Jesus wants YOU.

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul, 03 August 2025
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23 ><}}}*> Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11 ><}}}*> Luke 12:13-21

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, March 2024.*

Our gospel this Sunday is very interesting as it is similar with what we have heard last July 20, the sixteenth Sunday when Jesus visited the home of Martha who asked him, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me” (Lk.10:40).

Compare that with our gospel today:

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions” (Luke 12:13-15).

*Photo by author, PDDM Chapel, Araneta Ave., QC, August 2024.*

“Tell my sister…tell my brother.”

How funny we waste energy complaining to Jesus about others when he is not interested at all because he is actually most interested with us! In Martha’s home and in this scene, the Lord shows us that he came here for each of us personally, as if telling us to stop all those pointing to others because each one of us will definitely be dealt with individually, personally by him in the end. But, are we ready like that rich man in the parable?

That is why Luke tells us this amusing anecdote in the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem to remind us anew that in the spirit of Christ’s teaching last week on prayer, he is most concerned with our relationship with God our Father – not with our petty quarrels on money and inheritance or politics. We have to stop that “holier-than-thou” attitude, of being sanctimonious pointing at others without looking deep into ourselves, “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?” (Mt.7:1,3).

This Sunday, we hear one of Jesus Christ’s many warnings against relying on wealth, possession and even status for our well-being and security. He invites us to look deep into ourselves than look at others.

“Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

A very tough warning from Jesus that sends chills down our spine. It is always easier to point at others than look into ourselves in responding to him, on what is to be “rich in the sight of God” we are all struggling with, though, admittedly many of us truly aspire to be.

There are so many anxieties and other feelings within each of us that push us against the words of Jesus not only here. And Jesus knows very well how we turn to many things other than God for our security and well-being like the rich man in the parable he told the crowd.

We call that “security blanket” which we use to cover ourselves that often temporarily relieves us of our fears and anxieties but ultimately gives us away in the end like that rich man in the parable. He thought he would be safe and secured by building a bigger barn for his “bountiful harvest” that year that would sustain all his needs. But, that night he was taken by the Lord and died, leaving everything behind him.

We can easily identify with that rich man in the parable who portrays what each of us harbors in the depth of our hearts of never having enough. Palaging kulang, palaging bitin at kapos ano man mayroon tayo. We are always afraid that what we have may not be enough that we want to increase, to have more of whatever we think gives us security and well-being in the face of life’s many exigencies and unpredictability.

But, when is enough really enough? In this age of affluence, we have totally forgotten about the value of contentment, of relying more to God than to ourselves. It is not really a question of what we have but of our attitude in what we have, no matter how much or how less that may be.

Of course, we need to be prudent and wise in responsibly planning for our future but Jesus tells us in this parable that what really matters in life is our relationship with God expressed in the Our Father last week. What we need to store in our “barn” is not material things but more of spiritual values like love, kindness, compassion, fidelity, mercy and compassion.

Jesus is inviting us today to examine and clean out of our “barn” to make room for God who alone matters in the end. Let God be the only possession we have who possesses us in the end – not our cellphones and gadgets nor our popularity nor negatives feelings like bitterness we have kept so long in our hearts.

Qoheleth in the first reading is neither promoting cynicism nor any negative thoughts about life but simply warned us of the great “sorrow and grief” of too much focus on things of the world that vanish like vapor. The reason we work so hard, fulfilling many tasks and obligations is not merely to earn a living and have nice homes, wonderful vacations here and abroad, education of children and better retirement; we work because we want to have fullness of life. That is why I prefer the Pilipino word for “work” – hanap buhay that literally means “to search life” because we work to find the meaning of life. But, what happens if we become enslaved by our jobs and professions while our possessions eventually possess us that in the process, we lost our very selves and those dearest to us in our relationships?

Fullness of life can only be found in God through Jesus who gave us himself totally on the Cross we receive every Mass in the Eucharist. That is why beginning this Sunday and in the next three weeks, we find Luke presenting to us various teachings of Jesus on the way to Jerusalem with a stress on the need to always consider the End, that is, God himself who alone gives us fullness of life. St. Paul speaks of this in the second reading that amid our many concerns in life, let us be focused into things of heaven that are eternal, not of earth that are passing.

Last Friday I read a beautiful story of a man taking care of his critically sick mother that he fell asleep by her side. When he woke up, she was gone forever. He checked their CCTV and saw how in her final moments, the mother saw her son not properly covered that she used all her remaining strength to pull the blanket over him. Then she closed her eyes and died peacefully. It was her final act of love: she tucked her son in bed the day he was born, she tucked him the day she died.

We reflected last Sunday that prayer changes us not the situations. This Sunday, let us pray to Jesus to help us clean and clear our “barn” of worldly things to make more room for God in ourselves to become better persons. And – beginning today – for us to stop pointing at others, asking Jesus to check on them; instead. let us focus on our personal transformation into Christ as better disciples and witnesses. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead! Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com).

Discipleship is prayer, a relationship

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul, 27 July 2025
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Genesis 18:20-32 ><}}}*> Colossians 2:12-14 ><}}}*> Luke 11:1-13

*Photo by author, the “Our Father” Church outside Jerusalem where he is believed to have taught his disciples how to pray.*

From the home of Martha and Mary, Jesus and his disciples proceeded on their journey to Jerusalem when the disciples saw him at prayer.

Of the four evangelists, Luke is the one who presents Jesus most at prayer, always making time to pray. The disciples noticed this importance of prayer for Jesus that they asked him to teach them how to pray.

More than teaching them the “Our Father”, Jesus again took the occasion to give the Twelve another lesson of things “to do” as a disciple we have seen in the past four weeks like greeting peace every home they visit as they proclaim the Kingdom of God is at hand (July 6, 14th Sunday); being a neighbor to everyone especially those in need in order to gain eternal life (July 13, 15th Sunday); and last week of choosing always the “only one thing needed” by every disciple which is to listen to him and his words.

This Sunday, Jesus deepens that by teaching us his disciples to always pray.

*Photo by author, Jerusalem Temple, May 2017.*

“And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Luke 11:9-13)

More than the mere recitation of a prayer like the “Our Father”, Jesus shows us this Sunday that prayer is the essence of discipleship that is also a relationship with God. That is why he began his lesson in prayer by telling the Twelve, “when you pray, say: Father” that clearly indicates a relationship.

During his time, God was regarded as Someone totally powerful, far from humans whose name could not even be mentioned for its holiness or “otherness”. When Jesus taught to call God “Abba” which is the equivalent to our “dad” or “daddy”, people were scandalized for God is above all to be accorded with the highest respect, never taken on a personal level with such terms of endearment like in human relationships.

Jesus clarified in many instances not only here that though our God is all-powerful and all-knowing, he is a person like us who relates with others, who is so loving and merciful to us he considers his beloved children because he is our Father. Here we find Jesus already bringing God closest to us not only as “God-with-us” but also “God-in-us” so close with each of us as our breath in the Holy Spirit! Jesus proved all these teachings on Good Friday when he died on the Cross.

*Photo by author, a bass relief of Jesus Christ’s “agony in the garden” at Gethsemane, May 2019.*

Prayer as a relationship is more than telling God what we need which he already knows even before we pray; prayer is more of listening to God for what he wants from us which is to become one in him in Jesus Christ.

I have realized even before my ordination to the priesthood that Jesus calls us not really for tasks he wants us to do but primarily that we may be one in him in an intimate relationship. That is why since my theological studies, I have stopped praying anything for me because God knows what I need most; I pray more for my family and friends while praying only one thing for me – that in every here and now, I am in him until my death.

This intimacy with God in prayer calls for openness that after teaching them the Our Father, Jesus encouraged the disciples to persevere in prayer with a parable of a friend asking for bread, “I tell you, if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence” (Lk.11:8).

Perseverance in prayer is not a kind of “holy nagging” of God in order to change his mind so that he gives our requests. Perseverance in prayer opens us to God’s gifts and plans we acquiesce to with joy. Many complain of God not granting their prayers when in fact, the problem is many hardly pray at all, wearing God with their words without listening to him who has better plans for us by giving us something better than what we are asking for!

And the best we can have is always him – God himself.

See how Jesus used the transitive verbs “to ask” and “to seek” that both require a direct object when he simply declared “ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find.” What shall we ask for or seek at all? He did not indicate its direct objects because the answer is only God, as in ask only for God, seek only God.

When we are open to God and into a relationship in him, we are fulfilled, needing nothing at all except him who is everything.

Prayer changes us, not things and situations. There will always be sickness and death, calamities and trials in our lives which prayer cannot prevent from happening. What prayer does is make us stronger in dealing with the storms in our lives, making us better persons and disciples.

No saint had become holy without prayer which is the gateway and foundation of discipleship. This is the whole point of Abraham “bargaining” with God in the first reading: Sodom and Gomorrah were eventually destroyed because no one was left praying and therefore, no one was doing good in the forsaken cities. In their lack of any prayer at all, they have become insensitive of others and of nature that led to their destruction. These are the same dangers our present generation is falling into – a complete disregard of God and others including nature. We have become insensitive of our selves, of others and of the world that we find it so bad, so filled with evil, and so sick. How sad that fewer and fewer people are left praying with so many others not having any qualms at all in missing the Sunday Mass these days.

I have always loved this photo by our friend Ms. JJ Jimeno of GMA-7 News of a man who seemed to have lost his head in deep prayer inside the Prayer Room of the Holy Sacrifice Parish in UP Diliman last June 2019.

Prayer makes us sensitive of God, of our self and of others where we discern what is good and evil, learning what God has in store for us. The more we pray, the more we become sensitive of ourselves and of others and of the world. Yes, we lose ourselves in prayer so that it is Christ who lives in us as St. Paul asserted (Gal.2:20). Contrary to claims by some, prayer is not a flight from reality but actually a dive into the true realities of life as St. Paul tells us in today’s second reading: when we are “raised to life in Christ” (Col. 2:13) in prayers, we are abled to follow Jesus with our own crosses sustained by the gifts of the Holy Spirit in making our society more humane and just.

When we pray, we lose ourselves and we are filled with God so that his kingdom comes when his will is done here on earth as it is in heaven. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead, everyone!

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

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.

Full presence in Christ

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul, 20 July 2025
Sunday in the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Genesis 18:1-10 ><}}}*> Colossians 1:24-28 ><}}}*> Luke 10:38-42

*Photo by author, Tagaytay City, February 2023.*

After telling us what we must do to inherit eternal life through his parable of the Good Samaritan last Sunday, Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem with his disciples with a stop over today in the home of the sisters Martha and Mary.

The visit became an occasion for Jesus – the Good Samaritan – to expound on the more important things we his disciples must “do” as exemplified in the contrasting attitudes of the two sisters.

*“Jesus in the House of Martha and Mary”, painting by Johannes Vermeer (1654) from en.wikipedia.org.*

Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary had chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her” (Luke 10:38-42).

This is the third consecutive Sunday Jesus gives us the top things we his disciples must always “do”: two Sundays ago he instructed us to represent him well by greeting everyone with peace while proclaiming that the kingdom of God is at hand (14th Sunday); last week, Jesus asked us to consider everyone especially those in need as a “neighbor” with whom we must show mercy at all times.

Today’s teaching of Jesus is of capital importance in this series on discipleship before the Lord caps it next Sunday with the very foundation of discipleship which is prayer.

*An icon of Jesus visiting his friends, the siblings Sts. Lazarus, Mary and Martha. Photo from crossroadsinitiative.com*.

"Martha, 
burdened with much serving, 
came to him and said..."

Only Luke has this unique story in the home of Martha and Mary.

Far from the simplistic views of a distinction between “contemplative” and “active” approaches in discipleship, Luke invites us not only to enter the home of Martha and Mary but most of all our Lord and Master Jesus Christ to experience and realize the deeper realities of being his disciple.

There is more at issue here than a conflict of duties of listening to the Word like Mary and doing the work like Martha. Jesus is not telling us to be like Mary listening more to the word – and forget all about the work to be done and accomplished? Not at all.

Jesus reproached Martha for being anxious and upset about many things in life that she had forgotten the more essential which is to listen to Christ himself.

Luke’s gospel teems with instances where we find Jesus warning his disciples against being overwhelmed with cares of the world like in the parable of the sower where he mentioned those seeds that fell among thorns were choked by the anxieties and pleasures of the world that they failed to be fruitful (Lk.8:14). In chapter 12 we find Jesus twice repeating in asking his disciples “not to worry” on how to answer their persecutors for the Holy Spirit will teach them (Lk.12:11-12) and immediately after that, “not to worry” again about what to eat or wear for life is more than food and body is more than clothing (Lk.12:22-23). There are many other instances in all gospel accounts we find Jesus denouncing too much focus on things of the world that are passing and worst, detract us his disciples in confessing faith in him as the Christ who had come and will come again at the end of time.

“Jesus in the House of Martha and Mary”, painting by Erasmus Quellinus II and Jan Fyt (1650) from en.wikipedia.org. See the folly of Martha’s worries and distractions with the enormous amount of food being prepared.

Jesus clarifies in the example of Mary that the first priority of every disciple is to listen to the Word who is himself. More than the division of time allotted for “contemplation” and “action” by every disciple, Jesus reminds us that the more we listen to him, the more we do his work; and the more we do his work, the more we desire to return to him and listen again and again to him.

Contemplation and action always go together. We cannot overdo the other and neglect the other. The moment we make a distinction between the two, problems arise like what we find in the church.

When priests and bishops concentrate only in contemplation, oblivious to the social conditions of the people, their proclamation of the Gospel is diluted as they fail to represent well Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. When they are so immersed into social action and advocacies, business endeavors including entertainment in the Mass without contemplation, Christ is detached from the whole picture that people could no longer see nor feel the spiritual nature of the Church with everything becoming a show, empty of any sense of the divine and sacred. In both instances of abuses, either of contemplation or action in the Church, it is her credibility that is eroded as the Body of Christ with a growing number of the faithful disillusioned with priests and bishops more identified with the rich and powerful.

"There is need of only one thing."

Abraham in today’s first reading showed us the most beautiful example of discipleship. Like Martha, Abraham was also gracious in receiving his visitors at Mamre believed to be the Blessed Trinity in the form of angels; but, unlike Martha who was so concerned with her chores that she had forgotten Jesus, Abraham was intently focused on his visitors as “he waited on them under the tree while they ate” (Gen.18:8).

Like Mary listening at the feet of Jesus, Abraham was fully present in God while in Mamre. That is discipleship – to have that full presence in the Lord which is the “only one thing needed” of us which is to receive God’s gift of himself to us, of his Word who became flesh Jesus Christ who enables us to do his works by first recognizing him in ourselves and in one another as our neighbor.

This is the reason why even inside prison, St. Paul felt Jesus Christ’s coming and presence that he rejoiced in his sufferings as part of his ministry in proclaiming Christ as the hope for glory (Col.1:24, 27).

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2025.*

Last week I read in one of the blogs I follow by an American nun, of how she attended many years ago to a delivery man who died of a heart attack in the ER of a Philadelphia hospital. Part of her ministry was to gather the things found in the chest pocket of the man’s shirt so she could inform the relatives of his death: there was a well-used prayer book, a thin wallet with a few dollars inside, a lottery ticket and a picture of his grandchildren. It was so touching how she narrated these simple things found in the man’s chest pocket as those closest to his heart (https://lavishmercy.com/2025/07/12/the-amoroso-man/).

That hit me so hard because even in this age of smartphones, I still carry a little notebook and pen in my chest pocket where I write my schedules as well as occasional notes on everything I notice and read. Deep inside me after reading that blog, I wondered where is Jesus Christ in all those notes and activities in my pocket notebook closest to my heart.

Dearest Lord Jesus,
make me fully present before
you always, even in my activities
and distractions for it is only in you
I am fulfilled. Amen.

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City

Stop “overthinking” to be a good Samaritan

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe, 13 July 2025
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Deuteronomy 30:10-14 ><}}}*> Colossians 1:15-20 ><}}}*> Luke 10:25-37

*Photo by author, Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon, 17 March 2023.*

Jesus continues his journey to Jerusalem with his disciples, teaching us with some important things “to do” following the questions of some people along the way.

Last Sunday Jesus taught us the five do’s and five don’ts of discipleship; today, he teaches us what we must do to inherit eternal life with the parable of the good Samaritan.

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.” (Luke 10:25-30)

First thing we notice is our similarity with the scholar of the law who already knew the answer to the question “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” We know deep in our hearts the answer and like in the gospel, we have felt Jesus affirming us many times like the lawyer. But, Jesus wants us to revisit his parable of the Good Samaritan this Sunday to realize its meaning as we continue to imitate the lawyer with the same question “who is my neighbor?”

But because he wished to justify himself, 
he said to Jesus, 
"And who is my neighbor?"

*Photo by author, Grand Canyon Woods, Batangas, March 2025.*

The Filipino translation gives us a better picture of the lawyer justifying himself, “Sa hangad ng eskriba na huwag siyang lumabas na kahiya-hiya, tinanong niya uli si Jesus, ‘Sino naman ang aking kapwa?'”

See how Jesus did not give a straightforward answer but situated the lawyer including us today into something very concrete so that we stop thinking more and start feeling more. That was the problem with the scholar of the law and with us today: we analyze everything that we have become “over thinkers” but not necessarily “critical thinkers”. We know so many things about our faith but, we still ask for more clarifications because we think more than feel more.

As a chaplain giving recollections and talks to our students, I have seen many young people today are over thinkers but not critical thinkers. I always remind them that critical thinking is about comprehension and analysis of data and information gathered. Over thinking is different. It is not of the mind but of the heart because overthinking is lack of trust. It is a vice when we worry a lot – over think – because we lack trust with others and with ourselves. And ultimately with God!

*Photo by author, Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 12 July 2023.*

The scholar of the law was overthinking when he asked “who is my neighbor?” because for them at that time, their neighbors were just their fellow Jews. Sad to say, until now our society remains stratified into categories of people like ice cream – the old rich and famous as “all-time favorites”, the recent rich and popular as “flavor of the month” and the ordinary folks as “dirty ice cream” or sorbetes cheaply sold in carts pushed usually by old men.

Of course we know everyone is our neighbor or whoever needs us. But the problem with this all-encompassing view is that it leads us to casuistic argumentation, a kind of over thinking like when we start citing exceptions and excuses or alibis. That is why Jesus used the characters of a priest and Levite who were examples of holiness vis-a-vis a Samaritan who was an enemy of the Jews at that time.

The priest and the Levite passed by the victim of robbery to maintain the Jewish purity law of not touching a corpse to perform their tasks and duties in the temple, both were “overthinking” of their rites and rituals than the dying person. Holiness for Jesus is beyond names and titles but more of the heart seeing and feeling the other person like the Samaritan who alone acted out of his good naturedness as a person, even beyond giving first aid to the robbery victim.

Many times we are like the priest and Levite when we come up with many arguments like “do I not have any other obligation” or “does it really fall on me personally” and so on and so forth when confronted in real life with some people so badly injured or in need of attention.

We overthink with what would happen if we personally get involved with somebody in trouble that people these days are more quick in pulling out cellphones to record an accident and mishap instead of doing something to help.

We over think like the lawyer in the gospel, forgetting to feel more of the other person. That is why in answering his question, Jesus threw it back to him him in another form that is more personal and experiential, “Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”

St. Therese of the Child Jesus wrote in her journal more than a hundred years ago, “I have understood that true greatness is found not in the name but in the soul.”

Beautiful! If we would just look more into our heart, into our soul, we find Jesus, we find our true self, and we find everyone our neighbor to be loved and respected, cared and understood. This is what Moses is telling us in the first reading that the Lord and his commandment are right there in our hearts.

That is exactly what the scholar of the law felt after hearing the story of the good Samaritan that he forgot all labels and categories, answering Jesus’ question with, “The one who treated him with mercy.” There is no need to justify ourselves, of who we are, or even ask who is our neighbor. Everyone is our neighbor because everyone is a brother and sister in Christ; hence, no need to ask that question at all!

But, there is still something deeper to this. When Jesus ended their conversation with the instruction to “Go and do likewise”, the Lord is telling us this Sunday that whenever we encounter a person in need of help, regardless of who she/he is, let us put ourself in that person’s place for it is them – not us – who shall recognize us whether we acted as neighbor to them, or saw them as neighbor!

*Photo by Mr. Chester Ocampo, UST Senior High School Building, 2019.*

Recall those moments we were down when those dearest to us abandoned us and of all people, the least we expected were the ones who acted as neighbor to us. It is when we are down and low when we come to recognize our neighbor, not when we are up and able, when we feel proud asking what must I do to gain eternal life.

Stop all these over thinking. Simply remember and find Jesus in every person who is the “image of the invisible God” who “reconciled all things for him”(Col.1:15, 20) for he alone is our truest neighbor always present when needed most. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead, everyone! Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com).

Representing Jesus well

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe, 06 July 2025
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Isaiah 66:10-14 ><}}}*> Galatians 6:14-18 ><}}}*> Luke 10:1-12

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

Finally, we hit the fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time with Luke as our guide after a month of Solemnities.

We are at the turning point in the gospel of Luke – chapter 9 and first half of chapter 10 – where Jesus was identified by Peter as the Messiah (9:20) while Jesus for the first time made known his coming pasch (9:22). From this point on, Luke tells us of how Jesus “resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem” (9:51) to fulfill his mission as they took a detour from a Samaritan town that had refused them passage (9:53). After this scene comes our gospel this Sunday.

At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household’… Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you and enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.'” (Luke 10:1-5, 7-9)

First thing we notice about discipleship according to Jesus is that it is never easy, “behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.” Disciples need to be “resolutely determined” in the mission like Jesus, focused only on Jesus.

Early in his teachings during the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus enunciated in his Beatitudes the contradictions of his life and teachings to the ways of the world his followers have to imitate. Hence, his list of “do’s” and “don’ts” of discipleship in today’s gospel.

Do’s: greet peace every household they entered; stay in same house; eat and drink whatever is offered; cure the sick; and proclaim “the kingdom of God is at hand.”

Don’ts: no money, no sack, no sandals, no greetings along the way, and do not move about from one house to another.

Notice there are five do’s and five don’ts. And there are only two “do’s” that require speaking: to greet every household with peace and then the other is to proclaim to everyone the kingdom of God is at hand (10:5, 9) which is the sum of discipleship in Christ.

“Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household'”…

The only valuable we as disciples of Christ must have is peace that we have to offer generously to everyone.

Peace is the work of the Holy Spirit, a sign of the coming of the Kingdom of God as the angels proclaimed on Christmas, “on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Lk. 2:14). Most of all, peace is the fruit of Easter that the Risen Lord offered his disciples upon seeing them on that evening, “Peace be with you” (Jn.20:19).

Vatican II defined peace “is not merely the absence of war… but the fruit of love which goes beyond what justice can provide” (Gaudium et Spes 78). Peace is something we all have to work and strive for, entailing wounds and sacrifices for us to achieve it by cooperating with the grace of Jesus Christ in overcoming sin and evil. It is a process that never stops, calling for perseverance and daily conversion on our part.

Peace comes when we disciples are open for Christ, for others, and for change and transformation. That is why Jesus insisted us his disciples not to bring anything material that may influence our dealings with others, especially with those who are poor.

The great irony of our time is that the more we have grown affluent with wealth and material things, the more we have become empty in meaning and directions in life. So many are disturbed, longing for peace but could not have it because we the disciples are also lost in the things and the ways of the world.

“…cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.'”

In the Luminous Mysteries of the Holy Rosary introduced by St. John Paul in 2002 is its third mystery, the proclamation of the Kingdom of God.

It is truly a mystery of light because Jesus is the Kingdom of God! To proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God is to proclaim the coming of Jesus Christ in our midst. When John the Baptist’s disciples asked Jesus if he was the One they were waiting for or had to wait for another, Jesus said in reply, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them” (Lk.7:22).

Where there is healing, there is new life, there is proclamation of the good news, there is Jesus Christ! Proclaiming the Kingdom of God is representing Jesus in our lives, in our mission.

In the previous chapter and scenes before our gospel this Sunday, Jesus asked his disciples what people said about him, the very same gospel we have last Sunday during the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.

Recall how Jesus was mistaken for John the Baptist, Elijah and Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

That’s the problem we still have today: many followers of Jesus do not represent him well that people are lost at who he really is! And it first happens right in the Sunday Eucharist as noted by a Facebook group called Catholic Fortress in its series this past week.

Many reacted positively for the series that was really good and timely for us priests and ministers at the altar who have unconsciously abused the Mass, unknowingly deviating from Christ himself who could no longer be found and experienced by the people. Truly the Mass is about Jesus; but, when it becomes like a showbiz with so many ek-ek and palabas by the priest, the servers and ministers and the choir, then it leads us away from Jesus who is paloob or inside our hearts.

In 400 AD, St. Augustine wrote the first manual for catechism called De Catechizandis De Rudibus (On Instructing Beginners) detailing, step by step the many things to consider and lessons to teach people being prepared for Baptism. From a simple request by his deacon named Deogratias, St. Augustine came up with an entire book on how to catechize with a final lesson that is the heart of his book when he wrote, “Remember, the catechist is the lesson himself.”

The same thing is very true with us priests and altar ministers and every disciple of Jesus Christ! Do we have Jesus Christ or not especially in the celebration of the Holy Mass where we proclaim the Kingdom of God is at hand and share peace with everyone?

How can there be peace of Christ among us when priests fail to love first of all Jesus in prayers as reflected in his love for the people by preparing for the Mass so that the sick and the burdened may experience Jesus – not an actor or actress of a telenovela no matter how popular it may be?

Where is the Kingdom of God when people have to bear the tantrums and antics and hangups of their priest as they already have so much burdens in life? Or, when people have a hard time tightening their belts and the priest keeps on asking for collections without any reports?

Where is the Kingdom of God when priests play favorites among the parishioners and servers, when some support Pride Movement and corrupt officials?

How can there be peace when all we have in the Mass is clapping of hands that we never have time to listen to God speaking to us in silence?

*Photo by author, St. Joseph’s Chapel of the Order of Friars, Tagaytay City, 17 January 2025.*

This Sunday, Jesus invites us to examine our faith journey in him if we are still following him or somebody else.

Let us pray for that grace to represent Jesus well always in our lives as priests and laity alike that we truly become the Body of Christ, his presence on earth.

It is the relationships that we have with God that matters in discipleship which Isaiah likened to that of a mother and child in the first reading. This finds it fulfillment when like St. Paul in the second reading, it is Christ’s Cross that we carry in ourselves – not bags nor money nor self and fame. Amen. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City.

Seeing ourselves as Jesus sees us

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe, Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Solemnity of Sts. Peter & Paul, Apostles, 29 June 2025
Acts 12:1-11 ><}}}}*> 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18 ><}}}}*> Matthew 16:13-19

*St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican in Rome.*

We enter today the 13th week in Ordinary Time with a fourth celebration on a Sunday of another Solemnity, that of Saints Peter and Paul, the two pillars of the Church Jesus Christ established over 2000 years ago.

Sts. Peter and Paul were men of diverse backgrounds with Peter the fisherman, impulsive and so human while Paul the Pharisee was an intellectual converted by an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Both were flawed as persons yet so loved and called by the Lord – Peter as first leader of his church and Paul as its first missionary to the Gentiles. Their Solemnity reminds us of Christ’s call for us to build his Body, his Church here on earth.

While this celebration is about the two great apostles of Jesus, our readings direct us to God’s goodness and grace in his actions on behalf of the church founded by Christ. Its focus is on God, not ourselves.

*Statues of Sts. Peter & Paul, st. Peter’s Basilica, Rome; photos from opusdei.org*

Being an apostle of Jesus is not about doing great things or being so good but more of encountering and keeping faith in Christ our Lord. By recognizing ourselves as the church – the Body of Christ as we have reflected last Sunday, all of our actions are indeed God’s actions on behalf of the church because it is through us that the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection is continued and completed in this age.

What is essential is we constantly enter into a conversation with Jesus in prayer not only to tell him things but most especially for us to realize how he sees us!

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:13-18).

*Photo by author at Caesarea, Israel, May 2017.*

What really happened at Caesarea Philippi was a close encounter of the apostles with Jesus, especially Simon whom would he called as Peter on that day on.

Very often in most reflections and commentaries, we are told to answer the question of Jesus like Peter in our most personal way not based from what we have read or heard: “who do you say I am?”

Of course, what else can we say but imitate Peter’s answer that seems to be the most correct answer.

But, is it really the best answer? Not really.

Paul later in his many writings will declare similar answers but far more better like when he said “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil.1:21).

Jesus is telling us something else in this scene, as if asking us too, would you want to know “who do I say you are?” What the Lord is actually telling us in this scene is the fact that he knows us so well inasmuch as he knows himself perfectly because he is God. In fact, he had said there was no need for him to have human testimony as the Christ (Jn. 2:25; 5:34).

*Photo by author, Sea of Galilee, Israel, May 2019.*

What I see more at Caesarea Philippi is Jesus Christ’s omniscience as God who knows everything – even that early he already knew Peter would deny him thrice, that Judas Iscariot would betray him, so on and so forth.

Jesus knows everything about us but he chose to love and believe in us that despite and in spite of everything he knew that could go wrong with us later in life, of how we would fall into sin over and over, STILL – he calls us, he sends us on a mission because he believes in us, he loves us.

Many times in life, we forget the truth about the saints who are just like us, ordinary people with many weaknesses and flaws, imperfections and even idiosyncrasies. What made them stand out and did all those great feats for the Lord was because they were able to see themselves the way Jesus sees them.

That’s the very core of the story at Caesarea Philippi – Jesus made the apostles felt especially Peter how valuable they were, how they were all loved, of how Jesus saw them as his ambassadors later when he returns to the Father.

*Bass relief of St. Peter at the Malolos Cathedral, 2019.*

Jesus had no need of knowing what people were saying about him because he knew himself so well aside from the fact he surely knew what they were saying about him. Actually, the answers the apostles gave him were for them to know and think about why people wrongly perceived Jesus.

Most of all, Jesus had no need to know what everyone of us is saying about who he is because, again, he knows himself perfectly. Whatever answer others would have given about him would have been surely appreciated and praised by Jesus. What matters most for everyone to realize is the fact that despite Christ’s foreknowledge of Peter’s fall and weaknesses, he still dared to call him to head his church. The same holds true with everyone of us. Jesus wants us to continue building his Body, his church here on earth, to make Jesus more present in us in this world so dark and lost searching for meaning except in Christ.

The same thing is true with Paul when Jesus called him on the road to Damascus to persecute the first Christians. Jesus knew everything Paul was doing; most of all, Jesus knew that even when converted, Paul would still be stubborn and insistent, would eventually quarrel with other disciples like Peter, Barnabas and John Mark but still, Jesus called him and even set him aside for a special mission to the Gentiles.

*Bass relief of St. Paul at Malolos Cathedral 2019.*

Again in his experiences, Paul saw how Jesus loved and trusted him that even he were the worst of all the apostles of the Lord, he was given such great task of proclaiming the gospel to the ends of the earth at that time. That is why in our second reading we find Paul giving up his whole life in the service of Jesus after experiencing Christ’s tremendous love for him.

Like Peter and Paul, we are all gifted with the same faith in Christ Jesus who challenges us to accept the same mission to continue in this modern time of proclaiming his gospel of love and mercy, of building up his Body the church so that there would be a more humane and just society here on earth as Vatican II envisioned (Lumen Gentium).

Many times when God works in us and through us, we could not believe it as happening like Peter when set free from prison by an angel at night. There are times we are resigned with our situations, of being deserving of the many hardships and sufferings without realizing that there are more bad things we deserve to suffer in this life but Jesus spared us because he believes in us that he sends us to some more missions for him.

Lord Jesus Christ,
thank you for still calling me,
sending me to a mission 
despite my many flaws
and imperfections;
thank you for trusting me,
believing me;
let me see myself the way
you see me as someone 
worth loving and trusting.
Amen.

St. Peter and St. Paul,
pray for us!

Sacred Heart para sa “cold heart” at “heartless world”

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe, Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Solemnity of Sacred Heart, 27 June 2025

*Detalye ng painting ng Sacred Heart of Jesus sa Visitation Monastery, Marclaz, France mula sa godongphoto / Shutterstock.*

Nag-senior citizen ako noong Marso at masasabi ko na sa tanang buhay ko, itong 2025 ang pinaka-mainit at maalinsangang taon sa lahat. Mula pa man noong dati, gabi lang ako gumagamit ng aircon ngunit mula nitong Abril, maghapon na ako kung mag-aircon sa silid. Kung minsan nga ay pati electric fan binubuksan ko kapag gabi sa labis na init ng panahon nitong nagdaang tag-araw.

Hindi lamang minsan ko narinig ang maraming nagsabing parang “impierno” ang summer 2025 dahil para sa atin, sukdulan ang apoy sa impierno kaya napaka-init.

Subalit ayon kay Dante Alighierri, isang batikang makata ng Italya noong unang panahon na sumulat ng Divine Comedy, ang kailaliman daw ng impierno ay hindi naman pagka-init-init dahil sa apoy kungdi pagkalamig-lamig parang yelo!

Ayon sa kanyang tula na nobela, ang pinaka-masaklap aniya sa lahat ng kasalanan at kasamaan magagawa ng tao ay ang manlamig ang puso. Magkaroon ng “cold heart” sa Ingles hanggang sa mawalan na ng puso ang mga tao gaya ng sinasaad sa isa pang English expression na “heartless world.”

*Larawan mula sa forbes.com 2018, fashion week sa New York.*

Ang mga katagang ito na cold heart at heartless world ay mas mainam na huwag nang isalin sa ating sariling wika sapagkat mas mananamnam at mailalarawan natin ang kahulugan sa wikang Ingles kesa sabihing malamig na puso o daigdig na walang puso. Kapag sinabing cold heart o malamig na puso, ito ay patay na puso, walang buhay parang bangkay. O bato. Kapag ang mga tao ay naging ganito, mismo ang daidig ay wala na ring puso, walang pagmamahal, walang awa, walang malasakit, walang pakialam.

Gayon ang kahulugan ng puso para sa sangkatauhan – hindi lamang ito sumasagisag sa pag-ibig at pagmamahal kungdi sa buhay. Sa malasakit, sa kabutihan, maging sa kaalaman gaya ng sinasaad ng English expression na “to know by heart” na ibig sabihin ay makabisado, matandaan.

At paano natin tinatandaan ang mga bagay-bagay? Ito ay ating inire-record na mula sa dalawang kataga ng wikang Latin, re (uliting muli) at cord na mula sa cor o puso. Alalaong-baga, ang tandaan, ang memoryahin at kabisaduhin ay isapusong muli sapagkat dito sa ating puso natatago ang lahat-lahat ng ating alaala at kaalaman maging pakiramdam gaya ng kutob na nagsasaad ng pakiramdam at kaalaman na di maipaliwanag ngunit totoo.

Higit sa lahat, dito sa ating puso nananahan ang Diyos sa atin gaya ng sinasaad ng dokumento ng Vatican II sa makabagong mundo (Gaudium Spes). Kaya ngayong Dakilang Kapistahan ng Kamahal-Mahalang Puso ni Jesus, pinapaala sa atin ng pagdiriwang ito ang hiwaga ng katotohanan ng pag-ibig ng Diyos sa lahat ng tao sa lahat ng panahon.

Hindi tayo nabibigo sa ating pag-asa, sapagkat ang pag-ibig ng Diyos ay ibinuhos sa ating mga puso sa pamamagitan ng Espiritu Santo na ipinagkaloob sa atin. Sapagkat noong tayo’y mahihina pa, namatay si Cristo sa takdang panahon para sa mga makasalanan. Mahirap mangyaring ialay ninuman ang kanyang buhayn alang-alang sa isang mabuting tao. Ngunit ipinadama sa atin ng Diyos ang kanyang pag-ibig sa atin nang mamatay si Cristo para sa atin noong tayo ay makasalanan pa (Roma 5:5-8).

Gayon na lamang ang pagmamahal ng Diyos sa atin – hindi masukat gaya ng pahayag ni Jesus kay Nicodemo dahil ito ibinubuhos hindi inuunti-unti, hindi tinitingi. Binubuhos. Palaging marami ang pag-ibig na kanyang binibigay sa atin sapagkat napakalaki ng kanyang puso ni Jesus.

Lahat tayo kasya sa kanyang napakalaking Puso kaya tayo man ay inaanyayahan ni Jesus na lumusong at maglublob sa kanyang puso kung saan ang kanyang pag-ibig ay naghahanap sa nawawala at naliligaw; pag-ibig na umuunawa at umiintindi sa naguguluhan at nalilito; pag-ibig na palaging bukas at tumatanggap sa sino mang ibig manahan, tumahan kung umiiyak sa lungkot at hapis.

Ito ang Puso ni Jesus na sinasaad ng larawan ng isang Mabuting Pastol gaya ng propesiya ni Ezekiel sa Unang Pagbasa at mismong kinukuwento ni Jesus sa kanyang talinghaga sa ebanghelyo ngayon.

Makakapasok lamang tayo sa Kamahal-Mahalang Puso ni Jesus kapag atin munang pinasok ating sariling puso kung saan mismo siya nananahan sa atin. Palagi nating sinasabi ang puso ang sentro ng ating katauhan at iyan ay totoo kasi nga doon din nananahan si Jesus.

Subalit dahil sa ating mga kasalanan, sa marami nating hilig at kagustuhan at sinusundang ibang diyus-diyosan, nawawala tayo sa puso ni Jesus dahil ang totoo, nawawala na rin ating puso. Ang pinaka-simpleng paliwanag ng kasalanan na aking ginagamit palagi ay ito: sin is a refusal to love.

Ang kasalanan ay pagtanggi na magmahal. Mula sa salitang ugat na sala na ibig sabihin ay sumala o magmintis o hindi magampanan dapat gampanan, ang kasalanan ay sumala sa iisang atas ni Jesus na magmahal. Sa tuwing hindi tayo nagmamahal, tayo ay nagkakasala. Kapag tayo ay nababad sa kasalanan, nagiging manhid tayo kaya di na tayo makaramdam ng iba at kapwa. ?Dito na manlalamig ang ating puso dahil tayo ay mahihiwalay na sa iba at kapwa, wala na tayong pakialam. Tayo ay napuputol at nag-iisa, hiwalay sa Diyos at kapwa, maging sa ating sariling katauhan kaya madalas ang mga makasalanan ay hindi makapagmahal kasi nga nawawala sa sarili.

At ganyan ang takbo ng daigdig ngayon, kanya-kanya, wala sa sarili tila baga bawat isa kaya lahat na lang dinaraan sa pera-pera. Ang lahat na lamang ay sinusukat, kinukuwenta, tinatantiya katulad ng algorithm sa social media kung saan nakukuha ang marami nating pattern sa buhay gaya ng mga hilig at gusto. Nagiging “commodity” na lamang ang tao ngayon, parang produkto at kasangkapan na ginagamit, binebenta at binibili.

Huwag nating hayaang magpatuloy na lamang ito na ang mundo ay manatiling materyal lamang – malamig at manhid, walang pakiramdam. Ibalik natin ang buhay, ang ating pagkatao na pakikibahagi sa buhay ng Diyos na nanahan dito sa ating puso. Gaya ng talinghaga ni Jesus, ang Diyos ay hindi isang observer na tagamasid o spectator na manonood lamang ng takbo ng ating buhay ng mga tao. Kaya sinugo ng Ama si Jesus sa atin sapagkat mula pa man noon ibig niyang makilahok sa buhay natin dangan lamang ay lagi natin siyang pinupuwera. Lalo ngayon sa makabagong panahon na pilit inaalis na ang Diyos sa buhay ng tao!

Sa Sacred Heart ni Jesus, muling nabubuo ang tao sa kanyang sarili at ang sangkatauhan sapagkat ang pag-ibig niya ay pag-ibig na hinahanap ang mga sira at pira-piraso nating sarili upang makumpuni at mabuong muli. Ipinapaalala sa atin ng Kamahal-Mahalang Puso ni Jesus ang pag-ibig ng Diyos ay hindi isang ideya lamang o dalumat na nakalutang sa alapaap kungdi nakatapak sa lupa – isang pag-ibig na aktibo, marubdob at matalik na nakikipag-ugnayan gaya ng ating mga naranasan noong tayo ay gulung-gulo, litong-lito, nawawala at halos wala nang saysay ang buhay. Buhaying muli ating mga puso upang maranasan tunay na kagandahan ng buhay ng tao, hindi ng robot o makina. Ating dasalin palagi:

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

Re-membering Jesus, Body & Blood

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Solemnity of the Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ, Cycle C, 22 June 2025
Genesis 14:18-20 ><}}}}*> 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ><}}}}*> Luke 9:11b-17

*Photo by* FlickrBrett Streutker from catholic365.com.

From the highest truth of our faith last Sunday which is the Blessed Trinity in one God, we now celebrate in the resumption of Sundays in Ordinary Time the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

This feast highlights our faith in God who truly exists and had come to us in Christ Jesus, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. In Christ through the Sacrament of the Eucharist he established at the Last Supper, we are given the “taste” of heaven literally speaking under the signs of bread and wine that become his Body and Blood we share. This was his command on that Holy Thursday evening to always remember him as St. Paul tells us in the second reading, the oldest account of the institution of Eucharist:

Brothers and sisters: I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-25).

*Photo by MART PRODUCTION on Pexels.com*

Two words I wish to share with you on this Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ.

First is the word “remembering” or to remember. A very common word we use often but perhaps never aware of its deeper meaning from its root word “member” which means a part. Literally, to remember means “to make part again”. When we remember a person, an event in life, a thing from the past or long gone or not with us, we make them a part of the present moment.

The Eucharist is the highest form of remembering because literally speaking, we make Jesus a member of our present moment. When we re-remember Jesus in the Eucharist, he truly comes to us in Body and Blood! Truly present with us, in us after receiving him in the Holy Communion. Whenever we remember a loved one or a friend long gone or not with us at the moment, all we have is a memory. They become a member of the present but only in the mind unlike Jesus truly present with us, in us, and before us in his words, in his Body and Blood and in one another celebrating the Eucharist.

*Photo by author, Old Jerusalem seen from Church of Dominus Flevit, May 2017.*

It is not magic but a work of faith, a gift through and through from God in Jesus Christ. By his dying on the Cross and Resurrection at Easter, Jesus superseded and transcended time and space, sharing with us that sacred reality.

St. John Paul II beautifully called that “cosmic reality” when he described in his encyclical Ecclesia De Eucharistia how he felt transported in time and space when the temporal becomes divine because of God’s true presence anywhere he celebrated the Eucharist. We too experience the same cosmic reality in every Mass we celebrate when we are properly disposed, especially the priest and the servers.

That is why I always demand the highest order from priests and servers in celebrating most solemnly as possible the Holy Mass. I can stand kids playing inside the church but what gets to my nerves are servers talking or moving unnecessarily during the Mass and worst of all, when lectors proclaim the word of God incoherently and wrongly. Lest we forget also the choir members feeling so magaling forgetting they are in the Mass not in a concert that they make it a show, forgetting all about God and the people.

What a tragedy when we priests and liturgical ministers are the ones who forget to re-member Jesus in the Eucharist with our too much attention to ourselves. Exactly like the Twelve in our gospel!

As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve approached him and said, “Dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.” He said to them, “Give them some food yourselves.” They replied, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people” (Luke 9:12-13).

Imagine that scene of how the Twelve have totally “forgotten” the more than five thousand people gathered there with them. They were just thinking of themselves because they were in a “deserted place”. What a disrespect!

Respect is lost and disregarded when there is no remembering of others, when we forget others. Respect is from two Latin words re (again) and specere (to look/see) from which the words spectacle and spectacular came from. Re + specere or “respect” means to look again in order to see!

The Twelve were just concerned with themselves, not only forgetting but without respect at all with the people they have failed or refused to recognize as humans too who get tired and hungry like them. As we have cited in earlier, this continues right in our eucharistic celebrations when priests and ministers celebrate unprepared, unmindful of the sanctity of the Mass.

Remembering is not merely “thinking” of others in our mind and memory.

Remembering is making others present in our very selves!

Remembering is making every-body a some-body by giving our very selves to them to be the Body of Christ. Unless we are able to truly share our very selves in person, in body and blood too, then every Mass will remain merely a rite or a ritual. Worst, an activity we just have to fulfill.

The Eucharist is the summit of our Christian life because of this aspect of remembering Jesus Christ that leads us into a true communion of sharing of persons and experiences, in our joys and sorrows, in our hopes and belief. When this happens, then every remembering becomes a thanksgiving too.

And that is our second word I wish to instill in you today – thanksgiving which is the meaning of the Greek word eucharistia.

When there is a real experience of each others’ presence in love and mercy, kindness and care, justice and fairness, gratitude flows naturally resulting in peace and harmony. It is the whole meaning of our first reading when the priest of God named Melchizidek who was also the king of Salem which means “peace” blessed Abram after winning in a battle.

This short scene is a story of remembering God’s goodness to Abram who thanked Melchizidek by giving him a tenth of everything he had won in the battle. In the Holy Mass, what do we really share from our very selves? Not just treasures but even our very time to give totally to Christ without texting.

Now we see the series and cycle of remembering and thanksgiving in sharing of gifts of self which the Body and Blood of Christ signify to us.

This coming Friday we shall celebrate the third consecutive Solemnity in the resumption of Ordinary Time with that of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, a reminder to us all to make Jesus present always in ourselves with others especially at this time the world has been deleting from its every aspect God.

Lord Jesus Christ,
transform me like the
bread and wine
into your Body and Blood
to be offered and shared
with others
especially those 
in most need.
Amen.

The God we delightfully await

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Solemnity of the the Holy Trinity, Cycle C, 15 June 2025
Proverbs 8:22-31 ><}}}}*> Romans 5:1-5 ><}}}}*> John 16:12-15

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

We resume the Sundays in Ordinary Time with the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity today that is the highest truth in our Church teachings often referred to as a “mystery” or something so difficult to explain and understand.

We find this context of “mystery” right in our gospel this Sunday that takes us back again to the Last Supper scene as in the final Sundays of Eastertide.

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming” (John 16:12-13).

What is the “more” Jesus has to tell his disciples that include us today which we cannot bear, that we need to be guided by the Holy Spirit?

“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.”

As we have learned in the scriptures especially during the Holy Week and Easter, Jesus was speaking at that time of his life and death prefigured by his Last Supper. He was preparing his disciples to do the same as he expressly said after washing their feet.

It is the same lesson Jesus teaches us every Sunday in the Holy Eucharist, of how we his modern disciples must learn to offer our lives with others which is what the Holy Trinity is all about – a sharing and giving of life of the Three Persons in One God. Unity happens only in the total union of one’s self-giving.

This is the mystery of our personal or relating God revealed to us slowly through time, from the Old Testament that reached its highest point in Jesus Christ in the New Testament that continues to these days because each one of us is a reality of the Holy Trinity.

This Holy Trinity sharing and mutuality of Persons in One God is an ongoing lesson we undergo as disciples of Jesus because like the Apostles, we too continue to cling to life, finding it so hard to let go and let God.

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, 20 March 2025.*

As we move on with life, we realize that life is not in clinging but in dying and letting go, in giving and sharing than having or taking or keeping. We realize as we age and mature that more than the wealth and recognition we all aspired for when younger were nothing but a waste in life because what really matters most is our relationships – with God and with others.

It is a lesson that unfolds to us every day, getting better as we age, when we look back to our past especially to our very roots like our parents with whom we find not only proximity and intimacy but most of all, delight and pride in being one with them. This is exactly what the first reading is telling us about Wisdom said to be the personification of Jesus Christ as the Second Person of the Trinity who is one with the Father:

Thus says the wisdom of God: “The Lord possessed me, the beginning of his ways, the forerunner of his prodigies long ago; from of all I was poured forth, at the first, before the earth… When the Lord established the heavens I was there, when he marked out the vault over the face of the deep… then was I beside him as his craftsman, and I was his delight day by day, playing before him all the while, playing on the surface of his earth; and I found delight in the human race” (Proverbs 8:22-23, 27, 30-31).

*Photo by Mr. Boy Cabrido, EDSA 1986 People Power Revolution.*

Life and man are all a mystery. Many times there are no easy answers to our many questions in life. There are times when our questions in life are actually answered in deaths like in the passing of our loved ones. Most of all, many questions in life can never be answered at all.

But, the joy of living is in still asking more questions. Man is known more in the questions he asks because the answers he gives are often wrong or off-tangent. When we ask the right questions, even if we do not arrive at the right answers, somehow we get a grasp or glimpse of the bigger realities and mysteries of life, of the things to come that Jesus tells us today.

I have always been curious as a child, always asking my father on the various things I heard from him and my mother or from the television and later from books I have read. After explaining things to me or passages I have read that I still could not understand, daddy would assure me that “pag-tanda mo maiintindihan mo rin yan.”

Those are my fondest memories of childhood with my father – the delight of learning, of discovering, of understanding. Now that I am a priest and a senior, there is still that deep joy and delight in searching and asking because like what Jesus said, there is so much more to learn in this life and in our very selves. There is that desire and attraction within that leads us outside our very selves to search for more meaning – like resulting from faith and hope in God as reflected by St. Paul speaks in the second reading wherein the Holy Spirit leads us to the glory of God.

*Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera in Delia, Alberta, Canada, 03 June 2025.*

A senator recently made a mockery of the Holy Spirit, claiming his move to dismiss the impeachment complaint as a leading of the Holy Spirit. Making things worst and most unbelievable is the fact that another senator, son of a founder of a local church and preacher played a real devil in quashing efforts to find the truth about the charges of corruption against the Vice President of the Republic.

Clearly, it was not of the Holy Spirit but more of the devil that is divisive and most untruthful, totally unmindful of our relationships as a nation.

The “more” that Jesus speaks of in sending us the Holy Spirit is for each of us to realize our being a Trinity in our very selves, our connectedness as one in God. It is sad that for many, the Blessed Trinity does not really matter that much for them to appreciate or even understand. For many, it is enough to believe in God just like the others in various religions and sects or worst, like those who do not care at all about God except that they “believe” in a Supreme Being.

As we resume the Sundays of Ordinary Time, this Solemnity of the Holy Trinity evokes the most concrete reality of God, that he is a Person like a Father who is the giver of life because he is life himself with whom alone we owe our lives. This we realize and experience in the Son Jesus Christ who became like us humans so we may become like him again as divine, with honor and dignity. It is the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity who guides us to more realities and truth of this loving God so immense, delighting us in awaiting our union in him. Let us pray:

Come, Holy Spirit!
Fill our hearts with that
desire to continuously await
God's coming in Jesus Christ,
as we delight in a life of
giving and sharing,
of caring and kindness,
of mercy and forgiving
until that day we shall be one
in the Father in heaven
in his love.
Amen.

Happy Father’s Day too!