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.
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.
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.
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.
Dome of the chapel at the Shepherd’s Field near Bethlehem; photo by author, Easter 2019.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II First Sunday of Advent, Cycle C, 01 December 2024 Jeremiah 33:14-16 ><}}}}*> 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2 ><}}}}*> Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
Photo by author, Advent 2018.
Blessed happy New Year, everyone! We officially start the new year in the Church on this first Sunday of Advent; that is why the Mass we have every January 1 is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, not New Year as many believe.
This is the reason I insist on everyone to stop greeting “Happy New Year” after December 25 because Christmas is until Epiphany Sunday. And this is the problem with us every Christmas season – we have forgotten its very essence Jesus Christ, replacing Him with all the trimmings of this consumerist and materialistic world we live in.
Photo by author, Advent 2021 at BED Chapel, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City.
The first Sunday of Advent is our new year, our new beginning in our journey in life in God through His Son Jesus Christ who had come, would come again, and continues to come daily in our lives. Beginning today until December 16, Advent invites us to focus on Christ’s Second Coming or Parousia at the end of time which nobody knows when except the Father in heaven; from December 17 to 24 and Christmas, we look back to the stories around Christ’s First Coming more than 2000 years ago. Between these two comings of Jesus is His coming in our daily living, in the here and now which St. Bernard of Clairvaux called Christ’s “Third Coming.”
There lies the tension in those three comings of Jesus Christ that have really taken so long that we get impatient or begin to doubt God especially with how world history has unfolded until now with wars as well as natural calamities. Just recently some parts of our country were devastated by a series of powerful typhoons while some parts of the world like Spain had its share of catastrophic flooding that claimed so many lives. Making things worst is how politics has rocked our country this week, trying to undermine our democracy as well as our sense of decency as a nation that had decayed during the past administration.
Photo by author, Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga, November 2022.
Many are feeling disgusted everywhere in the world with how history is unfolding, wondering if life is going to get any better at all. Some have imitated Pilate in the gospel last Sunday, putting God on trial again, asking Jesus what He had done for all these upheavals and problems going on in history.
Like them, we are also tempted to ask, where is Jesus Christ? Or, the all-powerful and loving God our Father?
The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and Judah. In those days, in that time, I will raise up for David a just shoot; he shall do what is right and just in the land. In those days Judah shall be safe and Jerusalem shall dwell secure, this is what they shall call her: “The Lord our justice” (Jeremiah 33:14-16).
Photo by author, Pulong Sampalok, DRT, Bulacan, 23 November 2024.
The Prophet Jeremiah sets the tone of Advent this Sunday, reawakening our hopes in God amid history’s defiance as seen in the many cycles of sufferings and calamities that continue to shake our lives.
Yes, the “days are coming” and indeed had come when God fulfilled His promise in sending us His Son Jesus Christ who redeemed us from our sins and renewed us in Him with fulfillment in life even while here despite the many trials and tribulations we go through.
The “days are coming” as foretold by Jeremiah long ago and most true these days because the promised Messiah Jesus is now with us, acting in subtle and and complex ways beyond our imaginations, always surprising us with how things turn out than what we believe or expected.
Yes, the “days are coming” – right now – as Jeremiah meant that day after Jerusalem had fallen that amid all the chaos around us, God is among us in Jesus Christ who works among visible realities we cannot see, always coming and going among us unnoticed. That time of great salvation is already among us, being accomplished now by Jesus in silence, in secret.
Hence, the need for us to be vigilant through prayers which Luke emphasized in his gospel account.
Jesus said to his disciples: “But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand. 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… Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:28, 34-35, 36).
Photo by author, San Fernando, Pampanga, November 2021.
On this new liturgical year designated as “Cycle C”, all our gospel readings on Sundays will be from Luke (Cycle A has Matthew and Cycle B, Mark; John is used partly in cycle B and for great feasts).
Of the four evangelists, Luke is the one who emphasized the importance of prayer in his gospel account wherein he always portrayed Jesus in prayer; hence, not surprisingly, he tells us today that “praying at all times” is being “vigilant at all times” too.
And this we have been told ever since as prayer has always been central in all our teachings. It is in prayer when we are one with God in Jesus. It is in prayer when our senses are heightened that we become open to God’s subtle movements in us and among us.
Everything begins in prayer, both in our personal prayers and as a community like in the Sunday Mass where Christ’s presence is unveiled, where we experience Him most in us and among us and in the world that we are then filled with hope in God despite the darkness and sufferings going on.
Recently, our University joined the annual Red Wednesday celebration of the Church when we remember our Christian brothers and sisters persecuted in various forms in many parts of the world in this modern time. I was overwhelmed at the sight of the great number of our students who joined us, many standing outside our chapel.
What touched me was after the dismissal, some students remained inside the chapel lit in red with flickering candles at the altar, still praying. That for me is the sign of that “little shoot” God promised Jeremiah who would come to bring justice and peace on earth.
Photo courtesy of The Tribune, official publication of Our Lady of Fatima University.
To keep watch in prayer (which we mean as a way of life not just mere recitation of formula prayers) while remaining upright and abounding in love as St. Paul instructed us in the second reading is to be open to Jesus Christ, ready to receive Him without fear amid the tumults in the world when He comes in His final glory.
Yes, the world is still plagued with so many imperfections, even darkness and evil that may dishearten us even make us doubt God in His goodness why these bad things are happening. Advent invites us to reawaken our hope in the salvation that had come, that still comes now, and will surely come in the fullness of the Day of the Lord when Jesus comes again.
Lord Jesus Christ, fill us with fervent hope in You amid the many darkness and sufferings in life; reawaken our hope amid our hopelessness and be surprised with Your loving coming and presence. Amen.
Photo courtesy of The Tribune, official publication of Our Lady of Fatima University.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Red Wednesday, the Thirty-Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, 27 November 2024 Revelation 15:1-4 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Luke 21:12-19
The Colosseum in Rome is lit in red to draw attention to the persecution of Christians around the world. (CNS photo/Remo Casilli, Reuters, posted in February 26, 2018.)
Today we bathe our churches and other religious buildings in red to mark Red Wednesday, Aid to the Church in Need’s (ACN) annual campaign for persecuted Christians that started in 2016.
Since then, participation in the campaign has increased steadily in more than 30 countries including the Philippines which is one of the early supporters of the initiative to make known the realities of anti-Christian persecution in this modern time. According to ACN’s biennial report called “Persecuted and Forgotten?” published in October this year, Christian persecution has significantly worsened in most countries surveyed between 2022 and 2024 as it highlighted incidences of displacement, forced marriage of women and girls, and anti-conversion laws.
This year’s campaign focuses on Christian children and young people displaced by persecution and violent conflicts in Africa, the Middle East, and elsewhere. Persecutions of the faithful come in various forms, sometimes hiding in conservatism and the laws of the land. In Iraq last week, conservative lawmakers have moved closer to slashing the country’s legal age of consent from 18 to nine years old that would allow men to marry young children that could give rise to many grave abuses against women.
Photo by author, Red Wednesday 2019.
Red Wednesday aims to emphasize the importance of religious freedom as a fundamental human right often circumvented in many countries these days, particularly those under totalitarian regimes.
For the first time this year, the Church of England is joining Red Wednesday as ACN-UK spearhead a signature campaign to ask the British Foreign Ministry to channel more taxpayer-funded Overseas Development Aid to support Christians and other religious minorities worldwide, recognizing their unique vulnerabilities.
Significance of Red
Red is the color of blood, signifying the countless people especially children and women who have lost their lives and those who continue to suffer in systematic persecutions perpetrated not only by some regimes but by criminal syndicates too.
On this day, we remember and pray for them all as we also try to reflect on what kind of opposition to our faith have we experienced here in our country the Philippines which is 90% Christian.
This is something for us to ponder every Red Wednesday which happens after the Christ the King: while we are so free – not just free but so free in fact without any opposition or costs at all to celebrate the Mass and other religious feasts and festivities all year round, how can the words of Jesus in today’s gospel apply to us?
Jesus said to the crowd: “They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony… You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives” (Luke 21:12-13, 16-19).
The red color signifies courage that vividly portrays the blood shed by our many brothers and sisters in faith facing persecution in other parts of the world like those singing the song of the Lamb before God in heaven as seen by John in the first reading.
But, we wonder, will it be bloody red too for us here in the Philippines? What kind of opposition to the Christian faith have we encountered here in the country? What is the most serious threat ever made against our faith or to anyone personally?
Maybe nothing that much like chapels being burned or altars being vandalized. Or, maybe none at all except for peer pressure when we are teased for being so “conservative” in going to Mass or to Confessions. Perhaps, the most serious dilemma we have had in our faith is whether or not we shall pray or at least make the Sign of the Cross properly when eating in a restaurant or a fast food!
Photo by author, Red Wednesday 2019.
We are not trying to denigrate our being Christians nor are we insulting our fellow faithful; we simply want everyone to praise and thank God for this tremendous blessing of being so free to worship Him in our country.
Let us value this religious freedom we have and enjoy by being faithful to our Sunday Mass as God commands in His Ten Commandments (3rd) by cultivating a deep, personal prayer life that flows into our good deeds as Filipino Christians.
Let us stand for that freedom by safeguarding our democracy from threats within and outside the country.
Let us thank God for this religious freedom we enjoy by being more responsible and truly inclusive of everyone, not just for the rich and powerful or those like us. Jesus dared us to “give testimony” to Him in today’s gospel – that is, be a witness which is literally speaking in Greek, martyria. At least, we do not have to shed blood literally speaking like in other countries. So, let us be witnesses of Christ’s love and presence. Let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, help us to truly express our oneness in suffering, oneness in consolation with our persecuted brothers and sisters by witnessing to Your love and mercy through our personal and communal prayers as Your Body, the Church; may our liturgies flow into our loving service to those in need especially those in the margins, those forgotten by their loved ones and by the society, and those disadvantaged in life; may this Red Wednesday illumine our hearts and minds not only to see the plight of others but most of all of our many blessings so that we may make the right decisions to make ourselves truly Your temple, O God, here on earth amid the persecutions going on; may our voices one day join those blessed in your presence to sing the song of the Lamb. Amen.
Campus Ministry, Our Lady of Fatima University-Valenzuela City.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus, King of the Universe, 24 November 2024 Daniel 7:13-14 ><}}}}*> Revelation 1:5-8 ><}}}}*> John 18:33-37
Photo by author, Bohol Sea scene from Salum Dive Resort, Dauin, Negros Oriental, 10 November 2024.
We are now on the final Sunday of the year, the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. Next Sunday we begin the Season of Advent, the official countdown to Christmas which is the birth of Jesus Christ, King of kings.
See how our Church calendar begins and ends each year in Jesus Christ’s eternal kingship as seen by Prophet Daniel in his vision (first reading); Christ’s coming to the world was not an addendum or a plan B of God because Jesus has been enthroned at His side, conferred with “dominion, glory, and kingship” (Dn. 7:14).
“Ecce Homo” painting by Vicente Juan Masip (1507-1579) from masterapollon.com
Jesus reiterated this in our gospel this Sunday from John’s account of His trial before Pilate, His first “face-to-face” with a representative of political power. According to St. John Paul II in an interview published in 1994 (Crossing the Threshold of Hope), this scene continues to happen when we, too, like Pilate put God on trial when we insist in doing what we perceive as right and true. Let’s try to enter this scene to unravel its many layers of truth about ourselves who are actually the ones in trial, not Jesus Christ.
Pilate said to Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world…” So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king, for this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:33-36, 37).
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera, Christ the King procession during COVID, November 2020.
From the very start of His trial before Pilate, we find Jesus so “cool” – so sure of everything, actually the One in control of the trial despite the sarcasm of Pilate who, eventually, would be the one to give in to the penetrating truth of Christ.
In fact, we find here how Pilate was already inclined to the truth of Christ as the King as he later affirmed unconsciously when he wrote the inscription on the Cross, “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews” that the priests tried to edit but Pilate insisted, “what I have written, I have written” (cf. Jn.19:19-22).
Many times like Pilate, the more we try to justify our sins or inclinations to evil with our various excuses and alibis, the more we sink deeper into admitting the truth that Jesus Christ is King, that He is truth and good Himself. We imitate Pilate’s sarcasm even with God through others like our parents or elders, teachers, even friends who truly love us and care for us as we remain adamant with our wrong beliefs and points of view.
Photo by Mr. Joey Principe, Parish of St. Joseph the Worker, Jaro, Iloilo, 10 November 2024.
What really gave away Pilate – and us – in the process of our trial of Jesus was his final question which I love so much, “What have you done?”
Pilate was sincerely trying to know the truth about Jesus as he was evidently irritated with the case thrown to him by the priests and scribes. His asking Jesus “Are you the King of the Jews?” was a request for clarification as a Roman state official because the word “king” meant only one thing.
And here is the twist in our own days – it is the same question we unconsciously ask Jesus so often to clarify too!
How many times have we sought clarification on the kingship of Jesus especially in this modern time when we discuss divorce, abortion, same-sex marriage, and almost everything from clothes we wear to how we conduct ourselves in this modern time that has become so relative and permissive in morals?
Every time we put Jesus on trial when we insist on what we want and what we believe in, the Pilate within us question Jesus, what have you done? Let us count them… you may add .
"What have you done, Jesus?"
You have forgiven our sins, Jesus, giving us new chances in life daily; You have saved us, Jesus, from many instances when we felt so lost, even gone that's why we are still intact at this very moment in our lives; You have consoled us, Jesus, in countless times that made us to keep believing, hoping, and trusting God and others; You love us so much, Jesus, in ways we can't believe nor understand that's why we too keep on loving despite the hurts and pains; and the list goes on and on and on... that makes You truly our King, Jesus!
Photo by author, Chapel of St. Francis Xavier, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
See that when we remember everything Jesus had done to us, we also realize His being a King of different kind who never forced us to believe Him nor follow Him unlike the powerful people of the world.
Jesus as a King simply invites us gently and lovingly to come to Him to find rest and comfort when we are burdened in life. There were times when we have felt Jesus just closed His eyes to our many sins and imperfections, not even reminding us of our shameful selves like when He washed the dirty feet of His Apostles after their last supper.
Jesus never threatened us when we were in the height of our pride and stupidity and instead waited patiently for us to come home to Him like the prodigal son. He never locked us, allowing us to go and explore everything, standing by just in case we cross the point of no return.
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Retreat House, Baguio City, 2023.
Whatever Jesus had done to us, it is always good and comforting, beyond our expectations and imaginations like healing us of our every sickness, feeding us and clothing us when we were hungry and naked, even cleansed us when we were so dirty and untidy.
Therefore, this Sunday as we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, let us cast off all our fears of Jesus taking away our perceived “kingdoms” like King Herod who ordered all infants and children killed on that first Christmas upon hearing the news of “the birth of the king of the Jews” (Mt. 2:2).
Jesus never said “My kingdom is not in this world” because His kingdom while not of this world is right here below on earth that is why John tells us in the second reading from his vision of the end of time, Jesus is coming again here on earth to take us to eternity. The Kingdom of Jesus is here in the world but not of this world; similarly, we are in this world but we are called not to be of this world for our true citizenship is in heaven.
This Sunday, Jesus is asking us in the most personal manner, what have I done to you that have kept you running away from Me? Most lovely of all is that Jesus never asked us what have we done to Him nor for Him… Let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, my Lord and my God, You have done so much good to me and I have done so little for You and for others; reign in my heart so that I can make others experience Your loving kind of Kingship. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Memorial of the Presentations of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 21 November 2024 Zechariah 2:14-17 <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]*> Matthew 12:46-50
God our loving Father, on this memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we offer ourselves too to you, our Lord and Master.
May our lives always reflect the joys of being your children like the festive mood of the first reading when you told Israel to "sing and rejoice" on their liberation from bondage; may we always realize the great honor and privilege of being your children through Jesus Christ who became one of us so that we may become like Him.
Most of all, like Mary our Mother, may we offer ourselves totally to your loving service by listening, dwelling, and acting on your words; may our lives be an "enfleshing" an "enfleshment" of your word so that it is You dear Jesus who is seen and experienced through us like Mary. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 17 November 2024 Daniel 12:1-3 ><}}}}*> Hebrews 10:11-14, 18 ><}}}}*> Mark 13;24-32
Photo by author, the Mount of Olives as seen from the Temple of Jerusalem, May 2019.
We are now at the penultimate Sunday of our Church calendar ending on the Solemnity of Christ the King next week to usher in the four Sundays of Advent before Christmas. That is why every 33rd Sunday, we hear Jesus speaking about the end of everything to usher in new beginnings in Him.
Jesus said to his disciples: “In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky” (Mark 13:24-27).
After spending a day of teaching at the Temple wherein the Twelve were so impressed with its beauty, Jesus warned them of its impending destruction, explaining it further as they proceeded to rest on Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem below with the magnificent Temple.
No, Jesus was not a “KJ” at all.
Jesus was simply telling His disciples including us today of life’s natural cycles of endings and beginnings. Actually, long before Jesus came, people have always been preoccupied with thoughts of the “end of the world” – with or without God – which persist to these days.
Jesus reminds us this Sunday that indeed, the world is going to end but, it is not just a catastrophic end destroying everything. It is an end with a direction, to God and eternal life. It is an end we have to joyously await and prepare for as a new beginning in Jesus Christ.
“Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates… But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:28-29, 32).
"Learn a lesson from the fig tree."
Again, Jesus spoke here in parable which is also the word for “lesson” in Mark’s original Greek writing of the gospel. A parable is a simple story with a deep, profound reality and lesson. That is why Jesus used it so often just like here a few days before His Pasch.
And this is the lesson or parable of the fig tree that Jesus spoke of: most of the trees in Jerusalem are evergreen that keep their leaves all year round despite the changing of season while fig trees are deciduous that shed their leaves in winter and summer. This changing condition made the fig tree a perfect parable about the end of the world that Jesus was speaking of – an end of the season to usher in a new one!
In theology, we call this study of the “end” or “last” things as eschatology. There are two kinds of last things in life that we deal in eschatology: our individual end in our death (particular) and the parousia which is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ at the end of the world (general).
Of course, it is always fearful to think of both endings. We hate endings because they are good byes. However, we know deep inside ourselves too that despite that “sweet, sweet sorrow” of every ending comes also a more wonderful hello, a more amazing new beginning. In reality, there are no endings but more beginnings: when children move out of the home to study, they begin their adult life in college; later on, they leave home for good to get married to start a family of their own. Life is a cycle of beginnings and ends that goes on and on and on.
The trick is really to learn the lesson of the fig tree, that is, to live our lives to the fullest in each season and phase, to learn to let go of the past, to savor every present and look forward to every tomorrow. Yes, it is easier said than done but, as we mature and age gracefully in Jesus Christ, we become fulfilled, less stressed amid the many things we are totally unaware and ignorant of what both particular and general endings would bring us.
In presenting to us the parable or lesson of the fig tree regarding the end of our lives or the end of the world – both of which nobody knows when – Jesus is actually encouraging us to live more faithfully in Him and His gospel.
It is useless to know the precise date and hour of both endings nor the exact indications of its imminence; what matters most is that every moment of our lives, we live in Jesus Christ our High Priest who had offered Himself for our salvation (second reading). There is no point in interpreting even visualizing how St. Michael would battle the devil at the end of time; what the prophet Daniel is telling us is how we are assured of victory and salvation in the end if remain faithful to God (first reading).
Live fully by celebrating life. All throughout the year, we have heard Jesus reminding us, assuring us how much He loves us so immensely that is why He became human like us; in His coming, He joined us in all our sufferings except sin to show us that the path back to the Father in heaven is through the path of His Cross.
Despite my coming to Israel thrice, I have never tasted a fresh fig but have always loved it even better than dates. Its sweet taste and tiny bits of seeds inside make it always a pleasure to eat. If we can truly learn its lesson, we can end up like figs too – delightfully sweet inside.
I recently bought an electric shave as an early Christmas gift to myself. I really don’t mind seeing my hair including mustache and beard turning grey and white; what bothers me lately is how my skin has become so easily irritated by my razor. Yes, I am getting older with skin sagging and add to that a vision getting blurred that shaving with a razor every morning is no longer fun but short of an agony.
As I examined my new shave set, I remembered a Japanese saying I used to tell young people before in my talks and recollections, “Growing up is nice, but sometimes painful.”
Indeed, growing up is nice – and ageing is even nicer though twice painful sometimes.
Like the fig tree, I can sense losing a lot of myself daily, yet becoming more tender and softer in the process, simpler and more joyful, perhaps. To my fellow 59ers and above, May the Lord Jesus lead us through the end in His loving embrace. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Thirty-Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 15 November 2024 Memorial of St. Albert the Great, Bishop & Doctor of the Church 2 John 4-9 <*{{{{>< +++ ><}}}}*> Luke 17:26-37
Photo by author, 20 August 2024, St. Scholastica Retreat House, Tagaytay City.
Another short letter for our first reading today, Jesus but filled with wonder and power that impacts our daily life: help us to keep your love Lord! The words of your beloved disciple are strikingly so true to us these days:
Anyone who is so “progressive” as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son (2 John 9).
Forgive us, dear Jesus, with our so many excuses and alibis along with our endless arguments for the sake of being modern and progressive to be excused from your only law and command which is to love; let us love always for to love is live in your presence; without love, there is disorder and sin, and fear; with love, there is true freedom to be who we truly are as children of the Father.
Therefore, open our eyes that we may consider the wonders of your laws, O Lord (Psalm 119:18). Amen.
Photo by author, Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Dumaguete City, Negros Or., 07 November 2024.
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