Christmas: A Decision To Choose Jesus, Our Highest Good

The Lord Is My Chef Christmas Recipe 2018

My dearest readers,

A blessed Christmas to you all! Thank you very much in joining me in this journey with our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you very much for following and “liking” my blogs. It is my hope that somehow you have seen a glimpse of God’s majesty and kindness in my reflections. On this joyous day of Christmas, join me in simply praying to our Lord Jesus born on this day. Join me in reflecting some important things I have learned about Christmas.

These past nine days in our reflections, I have tried asking Jesus about any message for me and for you, my readers and my parishioners. As His birthday approached, I told Him some thoughts within me about Christmas although I am very sure those were not really mine but His also. That is prayer: conversing with God who has always been speaking to us. We simply respond to Him. And here is our prayer this Christmas…

A blessed happy birthday to you, Lord Jesus Christ! Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit in enabling me to start this prayer like Zechariah, giving praise and glory to you for “coming to us to save us and set us free” (Lk.1:68). As I prayed over the gospels for the three Masses of your birthday, there were some things that came to my mind that I wish to offer to you. Most likely, these must have actually come also from you.

First lesson I have realized this Christmas: there is always somebody trying to be a king or an emperor among us, even within us. There is always somebody wishing to unseat you, even claiming to be the Messiah or the Christ. That has always been the setting of your coming, Lord: “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town” (Lk.2:1-3). Among those who followed that order were your parents who were poor with no choice but obey the Roman emperor who believed in himself to be a god, the savior of the world. Until now, Lord, there are people who act like emperors by coming out with all kinds of plans and dreams of grandeur, lording it over their people with many programs that benefit the poor and the needy but in reality are just feeding on their bloated egos and twisted minds. They are everywhere, not only in government but sadly even in the church when some priests and volunteers destroy the unity of the parish or the clergy with their liturgies and plans so everyone would come for you Jesus but actually for them. More sadly are these people found also in many families like the perfect father who feels he had never made any mistake in life or the manipulative mother who is convinced she knows everything; the monster brother or sister who always feels as sacrificing the most when in fact the one grabbing everything even the slightest attention. They are the “pa-bida” always feeling as the “vida” when in fact are the “contravida”, sowing divisions and animosities everywhere.

Give us the grace of humility, to always recognize you as the great and almighty God who chose to be born like a child to show us that the greatest power in the universe lies in being small like a child and not in being big. Remind us always that each of us is an inn keeper who must always make room for you in our hearts. Remind us always that we are your own, that you always come to us but sadly, many of us refuse to accept you as your beloved disciple John said, “He came to what was his own , but his own people did not accept him” (Jn.1:11). St. Luke noted that it was the first enrollment when you were born 2000 years ago, meaning, there were still others that subsequently followed that until now continues to this day with the many people claiming to be you the Messiah, acting like emperors. As we celebrate your birth today, keep us grateful to your coming and most of all for staying with us since then, give us the grace of Joseph and Mary to brave the long and dark journey to bring you forth in this world, truly the Son of God, the Savior of the world.

Second lesson you have taught me this Christmas Lord Jesus is the opposite of the first: there would always be those taken for granted, those ignored and rejected who are like the stone rejected by the builders who become the cornerstone of the building as you used to say in your preaching. Of course that is clearly you, Lord Jesus! But we thank you for making us share in your greatness. How brilliant is the wit and humor of St. Luke who said that all went to be enrolled only to reveal later in his narration that not entirely everyone. There were those unmindful of the census going on since the officials also did not care at all about them too like the shepherds who were among the poorest of the poor of that time. And the funny twist is that they got the best seats on your birth! Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.” And suddenly, there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Lk.2:8-11,13-14).

What a beautiful story, Lord! Your birth echoes the song of your Mother Mary, her Magnificat where she proclaimed “He has shown the strength of his arm, and has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty” (Lk.1:51-53). Many people still don’t get it, Lord. First with you: in crucifying you on the Cross, you have changed entirely the course of human history. You who have been so ridiculed and put to shame with all the false accusations until now is the only person with the most influence in the world. The Church you have established has also gone through so many destabilization plots within and outside but still here, despite our many sins and weaknesses, and yes, amid our hypocrisies. And many of us today celebrating your birthday have just gone through so much beatings this year but now thankful before you because you have never forsaken us. And those fake gods and emperors? Trying to amuse themselves with more lies as they suffer being totally alone and empty within.

Lord Jesus Christ, it has been raining since two days ago and more rains are expected this week. Some, including me, feel your birthday today seems sad and gloomy. But as I prayed over the stories of St. Luke about the harsh conditions when you were born, I have learned that is what Christmas Day is for – a beacon of light to guide us in the many mountains and valleys, cliffs and ravines we travel in this journey of life. There would always be people who would make life difficult for us, conditions everywhere that are unfavorable to us but on this day of your birth, you are asking us to stand by you, to make that conscious decision to trust you that good things and better days are ahead of us. Christmas is about making that conscious decision to always have you, Lord Jesus Christ as our highest good in life. As our patron saint said, “From your fullness O Lord, we have all received , grace in place of grace” (Jn.1:16). AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.

Photos from Google.

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Advent is God Leading Us to New Directions in Life

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The Lord Is My Chef Simbang Gabi Recipe-9

24 December 2018

2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 16///Luke 1:67-79

Finally! It is the word of the day.

Finally we have completed the nine-day novena of Christmas but that is not the true joy of our annual Simbang Gabi tradition. What is most essential is in these nine days of rising early for the novena, we have rediscovered Jesus Christ in ourselves and among others while at the same time recommitted ourselves to Him again as our only fulfillment in life. I hope that in the past nine days we have rediscovered and even brought back somehow to our lives our sense of the sacred that is now fast fading out in our very consumerist society. Through the many religious symbolisms found in our liturgies and readings these Advent season, it is hoped that we have rediscovered God – as well as our sense of the sacred – who is the most meaningful and essential in life.

Finally today also, we find the only male character in St. Luke’s story of the coming of Christmas regaining his stature after being on the distaff side, Zechariah. After disbelieving the good news of (finally) having a son through the angel Gabriel’s annunciation at the Temple when he was forced into silence by becoming mute and deaf, Zechariah was finally able to speak again after declaring his son shall be named John. And his very first words after being silent for nine months were praises to God the Almighty like Mary during the Visitation. Called theBenedictus, Zechariah affirmed and confirmed in himself first the reality and truth of God being present in our lives amid the many twists and turns in life, narrating His reality and fidelity to His promises from the time of the Patriarchs and the Prophets of Israel down to the birth of John who would prepare the Christ. In effect, Zechariah had finally come into a full circle in singing the Benedictus: like his wife Elizabeth and son still in her womb John, St. Luke tells us how Zechariah was also filled with the Holy Spirit at that instance on the naming of John when he prophesied, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel” (Lk.1:68).

Zechariah shows today the fruits of his “forced silence” that had deepened his priesthood that is very evident in the opening line of Benedictus, giving glory to God for His fidelity and mighty acts to save Israel. It is very similar with some of the popular parts of the psalms that every Jew prays. There are three important reasons that Zechariah tells us why God is blessed: “for he has come to his people and set them free, he has raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of his servant David” (Lk.1:68-69). What is amazing in the Benedictus is that the verbs are in the past tense, of the works of God being done in the past like visiting His people, setting them free or redeeming them by sending Jesus Christ. Like the Magnificat, it is a looking back and a looking forward to more great things God has in store for us. Zechariah is reminding how God has never stopped working wonders for us, speaking and acting through prophets so many years ago even before the coming of Christ who is the fulfillment of all His promises.

We have mentioned how we priests and other religious and consecrated persons sing the Magnificat every evening; the Benedictus, on the other hand, is sung every morning prayers called lauds. As we face a new day, like Zechariah at the birth of his son John, we look back and remember so that in the process we renew our faith and trust in God who never stops in working for our good. We praise God and put our trust and confidence in Him for every new day, hoping He would continue to visit us, redeem us, and raise us up from the many challenges we are going to face. But most of all, we are reminded too by Zechariah at this time, on the eve of Christmas, to ponder in our hearts where the Lord is leading us to? Zechariah had seen the hand of God in Israel’s history, in his own life, and could see it also present in the coming life of his son John. It is very clear that God is our leader in life, the invisible hand who directs us. When we come to think of it, Zechariah’s forced silence was a way for him to rediscover again his sense of God and his sense of the sacred. So many times for us, including us priests that although we keep our prayers and devotions, they are devoid of God. One of the things this generation is fast losing is that sense of the sacred when everything is not taken for granted and trivialized. How I hate before the Metro Film Festival during Christmas when we as the only Christian nation in this part of the world celebrates the merriest and longest Christmas are feasting on movies about evil and horror movies. At least these past few years, there have been marked improvements in our film industry with great movies coming out. Last year I was able to see the adaptation of Nick Joaquin’s “Portrait of the Filipino as Artist” that was magnificent in its interpretation of the play.

On these remaining hours of the day before Christmas, imitate Zechariah to get some silent moments with our self and with God to reflect on where is the Lord leading us to this Christmas? What direction in life is He asking us to follow? In the first reading we have heard God asking David to stop his plans of building a temple for Him. There was nothing wrong with building a temple but it was not the plan of God for David but for his son Solomon. The same thing with us: no matter how good our plans are for God and for others, it is the direction God has for us? We can never prepare the way of the Lord unless we first sub it to His plan and follow His directions. A blessed Christmas to you! AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.

*Photo by author, altar linen of our Parish Church. May we follow God’s directions for our lives.

Advent is Looking Back – and Forward – to God’s Goodness

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The Lord Is My Chef Simbang Gabi Recipe-7

22 December 2018

1Samuel 1:24-28///Luke 1:46-56

Mary’s prominence lies not only in giving birth to Jesus Christ but more of her being His perfect disciple, the first Christian, the first receiver and doer of the Word who became flesh in her womb. After sharing Christ with Elizabeth in the Visitation, Mary now sings the Magnificat like the song of Hannah in the first reading when she was gifted by God with the child Samuel despite her barrenness. It is very amazing that the Blessed Virgin Mary is the only person who has appeared most – five times – as a cover of the TIME Magazine. Likewise, her Magnificat is said to be the only poem that has been set to music more than any other in the whole history. Almost every great musician has worked on Mary’s canticle like Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi and Rachmaninoff while for over a thousand years it had been sung or recited in the evening in monasteries around the world following St. Benedict’s rule in the sixth century. The Magnificat is a song of praise and thanksgiving to God, Mary’s own experience of God not only in her own life but also in her cousin Elizabeth who was barren and old yet conceived a child to become the Lord’s precursor, John the Baptizer. At the Visitation, Elizabeth praised Mary but when it was Mary’s turn to speak, she praised God instead of Elizabeth contrary to common gesture of returning her favour because it was very clear with her that every gift is from God, and the greatest gift we can all have from God is His Son Jesus Christ whose birthday we celebrate on Tuesday.

What is so remarkable with the Magnificat is its Advent flavor: it is not only a praise and thanksgiving to God for all the wondrous things He had done to Mary and to us all but also a song of looking forward to more blessings to come from Him! That is what Advent is all about, a looking back to the first Christmas and a joyful waiting for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ! This is very evident in her opening lines, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name” (Lk.1:46-49). It is definitely a fruit of her prayer or gestational silence we mentioned the other day like what Elizabeth did. Mary took into her inmost being the message of the angel to rejoice as a highly favored one of God, acknowledging the work of grace in her despite her stature in life. Again we find here some strong Jewish flavors of which Mary must be aware of like the expression “the Almighty has done great things for me” which has strong roots in the Old Testament experience of the Israelites and their prophets when God saved them from Egypt and so many trials. Think of the great things God has done to you also and rejoice! Look back to the past 12 months and here we are, still together although some badly beaten with some even bruised in life but like Mary and Elizabeth meeting together, there are so many reasons for us to celebrate and thank the Almighty for the great things He had done to us. And the most wonderful blessing next to God is the gift of family and friends around us, like the two cousins, a beautiful imagery of two pregnant women rejoicing together, celebrating life as they looked back in their personal lives and in their nation’s history the many good things God had done to them since the time of Abraham.

The Magnificat shows us too that most of the things Mary mentioned have not happened yet: “He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, and has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever” (Lk.1:50-57). These are a mixture of images from the Old Testament about the things God had done to Israel and to the two cousins but at the same time mention other things that would happen only upon the completion of Christ’s mission. This is to show us that Mary’s Magnificat is also about the perfect presence of God in Jesus Christ in our lives who is the “same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb. 13:8).

Last year I was privileged to join my former colleagues at GMA-7 News as their chaplain on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land – all for free with everything in first class! On our flight back to Manila, we met some OFW’s and one of them was so ecstatic in meeting Ms. Jessica Soho, making a commotion like crazy at the Ben Gurion Airport which is noted for its strict security measures. A female security officer caught our attention and held us for a while as she checked our papers and passports. Making things worse, the crazy OFW kept telling the officer to let us go because Ms. Jessica is a celebrity in our country. That got the Israeli’s blood boiled and turned her attention to me, the only man in our group, asking me to go with her to their office. That was when the three women of GMA News stood for me – our SVP Ms. Marissa Flores, Ms. Jessica Soho, and newly retired VP Ms. Kelly Vergel de Dios – telling the airport official that I am their friend, a friend for over 30 years, explaining how I used to work with them until I resigned and became a priest. I felt my world stopping momentarily like in a dream sequence: everything happened so fast! There was the possible delay and a lot of interviews but I also felt God’s strong arm holding me, also tenderly caressing me with His mercy when I heard the three veterans of news defending me. It was the final blessing I got from God during that pilgrimage when the three women of GMA-7 News were like Mary and Elizabeth reminding me how God had worked in our lives all these years. It was like a Magnificat moment for me that until now I can recall the sweet smile that incident had left me. Try praying the Magnificatstarting tonight as you thank God for the many wondrous things He had done to you despite the many trials you have also gone. Thank God for the faithful and wonderful friends who have visited you to see His plans for you and most of all, be open for more blessings to come from Him this Christmas. Let us pray for the many great women who have changed our lives, the Marys and Elizabeths who visited us and brought us closer to Jesus Christ. AMEN. Fr.NicanorF.LalogII,Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan

*Photos by the author: above are the bronze statues of Mary and Elizabeth at the Church of the Visitation; below, our group photo during our Holy Land Pilgrimage last April 2017.

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Advent is the Comfort of God

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Tuesday, 11 December 2018, Advent Week 2

Isaiah 40:1-11///Matthew 18:12-14

I can strongly feel your words today, God our loving Father: “Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; indeed, she has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins.” (Is.40:1-2)

If there is one thing I long for today, Lord, one thing I strongly desire from you is comfort. I am so tired and exhausted. Nobody seem to care at all for your ways or for what is good except for what is self-serving. Deafening and maddening are the cacophony of so many voices shouting for what should be, insisting on everyone’s own idea of what is good that at the moment it is better to be silent in your presence.

Strengthen me, Almighty God, for that is what comfort is, “cum fortis” – with strength. Give me comfort to carry on, to strive, to be patient, to bear all pains in silence so that in due time as you shall will, I may rise to strike in your perfect time my enemies who try to divide your flock.

Like your Son our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, give me determination to seek the lost and the tenderness to carry them back on my shoulders to your fold. AMEN.Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II,Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria,Bulacan 3022.

*Photo by Jim Marpa, 2018. Used with permission.

LMC

Advent Is Time to Wake Up, to Rise and Walk in Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Monday, 10 December 2018, Advent Week 2

Isaiah 35:1-10///Luke 5:17-26

As morning breaks on this first working day of the second week of Advent, I echo O Lord Jesus the joyful words of the people of your time,“We have seen incredible things today.” (Lk.5:26)

It is so incredible Lord that in this season of Advent as I try to befriend my inner self in the spirit of prayer and silence, as I try to accept all of me, my worth and unworthiness, the more you are amazingly loving and kind to me. I feel both like the paralyzed and those men in the gospel today who broke the roof of the house where you were staying so they could lower before you their sick friend. And the first words that came from you were not about healing but forgiveness! Most of all, you have forgiven the sick man after you have seen the faith of the friends who have taken apart the roof of your house. What a way of creating a room for you, Lord Jesus!

Teach me to be daring like them in creating a space for you by taking apart the many sins and pretensions I use to cover myself. Help me to take apart the various insecurities where I hide myself that prevent me from meeting you, from welcoming you into my life. So many times, Jesus, you know how I just sleepwalk in my being a Christian when I think I am radically living as your disciple when in fact I am just dreaming, just sleeping.

Teach me to abandon myself to you Lord, to relinquish all false securities that the world offers me. Most of all, let me abandon those thoughts I have about you that are not so you at all, those ideas I have about God like the scribes and Pharisees who have usurped upon themselves the standards of what is holy and not, of what is right or wrong. Let me start living in your pasch, unafraid of being vulnerable and weak so I can rise and walk again, freed from sins and infirmities. AMEN.Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II,Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria,Bulacan 3022.

*Photo by Jim Marpa, 2018. Used with permission.

LMC

Advent Is Creating A Room for God In My Life

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The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe

Advent-2, Year C, 09 December 2018

Baruch 5:1-9//Philippians 1;4-6, 8-11//Luke 3:1-6

I must confess that I am also guilty of getting into the so-called “Christmas rush” that is totally empty of Jesus Christ. No, I am not a “shopaholic” but this early I am already so stressed out with my toxic schedules of activities for the coming Christmas. And that is when God in His amazing ways intervened by totally cutting me off from the “loop” to redirect me to the spirit of Advent that calls us to create a room for Christ’s coming. It started two weeks ago when our internet connection became erratic which we thought was just normal in our country so notorious for its dismal internet services. But when I could no longer connect with the internet for my work last Tuesday and Wednesday for my talks, classes and blogs, we called a technician to fix the bugs, only to be told that the problem is my nine year-old Sony Vaio that needs to be upgraded or totally replaced. My first reaction was to replace the technician but it was the first time I really felt to be out of the web that can be alienating and even debilitating. That was when I realized to pray more, to fast from social media and modern communications, hoping to find Jesus Christ anew in my additional periods of prayer and silence. It was also at that time when my Ninong and Ninang came from the US to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary at the church where they got married with me as the priest-presider. After the reception, they asked me to go with them to their hotel where they surprised me with a Christmas gift, a new laptop computer! See how God works in amazing ways if we give Him a room in our lives; my plan was to get a new computer next year but here is God sending me one from heaven right on my lap in the most perfect time.

“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysania was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Lk.3:1-3).”

Every time, every moment is a perfect time for God to come but, do we have a room for Him in our lives? Luke presents us today the setting of the first coming of Jesus Christ more than 2000 years ago. Times may have changed but the situation and feelings remain the same to this day when God comes to us right in the midst of our present situation, whether in our personal lives or in our political world or religious set up. There is always that voice in the wilderness calling us to repent and prepare His way, His coming. In the first Sunday of Advent last week, we reflected how this season of preparation is the presence of God which we can truly experience when we dare to open ourselves to Him in prayer and silence. On this Second Sunday of Advent, our readings deepen this reflection of finding the presence of God by having a room or space for Him in our hearts and in our lives.

According to the late American Neal A. Maxwell who was an Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, “Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus.” What a beautiful insight that is very true! We need to create a space and room in ourselves – more than just merely opening – to welcome Jesus Christ’s intense presence in our lives these days! With all hyperrevolution now happening in our midst due to modern means of communications that have greatly affected our lives, the more we need to experience Christ’s intense presence so that we are not only informed and formed but most of all transformed like during the time of John the Baptizer. Every year, the second and third Sundays of Advent are always about the preaching of John the Baptist which is essentially about the coming of Jesus Christ.

The key here is the intense presence of Jesus Christ not only in us but also in the world. The detailed reportorial by Luke of the setting of Christ’s coming over 2000 years ago suggests the integration of salvation history with secular history of all peoples. Christ has come and Christ will come again though Christ had never left us but remains with us in the present. We have just celebrated the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception that reminds us of God’s presence amid man’s absence. We become absent to God when we sin like Adam who hid from God after eating the forbidden fruit. We fail to meet and experience God in His power and grace when we are absent to Him as we prefer to spend more time with things of the world than of heaven. We become absent from God when we refuse to abandon our sinful ways or when we have stopped to hope for any change and salvation coming from God with whom nothing is impossible. This Sunday, let us intensify the presence of God by creating a room, creating a space in our hearts and in our lives where Jesus may dwell and reign to direct our lives like John the Baptizer who went to desert to fast and create a space in himself and in his life for Christ. It is impossible to meet God when we are so filled with things of the world and of ourselves. God has many plans for us in Jesus that He sent Him to us but He cannot do anything if we do not let Him into our lives. St. Paul tells us in the second reading that he is “confident” or sure that God will fulfill his promise that every man and woman shall see “the salvation of God” (Lk. 3:6). Let us continue to dare on this second Sunday of Advent to open ourselves to God by creating a room for Him in our hearts and in our lives and allow Him to take possession of us like what Baruch prophesied in the first reading when Jerusalem would eventually be liberated from its conquerors. Look back to your past and see how the Lord has done great things for you; trust Him, hope in Him always for He has come, He shall come and He is come. AMEN. Fr.Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, .Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan

*Photo by Jim Marpa, St. James the Greater Parish, Solsona, Ilocos Norte, 17 July 2018. Used with permission.

LMC

Advent Is Seeing God Among Others

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Wednesday, 05 December 2018, Advent Week 1

Isaiah 25:6-10///Matthew 15:29-37

Like during the season of Lent, Lord, I have always been amazed with the antiphons and prayers of Advent. Since Monday, we have been praying after Communion for the grace to focus more about things of heaven than of earth. And the most amazing thing about it is we really do not have to look up high to see what is heavenly; we simply have to look at one another just like what you did on the mountain today in the gospel.

After receiving the heavenly food last Monday, we prayed “to love the things of heaven and to hold fast to what endures”; then at Tuesday we implored “to judge wisely of the things of earth and to hold firm to the things of heaven” while today we asked “to be cleansed of our faults and prepare us for the coming feasts” in heaven. These are all calls from you, Lord Jesus, for us to see you among our suffering brothers and sisters.

Stir our hearts, O Christ, and move them into pity like when you worried at the great crowd of people that included “the lame, the blind, the mute, and many others” (Mt.15:30) who have followed you for three days on the mountain with nothing to eat. Make us worry like you for all the sufferings of those forgotten by the society and even by their families. Use our hands to “wipe away the tears from all faces” (Is. 25:28) and let us be the heavenly food and drinks to be partaken by everyone after receiving your words and your Body and Blood in the Eucharist.

Come, Lord Jesus, this holy season of Advent, “illumine what is hidden in darkness” (Entrance antiphon) and let your light penetrate my inner self so I may truly see how far I have been from you and from others, and most especially that I may see you as you are so that in the process I may also see my real self. Renew me this season, Jesus, and let me enter your fullness of life. AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.

*Photo by Jim Marpa, a former colleague at the Varsitarian of UST (circa 1986). Used with permission.

LMC

Advent Is Conversion of the Heart

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Tuesday, 04 December 2018, Advent Week 1

Isaiah 11:1-10///Luke 10:21-24

“Behold, the Lord will come, and all his holy ones with him; and on that day there will be great light” (from the entrance antiphon of today’s Mass).

Has this day come, Lord? It is supposed to have been fulfilled a long time ago in your birth, Lord Jesus, after Isaiah had prophesied of how a “shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.” (Is.11:1) But it has not happened yet, remaining only a dream and a sight to behold in our imaginations when there would be peace and harmony at your coming, “when the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the young lion shall browse together with a little child as their guide, the cow and the bear with their young resting as neighbors, the lion eating hay like ox, and the baby playing by the cobra’s den as he lay his hand on the adder’s lair.” (Is.11:6-8)

It is a beautiful sight, a reality we are all wishing for but has never happened despite your coming to us, Lord Jesus Christ. And we know why: because we have not truly welcomed you in our hearts like children.

Give us the grace to be filled with your Holy Spirit, that we may be childlike so that this blessed season of Advent may dispose us to conversion and single-mindedness in you alone. Fill us with your Holy Spirit so we may attend to our deepest needs and hopes like peace and justice by being more compassionate with those who are suffering like the poor and the weak. Let us bring your light in this world darkened with sin and individualism, marred by senseless wars and petty competitions and rivalries among us. Hear our prayer, Lord, that we learn “to judge wisely the things of earth and hold firm to the things of heaven” (from today’s prayer after Communion). AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.

*Photo by the author, altar inside our parish sacristy, 03 December 2018.

Advent Is For Discerning The Most Essential

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Monday, 03 December 2018, Advent Week 1

Isaiah 2:1-5///Matthew 8:5-11

Dearest Lord Jesus: Forgive me on this first Monday of December of the first week of the Season of Advent when I joined everyone in the Christmas rush that has nothing to do with your coming at all. Forgive me in feeling it is a time of no room, a time of the end that I have to finish everything, fulfill so many tasks without finding you. Forgive me for being so obsessed with lack of time, lack of space, of having no room even for myself this Christmas.

How sad, and what a shame when I myself forget that Advent in its truest sense as a time of joyful expectation and preparation for your Second Coming is when we must dare to open up for you, when we must create and find more time, more space, and yes – a room in our hearts for you Jesus who is definitely coming again.

Like that centurion in the gospel, grant me that grace to learn and to discern what is most relevant, what is most essential for us individually and communally because with you, there is always plenty of room, plenty of space, and plenty of time for everyone who is welcomed to “climb the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob” (Is.2:3).

May the centurion’s words be my prayer today and always, sweet Jesus: “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.” (Mt. 8:8). AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.

*Photo by the author of the eagle, the symbol of our Patron St. John Evangelist, known for it sharp sense of sight in seeing the details in the life of Jesus Christ. Taken yesterday first Sunday of Advent 2018.

Disturb Me Within, Lord

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Friday, 30 November 2018, Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle

Romans 10:9-18///Matthew 4:18-22

Thank you very much Lord Jesus for the gift of your Apostle Andrew whose feast we celebrate today. I have always loved his attitude of always being disturbed deep within his heart and bringing it out in the open with you.

The moment he first saw you when John the Baptist proclaimed you as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” Andrew was there, moved in his heart and asked you, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” You asked him and his companion to “come and see,” and he believed you are the Messiah! (Jn.1:35-41)

When you tested Philip in the wilderness and asked him where you could buy food to feed more than 5000 people, Andrew again felt his heart stirred within, presenting to you a boy with a boy with five loaves of bread and two pieces of fish. But, Andrew could not also contain himself in knowing their situation then that he asked you, “what good are these for so many?” And the great miracle happened when everyone was fed and satisfied with so many leftovers! (Jn.6:1-15)

“For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.” (Rom. 10:10)

Indeed, Lord Jesus Christ! St. Andrew the Apostle always believed in his heart, always allowed his heart to be stirred with your words, with your presence, with your feelings. And he dared to open his mouth, to express to you these stirrings in his heart, always asking you and voicing out his feelings and thoughts no matter how crazy or even stupid they may be. But because of his inquiries that you were made known as the Christ!

Give me that grace Lord Jesus, to always recognize the stirrings in my heart, no matter how crazy they may be and to always tell these to you. Give me that same courage Lord to ask you, to express whatever disturbs me deep within so that like Andrew, you may reveal more of your ways, more of your heart, and more of your very Self to me and others. AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.

*Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA-7 News, Batanes before typhoon Ompong, 14 September 2018. Used with permission. Photo below from Google. St. Andrew, like his brother St. Peter, felt unworthy of being crucified like Jesus Christ; he asked to be crucified on an X-shaped cross.

st.andrew