Finding Jesus in Easter darkness

The Lord Is My Chef Recipe in the Octave of Easter, also Divine Mercy Sunday, 19 April 2020

***Acts 2:42-47* ><)))> 0 <(((>< 1 Peter 1:3-9 ><)))> 0 <(((>< *John 20:19-31***

Carrying around our parish the Blessed Sacrament every Sunday afternoon since lockdown began.

I have almost forgotten – and it is only now amid this extended lockdown – that I have realized the first Easter happened in darkness! We are in the same situation with the Apostles when Jesus rose from the dead.

What we need is to “quarantine” ourselves more, our heart and soul within to see and recognize our Risen Lord among us like during that first Easter.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
John 20:19-23

Stained glass at the back of our parish church depicting the appearance of the Risen Jesus with Thomas, aka, Didymus. Photo by author, 02 April 2020.

Jesus always comes in darkness to bring light of peace

In our reflection last Holy Wednesday, we have mentioned how Jesus was born during the darkest night of the year to bring us that light of hope and salvation. The same is true with Easter when he resurrected in the darkest part of the day just before dawn.

Jesus indeed is the light that bursts and pierces through the darkest darkness of the world and of our very lives, our sinfulness. This is the reason we also celebrate this Sunday the Feast of the Divine Mercy of God in Jesus Christ.

Through his Passion, Death and Resurrection, Jesus is the only one who can penetrate through whatever blockages and imprisonment we have or we are into like sin and evil, pains and hurts in the past that filled us with so much guilt.

In his Divine Mercy, Jesus had come to give us our life back complete with the gift of freedom that we have all lost to sin and evil.

And that is why on Easter, Jesus gave us his greatest gift of all which is peace or shalom in Hebrew that means wholeness or holiness. To be whole literally is to have a good relationship with one’s self, with others, and with God.

Vatican II asserts in its Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World:

Peace is more than the absence of war: it cannot be reduced to the maintenance of a balance of power between opposing force not does it arise out of despotic dominion, but it is appropriately called “the effect of righteousness” (Is.32:17). It is the fruit of that right ordering of things…
Gaudium et Spes, no. 78

Righteousness in the bible means justice that is also equivalent to holiness which is, to be filled with God, not necessarily to be sinless. That is why after greeting them with peace the second time, Jesus breathed on them the Holy Spirit, an imagery that reminds us of the story of creation when God breathed on the first humans to have life.

At Easter, we were breathed on again by the Risen Lord to renew our lives, to fill us again with God and be closest to him in our breath and thus enabling us to be free again from sin and evil, free for God and for others.

What a joy to read these days due to lockdowns worldwide that the Sierra Madres and Mt. Samat can be seen again from the metropolis or the Himalayas from India after 30 years due to clearer skies with less pollution. Or, the lions in Africa’s wildlife parks lazily sleeping without being disturbed by humans.

These are proofs that there is life indeed amid the darkness of this pandemic when Jesus restores life and balance, making everything new and alive again!

Peace and mercy, unity and mission

At his Supper before his arrest, Jesus prayed to God our Father that we may all be one – ut unum sint – like him and Father (John 17:21) are one. This would be partly fulfilled on Easter and eventually at the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost when the Church is eventually launched.

It is in our faith that we enter into communion with the Father in Jesus Christ and with one another as a community, as a church.

That is why it was a beautiful imagery of Thomas eventually joining them the following Sunday not because he lacked faith; he had faith that is why he came to see and experience Jesus. And that faith bloomed upon encountering Jesus again that according to tradition, Thomas preached the good news to India where he died a martyr by being skinned alive.

We have always said in our previous reflections that whenever and wherever there is faith, there is always union and unity with God and others.

Eventually, from every unity and community, there is always mission.

In our first reading today we have heard how the early Christians were one in their faith, always praying, that is, celebrating the Eucharist from which flowed out their mission.

All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need.
Acts 2:44-45

In his entire life, we have seen that Jesus had always been clear in his being sent, that the words he had spoken and things he had done were not all his but from and by the Father.

Watch closely John’s narration of after the Lord’s Resurrection:

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
John 20:19-21

After giving them the gift of peace and filling them with his breath of life to signify they have been forgiven for their sins and failures when they left him on Good Friday, Jesus is now drawing them into his great mission: As the Father has sent me, so I send you.

This is the defining and definitive characteristic of the Church, of any community of disciples in every age, most especially in this time of the corona virus pandemic.

Our mission continues in the darkness of COVID-19

Churches may be closed, public Masses are banned but the mission of proclaiming in words and in deeds the good news of the Risen Lord continues very loud and clear.

Detractors would always malign us, would spend for trolls just to ask “where is the Church in this time of crisis” but the people know best that we have never been remiss nor even flinched a single second whenever disasters strike anywhere in the world.

In the darkest moments of history in the past up to the present, the Church as a community of disciples of Jesus has always shine so brightly in Christ standing up for the poor and oppressed, the marginalized and forgotten, the sick and the hungry, those suffering in the most far-flung areas with its extensive networks of parishes and BEC’s.

This is also the reason why people always malign us in the Church about what we are doing amid the poverty and sufferings of the world: we work in silence because we are merely being sent by Jesus Christ. Like him our Lord and Master, whatever we say and do are not ours but the One who sent us, the Father in heaven.

We merely represent Jesus Christ who represents the Father and guided by the Holy Spirit, together we forge onto the darkness of this pandemic despite the many sufferings we go through, “tested by fire so that we may prove to be for the praise, glory, and honor of revealing Jesus Christ” (cf. 1 Peter 1:6-7).

This is who we are, disciples of Jesus sent to proclaim his love and mercy especially in the midst of all darkness.

This Sunday amid the darkness and threats of COVID-19, let us join the psalmist in his song, “Give thank to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting” (Responsorial Psalm , Ocatve of Easter).

A blessed week to everyone. Stay safe but keep working for the Lord! Amen.

Easter Vigil in our Parish, 12 April 2020.

Photos in the collage clockwise: Malolos Diocese Social Action Center, Inc. with Caritas Manila spearheading relief operations in Bulacan; Sisters from the Daughters of St. Anne walking through fields and mountains to reach out to our poorest of the poor; trays of thousands of eggs to be given away to fisherfolks in Binuangan, Obando by Fr. Ramon Garcia III; last two photos, beneficiaries of the 10-m Php worth of Gift Certificates given throughout Bulacan before Holy Week that included everyone even those from other faith and beliefs.

Celebrating in time of corona virus

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe, Saturday within the Octave of Easter, 18 April 2020

***Acts 4:13-21* ><)))> +++ <(((>< *Mark 16:9-15***

Mass in my parish without a congregation, except for two birds.

Praise and glory to you, O Lord Jesus Christ, our Eternal High Priest for this most joyous day of our lives with my six other classmates, our 22nd Presbyteral anniversary that coincides with the birthday of or fifth Bishop, the Most Rev. Dennis Villarojo!

In a few minutes I will be celebrating your Holy Sacrifice of the Mass alone – no congregation, no families and friends except for the birds keeping me company since last month.

First, it was my birthday last month; today, our presbyteral anniversary still in lockdown and on my third “self-quarantine” after exposing myself to some possible carriers. At first, I felt tired like the Simon Peter and the rest in yesterday’s gospel when I felt like going back to my old ways. But, the day dragged on without catching any fish at all when in the afternoon, a sudden burst of your light made me realize to search you more in this time of darkness. You taught us through St. Ignatius of Loyola in our 30-day retreat to always be positively indifferent to you, that I may be poor than rich, sick than healthy…

I do not complain, sweet dear Jesus, that we are still in a lockdown or in self-quarantine again. These are all part of my life in you and with you. Besides, I have no plans of great celebrations as it has always been slightly like this in the past 22 years. And maybe, this is one way of you telling us to be alone with you longer, more intensely.

Praying at the Garden of Gethsemane in the Holy Land, 2019. Photo by Atty. Polaris Grace Rivas-Beron.

What do I have to pray for today, Lord?

Nothing really but the usual things I ask you day in, day out: when I die, I will be with you in Paradise like that thief on the Cross. I have no desire of going anywhere or having anything more than what I need because only you suffice.

Make me your faithful servant that everyday I may know you more, love you more, and follow you more closely. May I do your holy will in every here and now in the way you would want it to be done, not mine. And always, give me the gifts of hiddenness, of stillness for this is not really about me at all but more of YOU.

You have given me with so much, Jesus, but I have given so little. Teach me to give more of my talents, more of my love, more of my patience, more of myself, and most of all, more of YOU to others.

In my prayers yesterday and last night, I saw myself somehow with Peter and John in the first reading…

Observing the boldness of Peter and John and perceived them to be uneducated, ordinary men, the leaders, elders, and the scribes were amazed, and they recognized them as the companions of Jesus.
Acts 4:13

Let me be recognized more than ever as your companion, Lord Jesus. I have nothing special to be chosen as your priest. It is all your love and grace freely given to me.

May I have the courage like that of Peter and John to be bold and daring to proclaim you are risen, you are alive, that you are the Christ especially in this time of quarantine.

Keep me faithful to your mandate to “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mk.16:15).

Just be mine, LORD, for I am wholly THINE. Amen.

Remaining in Jesus in quarantine

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Friday within the Octave of Easter, 17 April 2020

***Acts of the Apostles 4:1-12* <(((>< +++ ><)))> *John 21:1-14***

Photo by Mr. Chester Ocampo in Catanduanes, 2019.

Dearest Jesus:

Today I am so tempted like your Apostles to go back to previous life, to do the usual old things amid the very trying times of this quarantine period.

Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garments for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea.
John 21:3-7

Like your Apostles, I am supposed to be happy, joyous because you have risen, Lord.

But, what happened that you are suddenly nowhere to be found?

Why, dear Jesus, in our joy of sharing you with others amid this quarantine period, problems arise, when we have to go back into self-quarantine, to be in total isolation to prevent the spread of this dreaded corona virus?

Why do people still lie, careless in their ways, particularly our leaders, our co-workers?

Help us to find you in all these things, Lord.

Open our minds as Peter and John later explained to the chief priests that it is you whom we must always find and see in every event in our lives, to always try to find the good things happening amidst the many dismal situation we are into.

Most of all, give us the grace of the sight of faith like your beloved disciple who immediately recognized you upon seeing the bountiful catch of fish. Amen.

Ang kinawawang Diyos ng kawawang tao

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-16 ng Abril 2020

Larawan kuha ni G. Raffy Tima ng GMA-7 News nang sumabog ang Bulkang Taal, Enero 2020.

Hindi lamang minsan
sumagi sa aking isipan
nakalulungkot nating kinagawian
Diyos ay ating kinakawawa 
kapag may masamang karanasan
Siya ating pinagbibintangang
tayo ay pinarurusahan
kulang na nga lang
lahat ng kasamaan inatang
lahat ng sisi sa Kanyang pangalan.

Kinakawawa natin ang Diyos
sa tuwing siya ang tinuturing pinagmulan
ng bawat kalamidad at kasawian;
madalas idahilan pa ng karamihan
sa pagaakalang mabuting katuwiran
na mga ito ay pagsubok lamang
ng Maykapal na hindi ibibigay  
kung hindi malalampasan
gayong Siya ay purong kabutihan
paanong ipaliliwanag iyan?

Kinakawawa natin ang Diyos
katulad noong kanyang kapanahunan
nilalapastangan at pinasasakitan
gayong tao ang may kasalanan
at palaging nagkukulang
katulad doon sa ilang nang tuksuhin ng diyablo
hinahamon Kanyang katuwiran
pati katarungan bakit Niya
pinababayaan mga kahirapan
at hindi pakinggan mga karaingan?

Ang mahirap maintindihan
Diyos ang laging tinatawagan
sa maraming pangangailangan
ngunit kapag napagkalooban
Siya ay kinalilimutan, tinatalikuran
habang ating inaangkin
lahat ng husay at galing
sa nakamit na katanyagan
at magandang kapalaran
na tila baga wala Siyang kinalaman?

Kay laking kabalintunaan
kakatwang kahangalan
at sukdulang kayabangan
nating mga nilalang
na Diyos ay kalimutan at talikuran
sa paniniwalang lahat ating makakayanan
pati kamatayan pilit iniiwasan
mga kamay ng orasan pinipigilan
habang hinahatulan sinong may karapatang mabuhay
sanggol sa tiyan at mga tinotokhang!

Lingid sa ating kaalaman
na pinalabo ng ating kapalaluan
sa bawat kalungkutan at kahirapan
pagtitiis at kabiguan
Diyos ang higit sa ating nasasaktan
sa pagpanaw ng maski isa lang
Siya ang labis nahihirapan
dahil sa ano mang ating kalagayan
Diyos ay palagi tayong sinasamahan
pilit naman nating iniiwan at sinusumbatan.

Sakaling tayo ay dumaraan
sa kahirapan at ano mang kagipitan
hindi ito nagmula sa Diyos
dahil Siya ang kabutihan;
gayon pa man ating maaasahan
lahat ng ating nararanasan 
Kanyang nalalaman
hindi Niya papayagang magwagi 
anumang dalamhati bagkus Kanyang titiyakin
mga ito ay humantong sa ating luwalhati.

Hindi ang Diyos ang kawawa
sa tuwing atin Siyang kinakawawa
sa salita at sa gawa
kungdi tayong kanyang mga tinubos
pagkatao natin ang nauubos
dangal nati'y nauupos
sa tuwing aasta tayong boss
gayong tayo ang nabubusabos
nitong kapalaluan nating lipos
na sana ay maubos, matapos kasabay ng corona virus.

I believe in God

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Thursday within the Octave of Easter, 16 April 2020

***Acts of the Apostles 3:11-26* <(((>< +++ ><)))> *Luke 24:35-48***

Dearest Lord Jesus Christ:

Today I pray for just one simple thing for everyone: that we believe in you and the One who sent you.

How sad, O Lord, that in the midst of this pandemic, we still refuse to believe in you with some people continuing to rely more in themselves, in their sciences, in their technologies, in their peoples.

How sad, O Lord, when our religious beliefs border mostly between the two extremes of either blaming you for every tragedy and calamity we go through or, forgetting and even disregarding you from every triumph and victory we achieve in life.

Enlighten our minds and our hearts, Jesus.

“Now I know, brothers and sisters that yo acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did; but God has thus brought to fulfillment what he had announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer. Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away, and the Lord may grant you times of refreshment and send you the Christ already appointed for you, Jesus…”
Acts of the Apostles 3:17-20

Indeed, O Lord, to believe in you is the starting point of everything.

Give us the grace to recognize you within us most especially when we break the bread even through the wonders of the modern internet.

One common thing that the evangelists tell us after you rose from the dead is how you would always join your disciples on the table and share meal with them.

In this time when churches are closed and all we can do is celebrate the Eucharist on TV or the Internet, pour out your grace upon us to continue to recognize and experience you in our table fellowship to remove our doubts of your presence and assure us of your salvation.

“Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts?” While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them. He said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in then prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
Luke 24:38, 41-48

Help us, Jesus in our unbelief, increase our little faith in you in these times of crisis.

Keep us strong in being your witnesses in this modern time when we have so many other gods being worshipped. Amen.

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 15 April 2020

*Photo by Mr. Chester Ocampo, Immaculate Conception Seminary chapel, 2014.*

It was three in the morning
my day was earlier than usual calling
while kneeling I began praying
I could not believe the words coming
for they are meant before sleeping:
"Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit."

Since the beginning
of this quarantine
there is this feeling
seeping within, asking
what is happening
but scared when answering.

It is reality now biting
reminding me of one thing
that is so intimidating
haunting me ever since
not just of dying
but of being alone.

I know it is the Easter season
but there must be a reason
why this is going on:
I have never felt alone
until I have grown old
when there is nobody home.

When Jesus died on the cross
he was alone but never abandoned
for when he implored 
the Psalm for his farewell song
he added the word "Father" that will lead us on.

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit!
Such was the loneliness of the Lord
but in one word expressed his oneness
and closeness amid the great darkness
a love so immense, so intense
where every life and spirit here on earth commenced.

What a unique invitation
from Jesus to follow him on the Cross
into his Resurrection  
by being lonely and abandoned
so we may pray in his filial way
Father, into your hands I commend my spirit!

It is in calling God our Father
when we are far and lost
that we can truly have that intimacy
with our Maker who breathed into thee
the very spirit that keep us alive
here and in eternity.

An Easter lamentation

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Wednesday in the Octave of Easter, 15 April 2020

Acts of the Apostles 3:1-10 <(((>< +++ ><)))> Luke 24:13-35

Dearest Jesus Christ:

It is the Easter Season but the way things are happening in our country today calls us to express our lamentations to you, O Lord.

Come to us, Lord Jesus in this darkest hours of our lives when we feel like joining the two disciples returning to Emmaus to leave everything and go back to our previous life.

Nobody seems to care at all: children are in the streets, adults in massive gatherings, everybody complaining, and worst of all, our leaders cramming at how to address this crisis without any definite plans as they have been lying to us since the beginning.

The only glimmer of hope we find these days are from our frontliners who strive to serve everyone despite the fact they have been taken for granted for so long.

Send us more new leaders – not recycled liars – who can be like Peter and John willing to be your instruments to raise us up again and set us free to stand again for what is true.

Open also our eyes, Lord, to see more of the possibilities available in the midst of the confusions around and within us.

Give us the Spirit of wisdom and encouragement for others losing hope and directions.

Help us to persevere more along with others who have seen and experienced you especially in the breaking of bread. Amen.

*Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA-7 News, March 2020. Used with permission.*

Suko kami sa Iyo, Panginoon

Lawiswis Ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-14 ng Abril 2020

Nakapanlulumo kung iisipin
itong sinapit natin sa COVID-19
sa isang iglap, kaagad-agad
takbo ng ating buhay tila nasagad
tayo ay sumadsad sa kaabahan
na dati ni hindi sumagi sa ating isipan
na tayo ay walang puwedeng panghawakang
kapangyarihan na maaring ipagyabang.

Aanhin ang pera at kayamanan
wala ka namang mabili o mapuntahan
sarado ang lahat pati ang simbahan
lansangan walang laman
lahat natigilan, natauhan
sa katotohanan tayo ay tao lamang
sa mahabang panahon ay nahibang
sarili ay nalinlang sa maling katotohanan.

Kay gandang pagmasdan
nakakakilabot hanggang kaibuturan
pananabik ng mga tao masilayan
Panginoong Jesu-Kristo
sa Santisimo Sakramento at Santo Entierro
hanggang sa Señor Resuscitado
ng Pasko ng Pagkabuhay nang lahat kumaway
maging sundalo tinaas mga kamay sa pagpugay.

Suko kami sa inyo, Panginoon
tinalikuran ka namin noon: 
ang pagkamakasarili sa amin ay lumamon
at sa nakakalasong ilusyon, kami naluom
kaya kami ay iyong hanguin sa pagkakabaon
ibangon upang muling makatugon 
sa iyong tawag at hamon limutin ang sarili
pasanin ang Krus upang kasama mo kami makaahon.

When our weeping leads to Easter

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe, Tuesday of Easter Octave, 14 April 2020

***Acts 2:36-41* ><)))> +++ <(((>< *John 20:11-18***

*Detail of Italian painter Giotto’s “Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not)” of the Risen Lord appearing to Mary Magdalene.*

Lord Jesus Christ, you know very well how on this blessed season of Easter, so many of us are crying, weeping due to the threats and deaths brought about by corona virus worldwide.

Yes, it is the saddest Holy Week and Easter for many people in recent history.

But behind all these sadness, deep inside us, many have experienced your more meaningful presence and coming this Easter amid our tears of sadness, of weeping because this is also the time we have missed you so much, we have sought you so much.

How lovely, O dear Jesus, to contemplate the two occasions in the gospel today when Mary was asked why she was weeping.

Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there… And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.”
John 20:11-15

We cry, we weep whenever we lost someone or something so precious and valuable like the people we love – or even hardly knew – due to COVID-19.

Give us the grace of tears and realization that in this life, the most beautiful reason we can have in weeping, in crying is that of losing you, dearest Jesus. It is the most beautiful reason for us to cry and weep at this time of the corona virus as it leads us back to you like Mary Magdalene!

Like the listeners of Peter on that Pentecost day, “cut us in our hearts” and may we be like Mary Magdalene desiring only you, searching for you, longing for you alone for in you is our fulfillment in life.

Let us not waste our tears on trivial things and most specially “toxic persons” to help us move forward in your new directions in life amid this pandemic of COVID-19.

At the same time, we pray today for those crying and weeping for varied reasons, too, that they may see you soon to experience comfort and assurance in you. Amen.

Pasko ng Pagkabuhay sa panahon ng nakamamatay na COVID-19

Lawiswis Ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-13 ng Abril 2020

Katulad ninyo 
ako man ay humiling
sa aking mga panalangin
sana'y magbalik na 
dating normal na buhay natin 
bago mag-COVID-19.



Ngunit nang aking suriin
mali itong aking hiling
at tiyak hindi diringgin
ng Panginoon nating
nagpakasakit upang baguhin
kinamihasnang pagkakasala natin.


Ano nga ba ibig sabihin
pagbabalik sa dating normal
na buhay natin?
Hindi ba ito naging sanhi
nitong COVID-19 kaya 
tayo ngayon ay naka-quarantine?

Bago pa man dumating 
itong social distancing
magkakahiwalay at hindi natin pansin
mga kapwa lalo mga nalilihis 
habang ang iba ay minamaliit 
tila baga buhay ng iba walang halaga sa atin?

Kaya dating normal na buhay natin
hindi na dapat magbalik sa mga panahong...
normal ang walang Diyos
normnal ang hindi pagsisimba
normal ang paglapastangan sa magulang at kapwa
normal ang makasarili
normal ang walang pakialam
normal ang kasakiman
normal ang patayan
normal ang pakikiapid
normal ang pagsisinungaling
normal ang fake news at chismis
normal ang pagnanakaw
normal ang korapsiyon
normal ang gulangan
normal ang pagmumura at pag-alipusta
normal ang kawalan ng kahihiyan
normal ang mga trapo na pulitikong pulpol
normal ang pagbebenta ng boto
normal ang kawalan ng modo
normal ang pagwasak sa kalikasan.

Iyan ang dating normal na buhay natin
na hindi na dapat mabalik
sari-saring mga diyos-diyosang
sinasamba upang magkamal ng maraming pera
hangaan at tingalain ng iba
waring ang sarili'y angat sa karamihan.

Iyan ang dating normal na buhay natin
na hindi na dapat mabalik pagkaran nitong COVID-19:
malayo sa Diyos at sa kapwa tao
dahil itong Pasko ng Pagkabuhay
ay pagbabalik sa landas ng kabutihan at kabanalan
paglimot sa sarili, pagpapasan ng Krus upang si Kristo ay masundan.

Kaya marahil matatagalan itong ating lockdown
upang higit nating madalisay ating mga buhay
nang sa gayon matapos pagdaanan mga kahirapan
huwag nating malimutan ang Diyos na makapangyarihan
hangad ang ating kabutihan at kapakanan.