Lord My Chef Simbang Gabi Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fourth Sunday in Advent-A, Simbang Gabi-5&6, 21 December 2025
Isaiah 7:10-14 ><}}}}*> Romans 1:1-7 ><}}}}*> Matthew 1:18-24

We shared last month in our blog a Filipino movie called Gaano Kadalas ang Minsan? as jumping board of our reflection of the readings of the day (https://lordmychef.com/2025/11/18/gaano-kadalas-ang-minsan/).

Allow me on this final Sunday of Advent and fifth day of our Simbang Gabi to begin my reflection with a another Filipino movie released in 1983, Nagalit ang Buwan sa Haba ng Gabi starring Dindo Fernando with Laurice Guillen who played the role as his wife in the Flor de Luna TV series in the 80’s.

Don’t worry… I know something about this movie because I have seen it being the operator of the Betamax player when my mother watched it. And if I remember it right, Laurice had “lent” her husband Dindo to another woman as his mistress; it was an extra-marital affair “with consent”. Basta. When things were already getting offhand as Dindo had a near-fatal heart attack due to over-fatigue in his work and life, Laurice reminded him to finally decide to stop his affair because “kahit buwan magagalit sa haba ng gabi.” (That’s how poetic our movies and music!)

That catchy movie title came as I prayed today’s first reading and gospel that mentioned Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming of the Messiah to be called Emmanuel – emanu ‘Elohim – which means in Hebrew God-is-with-us.

The Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying: Ask for a sign from the Lord, your God; let it be deep as the netherworld, or high as the sky!” But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!” Then Isaiah said: “Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel” (Isaiah 7:10-14).

Ahaz was one of the notoriously evil Kings of Judah who revived the barbarous custom of human sacrifice as he followed other idolatrous practices of their neighboring pagans especially the Assyrians.

When the king of Syria was threatening and later attacked Jerusalem, God told Ahaz through Isaiah to trust in Him alone for He shall save the Jewish people, explicitly warning him against entering into any alliances with Judah’s pagan neighbors. But Ahaz disregarded all these as he secretly entered into military alliances with his pagan neighbors in the belief they could defend Judah against the threat of Syria.

To prove His fidelity and truthfulness in His promise of protecting Judah, God asked Ahaz to ask for any sign from Him; the king declined, pretending he did not want to test God when in fact He knew already of his secret alliances with Judah’s pagan neighboring countries. That was when Isaiah declared in exasperation, “Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.” That’s how I likened Isaiah to Laurice Guillen, complaining to the stubborn King Ahaz, as if warning him “baka magalit ang buwan sa haba ng gabi.”

How sad when we are like King Ahaz with God who always encourages us to come to Him, to be intimate with Him, to trust Him, even encouraging us to ask Him for signs just to prove that He loves us so much.

What a shame when we pretend like Ahaz of not testing God as if we are faithful to Him when in fact we have already made up our mind or had made a decision on something as we totally disregard God’s suggestions and instructions! Worst of all, we are so convinced in ourselves that God does not know at all of what is really in our hearts!

Let us be honest: oftentimes, we reject God’s offer of signs and His encouragements not because we love and respect Him but simply we doubt Him. Like Ahaz, we believe more in ourselves or in the prevailing way of thinking of most people we find in social media or what ever science tells us especially these days of modern technologies.

And what happens next? We fail. It is while amid our guilt feelings and sorrow that we realize later how through our family and friends and the church that God was right after all. If only we have been more sincere, more open and had the courage to change our mind and decisions…

But, despite all these, the good news is that God remains with us, still loving us, forgiving us, and most of all giving us another chance to make better. Like with King Ahaz despite his rejection of God and His plans, we too are given with the sign of Jesus Christ who had come and continues to come to encourage us to keep on following Him despite our weaknesses and failures.

Here we find the great sign of Joseph, the righteous man who completely trusted God.

Like Mary, Joseph was encouraged by God to change his mind and decision, to trust Him completely to fulfill the prophecy of Jesus, the greatest of all signs.

Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her”… All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home (Matthew 1:20, 22-24).

Each one of us is like Joseph, a sign of God’s presence, of God-with-us especially when life is dark and difficult, when others are confused with all the cacophonous sounds of the world centered on ego and materialism.

Every prophecy of God is fulfilled through a combination of active cooperation of man with the Divine plan which is what St. Paul is reminding us in the second reading. We are all “called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God” (Rom. 1:1) who is Jesus Christ.

We are all weak like St. Paul or King Ahaz or even Joseph who did not know the whole story before of Mary’s pregnancy; by being open to God’s encouragement, to the many signs He sends us, what we must consider is not our weaknesses nor insignificance in the world but the power and reality of Jesus “established as Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness through the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom.1:4).

Advent and Christmas happen when despite all odds especially with what other people are saying or conventional wisdom tells us, we still follow that little voice of encouragement of God from the innermost part of our hearts.

Like Joseph, it was not superstition that he obeyed God’s instructions through an Angel in his dream when he awoke. It was his deep and matured faith in God that made him decide to change his mind, to take that deep plunge of faith in God. In taking Mary as his wife, Joseph expressed his great love for God so that in taking Mary, Christ came into the world.

This final Sunday in Advent as we approach Christmas Day, we are encouraged to trust God completely by making Jesus truly present first in us and then with others. God is merciful and forgiving, always encouraging us to come back to Him, to obey Him, to be like Him. But remember too, long dark nights end that we might get caught off guard of Christ’s coming. Baka magalit din sa atin ang buwan sa haba ng gabi. Amen. Have a blessed and meaningful Christmas!