The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 29 January 2024 2 Samuel 15:13-14, 30; 16:5-13 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 5:1-20
An illustration of the healing of the Gerasenes demoniac from Pinterest.
On this final week of January as we approach in two weeks the Season of Lent, you teach us today, dear Father with many lessons about "facing" evil; at first, I felt evil is always "confronted", something we always fight head on but from the two readings today, your words tell me O Lord there are times we just have to stand firm against evil without necessarily fighting it out right away but not condoning it either.
But the king replied: ”What business is it of mine or of yours, sons of Zeruiah, that he curses? Suppose the Lord has told him to curse David; who then will dare say to, ‘Why are you doing this'” Then the king said to Abishai and to all his servants: ”If my own son, who came forth from loins, is seeking my life, how much more might this Benjaminite to do! Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. Perhaps the Lord will look upon my affliction and mae it up to me with benefits for the curses he is uttering this day.”
2 Samuel 16:10-12
Give me, O God, the same patience of David to accept the evils happening to me as I am guilty of so many evils too; like David, let me be mindful always of my own evil ways and sins that definitely will haunt me, will chase me, and will charge me later in recompense for my own sins too. There are times, Lord, that I must accept how I deserve some evil to befall me as a result of my own sinfulness like David.
If ever the evils that come to me are undeserved, keep my cool and patience, as well as goodwill like Jesus Christ your Son and our Lord; after healing the Gerasenes demoniac, he was driven out from the town by the people; many times, people do not understand anything at all when evils befall us and others; maintain my peace within me, Lord, that I may not react against my accusers like you especially when they all get it wrong; let me tower over everyone else with firm faith in you, dignity in silence, and clear conscience when people wrongly accuse me of deeds I am not guilty of for you alone is my salvation. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 28 January 2024 Deuteronomy 18:15-20 ><}}}}*> 1 Corinthians 7:32-35 ><}}}}*> Mark 1:21-28
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, an orange-bellied flowerpecker (Dicaeum trigonostigma) somewhere in the Visayas, December 2023.
The gospel makes us wonder anew this Sunday on the mystery of Jesus, on what was with his person and speech. Remember how we wondered the other Sunday on what he had told Andrew and his companion who “went and see” Jesus at his dwelling at “four in the afternoon” (Jn. 1:39) that they realized he was indeed the Messiah, the Christ.
Reading further in that portion of the fourth gospel, we find how Andrew and companion brought two others to Jesus, Simon Peter and Nathanael to become disciples too. This Sunday as we return to Mark’s gospel, the evangelist tells us the start of Jesus Christ’s public ministry on a sabbath in the synagogue of Capernaum with his first four “fishers of men”:
Then they came to Capernaum, and on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
Mark 1:21-22
Photo by author of ruins of parts of the synagogue at Capernaum where Jesus taught, May 2017.
Every time we hear the word “authority” especially among us Filipinos, it often evokes the sense of power, of superiority over persons and things. In Tagalog, we translate it as “power” or kapangyarihan, kakayanan mapangyari ano mang bagay.
But, Jesus is now telling us something deeper about true authority. People compared his kind of authority with their scribes, men of power and authority in their time along with the priests and Pharisees who were considered experts in scriptures being learned men, highly regarded and feared. Their authority flowed only from their position and name, from the outside and not from within.
Jesus shows us today that real authority flows from within, from a person’s inner self, from one’s heart, not from designations nor positions. True authority is felt even without the titles nor any forms of externalities. True authority comes from people who “walk their talk” so to speak.
Photo by author, tourists and pilgrims at the ruins of the synagogue at Capernaum where Jesus taught, May 2017.
People of true authority “actualize” their words and their thoughts, making them a “reality” that everyone not just notices but even feels their authority. True authority creates a certain sense of aura, of positive vibes (arrive or “dating”) and a lot of mysteries that even in just reading Mark’s account of Jesus in the synagogue, we too could feel it and be astonished with the people there 2000 years ago!
What is most amazing here is that Mark did not tell us what Jesus spoke of nor what he taught nor even described how he spoke. What was so unheard of from Jesus that people and even us today are astonished with his words?
Keep in mind how Mark narrated this scene in the context of the synagogue on a sabbath – a beautiful reminder to us of Jesus continuing the Jewish tradition that had come into fulfillment in him. Recall also that at the start of Mark’s gospel After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: ”This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk.1:14-15).
Photo by author in May 2019 of a signage at the entrance of the ruins of the synagogue in Capernaum where Jesus taught more than 2000 years ago.
In the synagogue, Jesus continued this preaching. He claimed what he proclaimed for he is in fact – his very person – is the kingdom of God who had come as we reflected last Sunday.
People felt God in him as he spoke, very similar with the experience of the chosen people in the wilderness with Moses in the first reading. There in the synagogue on that sabbath day, Mark presents to us how Jesus is indeed the “Word who became flesh” that people felt God in him because he claimed what he proclaimed. As the first reading from Deuteronomy reminds today, the surest criterion for recognizing a prophet is being a spokesperson of God like Moses now fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
We all share in this prophetic ministry of Christ when we were baptized but, are we rooted in God’s words that we speak only God’s words like Jesus?
Can we claim what we proclaim that after celebrating the Sunday Mass, people experience Christ’s authority within us when we go home and go back to work and school because we actualize, we make God real in ourselves in our words and deeds?
How sad that we – especially us your priests – speak more of our selves and of the world, making the Mass a videoke and a variety show rolled into one that God is hardly felt by the people except be entertained.
The second time Mark mentioned the people being amazed with Jesus in his speaking with authority in the synagogue on that sabbath day was when he exorcised a man with an unclean spirit.
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit… Jesus rebuked him and… And the unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud voice came out of him. All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.
Mark 1:23, 25, 26-28
The surest sign of God speaking through us or anyone is when healing and repentance happen just like in the synagogue on that sabbath day. Notice how Mark recorded the words of the people about Jesus, “A new teaching with authority.”
In John’s gospel during the Last Supper we heard Jesus telling his disciples about his new command or teaching too which is to “love one another as I have loved you” (13:34).
True authority is about love and healing, kindness and compassion, mercy and forgiveness. Definitely not about subjugation nor manipulation nor use of force as we always experience from those with authority who display their powers and literally throw their weight around even amid heavy traffic with their security escorts blaring with sirens.
People were amazed at Jesus in healing the man with unclean spirit and called it a new teaching with authority because they felt God present among them because there was healing and exorcism which only God can do.
Most of all, the people in the synagogue felt God with them because Jesus was one of them unlike the scribes and other people of authority who were above them, detached from them.
The same thing is most true with us these days. Whatever authority we have is to help and comfort people, not to scare them nor burden them. We are most moved by people in authority – whether at home or in school, at work or in the community and in the church – when they are kind and approachable, caring and understanding.
Photo by author at the shore of the Lake of Galilee in Capernaum, Israel, May 2017.
Jesus teaches us today that true authority is making God present in us by offering comfort and consolation to those suffering like the poor and the weak who merely survive as they try to make ends meet daily.
True authority is being prophetic, making God and his words our very own, becoming ourselves his presence and his healing hands with our loving service to everyone, offering hope and inspiration to those down in sins and miseries.
True authority leads to salvation and liberation from sins. This begins with our communion in God through Jesus Christ in our personal and communal prayers, especially the Sunday Mass.
We are all blessed with the same kind of authority of Jesus Christ. Let us claim it by being free from all anxieties in this life (second reading) by joining Jesus in his journeys like the four disciples with him in the synagogue in Capernaum. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Memorial of Sts. Timothy & Titus, Bishops, 26 January 2024 Titus 1:1-8 <*(((>< + ><)))*> + <*(((>< + ><)))*> Luke 10:1-9
Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte in Atok, Benguet 2022.
How lovely to celebrate a day after the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Memorial of his two co-workers in you, O Lord Jesus Christ: St. Timothy and St. Titus.
First of all, a reminder to us all that your work, Lord, never stops after us; it is our responsibility to ensure those after us shall continue your work of witnessing the Gospel, making you present in the world, and tending your beautiful garden of the faithful. After all, we are like St. Titus, "a child in common faith" of our parents, teachers and catechists, pastors, brothers and sisters, friends and everyone who made you Jesus known to us in word and in deed.
For this reason I left you in Crete so that you might set right what remains to be done and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you.
Titus 1:5
We praise and thank you, dear Jesus for the trust in calling us to be your co-workers; remind us always to never forget the vineyard. the garden, the flock, the Church is not ours but yours; we are mere stewards like St. Paul and his co-workers St. Titus and St. Timothy.
Inspire us dear Jesus to imitate St. Titus who worked to reconcile the people of Crete with their founder St. Paul; let us be bridges of peoples, promoting peace and unity, not creating cults around us consciously or unconsciously like many of your pastors these days.
Let us keep in mind like St. Titus and St. Timothy that we we simply do your work in the way you want it be done. Amen.
Lawiswis Ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II Kapistahan ng Pagbabalik-loob ni San Pablo, Ika-25 ng Enero, 2024 Gawa ng mga Apostol 22:3-16 ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> Marcos 16:15-18
Painting ng “The Conversion of St. Paul” ni Luca Giordano noong 1690 mula sa wikipedia.org.
“Magbago ka na!” Iyan ang mga salitang madalas nating marinig at sinasabi sa mga tao na alam nating mayroong masamang pag-uugali at gawain. Madalas bitiwan mga salitang iyan tuwing Bagong Taon at mga Mahal na Araw.
Ngunit, maari nga ba talagang magbago ng pag-uugali o ng pagkatao ang sino man? Ibig bang sabihin yung dating iyakin magiging bungisngis o dating madaldal magiging tahimik? Iyon bang matapang kapag nagbago magiging duwag o dating palaban magiging walang kibo at imik?
Kung isasalin sa sariling wika natin ang salitang “conversion”, nagpapahiwatig ito ng pagbabago tulad ng na-convert sa ibang relihiyon o sa ibang anyo o gamit. Ngunit sa bawat pagbabago, mayroong higit na malalim na nababago na hindi namang ibig sabihin ay nag-iiba o naging different.
Kasi iyong sinasabing conversion ni San Pablo o ng sino pa mang tao ay hindi naman pagbabago ng pagkatao kung tutuusin; sa bawat conversion, hindi naman nababago ating pagkatao talaga kungdi ating puso na naroon sa ating kalooban.
Kaya tinatawag itong pagbabalik-loob, di lamang pagbabagong-buhay.
Binabalikan natin ang Diyos na nananahan sa puso natin, doon sa kalooban natin.
Higit na malalim at makahulugang isalin ang conversion sa katagang “pagbabalik-loob” dahil ang totoo naman ay bumabalik tayo sa Diyos na naroon sa loob ng ating sarili.
Dito ipinakikita rin na likas tayong mabuti sapagkat mula tayo sa Diyos na mismong Kabutihan. Kailangang pagsisihan mga kasalanan, talikuran at talikdan kasamaan na siyang mga balakid sa ano mang pagbabalik-loob at saka pa lamang mababago ating pamumuhay.
Katulad ni San Pablo, sino man sa atin na makatagpo sa liwanag ng Diyos, nagiging maliwanag ang lahat kayat atin nang hahangarin ang Diyos na lamang at kanyang kalooban. Nananatili ating katauhan at pag-uugali ngunit naiiba direksiyon at pokus.
Kapansin-pansin na bawat nagkakasala wika nga ay malayo ang loob sa Diyos na ibig sabihin ay “ayaw sa Diyos” gaya ng ating pakahulugan tuwing sinasabing “malayo ang loob”. Ang nagbabalik-loob ay lumalapit, nagbabalik-loob at pumapaloob sa Diyos.
Pangangaral ni San Pablo sa Areopagus sa Athens (larawan mula sa wikipedia.org).
Isang magandang paalala sa ating lahat itong Kapistahan ng Pagbabalik-loob ni San Pablo na hindi malayo at hindi rin mahirap maabot, bumalik sa Diyos sa pamamagitan ni Kristo Jesus. Maari itong mangyari sa gitna mismo ng ating sira at maruming sarili.
Hindi nabago pagkatao at pag-uugali ni San Pablo kung tutuusin: nanatili pa rin siyang masugid, matapang at masigasig. Nabago lamang ang direksiyon at pokus o tuon ng kanyang pag-uugali at pagkatao. At siya pa rin iyon. Inamin niya sa ating unang pagbasa ngayon na siya ay “isang Judio, ipinanganak sa Tarso ng Cilicia ngunit lumaki rin sa Jerusalem. Nag-aral kay Gamaliel at buong higpit na tinuruan sa Kautusuan ng mga ninuno at masugid na naglilingkod sa Diyos” (Gawa 22:3).
Nanatiling masugid sa Diyos si San Pablo ngunit naiba na ang batayan na dati ay sa mga Kautusan at tradisyon ngunit sa kanyang pagbabalik-loob, si Jesu-Kristo na ang batayan ng kanyang pananampalataya. Personal niyang naranasan si Jesus kaya gayon na lamang kanyang pagiging masugid na alagad. Sinasabing kung hindi siya nadakip at nakulong hanggang sa patayin marahil ay umabot siya sa Africa sa pagpapalaganap ng Mabuting Balita.
Hindi rin nabawasan kanyang tapang; bagkus pa nga ay higit pa siyang tumapang. Lahat ng hirap tiniis niya at hinarap gaya ng pambubugbog sa kanila, ma-shipwreck sa isla, mabilanggo ng ilang ulit at ni minsan hindi umatras sa mga balitaktakan at paliwanagan sa mga Judio at maging kay San Pedro ay kanyang kayang salungatin at pagsabihan kung kinakailangan.
Gayon na lamang ang malasakit ni San Pablo sa Panginoong Jesu-Kristo at kanyang Mabuting Balita kaya naman sabay ang pagdiriwang ng kanilang Dakilang Kapistahan ni San Pedro tuwing ika-29 ng Hunyo dahil magkapantay kanilang kahalagahan sa pagpapatatag, pamumuno at pagpapalaganap ng pananampalataya at Simbahan.
Ordinasyon sa pagka-diyakano sa Katedral sa Malolos, ika-12 ng Hunyo 2019.
Alalaong-baga, katulad ni San Pablo, ano man ating pagkatao at pag-uugali siya pa ring mga dahilan kaya tayo tinatawag ng Panginoon upang maglingkod sa kanya; ililihis at ihihilig lamang niya mga ito ayon sa kanyang panukala at kalooban.
Kaming mga pari kapag inordenahan ay ganoon pa rin naman pagkatao at pag-uugali ngunit nababago direksiyon at tuon sa bagong estado ng buhay at misyon.
Gayun din ang mga mag-asawa. Lalabas at lalabas tunay na pagkatao at pag-uugali ngunit hindi iyon mga sagwil upang lumago at lumalim sila sa pagmamahalan at pagsasama bilang mag-asawa.
Wika nga sa Inggles, “God does not call the qualified; he qualifies the call.” Maraming pagkakataon tinatawag tayo ng Diyos maglingkod sa kanya di dahil sa tayo ay magagaling at mahusay; madalas nagugulat pa tayo na mismong ating kapintasan at kakulangan ang ginagamit ng Diyos para tayo maging mabisa sa pagtupad sa kanyang tawag.
Madalas at hindi naman maaalis na sumablay pa rin tayo at sumulpot paulit-ulit dating pag-uugali. Kaya naman isang proseso na nagpapatuloy, hindi natatapos ang pagbabalik-loob sa Diyos. Araw-araw tinatawagan tayong magbalik-loob.
Larawan kuha ni G. Jim Marpa sa Dabaw, 15 Enero 2024.
Gaya ni San Pablo nang siya ay ma-bad trip kay Juan Marcos na iniwan sila ni Bernabe sa una nilang pagmimisyon. Batay sa kasulatan, ibig pagbigayn pa ni San Bernabe na muling isama si Juan Marcos sa pangalawang pagmimisyon nila ngunit mariin ang pagtanggi at pagtutol ni San Pablo kaya’t sila ay naghiwalay ng landas bagamat nanatili silang mga alagad ni Kristo. Sa bandang huli naman ay nagkapatawaran sila.
Ganoon din tayo, hindi ba? Walang perfect. Ang mahalaga araw-araw nagbabalik-loob tayo sa Diyos dahil araw-araw lumiligwak din tayo sa ating maling pag-uugali at mahunang pagkatao.
Higit sa lahat, sa ating patuloy na pagbabalik-loob, doon lamang magiging maliwanag sa ating ang kalooban ng Diyos na palagi nating inaalam sapagkat batid nating ito ang pinakamabuti para sa atin. Ang kalooban ng Diyos ang magtuturo sa atin ng tamang landas na tatahakin upang ating buhay ay maging ganap at kasiya-siya.
Subalit kadalasan tayo ay nabibigo, naguguluhan kung ano ang kalooban ng Diyos dahil akala natin para itong tanong na isang pindot ay malalaman kaagad ang sagot tulad ng sa Google. Mahirap mabatid kalooban ng Diyos kung tayo ay malayo sa kanya dahil sa mga kasalanan. Kaya tulad ni San Pablo, idalangin natin sa Ama sa pamamagitan ni Jesu-Kristong Anak niya na magpatuloy tayo sa pagbabalik-loob upang manatili tayong nakapaloob sa Diyos. Amen. San Pablo, ipanalangin mo kami!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the Third Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 23 January 2024 2 Samuel 6:12-15, 17-19 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Mark 3:31-35
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 15 January 2024 in Davao.
How timely are your words today, O God, for us always checking on what is trending and viral, on who's in, and who's out:
The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house. Standing outside they sent word to Jesus and called him. A crowd seated around him told him, “Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you.” And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Mark 3:31-32, 34-35
Remind us, dear Jesus that being in and being out with you is not physical nor spatial but spiritual in nature; even with one another! How sad many of us these days are preoccupied in being in, being hip, being included and accepted for the sake of status and fame; being in being out is being close, being far from the beloved's heart.
Help us, dear God to imitate King David though he was inside the circle of those carrying your ark to Jerusalem, his heart, his mind, his very self was in you totally! Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. NIcanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 19 January 2024 1 Samuel 24:3-21 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Mark 3:13-19
Photo by Ms. April Oliveros on Mt. Pulag, March 2023.
Dearest Lord Jesus: today I imagined myself one of your twelve Apostles you have called and appointed; I also imagined myself like David in the first reading, stealthily cutting off an end of King Saul's mantle while inside a cave in pursuit of him to kill him!
In my prayers, I felt one desire, one important thing I need in the moment: the grace to overcome personal differences especially with my co-workers in your vineyard, with those above me as superiors.
Teach me, O Lord, to overcome differences with others like your Apostles who came from various backgrounds with temperaments and attitudes even poles apart like Matthew the former tax collector and collaborator with the Romans working with Simon the Cananean also referred to as the Zealot; teach me to focus more on you, to always find you, most of all, to bring you and share you in every dealing with others I have differences with.
Grant me the grace to be centered in you alone than be overtaken by our many differences that ruin the mission you have entrusted to us.
Likewise, teach me the virtue of respect that literally means to look again and again (re specere); when differences become so deep, even would cause us to fight others like David and King Saul, let me still focus on you, O Lord, to respect the person and their office and designation in order to avoid hurting and dividing your precious Body, the Church. Amen.
Photo by Ms. April Oliveros on Mt. Pulag, March 2023.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 17 January 2024 1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Mark 3:1-6
Guillaume Courtois, “David and Goliath,” 1650-1660. Oil on canvas. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
Dear God: Bring out in me the youthful faith and confidence of David your servant who slew the giant Goliath in your most holy name; many times in life I get so afraid of the many trials in life that come my way - sickness and death, problems and difficulties, sufferings and pains, failures and rejections, sins and evil situations that enslave me.
Many times, you know how I wanted to give up the fight, to just quit and leave but thank you for that spark of faith in you from within that reminds me of you, of your abiding love and presence like David before Goliath:
“All this multitude, too, shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he shall deliver you into our hands.”
1 Samuel 17:47
Most of all, let me hold on to that truth that you sent us your Son Jesus Christ "to do everything that is good than evil, to save life than destroy it" (Mark 3:4); let me do always your work, dear Father, in the way you would want me to do it. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the First Week of Ordinary Time, 12 January 2024 1 Samuel 8:4-7, 10-22 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Mark 2:1-12
Photo by Mr. Boy Cabrido, 05 January 2024, First Friday at Quiapo Church.
Praise and glory to you, God our Father, on this twelfth day of 2024 as you continue to teach us some valuable lessons to keep in order to live in communion with you and experience your blessings in Jesus Christ daily for the next 366 days.
In the first reading, we find the persistence of your people in having a king over them just like other nations around Israel which, surprisingly, you did not mind at all! How funny it is that many times, we are insistent on things really not that important, wasting precious time and energy only to be sorry later.
Samuel was displeased when they asked for a king to judge them. He prayed to the Lord, however, who said in answer: ”Grant the people’s every request. It is not you they reject, they are rejecting me as their king.”
1 Samuel 8:6-7
Send us prophets, Father, another Samuel who would help us discern what we are asking from you, what we desire in life, what we really want; may we not be insistent nor persistent when our prayers and wishes or objectives contradict your divine plans and set us apart from you and others who truly care for us.
Photo by Mr. Boy Cabrido, midnight at Quiapo, 09 January 2024.
Teach us instead, to be more persistent, even insistent by persevering to get closer to Jesus Christ your Son like those four men who opened up the roof and let down before Jesus the paralytic they were carrying; how funny when we make many excuses to be not insistent and persistent in getting closer to Jesus like going to Sunday Mass, hearing Confessions, or simply praying inside the church or an adoration chapel; many times, we never run out of alibis for not persisting in being kind or being good or at least courteous to others; more often, we simply lack the energy to persevere in cultivating discipline and other virtues because we think more of what others are doing and saying, of what is in, what is in vogue, what is viral and trending.
This 2024, give us the grace of persistence, especially of perseverance in following Jesus, in being like Jesus, in sharing Jesus. Amen.
Photo by Mr. Boy Cabrido in Luneta, 09 January 2024.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the First Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 09 January 2024 1 Samuel 1:9-20 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 1:21-28
Photo by Mr. Jay Javier, Quiapo, 09 January 2020.
Praise and glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ, that today we shift into Ordinary Time in our liturgy that coincides with the annual Traslacion of the image of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno as you remind us too in our readings true meaning of authority we often relate with power.
Jesus came to Capernaum with his followers, and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority not as the scribes.
Mark 1:21-22
People were astonished with your authority, Lord Jesus, not only because it is all-powerful but most of all, it is most kind, most compassionate, most humane because in your life, in your very self as Jesus Nazareno, you have shown us that authority is not just having power to make thing happen nor lording over others; like in Quiapo today as in Capernaum, we are astonished with your authority not because of its powers of being efficacious but because of your being so close with us who are weak and suffering; true authority for you, dear Jesus, is to be one with the people - in our miseries and anxieties, in our pains and hurts, as well as in our aspirations and dreams; authority is most real, most powerful and most appreciated when that authority is felt as power for the people to be healed and comforted, raised up and inspired like you have shown in your coming to us, in your carrying the cross, of your bearing our infirmities. Like Hannah in the first reading, we beg those authorities above us to "think kindly" of us people; many times, people in authority lord it over us like Eli initially, suspecting Hannah being drunk, scolding us, reprimanding us, worst, judging us without even knowing our plight, so unlike you who became poor like us, most of all, died for us. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, 08 January 2024 Isaiah 55:1-11 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Mark 1:7-11
How lovely, dear God our Father, that at the start of work and classes this 2024, we heard from Mark the start of his gospel where he told us the baptism of your Son Jesus, the fulfillment of your promises of old announced by his precursor, John the Baptist.
On coming out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove descending upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Mark 1:10-11
Oh how I love that part of Mark's narration of "the heavens being torn open", so evocative of your power, almighty Father of intervening into our lives, of rending the sky to come down upon us to bring order, to bring peace, to bring salvation in Jesus! At the end of his gospel, Mark spoke anew of how Jesus at his last breath “rending” the curtain at the sanctuary of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Mk.15:38).
Everyday you open the heavens for us, dear Father in Christ Jesus, calling us your beloved children, pouring upon us all your blessings not only the material things we need but all good things we need to live fully as you have told Isaiah in the first reading:
Thus says the Lord: All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat; come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk! Heed me, and you shall eat well, you shall delight in rich fare. Come to me heedfully, listen, that you may have life. I will renew with you the everlasting covenant, the benefits assured to David. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord… so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:1-3, 8, 11
Loving Father, let us not reject your call and invitation in Christ Jesus to be one with him in this world; forgive us when most often, we think of the difficulties in keeping your commandments without realizing they are "not burdensome" (1 John 5:3) because the more we sin, the more life gets harder and difficult for us.
Let us hold on your assurance of love on this feast of the Lord's baptism, of how your favor rests upon us in Christ Jesus; let us heed your calls so we may see you rending the heavens apart, coming to our rescue, coming to our aid in your loving presence. Amen.
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