Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of the Queenship of Mary, 22 August 2022
Isaiah 9:1-6 ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> Luke 1:39-47
Photo by author,Makati skyline at sunset from Antipolo City, 13 August 2022.
It is a very busy Monday
for everyone, O God,
our loving Father:
it is the first day of school
for most students,
another first day of work
with all the traffic and woes
of life slowly going back
to normal.
And I really wonder,
what could surprise us today,
Lord, like Mary when your
angel announced to her the
coming of Jesus Christ by
being his mother?
But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Luke 1:29
“Coronation of the Virgin” by Diego Velazquez (ca.1635/1636) from en.wikipedia.org.
On this memorial of the
Queenship of Mary,
let us rejoice and be grateful
to you for the grace of being
favored to be up and going this day
no matter how busy we may be;
let us be surprised by the
tremendous blessings you
shower upon us like Mary
when deep in our hearts we know
we are nothing before you;
surprise us, Lord, of your
presence, of your life, of your love,
most of all, of your trust;
enable us to say yes to your call
for us to serve you today,
to bring light in this dark world,
to share Jesus Christ like Mary
who is our "Prince of Peace and
Wonder-Counselor" (Is.9:5).
O most blessed Virgin Mary,
help us to welcome Jesus Christ
daily in our lives in order for us to
share him with everyone like you;
as the first of the human race in rank
before God's presence and as the
Mother of Christ our King, you are
given the title of Queen not only as an
honor but an example of discipleship in
your Son Jesus. Amen.
O, Mary Queen of heaven,
Pray for us!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time, 17 August 2022
Ezekiel 34:1-11 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 20:1-16
God our loving Father,
what happened in Israel
during Ezekiel's time is happening
again, of "shepherds pasturing
themselves" (Ezekiel 34:2)!
Send us shepherds, dear Father,
who have vision, who seek Jesus our
Good Shepherd and not just listen to one's self
or with what our "cordon sanitaires" say and
whisper to our ears no matter how pleasing
or assuring these may be (should we not be
more at home with being bothered than
pleased, Lord?);give us shepherds who would
come out of their comfort zones like
that landowner ensuring everyone is doing
something; send us shepherds with courage
to smash existing structures of dominance
and cliques within your Church, drive away
the gnostics among us who know only what
is good for one's self to let in a breath
of fresh air to enliven your flock.
Thank you in calling us
to shepherd your flock in
different capacities as priests,
parents, elder brothers and sisters,
superiors, teachers, leaders and
managers; but, shepherding is more
than "strengthening the weak,
healing the sick,
binding up the injured,
bringing back the strayed
and seeking the lost" (cf. Ez. 34:4-5):
all these efforts are meant
to enable every sheep "to work" -
that is, do something good,
something that would awaken
each one's worth and giftedness
as your beloved one like the master
of the vineyard in today's gospel:
Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn… at nine o-clock… at noon… at three o’clock… and at about five o’clock to hire laborers for his vineyard.”
Matthew 20:1, 3, 5, 6
O dear Jesus,
forgive us your shepherds,
especially us your priests,
who have refused to go out
literally and figuratively speaking,
to look on your flock, to find every
sheep and give each one a chance to
"work" for you, to do something good
like serve others and harness their talents
you have given;
Oh, please forgive us your shepherds
when we feel so entitled knowing everything
and being capable of everything that we have
refused to stop "working" for you, when we
have refused to leave our "work" and made it
into an office than a ministry, replacing service
with power, simplicity with material comfort,
and yes though very sad, we have made your
vocation a privilege as we bask in our
positions and ranks, refusing to give others
the chance to work because we have ceased
shepherding, choosing to be herding or worst,
lording over others.
Amen.
Photo by Mr. Lorenzo Atienza, 12 June 2019, Malolos Cathedral.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 14 August 2022
Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10 ><}}}*> Hebrews 12:1-4 ><}}}*> Luke 12:49-53
Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Spirituality Center, Novaliches, QC, 2017.
Following Jesus, being a true and good Christian is always difficult. This I realized on my first month as a priest 24 years ago when I gave a “marriage encounter” (ME) to several married couples from the parish of my former professor in the seminary.
Part of the marriage encounter is the writing of one’s sins on a piece of paper with a symbolic burning before going to confession later in the evening; problem was, as a new priest, I gave a wrong instruction asking the spouses to exchange paper with their partner to see each others sins. That was when a wife collapsed after reading the sins of her husband! Actually, she had long suspected him of infidelities but that afternoon, all her doubts and suspicions were proven very true that her blood pressure shoot up, losing her consciousness in anger and pain.
After she had been revived, she kept on saying, “akala ko ME magpapatatag sa aming samahan; ito na yata maghihiwalay sa aming dalawa ng tuluyan” (I thought the ME will make our marriage stronger but it seems this will finally cause our separation as husband and wife).
I tried explaining things to her, prayed so hard for her and eventually after six months, I met them at a wedding as they thanked me how their marriage had gone stronger after surrendering everything to Jesus Christ.
Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Spirituality Center, Novaliches, QC, 2017.
"Every Christian is a prophet...
a sign of contradiction."
Many times in our lives we have experienced that our faithful service in the Lord often leads us to distressing and painful situations, even tragic choices. In the first reading, we have heard how Jeremiah’s own folks threw him into a cistern to die because they could not take his preaching against their sinfulness and prophecies of the impending fall of Jerusalem which eventually happened. He was momentarily rescued from the cistern but later was eventually killed by his own people for speaking against their sinful ways and life.
Every Christian is a prophet like Jeremiah, a sign of contradiction among the people, even in one’s own family and circle of friends. To live against the corrupt and sinful ways of the world, to uphold what is true and just, to stand for what is honorable and good surely earn a lot of criticisms and condemnation from everyone. Even in the Church!
Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division
Luke 12:49-51
Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Spirituality Center, Novaliches, QC, 2017.
With all of these words, we now wonder what is good with our Good News this Sunday? Remember, Jesus Christ is on his way to Jerusalem to face his suffering and death. Today he tells us three things to remember to remain focused with the End.
First is the fire he had brought into the world. It is not a fire of destruction but fire of heat and light that give life; fire that purifies and cleanses like silver and gold that bring out its beauty and magnificence; and most of all, the fire of God’s presence like in the burning bush of Moses and the pillars of fire/cloud that guided the Chosen People in the wilderness into the Promised Land.
Fire gives light and heat that lead into life; we can survive without food and water for several days but we cannot last even ten minutes without heat! This is the kind of fire we Christians need these days, fire that will lit us up with courage ands joy in Jesus Christ by witnessing his gospel in a world that seems to be dying and lifeless despite the noise and affluence around.
As a purifying fire, it always brings pains that lead into conversion and liberation like what that couple in my first Marriage Encounter have experienced. The fire of Christ’s mercy and forgiveness taught them to forgive each other and enabled them to lead holier lives. The more we get closer to Jesus our light, the more we see our sinfulness and weaknesses, then we change and mature. That is when we are filled with the light of Christ to become his presence in the world.
Second teaching of Jesus today is about his “other baptism” which is his Passion, Death, and Resurrection. This is the reason why he was “resolutely journeying to Jerusalem” – he was so eager, so decided to face his pasch not for the pains it would bring but for its glorious effects for us.
Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Spirituality Center, Novaliches, QC, 2017.
That is the real meaning of baptism, from the Greek baptizein which is to immerse in water; hence, baptism before was a literal immersion in water. In our immersion into the passion and death of Jesus Christ, we enter into a communion in him and with him so that in his Resurrection, we too rise with him and in him into new life.
Third pronouncement by Jesus this Sunday is perhaps the most baffling, especially when we consider the statistics that more than half of the conflicts going on in the world today are due to religious beliefs.
Jesus never meant to bring people apart; in fact, he came to bring us all together, to gather us again as beloved children of the Father. However, it happens that the moment we stand for Jesus, for what is true and just, inevitably, we will be with odds even with those dearest to us. Jesus himself had said that “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Lk.14:26).
That is one of the beautiful imageries of the Cross of Jesus Christ: it marks the end of our sinfulness and the beginning of our oneness in God.
It is the difficult aspect of discipleship when our loved ones are into sins and evil, when they are in darkness and injustice. Are we going to side with them or side with Christ?
At the Last Supper, Jesus gave us his peace (Jn.14:27) that according to him is not like the peace offered by the world that is often based on compromises; Christ’s peace is the fruit of love, of sacrifices. Love and sacrifice are one, always together; when you love, there is sacrifice, there is pain and suffering. That is why it is love!
Parents and lovers know this very well: many times they suffer and cry in silence because of their great love for their children or beloved. It is no wonder that in the Beatitudes, Jesus called the peacemakers and the persecuted blessed because to work for peace entails persecution and division.
Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Spirituality Center, Novaliches, QC, 2017.
"God is dangerous."
-Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar (+)
Last Sunday we have reflected how Jesus used the setting of night for our vigilance because faith is tested and deepened in the darkness of life like during nighttime. And, the darker the night, the longer the night always.
But, we have so many people who have gone ahead of us in this life who have found light and life amid the darkness in life, emerging victorious in their faith in God, from the patriarchs in the Old Testament and in Jesus himself and his Apostles and saints as well.
Brothers and sisters: Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Wonderful! Jesus is the leader and perfecter of faith. Very often, we hear the gospels and the Bible speaking always of our having faith in Jesus. But, it is only here and in some instances in Paul we find Jesus having faith; how can Jesus, the Son of God have faith when he is the object of faith?
Let us remember that Jesus is truly human, truly divine. Like us, he also had faith as the gospels attest: he had faith in the Father who sent him. He is the best example of having faith, entrusting everything to the Father that he did not feel ashamed of the Cross. In that sense, Jesus is also the perfecter of faith because in him, with him and through him, we are able to walk in faith, sustain our faith in the most difficult and trying moments of life when we felt our relationships, our world falling apart because we have stood by his Cross. As we look back, we have emerged better, stronger, and most of all, joyful, free and faithful after all those trials in life. Thanks to our faith in Christ!
One of the friends of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI and St. John Paul II was the Swiss theologian and priest named Hans Urs von Balthasar who said in his 1945 book “The Heart of the World” that God is dangerous.
Photo by Mr. Jay Javier, Acacia trees in UP-Diliman, April 2022.
Indeed, it is very true especially when Fr. Balthasar noted how God “is inviting you to lose your soul in order to gain it. He always thinks in terms of love. He offers us the impossible… He presents his victory over death as an example to be imitated, he draws us beyond our limits, into his adventure, which is inevitably fatal.”
The blessedness of this Sunday is that Jesus had become like us to lead us the way in a life of faith, perfecting our faith in the process so that we may overcome all obstacles and trials in life like him and be with him in eternal glory in heaven in the End.
Let us keep in mind the worthy reminder of the author of the Letter to Hebrews that “In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood” (Heb.12:4). Amen.
Have a blessed, fiery week of faithful adherence in Christ!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Memorial of St. Clare, Virgin, 11 August 2022
Ezekiel 12:1-12 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 18:21-19:1
"So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives his brother from
his heart" (Matthew 18:35).
Dearest Lord Jesus Christ,
take away my stony heart
and give me a heart of flesh
that beats with firm faith,
fervent hope and unceasing charity
and love for you through others.
Enable me to see with my heart,
let me not be blind to my many sins,
especially in dealing with my fellow sinners
for we are all loved and forgiven sinners of the Father;
incline my heart to your Holy Will,
let me not be rebellious like the people
during the time of the Prophet Ezekiel -
so numb and callous, no sense of sinfulness
at all that they were not bothered at all
with your efforts to turn back to you
by being contrite to reform
their lives.
Let me heed the prayer of the psalmist today,
"Do not forget the works of the Lord!"
Let me remember your great sacrifice
for me to forgive my sins,
to wipe me clean and
start anew!
Reign in my heart, Jesus;
dwell in my heart, O Lord,
empty me of my pride
and fill me with your
humility, justice, and love;
grant me the grace of poverty
like St. Clare whose memorial
we celebrate today so that we may
serve you with joy and gladness
coming from a heart so blessed
by you.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Lawrence, Deacon & Martyr, 10 August 2022
2 Corinthians 9:6-10 ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> John 12:24-26
God our loving Father,
just this Monday I have prayed,
telling you how I sometimes wished
to find you in strange visions like
your prophet Ezekiel; today, as we
celebrate the Memorial of your
great Saint, Lawrence, the gospel
speaks so well of finding you
when some Greeks approached Philip,
asking him to help them see Jesus
while in Jerusalem:
Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.”
John 12:24
Lord Jesus, so much have changed
in this world in terms of freely worshipping you
unlike during the early centuries of Christianity
when your followers shed blood witnessing you;
today, there are no more lions to devour us
nor executioners to crucify or decapitate us
or roast us on gridiron like St. Lawrence;
but your call for martyrdom remains.
Give us the courage to "let go and let God"
in our lives which is to become fruitful
like the grain of wheat to see you
by allowing you dear Jesus to make us become
everything you want us to be, that is,
a bread produced by grains of wheat
grounded and disintegrated to become
food for others.
“Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.”
John 12:25
Help us realize, dear Jesus,
that to see you means to think more
of eternal life than of this present life
that is passing; that we own nothing at all
in this world, not even our very lives;
like St. Lawrence who faithfully served
the poor and disadvantaged the world refuses
to recognize until now as your presence
and "life" because "life" has always been
seen in glitz and glamor revolving around one's self
as the center of everything;
help us realize that we cannot find meaning of life
in ourselves, by being self-centered;
it is in finding you in others, in valuing them too
that we find life and its meaning!
“Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.”
John 12:26
Finally, finding you dear Jesus
and the Father is entering into your very person,
getting into a communion that "it is no longer I
who live but you, O Christ, lives in me"
(Gal.2:20);
let me welcome you, Jesus into myself,
let me embrace you and your Cross,
join you in your Passion and Death to be
one in you more than ever in your Resurrection.
Pray for us, most blessed
St. Lawrence that like you,
we may generously offer our lives
to God and inspire others
to experience and see Jesus Christ
present in this world so blinded
by vanities and fantasies.
Amen.
“Martyrdom of St. Lawrence, Deacon” by Hipolito de Rioja (16th c.) from commons.wikimedia.org
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 07 August 2022
Wisdom 18:6-9 ><}}}*> Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 ><}}}*> Luke 12:35-40
Photo by author, Liputan Island, Meycauyan, Bulacan, 31 December 2021.
Everybody believes in something, even if they believe in the emptiness and nothingness of life. But, what or who we believe in makes the difference because that determines how we live.
Those who believe in financial security live in amassing and building their wealth while those who believe in something that transcends what they see and understand live pursuing lofty ideals not necessarily in religious terms like the saints but also in civic and social concerns like national heroes and reformers. There are also extremists in various forms found in different countries and organizations who believe that any lasting change in life can only be achieved by armed struggles and use of violence, destroying everything even human lives they profess to be they are building or protecting.
This Sunday we find in our readings the importance of believing in God, of having faith in him because faith is not just a belief or knowledge as an interior conviction of the intellect but a union, that is, a “communion” in God we believe in.
Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested.
Hebrews 11:1-2
It is faith that brings us into our final End in God by enabling us to “possess” already what is not yet fulfilled – eternal life! Little by little, as we live out our faith faithfully like the saints and most notably of all, Abraham as mentioned in our second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews. See how the author of Hebrews reminded us of the three events in Abraham’s life when he exemplified to us his firm faith in God.
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go. By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age – and Sarah herself was sterile – for he thought that the one who made the promise was trustworthy. By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promise was ready to offer his only son…He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol.
Hebrews 11:8, 11, 17, 19
Here we find Abraham as the kind of dreamer with eyes wide opened who not only believed in God but cooperated completely to realize all his promises. He dared to journey to an unknown foreign land that he was thrice blessed by God with wealth and land his heirs would inherit. Despite his old age, he held on faith in God that his son Isaac was born who became the father of Jacob also known as Israel from whom came the twelve tribes of Israel. And when Isaac was an early adult, Abraham remained faithful to God, completely surrendering Isaac to him as a sacrifice that turned out be a test that God was so delighted with faith and declared him as the father of faith.
Everyday we hear of many stories not only of highly successful people but even of simple folks we personally know who have moved heaven and earth so to speak to achieve their dreams in life.
Yesterday after our Baccalaureate Mass at the Our Lady of Fatima University, one of the graduates texted me, accepting my invitation as their chaplain to see me at my office in the hospital for some conversations and counseling or even confession. I was so surprised when she came at exactly 2PM and turned out to be one of my former directees in Malolos City more than ten years ago.
She first came to me after delivering her baby on her third year in college in 2006 after shifting from two other courses; as a result, she never finished college and had to work when the father of her child abandoned them. Last time we met was in 2013 when she came to visit me at Radio Veritas after my program for another series of consultations when she met another man who eventually married her and five years ago, allowed her the chance to pursue a college degree in Physical Therapy. She told me how difficult it had been for her especially with the COVID-19 pandemic that she almost gave up all hopes of earning a college degree. What kept her through these years amid having two other children with her husband who joyfully accepted her and her son from her previous relationship is her deep faith in God. And that is why she was doubly happy last Friday during our Mass when she finally found me again, telling me how our spiritual direction during her dark days have made a great impact in her spiritual journey. On Monday, she graduates with her classmates at the PICC, finally earning a college degree after graduating from high school in 2003.
Photo by author, 2017
Many times in life, not all our days are bright and shiny. So often there are thunderstorms and dark clouds and worst, dark nights that are always the longest nights too. This is the meaning of our first reading from the Book of Wisdom that recalled the first passover and exodus from Egypt of God’s chosen people.
Faith is often asserted and tested in the dark, at nighttime when all the uncertainties and dangers are most pronounced when unknown to us, God is also most present in us. And this we shall find also as the setting of the Lord’s two parables for this Sunday.
Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA7-News, January 2022.
Jesus continues his journey to Jerusalem and along the way since last week, he has been teaching us the need to place our trust and security in God than in material possessions, in the importance of having faith more in God than in things.
From Qoheleth we have learned last Sunday that life is vanity if not rooted in God who is our ultimate origin and end in life so that today Jesus tells us in no uncertain terms of the need to keep that in mind through two similar parables.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them… Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
Luke 12:35-37, 39-40
It is important for us to note that before this teaching, Jesus addressed the many fears of insecurity and insufficiency of his disciples, telling them to never worry of what to eat or wear, reminding them of how animals and birds as well nature are well taken cared of by God in all its splendor and glory (Lk.12:22-34).
Our main concern is to be faithful servants of God, seeing to it that we become his hands that care for others especially the sick and the needy, striving to be fair and just in our dealings with everyone, remaining focused with the kingdom of God.
That is the meaning of the vigilant servants in the first parable whom the master finds awake and alert upon returning from a wedding feast. It is Jesus Christ himself coming again in an unexpected time and date nobody knows at the end of time; those he shall find like the vigilant servants are assured of heaven where Jesus will be the one serving them!
Photo by Fr. Pop Dela Cruz, June 2022.
Many times in our lives, we feel that God seems to have forgotten us, falling asleep and unaware of the sufferings we are going through. It is okay to feel that way sometimes but never let your guards down: be like the vigilant servants, faithful to God in prayers and in serving others, in trying to be kind and forgiving because Jesus is surely coming again to bring us with him in paradise and end all our pains and sufferings. Do not let your fears of losing, of not having enough paralyze you to make you selfish and conceited. How often Jesus had come to you through friends and strangers or situations offering you exactly what you needed most at the perfect time? That is like the master coming from a wedding who serves his servants who faithfully waited for his return. God can never be outdone in generosity.
On the other hand, the second parable has an interesting detail from the first one: the master of the house guarding his house against the thief of the night. Actually, the thief here is the master of the house, the one who acted as if he owned everything that he is always on guard against the real master who might come to take back everything.
That is sure to happen! We are just mere stewards of God. We own nothing in this world, even our very life. When the Lord comes at the end of time, or when our time comes to die, which attitude would we have, that of the vigilant servants excited for their master returning from a wedding or that master of the house afraid of the thief to take back what he had stolen?
The grace of this Sunday as we focus about the End we shall all face, it likewise reminds us of the end with a small “e” of our little sufferings here on earth, the setbacks and failures, mistakes and sins we have committed. They will all end; what is important is we live our faith faithfully in God through prayers and good deeds. And some dashes of perseverance, patience, courage and a lot of faith in God. Amen.
A blessed week to everyone!
Photo by Ms. Danna Hazel de Castro, Kiltepan Peak, Sagada, Mountain Province, 2017.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, 22 July 2022
Song of Songs 3:1-4 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> John 20:1-2. 11-18
Photo from GettyImages/iStockphoto.com
Praise and glory to you,
O Lord Jesus Christ in giving
us today this Feast of St. Mary
Magdalene, the "apostle of the
apostles" who proclaimed to Peter
and company that you have risen
on that Easter morning!
Thank you most especially in
showing us through St. Mary Magdalene
the grace in that state many of us find
ourselves so often especially these days
of the pandemic - that of grieving.
On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken by Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus.
John 20:1, 11-14
Dearest Lord Jesus,
I pray for those weeping,
for those grieving for the lost
of a beloved wife or husband,
a son or a daughter, a brother or
a sister, a friend or a colleague;
I also pray, Jesus, for those
who are weeping in silence,
fighting their tears, hiding when
they cry as they attend and care
for a dying loved one at home or
in the hospital.
Like St. Mary Magdalene, death
from its approach and coming
always has that dark presence in
us; mourning and weeping become
more difficult when nights become
longer we could hardly know morning
is coming or has broken.
And many times in those dark moments
we do not recognize you, Jesus,
present among us in our weeping,
right in our grieving for our loved ones.
Open our eyes, open our hearts,
enkindle our faith and hopes in you, Lord
in these long, dark hours of our grieving.
You know very well how difficult it is
to let go of a loved one like St. Mary Magdalene
when you have died; like her, we continue
to "cling" and "hold" to our beloved
in our old ways of relating with them
in the hope of again hugging them,
touching them, and perhaps telling them
how we love them and if given a chance,
to say sorry too for our sins and lapses.
“Noli me tangere” (touch me not) fresco in the Lower Basilica of St. Francis Assisi Church in Italy painted by Giotto de Bondone in the 13th century from commons.wikimedia.org.
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'” Mary of Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he told her.
John 20:16-18
Call us with our name again,
dear Jesus; call us anew with your
reassuring voice of love and kindness,
of mercy and forgiveness no matter
who we really are
for you are the only one sent by the Father
to assure us we are accepted despite and
in spite of our sins and weaknesses.
Let us exclaim again "Rabbouni" like
St. Mary Magdalene, filled with joy in
finding you amidst the darkness
in our lives as we learn to stop "holding"
on to our departed and dying loved ones
as we recall and realize your teaching
that every death is a sharing in your pasch,
a passing over into eternal life,
of leveling up our ties with them
in you, Christ Jesus
to the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Photo by author, sunrise at Camp John Hay, Baguio City, November 2018.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time, 19 July 2022
Micah 7:14-15, 18-20 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 12:46-50
Photo by author, Mt. Nebo in Jordan overlooking Israel, 2019.
Lord God our Father,
show us your mercy and love
especially at this time we feel
so alone and desolate like your
people who have just returned
to Israel from exile.
Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, that dwells apart in a wood land in the midst of Carmel. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old; as in the days when you came from the land of Egypt, show us wonderful signs.
Micah 7:14-15
It has been raining again,
Father, with the skies so dark
and gloomy just like the lives
of many among us; we pray for
the sick especially those with rare
diseases and undergoing constant
procedures like chemotherapy and
dialysis as well as those so poor
who cannot afford treatment; we
pray for those living in flooded areas
and for those with leaking roofs
when rains are pouring; likewise, we
pray dear God for those feeling
lost and desolate, for those who
could not find aim and directions in
life for various reasons; we pray for
those grieving for losing a loved one.
In times like this of desolation,
when the well runs dry within us
when we feel you are so far and
not interested with us, let us be
faithful in our prayers to you; let us
hold on more to you, God, for who is
there like you, who removes guilt
and pardons sins, who does not
persist in anger but delights in
clemency (Micah 7:18-19)?
Let me hold on to you, O God,
when desolation comes; there are
times we seem to be far from you
like the mother and brothers of Jesus
in today's gospel who wished
to see him outside; let me keep in mind
that our ties with Jesus are based only
in doing your will, Father. And so,
in these dark days of storms in life,
let me strive to still do your will,
O God, to be more loving and
caring especially to those with less
in life, for those hurting inside.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sixteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 17 July 2022
Genesis 18:1-10 ><}}}}*> Colossians 1:24-28 ><}}}}*> Luke 10:38-42
An icon of Jesus visiting his friends, the siblings Sts. Lazarus, Mary and Martha. Photo from crossroadsinitiative.com.
Immediately after Jesus our “Good Samaritan” had told this parable on his way to Jerusalem last Sunday, Luke now tells us the Lord making a stop over at the home of two sisters named Martha and Mary.
The two ladies were of contrasting attitudes in receiving Jesus as guest that he took it as an occasion to teach anew on “what we must do to gain eternal life” when Martha complained to him of Mary not doing anything to help her prepare for him.
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 only of one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”
Luke 10:40-42
Photo by author, Baras, Rizal, January 2021.
Focusing on Jesus more when he comes
We are again presented here with a very familiar story only Luke has like the parable of the good Samaritan last Sunday. Almost everyone feels like knowing Martha and Mary so well, that they have covered everything when Jesus dropped by to visit the two sisters.
And that’s the problem when we feel so familiar with a story by Jesus or in an event in his life that we take it lightly and miss the more essential aspects as well as learn new insights being presented to us.
In this story of Jesus visiting the two sisters, Martha is often presented as the “active” type while Mary is the “contemplative” who sat at the Lord’s feet to listen to his words. As a result, many have thought Jesus favored Mary over Martha, that praying is more important than acting.
That is absolutely wrong! Jesus is not saying it is best to be a contemplative than active, nor Mary is better than Martha.
From Facebook during the first wave COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020.
Through Mary and especially Martha, Jesus is reminding us today not to be so preoccupied or “anxious and worried about many things” in life like food and clothings, money and wealth and other material things.
Jesus had always been consistent in teaching everyone not to be so concerned with wealth, power and fame that prevent us from growing in the kingdom of heaven like in the parable of the sower, of how the seeds that fell among thorns “were choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life, and they failed to produce mature fruit” (Lk.8:14).
Most of all, recall that when his pasch was approaching, Jesus became more pronounced in warning us all in having that overwhelming concern and cares for things of the world especially in relation with his second coming, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth” (Lk.21:34-35).
Such preoccupation with things of the world detracts us from the most essential which is Christ himself and witnessing him in this world so concerned with wealth and power, with fame and ego.
And that is what Martha was missing in having Jesus as guest in their home — she was so busy preparing meals that she had entirely forgotten Jesus himself was in the house! Mary was praised because she chose the most important – Jesus himself who was their guest and the Word he spoke to them! Every time we recognize Christ’s coming in our home and in our very selves, something wonderful always happens. The good news is made known to us like a mission or a plan from God we have long been praying over.
The famous icon of The Trinity visiting Abraham at Mamre by Russian artist Andrei Rublev done in the 15th century. Photo from en.wikipedia.org.
This is the reason we have the beautiful story of Abraham welcoming three guests who turned out to be God himself, the Blessed Trinity coming to his tent at Mamre in our first reading today.
More than the story of Abraham’s hospitality is the announcement of the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham of finally having a child of his own with Sarah:
They asked Abraham, “Where is your wife Sarah?” He replied, “There in the tent.” One of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son.”
Genesis 18:9-10
In both the Old and New Testaments, the Bible teems with so many lessons and admonitions from God and his prophets and later from Jesus himself on the need to always welcome and accept strangers especially the poor and the sick for “whatsoever you do the least of these, that you do unto Christ”.
Jesus comes to us daily but are we home to welcome him, to receive him and most of all, listen and act on his words? Or, are we so preoccupied with so many other affairs that we forget his presence, not only among those in need like the priest and Levite last week who just passed by a victim of robbery left half-dead in a street?
The grace of this Sunday lies in the very fact that many times, it is Jesus himself who comes to us right in our homes, in our family members and loved ones, in the ordinary people we take for granted but we are like Martha “so anxious and worried about many things” that we miss the good news he brings to us often. That is why we only get tired with all our efforts, not bearing fruits because we miss the most important of all, Jesus himself!
Let us imitate Paul in the second reading trying to see Jesus in everyone by deepening his reflection last week of Christ as the image of the invisible God and now “Christ in you, the hope for glory” (Col.1:27).
It is our task and mission like Paul to reveal in our lives of loving service to others God’s plan that Jesus came to dwell in us his believers and followers so we may participate in his glory. But how can we participate in God’s glory when we fail to meet Jesus coming daily to our lives because we are like Martha?
Photo by author, Tagaytay, February 2022.
The simplest way to receive Jesus our guest is to seriously participate in our Sunday Eucharist which we tend to take for granted. In the Eucharist, we gather as the Body of Christ with Jesus as our head, the Church.
Notice that in Rublev’s icon of the Trinity at Mamre, the three men are actually gathered in a meal, the Eucharist. When you try to view the icon, you become the fourth person in the painting sharing the meal with the three angels.
That is the mystery of Christ’s coming to our homes daily, in our loved ones and right in our hearts too to share us himself and tell us the good news daily. The Eucharist is in fact our rehearsal in entering heaven in the future, that is why this Sunday, cast away all your anxieties and simply focus in the Lord and you will never get lost! Have a blessed week ahead! Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot, 11 July 2022
Isaiah 1:10-17 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 10:34-11:1
Photo by author, Church of St. Agnes, Jerusalem, Israel, May 2018.
Your words today, O God
are not only disturbing but
also puzzling; it is disturbing
for us who continue with all of
our fake religiosities that are more
of a show than an intimacy with you.
Your words through Isaiah
should awaken us to be more truthful,
to show more our love for you in our
actions that are just and fair to others.
“Trample my courts no more. Bring no more worthless offerings; your incense is loathsome to me. Your new moons and festivals I detest; they weigh me down, I tire of the load… learn to do good. Make justice your aim, redress the wronged; hear the orphan’s plea; defend the widow.”
Isaiah 1:13, 14, 17
Your words are also puzzling,
as spoken by Jesus Christ your Son
who declared:
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword.”
Matthew 10:34
Puzzling and disturbing are
your words, Lord, and we thank
you for disturbing us, for puzzling us:
may we have the courage to confront
our true selves, strip ourselves naked
of our pretensions of being good and
faithful so we may be true to your call
to be holy and just, loving and merciful;
so many times, even in our religion and
faith, it is not you whom we put first but
our very selves.
Through the prayers and examples of
St. Benedict, may we put Christ before
everything by thinking more of others
than of ourselves; may we always begin
our works by appealing to Jesus our Lord
to bring these to perfection and lead us to
everlasting life. Amen.
St. Benedict,
Pray for us!
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