40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Memorial of St. John of God, Religious, 08 March 2024 Hosea 14:2-10 ><]]]]]'> + ><]]]]]'> + ><]]]]]'> Mark 12:28-34
Photo of convolvulus sabatius from frustratedgardener.com
Your words today, dear Father, led me back to the Monday reflection of another blogger about the word "acceptance":
“Acceptance” can be seen as a passive word suggesting that we just put up with something we cannot change.
On the other hand, it can be a positive condition in our spirituality by which we prepare ourselves to hospitably receive that which we had not expected. Such positive acceptance suggests a non-judgmental, wise, and discerning heart.
Why are we so fond, O God, of doing anything except precisely what you want us to do? Why can't we just accept your words, your plans, or your instructions we always disregard, "hoping" there could be something better?
Forgive us, Father, when even in the quagmire of sin and evil, we keep resisting you, refusing to accept your suggestions; let us learn beginning this Lent when to just stop and simply accept you and your words.
Photo by author, Banaba Tree, 2020.
Thus says the Lord: Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt. Take with you words, and return to the Lord; say to him, “Forgive all iniquity, and receive what is good, that we may render as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.”
Hosea 14:2-3
Draw us closer to you, Lord Jesus Christ and your kingdom by accepting the basic truth of our faith that the love of God is always the love of others; help us realize life is more than searching for what is the best possible condition or situation we can have but to accept our whereabouts where we can give our best selves to you through others to make this world a better one. ' Everything, O Lord, begins in finding you within each of us so we may find you in others especially the sick and the weakest like St. John of God who simply accepted everything that came to his life as coming from you; it is in our acceptance of you, O Lord, that we begin to lovingly serve you in others because that is also when we are able to relate our lives with your Church, with the world, with our callings; it is in accepting these that we become "not far from the Kingdom of God." Amen.
Photo of a convolvulus tricolor from BBC Gardeners World Magazine.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 03 March 2024
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 2018.
Our 40-day Lenten journey gets more intense this Sunday with the gospel scene where Jesus cleansed the Temple in Jerusalem to signify the need for us to recover our zeal for God who is also our first love (https://lordmychef.com/2024/03/02/lent-is-the-zeal-of-jesus/).
In a similar manner, we picked the intensely passionate 1964 hit You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ by The Righteous Brothers matching today’s Sunday gospel as it tells us the similar teaching of Jesus Christ, of how we have lost our zeal for God and the need to bring it back for our own good.
Of course, You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ is a love song with its usual sprinklings of sensuality but its sublimity and accuracy in describing the common experiences of love going bad have made it as the most-played song in American radio and television – perhaps even the world – in the 20th century. It is also the most successfully covered song by artists, including by our favorite Hall & Oates who must literally heed the song’s message after their falling apart as musicdom’s dynamic duo of all time.
Written by music producer Phil Spector with some help from Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ as a ballad is soulfully penetrating with the contrasting vocal ranges of Bill Medley’s bass-baritone voice and Bobby Hatfield’s tenor that enabled them to create a distinctive sound as a duet.
This perfect blending of their voices is felt, not just heard in You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ that is a kind of music that can disturb and awaken one’s callous conscience to put it in order. Or have it cleansed as Jesus did in the Temple when he drove out the oxen and sheep, overturned the tables of money changers and drove the doves away being sold.
Notable also is the song’s slow opening – and video – with Medley’s deep voice so hauntingly cool but not scary at all but simply disarming, making it perhaps the most coveted style in singing.
You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips And there’s no tenderness like before in your fingertips You’re trying hard not to show it But baby, baby I know it
You lost that lovin’ feelin’ Whoa, that lovin’ feelin’ You lost that lovin’ feelin’ Now it’s gone, gone, gone, whoa-oh
All in all, here is a most beautiful music, so universal as a language in its melody and lyrics that reminds us that love is not everything; love is more than a feeling but a decision we have to nurture and deepen in order to grow and mature. And bloom.
Most of all, to remain rooted in our first love of all, in God who gives us the zeal, the spark to keep it burning. Have lovin’ week ahead, everyone.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Feast of St. Peter's Chair, 22 February 2024 1 Peter 5:1-4 <*{{{{>< + + + ><}}}}*> Matthew 16:13-19
Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, 2018.
My Lord Jesus, on this Feast of St. Peter's Chair when the Church's authority especially of the Pope and bishops is put into question, even challenged, you remind us also your priests that “the primacy of Peter symbolized by his chair atop the magnificent altar at the Vatican is the primacy of faith and the primacy of love” (Pope Benedict XVI, "Images of Hope", Ignatius Press, 2006).
These beautiful words by your servant Pope Benedict XVI remind us too that discipleship and life itself are about where we stand not about where we are seated; make us realize, dear Jesus, that like St. Peter and all the saints who served you faithfully in love, we need to make a stand as witnesses of your gospel values of love and justice, mercy and kindness; no one can truly be your disciple nor be fruitful in life by remaining seated comfortably by the roadside; let us do our mission not profession, be concerned with persons not programs, focused on ministry and services not in perks and positions. May we remain standing by your Cross, Jesus, even when the world prefers to avoid pains and sufferings, sacrifices and sharing, inefficiencies and waiting. Amen.
Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, 2018.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the First Week of Lent, 21 February 2024 Jonah 3:1-10 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Luke 11:29-32
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera, somewhere in Alberta, Canada, 17 February 2024.
God our Father, in this Season of Lent, let us take one step backward to let you do your work in us, among us.
We have been so used to our expertise and knowledge that we seem to know everything, even better than you like Jonah.
Allow us to take "sackcloth and ashes" like the people of Nineveh to transcend our habits by taking the back seat this time, limiting ourselves to your simple instructions as we try to believe in you and others too.
Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,” when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.
Jonah 3:4-5
Continue to speak to us even harshly like Jesus in the gospel, calling us an "evil generation" seeking signs of your presence in Christ; very often, we need to be shaken deep inside, to stop a while so you can work in us and among us, filling us with your love and mercy so that we discover your love and mercy in us when we are able to cry like the psalmist: "Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me" (Ps. 51:3-4). Amen.
Forty Days of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Ash Wednesday, 14 February 2024 Joel 2:12-18 + 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 + Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
Illustration from Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, 14 February 2018.
This is not the first time that Valentine’s Day falls on Ash Wednesday, the start of the holy season of Lent of 40 days before Holy Week in preparation for Easter. The last time they coincided was in February 14, 2018.
Actually, there is no problem at all with both happening together on the same date. Both celebrations have the heart as its focus, inviting us to examine how much love we have in our hearts, because, ultimately when we die and face God our Creator, He will judge us on how truly we have loved while here on earth.
And because they both speak of love, Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day confront the reality of death.
Ash Wednesday reminds us that we all die which is the meaning of the imposition of the ash on our foreheads while the priest says, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” But, we do not merely die and end life on earth. Notice how the ashes imposed on us are shaped as cross because Ash Wednesday assures us that we die in the love of Jesus Christ our Savior who leads us into eternal life.
Meanwhile, Valentine’s reminds us of our undying love for those bonds of love we make throughout our lives as lovers, friends, and admirers. Lovers and couples pledge – with or without God – their love for each other “til death do us part.” Anyone who truly loves and had truly loved knows that death is love’s final test. And the whole world is filled with so many beautiful stories and magnificent buildings and structures that remind of us one’s undying love like the Taj Mahal in India.
Therefore, today is a wonderful celebration, an amazing juxtaposition of the sacred Ash Wednesday and the secular Valentine’s Day on this February 14 so that we may purify the love in our hearts, that our love is not merely expressed in words but most especially in deeds.
From Sisters of Providence of Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods.
For his Lenten Message this year, the Holy Father had chosen the theme of freedom in his reflection by going back to the Exodus experience of the Israelites. Indeed, love and freedom go together. Always.
Lent is the season of grace in which the desert can become once more – in the words of the prophet Hosea – the place of our first love (cf. Hos 2:16-17). God shapes his people, he enables us to leave our slavery behind and experience a Passover from death to life. Like a bridegroom, the Lord draws us once more to himself, whispering words of love to our hearts.
Pope Francis, “Through the Desert God Leads Us to Freedom” (Lent 2024)
Love is most true when there is freedom. We cannot truly love if we are not free. And the more we love, the more we are free, that is, free to love, free to be caring, free to be kind, free to be honest and true, free to be sincere.
From simchafisher.com.
Remember your first crush or your first love. Amid all the exciting feelings and “kilig moments” we have had every time our eyes met those of our crush or when our skin touched each other, one thing we always made sure was to keep it a secret.
During our time, it was imperative that we boys and men keep our feelings to our selves about our crush and love interests because, the moment our love, our feelings are made known, problems happen. Everyone in the class or barkada starts teasing, making us unnatural in our words and actions as they dictate us on what to do and what to say. Our crush or beloved then gets irritated and uncomfortable with all the attention she gets not really from us but from every Maritess and Marisol around!
I have realized later in life that when something so deep is so true, most often we treasure it in our hearts, keeping it in secret not for anything else but to make it grow and mature. In this case, into selfless love. People who brag their love or crush or just everything in life are often the most untrue and unfree. Everything is just a show or palabas for them, a front that is not real which is what we see on social media. Jesus tells us true love that is free is something more of the inside than of the outside appearances:
Jesus said to his disciples: ”Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you… When you pray do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogue and on street corners so that others may see them… When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites… your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
Matthew 6:1-2, 5, 16, 18
Photo by author, Our Lady of Fatima University-Laguna, 19 January 2024.
Love and freedom go together. Love grows and deepens only when there is freedom because love is a grace from God that naturally flows out from us, from our being. There is no need to make noise about it or be dramatic for everyone to see. Just let your love flow as the song from the 1970’s said.
When we “manipulate” our love, we become self-conscious instead of being mutual. Love is always other centered as the late American Trappist monk Thomas Merton said, “the sign that we truly love is when we love somebody more than ourselves.” When we have so much of ourselves, when we are selfish, that is when we reject God and eventually others. That is why every sin is essentially a refusal to love which bothers us inside as we feel guilty and become unfree to be who we are, beloved and loving.
Lent invites us to love and be free through conversion, a turning of our hearts away from the wrong loves we have pursued and led us to loneliness, emptiness, and sadness within. Love and freedom come from within our hearts where God dwells; hence, the call of the Prophet Joel to turn our hearts back to God:
Photo by author, Lent 2019.
“Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God.”
Joel 2:12-13
To speak of the heart is to speak of the whole person whose only fulfillment is found in God. A heart that is far from God is a person separated not only from God but also from others, even from himself. Only a heart that is inclined to God is able to truly love and be truly free. A heart without God is a heart without love, a heart that is not free because it had gone cold and dead.
Conversion then leads us to reconciliation, to being one again in God in Jesus Christ as St. Paul admonished in the second reading, “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). To be reconciled with God is to be one with Him in our hearts through prayer, almsgiving, and fasting that are the hallmarks of the Season of Lent that lead us to true freedom that deepens our love for God and others.
Prayer enables us to pause and regain our freedom to examine our real selves, of how truly free are we especially in this world when there are so many voices dictating us on everything that have left us alienated, lost, and confused within.
Almsgiving sets us free from greed and helps us regard our neighbors as brothers and sisters. It deepens our love for God because our daily encounters with those who beg for our help point us to God Himself who provides us with everything we need.
Fasting on the other hand weakens our tendency to be self-centered, “disarming” us of our false selves, removing the masks we put to impress others so that we can grow and mature as it makes us more attentive to God and others.
As we begin our 40 days of Lent today, let us journey into our hearts and into the heart of God so we can truly be free to love like Jesus Christ His Son who died on the Cross on Good Friday.
Ash Wednesday on a Valentine’s Day is the perfect reminder to us all that the Cross is the best expression of love symbolized by the heart that is free and willing to suffer and die for a beloved. May we “not receive the grace of God in vain” (2 cor. 6:1). Amen. Have a blessed week ahead.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 04 February 2024
Photo by author, Our Lady of Fatima University-Laguna Campus in Sta. Rosa, 19 February 2024.
Our gospel this Sunday speaks a lot about the importance of person-to-person communication, of the healing wonders of the sense of touch and its deeper implications in our relationships when Jesus healed the mother-in-law of Simon Peter.
On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.
Mark 1:29-31
See how the evangelist narrated in details the healing by Jesus who “approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up.” More than the actual touching and face-to-face or actual encounter, the scene speaks so well of deep personal relationships among us. That is why we have chosen Rupert Holmes’ 1976 single Touch and Go.
Nobody said that Life is always fair Sometimes it clips your wings While you’re in mid-air But there’s a thread Between your life and mine And when you’re losin’ hope This rope won’t unwind
REFRAIN: Hold on tight ‘Cause life is touch and go It’s sink and swim But never doubt If you’re out on a limb I’ll get the call To break your fall I’ll never leave you Even when life Is touch and go Or hit and run We’ll never break If we take it as one I’m here to stay, I pray you know I’ll never touch I’ll never touch and go
Someday you’ll find There’s nothin’ in the night That wasn’t there before You turned out the light Straight from your mind The monster ‘neath your bed The voices in the hall They’re all in your head
A gifted musician with a knack in story-telling, Holmes’ songs are always imbued with his deep insights about life he had gathered from ordinary experiences like his earlier hit Terminal (1974) and his two hit singles Escape (The Piña Colada Song) in 1979 and Him in 1980. These three are all dashed with humor that can tickle our bones but disturb our conscience too.
In Touch and Go, Holmes goes philosophical, sounding a bit like Job in today’s first reading of how life can sometimes be unfair that “Sometimes it clips your wings while you’re on mid-air” while assuring his beloved of his deep love and dedication that no matter what happens, he would always be there by her side to save her.
That is exactly what Jesus tells us in the gospel this Sunday, of how he would always approach us, grasp our hand and help us up when we are down. The question is, are we in touch with Jesus too? Or, we always go and leave him especially when things are doing great in our lives?
If us humans like Holmes can boldly assure our beloved of always being there, of being in touch and connected especially in times of trials and sufferings, all the more is Jesus Christ who had come to empower us by connecting us with God and one another always in loving service (https://lordmychef.com/2024/02/03/real-power-empowers/).
It is a Sunday. Don’t forget to celebrate Mass or go to your places of worship to get in touch with God and with others in your community. Here is Rupert Holmes to help you chill more on this cool February Sunday amidst life’s many “touch and go, sink and swim” situations.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Memorial, St. Francis Sales, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, 24 January 2024 2 Samuel 7:4-17 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 4:1-20
“The Sower at Sunset” by Vincent Van Gogh, oil on canvas painted in June 1888 from wikimedia commons.
Lord Jesus Christ, as you narrated to us today the parable of the sower, I wonder what were the other seeds you have sowed aside from your word?
On another occasion, Jesus began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land. And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them, “Hear this! A sower went out to sow.”
We are not just the different kinds of soil where your seeds fell, Lord Jesus; like you, may we also be sowers of your word and teachings, sowers of your love and mercy, sowers of compassion and kindness, sowers of your light and life, sowers of your hope and healing, sowers of your very presence.
When God told David not to build him a temple as he promised to raise a house for him from whom shall come the Christ, that was when the Father also sowed the seeds of redemption and fulfillment in you, Lord Jesus!
On this feast of St. Francis Sales, patron of Catholic journalists and media practitioners, we pray for all communicators to sow unity and peace, not division nor misunderstanding, nor animosities; we pray for all journalists of different platforms to sow understanding and clarity, to sow justice and equality among peoples, and to sow respect for life at all times because every communication must promote first of all the dignity of every person. Amen.
Lawiswis Ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-12 ng Enero 2024 Homilya sa Kasal ng Inaanak ko sa binyag, Lorenz, kay Charmaine Simbahan ni San Agustin, Intramuros, Maynila
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, 2019.
Sigurado ako na alam na ninyong lahat, lalo na ng mga Gen Z dito, iyong trending sa social media na post ng isang dilag nang malaman niyang 299-pesos ang halaga ng engagement ring na binigay sa kanya ng boyfriend niya ng walong taon na nabili sa Shopee.
Kasing ingay ng mga paputok ng Bagong Taon ang talakayan noon sa social media hanggang sa naging isang katatawanan o meme ang naturang post gaya ng halos lahat ng nagiging viral. Sari-sari ang mga kuro-kuro at pananaw ng mga netizens, mahuhusay ang kanilang paglalahad, seryoso man o pabiro. Mayroong mga kumampi sa babae habang ang ilan naman ay naghusga sa kanya at sa boyfriend niya.
Hindi ko naman nasundan ang post na iyan. Katunayan, inalam ko lamang iyon kamakailan upang pagnilayan para sa homilya ko sa inyong kasal ngayong hapong ito, Lorenz at Charmaine.
At ito lang masasabi ko sa inyo: ang pag-aasawa ay tungkol sa kuwento ng pag-ibig, hindi ng kuwenta sa mga naibigay, materyal man o espiritwal.
Larawan mula sa YouTube.com
Maliwanag sa ating ebanghelyo na ang pag-aasawa ay kuwento ng pag-ibig ng Diyos sa atin. Maniwala kayo Lorenz at Charmaine, Diyos ang nagtakda ng araw na ito ng inyong kasal. Hindi kahapon o bukas, at hindi rin noong isang taon gaya ng una ninyong plano. Iyan ang sinabi sa atin ni San Pablo sa Unang Pagbasa:
“Kung ang Diyos ay panig sa atin, sino ang laban sa atin? Walang makapaghihiwalay sa atin sa pag-ibig ng Diyos – pag-ibig na ipinadama niya sa atin sa pamamagitan ni Cristo Jesus na ating Panginoon.”
Roma 8:31, 39
Higit sa lahat, batid ninyong pareho sa inyong kuwento ng buhay kung paanong ang Diyos ang kumilos upang sa kabila ng magkaiba ninyong mga karanasan, pinagtagpo pa rin kayo ng Diyos, pinapanatili at higit sa lahat, ngayon ay pinagbubuklod sa Sakramento ng Kasal ngayong hapon.
Sa tuwing pinag-uusapan ninyo ang inyong kuwento ng buhay, palaging naroon din ang inyong kuwento ng pag-ibig maging sa iba’t ibang karanasan – matatamis at mapapait minsa’y mapakla at maisim marahil pero sa kabuuan, masarap ang inyong kuwento, hindi ba? Ilang beses ba kayong nag-away… at nagbati pa rin?
Humanga nga ako sa inyo pareho, lalo na sa iyo Lorenz. Ipinagmamalaki ko na inaanak kita kasi ikaw pala ay dakilang mangingibig. Hindi mo alintana ang nakaraan ni Charmaine. Katulad mo ay si San Jose nang lalo mo pang minahal si Charmaine at ang mga mahal niya! Wala sa iyo ang nakaraang kuwento ng buhay ni Charmaine dahil ang pinahalagahan mo ay ang kuwentong hinahabi ninyong pareho ngayon. Bihira na iyan at maliwanag na ito ay kuwento ng pag-ibig ng Diyos sa inyo.
Paghanga at pagkabighani naman aking naramdaman sa iyo, Charmaine. Higit sa iyong kagandahan Charmaine ay ang busilak ng iyong puso at budhi. Wala kang inilihim kay Lorenz. Naging totoo ka sa kanya mula simula. Higit sa lahat, naging bukas ang isip at puso mo sa kabila ng iyong unang karanasan upang pagbigyan ang umibig muli. At hindi ka nabigo.
Kaya nga Lorenz at Charmaine, ipagpatuloy ninyo ang kuwento ng inyong pag-ibig sa isa’t isa na mula sa Diyos.
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, 2017 sa Israel.
Kapag mahal mo ang isang tao, lagi mong kinakausap. Marami kang kuwento. At handa kang makinig kahit paulit-ulit ang kuwento kasi mahal mo siya. At kung mahal ninyo ang Diyos, palagi din kayong makikipag-kuwentuhan sa kanya sa pagdarasal at pagsisimba.
Palagi ninyong isama sa buhay ninyo tulad sa araw na ito ang Diyos na pumili sa inyo. Wika ng Panginoong Jesus sa ating ebanghelyo, “Manatili kayo sa aking pag-ibig upang makahati kayo sa kagalakan ko at malubos ang inyong kagalakan” (Jn.15:9, 11).
Hindi pagkukuwenta ang pag-aasawa. Hindi lamang pera at mga gastos ang kinukuwenta. Huwag na huwag ninyong gagawing mag-asawa ang magkuwentahan ng inyong naibigay o tinanggap na ano pa man sapagkat ang pag-aasawa ay hindi paligsahan o kompetisyon ng mga naibigay at naidulot. Hindi ito labanan ng sino ang higit na nagmamahal. Kaya, huwag kayong magkukwentahan, magbibilangan ng pagkukulang o ng pagpupuno sa isa’t-isa.
Basta magmahal lang kayo ng magmahal nang hindi humahanap ng kapalit dahil ang pag-aasawa ay ang pagbibigay ng buong sarili sa kabiyak upang mapanatili inyong kabuuan.
Paano ba nalalaman ng mga bata kung magkaaway ang tatay at nanay?
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, 2019.
Kapag hindi sila nag-uusap. Kapag ang mag-asawa o mag-irog o maging magkakaibigan ay hindi nag-uusap ni hindi nagkikibuan, ibig sabihin mayroong tampuhan o alitan. Walang pag-ibig, walang ugnayan, walang usapan.
Kaya nga kapag nag-away ang mag-asawa, sino ang dapat maunang bumati o kumibo? Sabi ng iba yung daw lalake kasi lalake ang una palagi. Akala ko ba ay ladies first? Sabi ng ilan, kung sino daw may kasalanan. E, may aamin ba sa mag-asawa kung sino may kasalanan?
Ang tumpak na kasagutan ay kung sino mayroong higit na pagmamahal, siyang maunang kumibo at bumati dahil ang pag-aasawa ay paninindigang piliin na mahalin at mahalin pa rin araw-araw ang kanyang kabiyak sa kabila ng lahat. Kaya palaging maganda ang kuwento ng pag-ibig, hindi nagwawakas, nagpapatuloy hanggang kamatayan.
Aabangan namin at ipapanalangin inyong kuwento ng pag-ibig, Lorenz at Charmaine. Mabuhay kayo!
The Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 07 January 2024
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, in Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 13 September 2023.
It’s the first Sunday of 2024 and we are celebrating in the Church today the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord used to be known as Feast of the Three Kings. Today is the final Sunday of the Christmas season which closes tomorrow with the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus before we go into the Ordinary Time the following Tuesday.
From the Greek word epiphanes that means appearance or manifestation, today’s celebration reminds us that Jesus came for everyone especially those forgotten and unloved, the poor and marginalized, the sinner and those lost.
Most of all, Christ became human like us except in sin so that it would be easier for us to find God who loves us so much without any reservations. In fact, it is actually God who searches for us and always finds us. Whenever we think we are looking for God and have found Him, it was actually God who first sought us and found us.
It was God who moved the magi from the East to search for Jesus Christ born in Bethlehem and they found him. Ironically, it was the people of Jerusalem, especially King Herod along with the scribes and priests who knew where the Christ would be born were the ones who did not find him because they were not really interested in finding Jesus.
Christmas is being “out” with Christ when we think less of ourselves within like the magi from the East who went out of their ways, of their comfort zones and even ivory towers to find Jesus in Bethlehem… Yes, Jesus is out there, manifesting himself daily in so many ways but we could not recognize him because we are locked inside our own beliefs of the Christ, held captive by our many fears like King Herod and the people of Jerusalem.
This is the second time we are featuring on Epiphany Sunday Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’77’s classic “Waiting for Love” composed by Randy McNeill from their 1974 album Vintage 74. One good thing with social media today is how we are able to unearth or discover so many wonderful things about our music in the past like the impressive talents behind this lovely song with vocals from the lovely Bonnie Bowden who collaborated with many other albums later with Mr. Mendes as well as Jazz artist George Duke. Jazz legend Dave Grusin was the conductor and arranger for the orchestra music of the album with some acoustic guitar renditions by another legend Antonio Carlos Jobim.
What we like most with Waiting for Love that rings true to everyone of us is the fact how very often we are so locked inside – with our past pains and hurts, even sins and failures as well as presumptions on everyone and everything that we could not find Jesus and love itself outside in other people.
Was it something in the rain Or a chance of love again That made me explain The secrets of my soul I guess I only needed Someone to hold
But I was gone without a trace And the rain blew away
And it seems I've spent my whole life Waiting for love And when it comes I always run away
Was it something on a dream That touched my memory Or a picture I didn't know I'd seen That made me stop and stare And then I lost him, If he was ever there
Waiting for Love challenges us like the Epiphany to be wise like the magi to recognize and follow Jesus appearing daily in our lives in many occasions and circumstances. Surely, there were other people who have seen the bright star of Bethlehem when Christ was born but why only the three magi from the East came to follow it and search for Jesus?
This 2024, stop being “afraid of being close where I need to be the most”to start following and believing in the bright star of Jesus Christ found in people who come to us daily. Cheers to more love this 2024!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, 01 January 2024 Numbers 6:22-27 ><]]]]'> Galatians 4:4-7 ><]]]]'> Luke 2:16-21
Photo from Tetra Images/Getty Images, mosaic of Virgin Mary and Jesus in the Haghia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey.
Just like this Christmas, we start our new year reflection with another song, also controversial for some Catholics in the US, composed by two Protestant songwriters in 1994 that had become a hit this 2023 following a cover by Pentatonix.
The song is Mary Did You Know with these following lines that say:
Mary, did you know that your baby boy Would one day walk on water? Mary, did you know that your baby boy Would save our sons and daughters? Did you know that your baby boy Has come to make you new? This child that you delivered, will soon deliver you
Before Vatican II, January first being the octave of Christmas was the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus when he was circumcised and given with that name as instructed by the angel both to Mary and to Joseph.
Yes, Mary was not totally unaware, that she knew some things about Jesus, his identity as Son of God, as the Savior and Messiah. But, she knew nothing really in particular or details like what the song says in Mary Did You Know that is why we find it so appropriate in today’s celebration of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Retreat Center, Baguio City, August 2023.
The only thing Mary clearly knew about her child born on Christmas Day was the name to be given him, Jesus which means “God saves”. Aside from that, there was nothing else she knew.
She never knew how Jesus would die, that he would be betrayed by one of his own apostles. She never knew Jesus would perform all those miracles like feeding thousands of people from five loaves of bread or healing the sick, restoring sight of the blind, or bringing back to life the dead.
Mary did not know Jesus would walk on water nor change water into wine. All she knew was Jesus is the Messiah. And she believed with all her heart that she followed him all throughout his ministry until his death on the Cross, one of the only three followers of Jesus who remained with him when the rest fled.
After the Ascension, Mary remained with the Apostles in praying and serving, being present with them during the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost day.
Like the Blessed Mother Mary when Jesus was born, we know nothing at all of what will really happen to us this 2024. It is totally useless and insane – even sinful – to consult fortune tellers and go with all those superstitious practices every new year to make it a favorable and auspicious one for us.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, March 2023.
Hence, we celebrate every January first not the New Year but the Motherhood of Mary to commemorate the Blessed Virgin’s role in cooperating with God’s plan in putting into action the mystery of salvation in the Incarnation of his Son Jesus Christ.
Like Mary as modern disciples of Christ, we are called first to cultivate within us that intimacy with Christ, of immersing ourselves in his words in a prayer life reflected in our lives. Luke said it perfectly:
And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.
Luke 2:19
It was not the first time that Mary “kept” things and words in her heart. First was at the Annunciation when she simply yes said to the angel and then at the Presentation when Simeon spoke of the coming mission of Jesus and her own suffering too as a consequence.
Mary remained silent and kept all those words in her heart. And when Jesus was 12 years old after he was lost and later found in the temple, Mary did not understand his words but simply kept them in her heart, reflecting very well on their meanings, trying to find God’s will and her role to play in the mission of Jesus.
“The Finding of the Savior at the Temple” painting by William Holman Hunt (1860) from en.wikipedia.org.
I love that expression of Luke, of Mary reflecting in her heart. In this age of modern technology like cellphones, we have forgotten the fact that our hearts are the best and most reliable “memory bank” in the world.
Instead of keeping pictures and videos and voices in our phones and other gadgets including iclouds, let us keep things in our hearts by savoring our experiences, reflecting on their meanings that will surely enrich us as persons and most of all as disciples of Christ.
No matter how big are the storage capacities of our gadgets, they are all prone to corruption and lost. But those stored in our hearts are guaranteed to stay, even if our brain cells suffer short circuits due to Alzheimer’s and other disorders that impair our memory because what can never be erased nor deleted in us are the memories of being loved.
We will never know everything in life ahead but we can all be assured we are loved by God. The more we experience Jesus Christ like Mary, the more we find God indeed is our loving Father – Abba as St. Paul said in the second reading. Again, please forgive me, for mentioning the movie Firefly.
From GMA Films & GMA Public Affairs.
Yesterday in the Feast of the Holy Family, I reflected on how the child named Tonton became the Christ-figure in that movie who showed the light of life and love to his three co-journeyers to the fantasy island; today let us reflect on his mother Elay played by Ms. Alessandra de Rossi.
After seeing her performance in Firefly, I am now convinced Ms. Rossi is in indeed an actress. A very good one.
I first saw her in the comedy romance Kita Kita about ten years ago maybe. In Firefly, Ms. Rossi’s performance was truly impressive that one could feel her presence in the whole story even in those parts of her narrations. It is amazing how the movie remained faithful to the story line and graphics of the award-winning children’s story book that made it so appealing.
Like Mary, Elay did not know everything from the very start, especially after she had killed in self-defense her abusive husband in their former home in the island when Tonton was still a child (sorry). They went to Tondo to begin anew in her life with Tonton in a place I believe we used to call when I was still a reporter as Isla Puting Bato, a protruding land into Manila Bay and home to thousands of informal settlers – the poorest of the poor who could not even afford electricity.
The genius and artistry of the film is found in how in the dark realities of the life of Elay and Tonton – she stricken with breast cancer, so poor in the slum area while he a favorite of the bullies – still looked so light, so promising not only with the great cinematography and effects but most of all of that deeply ingrained love of mother to her child.
Parang anak talaga ni Elay si Tonton sa Firefly kaya nakakaiyak.
From GMA Films & GMA Public Affairs.
She warned Tonton that in life, it is inevitable that separation could happen like death. But, what would keep us all together even after death is love. At the end of the film, when Tonton already an adult about to receive an award for his short story, a butterfly appeared, presumably his mother Elay. He then discarded of his prepared speech and spoke instead from his heart of the great love for him by his mother.
It is the kind of motherhood of Mary to Jesus and to us today, she still appearing to remind us of going back and being converted to her Son our Lord, of being faithful, of being loving.
In celebrating this Solemnity of Mary Mother of God at the start of the New Year, we are reminded to be like Mary to faithfully and lovingly bring forth Christ into this world so badly needed these days. In this celebration, may we imitate Mary in lovingly serving others, of being the face of God (first reading) especially to those who have never known him because they have never felt being loved at all.
Like Mary, we do not know what will happen this 2024 but we all know, and we are so sure, that God loves us that he had given us his Son Jesus Christ so that not one among us shall perish but gain eternal life. Amen. A blessed new year and still, a merry Christmas to you!
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