Christ comes in the Mass

Lord My Chef Simbang Gabi Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Simbang Gabi-IV, 19 December 2025
Judges 13:2-7, 24-25     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     Luke 1:5-25

*View of a decorated Christmas tree and tower of the Franciscan Monastery of St Saviour locally also known as San Salvador monastery in the Christian Quarter Old city East Jerusalem*

From Matthew, we now shift to Luke’s account of the story of Christmas which is the most complete and detailed of all gospel accounts. In fact, most artistic renditions of Christmas were inspired by Luke’s gospel.

Very surprising in his Christmas story, Luke started it with the annunciation of the birth of John the Baptist to his father Zechariah who was then serving at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, a beautiful reminder to us all these days that Christ comes in our Holy Mass.

And I wonder – what if I imitate Zechariah in the gospel on this Simbang Gabi: come out late in the altar… totally silent, unable to speak?

Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and were amazed that he stayed so long in the sanctuary. But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He was gesturing to them but remained mute. Then, when his days of ministry were completed, he went home (Luke 1:21-23).

A priest recently posted on Facebook an appeal to us all priests to truly pray and reflect to have a good homily this Simbang Gabi and Christmas Season because the people deserve more than jokes, hugot lines and gimicks during these ten days of celebrating the Mass.

And we totally agree with him!

Let us accept the fact that majority of Catholics in the world – not only in the Philippines – celebrate Mass only on Christmas. At least in our country, there is the Simbang Gabi when many Catholics try to complete its nine-days of Masses plus the Christmas Day itself and, that’s it for them – ten consecutive days in December and absent every Sunday from January to November with a few who would return to Mass on Palm Sunday, fiestas and birthdays. Especially these days, most people have no qualms at all of skipping Sunday Masses while there are still some who wrongly believe the online Mass suffices.

The challenge and call for us priests this season is indeed very true when we are able to pray and prepare well our homilies to catechize the once-a-year-Catholics so that they may experience the love and mercy of God in Jesus Christ who had come and continues to come during our celebrations of the Mass and other sacraments.

Problem is, very often we priests are indeed so much like Zechariah on that day when he doubted the good news of John’s birth announced by an Angel. Not only are many priests notoriously late in their Mass schedule, worst of all as the people complain, either they have nothing or too much to say during their homily!

*Photo by Ar. Philip Santiago, Jerusalem, October 2025.*

Like the people awaiting Zechariah during that important feast, people are amazed today why some priests could not say anything substantial at all except to continuously ask people to clap their hands and praise God with such cues as “God is good…” and “all the time…” and soon enough what’s next, collection, then after communion special collection!

On the other hand, like the people awaiting Zechariah during that feast, people are also amazed when their priests speak a lot without any sense at all. Worst, many times, the priests are like Jollibee – puro pabida either by converting the altar into a stage for his stand-up jokes and entertainment or turn the sanctuary into a videoke bar because Father is so bilib in his voice.

Sorry, my brother priests. Let’s listen to what people are saying. Let’s listen especially to God when he speaks to us. Or, do we have time to listen to him in prayers?

One truth we priests could not admit or refuse to admit despite its glaring realities is that many of us have become just like politicians – so corrupted that we simply entertain people, keep them ignorant of the more essential things in life and about God because many of us do not pray or are not even interested of going to heaven at all.

Maybe like Zechariah, many priests have been burned out not only of the tasks and living in near isolation but also due to the long wait for answers to our prayers coupled with the many pains and hurts that came along with the ministry that has become more of duties than relationship with the Caller, Jesus Christ.

In telling us this story of the annunciation to Zechariah, Luke had touched on something very timely and sensitive among us priests including the faithful in this age of social media: we have been so detached from God and the divine, many times so impersonal with one another, and, worst of all, so attached with material and worldly things.

As a result, many people have stopped looking up to some priests as models and inspiration for upright living because we have become so much like them in almost every aspect from clothing to speaking and even thinking!

“Pari pala yun!” is what some people often remark these days when they find priests making tambay dis oras ng gabi in almost every cafe or worst, in places we should not even go like casinos and bars, whether with GRO’s or macho dancers.

A growing concern among us these days is the complaint of lay faithful who feel lost and could not guidance like find definitive answers from their pastors about moral issues so blurred by the modern technologies and Western thoughts like wokism. Imagine a Catholic school allowing gay pride festivities? Or relativistic priests to issues of abortion and contraceptives, sex change and gender manipulations, even cases of pornography and other modern addictions. A growing number of laypeople openly express their disappointment at how lately priests have become so lenient with sins that they are already confused on what to confess!

Zechariah and us priests today face the same problem before God: we talk too much and pray so little that perhaps, we need to be silenced too in order to pray more, to listen more to God, his words, his plans and his people as envisioned by synodality now in oblivion.

Imagine all his life as a priest, Zechariah had been praying for a son but when it was finally answered by God, he refused to believe it. Suddenly, he was so lost at what he was supposed to be an expert like spirituality and prayer, most of all, of God’s goodness.

What happened to Zechariah?

And that is what our gospel is asking us priests today, what happened Father?

In the first reading we have heard of the wife of Manoah who felt “a man of God” approached and told her of the good news of the birth of a son (Samson); how lovely if people could feel the same way like in the old days of their priests as “man of God”!

It is very sad when laypeople complain their priests have become so “ordinary” without any sense of holiness or at least of the holy, from simplest wearing of clerical shirt and proper Mass vestments to good grooming and tidiness.

Maybe because we priests have been so concerned so much with palabas than of paloob, when like the social influencers, many among us are so carried away by media chasing content than substance, especially theology.

One of the most painful cuts in the ministry today that hurts so bad is when priests striving to be holy, speaking and doing what is right and proper would then be called as pharisaical. This is very evident in the celebration of the Mass as some priests would belittle even insult those who follow rubrics as well put on proper vestments.

Luke invites us today, both ordained priests and laypeople who share in the priestly office of Jesus in their baptism, that we look into ourselves, into our hearts amid our worship of God like Zechariah in the very presence of God in the Holy of holies: are we present in the Lord?

Do others feel Christ’s coming in our presence especially in the word and later in our life of witnessing and loving service to them?

Let us strive to have meaningful celebrations of the Mass and other communal worship not only this Advent and Christmas because people await from us ministers of the altar like Zechariah of old the good news of the coming of Christ in every Mass we celebrate with them. Help us your priests, our dear lay faithful by giving us the chance to pray more and serve more instead of inviting us in your activities and other affairs we are not needed. Amen. Have a blessed Friday!

Priesthood is face of Christ

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Second Week of Advent, 10 December 2025
Presbyteral Anniversary Homily of former parishioner and students
Isaiah 40:25-31     <*{{{{><  +  ><}}}}*>     Matthew 11:28-30

Advent is seeking the face of God – and so is the priesthood. The joy of our priesthood to a large extent is our continuous seeking for the face of God. It is part of human nature that we always seek and associate a face behind every name and voice.

When we were called to the priesthood, we first heard a “voice” that led us into the high school seminary. That’s why priesthood is a vocation, a call from the Latin verb “voco, vocare, vocavi”.

But, we pursued further our vocation into the major seminary, some had to leave for a while while others were sent out in order to see the face behind this voice, this call because the most essential in priesthood is the Caller Jesus Christ, not really his call.

In our search for Jesus and his face, it is hoped that eventually we as priests become the face of Jesus to everyone, speaking to them those same gentle words to “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt.11:28).

Thank you very much for inviting me again to speak to the three of you – Fr. RA, Fr. LA, and Fr. Howard. (Can we call you as Fr. HA so that your name finally rhyme with the two as in “Hahahaha”?)

*Sixth Presbyteral Anniversary of Fr. Ra, Fr. LA, and Fr. Howard, 10 December 2025, ICS Chapel.*

Congratulations on your sixth presbyteral anniversary. They say the first five years of priesthood is the “honeymoon stage”; so now, you enter the reality stage when many times you will be disillusioned in the ministry, especially with your brother priests who are supposed to be the face of Christ – but not!

That is why the readings for today on your sixth presbyteral anniversary are so appropriate as they offer the Advent message of comfort and encouragement, and a promise of salvation – the message every priest needs to hear these days when our leaders in government and yes, even in the church seem to be so weak and without direction, far from Jesus our Eternal Priest.

The Lord invites us through the Prophet Isaiah to look up and pray – to see the stars in the heavens, the bright constellations that form objects and animals like “faces” on the dark skies of the night.

*Photo by author from the Dominus Flevit Church overlooking Jerusalem, May 2017.*

“To whom can you liken me as an equal? says the Lord” (Is.40:25).

Do we still pray and reflect on the mystery of God’s power and care? Or are the priorities of the day a constant distraction?

We shall never see the face of Christ in ourselves nor in the people we serve no matter how dedicated we are if we do not pray. It is our prayer life, especially those intense moments of silence before the Blessed Sacrament that will show us the face of Christ. According to Abp. Fulton Sheen, the more we pray before the Blessed Sacrament, the more we look like Jesus. Before Pope Benedict XVI died, he wrote that all these sex scandals that have rocked the Church in the past decades are largely due to fewer priests making time for Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.

Before our ministry came, there was Jesus first calling us to be with him, to be one in him in prayers. Palagi nating unahin si Jesus higit sa lahat. Our efforts find meaning only in Christ as Isaiah tells us, “Though young men faint and grow weary, and youths stagger and fall, they that hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar with eagles’ wings; they will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint” (Is.40:30-31).

It is funny that when you invited me last month Fr. RA and Fr. Howard, I asked you if it is the anniversary of our GC? Yes, these three crazy men keep a GC, just the three of them and to make it more like a group, they included me into their folly.

*First Mass of Fr. RA in our Parish in Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan six years ago.*

That is the landscape of our Church today when we live our faith in a mass-mediated culture where we find images especially faces so prominent more than ever as in Facebook. There lies hidden the hidden schemes of the devil to mislead us priests in exposing more our faces than being the face of Christ.

A friend in media recently asked me if those priests in that grand procession are really priests as she wondered why they wear those elaborate vestments they look like Poon and imahen.

I felt what she was driving at – rampa pa more! Isn’t she right?

Except for the Nazareno in Quiapo and Sto. Nino in Cebu, most of our Church processions have all turned into pageantries with all the pomp and gaiety of a show, a palabas.

Puro palabas na tayo, wala nang paloob which is the deeper meaning of the “face”: not as something outside o panglabas but more of the inside. Face is image and likeness, that thing that identifies us. Our identification or ID is Jesus Christ. That is the reason the new Ratio in seminary formation had renamed the theology department as “configuration” stage.

Be the face of Jesus to the people you serve, Fr. RA, Fr. LA and Fr. Howard.

*First priest of St. John Evangelist Parish in Bagbaguin; actually second after Bp. Bart Santos who was ordained when Bagbaguin was still under La Purisima.*

Be the face of Christ too to us priests because these days, many priests follow and show other faces than Christ’s. As I used to tell you, kapag ang pari mabuti sa kapwa pari, tiyak na mabuting tao siya; pero kapag ang pari kahit anong bait (hindi buti, ha) sa mga tao pero masama sa kapwa pari, hindi yan mabuting tao.

St. John the Evangelist, the Patron Saint of Fr. RA in Bagbaguin wrote in one of his letters that “No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us” (1Jn.4:12).

So beautiful! It is when we truly love, especially like Jesus our Eternal Priest, that we become the face of Christ, when we see the face of Christ. Amen. And cheers to six years in priesthood!

When Jesus is “stressed”

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 23 October 2025
Thursday in Twenty-Ninth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I
Romans 16:19-23     <'[[[[><  +  ><]]]]'>     Luke 12:49-53

*Photo by Dra. Mai B. Dela Peña, Japan, 2016.*

I may be struggling with
stress daily like most
people these days,
Lord Jesus,
but today's gospel made me
realize how you too experienced
"stress" like us because, 
after all , you are 
truly human
like us.

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division (Luke 12:49-51).

How good it is to realize
that you, Lord Jesus,
was also stressed -
"I have come to set the earth
on fire...
There is a baptism with which
I must be baptized...";
like you, we could feel
the weight of things to be done,
of mission to be accomplished;
like you, we too could feel
 the great responsibilities
on our shoulders.

Thank you,
Jesus,
thank you
for being one with us
in our stress.

Teach us Lord your
way of handling stress
so we can put these
challenges into good use,
into more evangelical in nature
by first accepting and embracing
 like you our mission and
 responsibilities when you said,
"how I wish it were already blazing"
and "how great is my anguish
until it is accomplished";
many times what we do
is as much as possible avoid
our mission and responsibilities
or, if not, delay acting on them
that eventually stress us further;
give us also the courage like you,
Jesus,
to face and deal with our
many divisions in life
that stress us,
of learning to bridge the many
gaps between the ideal
and the sad realities
we are into
as well as the many
limitations and handicaps
we have.

*Photo by Dra. Mai B. Dela Peña, Mt. Carmel, Israel, 2015.*

Make us whole,
Lord Jesus
in your love and 
kindness and peace
by claiming our 
blessedness in your
gift of salvation
and sanctification
as we pursue
holiness
according to
St. Paul's advice
in the first reading.
Amen.

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City
(lordmychef@gmail.com)

Praying to be gentle & tenacious

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 26 August 2025
Tuesday in the Twenty-first Week of Ordinary Time, Year I
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8     <*{{{{><  +  ><}}}}*>     Matthew 23:23-26

Thang you very much,
dear Jesus for the gift of
St. Paul your Apostle:
yesterday we heard how
he encouraged the church
at Thessalonica,
of how impressed he was 
with their deep conviction
of faith;
today he described his 
approach to starting the
church at Thessalonica:
so candidly speaking
how he did it while still
remaining tender and gentle
to them,
so sure he had taken
the right course of action.

You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our reception among you was not without effect. Rather, after we had suffered and been insolently treated, as you know, in Philippi, we drew courage through our God to speak to you the Gospel of God with much struggle. Our exhortation was not from delusion or impure motives, or did it work through deception. But as we were judged worthy by God to be entrusted with the Gospel, that is how we speak, not as trying to please men, but rather God, who judges our hearts (1Thessalonians 2:1-4).

As I pray,
Lord Jesus on these
words of St. Paul,
I cannot stop wondering
our many excuses
and "side trips" today
as your apostles;
how did St. Paul unwind
or recreate in his time
compared to our many
forms of rest and recreation;
so many of us cannot move on
with life and ministry
from whatever experiences
we have had in our previous
assignments unlike St. Paul
who simply kept the lessons
learned from his past experiences
at Philippi; most of all,
I could feel the intense love
of St. Paul to you, Lord Jesus
and his ministry with his 
deep personal relationship
in you in prayers
so unlike us today
with so many excuses
in not praying at all.

What I love most
is St. Paul's 
tenderness and gentleness
to his church
with his tenacious 
hold on you Jesus.

although we were able to impose our weight as Apostles of Christ. Rather, we were gentle among you, as a nursling mother cares for her children. With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you not only the Gospel of God, but our very selves as well, as dearly beloved had you become to us (1Thessalonians 2:7-8).

Dearest Jesus,
may your word 
be always alive and 
active in me
flowing in my tender
and gentle service to your flock
so unlike the Pharisees you
have condemned again in
today's gospel
for being blind guides
of the people.
Amen.

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City
(lordmychef@gmail.com)

Work of Christ, work of priests

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 13 August 2025

*Photo from* *https://www.notrehistoireavecmarie.com/* *St. John Baptiste Marie Vianney speaking to a young boy identified as Antoine on his way to Ars in France.*

Salamuch again to your prayers and greetings on our priests’ day last August 4, the Memorial of our patron, St. John Baptiste Marie Vianney. With a Bible in hand in silent prayers that morning, I realized two of Jesus Christ’s important works as a priest we continue today.

First is to make God closer to people. And vice versa.

It is not my original; got it from Pope Benedict XVI’s Jesus of Nazareth series where he repeatedly mentioned Jesus Christ’s main achievement in his coming here on earth was bringing God closest to us humans. Recall how during that time in Israel when people felt God so far from them due to the legalisms of temple worship that sadly continues even in the church today that is worsened by trends in modernism like digitization that miss out the very essence of the personal aspect in our ministry of the priesthood.

*Photo by author, Chapel of the Angel of Peace, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City.*

Jesus came and continues to come to us on a person to person basis. It is the foundation of our interpersonal relationships, especially for us priests. Hence, before we priests can bring God closer to others, we must be the first to be closer to him. The way priests deal with others is a reflection of the kind of relationship priests have, or do not have with Jesus. What kept the Lord so close with the people was a result of his union and intimacy with the Father. Solidarity with the poor and marginalized in the real sense is always a grace from Jesus that first comes in every priest’s intimacy with Christ in prayers.

This is the major challenge to us priests these days in an age of too much technologies that ironically set us more apart than closer with each other. We promised to be celibate to offer our whole selves for the flock but sadly, many of us have become too hyphenated with many other duties that we are more professional than personal. Some could not even affix their personal signatures on letters and documents, preferring the e-signature that is so impersonal with the usual excuse it is easier and faster, totally forgetting about our life of sacrifice in such small thing.

While we priests need to take breaks, it is a different story when the pastor becomes engrossed into sports and recreation to the detriment of the pastoral needs of parishioners. When focus is more on the minister and his needs forgetting the ministry, problems arise. Most likely, the pastor is already in a crisis like when Masses even on Sundays are passed on to other priests for dubious excuses or reasons. Watch out for those red flags among pastors of souls who are too difficult to gather for clergy meetings and sick calls but so quick in rest and recreation, especially in going out-of-town or even abroad. Watch out too when pastors are more knowledgeable in politics and telenovelas than the scriptures and the faith, when the homily is more like a sing-along concert.

The kind of our intimacy with Jesus in prayers determines the kind of our relationships with his flock entrusted to us.

According to studies, most people spend an average of seven hours a day of screen time on their cellphone. So, seven hours a day multiplied by seven days a week equals 49 hours. That means most people, including us priests, lose about two days and one hour every week by just scrolling and interacting on our cellphones! How much time is left for us, especially priests to pray and serve the parish? Some would argue that those people we interact with in our cellphones are also the same people we serve; but, whatever happened to our person-to-person interactions?

See how the gospels teem with many stories of Jesus touching, doing other gestures of personally being with the people of his time especially in healing the sick. What a tragedy that we cannot freely be that personal like Jesus with people especially children following the sex scandals that have rocked the church that was largely due to priests’ lack of a prayer life. Every genuine relationship with people starts with intimacy with God like Jesus who would always go by himself to deserted places to pray.

That is why it is also important for us priests to educate our people to value our prayer time especially at night. We priests do not have a night life. Period. We may go out sometimes with laypeople and brother priests but never all the time. Though Jesus dined with the rich and sinful during his time, it was never social in nature; his simple acts of joining meals or visiting people were always apostolic in nature that led to conversion into faithful followers of his hosts. Do we keep that apostolic character in our frequent lunch or dinner buffets in expensive restaurants that some priests post in social media without any deference to the majority of our people struggling to make ends meet?

*Photo by FlickrBrett Streutker from catholic365.com.*

The second important work of Christ as a priest during his time on earth we priests today must continue is to inspire and organize people in keeping his work of bringing God to people and vice versa.

How sad to see the Church has become more like a bureaucracy with some dioceses a microcosm of the Republic of the Philippines with priests and bishops acting like politicians. Maybe next to the government, the Church comes close in churning out the most documents and statements nobody reads nor cares at all to implement. Actually, there is a book on social teachings of the Church aptly called “The Church’s Best Kept Secrets”.

How can synodality happen when priests are detached from the people in the first place? This is very evident in the composition of many Parish Pastoral Councils (PPC) who are never replaced at all except only when one finally dies. Some parish workers and volunteers are as old as their parish that some of them brag “bisita pa lang ito naglilingkod na ako!”

Is it really that difficult to inspire and find new workers and volunteers in the parish? Our faith teaches us that the Lord always provides us especially with fellow workers in his vineyard. Problem is when pastors refuse – not really fail – to attract and inspire more new volunteers and workers in the parish because that will require a lot of their time and presence. A parish that does not change its sets of officers and volunteers for years and years is a dead parish. It just exists for its traditions of devotions and fiestas people see every year and are most likely so fed up too.

*Photo by author, Sacred heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, March 2025.*

This is perhaps the reason why despite our being a Christian nation that we still remain poor because even in parishes not many are given the chance to do the work of Christ. How can we imbue future leaders of both the country and the church with the gospel of Christ if we just allow a small circle, or sadly a clique involved in our parish affairs and activities? One reason Rome fell was the failure of the empire to prepare its next generation of leaders.

Likewise, “recyling” parish leaders and volunteers only continue the vicious circle among us Filipino Christians of being baptized but not evangelized. Notice how our parishes and dioceses have become mini-Republic of the Philippines that are so alive during calamities and holidays for ayudas and gifts but rarely involved in good governance and leadership or management. We priests and state officials are so good in building edifices and complex but that do not make the church nor the government at all. The more priests are personally involved with their parishioners, the more the people realize their importance in being a part and fellow builders of the Body of Christ, of the need for them to be involved in helping their pastors in bringing God to more people and in leading others to God.

Jesus gathered and formed those considered the least during his time to continue his work of bringing God closest to the people and the people closer to God. His Apostles and followers have no experiences in religion at all nor with evangelization. They simply knew how to pray and have faith in Christ above all that we priests and lay people must first do and keep on doing.

Priesthood is doing the work of Jesus Christ; it is not ours but the Lord’s. We are just his hands and limbs, mouth and body in doing his works. The good news is, Jesus our Eternal High Priest loves us so immensely that despite our weaknesses and sinfulness, he continues to call us to come to him, to find rest in him, to learn from him for he is gentle and humble in heart (Mt.11:29). Let us pray and do the work of Christ as priests with our lay people so that each day may be a Pentecost for us in the ministry. Amen.

*St. John Baptiste Marie Vianney from https://liturgiadashoras.online/.*

Full presence in Christ

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul, 20 July 2025
Sunday in the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Genesis 18:1-10 ><}}}*> Colossians 1:24-28 ><}}}*> Luke 10:38-42

*Photo by author, Tagaytay City, February 2023.*

After telling us what we must do to inherit eternal life through his parable of the Good Samaritan last Sunday, Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem with his disciples with a stop over today in the home of the sisters Martha and Mary.

The visit became an occasion for Jesus – the Good Samaritan – to expound on the more important things we his disciples must “do” as exemplified in the contrasting attitudes of the two sisters.

*“Jesus in the House of Martha and Mary”, painting by Johannes Vermeer (1654) from en.wikipedia.org.*

Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary had chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her” (Luke 10:38-42).

This is the third consecutive Sunday Jesus gives us the top things we his disciples must always “do”: two Sundays ago he instructed us to represent him well by greeting everyone with peace while proclaiming that the kingdom of God is at hand (14th Sunday); last week, Jesus asked us to consider everyone especially those in need as a “neighbor” with whom we must show mercy at all times.

Today’s teaching of Jesus is of capital importance in this series on discipleship before the Lord caps it next Sunday with the very foundation of discipleship which is prayer.

*An icon of Jesus visiting his friends, the siblings Sts. Lazarus, Mary and Martha. Photo from crossroadsinitiative.com*.

"Martha, 
burdened with much serving, 
came to him and said..."

Only Luke has this unique story in the home of Martha and Mary.

Far from the simplistic views of a distinction between “contemplative” and “active” approaches in discipleship, Luke invites us not only to enter the home of Martha and Mary but most of all our Lord and Master Jesus Christ to experience and realize the deeper realities of being his disciple.

There is more at issue here than a conflict of duties of listening to the Word like Mary and doing the work like Martha. Jesus is not telling us to be like Mary listening more to the word – and forget all about the work to be done and accomplished? Not at all.

Jesus reproached Martha for being anxious and upset about many things in life that she had forgotten the more essential which is to listen to Christ himself.

Luke’s gospel teems with instances where we find Jesus warning his disciples against being overwhelmed with cares of the world like in the parable of the sower where he mentioned those seeds that fell among thorns were choked by the anxieties and pleasures of the world that they failed to be fruitful (Lk.8:14). In chapter 12 we find Jesus twice repeating in asking his disciples “not to worry” on how to answer their persecutors for the Holy Spirit will teach them (Lk.12:11-12) and immediately after that, “not to worry” again about what to eat or wear for life is more than food and body is more than clothing (Lk.12:22-23). There are many other instances in all gospel accounts we find Jesus denouncing too much focus on things of the world that are passing and worst, detract us his disciples in confessing faith in him as the Christ who had come and will come again at the end of time.

“Jesus in the House of Martha and Mary”, painting by Erasmus Quellinus II and Jan Fyt (1650) from en.wikipedia.org. See the folly of Martha’s worries and distractions with the enormous amount of food being prepared.

Jesus clarifies in the example of Mary that the first priority of every disciple is to listen to the Word who is himself. More than the division of time allotted for “contemplation” and “action” by every disciple, Jesus reminds us that the more we listen to him, the more we do his work; and the more we do his work, the more we desire to return to him and listen again and again to him.

Contemplation and action always go together. We cannot overdo the other and neglect the other. The moment we make a distinction between the two, problems arise like what we find in the church.

When priests and bishops concentrate only in contemplation, oblivious to the social conditions of the people, their proclamation of the Gospel is diluted as they fail to represent well Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. When they are so immersed into social action and advocacies, business endeavors including entertainment in the Mass without contemplation, Christ is detached from the whole picture that people could no longer see nor feel the spiritual nature of the Church with everything becoming a show, empty of any sense of the divine and sacred. In both instances of abuses, either of contemplation or action in the Church, it is her credibility that is eroded as the Body of Christ with a growing number of the faithful disillusioned with priests and bishops more identified with the rich and powerful.

"There is need of only one thing."

Abraham in today’s first reading showed us the most beautiful example of discipleship. Like Martha, Abraham was also gracious in receiving his visitors at Mamre believed to be the Blessed Trinity in the form of angels; but, unlike Martha who was so concerned with her chores that she had forgotten Jesus, Abraham was intently focused on his visitors as “he waited on them under the tree while they ate” (Gen.18:8).

Like Mary listening at the feet of Jesus, Abraham was fully present in God while in Mamre. That is discipleship – to have that full presence in the Lord which is the “only one thing needed” of us which is to receive God’s gift of himself to us, of his Word who became flesh Jesus Christ who enables us to do his works by first recognizing him in ourselves and in one another as our neighbor.

This is the reason why even inside prison, St. Paul felt Jesus Christ’s coming and presence that he rejoiced in his sufferings as part of his ministry in proclaiming Christ as the hope for glory (Col.1:24, 27).

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2025.*

Last week I read in one of the blogs I follow by an American nun, of how she attended many years ago to a delivery man who died of a heart attack in the ER of a Philadelphia hospital. Part of her ministry was to gather the things found in the chest pocket of the man’s shirt so she could inform the relatives of his death: there was a well-used prayer book, a thin wallet with a few dollars inside, a lottery ticket and a picture of his grandchildren. It was so touching how she narrated these simple things found in the man’s chest pocket as those closest to his heart (https://lavishmercy.com/2025/07/12/the-amoroso-man/).

That hit me so hard because even in this age of smartphones, I still carry a little notebook and pen in my chest pocket where I write my schedules as well as occasional notes on everything I notice and read. Deep inside me after reading that blog, I wondered where is Jesus Christ in all those notes and activities in my pocket notebook closest to my heart.

Dearest Lord Jesus,
make me fully present before
you always, even in my activities
and distractions for it is only in you
I am fulfilled. Amen.

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City

Ang Simbahan at ang EDSA ’86

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-25 ng Pebrero 2025

Hindi maikakaila ang mahalagang papel ng Simbahang Katolika sa tagumpay ng People Power 1986 na sinasagisag ng National Shrine of Mary, Queen of Peace mismo sa kanto ng EDSA at Ortigas Avenue kung saan pinigilan ng mga madre, pari, seminarista at layko ang mga sundalong sasalakay sana noon sa mga “rebeldeng” nasa Kampo Crame.

Sa gitna ng maraming pagbabago sa pag-usbong ng maraming matatayog na gusali, nananatiling paalala ang dambanang ito ng katotohanang wala tayong magagawa sa buhay natin kung nakahiwalay tayo sa Diyos sa pamamagitan ni Kristo Hesus kasama ang kanyang Ina na si Maria (Juan 15:5).

Nguni’t ipinahihiwatig din ng simbahang ito ang malaking bugtong sa ating panahon ngayon, kung ano na ang nangyari sa diwa ng EDSA 1986 na tila sa paglipas ng panahon ay unti-unti nang nalilimutan ng marami? Tingnang kung paano sa ngayon ang EDSA ang tanda ng lahat ng magulo at mali sa ating bayan, taliwas sa dating ningning at karangalan nito. Higit sa lahat, kay laking kabalintunaan ng ating kasalukuyan na ang mga pinatalsik ng EDSA noon ay hindi lang basta nakabalik ngayon kungdi sila pang muli ang namumuno, muling nananahan mismo sa palasyo ng Malacanang!

*Larawan ni Jaime Cardinal Sin sa Villa San Miguel, 23 Pebrero 1986, kuha ni Alex Bowi/Getty Images.*

Anyare? Kung paanong naging mahalaga ang papel ng Simbahang Katolika noon sa tagumpay ng People Power 1986, pagkalipas ng halos apat na dekada ay masasabi ring malaki ang kinalaman ng mga pari at obispo sa pagkupas at pananamlay ng diwa ng EDSA sa ngayon.

At taliwas sa larawan ng EDSA Shrine ang ating makikita sa ngayon ay ang pagkalango ng maraming mga obispo at pari sa kapangyarihan ng pulitika mula noong Pebrero 1986.

Wala nang nakasunod sa yapak ng karunungan at kabutihan ng yumaong Cardinal Sin na masasabi nating hindi namulitika at lalong hindi pulitiko noong 1986. Isang tunay na pastol ng kanyang mga kawan, inihatid ni Cardinal Sin tayo noon sa mayamang pastulan at malinis na batisan ika nga. Kung hindi sa kanyang panawagan sa Radyo Veritas noong gabi ng Pebrero 21, 1986, napulbos na marahil ang Kampo Aguinaldo at Krame, hindi na naging Pangulo si Tabako at umigsi buhay ng alamat na si Enrile.

Maraming pari at obispo iba nakita sa pakikibaka noon ni Cardinal Sin. Nakaligtaan nilang tularan ang buhay-panalangin (prayer life) ni Cardinal Sin na siyang bukal ng kanyang kabanalan o, kung di kayo papayag ay espiritualidad. Sa kabila ng maraming kontrobersiya sa kanyang mga sinasabi noon, isang mababanaagan palagi sa kanya ang malinaw na tanda ng buhay na pananalangin. Mayroon siyang prayer life kaya mayroon din siyang kababaang-loob at malasakit sa maliliit.

Maliban sa ilang natitira pang katulad ni Cardinal Sin, maraming obispo at pari ngayon ang sampay-bakod o amuyong sa mga pulitiko at mayayaman. Marami sa kanila mga TH na social climber nagkukunwaring “social activist” na puro burgis ang kasama pati asta at salita.

Larawan kuha ni Pete Reyes kina Sr. Porfiria “Pingping” Ocariza (+) at Sr. Teresita Burias nananalangin upang pigilan mga kawal sasalakay sana noon sa mga rebelde sa Kampo Crame noong People Power 1986.

Kung noong EDSA ay tanda ng kanilang paglilingkod at kawang-gawa ang kanilang mga sutana na sumasagisag sa kanilang kaisahan sa Panginoong Jesu-Kristo, maraming mga obispo at pari ngayon dinurungisan kanilang habito na naging pasaporte palapit sa mga mayayaman at makapangyarihan.

Nakakalungkot ang maraming obispo at pari na nagsisiksikan sa pagmimisa para sa ilang mayayaman habang napakaraming maliliit na ni hindi mabasbasan kanilang mga yumao, ni hindi madalaw para dasalan mga may sakit. Minsang magkawang-gawa, naka-Facebook naman!

Ang pinakanakakasuka sa lahat na tiyak taliwas sa diwa ng EDSA 1986 ay ang mga obispo at pari na sunud-sunuran sa mga mayayaman at makapangyarihan. Nawala na ang kredibilidad ng mga kaparian na taglay noon ni Cardinal Sin dahil alam na alam ng mga pulitiko at mayayaman ang kahinaan ng mga obispo at pari – kuwarta, kuwalta, salapi at pera. Kitang-kita ito sa mga kasalan at lamayan. Maski sa tolda, magmimisa mga obispo at maraming pari para sa anibersaryo ng gasolinahan, sisindihan mga Christmas lights ng kanilang tindahan, magtutulak ng wheelchair ng milyunaryong lumpo, at iiwanan mga parokya maski Linggo para makimisa sa libing ng yumaong donya o don. Istambayan ay Starbucks, tanghalian sa lahat ng eat-all-you-can at bakasyon sa abroad, first class pa sa eroplano sagot ng mayayaman at pulitiko. Nasaan diwa ng EDSA? Wala! Nilamon at tinabunan ng buhol buhol na trapik ang EDSA!

Noon sa EDSA 1986, humingi ng tulong sa mayayaman para sa mga kawal at mga tao pero ngayon, hindi na nahihiya mga obispo at pari ipasagot sa governor at mayor kanilang mga party at outing. Hindi lang donasyon sa mga pagawain sa parokya hinihingi nila kungdi mga sariling pagawain sa bahay at sasakyan.

Nakakahiya. Nakakapanlumo.

*Larawan ni Linglong Ortiz, 23 Pebrero 1986.*

Kung paanong ang mga pari at obispo ang naging malaking bahagi ng tagumpay ng EDSA People Power noong Pebrero 1986, sila ngayon ang isang malaking dahilan sa pagkawasak ng diwa nito. Hindi na madama ng mga maliliit kanilang mga pastol na nanginginain sa mga handaan, iniwanan mga maralita sa kanilang kariton.

Nawa makita muli naming mga pari at obispo ang malaking estatwa ni Maria, ang Reyna ng Kapayapaan doon sa bubong ng simbahan sa EDSA at matanto rin paanong nanatili si Maria malapit sa Anak niyang si Jesus at sa mga tulad niyang anawim, mga maliliit. Hindi sa panig ng mga mayayaman at makapangyarihan.

Pansinin na habang tumatagal ang EDSA, tila nawawala na pagkakaisa natin sa Diyos kay Kristo kasama ang kanyang Ina na si Maria na dapat sana ay pangunahan ng mga obispo at pari. Iyon ang diwa ng EDSA noon na hindi ko makita ngayon. Pansin din ba ninyo?

Discipleship, not membership

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 29 September 2024
Numbers 11:25-29 ><}}}}*> James 5:1-6 ><}}}}*> Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

*Photo by author, ongoing works on the stained glass of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City, 24 July 2024.*

Our Sunday gospel is getting more exciting each week as Jesus gets closer to Jerusalem in fulfillment of His mission with His Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

One thing we see these past Sundays is how Mark followed a certain series of contrasts in the trajectory of his reportage. Note the contrasting scenes with every Sunday as we find today the Twelve appeared united as one unlike last week when they debated on the way who was the greatest among them.

More than that, Mark narrated today two strongly contrasting components of the Lord’s teachings to His disciples about discipleship and membership.

*Photo by author in Magalang, Pampanga, 23 September 2024.*

First is His tolerance on those who do good even though they do not belong to His fold, telling us to let everyone do what is good because no one has a monopoly of serving.

At that time, John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:38-40).

Then in a sudden shift, Jesus severely criticized those who cause scandal, strongly urging His disciples including us today to totally eradicate whatever that leads us to sin and evil. Rejecting sin is discipleship in essence, not membership.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the un quenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna” (Mark 9:42-43, 45, 47).

*Jesus teaching his Twelve Apostles, from GettyImages.*

What a lively discussion the Twelve must have had that day with Jesus. This scene is a favorite of many Christians when discussing the scriptures, of how they are to be understood and interpreted with our ready excuses that Jesus did not literally mean what He said about cutting off our sinful hand or sinful foot and plucking out our sinful eye.

But, have we really reflected on its meanings and implications to our lives today?

Jesus reminds us this Sunday that discipleship is more than membership because in doing what is good, “the sky is the limit” so to speak. No disciple of Christ can lay claim to a monopoly in doing what is good, serving others; moreover, no disciple of Christ can belittle the good works of others even if they do not belong to the same religion or church.

When our good deeds become “exclusive” and selective, then, that cease to be good.

Our ability to do good is always a grace of God, a gift poured out upon us by God daily so that we can be more loving and caring, more understanding and forgiving to one another. The moment we forget that, then, we start playing God.

In telling His disciples to let that man exorcize those possessed even he were not among the Twelve was clearly a command for us to recognize all who do good as brothers and sisters even if they do not necessarily share our beliefs and traditions. It is a call to respect one another.

Recall how in John’s gospel Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd who has other sheep not in this fold. And we cannot deny that many times those who do not belong to our Church or group are doing better in serving others than us who are so entangled with bureaucracy and programs or procedures, not to mention fame and other selfish motives.

This attitude of having a monopoly of ministries and charities is one serious malady afflicting parishes today. Very often, the people with this attitude are the cordon sanitaire of priests who most likely are a Jollibee or a pabida since they were seminarians. They are the epal for short who volunteer in everything leaving nothing else for others to do, eventually spawning more pabida and epal in the church. Many parishioners refuse to serve not because they are lazy nor indifferent nor afraid but simply they are never given a chance to serve due to the monopolistic attitudes of some. It is a sad case of ministry and service based on membership than discipleship.

Jesus is telling us this Sunday that there should be no divisions in doing good. Allow others to do good! Give them the chance to enter heaven too with their services and charities.

God wants us all to be “prophets” as explained by Moses to Joshua in the first reading when Meldad and Eldad prophesied even though they were not present in the Lord’s meeting tent. Moses rightly identified “jealousy” as one reason for such monopolistic attitude of good works by some believers.

Sin is the only obstacle in doing good, not membership. That is why, Jesus was severely stern in His words, telling how better it is for one causing others to sin to be thrown into the sea with a great millstone around one’s neck. Or, to cut off one’s hand or foot, and pluck out one’s eye that cause anyone to sin.

*Photo by author at Fatima Ave., Valenzuela City, 25 July 2024.*

If doing good were “sky is the limit” among disciples of Jesus, sin definitely has no room among us.

See how in this Sunday gospel Jesus implied to John and other disciples including us today of the grave sin of pride when we have that attitude of having a monopoly of good works, of relying more on membership than discipleship. It makes us proud and bloats our ego, leading us to more sins along the way until later on, we succumb to what the Greeks called as hubris.

That is why St. James in the second reading instructed us to examine our attitudes on social ills like poverty and inequality because wealth, like fame and glory, are always stained by sin.

A good disciple is always a good member of the Church – or any team and organization for that matter. Most of all, in our own family and circle of friends!

From Caesarea Philippi down to Capernaum that began three Sundays ago, Mark has continued to show us who Jesus really is, as the Christ who invites us with a personal answer to His same question to the Twelve, “who do you say that I am?” (Mk. 8:29).

The contrasts we found in Him today are not opposed to each other like His meekness with the sick and toughness with those who cause sin. Jesus is very open with anyone doing good, being kind and helpful but amid all these contrasts, He remains firm on His demands on discipleship rooted on His Cross, not just membership or being called a Christian.

When we look on His face, on His person, we find integrity and coherence, wholeness and holiness for Jesus is the Christ who had come to make us all divine, to become holy like Him “filled with His spirit” (Num. 11:29). Amen. Have a blessed week and October ahead!

*Photo by Ka Ruben, the new stained glass at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City, 13 September 2024.*

“Take nothing”

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Twenty-fifth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 25 September 2024
Proverbs 30:5-9 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 9:1-6

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.*

Jesus said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic” (Luke 9:3).

Lord Jesus,
bless me to continue
in this journey with You,
in You,
taking nothing
but You;
at first,
I could not believe
it to be true
that many times,
I doubted,
taking so many things with me
in this journey;
but, as we walk farther,
Lord, the more I realized,
that indeed,
I need to take nothing.

The farther we journey,
Jesus, the more I take
and bring,
the more difficult,
the slower I move;
so true that the truly
rich among us is the one
whose who needs least in life;
grant me the grace,
O Lord,
the grace of integrity,
of wholeness
and harmony between my
inner self and
 outward behavior;
like the author of the Proverbs,
"give me neither poverty nor
riches; provide me only with the food
I need; lest being full,
I deny you or being in want,
I steal, and profane the name
of my God"
(30:9).
Amen.

Sad Jesus

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 19 August 2024

*“Christ and Rich Young Ruler” by Heinrich Hofmann from en.wikipedia.org.*

The volcanic smog from Taal that has shrouded the south since early Monday morning inspired me tonight to share with you this short reflection from the gospel:

Jesus said to him,”If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions (Matthew 19:21-22).

I have been trying to imagine not only the sad face of the young man but most of all, the sadness of Jesus. Most often, the first image of a sad Jesus who comes to our mind is when he was in His Passion and Crucifixion.

That’s understandable.

Try imagining, reflecting Jesus sad when we are sad like at the death of His friend Lazarus. The beloved disciple tells us in his gospel account that upon seeing the sisters Mary and Marta, Jesus became more sad not only with the death of a good friend.

If there is one thing we can always be sure of, Jesus shares our feelings too! When we are sad, Jesus must be most sad too. And how unfair when we fail to see the sadness too of Jesus as if we suffer or grieve alone. Perhaps, it is a part of our pa-victim syndrome, of us being on the distaff side always of the story. Let us not forget Jesus because failing to experience and realize the sadness of Christ means we are still filled with pride, so self-centered and most likely, after overcoming our sadness, we would still keep our “possessions”. What a tragedy that has become a vicious circle with us priests.

*Photo by author, Chapel of the Angel of Peace, 25 June 2024.*

When is Jesus sad?

As we begin our retreat tonight here in Tagaytay, I feel Jesus saddest when we His priests are sad in celebrating the Mass and other sacraments, in doing our ministry. Jesus cries so hard in shame when we priests are not only sad but also angry, even insolently ministering to the people especially when they are poor.

How easy it is for us priests to readily identify with the young man being sad even with our admission or confession of having many possessions. That’s very easy, like saying sorry from the nose. But, are we ready to let go of our attachments so we become joyful in Christ again as seen in the way we celebrate especially the Mass?

When we priests are sad in our ministry, people are more sad that makes Jesus most sad of all! In the first place, no one – nobody – among the people must be saddened by priests or by the Church as an institution. Priesthood is the joy of Jesus Christ!

It is a grave contradiction that we ever be that rich young man in the gospel portrayed as sad due to many possessions. Its deepest pain and cut is found in the very reason of this sadness: Jesus is most sad when we priests are sad because He knows very well we are no longer His.

*Photo by author, St. Scholastica Spiritual Center, Baguio City, August 2023.*

This kind of sadness which is so negative (because we can be sad too like everyone) starts subtly when we priests are inconvenienced, when we have to sacrifice and suffer, forgetting that it is the life we have freely embraced in the first place. Some priests presumed we can suspend for a while our commitments and vows, and simply be human, whatever that means. So, they stop praying, stop sacrificing, stop living out the vows of poverty, obedience and celibacy.

As priests sink deeper into sadness, they find themselves already trapped in a festering evil and sin, becoming angry and lazy, making so many alibis and excuses from celebrating the Mass especially funerals for poor parishioners.

When there is the confluence of sloth and anger, then it becomes a point of no return because sadness detaches us priests from Jesus and His people. That is the saddest part of this sadness, of priests living in their make-believe world of vanities and all kinds of possessions. Worst part of this is how the sad priests are totally oblivious to the fact they have infected with their sadness the people they were sent to help liberated from burdens and miseries. That is when people come to the Mass and sacraments because they just have to fulfill an obligation to God that is most sad because God sent priests to bring joy, not sadness.

If a priest is making you sad, pray hard for that priest. You are not alone. Priests are sad when their brother-priests are sad in the ministry too.

But, Jesus is most sad when His priest is sad. Pray hard for His priests especially those who seem to enjoy and laugh with the “good life” but sadly empty inside. A priest is supposed to be a leaven to the people, someone who would help others to rise and grow. And glow in Jesus. Let us pray:

Lord Jesus Christ,
our Eternal Priest,
sorry for making you sad;
most of all, 
for being sad because
of my many possessions;
help me find my way back
to you to be filled anew with
your joy.
Amen.