Advent is God’s tenderness & sweetness

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fourth Sunday in Advent-C, Simbang Gabi-7, 22 December 2024
Micah 5:1-4 ><}}}}*> Hebrews 10:5-10 ><}}}}*> Luke 1:39-45

*Photo by author, Baguio City, March 2020.*

Christmas is a story of love, about the meeting of lovers with God as the Great Lover who gave us His only Son because of His immense love for us. But, this love is not the kind of love conveyed by the cheesy Christmas tunes “Pasko na Sinta Ko” and “Last Christmas”.

The word “lovers” may be too serious as a term for us to relate this with today’s gospel of the Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth though both women were so in love with God who clearly loved them so much with children in their womb bound to change the course of human history forever. They were also filled with love for each other as expression of their love for God. And when there is love, there is always tenderness and sweetness that all happen in the context of a visitation that we must first clarify.

*Photo by author, Church of Visitation, Israel, May 2017.*

Visit and visitation may seem to be one and the same as both share the Latin root vidi, videre which is the verb “to see” as in video and visual. But, a visit is more casual and informal without intimacy because it is just “a passing by” or merely to see. It is more concerned with the place or the location and site and not the person to be visited. We say it clearly in Filipino as in “napadaan lang” when it just so happened you were passing by a place and even without any intentions, you tried seeing someone there.

On the other hand, visitation is more commonly used in church language like when a bishop or priests come to see the parishioners in remote places; hence, a chapel is always called a visita where priests “visit” to celebrate Mass and check on the well-being of people living in areas far from the parish. Aside from being the venue for the celebration of Masses, the visita serves as classroom for catechism classes and other religious even social gatherings in remote barrios. Now as a chaplain in a University with a hospital, I do sick visitations every Sunday after our Mass to anoint and bring communion to our patients.

Thus, visitation connotes a deeper sense in meaning because there is an expression care and concern among people, a kind of love shared by the visitator/visitor and the one visited like Mary and Elizabeth. Visitation is more of entering into someone’s life or personhood as reported by Luke on Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth where Mary “entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth” (Lk.1:40), implying communion or the sharing of a common experience. In this case, the two women shared the great experience of being blessed with the presence of God in their wombs!

*Photo by author, bronze statues of Mary and Elizabeth at the patio of the Church of Visitation, Israel, May 2017.*

Visitation is a sharing or oneness in the joys and pains of those dear to us. The word becomes more meaningful when we try to examine its Filipino equivalent –“pagdalaw” from the root word “dala” that can be something you bring or a verb to bring.

When we come for a visitation, we dala or bring something like food or any gift. But most of all we bring our very selves like a gift of presence wherein we share our total selves with our time and talents, joys and sadness, and everything to those being visited that Mary did exactly in her visitation of Elizabeth where she brought with her the Lord Jesus Christ in her womb.

This fourth Sunday of Advent, we are invited to become like Mary in the visitation of others to bring Christmas and Jesus Himself to others by allowing our very body to be the “bringer” or taga-dala of Christ, the highest good we can bring as pasalubong in every visitation we make. Here again is another beautiful Filipino word, pasalubong that is literally the gift you bring when you visit somebody. It has a verb equivalent that is salubong or meeting/encounter. To salubong or meet another person, one has to leave one’s place, one has to leave behind one’s biases and mistrust to be empty to meet the other person.

How lovely and sweet if we can leave our negativities behind this Advent and Christmas so we can dala (bring) Jesus to family and friends and strangers to therefore salubong (meet) to experience God’s tenderness and sweetness in Jesus Christ.

*Photo by author, Fourth Sunday of Advent 2022, Chapel of Basic Education, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City.*

Tenderness and sweetness in Filipino are often translated in just one word which is “malambing” from “lambing” that has no direct English translation except that it connotes a loving affection; however, both terms are more than just affections but stirrings from the heart that move us into action.

Tenderness is very much like gentleness; the former is more focused while the latter is very general attitude. Tenderness is more than being soft and gentle but an awareness of the other person’s weaknesses, needs and vulnerabilities. A tender person is one who tries not to add more insult to one’s injuries or rub salt onto one’s wounds so to speak. A tender person is one who tries to soothe and calm a hurting person, trying to heal his/her wounds like God often portrayed in many instances in the bible in lovingly dealing with sinners filled with mercy.

Like God, a person filled with tenderness is one who comes to comfort and heal the sick and those taking on a lot of beatings in life. When Jesus Christ came, He also personified this tenderness of God like when He was moved with pity and compassion for the sick, the widows, the women and the children and the voiceless in the society. Tenderness is coming to heal the wounds of those wounded and hurt, trying to “lullaby” the restless and sleepless. Mary visited Elizabeth because she also knew the many wounds of her cousin who for a long time bore no child, living in “disgrace before others” as she had claimed (Lk.1:25).

*Photo from The Valenzuela Times, 02 July 2024.*

Sweetness always goes with tenderness. It is the essence of God who is love. Anyone who loves is always sweet, something that comes naturally from within, bringing out good vibes. It is never artificial like Splenda, always flowing freely and naturally that leaves a good taste and feeling to anyone. In the Hail Holy Queen, Mary is portrayed as “O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary” to show her sweetness as a mother. There are no pretensions and pompousness in being sweet, never needs much effort to exert in showing it for it comes out naturally and instantly.

Tenderness and sweetness are the most God-like qualities we all have but have buried deep into our innermost selves, refusing them to come out because of our refusal to love for fears of getting hurt and left behind or, even lost. When Mary heard Elizabeth’s condition, she simply followed her human and motherly instincts that are in fact so Godly – she went in haste to visit her. Tenderness and sweetness are the twin gifts of Christmas to humanity when God almighty became little and vulnerable like us so we can be great and powerful like Him in being able to love.

Photo by author, *Archdiocesan Shrine of Nuestra Señora De Guia, Ermita, Manila, 28 November 2024.*

It is the final Sunday of Advent. In a few days it will be Christmas day and we still have enough time to empty our hearts of sins and bitterness to be filled with God’s love, sweetness and tenderness in Christ.

Let me leave you with my favorite quote from the novel “The Plague” by Albert Camus, “A loveless world is a dead world, and always there comes an hour when one is weary of prisons, of one’s work, and of devotion to duty, and all one craves for is a loved face, the warmth and wonder of a loving heart.”

Let that love in you come out this Christmas and hereafter; simply be like the child Jesus and be surprised with His tremendous power to transform the world. Amen. Have a blessed, sweet and tender Christ-filled week ahead!

Advent a time machine?

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Simbang Gabi-3 Homily, 18 December 2024
Jeremiah 23:5-8     <*[[[[><  +  ><]]]]*>     Matthew 1:18-25

For those looking for a great gift this Christmas, whether for others or for yourself, I strongly recommend a copy of Before the Coffee Gets Cold. If you can afford, get its four other sequels too!

Written by the Japanese Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Before the Coffee Gets Cold and its sequels is a collection of stories about “time travel” set in a Tokyo cafe with a funny name that is actually the title of 1921 Italian opera song, Funiculi Funicula that means “A Merry Life”. It is very appealing because we all have dreamt or wished of travelling in time with its crucial question – who is that one person you would like to meet in the past or future?

There are many rules to follow for anyone wishing to travel time in the Tokyo cafe like you can only time travel with someone who had been there; you sit only at one particular table inside the small cafe; you may go back to the past or even go to the future but you cannot change them as it would adversely affect the present; and most of all, you have to drink the coffee before it gets cold to return to the present.

The novel is aptly titled Before the Coffee Gets Cold because anyone wishing to travel time, whether in the past or future, one has to drink and swallow all bitterness (coffee) we have in life in order to find fulfillment in the present and future.

Is it not funny that in life and in fantasy like time travel, we are governed by rules as well as commandments? Many times most of us disregard them while some almost worshipped them like the Jews of biblical times, except Joseph.

After establishing the fact that Jesus Christ is from the lineage of the two greatest personages of the Old Testament, Abraham and David, Matthew logically placed next to his genealogy the circumstances surrounding the birth of the Lord by solemnly declaring, “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about (Mt.1:18).”

Notice how Matthew not only stressed Joseph as “the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ (Mt.1:16)” to indicate his royal blood from the lineage of King David but as a true blooded Jew for he was “a righteous man (Mt.1:19).”

In the Bible, a “righteous man” or a “just man” is a “holy man” called a zaddik in Hebrew, one who lives his life according to the sacred Scriptures as word of God, delighting in His laws and commandments, and entrusting everything to the Divine will.

Joseph was exactly that kind of Jewish “zaddik” who lived in constant dialogue with God in His words, concretely living it out minus the legalisms of Pharisees and scribes. For Joseph, the Torah was a “good news” meant to make life better not bitter that it was not difficult for him to choose to leave Mary silently so as to spare her of all the shame and trouble in bearing a child not his if he went by their laws. Eventually after the angel had appeared to him in a dream to explain the virginal conception by Mary, “When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home (Mt.1:24).”

Matthew is teaching us that to be holy like Joseph, we have to make that important decision of bridging our faith with our life, of being obedient to God. Obedience literally in Latin means “to listen intently”; in being open to God’s words and will, Joseph listened intently that he was able to obey and follow God. It required a lot of listening and humility on Joseph’s part to set aside his plans and let God’s will prevail. That early, Joseph realized that for him to accept God in Jesus, he had to take Mary as his wife. And here lies Joseph’s greatness: in taking Mary as his wife as told by the angel, Jesus Christ was born and we have Christmas to celebrate!

As a true blooded Jewish man, Joseph knew all the rules and commandments and lived by them but never in absolute terms especially when they superseded persons. Later, Jesus would insist to His detractors that “the sabbath was created for man not man for sabbath.” Joseph as a righteous man did exactly that when he took Mary as wife and became the Lord’s “foster father” on earth. There was a clear application in life whatever was in the heart and mind of Joseph as he walked his talk (or silence).

Joseph’s holiness in the real sense is best expressed in his ability to sleep soundly in the midst of great crises as he completely trusted God. There were four instances that the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream with important messages from God: first was here in the annunciation of Christ’s birth; then, when he was told to flee to Egypt with Mary and Baby Jesus to escape Herod’s wrath; third, when he was told to return to Israel after Herod’s death, and fourth when he was told to raise Jesus in Mary’s town of Nazareth in fulfillment of the prophecy “he shall be called a Nazorean.”

Joseph was always asleep because he completely trusted God whenever he made decisions in life. He never dilly-dallied with important decisions unlike us who could not firm up our decisions that is why we are restless, could not sleep at all. In the first reading we heard the prophecy of the coming of Christ who shall be called “the Lord our justice (Jer.22:6)” because like Joseph, Jesus would entrust Himself completely to God’s will when He died on the Cross for us.

Sleeping and dying are similar in the closing of our eyes when we entrust ourselves to God completely without knowing what shall happen next if we would still wake up or, in the case of death, rise again.

When we sleep, we travel through time in our dreams, in our hopes and aspirations in the future, and in the pains of the past. We submit them all to God as we sleep hoping for His surprises upon waking up. Christmas happens and Jesus comes to us when like Joseph we abandon everything to God and go to sleep to be ready and prepared for new, unexpected, and even incredible things the following morning. So, face your problems and issues squarely before going to bed, pray and then decide like Joseph and be surprised by the Lord, whether in your dream or upon waking up.

One of the stories in Before the Coffee Gets Cold is about an accomplished Japanese career woman; she asked to travel to her past when her younger boyfriend dated her in the cafe before leaving for the US. The woman was so sad as she felt discarded by her boyfriend in favor of a career in the the States. When she finally travelled in time, she kept her mouth shut unlike in their last meeting; lo, and behold, it was only then she “heard” her boyfriend asking her to wait for him after three years. She never listened to her boyfriend during their last meeting, oblivious to his request that she wait for him after three years when he comes back to get married with her! Everything changed when she returned to the present: without changing the past, she could still change the future in her favor as she happily awaited her boyfriend’s return.

When we are open to God in Jesus, we can also “travel time” in Him for He is eternal, to listen intently to Him as we revisit our past with all its mistakes and sins or peek into the future with all of its fears and uncertainties or simply remain in the present moment with all the problems and trials we grapple. That’s when we admit and swallow the bitterness we have and surprisingly find Jesus Christ in our present, past and future always loving us, calling us, speaking to us. Do we listen to Him and to those around us or, are we so bound by rules and our own prejudices? Amen. Have a blessed day!

*Photo by author, Fatima Avenue, Valenzuela City, December 2023.*

Are we all lost stars trying to light up the dark?

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Simbang Gabi-2 Homily, Tuesday, 17 December 2024
Genesis 49:2, 8-10 <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Matthew 1:1-17

*Photo by Atty. Polaris Grace R. Beron atop Mt. Sinai in Egypt, May 2019.*

Some of you must have noticed – even sang – the title of our second Simbang Gabi homily is from the lyrics of the song Lost Stars of the 2013 movie “Begin Again” starring Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Adam Levine and James Corden.

Every time the Advent season would come since the pandemic in 2020, Lost Stars would always come to my mind as it has some semblance with Isaiah’s prophecy about the coming of the Messiah when peace would finally be achieved with predators and preys living in harmony. It is a passage so lovely that it is used twice or thrice during Advent until Christmas.

Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall b e neighbors, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like ox. The baby shall play by the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair (Isaiah 11:6-8).

See now its semblance with Lost Stars and if you know the song, sing it:

And God
Tell us the reason youth is wasted on the young
It's hunting season and this lamb is on the run
We're searching for meaning
But are we all lost stars
Trying to light up the dark?

Who are we?
Just a speck of dust within the galaxy
Woe is me

If we're not careful turns into reality
Don't you dare let our best memories bring you sorrow
Yesterday I saw a lion kiss a deer
Turn the page, maybe we'll find a brand new ending
Where we're dancing in our tears

Begin Again and Lost Stars are unlikely movie and song for Christmas but you will be surprised that they are indeed so perfectly apt for this season which is about love and loss, friendships and ties, hopes and dreams of a better future.

Christmas is actually a story about mankind “beginning again” in Jesus, of us like the prodigal son who was a “lost star” but found again by Christ. These realities we find in both our readings today from Genesis and from Matthew’s account of the genealogy of Jesus.

The world had always been at a loss since the fall of Adam and Eve. Mankind was in darkness that is why God sent His Son Jesus so that we can “begin again” no longer as “lost stars trying to light up the dark” but this time sharing Christ who is the true light of the world as we have reflected yesterday.

Like in that movie Begin Again, the coming of Jesus did not simply happen. There were a lot of twists and turns in the lives of the different characters in the story who were totally unaware and uncertain of what would happen next but, as every good love story would end, and they lived happily ever after.

*Photo by author, BED Chapel, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 2022.*

The same is true with the coming of Jesus and with us today: how amazing and interesting that our Savior came from a lineage of family just like ours – imperfect even crazy and weird people. But, the good news is, eventually at the coming of Jesus, everything was neatly tied up by God in His grace we tremendously enjoy now.

Both the first reading and the gospel traced to us the roots of Jesus to the very beginning of Israel and Judaism, from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his sons led by Judah from whom came their greatest King, David, an ancestor of the Christ.

Of Jacob’s twelve sons, we wonder why Judah was the one blessed when it was Joseph who saved them all from famine and gave them a new start in Egypt. In fact, Judah would have a son with his daughter-in-law Tamar who disguised herself a prostitute to lure him into sex so she can have a son after her husband, Jacob’s son died and left her childless. Their children were Perez and Zerah (Mt. 1:3).

*Photo by author, San Fernando, Pampanga December 2022*.

Meanwhile, if Tamar pretended to be a prostitute, the second woman in the Lord’s genealogy was actually a prostitute named Rahab who was the mamasan of the brothel in Jericho where the spies sent by Joshua hid before attacking the ancient city. Rahab welcomed the Israelite spies led by Salmon after securing a pledge from them to save her family after their attack. Jericho fell and so were Salmon and Rahab. They named their son Boaz who later married a pagan woman named Ruth that was a big no-no among jews at that time. They had a son named Obed who became the father of Jesse, the father of King David.

Known as the greatest king of Israel from whose lineage the Savior would come, David was not totally a good king. He sinned big time against God not once: first, he not only took the wife of his army officer but even had him killed in a scheme after Bathsheba got pregnant with Solomon. One of his sons in his previous wife overthrew him but was later beheaded by his loyalist soldiers that caused David deep sorrow to compose Psalm 51.

Behind all those names in the Lord’s genealogy by Matthew are great materials for modern-day telenovela with its unique plots with exciting twists and turns.

However, we hear it proclaimed today as we shift our focus into the second aspect of Advent of preparing for the first coming of Christ more than 2000 years ago to remind us that Jesus did not just appear as an isolated human being. He came from God, no doubt about it, but, He is also intimately and crucially linked with the history of His own people. And because of that, so are we.

All four evangelists have as their primary objective in writing their gospel accounts the provence, or origin of Jesus Christ, the Promised One of God. That had to be clear before everything else because they have to established clearly the identity of Jesus Christ.

Matthew opened his gospel account with the genealogy of Jesus to remind us too today of our origin in faith in Christ who gives us a new beginning in God. May this second day of our Simbang Gabi be our new beginning, no longer a lost star but a true star in the eyes of God meant to light the dark in Christ. Amen.

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.*

*You might be interested to listen to “Lost Stars”…better, watch “Begin Again” to warm your heart this Christmas.

From YouTube.com

Advent is sharing the light of Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Simbang Gabi-1 Homily, Monday, 16 December 2024
Isaiah 56:1-3, 6-8     <*((((><  +. ><))))*>     John 5:33-36

*Photo by Mr. Boy Cabrido at Mt. Carmel Shrine, QC, December 2023.*

Today – or last night – we begin our nine-day novena to Christmas more known as Simbang Gabi which actually began last night or Misa de Gallo which is the pre-dawn Mass most of the faithful observe.

How you call it does not really matter for as long as you complete the nine-day Masses before Christmas which is actually a novena to the Blessed Mother Mary known as Nuestra Señora dela Expectacion. And of course, the other important thing is the setting of the Simbang Gabi, that of darkness that calls us to muster enough courage and strength to be awake and vigilant, praying for the Lord’s coming.

Night time and darkness in the bible connote evil and other negativities that Jesus conquered in His coming to us. In fact, His birthdate was pegged at December 25 partly because it is the darkest night of the year, making Jesus truly the light of the world.

*Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com*

It is very interesting that during our Christmas celebrations, our brothers and sisters in the Jewish faith celebrate their Hanukkah (Chanukah) or eight-day festival of lights beginning December 25 to January 2, 2025. It commemorates the victory of the Maccabean brothers and followers against their Syrian-Greek occupiers led by King Antiochus IV who defiled the Jerusalem Temple during their brief take-over of Judah around the year 170 BC. After driving out the pagans, Judas Maccabeus and his followers cleaned the temple and found only a small amount of consecrated oil lamp left that was good only to last for a day. Miraculously, the lamp burned for eight consecutive days, giving them enough time to prepare according to their rituals new sets of holy oil for their temple lamp.

During their Hanukkah, every Jewish family celebrate at home by lighting eight candles in their menorah that means “to shine” in Hebrew to remember and thank God for those eight days of light in their temple as well as their deliverance from their enemies despite their being outnumbered.

Regardless of faith, there is one truth we all believe in, that God’s love and mercy abides in us not only for one day or eight days but all the days of our lives even through all eternity. That is actually the meaning of eight-days which we Catholics borrowed from the Jewish liturgy in having Christmas and Easter octaves to signify eternity. We have always stressed that we do not have weekend because the week does not end but simply goes on and on because after the seventh day of Saturday, we have Sunday again which is eighth day! (The Beatles were right after all when they sang, “eight days a week… I looooo-ve you.”)

*Photo by author, San Fernando, Pampanga, December 2021.*

Whether it is the menorah or the beautiful parol (lantern) that lights our homes during this season, they all remind us of God’s abiding love and presence in the midst of many darkness in our lives.

In the story of creation in the Book of Genesis, God created light first of all on the first day because light is so essential that it also means life itself. In light, we find things easier, we travel better. And we need light so much – literally and figuratively speaking – to move on in life.

As we go through our Simbang Gabi – whether at night or at dawn in preparation for Christmas, Jesus reminds us at the start of our novena to continue searching, following and sharing Him as the true light of the world.

During that time, Jesus said to the Jews, “He (John) was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light. But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me” (John 5:35-36).

It is very sad, even tragic despite our many advancements achieved in science and technology that our world today is still in a lot of darkness due to wars going on especially in the Holy Land, of natural calamities displacing many people that claimed many lives almost everywhere this year, as well as poverty, hunger, and oppression in all forms that put so much sufferings especially to children, women and elderly.

Everyone of us is challenged, as God told Isaiah in the first reading to “observe what is right, do what is just” (Is.56:1) to alleviate and ease the hardships of so many of our brothers and sisters who have to face survival daily.

Let us be the light of Christ with our loving service and presence with others especially those facing financial challenges at this time, those grieving at the loss of a loved one, and others not having a merry Christmas this year. May we share the light of Christ too to those losing hope and faith in life and mankind because of being in too much or prolonged darkness in life. Amen. Have a blessed Simbang Gabi everyone!

*Artwork by Kay Bratt in Facebook, 13 December 2023.*

Advent is the joy of our union in the Lord

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Third Sunday in Advent (Gaudete Sunday), Cycle C, 15 December 2024
Zephaniah 3:14-18 ><}}}}*> Philippians 4:4-7 ><}}}}*> Luke 3:10-18

*Photo by author, Gaudete Sunday, Advent 2018.*

Our altars are bursting in shades of pink this third Sunday in Advent known as Gaudete Sunday from the entrance antiphon in Latin of today’s Mass meaning “Rejoice in the Lord”.

To rejoice means to intensify joy which is a world apart from “happiness” many have mistaken as synonym for joy and rejoicing. Happiness is fleeting and superficial, dependent on the outside “stimulus” that makes us happy while joy comes from within one’s heart.

Joy is that feeling of certainty that no matter what happens to us, God would never forsake us, leading us to serenity and peace. That is why one can still rejoice and be joyful even in pain and sufferings like the elderly, the sick, or those struck with tragedy and failures. We can only rejoice when we have that deep faith in God, filled with hope that even if things get worst, our final salvation is in Jesus Christ who had come, would come again, and continues to come to us.

*Photo by author, Advent 2021, BED Chapel, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City.*

Joy and salvation always come together as expressed by the Prophet Zephaniah in the first reading today which is fulfilled in Jesus Christ who renewed us all in the love of God our Father.

Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has removed the judgment against you, as he turned away your enemies… The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; he will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love (Zephaniah 3:14-15, 17).

True rejoicing can only happen in Jesus our Savior as St. Paul insisted in our second reading today, “Brothers and sisters: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4).

In His sermon on the mount about the beatitudes, Jesus taught us that true blessedness that leads to joy is not in having everything but in being empty and poor for God, being free from the trappings of this material world. Just ask those above 50 years old today: we have less of material things when growing up but we have so much fun so unlike these days of so many gadgets and things when suicides and mental cases are on the rise. People may be happy today but not joyful.

*With our Campus Ministry members after our Advent Recollection, 12 December 2024, Chapel of the Angel of Peace, RISE Tower, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City.*

At His Last Supper as well as after Easter in His appearances to His disciples, Jesus assured us of joy and peace if we remain in Him by keeping His commandments especially the celebration of the Eucharist until He comes again. But, in a recent Christmas party I attended, a parlor game surprised me when the host asked participants to “bring him” the first thing we look for upon waking up when everybody rushed to him bringing their cellphones!

I thought the answer were eye glasses which I first look for upon waking up to check the time. As a result, I made an informal survey when I took the elevator and during our Mass at the university when I asked the students, “what is the first thing you look for upon waking up?”

And, cellphone again was their unanimous answer which I find very alarming. Is the cellphone the new god of our modern time, replacing not only Jesus but even ourselves! It has slowly robbed us of our true joy, often caused many of our sorrows and breakdown of relationships.

We rejoice because of Jesus Christ and in our union in Him, we become one with others in whom we experience joy and rejoicing too.

Now we go to another dimension of joy and rejoicing – its personal and relational aspect. Have you experienced there are times we find it difficult to rejoice with others having fun or enjoying something while on the other hand, we are easily moved to sympathize with anyone crying or feeling api and forlorn even if we do not know them?

Is it not ironic we easily unite with strangers in sadness but not in joy? I think that perhaps, God designed us to sympathize with anyone in pain because there is a thread that connects and binds us together in times of sorrow. It is a lot different with rejoicing which presupposes a relationship, a sort of oneness to experience the others’ joy. Joy is never solitary unlike sadness that is often kept inside by the person. Joy to be really joyful has to be made known. That is why we can easily share in the joy of others when we know them. We turn sarcastic even jealous when we find others we do not know rejoicing simply because we are not part of them nor of their joys.

*Photo by author, Gaudete Sunday, Advent 201*9.

Rejoicing is not about what we or anyone can do but all about relationships as Luke shows us in his account on John’s baptism at Jordan that is so upbeat that we too could feel the rejoicing of the people in John’s coming and preaching that some of them thought John was the Messiah. The people felt a deep sense of belonging, of relating and knowing that they asked John what they must do to continue rejoicing!

The crowds asked John the Baptist, “What should we do?” Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” Soldiers also asked him, “And what is it that we should do?” Now the people were filled with expectation, nd all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ… Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached good news to the people (Luke 3:10, 12, 14, 15, 18).

In telling us how John answered the queries of the people on what they must do to experience the coming of the Messiah, Luke teaches us that God is not asking great things from us but only simple acts of charity and mercy for one another like being kind and loving because we are already related in Him in the first place. Hence, we all can rejoice in Christ!

Here is our common misconception that if we do what is good and right, then we shall be filled with joy. Wrong. We are already filled with joy and we just have to intensify that into rejoicing because we are already God’s beloved children in baptism. When we live out our status as beloved children of God in Christ, everything follows.

Don’t you feel rejoicing just before communion, praying, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you under my roof but only say the word and I shall be healed”?

Imagine that immense love of God in Christ for us when nobody among us even the priest officiating the Mass is worthy to receive Jesus and yet, He came and made it a reality because He loves us so much! All we have to do is be sorry for our sins, reform our lives, apologize to those we have wronged, forgive those who have sinned against us… it is God who does everything for us in Jesus Christ. We do only so little but sadly, we could not even do the little things so well like coming on time for the Mass every Sunday, much less be silent to pray and listen to Jesus coming to us in Holy Communion because we are so busy conversing with those beside us or checking our cellphones.

This third Sunday in Advent, Jesus invites us to imitate John the Baptist His precursor who “preached good news to the people” with his warm and joyful presence. Spread the joy of Jesus by being kind and warm to others especially those in pain, those alone, those who are lost. After all, we are all one in Christ who is our joy and salvation. Amen.

Advent is journeying like Joseph & Mary to bring Jesus in darkness

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 13 December 2024

*Photo by author, Camp John Hay, Baguio City, December 2018.*

Thanks to social media – finally, the beauty and splendor of our faith is once again made known widely especially during this lovely season of Advent. Two beautiful posts from Facebook recently caught my attention that prompted me to share this blog.

First is from the wife of my former student in Bulacan whose wedding I officiated during the COVID pandemic in early 2022. This had actually shaped my prayers and reflections this week. She wrote:

Last Sunday I mentioned in my homily how during Advent the days are shorter and nights are longer, starting earlier than usual. How true indeed that the darkest nights are the longest nights, especially during Christmas. And that’s one of the beautiful reasons Jesus was born on December 25 which is the darkest night of the year.

“Kung kailan magpapasko…” is one expression we dread to hear ourselves or dear ones saying at this time of the year. “Kung kailan magpapasko at saka magkakasakit… mawawalan ng trabaho…” or “mababasted o maghihiwalay.” Worst, “kung kailan magpapasko at saka mayroong mamamatay.”

This Advent, Jesus reminds us how in the cold, dark nights are others He is searching too to remind them that He actually came for them. Jesus wants us to be the “inn keeper” to bring Him to the poor and suffering, the sick and the children, those who have failed and are so disappointed in life, those deep into sins, feeling lost and alone in this merry season.

Dare yourself to be open to Jesus this Advent when He suddenly comes to you to bring Him to someone who needs cheering and reassurance Christ is coming again, Christ had come, and Christ comes.

Simply be aware how blessed you are and Jesus will tell you, will direct you to whom you must pray for or even visit.

Many times, we try doing something good to be blessed but the truth is, we have been tremendously blessed that is why we are able to do something good. God can never be outdone in generosity. Remember that before we can bless anyone, we are first blessed. That is why we have to keep on blessing others by being kind and caring always to anyone because we have been so blessed.

This I noticed since my first year in the priesthood – God would always lead me to some sick people to visit and anoint with oil, hear confessions and receive the Viaticum. That’s every Christmas which I have adopted as a personal tradition, a panata (pledge). That is why when I was assigned as a chaplain at the Fatima University Medical Center in Valenzuela, I felt God affirming my Christmas panata with the sick as He leads me to new directions in my ministry. The other year, I visited my kababata in Bocaue Christmas evening to hear his confessions and anoint him as he reached the terminal stage of his renal disease. A few days after new year, I was back to celebrate Mass at his funeral. So glad to have visited him and brought him Jesus.

*With my classmate and friend Bernie, 12 December 2024.*

Yesterday I visited a classmate and friend from college, Bernie. We last saw each other before our graduation from UST in 1986 after the EDSA People Power Revolution. We reconnected in 2019 when our seminarian now priest Fr. RA was assigned in his parish in Aritao, Vizcaya where Bernie is an active member and supporter.

Two years ago he asked me for prayers after being diagnosed with cancer and yesterday, he suddenly called me during breakfast to say he has been declared cancer-free by his doctors. As a thanksgiving, he is attending a healing Mass at the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Marilao, Bulacan with his parish priest. And they were staying in a private retreat house in Baliuag, Bulacan owned by my friends too! In fact, I held my 50th birthday party there that despite my toxic schedule yesterday, I hurriedly visited Bernie.

As I drove home amid a horrendous traffic at the Nlex, I felt like Joseph with Mary journeying to Bethlehem to bring the Son of God, Jesus Christ into the world. I hope that I just did that to my classmate and friend yesterday.

*Photo by author, 28 November 2022, RISE Tower, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City.*

During these four weeks before Christmas, say a prayer for anyone you know or may have heard to be going through difficulties lately like not feeling merry and bright, suffering mentally, grieving for loved ones, struggling financially, going through some family problems, suffering physically, dealing with severe blows like failures and disappointments in life, and a host of other trials and tribulations others may be going through this month alone.

Pray also for those caring for the sick and suffering. Many times, we are so focused with their patients, forgetting the very crucial roles caregivers do for the sick and impaired or challenged. Remembering them, giving them a little gift or a card or spending precious moments with them can be their merriest Christmas! Many of them rarely go on breaks, especially on Christmas. They need Jesus so badly whom they rarely experience especially when the people they care for are very demanding.

Anyone who visits the sick, cares for those in pain and sufferings, consoles those grieving or simply be present with those going through financial or psychological difficulties is like Joseph and Mary going to Bethlehem to give birth to Jesus, to make Jesus present. The Lord needs us to bring Him closer to those silently crying, silently in pain. Think of the immense blessings that have been poured out to us beforehand and soon, be surprised for more blessings too.

Let me share with you this beautiful prayer shared to me recently too by another friend, a well-respected and multi-awarded photojournalist:

Let’s not forget. Christmas is Jesus Christ. Not money nor things nor food. It is only Jesus, always Jesus dwelling in us. Amen.

Advent is resting in Jesus, “meek & humble of heart”

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Second Week of Advent, 11 December 2024
Isaiah 40:25-31 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 11:28-30

*Photo by author in San Fernando, Pampanga, December 2021.*

Thank you dear Jesus
for this Season of Advent with its
cold weather matched with gentle
breeze that lighten our mood
and feeling; most of all, 
your kind words that are so
true that sometimes pierce us within
but overall comfort us,
giving us that much-needed rest
in you
that only you
can truly give.

Jesus said to the crowds: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves” (Matthew 11:28-29).

Open my heart,
Lord Jesus,
and come to me;
come, Jesus,
and make me rest in you
for you are indeed "meek
 and humble of heart",
always silent,
always present,
always beside and in me;
let me sit beside you, Jesus
and teach me to cast aside
 my many plans and designs
 I have insisted all these years
though they are not
 according to your plans
that is why I am so tired and burdened;
let me gaze anew into your
deep, penetrating eyes that
disregard my faults and sins;
most of all,
hug me Jesus
and take away my worries,
pains and hurts that saddle me.

Forgive me, Jesus,
when the "Christmas rush"
so often overtakes me,
when I am focused with
the traps and trimmings
of Christmas so commercialized,
making me forget YOU are Christmas;
forgive me when I
"faint and grow weary",
doubting your presence,
questioning your love
for me
(cf. Isaiah 40:28).
Amen.

What shall I cry out this Advent?

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Second Week of Advent, 10 December 2024
Isaiah 40:25-31 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 11:28-30

*Photo by author, Advent 2019 in my previous parish.*

Thank you, Lord Jesus
for the gift of this Season of Advent,
a time for new beginnings in God,
a chance for me to prepare your way,
O Lord, right here in my heart;
I can hear your voice saying
"Cry out!" but like Isaiah,
I said, "what shall I cry out?"
(Isaiah 40:6)

You speak of comforting your people,
O Lord, but, how shall I comfort your people
when I am afraid of difficulties in life?

How shall I comfort your people,
O Lord, when I refuse to make time
to visit the sick,
listen to the cries of the poor,
and stay with those at the margins?

How can I find your lost sheep,
Jesus when I am also lost,
grappling for which is true and just,
finding no one to guide me too
at how every valley shall be filled with love
or every mountain and hill of pride be made low?

Fill me with your tenderness, 
loving God our Father
in Jesus Christ;
empty me of my pride
and fill me with your 
humility, justice and love
to seek out others who are lost,
to comfort those who are weak,
to guide those disappointed
and disillusioned
in not finding you Jesus
in their home or school,
in their church,
among their family and friends,
and among our fellow disciples.
Amen.

Advent is going beyond, like a voice in the wilderness

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Second Sunday in Advent, Cycle C, 08 December 2024
Baruch 5:1-9 ><}}}}*> Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11 ><}}}}*> Luke 3:1-6

*Photo courtesy of Mr. Jilson Tio, Archdiocesan Shrine of Nuestra Señora De Guia, Ermita, Manila, 28 November 2024.*

Two weeks ago I officiated the golden wedding anniversary of a friend’s parents where I said the best wedding homily is actually the couple themselves still much in love, filled with joy after 50 years as husband and wife.

“May forever pa rin,” despite all the celebrity break ups we feast on social media and the many separations happening among some couples these days. How I wish that more young people are invited to wedding anniversaries so they would aspire for lasting relationships too.

*Photo by author at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Nuestra Señora De Guia, Ermita, Manila, 28 November 2024.*

Of course, it is never easy – that is why there is the Sacrament of Marriage where couples pray to God and promise Him to cooperate in His grace so that until death, they would remain together in faith, hope and love that would eventually bring them to eternity.

It is the reality not only of marriage but of life itself. God calls us to a particular vocation or state in life like marriage, priesthood and religious life, or single-blessedness in order to lead us to Him in eternity.

And that is the two-fold meaning of Advent too! We are preparing not only for the first coming of Jesus at Christmas but most of all to His Second Coming at the end of time (parousia). This is the second Sunday in Advent so beautifully presented by Luke.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert (Luke 3:1-2).

*Photo by author, Second Sunday Advent 2022, BED Chapel, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City.*

First we notice is Luke’s solemn account of how the Son of God Who is eternal entered through our own time that is temporal. If Luke were to write his gospel today, maybe he would simply change the names above into BBM and Sara Duterte, with Pope Francis and Cardinal Advincula representing the Church then spice it with some showbiz tidbits or whatever is trending in social media.

But, here also is the artistry of Luke when he segued to John the Baptist to direct our thoughts to the Second Coming of Christ without losing sight of the present moment, of the here and now.

John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:3-6).

*“St. John the Baptist Preaching in the Wilderness” by German painter Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1779) from commons.wikimedia.org.*

Though John is the main character in today’s gospel and next Sunday, Luke is actually focused on Jesus Christ who had come, would come again, and continues to come to us today. All four evangelists were clear about John as secondary only to Jesus as His precursor.

However, only Luke of the four evangelists cited the Prophet Isaiah extensively regarding John’s unique mission with Christ to stress this future aspect of Advent, skipping only that part “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed” by closing it at “all flesh shall see the salvation of God” in Isaiah 40:3-5.

Luke is teaching us that Advent is looking beyond Christ’s birth but also to His Easter and most of all, to His Second Coming now happening.

For Luke, to be like John in the wilderness is for us to be bold and daring in opening ourselves to God in Jesus Christ amid the turmoils of our time like wars and pandemic, calamities and upheavals. No matter how much pains and disappointments we have had this year that made us doubt God’s love and presence for us in Christ, let us dare anew like John in the wilderness to believe and live out His coming and presence.

In citing Isaiah 40:3-5, Luke is reminding us that we shall all see and experience God’s salvation in Jesus Christ today while awaiting His Parousia. Notice the similarity of Isaiah’s prophecy with that of Baruch’s in the first reading when “every lofty mountain be made low, and that age-old depths and gorges be filled to level ground, that Israel may advance to secure in the glory of God” (Bar. 5:7). Both prophets spoke of the future expectation expressed by John already unfolding in Christ who had come.

*Photo by author, Fatima Avenua, Valoenzuela City, December 2023.*

A friend texted me last week complaining if Christmas would happen at all in their family after a serious rift with their youngest brother. “Dinaraan-daanan lang po ako Father ng kapatid kong bata, para akong patay na.”

Being the eldest in the family, my friend asked his younger brother to shape up and fix his life (ayusin ang buhay) after taking a third partner. He had dumped his first wife after the birth of their son who turned out to be a special child; then, took a second partner and had a daughter whose godmother, his kumare is now his third partner. My friend had taken upon himself to rear his special nephew and niece while his brother does not care at all.

With that situation at home, my friend told me he could not feel Christmas at all despite the material things they have. After a few hours, I texted him back and told him no one can take away the joy of Christmas because that is Jesus in our hearts. Keep Jesus alive in your heart, I texted him, asking him to continue to still love his wayward brother, never losing that hope in Christ that someday, peace would be restored among them in the family. I ended my texts reminding him that Jesus was born during the darkest night of the year.

That’s the voice of John in the wilderness – when we dare to open to God amid our many pains and sufferings, proclaiming and living out His love in Jesus who had come, continues to come and would come again at the end of time. That’s preparing the way of the Lord even when it is all dark, taking small steps at a time as we could not see the next distant scene. In times like these, let St. Paul’s desire in the second reading be our Advent prayer, “that your love may increase ever more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ” (Phil.1:9-10).

*Photo by author, RISE Tower, Valenzuela City, 06 December 2022.*

How lovely during this time of Advent when our days are getting shorter, dark earlier than usual because this is also the time sunsets are most awesome. Somewhere out there where the sun sets with skies redolent like embers of the dying day is the voice in the wilderness proclaiming to us Christ’s coming and presence even in the long dark night of waiting.

What do you long or desire most right now in your heart? Reawaken your hopes in Christ Jesus and be ready to be surprised as He shall straighten your path soon especially with your loved ones. Amen.

“Come”

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the First Week of Advent, 02 December 2024
Isaiah 2:1-5     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     Matthew 8:5-11

*Photo by author, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Malolos City, Advent 2019.*

Thank you, O God our Father,
for sending us your Son Jesus Christ
who had come,
who shall come again,
and continues to come daily to us;
how lovely is this season of Advent
characterized by "coming":
the coming of the Son 
so that we can come to the Father!

How powerful
and evocative is that word
"come" resounding in this 
season of Advent,
so representative of Advent:
make this Season of Advent
truly a blessed one for us to
come one by one to You, God
our Father in Christ Jesus
who still comes to us.

Even the most famous hymn
of Advent and Christmas 
uses this verb "come",
calling us to gather around You,
dear Jesus, to listen more
intently to you in order to meet You
like the shepherds who first came
upon learning about the birth of Christ
so magnificently proclaimed by the
age old sacred piece, 
"O Come, all ye 
faithful..."

many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us climb the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob. That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths” (Isaiah 2:3)

Jesus said to him, “I will come and cure him.” The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof… For I too am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes…” (Matthew 8:7-8, 9)

Lord Jesus,
You have come,
You shall come again,
and You still come to us
each day while we refuse
to come to You;
let us come to You, Jesus,
by thinking more of others
than of myself;
let us come to You, Jesus,
in our poverty than come to You
in all our wealth and knowledge;
let us come to You,
Jesus, trusting You more,
believing your every wordl
for surely like before,
You shall come.
Amen.