40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Fourth Week of Lent, 22 March 2023 Isaiah 49:8-15 >>> + <<< John 5:17-30
Photo by author, sunrise at the Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 22 March 2023.
Loving God our Father,
Your words say it all today,
my birthday:
Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I answer you, in the day of salvation I help you; and I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people… Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.
Isaiah 49:8, 15
The Lord is gracious and merciful.
Responsorial Psalm, Ps. 145:8
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, QC, 22 March 2023.
More than words, dear Father,
I praise and thank you
for your boundless love
and kindness to me all these
58 years!
You have always been present with me,
in me, for me, and through me in Jesus Your Son.
And so, I pray this to you:
Dearest Lord,
you have given me with so much,
I have given you so little;
teach me to give more
of my time and talents,
to give more of my self
so I can give Christ Jesus to others,
especially his love and mercy,
kindness and forgiveness;
empty me of my pride, Lord,
and fill me with your humility,
justice and love.
Amen.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, QC, 22 March 2023.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 19 March 2023
Monday, Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of Blessed Virgin Mary
2 Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16 + Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22 + Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2023.
Praise and thanksgiving to you, God our Father
for the gift of calling me like St. Joseph
to bring your Son Jesus into the world
despite my many fears and doubts,
inadequacies, weaknesses
and sinfulness,
you entrusted me
with the same task you gave St. Joseph
of making known your Son
as “God Saves” - Jesus.
…the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home… She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:20, 21
Remind me always, dear God,
of this first task you gave us
your beloved children
to make known to everyone
that Jesus came to die on the Cross
to show us “God saves” -
that we are so wrong to think
you are domineering and ruthless God,
that you are not a God hungry of power,
that you are not insistent, and demanding God,
most of all, you are not a God who competes
with us your mere creatures like everyone thinks
from Adam and Eve down to us today.
Photo by author, Chapel of Holy Family, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 2014.
Teach me to be silent,
trustful of you, O Father,
like St. Joseph not bothered at all
of how things would turn out
with my task to make people realize and
experience Jesus Christ;
give me the courage and obedience
of St. Joseph to do as you have
tasked me to witness this great mystery
and wonder of your love
because “God saves”.
Amen.
More than any other prophet, O Lord,
Hosea is the one who tells us most
of your immense love for us all;
his writing moves like a beautiful
love story so unbelievable
yet exists, so true.
After so many harsh words
against us your people for our
infidelity like prostitutes,
here at the last part of his book,
Hosea tells us to never lose hope
because you love us so much.
Moreover, dear God our Father,
what I like most in Hosea's writings
is how you yourself reveals to us
how we must approach you
like a teacher coaching us
for the best answers so we may pass
your final exam.
Thus says the Lord: Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God, say to him, “Forgive us all iniquity, and receive what is good, that we may render as offerings the bullocks from our stalls
Hosea 14:2, 3
Please Lord, help us experience
your promises of "healing our defections,
loving us freely, becoming like dew
so we shall blossom like the lily,
our splendor be like the olive tree
and fragrance like the Lebanon cedar,
allowing us to dwell in your shade again
and raise grain, blossom like the vine,
and our fame be like the wine of Lebanon"
(cf. Hosea 14: 5-8).
Cast away our doubts of your love
and mercy for us, Father for as your Son
Jesus Christ had revealed, all the commandments
is summed in LOVE, your great love for us
as the very reason why we must love you
not because you need our love but
so that we can have more of your love
when we love.
May we love,
love,
and love!
Amen.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Third Week of Lent, 16 March 2023
Jeremiah 7:23-28 >>> + <<< Luke 11:14-23
Photo by author, sunset in the metropolis seen from Our Lady of Fatima University-QC, February 2023.
Lord, teach me to listen.
Let me not harden my heart
if today I hear your words,
O Lord.
Your people in Jeremiah's time
have indeed committed the most
grave sin of disregarding your
covenant:
Thus says the Lord: This is what I commanded my people: Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk in all the ways that command you, so that you may prosper. But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed. They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.
Jeremiah 7:23-24
But we are no different from them,
Lord! We are like them, totally
disregarding your commands,
walking in the hardness of our evil
hearts and turned our backs, not
our faces, from you! Worst than
the time of Jeremiah, we have imitated
the people at the time of Jesus,
accusing him too of casting out demons
by the power of Beelzebul
when media glorify satanic
cults, promoting same sex relationships,
abortion, and contraception;
when we speak about life
and justice, we are laughed upon
and when we cry for decency,
we are accused of hypocrisy.
Teach us to listen to your words,
O Lord; enable us to distinguish your
voice from that of the world and
the devil; most of all, help us
gather than scatter.
Amen.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Third Week of Lent, 14 March 2023
Daniel 3:25, 34-43 >>> + <<< Matthew 18:21-35
Photo by author, sunrise at Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Bgy. Binulusan, Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.
God our Father,
grant me the grace of sincerity
to pray like Azariah whom you
spared from death along with
Shadrach and Meschach in the fiery
furnace of King Nebuchadnezzar;
not even their clothes were singed
by the intense heat that burned to death
their executioners!
Teach me to be sincere
like Azariah who prayed to you while
walking into the furnace with his
companions, telling you one of the
most beautiful prayers in the Bible
we too pray in our Sunday Lauds:
“For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation, brought low everywhere in the world this day because of our sins. We have in our day no prince, no prophets, or leader, no burnt offering, sacrifice, oblation, or incense, no place to offer first fruits, to find favor with you. But with contrite heart and humble spirit let us be received. Do not let us be put to shame, but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy. Deliver us by your wonders, and bring glory to your name, O Lord.”
Daniel 3:37-39, 42-43
Yes, dear God,
there is no need,
not even necessary,
for us to do anything
"to win your favor"
to grant our prayers except
that we be sincere before you,
that is, to be true and humble,
putting ourselves into your hands
completely that you would take care
of us like Azariah and companions.
Many times, O God,
we can't be like you and be
forgiving as a Father to those
who have wronged us because
we ourselves are not true,
lacking sincerity in begging
your mercy and forgiveness;
many times we doubt your
mercy and forgiveness
that often we act like
the unforgiving servant
in Jesus Christ's parable.
Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-13 ng Marso 2023
Larawan kuha ng may-akda sa ilang ng Jordan, Mayo 2019.
Apatnapung araw
nag-ayuno si Kristo
tinukso ng diyablo sa ilang:
“Kung ikaw ang Anak ng Diyos,
Gawin mong tinapay itong bato.”
Bagaman kanyang tiyan
ay walang laman,
hindi nalito si Kristo
sa tukso ng diyablo
naging matibay
tulad ng bato
na buhay ng tao
di nakasalalay
sa tinapay
kungdi sa
Salita ng Diyos
na tunay
nating buhay at gabay.
Dapat nating pakatandaan
na hindi sapat
at lalong di dapat
mapuno tayong lagi
at mabusog
ng mga bagay ng mundo
dahil sa maraming pagkakataon
tayo ay nababaon sa
balon ng pagkagumon
kung laging mayroon tayo;
sa pag-aayuno
tayo napapanuto
tumitibay ating pagkatao
tuwing nasasaid
ating kalooban
nawawalang ng laman
nagkakapuwang sa Diyos
na tangi nating yaman!
Nguni't mayroon pang isang anyo
itong pag-aayuno
higit pang matindi
sa pagkagutom
na madaling tiisin
kesa pagka-uhaw
na nanunuot
sa kaibuturan
ng ating katawan
hindi maaring ipagpaliban
gagawa at gagawa
ng paraan
upang matighaw
panunuyo ng labi
at lalamunan
madampian
kahit tilamsikan
ng konting kaginhawahan!
Maraming uri ating
pagka-uhaw:
pagka-uhaw ng laman
at sa laman
nahahayag
sa kayamanan,
kapangyarihan,
at katanyagan
na pawang mga anyo lamang
ng iisa nating pagka-uhaw
sa Diyos at Kanyang pag-ibig
sana sa atin may pumansin
at kung maari
tayo ay kalingain,
intindihin,
at patawarin,
mga lihim nating mithiin,
inaasam, hinihiling.
Kay sarap namnamin
paanong si Hesus
ating Diyos at Panginoon
nag-ayuno upang
magutom at
mauhaw din
tulad natin
upang ipadama
pag-ibig Niya
sa atin; Siya lamang
ang pagkaing bubusog
sa atin
at inuming titighaw
sa pagka-uhaw natin
kaya pagsikapang
Siya ay tanggapin
at panatilihim sa
kalooban natin!
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Second Week of Lent, 10 March 2023
Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13, 17-28 >>> + <<< Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46
Photo by author, Anvaya Cove, Bataan, January 2023.
Being kind is more than being good. The word “kind” is from the old English kin – as in kindred or kinsfolk or same family, clan, or tribe. A kind person is someone who treats you as a kin, a family and not as an alien or a stranger. “Hindi ka naman iba sa amin” as we would say in Tagalog (“You are not different from us”). It is perhaps the most Christian word in the English language as it refers to our belonging to one big family with God as our Father and everyone a brother and a sister in Christ.
Unfortunately, kindness has become a rarity in our world today that has become so unkind where we feel so “different” as in “iba” in Tagalog even right in our own family like in the experience of Joseph in our first reading today.
They said to one another: “Here comes the master dreamer! Come on, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here; we could say that a wild beast devoured him. We shall then see what comes of his dreams.”
Genesis 37:19-20
Most often, it is jealousy that makes people unkind like with the elder brothers of Joseph. This is expressed in our name-calling as we refuse to acknowledge someone as our kin by giving them aliases like Joseph referred to by his brothers as “master dreamer”. We Filipinos have all kinds of aliases and codes for the family members we hate like “bruha”, “demonyo”, “Hudas” or even “Hitler”. The more mean, the better, without us realizing how our jealousies expressed in name-calling deteriorate into sinister plots against our own kin. It is the most unkindest kind of unkindness demonstrated in the selling of Joseph:
Judah said to his brothers, “What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood? Rather, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites, instead of doing away with him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed. They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. (Gen.37:26-28).
Genesis 37:26-28
Photo by author, Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.
This is the tragedy now going on in our family when we call our parents and siblings as “mom” and “dad”, “kuya” and “ate” yet at the same time, disrespect them in our thoughts and deeds! See the absurdity of Judah in concluding, “after all, he is our brother, our own flesh” that they sold him! He miserably missed the whole point that if Joseph were their brother and own flesh, all the more he should have cared and saved him even from being sold to slavery right there!
This is the curse of many fraternities in our universities. Even worst than Judah, there are some fratmen blinded by their rites and rituals of initiations that they have forgotten or have become oblivious to the meaning of brotherhood or fraternity. The most incomprehensible of all is with every death happening among their brods, still the same story of silence and cowardice happening with all attempts to hide their heinous crimes.
It is a tragedy we also participate daily in our homes when we regard our family as kin yet at the same time disregard all kindness and respect due to our parents and brothers and sisters, or to husband and wife. What an unkind world we have when we cheat on one another with our infidelity and betrayals, when we stab each other with harsh words of suspicions without bases at all as well as our never ending sumbatan.
Jesus himself shows us in his parable of the wicked tenants the face of this “unkindest kind of being unkind” springing not only from jealousy but from our self-centeredness and self-righteousness.
“when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’ They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.”
Matthew 21:38-39
Photo by author, Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.
What an unkind world when after recognizing one another as a kindred, instead of being kind and respectful, of having malasakit, like the wicked tenants we use our ties and kinships as bases for murderous and other evil plots against those we know and closest to us.
It is disheartening and frustrating when our social media are filled with moral aspersions as well as downright accusations so harsh that could sometimes get into one’s nerves, hurting our sensibilities. True, charity is never imposed and respect has to be earned but kindness is demanded of us because being kind is the hallmark of a person’s goodness.
Our responsorial psalm captures the reason why we must always be kind, “Remember the marvels the Lord has done.” And here lies the warning to those unkind, “When the Lord called down a famine on the land and ruined the crop that sustained them, he sent a man before them, Joseph, sold as a slave” (Ps. 105:16-17).
The story of Joseph the Dreamer never fails to move us of how in the end, his brothers wept in shame upon meeting him as their brother whom they have sold into Egypt. As Jesus said too to the chief priests and Pharisees of his time, “Did you never read in the Scriptures: the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?” (Mt.21:42).
This season of Lent, let us try to bring back kindness in our hearts, in our words, in our thoughts and in our deeds even if others are not kind to us. Sometimes, kindness has a way of teaching us the importance of this virtue that may not be always be so kind at all. Amen.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Second Week of Lent, 09 March 2023
Jeremiah 17:5-10 >>> +++ <<< Luke 16:19-31
Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2022.
God our loving Father,
let me come to you closer,
let me get nearer to you
in Jesus Christ present
among the sick and suffering,
among those we take for granted,
in those we have forgotten
in our family, in the church,
and in the society.
Jesus said to the Pharisees: “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.
Luke 16:19-21
Yes, O Lord Jesus,
your parable continues to
happen among us today
despite our many technologies,
we have grown more apart
from each other not only in
physical distance but worst
even in heart as being kindreds in you.
Indeed, what you had told Jeremiah
is most true even today,
"More tortuous
than all else
is the human heart,
beyond remedy;
who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9)
but you alone, O Lord!
Cleanse our hearts,
incline our hearts to you,
dear Jesus;
let us be nearer to you
than anyone or anything else;
let us trust in you alone
for it is in you only is
found life and its fullness
here and the hereafter.
Amen.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Second Week of Lent, 07 March 2023
Isaiah 1:10, 16-20 >>> +++ <<< Matthew 23:1-12
Photo by author, sunrise at the Pacific from the coast of Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.
In this blessed
Season of Lent,
I pray to you,
dear God our Father,
to help me set things
right in my self,
in my life;
help me set things right
by "washing myself clean,
putting away my misdeeds,
ceasing from doing evil
and learning to do good
by making justice my aim,
redressing those I have wronged,
hearing the plea of the orphans,
and defending the powerless
among us" (Isaiah 1:16-17).
Let me set things right,
O Lord, by walking my talk,
by practicing what I preach,
by being humble without any
desires to be known nor admired,
nor be served by putting too much
burdens on others without my
lifting of my finger, seeking
places of honor and being
greeted by everyone (Mt. 23:1-7);
forgive me for those times
I thought that you are like me
when I recite your statutes and
profess your covenant with mouth
yet hate discipline (Ps. 50:16-17).
Let me set things right,
O Lord, in my life
my keeping in mind
YOU alone is our Master
and Teacher, that there
is no other Father but
God alone in heaven
(Mt. 12:7-10).
Let me set things right,
O Lord, in my life
by letting go of my
bitterness and unforgiveness,
of my painful and dark past;
help me set things right
in finally fulfilling that
promise I made to change
in myself, in finally making
peace with that person I detest,
in going back to you in
Christ Jesus.
Amen.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 06 March 2023
Photo by author, 03 March 2023, Teresa, Rizal.
Why are there so many songs about rainbows
And what's on the other side?
Rainbows are visions
But only illusions
And rainbows have nothing to hide
As a child, I have always heard many stories about rainbows from grownups telling me about the “pot of gold” at its end. I have never believed their stories because even at that young age, I have found them as total lies for if it were true, there would be no more poor people on earth as rainbows appeared daily or weekly.
Besides, I doubted stories about rainbows because no matter how hard I looked at them, I could not find the primary colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet in them as taught by my teachers. All I could identify until now are the colors red and blue with the third hue of pink which is not even part of the primary colors! The only truth about rainbows I have always accepted since elementary is the fact that it is caused by sunlight hitting the rains that cast such colorful display in the skies. Most often, I just thought binobola lang kami ng teacher namin para pagbigyan kung sino man itong si Roy G. Biv na may-ari ng mga rainbow!
Later, our elementary school principal Sr. Domitilla of St. Paul College Bocaue would tell us over and over again the story of Noah and the great flood, of how God promised him never to destroy earth again with floods by giving him the sign of the rainbow.
You bet! I did not believe her totally because growing up in Bocaue, I have experienced so many floods annually that destroyed many of our belongings like photos and vinyl records not to mention the hardships – pahirap in the real sense of cleaning after each flooding.
But all these changed only for me during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo by Ms. Anne Ramos, 22 March 2020, Bgy. Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.
It was the first Sunday of the lockdown, my 55th birthday, March 22, 2020. There were no public Masses. So I decided to start on that Sunday the weekly libot or motorized procession of the Blessed Sacrament around our parish in Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan. Seeing the people kneeling on the streets was so moving but what really brought me tears was the sight of a rainbow that afternoon.
We were on our way to the last sitio of our parish when it started to rain lightly. Our volunteers asked if we should go back to the parish as the clouds indicated heavy rains were coming our way. But as I held the monstrance, I told my companions to proceed because the people were waiting for Jesus.
Lo and behold! as we turned to our last sitio, a rainbow appeared and I remembered the story of Noah and the rainbow.
That’s when I cried and started believing in rainbows as I felt that very moment God assuring me of his protection from COVID-19. True enough, until I left in February 2021 my former parish of Parokya ni San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista had the lowest rate of COVID infections in our town. Most of all, me and our volunteers never had COVID except for one as we continued with our libot of the Blessed Sacrament that soon evolved into “drive-thru” and “door-to-door” communion after our online Mass on Sundays!
So we've been told and some choose to believe it
I know they're wrong, wait and see
Someday we'll find it
The rainbow connection
The lovers, the dreamers, and me
Photo by author, August 2022, Parish of Holy Cross, Paco, Obando, Bulacan.
One of the best stories I have read about rainbows is from my favorite Pope, Benedict XVI. In one of his books in the series Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict explained how the rainbow of Noah’s time had become the arms of Jesus Christ outstretched on the Cross, the fullness of God’s promise to never destroy earth, of his immense love to save us through his Son. Furthermore, he explained how the rainbow as the outstretched arms of Jesus is also the same bow of arrow referred to in the Book of Psalms signifying God’s salvation.
It is so funny that after passing the age 50 that I started believing in rainbows! And what a sight indeed for me of the rainbow like a bow of an arrow shooting in the sky assuring us of God’s love and protection, of the arms of Jesus embracing us all in his love and mercy, kindness and forgiveness.
Photo by author, Teresa, Rizal, 03 March 2023.
Last Wednesday we celebrated Mass for the opening of our annual strategic planning in Our Lady of Fatima University (composed of six campuses) and Fatima University Medical Center (with two hospitals). In my homily, I shared that “lent is the time for us to start believing again” like Jonah in the first reading (Jon.3:1-10), of believing again in God, in others and in ourselves.
How I wished I have added that this is also the time to start believing again in rainbows because on our way to Katmon Nature Sanctuary and Beach Resort in Infanta, Quezon for the final day of our strategic planning, I saw again another rainbow during a stopover in a gas station in Teresa, Rizal. It was so beautiful with the arc, the bow, the arms of Jesus embracing us all symbolized by our coaster.
But the rainbows – or God – did not stop appearing there for us.
The following Saturday before we went home, I woke early to catch the sunrise at the beach that faces the Pacific Ocean. The sun was already up and I felt satisfied with all my photos and videos when it started to rain. As I ran back to our resort, another rainbow appeared, greeting me again that early morning.
Photo by author, 04 March 2023, Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon,
I've heard it too many times to ignore it
It's something that I'm supposed to be
Someday we'll find it
The rainbow connection
The lovers, the dreamers, and me
Oh God! Praise and glory to you! I did not mind stopping in the morning rain that Saturday. It was the best morning prayer I ever had in years. Something very silent. So natural. So picturesque of God’s love, of his promise to bless us all in my new home, my new family, my new ministry – Our Lady of Fatima University (OLFU) and Fatima University Medical Center (FUMC).
It is here in OLFU and FUMC that God has started to unravel his other beautiful plans for me that at first I could not understand and even resisted at times. It is here I have come to embrace him more. And more tightly in ministering to students and faculty members alike, to doctors and nurses, patients and everyone especially our kind administrators.
Thank you for all your warm welcome, love and acceptance, OLFU and FUMC. And for your care beyond compare.
Glad to be with you in this very promising year assured by the rainbows. Let’s keep connected as we rise to the top!
Someday we'll find it
The rainbow connection
The lovers, the dreamers, and me
Photo by author, 04 March 2023, Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon.
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