Category: peace

Openly speaking to Jesus

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sunday in the Twenty-fifth Week of Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 22 September 2024
Wisdom 2:12, 17-20 ><}}}}*> James 3:16-4:3 ><}}}}*> Mark 9:30-37
Photo by author in Caesarea Philippi, Israel, May 2017.

Time flies so fast these days and so does our gospel reading with Mark telling us in quick succession Jesus journeying south towards Jerusalem, passing through Galilee then making a stopover in a house in Capernaum.

Jesus is now intensifying His teachings to the Twelve – and us too today. For the second time since Sunday after being identified as the Christ, Jesus “spoke openly” of His coming Passion, Death, and Resurrection to His Apostles; but, unlike last Sunday, the Twelve remained silent and instead debated on who among them is the greatest as they grappled on the meaning of their Master’s coming Pasch.

Jesus was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him. They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest (Mark 9:31-34).

Photo by Ms. Marissa La Torre Flores in Switzerland, August 2024.

Did you notice that beautiful interplay again in the scene with the preceding Sunday?

Last Sunday, Jesus spoke openly of His coming Passion, Death, and Resurrection where Peter reacted by taking Him aside to protest. Jesus rebuked Peter, telling him how he thought in man’s ways than God’s ways.

Today, Jesus spoke openly anew of His coming Pasch but this time, the Twelve fell silent because according to Mark, “they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him.”

Are we not like the Twelve so often with Jesus? We follow Him, we believe Him, we listen to Him but never understand His words and worst, so afraid to question Him?

What do we not understand in His words? Or, is it more of still refusing to accept the reality of His Passion, Death, and Resurrection like Peter last week?

We are afraid to ask Jesus the meaning of His words, of His plans for us not because they have hidden meanings but usually due to our own hidden agendas.

Photo by Mr. Jay Javier, 07 September 2024.

We find it hard to trust Jesus enough unlike the upright in the first reading especially in this age of social media and instant fame and popularity when numbers of “likes” and votes prevail over what is true, good, and beautiful. Real talents, innate goodness and whatever natural are disregarded. That is why I have never watched nor believed in any beauty or singing contest these days because winners are decided not really on their talents or beauty and intelligence but more on the votes they get from viewers and people. Life has become more of a popularity contest often seen in terms of money. Pera pera lang?

This propensity of equating number of votes and likes with what is true and good and beautiful reeks with a lot of those stinky attitudes of the wicked in the first reading. The author of the Book of Wisdom perfectly expressed the inner thoughts and dynamics of the wicked who are intolerant of contradiction in whatever form, most especially unbearable to them is the living reproach and challenge of the life of just persons in their midst. This was fulfilled in Christ Jesus, the Just One of God the wicked men have crucified.

The wicked say: Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training… Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him” (Wisdom 2:12, 20).

Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2018.

Jesus Christ’s teaching of the Cross is the perfect spirit of being a child that runs contradictory to the ways of the world. To be like a child these days as Jesus showed the Twelve is to invite sarcasm and ridicule, unacceptable to those who live in the dictates of the world of power and force, wealth and fame that certainly lead to more divisions and destruction.

Jesus invites us this Sunday to “speak openly” to Him like a child filled with trust and enthusiasm to know and learn more about life and its meanings like our doubts and fears, incomprehension and uncertainties.

See how children’s face light up when grown-ups recognize their inquiries even without any explanations at all. The same is most true with Jesus in whom anything that is dull and drab shines brightly when seen in His light.

Photo by author, St. Scholastica Retreat Center, Baguio City,

We cannot escape the scandal of the Cross. To dwell on Easter Sunday without the Good Friday only makes our life journey difficult and tiring without any direction, a waste of time and energy circling around the ways of the world that has always been proven wrong.

The essence of Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection is found in being a child in the same manner Jesus remained the Son of God there on the Cross. He has always been clear with this; though He knew His fate, Jesus was totally free in choosing to suffer and die on the Cross because He fully entrusted Himself to the Father as He prayed before dying on the Cross, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Lk.23:46).

That beautiful imagery of a child Jesus placed in their midst as He put His arms around him encapsulated perfectly His own Passion and Death:

Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me” (Mark 9:35-37).

Photo by Mr. Red Santiago of his son Clyde, January 2020.

Every Sunday, Jesus gathers us in the Eucharist, just like the house in Capernaum where He spoke privately to the Twelve to explain the Cross and being like a child.

Let us not be afraid to speak these openly to Jesus because in our shame or fears of questioning Him, the more we live in rivalries among each other, the more we covet and envy, the more peace becomes elusive because as St. James rightly said, “You do not possess because you do not ask. You ask but not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (James 4:2c-3).

Let us gather around Jesus every Sunday, speak openly to Him especially after receiving Him Body and Blood in Holy Communion to cast unto Him all our worries and doubts in life. Let us take time to listen to Him and be imbued with His teachings. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead, everyone.

The key to grace & peace

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga & Companion Martyrs, 03 June 2024
2 Peter 1:2-7     ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>     Mark 12:1-12
Photo by author, Petra in Jordan, May 2019.
Praise and glory to You,
God our loving Father!
What a grace from You 
to let us make halfway through 2024
that seemed to have only began
a few months ago!
For some of us, 
the past five months have been
so difficult and this sixth month
is a much needed welcome 
for rest and hoping 
for better things ahead;
for others, may June be
the start of finally fulfilling
those promises we have not kept
all these years
or projects we have not 
finished or have neglected;
please, Father, grant us the
grace and peace we have
always sought in life.

Beloved: May grace and peace be yours in abundance through knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

2 Peter 1:2
Help me realize in
Jesus Christ that great
truth I always forget,
that abundant grace and peace
come only from knowledge
of God which is first of all
a personal relationship
with You, O Lord;
so often like most people,
we pursue so much knowledge
of the world to make life
better but not necessarily
meaningful and fulfilling;
like those tenants at the vineyard,
in our too much knowledge, 
we have taken for ourselves
ownership of the world -
deciding on who is to live, who is to die, 
choosing or creating our own gender,
and worst, destroying the family 
with measures like divorce;
forgive us, God our Father,
in deleting You from the world,
insisting we decide on our fate
and future like those tenants who said 
to one another, "This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him,
and the inheritance will be ours"
(Mark 12:7).
Make us realize like
St. Charles Lwanga and his
over 100 companion martyrs
in Uganda
that knowledge of God 
is more of the heart
than of the head
or the emotions;
that knowledge of God
is doing what is true and good;
that knowledge of God 
is having personal relationship
with You in Jesus Christ
which leads to following
His Way to the Cross
of loving service to others.
Amen.

St. Charles Lwanga,
Pray for us.
From Pinterest.com

Strengthening others

The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 30 April 2024
Acts 14:19-28     <*((((>< + ><))))*>     John 14:27-31
Photo by Fr. Pop Dela Cruz, Binuangan Island, Obanda, Bulacan, 2021.
Your words today,
O Lord Jesus,
are very comforting
and soothing on these 
extremely hot days of summer;
and how amazing your words
were set in the most distressing
situations:
in the first reading, Paul was stoned
and dragged out of Lystra,
"supposing he was dead"
(Acts 14:19);
in the gospel, as You spoke
of Your impending betrayal
and arrest leading to Your
Passion and Death, You spoke
about peace, telling Your disciples
"Do not let your hearts be troubled
or afraid" (Jn.14:27).
How amazing, dear Jesus,
are Your strength and courage
to assure others even in the midst
of great turmoil Yourself;
where did Paul get those
grace and power to strengthen
the spirits of others, exhorting them 
to persevere in faith (Acts 14:22)
after he almost got killed?
Photo by Fr. Pop Dela Cruz, Binuangan Island, Obanda, Bulacan, 2021.
Many times, my Lord,
I cave into myself,
worst, sulk in isolation
from the rest when disappointed
and hurt;
keep me strong, dear Jesus,
let me persevere in face of trials
and difficulties like Paul,
keeping in mind that difficulties
are temporary,
are meant to purify
and strengthen me 
because the enemy has no power
over me for You have already
conquered the world in love;
let me rejoice in the face of
my adversaries so that the world
may know and experience Your great
love poured upon me in Your
passion and death.
Amen.

Lent: God “now here”, we “nowhere”?

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Fourth Week of Lent, 11 March 2024
Isaiah 65:17-21     ><)))))*> + <*(((((><     John 4:43-54
Photo by author, September 2020.
God our Father,
you are so amazing!
You never fail to surprise us,
never runs out of mysteries
that convey deep truths so
difficult to dissect and understand
but just enough to be experienced
and savored to be delighted
again and again
when remembered
and realized
like when you said
through the Prophet Isaiah:

Thus says the Lord: Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind. Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create; for I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be delight.

Isaiah 65:17-18
Later, John the Beloved
in his Book of Revelation linked
this idea of new heaven and new earth
with the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21:1-2)
with both passages speaking of a world
free of pain and sickness,
no weeping nor wailing
with no kids dying before
their time and no one living
below 100 years old.
Wonderful!

Of course, your words are
symbolic though we are sure
it would literally happen some day;
but what we are sure now is how
your words have paved the way
for the coming of Jesus Christ
who bridged the gaps
among us;
in Jesus Christ,
the reality of physics
is experienced daily like
in that remote healing of
a royal official's son in
Capernaum.
Our loving Father,
we do not expect to live
lives without pain,
sickness,
or tragedy
even though we wish
that so often;
grant us the grace
to remain committed
to Jesus and his Way of the
Cross to experience the peace
only he can give for he is always
NOW HERE, present in us
and among us
when so often
we are NOWHERE
by his side.

Let us remain in you,
O Lord,
let us stay with you,
in you, 
even if nothing seems to happen 
because 
that is when 
our faith and trust 
in you are deepened
like with that royal official.
Amen.
Photo by author, September 2020.

Sowing the seeds of love

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial, St. Francis Sales, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, 24 January 2024
2 Samuel 7:4-17  <*((((>< + ><))))*>  Mark 4:1-20
“The Sower at Sunset” by Vincent Van Gogh, oil on canvas painted in June 1888 from wikimedia commons.
Lord Jesus Christ,
as you narrated to us today
the parable of the sower,
I wonder what were the other
seeds you have sowed 
aside from your word?

On another occasion, Jesus began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land. And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them, “Hear this! A sower went out to sow.”

Mark 4:1-3
Photo by Onnye on Pexels.com
We are not just the different
kinds of soil where your seeds
fell, Lord Jesus;
like you, may we also be 
sowers of your word and teachings,
sowers of your love and mercy,
sowers of compassion and kindness,
sowers of your light and life,
sowers of your hope and healing,
sowers of your very presence.

When God told David not to build
him a temple as he promised to raise 
a house for him from whom 
shall come the Christ,
that was when the Father also
sowed the seeds of redemption 
and fulfillment in you,
Lord Jesus!
On this feast of St. Francis Sales,
patron of Catholic journalists and 
media practitioners,
we pray for all communicators
to sow unity and peace,
not division
nor misunderstanding,
nor animosities;
we pray for all journalists
of different platforms
to sow understanding
and clarity,
to sow justice and equality
among peoples,
and to sow respect for life
at all times because every
communication must promote
first of all the dignity
 of every person.
Amen.

Advent is making the portrait of Christ a reality

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the First Week of Advent, 05 December 2023
Isaiah 11:1-10   ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>   Luke 10:21-24
Praise and glory 
to you, God our Father
for this Season of Advent!

Indeed we are so blessed 
in your Son Jesus Christ
for "many prophets and kings
desired to see what you see,
but did not see it, and to hear
what you hear, but did not hear it"
(Luke 10:24).
How wonderful are your plans,
most merciful Father,
in making a shoot sprout from
the stump of Jesse and from its
roots a bud blossom (Isaiah 11:1),
Jesus Christ.
As we await his Second Coming,
help us realize, bring into reality,
his most beautiful portrait saw by Isaiah:
"Justice shall be the band around his waist,
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.
Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the 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 be neighbors,
together their young shall rest;
the lion shall eat hay like ox.
The baby shall play by the cobras den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder's lair"
(vv.5-8). 
Let us witness the gospel of Jesus
to effect peace that until now 
has eluded us 
because we have refused to
recognize Jesus,
follow Jesus,
be like Jesus.
Let us be like Jesus
who is just,
not judging by appearance
nor deciding by hearsay,
siding with the poor
not with the rich,
speaking always of
his truth and justice.
We are so blessed 
in Jesus Christ who had come,
who is come 
who will come again;
make us responsible enough
to see Jesus more clearly,
to understand his vision deeply,
to listen to his words acutely
so he may be found in us already.
Amen.

Walking in the light of the Lord

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the First Week of Advent, 04 December 2023
Isaiah 2:1-5   ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*>   Matthew 8:5-11
Photo by author, Basic Education Department, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 27 November 2023.
Advent is walking in your light,
O Lord, when we brave life's
many darkness that envelop us,
when we trust more in you, O Lord,
and dare to follow your will
even if it goes against
conventional wisdom.
How sad, dear God,
that as we reel from the effects
of the recent pandemic,
we begin our Christmas countdown
still in the midst of a grave war
right in the Holy Land;
help us find ways to fulfill
Isaiah's prophecy:
"In the days to come,
the mountain of the Lord's house
shall be established as the highest
mountain and raised above the hills.
They shall beat  their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
one nation shall not raise the sword
against another, shall they train for war again.
O house of jacob, come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord!
(Isaiah 2:2, 4-5)
To walk in your light, O Lord,
especially this Advent is to
first of all admit how we have gone
astray from your path, O Lord;
of how we have relied more on
ourselves and technologies
that we have forgotten not only 
you O Lord but also one another;
to walk in your light O Lord is
to be in touch with our fellow humans,
to find you present in each one of us
despite our many differences
like that centurion who approached
you, Jesus, to heal his sick servant;
this Advent season as we walk
the streets with cool winds blowing
and sun rays touching our skins,
may we have time to go to your
house, O Lord, to pray,
to listen to your words,
to simply be present before you
and allow you to take us where
you want us to be.
Amen.

“I-love-you” means “I-O-U”

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Thirty-first Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 08 November 2023
Romans 13:8-10   ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*>   Luke 14:25-33
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2023.
How can I not resist
by simply being silent,
O God our Father,
with your beautiful words 
spoken today by the great
St. Paul?

Brothers and sisters: Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. Love does no evil to the neighbors; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.

Romans 13:8, 10
But, what is really love,
according to St. Paul?
Since yesterday, 
he has been telling us
to love sincerely which is
to love like Jesus Christ 
who offered himself for us
on the Cross;
to love like Jesus as the 
fulfillment of the law is
to love without measure
because it is rooted in you,
dear God who is love yourself,
God who is both transcendent
and immanent!
In telling us to love one another,
Jesus clarified with his love that
you neither order nor command us to
love you, God, in the strict sense;
you ask us to love
because you love us,
because you are love, O God;
when we love, 
we fulfill your commandments,
enabling us to live in peace 
and harmony with one another
like in heaven;
"I-love-you" is the only "I-O-U",
the only debt never paid off
because the more we love,
the more we become like you
in Jesus Christ,
eternal and without end.
Amen.

Reconciliation is commitment

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, 106th Anniversary of Last Apparition in Fatima, 13 October 2023
Joel 4:12-21   ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>   Luke 11:15-20
From cbcpnews.net, 13 May 2022, at the Parish of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City.
Praise and glory to you,
God our loving Father
in sending us your Son
Jesus Christ who gave us
his Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be our Mother too!

As we remember today
the 106th year 
of her last appearance at
Fatima in Portugal,
we pray most especially anew
for her intercession
for peace in the world,
peace in our Church,
peace in our hearts.
Her apparitions at Fatima
were the most amazing
proofs of your love and mercy
to us in recent history, 
reminding us of the need
to reform our lives,
to be converted,
and be reconciled with you,
Father, 
through Jesus Christ.

Sadly, until now,
we have refused to heed 
her calls of true conversion
so there would be true
reconciliation among us
in Jesus with a new and
stronger commitment
to live our Christian life.
Every year at the start
of Lent on Ash Wednesday
we hear the same words of
your prophet Joel calling
on us today in the first reading
"to gird ourselves and weep and
fast for the day of the Lord is near"
(Joel 1:13-15) but we never heed
them; 106 years ago, the Blessed
Virgin Mary called on the same 
things from us and yet,
we have remained stubborn.
Forgive us, Father.
We have strayed so far
from you; our eyes feast on
the many wondrous deeds 
you continue to do in our lives
but our hearts are so far from you
like those people who tested Jesus
after he had driven out a demon
(Lk. 11:15-26);
how unfortunate and sad
when many of us today
believe more in the power of
the devil under so many
disguises in technologies
and modern thoughts
and lifestyles by
continuing to refuse 
to surrender
ourselves to your 
healing power 
in Jesus Christ.
Through our Lady of Fatima,
teach us humility and simplicity
like her visionaries in 1917,
the siblings St. Francisco 
and St. Jacinta Marto
and their cousin now declared
Venerable Sr. Lucia;
like them, help us put into our
hearts not just in our minds 
your calls of repentance
and conversion so there
will truly be reconciliation 
among us and be committed
in working for lasting peace.
Amen.