Lent is listening, trusting God

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
First Sunday in Lent-A, 22 February 2026
Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7   +   Romans 5:12-19   +   Matthew 4:1-11

We now live in a world so noisy with many voices competing for our attention. Everybody is talking including cars and elevators, phones and gadgets and apps with names Siri and Alexa. So often, it is from these competing voices come our temptations in life, too.

In his first Lenten Message, Pope Leo XIV invites us to listen more to the word of God in order to be converted anew to Him. He said it so well that “The willingness to listen is the first way we demonstrate our desire to enter into a relationship with someone.”

Very true! And the question this first Sunday in Lent asks us is, whose voice do I follow? Because the voice we listen most is likely the one we prefer or love most – in fact, it could be the voice of the one we keep a relationship with!

That is the tragic truth of the story of the fall of Adam and Eve in the first reading today – they listened more to the voice of the devil signified by the serpent than to God who warned them not to eat the forbidden fruit.

And that continues to happen every day in our lives! That is why to sin is not merely to turn away from God but actually a refusal to love because sin is rejecting a relationship with God to whom we must listen to. This we see today in Matthew’s version of the temptations of Christ in the desert.

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” He said in reply, “It is written: One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:1-4).

*Detail of “The Temptation of Jesus According to St. Matthew” on the wall of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice, Italy. Photo from psephizo.com.*

Right at the start, Jesus made it clear by quoting the Sacred Scriptures, the word of God, that “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”

Jesus, the Word who became flesh to live among us tells us clearly today that same truth. God’s word is life when He created everything by just speaking. Any voice that leads to destruction is from the devil, the father of fake news. And the devil’s biggest lie we must always avoid is making and having things easily. See how until now every fake news is always about “instants” like instant food and health, instant solution to everything without realizing its sinful effects as well as side effects that may actually harm us more.

Listening is an art because it teaches us to be patient, to wait and most of all, to persevere which leads us to perfection and excellence. Haste always makes waste. When we listen, we become patient, choosing to wait than take shortcuts or get instants that avoid difficulties and hardships like gambling to be wealthy without working, or cheating to pass exams without learning as well as freedom without responsibilities.

Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on then parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command is angels concerning you’ and ‘with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'” Jesus answered him, “Again, it is written, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” (Matthew 4:5-7).

*Photo by author, Domiican Hills, Baguio City, January 2019.*

More than an art, listening is a virtue because it demands silence which is a fullness wherein we are able to listen and distinguish every voice and sound so that we may choose which to listen to and follow.

The word “listen” is the palindrome of “silent” – we listen best in silence to hear God, others and our very selves.

When we learn to be silent, we also become more trusting because when we trust, we speak less and listen more. The most silent people are the also the most trusting. When we trust, we wait and avoid shortcuts and instants.

The voice of God stirs our inner self, not just our senses because His voice leads us to deeper realities and meanings in life. Remember that Jesus eventually fed more than five thousand people from just five loaves of bread and two pieces of fish when He saw them already prepared inside their hearts and soul; when Jesus felt them more open to God than to the world, then He gave them bread and fish for their stomach.

Notice how the devil’s temptation to Jesus continues among us with those voices calling us to overly assert ourselves, to be influencers and clout chasers or content creators to be praised and followed by everyone when actually is all about wealth and money, and of course, power. It is the voice of control and manipulation. How sad that many of us gobble their lies completely, consuming everything, filling ourselves even with trash.

The voice of God calls us to sacrifice, to bear pains and sufferings not to be overburdened in life but for us to see God especially among those mostly in need like the poor and marginalized. Often, the voice of God is the softest and tiniest in our hearts calling us to simply trust Him by doing the simplest things like smiling to strangers, easing the pain of those lonely and sad, giving bread to the poor and hungry. Listening to the silence of God enables us to trust Him more that we learn to share and forget ourselves. Then, we grow and mature truly as persons.

Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, “All these I shall give you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.” Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him (Matthew 4:8-11).

Again, we go back to Pope Leo XIV’s Lenten Message about listening as “the first way we demonstrate our desire to enter into a relationship with someone.”

Don’t you feel sad at the sight of today’s everyday life where everyone has something in their ears, whether the tiny earpods or the headset/headphone?

What used to be insane like talking by one’s self has now become a status symbol as everyone looks crazy speaking by themselves through modern devices amid a crowd while walking or seated anywhere conversing to somebody at the other end of their lines unmindful, oblivious of the persons around them. May sariling mundo.

Many these days have created their own worlds and universe with them at its center through our new Baal, the cellphone – the very first thing everyone is looking for after waking up and the last thing in everyone’s hand before sleeping. How sad many among us today practically live in social media. What is most tragic is that all these modern means of communications were invented to bring us closer together when in fact, the more we have grown apart from each others! We are not only polarized as people but even separated from God.

The third temptation of the devil to Jesus continues with us today with all those voices telling us to forget God and morality and truth so that we become popular by being viral and trending. It is the biggest scam and fake news of all by the devil – of us being the “master” to rule and have world with all of its luxuries and power. The voice seems harmless, as if asserting our true selves but actually destroys our being and relationships with God, with others and eventually with our very selves.

Lent is an inside journey into our hearts, of finding Jesus anew inside our hearts where He dwells. St. Paul tells us in the second reading how Jesus brought us back to God, to grace and salvation.

Lord Jesus Christ, help us not to harden our hearts today so that we may listen anew to Your voice within us to find our way back to God, to peace and to fulfillment in ourselves and in one another. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead!

*Photo by author, Carmel of the Holy Family Monastery, Guiguinto, Bulacan, 22 January 2026.*

Integrity is living faith in Christ

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 15 February 2026
Sirach 15:15-20 ><}}}}*> 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 ><}}}}*> Matthew 5:17-37

It is a day after Valentine’s, also the final Sunday before we take a long break from Ordinary Time to start the 40 days of Lent this Ash Wednesday leading us to Easter that lasts until the month of May. It is so lovely and timely that we hear Jesus teaching us this Sunday to examine our hearts always so that we can live our faith in him daily, of remaining blessed in his beatitudes.

We are still at the sermon on the mount with Jesus giving us a series of general teachings illustrated in some concrete examples. However, keep in mind these are not new teachings as Jesus himself clarified he had come not to abolish but to fulfill the laws. In the light of the Beatitudes he taught us the other Sunday, Jesus is now directing us to look deeper into our hearts, to make it whole again in him and stay blessed unlike the scribes and the Pharisees.

Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20).

This is not the first time we have heard the word “righteousness” in Matthew who used it to describe Joseph in his Christmas story as “a righteous man” (Mt.1:19).

Being righteous for the Jews is being holy which is obeying and living by the laws and commandments of God. Unfortunately, they got centered with the letters of the laws as insisted by their scribes and Pharisees. When Jesus came, they have forgotten God himself as well as the value of the human person and life itself for which the laws were meant to be. Matthew rectified this at the start of his gospel with the story of the annunciation of Christ’s birth to Joseph who obeyed God’s command expressed in his love for Mary whom he took as his wife then pregnant with the Savior he named as “Jesus”.

Righteousness or holiness is not being sinless but being filled with God, living our faith in Christ by witnessing his gospel. From the Greek word holos that means “whole” not broken, holiness in a sense is what we call as integrity.

Holiness, righteousness, and integrity all begin in the heart that we find expressed in the sixth Beatitude taught by Jesus two Sundays ago, “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God” (Mt.5:8).

*Photo by Designecologist on Pexels.com*

A clean heart is a loving heart. We can only see God and the other persons with a loving heart. The human intellect cannot know most especially God as St. Paul tells us in the second reading.

In the same manner, we know the other person not with the intellect but always with the heart as the Little Prince said, “What is essential is invisible to the eye; it is only with the heart that one can truly see” while Marvin Gaye expressed it so beautifully in his 1971 hit “What’s Going On” with the lines “we have to put some lovin’ here today” so we can understand each other.

Indeed, the heart is the very center or core of every person because everything flows from the heart. And this is what Jesus himself underscores in his three admonitions against anger, lust, and falsehoods this Sunday. In all three teachings, we find how love is severely damaged when we quarrel against each other, when we take everyone as things and objects to be used, and when we lack the sincerity in our words.

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna”(Mt.5:21-22).

First thing we notice in these three teachings is its construction where Jesus first mentioned what was said by the ancestors in the phrase “You have heard” immediately followed by his own take, “But, I say to you.”

Again, Jesus is not contradicting the laws given by Moses and elaborated by their elders; Jesus was actually expressing its fullness in him found in love that begins in the heart which St. Paul reiterated in his letters that love is the perfection of the laws and commandments of God.

Whenever we quarrel in words or in deeds, we not only break our ties with each other as brothers and sisters but even with God we call “our Father”. Remember, love of God is love of one another. And the sad part of this reality is our being cut off from God even if we don’t admit it. And even if we know we have nothing against anyone, we surely feel the break-up in our selves due to the lack of love and charity, most of all, of peace. That is why Jesus added that when in our worship we realize a brother or sister has anything against us, we must first reconcile with him or her. That is why before the Holy Communion, we give the greeting of peace with one another who represents the person we are at odds with. The responsibility becomes more pronounced if the person is in the same assembly we are in if we really want to have a meaningful and holy communion.

“You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt.5:27-28).

Here we go again with the issues of marital infidelity as well as of divorce: at the very core of this is the equality of every person, of every man and woman as being created in the image and likeness of God with same equal dignity. Jesus reminds us today that there is no difference between man and woman when it comes to marriage because the same duties of fidelity bind each partner. Most of all, Jesus has consistently taught how we must go beyond the Laws when it comes to marriage because every spouse is an image of himself, of his saving grace. Hence, we must reject every temptation and inappropriate words and actions that may destroy unity and love of couples and even in our other relationships as family and friends.

*Photo by author, Makati City, 09 February 2026.*

“Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow. But I say to you, do not swear at all. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.” Anything more is from the evil one” (Mt.5:33-34).

This last admonition is perhaps most needed these days when we are bombarded with too much fake news as well as our own words are empty. Shakespeare said it so well in Hamlet, “words, words, words” wherein we think and believe that the more we increase our words, the more it becomes true and meaningful.

Of course, it it totally untrue as Jesus reminded us today to be truthful always. In Genesis, we are told in the story of creation how God shared only this power of words, of language with humans alone. Our ability to speak is a sharing in God’s power that demands responsibilities (Spiderman). Hence in the first reading, Ben Sirach reminds us to be responsible in choosing good than evil like in choosing between “fire and water”, “life and death”. Ben Sirach’s short reminders are very timely in this age of social media where “influencers” choose for us not only the candidates to elect but even the food to eat and clothes to wear. Being free is to decide, to choose knowingly what is good.

This Sunday, Jesus invites us to look into our hearts, to cleanse it of evil and sins so that he may dwell and reign completely in our hearts so we can have integrity and remain blessed and holy in him. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead, everyone!

God in our hearts

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Scholastica, Virgin, 10 February 2026
1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30 ><]]]]’> + ><]]]]’> + ><]]]]’> Mark 7:1-13

*Photo by author, Museo de Valenzuela’s replica of “Arkong Bato” with the pointed facade of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima as background, 21 January 2026.*

How true were the words
of your great King and Servant
Solomon, O God our mighty Father,
that nothing like "the heavens
and the highest heavens" 
can contain you 
much less the temple he had built
or anything that we have 
in this time;
yet, you have promised us
to hear our prayers when we come
to pray to you,
to call on you
in temples and churches
human hands have made
that are not enough to have you.

Forgive us, Lord,
when we try to "contain" you,
"keep" you in specific places
not just churches and temples
and oratories;
most of all,
forgive us, Lord,
when we lack 
the reverence and intimacy
we must have with you
when inside the church
and other sacred places;
Jesus' words in today's gospel
cuts us to the heart of our hypocrisies,
"This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teachings as doctrines human precepts"
(Mark 7:6).

O dear Jesus
present in the Blessed Tabernacle,
empty me of my pride
so that You may reign 
in my heart
always.
Amen.

*Photo by author, Chapel of the Carmel of the Holy Family Monastery, Guiguinto, Bulacan, 23 January 2026.*

Listening like the good soil?

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest & Doctor of the Church, 28 January 2026
2 Samuel 7:4-7 <*[[[[>< +++ ><]]]]*> Mark 4:1-20

*Photo by Nikola u010cedu00edkovu00e1 on Pexels.com*

"May tainga ang lupa,
may pakpak ang balita."

A Filipino saying
to express how news
and rumors travel so fast 
because "The soil (or land) 
has ears, news has wings."

It sounds funny, Lord Jesus
that this saying came to my mind
upon hearing your parable that
started with your words "Hear this!
A sower went out..." 
and ended, "Whoever has ears
to hear ought to hear" 
(Mark 4:3, 9).

What an art you
have endowed each of us
Lord with two ears 
so that we may listen and
hear twice than speak;
how lovely you have shaped
our ears that when put 
together, they look like a heart
and yet, we rarely listen at all
to you and with others.

Make us like the good soil,
Jesus: open to receive your words,
open to welcome your many
possibilities, open to simply
be ourselves so that you may
transform us like the seeds
that grew and produced fruits.

Remind us, Lord Jesus,
like David by Nathan that
far more better than buildings
on land is our hearts where you
desire most to dwell;
may our hearts remain
your temple planted on 
good, firm soil that it may
be felt alive always.

Teach us to imitate
your great Saint Thomas Aquinas
we remember today: that we
may cultivate to prepare
our hearts and minds
to become like the good soil
so that your seeds of the Gospel
may grow and bear fruit
for your greater glory.
Amen.

Womanly heart, manly courage

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 19 November 2025
Wednesday in the Thirty-Third Week of Ordinary Time, Year I
2 Maccabees 7:1, 20-31 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 19:11-28

*Lady of Sorrows from a triptych by the Master of the Stauffenberg Altarpiece, Alsace c. 1455; photo from fraangelicoinstitute.com.*

What a lovely phrase,
dear Jesus for today
for us all 
especially mothers
and all women:
"womanly heart,
manly courage."

At this time when
a wayward daughter
and sister viciously attacks
her own brother in total
disregard of our family values
and tradition, not to mention
the need for decency and respect
as well as a little sanity too,
here comes out in the open
the nobility of many women and
mothers as well as men still intact;
in this time like during the
Maccabean Revolt when many
sold their souls to evil for the price
of comfort and ease, there are
still more like that mother who dare
to go against the tide of insanity
and folly, indecency and disrespect,
most of all, of idolatrous worship
through religious leaders of the many 
sects and cults who use God's name
in vain and shameful profit too.

Keep us strong inside,
Jesus, to be not afraid in
venturing into finding ways of
serving you most than being idle
in keeping your gifts and talents;
teach us anew the virtue of
obedience, of docility
to authority
whether at home and family or
in the society in general
and in other civil institutions.

Lastly,
we pray dear Jesus
for all mothers crying in silence
these days for the many pains
they bear inside their hearts
especially those who have lost a child,
those betrayed by their own husband
or children,
those separated from their families
due to work and employment,
those nursing a sick loved one,
those forgotten even by families
and societies; grant them 
a "womanly heart" filled with faith
in God and a "manly courage"
trusting in you alone.
Amen.

Now more than ever, we are proven right: the past administration is the most decadent in our history with its utter lack of respect for life and for women; that its war on drugs was totally a lie. May they “who have contrived every kind of affliction not escape the hands of God” (2 Maccabees 7:31).

Lord, teach me to….

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 08 October 2025
Wednesday in the Twenty-Seventh Week of Ordinary Time, Year I
Jonah 4:1-11     ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*>     Luke 11:1-4

*Photo by Mr. Nicko Timbol, Chapel of Angel of Peace, OLFU-Valenzuela, 03 October 2025.*

Lord Jesus,
teach me...
not only to pray 
but most of all
teach me to grow
in you,
to reorder my life
in you by reshaping
my will and desires
with yours,
to desire what 
you desire for me
and for others,
to open my heart
than twist your arm
to what I want,
to know and seek 
what brings life,
what builds community,
what reflects your love
and mercy.

Lord Jesus,
teach me to be
angry positively
like you when you
cleansed the temple,
not like Jonah.

Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry that God did not carry out the evil he threatened against Nineveh…But the Lord asked, “Have you reason to be angry?” Then Jonah asked for death, saying, “I would be better off dead than alive.” But God said to Jonah, “Do you have reason to be angry over the plant?” “I have reason to be angry,” Jonah answered, “angry enough to die.” Then the Lord said, “You are concerned over the plant which cost you no labor and which you did not raise; it came up in one night and in one night it perished. And should I not be concerned over Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot distinguish their right hand from their left, not to mention the many cattle?” (Jonah 4:1, 4, 8-11)

Lord Jesus,
teach me to pray
so that I may trust you more,
so that I may be transformed
into the beloved child
of the Father
like you.
Amen.

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City
(lordmychef@gmail.com)

*Photo by author, Carmel of the Holy Family Monastery, Guiguinto, Bulacan, 25 September 2025.*

Amazed. And sorrowful.

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 15 September 2025
Monday, Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows
Hebrews 5:7-9     <*{{{{><  +  ><}}}}*>     Luke 2:33-35

A blessed Monday indeed,
Lord Jesus Christ as we
celebrate your Blessed Mother
as Our Lady of Sorrows.

The alternative gospel
for today's celebration is 
so striking with the account
of Luke of your Presentation at
the Temple:

The child’s father and mother were amazed at was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted” (Luke 2:33-34).

Why were your parents,
Joseph, especially Mary your Mother
were amazed at the words
of the Prophet Simeon?

I really wonder
how they looked like, Jesus:
to be amazed
is more than being
surprised with the enormity
of reality before one;
to be amazed is to be awed,
to be seized by that reverential
fear Joseph and Mary felt when
your coming was announced to them;
to be amazed is more of the
heart than of the mind,
a feeling that overwhelms one's
whole being with something
so profound,
so wonderful,
most of all,
so real.

Yes, Jesus:
being amazed is
beyond incredible,
simply breathtaking
because of your very presence,
of your reality.
Amaze me,
Lord Jesus.
Keep amazing me,
Jesus so that like
your parents Joseph
 and especially Mary
the more I shall know you,
love you,
and follow you
even to the Cross.

“and you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:35).

O dearest Jesus,
being sorrowful 
is also of the heart
like being amazed
and both are related:
the more we are amazed
with the reality of your love
for us, 
the more we are sorrowful
not only with your passion and death
but most of all of our sinfulness
because to sin is a refusal to love,
a refusal to recognize the truth
and reality of your immense love
for us, Jesus;
when people no longer
feel sorrow with all
the sins and senseless
killings happening today,
when people glorify
sin and evil,
when the young feel proud
more with wealth and fame
than the human person,
when people are so consumed
with things of the world
than be amazed 
with the wonder of human life,
the warmth of each person,
and the joy of being loved
and being loving...
that is when we are 
no longer amazed with 
you, Jesus,
our way,
our truth and 
our life.

Immerse us in your words,
Jesus like Mary your Mother;
like her, 
let us act on your words
to keep us amazed
with your love and mercy,
Lord Jesus
so we may be
sorrowful with our sins
and most of all,
be resolved in 
returning to you, 
remaining in you
like Mary your Mother
and our Mother too.
Amen.

The heart of the priest

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 04 August 2025
Monday, Memorial of St. John Baptiste Marie Vianney, Priest
Numbers 11:4-15     <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*>     Matthew 14:13-21

*St. John Baptiste Marie Vianney from https://liturgiadashoras.online/.*

People complain and ask me why our patron saint, St. John Baptiste Marie Vianney is always portrayed “unattractive” as old, balding and so thin who seemed to be so tired, even sad. Para daw hirap na hirap.

Usually I smile at them because when I entered the seminary, I felt the same way too upon seeing his images. But as I learned about his life and teachings, the more I realized St. John Baptiste Marie Vianney is actually one of the original “rock star” saints of the Church with his white, balding hair so much like Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin!

There is something so deeply within him when we try to feel and observe his portrayals in the arts as more than images but a reality and experience of a man deemed weak yet so strong with an intensity of a Michael Jordan in his life and ministry. He was another St. Paul who had truly let “Christ lived in him” (Gal. 2:20), “strongest when weakest” (2Cor.12:10) who declared with conviction that “the priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.” Hence in my prayers last night and today, I asked Jesus to give me a heart “so big, so wide to welcome everyone and life’s many challenges” (https://lordmychef.com/2025/08/03/praying-with-our-patron-saint-john-baptiste-marie-vianney/).

*Detail of a painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at Visitation Monastery, Marclaz, France from godongphoto / Shutterstock.*

The readings this Monday of the eighteenth week in Ordinary Time perfectly jibed the celebration of the Memorial of St. John Baptiste Marie Vianney as they spoke of the heart of the priest.

In the first reading we heard of Moses lamenting to God of the difficulty in dealing with his people who were so stubborn and refused to recognize God’s immense love for them, so similar with us priests in many occasions when we feel so frustrated and sad when parishioners fail to see the good things we are doing for them.

When Moses heard the people, family after family, crying at the entrance of their tents, so that the Lord became very angry, he was grieved. “Why do you treat your servant so badly?” Moses asked the Lord. “Why are you so displeased with me that you burden me with all this people?”… I cannot carry all this people by myself, for they are too heavy for me. If this is the way you will deal with me, then please do me the favor of killing me at once, so that I need no longer face this distress” (Numbers 11:10-11, 14-15).

Many times, we priests feel like Moses who cannot voice out problems with the people who would never understand it at all. Worst, people would even blame us priests why we work so hard or why do we bother at all with their lives. “Pabayaan na lang ninyo kami…sanay na kami” are what they often say. It can be frustrating when people refuse to match the fire and ardor of their priests.

In this scene, we find one of the many instances in the life of Moses that was centered on God in prayers. The heart of the priest is a heart in prayer. The attitude of Moses in the first reading conversing with God in prayer shows us that in our life and ministry, there is no one to turn to except God alone with whom we can be our most personal self, even dare God to “take us” or “kill us” when we are so fed up. The good news is, God never took those words seriously as he knew Moses and the prophets including us who spoke to him that way never knew what we were saying at all.

There is a saying that goes, “if you can’t bear the heat, leave the kitchen”; but, it cannot be applied with the priesthood that is neither a profession nor a job one can easily walk out from and start into another venture or career. Priesthood is a call or a “vocation” from God; however, priesthood is more of the Caller than the call. It is a life centered on prayer to become like Jesus Christ who alone feels and understands and appreciates all our ups and downs in the ministry. The more we get closer to Jesus in the Cross, the more we experience fulfillment that we would never dare to trade it for anything or anyone else, not even the prettiest woman on earth.

*Photo by author, Chapel of St. Francis Xavier, Sacred Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, March 2024.*

Priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus that continues to be wounded and hurt by sins of men and women in this modern age so selfish and materialistic. Thus, every priest is called to be a “wounded healer” too like Christ who in his woundedness healed the wounds of others. We remind people of the paradox and scandal of the Cross of Jesus, of life itself by taking into heart Christ’s teaching, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt. 16:25).

Let us now reflect on our gospel.

When Jesus heard of death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. the crowds heard of this and followed him on for from their towns. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick (Matthew 14:13-14).

Observe the brevity of Matthew in narrating the situation at the scene without losing its very soul and meaning especially for us priests: Jesus did not have any intentions to go after Herod nor to challenge him for his execution of John the Baptist who spoke the truth.

Instead, Jesus sought solitude. Like Moses in the first reading, Jesus turned to God in his grief and anguish of the death of John the Baptist. He crossed the lake to pray and be one with the Father to pour out his sadness and most of all, to reflect on what to do next after John’s death.

Jesus shows us in this scene of his going into solitude that our low points in life as priests are also our high points like Christ’s Transfiguration. Every prayer moment is a transfiguration moment because that is when we get closest with Jesus. It has been consistently proven in our collective and personal experiences as priests verified by studies that crises in the priesthood happen when we stop praying because that is detaching from Jesus Christ, our Caller.

Priesthood is not only difficult but very difficult starting with the vestments we have to wear. What a shame when priests prefer to do away with the proper vestments as well as wearing of shoes during celebrations of the Mass and other sacraments because the weather is so hot. What then are we going to bear if the weather is already a big issue for us? One of the teachings of St. John Vianney that I have always followed is the value of putting on good vestments in the celebration of Sacraments because they are a homily in themselves, proclaiming the glory and love of God for us all.

*Photo by FlickrBrett Streutker from catholic365.com.*

Many times, people forget priests have personal concerns and problems too, that we get hurt, get lonely, get sick and grieve at the death of family and friends. Despite all these lows in our life as priests, we go and follow the Caller Jesus Christ when people come and ask for our help and service. Woe to our brother priests who forget this and think more of themselves especially of their comfort!

See how when Jesus was praying in solitude and the crowd followed him, it was not difficult for him to forget his own worries that his heart was moved with pity upon seeing them disembarked from their boats. Despite his sadness at the death of John, Jesus taught the crowd who have followed him and healed the sick among them. And when the Twelve told him to drive away the crowd to search for their own food and lodging, Jesus told them to give them food themselves. What followed was the great miracle of the feeding of over five thousand people from five loaves of bread and two pieces of fish. It was the event that prepared the Twelve and the people to the Last Supper of the Lord and the road to Emmaus where Jesus was recognized at his “breaking of bread”.

The whole life of St. John Baptiste Marie Vianney was a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God in Christ’s priesthood. He had a heart so big and wide, hearing confessions daily up to 16 hours! Pray for us your priests to have big hearts too to bear all the wounds and hurts because only the heart that suffers, that is “broken” can truly sing of the joys and pains of living, of the sense and meaning of serving to the point of being emptied, and of the healing and transforming power of Christ’s love and mercy. Amen. Pray for us your priests. Salamuch. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com).

*have not been to France nor do I know French but while searching for images of St. John Marie Vianney, I found this from the French website,* https://www.notrehistoireavecmarie.com/*; it is perhaps the depiction of the new pastor speaking to the young Antoine whom he asked for directions to Ars.*

Praying with our patron saint, John Baptiste Marie Vianney

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 04 August 2025
Monday, Memorial of St. John Baptiste Marie Vianney, Priest
Numbers 11:4-15     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     Matthew 14:13-21

*I have not been to France nor do I know French but while searching for images of St. John Marie Vianney, I found this from the French website,* https://www.notrehistoireavecmarie.com/; *it is perhaps the depiction of the new pastor speaking to the young Antoine whom he asked for directions to Ars.*

On this feast of our Patron Saint,
John Baptiste Marie Vianney,
I praise and thank you dear Jesus
for the gift of vocation to the priesthood;
thank you for calling me to become your priest;
thank you for the courage and strength 
to accept your call;
most of all, thank you for your patience
in me despite my repeated sins
and failures as your priest.

Onn this feast of our Patron Saint,
John Baptiste Marie Vianney,
I pray to you Lord Jesus
our Eternal Priest to give me
a big heart,
a heart so wide to welcome
everyone and life's many
challenges.

When Jesus heard of death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. the crowds heard of this and followed him on for from their towns. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick (Matthew 14:13-14).

O Jesus,
only a heart so wide
like yours can take those 
kind of "beatings" -
to withdraw in silence,
perhaps cry in silence,
to be hurting alone with
the pain of the suffering and
death of a brother in ministry;
you bore all our pains
and went straight to the Father
to find solace and strength
for the terrible news nobody else
would really feel nor understand;
make me a good,
loving brother to other priests,
Jesus;
on the other hand,
despite your grief and sadness,
you did not drive away the crowd
so eager to have you in feeding them
with your words and teachings,
in healing their sick notwithstanding
the pains you have in the death of
John the Baptist; where did you get
that kind of immense feeling of 
oneness with the crowd
that when you saw them,
your "heart was moved with pity
for them" and cured their sick
and eventually fed them not only
with your words but with true bread!

That is why I pray
for a bigger heart as your priest,
Lord Jesus -
a heart so big to willingly accept
and bear every pain 
and hurt in your name
because only a wounded heart
like yours can truly sing
of the joys and pains of living,
of the sense and meaning of serving,
of the healing power of your love.

Forgive me, Jesus,
when many times I feel like
giving up,
complaining to you
like Moses
 in today's first reading,
hurting deep inside
when your people could not
see and realize
all the good things you have
been doing for them;
hence,
I pray for a big heart
to bear the pains and
disappointments of your people
even if they are not reasonable
nor valid at all;
most of all,
give me a big heart,
Lord,
because according to
St. John Baptiste
Marie Vianney,
"the priesthood
is the love
 of the heart
 of Jesus."
Amen.

St. John Baptiste Marie Vianney,
Pray for us priests!
Amen.

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com).

*From* https://liturgiadashoras.online/.

The inner journey in Christ of St. James the Greater

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 25 July 2025
Friday, Feast of St. James the Greater, Apostle
2 Corinthians 4:7-15     <*{{{>< + ><}}}*>     Matthew 20:20-28

Something struck me while praying the gospel for today’s feast of St. James the Greater – of how his mother approached Jesus with a request for him and his brother James “that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your Kingdom” (Mt. 20:21).

It must be a very interesting company that Jesus had organized during his ministry composed not only of the Twelve and other disciples but most likely with so many others too that included their families like the mother of James and John believed to be the beloved disciple of Jesus. Traditionally known as Salome, their mom could easily be the patroness of “stage mothers” that abound most especially in the Philippines!

But kidding aside, it must be wonderful to tag along with them in following Jesus where everyone is welcomed. It is a journey not meant to cover distances and places but actually an inner journey inside one’s self that we shall see in the life of James the Greater. It is a journey that begins right here in our heart when we too, like James leave everything to follow Jesus.

For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him (Luke 5:9-11).

*Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 26 July 2023.*

It must have been difficult for James to leave everything including their father Zebedee and follow Jesus. See that in the description by Luke of their call by Jesus, James and John as well as the brothers Simon and Andrew were all “rich kids” with their own fishing boats with hired men as workers at that time!

Clearly, money was not a problem with James and his buddies; however, one thing was missing in them – meaning and direction in life which they found in Jesus while listening to his preaching and finally in that miraculous catch of fish. I have always felt that perhaps, Zebedee allowed his two sons to leave him and their business for the same reasons so that they mature in life and be more responsible. We find this trace of attitudes or sense of entitlement in the brothers James and John when they asked Jesus to rain fire upon a Samaritan village that have refused them passage on their way to Jerusalem (Lk.9:54-56). Hence, Jesus named them as Boanerges for “sons of thunder” (Mk.3:17) due to their temperament.

In following Jesus, James had to learn the hard way the process of formation and transformation in Jesus that began in his heart. All along their journey from the shores of Galilee to Jerusalem, James remained by the side of Jesus Christ, probably unaware of that inner journey taking place right inside his heart to truly become a part of God’s Kingdom by sharing in the Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. He had seen and experienced along with the other Apostles the great powers of Jesus not only in preaching but most especially in calming the storms, walking on sea, exorcising evil spirits, healing all kinds of sickness, and even raising to life some who have died.

Most of all, James was privileged to have witnessed along with his brother John and Peter the two important stops in Jesus Christ’s journey to the Calvary: first, on Mount Tabor for the Transfiguration and second, at Gethsemane for the agony in the garden. In both events in the life of our Lord, James was a privileged witness of his coming glory and then of his passion and death. Our gospel today on his Feast is sandwiched between these two major events of the Transfiguration and Agony in the Garden as this is set shortly before Palm Sunday when Jesus entered Jerusalem that led to his sacred pasch.

Jesus said in reply, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We can.” He replied, “My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but if for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” When the ten heard this, they became indignant of the two brothers. But Jesus summoned them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be also among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give is life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:22-28).

*Painting by El Greco, “Pentecostes” (1597) from commons.wikimedia.org.*

It would only be after Easter and the Pentecost when all these major stops in James’ personal journey with Christ would become clear to him and the other Apostles. Eventually, he became the first Apostle to be martyred as Bishop of Jerusalem during the persecution by King Herod of Agrippa in 40 AD (Acts 12:1-2), fulfilling Christ’s words to him that he would indeed “drink from his chalice” to be with him in his Kingdom.

A thousand years later, devotion to James the Greater would spread far and wide in Spain after relics of his body were discovered in Santiago de Compostela. It is one of the world’s oldest and most popular pilgrimage site known as the Camino de Santiago de Compostela (the way of St. James).

Every year, pilgrims from all over the world do the camino from various points of Europe to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela where the Apostle’s body is buried as a spiritual hike or retreat and journey for spiritual growth.

Like James the Greater, the camino is more than the kilometers or miles covered but the journey within one’s self that leads to deeper faith in Christ by living out his gospel as portrayed in its marker and symbols of a staff and scroll of the gospel proclaimed by the Apostle .

*A marker along the camino de Santiago de Compostela.*

It is my fervent prayer that some day I will be able to do a camino de Santiago de Compostela but for the mean time, we strive to continue in following the steps of James the Greater in making that inner journey within one’s self, beginning in our heart by leaving our “boats” of security to remain always at the side of Christ even if he has to smoothen our rough edges as a person and cleanse us of our sins that prevent us in drinking his chalice to be one in his Kingdom. The key is to serve, not to be served as Jesus insisted.

Sometimes in life, we just have to make “sakay” as we used to say as in “sakay lang ng sakay” or “ride on, man, ride on” without really knowing where our trip would lead us.

James the Greater simply made “sakay” in Jesus without knowing Christ was already fulfilling his wish of “drinking from his chalice” which proved that, indeed, the longest journey in life is the distance between the mind and the heart (Dag Hammarskjold). Amen. Have a blessed weekend! Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com).

*All photos from Camino de Santiago de Compostela courtesy of Fr. Jigs Sta. Rita.