Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 20 August 2026
Photo by author, Anvaya Resort, Bataan, 21 July 2026.
Let me come home to you, Lord God: to gaze in your loving eyes anew, be wrapped around with your tight embrace without being judged nor blamed.
Let me come home to you, Lord God: with nothing at all, to be poor of material wealth and rich in Spirit and virtues, empty of pride, filled with your humility and simplicity so scarce of everything abundant in you and your love.
Let me come home to you, Lord God: no longer afraid of the dark and everything not yet known and seen, nor terrified of great waves of tasks and duties, of strong winds like what people think and say about me because in you alone is my certainty as well as safety and security.
Photo by author, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 15 May 2025.
Let me come home to you, Lord God: to be nourished by your words that give life and meaning, to be quenched of my thirst with your living water that restores my being, cleanses me of my sins and shame.
Let me come home to you, Lord God: to rest in you, be at home in you because you are my origin, my root my home my peace my destination in this long journey in life for you are my Lord and my God. Amen.
Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 09 January 2026.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year II Memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Priest & Martyr, 14 August 2026
O God our loving Father, help us to always remember - our origins and beginnings, our past especially the people who had cared and nurtured us, our parents and siblings, relatives and friends, those who gave us the breaks and sparks to begin our great journeys in life, the people who stood by when we were down and nobody believed us: dear God, remind us always of the basic fact, of the principle and foundation of our being: that we came from you and shall return to you.
Forgive us, Lord God, in forgetting you always, in forgetting others, in forgetting we are nothing without you; touch us, nudge us if needed whenever we forget you and our lowly beginnings; let us not be amazed by our feats and abilities.
But you were captivated by your own beauty, you used your renown to make yourself a harlot, and you lavished your harlotry on every passer-by, whose own you became. Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were a girl, and I will set up an everlasting covenant with you, that you may remember and be covered with confusion, and that you may be utterly silenced for shame when I pardon you for all you have done, says the Lord God (Ezekiel 16:15, 60-63).
Photo of Auschwitz from internet.
As we celebrate today the Memorial of your most faithful servant St. Maximilian Kolbe who offered himself not just once for a fellow prisoner in Auschwitz for he had dedicated himself to you entirely before World War II began, may we remember the lessons that led to the Holocaust; like St. Maximilian Kolbe may we continue to remember your covenant in Jesus Christ by making a stand against injustice and immorality, in defending life especially at its weakest points, and most of all, in remembering the equal dignity of every person created in your image and likeness; like what Jesus told the Pharisees, let us go back to Paradise, let us return to you, O God, as our Lord and Master alone, not ourselves, nor our pride and convenience, nor anyone nor their flimsy, modern thoughts and ideas; like St. Maximilian Kolbe, may we have the courage to always stand forward for what is true and good and holy. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Simbang Gabi-2 Homily, Tuesday, 17 December 2024 Genesis 49:2, 8-10 <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Matthew 1:1-17
Photo by Atty. Polaris Grace R. Beron atop Mt. Sinai in Egypt, May 2019.
Some of you must have noticed – even sang – the title of our second Simbang Gabi homily is from the lyrics of the song Lost Stars of the 2013 movie “Begin Again” starring Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Adam Levine and James Corden.
Every time the Advent season would come since the pandemic in 2020, Lost Stars would always come to my mind as it has some semblance with Isaiah’s prophecy about the coming of the Messiah when peace would finally be achieved with predators and preys living in harmony. It is a passage so lovely that it is used twice or thrice during Advent until Christmas.
Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall b e neighbors, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like ox. The baby shall play by the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair (Isaiah 11:6-8).
See now its semblance with Lost Stars and if you know the song, sing it:
And God Tell us the reason youth is wasted on the young It's hunting season and this lamb is on the run We're searching for meaning But are we all lost stars Trying to light up the dark?
Who are we? Just a speck of dust within the galaxy Woe is me
If we're not careful turns into reality Don't you dare let our best memories bring you sorrow Yesterday I saw a lion kiss a deer Turn the page, maybe we'll find a brand new ending Where we're dancing in our tears
Begin Again and Lost Stars are unlikely movie and song for Christmas but you will be surprised that they are indeed so perfectly apt for this season which is about love and loss, friendships and ties, hopes and dreams of a better future.
Christmas is actually a story about mankind “beginning again” in Jesus, of us like the prodigal son who was a “lost star” but found again by Christ. These realities we find in both our readings today from Genesis and from Matthew’s account of the genealogy of Jesus.
The world had always been at a loss since the fall of Adam and Eve. Mankind was in darkness that is why God sent His Son Jesus so that we can “begin again” no longer as “lost stars trying to light up the dark” but this time sharing Christ who is the true light of the world as we have reflected yesterday.
Like in that movie Begin Again, the coming of Jesus did not simply happen. There were a lot of twists and turns in the lives of the different characters in the story who were totally unaware and uncertain of what would happen next but, as every good love story would end, and they lived happily ever after.
Photo by author, BED Chapel, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 2022.
The same is true with the coming of Jesus and with us today: how amazing and interesting that our Savior came from a lineage of family just like ours – imperfect even crazy and weird people. But, the good news is, eventually at the coming of Jesus, everything was neatly tied up by God in His grace we tremendously enjoy now.
Both the first reading and the gospel traced to us the roots of Jesus to the very beginning of Israel and Judaism, from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his sons led by Judah from whom came their greatest King, David, an ancestor of the Christ.
Of Jacob’s twelve sons, we wonder why Judah was the one blessed when it was Joseph who saved them all from famine and gave them a new start in Egypt. In fact, Judah would have a son with his daughter-in-law Tamar who disguised herself a prostitute to lure him into sex so she can have a son after her husband, Jacob’s son died and left her childless. Their children were Perez and Zerah (Mt. 1:3).
Photo by author, San Fernando, Pampanga December 2022.
Meanwhile, if Tamar pretended to be a prostitute, the second woman in the Lord’s genealogy was actually a prostitute named Rahab who was the mamasan of the brothel in Jericho where the spies sent by Joshua hid before attacking the ancient city. Rahab welcomed the Israelite spies led by Salmon after securing a pledge from them to save her family after their attack. Jericho fell and so were Salmon and Rahab. They named their son Boaz who later married a pagan woman named Ruth that was a big no-no among jews at that time. They had a son named Obed who became the father of Jesse, the father of King David.
Known as the greatest king of Israel from whose lineage the Savior would come, David was not totally a good king. He sinned big time against God not once: first, he not only took the wife of his army officer but even had him killed in a scheme after Bathsheba got pregnant with Solomon. One of his sons in his previous wife overthrew him but was later beheaded by his loyalist soldiers that caused David deep sorrow to compose Psalm 51.
Photo by author, Fatima Avenue, Valenzuela City, December 2023.
Behind all those names in the Lord’s genealogy by Matthew are great materials for modern-day telenovela with its unique plots with exciting twists and turns.
However, we hear it proclaimed today as we shift our focus into the second aspect of Advent of preparing for the first coming of Christ more than 2000 years ago to remind us that Jesus did not just appear as an isolated human being. He came from God, no doubt about it, but, He is also intimately and crucially linked with the history of His own people. And because of that, so are we.
All four evangelists have as their primary objective in writing their gospel accounts the provence, or origin of Jesus Christ, the Promised One of God. That had to be clear before everything else because they have to established clearly the identity of Jesus Christ.
Matthew opened his gospel account with the genealogy of Jesus to remind us too today of our origin in faith in Christ who gives us a new beginning in God. May this second day of our Simbang Gabi be our new beginning, no longer a lost star but a true star in the eyes of God meant to light the dark in Christ. Amen.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
*You might be interested to listen to “Lost Stars”…better, watch “Begin Again” to warm your heart this Christmas.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 21 May 2024 James 4:1-10 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Mark 9:30-37
Photo by author, September 2020.
"Beloved: Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from?" (James 4:1)
What a beautiful question to ponder upon on this second day of Ordinary Time, Lord Jesus: the "where", the origin, the source, the root of our many desires in life; ultimately, the question You have asked Your disciples "What were you arguing about on the way?" (Mark 9:33) leads also to the same question of James of "where".
Many times, O Lord, we presume and insist we are on the right tracks, on the right path following the world even if deep inside we know we are lost, we have gone astray, that we are on the wrong bearings in life because we merely follow the rest that like everybody, we end up lost and more confused than ever.
You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask. You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
James 4:2-3
Teach us, Jesus, to bravely ask ourselves from "where" are we coming from in everything we are doing, saying, and pursuing; help us to be sincere and humble of our "where" wherever it may be; most of all, let us ask too "where" we are going to "where" do we want to be.
During these 33 to 34 weeks in Ordinary Time, let us find, our bearing in YOU, Jesus so that our "where" from and "where" to would only be YOU. Amen.
Photo by Mr. Vigie Ongleo, Sagada, Mt. Province, 2014.
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