Category: news & current events

Ang kalabisan (at katatawanan)ng long weekend

Lawiswis Ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-01 ng Disyembre 2023
Larawan kuha ni G. Jay Javier, shooting ng pelikula sa Fort Santiago.

Madalas kong biruin mga kaibigan at kakilala lalo na sa social media na magtanong kung ano ang “long weekend”? Mula kasi nang maging pari ako, nilimot ko na ang salitang weekend dahil sa mga araw nito – Sabado at Linggo – ang aming gawain at gampanin sa simbahan. Inaasahan kami ng mga tao na makakasama nila tuwing weekend kaya naman lahat ng pagtitipon sa pamilya at mga kaibigan ay tinatapat namin sa ordinaryong araw upang ako ay makadalo.

Ngunit kung tutuusin, wala naman talagang weekend dahil hindi naman natatapos o nagwawakas – end – ang sanlinggo. Kaisipang Amerikano ang weekend kaya meron silang bukambibig na TGIF, Thank God It’s Friday na kung kailan natatapos o nagwawakas (end) lahat ng trabaho at opisina upang maglibang ng Sabado at Linggo, weekend. Pagkatapos ng weekend, kayod muli mula Lunes hanggang Biyernes.

Sa kabilang dako para sa ating mga Kristiyano, ang Linggo ang unang araw ng sanlinggo at hindi ito nagwawakas ng Biyernes o Sabado. Tingnan ninyong mabuti: Linggo, Lunes, Martes, Miyerkules, Huwebes, Biyernes, Sabado, Linggo ulit!

Ulit lang nang ulit ang isang linggo kada araw ng Linggo, ang Araw ng Panginoon o Dies Domini sa wikang Latin kung kailan tayo obligadong magsimba bilang alaala at pagpapaging-ganap ng Misterio Pascua ng Panginoong Jesus, ang kanyang pagpapakasakit, pagkamatay at muling pagkabuhay.

Iyan ang buhay din natin na ang kaganapan ay sa Langit na wala nang wakas kungdi buhay na walang hanggan. Ito ang dahilan mayroon tayong tinatawag na octaves of Christmas at Easter, ang walong-araw ng Kapaskuhan ng Pagsilang at ng Pagkabuhay muli ni Jesus.

Oo nga at mayroong pitong araw sa isang linggo, ngunit ipinakikita sa atin lalo ng Pasko ng Muling Pagkabuhay ni Jesus ang walang hanggang buhay sa ikawalong araw na pumapatak na Linggo palagi, ang Divine Mercy Sunday. Kung Pasko ng Pagsilang, papatak ito palagi ng Dakilang Kapistahan ni Maria, Ina ng Diyos ng Enero Primero na siyang ating ipinagdiriwang at hindi Bagong Taon kasi nga po Unang Linggo ng Adbiyento ang ating bagong taon sa Simbahan.

Tumpak din naman at may katotohanan ang awitin nina John, Paul, George at Ringo ng Beatles na “eight days a week, I lo—-ve you! Eight days a week, I lo—-ve you!

Snapshot mula sa post ni Kier Ofrasio sa Facebook, 30 Nobyembre 2023.

Kaya naman isang malaking kalokohan at kabaliwan itong naisipan noong panahon ni PGMA na ilipat mga piyesta opisyal sa Biyernes o Lunes upang magkaroon ng long weekend. Para daw sa ekonomiya. Sa madaling sabi, para sa pera.

Kuwarta. Kuwarta. At kuwarta pa rin ang usapan, hindi ba?

Nasaan na ang pagsasariwa ng diwa ng mga piyesta upisyal natin bilang isang sambayanan?

Pati ba naman kaarawan o kamatayan ng mga bayani natin na matapos maghandog ng buhay sa atin ay dadayain pa rin natin upang pagkakitaan?

Fer, fer! For real!

Bukod sa materyalismo, mayroon ding masamang implikasyon itong long weekend na ito sa ating moralidad at iyan ay ang kawalan natin ng matiyagang paghihintay – ang pagpapasensiya.

Lahat advanced sa atin. Hindi tayo makapaghintay sa araw ng suweldo. Kaya, vale dito, vale doon. Loan dito, loan doon. At hindi biro ang dami ng mga kababayan nating nasira ang buhay dahil sa pagkaubos ng kabuhayan nang malulong sa maling pag-gamit ng credit cards kung saan totoong-totoo ang kasabihang, “buy now, suffer later”. Kaya, heto ngayon, pati piyesta upisyal ina-advance natin!

Maaring nagkasiyahan tayo sa long weekend ngunit, lubos nga ba ating katuwaan at kagalakan? Napagyaman ba nito ating katauhan at mga ugnayan? O, nabaon lang tayo sa utang lalo ng kahangalan?

Larawan ng walang galawang trapik sa McArthur Highway mula sa Facebook ni Kier Ofrasio, 30 Nobyembre 2023.

Katawa-tawa tayong mga Pinoy simula nang mauso long weekend. Sa haba at tagal ng ating lockdown noong pandemya, long weekend pa rin sigaw natin?

Dapat siguro baguhin na ating taguring na Juan dela Cruz at gawing Juan Tamad.

O, Juan Tanga gaya nang naranasan noong a-trenta nang isara ng mga magagaling ang Monumento. Winalanghiya mga maralita at manggagawa na ipinaglaban ni Gat. Andres Bonifacio noong himagsikan na siyang dahilan kaya ating ipinagdiriwang kanyang kapanganakan noong ika-30 ng Nobyembre 1863.

Kung baga sa Inggles, iyon ang “the short of long weekend, an exercise in futility. And stupidity.” Sana magwakas na gawaing ito na dati naman ay wala sa ating kamalayan. Salamuch po!

Ang “Ama Namin” at ang mga Ama natin

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-20 ng Hulyo, 2023
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Pater Noster Church sa Jerusalem, Israel, Mayo 2019.

Noong batang pari pa ako sa isang parokya sa Malolos, tinanong ko mga matatanda na nagrorosaryo araw-araw, “Bakit po kayo nagmamadali sa pagdarasal at kaagad-agad kayong sumasagot hindi pa tapos unang bahagi ng Ama Namin at Aba Ginoong Maria?”

Sa mga lumaki sa probinsiya na tulad ko, alam ninyo aking tinutukoy. Iyon bang papatapos pa lamang mga salitang “sunding ang loob mo dito sa lupa para nang…” biglang sasagot yung kabilang grupo ng matatanda ng “bigyan mo kami ng kakanin sa araw-araw”.

Nagsasalakupan (merge) ang wakas at simula ng dalawang bahagi ng Ama Namin at Aba Ginoong Maria kaya madalas ay nakatatawa o nakaaaliw pakinggan. Lalo naman ang kanilang dahilan – anila, iyon daw ay upang hindi makasingit ang demonyo sa kanilang pagdarasal!

Naalala ko ang kuwentong ito nang mangyari ang paglapastangan noong isang linggo sa ating panalanging Ama Namin sa isang drag concert ng mga LGBTQ+. Sa aking pakiwari ay iyon nga ang nangyari – nasingitan tayo ng demonyo sa pamamagitan ng tanging panalanging itinuro mismo ng Panginoong Jesus sa atin na kung tawagin ay “the Lord’s Prayer.”

At huwag nating hanapin ang demonyo o kasamaan doon sa iba kungdi mismo sa ating mga sarili lalo na kaming mga pari at obispo ng Simbahan, ang tinaguriang mga ama natin. Malaki ang aming pagkukulang bilang mga pari at obispo sa nangyaring paglapastangang ito sa Ama Namin.

Pagmasdan mga pangyayari na matalinghaga rin.

Unang-unang ang nakapagtataka na gawing malaking isyu naming mga pari at ng ilang Obispo kung ano dapat ang posisyon ng mga kamay ng mga mananampalataya o layko sa pagdarasal at pag-awit ng Ama Namin sa loob ng Banal na Misa.

Bakit ito naging usapin gayong mayroon namang nakasaad sa aklat ng pagmimisa na “Ilalahad ng pari ang kanyang mga kamay at ipahahayag niya kaisa ng lahat” ang Ama Namin?

Hindi ba sapat ang nakatakda sa liturhiya at mga aklat? Kaya hindi maiwasan puna ng maraming tao sa aming mga pari na para daw wala kaming natutunan ni alam sa kabila ng maraming taon sa seminaryo. Juicecolored. Sabi nga ni Shakespeare, “much ado about nothing.”

Ikalawa ay ang nakalulungkot na naging tugon ng mga Obispo natin: sa halip na panghawakan at panindigan ang sinasaad ng alituntunin, mas pinili nilang magkaroon ng interpretasyon ng batas. Naliwanagan ba mga tao? Sa palagay ko po ay hindi. Lalo silang naguluhan dahil hanggang ngayon mayroon pa ring nagtatanong.

Hindi ko kinakalaban kapasyahan ng mga Obispo natin. Sila ang mga ama natin sa Simbahan ngunit ibig kong ihayag ang aking kabiguan na hindi nila pinanindigan ang sinasaad ng batas na pari lamang ang maglalahad ng kanyang mga kamay sa Ama Namin. Walang kulang sa batas at sakto lang. Sa ginawa ng CBCP, nadagdagan ang batas ng kanilang sariling interpretasyon na kung tutuusin din naman ay malagihay. Nagtatanong ang mga tao kung ano ang dapat, sa kanilang pahayag ay para nang sinabi nilang “bahala kayo kung ano gusto ninyo kasi wala namang sinasabi ang batas na masama ang ilahad ang mga kamay.”

Diyan ako hindi mapalagay dahil ano ang susunod na isyu? Pagpalakpak na talamak na rin sa mga pagdiriwang ng Misa na nawala na ang kasagraduhan. Para nang concert, showbiz parang That’s Entertainment! Pansinin maraming pari pati na mga choir, sakristan, lektor at eucharistic lay minister na puro pasikat ginagawa sa Misa. Natabunan at nawala na si Kristo!

Totoong walang sinasabi saan man sa mga aklat, sa mga turo at tradisyon ng Simbahan na ipinagbabawal ang paglalahad ng mga kamay ng mga layko sa pagdarasal ng Ama Namin.

Ngunit hindi rin naman nangangahulugang maari o puwede at tama na rin iyong gawin dahil simple lang sinasabi ng aklat, pari ang nakalahad ang mga kamay. Tapos.

Magtiwala tayo sa salita, sa alituntunin ng liturhiya tulad ng sinasaad sa ebanghelyo noong Linggo nang ilabas ng CBCP ang paliwanag sa naturang usapin. Kay gandang balikan ang talinghaga ng maghahasik na ukol sa kapangyarihan ng salita ng Diyos at kahalagahan ng pakikinig at pagsunod dito na nangangailangan ng pagtitiwala at kababaang-loob natin natin. Lalo namin!

Sa ganang akin, pinanghawakan at pinanindigan sana ng mga Obispo ang sinasaad sa aklat upang lalo itong mag-ugat at lumago.

Larawan kuha ni Emre Kuzu sa Pexels.com

Ikatlo, ang talinghaga at laro ng tadhana. Tingnan habang abala – at aligaga ilang mga pari at obispo na pangunahan pati paglathala na nakatakda pa sa ika-16 ng Hulyo 2023 ng kalatas sa simpleng bagay ng posisyon ng kamay ng mga tao sa pagdarasal ng Ama Namin ay saka nangyari ang drag concert.

Ang masakit sa lahat, walang diyosesis at obispo kaagad naglabas ng opisyal na pahayag sa nangyaring paglapastangan sa Ama Namin maliban makaraan ang ilang araw na lamang na pawang mga bantilawan din, kasi nga, mas pinahalagahan nila kanilang paliwanag sa posisyon ng kamay ng mga tao sa pagdarasal nito.

Pagmasdan na tayo sa simbahan ay naroon pa rin sa posisyon ng kamay ang usapin habang yaong mga lumapastangan sa Ama Namin ay nasa kanta at sayaw na? Paurong ang asenso, eka nga. Hindi nila binago ang titik pero kanilang pamamaraan ng pagdarasal ay sadyang mali at hindi tama ngunit, gahibla na lamang ng buhok ang pagkakaiba ng drag qeen na si Pura at ng mga tao na ibig ilahad ang kamay sa pagdarasal ng Ama Namin – parehong nasa larangan ng interpretasyon! Sasabihin ng iba na malayong-malayo iyon pero, paka-ingat tayo dahil baka doon mapadpad ang pagbibigay-laya sa mga tao na ilahad mga kamay sa Ama Namin. Hindi ba ito rin ay binhi na maaring lumago sa higit na malaking pagkakaligaw at pagkakamali balang araw? Gaya ng nasabi ko na, hindi magtatagal isasabatas na rin pagpalakpak sa loob ng Misa na talamak na ngang nangyayari.

Totoo na mayroong higit na mahalagang mga bagay dapat talakayin at pagnilayan kesa sa ginawang drag performance ng Ama Namin tulad ng mga palalang sitwasyon ng kawalan natin ng moralidad sa bansa tulad ng pikit-mata nating paghaya sa EJK noon, ang patuloy na paghahalal sa mga bugok at bulok na pulitiko at marami pang iba.

Subalit, gayon din sana naging pamantayan ng CBCP sa pagtalakay ng posisyon ng kamay sa pagdarasal ng Ama Namin. Ito ang mabigat sa mga lumabas na paliwanag at pagninilay na sadyang tama at magaganda: isang bahagi lang ng kuwento ating sinaysay.

Aminin natin malaking pagkukulang nating mga pari at obispo ng Simbahan bilang mga ama ng sambayanan.

Aminin natin sadyang nagkulang tayo sa ating mga tungkulin at naging abala sa maraming bagay at nakalimutan pinakamahalaga, ang Diyos mismo na hanggang ngayon siyang hangad ng lahat. Hindi pa ba tumitimo sa atin ang bigat ng tunay na isyu, ang panalanging Ama Namin na saklaw at tungkulin nating mga pari at Obispo? Malayo na nga siguro tayo sa paghahayag, pagtuturo at pagsasabuhay ng salita ng Diyos.

Bukod sa mga oras na ginugugol sa mga maliliit na bagay gaya ng posisyon ng kamay sa Ama Namin, matagal nang maraming interpretasyon mga ama natin sa Simbahan sa mga nangyayari sa ating kapaligiran. Ang mga tahasang pamumulitika sa mga nagdaang halalan na kahit mga kandidatong umaayon sa diborsiyo, abortion at contraceptives, at same sex union ay inendorso. Higit sa lahat, ang pagbubulag-bulagan ng maraming obispo at pari sa kalabisan ng ilang sa amin na namumuhay taliwas sa halimbawa ni Kristo. Marami sa aming mga pari at obispo ang hindi kapulutan ng halimbawa ng karukhaan at kababaang-loob, langong-lango sa kapangyarihan at katanyagan, malayong-malayo sa mga tao maliban sa mga makapangyarihan, mayayaman, at mababango. Wala na kaming pinag-usapan maski sa loob ng Misa kungdi kolekta, pinagandang pangalan ng pera, kwarta at salapi!

Masakit po sabihin na kung ang isang pangungusap sa Aklat ng Pagmimisa na “Ilalahad ng pari ang kanyang mga kamay at ipahahayag niya kaisa ng lahat” ang Ama Namin ay hindi natin napanghawakan at napanindigan, paano pa yaong mga salita sa Banal na Kasulatan? Sa mga bulto-bultong dokumento nagsasabing tayo ay Simbahan ng mga aba at maralita?

Suriin po natin ang lahat ng panig. Lalo na ating mga sarili ng buong kababaang-loob sa liwanag ni Kristo na ating Panginoon na siyang “daan at katotohanan at buhay”. Una siyang natatagpuan sa kanyang mga salita dahil siya nga ang Salita na naging tao na naroon palagi sa Santisimo Sakramento ng simbahan. Ito sana ang aming tingnan at pagnilayan bilang mga pari at obispo sa gitna ng mga pangyayaring paglapastangan sa Ama Namin ng isang drag concert at ang usapin ng paano dasalin panalanging itinuro ng Panginoon natin. Nasaan na nga ba si Kristo sa aming mga pari at obispo? Nagdarasal pa rin ba tayo na mga pari at obispo?

Salamat po sa pagbabasa. Kung sakaling nakatulong, pagyamanin; kung hindi naman, kalimutan at huwag na ninyong pansinin.

The Good Nurse: every one must be good

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 08 November 2022

Still streaming in Netflix is The Good Nurse that will surely make you feel good that despite all the evil going on in this world, there are still good people who make our planet a safer place to live. Truly, St. Paul’s words ring so true in this Netflix movie, “where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more” (Rom. 5:20).

Based on the 2013 true-crime book of the same title by investigative journalist Charles Graeber, The Good Nurse is about how a good nurse named Amy Loughren stood her ground to cooperate with two hardworking detectives in New Jersey to arrest and eventually put into jail her fellow nurse Charles Cullen who is considered as one of America’s most prolific serial killers. According to the movie, Cullen admitted to have killed 29 patients by administering harmful drugs in nine different hospitals he had worked as nurse in a span of 16 years although authorities believe he may have killed up to 400 patients!

The only reason I watched The Good Nurse – in three installments while watching Black Butterflies two weeks ago – is because I am assigned as a chaplain in a University offering BS Nursing with a Medical Center. I was hoping to learn some “talking points” for my Masses and spiritual conferences with them from the movie; however, what actually happened was they prepared me to appreciate deeply this kind of movie with my many interactions with them both in school and the hospital.

I just have to warn you that the movie is too long, more than two hours. And very slow. But, it is well worth it especially in the last 50 minutes when tempo changes and shifts to high gear of action and suspense that you get so involved with the movie even if you are watching it alone on a laptop like me. There is that urge you actually talk to Amy not to fall in love with Charlie, especially in that part he was fired from their hospital and he suddenly spent the afternoon with her kids, sending their babysitter home as he prepared even their meal!

Yay…naku!!! I was really telling Amy to spit out that piece of meat Charlie had cooked as it may be laden with poison or insulin and digoxin!!! Hahaha!!!

Dramatic and suspenseful, most of all, feel good is what The Good Nurse is all about.

What I like most in the movie is the courage of Amy to secretly meet with the two detectives after realizing herself Charlie was not exactly true as himself – kind and diligent, silent and reserved. She eventually researched and discovered the many evidences that established Charlie’s culpability that finally put him behind bars serving 18 consecutive life sentences.

Most touching part was when Amy visited Charlie in the police headquarters after his arrest where the detectives have failed to extract any confession from him for the mysterious deaths of patients in their hospital. In one part of the interrogation it was revealed that Charlie had a deeply disturbed and dangerous personality similar with that kid in an old movie also streaming in Netflix, Primal Fear. He just kept shouting and shouting the answer “no” to every question given him, sounding like a deranged man with his face contorting and eyes so menacing.

Everything changed when Amy came inside the interrogation room. The detective warned her not to get near Charlie who was extremely dangerous. Despite that warning, Amy requested Charlie’s cuffs be removed as she sat near him at his side. When she noticed Charlie freezing inside the room, she took off her sweater and put it on him while the detective stood on guard, worried for any untoward incident to happen.

Charlie was at first cold toward Amy, refusing to look at her directly.

When Amy began speaking by apologizing to Charlie, telling him how she felt sorry that despite his being kind to her, despite their being friends, she had to tell everything to the cops. Actress Jessica Chastain who played the role of Amy was able to perfectly exude that kind of warmth and caring self despite the fears in being with a mysterious suspect that slowly, Charlie softened and confessed his crimes.

And that is where the high point of the movie is when Amy asked him to tell her the truth why he did it, Charlie simply said because “nobody stopped me”. He sobbed, covering his face.

Then, Amy asked him for names of his victims and Charlie readily identified them one by one with the next scene showing him being led down the hallway of the prison. The final scene showed Amy in bed with her two daughters, being awakened by the eldest daughter telling her it is a school day.

Amy told her, “today we stay in bed”, finally giving her daughters with the much needed quality time they sorely missed from her who had to work so hard for their needs. According to the notes after the movie, Amy now lives in Florida with her daughters and grandchildren. She eventually had her heart surgery.

The movie is very timely. In fact, I have been using it in my homilies. It is very Christian and Catholic as it presents our so-called universal call for holiness, of how each one of us must strive to be good or perfect and holy like our Father in heaven (Matt. 5:48), echoed by Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium over 50 years ago calling us all to strive in creating a more just and humane society in this imperfect world.

There was no mention of religion nor any scene from the church or of anyone praying but it is very clear in the movie about the need for us all to be good like the good nurse, Amy.

According to the movie based on Graeber’s book, Cullen went on a killing spree as a nurse for 16 years because none of the hospital where he used to work at acted decisively on his case despite their suspicions over the mysterious deaths of some patients. Ironically, according to the movie, those hospitals never bothered to take drastic steps and measures in solving the mysterious deaths of their patients amid the suspicions on Cullen because they were afraid of the legal cases that might be filed against them by the families of his victims that is now exactly happening as per the movie.

There is that quotation attributed routinely to Edmund Burke that says “the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing”.

The Good Nurse Amy Loughren did not let the evil of Charlie Cullen to triumph. Against all odds of losing her job as a nurse, of losing herself as she was afflicted with a heart ailment, Amy proved to be so good indeed that she did everything to stop Charlie who said it so well that he did all those killings “because nobody stopped me.”

Here comes the true relevance of this good movie that challenges us all in this time to be good as always, fighting and standing up against every form of evil, regardless of who is committing them. Of course, it is not enough to just speak and fight without any evidences and most especially efforts to personally confront the evil-doers like the good nurse.

Jesus himself reminded us that “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Lk.14:26).

This is most challenging for us in the Church, most especially among bishops and priests who chose to be silent, to let evil triumph right inside our hallowed houses of worship and apostolate when all these sex scandals occurred even a long time ago and still continues these days. We in the clergy must be above all most good than others in stopping evil from happening among our ranks. It is so sad and deplorable, even shameful when we priests and bishops are so vocal in denouncing injustices in the society perpetrated by civil authorities and politicians when we would not even raise our voices against the evil happening in our own turfs, of clergy and religious breaking all vows of chastity and poverty completely selling their souls to the devil for sex, money, power and fame.

The Good Nurse is a call for us all to return to being good, of saying no to sin and evil, of being truly human who respects and cares for life always which is at the core of our Lord’s teachings and of our humanity too. Happy viewing everyone!

Panalangin para sa napaka-sungit na panahon

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-25 ng Setyembre, 2022
Larawan kuha ng may-akda sa Pangasinan, Abril 2022.
Diyos Ama naming
mapagmahal,
kami ay ipag-adya 
sa lahat ng kapahamakan
at mga kapinsalaan sa 
pagdaraan ngayon ng
super-typhoon;
hindi namin mapigilang
maalaala malaking pagbaha
noong petsa Setyembre 26 din
ng taong 2009 nang manalasa ang
bagyong Ondoy; kaya't dalangin
namin ang paghupa nitong
napaka-sungit na panahon
kung tawagi'y super typhoon.
Sa mga sandaling ito
ng malalakas na buhos ng ulan
at walang tigil na paghampas
at pagbugso ng malalakas na
hangin, aming idinadalangin maliliit
naming mga kapatid, lalo't higit mga
naroon sa mga baybaying dagat at 
malapit sa ilog, yaong mga walang 
sariling tirahan, at mga nasa barong-
barong:  sila nawa ay makalikas sa 
mga ligtas na lugar hanggang 
makalipas malalakas na ulan at hangin.

Ipinapanalangin namin mga 
volunteers nasa rescue operations:
ingatan po ninyo sila sa lahat ng
kapahamakan, iligtas at pangalagaan
po Ninyo kanilang mga pamilya at
mahal sa buhay habang sila ay 
abala sa paglilingkod sa mga mamamayang
apektado ng kalamidad; gayon din po
ang mga nasa iba't ibang sangay ng
pamahalaan at mga nasa media na kumakalap
ng mga balita upang magkaroon kami ng 
tumpak na kalagayan ng mga nasalanta.

O Diyos naming makapangyarihan,
hindi man mapipigilan pananalasa ng
kalikasan, buksan at panibaguhin
aming mga kalooban upang kami
ay magdamayan, magtulungan
bilang iyong pinili at hinirang na
sambayanan; gayun din naman,
sana amin nang mapagtanto at
pangatawanan pangangalaga sa
kalikasan na aming pinabayaan
sanhi ng mga pansariling kaluguran.
Hinihiling naming ang lahat ng ito 
sa ngalan ni Hesus na Iyong Anak at
aming Tagapagligtas, 
sa kapangyarihan ng Espiritu Santo,
magpasawalang-hanggan.  
Amen.

O mahal na Birheng Maria
aming Ina, kami ay iyong
ipanalangin at samahan,
liwanagan at tanglawan
paglalakbay sa gitna ng 
kadiliman nitong buhay,
sa malakas na unos
kami ay magtiwala 
tanging kaligtasa'y 
kay Kristo lamang.
Amen.

God is faithful

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Twenty-first Week of Ordinary Time, 25 August 2022
1 Corinthians 1:1-9   ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>   Matthew 25:1-13
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Glory and praise to you,
God our loving Father!
How true are the words of
St. Paul today:  "God is
faithful" (1 Cor. 1:9);
you never fail us especially
in times of trials like
during this recent severe
tropical storm Florita;
we lift up to your grace
and mercy the people in
Northern Luzon severely
affected, those who have 
lost their livelihood, those
cut off from their loved ones,
and those who left homes
for safety due to floods;
we pray most specially no one 
died in this typhoon.
Grant them "grace and peace",
almighty Father.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, that in him you were enriched in every way… so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you await for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:3-5, 7
Keep us faithful to you, Father,
by being faithful to your mission,
faithful to people entrusted to us,
faithful to all the grace you bestowed
upon us; teach us to share your grace
so as to share your joy with others too;
after all, joy and grace, chara and charis
in Greek respectively, are derived 
from the same root because joy and
grace belong together in you!
Amen.

Agosto beinte-uno

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-21 ng Agosto, 2022
Larawan mula sa inquirer.net, 21 Agosto 2021.
Agosto 21, 2022. 
Ganito rin noong Agosto 21, 1983.
May kakaibang pakiramdam.
Mayroong nangyayari.
Mayroong nangyari.
At mayroong mangyayari.
Pero, sayang.
Matatagalan na yata na
mayroon pang muling mangyari
na gayong uri ng kabayanihang
limutin ang sarili para sa bayan;
sayang, bakit natin pinabayaan
rurok ng kasaysayan
upang muling ilugmok sa kadiliman?
Gayon nga yata ating kapalaran,
tulad ng ugoy ng duyan itong kasaysayan;
hindi ko maiwasan maramdamam
ni Simoun sa El Filibusterismo
na hindi ko na nga yata maabutan
pagbubukang-liwayway ng Inang Bayan
kaya sa mga nalalabing panahon
nitong kadiliman, maging munting liwanag
upang aking mabuksan mga mata at
kamalayan ng kabataan sa katotohanan;
higit sa lahat,
huwag nang asahan mga karamihan
tularan si Ninoy
talikuran sariling kapakanan
para sa bayan.
At magbakasakaling mayroong
muling matauhan
sa awa at biyaya
ng Diyos na siyang hantungan
ng lahat ng kasaysayan.

“Sinasabi ko sa inyo ang mga bagay na ito upang makahati kayo sa kagalakan ko at malubos ang inyuong kagalakan. Ito ang aking utos: mag-ibigan kayo gaya ng pag-ibig ko sa inyo. Walang pag-ibig na hihigit pa sa pag-ibig ng isang taong nag-aalay ng kanyang buhay para sa kanyang mga kaibigan.”

Ang Panginoong Jesus noong Huling Hapunan, Juan 15:11-13

Priests and the elections

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, 19 May 2022
Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images.

Like many of you, the people I elected lost last May 9. Fact is, I felt the same sense of loss and sadness and disappointment – but not depression nor anxiety – many of you feel today as early as 2016 when not even one opposition made it into the Senate.

It was in the 2016 elections when I realized that our people would continue to be less discerning in electing their leaders, of how it would get worst before getting any better, not even in my lifetime. The following morning after Duterte was elected president in 2016, our kasambahay came to me during breakfast to apologize, saying, “sorry po Father… binoto ko po si Bung (Bong Revilla) kasi baka wala pong bumoto sa kanya.”

You see, I have been trying to educate Manang to be more discerning in choosing candidates since the start of the 2016 elections campaign period but no amount of explanations seemed to have convinced her. Hence, I just told her, “kakaawa mo sa kanya, hayun, naging topnother si Bong Revilla, ngayon kawawa ang bayan natin.” The same thing happened last week that we now have Robin Padilla as Senator of the Republic too.

However, I am still filled with hopes in our future. We are not a hopeless case of going to the dogs if we start learning the lessons of these 2022 elections that were similar with 2016’s if we priests return to our original mission of teaching and sharing Jesus, only Jesus and always Jesus. Enough with our political partisanship, of endorsements and campaigns for candidates no matter how worthy they may be.

Photo by Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images.

This may sound very simple, even simplistic. As a priest, I feel and fear we have forgotten Jesus in these recent elections. Even a week after, many have not stopped in their “fight”, making all those unChristian comments in social media that prove we have indeed lost Christ lately.

“Oh, men of little faith!” is how Jesus would probably exclaim at some of us priests and bishops in this post-elections period.

Instead of educating the people, some priests and bishops went too far into campaigning even at the pulpit for particular candidates that led to disillusionment than enlightenment. And now, we are into this mess – the second elections in a row since 2016 – when the people resoundingly rejected not only the clergy’s candidates but also the Church we represent as an institution. What is tragic is how we priests still do not get it, even that simple lesson in history that every time priests endorse candidates, they turn out to be kiss of death!

It is so disappointing how most of the priests and bishops were so quiet, not silent, in 2020 when the quarantine period was prolonged more than twice or thrice that kept our churches closed, denying the people much needed spiritual guidance and nourishment during the pandemic. Sadly when the campaign period for the elections started last year, many priests were suddenly out, vocal and filled with courage in joining rallies even on Saturdays and Sundays when they should be celebrating the Mass in their parishes, when they should be praying and reflecting on the gospel to nourish souls but were instead baffling the faithful if their pastors were leading them to heaven or hell.

The double standard cannot be denied: when Leny declared her candidacy last October, some priests and parishes posted on social media pictures of Gaudete and Laudete Sunday’s pink motifs but, when Red Wednesday came in November to honor those persecuted in the Church, the same priests and parishes issued clarifications that the liturgical red motif was not in any way political.

Of course, it has always been non-political until they started it! Unfortunately, the bad taste of insincerity was all over and no one felt ashamed at all. Which brings us to the many sanctimonious “sermons” – not homilies (they are different) – that followed during Lent, filled with self-righteousness and holier-than-thou attitudes as if there are no thieves and liars among us.

Photo by author, Stations of the Cross at the Parish of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, March 2022.

The question being asked by the faithful – where is God? – following the results of the recent elections is an indictment of the priests who have abandoned Jesus and so believed in themselves and their candidates, denying Christ the chance to do that much-needed miracle we were all hoping for since the start of the campaign period.

A former student now based in Canada recently narrated how he and his wife told their eight year-old daughter the need to stand and defend the truth. I was impressed and touched that I congratulated him as I recalled those first 12 years of my priesthood teaching them in our diocesan school in Malolos City. I mentioned to him how it pained me that some of our graduates have joined the “dark forces” in politics with one notoriously grandstanding during the proceedings revoking the franchise of ABS-CBN.

We can only do as much but the most important thing is to remain focused in Jesus, in words and in deeds despite our weaknesses and unworthiness. When people experience and get to know Jesus, everything good follows. We called it in my former school assignment “Sanctitas in Sapientia” or “Holiness in Wisdom” – the more we get to know Jesus, the more we grow in wisdom and holiness becoming like him so that we also follow him and love him through others.

That is the challenge to us this post-election period: let us double time, spend our energies in bringing back the people, especially the young inside the churches not to the streets to learn more about Jesus in the Sacraments. Most of all, to reach out to those in the margins, the majority we love to bash in putting into office the same “unworthy” candidates as leaders of the nation.

A few days after the elections, we had the first Confession and first Holy Communion of our Grade III and IV students at the Basic Education Department of Our Lady of Fatima University in Valenzuela City. It was then when I got more convinced how in the past 24 years that priesthood is bringing Jesus to the people first through the meaningful celebrations of the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist where his words are proclaimed and cracked open to let Jesus touch the hearts of everyone.

Both in the parish and in the school, I have seen that Jesus is the One transforming people, the One who changes people, not us priests nor anyone. We are merely his instruments.

Photo by Mr. Paulo Sillonar, Basic Education Dept., Our Lady of Fatima University, 11 May 2022.

In the beautiful story of the feeding of 5000, we are told that when Jesus saw a large crowd coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do (Jn.6:5-6).

Jesus knows very well what he is going to do in every situation, especially elections. Our job is to listen to Jesus, to make Jesus present to everyone, to share Jesus.

Later after the feeding of 5000 in the wilderness, Jesus gave his bread of life discourse to the people who have followed him to Capernaum but they could not take his words that eventually, they left him along with the other followers of Christ. Only the Twelve remained with him whom he asked, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn.6:67-68).

Do we have the same faith and focus of Simon Peter in Jesus? Why worry after we have lost these elections?

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that all our affairs in this life and in this world must always be seen beyond its social and economic, even medical and political implications but always in the light of Christ and his Cross. This reality is perfectly captured by the Inquirer photographer last August 2021 when the chapel of the QC General Hospital was converted into a COVID ward during a surge. The photo speaks loudly and clearly of the one reality we always forget, especially us priests.

Again, my views may be simple, even simplistic, compared to the learned but so many times, that is how God works too. Thank you for taking time to read. Join me in praying:

Lord Jesus Christ, 
so many times we leave you behind, 
following ourselves and others 
instead of you alone who is 
"the way and the truth and the life"
(Jn.14:6). Amen.

Have a blessed weekend!

Front page photo of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, 20 August 2021.

New commandment, new heaven, new earth

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fifth Sunday in Easter-C, 15 May 2022
Acts 14:21-27 ><}}}}*> Revelation 21:1-5 ><}}}}*> John 13:31-33, 34-35
Photo by author, Bolinao, Pangasinan, 20 April 2022.

Our readings today speak a lot about being “new” – new followers of the new faith as Christianity spread during the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas, a vision of new heaven and new earth by John at the end of time, and a new commandment by Jesus Christ to his disciples that include us today.

What is so wonderful and so new in this “new” order of things in our readings is how they encompass the past, present, and future as expressed in the beautiful tension we all experience in life like Jesus Christ on the night before he was betrayed, after Judas had left their Last Supper.

Many times, we feel like being caught in a time warp when everything seems to be happening too fast that the past, present and future are in just one setting. It is like seeing one’s life in a flash.

“My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. 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 13:33, 34-35
Photo by author, Bolinao, Pangasinan, 20 April 2022.

Most often, we feel ambivalent with anything or anyone that is new like being excited but at the same time afraid because it is always something or someone we are not familiar with. It is generally what we feel when we move into new residences or new school or new jobs; when we meet new people like new superiors, new co-workers and new classmates.

But lately, we have found something new and different with our new set of leaders after the elections last Monday: of course, followers of the winners are happy and glad while those who have lost are more than sad, wondering what have happened, and still could not accept the new developments (or retrogression, depending on which side you are with).

Perhaps it is in this recent events that we feel our readings this Sunday very relevant and appropriate to us all, to always welcome whatever and whomever is new by seeing them in the light of Jesus Christ who is ever new with us each day.

For a proper understanding of Jesus and of our faith in him, we need to experience him in that tension of the here and not yet he beautifully expressed in saying “I will be with you only a little while longer”. Remember, Jesus declared these words shortly before his arrest; notice his composure and dignity. Unlike most of us, Jesus was never caught off guard by his impending death. In fact, “when the days for his being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem” (Lk.9:51) to face his death. As truly human, he was frightened but faced all his fears so that he was in total control with everything until he had given up his breath and spirit to the Father. That is why in this scene after he had washed their feet and Judas had left them, Jesus gathered his disciples in a “heart-to-heart” talk, calling them “my children”.

Problem with us when things or, as Pablo Coelho put it in one of his works, when the universe does not seem to conspire in our favor, we resist the change: we keep frozen in the past, spending the present thinking all possible scenarios in the future, forgetting that God is in the present as he calls himself as “I AM.” Focus on Jesus than on things around us so we may see beyond them.

Photo by Ms. Jing Rey Henderson in Taroytoy, Aklan, 30 April 2022.

First thing we recognize in the words of Jesus is what we have reflected last week in his being our Good Shepherd – his oneness with his flock, with us. There is that inner sense of belongingness of Christ in the Father, and of Christ in us. It is what that makes us embrace whatever or whomever new comes to us, regardless we like or do not like them because it is Jesus with whom we are one with first of all.

Jesus stayed only a little while with his disciples here on earth; now he is risen, Jesus is in the glory of the Father in heaven who shall come again at the end of time to establish the new heaven and new earth John was privileged to see in the second reading. It is in this tension between the here and not yet, of Jesus who had come and will come again and is come that we are challenged to witness his presence among us in love.

It is love that is truly the power the Risen Lord has and enabled him then and now to break all barriers in time and space to appear to his disciples and us to experience him today. It is a love so unique – so new unlike the “love” preached by other gurus. Christ’s love is rooted in oneness, in his being one with the Father, one in the Father. It is a love so divine yet human too because it is a love Jesus had shared with us as a gift, something we have, a love we must acknowledge for it to work in us by having that inner belongingness and oneness with him, in him and through him.

How?

Photo from gettyimages.com.

This we find in the preceding scene of the washing of the disciples’ feet: it is Jesus who cleanses us in the sacraments and in our daily encounter with him. When we allow Jesus to cleanse us daily, purifying us from all our sins and imperfections, that is when we enter into communion in him. It is only then that we are truly able to love like him – love without measure willing to offer one’s self, loving even those we consider as enemies.

This is perhaps what we need most these days following the elections. Suspend our biases and presumptions for a while and allow Jesus to work in us, to make us new.

Let us go back to Jesus Christ, allow ourselves to be cleansed by him anew so that we may enter into being-in him and being-with him like Paul and Barnabas who always acted in union with him, never on their own. Since then until now, we continue to experience this love of Christ expressed in our liturgy and most especially in the Church’s oneness and charity. It is a love we all have to recapture and continue for it a love always new because it is Jesus who works in us and through us even in the worst situations to transform every dismal picture we see to become new and wonderful.

Lord, let us come to you again
for we have been not clean;
wash our feet so that
we may listen to you
and do your work and mission;
help us to let go of our own agenda
no matter how lofty they may be
for the mission is yours, not ours;
most of all, let us come to you again
at your Cross to be able to truly love
like you, one in the Father and the Holy Spirit
found among our brothers and sisters
especially those not like us;
forgive us for our harsh words
and our lack of kindness with them;
it is only in loving like you 
can there be truly a new order in this world
that heralds a new heaven and 
a new earth.  Amen.

Have a blessed week ahead.

Photo by author, 2018.

Mary in our troubled time

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, 105th Anniversary of the Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, 13 May 2022
Acts 13:26-33   ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[><   John 14:1-6
Photo from vaticannews.va, 13 May 2017.

Our gospel this 13th of May is so timely for us in the Philippines when Jesus said to his disciples shortly before his arrest at the Last Supper, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me” (Jn.14:1).

It is the same message of the Blessed Virgin Mary when she first appeared to the three little children at Cova de Iria in Fatima, Portugal exactly 105 years ago today.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.”

John 14:1
Photo from vaticannews.va, 13 May 2017.

In the past 200 years, notice how the two most significant apparitions by the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes in France (1858) and at Fatima in Portugal (1917) were both calls for us to renew our faith in God through Jesus Christ, something we keep on forgetting and even disregarding in these modern times.

When the Blessed Mother appeared in Fatima, the First World War was still raging with the former Soviet Union spreading its venomous doctrines of atheism and communism. Today, though the USSR has long been gone and dismantled, its ideology still lives on in Russia which had recently invaded its neighbor Ukraine.

And here in our country, the mood since Monday evening when unofficial results of the elections started to come has been like a Good Friday with so many going through some forms of emotional stress and distress.

It is very sad and disheartening when people started saying of moving to other countries abroad, casting doubts on the elections results with all the insults and other moral aspersions against the winners and their supporters.

Where is our faith in God, in Jesus Christ?

Photo from Commission on Social Communication, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, 2020.

When Mary appeared in Fatima in 1917, the world was in a great transition like our time with ever increasing discoveries and inventions in the field of science and technology with the new ideas and thoughts being put forth that were so materialistic, disregarding God, spirituality and morality.

Today we are reminded anew of the ever-relevant calls of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima to go back to her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ in this time characterized by so much modernities in life brought about by new technologies that also spawn more materialistic thoughts that are often relativistic.

How ironic that as we love to hate modern media, we ourselves have relied on them too these past months. We have relied more on numbers than with God, falling into the trappings of social media of all glitz and glamour that were empty and worst, not the reality at all! We have been warned long ago to never rely on what we see in media that are most often human constructs. There is only one reality in this life, in this world: Jesus Christ.

Photo from Commission on Social Communication, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, 2020.

Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:5-6

The recent events in the country speak so loud and clear of how we have forgotten Jesus Christ. We have believed so much in ourselves, especially some of us in the clergy who have crossed the lines or, moved the lines, so to speak, forgetting the most essential, the only one Real, the person of Jesus Christ and his universal message of love and salvation to everyone.

In all our efforts and endeavors in this world, especially in those advocacies and causes we passionately work for, may we not forget that ultimately, it is all about persons and not ideals. The ideals we work and stand for are good because of the persons we fight for and ultimately, because of its very roots, the Person of Jesus who called us to do his work or mission in liberating the people, especially the poor.

Jesus had told us that the way, the truth, and the life on this earth is himself, a Person. Our ways can disappear and become totally obsolete but Jesus is always relevant and accessible, most of all, infallible as we have reflected last Sunday in his being the Good Shepherd who gives us eternal life. That is why he is the way as well as the truth and the life for everything hangs together in himself.

This is the basic truth that the Blessed Mother expressed at Fatima that she insisted to the three children of the need for us to enter into an intimate relationship in Jesus Christ her Son through the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist.

Going back to Jesus as Mama Mary had taught us is going back to prayers and the sacraments. Of course, they are not everything but what can we live on if we are empty of Jesus? The recent exchanges of insults are proofs enough of whether we have Jesus or not.

Photo from Commission on Social Communication, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, 2020.

Life is filled with so many mysteries, with more questions than answers. We have had all these questions long before of actors/actresses getting elected to local posts and to both houses of Congress but until now we have refused to accept the answers that majority of voters are not like us – proof how we especially in the Church have always been detached from the rest of the people. Instead of spending too much time with politics and with social media, we must go out and reach out to those people at the margins, the poorest of the poor we find only in our countless documents but never inside the church.

When Jesus and later his Mother Mary told us the simple answer to our question verbalized by Thomas, that Jesus himself is the way and the truth and the life, we are reassured that there is no other secret path or road to fulfillment in this world and into heaven where he is preparing a room for us to dwell after this life. But for now, we have to focus on Jesus more because as he later stressed to Philip in our gospel today, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn.14:9) – which is a call to witnessing the gospel more than ever!

In the first reading, Paul reminds us of the wrong choices made by his countrymen and fellow Jews in crucifying Jesus Christ who rose again from the dead. His Resurrection is proof of how God continues to work for us in our favor despite and in spite of setbacks and even crushing defeats.

Never lose hope in God. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Like in 1917 when Mother Mary first appeared in Fatima, life was so difficult and truly uncertain with so many kinds of wars at all fronts like today. On this feast of Our Lady of Fatima, Mother Mary is assuring us of better days ahead despite trials and difficulties if we choose and remain in her Son Jesus Christ.

May the Blessed Mother of the Rosary, our Lady of Fatima, pray for us always. Amen.

From FB of Our Lady of Fatima University and Fatima University Medical Center, 06 May 2022.