Category: Fruitfulness

Chosen to be fruitful

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 04 October 2026
Isaiah 5:1-7  ><}}}}*>  Philippians 4:6-9  ><}}}}*>  Matthew 21:33-43
Photo by a friend in Washngton State, 01 October 2026.

A friend recently sent me this photo of the start of autumn that brought back memories of my vacation on two occasions in the States and Canada during that most wonderful season. It even made me wondered lately why God did not give us four seasons like in other countries.

I know. It is kind of crazy and weird, even stupid especially at how a Chinese friend who took his priestly formation at UST twenty years ago used to tell me the Philippines is a paradise where we can work and play all year round unlike them who have to work hard for six months to stock food and wood because the other half of the year is so cold that they have to stay indoors most of the time. Until now he is all praises to our country so blessed abundantly in resources and natural wonders.

And indeed! Our country is a paradise – so blessed, so beautiful, so rich. And yet so poor and miserably mismanaged by us all that we perfectly fit in the first reading and gospel this Sunday:

Let me now sing of my friend, my friend’s song concerning his vineyard. My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hillside; he spaded it, cleared it of stones and planted the choicest vines; within it he built a watchtower, and hewed out a wine press. Then he looked for the crop of grapes, but what it yielded was wild grapes (Isaiah 5:1-2).

Photo by author, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 14 May 2025.

Our country is exactly that wonderful vineyard planted by the Lord with its vast, fertile lands and long coastlines with lush greeneries of plains and mountains and despite all these, we import much of our food like rice and vegetables and fruits including fish like galunggong, even pig skins for chicharon! Like Isaiah, we ask what happened to our country?

For Isaiah, the vineyard represented Israel as the chosen people of God, so loved and cared but produced bitter fruit with their repeated infidelity and sins against God that went on until the coming of Jesus who used the same imagery into a parable of the kingdom of heaven so applicable to our own time.

Photo by Chris F on Pexels.com

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: “Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey. When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’ They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him (Matthew 21:33-39).

Jesus was still in the temple area where his enemies have gathered to seek ways of putting him under arrest. His parable of the wicked tenants is so similar with Isaiah’s that speaks too at the same time of ourselves and of our time, of how we have become like those wicked tenants taking the “vineyard” as totally ours. Like those tenants, we have claimed and possessed on our own this very life as “mine” and therefore, “owner” with every right to do whatever we want like have abortion, take contraceptives, have casual sex, even decide which gender to choose!

We have “overstretched” our rights without any regard at all to others and to environment. Consciously or unconsciously, we have deleted God from life that we have become relativistic without absolute morals and morality because we have made ourselves the measure and standards of everyone and everything – because, we own the “vineyard”.

Photo by Dra. Carol Reyes-Santos, MD, in Southern California, October 2023.

Then we wonder like Isaiah why we harvest bitter, wild grapes of broken relationships and emptiness despite the plethora of technologies and gadgets we now have? Or, like the chief priest and elders so angrily telling Jesus how the wicked tenants must be punished for usurping the vineyard and putting the owner’s son to death when in fact we are them?

Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes? Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit” (Matthew 21:40-43).

Here now lies the good news this Sunday: in Isaiah’s parable of the vineyard, God is distinct from the vineyard but in Christ’s parable, we are the vineyard of the Lord because Jesus is one with us being the Son of the owner sent to gather his share of produce.

Jesus promises us today of better produce to be shared and enjoyed not only in eternity but right here in this life for we are the Lord’s vineyard called to be fruitful. As a continuation of last Sunday’s parable of the two sons, Jesus gives us today the chance to make that wise and good decision of finally doing what is right, just and good. Of finally obeying the Father as St. Paul beautifully reminds us in the second reading to be like him, an imitator of Christ becoming someone who could be imitated by others as witnesses of Jesus, striving for “whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious” (Phil. 4:8).

Recent news of how a group of ordinary people on board a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv prevented the crash of their plane is a remarkable story of taking care of the Lord’s vineyard, of how it always bear good fruits. The so-called heroes of FlyDubai were all very ordinary like us; what enabled them to be heroes was their being true and faithful in their responsibilities like the mother who went to attend to her daughter in the toilet and became the first to notice trouble in the cockpit; the Indian captain who for many years of flying had always thought of the lives depending on him who struggled to rise and opened his cockpit door to be helped by men who knew nothing about flying and martial arts except the need to save lives by stabilizing the plane and subduing the terrorist co-pilot.

It was a story like the parables today and last Sunday of how people chose to uphold what is good, what is right, what is just. They are heroes not because of any special skills nor talents but were simply faithful in life, most likely always present for their families and friends, clients and patients. And to God ultimately.

Isaiah and Jesus invites us this Sunday to look into ourselves, at how we have tended and cared for our lives, for others in this vineyard of the Lord. Think of those many occasions we have wasted God’s blessings like our talents not put into use or never harnessed, health taken for granted and loved ones we have ignored and refused to love. Let us grab this opportunity of taking care of the Lord’s vineyard he had entrusted to us to be fruitful. It is us who benefit most in these fruits meant to make us better here and hereafter. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead!

Photo by Ms. Kei Abad in Japann, October 2025.

Growing slowly & deeply in the Lord

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 24 July 2026
Jeremiah 3:14-17     ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*>     Matthew 13:18-23
Photo by author, Balibago Tree flower, Anvaya Cove, Morong, Bataan, 21 July 2026.
Help us return to you,
Lord, your rebellious children;
let us take this opportunity
of grace to be forgiven
to start anew
and to walk no longer in 
hardhearted wickedness
(cf. Jeremiah 3:14, 17).
It is our heart
that is always the problem,
not your word like the seeds
you scatter daily into our hearts,
Jesus; many times,
our heart are a mix of all kinds of
soil - the path, the rocky ground,
that among the thorns, and the 
rich soil; many times we are the
problem when we are hardhearted;
Lord Jesus,
continue to be patient with us,
watering us
cultivating us 
so that eventually your words
may grow and bear fruit in us.
In this age of instants
when even plants are instantly
made to bloom and bear fruits,
may we never forget that being
fruitful is what you desire most
than being productive;
like any good soil,
a seed can only grow into a 
fruitful plant, whether a crop or a tree
when there is openness to
the cultivator;
three things I ask you,
dear Lord as your soil:
patiently cultivate me
to open my heart in welcoming 
you into my life;
soften me as your soil,
Lord, that I may always be open
and welcoming to everyone
you sent to change the world,
and secondly, let me grow deeply
and surely in you Jesus
so that I may be fruitful not just
successful; being fruitful is the
more of what we have become
while successful is more of
what we have done and achieved.
Amen.
Photo by author, Anvaya Cove, Morong, Bataan, 21 July 2026.

Lent is refocusing in God

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Second Week in Lent, 05 March 2026
Jeremiah 17:5-10     + + +     Luke 16:19-31
Photo by Walid Ahmad on Pexels.com
Thus says the Lord:
"Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings,
who seeks his strength in flesh, 
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
He is like a barren bush in the desert
that enjoys no change of season,
but stands in a lava waste,
a salt and empty earth"
(Jeremiah 17:5-6).
Forgive us,
merciful Father
for turning away from you,
and turning away from our
neighbors especially the sick
many other Lazarus
we ignore at our doorsteps;
forgive us in believing more
in ourselves,
in our science and technology,
ideologies and philosophies
that stretch our rights and freedom
forgetting all about our responsibilities;
how foolish,
O God,
 that we insist on our
beliefs and misplaced trust
in ourselves,
in everything that is passing
and temporary for as long
as it is self-serving
that we become like
a barren bush
or shrub in the desert,
drying up,
dying,
hoping for the rains
that would never come.
Awaken us,
Lord
from this foolishness
and let us arise
to return to you
until there is time.
Photo by author, Hidden Valley, Laguna, February 2025.
Thus says the Lord:
"Blessed is the man 
who trusts in the Lord,
whose hope is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted beside
waters that stretches out its roots
to the stream; it fears not the heat
when it comes, its leaves stay green;
in the year of drought it shows no distress,
but still bears fruit"
(Jeremiah 17:7-8).
Let me find my way back
to you, God our Father;
let me be like that tree
planted beside the stream,
beside you,
in you,
trusting you alone;
let me be rooted in you,
Father,
filled with life
and meaning;
deepen my roots in you,
Father, 
listening more to your voice
of wisdom
and truth
that are inconvenient
in this age of instants
comfort.
Photo by author, Malagos, Davao City, 18 August 2018.
Lord Jesus Christ,
you have given me with so much
and I have given so little;
let me give more of myself
to you so I can give 
and share you more
with others;
keep me rooted in you
as I surrender myself to you,
doing your most holy will.
Amen.

Lent is being rooted in God

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the First Week of Lent, 24 February 2026
Isaiah 55:10-11     + + +     Matthew 6:7-15
Photo by author, somewhere in the SCTEx, November 2018. 
Today I borrow
the words of your servant,
Lord Jesus Christ,
the late Fr. John Main, OSB
who wrote that
"The meaning of life
is the mystery of Love.
Just as the roots of trees
hold firm in the soil,
so it is the roots of love
that hold the ground 
of our being together."
Keep me rooted in you,
God our Father;
keep me rooted in your love
in Jesus Christ your Son;
water and nourish me
with your words of life
so I may grow tall,
spread my branches,
bloom and bear fruit
to share your love and
kindness and mercy
with others;
keep me rooted in you, 
Lord, 
strong and firm
to weather the harshest
storms and summer
in life, still full of sap,
still full of life.
Lord Jesus,
you have given me with so much
and I have given so little;
teach me to give more
of myself to you
so I can give more of you
and of your love
to others.
Amen.
Photo by author, Ephesus, Turkiye, November 2025.

Ageing gracefully

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 15 January 2026
Photo by Ar. Philip Santiago, Basilica of the Annunciation, Israel, October 2025.

Two priests and a former nun personally known to me died in our diocese last Sunday. It was also the birthdate of the late Bishop Cirilo Almario, Jr. whom I had remembered in my two early morning Masses on that Sunday, January 11, 2026.

In those two Masses too I mentioned in my homily the retreat I facilitated first week of January with my friends about “ageing gracefully” – my own realizations since joining their ranks as senior citizens last March.

Let me elaborate those two points I have shared with them and in my homily last Sunday.

From forbes.com.

First, let us embrace our being old. Stop saying “when we get old”, pagtanda natin because we are already old. Period. Matanda na tayo.

We cannot reverse our ageing process and it is useless to have all these cosmetic manipulations like dyeing our hair black or stretching our sagging skin and removing those wrinkles.

Embrace old age. It is beautiful and wonderful because it is so good. Our Filipino word for “old” says it all – matanda – which ironically so many women hate to hear as they stress that kalabaw lang ang tumatanda. That is not true.

Our word matanda is from the root word tanda which means “sign” that is why an old person is rightly called matanda because he/she is a sign of God’s goodness, a sign of God’s mercy and love, a sign of God’s beauty and majesty.

Moreover, a matanda is a sign of wisdom and grace that is why when we were young boys, we wanted to be old by putting our dad’s eyeglasses or taste his cigarettes and beer while girls put on their mom’s make up and high heeled shoes. How funny that when we are already old, we resist to accept the fact that we strive to look young again, sometimes ending up as nagmumurang kamatis.

Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.

Technically speaking, “old” is actually harsh. Old is something about a past phase that has ran its course like being outdated. Luma in Filipino that connotes stale, passe, lacking relevance and sadly, useless. Just for display purposes. As a person, that is the one we refer to as walang pinagkatandaan. Or huklubang matanda.

To be more specific, the better English term referring to ageing gracefully is ancient that exudes with a sense of timeliness, of being perpetually relevant like the ancient ruins in Rome, Athens, and Jerusalem. Actually, some biblical experts have wanted to rename the “Old Testament” as “Ancient Testament” following this line of thinking.

Photo by author, Ephesus, Turkiye, November 2025.

Things and even persons can rightly be referred to as ancient because of their beauty still intact that inspires us and makes us wonder about life itself. They are not just old sites nor old persons that remind us of the past long gone but ancient because still lovely, “still full of sap and green” as the psalmist extolled the seniors of his time.

Persons who age gracefully like ancient sites stir our inner selves with deeper beauty and realities of life that eyes cannot see. That is perhaps the reason these days many senior men and women are so “in” and considered as attractive.

It is the same wisdom realized by St. Augustine when he wrote about God, “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you. You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you.”

Being ancient -whether as a person or a thing – is something of the inside we must turn to not outside like our skin and physical body. From that inside realization and acceptance of being senior or elderly we experience the grace of ageing because we experience God still present in us, in fact loving us more as he makes as a sign or tanda of his loving presence.

Ageing gracefully is a modern virtue we need to cultivate in this age of instants that glorify youthfulness equated with usefulness. That is why when Pope Benedict XVI resigned from the Papacy in 2013, the more I have come to love and admire him. In his resignation, he taught us the importance of embracing and lovingly accepting our old age when we can no longer adequately perform our many tasks in office even in life itself. It was not a failure nor a surrender in the negative sense but more of a deep courage and trust in God that we accept our being weak and ready to come to him soon.

Photo by author, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, May 2025.

This brings me to my second realization since turning sigisty years old last year: corollary to embracing old age is accepting death. That is why, as seniors, let us stop saying and thinking of our coming death because we are already dying. Huwag na nating isipin yung “kapag namatay ako” dahil namamatay na nga tayo.

Being senior is doing away with those bucket lists, of thinking about things to do, places to visit before we die. We are already dying and hence, whatever you can do, do it now. There could be no more tomorrow. All we have is the present moment. Anything could happen to us, for better and for worse.

Ageing gracefully is coming to terms with life which leads us to coming to terms with death. Yes, this is easier said than done, but slowly, I am learning and loving it!

Photo by author, Bucharest, Romania, November 2025.

One of the reasons that made me decide to become a priest in the early 1990’s was the conviction that I have felt so deeply God’s love for me as a person in the many experiences I have gone through in life. I felt at that time that by becoming a priest, I could convince more people about the truth and existence of this loving God we have.

I still hold on to that but a year after turning sigisty, becoming sigisty-one in March 22, another fascinating realization I have had is how wonderful this life is. Now that I am old, the more I can boldly claim with conviction that it is good to be alive. Masarap pa rin ang mabuhay! Maganda ang buhay maski mahirap!

Accepting and embracing our ageing, our getting weak, our failing memory are all kinds of dying. And in that midst that we actually live fullest and meaningfully. I don’t know if I can write any further because I ain’t dead yet but… just in case, it was worth the trip. Amen. May you have a fruitful and fulfilling weekend ahead.

The seed is always good

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul, 23 July 2025
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious
Exodus 16:1-5, 9-15     <*((((>< + ><))))*>     Matthew 13:1-9
Photo by Fr. Pop Dela Cruz, San Miguel, Bulacan, 2022.
Lord Jesus,
you are the Sower
and your seed is always good:
wherever it falls,
it grows;
most of all,
you are most good
as you never tire
of going out 
to sow 
your good seed!

“A sower went out to sow… Whoever has ears ought to hear” (Matthew 13:3,9).

“The Sower” painting by Van Gogh from en.wikipedia.org
Open my heart 
and my soul, dear Jesus
to listen intently to your
word and be a "rich soil"
like St. Bridget of Sweden 
whose devotion to family,
to her people especially the poor
and to Church reforms that led
to the return of the papacy to Rome
proved her to be a seed well sown;
there are times when I am just like
the path where your seeds fell
that fed only the birds;
quite often, I am like the rocky ground
so full of enthusiasm but wanes quickly
when challenges come;
worst of all, Lord Jesus,
free me from the many thorns
that steal me from you
that I stop maturing and growing; 
let me be the rich soil who
receives you and your seed:
let your light of truth
and warmth of faith help me grow;
may your hope nourish me
especially when days are dark
and nights are long;
most of all,
water me with your love
and charity 
to bear all 
and be fruitful.
Amen.

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Kalasag. At impluwensiya.

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe, Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sacred Heart Novena Day 8, 25 June 2025
Detalye ng painting ng Sacred Heart of Jesus sa Visitation Monastery, Marclaz, France mula sa godongphoto / Shutterstock.

Habang tayo ay papalapit na sa Dakilang Kapistahan ng Kamahal-Mahalang Puso ni Jesus, ibig ko kayong anyayahang mag-imagine sa dalawang pagbasa ngayong ika-walong araw ng ating nobenaryo.

Napakaganda kasi ng mga tagpo sa Unang Pagbasa na magkausap ang Diyos at si Abram habang sa Ebanghelyo naman ay naroon ang babala ni Jesus sa mga alagad na tigib ng kanyang pagaalala o concern para sa kanila, kasama na rin tayo.

Pagkaraan ng lahat ng ito, si Abram ay nagkaroon ng isang pangitain. Narinig niyang sinabi sa kanya ni Yahweh: “Abram, huwag kang matatakot ni mangangamba man, kalasag mo ako, kita’y iingatan At ikaw ay aking gagantimpalaan” (Genesis 15:1).

Photo by Hert Niks on Pexels.com

Kalasag. Isang panangga ng mga kawal. Shield sa Ingles. Ito ang palaging tangan ng bawat sundalo kasabay ng kanyang sandata upang ipagsanggalang siya sa mga tama ng pana at sibat at kung mayroong malapitang bakbakan, ito ang panangga sa hataw ng mga itak at palakol. nang maglaon, laban na rin sa tama ng bala.

Alalaong-baga, kalasag ang proteksiyon ng kawal.

Ganoon ang Diyos kay Abram. Bilang kalasag niya, ang Diyos ang naging tagapaglaban at tagapagtanggol ni Abram tulad sa eksenang ito nang matagumpay na makipagdigma si Abram sa mga bumihag sa pamangkin niyang si Lot. Pagkatapos ng labanan, dumating ang pari ng Diyos na hari ng Salem, si Melquisidec upang pagpalain si Abram na nagbigay sa kanya ng mga nasamsam niyang kayamanan ng mga kalaban bilang pasasalamat sa tulong ng Diyos.

Kaya ang Diyos bilang kalasag ni Abram ang pangunahing impluwensiya rin sa buhay ni Abram.

Sa tagpong ito, makikipagtipan ang Diyos kay Abram sa unang pagkakataon. Nag-usap sila ng Diyos na parang magkaibigan sa isang pangitain kung saan nagpahayag ng saloobin si Abram ukol sa kayang edad na wala pa siyang anak.

Dito lalong gumanda ang eksena na nakakakilabot din: naghandog si Abram ng mga susunuging alay sa Diyos na tinupok ng apoy na ibig sabihin, tinanggap ng Diyos. Higit sa lahat, pinangako ng Diyos kay Abram na magiging kasing dami ng mga bituin ang kanyang lahi habang ang buong lupaing natatanaw niya ay magiging kanya. Iyon ang pinanghawakang parang kalasag ni Abram sa kanyang buhay. Kaya iyon ang malaking impluwensiya sa kanya.

larawan kuha ng may-akda, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambalaes, 14 Mayo 2025.

Imagine natin muli ang eksena ni Abram at Diyos sa gitna ng kadiliman ng gabi nang ganapin kanilang pagtitipan. At pagkatapos, ipasok natin eksena sa Ebanghelyo na katulad kung saan si ay matalik at buong giliw nakikipag-usap sa kanyang mga alagad. Kasama na tayo doon

Tila bagabag si Jesus na nagbababala sa atin sa mga huwad na propeta, sa mga manlilinlang tulad ng mga lobo o asong-gubat na nagkukunwaring tupa. Higit sa lahat, ang kahalagahan sa pagkilala at pagkilatis sa mga bunga ng mga punong kahoy.

Makikilala ninyo sila sa kanilang mga gawa. Napipitas ba ang ubas sa puno ng dawag, o ang igos sa puno ng aroma? Nagbubunga ng mabuti ang bawat mabuting punong-kahaoy, subalit nagbubunga ng masama ang masamang punongkahoy (Mateo 7:16-17).

Kalasag. Tapos bunga at punong kahoy. Anu-ano at sinu-sino nakaka-impluwensiya sa atin lalo na sa makabagong panahong ito?

Nakakalungkot isipin na ipinagmamalaki pa ng ilang kapatid natin ang kanilang pagiging makabago sa pagyakap sa mga kaisipang wokism at “liberated” sa larangan ng sexuality at pag-aasawa gayong salungat ang mga ito sa turo ni Jesus.

Ang bagong kalasag ng maraming tao ngayon ay agham at teknolohiya, pati tao minamanipula sa mga genetic engineering at test tube baby, bukod sa abortion at contraceptives. Marami tayong kinakain at iniinom sa ngayon na genetically modified, mga bunga ng eksperimento sa agham. At ang pinakamalungkot sa lahat, pera-pera na buhay ngayon. Lahat pinepresyuhan maging katotohanan at katauhan.

larawan kuha ng may-akda sa Tagaytay, Abril 2025.

Anu-ano at sinu-sino nakaka-impluwensiya sa atin sa buhay ngayon. Maituturing pa ba nating ating kalasag ang Diyos sa panahong ito na mas pinahahalagahan ang teknolohiya at materyal na bagay kesa espirituwal?

Ito ang babala ni Jesus: tingnan mga bunga nito. Naghahatid ba ng kapanatagan at kapayapaan sa ating sarili at sa mundo?

Maraming nag-aakala na ang sagot sa kadiliman ng buhay ngayon ay ang mga teknolohiya at makabagong kamalayan ngunit ang totoo, lalong naging hungkag ang buhay ng tao, lalo tayong lito at nawawala sa gitna ng maraming nakakaakit na impluwensiya sa buhay. Maraming kalasag tayong ginagamit ngayon na mahuna at hindi maaasahan sa pakikidigma sa buhay.

Walang katulad ang Diyos bilang kalasag. Kay Jesus, doon lamang tayo makapapamunga nang sagana tulad ng puno ng ubas. Maaring salat tayo sa kayamanan ngunit ganap ang ating katauhan kapag ang Diyos ang ating kalasag katulad ni Abram.

Kay sarap pagmasdan tuwing misa ng araw ng Biyernes ang mga deboto ng Kamahal-Mahalang Puso ni Jesus na mayroong suot na iskapularyo. Hindi ba’t hugis ng kalasag ang mga iskapularyo? Huwag nating ikahiyang isuot at panindigan si Jesus bilang ating kalasag, bilang impluwensiya sa buhay natin. Sa araw na ito, tinatanong tayo ni Jesus sa Kanyang Kamahal-Mahalang Puso kung ano at sino ang nakaka-mpluwensiya atin na siyang kalasag din nating laging dala-dala at pinakikinggan? Pagmasdan din natin ang ating mga bunga sa buhay at debosyon sa Sacred Heart.

O Jesus na mayroong
maamo at mapagkumbabang Puso,
Gawin Mong ang puso nami'y
matulad sa Puso Mo!
Amen.
Larawan mula sa Pinterest.com.

Marriage, a choice & a gift of Christ

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 15 July 2024
Photo by Irina Iriser on Pexels.com

It is very disappointing that the recent statement of the CBCP on divorce was so unusually soft, trying to balance everything like walking on a thin line, very cautious of not stepping on whoever’s feet or hurting their feelings.

What is most sad is how this statement so watered down unlike the bishops’ previous pronouncements in the last elections supporting a candidate. It is so frustrating for us Catholics when our bishops have repeatedly crossed boundaries getting into partisan politics supporting many election candidates when on this part of our nation’s history they are tepid in standing by the Lord’s flock under attack by fierce and intense pro-divorce lawmakers and supporters. This is the crucial moment when our bishops should rally us more in defending our stand against divorce being the last country where it is still illegal.

We shall have another piece on that later as we continue today our sharing of our past wedding homilies we hope can help you be clarified why we must oppose the divorce bill. Of course, we cannot impose our stand against divorce but we make it clear to everyone why we are against it. After all, it is an informed choice we make guided by the grace of God and the Holy Spirit.

Here is our homily at the wedding at the Manila Cathedral on January 16, 2006 of our very good friend from UST’s the Varsitarian, Dra. Chona T. Capulong and Mr. Stephen Kemp of Kansas.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Twenty three years ago and less than 50 pounds today, our friend and former managing editor Chona had a column at the Varsitarian called “Choice Cuts.”

I will never forget her column with its very catchy title, so well written and most of all, more than 20 years later today, the gospel she had chosen for her wedding speaks about choosing, about choices, Jesus told his disciples, “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain…” (John 15:16).

Today we are so blessed to have been called and chosen by Chona and Stephen to be present in this most joyous day of their lives when they pledge their love for each other before God and His people. Let me stress on those words of Jesus saying how we are all “called and chosen to bear fruit.”

So beautiful.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

God calling and choosing us to bear fruit. The all-knowing God making a choice for us and should we be glad and grateful for that!?

When God calls and chooses us, He does not remove our freedom which is the ability to choose what is good, not simply whatever you want. What happens is that when God calls and chooses us, this gift of freedom is actually enhanced because the Ultimate Good shows us what’s best for us.

That God choosing us rather than us choosing Him is evidently true in friendships and marriage. Chona is from this city of Manila, thousands of kilometers from Wichita, Kansas where Stephen comes from.

How they have met and be in love is a long story; what matters is the choice made by God for them and how they cooperated in that choice.

Most often, whenever we make a choice, it is oriented towards success and triumph. We always make it a point that it would be advantageous for us and most of all, easy and convenient because as much as possible, we want lesser problems and lesser risks.

Being successful, whether in life or in marriage or in business is characterized and based on strength and powers, of how we are able to control situations and bend them to our own advantage. It is about power.

On the other hand, when God makes a choice for us, it is different.

When God makes a choice for us, it is always difficult and never convenient, slow and time-consuming. Most of all, God’s choice always entails sacrifices from our part because, it is so good that we have to be emptied first in order to receive such a beautiful gift like marriage.

When God makes a choice for us, it is always based on our weakness and vulnerabilities. God is not concerned with our being “successful” but more with being fruitful because in this life, especially in marriage, it does not really matter what or how much we have achieved but what have we become.

We may have all the wealth and power in the world, all the success but, what have we become?

Have we been more loving, more forgiving, more understanding, more generous, more honest, more faithful?

Bearing fruit is different from being successful in the sense that when God makes the choices for us, He makes us into better persons, becoming the best husband or best wife or the best person in the world. This He does by letting us come to terms with our own weaknesses and vulnerabilities, emptying ourselves of these impurities and being filled by God’s goodness and holiness.

Being fruitful in marriage means being able to understand and accept, even own because of love the shortcomings of a spouse or of those around us. Being fruitful in life or in marriage is being able to bear all the pains and hardships of life because like in gardening, it is the constant pruning of trees and plants that lead to more blossoms and fruits. It is being like Jesus Christ who willingly accepted His Cross because of His great love for us. He did not remove the Cross but made it holy instead.

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Chona and Stephen, this wedding is already a fruit of that call and choosing by Jesus on you. After so many pains and hurts as well as sacrifices from both of you, this day had finally come for both of you to stand before the altar of God and offer yourselves to His plans and choices. This is not the end but the beginning of more pains and hurts and sacrifices.

I am not scaring you, Chona and Stephen; however, may this wedding be an assurance for for both of you that, although there would be more problems and difficulties and trials waiting for you along the way of your married life, be assured of the great glory and fruitful life ahead for both of you.

Continue to cooperate with God’s choices for you by leading a life of faith, hope and love rooted in prayers. Jesus had called and chosen you, Chona and Stephen; Jesus would always be with you because He knows what’s best for you. Amen.

Stephen died a few years ago before the COVID pandemic but our friend Chona had remained firm in her faith in God, raising their daughter into a lovely young lady she is now. Last week, Chona told me how proud and happy she is her daughter is going to take her college abroad, away from her!

So glad that despite her fears as a mother, she had allowed her daughter to study abroad, believing, of course, it is God’s choice for her to eventually become a better woman someday. May we be faithful not only in our duties and responsibilities but especially with the people entrusted to us by God whom He had chosen to become parts of our lives.

God in our decadent period

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 26 June 2024
2 Kings 22:8-1`3, 23:1-3     <*((((><< + >><))))*>     Matthew 7:15-20
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
Keep us faithful to You,
God our Father;
keep us searching for You
especially in the Sacred Scriptures
to learn and listen to your words
that are ever-present and true
and relevant.

The high priest Hilkiah informed the scribe Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law in the temple of the Lord.” Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who read it. The scribe Shaphan also informed the king that the priest Hilkiah had given him a book, and then read it aloud to the king. When the king had heard the contents of the book of the law, he tore his garments and issued this command… “Go, consult the Lord for me, for the people, for all Judah, about the stipulation of this book that has been found, for the anger of the Lord has been set furiously ablaze against us, because our fathers did not obey the stipulations of this book, nor fulfill our written obligations” (2 Kings 22:8, 10-12, 13).

Your words,
Your will,
Your laws are
always among us
especially in Jesus Christ,
the Word who became flesh
and dwelt among us;
but, how sad especially
in this decadent period
and age despite our many 
advances in science and technology,
we have morally retrogressed
as many people who are also believers
in You choose to believe the
false prophets in our midst -
influencers in the social media 
who peddle lies, massaging the minds 
of many people too lazy to think
and pray, preferring to follow the
many vogues and trends that
lead nowhere but destruction;
there are also the modern gnostics
claiming to be progressive 
and liberal in their thinking
espousing themselves as more
fair and inclusive but actually 
followers of dictatorship of 
relativism who allow everything
in the name of inclusivity 
without responsibility.
Teach us, O Lord Jesus,
in the way of your decrees;
most of all, 
let us look hard on
the fruits of every prophet
who promise to lead us
to fulfillment and truth.
Amen.