The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 20 February 2025 Genesis 9:1-13 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Mark 8:27-33
Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the Christ.” (Mark 8:27-29)
You are always on the move, Lord Jesus: you are always moving, crossing the lake, hiking in the mountains and most often, walking the streets.
What a lovely imagery of you, Jesus, always on the road with me following you, watching you, observing you, sometimes stopping because of being tired but you are always there waiting for me.
And now, what a lovely scene of you back on the road again but this time asking those closest to you - including me! - with that most personal question of all: "But who do you say that I am?"
Who are you for me, Jesus?
So many, actually. I may not be as eloquent like Peter, but no doubt about who are you for me, Jesus: my life, my meaning, my love, my hopes, my fullness.
But, very often along this road, on these streets we walk and cross, dear Jesus when that who are you for me is shaken, is tested, even doubted like Peter: how could you allow yourself and us your followers suffer and cry, and die?
He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him (Mark 8:31-32).
Let us think always as God does, Jesus, not as human beings do seeking fame and prestige, comfort and wealth, self and ego; let me walk closer with you Jesus on the streets, on whatever road you take upholding that covenant of God with Noah to uphold and respect human life by "accounting for human life" (Genesis 9:5); more than the colorful rainbows of the skies, may we always see in your outstretched arms on the Cross the true and new covenant of God with us sealed in your blood. Amen.
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Spirituality Center, Baguio City, August 2023.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 19 February 2025 Genesis 8:6-13, 20-22 <*0000>< + ><0000*> Mark 8:22-26
I really wonder, dear God, how it felt to be inside Noah's Ark for 40 days? The feeling of restlessness, of anxiety and uncertainty of the future, so unsure of what was to come while at the same time filled with hope praying for the best.
How was the boat too? How did it look like? What was the smell inside, the feeling inside that big ark, the sounds from all the animals and everything within and outside?
We have been there many times, Father, in that big ark called life; we have passed through many floods, have waited many times for the waters to recede, for the sun to shine, for life to return to normal.
Through it all, you never left us, Lord; send us Noah who would stand with us inside the ark for 40 days and 40 nights, stay afloat, stay alive wherever direction you bring us.
Help us, dear Father to be patient even if we can't see right away the distant shore like that blind man healed by Jesus at Bethsaida; lead us, Father in this ark of life away from the idolatry of modern world, away from the trappings of easy and comfortable life, away from sin and evil to be closer to your mercy, to your "beth hesda" - to your house of mercy. Amen.
Photo by author, Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Dumaguete City, November 2024.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 12 February 2025 Genesis 2:4-9, 15-17 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Mark 7:14-23
Photo by author, sunrise in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.
Bring me back, Lord to Eden to Paradise where everything started; bring me back inside my heart, inside you, Lord, the beginning of your creation, the center of your attention:
Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east and he placed there the man whom he had formed… to cultivate and care for it. The Lord God gave man this order: “You are free to eat from any of the trees in the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die” (Genesis 2:8, 15, 16-17).
Photo by author, morning in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.
Take me back inside my heart, Jesus, to be clean and free again to choose you, to be faithful, to be loving; indeed, "what comes out of a person is what defiles him" (Mark 7:20) even from the very start when the Father created us; until now, even inside you our "home" we still could not understand it like the disciples (Mark 7:17-18) because we would always choose our own selves, our own desires, our limited knowledge.
Photo by author, afternoon in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.
Let me remember Eden and let me return to Eden, Jesus, to be one with you again - me the creture, you my Lord and my God; take me back in your presence, Jesus and let me realize that though man is the master of his world, God is man's Master and Lord for He is the Creator, we are the creature. Amen.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 05 February 2025
Photo by author, Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Dumaguete City, 07 November 2024.
Discipline is a word so misunderstood these days that too often, it is frowned upon or even feared by many. In this age of so much “freedom” without any regard to “responsibility”, discipline has become its main casualty.
Discipline has very interesting origins. From the Latin verb discere which is to learn or to follow, its noun is disciplina for teaching or learning from which came the word discipulus for disciple, a follower or a pupil. Hence, a person of discipline is one who follows or obeys teachings.
The more disciplined a person is, the more free a person becomes!
As we have mentioned at the start, due to the wrong perception of “freedom” these days as the ability to do whatever one wants, many see discipline as suppression of freedom. But what is most true is its opposite – the more disciplined a person is, the more free the person becomes!
Photo by author, sunrise at St. Paul Spirituality Center, Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 06 January 2025.
When we discipline ourselves in every aspect of our lives like in food and drink intake, in using our time wisely, in budgeting our money and resources among other things, the more we become free to many other things in life. Remove discipline and do whatever you like in your life, eventually you become “unfree” because definitely you will miss your responsibilities and obligations like studies in school and duties at home and the office.
Freedom is never absolute. It has always been limited to choosing and doing what is good. When freedom is abused, it can lead us into being not free at all.
Likewise, some people think discipline is temporary and optional. Many believe that discipline is just for kids and young people who ought to follow their parents and elders. What about adults following their superiors and those above them in the natural and social hierarchy of things and relationships? This perhaps explain the reason why there is a growing complaint against young people lacking respect to elders and those in authority.
Discipline is a life-long process, the one sure thing we would need even rely upon so much as we age and get old. Discipline is imposed and taught in our younger age so that we would mature, grow and develop as persons. It is a lifelong process, a habit, a good that we keep on doing until we die. Or, even if we get old and sick, discipline is our North Star, the Polaris within ourselves especially when everything is dark, when we seem lost in life. Discipline enables us to succeed and be fulfilled in life. Find any bum and surely you shall find no discipline at all; but, you can never find a successful person without any discipline.
“Jesus Unrolls Book In the Synagogue” painting by James Tissot (1886-1894), brooklynmuseum.org
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the most perfect example of a disciplined person, of leading a disciplined life. All evangelists tell us how Jesus always went to the synagogue on a sabbath to worship and to preach. Most of all, Jesus always prayed early in the morning or later in the evening in some deserted place. These were all forms of discipline He must have learned from His parents Mary and Joseph who were both portrayed in the gospels as devout Jews, both with high degrees of discipline in life even before Christ was born.
Prayer after all is a discipline, something we have to cultivate that leads to a loving relationship with God and with others too! And here we find the deeper reality of discipline which is not just a human effort and endeavor. Discipline is the work of God, His gift and grace to each one of us to have fulfillment in life
Discipline is not just a human effort; discipline is the work of God too!
Brothers and sisters: You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children: My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges. Endure your trials as “discipline”… At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it (Hebrews 12:5-7, 11).
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Spirituality Center, Tagaytay, August 2024.
How I wish parents would still use that analogy by the author of the Letter to the Hebrews regarding discipline. When we were growing up, our parents would always explain to us after scolding us due to misdemeanor or a mistake that it was to discipline us in doing what is right or what is good.
This is something so evident these days, when you hear the older folks saying how life was more orderly before because of discipline unlike today. And one may find this lack of discipline everywhere – in public places not only home, including in churches. Partly to be blamed for that is us, the older folks who have stopped teaching discipline to kids and the youth.
Lately I have been seeing many of my former students in elementary and high school. I have always known many of them hated me when in school because I was a strict teacher (and priest). Including many of our teachers too! That is why whenever we talked about their school days, I always asked them to forgive me for making their lives so difficult as I demanded excellence and precision in their studies and most of all, discipline at all times like cleanliness in their clothing and bearing, order and silence in classrooms, and of course, proper decorum inside the church.
At the wedding of one of my former student with his classmates in January 2020.
Surprisingly, they always ended up thanking me for the discipline I have taught and instilled in them that according to them led to their success in both their personal and professional life. Many of them have their family of their own now with some living overseas. It brings me so much joy with some tears when they tell me how they have taught their own children of the discipline I drilled in them about studies and reading, of prayer, and of simply being the very best for God in everything. It is the same thing with some of our teachers who have remained some of my dearest friends today with some living and working abroad. In fact, they claimed that it was my “terroristic discipline” that greatly prepared them for their lives and work in foreign lands and cultures.
We need to discipline ourselves for God’s grace to work in us. And remember, grace builds on nature – that’s the beauty of discipline: the more we practice it, the more blessed we become! It is a built-in app or program God has installed in each of us. Use it extensively by switching it on always. In case there’s a glitch, still, switch it on and surely it would work. As always. Have a disciplined week ahead.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 03 February 2025
Photo from the Presentation Chapel of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC.
Every night before going to bed, we priests and religious along with some laypeople pray the Compline or Night Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours. From the Latin completus, the Compline completes the daily prayers of the Church.
It is also my most favorite since our seminary days when we chanted Simeon’s Canticle which we heard proclaimed in yesterday’s gospel in the celebration of the Feast of the Lord’s Presentation.
He (Simeon) came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him in his arms and blessed God, saying: “Now, Master you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel” (Luke 2:27-32).
A painting of Simeon with the Child Jesus from the dailyprayerblog.blogspot.com
The Simeon Moment is befriending death as we find Jesus Christ.
The “Simeon Moment” is when we are like Simeon in realizing that nothing matters most in this life except God found within us and those closest to us like family and friends whom we would never trade for anybody and anything. It is finding true joy in Christ alone that we are able to befriend death like St. Francis of Assisi who called death a “cousin”.
According to Luke, God had promised Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the promised Messiah (Christ). All his life, Simeon prayed and offered sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem awaiting the coming of Christ – and he was not disappointed even if it took so long! That is why, he burst into a song which we now pray every night because that is when we experience in the stillness of the darkness within and outside us that only Jesus and always Jesus who fulfills us.
Those who have cared and lost a loved one to cancer or any terminal illness have experienced that “Simeon Moment”. Remember when our loved ones have finally accepted their fate, when they suddenly become more emotionally stable and even joyful in their dispositions? Unlike before when they were first diagnosed with their illness, they were so afraid, always crying but as they came to embrace the reality, they cried less with a strong sense of courage while we are the ones crying more and most stressed out?
Photo by author, November 2024.
That is because the dying must have seen their their final destination in life, Jesus Christ. Like Simeon during the presentation at the temple after seeing and holding in his hands so close to himself the Holy Infant, we find the dying so calm and peaceful during their final hours because they have seen or were already in the presence of the Lord.
Like Simeon, they were silently joyful in Christ’s presence while we who were left behind cried not only due to the pain and sadness of separation but because we do not know where we are going, where we are heading unlike our departed loved ones.
Feel the courage and confidence of Simeon boldly telling God to “take him” at that instance because he had found Jesus Christ. Its Filipino translation says it so well, “Kunin mo na, Panginoon, ang iyong abang alipin, ayon sa iyong pangako, yamang nakita na ng aking mga mata ang iyong pagliligtas (Lk.2:29-30).”
We Filipinos often take it as a joke, always laughing to dismiss the topic or cope with the reality that to see God literally means to die like when we say “gusto nang makita si Lord”. But, that was how Simeon really felt because he had literally seen the Son of God, as if telling him to take him “now na!” because the Simeon Moment is therefore we have that realization within us that coming to terms with death is coming to terms with life, and vice versa.
Photo from crossroadinitiative.com.
The Simeon Moment is living in the Holy Spirit
Wherever is Jesus Christ, there is always the Holy Spirit. We will never find Christ and have the Simeon Moment unless we are attuned first with Holy Spirit who animates us and opens us to Christ’s coming.
Imagine the great crowds of people at the temple on that day, of couples trying to fulfill the law of Moses of purification and presenting their first-born son to God. How did Simeon know Joseph and Mary were the parents of the Christ? How was he able to accurately spot and find Jesus is the Messiah amid the many male children being offered on that day at the temple?
“To come in the Spirit” like Simeon is more than being faithful to God; it is having a good and pure heart that is ready to believe and act openly with courage, always looking forward at the fulfillment of what we believe. Coming in the Spirit is being at the right place at the right time when we make things happen than wait, exactly how Luke portrayed Simeon and Anna who both lived in the presence of God! Coming in the Spirit is living in the present moment in God.
We cannot see Christ nor live in the Spirit unless we humbly submit ourselves to God, our Lord and Master. Seeing Christ and living in the Spirit presuppose humility before God – we His creatures, He our Lord and Master.
Most of all, our origin and our end too!
It is the principle and foundation of life as St. Ignatius of Loyola stressed in his Spiritual Exercises, “El hombre es criado para alabar, hacer reverencia y servir a Dios nuestro Señor, y mediante esto, salvar su anima”, that is, “Man is created to praise and serve God his Lord and Master and by doing this save his soul”.
There is something so beautiful and lovely, so touching in the opening verse of Simeon’s canticle that underscores firmly this basic truth we have always forgotten since the fall of Adam and Eve when he asked God to take him after seeing the Christ. Every time we sin, we act like Adam and Eve, playing gods, desiring to be like God.
Also known as Nunc Dimittis, Simeon’s canticle echoes the fiat of Mary to God during the Annunciation, expressing his fidelity and humility, his total submission to God. Most of all, it summarizes both the Magnificat of the Blessed Mother and the Benedictus of Zechariah, making Simeon’s Nunc Dimittis the finale in Luke’s Christmas “concert” on the birth of the Messiah.
This is the reason why we chant Nunc dimittis at the end of our Night Prayer. It is the perfect prayer to close each day as we prepare for the coming new day to meet Jesus again, hoping we may be enlightened in our life’s mission expressed by the antiphon we recite before and after chanting it, “Protect us Lord as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep that awake we may keep watch with Christ and asleep rest in his peace”.
Or, if ever we ever do not wake up the following day, we still thank God all the more in making us meet Jesus the past day, eager to finally sing to him our praises in eternity with Night Prayer’s final blessing, “May the Lord grant us a restful night and a peaceful death”.
The Simeon Moment is a grace and gift Jesus gives us daily not only for the dying but to everyone of us seeking Him, awaiting Him like Simeon. And like Simeon, we are assured that anyone who seeks and awaits God is never disappointed. Have a blessed day in Christ Jesus! Amen.
Photo by author, sunrise bursting through thick fogs over Taal Lake in Bgy. Dayap Itaas, Laurel, Batangas, 17 January 2025.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 26 January 2025
Photo from vaticannews.va.
The Vatican recently invited several journalists from all over the world last January 24, 2025 to celebrate the Jubilee of Communicators in Rome.
Traditionally, the Pope issues on that date which is the Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, the Patron of Catholic journalists and writers, his message for the coming World Communication Sunday celebrated every Ascension or Pentecost Sunday. As far as I can remember, that tradition has been broken perhaps twice when Pope Francis was delayed in releasing on that date his messages for the World Communication Sunday.
But, that is another story… we write this in reaction to a very disturbing message of Rappler’s Ms. Maria Ressa in her interview after her speech at the Vatican gathering last Thursday (correction: this interview happened before her speech).
We do not question Ms. Ressa’s credentials as a journalist for 39 years, having worked with the CNN and before establishing Rappler, was for a long time the head of ABS-CBN News.
We wonder why of all Filipino journalists she was the one chosen by the Vatican is something only the Archangel Gabriel could explain. There are so many other competent Filipino journalists and writers who are good, practicing Catholics who could have shed more light in the celebration of the jubilee of communicators. We name some of whom we personally know like former Inquirer editor Lito Zulueta, Facts First host and Inquirer-ABS-CBN veteran Christian Esguerra, and Prof. Felipe Salvosa II who stood against his bosses at the Manila Times and resigned for the sake of truth and decency when he disagreed in the publication of photos of Sen. De Lima’s affair with her former driver. Two other strongly-grounded Catholics in the field of communications we wished were invited to the Vatican are EWTN’s head in the Asia-Pacific Edwin Lopez and Cambridge-trained lawyer and Business World columnist Atty. Jemy Gatdula who defends our Church stand against divorce in Congress and other halls of discussions.
Due to our aforementioned reasons, I never bothered to read nor listen to Ms. Ressa’s speech at the Vatican gathering; however, my conscience was bothered, even revolted after listening to Ms. Ressa’s interview by her Rappler reporter Peterno Esmaquel II before her speech at the Vatican. Click this link and wait for her final statement.
Photo by author, Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Dumaguete City, November 2024.
When asked for any message for Filipino Catholics, Ms. Ressa minced no words that betrayed her unCatholic stance: “Stay away from dogmas and be good.”
We understand how most journalists are “positively ignorant” about the Catholic faith and her teachings. They do not even know what is the Holy Mass or what is a parish or the distinctions of basilica, cathedral and church.
Most likely, Ms. Ressa along with most journalists take dogmas as teachings of the Church like the ones in the Catechism of the Catholic Church as well as the various writings of the Holy Fathers we also refer to as doctrines.
All dogmas are doctrines but not all doctrines are dogmas. Dogmas are solemnly defined doctrines we have to believe in. There are only two solemnly defined doctrines as dogmas, the Immaculate Conception issued by Pope Pius IX in 1854 through Ineffabilis Deus, and the Bodily Assumption of Mary defined by Pope Pius XII in 1950 through Munificentissimus Deus. Related to these, there are four Marian dogmas we believe: the Motherhood of God (theotokos), her Immaculate Conception, her perpetual virginity and her bodily assumption.
Going back to Ms. Ressa’s message to Filipino Catholics last week from the Vatican that we “stay away from dogmas and be good” is very wrong no matter how you look at it in whatever angles.
Photo by author, Nuestra De Guia Church, Manila, November 2024.
One cannot be good without obeying the teachings of the Church that are based on Jesus Christ’s teachings and the Sacred Scriptures.
One cannot be a good Catholic and yet believe and practice divorce and same sex marriage or premarital sex. We are not judging anyone here. Only God will judge us but we are morally bound to reiterate these teachings that came from the Lord Himself, including the fact that there are only two genders, “male and female, he created them” (Gen.1:27).
In my 26 years as a priest, I have witnessed so many Catholics especially those approaching death so bothered in their conscience for so long a time as they disregarded our many Church teachings like those against contraceptives and abortion. As a hospital chaplain, one of the greatest worries of many family and relatives with their patients is about euthanasia, making sure they do not commit it in dealing with their terminally ill patients.
Jesus Himself clearly said that we have to obey the commandments, the teachings found in the scriptures:
“Do not think that I have come to abish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill… Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17, 19).
Recall how on the issues about divorce and even the paying of taxes, Jesus would always direct us to the Sacred Scriptures, the very word of God to find His Divine Will. That is why, despite the many changes in the world, the Church has remained standing by its teachings because they are God’s teachings, not ours. Priests did not invent them and we are duty bound to stand by them no matter what – though there are some among us who have joined the modern trend in the world in the name of inclusivity and other woke thoughts which is sad. And shameful.
Photo by author, Atok, Benguet, December 2024.
One last note for this piece from that video clip of Ms. Ressa’s interview: she never spoke the word GOD (even in her speech at the Vatican, she just mentioned God once, not even directly as a point reference).
We talk about good because of God; excluding Him from the discussion is totally a fake, a budol. Any good is not good without God.
What are your thoughts with Ms. Ressa’s message to us Filipino Catholics to “stay away from dogmas” and simply be good?
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Week II in Ordinary Time, Year I, 20 January 2025 Hebrews 5:1-10 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 2:18-22
Photo by author, sunrise at St. Paul Spirituality Center, Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 06 January 2025.
Praise and glory to you, God our loving Father! Thank you for this wonderful Monday as we pray for one another, especially to those still baffled with life's many mysteries, its many paradoxes beginning to appear anew as we dive into Ordinary Time.
Teach us to take into heart Jesus Christ's teaching today:
“Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins” (Mark 2:22).
Help us change our attitudes in life, Jesus: make us realize that like your life, our life is always a mixture of joy and sufferings; most of all, make us experience in your coming into our human reality as our Eternal High Priest, you have brought newness and significance in storage and taste of wine that symbolizes life itself, as you put a new vigor of spirit in celebrating life.
Photo by author, sunset in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.
“Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him…” (Hebrews 5:8-9).
How lovely and wonderful to realize how your true humanity, dear Jesus, actually makes you more than less an effective Priest to truly "bridge" us with the Father and one another; like you Jesus, we pray the Father to take away our pains but in your example on the Cross, we learn how God is actually found in pain!
Change our attitudes to be like you, Jesus who came to join us in our many sufferings to show us that in our dealing with our own pain and the pain of others, that is when we grow in strength and maturity, in love and compassion that eventually lead us to deeper and true joy in you our Lord.
Help us embrace this paradox of life, Jesus, that a life devoid of the challenge of pain is an incomplete life; and when we are puzzled by the many sufferings in us and around us, let us gaze into your Cross to reflect, "Why did God not spare you his own Son?" Amen.
Photo by author, St. Paul Spirituality Center, Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 04 January 2025.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Memorial of St. Anthony, Abbot, 17 January 2025 Hebrews 4:1-5, 11 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Mark 2:1-12
Photo by author, sunset in Atok, Benguet, 27 January 2025.
God our Father, let us enter into your rest, let us go back to you in Jesus Christ and enter your rest like in Paradise before the Fall; spare us of your wrath like with the Israelites in Meribah and Massah when they challenged and provoked you and thus be prevented from entering your rest, the Promised Land.
Let us be on guard while the promise of entering into his rest remains, that none of you seem to have failed. For in fact we have received the Good News just as our ancestors did. But the word that they heard did not profit them, for they were not united in faith with those who listened. Therefore, let us strive to enter into that rest, so that no one may fall after the same example of disobedience (Hebrews 4:1-2, 11).
With Christ's coming, you have opened anew heaven to us, enabling us to enter your rest like what happened in the opening of the roof above him to lower a paralytic; in Jesus, that rest you have after creating everything in Genesis has become a reality with his gift of forgiveness and reconciliation to everyone as experienced by the paralytic in today's gospel; O dearest Lord Jesus, help me to rise again by picking up the pieces of my life made whole in you again filled with your breath, filled with your life, soundly at rest in your love and mercy. Amen.
Photo by author, sunset in Atok, Benguet, 27 January 2025.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Week I in Ordinary Time, Year I, 13 January 2025 Hebrews 1:1-6 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 1:14-20
Photo by author, Mt. St. Paul Spirutality Center, Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 04 January 2025.
Brothers and sisters: In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through the Son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe, who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word (Hebrews 1:1-3).
O how lovely and so deep, dear God are your words on this first day of Ordinary Time; they are so touching and personal yet very ordinary, common, and typical.
That is how we take the word "ordinary" so often - lacking in special or distinctive features that we take for granted anything ordinary because it is... ordinary.
Maybe this is the reason why we find it so hard to really believe in you, Father; when you sent us your Son, Jesus Christ, the "refulgence" or reflection of your glory and "imprint" of your being, we find him so ordinary because we wanted someone more, someone bombastic, someone so different from us, not so like us because we feel so ordinary.
It is so funny and silly of us, God, that we cannot accept you in Jesus who became human like us, who chose to be ordinary, preferring to be poor than rich, simple than complicated yet so kind, so very much akin to us in everything except sin; instead of being honored and grateful in your choosing to be ordinary like us, we rejected him and us in the process.
Open our minds and our hearts to your coming to us in Jesus like the brothers Simon and Andrew, James and John who left everything behind to follow Jesus whom they have found to be extraordinarily ordinary; may we find meaning in life in Jesus your Son in whom the ordinary is actually the orderly order of things in life with you Father always above all. Amen.
Photo by author, sunrise at Mt. St. Paul Spirituality Center, Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 06 January 2025.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Memorial of Our Lady of Gudalupe, 12 December 2024 Revelation 11:19, 12:1-6, 10 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Luke 1:39-47
O most Blessed Virgin Mary of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas and the Philippines, you appeared in Mexico in a very crucial moment in history when the world was expanding its horizon and reach, when powers were consolidating, with so many new things being learned and discovered, a period of great advancements but also of moral decay when people and their lives were taken for granted.
Like during that time, many people are suffering today not only from sickness, poverty and illiteracy but also from lack of respect for life, the prevalence of a culture of death versus the culture of life; what a beautiful image you presented yourself to St. Juan Diego and us, dear Lady of Guadalupe so that we may always value every human person especially those at their weakest stages of infancy and old age, of being indigenous, of being poor and disadvantaged.
At the Annunciation of the Lord's birth, you already lived the future birth of Christ in the present moment as your words to the Angel attested to this truth: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38).
Let us live the gospel now amid our joyful expectations of Christ's Second Coming by allowing the transforming presence of Jesus work in us and among us to make true the voices heard by John in heaven: "Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed" (Revelation 12:10). Amen.
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