Category: media

Exaggerating the truth, exaggerating self, part 2

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 23 July 2024
Photo from sunstar.com.ph of that viral incident between a Cebu personality addressed as a “Sir” by a waiter in a mall last Sunday.

It is a classic case of “brouhaha” in the real sense, especially if we consider our Tagalog word buruha or bruha: a waiter was told to stand for more than an hour to be “lectured” on gender sensitivity by a Cebu personality belonging to the LGBTQ community after being addressed as a “Sir”.

Well, at least, the issue had been settled amicably with an apology by the celebrity after a deluge of negative reactions from netizens. Likewise, we can now sigh with some relief that there are no plans among the LGBTQ community to imitate their sistah from the Queen City of Cebu, proof that there are more sane and kind LGBTQ who have better things to do than make a big fuss about themselves or the rainbow. Imagine if every LGBTQ will lecture everyone of us just on how to address them in Metro Manila alone, life would be disrupted and paralyzed, worst than what we went through during the lockdowns during COVID-19!

But kidding aside, what makes that incident disturbingly sad is how it had shown again the sad plight of the poor in our country. Bawal maging mahirap, maging dukha sa Pilipinas. So sad. Even in the church it is very true. We do not have to look far to see how this is so true among us. Kawawa palagi ang mga maliliit.

How do we treat our house helpers and drivers, delivery personnel, janitors and janitresses, even professionals doing not so glamorous tasks like nurses. And security guards, of course. (Kudos to our alma mater, the Faculty of Arts and Letters of UST who had their security personnel joined the march of their recent graduates!)

Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2018.

The very sight of a waiter standing in front of a customer immediately caught my attention while scrolling my Facebook, asking myself, “what happened?” Gut feelings told me something was very wrong and surely, the guy must have been so disadvantaged.

For addressing that celebrity customer as “sir”, the waiter had to endure the humiliation of standing before him like in a trial. Even if it was just between the two of them. Even if he did not scream or yell at the waiter. What’s the big deal? Iyon lang?

His ego, his femininity more valuable than the very person of the waiter? It is the new pandemic among us spreading these last 20 years. The malady of entitlement, of never making the mortal sin to address some people as Doctor or Attorney or even Father. We have lost touched with our humanity, our being a human being, a person, a tao first of all.

Good thing there was a good soul around that mall who came to the waiter’s rescue.

What we have here is a classic case of “exaggeration of truth, exaggeration of self” – a phrase I have found years ago in one of the many writings of Pope Benedict XVI. It was my parting shot to our graduates of Senior High School last July 05, 2024 during our Baccalaureate Mass.

Many times in this age of so many platforms of communications, we tend to exaggerate the truths, of clamoring for so many things like inclusiveness everywhere when in the process, they have actually become so exclusive! Many times, people exaggerate the truth presenting themselves as disadvantaged and victimized when in fact it is far from reality. Many people are advancing so many things these days when in fact they are actually promoting themselves. Many are exaggerating the truths when they are actually exaggerating themselves (https://lordmychef.com/2024/07/10/exaggerating-truth-exaggerating-self/)

The tragedy of our time characterized by affluence and upward mobility so splattered across social media daily, is how so many among us who have lost touch with our humanity. Everything has become a show – a palabas we say in Filipino. We forget that inside – the loob – as more essential.

And what is inside each one of us?

Our dignity as image and likeness of God or pagkatao that is best seen and expressed in our being small, being little like the children, the very core of Jesus Christ’s teaching.

Look outside even in the countryside now invaded by those giant tarpaulins – why have we become like those tarpaulins, thinking and feeling we are larger than others?

Truth in Greek is aletheia that literally means an opening, of not being concealed like the blooming of a flower.

Simply be yourself. And don’t forget everyone as they are.

God bless everyone!

Photo by Dra. Mai B. Dela Pena, MD at Deir Al-Mukhraqa Carmelite Monastery in Isarel, 2014.

Easter is signs & Scripture together. Always.

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Easter Sunday of the Lord's Resurrection, 31 March 2024
Acts 10:34, 37-43 ><}}}}*> Colossians 3:1-4 ><}}}}*> John 20:1-9

A blessed happy Easter to everyone! The Lord is risen. Let us rejoice amid all the darkness and sufferings still hovering over our lives at this time as Easter gives meaning to these all, enabling us to experience God closest with us in Jesus Christ.

Let Christ’s assurance of deliverance, of salvation burst forth from your heart, from the depths of your soul that amid all these sufferings, we have already won in Jesus. It is in those darkness and emptiness where Jesus is found as the first disciples realized that first Easter morning.

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved… When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there… Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

John 20:1-2, 6, 8-9
Jesus Christ resurrection. Christian Easter concept. Empty tomb of Jesus with light. Born to Die, Born to Rise. “He is not here he is risen”. Photo from iStock/GettyImages.

We can never experience the joy of Easter if we skip going through or deny the agonies and pains of Good Friday. See how in the glory of Christ’s Resurrection is found the empty tomb set in the darkness of dawn, evoking in us the realities of life.

The problem in our time is when people see life only as Easter without Good Friday like those who want to get rich by gambling without working hard or students who want to pass exams without studying. At the other extreme are those who see life only as all Good Friday without Easter, becoming indifferent to joy and life itself.

Absence of sufferings can happen only in heaven after we have died. In rising from the dead, Jesus enables us today to taste heaven, to have a glimpse of eternal bliss which Easter makes a reality within us. That is why all the 50 days of Easter beginning today until Pentecost Sunday are actually counted as one big day because we can never grasp the fullness of Christ’s Resurrection in just one day or one month. As we have reflected last Sunday, life is like the Palm Sunday in the Lord’s Passion, a daily movement from the Lord’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

Actually, every celebration we have in the Church, from Christmas to feasts of Mary and the saints are images of Easter, of Jesus Christ’s Resurrection, of His triumph and glory. This we find in that last line of our gospel account today:

Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

John 20:8-9
Crucifixion and Resurrection. He is Risen. Empty tomb of Jesus with crosses in the background and cinematic lighting. From IStock/GettyImages.

Many times our life is an empty tomb with nothing inside except signs of Jesus. John used the word sign to refer to the Lord’s miracles, words and actions that point to Him as the Christ, the awaited Messiah. Hence, his gospel is also known as “the book of signs” with seven miracles and teachings by Jesus that signify Him as the Son of God.

Here at the last two chapters of his gospel we find John’s wisdom in using both explicitly and implicitly the word and concept of sign to point at Jesus as the Christ. The empty tomb itself is the sign pointing to Jesus who had risen; since He was not there, He must be somewhere alive! How do we prove it? Again with another signs, the burial cloths neatly folded inside the empty tomb that showed the body of Jesus was not stolen.

From wikipedia.commons, healing of a leper,

John have used this formula repeatedly in his gospel, slowly building up to prepare his readers for the great signs of Easter like the changing of water into wine at Cana, the many cures, the feeding of more than 5000 in the wilderness, the thrusting of lance into the Lord’s side while on the Cross from which flowed blood and water. All of these he consistently claimed as signs that he as “the other disciple” had seen or witnessed.

Whenever we prayerfully read and reflect John’s gospel, we too see and hear Jesus is the Christ in the signs he presents us until finally, we find Jesus present in the many experiences of our lives! John wants us to understand the interaction between signs and Scripture which Luke explained beautifully in the story of the road to Emmaus which is the gospel proclaimed on the evening of Easter Sunday.

For John and the evangelists which Vatican II stressed in Dei Verbum, the Scripture allows us to understand the signs that also lead to understanding the Scripture. If the Apostles have not learned from the Scriptures that Jesus must rise from the dead, the empty tomb would have remained a puzzle to them. Likewise, it was the sign of the empty tomb that led them to understanding fully the Scripture. And that has always been the case in our lives until now that is why it is so essential we cultivate a prayer life which is a relationship with God in Jesus not just a recitation of prayers or celebration of the Mass.

Easter invites us to enter into a relationship with God in Jesus, through Jesus and with Jesus through the many signs He joined us through our trials and tribulations in life so we can be one with Him in His Resurrection.

Detail of the Anastasis (Resurrection) fresco in the Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora, in Istanbul, Turkey. It depicts Jesus’ descent into limbo to liberate Adam and Eve and all the righteous who have been waiting for him there. Photo and caption from Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation (slmedia.org).

How sad in this age when many people have stopped joining church celebrations and communal prayers when they choose to go on vacation during Christmas and Easter, totally unmindful of Jesus Christ’s outpouring of love for us.

How sad when many of us practically live in the media, so concerned with the palabas (the outside peripherals) than the inside, the more essential even in our spiritual celebrations.

How sad when people preferred to video the procession of the Blessed Sacrament on Holy Thursday than to kneel and pray in recognition of Christ’s real presence.

From shutterstock.com

How sad for those who skip Masses on Sundays but would devoutly join the Good Friday processions that have become more of fashion show and picnic when people are busy talking, texting, taking videos or pictures, eating and drinking than praying and meditating the various scenes of the Lord’s Passion and Death.

How sad for those who have made their carrozas a pompous spectacle and display of family wealth than catechism and devotion. One would seriously wonder where is the dolor of Viernes Dolores or the grief and sadness for the Lord’s passion, death and burial depicted by the Holy Week processions. Not to mention the kabaduyan and ka-ek-ekan by priests at the repositories of Holy Thursday that after Visita Iglesia you hardly hear people talking how they were edified at the solemnity of the church they visited; people now talk more after Visita Iglesia of how they were awed by the decors and effects of repositories, not of Christ’s real presence.

Worst, the most crazy and foolish of all is how most Catholics end their devotions at Good Friday without realizing the most important of all celebrations is Easter which is the Mother of all feasts in our Church, the very heart of our faith.

This Easter, let us salvage the remaining gifts and grace God pours upon us in Jesus through this Season by opening our hearts, our minds, our total selves to the Risen Lord we encounter in the Scripture and many signs in our lives. Amen. Have a blessed Easter!

Sobra na, tama na!

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-26 ng Setyembre 2023
Larawan mula sa redditt.com ng iskulturang pinamagatang “Love” ni Ukrainian artist Alexander Milov naglalarawan ng inner child sa bawat isa sa atin na ibig palaging makipag-ugnayan sa kapwa.

Hindi po tungkol sa pulitika ang aking lathalain kungdi ukol sa tila lumalabis nang pagkahumaling ng mga tao sa computer at mga makabagong teknolohiya. Sa aking palagay ay sumusobra na pagsaklaw ng teknolihiya sa ating buhay at nawawala na ating pagkatao. Hindi ako magtataka na bukas makalawa, magkakatotoo na nga yata yung dating ipinangangamba na pananakop ng mga robot sa ating buhay o mismo sa ating mga tao!

Ang katotohanan po ay tumigil na akong kumain sa mga fastfood restaurant hindi dahil sa magastos at unhealthy nilang pagkain at inumin kungdi ang mga nakaka-inis na sisteng kailangang pa akong umorder nang nagpipindot sa mga screen nila ng kakanin gayong may mga crew naman sila.

Minsan pauwi ako mula sa pagmimisa sa lamay sa patay sa Bulacan. Hindi ako gaanong nakakain kaya dumaan ako sa McDonald’s sa Nlex Drive and Dine. Ayokong mag-drive thru para doon na rin makapagpahinga ng konti sabay pagpag na rin maski hindi ako naniniwala doon.

Sising-sisi ako at dumaan pa ako doon; sana nga pala ay nag-drive thru na lang ako kasi naman ay ganito po ang nangyari.

Larawan mula sa news.abs-cbn.com

Pagpasok ko sa McDonald’s doon ay tumambad sa akin ang mga higanteng screen na doon daw oorder. Kasinglaki ni Ronald McDonald yung mga screen pero hindi sila friendly kasi natakot ako. Aminado akong tanga at walang alam sa mga iyon. Hindi po ako techie. Kahit naka-iPhone ako, inaamin kong hindi ko pa rin alam hanggang ngayon kung paano ito gamitin. Di ko naintidihan yang mga hacks na iyan.

Wala akong nagawa kungdi sumunod sa crew na naka-ngiti naman. Binasa ko instructions. Pindot dito, pindot doon. Ewan ko. Naghalo na rin siguro gutom at katangahan, pabalik-balik ako sa simula at hindi maka-order. Mayroon akong nakasabay na engot din at lumapit sa amin yung guwardiya upang tulungan kami. Nawalan na ako ng ganang kumain sa inis sa screen, sa sarili ko na rin, at sa pamunuan ng McDonald’s. Bakit hindi na lang kinuha order ko kesa pinahirapan pa ako doon sa electronic counter na yun?

Bakit kailangang pilitin ang lahat na gumamit ng computer para sa pag-order? Hindi ba naiisip ng mga fastfood na ito na mayroong mga taong hindi pa rin gamay at handa sa gayong uri ng transsaksiyon? Ang pinaka-ayoko sa sisteng ito ng modernisasyon na ang lahat ay automated at computerized ay nawawala ang ating “pagkatao”, iyon bang human touch at humanness ika sa Inggles.

Larawan mula sa NLEX.

Sa expressway ay mauunawaan ko pa dahil upang mapabilis ang biyahe, mainam ang RFID. Ngunit may mga pagkakataon na hindi ako nagmamadali na pagkaraan ng nakakapagod na pagmamaneho sa trapik, ang ibig ko lang ay mayroong makitang isang kapwa-tao. Yung bang madama lang yung “warmth of another human person” ay malaking bagay na rin upang mapawi pagod at stress, na para bang nagsasabing hindi ka nag-iisa. Noong dati ay nakakausap ko pa ng kaunti mga teller sa Nlex sa paniniwala na makapagpasaya lang ako ng isa pang nilalang na maaring bigat na bigat sa problema. Ngayon, wala na yung koneksiyon na iyon kaya hindi kataka-taka, marami sa atin ang disconnected sa isa’t-isa maging sa sarili! Kaya sabog maraming tao ngayon. Siguro kung maibabalik lang natin marami nang nawalang human interaction, mababawasan yang mga road rage sa lansangan.

Isang nakakamiss para sa akin ang magpunta sa bangko at pumila, makahunta ilang mga tao doong kakilala pati na ang manager at magagandang teller. Iyon ang wala sa electronic banking. Totoong convenient at mabilis ang pagbabangko gamit ang cellphone o computer ngunit napaka-impersonal! Iyon na ba ang mahalaga sa atin ngayon, kaginhawahan kesa ugnayan sa kapwa tao?

Pakikipag-ugnayan ang layon ng komunikasyon. Para sa akin, ang pinakamagandang paglalahad ng kahulugan ng komunikasyon ay mula sa Pastoral Instruction na Communio et Progressio sa pagpapatupad ng dokumento ng Vatican II sa social communication na Inter Mirifica:

Communication is more than the expression of ideas and the indication of emotion. At its most profound level it is the giving of self in love. Christ’s communication was, in fact, spirit and life.

Communio et Progessio, #11

Sa lahat ng nilalang ng Diyos, tao lamang ang kanyang binahaginan ng kanyang kapangyarihang makipagtalastasan o komunikasyon. Ang aso ay tumatahol, pusa nagme-meow at ang baboy ay nag-o-oink-oink. Ngunit ang tao, nagsasalita, nangungusap. Naiintindihan, nauunawaan. At kapag nangyari iyon, nagkakaroon ng ugnayan at kaisahan. Communication, tapos communion.

Hindi ito nangyayari sa computer. Manapa, madalas pakiwari ko ay inuulol tayo ng mga ito! Ano kalokohan yung alam mo namang AI (artificial intelligence) o robot ang “kausap” mo tapos sasagot ka sa kahon na “I am not a robot”? At, mantakin mong utusan ka ng Waze o Google map na pakiwari mas alam niya lahat kesa iyo?

Kaya siguro maraming high blood din ngayon kasi nga kapag sumablay mga teknolohiyang ito lalo na ang mahinang signal, tapos na lahat ng usapan. Sa gayon, walang napagkakayarian, walang napagkakasunduan kaya wala ring kaisahan.

Ito rin ang hindi ko magustuhan sa ipinagmamalaki ng dati kong upisina at network, iyong kailang AI-sportscasters.

larawan mula sa gmanetwork.com.

Heto na yata ang rurok ng kalabisan sa pagkamaliw ng karamihan sa teknolohiya. Unang tanong natin dito ay ano po ba ang turing ng mga kumpanyang gumagamit nito sa kanilang mga taga-tangkilik? Tayo ba ay pinahahalagahan pa nila at ipinauubaya na lamang tayo sa mga robot?

Higit sa maraming mahuhusay na tagapagbalita, sa ganang akin walang puwang sa newscast o ano mang uri ng pagbabalita ang mga AI dahil ang komunikasyon ay ugnayan. Communication is a relationship, lalo na balita at isports. Kahit na maperfect pa ang teknolohiyang iyan, hindi mapapalitan at di dapat mapalitan ang tao sa pakikipag-ugnayan sa kapwa tao.

Ikalawa, ano ang dahilan para magkaroon ng AI na sportscaster? Magmalaki? Magyabang? Ano pa kaya gusto ng GMA-7 gayong wala na silang kalaban?

At dapat nilang asikasuhin ay mabigyan tayo ng buhay na mga programa, coverage na umaantig sa aming pagkatao, kayang hipuin kaibuturan ng aming sarili upang madama tuwa at lungkot ng bawat tagumpay at kabiguan saan mang larangan ng buhay. Maramdaman nating hindi tayo nag-iisa sa pag-aasam ng tagumpay at kaunlaran dahil mayroong kaming mga kalakbay sa biyaheng ito ng buhay. Iyon ang kahulugahan ng integrated news – buo. Paanong naging integrated news kung hindi naman tao ang sportscaster nila? Hindi ba doon pa lamang ay sira na ang kabuuan? Sila ba ay mayroong puso para ituring na Kapuso?

Ang kailangan ay isang kapwa na makakasama sa buhay lalo na sa media. Sa Inggles, tawag doon ay companion. Mula sa dalawang salitang Latin, cum na ibig sabihi’y with o kasama at panis na kahulugan ay bread o tinapay; sa literal na salin, ang companion – cum panis – ay kahati sa tinapay. “Someone you break bread with.” Ang tinapay naman ay tanda ng ating sarili, ng ating buhay. .

Samakatwid, ang companion o kasama ay isang kapwa na nagbabahagi ng kanyang sarili sa kapwa upang mabuhay din. Iyan ang dangal at karangalan ng pagbabalita na sadya namang maipagmamalaki ng GMA News mula marami nilang mahuhusay na newscasters at reporters. Kaya lahat ay nalungkot nang pumanaw si G. Mike Enriquez na naging bahagi ng buhay ng maraming kababayan natin sa kanyang estilo ng pagbabalita. Taong-tao siya, ika nga.

Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 13 Setyembre 2023.

Kaya rin naman sa Banal na Misa, ang tawag doon ay Banal na Komunyon, ang pagbabahagi at pagtanggap sa Katawan ni Kristo sa anyo ng tinapay. Nakiisa sa atin si Jesus sa lahat ng bagay sa ating katauhan liban sa kasalanan tulad ng gutom at uhaw, lungkot at hapis, kabiguan maging sakit at kamatayan upang makabahagi niya tayo sa kanyang buhay at tagumpay.

Walang ganyang umiiral sa mga AI na ito at computerization ng mga sistema sa ating buhay. Sana ay isaalang-alang ito ng mga negosyante at umuugit sa mga industriya lalo na sa media. Ang masakit na katotohanan kasi ay kunwari ay kaunlaran at kadalian o convenience ang kanilang dahilan (para kanino?) kungdi kitang kita naman, pera lang ang suma total. Sa gayon, sa landas na ito ng pagiging impersonal na kalakaran ng maraming bagay gamit ang teknolohiya, unti unti rin tayong nade-dehumanize, nawawala katauhan. Kapag nawala ang katauhan, ano ang pumapalit? Alam na natin iyan. Salamuch po.