Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-28 ng Oktubre 2019
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Todos los Santos na naman at kay laking kabaligtaran naka-ugalian ng karamihan ipagdiwang mga aswang at katatakutan sa halip na mga banal at kanilang kabutihan.
Dati-rati nama'y hindi laganap sa ating kapuluan banyagang kaugalian pagdiriwang ng Halloween na nasira tunay na kahulugan sa kaisipan ng mga makamundong taga-kanluran.
Halloween ang taguring na nagmula sa pinagsamang "hallowed evening" na kahuluga'y "gabi ng mga banal" ngunit pilit binabalikan ng mga hangal maling paniniwala noon pa napasinungalingan.
Akala ng mga paganong Druids ng Scotland at Wales sa Bretanya noong unang-una lumilitaw sa lupa tuwing katapuasan ng Oktubre mga impakto at masasamang espiritu upang makabihag ng mga tao.
Nagdaramit sila at nag-aayos na nakakatakot parang multo, kamukha ng mga lamang lupa sa paniniwalang malilito mga impakto na sila'y kasamahan kampon ng kadiliman at kasamaan kaya sila iniiwan at hindi sinasaktan.
Maraming Kristiyano hindi ito nalalaman ni nauunawaan nakalimutan pangunahing katotohanan ating pinananaligan nang pumarito si Hesu Kristo, kanya nang tinalo kapangyarihan ng demonyo nang pumaroon siya sa dako ng mga yumao.
Nang mabuhay mag-uli ang Panginoong Hesu Kristo napanibago niya buong sangnilikha higit sa lahat, muli nating nakamukha Diyos Ama sa ati'y lumikha, tiniyak ating tahahanan sa piling niya sa kalangitan.
Bakit nga ba ikaw, Kristiyano ang siya pa ngayong lito at sadyong lilo mas ibig pag makamukha mga impakto at demonyo nakukuha pa ninyong matuwa at ikagalak mga anak ninyong mukhang tiyanak?!
Akala ba ninyo demonyo ang mga nalilito sa inyong pagbibihis at pag-aanyong multo? Hindi ba ninyo batid kayo ang nalilinlang sa pagdaramit at pag-aayos ng hunghang at magtataka pa kayo asal ng inyong anak parang animal?
Madalas kay hirap unawain mga gawi natin na katakutan kabutihan at katuwaan ang kasamaan; sadya nga bang atin nakalimutan dakilang karangalang tayo'y nilalang katulad at kawangis ng mabuting Maykapal?
Diyos ang kamukha natin kanyang liwanag sana'y mabanaagan din sa atin upang maghatid ng kagalakang bumubukal sa malinis at magandang kalooban lipos ng kabanguhan ng kabutihan at kadalisayan.
Colossians 1:1-8 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 4:38-44
Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte, Atok, Benguet, 01 September 2019.
Heavenly Father, I always thank you in my prayers. Early in life, I have been told to always say “thank you” and I have diligently kept that, always thanking people especially you for your goodness to me.
But, now I wonder if I have been “thanking” so much without being truly grateful?
There are “thank you’s” that come from lips and there are “thank you’s” that come from the heart which is what gratitude is all about. So often, I say “thank you” out of habit without really looking into the heart, the goodness of the one doing or giving me a favor. Too often, I thank for the thing or favor, not the person.
“We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jess and the love that you have for all the holy ones because of the hope reserved for you in heaven.”
Colossians 1:3-5
How lovely it is to dwell on St. Paul’s expression of his gratitude, his thanksgiving that is clearly directed to persons – including you, O God!
Like the people of Capernaum where you have healed Simon’s mother-in-law and others, they saw your person to thank that they begged you to stay in their town.
Remind me always, Lord, that whenever I say “thank you”, I may first try to feel the heart and experience the goodness of the person doing me good for a grateful heart always sees the loving face. Amen.
Genesis 41:55-57; 42:5-7, 17-24 >< )))*> Matthew 10:1-7
Pyramids of Egypt. Photo by author, 09 May 2019.
Thank you very much, our loving Father, for making us all come together as family and friends, colleagues and acquaintances on many occasions you have planned in all eternity in your infinite wisdom.
Like the sons of Israel who have come to Egypt to buy food during a famine and the 12 Apostles summoned by your Son Jesus, our coming together for various reasons in different seasons were all caused by your divine will.
The sons of Israel did not know how their coming into Egypt would reunite them with their lost brother Joseph they have maltreated and sold a long time ago. The 12 Apostles never had an inkling at that time how they would be betrayed by one of their very own that they welcomed each other as disciples of Jesus.
In your time, God, you perfectly know when and where and how we would meet the many people we now have in our lives.
Give us the grace to always seek your holy will, your grand design and plan with the people who come to our lives. Let us take care of them as precious gifts of family and friends you give us, let us shower them with your love and attention while still around us. May we never take them for granted, value them always as they value us too as gifts coming from you.
Let us not take them into someone not meant to be in our lives.
We pray also for people without friends and family around them, for those in far and distant lands working away from their loved ones, for those languishing in jails especially the innocent one that they may soon be reunited with their family.
Most of all, our loving Father, may we always see your face on every person we shall meet this day. Amen.
With our fellow pilgrims at the Sphinx in Egypt, 09 May, 2019.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe, Thursday, Wk. X, Yr. I, 13 June 2019
2 Corinthians 3:15-4:1, 3-6 >< )))*> >< )))*> Matthew 5:20-26
Man “losing his head in prayer”. Photo by JJ Jimeno of GMA News, 27 May 2019.
Today we are celebrating, O Lord Jesus Christ, the feast of one of your most loved Saints, Anthony of Padua, the patron of those searching for any thing that is lost.
Most of the time, it is you Jesus whom we could not find. We always lose you not because you abandon us or hide from us but because we turn away from you. And that is why, in our pursuit of so many things of the world, we eventually end up more lost in life.
Help us to find our way back to you, Jesus. Transform us into your image by making us “gaze with unveiled face on your glory Lord” (2Cor.3:18) in prayerful meditation of the Sacred Scriptures and of the Blessed Sacrament like St. Anthony of Padua.
When the Israelites who were bitten by the snakes in the desert gazed at the bronze serpent Moses hanged on the cross, they were healed of their illness.
When Peter denied you thrice on Holy Thursday, your loving gaze on him made him sorrowful with his sin.
When St. John Vianney was asked by a farmer why he always spent a Holy Hour before you in the Blessed Sacrament, the holy priest said he simply looked at you as you looked at him too.
Lord Jesus Christ, the more we look at you, the more you look intently on us full of love. And the more we look at you, according to the Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the more we look like you!
Give us the grace to keep looking at you so that the more you look intently to us full of love and mercy, we experience your healing and comfort, wisdom and counsel, peace and joy. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Tuesday, Easter VII, 04 June 2019
Acts 20:17-27 >< )))*> >< )))*> >< )))*> John 17:1-11
Altar of the Church of All Nations beside the Garden of Gethsemane in the Holy Land. Photo by author, April 2017.
I am hesitant in greeting you a good morning, Lord Jesus Christ. How I wish I could have even a fifth of your courage in facing death. All throughout your life here on earth, you faced death squarely. You were never caught by surprise.
Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come.”
John 17:1
In the first reading, St. Paul also spoke about his coming death when he summoned the leaders of the church in Ephesus to a meeting in Miletus where he told them that after that meeting, they would never see his face again.
Every day, Lord, we face death every time we make choices and decisions. But rarely are we aware about death with the capital “D” except when we are in extreme danger or when diagnosed with the big “C”.
Last night as I prayed, I got focused about facing death. I am afraid, Lord even though I know that when it comes, I will not feel anything. The pain would be with those I would leave behind, with those who love me and care for me. Yet, I am still afraid.
And that is when you consoled me, making me realize that what is most terrifying with death is when we fail to live authentically. When we waste every opportunity to live fully because coming to terms with death is coming to terms with life too!
That is the reason why you – and the saints – were never afraid with death. That is part of the joy of Easter, of living authentically.
Help us, O Lord, to live truthfully, and fully in your love and mercy so that when our time comes, we have no regrets leaving this life on earth because while still here, we are already one with you in the Father (Jn.17:3).
We pray also for those who are terminally ill, undergoing surgery and other medical procedures today, for those languishing in jail especially those who are innocent, for those barely surviving the many trials of every day living trying to make ends meet. Comfort them, Lord Jesus with your healing presence. Amen.
A sculpture of Jesus’ Agony at the Garden below a window of the Church of All Nations beside the Garden of Gethsemane. Photo by author, April 2017.
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Facade of the wall enclosing the St. Katherine Monastery in Sinai, Egypt. At its back is Mt. Sinai where pilgrims begin their ascent to the mountain where God met with Moses. Photo by author 06 May 2019.
So many times, Lord Jesus, we desire to see your Father. But so many times, too, we forget that whoever has seen you has also seen the Father…
Philip said to Jesus, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
John 14:8-9
But, what is really to see you, Lord, that we may also see the Father?
If seeing the Father is seeing in our lives its unity and oneness with you, then, let us imitate you Jesus that our lives may also be like yours.
If seeing the Father is seeing in our lives your mercy and forgiveness of our sins, then, let us be merciful and forgiving with others so we see more of you Jesus among us.
If seeing the Father is seeing in our lives the grace to rise above our lowly selves to become better persons, to be holy like the Father in heaven, then, let us strive to get closer to you Jesus by following you faithfully in loving service with others.
Through you, O Christ, you have brought the Father closest to us; and in you, O Jesus, the Father approaches us, drawing us unto him by leading us beyond ourselves into his infinite greatness and love.
Like what you did through the Holy Spirit to Paul and Barnabas in the first reading today, help us to keep our cool amid many adversaries, filled with joy in the face of many crises and obstacles because we have seen seen you and the Father too! Amen.
Kept inside this chapel in the Monastery of St. Katherine in Sinai, Egypt is said to be the burning bush where God first appeared to Moses. Photo by author, 06 May 2019.
Good morning Lord Jesus Christ. It’s the Monday rush again, as well as the Monday blues. So often on Mondays, we feel like that young man in the gospel coming to you, praying and pleading to you with our life’s many concerns and baggages.
And you are always there present with us and for us, never failing to look at us full of love and compassion.
What a lovely scene we fail to recognize because our faces fell as we hurriedly went away sad from you. We never bothered to even look at you because we are so occupied with our very selves!
Allow us to pause a little, to glance at your loving face, especially those going through many difficulties like medical procedures of surgery, chemotheraphy, dialysis, or physical theraphy. We pray also for those burdened with so many problems with their very self or family members, with work and career, with finances and everything.
You know very well, O Lord whats eating us up inside, what’s bothering us as you could always see our sad faces so focused on the darkness within us and around us. Give us the grace to just turn a little and look at your face, see your glow, and feel the warmth of your presence. In that way, we can slowly return to you and completely trust in you again. Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.
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