Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-22 ng Marso 2025
Larawan ng una kong birthday, sigisty years ago; nakaalalay sa akin si mommy (SLN) habang masayang nagsindi ng kandila ang kanyang Ditse, ang Tita Connie na nasa Amerika at buhay pa kasama ng kanyang mga anak na sina Alexis na ka-birthday ko katabi ng mommy at si RAF katabi ko; si Kuya Edgar pinakamatangkad at matanda sa mga pinsan ay nasa Amerika din. Di ko matiyak sinu-sino mga kasama sa party na mga pinsan ko lahat.
Sigisty years old na ako. Sa isang taon sigisty one Sa susunod sigisty two tapos sigisty three sigisty four sigisty five sigisty six sigisty seven sigisty eight at ewan, kung aabutin ko pa mag(ing) sigisty-nine.
Salamuch sa lahat ng mga nakasama at nakasabay sa paglalakbay sa buhay nitong anim na dekada, sa mga naniwala at ayaw pa ring maniwala; ang lahat ay pagpapala ng Mabuting Bathala na sa atin ay lumikha itinakda tayong maging ganap sa piling Niyang Banal.
Maraming dapat ipagpasalamat sa aking mga biyayang natanggap bagaman kulang na kulang at tiyak kakapusin aking mabubuting gawain kaya sana ako ay inyong patawarin lalo ng Panginoong butihin; wala akong panghihinayang sa aking mga nakaraan na kung aking babalikan ay hindi ko na babaguhin bagkus lahat ay uulitin pa rin!
Hindi man pansin ako ay mahiyain, alinlangan sa aking husay at galing, napipigilan palagi lumarga at magsapalaran sa maraming hamon ng buhay kaya't nitong mga nagdaan akin nang pinag-iisipan magpahingalay tigilan nang pakikibaka manahimik na lang, umiwas sa ingay at gulo ng buhay.
Bukod sa 20-percent discount
ng pagiging senior sixty-cent
pinakamasarap sa pagiging sigisty
ang napakaraming ala-alang masarap
balikan maski na marami ring
masasakit at mapapait na di malilimutan
na sadyang sakbibi nating palagi
dapat pa ring ipagpasalamat
sa maraming aral sa atin nagmulat
masarap pa rin ang mabuhay
kaya't sabik ko nang hinihintay
walang hanggang kinabukasan
maaring malasap
ano man ating edad
kung mamumuhay nang ganap.
2004 sa Parokya ng Santisima Trinidad, Malolos City.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday after Ash Wednesday, 06 March 2025 Deuteronomy 30:15-20 + Luke 9:22-25
Why always the Cross, Lord Jesus Christ? Many times I grapple not only with myself but especially with others at how to explain, what to tell them the need for your Cross when all in our lives has always been the cross. Even the simple act of choosing, of deciding is a cross.
And yet, we still foolishly choose death in the process by avoiding your Cross, Lord.
Moses said to the people: “Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom” (Deuteronomy 30:15).
In this Season of Lent, let me appreciate anew the beauty and majesty, nobility and divinity of your Cross, Jesus; always looming in our lives is your Cross because that is where you are always found, that is where you stay most of the time to heal us, to forgive us, to save us. There is always the Cross in our lives because it is the direction to life, to fulfillment, to fruitfulness in you, Jesus who was the first to suffer and die on the Cross for us so we can have life. Let us carry our Cross to make that crossing into life in you. Amen.
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.
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.
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 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.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 26 November 2024
Photo by author, Pulong Sampalok, DRT, Bulacan, 23 November 2024.
Since my mom’s passing in May, I have finally been more resolved in having days off and overnight breaks after some bouts with depression and grief. Last Friday I went to DRT – Doña Remedios Trinidad – the final frontier of Bulacan province where the Sierra Madres link us with Quezon and Rizal provinces.
The Retirement Home of the Dominican Sisters of St. Joseph at DRT.
Named after the mother of former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos, DRT was a barrio or barangay of the town of Angat. When Mrs. Marcos separated Valenzuela from Bulacan province in the mid-70’s to create the Greater Manila Area (GMA) that became Metro Manila in the 1980’s, DRT was separated from Angat to become the last and youngest town of Bulacan.
It was actually a homecoming for me after 27 years when I chose to be assigned at Galilee Home, our diocesan rehab for drug dependents before our ordination as deacons in 1997 found at the opposite side of the Dominican Sisters’ House of Prayer where I stayed last weekend.
The Dominican Sisters of St. Joseph were so kind to welcome me to their spiritual center and had promised to join them there every fourth Saturday to celebrate their Mass by staying overnight for my much-needed rest or sabbath.
Indeed, it was a Sabbath to me, a return to Paradise, so close with nature where time seems to stand still or at least goes so slowly.
Those bamboo fences remind me so much of my childhood days in Bocaue; see how modernity represented by the electric meter competing with the countryside’s laid back atmosphere.
What I like seeing all the nature around me is when my memory is shuffled to those days as a promdi when like these kids we ruled supreme on the streets, never worried of being run over by vehicles so kind to stop if we were playing.
Lahat kasali – pati poste! Kids playing Chinese garter.
As my childhood memory sauntered, I realized it was truly another setting than the city when at 545PM I heard a mother shouting to her children, “kakain na… uwi na!” and the kids obediently went home.
Lovely sunset….
The following morning, as usual, I woke up at 5AM. Prayed and did my warm up exercises and shortly before 6AM, I went off to walk. My destination was the view deck of DRT where a giant statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary stands right after the welcome arch.
So peaceful… as if the whole world is yours!
Every time I walk around Valenzuela, I just bring about 200 pesos in my pocket and nothing else – no glasses which I hate so much and likewise, no cellphones. I find these as distractions.
But, that Saturday morning, I brought along my cellphone in order to shoot scenes and of course the sunrise.
Late did I realize on my way back that I should have brought my glasses for better focus especially with the abounding bird species in the area of Pulong Sampalok.
Oh, they were so many but I failed to catch them in my camera phone because I had no glasses…
Actually, not related to my not bringing of glasses, I got lost that morning.
Instead of turning right from the Damascus circle, I made a left.
Funny too while walking, I felt something was wrong with my t-shirt – it was baligtad!
Since nobody was around not even houses in the area, I changed my shirt and went happily in my walking.
Barrio folks have always believed that in order to find one’s way in the forest or anywhere, one has to change his/her shirt. Baligtarin ang suot na damit kontra sa tiyanak.
But, despite that act of pagbaligtad of my t-shirt, I still got lost and went onto high steeps that really challenged me so greatly.
Many times I had to stop to catch my breath. Even the cyclists I have met admitted it was a very steep climb while others opted to walk with their bikes.
All in all, I walked 6.69 kilometers without reaching the view deck but, God, I found so many views I never expected that truly refreshed me!
As I got lost walking nowhere, I realized life’s parable – that the most joyful and loveliest things are found in ordinary places like along the sides of the road like these plants and flowers as well as rock formations.
Many times in life, it is actually a grace to go nowhere, to get lost once in a while and simply keep on walking, trusting God for He would always find us a way to Him. Within.
Even met my former student in High School riding with his cousins to visit their lot in the area that Saturday!
What I like most as I have mentioned earlier are the natural fences people have in the countryside like these lovely garden at a store I passed by…
Even dogs seem to be most kind here… not a single dog barked at me despite my getting lost in their area!
Unfortunately, there have been a strong influx of settlers in DRT with presumably big people buying out large tracts of lands for future developments. What an ugly sight to see barbed wires in the mountain area.
And… whoa!
Or, is it the installation of the post that was wrong? Some misplaced priorities that destroy nature.
What kind of road construction is this?
Meanwhile… we are not sure if these are indicative of the climate change at all….
Join me next month in my “Friday I’m In Love” journey to cure my grief as I take you to Dumaguete City. Thank you for the visit! God bless!
I don't care if Monday's blue Tuesday's grey and Wednesday too Thursday, I don't care about you It's Friday, I'm in love Monday you can fall apart Tuesday, Wednesday, break my heart Thursday doesn't even start It's Friday, I'm in love (Friday I'm In Love by The Cure)
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 04 November 2024
Photo by author, Nagsasa Cove, San Antonio, Zambales, 19 October2024.
Lately I have noticed my getting delayed of turning calendars in my room. Normally, I would be late for only a day or two but since June, it has sometimes taken even weeks. Worst was September when it was already about to end when I noticed my calendars stuck in August!
There are three calendars in my room: first is the large type given away by hardware stores located at the back of my entrance door which I could read from my bed with its big fonts; second is an average-sized religious calendar with pictures of saints and dates of their feast I keep in the closet so I would see every morning when I put on my clothes; and the third one is a table calendar on my desk where I work. That’s the only one updated and most used but the other two bigger ones, I fear are slowly becoming obsolete to me like the alarm clock (because I always wake up ahead of its alarm).
As I age, calendars along with watches seem to be irrelevant with me.
Personally, it is ironic because I have long kept a sort of relationship with calendars, keeping them along with some planners since college in the 1980’s. I don’t know why. Basta – I love looking at old calendars, giving me that sense of joy within when I literally look back in time, recalling the reminders and important events I have jotted on them decades ago.
But now, sadly as I recall this major change in me, I feel to have lost that “lovin’ feeling” I used to have with calendars that have been replaced, of all things, by medicines.
You read it right. I now reckon time, especially the months not with calendars anymore but with maintenance meds I take daily – 30 days – to keep my sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol in control as well as my prostrate to remain “gentle”. Once a week, usually on a Monday morning, I fill my medicine dispenser with all the meds I will be taking from Sunday to Saturday.
It always funny when I do this weekly ritual like playing sungka: there are times I wonder with some irritation why my meds are getting fewer. That is when I realize the month is almost over and I have to buy again another 30 pieces of my meds for the next 30 days. And that is how I now count the days of each month…
Whenever I would do this ritual, Mitch Albom’s novel “The Time Keeper” comes to mind, reminding me of the value of time we often take for granted. I cannot recall in which part of the novel where one of the characters realized that “the reason God limits our days is to make each one precious.” Very true. It is said that “it is not time that is passing by but you who are passing by” because we cannot bring back time we have wasted with its opportunities to grow and learn, to live and love, to celebrate and laugh.
Lately I have been thinking if I am just going through a phase as I approach the age of 60 that would be in March next year. Is this part of getting old, of maturing?
Most likely.
Photo by author, Nagsasa Cove, San Antonio, Zambales, 19 October2024.
How funny, even stupid how we have kept ourselves busy all our lives, complaining about time when time has always been on our side.
Maybe one of the reasons why elder people mellow as they age is that we are no longer so concerned with time as something separate from us, divided into parts we try to gather and hold because the truth is, time is the reality itself, we are a being-in-time, not distinct from us nor apart, but always our wholeness. It does not really matter if it is the past or the future but always the here and the now, the present.
Time in its entirety is a cosmic reality within us which we cannot fully grasp yet. Not yet. That’s what we call heaven, which is already here but not yet. And achievable. Let me explain.
It seems to me that at the age of 59, our main task in life is to live fully in each moment. Though I would admit I am afraid of dying, death is something we must befriend. Coming to terms with life is coming to terms with death, and vice versa. When that happens, then, we have arrived truly in life. That’s heaven, Just in time. This we experience so well when we truly love as this anonymous saying tells us:
Time is fast for those who rush; Time is slow for those who wait; Time is not for those who love.
“Time is not for those who love” is what the Greeks refer to in their other word for time called kairos or “fullness of time”. It is the time of the Lord, when we are one with God in Jesus Christ. It is that moment when everything falls into its right places which I believe is what Paulo Coelho referred to in one of his novels “when the whole universe conspires in your favor.”
The other word for time by the Greeks is kronos from which the word chronology came from to refer to the the succession and measurement of time in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years; kairos is the fullness of time. Again, from Albom’s “The Time Keeper”, there is this line that says, “If you you are measuring life, you are not living it.” Same thing holds true with time; if we keep on measuring it, we shall never have it nor enjoy it.
Photo by author, Nagsasa Cove, San Antonio, Zambales, 19 October2024.
While there in Nagsasa Cove, one of the songs that kept playing at the back of my mind was Steely Dan’s Time Out Of Mind from their 1980 album Gaucho. Despite the critics’ insistence of its strong links with heroin use which I have never tried, it is one of my top favorite songs by the Steely Dan gods, Donald Fagen and the late Walter Becker. Oh how I imagined them telling me this…
Son you better be ready for love On this glory day This is your chance to believe What I've got to say Keep your eyes on the sky Put a dollar in the kitty Don't the moon look pretty
Our world has become so complicated like Facebook. It is all palabas, a show. No meaning nor substance at all because we have been trying to capture and keep time instead of allowing it to capture us, envelop us so we can move more freely with it within to discover more of the outside. No stress, no pressures. No calendars too!
Just time out of mind. Thank you for bearing with me.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-31 ng Oktubre 2024
Larawan kuha ni G. Jim Marpa, 2018.
“Say it with flowers” ang marahil isa na sa mga pinakamabisa at totoong pagpapahayag ng saloobin sa lahat ng pagkakataon. Wala ka na talagang sasabihin pa kapag ikaw ay nagbigay ng bulaklak kanino man. Ano man ang okasyon. Buhay man. O patay na.
Mababango at makukulay na bulaklak. Mas maganda at mas mahal, pinakamabuti lalo’t higit kung ibibigay sa sinisinta upang mabatid nilalaman ng dibdib ng isang mangingibig.
Larawan kuha ng may-akda sa Benguet, 12 Hulyo 2023.
Sa buong daigdig, nag-iisang wika at salita ang mga bulaklak na ginagamit upang ihatid ang tuwa at kagalakan sa sino man nagdiriwang ng buhay at tagumpay, maging ng kagalingan at lakas sa may tinitiis na sakit at hilahil. Sari-saring kulay, hugis at anyo, iisa ang pinangungusap ng bulaklak sa lahat ng pagkakataon, buhay at kagalakan at kaisahan ng magkakaibigan at magkasintahan, mag-asawa at mag-anak, magkaano-ano man.
Marahil kasunod nating mga tao, ang mga bulaklak na ang pinakamagagandang nilikha ng Diyos upang ipadama at ilarawan sa atin Kanya at maging atin ding katapatan at kadalisayan ng loobin at hangarin. Alalahanin paalala ni Jesus sa atin, “Isipin ninyo kung paano sumisibol ang mga bulaklak sa parang…maging si Solomon ay hindi nakapagsuot ng kasingganda ng isa sa mga bulaklak na ito, bagamat napakariringal ang mga damit niya” (Mt. 6:28, 29).
Larawan kuha ng may-akda sa Benguet, 12 Hulyo 2023.
Kapag ako ay nagkakasal, palagi kong ipinaaalala sa magsing-ibig ang kahulugan ng maraming gayak na bulaklak sa dambana ng simbahan na nagpapahiwatig ng larawan ng Paraiso.
Alalaong baga, bawat Sakramento ng Kasal ay “marriage made in heaven” – malayang ginawa at pinagtibay ng magsing-ibig sa harap ng Diyos at ng Kanyang Bayan sa loob ng simbahan. Kaya wika ko sa kanila, ipagpatuloy ang pagbibigay ng bulaklak sa maybahay kahit hindi anibersaryo, lalo na kapag mayroon silang “lover’s quarrel” bilang tanda ng “ceasefire”.
Kaya naman maski sa kamatayan, mayroon pa ring mga bulaklak na ibinibigay tanda hindi lamang ng pagmamahal kungdi ng pag-asa na harinawa, makapiling na ng yumao ang Diyos at Kanyang mga Banal sa langit. Gayon din naman, dapat katakutan ng sino mang buhay pa ang padalhan ng korona ng patay o bulaklak sa patay dahil babala ito ng masamang balak laban sa kanyang buhay.
Lamay ni Mommy noong Mayo 7, 2024; paborito niya ang kulay pink at bulaklak na carnation.
Dagdag kaalaman ukol sa mga bulaklak sa patay: isang dahilan kaya pinupuno ng maraming mababangong bulaklak ang pinaglalamayan ng patay ay upang matakpan masamang amoy ng yumao dahil noong unang panahon, wala pa namang maayos na sistema ng pag-eembalsamo maging ng mga gamot para ma-preserve ang labi ng yumao. Kapansin-pansin ngayon lalo sa social media kapag mayroong namamatay, ipinapahayag ng mga naulila na huwag nang magbigay o mag-alay ng mga bulaklak bagkus ay ibigay na lamang sa favorite charity ng yumao. Kundangan kasi ay malaking halaga ng pera ang magagarang bulaklak sa patay; kesa ipambili yamang malalanta rin naman, minamabuti ng mga naulila ng yumao na mag-donate na lamang sa favorite charity ng pumanaw nilang mahal sa buhay.
Marahil ay hindi ito matatanggap hindi lamang ng mga Pilipino kungdi ng karamihan ng tao sa buong mundo; higit pa ring napapahayag ang pakikiramay at pagmamahal sa namatay at mga naulila sa pamamagitan ng bulaklak dahil malalim na katotohanang taglay ng mga ito.
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, 2018.
Tuwing Sabado Santo noong nasa parokya pa ako, gustung-gusto ko palagi sa aming umagang panalangin (lauds) na ipinahahayag iyong tagpo ng paglilibing kay Hesus.
Sa pinagpakuan kay Jesus ay may isang halamanan, at dito’y may isang bagong libingang hindi pa napaglilibingan. Yamang noo’y araw ng Paghahanda ng mga Judio, at dahil sa malapit naman ang libingang ito, doon nila inilibing si Jesus (Juan 19:41-42).
Inilibing si Jesus sa may halamanan, garden sa Inggles. Nagpapahiwatig muli ng Paraiso, hindi ba.
Kay sarap namnamin ng tagpo ng Pasko ng Pagkabuhay ni Jesus doon sa “halamanan” na muli ay paalala sa atin ng “return to Paradise”, “return to Eden” ika nga. Kaya nang lapitan ni Jesus si Magdalena nang umiiyak dahil wala ang Panginoon sa libingan, napagkamalan niya si Jesus bilang hardinero.
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, halamanan sa St. Agnes Catholic Church, Jerusalem, Mayo 2017.
Noong Martes, sinabi ni Jesus sa ebanghelyo na ang paghahari ng Diyos ay “Katulad ng isang butil ng mustasa na itinamin ng isang tao sa kanyang halaman” (Lk.13:19).
Bawat isa sa atin ay halamanan ng Diyos, a garden of God. A paradise in ourselves.
Maraming pagkakataon pinababayaan natin ating mga sarili tulad ng halamanang hindi dinidilig ni nililinang. Kung minsan naman, hindi nating maintindihan sa kabila ng ating pangangalaga, tila walang nangyayari sa ating sarili, tulad ng halamanang walang tumubo o lumago, mamunga o mamulaklak sa kabila ng pagaasikaso?
Nguni’t maraming pagkakataon din naman na namumulaklak, nagbubunga tayo tulad ng halamanan dahil ang tunay na lumilinang sa atin ay ang Panginoong Diyos na mapagmahal!
Ilang araw pagkaraan ng Pasko nang kami’y magtanghalian ng barkada, 2023.
Noong Disyembre 2022, umuwi isa naming dating teacher at kaming magkakaibigan ay nagsama-sama para sa isa pang dati naming kasama sa ICSM-Malolos, si Teacher Ceh.
Umuwi siya mula Bahrain noong 2020 dahil sa cancer at sumailalim siya ng chemotherapy.
Dahil Pasko, niregaluhan ko siya ng orchid.
Enero 2023 namasyal kami sa Tagaytay at napakasaya namin noon. Gustung-gusto niyang pinupuntahan ang Caleruega tuwing umuuwi siya mula Bahrain kung saan siya nagturo matapos mag-resign sa aming diocesan school.
Ang akala namin ay papagaling na si Teacher Ceh at dadalas na aming pagkikitang magkakaibigan mula noong simula ng 2023. Pagkatapos ng huli niyang chemotherapy noong Setyembre, nabatid na mababagsik kanyang cancer cells at hindi nagtagal, pumanaw si Teacher Ceh noong ika-16 ng Oktubre 2023.
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, 16 Oktubre 2024.
Isang araw bago sumapit kanyang babang-luksa, ibinalita sa amin ng kanyang Ate na umuwi mula Amerika na buhay at namumulaklak ang bigay kong orchid kay Teacher Ceh. Dinala niya ito nang magmisa ako sa kanyang puntod kinabukasan para sa kanyang ibis luksa.
Laking tuwa namin sa gitna ng nakakikilabot na pagkamangha nang makita naming magkakaibigan ang regalo kong orchids kay Teacher Ceh.
Isa’t kalahating taon pagkaraan naming huling magsama-samang magkakaibigan, isang taon makalipas ng kanyang pagpanaw, buhay at namulaklak pa rin ang orchid kong bigay sa kanya na tila nangungusap na masayang-masaya, buhay na buhay si Teacher Ceh doon sa langit!
Sa aking silid; bigay lamang po iyang halaman na iyan at di ko alam pangalan.
Ako man ay nagtataka. Kung kailan wala na aking Mommy, saka ako nakakabuhay ng mga halaman. Green thumb kasi si Mommy.
Kahit maliit lamang aming lupain, sagana siya sa pananim mula sa mga rosas at orchids, cactus at mga mayana, mga sari-saring halaman sa paso maging papaya, atis, langka, pati kamote at sili sa gilid ng bahay namin ay mayroon siya.
Ito yung flower vase ng mga napatay kong waterplant sa dati kong assignment; ayaw ko sanang dalhin sa paglipat dito sa Valenzuela pero awa ng Diyos, buhay pa halaman mula 2021.
Nakakatawa, ako hindi makabuhay ng halaman. Muntik pa akong bumagsak ng first year high school sa gardening kasi hindi ako makabuhay ng ano mang panananim maliban sa kamote. Sabi ni Mommy sa akin noon, kapag iyong kamote hindi ko pa nabuhay, ako ang talagang kamote!
Nang magkaroon ako ng sariling parokya noong 2011, nakakadalaw pa siya at simba sa amin noon tuwing Linggo. Ipinagyabang ko sa kanya mga alaga kong water plants sa kuwarto ngunit pagkaraan ng ilang buwan, namatay mga iyon. Sabi niya ulit sa akin, “ano ka ba naman anak, water plant na lang napapatay mo pa? Masyadong mainit iyong mga kamay,” aniya.
Hoya daw ito na nakuha ko noong aking personal retreat sa Sacred Heart Novaliches noong 2022; buhay pa rin hanggang ngayon sa aking banyo.
Isang bagay nakalimutan kong sabihin kay Mommy bago siya mamatay ay nakakabuhay na ako ng water plant sa kuwarto ko sa bago kong assignment sa Fatima Valenzuela.
Ako ay nagugulat sa sarili ko ngunit ngayon ko lamang napagnilayan nang makita ko ang orchids na regalo ko kay Teacher Ceh: apat na taon nang buhay aking mga water plant sa kwarto mula nang malipat ako dito noong 2021.
Hindi ko rin alam pangalan ng halamang ito na bigay sa akin pero nakapagpatubo na ako ng isa pa niyang sanga nasa aking office sa University; yung orchids bigay sa akin noong Abril, wala nang bulaklak pero buhayn pa rin. Himala!
Parang sinasabi sa akin ng mga alagang kong water plant na marahil, buhay na buhay at tuwang tuwa na rin si Mommy at nakabuhay ako ng halaman.
Kasi sabi niya kasi sa aking noong maliit pa ako, dapat daw marunong akong mag-alaga ng halaman at hayop dahil tanda raw iyon na makakabuhay na rin ako ng tao.
Siguro nga. Kaya ko nang mabuhay maski wala na siya, paalala marahil nitong aking mga halaman. Flowers for you, kaibigan.
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