The ever-relevant sign of Fatima

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 13 October 2025
Monday, 108th Anniversary of Last Apparition at Fatima, Portugal
Romans 1:1-7   ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>   Luke 11:29-32

We celebrate today the 108th anniversary of the final apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal that made it the most relevant proof in modern times of the existence of God and of his immense love for mankind through his Son Jesus Christ.

It was on this date, October 13, 1917 when the “Miracle of the Sun” happened at Fatima as the Virgin Mary appeared for the last time to Lucia Santos and her two younger cousins now Saints Francisco and his sister Jacinta Marto along with an estimated crowd of 70,000 made up of believers and unbelievers as well as skeptics and hecklers. They all witnessed the phenomenon that many verified with sworn accounts of how the Sun “danced” in the sky and then careened to Earth while emitting radiant colors that lasted for about ten minutes.

It was the sixth and last apparition of the Blessed Mother to the three children that began on May 13, 1917 and since then, devotion to Our Lady of Fatima grew which also boosted the praying of the Holy Rosary after the Blessed Virgin Mary introduced herself as the Lady of the Rosary. It was on that last apparition when the Blessed Mother told the children how World War I would soon end with a warning that “People must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend our Lord any more, for He is already too much offended!”

Though the Fatima feast is officially set on May 13, many churches and devotees around the world still celebrate the October 13 apparition not only because of the dancing sun miracle but most of all of the ever-timely and relevant calls of the Blessed Mother for penance and conversion that echo the teachings of her Son Jesus Christ in today’s gospel:

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah… At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here” (Luke 11:29, 32).

*Procession of the National Pilgrim Image of Fatima at her National Shrine in Valenzuela, 13 May 2025. Photo credit to the owner.*

With the recent calamities and corruption scandals that have been rocking our nation these past four months, the Fatima apparition of October 13, 1917 remains significant especially for us in the Philippines today for three reasons.

First, we have to see the last apparition of October 13, 1917 not as the final one but the start or beginning of the unfolding of more revelations and realizations for us. In fact, Sr. Lucia continued to received private visions while in the convent as a nun in 1925 through the 1930’s. During her last interview in 1957 while already a cloistered Carmelite nun, Sr. Lucia revealed how during that last apparition to them (her two cousins have died in 1919 and 1920 during the flu pandemic), the Blessed Virgin Mary looked very sad and never smiled to indicate the gravity and seriousness of her messages to them.

The Blessed Mother must be looking more sad than ever with us Filipinos since July this year with the wholesale corruption by DPWH officials in connivance with some former and current lawmakers that have caused so many people to suffer with perennial flood. Most especially because those involved in the worst corruption we have so far are Catholics and Christians! Imagine the pain of the Blessed Mother who is surely crying, saying, “mahiya naman kayo!”

One problem with the common perception of many people even up to now with the last apparition of Fatima is to equate it with the end of the world, of worldwide catastrophe that have instilled more of fear and even controversies that included doubts of the Vatican allegedly not fully revealing the Third Secret despite assurances from the visionary herself, Sr. Lucia who said before her death in 2005 that all Fatima Secrets have been fully revealed.

If we take the Fatima apparitions as a whole, we find in it more of messages of hope and joy for us in the Philippines and the world. The Blessed Mother appeared in Fatima not to scare us but to inspire us to turn away from sins, to be converted and be holy so that the world may truly find peace in Jesus her Son.

The last things do not necessarily mean destruction like when we say in Filipino it is the end or “wakas”, it usually means “wasak” or destruction; normally, when there is wakas and wasak, there is “bago” or new being built or established to replace the old one.

Therefore, the last apparition at Fatima in 1917 is also the signal of new beginnings, new undertaking, new opportunities, new hope in Jesus Christ who is the ultimate sign of God’s loving presence among us amid the trials and difficulties like these calamities and corruption in the country. It is not being simplistic but we just have to trust Jesus and his Mother Mary that we be sorry for our sins, stop doing what is sinful and evil, be converted and lead holy lives. Repentance leads to true wisdom because it is only in doing what is right when things would be right in order.

At the last apparition in Fatima 108 years ago, it is very interesting how two elements prevailed on that day: rains and the sun. And these are our second and third points of reflection on the sign of Fatima.

According to official accounts, rains have soaked wet the people and the whole of Cova da Iria in Fatima, Portugal for two days, October 12-13, 1917 before the Blessed Mother’s final apparition. How wonderful is the plentiful sign of rains, of water that signify the call for inner cleansing and purification of our hearts and person.

And when the sun “danced” later, the people were astonished how they and their clothes where dried along with the whole surroundings as if it had not rained the previous day and night after witnessing the spectacular display of colors and light!

May we see more of the light of Jesus in our lives so we may be cleansed and ready to work for another day of conversion and holiness just like St. Paul in the first reading today who reminds us to be witnesses of Christ:

… but established as Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Bentiles, among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ (Romans 1:4-6).

As witnesses of Christ and pilgrims of hope, we are invited today more than ever in the light of the Blessed Mother’s last apparition at Fatima in 1917 to usher in new hopes for us to become better persons who build stronger families and more vibrant church communities.

At Fatima 108 years ago today, we are invited by the Blessed Mother to be focused more in revealing God’s will as experienced and prayed in the the Sacred Scriptures than taking sides in politics and going down to the worldly debates on abortion and divorce as well as gender issues beyond male and female.

How true indeed are the words of Jesus that “this generation is an evil generation seeking so many signs” to stretch its concepts of justice and equality, of rights and freedom without recognizing the need for humility and acceptance, responsibility and maturity as exemplified by the three children at Fatima. Let us make today the beginning of our conversion and transformation in Christ Jesus with the help of the Blessed Mother. Amen. Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for us. Fr. Nicanor F. lalog II, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com)

*From cbcpnews.net, 13 May 2022, at the Parish of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City.*

New beginnings in Christ

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 08 September 2025
Monday, Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Romans 8:28-30     <*{{{{><  +  ><}}}}*>     Matthew 1:18-23

Hail, O blessed 
Virgin Mary, Mother of God
our Mother too!
Praised be God our Father
for your infinite love for us
in preparing the birth of the
Blessed Virgin Mary
to be the Mother of your Son
our Savior Jesus Christ.
In Mary,
we find hope and inspiration
in your plans, O God
for us in this world
marred by sin and evil.

Brothers and sisters: We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified (Romans 8:28-30).

In her birth,
we are reminded
of our new beginnings
in you, Lord Jesus:
let us cooperate with you
always, Jesus so that 
"all things may work for
good for those who love God";
let us be the new beginning
of faith and trust in you, Jesus
like Mary who entrusted 
her total self to your providence
in explaining everything to Joseph
about your coming as our Savior;
most of all,
like Mary our Mother,
let us be the new beginning
of your loving presence among us,
Jesus, our Emmanuel,
the God among us.
Amen.

*Photo by author, Church of St. Anne in Jerusalem, May 2017.*

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

Easter is always new

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fifth Sunday in Easter, Cycle C, 18 May 2025
Acts 14:21-27 ><}}}}*> Revelation 21:1-5 ><}}}}*> John 13:31-33, 34-35

*Photo by author, Cabo da Roca Villas, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 15 May 2025.*

Easter is a reality, an event and experience always new and fresh. And relevant. I refuse to describe it as “ever new” because it is not changing nor evolving; it is “new” as it is “unfolding” like God or a loved one’s person revealed daily.

In his coming to us, Jesus brought God most real and closest to us humans more than ever, enabling us to experience in him a newness in life, so refreshing and relevant always. That is why we heard the word “new” five times in our readings today, four in the Book of Revelation and once in the Gospel.

*Photo by author, Cabo da Roca Villas, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 14 May 2025.*

Then I, John, saw a new heaven and new earth. I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. The one who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:1, 2, 5).

When Judas had left them, Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:31, 34-35).

New heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem, new commandment.
With Jesus making all things new.

“New” as a word connotes something fresh and recent, presupposing two conditions: either as something non-existent before that is introduced and made only now or, something already existing before but found and discovered only recently.

As such, anything “new” is actually a supernatural reality, a gift from God waiting to be discovered by anyone with faith, hope and love. It is in God through Jesus Christ’s Resurrection that we actually experience the true meaning of what is “new”.

First, as something not existing before like John’s vision of “new heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem” in the Book of Revelation. John had been clear at the onset of his writing of his final book which is to report to us the things that will happen in the future. And we all hope that indeed, someday there will be a new heaven, a new earth, and a new Jerusalem in the future. How it would look like, we really don’t know but deep in our hearts we hope for that especially in this time of too much crying, pain and death everywhere.

Of course, it sounds too good to be true but for us disciples of Christ, it is something we have to work for and not just pray for. What a joy to hear the new Pope, Leo XIV mentioning in his first public address asking for the release of all hostages in Gaza as well as for peace in Ukraine. We really hope our new Pope will continue with his more direct and firm assertions of Jesus and his teachings than be like the previous Pope who tried accommodating non-Christian religions and beliefs because peace comes only in Christ.

Though John’s vision of new heaven, new earth, and new Jerusalem refers to the end of time where “there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain” (Rev. 21:4), it is something we can experience now if we let Jesus reign in us so he may wipe away the tears in our eyes caused by our continued hardness of the hearts.

A new heaven, a new earth, a new Jerusalem can only happen when we allow Jesus Christ to reign in our hearts more than ever so that the former heaven, former earth and sea pass away. That is why the Prophet Isaiah called the Christ as the Emmanuel, God-is-with-us, precisely the vision saw by John in Revelation, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them as their God” (Rev. 21:3).

As we have seen two Sundays ago, no locked doors can prevent Jesus from breaking through to get to us, for us to experience his loving presence. Most of all like last Sunday, we must learn to entrust ourselves confidently to Jesus our Good Shepherd because only he knows us his sheep so well. That confidence in him in making all things new happens when we love like him.

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.*

"I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35).

What is new in Jesus Christ’s commandment of loving? Answer: it is a love rooted in God the Father to whom Jesus is totally one with, totally entrusting himself even up to dying on the Cross.

It is a love that has long existed before since the very beginning but only discovered and found recently in Jesus Christ, the Son of God who became human like us in everything except sin. It is new because it ever refreshes anyone who loves like Christ. Most of all, it is new because it is most relevant at all times.

Any love not rooted in God will surely pass and fail. Though other religions and movements preach love, only Jesus tells us to love like him who is rooted in the Father who is love himself. See that Christ’s command to love like him is not only new but also radical at the same time as it brings us to the very root of love, God: “God is love… In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us (first)” (1 Jn.4: 8,10). According to Pope Benedict XVI, “God is love” is the most unique declaration on God not found in other religions except Christianity.

It is a love already existing before and discovered only by the Apostles in their experience of Jesus Christ. That is why in the first reading Paul and Barnabas told the disciples in Antioch to persevere in faith, saying, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). How sad it is a truth we have all known and proven all along but we continue to disregard even avoid, taking shortcuts in everything that often end in failures.

It is said that the more constricted the pupa (chrysalis) of a larva or caterpillar, the better are its chances of transforming into a more colorful butterfly.

The same is true with us humans. Life that is so easy and laid back when everything is provided for without any sweat at all always leads to emptiness and nothingness. Very often, the most fulfilled people – not necessarily successful which is very relative – are those who have gone through a lot of sufferings and hardships in life. They are mostly the men and women of passion for learning, willing to sacrifice a lot even their very selves for the sake of a truth and a love they are so convinced. Actually, what they have found and discovered have always been there hidden for ages even millions of years but due to their intense love, they found something so new that eventually revolutionized our lives and the world for better or for worse.

This Sunday, Jesus offers us to make our lives new and better, definitely more beautiful but not necessarily pain free. Are we willing to love like him to discover something new today or this week?

"Lord Jesus Christ, let us love like you 
so we may be transformed to someone new 
and eventually change the world 
to something new and better in you. 
Amen."

Remembering, returning to Eden

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 12 February 2025
Genesis 2:4-9, 15-17 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Mark 7:14-23

*Photo by author, sunrise in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.*

Bring me back, Lord
to Eden
to Paradise 
where everything started;
bring me back inside my heart,
inside you, Lord, 
the beginning of your creation,
the center of your attention:

Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east and he placed there the man whom he had formed… to cultivate and care for it. The Lord God gave man this order: “You are free to eat from any of the trees in the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die” (Genesis 2:8, 15, 16-17).

*Photo by author, morning in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.*

Take me back inside my heart,
Jesus, to be clean and free again 
to choose you,
to be faithful,
to be loving;
indeed, "what comes out
of a person is what defiles him"
(Mark 7:20) even from the very start
when the Father created us;
until now, even inside you
our "home" we still could not
understand it like the disciples
(Mark 7:17-18) because
we would always choose 
our own selves,
our own desires,
our limited knowledge.

*Photo by author, afternoon in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.*

Let me remember Eden
and let me return to Eden, 
Jesus,
to be one with you again -
me the creture,
you my Lord and my God;
take me back in your presence,
Jesus and let me realize
that though man is the
master of his world,
God is man's Master
and Lord for He is the
Creator, we are the creature.
Amen.

In the beginning…

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Scholastica, Virgin, 10 February 2025
Genesis 1:1-19 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Mark 6:53-56

*Photo by author, sunset in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024*.

Blessed are you,
God our loving Father
in giving us a taste of
the beginning everyday
especially on this first day
of work and of school
as your words in the first reading
remind of our daily
beginning in you!

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said, “Let there be…” Thus evening came, and morning followed… (Genesis 1:1-3, 7).

In the beginning
there was nothing but
chaos just like in our lives
until you brought light,
order and life, God;
it is always light and order
that come first to set the
stage for life like in those first
two days; what is most lovely,
Father is when the third day came
and there began balance and
symmetry in your creation 
like sea and earth, 
day and night,
sun and moon
that relationships happened
and everything started to be good.

In the gospel today
as in our lives,
every day is a new beginning
with its many chaos:
sickness and diseases,
emptiness,
self-alienation,
rejection in all forms,
failures and disappointments
as well frustrations
that all remind us of how
everything was in the beginning;
but, with Jesus Christ's coming
and healing
we saw the light
and experienced healing
and order.

Everything becomes good
when seen in your light
and design, Lord Jesus;
when our relationships are
kept and maintained
especially at home like with
our siblings,
parents and family
as exemplified by the twins
St. Scholastica
and St. Benedict.

Make everything new again
and most of all good,
dear Jesus in our lives
like in the Genesis
as shown by St. Scholastica
who was able to do more
because she loved most.
Amen.

*Painting “Altar of St. Scholastica” by Johann Baptist Wenzel Bergl (1765), ncregister.com*

Advent: Reawakening our hopes amid a defiant history

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
First Sunday of Advent, Cycle C, 01 December 2024
Jeremiah 33:14-16 ><}}}}*> 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2 ><}}}}*> Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

Blessed happy New Year, everyone! We officially start the new year in the Church on this first Sunday of Advent; that is why the Mass we have every January 1 is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, not New Year as many believe.

This is the reason I insist on everyone to stop greeting “Happy New Year” after December 25 because Christmas is until Epiphany Sunday. And this is the problem with us every Christmas season – we have forgotten its very essence Jesus Christ, replacing Him with all the trimmings of this consumerist and materialistic world we live in.

*Photo by author, Advent 2021 at BED Chapel, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City.*

The first Sunday of Advent is our new year, our new beginning in our journey in life in God through His Son Jesus Christ who had come, would come again, and continues to come daily in our lives. Beginning today until December 16, Advent invites us to focus on Christ’s Second Coming or Parousia at the end of time which nobody knows when except the Father in heaven; from December 17 to 24 and Christmas, we look back to the stories around Christ’s First Coming more than 2000 years ago. Between these two comings of Jesus is His coming in our daily living, in the here and now which St. Bernard of Clairvaux called Christ’s “Third Coming.”

There lies the tension in those three comings of Jesus Christ that have really taken so long that we get impatient or begin to doubt God especially with how world history has unfolded until now with wars as well as natural calamities. Just recently some parts of our country were devastated by a series of powerful typhoons while some parts of the world like Spain had its share of catastrophic flooding that claimed so many lives. Making things worst is how politics has rocked our country this week, trying to undermine our democracy as well as our sense of decency as a nation that had decayed during the past administration.

*Photo by author, Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga, November 2022.*

Many are feeling disgusted everywhere in the world with how history is unfolding, wondering if life is going to get any better at all. Some have imitated Pilate in the gospel last Sunday, putting God on trial again, asking Jesus what He had done for all these upheavals and problems going on in history.

Like them, we are also tempted to ask, where is Jesus Christ? Or, the all-powerful and loving God our Father?

The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and Judah. In those days, in that time, I will raise up for David a just shoot; he shall do what is right and just in the land. In those days Judah shall be safe and Jerusalem shall dwell secure, this is what they shall call her: “The Lord our justice” (Jeremiah 33:14-16).

*Photo by author, Pulong Sampalok, DRT, Bulacan, 23 November 2024.*

The Prophet Jeremiah sets the tone of Advent this Sunday, reawakening our hopes in God amid history’s defiance as seen in the many cycles of sufferings and calamities that continue to shake our lives.

Yes, the “days are coming” and indeed had come when God fulfilled His promise in sending us His Son Jesus Christ who redeemed us from our sins and renewed us in Him with fulfillment in life even while here despite the many trials and tribulations we go through.

The “days are coming” as foretold by Jeremiah long ago and most true these days because the promised Messiah Jesus is now with us, acting in subtle and and complex ways beyond our imaginations, always surprising us with how things turn out than what we believe or expected.

Yes, the “days are coming” – right now – as Jeremiah meant that day after Jerusalem had fallen that amid all the chaos around us, God is among us in Jesus Christ who works among visible realities we cannot see, always coming and going among us unnoticed. That time of great salvation is already among us, being accomplished now by Jesus in silence, in secret.

Hence, the need for us to be vigilant through prayers which Luke emphasized in his gospel account.

Jesus said to his disciples: “But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand. Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise… Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:28, 34-35, 36).

*Photo by author, San Fernando, Pampanga, November 2021.*

On this new liturgical year designated as “Cycle C”, all our gospel readings on Sundays will be from Luke (Cycle A has Matthew and Cycle B, Mark; John is used partly in cycle B and for great feasts).

Of the four evangelists, Luke is the one who emphasized the importance of prayer in his gospel account wherein he always portrayed Jesus in prayer; hence, not surprisingly, he tells us today that “praying at all times” is being “vigilant at all times” too.

And this we have been told ever since as prayer has always been central in all our teachings. It is in prayer when we are one with God in Jesus. It is in prayer when our senses are heightened that we become open to God’s subtle movements in us and among us.

Everything begins in prayer, both in our personal prayers and as a community like in the Sunday Mass where Christ’s presence is unveiled, where we experience Him most in us and among us and in the world that we are then filled with hope in God despite the darkness and sufferings going on.

Recently, our University joined the annual Red Wednesday celebration of the Church when we remember our Christian brothers and sisters persecuted in various forms in many parts of the world in this modern time. I was overwhelmed at the sight of the great number of our students who joined us, many standing outside our chapel.

What touched me was after the dismissal, some students remained inside the chapel lit in red with flickering candles at the altar, still praying. That for me is the sign of that “little shoot” God promised Jeremiah who would come to bring justice and peace on earth.

*Photo courtesy of The Tribune, official publication of Our Lady of Fatima University.*

To keep watch in prayer (which we mean as a way of life not just mere recitation of formula prayers) while remaining upright and abounding in love as St. Paul instructed us in the second reading is to be open to Jesus Christ, ready to receive Him without fear amid the tumults in the world when He comes in His final glory.

Yes, the world is still plagued with so many imperfections, even darkness and evil that may dishearten us even make us doubt God in His goodness why these bad things are happening. Advent invites us to reawaken our hope in the salvation that had come, that still comes now, and will surely come in the fullness of the Day of the Lord when Jesus comes again.

Lord Jesus Christ,
fill us with fervent hope
in You amid the many darkness
and sufferings in life;
reawaken our hope amid
our hopelessness and be surprised
with Your loving coming and presence.
Amen.

God among us

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Thirty-Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 29 November 2024
Revelation 20:1-4, 11-21:2 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 21:29-33

*Photo by author, Pulong Sampalok, DRT, Bulacan, 23 Novebmer 2024.*

It is the last Friday 
of November
and the final one too
of our current Church calendar
for tomorrow evening we begin
the new Season of Advent;
that is why, Your words, O Lord,
are more pronounced,
more detailed though deeply symbolic
of the coming end of time
and most especially,
of a "new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven
from God" (Revelation 21:2).

How will all these happen
and when, we do not know 
as Jesus Himself had insisted
nobody knows that except 
the Father; let us live,
therefore, O Lord,
doing Your Holy Will 
because in the end,
all "were judged according 
to their deeds" (Revelation 20:13).

*Photo by Emilio Su00e1nchez on Pexels.com*

Of course,
 every good we do
 does not really come from
us but from You, dear God;
if ever we are able to do
anything good,
it is because we have opened
our hearts and selves 
to You, Father
who transforms us into
better persons in
Jesus Christ.

Help us imitate the fig tree,
dear Jesus:
 continually transformed
in You by staying one with You
in Your Paschal Mystery;
make us better persons,
Jesus purified and cleansed
by the Cross
so that even while here on earth,
we may dwell in your house,
be one in You
to make You present
here and now.
Amen.

New beginnings and mysteries

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Twenty-Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 06 September 2024
1 Corinthians 4:1-5 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 5:33-39

Thank you,
our loving Father
for another week about to close;
thank you dear God
for this first Friday
in September 2024:
despite the rains and the floods
and the inconveniences
these have brought,
thank you for a new beginning
today.
Let us celebrate this gift
of life you have given us
by putting on a new attitude,
a new disposition,
a new outlook in life
for you have made everything new
in Jesus Christ.

And he also told them a parable. “No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one. Otherwise, he will tear the new and the piece from it will not match the old cloak. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine must be pured into fresh wineskins” (Luke 5:36-38).

Make us your trustworthy
stewards of your mysteries, Lord;
make us truly your servants
who shall reveal your many
mysteries of life and death,
of joy and sufferings,
of poverty and wealth,
of fruitfulness and fulfillment,
of redemption and forgiveness
be known in our life of witnessing
without any regard for fame
nor popularity except that
we do your work in Jesus faithfully.
Amen.

God, our dew of light

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 18 July 2024
Isaiah 26: 7-9, 12, 16-19 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Matthew 11:28-30

Your words today,
O God, are so refreshing
that I wish to pray like your
Prophet Isaiah:
"The way of the just is smooth;
the path of the just you make level.
My soul yearns for you in the night,
yes, my spirit within me keeps vigil
for you; 
For your dew
is a dew of light,
and the land of shades
gives birth"
(Isaiah 26:7, 9, 19).

Freshen us, O Lord,
from our dirt and exhaustion
from sin! 

Refresh our thoughts
and our feelings, make them
crystal clear like the dew
in the morning to see your
kindness and mercy!

Gladden our hearts,
uplift our souls
with your presence in
Christ Jesus who calls us
daily to come to Him
and have rest,
because His yoke is easy,
His burden is light
(Matthew 11:28-30).

Let us surrender to You
in Jesus Christ 
for there is no salvation
outside from You except in Him;
so true are the words of Isaiah:
"As a woman about to give birth
writhes and cries out in pains, 
so were we in your presence, O Lord.
We conceived and writhed in pain,
giving birth to wind; salvation 
we have not achieved for the earth,
the inhabitants of the world
cannot bring it forth.
But your dead shall live,
their corpses shall rise;
awake and sing, 
you who lie in the dust"
(Isaiah 11: 17-19).

Teach us to appreciate
and value the little things in life
we take for granted 
like the droplets of dew in the morning
enough to set our face aglow again
of new beginnings; in coming to us,
Jesus taught us the value of being
small, being little,
being silent, being humble
when life begins
and regenerates always.
Let us arise anew in Jesus
from our deep sleep in sin
through His dew of light, 
a glimmer of better days ahead.
Amen.

*Photo by Cosmin Petrisor on Pexels.com*

Ascension is newness in Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Cycle B, 12 May 2024
Acts 1:1-11 ><}}}}*> Ephesians 4:1-13 ><}}}}*> Mark 16:15-20

*“The Ascension of Christ” (1304-1306) by Giotto, a fresco at the Arena Chapel, Padua, Italy from wikimediacommons.org.*

We laid mommy to rest Saturday morning, the eve of today’s Ascension Sunday which happens to be a Mother’s Day too. I really can’t describe my feelings except having that emptiness in me amid a sense of joy too. Let me explain…

In my 26 years in the priesthood, I have always reflected the Ascension scene from Luke’s gospel in the many funeral Masses I have presided as something unusual to weird, even impossible: “As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy and they were continually in the temple praising God” (Lk.24:51-53).

How could anybody be with great joy after a funeral that is very much like the Ascension where there is a departure or a leaving of a beloved?

*Photo by author, inside the chapel built over the site of the Ascension of Jesus outside of Jerusalem, May 2017.*

But, after our guests have left at my mom’s funeral yesterday, that was exactly how we felt! Of course we are sad, we are in grief yet joyful with some sense of lightness within us. Like the death of our loved ones, Ascension is more than just the moving of Jesus to somewhere up in the heavens or to any location and place in the universe. Both the Ascension and death are about new state and level of relationships of Jesus and our departed loved ones hopefully entering into final union with God the Father. It is a leveling up not only of their existence with God but also of our own existence with God and one another.

Ascension is newness in our very selves to experience the glory of Jesus Christ now seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. It is a breaking free from our many presuppositions and fears about life and dying.

When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.
Acts 1:6-9

*From the the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock, Arkansas, dolr.org.*

We have long been reflecting since Lent into Easter of how Jesus in becoming truly human like us in everything except sin had made us like Him, holy in His resurrection. If we have remained in Christ on His Cross, we have been made new in Him.

That is the lesson of His transfiguration in the second Sunday of Lent. Being new in Jesus, being transfigured in Him is getting out of the trappings of the worldly concerns like Peter offering to build three tents on Mount Tabor. Or worst, even after Easter like the disciples in the first reading today asking Jesus about the restoration of the kingdom of Israel.

Being new in Jesus following His Passion, Death and Resurrection is leveling up in our perceptions and outlook in life wherein we become simpler, taking life’s lessons bravely. We no longer go for “drama” like the disciples asking the restoration of the kingdom of Israel because we have grown in our faith in Christ as we hurdled life’s light and darkness, joy and sadness, triumph and defeat, even death that keeps on hovering above us, enveloping us at times. All these experiences of hardships and difficulties have changed us into better persons in the grace of God in times we did not even realize at all.

*Photo by author at the site believed to be the Ascension site of Jesus outside Jerusalem, May 2017.*

My ministry as a chaplain Fatima University Medical Center have greatly reshaped and affected my views on life and death, sickness and sufferings that enabled me to decide prudently when my younger sister was diagnosed with cancer in 2022 and lately this time with my mom when she had her second stroke that led to her recent death. As a chaplain face to face daily with the dying, I have come to terms with death by coming to terms with life at the same time. No more false hopes of getting any better but simply following the flow of life by having more meaningful moments especially with everyone, especially my late mom and siblings.

That is what St. Paul was saying in the second reading on the meaning of “he ascended” as the “one who also descended into the lower regions of the earth” (Eph.4:9). The more we go down into pains and sufferings, darkness and failures including sin or even death, the more we get closer to Jesus because we also get closer with our true selves and with others. To ascend with Jesus is to leave behind all those toxic topics and concerns, including persons who saddle our backs with extra luggages that prevent us from being light.

Ascension is also living in the present than wasting precious time and energy on past’s mistakes and failures or worrying about the the coming future. See how Jesus commissioned us all His disciples to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth with two angels later reiterating the Lord’s command.

While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”
Acts 1:10-11

“Why are you standing there looking at the sky?” is a beautiful reminder for us to live in the present moment, to be vigilant always in doing what is true and good, just and kind in this world so marred by the darkness of evil and sin. Remember, the Ascension is not about a place nor a location where Jesus went up to but a “leveling up” or a “shift_” in our relationship with Him and with others.

Therefore, it is also something that happens in the present moment. It is more than a distant moment in history but a reality happening daily.

Following His Ascension, Jesus has become more accessible than ever because He remains with us on a deeper, personal level. Recall how He asked Mary Magdalene not to touch Him upon appearing to her on Easter Sunday; that was to remind her and everyone that our relationships with Him is more than the physical level, that He cannot be bounded by time and space anymore as He is really present in us and among us in the most personal and spiritual manner.

Jesus lives in us that we have to keep on doing His work here on earth. The gospel clearly says it all, of the urgency for us to “stop standing, looking up” to start proclaiming the gospel to everyone. See how mothers are always busy doing something at home for us her family. Mothers never get tired cooking and doing everything for us family members because they love us so much that even after death, unknown to us, we imitate them by being so busy loving too.

Blessed Sunday to all mothers, especially those in heaven! Amen.