The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 17 December 2023
Photo by author, Gaudete Sunday 2019.
Glad to be back with our Sunday music offering but unfortunately, our choice is neither a Christmas song nor carol. But, we find Christopher Cross’ Baby Says No from his 1983 second studio album so perfect this Sunday because our homily is something about saying “no” (https://lordmychef.com/2023/12/16/saying-no-leads-us-to-rejoicing/).
We have always loved Mr. Cross since 1979 with his great debut album that featured his first hits Sailing and Ride Like the Wind. Truly an artist gifted with superb musical talents, we were so worried in 2020 when news came out of his being stricken with COVID-19 that resulted in some complications that almost left him unable to walk for a time.
Baby Says No is a touching story of a love lost despite one’s great efforts and how far can a man go despite the great setback.
Baby says no, she can’t let go this soon Doesn’t feel right, not tonight Even though I gave her the stars and the moon
I really think I’ve got it bad this time around
Baby says yes but I must confess It really doesn’t seem to matter ‘Cause I’d follow that girl all around the world Even if I never had her
I really think I’ve got it bad this time Really think I’ve got it bad this time Really think I’ve got it bad this time around
This is where we find Baby Says No very related with our gospel this Sunday also known as Gaudete Sunday or Rejoice Sunday. Many times in life, we are able to rejoice after experiencing losses and failures, after being down. It is in the nos and nots where great rejoicing burst forth like when we receive the negative answer to our offers like what the man is claiming here after being turned down with his love.
Gonna show ’em what love can do Gonna tell ’em ’bout me and you Gonna show ’em what love can do when it’s right And this time, it’s right
Love is the light that can shine so bright But sometimes it fades away Then you find one that can shine like the sun She comes up for you every day
Many times in life, love comes forth after we receive or make the “no” answers to sin and evil and selfishness. Here is Christopher Cross with his classic Baby Says No. Have a blessed Sunday!
This is a long overdue prayer-reflection, a fruit of one of my prayer periods during that week leading to October first when the gospel was the parable of the two sons (26th Sunday in Ordinary Time).
Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: “What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ He said in reply, ‘I will not,’ but afterwards he changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir’ but did not go.
Matthew 21:28-30
It was a Thursday, my day off I normally spend with a Holy Hour at the chapel of the PDDM Sisters at James Alberione Center in Araneta Ave., Quezon City. I usually present to God my Sunday homily every Thursday but that afternoon, I did not feel good. Maybe partly due to the weather that was so humid worsened by the afternoon drizzle. That was when I felt God telling me something about being “scattered” in life.
The word “scattered” has very picturesque translations in Filipino, sabog and kalat-kalat. Sabog is the direct translation of “scattered brain” or one who is disorganized and forgetful, could not think well clearly. Hence, sabog is also used to describe someone who is high on drugs or simply drunk and could not think seriously of everything. It came from the literal meaning of sabog which is an “explosion”.
Photo by author, summer 2021.
On the other hand, kalat-kalat means the same as sabog, could not think well because one is disorganized and messy, the literal meaning of kalat that may refer too to trash and dirt.
Many times we are like the two sons who were both scattered because their lives were not in order, both so concerned with one’s self, forgetting their father including their livelihood which is the vineyard. Many times in life, we get so focused with tasks and duties as well as obligations that we forget our relationships, forgetting the persons for whom our work are intended. That is why we also feel at a loss as we miss our bearings in life that are our relationships with God, with others and with one’s self.
Both sons indicated strained relations with their father. The elder son outrightly refused his father’s order because he did not see him that important, perhaps due to anger and resentments he harbored against him although deep down inside, he loves his father. That is why he was bothered by his conscience and later obeyed his father to work at their vineyard.
The younger son, on the other hand, was also scattered because his ego was so bloated in appearing so good to their father. He readily said yes to their father’s order just to look good before him but never fulfilled it because he never really had that deep love and respect for him.
Photo by author, 2022.
The first sign of being scattered, of being kalat-kalat is when we talk a lot that put us into trouble not necessarily with others but primarily with our self like the first son. We feel our inconsistencies and incongruence within ourselves with what we believe, what we know as right and good. We realize we are not walking our talk because of the great mess we are into, the mess around us like negative and other selfish thoughts that flood us. And all we wanted to do is to “pick up the pieces” of our selves, of our lives, and of our relationships. With God and with others.
Being scattered is something like a “soft depression” caused by burn out and lack of recreation and rest, a sign we have been losing grip of ourselves that we have to reassess anew our priorities and values in life. And always, the first person we forget is our very self as we get sickly, feel exhausted and tired easily, even grouchy and irritable for trivial even no apparent reasons at all.
First thing to do when we feel scattered is to naturally gather our self. Distance from our usual routine and people. Have that postponed medical check-up. And have quality “me time” like a movie or a short out-of-town vacation. We need to empty ourselves to be filled anew with God and his grace. Like Jesus, we need to go to a deserted place by ourselves, literally and figuratively speaking.
To gather one’s self is an invitation from God himself for more intense prayers to bond again in Jesus by laying aside all our plans and goals, forgetting all about ourselves even of others for a while to ask the Lord what he wants from us. It is easy to claim and convince ourselves what we are doing are for the Lord but the real thing necessary is that we simply do his works!
Christ had repeatedly said that “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Lk. 11:23 or Mt. 12:30). If what we are doing are the works of the Lord, there will always be joy and fulfillment. Even despite difficulties and exhaustion.
Photo by author, 2022.
Overall, this feeling of being scattered is an invitation from God himself for us to put him back at the center of our lives and we start doing his works that are often simpler than what we envision and plan. Whenever there is this feeling of being scattered, I pray:
God our loving Father,
help me find my way back home
to you in Jesus your Son;
many times I talk too much,
even write a lot about you
and for you but often,
they are for me too
and against others;
help me, dear Father
in this mess and disorder;
when you created the world,
everything was in chaos;
breathed into me your
Holy Spirit
to make me alive again
in you and for you,
doing your work,
obeying your will
in the way you want it,
not mine.
Amen.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 13 July 2023
Photo by author, Lemon and Olives Greek Taverna, Outlook Drive, Baguio City, 11 July 2023.
We heard today the lovely story of the reunion of Joseph, a.k.a. the Dreamer, with his brothers who have sold him as a child because of jealousy to traders to Egypt only to find out he had become a minister of the Pharaoh years later in charge of granaries during a great period of drought and famine in the region.
Imagine the shame of the ten sons of Jacob or Israel in the unforgettable scene:
“Come closer to me,” he told his brothers. When they had done so, he said: “I am your brother Joseph, who you once sold into Egypt. But now do not be distressed, and do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here. It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here ahead of you.”
Genesis 45:4-5
Photo by author, Bgy. Alno, La Trinidad, Benguet, 11 July 2023.
Sometimes, it is good to get lost. Literally and figuratively speaking. It is when we are lost that our faith is put to test and strengthened, when we pray hardest to God, becoming honest with our true selves that we summon all the goodness within and among us to finally find our way back on course in our journey and life.
And along the way, God shows us the other sides of life, of every destination filled with wonder and awe. Assuring us of his love and protection, beauty and majesty.
Exactly what we experienced in our recent vacation in Baguio City to celebrate my sister Bing-Bing’s birthday. It was our first time to be back in Baguio since 2020, except for Bing-Bing who still wanted to explore the charming city of pines again.
Photo by author, Bgy. Alno, La Trinidad, Benguet, 11 July 2023.
After a hearty lunch at Lemon and Olives Greek Taverna in the city, we proceeded to the Forest Lodge and left our youngest brother Will while we went to look for Rocky Mountain Adventure Resort.
Everyone in the car – my sister Meg who was at the wheel, Bing-Bing, my two nieces Dymphna and Darla, and only nephew Tommy have their total trust with Waze. I prefer Google Maps but as much as possible, I hate using these apps for the simple reason I hate talking and worst, obeying machines. I would rather “communicate” with persons for directions than rely on the voice in the apps no matter how lovely it may be.
Photo by author, Bgy. Alno, La Trinidad, Benguet, 11 July 2023.
Most of all, these apps lack dynamism. Totally passive without any room for mistakes especially from dinosaurs like me who know nothing at all with apps and gadgets. As I was typing our destination Rocky Mountain Adventure Resort, Google Map “suggested” Rocky Mountain Resort which I pressed!
It turned out to be a swimming pool atop the mountains of Bgy. Alapang in La Trinidad, Benguet! Who would swim late afternoon at 19 degrees?
After we have left the wrong resort in silence as it was getting dark, we asked around for the way out and ended up in rows and rows of rose fields in Bgy. Alno to the delight of everyone.
Though not everyone was able to get down from the car due to narrow streets, all fears and apprehensions disappeared as we imagined the hand of God still guiding us, comforting us with the beautiful sights.
Photo by author, Bgy. Alno, La Trinidad, Benguet, 11 July 2023.Photo by author, Bgy. Alno, La Trinidad, Benguet, 11 July 2023.
After much prayers and laughters, we headed home, dropping by the famous strawberry fields that was already closed by the time we arrived. Fortunately, there were still some sorbetero left selling the famous strawberry ice cream advertised as “pampatibay ng relasyon”.
Dymphna and Tommy, and cousin Darla.
We all had ice cream to cap Bing-Bing’s birthday, praying for stronger ties as family as we found ourselves together laughing, and praying when lost briefly.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 19 June 2023
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2023.
Forgive me for always having reservations in the celebration of Father’s Day as well as of Mother’s Day. I am not against these celebrations but often wary that being a secular observance, they often miss out the spiritual aspect of fatherhood (and motherhood) that are both gifts of God. In fact, the Ordo of the Mass, that little reference book we use in our daily celebrations of the liturgy, reminds us priests that Fathers’ Day celebration “should not diminish the primary focus of this Sunday as the celebration of the Paschal Mystery.”
Consider also the fact how religious celebrations like Christmas have been “corrupted” to mere commercialisms by our world so driven by consumerism and materialism; how much more a secular celebration like Father’s Day could end up that way too?
As we reel from yesterday’s celebrations with a lot of gifts, food and drinks to all the great dads, join me in reflecting on God as our Father which I have learned from one of my spiritual fathers, the late Msgr. Sabino S. Vengco Jr.
Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago, 2022.
God is our Father because he is the giver of life. This is the first meaning of fatherhood: the father is the source of life. Genetically speaking, even though we inherit equal genetic materials from our parents that make us who we are, researchers say that we “use” more of the DNA from our fathers. Maybe this is the reason why we have that expression in Filipino, “Anak ka ng tatay mo”. Recall how St. Joseph had to marry the Blessed Mother, Virgin Mary when he had to stand as the “foster father” of the Savior by giving him the name “Jesus”. Likewise, being from the house of David, his being the “foster father” of Jesus fulfilled God’s promise in the Old Testament that our Savior shall come from the lineage of King David.
Unknown to many including priests, the rite of Baptism states that in the administration of the sacrament to the infant, it is the father who gives the name to the child being baptized because that child came from him!
But Dads as giver of life is more than in the biological sense. A father inspires and motivates his children to become better and matured persons. As a giver of life, the father shows the best examples of leadership, wisdom and prudence in dealing with life’s many complexities. It is the father who opens the minds and hearts of the children to become better citizens of the nation, not as burdens of the society in the future.
Cheers to all the Dads who have stood by their sons and daughters, working hard not only to provide food and clothing to their children but most especially a brighter future for them with their good examples of being responsible and committed fathers.
Photo by author, St. John the Baptist Parish, Calumpit, Bulacan, 2022.
God is our Father because he protects life. It is always easy to be a parent but not truly a father (or a mother). How sad these days many young men have become like rabbits, lacking the maturity of giving one’s self into marriage and commitments.
A father does not only give life but must also sustain and most of all, protect life. Having lived during those times of frequent brownouts, I have learned this sense of protecting from my dad who would always tell us to be still as he rose to get the flashlight or find the match and candles whenever lights suddenly went off in the middle of our dinner. I grew up with that certainty that dads are men of courage, the ones who would always go first into dangerous situations to protect the family like my dad. When the father is the first to be scared or to scream in the event of dangers, there is surely a big problem at home.
Moreover, I have also observed that though wives outlive their husbands as proof that the female species is stronger than us males, there is still something so noble about fathers as protectors of life and family. Dads are always the first to die because they are the first to go into the great unknown called eternal life in order to watch over us his family. So many times since my father died in year 2000, I have felt him by my side whenever I faced big problems and difficulties. Many times I talked to him in my prayers, asking him for clarifications when I have to make crucial decisions for the family or in my ministry. He would sometimes appear to me in dreams or would make “paramdam” as we call it in Filipino when he sends signs of his presence to convey something important. Even in eternal life, Fathers remain close to us to protect and keep us safe from harm. And perhaps, he goes ahead of us to prepare the welcome party when our turn to die comes.
Rembrandt’s “The Return of the Prodigal Son” rom en.wikipedia.org.
God is our Father because he brings back life when we lose it. This is the most beautiful imagery of God being a Father like that loving father of the prodigal son in Luke’s gospel. That is the height of fatherhood when children even wife lost life to wrong decisions, to sins, or anything that completely alters our way of living, it is always the father who assures us of how life would go on or continue, of how he would do everything to give us back our lives.
Have you noticed how despite being considered as the authority figure at home with their being strict and firm, fathers are actually more easier to approach than mothers when it comes to serious problems? A lot often, we tell our dads first of our major mishaps or accidents or misadventures because they are more calm and serene, always thinking ahead of finding solutions. Unlike mothers who are hyper ones, tending to nag and voice out their feelings inside. When I was in the seminary, a classmate borrowed my new tennis racquet. Unfortunately, he lent it to other seminarians until it was left behind at the tennis court that was picked by some outsiders who used to enter our compound after our recreation time. As vacation time approached, I prayed hard and told my dad if he could give me 300 pesos (that was quite a fortune in the early 1980’s) so I could get a new tennis racquet lest my mom would discover it was lost and I would be scolded, even spanked!
Many times, I have heard from many young people how it was their father who literally saved them by forgiving them and even helping them pick up the pieces of their lives when they got involved into teenage pregnancies. It seems those stories of fathers disowning their children especially the daughter for being disgrasyada is more of an exception than a rule, perhaps true only in telenovelas and movies.
During my final years in my seminary formation until my ordination to the priesthood in 1998, every time I would come home I would look intently at my father’s hands and face, observing his many wrinkles, burned and sagging skin. Whenever I would look at his hands and face, I thought of those days and nights and years when my dad would take the jeep and bus to work so we could have good food and good education, those many sacrifices he had to make for us to have some of the simple pleasures in life, of his fidelity to my mom and to us all that we are his only beloved and nobody else.
That is why when he died on the eve of Father’s Day on that third Sunday of June, the 17th in the year 2000 that coincided with my mom’s birthday, I felt a great part of me had gone too. It was very difficult. The pain has always remained but somehow, in his death, I have continued to feel his fatherhood with the great love he had showered us while still alive. That is why, unlike others, I choose to remain silent on Fathers’ Day, praying and reflecting fatherhood, a most precious gift of God whom Jesus revealed to us is also a Father. God bless all the fathers of the world! Amen.
My dad at his dest at the Bureau of Forestry (later Forest Development), 1972.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 17 April 2023
Photo by author, 08 February 2023, Taal Vista Hotel, Tagaytay City.
We all know
that feeling happening
more often lately
a foreboding of senility?
when we go like crazy
why can't we see suddenly
some things we have
held or kept momentarily
until we sound the alarm
and call everyone
to join in the search
but still nowhere to be found.
It could be the key
or the glasses or the phone
that in exasperation
we say begone
only to make us
forlorn figures
in our own home
or tiny room
but sometimes too soon
other times would take
too long, our lost
things are suddenly found!
Is it part of the riddle of that black hole they call when missing things suddenly appear without being sought much less thought? But here is the thrill: when things even persons are missing, are we not the ones who are lost and waiting to be found?
More than the
naked shouts of eureka
is our profound joy
when missing things
even persons suddenly
appear because the truth
is, we were the ones lost
and could not be found
in our cluttered minds
and hearts shut and closed
by our fears and doubts,
anxieties and insecurities.
In this life
far wider than the world
where planes still go missing
amid modern technologies
and endless searching,
could it be that we are
missing our bearings
as beings, forgetting
God and others when we are
lost to our own beliefs or
locked in our small world
of lies and prejudice?
To find those missing
persons or things dear to us
it might help if we first lose
whatever is holding us
for the world is so wide
for anyone or anything
to just disappear
they surely must be here
awaiting for our hearts
to be clear until we hear
that sweet voice
giving us peace within.
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Divine Mercy Sunday in the Octave of Easter, 16 April 2023
Acts 2:42-47 ><}}}*> 1 Peter 1:3-9 ><}}}*> John 20:19-31
Photo by author, 08 February 2023.
The ultimate joy of Easter is God’s Divine Mercy, of how his Son Jesus Christ became human like us in everything except sin, searching and finding us to bring us back to the Father by dying on the Cross. Now he is risen, Jesus overflows us with his Divine Mercy right here, right now.
Unlike other religions, Christianity is so unique because it is about God looking for us humans by becoming like us so that we may become like him in Jesus Christ. In Christ, we have come to know and experience God as a person, relating with us in all tenderness and love because he himself had gone through all our pains and hurts, betrayals and disappointments, even death! Read the Bible and you shall see from the Old Testament to the New Testament, we find series of stories of God searching for man, beginning with Adam and Eve who hid after eating the forbidden fruit reaching its highest point in the coming of Jesus Christ who on this second Sunday in Easter came looking again for us represented by the disciples who have gone hiding in a locked room for fears of their leaders who have threatened to arrest them following reports of the empty tomb.
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
John 20:19-20, 24-28
“The Incredulity of St. Thomas”, painting by Caravaggio (1601-02) from commons.wikimedia.org.
“The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” But we wonder, what kind of rejoicing was it? It must have been more than the rejoicing of passing the Bar or any board exam. There was something else in their rejoicing if we try to imagine being there on that Sunday evening of the third day.
What do I mean? Have you ever felt being the one actually lost when some friends or loved ones as well valuable things have gone “missing”?
That feeling of being the one actually lost because the “missing” persons and things have never left us entirely but just there waiting to be found and rediscovered like when things get hidden underneath the car seat or misplaced somewhere else and forgotten. Once “found” again, there is that deep sense of joy coupled with a sense of wonder and astonishment because the truth is, it was not us who have found the lost person or thing but they were the ones who actually found us too! Here is a case more profound than the “eureka” experience for we were the ones who were lost and finally found again.
And that’s the rejoicing of the disciples in seeing Jesus again that evening of Easter Sunday! They were the ones who were actually lost and found by Jesus!
Just like us today in many instances in life when we have been running away from God, locking ourselves inside our very selves because of fears, insecurities and false securities, pride and sinfulness, as well as doubts and incredulity, unbelief and disbelief in God and in one another. Like Thomas, many times we have been so unreasonable in our demands for proofs of God and everything, insisting that “to see is to believe” without realizing that it is when we believe that we actually see.
Recall during the ministry of Jesus in Galilee how he kept telling his disciples to search for the “lost sheep” of Israel first and later everyone who have sinned and been away from God. That was Divine Mercy in action. Consider these other concrete expressions of Divine Mercy by Jesus:
At the Last Supper, John told us that Jesus “loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end” (Jn.13:1); this he proved by washing the feet of the Twelve! He further proved his love the following Good Friday by dying on the Cross and immediately at Easter, to prove his love again, he looked for Mary Magdalene to break the news of his resurrection to his disciples.
Jesus is the one who finds us unaware of his presence like on this second Sunday after Easter when he appeared to Thomas who was so shocked and surprised that all he could tell Jesus was “my Lord and my God”! I doubt if ever had the chance to examine the Lord’s wounds at all!
Next Sunday we shall hear in the gospel how it is always Jesus who searches and finds us when we least expect him like in the opposite directions in life when he walked with the two disciples to Emmaus Easter evening, only to be recognized by them at his breaking of bread.
Last Friday we have heard in the gospel how Jesus again for the third time appeared after finding them in a fruitless night of fishing in Lake Tiberias by telling them to cast their net to the right side of the boat; their nets almost teared with the bountiful catch of fish!
“The Road to Emmaus” painting by American Daniel Bonnell from fineartamerica.com.
In life, it is always Jesus who searches and finds us. We are the ones always getting lost. Many times in life we cry, asking where is God but the fact is he never leaves us, he is always with us, coming to us everyday, especially on Sundays in the Holy Mass where Jesus leads our celebrations.
On Tuesday, I will celebrate my 25th year of ordination to the priesthood. How I got ordained was a long story of getting lost for nine years when I was sent out of the high school seminary after graduation in 1982. I went to college in UST and finished AB Journalism in 1986, working as a writer then a reporter for GMA Channel 7 News until 1991 when I gave my vocation a second chance by entering the seminary again.
All those years from 1982 to 1991, I felt lost and empty despite a promising career with good pay and all the perks that went with it and a sense of security but, deep inside me was a big hole of being incomplete. That was how I went back to God in prayers, then slowly to the Mass and Confessions, and the more I moved closer to God, the more I felt empty yet eager for him that I finally consulted some priests. After a few years of discernment, I decided to leave everything and started anew in God in the seminary in 1991.
It was not easy going back to the seminary but God had such wonderful ways of finding me, even at the nick of time, to save my vocation. My turning point happened during our Ignatian retreat of 30 days when I finally committed myself to God as I felt his love and presence so irresistible, even himself so true. In 1998 with six other classmates, we were ordained priests at the Malolos Cathedral. Again, it was not an easy 25 years with so many times I often felt lost and empty mostly by my own making when I sin. But like before, Jesus in his Divine Mercy has always been the One searching and finding me even in the opposite directions when I hid amid rejections, failures, fears, sadness and weeping.
Like the early Christians in our first reading, I have found God most present in those 25 years as a priest and as an individual in the communal celebrations of the Holy Eucharist, aka, the breaking of bread as I realized too that priestly celibacy is lived in a community not only of priests but with you the laity.
With the responsorial psalm this Sunday as our prayer, “let us give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting” because as Peter tells us in the second reading, God our Father “in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pt. 1:3). Let us rejoice in him who finds us always when we are lost. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead. Say a prayer for me this Tuesday. Thank you.
Prayer I have composed after our 30-day retreat in 1995 that until now, I still pray because it is so personally true. That is Divine Mercy for me. And hope with you too!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Saturday, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, World Day of the Sick, 11 February 2023
Genesis 3:9-24 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Mark 8:1-10
Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago in Lourdes, France, 2018.
The Lord God called to Adam and asked him, “Where are you?”
Genesis 3:9
Praise and glory to you,
O God our loving Father!
Until now, you never stop from
calling us,
asking us
like Adam after the Fall,
"Where are you?"
On this Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes
which is also the World Day of the Sick
we come to you,
presenting ourselves before you,
sinful and sorrowful,
weak and very sick,
hurt and aching inside,
lost and searching for meaning
in this life.
Have mercy on us,
dear God our Father;
your Son Jesus Christ
came to look for us
to bring us closer to you
by giving us his very self as
food and drink
in this journey of life.
Make us stop from
hiding from you,
from running away from you;
let us stop
to be with you,
to be healed,
to be consoled,
and most of all,
to be restored in you
in Christ Jesus
with Mary our Mother,
the Immaculate Conception.
Amen.
Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago in Lourdes, France, 2018.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Twenty-Ninth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 20 November 2022
Ephesians 3:14-21 ><000'> + <'000>< = ><000'> + <'000>< Luke 12:49-53
Photo by author, 2018.
Dearest Jesus,
Help me imitate St. Paul's
beautiful prayer for the Ephesians:
may the Holy Spirit strengthen my
"inner self" so that you may dwell
in my heart that is "rooted in faith"
and "grounded in love";
grant me the "strength to comprehend" -
not just understand but embrace totally
"the breadth and length and height and depth"
of your love that "surpasses knowledge"
by entering into a communion in you,
an intimacy "with all the fullness of God"
(Ephesians 3:16-19).
This can only happen to me,
Lord Jesus Christ,
if I allow myself to lose my soul to you
in order to gain it by allowing
your fire to purify me of my sins
and self-centeredness
(Luke 12:49-51).
Set me on fire, Jesus,
as you have declared in the gospel:
lit me with courage and joy in witnessing
your Cross in this time of darkness
when everybody follows the artificial lights
of the world that lead to emptiness;
let me be immersed into your paschal mystery
of Passion, Death and Resurrection,
of bearing all the pains that lead to conversion
and to true peace as you have promised
at the Last Supper that is the fruit of
love and sacrifices, not of compromises
as the peace of the world offers.
Dearest Lord,
let me see everything in your love
even if it seems so impossible
like your victory over death;
seduce me, O Lord,
dupe me like Jeremiah
to join you in your adventure,
to go beyond my limits
even if it may be fatal
for that is the only way
to lose myself
in order to gain you,
Jesus Christ our Lord!
"Now to him who is able to accomplish
far more than all we ask or imagine,
by the power at work within us,
to him be glory in the Church
and in Christ Jesus to all generations,
forever and ever. Amen."(Ephesians 3:20-21)
It was a Monday morning when rains started falling as I was about to complete my first round of walks when I saw an old lady with a cane tripped on the inclined pavement. I ran to help her but in her frantic efforts to rise, she had dragged down her caregiver too.
Upon reaching the old lady, I asked her to keep herself down and take deep breaths while I checked her for possible injuries. Thank God there was none except a broken cane and perhaps a bruised amor propio as tears were rolling from her eyes while telling me, “nakakahiya naman sa inyo, Father.” I told her not to worry as I invited her to have a seat near our gate but, she seemed so embarrassed and left.
When I resumed my walking in the rains, the scene kept flashing in my mind and had me musing…
When we fall,
when we are down,
just be still
to feel the earth beneath
then roll your eyes to see
the skies above everything
between.
When we fall,
when we are down,
do not rush to rise up
do not be ashamed
you slipped
or tripped
there is no trick.
When we fall,
when we are down,
it is better to cry
to shed some tears
surely there are pains
and aches deep within
we have not yet seen.
When we fall,
when we are down,
people standing on ground
would always offer a hand
to help us stand
shake off dirt from us
even clean our hands.
When we fall,
when we are down,
everyone will understand that
no one, nothing remains up
all must go down;
it is time for us to be calm
Jesus is coming, our Good Samaritan.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church, 13 June 2022
1 Kings 21:1-16 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 5:38-42
The Church of St. Anthony called Igreja de Santo António de Lisboa built at the site of his birthplace in Lisbon, Portugal. Photo by Mr. Jilson Tio taken in his 2018 pilgrimage.
Today as we celebrate the
Memorial of your beloved Saint
Anthony of Padua famous for
interceding in the recovery of
things lost, we pray to you O God
our loving Father also for the recovery
of something so precious becoming
so rare these days - decency and honor,
love and kindness, respect and justice.
Through the intercession of St. Anthony,
Lord, please help us recover our
"lost humanity" so vividly exposed
last week in that viral video of an
SUV hitting and running over a traffic
aide in Mandaluyong City.
How sad, even tragic, dear God
in this modern time of too much
sophistication in science and technology,
we have lagged behind in our humanity;
aside from the war at Ukraine, how could
violent shootings continue in the States
at the loss of so many children?
What is so tragic is how politicians there
talk about protecting children when the
same politicians push so hard for abortions,
in killing the most innocent persons of all!
Have we become like Jezebel, the pagan wife
and queen of Ahab who have no regard at all
for humans, creating fake news and gossips
against people, promoting corruption among
people for material gains?
So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and, having sealed them with his seal, sent them to the elders and to the nobles who lived in the same city with Naboth. This is what she wrote in the letters: “Proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. Next, get two scoundrels to face him and accuse him of having cursed God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.” On hearing Naboth was dead, Ahab started off on his way down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
1 Kings 21:8-10, 16
Your Son Jesus Christ
taught us the ways to recover our
lost humanity more than 2000 years
ago but until now, we have not recovered
it yet because of our refusal to let go
of our pride and attachment with wealth
and other things of the world.
Like St. Anthony, help us to let go of
our possessions and comforts, "to give
to the one who asks of us, and to not
turn our back on one who wants
to borrow" (Matthew 5:42).
St. Anthony of the World,
Pray for us!
The room where St. Anthony was born in the year 1195 preserved in the church built at the former site of their home in Lisbon, Portugal. Photo by Mr. Jilson Tio, 2018.
The Portuguese people have always referred to St. Anthony of Lisbon than of Padua where his body is buried in Italy; in 1982, St. John Paul II visited his birthplace, and told the crowd their native saint was not St. Anthony of Padua to which the crowd cheered. Then, the Pope said he is neither St. Anthony of Lisbon and the people fell silent. But when the great Pope said their native saint is St. Anthony of the World, they cheered loudly! (Anecdote and photo courtesy of Mr. Jilson Tio)
Praying at the birthplace of St. Anthony protected by iron grills. Photo by Mr. Jilson Tio, 2018.
Mr. Jilson Tio (third from left) with fellow pilgrims outside the room where St. Anthony was born in Lisbon, Portugal in 2018.
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