40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday After Ash Wednesday, 15 February 2024 Deuteronomy 30:15-20 +++ Luke 9:22-25
Photo from petalrepublic.com.
Our most loving and merciful Father, thank you for this new season of Lent, in giving us this most wonderful occasion to reflect on life's meaning we always confuse as outside of us, dependent on things, and most of all, perfect without pain and sufferings.
Life is Lent. It is the only season that begins not on a Sunday but on an ordinary day of the week, right in the midst of our many duties and worries because Lent is something within us, always asking us to make the right choices, of choosing life, not death; blessing, not curse.
Many times, Father, we are out of touch with ourselves, with life itself which we see as outside ourselves that we hardly live at all without experiencing life itself in its wholeness that includes all the beauty and scars, the lights and darkness, the glory and sorrows, the defeats and victories, the tears and laughter, the Good Friday and Easter.
If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen, but are led astray and adore and serve other gods, I tell you now that you will certainly perish; you will not live a long life on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy.
Deuteronomy 30:17-18
The way to life that you, Father, offers us through the life and example of Jesus Christ your Son is the exact opposite that the world proposes; help us realize that truth, clear us of all doubts and dilly-dallying, of making excuses and alibis that what the world sees as God's ways are limiting when in fact are liberating!
Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?”
Luke 9:23-25
We have seen for ourselves many times how the way of the world of indulging in every desire and pleasure like wealth and fame, sex and drugs have actually led to destruction and death, sorrows and miseries than life and joy; clear our minds and hearts to make the right choice and decision of following Jesus to the Cross daily because that is what it means that life is lent, a daily journey to Good Friday that leads surely to Easter. Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-27 ng Disyembre 2023
Larawan mula sa Facebook, 23 Disyembre 2023 ng pagtutulungan ng Red Letter Christians at ng artist na si Kelly Latimore ng @kellylatimoreicons upang lumikha ng bagong larawang ito na pinamagatang “Christ in the Rubble” nagsasaad na kung sakaling ngayong panahon isinilang si Jesus, malamang siya ay ipinanganak sa gitna ng mga durog na bato sanhi ng digmaan doon sa Gaza.
Maligayang Pasko!
Tayo raw mga Pilipino ang mayroong pinaka-tumpak na pagbati sa panahong ito dahil sinasaad ng salitang “pasko” ang buong katotohanan ng hiwaga ng pagkakatawang-tao (Incarnation) ng Diyos Anak na si Jesu-Kristo.
Mula sa wikang Hebreo na pesar o pesach na kahulugan ay “pagtawid”, ito ay pascua sa wikang Kastila na atin ding ginagamit na ugat ng Pasko at pasch naman sa Inggles.
Una natin itong natunghayan sa Matandang Tipan, sa Aklat ng Exodus nang itawid ng Diyos sa pamumuno ni Moises ang mga Israelita mula Egipto patungong lupang pangako. Iyon ang larawang paulit-ulit na tinutukoy sa ating kasaysayan ng pagliligtas, sumasagisag sa pagtawid mula sa kaalipinan patungo sa kalayaan, pagtawid mula kadiliman patungo sa liwanag, pagtawid mula kasalanan tungo sa kapatawaran, at higit sa lahat, pagtawid mula kaparusahan tungo sa kaligtasan.
Iyon din ang batayan ng tinutukoy na misteryo paskuwa o ng ating pananampalataya kay Kristo-Jesus na ating ipinahahayag tuwina sa Banal na Misa, “si Kristo ay namatay, si Kristo ay muling nabuhay, si Kristo ay babalik sa wakas ng panahon!“
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, 2021.
Tumpak at ayon ang ating pagbati na Maligayang Pasko dahil nagsimula ang misteryo paskuwa ni Jesus nang Siya ay ipaglihi at isinilang ng Mahala na Birheng Maria sa Bethlehem mahigit 2000 tao na nakalilipas.
Sa pagkakatawang-tao ni Jesus, Siya ay tumawid mula sa kawalang-hanggan (eternity) tungo sa mayroong hanggan (temporal) dito sa lupa; mula sa kanyang ganap na pag-iral taglay ang lahat ng kapangyarihan tungo sa limitado niyang pagkatao tulad ng pagiging mahina at mahuna lalo na sa pagiging sanggol at bata. Kasama na doon ang kailangan Niyang mag-aral lumakad, magsulat, magbasa at magsalita na kung tutuusin ay alam Niya ang lahat.
Taong-tao talaga si Jesus bagamat hindi nawala ni nabawasan Kanyang pagka-Diyos sa Kanyang pagkakatawang-tao kaya lahat ng ating mga karanasan bilang tao ay Kanya ring naranasan maliban ang kasalanan at magkasala. Siya man ay nagutom, nauhaw, nahapis at tumangis nang mamatay ang kaibigan Niyang si Lazaro, nahabag sa mga tao mga may sakit at balo. Wika nga ni Papa Benedicto XVI na malapit na nating ipag-ibis luksa sa katapusan, ang Diyos na ganap na kung tutuusin ay hindi nahihirapan ni nasasaktan ay pinili na makiisa sa hirap at sakit nating mga tao pamamagitan ng pagkakatawang-tao ni Jesu-Kristo (Spe Salvi, #39).
Napaka-ganda at husay ng paglalahad ni San Pablo sa pagtawid o paskuwa na ito ni Jesus na kanyang tinaguriang kenosis, ang paghuhubad ni Jesus ng Kanyang pagka-Diyos bagamat para sa akin mas angkop ang salin na “pagsasaid” dahil sinimot ni Jesus ang lahat ng sa Kanya para sa atin doon sa Kanyang pagkakatawang-tao na ang rurok ay doon sa Krus.
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Baguio City, Agosto 2023.
Magpakababa kayo tulad ni Cristo Jesus: Na bagamat siya’y Diyos, hindi nagpilit na manatiling kapantay ng Diyos, Bagkus hinubad niya ang lahat ng katangian ng pagka-Diyos, nagkatawang-tao at namuhay na isang alipin. Nang maging tao, siya’y nagpakababa at naging masunurin hanggang kamatayan, oo, hanggang kamatayan sa krus.
Filipos 2:5-8
Naalala ko isang araw ng Pasko noong bata ako nang kami ay papaalis patungo sa mga Nanay at kapatid ng aking ama sa Maynila, masungit ang panahon at maulan. Hindi ko matanggap na umuulan at masama ang panahon sa araw ng Pasko kaya tinanong ko aking ina, “Bakit po ganun, birthday ni Jesus may ulan, may bagyo? E hindi ba God Siya? Di ba Niya puwede ipahinto mga ulan sa birthday Niya?”
Di ko matandaan sagot ng mommy ko pero malamang hindi malayo sa luku-luko at gago!
Nang magka-isip na ako, natutuhan ko sa mga pagbabasa na sa maraming pagkakataon mayroong mga bagyo at kalamidad, digmaan at kung anu-ano pang mga sigalot at paghihirap na nangyari kasaysayan tuwing Pasko.
Tayo man mismo, marahil sa ating personal na buhay, maraming pagkakataon na tayo ay lumuluha, nanlulumo, hapis na hapis sa buhay sa ilang mga masasakit na karanasan sa araw ng Pasko. Kaya marami sa ating habang tumatanda nasasabing para lamang sa mga bata ang Pasko na masaya.
Ngunit hindi po iyan totoo! Batid natin sa ating mga karanasan na sa padaraan ng panahon, lumalalim ding pag-unawa nating sa Paso.
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Setyembre 2023.
Balikan natin mga panahon ng ating pagsubok sa buhay lalo na sa panahon ng kapaskuhan, higit tayong namamangha at tiyak sasang-ayon ng lubos na tumpak nga ang bati nating mga Pinoy ng “Maligayang Pasko!” dahil mas malalim at makabuluhan ang pagdiriwang ito o ano pa mang selebrasyon sa buhay kapag ating napagdaanan at nalampasan mga hirap at sakit.
Ito ang kagandahan at katotohanan ng buhay natin na isang paulit-ulit na pasko, ng pagtawid at paglampas sa mga hirap at hilahil, pagbubulaanan sa ano mang sakbibi at pag-aaalinlangan ating ikinakakaba.
Hindi inalis ng Diyos ating hirap at sakit maging kamatayan bagkus tayo ay Kanyang sinamahan sa pagbibigay Niya sa atin ng Kanyang bugtong na Anak, ang Panginoong Jesu-Kristo na tumawid mula langit patungo dito sa atin sa lupa upang tayo naman Kanya ring maitawid patungong langit.
Kaya naman, pakiusap ko sa lahat na ipagpatuloy natin pagbati ng Maligayang Pasko hanggang ika-pito ng Enero 2024, ang Dakilang Kapistahan ng Pagpapakita o Epiphany ng Panginoon. Napakasama at malaking kahangalan na kay tagal inabangan ang Pasko na nagsisimula ng hapon ng ika-24 ng Disyembre at pagkatapos ng ika-25 ay biglang magbabatian ng Happy New Year!?
Kalokohan! At marahil, hindi naunawaan diwa ng Pasko. Mababaw at puro happy, happy gusto ng mga maraming tao, di batid ang diwa at lalim ng kahulugan ng Pasko na sa paglalagom ay iisang salita lamang: PAG-IBIG o PAGMAMAHAL. Ng Diyos sa atin.
Ano man ang mangyari sa buhay natin, sa ating mundo, hindi mapipigil ang Pasko, tuloy ang Pasko dahil kasama natin palagi si Kristo. At kung ikaw man ay mayroong pinagdaraanan, matuwa ka at magalak, ikaw ay nasa paskuwa – pasko – kasama, kaisa si Kristo! Amen.
Lawiswis Ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-15 ng Nobyembre 2023
Ang kauna-unahang may sakit na aking pinahiran ng Banal na Langis ay ang tiyahin ng aking ina na kung tawagin namin ay Ned. Ayon sa nanay ng aming ina na Ate ng Ned, utal daw kasi ang dalawang nauna niyang anak at hindi masabi ang Nana Cedeng(o Chedeng), ang palayaw ng kanyang tunay na pangalang Mercedes.
Kaya, naging Ned na ang nagisnang tawag ng mga mommy ko at pati na kaming magpipinsan na kanyang mga apo. Walang anak ang Ned dahil maaga siyang nabiyuda nang magka-cancer ang kanyang kabiyak na siyang tunay na taga-Bocaue, Bulacan. Mula sa Aliaga, Nueva Ecija ang mga lola ko sa panig ng aking ina na mula sa angkan ng mga Bocobo.
Nang ako ay magdiriwang ng aking Primera Misa Solemne bilang bagong orden na pari noong ika-26 ng Abril 1998, hindi na nakapaglalakad ang Ned kaya bago kami magprusisyon, siya ay aking dinalaw at pinahiran ng Langis ng Maysakit. Pagkaraan ng ilang Linggo, sinugod siya sa ospital dahil sa stroke at nag-comatose kaya kinailangang ipasok sa ICU. Hindi naman siya kaagad namatay tulad ng iba kong pinahiran ng Langis ng Maysakit….
Pagkaraan ng isang linggo, inilipat na siya ng regular na silid at aking dinalaw. Hindi naapektuhan ng stroke ang kanyang pananalita. Tumingin siya ng matagal sa akin at pagkaraan ay hiniling na lumapit sa kanya.
“Mayroon akong ikukuwento sa iyo, Father, pero hindi ko alam kung ikaw ay maniniwala” sabi niya sa akin. Hinagod ko kanyang noo gaya ng ginawa niya sa akin noong ako ay natigdas nang bata pa. “Ano po inyong sasabihin?”, tanong ko sa kanya.
Larawan kuha ni G. Bryan San Luis, Kapistahan ni San Martin ng Tours, Patron ng Bayan ng Bocaue, Bulacan, 11 Nobyembre 2023.
“Father… ako e namatay na. Ang natatandaan ko lang ay naglalakad ako mag-isa sa madilim na kalsada. Maya-maya may nakita akong liwanag at bigla mayroong sumalubong sa aking mama na naka-kabayong puti. Sinabi sa akin nung mama, ‘Cedeng, magbalik ka na ika… hindi mo pa oras.'”
Sabi ng Ned, kaagad naman siyang tumalikod at naglakad pabalik ngunit muli niyang nilingon yung mama na naka-kabayo. Tinanong daw niya, “Hindi ba kayo si San Martin ng Tours?” At sumagot naman daw yung mama na siya nga si San Martin ng Tours. “E paano po ninyo ako nakilalang si Cedeng?” tanong daw niya. Sumagot daw si San Martin, “Paanong hindi kita makikilala, Cedeng, e kada piyesta ng Mahal na Krus at kapistahan ko ay nagsisimba ka palagi sa Bocaue?” Nangiti raw si San Martin sa kanya at di na niya nalaman ang mga sumunod maliban sa makita sarili niya naroon na sa ospital.
Wala daw siyang pinagsabihan ng karanasang iyon maliban sa akin dahil ako ay pari. At muli niya akong tinanong, “naniniwala ka ba Father na pinabalik ako dito ni San Martin ng Tours?” Hinagod ko muli ang noo ng Ned at sinabi ko sa kanyang “Opo, naniniwala po ako sa inyo.”
Larawan kuha ni G. Bryan San Luis, si San Martin aming Patron kasama ang Mahal na Krus sa Wawa na amin ding ipinagpipista tuwing buwan ng Hulyo sakay ng pagoda sa Ilog ng Bocaue.
Tumagal pa ang Ned ng limang taon bago siya pumanaw noong ika-5 ng Hulyo, 2003. Mismong sa harap ko siya namatay nang siya ay aking dalawin matapos ako magmisa sa kapit-bahay niyang namatay.
Naku, kay laking isyu noon sa aming lugar ang pagkamatay ng Ned. Ako sinisisi ng matatanda kasi daw inuna kong puntahan ang patay bago ang buhay! Ewan ko sa kanila ngunit pagpapala ang aking naranasan at nakita sa pangyayari: nang malagutan ng hininga ang Ned sa harap ko, kaagad kong tinawag ang kanyang tagapag-alaga, pinahiran ko pa rin siya ng Banal na Langis, at nang matiyak na patay na siya, kaagad akong nagmisa mag-isa doon sa kanyang silid kasama malamig niyang bangkay. (Ewan ko ba. Dalawang pari na rin, parehong Monsignor, ang namatay sa harapan ko at sa pangangalaga ko.) .
Palagi ko ikinukuwento ang “near-death experience” na iyon ng aking Lola hindi lamang sa dahil kakaiba kungdi mayroong malalim na katotohanang inihahayag – ang pagmamahal sa ating parokya, ang pananalangin ng mga Banal sa atin at higit sa lahat, ang kahalagahan ng Banal na Misa na siyang “daluyan ng lahat ng biyaya at rurok ng buhay Kristiyano” ayon sa Vatican II. Wika ni San Juan Pablo II, sa Banal na Misa aniya ay mayroong cosmic reality
Nang magkaroon ako ng sariling parokya noong 2011, isa iyon sa mga una kong kinuwento sa mga tao upang ituro pagmamahal sa kanilang parokya. Ipinaliwanag ko sa kanilang ang mga Banal na mga Patron ng parokya ang unang nangangalaga sa mga mananampalataya, ang ating mga tagapagdasal doon sa langit, mga taga-pamagitan.
Larawan kuha ni G. Bryan San Luis, prusisyon noong Kapistahan ni San Martin ng Tours, Patron ng Bayan ng Bocaue, Bulacan, 11 Nobyembre 2023.
Naniniwala ako na si San Martin ng Tours ang sumalubong kay Ned kasi nga hindi pa naman niya oras, kaya wala pang paghuhukom na naganap sa kanya na tanging si Jesu-Kristo lang ang makagagawa.
Ang pinaka-gusto kong bahagi ng kanyang kuwento ay ang kanilang usapan kung paano nakilala ni San Martin ang aking Lola sa tunay niyang palayaw na Cedeng. At hindi Ned.
Ipinakikita nito sa atin ang kahalagahan ng pagsisimba tuwing Linggo at mga pistang pangilin sa simbahan lalo ngayon panahon na akala ng marami ay sapat na ang online Mass. Ang Banal na Misa ay “dress rehearsal” natin ng pagpasok sa Langit. Kay sarap isipin na bukod sa Panginoon at Mahal na Birheng Maria na sasalubong sa atin doon ay kasama din ang Patron ng ating Parokya na kinabibilangan natin. Nakalulungkot maraming tao ngayon ni hindi rin alam kung ano at saan kanilang parokya! Alalahanin mga nakita ni San Juan Ebanghelista sa langit habang siya ay nabubuhay pa upang isulat sa Aklat ng Pahayag:
At narinig ko ang isang tinig mula sa langit na nagsasabi, “Isulat mo ito: Mula ngayon, mapapalad ang naglilingkod sa Panginoon hanggang kamatayan!” “Tunay nga,” sabi ng Espiritu. Magpapahinga na sila sa kanilang pagpapagal; sapagkat susundan sila ng kanilang mga gawa.”
Pahayag 14:13
Anu-ano nga ba ating mga pinagkakaabalahanan sa buhay ngayon? Anu-ano ating pinag-gagawa na susundan tayo sa kabilang buhay upang ating ipagpatuloy? Kabutihan ba o kasamaan? Huwag nating sayangin pagkakataong ipinagkakaloob sa atin ng Diyos ngayon. Siya nawa.
San Martin ng Tours, ipanalangin mo kami.
Larawan mula sa flickr.com ng isang icon ni San Martin ng Tours hinahati kanyang kapa para sa isang pulubi.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 08 November 2023
Photo by author, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City, 06 November 2023.
A very dear friend died last October 16 after more than three years of fighting cancer. She used to be one of our elementary teachers at the school I was first assigned after ordination. She later resigned to teach abroad but every year whenever she was home for summer vacation, she always invited me to join their mini-reunions of former co-teachers.
Everything changed in 2020 when she had to retire early to return home for her cancer treatment. We could not visit her during the pandemic lockdown, occasionally meeting her via zoom and video phone calls. When COVID subsided a little in late 2021 and early 2022, we finally met briefly. She seemed to be responding well to her chemotherapy except that she had lost hair that was natural. Last December, we were finally able to go out with other fellow co-teachers twice after Christmas and after New Year’s day last January. We were so glad she had regained weight and strength. And hair too!
Saw her again last June but in late August, she stopped answering our messages. It turned out that her cancer had metastasized to her lungs and liver. When I came to see her October 7, the first thing she told me was for me to “allow her to die”. According to her brothers and elder sister, she had also asked them for “permission to die” earlier that night because she said, she was already tired and was ready to go back to God.
Photo by author, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City, 06 November 2023.
It was not the first time somebody had asked me a “permission to die”, especially since I have become a hospital chaplain two years ago. But, I must confess, in all instances, there was always hesitancy on my part in giving “permission to die” especially when those dying are close to me like friends and relatives. In fact, the first person who asked me “permission to die” was my best friend from high school seminary. I just cried, said nothing when he calmly told me he was ready to go.
That scene remains vivid to my memory to this day, including the many lessons he had taught about life and dying.
By the way, let me put it clear that what we are referring here as giving “permission to die” is allowing death take its natural course, not mercy killing or euthanasia which is intrinsically evil we should never allow.
In my 25 years in the priesthood, two years as hospital chaplain since 2021, I have always felt the process of dying as a “grace-filled moment” too like in the birth of an infant or recovery of a sick person. Both the dying and their family and friends are blessed when death approaches or had come, like when Jesus visited Martha and Mary four days after the death of their brother Lazarus. That scene of Jesus speaking to Martha before bringing Lazarus back to life assures us of how God had turned death into a blessing in Christ: Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (Jn. 11:25-26)
Photo by author, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City, 06 November 2023.
If we believe Jesus and his words to Martha, we too shall find him coming to us when a beloved is dying, especially when they ask us that “permission to die” which is not actually a permission per se because only God decides when we are going to die.
When patients ask for “permission to die”, they are actually bidding us goodbye. Dying people always knew when they had to go because they have already accepted the reality. This is very noticeable at the serenity, even of joy, on their face. Despite their sickness, dying patients who have truly made peace with God and had given up everything to Him always have that grace of composure like Jesus when he died on the Cross, crying his same prayer, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Lk.23:46).
Photo by author, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City, September 2021.
Giving “permission to die” is a grace from God He gives to relatives and friends to accept and embrace that difficult reality.
“Permitting” our loved ones to die is to assure them of our love and forgiveness of their sins against us. It is our final act of love for them when we assist them to that great passageway onto eternity like when we would lead our guests out to the door to ensure them our separation is just temporary until we meet again soon.
Due to this great amount of love in our final goodbyes, some people sometimes “fake” their dying moments, creating a “drama” in asking “permission to die” when actually, they are not yet ready to die but merely demanding love and care from family and friends. One clear sign is they tend to be more cerebral than cordial, becoming bitter and angry than ever. Even amid sufferings, they think more of themselves than feel others around them. Like the boy who cried wolf, they have not yet really seen death approaching because most likely, they have not yet faced life and living truly. Coming to terms with death is coming to terms with life. When loved ones “fake” their dying, what they really seek is how to live fully and responsibly, to be their true self. But that’s a different topic…
Photo by author, Malagos Orchid Farm, Davao City, 2017.
Death is the most terrifying moment in life because we do not know what’s next, where we are going. That is why, when people truly mean that they have accepted death, that is also when they have accepted life in its fullness. They do not reason out. They just feel God and those around them. Most of all, they have peace within amid pains.
The same thing happens with us relatives and friends of the dying. We feel their sense of peace within, affecting us, infecting us. Hence, we get lost at how to express our giving them of that permission to die. Very often, we cry because our hearts overflow with love. When we feel their seeking of permission to die is genuine, our mouths and tongues are shut, incapable of expressing our love for them that is diverted into our eyes as tears, bursting forth like waters from a collapsed dam that cleanse also us of our fears and sadness at our impending loss.
Finally, giving permission to die to our beloved is an expression of our faith in God, affirming we all came from God and would someday go home to God in heaven. Thus, giving permission to die is actually to comfort – literally, “to give strength to” – the dying of their faith in God while facing their final tests and temptations in life, assuring them that soon, we shall join them in eternal joy.
Many times, our family and friends suffer so much before death because of our refusal to let them go too. We keep on holding them back that terrify them in making the great crossover. Giving them permission to die is easing and sharing their fears so they can finally let go and let God, that is, die – the meaning of the letter “d” that stands between the words “go” and “God”. According to the prayer by St. Francis of Assisi, it is in dying when we are born into eternal life. Amen.
*Aside from All Saints’ Day and All Souls Day, the whole month of November is a traditional time for visiting the graves of our loved ones. Go and offer them prayers, especially that “permission to die” if you are still holding them and have not yet let them go.
Yes! I have proven this most truest when we pray for the sick, especially for babies and children. And when we are also sick or, very sick.
The late Fr. Henri Nouwen said in one of his writings that “life is precious because it is fragile.” I have gradually grasped and experienced this most wonderful truth of life only these past two years when I was assigned as chaplain at the Fatima University Medical Center in Valenzuela City.
Every Sunday after Mass at the University chapel, I visit our patients to bring them communion (viaticum), hear their confessions and anoint them with oil. One of our patients last Sunday was a young mother named Rachel who delivered a sickly baby boy Saturday with difficulties in breathing.
Rachel was crying when we entered her room. After receiving the Communion, she asked me to visit and pray over her baby at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). I readily said yes to her request then asked her if I can baptize her baby and what name would she like to give him. “Daniel Steven, Father,” she said softly as she wiped her tears.
After putting on my hairnet and gown and slippers, the nurse led me inside the NICU where I saw two doctors and three nurses gathered around Rachel’s baby. Soon enough, both doctors came to me to explain the delicate – “toxic” – situation of the infant as we walked closer to him.
It was “solemnly silent” inside the NICU that morning with the warm light above the baby giving that holy feel like being before a Belen or a creche; the scene was so “disarming” that I just felt praying to God deeply from my heart, begging him to please bless and heal this baby who is much like Jesus Christ who was right away subjected to dangers upon birth in Bethlehem. I prayed too to God to remember Christ’s special love and concern for children, warning anyone who would harm them that angels look after them (Mt. 18:10) to keep them safe always.
At that moment, the baby opened his eyes – and sparkled as I saw his face lit up despite the little tubes connected to him. At that instance, I just felt something like a giant wave gushing within me like a tsunami and, boom! I burst into tears as if that giant wave inside washed me.
It was a very good cry, like a catharsis, so pure that seemed to have cleansed me resulting in joy within with the baby seemed to be looking at me, making sounds from his little mouth.
“My God, did he hear me praying?” I asked myself while standing there, praying with my arms still outstretched as tears rolled profusely to my face mask. After a few minutes, I wiped my tears and came forward to pour Holy Water on his head, saying, “I baptize you, Daniel Steven, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
I have visited many sick children in our hospital with the most unique even bizarre sickness and diseases and accidents. They have all moved me in pity but it was only Daniel Steven who had made me cry.
That moment when he opened his eyes and “looked” at me even though I knew infants could not recognize nor actually see, I felt God was ultimately the one really looking at me, listening to my prayers. At the same time, it was then when God fully opened my eyes and my heart to see him in baby Daniel as the One always listening to our prayers especially when we are facing dangers like death – the greatest and ultimate danger we all face in life. It is in such moments of great dangers when God is most closest to us in Jesus Christ who became human like us to be one with us in everything including death (but except sin).
Less than 80 days from now it would be Christmas but, have we realized this reality of how Jesus Christ have seriously faced death right after his birth being born in an “unsanitary” manger to being transported in harsh conditions to Egypt when Herod tried to kill him?
It is in sufferings and death when we truly experience the preciousness of life, the value of every person, no matter how small like a child or how old like any senior citizen. It is in the face of death when we are most human, truly and naturally weak and fragile that we also realize deeply, existentially the meaning of being alive when we are close to its end. That is when we feel life is precious because that is also when we feel it slipping away from us, slowly losing it.
That fragility of life is most evident when we struggle for breath, gasp for air, and reach out to someone’s hands to hold and clasp in order to rise again, to cling to another human and simply to be alive. From that we experience life’s meaning and value when it is shared and lived in God who is life himself through others. That is why we also feel closest to him at those moments when we see those sick and suffering and dying when we are close to God who comes most nearest to us in those grave moments.
Back in 2007 when I was in my first assignment as one of the teacher-administrators of a school in Malolos while we concurrently ran a parish, I felt burned out being there since 1998. One Friday afternoon during a Holy Hour, I begged God to give me one good reason why I should stay in that assignment when I was asked to answer a sick call in a nearby hospital. When I got in the hospital, the doctors and nurses were resuscitating the patient I was supposed to anoint.
Quickly upon seeing me, they let me come to the patient to pray over him and anoint him with oil. After that, I stayed in the room to watch the doctors and nurses struggled to revive the patient. Then another doctor arrived who turned out to be the son-in-law of the dying patient (also an ex-seminarian ahead of me in the minor seminary). After conversing with them, that doctor told them to stop the procedures as he would explain everything to his wife, the daughter of the patient.
Soon enough, the patient flatlined and died. His son-in-law called me and told me the patient had died and if I could bless him again. I did bless him again with Holy Water. As the doctor thanked me for being there at that crucial moment, I also thanked God for listening and answering my prayer in giving me a sign why I should remain in my assignment. What a precious sign he had given me, the first patient I have seen dying in front of me.
Now as a hospital chaplain, I have lost tracked of how many patients have died before me after praying and anointing them. But in each one of them, I have felt God present among us, saving their souls in eternity. But most of them, God had kept alive and healthy until now because he always listens to our prayers. Amen.
Photo by Mr. Red Santiago of his son Cayden praying in our former parish in January 2020.
*Daniel Steven is still in the NICU, fighting for his life that is so fragile, so delicate. And most precious. Doctors said these first 72 hours are very crucial. Please help us pray for him so he would get better and live life into maturity like most of us. Thank you.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Twenty-Sixth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 03 October 2023
Zechariah 8:20-23 <*(((>< + ><)))*> Luke 9:51-56
The old city of Jerusalem with the Golden Dome Mosque seen from the inside of the Church Dominus Flevit (the Lord Cried); photo by author, May 2017.
Today O Dear God
our loving Father,
I pray for those going
through many difficulties
and sufferings in life;
those travelling the road
to Jerusalem,
even inside Jerusalem
already, one with Jesus
without them knowing
carrying their Cross
to the Calvary.
When the days for Jesus being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.
Luke 9:51
Open our eyes,
open our hearts,
dear Father to recognize
Jesus our companion
to Jerusalem,
in Jerusalem;
help us to be "resolute"
like Christ in going to
Jerusalem to face
Passion and Death
to eventually realize our
Resurrection in him
too!
I pray, dear God,
for those giving up,
have given up to
continue the journey
to Jerusalem: those
who have been living
all these years with
dialysis or chemotherapy,
those with never-ending
rehabilitation due to stroke
and other accidents,
those living daily with
medications and motivations
to fight depression,
to resist suicide;
those nursing so much pains
and hurts within not only
due to physical trauma but
especially emotional and
spiritual traumas;
Lord, I pray also for their
caregivers, their family
and loved ones so
often pushed to the limits
physically, emotionally,
and spiritually; console and
comfort them with the warmth
of the Holy Spirit, strengthen them
and assure them of your love;
tap their shoulders and whisper
to them they are doing well.
I pray dear Father
for those grieving,
those still grappling with
the loss of a loved one;
those suddenly thrown into
emptiness within and without
with the death of a wife or
husband, a mother or a father,
a brother or a sister;
Jesus Christ knew so well the
deep hurt and emptiness every
death creates; accompany them
in the eerie silence and darkness
of suddenly not seeing
nor hearing, not embracing
nor serving a beloved departed.
God,
life is a journey;
thank you in giving us Jesus
our companion; like
the two disciples going
back to Emmaus in
sadness and disappointments,
ignite our hearts anew with
Christ's loving presence,
to go to you, to seek you
right in our hearts,
our little Jerusalem
until we come to you in heaven,
the new Jerusalem.
Amen.
Facade of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where one finds inside another church enclosing the very site of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ; photo by author, Jerusalem, May 2017.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, 15 September 2023
1 Timothy 1:1-2, 12-14 ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> John 19:25-27
Lady of Sorrows from a triptych by the Master of the Stauffenberg Altarpiece, Alsace c. 1455; photo from fraangelicoinstitute.com.
What a joy for us,
sinful children of the Father
to be your children too,
O Blessed Virgin Mary
through your Son
our Lord Jesus Christ!
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
John 19:25-27
More than the tears and sorrow
on your face portrayed in arts,
O Sorrowful Mother,
all I see and experience
in you is a disciple
so absorbed in prayer,
so united and close
with our Lord Jesus;
yours is a different kind
of sadness
that I feel when I look
at your images
as our Lady of Sorrows:
no pity but dignity,
no dramatics nor theatrics
but purely
noble simplicity.
How sad,
dear Mother and Lady of Sorrows
that many of us disciples
of your Son Jesus
have forgotten this very
important aspect of discipleship
you have shown us,
a life centered on prayer
that is more than reciting prayers
but residing in Christ,
of being absorbed in his
Passion and Death
so that like you,
we may be absorbed by
his glorious Resurrection!
Indeed,
dear Lady of Sorrows,
as St. Paul tells us today,
"the grace of our Lord has been
abundant, along with the faith
and love that are
in Christ" (1 Tim.1:14);
pray for us your children
and fellow disciples
to be first absorbed in prayers
because before everything
else came,
there was Jesus
who first came
calling us
to be one in him,
with him,
and through him
like you
absorbed by his glory
in heaven.
Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-12 ng Setyembre 2023
Larawan kuha ni G. Cristian Pasion, Bihilya ng Pasko ng Pagkabuhay 2022, Pambansang
Noong bata ako buong akala ko ang paglalamay at pakikiramay ay iisa. Alalaong-baga, kapag may lamayan, mayroong namatay at paraan iyon ng pakikiramay. E hindi pala ganun!
Sa aking pagtanda at pagkamulat sa wika, higit sa lahat sa buhay na palaging kaakibat pagkamulat din sa kamatayan, napagtanto ko na bagaman magkaiba ang lamay at ramay, malalim at matalik ang ugnayan ng dalawang kataga.
Ang paglalamay ay pagpupuyat, tulad ng pagsusunog ng kilay o pag-aaral sa gabi. Maari din itong hindi pagtulog sa magdamag upang matapos ang isang proyekto at gawain. Naglalamay din bilang bahagi ng gampanin at tungkulin tulad ng mga nagtatrabaho ng pang-gabi o graveyard shift gaya ng mga pulis, mamamahayag, drayber, mga viajero at mga nasa call center.
Maraming pagkakataon sa paglalamay ikaw ay may kasamang nagpupuyat upang tulungan na tapusin ang gawain o gampanan ang tungkulin. Sa paglalamay, palaging mayroong kasama upang tulungan tayong malampasan ano mang pagsubok na pinagdaraanan. Doon nagsasalapungan ang dalawang kataga ng lamay at ramay: sa gitna ng kadiliman ng gabi, mayroong maasahang kasamang nakikibahagi at nakikiisa sa pagdurusan at hirap na pinagdaraanan.
Larawan kuha ni G. Jay Javier, Tayabas, Quezon, 13 Agosto 2023.
Napakaganda ng larawang sinasaad ng lamay at ramay – ang kadiliman ng gabi. Sa bibliya, ang gabi at kadiliman ay sumasagisag sa kapangyarihan ng kasamaan.
Ipinanganak si Jesus sa pinakamadilim na gabi ng buong taon, mula Disyembre 23 hanggang 25. Malinaw na pagpapahayag ito ng pakikiramay ng Diyos sa kadiliman ng ating buhay. Doon siya palaging dumarating kung tutuusin.
Huwag nating pag-alinlanganan katotohanang ito na muli nating natunghayan noong Huling Hapunan ng Panginoon na naganap sa pagtatakip-silim ng Huwebes Santo. Kinagabihan si Jesus ay nanalangin sa halamanan ng Getsemani ngunit tinulugan ng tatlong malalapit na mga alagad. Huli na ang lahat nang sila ay magising nang dumating si Judas Iskariote, isa sa kanilang mga kasamahan na nagkanulo kay Jesus sa kadiliman ng gabi.
Anong saklap na walang karamay si Jesus sa paglalamay na iyon na nagpatuloy sa kanyang paglilitis sa Sanhedrin kung saan naman tatlong ulit siyang tinatwa ni Simon Pedro habang nasa labas ng tahahan ng punong pari. Kaya nga kung sakali man tayo ay nasa napakadilim na yugto ng buhay at tila nag-iisa, alalahaning si Jesus ay ating kapiling, nakikiramay sa atin dahil siya ang naunang nakaranas na maglamay ng walang karamay! Kanya itong binago at tiniyak na hindi na mauulit kanino man upang siya ay makaramay sa bawat lamay ng ating buhay nang siya ay muling mabuhay, nagtagumpay sa kamatayan at kasamaan sa gitna rin ng kadiliman ng gabi.
larawan kuha ni G. Cristian Pasion, Bihilya ng Pasko ng Pagkabuhay 2021.
Kamakailan ay dumadalas aking pagmimisa sa mga lamayan ng mga yumaong mga kamag-anak at kaibigan. Noon pa man lagi nang nasasambit ng mga kaibigan bakit nga ba hindi tayo magkita-kita habang buhay pa kesa naman doon na lamang palagi nabubuo pamilya at barkada sa lamayan ng namamatay?
Tama rin naman kanilang bukambibig sa mga lamayan. Ano pa ang saysay ng pagsasama-sama gayong nawala na at pumanaw ang mahal sa buhay?
Ngunit kamakailan ay napagnilayan ko rin na tama lamang na magkita-kita tayo sa mga lamayan upang ipahayag ating pakikiramay dahil naroon tayo hindi lamang upang makidalamhati kungdi magpuri at magpasalamat din sa isang yumao. Wika nga ng marami, lamay lamang ang hindi ipinangungumbida kasi doon masusukat tunay na kabutihan ng isang tao sa kanyang pagpanaw: kung marami ang naglamay at nakiramay, ibig sabihin, mabuti siyang tao, mapakisama, laging karamay noong nabubuhay pa.
Napagtanto ko ito sa nakakatawang pagkakataon; kundangan kasi, bilang mula sa mga sinaunang panahon, para sa akin ang pakikiramay ay dapat seryoso. Malungkot nga dapat at nakikidalamhati. Hirap na hirap ako noong matanggap ang picture taking sa lamayan! Iskandalo kung baga sa akin ang magpose at picture-taking sa lamayan, lalo na sa tabi ng labi ng yumao. Paano ka namang ngingiti e mayroong ngang patay at namatayan?
Larawan kyha ng may akda, 2018.
Nakatutuwang isipin kung paanong itinuro sa akin ng teknolohiya ang malalim na kahulugan ng pakikiramay sa paglalamay. Na ito ay higit sa lahat pagdiriwang ng buhay, pagpupugay at pasasalamat sa magandang samahan na ating tinitiyak na magpapatuloy pumanaw man ating kaibigan at kamag-anakan. Ang ating pakikiramay ay hindi lamang pagpadarama ng pakikiisa sa dalamhati kungdi pagtiyak ng pagkakaisang ito sa pagmamahal, pasasalamat at pag-alala tuwina sa isang pumanaw at kanilang mga naulila.
Mainam pa rin makadaupang-palad mga kamag-anak at kaibigan habang nabubuhay ngunit hindi pa rin huli ang lahat na sakali man dala ng maraming kadahilanan tayo ay makiramay tuwing mayroon lamay dahil ang totoo’y buhay pa rin ating ipinagdiriwang. Ito ang dahilan kaya ating tawag sa pumapanaw ay hindi namatay kungdi sumakabilang buhay. Balang araw siya ring ating hantungang lahat kung saan ang lamay at ramay ay iisang katotohanan na lamang na kung tawagi’y, pag-ibig.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Twenty-third Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 11 September 2023
Colossians 1:24-2:3 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 6:6-11
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 2017.
Dearest Father in heaven:
Is there really being at the
wrong place at a wrong time?
It has been 22 years since 9/11
when so many lives were lost,
many families and relationships
were broken by those terrorist attacks;
recently, over 2000 people perished
in a massive earthquake in Morocco;
everywhere, bad things happen to
many people because they were
at the wrong place at the wrong time,
Father?
I know, dear God,
life is not that simple
or simplistic, of being at the
wrong place at the wrong time;
if you are everywhere, Father,
how could there be
a wrong place and
a wrong time?
Brothers and sisters: I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his Body, which is the Church…
Colossians 1:24
NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 11, 2001: (SEPTEMBER 11 RETROSPECTIVE) Smoke pours from the twin towers of the World Trade Center after they were hit by two hijacked airliners in a terrorist attack September 11, 2001 in New York City. (Photo by Robert Giroux/Getty Images)
But as I prayed with St. Paul,
I realize something more deep,
more profound, even mysterious,
than our common excuse of
being at the wrong place at the
wrong time: every here and now
is always a right place and
right time in you, O God our
loving Father!
St. Paul was at the right place and
right time on that day on his way
to Damascus to persecute
the Christians to meet Jesus Christ;
all throughout his life, as he
completely surrendered to Jesus,
St. Paul found everything falling
into its right place in you, O God.
Many times,
people and nature
may seem to put us
at the wrong place
and the wrong time,
but you always ensure, O God,
in Christ Jesus that everything
will work out in our favor
like that man with a withered hand
planted by the scribes and
Pharisees at the synagogue
on a sabbath to see if Jesus
would heal him.
But he realized their intentions and said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up and stand before us.” And he rose and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than do evil, to save life rather than destroy it?” Looking around at them all, he then said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so and his hand was restored.
Luke 6:8-10
There are many ways of looking
at every situation in life,
either as a blessing
or a curse or a bad luck
as some would usually say;
but with you, dear Jesus
who had come to bring God
closest to us,
every time,
every place
is always the right one,
a blessed one.
Open our hearts
to your loving presence,
Father, in Jesus Christ
who suffered and died
to rise again for us
to experience life
amid death,
joy amid sufferings,
and light in darkness.
Amen.
Photo by author, Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infant, Quezon, 04 March 2023.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sunday in the Twenty-Second Week of Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 03 September 2023
Jeremiah 20:7-9 ><}}}}*> Romans 12:1-2 ><}}}}*> Matthew 16:21-27
Photo by author, Mirador Jesuit Villa and Retreat House, Baguio City, 24 August 2023.
A friend serving as a nun in California recently sent me a wooden cross and a wooden rosary as her delayed gifts for my birthday and anniversary last summer. Tied to the wooden cross is a card that asks, “Why do people cross the road?” Answer: “To get to the side of life!”
So beautiful and true! To get to the side of life we must cross the road in Jesus Christ with his Cross!
That is the gist of our gospel this Sunday which is still set in Caesarea Philippi where Jesus for the first time revealed himself as the Messiah following Peter’s identification of him as “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt.16:16) last week. It was also at that same scene this Sunday when Jesus predicted for the first time his coming Passion, Death, and Resurrection that scandalized his apostles, especially Peter.
Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Matthew 16:21-23
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Convent, Baguio City, 23 August 2023.
During the time of Jesus, the cross was the most inhuman punishment of all. It was the worst curse that could fall on anyone that it was a crime in Roman law to threaten anyone with crucifixion. Its horror was strongly etched on the people’s minds at that time.
That is why Peter reacted in such a way to the Lord’s first prediction of his pasch. However, it is totally opposite with us today as we see the cross displayed everywhere. Not only in churches, cemeteries and homes but even in offices, classrooms, hospitals, restaurants, and in all kinds of vehicles. We have cross in our pockets and wallets, on our shirts and jewelries with some on their skin as objects of veneration or as a badge. But, do we really understand and realize the deeper meaning of the cross?
If we admit so readily that Christ must suffer his passion, it is most likely that we have not truly dwelled on this scandalous reality unlike Peter and people of his time. And that is the danger of this too much use of the cross by so many without even reflecting on its true meaning except, perhaps, only once a year on Good Friday.
That wooden Cross gift to me.
Beginning this Sunday, Jesus invites us to look more intently to his cross when we listen to the word and celebrate the Eucharist.
There at Caesarea Philippi, Jesus and the Twelve went on a u-turn to head down south towards Jerusalem to fulfill his mission. We too must cross the road – make u-turns if needed to follow Jesus by thinking in God’s thoughts not in human thoughts for us to forget ourselves, take our cross and follow Jesus.
Jesus must have understood the humanness of Peter in reacting in such a way after making his first prediction of his Passion, Death and Resurrection. But, see how the words of Jesus to Peter at Caesarea were so identical with his very words to the devil during his temptation in the wilderness, He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Jesus reminded Peter and us today to think in God’s ways not in human thoughts. Like Peter, we are fully human, so limited, so weak. We are in the world and many times, the temptations to be of the world are so strong even in subtle ways we are not aware of, wrongly thinking like Peter that we are doing Jesus a great service when it is not.
It is the same temptations we also go through daily like Peter when one day we are so highly inspired with revelations from God in our prayers and experiences then suddenly, we feel low and lost, afraid and terrified with the realities of the Lord’s call and way of his Cross.
This is what Jesus is telling us in this final scene at Caesarea Philippi – of the need for us to confront daily the scandal of his Cross, of his suffering and death leading to his glorious resurrection. It is a process of crossing daily the street in Jesus with his Cross by thinking in God’s thoughts, not in human thoughts.
To think as human beings do is to think of one’s self more, to think of one’s own good and glory, totally forgetting others and most of all, neglecting even rejecting the higher things in life like God and virtues and other things that the material world cannot fill. To think as human beings do is to think more of success and accomplishments, happiness and pleasures; to think as God is to think of fruitfulness and fulfillment, of joy and completeness, of sacrifice and sufferings, of love and mercy.
Like Peter, there were times we have denied knowing the Lord but what matters most is we realize our sins and go back to him. Like Peter, many times we do not listen intently to the Lord’s words, always forgetting or ignoring his resurrection that when Easter happened, we are also troubled and amazed when we could not find him. Many times we are like Peter we think as humans forgetting to think like God when we are so filled with ourselves. Let us pray and be patient in our prayer life, in emptying ourselves like Peter so that like him when Pentecost came and was filled with the Holy Spirit along with the other disciples, everything became clear with the bold proclamation that “God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36).
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 2017.
Many times in life, it is so difficult to think in God’s ways because of this great temptation that we think something better and easier like what the devil told Jesus in the wilderness of turning stones into bread to solve his hunger. We find it very appealing to deviate from the plans of God, not to follow his thoughts because they always require patient waiting and most of all, the need to consider and respect others too, especially those in the margins.
That has always been the temptation by the devil to Jesus and to us – to just forget God and his plans, to go on with the flow of tide, with the ways of the world of wealth, power and fame, to choose what is easier and more pleasurable, what is most appealing to the senses that give instant gratifications.
And thus we have these problems and crises even in faith because we have rushed and simplified even the sacred and holy! Anything goes in the Mass, especially with priests on the pretenses of being more inclusive, more understanding to the people, of just being so plainly simplistic from architecture and designs to vestments and clothings. Homilies are more of clapping and singing and theatrics; God’s thoughts are disregarded, human thoughts are emphasized when pastors please their congregation with all kinds of healing and “hiling” – the health and wealth type of preaching. We have forgotten the fact that people go to Mass to experience God and his thoughts – not human politics and other agenda nor entertainment.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 2017.
This Sunday, the prophet Jeremiah shows us how despite our own limitations and weaknesses, we can still think in God’s thoughts by allowing ourselves to be taken over by God “like fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones” (Jer. 20:9) to be “duped” by God because that is where we still find life amid death and sufferings. In short, fall in love and stay in love with God! That is what St. Paul meant in the Second Reading urging us “to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” (Rom. 12:1) by living, thinking and doing the Father’s will always. It is a process that takes time. Be patient for our God is the most patient lover of all. Amen. Have a blessed week, stay safe!
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