If You Don’t Know Me By Now (1989) cover by Simply Red

Lord My Chef Sunday Music, Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 11 May 2025

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

It is the Good Shepherd Sunday and also the eve of local elections in our country. Clearly God is speaking to us today of the need to vote wisely by choosing candidates who can be like good shepherds who will lead our nation to greener pastures.

What a tragedy that despite our being a predominantly Christian nation not only in Asia but in the whole world, we have continued to lag in growth and development because we have consistently put into office corrupt and inept officials.

That is why this Sunday we have chosen Simply Red’s 1989 cover of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes’ original hit in 1972, If You Don’t Know Me by Now. It is a love song of a man’s lament of how his beloved has failed to “know” him so well that they quarrel so often.

Sing the song everybody, c'mon
If you don't know me by now (Moldova!)
You will never never never know me, ooh

Now all the things that we've been through
You should understand me like I understand you
Now girl I know the difference between right and wrong
I ain't gonna do nothing to upset our happy home

Oh, don't get so excited
When I come home a little late at night
You know, we only act like children
When we argue, fuss and fight

Are we not like that in the Philippines? We cannot move forward as we keep on quarreling because we put the wrong people in government. We never think of the greater majority and of the future generations. Worst, we refuse to accept what we know! We know the candidate as corrupt and shallow yet many still vote for them. We know that the candidates are just popular as actors and actresses without any background at all in governance yet many still elect them into office doing nothing except to entertain.

In a deeper sense, it is in knowing that we are able to love most like Jesus Christ in today’s gospel when he declared “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish” (Jn.10:27-28). For the Jews, knowing another person is more of the heart than of the mind; knowing another person is having a relationship not just being aware of one’s name and address.

Knowing and loving work hand in hand: only Jesus can love us immensely despite his knowing of our flaws and weaknesses and sins. Though it is difficult for us humans to imitate, the most we can do is first of all within ourselves to have that self-knowledge that leads us to accept who we really are to become a better person. Anyone who truly loves God and the country will always choose the best candidate for any office after an effort of knowing everything about them. To hear and follow the Good Shepherd means we choose the best, we reject the worst who are often the most sinful.

Candidates who truly love the country, on the other hand, will never pursue an office if they know in themselves they are not capable of the job ahead. It is something they must learn to accept despite their popularity or desire to be in any position.

Like what the song says, nobody’s perfect but if we work hard to know the other person including ourselves, things can get better for more understanding and acceptance. And love.

We all got our own funny moods
I've got mine, I'll bet you woman, you got yours too
You better trust in me, like I trust in you
As long as we'll be together, it should be so easy to do

Just get yourself together
Or we might as well say goodbye
What good is a love affair
When you can't see eye to eye? Oh
If you don't know me by now (if you don't know me, baby)
You will never, never, never know me (no you won't) ooh
No you won't, no you won't, no you won't
If you don't know me by now (twenty long years, we've been together)
You will never, never, never know me ooh (oh)
If you don't know me by now
You will never, never, never know me (no you won't) ooh

We love the original but we find Simply Red Mick Hucknall’s version so moving, especially the live one from Sydney Opera House in 2010. Enjoy.

From Youtube.com

*Please, know your candidates tomorrow and vote wisely. Together let us build a better tomorrow for all of us despite our flaws and weaknesses.

Easter is Jesus personally knowing each of us

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fourth Sunday in Easter, Cycle C, 11 May 2025
Acts 13:14, 43-52 ><}}}}*> Revelation 7:9, 14-17 ><}}}}*> John 10:27-30

*The new Pope, Leo XIV, appears on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, 09 May 2025; photo from vaticannews.va*

What a lovely fourth Sunday in Easter also known as “Good Shepherd Sunday” when we are blessed with a new Pope – Leo XIV – who will shepherd us into this modern time. Truly, Jesus Christ our Good Shepherd knows us so well that he did not make us wait long in having a new Pope in this troubled time.

Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish” (John 10:27-28).

“I know them.” How lovely are these words of Jesus to us, his “sheep” especially for those going through a lot of trials and difficulties, for those feeling lost and empty, for those about to give up on life.

Let us dwell on his words “I know them”.

For the Jews and in the Bible, knowing is more of the heart than of the mind. Knowing a person is not just knowing one’s name but most of all of being in a personal relationship, an affinity with the person.

In declaring “I know them”, Jesus affirms how he personally regards each one as somebody dear to him, somebody close to him. We are all a somebody, a someone to Jesus whom he personally loves and cares for.

This we have seen among the people we have met in Lent like the apostles Peter, James and John during the transfiguration, the prodigal son, the woman caught in adultery. Or during the Holy Week like Judas who betrayed the Lord, Peter who denied Jesus thrice, Dimas the thief, the centurion who believed in him after his death on the Cross, John and the Blessed Mother at the foot of the Cross. They were all in their most difficult situations in life yet Jesus knew them so well that he assured them of his loving presence, lifting them up to move on with life.

Recall also the people we met this Easter Season like Mary Magdalene and companions early in the morning later followed by Peter and the beloved disciple who all found the tomb empty, the disciples at the upper room with locked doors that evening of Easter, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Thomas Didymus, the disciples led by Peter at breakfast with Jesus at the shore of Lake Tiberias. In their most joyous moments in life amid the darkness and emptiness, the doubts and unbelief or blindness following Easter, they were accompanied and joined by the Risen Lord to ensure and assure them that indeed he is alive and will always be with them.

In the same manner, think also of those moments in your own life of darkness and emptiness, whether negatively or positively, for better or for worse… who remained standing by your side?

Jesus. Only Jesus. And always Jesus. Because he knows us so well.

Jesus is truly the Good Shepherd who knows us so well even in these modern times where there are more vehicles and traffic, more disruptions to life yet he continues to shepherd us like the many shepherds still in many countries in Europe and the Middle East.

And that makes this passage most touching and refreshing because though times may have changed, Jesus has remained personally committed with each one of us. He keeps on looking for us, searching us, following us. Loving us most of all. But, are we present in Jesus?

Notice the four verbs in this short gospel we have today: ascribed to Jesus are the verbs “know” and “give” while to us the sheep, “hear” and “follow” where problems always happen. Do we “follow” what we “hear”? “To hear” is to recognize the authority and importance of the speaker’s words; it is to enter into a communion with him, to put oneself in his guidance, to “follow” him as his disciple.

Jesus speaks to us daily but nobody cares because right after waking up, most of us today look for our cellphone than pray! We are more interested with the “likes” and “followers” we have garnered from our previous posts. We are more enthralled with the seductive voices and images of social media that feed on our ego and senses, giving us false feelings of security and acceptance. We would rather be consumers than disciples who are called to sacrifice like the shepherd.

*Photo of a sheep’s fleece by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2022.*

Though life has become more affluent these days, it has ironically become more empty and lost without direction because we just keep on having and possessing, consuming and ingesting everything the world offers that leave us guilty and empty because we cannot experience any sense of fulfillment and meaning.

How ironic that amid this pandemic of “obesity”, we fill ourselves mostly with trash and poison, literally and figuratively speaking that we feel so lost more than ever with so much time wasted and sadly, life and relationships thrown away. Everything has become more of the mind than of the heart with persons being commodified as things, everything seen in monetary terms, so utilitarian in nature.

Only Jesus “knows” us so well that is why only he “gives eternal life” as Peter exclaimed in this Saturday gospel in the third week of Easter, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and we are convinced that you are the Holy One of God” (Jn.6:68-69).

Unlike anybody, Jesus is the Son of God sent to gather us, to save us and to bring us closer to the Father so that no one among us shall perish. That is the plan of God fulfilled by Christ which we must continue like the apostles as we have heard in the first reading when Paul and Barnabas preached the Gospel of Jesus to the gentiles.

This Sunday, Jesus our Good Shepherd assures us, wherever we may be – in darkness and emptiness, or under the dark clouds of a thunderstorm, under a thatched roof of misery – that he knows us so well. He loves us.

Feel the warmth of Christ’s loving heart this Sunday by being present with your loved ones, the people you know so well like Jesus. Let us pray:

Lord Jesus,
you are our Good Shepherd
and we are your sheep;
only you know us so well,
only you can give us eternal life,
only you can keep us safe 
not to be snatched by anyone
like the corrupt and shallow candidates
running for office again this election;
give us the wisdom, courage and faith
to follow you and stand by you
like those elders in white garments
seen by John in his vision of heaven
in the second reading;
let us vote wisely,
let us not waste that power
you shared with us.
Amen.

*Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2022.*

Praying for a true teacher

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Third Week of Easter, 08 May 2025
Acts 8:26-40     ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>     John 6:44-51

God our loving Father,
our Cardinals have started
their election process for the
successor of Peter, 
the Vicar of Christ 
your Son here on Earth;
send them your Holy Spirit
to enlighten their minds
and their hearts to seek
and follow your will in 
Christ Jesus.

Help them choose a good shepherd
who is also a good teacher like 
your Son Jesus Christ imitated so well
by the deacon Philip with the help
of the Holy Spirit.

Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, that is, the queen of Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury, who had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning home. Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him (Acts 8:27-28, 30-31).

Your Servant,
himself a former Pope too
St. Paul VI wrote us in December 1975
"Modern man listens more willingly
to witnesses than teachers,
and if he does listen to teachers,
it is because they are witnesses"
(Evangelii Nuntiandi, #41);
send us true and good,
teachers who are witnesses 
of the Gospel; give us more
teachers like Philip who taught
clearly of the essential truth 
in this life which is about 
Jesus the Christ.

Next week we shall
choose our new leaders 
to govern us; take away
our blindness as teachers ourselves
that we may elect into office who
are also good teachers who stand 
for what is true and just,
not corrupt and liars;
send us more teachers
who will awaken in us your
Divine Presence to bring out
in everyone each one's
own giftedness as a person.

At the same time,
we pray for our professional 
teachers from the public school
who will work at the polling places
next week; give them strength
not only in body but also in 
mind, heart, and soul
to keep our elections clean
and honest, not to be swayed
by corrupt candidates who poison
the society and keep people away
from Christ and one another.

Let us not forget, 
Lord Jesus that as we share
in your prophetic mission,
we are all teachers like you;
keep our hearts and minds
open to the promptings of the
Holy Spirit to go wherever we
are needed most for your greater
glory. Amen.

Karunungan vs. katalinuhan, kabutihan vs. kabaitan

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-24 ng Pebrero 2025

Kay ganda ng serye ng ating mga unang pagbasa sa Banal na Misa ngayong huling linggo bago magsimula ang Kuwaresma sa Miyerkules ng Abo ika-lima ng Marso 2025.

Napapanahon ang mga pagbasang ito mula sa Aklat ng Ecclesiastico ngayong binubura sa kamalayan natin ang mahalagang yugto ng ating kasaysayan, ang EDSA Revolution ng 1986.

Tamang-tama din ang mga naturang pagbasa sa gitna ng mga balita ng mga pagmamalabis ng maraming nasa kapangyarihan di lamang sa pamahalaan at lipunan kungdi pati na rin ng mga pari at obispo natin sa simbahan. Kung sa bagay, matagal nang usapin mga iyan sa simbahan na palaging hinahayaan nating mga Pilipino dahil na rin sa kawalan natin ng kamalayan sa pagkakaiba-iba ng marunong sa matalino at ng mabuti sa mabait na siyang paksang ibig kong talakayin ngayong bisperas ng EDSA People Power Revolution.

Tingnan muna natin ang karunungan at katalinuhan.

*Larawan kuha ni Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images sa Laoag City, 08 Mayo 2022.*

Ang karunungan (wisdom) ay tanda ng kabanalan dahil ito ay pagtulad sa Diyos na siyang Karunungan mismo. Ang maging marunong (to be wise) ay hindi lamang malaman ang maraming bagay-bagay sa mundo at buhay kungdi makita at mabatid pagkakaugnay-ugnay ng mga ito. Pag-ibig at pagmamahal ang hantungan palagi ng karunungan at kabutihan.

Ang maging marunong ay magkaroon ng mahusay at matalas na isipan na pinanday ng puso at kaloobang nakahilig sa Banal na Kalooban ng Diyos. Dinadalisay ng buhay pananalangin, nakikita ng karunungan ang kabuuan ng lahat ng mga bagay-bagay sa liwanag ni Kristo. Buo at ganap ang karunungan dahil mula ito sa Diyos, nagtitiwala sa Diyos at nakabatay sa Diyos ang lahat ng pagsusuri, pagtitimbang at pagpapasya sa lahat ng bagay.

Mula sa Panginoon ang lahat ng karunungan at iyon ay taglay niya magpakailanman. Sino ang makabibilang ng butil ng buhangin sa dagat, o ng patak ng ulan, o ng mga araw sa panahong walang pasimula at katapusan? Sino ang makasusukat sa taas ng langit o lawak ng lupa? Sino ang makaaarok sa kalaliman ng dagat at sino ang makasasaliksik sa Karunungan? (Sirac 1:1-3).

Sa kabilang dako naman, ang matalino ay pagkakaroon ng matalas na isipan. Magandang katangian ito ngunit hindi ito pinaka-mahalaga dahil sa ating sariling karananasan at kasaysayan, kay daming matatalinong Pilipino pero bakit ganito pa rin ang bayan natin?

Sa pamahalaan maging sa Simbahan, palaging ipinangangalandakan katalinuhan ng mga upisyal at nanunungkulan. Kaya nga sa sikat na sitcom na Bubble Gang, mayroong karakter doon na kung tawagi’y Tata Lino na puro katatawanan ang mapapakinggan.

At sa sawimpalad nating mga Pilipino, mas pinapaboran natin, mas hinahangaan palagi mga matatalino kesa marurunong. Bilib na bilib tayo sa mga tao na maraming tinapos na degree sa mga pamantasan dito sa bansa at ibayong dagat. Isa iyan sa malaking problema sa Simbahan: maraming pari at obispo ang matatalino ngunit walang puso ni Kristo, puso ng Mabuting Pastol. Sa dami ng matatalinong Pilipino, bakit ganito pa rin ang ating bayan maging Simbahan?

Bulok. Kung hindi man ay nabubulok.

Dangan kasi, mga matatalino matalas lang ang isipan ngunit walang puso o pitak man lamang doon para sa kapwa at sa Diyos kaya madalas, ginagamit kanilang katalinuhan sa kabuktutan at sariling mga interes at pangangailangan.

Kay ganda ng talinghagang gamit natin diyan – lumaki ang ulo. Yumabang at naging palalo sa sobrang katalinuhan, walang ibang pinakikinggan kungdi sarili lamang. Naku, lalo na iyan sa mga pari at obispo ng Simbahan!

Ang katawa-tawa sa malalaking ulo iyan ng maraming namumuno saan man, sa hindi maipaliwanag na kadahilanan, maraming matatalino puno ng kabag sa tiyan at hindi kataka-taka, walang ibang nagagawa sila kungdi umutot ng umutot. Kaya mabaho at mabantot sa maraming anomalya at kalabisan itong ating bayan maging Simbahan! Hindi ba?

*Larawan ni Roger Buendia/Presidential Museum and Library via esquiremag.ph.*

Noon pa man, sinasabi ko nang palagi magkaiba ang kabaitan at kabutihan. Madalas ang taong mabait nating tinuturing ay pleaser sa Inggles. Utu-uto, lahat puwede, lahat pinapayagan para walang kaguluhan pero ang katotohanan, lalo lamang gumugulo mga sitwasyon kapag kabaitan ang pinairal.

Alam na alam ito ng maraming mag-aaral na gusto nila mabait na guro na lahat ay puwede. Ganun din mga tao sa pari at obispong mabait. Lahat puwede para walang gulo. Akala nila…

Pero, mayroon bang natututunan sa mga maestra o maestro na mabait? Wala. Aminin natin mas marami tayong natutunan sa mga guro pati magulang at boss at pari na istrikto o mahigpit.

Ganoon ang mabuting tao (good person) – maliwanag sa kanya ang tama at mali. Hindi puwedeng payagan o pagbigyan ang mali. Mayroong diwa ng pananagutan palagi ang mga mabubuting tao na kadalasan ay istrikto rin naman. Sa mabuting tao, basta tama at kabutihan, hindi pagtatalunan o pag-aawayan samantalang mga mababait, lahat pinapayagan.

Ang mabuting tao, hindi niya iniisip ang sarili niyang kapakanan at kaluguran bagkus kabutihan ng karamahan at ng iba pang tao kesa kanyang sarili. Yung mababait, sarili lang nila iniisip. Kaya pinapayagan ang lahat ay upang magkaroon ng mga kaibigan at mga mangungutangan ng loob sa kanila. Popularity-oriented kadalasan mga matatalino at mababait.

Kaya naman, mapapansin natin na magkasama palagi ang karunungan at kabutihan at ang katalinuhan at kabaitan. Ang marunong ay tiyak na mabuti sapagkat higit sa kaalaman ang kanyang nilalayon ay kabutihan at kapakanan ng karamihan. Iyong mabait madalas ay matalino kasi sa Inggles makikita natin ito ay tumutukoy sa sanity o pagiging matinong pag-iisip o sane. Kapag sinabing “nasiraan ng bait”, ibig sabihin, nasira na ang ulo o nabaliw katulad ng maraming mga henyo na sa sobrang talino na walang iniisip kungdi sarili lamang.

Noon sa EDSA, nadama ko at naranasan karunungan at kabutihan nina Cardinal Sin, Pangulong Aquino, Hen. Ramos at ng maraming mga tao na dumagsa doon hindi upang makipag-away at makipagtalo kungdi makipagkasundo at umunawa. Napaka saklap kay bilis nabaligtad ang lahat. Napalitan ng mga baliw mga marurunong at ng mga sakim ang mga mabubuti.

Sana sa mga panahong ito na ating ginugunita ang makasaysayang EDSA People Power ng 1986, muling pag-isipan at pagnilayan nating mabuti ang ating pinahahalagahan at pinaninindigan. Para sa Diyos, para sa Inang Bayan.

*Tunghayan mga dati nating nalathala sa paksang pagkakaiba ng kabutihan at kabaitan.

Magkaiba ang Mabait at Mabuti

Hindi mabuti ang mabait

Objections…

The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Fourth Week of Easter, 22 April 2024
Acts 11:1-18 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> John 10:1-10

*Photo by author in Silang, Cavite, September 2020.*

Lord Jesus Christ,
as we go back to school and to work
this Monday, I pray
that we "object" less 
to one another,
that we hold our "objections"
to ourselves first until
we have found the merits
of an endeavor or proposal
and most especially,
until we have found Your Holy Will.

The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem the circumcised believers confronted him, saying, “You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.” Peter began and explained it to them step by step… When they heard this, they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying, “God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.” (Acts 11:1-4, 18)

Teach us, dear Jesus,
to widen our perspectives
and to always be alert for
the movements of the Holy Spirit
so that we do not waste 
time and energies with our
endless "objections"
that often paralyze
missions and operations
and worst of all, destroy
people.

How lovely is Your claim,
"I am the gate for the sheep"
(John 10:7) for we all belong 
to You alone; when we object
a lot, we close the gate,
we hinder the flow of people
to the gate, and most of all,
we steal Your sheep!

Do not let our many and endless
objections claimed as for the 
greater good but totally empty of You
hinder our flock in finding You
"so that they might have life
and have it more abundantly"
(John 10:10).
Amen.

“Sweet Thing” (1975) by Rufus & Chaka Khan

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 21 April 2024

*Photo by author, Anvaya Cove in Morong, Bataan, 15 April 2024.*

Today is the Good Shepherd Sunday and we take a classic number from the lovely shepherdess of R&B and Soul, Ms. Chaka Khan with her 1975 hit Sweet Thing as vocalist of the group Rufus.

What I like most with Ms. Khan’s music next to her great voice and instrumentations being a percussionist herself is her ability to open us up to the woman’s heart and feelings. Her songs are so womanly that reveal the inner dynamics of womanhood we take for granted. (See our other piece, https://lordmychef.com/2021/06/27/through-the-fire-by-chaka-khan-1984/). That is why we find her so much like a good shepherdess leading us to find expressions of our love.

When Jesus Christ declared “I am the good shepherd who lays down his life”, He was expressing something more than His mission but His very being as “the Gift and the Giver” at the same time of this most precious thing called love.

The same thing is true when friends and lovers separate either because they have found other loves to pursue or worst, have fallen out of love with us despite all our love for them. It is the most unkindest cut of all breakups and separations, excruciatingly painful as we blindly give up our relationships ironically for love. More than the persons and circumstances involved, we freely choose to let go – magparaya in Filipino – because deep in our wounded and hollowed heart is the hope they may grow in their new love.

Here we are like Jesus the Good Shepherd because even in the death of our relationships is still found our love. Like Jesus Christ, we do not simply give something but our very selves. The Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner beautifully expressed this when he described Jesus is both “the Gift and the Giver.”

– https://lordmychef.com/2024/04/20/jesus-our-good-shepherd-the-gift-the-giver-himself/

This is very evident in Sweet Thing which Ms. Khan co-wrote with Tony Maiden.

I will love you anyway
Even if you cannot stay
I think you are the one for me
Here is where you ought to be
I just want to satisfy you
Though you’re not mine
I can’t deny you
Don’t you hear me talking baby?
Love me now or I’ll go crazy

Oh sweet thing
Don’t you know you’re my everything?
Oh sweet thing
Don’t you know you’re my everything?
Yes, you are

I wish you were my lover
But you act so undercover
To love you child my whole life long
Be it right, or be it wrong
I’m only what you make me, baby
Don’t walk away, don’t be so shady
Don’t want your mind, don’t want your money
These words I say, they may sound funny, but

Isn’t it so sweet!? Beginning with its guitar intro lately making rounds in social media courtesy of Prince’s unplugged cover, Sweet Thing is an overload of love and self-giving, of how a woman in her great love for a man is willing to let go of him because of love.

When we speak of love, we use comparisons and analogies and yet, they are not enough. How much more when we speak of the love of God, a love so sublime like Ms. Khan’s Sweet Thing?

In that case, we sing like Ms. Khan and her other co-shepherds of souls with their music that captures our deepest feelings and convictions in life. Like Jesus in saying “I am the good shepherd” which is more than a declaration of His mission but of His self-giving in love, Ms. Khan’s Sweet Thing reminds us of this tremendous grace to love like God despite the pains and hurts we go through in loving selflessly.

Let’s hear it from Ms. Chaka Khan herself.

From YouTube.com

Jesus our Good Shepherd, the Gift & the Giver Himself

The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fourth Sunday in the Easter Season, Cycle B, 21 April 2024
Acts 4:8-12 ><}}}}*> 1 John 3:1-2 ><}}}}*> John 10:1-10

*Photo by author, dusk at Anvaya Cove in Bataan, 15 April 2024.*

My kinakapatid is turning 60 this week with a dinner to be prepared by an Italian chef. His sister texted me for my main course and I chose lamb chops. And immediately she replied, “Pareho tayo. Mary’s little pet… the one who takes away the sins of the world.” Her wit floored me that I had to agree with a text, “Right. The most biblical and holiest food.”

Sorry for some little bragging as we celebrate this fourth Sunday in Easter as “Good Shepherd Sunday”…

We Filipinos have a hard time getting the “feel” of the shepherd because we have never had that image in our culture. Hence, it is a most welcomed development that there is now a growing popularity in tending sheep in the country while the Filipino palate had finally discovered a taste for lamb.

Come to think of this: the sheep exists only for two reasons, for food and clothing. They are meant to be slaughtered unlike dogs or cats or birds kept as pets. Another notable thing with sheep is the fact it is the only land animal that go against the flow when crossing a river like the salmon!

*Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, at Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort in Infanta, Quezon, 03 April 2024.*

I love those characteristics of the sheep, for slaughtering which is almost like offering and always going against the tide. Exactly just like our Lord Jesus Christ who identified Himself as the good shepherd.

Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep… This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to raise it up again. This command I have received from my Father (John 10:11, 17-18).

See the flow of the Lord’s statements.

*Photo from https://aleteia.org/2019/05/12/three-of-the-oldest-images-of-jesus-portrays-him-as-the-good-shepherd/*.

First we notice here His use of the “I AM” which for the Jews refers to God when He told Moses “I AM WHO AM.” Clearly, Jesus was declaring to the people at that time that He is the Son of God, the awaited Messiah or Christ.

This scene was shortly before the feast of the dedication of the Jews after Jesus had healed a man born blind, a miracle never heard of at that time. It was a big issue then as authorities refused to accept that Jesus did indeed healed the man born blind.

Secondly, Jesus mentioned four times in just three verses the act of “laying down his life for the sheep” (vv. 11, 17, and 18). It sounded so good to hear how Jesus loves us so much that He would lay down His life for us his sheep; but, those were not just mere words Jesus expressed but a reality that happened at the Cross on Good Friday that He actually explained after this discourse at their Last Supper!

Keep in mind that we are now going back to the earlier discourses and teachings of Jesus that only became clear to the disciples including us today after Easter. We shall be having a lot of these “flashbacks” to understand and love Jesus more and His teachings.

According to Pope Benedict XVI in his first book of the Jesus of Nazareth series, “The Cross is at the center of the shepherd discourse” (page 280). When Jesus said “This is my Body… This is my Blood”, He meant really Himself being given for us; Jesus did not merely give something for us but His very self as seen on the Cross on Good Friday.

That is how Jesus gives life – by giving up His life for us so that when He arose, we then share in His being a good shepherd through our little dying to ourselves because of love, giving life to those around us.

As the good shepherd, Jesus was the first to enter death, to be slaughtered but this time minus the violence and gore of the Cross that was the worst punishment of all time when He said “I lay down my life in order to take it up again”. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.”

Yes, there was victimhood but more than that was His being an offering never forced nor imposed by anyone or by circumstances. Jesus did it all for love!

Though He was handed over (paradidomi) and betrayed by Judas, Jesus was totally free, actively passive went to his Passion and Death because He was very certain of His Resurrection.

We experience the same thing many times in life when we have to make great sacrifices like when we have to allow a loved one to die after a long illness. Death is a grace and a blessing when freely given too by those around the dying, freeing the dying person of any guilt when he/she finally goes.

The same thing is true when friends and lovers separate either because they have found other loves to pursue or worst, have fallen out of love with us despite all our love for them. It is the most unkindest cut of all breakups and separations, excruciatingly painful as we blindly give up our relationships ironically for love. More than the persons and circumstances involved, we freely choose to let go – magparaya in Filipino – because deep in our wounded and hollowed heart is the hope they may grow in their new love.

Here we are like Jesus the Good Shepherd because even in the death of our relationships is still found our love. Like Jesus Christ, we do not simply give something but our very selves. The Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner beautifully expressed this when he described Jesus is both “the Gift and the Giver.”

*Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD of the sheep’s wool, 03 April 2024.*

Love is better shown than said. Love cannot be defined but only be described for it is so wide and vast in its nature and scope. Love simply shows itself. That is why when we speak of love, we use comparisons and analogies and yet, they are not enough. How much more when we speak of the love of God?!

This Sunday, Jesus spoke of His love like every human being using the language of parable and allegories. But truly Divine, we find so much more when He claimed “I AM the good shepherd.” It is His total person and self, His being both the Gift and the Giver.

The good news is, because of His giving of self, we too have become like Him able to give ourselves wholly in love. Like Peter in the first reading, we experienced great powers within us not innately ours but God working in us, enabling us to empower others by healing them not literally but figuratively speaking.

When Jesus declared “I AM the good shepherd”, He reminds us of being the children of God, His indwelling, our being an “I AM” of God Himself. Like Him, we are good shepherds able to love in Christ to the point of being foolish as St. Paul experienced.

Like the sheep, let us continue to forge on with life’s many difficulties, even if many times we have to go against the flow of the world that is always selfish and misleading. Let us pray:

Dearest Jesus,
help me to give more of myself
not just of something from me;
help me to lay down my life
for my friends even if it means
not just losing myself but
losing them in order to gain You;
help me to remain in You,
my Good Shepherd,
to never go astray
because life and love
are found only in You,
the Gift and Giver.
Amen.
Have a blessed week ahead!

Jesus the Good Shepherd, our Gate

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fourth Sunday in Easter-A, Good Shepherd Sunday, 30 April 2023
Acts 2:14, 36-41 ><}}}*> 1 Peter 2:20-25 ><}}}*> John 10:1-10

*Photo by author, Baguio City, January 2018.*

Beginning this Sunday, all our gospel readings will be about the major teachings of Jesus before his arrest that led to his Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Like the Apostles, we are reviewing the Lord’s final teachings in the light of Easter to fully appreciates its meaning and significance.

First of these teachings is the Lord’s declaration, “I am the good shepherd” (Jn. 10:11).

This is very significant in the fourth gospel where we find Jesus using the phrase I AM. It was not just reminiscent of God identifying himself as I AM WHO AM to Moses in the Old Testament but most of all, for Jesus it is his self-identification as the Christ, the Son of God whom his enemies refused to accept nor recognize.

More interesting in our gospel this Sunday is how the Good Shepherd discourse of Jesus actually began with his claim as being the gate or door through whom the sheep enter and pass through.

Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go our and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”
John 10:1-2, 9-10

Jesus spoke twice “I am the gate” in vv. 7 and 9 to emphasize and clarify that flock belongs to him, never to us. That is why Jesus is the gate, the only way through whom the sheep pass through. Hence, the true mark of a good shepherd is one who passes in Jesus as the gate, the owner of the sheep. Whoever does not pass through Jesus is a thief, a robber. A fake shepherd.

Nobody else could ever replace Jesus as Shepherd of the flock but he wants us all to be shepherds like him, passing in him our gate. This we can understand when we fast-forward to his third and final appearance to the seven disciples at Lake Tiberias after Easter. After their breakfast at the lakeshore, Jesus asked Simon Peter thrice, “Do you love me?” In every question, Peter professed his love for Jesus who asked him only for one thing, “feed my sheep” until finally adding at the end, “follow me” (cf. Jn. 21: 15-19). His call to follow him came after describing to Peter how he would suffer and die for him.

To pass in Jesus as the door to the sheep is first of all to love Jesus.

We all have experienced that loving calls for nearness which Nat King Cole described perfectly in his hit “The Nearness of You”. Whenever we love somebody, we want to be always near our beloved. The same desire we must possess if we truly love God. Furthermore, being near demands that we share feelings with the one we love – his/her joy is our joy, his/her pain is our pain. No wonder when we love somebody, we are willing to suffer. That is the first true mark of our love for Christ – we are willing to suffer for him and with him on the Cross!

That is the first meaning of Jesus is the gate of the sheep as the Good Shepherd: his Cross is our path to fulfillment, to true joy in this life and to eternal life eventually. We can only have a true relationship with him through others when we are willing to share in others’ sufferings like Jesus. Because of his Passion, Death and Resurrection, Jesus has turned suffering into a grace itself and a source of grace too because to suffer with somebody else is love. Anyone who avoids suffering does not love at all and can never be a shepherd like Jesus.

The second meaning of Jesus is the gate flows from that nearness with him – it is not enough to be close but most of all, to be obedient, submitting our total self to him in the same manner he obeyed the Father as expressed in St. Paul’s beautiful hymn found in Philippians 2:6-11.

How close can we come to Jesus is the sum of our obedience to him. Or to anyone we love. It is only in being obedient can we truly follow Christ and those we love. When we love, we are not presented right away with everything that could happen in our relationship and journey in life. Love is a wholesale, a package deal always without ifs nor buts. Nobody knows to where our lives would lead to as most couples could attest. That is why, more than being close and near to Jesus or our beloved, we need to be obedient too because that is the mark of true love when we humbly submit ourselves to the one we love.

Obedience calls us to go down to our lowest level because that is the highest mark of our love too. Recall how Jesus at their last supper “loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end” (Jn.13:1) by washing their feet. See how the Son of God went so low, lower than what slaves were not supposed to do, that is, wash feet of others. Jesus showed this in no uncertain terms the following Good Friday by dying on the Cross, of literally going under earth at his burial that led to his highest glory, his Resurrection.

That is why Jesus is the Good Shepherd by first being the gate because in him, we have shared in his pasch to share in his glory. As the gate or door, we enter in Jesus by sharing in his paschal mystery of loving, suffering, and following.

*Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2020.*

Today we are reminded that our being the flock of Jesus, a sheep of the Good Shepherd is not our choice but a gift of God himself.

Our coming together in the church, in our celebrations and sacraments is not a mere social function out of our own volition. It is a gift and a call from Jesus. That is why it is very important to celebrate the Sunday Mass.

It is Christ himself we refuse and turn down when we skip Sunday Masses because when we love somebody, we show it by being present, being near, ready to suffer and obey to show our love.

Jesus is not asking us too much except an hour each week to immerse ourselves in his life giving words, to find him with others we meet and live with.

Peter said something still very true especially in our time, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation” (Acts 2:41) where God is totally disregarded as if we can live without him, without loving like him. Let us return to Jesus, pass in him our door to life and fulfillment by loving, suffering and following him our Good Shepherd. Amen. Have a blessed week and month of May ahead!

Advent is for comforting

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Second Week of Advent, 06 December 2022
Isaiah 40:1-11 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Matthew 18:12-14

Comfort food
Comfort zone
Comfort room!
How funny these days
things and ideas are supposed
to comfort us but in reality do not.
Thank you very much, dearest
God our Father, for this gift of
the Advent Season when you
truly comfort us again.

Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; indeed, she has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins. A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Isaiah 40:1-3

Like your words yesterday,
today's prophecy by Isaiah 
are very comforting:  to comfort,
from the words "cum" and "fortis"
that mean "with strength" means
exactly that - give strength, make
strong again!
Nothing can truly give us strength
no one can truly give us comfort
except you, our loving Father,
who "had expiated all our sins"
and "given us double for all our sins" 
in the coming of Jesus Christ, 
our Good Shepherd.

Make us realize, Father,
that nothing and no one can truly
comfort us in the truest sense -
soothe and heal our pains,
allow us to cry and be our true selves,
most of all, give us strength to go on
with life again amid all the pains and
sorrows except Jesus Christ.
Let us be like Jesus the Good Shepherd
to others in pain due to sickness
and hurts in life, giving them comfort,
by helping them find direction and 
meaning in life,
joy and peace,
someone to listen to them
and be a companion in this
life journey and most of all,
find you again in themselves,
in their giftedness as persons
to be renewed and be strong again.
Amen.

Prayer of an (h)ungry sheep

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time, 17 August 2022
Ezekiel 34:1-11 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 20:1-16

God our loving Father,
what happened in Israel
during Ezekiel's time is happening
again, of "shepherds pasturing
themselves" (Ezekiel 34:2)!

Send us shepherds, dear Father, 
who have vision, who seek Jesus our 
Good Shepherd and not just listen to one's self
or with what our "cordon sanitaires" say and
whisper to our ears no matter how pleasing
or assuring these may be (should we not be
more at home with being bothered than
pleased, Lord?);give us shepherds who would 
come out of their comfort zones like
that landowner ensuring everyone is doing
something; send us shepherds with courage
to smash existing structures of dominance
and cliques within your Church, drive away
the gnostics among us who know only what
is good for one's self to let in a breath 
of fresh air to enliven your flock.

Thank you in calling us
to shepherd your flock in
different capacities as priests,
parents, elder brothers and sisters,
superiors, teachers, leaders and 
managers; but, shepherding is more
than "strengthening the weak,
healing the sick,
binding up the injured,
bringing back the strayed
and seeking the lost" (cf. Ez. 34:4-5):
all these efforts are meant 
to enable every sheep "to work" -
that is, do something good,
something that would awaken
each one's worth and giftedness
as your beloved one like the master
of the vineyard in today's gospel:

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn… at nine o-clock… at noon… at three o’clock… and at about five o’clock to hire laborers for his vineyard.”
Matthew 20:1, 3, 5, 6

O dear Jesus,
forgive us your shepherds,
especially us your priests,
who have refused to go out
literally and figuratively speaking,
to look on your flock, to find every
sheep and give each one a chance to
"work" for you, to do something good
like serve others and harness their talents
you have given;
Oh, please forgive us your shepherds
when we feel so entitled knowing everything
and being capable of everything that we have
refused to stop "working" for you, when we
have refused to leave our "work" and made it
into an office than a ministry, replacing service
with power, simplicity with material comfort,
and yes though very sad, we have made your 
vocation a privilege as we bask in our
positions and ranks, refusing to give others
the chance to work because we have ceased
shepherding, choosing to be herding or worst,
lording over others.
Amen.

I will love you anywayEven if you cannot stayI think you are the one for meHere is where you ought to beI just want to satisfy youThough you’re not mineI can’t deny youDon’t you hear me talking baby?Love me now or I’ll go crazy

Oh sweet thingDon’t you know you’re my everything?Oh sweet thingDon’t you know you’re my everything?Yes, you are

I wish you were my loverBut you act so undercoverTo love you child my whole life longBe it right, or be it wrongI’m only what you make me, babyDon’t walk away, don’t be so shadyDon’t want your mind, don’t want your moneyThese words I say, they may sound funny, but

I will love you anyway
Even if you cannot stay
I think you are the one for me
Here is where you ought to be
I just want to satisfy you
Though you’re not mine
I can’t deny you
Don’t you hear me talking baby?
Love me now or I’ll go crazy

Oh sweet thing
Don’t you know you’re my everything?
Oh sweet thing
Don’t you know you’re my everything?
Yes, you are

I wish you were my lover
But you act so undercover
To love you child my whole life long
Be it right, or be it wrong
I’m only what you make me, baby
Don’t walk away, don’t be so shady
Don’t want your mind, don’t want your money
These words I say, they may sound funny, but