Ang “masamang balita” ng Jollibee sa Visita Iglesia

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-10 ng Abril 2025

Noong isang taon ko pa ito ibig ilathala nang aking makita sa harapan ng aming simbahan, ang Pambansang Dambana ng Birhen ng Fatima dito sa Valenzuela ang karatula ng pambansang bubuyog ukol sa Visita Iglesia. Sa aking panlasa, hindi bagay, hindi match ang mix na ito. Hindi ito “mabuting balita” ayon sa Jollibee.

Ako man po ay maka-Jollibee. Paborito ko ang kanilang palabok, pangalawa lamang ang Chicken Joy at pangatlo ang Champ bagaman ayoko po ng pagkaing mayroong pinya kaya inaalis ko ito sa dambuhala nilang langhap-sarap na burger.

Subalit tuwing mga Mahal na Araw lalo na noong isang taon, ako ay nalulungkot sa Jollibee. Marahil pati ang langit at maaring lumuluha sa lungkot ang mga anghel tuwing nakikita si Jollibee masayang-masaya kung Biyernes Santo kasi masama sa panlasa ang kanilang kampanya sa Visita-Iglesia.

Hindi yata Katoliko si Jollibee tulad ng karamihan sa ating mga Pilipino bagamat mayroong ilan silang mga tinadahan na binasbasan at minimisahan ng obispo at mga pari tuwing pinasisinayangan at nagdiriwang ng anibersaryo.

Noong isang araw aking nakita ang post sa Facebook ng maraming taong-simbahan kasama ilang mga pari na pinupuri ang Jollibee sa kanilang advertisement ng Visita Iglesia sa mga simbahan sa buong kapuluan kasama na kanilang mga tindahan mayroong mapa ng simbahang maaring puntahan upang manalangin at mag-peregrinasyon (pilgrimage po) kasama na ang pinaka-malapit sa kainan ng Jollibee. Marami ang pumuri sa Jollibee sa naturang kampanya. Sabi ng isang uploader, “Kudos kay Jollibee ah.. very catholic.”

Sorry po. Hindi po yata tama ang inyong caption. Sa unang tingin, tila maganda pero kung susuriin natin, mali. Hindi po ito Catholic practice dahil ito ay salungat sa hiling sa atin ng Simbahan noon pa mang simula na magkaroon ng pagsasakripisyo tuwing panahon ng Kuwaresma at mga Mahal na Araw.

Sa katunayan, ang turo ng Simbahan ay mag-ayuno tuwing Miyerkules ng Abo at Biyernes Santo bilang pagninilay at pakikiisa sa pagpapakasakit at pagkamatay ni Jesu-Kristo doon sa krus mahigit dalawang libong taon na ang nakalipas. Totoo na hindi na mamatay si Jesus at hindi naman nating kailangang malungkot at malumbay sa mga panahong ito ngunit, paano tayo makapagninilay at dasal ng taos kung nasa isip natin ang pagsasaya ng pagkain ng masasarap tuwing Mahal na Araw o Biyernes Santo?

Ipagpaumanhin po ninyo lalo ng mga kaibigan ko sa Jollibee, malinaw na ang kanilang Visita-Iglesia campaign ay commercialization ng ating banal na tradisyon at gawaing Katoliko. Sa halip na makatulong ang Jollibee kasama na ang iba pang mga fastfood chain na mayroong Lenten special meals sa paggunita ng mga Mahal na Araw na maranasan man lamang nating mga Filipino muli ang tunay na diwa ng Paskuwa ng Panginoong Jesus, ito ay kanilang winawasak. Hindi nga po tayo dapat kumain bilang bahagi ng panawagang mag-ayuno o fasting tuwing Miyerkules ng Abo at Biyernes Santo. Ito ang hindi batid ng mga fastfood chain: tuwing sasapit ang Kuwaresma, palagi silang nag-aalok ng fish sandwich at iba pang pagkaing walang karne bilang bahagi ng fasting (edad 18-59) at abstinence.

Nasaan na ang panawagang mag-sakripisyo para sa mga banal na gawain ng Kuwaresma at mga Mahal na Araw tulad ng Visita Iglesia kung ang hahantungan ay Jollibee o mga fastfood?

Inuulit ko po na wala tayong layuning siraan ang Jollibee na naghatid ng maraming karangalan sa ating bayan lalo na sa larangan ng pagkain at negosyo kung saan ay inilampaso ng isang bubuyog ang dambuhalang McDonalds ng Amerika pati na sa ibang bahagi ng Asya. Sa larangang ito ng panahon ng Kuwaresma at mga Mahal na Araw, sa aking pananaw ay lumabis ang Jollibee sa kanilang gimik na Visita-Iglesia. Sa katunayan, mayroon ako nabasa sa ibang bahagi na tinatawag nila itong “Bee-sita Iglesia.” Wala po sa hulog at pokus ang kanilang kampanya na tila mayroong pagkapagano dahil malapit na itong maging idolatry. Hindi magtatagal, baka ang darasalin na ng mga bata ay “Jollibee to the Father and to the Son and the Holy Spirit…”

Ang pinakamasakit sa lahat ay makita ang mga fastfood chain tuwing Biyernes Santo na umaapaw sa mga tao – daig pa mga simbahan – na tila wala na yatang pagpapahalaga sa pagpapakasakit at pagkamatay ni Jesus para sa atin.

Batid ko po na pakaunti ng pakaunti ang mga mananampalataya na hindi na nag-aabstinensiya at ayuno tuwing Biyernes Santo. Magiging malala pa ito sa ganitong uri ng kampanya ng Jollibee tuwing Visita-Iglesia. HIndi ba sila maaring mangilin kung Biyernes Santo man lang? O, kahit mula alas-dose ng tanghali ng Biyernes Santo hanggang alas-singko ng hapon sa paglabas ng prusisyon? Hintayin man lamang sana ng mga fastfood chain at restaurant na “malibing” ang Panginoon bago sila magbukas ng tindahan nila.

Hindi ba malaking kabalintunaang makita sa araw ng ating pagninilay sa mga hirap ng Panginoong Jesu-Kristo ay naroon pa rin ang pagsasaya ng mga tao na para tayong mga pagano kumakain at nagsasaya?

Ang mga Mahal na Araw ay inilalaan upang magnilay ng taos sa ginawang pagliligtas sa atin ng Panginoon. Hindi naman natin ikamamatay ang hindi pagkain sa Jollibee ng isang raw lang tulad ng Biyernes Santo sa buong taon. At lalo namang hindi ipaghihirap at ikalulugi ng Jollibee sa sila man ay mangilin man lamang tuwing Biyernes Santo. Amen.

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Kapilya ng Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 Marso 2025.*

Lent is “full-throated”

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday after Ash Wednesday, 07 March 2025
Isaiah 58:1-9     + + +     Matthew 9:14-15

*Photo by author, Hidden Springs Valley Resort, Calauan, Laguna, 20 February 2025.*

I love your words today,
Lord God our Father
through the Prophet Isaiah:

Thus says the Lord God: Cry out full-throated and unsparingly, lift up your voice like a trumpet blast; tell my people their wickedness, and the house of Jacob their sins (Isaiah 58:1-9).

So strong was the word
your great prophet had used,
"full-throated" which is 
to express confidently,
with strong feeling
and without limit;
to shout our loudly
in no uncertain terms;
to mince no words,
to emphatically declare
what it really is.

O God forgive us,
as a nation and as a church,
as a community of your disciples
for being so soft,
so disturbingly quiet
and selectively silent
in denouncing
injustice and abuses
happening not only around us
but even by those among us;
we have been so lax,
overly lenient,
always trying to please
everyone
that we have forgotten to stand
for you in Christ Jesus
that so many among us your
priests have abused your
worship,
your prayers,
your liturgy.

Teach us to be like your
tall trees,
so magnificently imposing
minus the pride and airs
many of us exude;
simply rooted and grounded
in you, O Lord,
 firm and unshakeable,
truly a presence in
Christ.

*Photo by author, Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.*

Let us take the challenges
of the Prophet Isaiah
to see fasting not just 
as refraining from food 
and drink but about how
our behavior affect others;
let us empty ourselves first
of the bonds of wickedness
that bind us so that in our fasting
we set the oppressed free
by breaking every yoke (Is.58:6);
let us be one with the hungry
and homeless by realizing our 
nakedness in you, that more
essential than food and things
are those of the Spirit to
experience you among the poor
like the hungry and the homeless (Is.58:7);
let us be your presence in this world
by shouting full-throated 
not just with our voice
but most especially with our
actions and witnessing of your
justice and love.

Loving Father,
you have given us with so
much and we have given
so little
if not nothing at all;
teach us the essence
of fasting which is to give more
of ourselves with others
and to give more of you
and your love,
and kindness,
and mercy,
and joy and life.
Amen.

True love leads to freedom: Ash Wednesday on Valentine’s Day

Forty Days of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Ash Wednesday, 14 February 2024
Joel 2:12-18 + 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 + Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

*Illustration from Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, 14 February 2018.*

This is not the first time that Valentine’s Day falls on Ash Wednesday, the start of the holy season of Lent of 40 days before Holy Week in preparation for Easter. The last time they coincided was in February 14, 2018.

Actually, there is no problem at all with both happening together on the same date. Both celebrations have the heart as its focus, inviting us to examine how much love we have in our hearts, because, ultimately when we die and face God our Creator, He will judge us on how truly we have loved while here on earth.

And because they both speak of love, Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day confront the reality of death.

Ash Wednesday reminds us that we all die which is the meaning of the imposition of the ash on our foreheads while the priest says, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” But, we do not merely die and end life on earth. Notice how the ashes imposed on us are shaped as cross because Ash Wednesday assures us that we die in the love of Jesus Christ our Savior who leads us into eternal life.

Meanwhile, Valentine’s reminds us of our undying love for those bonds of love we make throughout our lives as lovers, friends, and admirers. Lovers and couples pledge – with or without God – their love for each other “til death do us part.” Anyone who truly loves and had truly loved knows that death is love’s final test. And the whole world is filled with so many beautiful stories and magnificent buildings and structures that remind of us one’s undying love like the Taj Mahal in India.

Therefore, today is a wonderful celebration, an amazing juxtaposition of the sacred Ash Wednesday and the secular Valentine’s Day on this February 14 so that we may purify the love in our hearts, that our love is not merely expressed in words but most especially in deeds.

*From Sisters of Providence of Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods.*

For his Lenten Message this year, the Holy Father had chosen the theme of freedom in his reflection by going back to the Exodus experience of the Israelites. Indeed, love and freedom go together. Always.

Lent is the season of grace in which the desert can become once more – in the words of the prophet Hosea – the place of our first love (cf. Hos 2:16-17). God shapes his people, he enables us to leave our slavery behind and experience a Passover from death to life. Like a bridegroom, the Lord draws us once more to himself, whispering words of love to our hearts.
Pope Francis, “Through the Desert God Leads Us to Freedom” (Lent 2024)

Love is most true when there is freedom. We cannot truly love if we are not free. And the more we love, the more we are free, that is, free to love, free to be caring, free to be kind, free to be honest and true, free to be sincere.

Remember your first crush or your first love. Amid all the exciting feelings and “kilig moments” we have had every time our eyes met those of our crush or when our skin touched each other, one thing we always made sure was to keep it a secret.

During our time, it was imperative that we boys and men keep our feelings to our selves about our crush and love interests because, the moment our love, our feelings are made known, problems happen. Everyone in the class or barkada starts teasing, making us unnatural in our words and actions as they dictate us on what to do and what to say. Our crush or beloved then gets irritated and uncomfortable with all the attention she gets not really from us but from every Maritess and Marisol around!

I have realized later in life that when something so deep is so true, most often we treasure it in our hearts, keeping it in secret not for anything else but to make it grow and mature. In this case, into selfless love. People who brag their love or crush or just everything in life are often the most untrue and unfree. Everything is just a show or palabas for them, a front that is not real which is what we see on social media. Jesus tells us true love that is free is something more of the inside than of the outside appearances:

Jesus said to his disciples: ”Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you… When you pray do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogue and on street corners so that others may see them… When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites… your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
Matthew 6:1-2, 5, 16, 18

*Photo by author, Our Lady of Fatima University-Laguna, 19 January 2024.*

Love and freedom go together. Love grows and deepens only when there is freedom because love is a grace from God that naturally flows out from us, from our being. There is no need to make noise about it or be dramatic for everyone to see. Just let your love flow as the song from the 1970’s said.

When we “manipulate” our love, we become self-conscious instead of being mutual. Love is always other centered as the late American Trappist monk Thomas Merton said, “the sign that we truly love is when we love somebody more than ourselves.” When we have so much of ourselves, when we are selfish, that is when we reject God and eventually others. That is why every sin is essentially a refusal to love which bothers us inside as we feel guilty and become unfree to be who we are, beloved and loving.

Lent invites us to love and be free through conversion, a turning of our hearts away from the wrong loves we have pursued and led us to loneliness, emptiness, and sadness within. Love and freedom come from within our hearts where God dwells; hence, the call of the Prophet Joel to turn our hearts back to God:

“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.”
Joel 2:12-13

To speak of the heart is to speak of the whole person whose only fulfillment is found in God. A heart that is far from God is a person separated not only from God but also from others, even from himself. Only a heart that is inclined to God is able to truly love and be truly free. A heart without God is a heart without love, a heart that is not free because it had gone cold and dead.

Conversion then leads us to reconciliation, to being one again in God in Jesus Christ as St. Paul admonished in the second reading, “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). To be reconciled with God is to be one with Him in our hearts through prayer, almsgiving, and fasting that are the hallmarks of the Season of Lent that lead us to true freedom that deepens our love for God and others.

Prayer enables us to pause and regain our freedom to examine our real selves, of how truly free are we especially in this world when there are so many voices dictating us on everything that have left us alienated, lost, and confused within.

Almsgiving sets us free from greed and helps us regard our neighbors as brothers and sisters. It deepens our love for God because our daily encounters with those who beg for our help point us to God Himself who provides us with everything we need.

Fasting on the other hand weakens our tendency to be self-centered, “disarming” us of our false selves, removing the masks we put to impress others so that we can grow and mature as it makes us more attentive to God and others.

As we begin our 40 days of Lent today, let us journey into our hearts and into the heart of God so we can truly be free to love like Jesus Christ His Son who died on the Cross on Good Friday.

Ash Wednesday on a Valentine’s Day is the perfect reminder to us all that the Cross is the best expression of love symbolized by the heart that is free and willing to suffer and die for a beloved. May we “not receive the grace of God in vain” (2 cor. 6:1). Amen. Have a blessed week ahead.

Praying on the eve of Ash Wednesday

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 13 February 2024
James 1:12-18 <*((((>< + ><))))*> + <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 8:14-21

*Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, at Bgy. Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 2023.*

On this eve of Ash Wednesday,
help us, dear God, 
to prepare for a
meaningful start tomorrow
of our Lenten journey of
40 days to Easter;
banish from our minds
and hearts all thoughts
and apprehensions
about the coming days
of fasting and abstinence,
prayers and penance,
and alms-giving;
forgive us, Father,
when our attention goes
to the details and technicalities
of Lent that we set aside 
the most essential 
which is to return to you -
our very first love.

Enlighten our minds
and our hearts, Father in your
Son Jesus Christ, 
to understand fully the 
meaning of Lent which is
having less of ourselves
and of the world
to have more of you
and of the Spirit;
until now, we have not
yet understood Christ's coming
and teachings as we are still bothered
by our scarcity and poverty,
never comprehending at all
how despite the affluence and
abundance of material things 
these days, the more we have
become empty and lost in life.

When he became aware of this he said to them, “Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?” They answered him, “Twelve.” When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did younpick up?” They answered him, “Seven.” He said to them, “Do you not still understand?”
Mark 8:17-21

Worst,
we got it all wrong that
our sinful temptations are
from God, not realizing these
come from our own worldly
desires.

Rather, each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his desire. Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death. do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters: all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.
James 1:14-17

On this Tuesday
before Ash Wednesday,
we pray, O God,
for us to understand
the sources of temptations
and sins within us;
give us the courage
and strength to confront our
true selves,
to be sincere before you
so that we may be
transformed into your 
image and likeness
that Christ had restored
in us.
Amen.

Dalawang anyo ng pag-aayuno

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-13 ng Marso 2023

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda sa ilang ng Jordan, Mayo 2019.*

Apatnapung araw 
nag-ayuno si Kristo
tinukso ng diyablo sa ilang:
“Kung ikaw ang Anak ng Diyos,
Gawin mong tinapay itong bato.”
Bagaman kanyang tiyan
ay walang laman,
hindi nalito si Kristo 
sa tukso ng diyablo
naging matibay 
tulad ng bato
na buhay ng tao 
di nakasalalay
sa tinapay 
kungdi sa
Salita ng Diyos 
na tunay 
nating buhay at gabay.

Dapat nating pakatandaan
na hindi sapat
at lalong di dapat
mapuno tayong lagi 
at mabusog 
ng mga bagay ng mundo
dahil sa maraming pagkakataon 
tayo ay nababaon sa
balon ng pagkagumon
kung laging mayroon tayo;
sa pag-aayuno 
tayo napapanuto
tumitibay ating pagkatao
tuwing nasasaid 
ating kalooban
nawawalang ng laman
nagkakapuwang sa Diyos
na tangi nating yaman!

Nguni't mayroon pang isang anyo
itong pag-aayuno
higit pang matindi
sa pagkagutom
na madaling tiisin
kesa pagka-uhaw
na nanunuot
sa kaibuturan
ng ating katawan
hindi maaring ipagpaliban
gagawa at gagawa
ng paraan
upang matighaw
panunuyo ng labi
at lalamunan
madampian
kahit tilamsikan
ng konting kaginhawahan!

Maraming uri ating
pagka-uhaw:
pagka-uhaw ng laman
at sa laman
nahahayag
sa kayamanan,
kapangyarihan,
at katanyagan
na pawang mga anyo lamang
ng iisa nating pagka-uhaw
sa Diyos at Kanyang pag-ibig
sana sa atin may pumansin
at kung maari
tayo ay kalingain,
intindihin,
at patawarin,
mga lihim nating mithiin,
inaasam, hinihiling.

Kay sarap namnamin
paanong si Hesus
ating Diyos at Panginoon
nag-ayuno upang
magutom at
mauhaw din
tulad natin
upang ipadama
pag-ibig Niya
sa atin; Siya lamang
ang pagkaing bubusog
sa atin
at inuming titighaw
sa pagka-uhaw natin
kaya pagsikapang
Siya ay tanggapin
at panatilihim sa 
kalooban natin!

Fasting is making God present by creating a space within us for others

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday after Ash Wednesday, 24 February 2023
Isaiah 58:1-9   ><}}}}*> + <*{{{{><   Matthew 9:14-15

*Photo by author, Dead Sea oasis, Israel, 2017.*

Forgive us, O God,
merciful Father,
for refusing to grow up,
for refusing to mature in
your Son Jesus Christ
in loving you,
serving you,
relating with you.
Until now, O God, 
we choose to act immaturely,
believing in ourselves as if we
know everything very well,
even bragging to you of our
goodness and holiness;
like the people in the time of
Isaiah, we are so proud,
"seeking you day after day,
desiring to know your ways, 
like a nation that has done
what is just and not abandoned 
your law, O God, even asking you
to declare what is due to us,
pleased to gain access to you,
God" (cf. Is. 58:2).

Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, and drive all your laborers. Yes, your fast ends i quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw… This, rather, is the fasting that I wish… then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
Isaiah 58:3b-4, 6, 9

Until now, 
we do not fast
and we refuse to fast,
citing so many reasons
and alibis because 
until now we have not
learned the essence
and importance of fasting;
help us grow,
help us mature in Christ!
Let us realize the essence
of fasting is creating a space 
within us for you, O God, 
through others whom we
lovingly serve in your name
to make you present among us
so that when we call, we hear
you say "Here I am!"

Help us grow deeper
in you, O God, in Jesus
who had come to us so
that our spirit of fasting
may come forth from within
us, not from outside that
make us focus more on what
to avoid; it is not the thing
outside that fasting is concerned
but of what is inside us
we are willing to surrender,
to forego, to give up
in order to have you
present among the least
and neglected.  Amen.

Paloob ang Kuwaresma, hindi palabas

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-22 ng Pebrero 2023

Paloob ang Kuwaresma
hindi palabas.
Katulad nitong ating buhay
na papaloob at hindi palabas.
Pagmasdan mga tanda
at kilos nitong panahon
habang Panginoon ang tinutunton
hinuhubad ating kapalaluan
upang bihisan ng kababaan,
sinasaid ating kalabisan
upang punan ng Kanyang 
buhay at kabanalan.

Paloob ang Kuwaresma,
hindi palabas.
Simula ay Miercules de Ceniza 
mga noo'y pinapahiran ng
abong binasbasan
paalala ng kamatayan
tungo sa buhay na walang-hanggan
kaya kinakailangan 
taos-pusong pag-amin 
at pagsuko ng mga kasalanan
talikuran at labanan 
gawi ng kasamaan.

Paloob ang Kuwaresma
hindi palabas.
Huwag magpapansin
tuwing mananalangin
hayaan saloobin at hiling
isalamin ng buhay natin;
pag-aayuno ay higit pa sa
di pagkain ng karne
kungdi mawalan ng laman
ating tiyan, magkapuwang
sa Diyos at sino mang 
nagugutom at nahihirapan;
ano mang kaluguran ating
maipagpaliban ay ilalaan
sa nangangailangan
buong katahimikan maglimos
tanda ng kaisahan
kay Hesus nasa mukha
ng mga dukha
at kapus-palad.

Paloob ang Kuwaresma
hindi palabas.
Sa gitna nitong panahon
ng social media na lahat
ay ipinakikita at ibig makita,
lahat ay pabongga
puro palabas;
ipinapaalala ng Kuwaresma
ang mga pinakamahalaga
pinakamaganda
at makabuluhan
ay hindi nakikita
nitong mga mata
bagkus ay nadarama
dahil sa paningin ng Diyos
ang tunay na mahalaga
ay yaong natatago,
napapaloob katulad Niya
na nananahan
sa ating puso at kalooban.

Lent is being filled with God

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday after Ash Wednesday, 04 March 2022
Isaiah 58:1-9   ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[><   Matthew 9:14-15

Thank you for this gift of first Friday
in March, a Friday after Ash Wednesday
as we begin our 40 day journey of Lent;
forgive us, dear God our Father, that
gone are the days when we your children
religiously observed fasting and abstinence; 
we have ceased fasting not only on the 
prescribed days of Ash Wednesday 
and Good Friday but even before receiving 
the Holy Communion in the Sunday Mass, 
making all kinds of excuses with bold claims 
of having sacrificed so much in doing "good deeds" 
that we need not fast from food anymore.

Make us realize these are the same mistakes 
of the people in the Old Testament 
of having themselves as the focus of fasting 
than you, O God, through others:  
“Why do we fast, and you do not see it?  
Afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?”  
Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, 
and drive all your laborers.  
Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, 
striking with wicked claw.  
Would that today you might fast 
so as to make your voice heard on high!” 
(Isaiah 58:3-4)

In this age of affluence even in the midst
of a pandemic, make us realize, Lord Jesus
your mystery of Incarnation through "kenosis" -
of self-emptying which is what fasting is all about.
Teach us not to be always adequate, not to be
too self-sufficient that we forget the value of 
being empty and in need of others and most 
especially of you; let us rediscover this Lent 
the beauty of denying ourselves of things 
that give us pleasures and comfort 
that we forget you and others; may we realize
that it is only in emptiness through fasting
that you can fill us with yourself, almighty God;
it is only in emptiness through fasting 
we can learn to truly trust and believe
in you, dear Lord, as our only strength
and sustenance.

Surprise us, O Lord, of the many
benefits of self-denial, primary of
which is becoming better persons
without us really knowing it and most
of all, unconsciously becoming your 
very presence among other people:
“Then your light shall break forth 
like the dawn, and your wound 
shall quickly be healed; your vindication 
shall go before you, 
and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.  
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, 
you shall cry for help, 
and he will say, Here I am!”
(Isaiah 58:9).

How wonderful it is 
when eventually we become 
your presence, O God, 
speaking through us, 
saying, “Here I am”! for it is
only then your Son Jesus
is indeed the groom celebrating
with us.  Amen.

Ash Wednesday: rising from the ruins of life

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Ash Wednesday, 02 March 2022
Joel 2:12-18 ><}}}}*> 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 ><}}}}*> Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

For the third straight year, we enter the Season of Lent in the most unusual conditions in the world. Perhaps, even surreal. We had in 2020 the start of the COVID-19 pandemic persisting through 2021 up to the present that has altered the way we live and how we look at life.

Just when we felt like “Easter” coming in 2021, there came the stronger Delta variant at around this time that claimed so many lives among us.

Now in 2022 after we have all the vaccines available to put COVID-19 in control with a “tamer” variant Omicron, we have a more serious concern with Russia invading Ukraine.

To a certain degree, it is “good” this had happened at this time when we are starting the Lenten Season with Ash Wednesday that reminds us the question we should be asking is not “where is God” but “where are we, his people”?

It has always been the same question ever since – of “where are we in relation to God” every time there are man-made and natural disasters like wars and famine, epidemics and plagues, or earthquakes, drought and floods.

It is easier to blame God for all of our troubles because he is always silent, never answering us back; but, it is in his silence when we also realize the truth that we are the ones who have drifted apart from God, who have gone lost away from him who is always looking for us, waiting for us to come back.

It is in the silence of God that he is most present especially when we are deep in sin and sufferings.

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. Why should they say among the peoples, “Where is their God?” Then the Lord was stirred to concern for his land and took pity on his people.
Joel 2:12-13, 17b-18

Lent: A coming home to God for us mortals, sinners, and ruined

Lent is a “coming home” to God with Ash Wednesday serving like a porch that leads us inside the “house of God” with each of its five Sundays acting like a door opening us closer and closer into the innermost room where God is.

In the shadows of the war in Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic and the heated national elections in our country, let us focus on the practice of giving of ashes every Ash Wednesday which is a gesture often mentioned in the Bible.

Ashes remind us first of all, of our mortality, that we shall all die one day. This is the reason why we priests say “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” (Gen.2:7) while imposing ashes on your foreheads in the form of a cross.

And there lies the good news too of Ash Wednesday: we do not just die, rot and return to ash because at the end of time, we shall all rise again to become whole – body and soul – like Jesus Christ!

Though we are marked for death, Ash Wednesday reassures us of our resurrection and salvation in Christ signified by the ash in the form of a cross on our foreheads.

Ashes signal our readiness for repentance as expressed in the new formula in the imposition of ashes, “Turn from sin and believe in the Gospel”.

Recall how in the Book of Jonah when the king of Nineveh removed his royal robe, covered himself in sackcloth, and sat in ashes upon hearing Jonah’s preaching as he ordered too his people to do the same that averted the wrath of God.

In the gospels of Matthew and Luke, we find how Jesus lambasted the people of Chorazin and Bethsaida for not repenting upon seeing his mighty deeds, so unlike the pagans at Tyre and Sidon who would have “repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes” (Mt. 11:21 & Lk.10:13).

Ashes also signify ruin, destruction and devastation in life like Job who had lost all precious to him when he said, “(God) He has cast me into the mire; I am leveled with the dust and ashes” (Job 30:19).

It is the most applicable signification of ashes to us today in this time of prolonged pandemic with its deep emotional and psychological impact on everyone trying to grapple with life’s many challenges as we try to start anew almost daily.

The feeling is best described by the Book of Lamentations in the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem: “Those accustomed to dainty food perish in the streets; those brought up in purple now cling to the ash heaps” (Lam. 4:5).

Indeed, that ash on our foreheads reminds us of the ruin we are into as an individual, as a nation, as citizens of the world.

How often did we have to shelve and postpone our many plans in life since 2020 due to this pandemic with its recurring surges now worsened by this war at Ukraine launched by Russian president Putin?

We were already sighing in great relief the past weeks with declining cases of COVID when suddenly – to our great disbelief and dismay that this can still happen in the 21st century when Putin invaded Ukraine, casting the world into another grave danger of unimagined proportion.

And lastly, who does not feel ruined after all these years of the pandemic worsened by decadent politics that has gone into an abyss of filth and insanity?

Now more than ever we could feel and experience the “ash heap” we are into with only God who can raise us up and cleanse us again.

*Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte, 21 February 2022.*

Lent is a joyful season!

Contrary to what most people believe, Lent is not all that drab and dry. While its prevailing mood is of sobriety and seriousness in the light of its call for penance, fasting and almsgiving, Lent is a joyful season preparing us to Easter.

St. Paul tells us in the second reading that “now is the day of salvation”:

Brothers and sisters: We are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
2 Corinthians 5:20, 6:2

To be reconciled with God who is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment” begins right inside our hearts when we open it – rend – so it may be cleansed of sins for Jesus to dwell inside again.

Like our reflection last Sunday, it is the truth of the heart that must be expressed on this Ash Wednesday, that must be cleansed and “repaired” after so many beatings and ruins especially these past years (https://lordmychef.com/2022/02/26/taking-jesus-to-the-heart/).

It is the heart that must be strengthened and converted by our lenten practices because its purity is revealed by our very lives, the kind of life we lead, the aura we project even if half of our face is covered by the face mask.

This is the very essence of the Lord’s calls in the gospel to do these practices “in secret”, not be seen by others that it becomes more of a show. It is God whom we must please, not the people; to enter into one’s room is to enter into one’s self to meet God with our true selves, without our usual alibis, of ifs and buts.

This is the grace of Lent that begins on this Ash Wednesday: it is God who actually comes to us, to meet us, to work in us in his “mercy and graciousness” so we may experience his loving presence again despite all our sins and troubles.

Life is a daily Lent, a cleansing of our hearts, a repairing of our hearts ruined especially when we have truly loved and ended up being misunderstood and persecuted.

Do not worry, human love is always imperfect; only God can love us perfectly. That is what Ash Wednesday is reminding us, that we are finite and sinful, ruined most of the time but always open to God who never leaves nor forsakes us his children.

In this spirit, let us also not forget that Lent is a journey we take with others, a daily exodus from darkness to light, from sickness to healing, from ruins to newness, from sin to forgiveness and grace.

We come home to God together as a people, as a family, as brothers and sisters in Christ.

May our gathering together on this Ash Wednesday be an occasion to free ourselves from the ever-growing threats of individualism that has marked our age with everyone feeling a celebrity, even playing God.

Please don’t forget to practice fasting and abstinence today to create a space for God and for others in your heart.

Have a blessed and safe Lenten season, everyone!

The joy of Lent

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday after Ash Wednesday, 19 February 2021
Isaiah 58:1-9     <*(((><  +  ><)))*>     Matthew 9:14-15

Today I remember, O Lord, our old days of yore when Fridays were of simple food of all fish and veggies without any meat, of how we were told to remember this day so special because of Good Friday even if it were not the Season of Lent.

Austerity and low key were all over as peg to make your presence, O God, during Lent that the prevailing mood was more of joy than of being somber and serious as most people would think these days of fasting and abstinence as self-inflicted sufferings and pains.

Forgive us this modern age of instants and affluence, fasting has become centered on our very selves, with our “piety” like the Pharisees (Matt.9:14) who questioned Jesus why his disciples did not fast unlike them and the followers of John.

Enlighten us on this first Friday of Lent to realize anew that this is a season of joy and rejoicing because when we fast, we become empty of ourselves, of our filth and sins so we can be filled with your Holy Spirit to become your vessels of justice and love and joy with one another.

This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own.
Isaiah 58:6-7

How lovely and beautiful the world must be if we shall heed your words, fulfill your longing from us in true fasting more focused only in making you present among us who have gone to choose darkness over light.

O God our Father, give us the wisdom and courage to return to you so we can offer ourselves for others to feel you as we await the great rejoicing of Easter, the very joy of Lent. Amen.