What a Loving God We Have

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Tuesday, 22 January 2019, Week II, Year I

Hebrews 6:10-20///Mark 2:23-28

O God! You are so loveable and so loving!

You are the truest lover of all… so “nakaka-in-love” and so “kilig” as we say. You are so undeniably real, so personal, always my loving Dad, the only one who truly knows me and would always do things just to let me rest and have a break from all my worries and burdens in life.

As I prayed today’s readings, I could feel your strong presence that made me wonder what the author of the Letter to the Hebrews must have experienced when he wrote “God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones” (6:10).

What he had written has always been true. So many among us at this very moment or past days are feeling so low, crying in silence, grappling with anger within while bearing all the pains of the continuing lack of love and respect, kindness and concern, even civility by some of those around us who feel so entitled in this world. Then out of nowhere, you are suddenly here beside me, coming like a lover, embracing me, hugging me, or simply touching me softly or just tenderly glancing at me full of love and affirmations.

Sometimes like the Twelve we get so tired and hungry following Jesus that we would pick the heads of the grain while passing through a field on the Sabbath when the holier-than-thou people around us would object like the Pharisees saying that is unlawful to do on a Sabbath (Mk.2:23-24). But Jesus would readily defend us because you are “not unjust so as to overlook our work and the love we have demonstrated for your name by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones” (6:10).

Thank you, dear God. Thank you. Help us to persevere in doing what is good in your sight, in fulfilling your will no matter how difficult it may be. Let us never doubt that you can never be outdone in kindness and generosity. Amen. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.

Photo from Google. During my prayer period, I remembered the song “Like a Lover” that partly inspired me in writing this prayer. Good morning vibes and hope you love it!

“Better Days” by Dianne Reeves (1987)

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The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music, 20 January 2019

It is still Christmas this Sunday here in the Philippines as we celebrate today the Feast of the Child Jesus known as Señor Sto. Niño. The feast reminds us of the most central teaching of Jesus Christ which is to be like a child for He said that “unless you become like children, you shall never inherit the kingdom of heaven.”

One distinct quality of being a child like Jesus Christ is to be always filled with love for everyone. In this age of modern technologies, how sad that we have become more technical than personal that slowly, real love has become so rare among us. Too often love is not only abused and misused but also misunderstood as mere feelings alone. No! Love is always a decision, a choice we make after the interplay of our mind and heart that leads to growth and maturity. And the more we stand on that decision and choice to love, the more it is deepened and perfected in God. So often, love is symbolized by the heart but its truest meaning can only be found in the great sign of the Cross of Jesus where we can find the perfect expression of Christian “childlikeness” and Christian maturity when we choose whatever is more painful and more difficult because we have found someone to love more than our self.

This is the child-like love that Dianne Reeves tells us in her 1987 crossover hit “Better Days” also known as the “Grandma Song” where she spoke of her grandmother not only teaching her but making her experience love that leads to better days. We find in the song her grandmother somehow portraying to us what we have said as Christian “childlikeness” and Christian maturity so that in the end, she peacefully joined God because she had always been faithful and loving as a child of the Father like Christ. That is also the challenge to us of this Feast of the Sto. Niño: to remain children of God even as adults like Jesus Christ. Or Dianne’s grandmother. If only we can be child-like like Jesus or Dianne’s Grandma, we can be assured of better days too not only here but in eternity.

Photo by the author, Dominican Hill, Baguio City, 18 January 2019.

“Waiting for Love” by Sergio Mendes and Brazil ‘77

waiting for love

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music, 06 January 2019

It’s the first Sunday of 2019 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. 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. 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.

While praying over the scriptures for today’s celebration, one song kept playing at the back of my mind, “Waiting for Love” by Sergio Mendes and the Brazil ’77. Composed by Randy McNeill, it is from their 1974 album “Vintage 74” that features for the second time around the vocals by Gracinha Leporace and Bonnie Bowden. It is a very beautiful song with a haunting music because it is so true with many of us who are so afraid to love, afraid to follow our stars, and perhaps afraid to fail and get hurt in life. “Waiting for Love” challenges us like the Epiphany if who among us are wise enough 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? Matthew tells us how the whole Jerusalem along with Herod were greatly troubled upon hearing the magi looking for the newborn king of the Jews as indicated by the bright star! This is what the song “Waiting for Love” is saying, of how often that “(And) it seems I’ve spent my whole life, Waiting for love, And when it comes, I always run away.” This 2019, stop being “afraid of being close where I need to be the most” – follow and believe in the bright star of Jesus Christ! Cheers to more love this 2019!

Photo from Google.

Advent is God’s Tender Moment with Us

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Thursday, 13 December 2018, Advent Week 2

Isaiah 41:13-20///Matthew 11:11-15

O my sweet loving Father in heaven…! Your words today through the Prophet Isaiah made me sing one of my favorite love songs by Billy Joel, “Leave a Tender Moment Alone”:

Even though I’m in love
Sometimes I get so afraid
I’ll say something so wrong
Just to have something to say

I know the moment isn’t right
To tell the girl a comical line
To keep the conversation light
I guess I’m just frightened out of my mind

But if that’s how I feel
Then it’s the best feeling I’ve even known
It’s undeniably real

Leave a tender moment alone

Of course, O sweet Lord my God! I did get it: you are trying to be extra sweet even so charming when you said “Fear not, I will help you. Fear not, O worm Jacob, O maggot Israel; I will help you, says the Lord; your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel” (Is.41:14). Yes, I get it when you called me a worm and a maggot, I do not feel insulted. You have actually tickled my bones, loving Father as you try to make some“lambing” as we say in Bulacan for you are oozing with so much TLC (tender loving care) for me. Like Billy Joel, you seem to say something so wrong just to have something to say because you love so much. And most of all, because you are asking me for some tender moment alone.

How true then are the words of your Son Jesus Christ that “among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Mt.11:11) for we have seen you, and heard you loving Father in Him. Above all, for we have been redeemed in Him!

Let me experience your intense presence by letting go of everything within me in deep prayer and silence, in giving you those “tender moments alone” to experience your person with conviction. AMEN.Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II,Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.

*Photo by the author, violets, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan, 12 December 2018.

“Land of the Loving” by Dianne Reeves (1986)

LordMyChefSundayMusic//AdventWeekII//09december 2018

Advent Is Creating A Room for God in My Life

The second Sunday of Advent reminds us that it is not enough to be open for the coming Jesus Christ; we have to create a room for God in our hearts, in our lives for Him to truly come inside us. It is only when we create a space for Jesus within us that we can truly experience His “intense presence” not only this Christmas but every day of our lives. Creating a space within us for God means allowing Him to possess us, to dwell and reign within us so that we are transformed into better witnesses of Christ’s coming like John the Baptizer. It is impossible to meet God when we are so filled with things of the world and of ourselves. Like John, we have to withdraw to the wilderness, we need to do some fasting, of self-emptying to create that room for Jesus in our hearts. It is only then can we truly experience Christ’s coming and loving presence, mercy and forgiveness, kindness and grace.

For our Sunday music, we have Diane Reeves lending her soothing vocals to David Benoit’s “Land of the Loving” (co-written with Mark Winkler) from his album This Side Up released in 1986. I have always loved this song, especially after watching David Benoit played the piano for this song in 1990 at the PICC with Ms. Jinky Llamanzares doing the vocals. After becoming a priest, I have always seen a more spiritual meaning in this song that speaks exactly of creating a room for Jesus Christ, of staying inside with Him in my heart, of being possessed by the Lord Himself. It is in being caught in the arms of Jesus, when we let Him possess us right in our own small room inside our hearts when“Finally my life has a meaning of its own; here in the land of the loving I am home.” Follow the lyrics from YouTube and as you immerse yourself into this beautiful music, think also of those days when you felt so blessed, you felt so close with God… rejoice and believe that He is coming again to redeem us. A blessed week to everyone!

*Photo/quote from Google.

“Good Times” by Edie Brickell (1994)

LordMyChefSundayMusic//AdventWeekI//02december 2018

Advent Is the Presence of God

Today we begin the new year in our Church calendar with the Season of Advent, the four week preparation for Christmas. It has two aspects: today until December 16 our focus are set on the Second Coming of Jesus at the end of time, and from December 17 to December 24, we turn our attention to the first Christmas when Christ was born more than 2000 years ago. According to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, between these two comings of Christ is His Third Coming in the present. And that is why Advent is the presence of God among us in Christ. Advent challenges us to be daring in opening ourselves to Christ’s coming in the most ordinary as well as in the most trying and difficult moments of our lives. It is only when we dare to open our hearts to Christ’s daily coming can we truly experience the giftedness of each moment and day of our lives in God.

Let Edie Brickell help you to be bold in opening to God with her 1994 hit single “Good Times”. Edie’s music is very refreshing and natural but bold in its message and lyrics where we find her openness to the presence of her loved one whether in “good times or in bad times.” That is the challenge of Advent to us: if we cannot dare to open ourselves to God in our good times and bad times, we would never have that space for Him in our hearts where He truly comes every day. Dare to open your heart to God, give a space for Jesus to come and that is when Christmas happens regardless of the date and time.

You don’t even have to try
It comes easy for you
The way you move is so appealing it could make me cry
Go out drivin’ with my friends
In bobby’s big old beat up car
I’m with a lot of people then, I wounder were you are

Good times, bad times gimme some of that (3x) Ooh woo ooh

I don’t wanna say goodbye
Don’t wanta walk ya to the door
I spent a little time with you, I want a little more

Good times, bad times gimme some of that (3x) Ooh woo ooh

And baby really, I don’t have to
I have to go anywhere right now
You want some more, you want some more of this
Anywhere where, were ever you want baby, just,
Say it…. Ah…. Just say it

Good times, bad times gimme some of that (3x) Ooh woo ooh

Now want those good, good ,good times
And got those bad, bad, bad times
I want those good, good, good ,good times
Gimme some that

*Photo by author, Advent wreath at the Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan, 02 December 2018.

“King of Pain” by the Police (1983)

birds flying over body of water during golden hour — Photo by Johannes Plenio on Pexels.com

LordMyChefSundayMusic//Solemnity of Christ the King-B//25 November 2018

What’s on your mind, Who’s in your heart?

The trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate occupies a very important role in the gospel of John which is also full of symbolisms like our Sunday music by Sting of the Police. Unlike the other three evangelists, John mentioned only in passing – just a sentence – that Jesus was brought to the high priest Caiaphas (Jn.18:24) and spent great details in narrating to us His trial before Pilate. This is the first time, and the only time in all gospel accounts that Jesus is face to face with a representative of the world’s political power to show us that His kingdom is “in this world but not of this world.”

Jesus Christ is king when in our hearts He reigns supreme, when we see Him among others as our brothers and sisters in Him. More than our thoughts and ideas, more than our feelings and assumptions are persons to be loved and respected. To recognize Jesus our King is to follow Him by taking up our cross because His kingdom is based not on force or power but on love expressed in humility, kindness, patience, and mercy that are often seen as weakness in the world. Yes, one may say His kingship is out of this world but that is exactly what the world needs these days! Jesus Christ is the King of the Universe because He is also the “king of pain” who bore all sufferings for us because of His immense love for us.

“King of Pain” was written by Sting from their album “Synchronicity” released in 1983. Sting admits that “King of Pain” is about the pains of his separation from his first wife. To heal his soul, he went on a vacation to Jamaica and while looking at the sun with a friend who is now his second wife Trudie, Sting remarked “There’s a little black spot on the sun today.” He then paused a few minutes and said, “That’s my soul up there.” He went into his room to write its lyrics that evoke love and submission to pain, something not far from Christ’s call to us all that whoever wants to be great in His kingdom must be the slave of all like Him who came “not to be served but to serve and to give his life as ransom for many” (Mk.10:44-45).

There’s a little black spot on the sun today

It’s the same old thing as yesterday

There’s a black hat caught in the high tree top

There’s a flag pole rag and the wind won’t stop

I have stood here before inside the pouring rain

With the world turning circles running ’round my brain

I guess I’m always hoping that you’ll end this reign

But it’s my destiny to be the king of pain.

There’s a little black spot on the sun today, that’s my soul up there

It’s the same old thing as yesterday, that’s my soul up there

There’s a black hat caught in a high tree top, that’s my soul up there

There’s a flag pole rag and the wind won’t stop, that’s my soul up there

I have stood here before inside the pouring rain

With the world turning circles running ’round my brain

I guess I’m always hoping that you’ll end this reign

But it’s my destiny to be the king of pain.

There’s a fossil that’s trapped in a high cliff wall, that’s my soul up there
There’s a dead salmon frozen in a waterfall, that’s my soul up there
There’s a blue whale beached by a springtide’s ebb, that’s my soul up there
There’s a butterfly trapped in a spider’s web, that’s my soul up there
I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running ’round my brain
I guess I’m always hoping that you’ll end this reign

But it’s my destiny to be the king of pain.

There’s a king on a throne with his eyes torn out
There’s a blind man looking for a shadow of doubt
There’s a rich man sleeping on a golden bed
There’s a skeleton choking on a crust of bread

There’s a red fox torn by a huntmen’s pack, that’s my soul up there
There’s a black winged gull with a broken back, that’s my soul up there
There’s a little black spot on the sun today
It’s the same old thing as yesterday
I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running ’round my brain
I guess I’m always hoping that you’ll end this reign
But it’s my destiny to be the king of pain
King of pain
King of pain, king of pain, I always be king of pain

“Seasons of Love” from the musical “Rent” (1996)

yellow watch on tabletop — Photo by Vincenzo Malagoli on Pexels.com

LordMyChefSundayMusic//Week XXXIII-B//18 November 2018

And Life Goes On…with Love

What matters most in this life is not really what we have achieved but what we have become: have we been more loving, more understanding, more forgiving? Today’s gospel reminds us of the end of time. It is something we must not be afraid of but actually anticipate with joy because eventually, we all die. But we do not simply die by ourselves. We die in Jesus Christ. And to die in Christ is to live in love. The moment we come to terms with life, then, we come to terms with death because that is when we start living in love. Love is the only measure of life as expressed in this beautiful music from the rock opera “Rent” of 1996. Enjoy your Sunday with a lot of love with everyone! A lovely Sunday and week ahead of everyone!

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets
In midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles
In laughter, in strife

In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure a year in the life

How about love?(3x)
Measure in love
Seasons of love
Seasons of love

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Journeys to plan

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure the life
Of a woman or a man?

In truths that she learned
Or in times that he cried
In bridges he burned
Or the way that she died

It’s time now to sing out
Tho’ the story never ends
Let’s celebrate
Remember a year in the life of friends

Remember the love (3x)
Measure in love
Measure, measure your life in love

Seasons of love
Seasons of love

“That’s All” by Nat King Cole (1953)

LordMyChefSundayMusic//Week XXXII-B//11 November 2018

Giving Jesus

I can only give you love that lasts forever
And a promise to be near each time you call
And the only heart I own
For you and you alone
That’s all, that’s all

I can only give you country walks in springtime
And a hand to hold when leaves begin to fall
And a love whose burning light
Will warm the winter night
That’s all, that’s all

There are those, I am sure, that have told you
They would give you the world for a toy
All I have are these arms to enfold you
And a love time can never destroy

This for me is the ultimate love song of all. So perfect for this Sunday gospel where Jesus is asking us to give Him our total self like the poor widow who put two coins worth a few cents into the donation box in the temple. When we really come to think, God has given us with so much but we have given so little to Him and with others. In this age of social media, it is very disappointing to see especially family members gathered at the table or the living room each holding a cellphone or a tablet, busy with other people in the net forgetting the person right beside them. This Sunday Jesus is asking us to reconnect with Him as well as with our family and friends minus those gadgets. Let us reconnect person to person, feeling each other’s presence. You will be surprised at the amazing benefits of rediscovering God and others. Let us ask the Lord that we may have the grace to give more of ourselves, more of our time, and more of Jesus in us. Imagine Nat King Cole is Jesus singing to you this song…

If you’re wondering what I’m asking in return, dear
You’ll be glad to know that my demands are small
Say it’s me that you’ll adore
For now and ever more
That’s all, that’s all

If you’re wondering what I’m asking in return, dear
You’ll be glad to know that my demands are small
Say it’s me that you’ll adore
For now and ever more
That’s all…that’s all

*Photo by Dra. Mai B. Dela Pena, Tokyo, 2016. Used with permission.

“(They Long to Be) Close to You” by Gwen Guthrie (1986)

LordMyChef Sunday Music//Week XXXI-B//04 November 2018

Asking Jesus

We are known by the questions we ask, not by the answers we give that are often wrong or far from truth and reality. Asking the right question leads us to the right answer and solution to our problems. Even if we cannot find any ready answer to our questions but for as long as we are asking the right ones, we find clues for their answers as we move on with our lives. The questions we ask often reveal who we really are, indicating our focus or distractions in life.

Been thinking of a song about questions but this piece popularized by the Carpenters in 1970 composed by Burt Bacharach and Hal David kept on playing in my mind with the opening lines “Why do birds suddenly appear, Every time you are near? Just like me, they long to be close to you.” Well, the song is about getting closer to a beloved, exactly the meaning of the question asked by the scribe to Jesus in our gospel this Sunday, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” (Mk.12:28). We can easily identify with that scribe with his honest question because it is more than the most important commandment to follow but about God Himself! It is a deep longing and desire to rise above, to be closer to God, to find God amidst all the many laws and requirements being asked of us most of the time, just like the song (They Long To Be)Close To You.

For our LordMyChef Sunday Music today, we have chosen the more jazzy cover by the late Gwen Guthrie released about this time in 1986. Enjoy the beat, feel the music, and keep asking questions, keep searching. We may not have all the answers right away but we have a loving and merciful God who knows all the answers to our questions, who listens and answers them always in His own time.

Photo by the author at Malagos Bird Sanctuary, Davao City, August 2018.