True love leads to freedom: Ash Wednesday on Valentine’s Day

Forty Days of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Ash Wednesday, 14 February 2024
Joel 2:12-18 + 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 + Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

*Illustration from Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, 14 February 2018.*

This is not the first time that Valentine’s Day falls on Ash Wednesday, the start of the holy season of Lent of 40 days before Holy Week in preparation for Easter. The last time they coincided was in February 14, 2018.

Actually, there is no problem at all with both happening together on the same date. Both celebrations have the heart as its focus, inviting us to examine how much love we have in our hearts, because, ultimately when we die and face God our Creator, He will judge us on how truly we have loved while here on earth.

And because they both speak of love, Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day confront the reality of death.

Ash Wednesday reminds us that we all die which is the meaning of the imposition of the ash on our foreheads while the priest says, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” But, we do not merely die and end life on earth. Notice how the ashes imposed on us are shaped as cross because Ash Wednesday assures us that we die in the love of Jesus Christ our Savior who leads us into eternal life.

Meanwhile, Valentine’s reminds us of our undying love for those bonds of love we make throughout our lives as lovers, friends, and admirers. Lovers and couples pledge – with or without God – their love for each other “til death do us part.” Anyone who truly loves and had truly loved knows that death is love’s final test. And the whole world is filled with so many beautiful stories and magnificent buildings and structures that remind of us one’s undying love like the Taj Mahal in India.

Therefore, today is a wonderful celebration, an amazing juxtaposition of the sacred Ash Wednesday and the secular Valentine’s Day on this February 14 so that we may purify the love in our hearts, that our love is not merely expressed in words but most especially in deeds.

*From Sisters of Providence of Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods.*

For his Lenten Message this year, the Holy Father had chosen the theme of freedom in his reflection by going back to the Exodus experience of the Israelites. Indeed, love and freedom go together. Always.

Lent is the season of grace in which the desert can become once more – in the words of the prophet Hosea – the place of our first love (cf. Hos 2:16-17). God shapes his people, he enables us to leave our slavery behind and experience a Passover from death to life. Like a bridegroom, the Lord draws us once more to himself, whispering words of love to our hearts.
Pope Francis, “Through the Desert God Leads Us to Freedom” (Lent 2024)

Love is most true when there is freedom. We cannot truly love if we are not free. And the more we love, the more we are free, that is, free to love, free to be caring, free to be kind, free to be honest and true, free to be sincere.

Remember your first crush or your first love. Amid all the exciting feelings and “kilig moments” we have had every time our eyes met those of our crush or when our skin touched each other, one thing we always made sure was to keep it a secret.

During our time, it was imperative that we boys and men keep our feelings to our selves about our crush and love interests because, the moment our love, our feelings are made known, problems happen. Everyone in the class or barkada starts teasing, making us unnatural in our words and actions as they dictate us on what to do and what to say. Our crush or beloved then gets irritated and uncomfortable with all the attention she gets not really from us but from every Maritess and Marisol around!

I have realized later in life that when something so deep is so true, most often we treasure it in our hearts, keeping it in secret not for anything else but to make it grow and mature. In this case, into selfless love. People who brag their love or crush or just everything in life are often the most untrue and unfree. Everything is just a show or palabas for them, a front that is not real which is what we see on social media. Jesus tells us true love that is free is something more of the inside than of the outside appearances:

Jesus said to his disciples: ”Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you… When you pray do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogue and on street corners so that others may see them… When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites… your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
Matthew 6:1-2, 5, 16, 18

*Photo by author, Our Lady of Fatima University-Laguna, 19 January 2024.*

Love and freedom go together. Love grows and deepens only when there is freedom because love is a grace from God that naturally flows out from us, from our being. There is no need to make noise about it or be dramatic for everyone to see. Just let your love flow as the song from the 1970’s said.

When we “manipulate” our love, we become self-conscious instead of being mutual. Love is always other centered as the late American Trappist monk Thomas Merton said, “the sign that we truly love is when we love somebody more than ourselves.” When we have so much of ourselves, when we are selfish, that is when we reject God and eventually others. That is why every sin is essentially a refusal to love which bothers us inside as we feel guilty and become unfree to be who we are, beloved and loving.

Lent invites us to love and be free through conversion, a turning of our hearts away from the wrong loves we have pursued and led us to loneliness, emptiness, and sadness within. Love and freedom come from within our hearts where God dwells; hence, the call of the Prophet Joel to turn our hearts back to God:

“Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God.”
Joel 2:12-13

To speak of the heart is to speak of the whole person whose only fulfillment is found in God. A heart that is far from God is a person separated not only from God but also from others, even from himself. Only a heart that is inclined to God is able to truly love and be truly free. A heart without God is a heart without love, a heart that is not free because it had gone cold and dead.

Conversion then leads us to reconciliation, to being one again in God in Jesus Christ as St. Paul admonished in the second reading, “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). To be reconciled with God is to be one with Him in our hearts through prayer, almsgiving, and fasting that are the hallmarks of the Season of Lent that lead us to true freedom that deepens our love for God and others.

Prayer enables us to pause and regain our freedom to examine our real selves, of how truly free are we especially in this world when there are so many voices dictating us on everything that have left us alienated, lost, and confused within.

Almsgiving sets us free from greed and helps us regard our neighbors as brothers and sisters. It deepens our love for God because our daily encounters with those who beg for our help point us to God Himself who provides us with everything we need.

Fasting on the other hand weakens our tendency to be self-centered, “disarming” us of our false selves, removing the masks we put to impress others so that we can grow and mature as it makes us more attentive to God and others.

As we begin our 40 days of Lent today, let us journey into our hearts and into the heart of God so we can truly be free to love like Jesus Christ His Son who died on the Cross on Good Friday.

Ash Wednesday on a Valentine’s Day is the perfect reminder to us all that the Cross is the best expression of love symbolized by the heart that is free and willing to suffer and die for a beloved. May we “not receive the grace of God in vain” (2 cor. 6:1). Amen. Have a blessed week ahead.

Praying on the eve of Ash Wednesday

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 13 February 2024
James 1:12-18 <*((((>< + ><))))*> + <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 8:14-21

*Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, at Bgy. Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 2023.*

On this eve of Ash Wednesday,
help us, dear God, 
to prepare for a
meaningful start tomorrow
of our Lenten journey of
40 days to Easter;
banish from our minds
and hearts all thoughts
and apprehensions
about the coming days
of fasting and abstinence,
prayers and penance,
and alms-giving;
forgive us, Father,
when our attention goes
to the details and technicalities
of Lent that we set aside 
the most essential 
which is to return to you -
our very first love.

Enlighten our minds
and our hearts, Father in your
Son Jesus Christ, 
to understand fully the 
meaning of Lent which is
having less of ourselves
and of the world
to have more of you
and of the Spirit;
until now, we have not
yet understood Christ's coming
and teachings as we are still bothered
by our scarcity and poverty,
never comprehending at all
how despite the affluence and
abundance of material things 
these days, the more we have
become empty and lost in life.

When he became aware of this he said to them, “Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?” They answered him, “Twelve.” When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did younpick up?” They answered him, “Seven.” He said to them, “Do you not still understand?”
Mark 8:17-21

Worst,
we got it all wrong that
our sinful temptations are
from God, not realizing these
come from our own worldly
desires.

Rather, each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his desire. Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death. do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters: all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.
James 1:14-17

On this Tuesday
before Ash Wednesday,
we pray, O God,
for us to understand
the sources of temptations
and sins within us;
give us the courage
and strength to confront our
true selves,
to be sincere before you
so that we may be
transformed into your 
image and likeness
that Christ had restored
in us.
Amen.

Dying well is living well

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
The Seven Last Words, 07 April 2023

*Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 2014.*

It was now about noon and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon because of an eclipse of the sun. Then the veil of the temple was torn down the middle. Jesus cried our in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”; and when he had said this he breathed his last.
Luke 23:44-46

Do you have a “bucket list”, of things to do before turning a certain age or before dying? Very often we read in social media articles of sample “bucket lists”, of things to do, things to see, food to eat before one dies as if these are the ultimate things or cities or food in the world!

I am sorry I do not believe in such “bucket list” no matter how good is that movie of the same title. It is all non-sense! Why spend so much time and energies of things to do before dying or turning 50 or 60 or whatever age when we should be making the most out of every present moment because we could die any time!

We will all die one day for sure. But, will we die well? Our death is our most wonderful and lasting gift to our loved ones if we die for them and for others, if we lived a fruitful life we can leave for them. The question we should be asking is “how do we live our lives meaningfully now in the present so that when we die, our lives would continue to bear fruit in the generations that will follow us?” Stop wondering or asking about what we can do in the future or the years we have left to live because that is highly hypothetical. It has not happened yet and might not even happen at all if we die soon enough. Get real by living fully in the present! Coming to terms with death is coming to terms with life. The moment we realize we shall die one day, that is when we start living authentically. And joyfully.

Jesus died so well on that Good Friday because he was able to surrender everything to the Father and for us all because he lived fully that is why he was able to surrender or give or commend his spirit. How about us? How sad that many times our loved ones left us with much pain and regrets because we never fully lived with them nor enjoy precious moments with them while still alive. Live fully in love and joy, forgiveness and mercy. Celebrate life daily. Life is too short to spend it in dramas and wishful thinking.

At the hour of our death like Jesus on that Good Friday, can we also give others and God our spirit of love and mercy, our spirit of joy and kindness? Or, we are still busy thinking what else we can do in this life? What if we are called back to God now, at this very moment?

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus Christ,
grant me the grace to live 
my life in you,
with you,
and through you
to the fullest in every here and now
so that if ever I should die any moment,
I am able to commend to the Father 
my spirit back to him
without regrets,
without pains,
without sin
but only with joy and gratitude
that my loved ones would 
feel and nurture
until we all meet again
in your kingdom in heaven.
Amen.

Thank you for following our reflections on the Seven Last Words of Jesus on the Cross. May you have a meaningful Holy Week and a joyful Easter! God bless you!

Love is perfection of life

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
The Seven Last Words, 06 April 2023

There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.
John 19:29-30

Every Maundy Thursday, people await that most unique part of the Mass every year when the priest washes the feet of some members of the community. As a priest, it is one of the most humbling experiences I have had when a brother priest washed my feet on that Mass I attended in 2008 and 2021.

But there is something more beautiful to the ritual washing of feet. It is the context and words that accompany that: “Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end” (John 13:1).

The Greek word for the “end” is telos which is not just a terminal end in itself but indicates or connotes direction. Or fulfillment and perfection, not just a ceasing or end or stoppage of life or any operation.

When Jesus said on the Cross “It is finished”, he meant he had fulfilled his mission, that is, he had perfectly loved us to the end by giving us his very life.

At his death on the Cross, Jesus showed us perfectly in no uncertain terms his love for us, the Father’s love for us that he had told to Nicodemus at the start of the fourth gospel that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (Jn. 3:16).

There on the Cross this was definitively fulfilled and perfected more than ever. Jesus did not have to die on the Cross but he chose to go through it because of his love for us.

Here we find the beautiful meaning of love. It is not just obeying the commandments nor being good and kind with everyone. Love in its totality is the perfection of life. It is our only destiny in life, our call to life from the very beginning. Love, love, love. Keep on loving until it hurts. Until the end.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.
1 John 4:11-12

From that same letter, John declared at the very start that God is love which according to Pope Benedict XVI in his first encyclical is the most profound statement about God found only in Christianity.

My dear friends, only God can love us perfectly. Only Jesus can love us perfectly like what he did on the Cross. Human love is always imperfect. In our imperfect love, let us find Jesus filling up, making whole, perfecting our love for each other. Let us die in our selves sometimes when we have to let go with each one’s imperfection like when they make side comments. Forget all about revenge. Forgive. Understand the shortcomings of everyone. Accept and own the pains and hurts inflicted on us by our loved ones like our mom and dad, your former wife or husband, your friends, of those who have hurt you in words and deeds. That is being like Christ, dying on the Cross because of love.

Let us pray for those we love and those who love us despite our imperfections.

Lord Jesus Christ,
how I wish I could love until the end,
how I wish I could say too like you
"It is finished";
forgive me because many times with me,
the pains and hurts I have had are not yet
finished, even festering inside me,
eating me up, rotting inside me
that I could not grow and bloom in you.
Forgive me and teach me to forgive too
for it is in forgiving we truly love
perfectly like you.
Amen.

*Photo by my former student, Ms. April Oliveros on their ascent to Mt. Pulag, 25 March 2023.*

Only God can quench our thirst

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
The Seven Last Words, 05 April 2023

After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in win on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth.
John 19:28-29

This is one of the remarkable scenes in the fourth gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ feeling thirsty, the second time as recorded by John. The first was in the town of Sychar in Samaria when Jesus sat by Jacob’s well at noon and asked a Samaritan woman who came to draw water, “Give me a drink” (Jn. 4:7). A beautiful conversation followed between Jesus who was thirsty and the Samaritan woman, thirsting for God, for love and mercy.

Unlike being hungry for food which we can always bear because its feeling is localized in the stomach that we can easily forego by catching some sleep, thirst is different. When we are thirsty, we feel our whole body sapped dry even to our fingertips that we feel so weak, even affecting our mental faculties. That is why, thirst means more than physical but something deeper that concerns our very soul and being.

Here we find Jesus truly human, thirsting not just for water like us but most of all, for love and attention.

See also that for John, water is one of the most significant signs of Jesus Christ. His first “sign” as John would call his miracles was at the wedding feast at Cana when Jesus turned water into wine. After that wedding, Nicodemus came to Jesus at night where he first mentioned the need to be born in water and spirit (Jn. 3:5). It was after that night when Jesus went to Sychar and asked water from the Samaritan woman with whome he identified himself as “the living water (Jn. 4:10)”.

Here again is Jesus thirsty, but not just asking for water.

How foolish are we in responding to him like the Roman soldiers who gave him an ordinary wine. Worst, there are times we give him tepid, or perhaps turbid water that tastes so awful like that ordinary wine offered by the Romans at Golgotha.

Here is our living water, Jesus Christ who promised that “whoever drinks the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (Jn. 4:14) thirsting for us, for our love and attention because he alone can quench our thirsts in life.

Jesus is the wife and mother who thirsts for the love and affection of her unfaithful husband and wayward son or daughter who think only of themselves.

Jesus is the husband and father who thirsts for simple calls and expressions of concern from his family those back home while toiling abroad or in the high seas as an OFW or thirsting for understanding and care from those around him when he forgets so many things due to Alzheimer’s or paralyzed by a stroke or handicap.

Jesus is the young man or woman who thirsts for time and presence of a sibling or parents who could not find meaning and directions in life despite the money, clothes and gadgets the world offers.

Jesus is the person nearest to you thirsting for warmth and company, or simply a smile or a friendly gaze that assures him or her that “you are welcomed”.

Let us not be like those Roman soldiers or that Samaritan woman looking for material water to give Jesus present in every person we meet. Many times, the best water is found inside our hearts, deep in our souls where Jesus dwells with his abounding love and mercy, kindness and forgiveness. Let us thirst more for Jesus for he alone can quench our thirsts!

Let us pray:

Dearest Lord Jesus,
forgive me
when I quench my thirst
with things the world offers
that often leave me 
more thirsty,
more dry,
more empty;
let me have more of YOU
to share more of YOU
our living water 
who quenches our
deepest thirsts
for life's meaning
and fulfillment.
Amen.

Holiness is encouragement amid betrayals

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Holy Wednesday or "Spy Wednesday", 05 April 2023
Isaiah 50:4-9   >>> + <<<   Matthew 26:14-25

*Photo by author, balete tree at night, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2023.*

It is Holy Wednesday,
Lord Jesus Christ,
also known as "Spy Wednesday"
because it was at this time
Judas Iscariot agreed with
the chief priests to betray you.
Today, specifically tonight,
is the day of traitors and
betrayers that sad to say,
are we all many times.

Whenever we sin,
that is when we hand you over
Jesus for something else like
the thirty pieces of silver Judas was given;
but, there are times those betrayed
suffer alone, at a loss to whom
to turn to, for anyone who may encourage
them still in this life despite the pains
they have endured from loved ones who 
handed them over to miseries and pains. 

And so, dear Jesus, we pray 
on this Holy Wednesday that we be like you
God's Suffering Servant gifted with 
a well-trained tongue to speak words that
will rouse the weary and the betrayed;
that we may have the ears
willing to listen to the cries of those
betrayed and maligned;
most of all, that our faith in you
may be firm, O Lord,
so we may set our face like flint,
not giving in to violence
amid all the attacks of the evil ones,
the traitors and betrayers.

Make us firm, dear Jesus,
in our witnessing of you;
may we strive to put more love
in all our endeavors,
trusting only in you,
pure and undefiled that should
anyone betray us, we may always
be vindicated in you.
Amen.

Our Cross, Our Consolation

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
The Seven Last Words, 04 April 2023

From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachtani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Matthew 27:45-46

God is perfect. So perfect in fact He is all beauty and majesty. Perfectly whole and holy. But He chose to be like us human in everything except sin in Jesus Christ to experience pain and suffering. Even death. And right there on the Cross, Jesus felt the most painful pain of any suffering – that of being abandoned.

Any suffering becomes most unbearable, most painful when we are alone, when family and friends abandon us. Worst is when even the society would not care at all! That is why St. Mother Teresa thought of serving the “poorest of the poor” when she saw the sick of Calcutta dying alone.

It is the most miserable situation anyone could be. To suffer alone, abandoned with no one to even look at, no one to listen to one’s cries of pain, no one to even comfort and ease one’s physical, emotional and spiritual sufferings.

And sadly, it is in fact a reality happening daily in our lives, not only in the slum areas but even in the most sophisticated facilities where the sick and the elderly literally await death alone.

Jesus went through the same experience too, abandoned by almost everyone. Of the twelve Apostles, one betrayed Him, the leader denied Him thrice, going into hiding along with the other ten except for the youngest of them, John the Beloved who stood with Mother Mary there at the foot of the Cross along with two other women. Not one of those He had healed nor fed came.

But Jesus never felt alone on the Cross. Like any good and pious Jew, He prayed Psalm 22, a psalm of lament, of suffering and total trust in God.

And that is the good news of Jesus dying on the Cross. From then on, humans have never been alone in life’s pains and sufferings, even death because God has consoled us in Christ through the Cross. From the Latin words con solare that literally mean to be with one who is alone (solo), God has become most closest and truly one with us in our sufferings and death in Jesus Christ so that we too may be one in Him and with Him in His Resurrection.

Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.
Hebrews 2:18

In my two years as chaplain of Our Lady of Fatima University and Fatima University Medical Center, I have seen and experienced first hand how real some people – young and old alike, sick and those with strong and robust bodies, rich and poor alike many times feel alone in their sufferings and miseries. Many are crying in pain alone, by themselves because the wife or husband or children or parents and friends are so busy or away for various reasons.

Is anybody still home?

Let us pray for one another, especially those suffering alone.

God of all consolation,
You gave us Your Son Jesus Christ
in order to experience Your love and mercy,
Your healing and comfort,
Your presence and peace
so that we may never be alone;
may we always remember when we are
in our most trying moments in life,
when we feel alone and abandoned
because that is when Jesus is most closest
with us, us present right in our sufferings,
right where we are on the Cross.
Amen.

Never say, “walang-wala ako” because we always have God – “laging mayroon tayo, ang Diyos.” When there are storms, that is when rainbows appear, like the outstretched arms of Jesus on the Cross, consoling us, assuring us He is with us, ever-present. Photo by author, 04 March 2023, Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Bgy. Binulusan, Infanta, Quezon.

Holiness is sensitivity of others

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Holy Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Isaiah 49:1-6   >>> + <<<   John 13:21-33, 36-38

*Photo by Ms. April Oliveros, Mt. Pulag, 25 March 2023.*

Dear Jesus,
let me be sensitive of other people,
of their feelings and beliefs,
of their roots and situations,
most especially of their needs,
their fears,
their pains,
their losses
and their longings.

How sad, dear Lord,
when you expressed to the Twelve
on your Last Supper how you were
"deeply troubled" that one of them would
betray him, "they looked at one another
and were at a loss as to whom you meant";
more sad was after you have identified 
Judas Iscariot as the one to betray you,
they still did not get it!
(cf. John 13:21-30).

Many times, dear Jesus,
we are like them, so self-centered,
always looking at others,
at a loss at what you mean
because we lack sensitivity:
we rarely think about you really 
nor of others as we are preoccupied
with our own ideas and perceptions
about you and others, refusing to suspend
or let go of them even for a while 
to feel exactly how others felt;
we have lost that sensitivity to have the eyes
to see what others see when they are lost,
who stop to notice others are missing
or crying or been left behind as their
pace slowed down due to heavy burdens.

My sweet Lord,
knock me off my senses,
from my self-centeredness
and self-righteousness
giving reasons even justifications
to whatever I do,
when I have become results-oriented
than person-oriented
that as a result, I could not take failures 
and disappointments in life.
May I have your sensitivity
and humility as God's Suffering Servant.

Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, yet my reward is with the Lord, my recompense is with my God.
Isaiah 49:4

Let me sing of your salvation,
Lord Jesus Christ
in unison with my suffering
brothers and sisters,
trusting in you alone.
Amen.

A model disciple, a beloved disciple

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
The Seven Last Words, 03 April 2023

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
John 19:25-27

What a lovely scene we have at the foot of the Cross with our Lord Jesus Christ during His final moments, His Mother Mary, our “model disciple” and John, His “beloved disciple”. Both disciples standing for us all, Mary signifying the Mother Church, the Body of Christ, with us her children, each a beloved disciple of the Lord.

These words spoken by Jesus as He hung upon the Cross continue to be fulfilled in our own days in many concrete ways. These words are constantly repeated to both Mother and disciple, and each one of us today are called to relive them in our own life.

Every day we the disciples are called to take Mary as an individual and as the Church into our own home to carry out the Lord’s instructions by imitating her as a companion in the mission. Mary is actually the first disciple of the Lord because she was the first to welcome and receive Him at the Annunciation of His birth. Mary is also the first to truly believe in Jesus Christ when she “immediately” told Him how the newly-wed couple at Cana had ran out of wine. At the foot of the Cross, Mary is the first to remain in Christ, teaching us the most important aspect of discipleship which is intimacy in Jesus and with Jesus in prayer.

While preparing for this series, I wondered what was Mary really doing at the foot of the Cross of Jesus Christ? What were the thoughts running through her mind? What were the feelings and emotions forming, massing in her heart?

Notice the dignity of Mary in the face of extreme sorrow and suffering. She was standing firm, not seated, freaking out like crazy at the sight of her crucified Son. More than the tears and sorrow on her face as portrayed in arts, one can see this dignity of a woman and a disciples so absorbed in prayer, so united and close to Jesus our Lord!

How sad that many of us have forgotten this crucial aspect of discipleship Mary had shown us not only there at the Cross but from the very beginning until called to give birth to our Savior – a life centered on prayer which is more than reciting prayers but residing, dwelling, and communing in Jesus Christ.

Let us learn to be like Mary, to truly take her like the disciple whom Jesus loved by being intimate with Jesus and the Father in prayers. Keep in mind that her standing there at the foot of the Cross did not simply happen at the spur of the moment but a result, a fruit of her long periods of time spent in prayers, of communing with Jesus and in Jesus as the Mysteries of Light try to show us. Unlike most of us, we come only to Jesus at the Cross when we are in trials and difficulties but when everything is going on smoothly in life, we hardly prayed at all.

All her life, Mary lived in prayer. At the Pentecost, Mary was praying with the Lord’s disciples at the Upper Room in Jerusalem awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit. Mary is the most beautiful reminder next to Jesus that discipleship is essentially prayer, that whatever we do is borne out of prayer.

Let us pray with the Blessed Mother Mary:

Our Lady of Sorrows,
pray for us your children,
especially your priests
who are supposed to be 
the Lord's beloved disciples
to immerse ourselves in prayer
above all
because before all else came,
there was Jesus Christ who came first
calling us, sending us on a mission
to proclaim His Good News 
of salvation to everyone.
Amen.

*“Mater Dolorosa” also known as “Blue Madonna” (1616) by Carlo Dolci. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.*

Holiness in servanthood

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Holy Monday, 03 April 2023
Isaiah 42:1-7   >>> + <<<   John 12:1-11

*“Ecce Homo” painting by Vicente Juan Masip (1507-1579) from masterapollon.com*

How glorious and yet so
gentle of You, dear Jesus Christ
to be our Lord and Servant at
the same time!
This You shall show at the 
Last Supper when You knelt
and washed the feet of the Twelve,
reaching its highest point when
You offered Yourself on the Cross.

Give us the grace to be like You, Jesus:
may we work for justice,
not crying out,
not shouting;
help us to be gentle like You,
not breaking a bruised reed
nor quench a smoldering wick;
may Your light shine upon us, Jesus,
enabling the blind to see,
prisoners free and those in darkness
see light with our life of
witnessing Your servanthood
through our loving service 
to others
(cf. Isaiah 42:1-3, 7).

Do not let us serve You
only in lip-service like
Judas Iscariot in the gospel
when he commented how Mary's 
oil used to anoint You could have been
sold with proceeds given to the poor
(John 12:4-5);
in everything I do,
in everything I say,
let it all be in the spirit of
love and charity
based on my hope and trust
in You, Lord Jesus,
my light and my salvation.
Amen.