40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, First Week in Lent, 10 March 2025 Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18 + + + Matthew 25:31-46
Photo by author, view of Metro Manila from balcony of Timberland Highlands Resort, San Mateo, Rizal, 08 March 2025.
Then the righteous will answer him and say, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?" (Matthew 25:37-39)
How I long and pray I would someday be asking this same question to you, Lord, totally surprised, wondering what happened when all I did was do something naturally as second nature, without much thinking and ado in being kind and charitable, in responding to anyone who is hungry or thirsty, stranger or naked, ill or in prison.
You are so great, dear Jesus in teaching us not to think of kindness and being Christian as a list to be kept and checked always but simply a way of life in doing what is right, what is good for we are all your kin in one God and Father who is Lord of all (first reading).
Photo by author, same view taken later that night,Timberland Highlands Resort, San Mateo, Rizal, 08 March 2025.
Then they (the accursed) will answer and say, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?" He will answer them, "Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me" (Matthew 25:44-45).
Forgive us, Jesus when our being Christian is more on duties and tasks like a code of ethics; teach us to be utterly different from others as your followers reflecting the Father and his love in a whole new way especially in this time when everyone seems to be so cold and numb even callous with others around them; animate us with your warm presence of joy and love to everyone for them to realize there is one true Lord God above all. Amen.
Photo by author, same view taken with different exposure,Timberland Highlands Resort, San Mateo, Rizal, 08 March 2025.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Eighth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 03 March 2025 Sirach 17:20-24 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 10:17-27
Photo by author, Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.
To the penitent God provides a way back, he encourages those who are losing hope and has chosen for them the lot of truth. Return to him and give up sin, pray to the Lord and make your offenses few (Sirach 17:20).
In that long poem by your faithful French writer Charles Peguy (1873-1914), you claimed O God that hope is your favorite virtue because it surprises you.
How lovely, dear Father to imagine you our God, all-powerful all-knowing is still surprised, something we have lost in this time when everything is predictable, nothing ever hidden.
Many times I see myself that young man in the Gospel running to you in Jesus, excitedly asking what must I do to inherit eternal life? But, when you answered and asked me to give up my possessions, I balk, I turn away sadly because I just can't give up all I have.
But, then comes your greatest surprise of all when we reject you, when we turn away from you: you still look at us filled with love! There is always hope in you, Lord if we can just go back to you in Jesus; there is always hope in this world, in this life because you never run out of surprises for us because "all things are possible for God" (Mark 10:27). Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 23 February 2025 1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23 ><)))*> 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 ><)))*> Luke 6:27-38
Photo by author Santisima Trinidad Parish, Malolos City, 18 March 2023.
We continue this Sunday Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Plain with his teachings getting more disturbing, twice telling us to love our enemies. Yes, you heard it right…
Jesus said to his disciples: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse, pray for those who mistreat you… But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:27-28, 35-36).
See that after selecting Twelve from among his many disciples, Jesus will be asking more from his followers that includes us today. As we have reflected last Sunday with the four woes of Christ, there is no middle ground in being a Christian. We have to make a decision, to choose Jesus always.
This Sunday, Jesus shows us it is no simple choice we have to make because loving our enemies is easier said than done.
In this age of social media when everything is blown out of proportion with everyone dragged even into the quarrels and infidelities among celebrities, the more it is difficult to avoid making enemies with many of us easily taking sides in the petty issues that are trending.
It is the same thing with our way of loving these days with how easy it is to love people who love us too. Anyone can be so nice to people nice also to them as it comes naturally.
But real love is not really that natural.
True love as Jesus had shown us on the Cross is more than the natural flow of things. It is always supernatural, beyond the natural flow of emotions. Jesus is asking us that we go beyond what comes naturally especially with love because love is a decision, a fruit of the meeting of mind and of heart, a oneness within every person that is also a sure sign of one’s maturity, spirituality.
Loving our enemies, doing good on those who do bad against us is love of the highest order. It is not weakness but actually a strength for no weakling can muster the courage and clarity to be loving with one’s enemies.
Loving our enemies is knowing better than the rest on the repercussions, the intricacies and complexities of being adamant and insistent.
This is the beautiful example shown by David in the first reading: instead of delivering into his hands King Saul he had found sleeping unguarded inside a cave while pursuing him and his men, David spared his life out of respect for God who anointed Saul as King of Israel.
See also the practicality of Jesus in teaching us to love our enemies and those who do us bad: if you only love or care or be kind with those who love and care and are kind to us, then it is not real love and caring and kindness at all you are giving. Jesus pointed out that even criminals and bad people do it. If that is the case, then, we are no different from them if we love only those who love us!
Fatima University students spent a Sunday afternoon of prayers and fun with kids with cerebral palsy and their families, 09 February 2025.
True love, real love is never transactional, never a deal nor an agreement in this age of many marriages punctuated with pre-nuptials. True love is freely given without any reservations, no ifs nor buts. As St. Mother Teresa used to say, the true measure of love is to love without measure.
Love is something we fully give away, never kept. You never scrimp on love. It is always given in full. Scrimp on your love, you lose because the love you keep and withdraw is never kept nor save. In fact, a love not shared and given becomes stale. Or expired. Napapanis.
Like the things we love eating or using, love comes without any expiration date that says “best consumed before February 23, 2025.”
Love is best when freely given and shared. Once “opened” or given, no need to keep and refrigerate it. Consume it right away! Everything. No love is ever wasted. Walang sayang na pagmamahal, lahat may pinatutunguhan at binubungang mabuti.
Photo by author, Hidden Springs Resort, Calauan, Laguna, 20 February 2025.
Love is like a natural spring water, or the waterfalls that keep flowing, watering and refreshing countless tributaries, people, plants and animals. Just keep loving! Love, love, love!
At his Sermon on the Plain, Jesus clarifies that true love like his love is first of all not of natural level and flow but of supernatural nature, divine like him. Jesus emphasized this at his Last Supper, describing it as a “new commandment of love” because it is a love rooted in God not just in man.
The following Good Friday on the Cross, Jesus proved his love as true and real. Most of all, free.
We today experience that true love of Jesus even to this day because of his rising three days after his crucifixion at Easter. This is what Paul meant in the second reading that in Jesus Christ, we have become heavenly and spiritual. The love of Christ have made us like him, divine and heavenly. What a great honor we now have! For being so loved by God in Jesus Christ, we too must love truly and freely like him!
Photo from vaticannews.va.
Last month, I strongly reacted to a statement by Rappler’s Ms. Maria Ressa in her interview before a speech at the Vatican Jubilee of Journalists.
That night in my prayer, I felt God “disturbed” me for being so harsh and judgmental of a journalist presumably totally unaware of the meaning of “dogma” in the Church.
The following day, I got a message from the reporter who posted that story and naturally, did not like what I wrote. As days went on, I felt “disturbed” and “uneasy” with my calling her “heretic”. After three days, I edited my blog and removed the harsh word as I realized calling others with names or labels would not help at all in clarifying things especially about our faith.
Most of all, it is not the Christian way of loving others, of putting others down just to uphold our faith and beliefs. It is not love. And I felt so afraid Jesus might personally get down from his Cross to take away that harsh word I have written.
Next month, I will be turning 60 years old, a senior sixty-cent so excited with my discount card. As I reflected these days on the immense love of Jesus for me in these 60 years, 27 as his priest, I have been praying, where in my life is God asking me to love more like Christ?
Loving our enemies is not merely the people we hate, or those who have hurt us or different from us, not like us. Loving our enemies includes those darkness within us, those weaknesses we hide and cover, sins we refuse to admit or continue to justify. Many times our worst enemies are those within us, our very selves.
It is difficult. And terrifying. Loving our enemies is easier said than done. It is also disturbing but at the same time, so liberating because the more we love, the more we feel free for Christ and for others. Amen.Have a blessed, loving week ahead.
Sharing with you a video I have taken last Thursday at the Hidden Springs Resort in Laguna; the sight and scene of a waterfalls reminded me so much of God’s love that never runs out.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 21 February 2025 Genesis 11:1-9 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Mark 8:34-9:1
What a blessed Friday, Lord Jesus! You are still with us, about to cross the week into another new set of seven days but, here you are again reminding us of our journey that's not to a party and all fun but to the Cross:
Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it” (Mark 8:34-35).
As I prayed on this scene, Jesus, I could hear both the murmuring and deafening silence of people in the crowd especially when you spoke of denying, losing one's self and that dreaded Roman punishment, the cross! But, yes, Jesus, even deep down in me, I felt at a loss... OK na sana Lord ang lahat, bakit may paglimot pa ng sarili at pagpapasan ng krus?
Forgive me, Jesus for being so used to your words without really appreciating them, masticating them enough to extract their meaning and timeliness; many times, I have that attitude of the the Tower of Babel when all we want is to be on top, to be in control that is why you confused them with many languages at that time because we always forget you speak only one language in Jesus: the language of love by self-giving, by self-sacrifice, by being one in you in the Holy Spirit.
Take us to the streets, Jesus, to keep your words your language lived and spoken especially among the poor and suffering. Amen.
Photographer: Veejay Villafranca/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 20 February 2025 Genesis 9:1-13 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Mark 8:27-33
Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the Christ.” (Mark 8:27-29)
You are always on the move, Lord Jesus: you are always moving, crossing the lake, hiking in the mountains and most often, walking the streets.
What a lovely imagery of you, Jesus, always on the road with me following you, watching you, observing you, sometimes stopping because of being tired but you are always there waiting for me.
And now, what a lovely scene of you back on the road again but this time asking those closest to you - including me! - with that most personal question of all: "But who do you say that I am?"
Who are you for me, Jesus?
So many, actually. I may not be as eloquent like Peter, but no doubt about who are you for me, Jesus: my life, my meaning, my love, my hopes, my fullness.
But, very often along this road, on these streets we walk and cross, dear Jesus when that who are you for me is shaken, is tested, even doubted like Peter: how could you allow yourself and us your followers suffer and cry, and die?
He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him (Mark 8:31-32).
Let us think always as God does, Jesus, not as human beings do seeking fame and prestige, comfort and wealth, self and ego; let me walk closer with you Jesus on the streets, on whatever road you take upholding that covenant of God with Noah to uphold and respect human life by "accounting for human life" (Genesis 9:5); more than the colorful rainbows of the skies, may we always see in your outstretched arms on the Cross the true and new covenant of God with us sealed in your blood. Amen.
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Spirituality Center, Baguio City, August 2023.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 16 February 2025 Jeremiah 17:5-8 ><}}}}*> 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20 ><}}}}* Luke 6:17, 20-26
After the call of his first disciples last Sunday, Jesus went on to preach in Galilee as great crowds followed him with some of them becoming his disciples too. From among these many disciples, Jesus chose twelve to be his Apostles after praying one night on a mountain (Lk. 6:12-16).
As they went down from the mountain, Jesus taught the Twelve along with his other disciples and crowd of people who have gathered to listen to him in what came to be known as his Sermon on the Plain.
Luke patterned his Sermon on the Plain on earlier account of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount that portrayed Jesus like the new Moses and moreover, the new Law himself. Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount has a smaller audience that was limited to just the Twelve while Luke’s Sermon on the Plain had a wider audience of not just the Apostles but also the other disciples and the crowd of people who have been following him.
But, more than their differences in their setting and audience, the two sermons differ greatly in the message itself. Both Luke and Matthew begin with four beatitudes, but Matthew concludes with additional beatitudes while Luke matched the four beatitudes with four woes that frankly speaking, are very disturbing.
“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way” (Luke 6:24-26).
Again, Luke is telling us something deeper about Jesus in his version of the Sermon on the Plain that actually echoes the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Magnificat found only in his gospel too.
Recall in the Magnificat how Mary spoke of God sending the rich “away empty” (Lk.1:53) as he blessed the poor and the hungry. And here now is Jesus Christ fulfilling those words of his Mother.
The gospels and the whole Bible itself teem with many pronouncements against the rich and those in similar good fortune in life. Is God against the rich, those happy and those of good reputation? What’s wrong with being rich or well-off, of having our fill of food and laughter, and being spoken well of by others?
Photo by author, November 2024.
Nothing really.
Jesus is not against anyone for he loves everyone as he preached extensively on the need to love one another as we love God. If Jesus preached only love, he would have not been crucified, and most definitely would have not made so much enemies. But, the kind of love Jesus preached was so radical that shook not only the ways of the old but also of modern time because it is a kind of love that pulls down the mighty and favors the poor and those suffering. His Sermon on the Plain rings louder than ever today as we have not seemed learned from the lessons of the past. And believe it or not, the four woes declared by Jesus in his Sermon on the Plain are actually expressions of his magnanimous love, contrary to what others claim.
The four woes that are antitheses of the four blessings are not actually maledictions as most interpretations have expressed. A malediction is like a curse, an expression of one’s desire for someone’s harm like in calling down God’s wrath. The four woes of Jesus in his Sermon on the Plain is far from that reality nor a condemnation against anyone.
Photo by author, Church of the Beatitudes, the Holy Land, May 2017.
In calling the rich “woeful” along with those who are filled and those who laugh “now” as well as those of whom “all speak well”, Jesus is neither condemning them nor declaring them as evil-doers; in calling them “woeful”, Jesus reminds them and us today of being on the wrong and bad path in life that can lead to a fatal outcome or end.
Like in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus that only Luke has an account in his gospel, Jesus Christ’s “woes” are warnings – “red flags” – everyone must consider who might be in the wrong direction and wrong choices in “enjoying” life “now” without any concern for those who are suffering like the poor and the hungry, those who grieve and those maligned and hated.
Photo by Mr. Jay Javier, Quiapo, 09 January 2020.
The poor, the hungry, the weeping and the hated are blessed not simply because of their state in life but more of their willingness to forego so many worldly things “now” for they trust in God who shall deliver them to salvation and justice.
They are blessed because they have realized that things of the world are passing, something that the worldly could not accept. How sad that many today have lost sight of eternity and even of God, living only for the “now”.
Jesus is not asking us to be “masochists” or at the other end of the extreme, to be complacent in the face of widespread suffering and pains. Remember how in the synagogue at Nazareth one sabbath when Jesus launched his ministry by proclaiming from the Prophet Isaiah how the Spirit of God rested on him to bring glad tidings to the poor, liberty to captives, healing to the sick (3rd Sunday, Jan. 26).
By calling the poor and the suffering as “blessed”, Jesus assures them that God is with them and that justice shall be reestablished on “that day” when they enter the kingdom that has been prepared for them in eternal life. He called us “woe” to warn us while there is still enough time to change our course in life to be blessed not only now but in all eternity too!
Photo from forbes.com.
See how our readings this Sunday are actually about our making of wise choices in life: in the first reading, Jeremiah warns us of the consequences of trusting God or trusting humans while the psalms show us the ways of the just and the ways of the wicked; Paul in the second reading presents to us the grace of believing in Christ’s Resurrection and the folly of denying it while in the gospel, Jesus offers us blessing or woe in living.
These readings show us there is no middle ground in following Jesus nor grey areas in God. Our decisions in life define the course of our lives like what the Pepsi Cola ad used to say in the 1990’s, “we are made (or unmade) by the decision we make.”
Moreover, in giving us those four woes, Luke reminds us that in making our decisions, we must consider more than the moral but the Christological perspective of life to be like Jesus Christ – who is himself the “blessed” because he is the poor one, the hungry, the weeping and the hated.
Should we make the wrong decisions in life, Jesus remains magnanimous, remaining in us, telling us those woes over and over so we would still make the right choices in life. Don’t take it personally; Jesus cares for you.
In three weeks we shall be entering the Season of Lent. Incidentally, the last time we celebrated Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time in Cycle C was in 2010, the Seventh Sunday in 2007, and the Eighth Sunday in 2001!
Our gospel readings in the coming two more Sundays before Ash Wednesday would still be taken from Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Plain to emphasize the closeness of God with those who are poor and suffering.
As we approach the holy Season of Lent that calls us to more prayers, fasting and almsgiving, we can already start this Sixth Sunday examining our lives to see if we are aligned with the blessed ones of God or are we the woeful ones. The choice is ours. Let us pray for the grace to choose Jesus, only Jesus, always Jesus. Amen. A blessed week ahead to everyone!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest, 31 January 2025 Hebrews 10:32-39 <*((((>< <*(((>< + ><)))*> ><))))*> Mark 4:26-34
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
Remember the days past when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a great contest of suffering… Therefore, do not throw away your confidence; it will have great recompense (Hebrews 10:32, 35).
Thank you, O God our loving Father for another month past this new year; there is indeed no other path to take but forward in you and with you through Jesus.
How amazing, dear Lord as I look back to my many setbacks and problems hurdled in the past, the more I look forward into the future! The more I am excited of the coming days ahead because if I made it through in the past, through the long, dark nights of trials and sufferings, you are always with me in Jesus.
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Spirituality Center, Tagaytay, August 2024.
Keep me faithful, Jesus; let me not lose that confidence in you, Lord, like the farmer in your parable: let me keep on sowing your gospel in words and in deeds especially among the young and the underprivileged like St. John Bosco whose memorial we celebrate today; let me do whatever good I can do today; most of all, like St. John Bosco, let me love without measure without claiming anything at all except as your work, Lord Jesus in sowing seeds until they sprout to life and grow until harvest time. Amen.
Photo by author, Northern Blossoms, Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Third Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 27 January 2025 Hebrews 9:15, 24-28 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Mark 3:22-30
Lord Jesus Christ, take away our colored lenses that prevent us from seeing the real pictures in the world and of life; many times, our lenses are not only colored but even defective that make us see distorted images as the realities when they are not.
Like the Pharisees, we wear different lenses that prevent us from seeing your true self as full of good, of love and mercy; like the Pharisees, our views of others are distorted because we see only ourselves as better while at the same time, still like the Pharisees, we debate truth because we could not accept others as better than us, leaving us all trapped in self-condemned state of sinning that make us see everything as hopeless, worst, nothing is good at all in the world even in our very selves which is the sin agains the Holy Spirit.
Make us see through your loving and merciful lens our selves, others, the world around us, and most especially YOU; give us your lenses to see we have been saved and most of all, worth saving because we are loved by YOU and the Father in heaven.
Let us rejoice and relish your saving power, Lord, when You as the Christ, "Offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sins but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him" (Hebrews 9:28). Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Week II in Ordinary Time, Year I, 23 January 2025 Hebrews 7:25-8:6 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Mark 3:7-12
Photo by author, St. Paul Spirituality Center, Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 06 December 2024.
Let me come to you, Jesus, with confidence and humility to express to you my deepest longings and desires, my deepest needs and cries you know so well but I always deny or too shy to tell you completely.
Though I know very well how your death on the Cross is the single most important event in history for all times and for all peoples, I balk its realities not for lack of faith but due to low self-esteem, lack of self-acceptance that you do love me truly.
The main point of what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of Majesty in heaven, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle that the Lord, not man, set up. Now he has obtained so much more excellent a ministry as he is a mediator of a better covenant, enacted on better promises (Hebrews 8:1-2, 6).
Let me follow you, Jesus like the people in the gospel: let me not follow you only to the sea but even to the Cross to be one in you, one with you for you alone is truly one with me everywhere, all the time. Amen.
Photo by author, Mount Olis, Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Memorial of St. Vincent, Deacon & Martyr, 22 January 2025 Hebrews 7:1-3, 15-17 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 3:1-6
Dearest Jesus:
Your words today are
so difficult;
I cannot imagine
you angry
as you looked
at the Pharisees
"with anger and grieved
at their hardness
of heart" (Mark 3:5);
but, as I imagined your face, Lord,
I experienced deep in me
what made you angry enough
to do something so drastic like healing
the withered hand of a man
on a sabbath:
it was purely love,
it was not anger due to
hate and bitterness
but magnanimity
or generosity despite
and in spite of everything
because you are indeed,
Jesus our High Priest forever
according to the order
of Melchizedek:
Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High… His name first means righteous king, and he was also “king of Salem,” that is, king of peace. Without father, mother, or ancestry, without beginning of days or end of life, thus made to resemble the Son of God, he remains a priest forever (Hebrews 7:1, 2-3).
Let me examine myself what is it about you, Jesus that I am so afraid of you and made me many times like the Pharisees be so hardened against you; take away my stony heart, dear Jesus and give me a natural heart that beats with firm faith, fervent hope, and unceasing love and charity for others especially those in need and those lost.
Like your deacon and martyr St. Vincent, the first martyr of Spain, fill me Jesus with your peace and tranquility to bear all sufferings that his jailer repented and was converted; make me magnanimous, Jesus, like you especially in this time when losers refuse to accept defeat that they insist on their wrongful ways due to hardened hearts. Amen.
Photo by author, Sakura Park, Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.
lordmychef.com 