Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 21 August 2025

As we ended our annual clergy retreat today when we remembered in the Mass a saint, Pope Pius X and a hero, Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino Jr. , I wish to reflect on the word “remember”, a very lovely word worth remembering always.

From the prefix “RE” that connotes repetition as in again and the root “MEMBER” that means a part, to remember literally is to make someone or something a part again. What and who we remember are those gone and away from us, a history in the past. More than mere recalling of a person, event or thing, remembering is making those absent present.

Though the philosopher Martin Heidegger rightly claimed that we humans are “beings of forgetfulness,” God actually programmed us for remembering: from infancy to childhood, our parents drilled into us to remember our name and address, the names of people around us, of things, and everything as we grew. That is why the expression “kalimutan mo na yun” is the most useless piece of advice anyone can give. It is impossible to forget, whether it is so good or so bad. What we need is to harness the power of remembering, to continue learning from the past whether good or bad because whatever is remembered for all its worth is always the best teacher anyone can have.

Remembering is a power because it is a grace, a gift from God himself. When we remember, we not only time travel to the past but make it present in order to perfect us. The past cannot be changed anymore as insisted by Japanese writer Toshikazu Kawaguchi in his series of novels Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

Remembering changes the person, not the past. It is in remembering the bitter lessons of the past we learn most in life because that is when we experience healing and fulfillment. Hence, remembering is at the very core of George Santayana’s warning that whoever does not learn from history is condemned to repeat it. Remembering enables us to move on in life by finding our ways and ultimately our very selves anew especially when lost and confused.

Of God’s many gifts to us, remembering is the most unique because it is never lost at all. People who refuse to remember are the most difficult to deal with like politicians, crooks and low-lifers. And the more corrupt and evil people are, the more they are forgetful, remembering or knowing nothing at all!

God meant us to keep this gift of remembering to be always reasonable and just, or simply good and sane because it keeps us in touch with reality, making us grow and mature in his love. Actually, it is remembering that continues to operate among us despite our faltering memory or even with those afflicted with Alzheimer’s and dementia because remembering is more than keeping information and details like names of people but most of all of God’s interventions through persons and events in our lives individually and collectively that significantly made us experience joy and gladness so crucial for our growth and maturity, eventually in the achievement of our goals.

On the bulletin board of our sacristy at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Valenzuela City is a laminated piece of bond paper with the Greek word “anamnesis” written in Greek.

It was personally printed and posted on Holy Thursday 2010 by the former rector and parish priest of the Fatima Shrine Msgr. Bart Santos now the Bishop of Iba, Zambales. I remember that so well because that was the first time I was assigned as an attached priest at the Fatima Shrine in June 2010 to June 2011 under Bishop Bart.

According to Bishop Bart who used to teach Sacred Scriptures in the seminary, he wanted to instill in all their servers of the Mass the value and meaning of the Eucharist as an anamnesis or remembering. I was so glad upon my return in February 2021 at the Fatima Shrine again as an attached priest while working full-time as chaplain at the Our Lady of Fatima University and the Fatima University Medical Center that the sign of Bishop Bart was still there – until now! I just hope the people here realize and still remember that word anamnesis as Bishop Bart had explained to them during the Holy Thursday Mass ten years ago.

When everything seems dark in life with family and friends betraying us, when people we have helped turn against us, denying having known us, try remembering Jesus went through all these first at his Last Supper.

When you feel lost for directions in life, when you are into a burnout, when nothing seems to be working in your favor that you can’t find sparks of inspiration and zeal anymore, remember that first day when you embarked on this journey in life. Remember the people, the places and the things that bring you gladness and joy in pursuing your passion or fulfilling your mission. Most of all, remember when God called you to whatever mission he sent you.

Remembering is a form of stepping back to stop, to create a space and let God work in us as we have reflected last Monday (https://lordmychef.com/2025/08/18/steps-to-god/). This is what we need most in our selves and in our country as a people: the virtue of remembering, of making present the movements of God in our history. Ninoy Aquino did the supreme sacrifice of coming home in August 21, 1983 because he remembered the country he most loved; he remembered his call and mission to serve; he remembered the ideals and mission fought for by our heroes like Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio.

It is in remembering we remain anchored to our call and mission in life, both individually and communally. Without remembering, we cannot progress because we lack reference points of what we have covered, of where we are. That is why even the angels at Easter had to remind Mary Magdalene and companions, “He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you while he was still with you in Galilee…” (Lk.24:6). Most of all, let us remember always the words of Jesus at his Ascension so we may keep on pursuing our mission in him, “And remember that I am with you always until the end of time” (Matt. 28:20). May God bless you always!