen, why can’t we obey her and follow her instructions more than 100 years ago?
See how in today’s gospel Jesus underscored the importance of listening and following his words as main component of being part of his family. Mary was the first to listen and act on his word at the Annunciation and until now, she does the same thing so we may be saved from the wraths of evil caused by man’s inhumanity to one another.
Page from Ilustração Portuguesa, 29 October 1917, showing the people looking at the Sun during the Fátima apparitions attributed to the Virgin Mary. From en.wikipedia.org.
Going back to the Sacred Scriptures, we find more bases of the significance of number “13” used by the Blessed Mother at Fatima in 1917. In the Book of Acts, we find that when the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost, the 12 Apostles (Matthias replaced Judas Iscariot) were with “Mary the mother of Jesus” (Acts 1:14). Here we find 12 (Apostles) + 1 (Mary) = 13!
In the gospel accounts, we know Jesus Christ’s choice of 12 apostles was from the “12 tribes of Israel” or 12 sons of Jacob who was also called by God as “Israel”. Again, 12 + 1 = 13.
According to an interview by Pronechen of a Jewish rabbi, the meaning of number 13 in Hebrew is “bonding of many into one”. Every time we pray the Apostle’s Creed, we profess our faith not only in God in Three Persons but also to the Catholic Church that bonds us into Christ’s body who was born of the Virgin Mary. In Fatima on October 13, 1917, our Lady called on us to be one in God through Jesus in prayers, fasting and sacrifices, and commitment to live as true Christians.
Most of all, Pronechen explained that according to the Jewish rabbi he had interviewed, every letter in the Hebrew language has a numeric value. The word “love” which is ahava in Hebrew is connected with God with a numeric value of 13. Now, consider that when the Virgin Mary first appeared at Fatima on May 13, 1917, it was the original feast of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament. Here we find another intimate link in our Lady of Fatima’s insistence in celebrating Mass and receiving Jesus in the Holy Communion often because the Holy Eucharist is the Sacrament of Love.
How wonderful to meditate that our Blessed Mother Mary appeared in Fatima 106 years ago today with that singular message and expression of God’s love for us all!
When are we going to listen to her call for us to truly live in the love of God expressed by Jesus Christ on the Cross? Amen. Have a blessed weekend everyone!
From cbcpnews.net, 13 May 2022, at the Parish of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Solemnity of the Pentecost Sunday, 28 May 2023
Acts 2:1-11 ><}}}}*> 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13 ><}}}}*> John 20:19-23
Photo from manilatimes.net, 9PM, 27 May 2023.
Super typhoon “Betty” (aka, “Mawar”) provides us with some interesting insights on today’s celebration of the Solemnity of the Pentecost Sunday which closes the Easter Season after the last Mass tonight when the paschal candle is extinguished and brought back to the baptistry as we resume Ordinary Time this Monday.
St. Luke described in our first reading how the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary at the upper room in Jerusalem was like the coming of a powerful storm.
And indeed, it was a storm so powerful that have swept the whole world since then, still happening these days calling on us all Christians to be filled anew by the Holy Spirit to continue Christ’s saving work especially in these troubled times when the world is so fragmented and divided.
When the time for the Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
Acts of the Apostles 2:1-4
On the other hand, we have heard in the gospel today how on the evening of the third day – that is, on Easter – Jesus came to his apostles amid locked doors and breathed on them the Holy Spirit after greeting them with peace twice. It does not really matter how the Holy Spirit came into the world, whether 50 days after Easter as narrated by St. Luke in the first reading or right on the evening of Easter as claimed by St. John in his gospel account. What really matters is the fact the Holy Spirit was given to the early Christian community who has continued to stay in the Church and in each one of us, renewing us constantly ever since. It is the same Holy Spirit alive and present in our congregations and parishes today
Photo from shutterstock.com
Pentecost is a different kind of storm we badly need these days in the Church. Unlike weather disturbances, Pentecost does not destroy but in fact builds people, specifically the Church as the Body of Christ and People of God. But, it is also very much like a typhoon in the sense that it batters us to destroy our pride and selfishness that in the process we forget our selves and start thinking of others.
The Holy Spirit is like the power of any typhoon that can shake the very foundations of our long held beliefs and traditions to give way to new ways of living and believing, opening ourselves to the movements of the Spirit that makes Jesus Christ more present in our time.
Let us allow the Holy Spirit to sweep us and the Church like a storm to enable us to see life and world in new perspectives, to find new ways of reaching out to others especially those in the margins we have always forgotten, even taken for granted.
I used to tell people that it is always after the storms when the leaves are greenest and rich soil are deposited that become seedbeds for bountiful harvests in the future. If we can allow the Holy Spirit to sweep us like a storm, then we also learn to hope and trust more in God than in ourselves, as well as in our traditions and even technologies that have prevented us from maturing as Christians and disciples of the Lord.
Every year, more than a dozen typhoons hit and devastate our country; worst, as we have seen in the last ten years, typhoons are getting stronger every year. If we apply that reality to the Holy Spirit, Pentecost is a constant call for conversion among us. And it is in this aspect that I wish to recall another news item we have had last week to appreciate the Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Photo from gmanetwork.com, 24 May 2023.
While we were busy tracking the movements of super typhoon “Betty” last week, a huge fire razed the historic Central Post Office building early Tuesday in Manila. I personally felt so sad seeing the images on TV news of the Post Office building engulfed in fire having been there at least thrice to drop mail and visit the iconic edifice as part of our humanities class in college.
Watching it burned made me asking myself, “is there a war again?” because the last time the Post Office building was burned was at the liberation of Manila in 1945.
And indeed, there is another great war still raging, the war between good and evil, the war between life and death.
That is why, like the storm, the Holy Spirit is like fire in the positive sense. It purifies us, makes us stronger and more committed as disciples of Jesus Christ. Just what we needed in this time in history.
St. Luke tells us in the first reading how after hearing the sound of strong winds in the Upper Room on that Pentecost day in Jerusalem, “there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim” (Acts 2:3-4).
In the gospel, the Risen Lord’s breathing on the disciples was reminiscent of the Genesis account of the first man coming to life when God blew into his nostrils.
The Holy Spirit is life because of the fire and warmth it brings to every faithful and to the Church. It purifies our personhood into better persons to enable us to be converted into Jesus Christ.
It is this transforming fire of the Holy Spirit that we need to bring more warmth and life among us Christians who have become so cold in our faith, becoming more passive than ever with all the decadence going on in the world, even in the Church.
Indeed, as St. Paul said in the second reading, No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3) because to believe in Jesus Christ is to always accept everyone as brother and sister by standing for what is true and good, protecting life especially at its weakest moments of infancy and old age.
Let the fire of the Holy Spirit dissolve the walls that separate us from each other. Let the fire of the Holy Spirit bring out her gifts for us to be more understanding and wise, being able to forge on with life with fortitude and knowledge, able to counsel those lost and weak, as well as pious and fearful of the Lord,
If fire has the power to destroy great buildings like the Central Post Office in Manila, fire also has the great power to build up not only edifices and other things but most especially people when they are open to its great potentials of conversion and transformations.
May this Solemnity of the Pentecost make us more attuned with the Holy Spirit so we may constantly be converted into better persons and Christians to sweep the world like a storm with great changes in uniting people to work for peace and like fire in having the enthusiasm to work for true development and progress of mankind. Amen.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Second Week of Lent, 07 March 2023
Isaiah 1:10, 16-20 >>> +++ <<< Matthew 23:1-12
Photo by author, sunrise at the Pacific from the coast of Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.
In this blessed
Season of Lent,
I pray to you,
dear God our Father,
to help me set things
right in my self,
in my life;
help me set things right
by "washing myself clean,
putting away my misdeeds,
ceasing from doing evil
and learning to do good
by making justice my aim,
redressing those I have wronged,
hearing the plea of the orphans,
and defending the powerless
among us" (Isaiah 1:16-17).
Let me set things right,
O Lord, by walking my talk,
by practicing what I preach,
by being humble without any
desires to be known nor admired,
nor be served by putting too much
burdens on others without my
lifting of my finger, seeking
places of honor and being
greeted by everyone (Mt. 23:1-7);
forgive me for those times
I thought that you are like me
when I recite your statutes and
profess your covenant with mouth
yet hate discipline (Ps. 50:16-17).
Let me set things right,
O Lord, in my life
my keeping in mind
YOU alone is our Master
and Teacher, that there
is no other Father but
God alone in heaven
(Mt. 12:7-10).
Let me set things right,
O Lord, in my life
by letting go of my
bitterness and unforgiveness,
of my painful and dark past;
help me set things right
in finally fulfilling that
promise I made to change
in myself, in finally making
peace with that person I detest,
in going back to you in
Christ Jesus.
Amen.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Ash Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Joel 2:12-18 ><))))*> 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 ><))))*> Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
Our opening antiphon
of today's celebration of
Ash Wednesday gives hint
of the joyful tone of our Lenten journey:
"You are merciful to all, O Lord,
and despise nothing that you have made.
You overlook people's sins,
to bring them to repentance,
and you spare them,
for you are the Lord our God."
Amid the shades of violet to signify our confession of sin and movement of repentance is also a profession of our faith in your love, kindness and mercy, O God our Father! The joy of Lent is YOU, O God our loving Father who lavishes us with mercy in Christ Jesus.
Thank you for calling us to enter into this holy season of Lent; let us not forget that YOU are the center and focus of this journey, never us despite the good works we all have to do like praying, fasting and alms-giving; YOU are the one whom we must please, not people so they may return to you; YOU are not appeased by what we offer and do; in fact, we are able to come to you because you are "gracious and merciful" - we have come to know you by your concrete actions of love and mercy, kindness and tenderness.
Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.
Joel 2:12-13
Rend our closed hearts, O Lord;
tear apart the hard coverings of
bitterness and rejection,
doubts and mistrust
so we may open ourselves
to your coming in Christ Jesus;
strengthen our hearts so we may
come back to you in genuine conversion,
to be reconciled to you, O God,
for "now is a very acceptable time,
the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 5:20,
6:2).
Grant us the right attitude of heart,
take away our vanities and hypocrisies
that neither deceive you nor fool people;
let us get inside ourselves to meet you
right inside us where you dwell,
waiting for us
to console us,
to refresh us,
to comfort us.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sunday in the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 19 February 2023
Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18 ><}}}*> 1 Corinthians 3:16-23 ><}}}*> Matthew 5:38-48
Photo by author, Baras, Rizal, 2021.
Jesus continues his Sermon on the Mount this Sunday, reminding his listeners that include us today that more is expected of us as his disciples in putting into practice the Commandments of God. Last Sunday he brought us into the heart of the commandments which is love; today, he gives us the concrete demands of this love like offering no resistance to one who is evil, loving our enemies, and praying for those who persecute us (Mt.5:39, 44).
For us to have a fuller grasp and appreciation of these two very difficult teachings by Jesus, it is best to see them in the context of holiness which is not being sinless but being filled with God, being like God himself. See how the opening line of today’s first reading and the last line of the gospel express very similar commandments:
The Lord God said to Moses, “Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.”
Leviticus 19:1-2
In the gospel, Jesus concluded his teachings with these words of admonition:
“So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 5:48
Photo by author, Mt. Sinai, Egypt, 2019.
A lot often, people are allergic in hearing the word “holiness”. Many think holiness is something not for them, something exclusively for us priests and religious, and worst, that it is just a thing of the past that no longer exists! Vatican II clarified that the universal call to holiness falls on everyone. We are all called to be holy by God and holiness is actually close to us as a reality and experience because God is closest with us!
Imagine God the all-powerful, all-encompassing who is beyond our comprehension yet telling us to be like him? Is it not so beautiful and amazing that this God we find so far from us, so different from us, is the one who made the moves to be close to us by living with us and among us in Jesus Christ, the Emmanuel or God-is-with-us? He later sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost so that he may be most closest to us as our breath, dwelling in us, making us his very temple as St. Paul explained in the second reading today.
The whole Bible shows us this nearness of God with us. He is a personal God, Someone who relates with us, directing the world and history not from afar but by getting involved in them himself, even with our very lives! It is in this aspect that Jesus is now asking us to show concretely the demands of discipleship by being holy. It is a very difficult task we cannot do on our own but through the grace of God. And here lies the great wonder – we the sinful ones becoming the image of God’s holiness when we learn to let go of retaliation or revenge and vengeance, when we love and pray for those who persecute us.
Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well… You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.
Matthew 5:38-39, 43-44
Photo by author, 13 February 2023.
See how our gospel this final Sunday so apt as we begin our Lenten journey this Ash Wednesday.
In giving us these concrete demands of love, Jesus is inviting us to “detox” ourselves of the many toxins in our souls that prevent us from being holy, from being the presence of God in this world. Everyday we find on Facebook many posts about toxic people, of how to detect them and the need to avoid them, even cut ties with them. Problem is, everybody is suspecting everyone as a toxic person with nobody ever admitting he/she is a toxic one needing detoxification.
Jesus is reminding us this Sunday to check on the many toxins of hatred and violence, resentment and bitterness that poison us as a person that also poison our many relationships. Last week, he asked us to look into our hearts, today we move into our souls. What fills us as a person, as a disciple of Jesus? The spirit of the world or the Spirit of God?
When Jesus asked us “to offer no resistance to one who is evil” by foregoing retaliation or even revenge and vengeance, he is not asking us to behave with naivete or yield to injustice and violence. To offer our other cheek when slapped on the right, to give our cloak not just tunic, to walk for two miles instead of just one mile, and never to turn our back on those who borrow is actually to be peace-maker like Jesus in his beatitudes.
Jesus is not asking us to be passive to evil doers but is in fact telling us to show them the wrongness, the evil of what they are doing. To continue to be good to those who do evil means to actively teach them of what is proper, what is right. It is not weakness but actually a sign of inner strength, courage, and security like Jesus before the Sanhedrin on Holy Thursday night and his enemies while on the Cross on Good Friday. Retaliation makes us no different from evil men and even further escalates the troubles instead of solving them. World history and daily news prove to us daily the foolishness of men and wisdom of God in Jesus Christ’s path of non-violence. A long time ago I have read an article about the never-ending clashes in Israel where a father told a reporter that war does not solve anything but only makes people bury more of their children and parents.
Very true. And yes, it is easier said than done but we have great men like Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela who have showed us that the path of non-violence preached by Christ is always the best way to end war and killings. The Rev. King Jr. used to say that love is more powerful than guns and bullets. We have shown that in EDSA 1986 and we have seen it at the fall of Berlin Wall as well as in the triumph of democracy in South Africa.
This Sunday, let us flush out those toxins of festering anger within us, of the desire to get even with those who have hurt us. However, let it also be clear that Jesus is not asking us to have warm feelings of affection towards people who do us evil. When Jesus told us to love our enemies, the context of the word “to love” here means to “wish their well-being” which is a unilateral, unconditional desire for the deepest well-being of another person.
Again, Jesus is not asking us to be in love with people who do evil especially against us; he is not even asking us to have warm feelings for someone doing us serious harm and injuries. That would be ridiculous and insane. All Jesus wants us to do is to strongly show them how wrong they are in what they are doing. In a sense, by our strong actions of non-violence, of still wishing their well-being, we are actually teaching them hard lessons of truth and justice, and of holiness itself. We do not have to be friends with terrorists or kidnap men and murderers but we have to sincerely wish their well-being that they may finally stop their evil deeds not only for their own good but for everyone. In fact, all the more we should pray for their conversion, that they may stop from hating and hurting others and begin to learn to love and care for others. English poet Lord Alfred Tennyson said it so well, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”
Photo by Mr. Gelo Nicolas Carpio, 2020.
These past weeks we have seen since his sermon on the mount how Jesus has consistently taught us to go beyond the letters of the law, to go against the ways of the world, and to imitate his way of love and mercy, service and kindness that spring from the goodness of his heart. Through his words and actions, Jesus had taught us very concretely the fulfillment of the Law in love.
On our own we cannot achieve it but only through the grace of God. It is a process that requires constant detoxification of our selves, of our sins and other negativities inside us that prevent us from being holy like God. And likewise, we must keep watch on ourselves too that Christ’s call is never meant for us to outdo each other in doing what is good, what is right. One major toxins we need to flush from ourselves is the spirit of competition, of outdoing others in holiness and goodness. What must animate us always is to be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect – not being better than anybody else that often leads to our vicious circles of hatred and violence. Amen.
Have a blessed week ahead as you prepare for the holy season of Lent.
lordmychef.com 