Immaculate Conception, Intimacy of God

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, 08 December 2025
Genesis 3:9-15, 20 ><}}}}*> Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12 ><}}}}*> Luke 1:26-38

*“Cestello Annunciation” by Botticelli painted in 1490; from en.wikipedia.org.*

We praise and thank God today on this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary that formally kicked off the process of the fulfillment of his promised salvation in Jesus born by the Virgin Mother.

According to our official Church teaching called dogma, Mary was conceived by her mother St. Anne without any stain of original sin through the merits of Jesus Christ our Savior. Mary has to be pure and clean because she would bear the Son of God who is perfect and spotless.

God chose Mary to be the Mother of Jesus not because of her having any special traits but purely out of God’s goodness “who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens” (Eph.1:3).

Hence, this feast reminds us too to imitate the Blessed Virgin in saying “yes” to God’s invitation to cooperate in his wonderful plans of bringing Jesus into this world so darkened by sin that has left us broken and fragmented from each other. Rejoice, therefore, because everyday, God sends us his angel to greet us with “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you” (Lk.1:26), inviting us into an intimacy with him like Mary.

*Photo by author, left side of the facade of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, Holy Land, May 2019.*

Intimacy is more than being close with another; it is an expression of love that is willing to sacrifice, to suffer and get hurt for the sake of the beloved.

God was the first to express his intimacy with us not just by expressing his immense love for us in words by the prophets in the Old Testament but by sending us his Son Jesus Christ who became human like us in everything except sin. Actually, God does not need to become human like us to save us but he chose to be one of us because he loves us so much. As an expression of his intimacy and solidarity with us, Jesus suffered and died on the Cross while going through every pain and hurt we go through in life like grief and sadness in losing a friend, betrayal by a friend, abandonment by friends, no to mention being terrified, going hungry and thirsty. Jesus became like us so that we may become like God – intimately loving him through others.

Actually, God does not need us but he chose to love us, to be with us, to be intimate with us because he loves us so much. God remains God even without us. When we do not pray, when we do not go to Mass on Sundays, when we are bad and not good, God is still God. It is us humans who are lessened when we turn away from from God.

That’s the intimacy of God with us.

How about us, are we willing to be intimate with God in Jesus Christ?

Sadly, many people “create” and “force” intimacy which is a grace, a gift of God freely given to everyone. Like friendship, we cannot force intimacy into someone not meant to be. And like friendship too, intimacy begins in Christ, blooms in Christ.

Photo by author, chapel beneath the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth; see those pilgrims praying behind iron grills at the back of the sanctuary which is the site where the Angel announced to Mary the birth of Jesus Christ.

Underneath the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth is a chapel near the very site where the angel is believed to have appeared to Mary to announce the coming of the Savior. At the back of the sanctuary of this chapel is that holy site of the Annunciation enclosed by iron grills with an altar table at the center with the declaration in Latin, Verbum Caro Hic Factum Est (The Word became flesh here).

Mary’s intimacy with God began long before the Annunciation to her by the Angel cultivated in her prayer life. Every time I pray this scene of the Annunciation, I always imagine Mary deeply absorbed in prayer. Most likely, she must be praying about her coming wedding to Joseph. Luke and Matthew were both consistent about their status as being “betrothed to each other” when God announced through the Angel the birth of the Christ.

*Photo by author, close up of the* Annunciation site beneath the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth; written on the altar table that says in Latin, “The Word became flesh here.”

Imagine the excitement and joy of two faithful Jews getting married soon when suddenly the Angel appeared to them on separate occasions and diverse situations to announce God’s plan of sending his own Son Jesus Christ for the salvation of the world?

It must have been most painful to both Mary and Joseph but as being truly faithful and loving of God, they both agreed to the Divine plan! And that is the great sign of their immense love for God – eventually for each other. Moreover, in saying yes to God, both Mary and Joseph showed the kind of intimacy they have with the Divine.

Let us focus on the intimacy of Mary with God on this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception found in our gospel account of the Annunciation.

*Photo by Rev. Fr. Gerry Pascual of Iba, Zambales at Santuario di Greccio, Rieti, Italy in 2019.*

Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you ahve found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus (Luke 1:30-31).

Notice that in many scenes and prayers about the Blessed Virgin Mary, we find the prominence of her “womb” like here in the Annunciation and when Elizabeth praised her during her Visitation as “blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Lk.1:42).

In Hebrew, the word for womb is “racham, rachamin” which is their word too for “mercy” because for them, God’s mercy comes from his innermost being. Hence, whenever the Jews speak of mercy of God, they point their fingers downward into the womb or uterus and moves it upward to the heart to indicate the flow of mercy of God from his innermost being expressed in love which is he’s very being and core.

This is the reason the Church Fathers translated mercy into “misericordia” from the Latin verb to move or to stir – “misereor” – and word for heart “cor” that literally means “to move or to stir one’s heart”. It is more than a feeling like compassion; mercy is deeper as it encompasses one’s being leading to intimacy that is a communion or oneness with others which is also intimacy.

*Photo by author, Church of the Visitation, Ein-Karem, Israel, May 2017.*

Where there is love, there is always intimacy with the lover willing to bear all pains and hurts for the beloved. And vice versa. Like Jesus. Then Mary who was willing to sacrifice her wedding and marriage to Joseph by being the Mother of the Son of God.

But why? Because we have experienced too that true joy comes only when there is giving of self, when there is willingness to let go and suffer. At the Last Supper, Jesus described joy as like a mother in the pangs of childbirth when she goes through a lot of pains and worries and fears almost like dying but once the baby is delivered, joy happens because she had brought forth a new life into the world.

True joy is having the firm belief that no matter what happens even in the worst scenarios, God would never leave nor forsake us. Joy happens when we find new life, new directions because there is another person willing to remain with us, assuring us we are never alone. That again is intimacy when you feel not alone especially in the most trying times.

Without intimacy with God and another person, there can be no true joy because no one would dare to take risks in this life like mothers. This is what modern women are missing when they see childbearing more as a chore or a burden or a suffering they can always avoid than self-giving borne out of love which happens in the context of an intimacy. No wonder too that sex has been so trivialized, reduced to an activity and act instead of as a gift of self because there is no more responsibility and intimacy. We cannot have lasting and meaningful relationships without intimacy.

On this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, we are reminded of God’s mercy and intimacy with us, of his loving relationship with us that continues in Christ Jesus with Mary.

Let us nurture this beautiful relationship with God that flows and bears fruit in our relationships with one another.

Like Mary, may we finally say yes to God into an intimate relationship with him through our selflessness. Like Mary, we are blessed and full of grace. The joy awaiting far outweighs the pains and sufferings we shall go through in our gift of self in our relationships. Have no fear for Jesus had suffered first before us so that we can love and be intimate like him. Amen. Have a blessed week.

Advent is being lost, then found

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Second Week of Advent, 09 December 2025
Isaiah 40:1-11 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 18:12-14

Today you ask me
Lord Jesus something so
ordinary yet so profound:
"What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep 
and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine
in the hills and go in search of
the stray?" (Matthew 18:12)

So many times 
dear Jesus I feel like you,
the Good Shepherd:
I feel uneasy the moment
one of my sheep or anything
or anyone is missing,
is lost,
is nowhere to be found;
there is that sense of
emptiness,
of incompleteness,
of lacking when someone
or something is missing
and like you,
I would leave everything
just to find that one missing!

In my opinion,
as you ask me now, Lord Jesus,
I feel you coming,
I feel you searching me
the moment I am lost, 
or simply feeling distant 
and unsure of the path 
and direction to take in life,
or sometimes feeling scattered;
Advent is God not waiting for us
to go back but you coming to
find us!

“And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost” (Matthew 18:13-14).

Advent is you,
Lord Jesus coming
and looking for us;
on this Tuesday in the
Second Week of Advent,
I pray dear Jesus for those
who feel a part of them is
lost or missing;
help us find our way back
home to you;
let us not stray further
away but finally
follow you back
in our selfish
and closed self.
Amen.

Advent is conversion in the desert

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Second Sunday in Advent-A, 07 December 2025
Isaiah 11:1-10 ><}}}}*> Romans 15:4-9 ><}}}}*> Matthew 3:1-12

*Photo by author, The Deesis Mosaic in the Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkiye, 01 November 2025.*

A few weeks before the Holy Father visited Turkiye recently, we were also in Istanbul and had the great chance of visiting the magnificent Hagia Sophia. And we wonder why Pope Leo XIV skipped the more historical and popular Hagia Sophia to visit instead the Blue Mosque just across.

The Hagia Sophia or “Holy Wisdom” was the largest church in the Eastern Roman Empire when Istanbul was called Constantinople until the Ottoman Turks conquered the city and converted the church into a mosque. More than a hundred years ago when Turkiye became a republic, the government made Hagia Sophia a museum until recently when it was reverted into a mosque again.

My initial feeling when I got inside Hagia Sophia was deep sadness. “Malaking panghihinayang” as in “sayang na sayang” in Filipino because it used to be ours but due to the Great Schism of 1054 when the Eastern Roman Church broke away from Rome, it fell into the hands of the Moslems who made it into a mosque, altering or hiding the many great works of art there that date back to the Byzantine era 1200 to 1400 years ago.

One of its many treasures you might be familiar found in history books and magazines is the “Deesis Mosaic” of Jesus flanked to his left by his Mother Mary and John the Baptist to his right.

From the Greek word “deesis” that means supplication or intercession, the mosaic features Mary and John beseeching Jesus to forgive mankind at his Second Coming. Though the three images have been badly deteriorated due to the elements passing through the window beside it, its beauty remains intact, especially the evocative faces of Mary, Jesus and John.

Seeing it personally, one could feel the pagsusumamo of John the Baptist and Mother Mary expressed in the softness of their face in earnestly asking Jesus to forgive mankind on the day of judgment. And it seems to be working so well as you could feel too the tender compassion of Jesus Christ’s look as he raised his right hand in a blessing position while holding with his other hand a thick book that is perhaps a Bible.

*Detail of John the Baptist from the Deesis Mosaic in his abbreviated Greek name Ionnes Prodromos; photo by author, Istanbul, 01 November 2025.*

The Deesis Mosaic is very Advent in character because it is about God’s mercy and forgiveness in Christ Jesus at his Second Coming at the end of time.

Here we find how early on in the ancient Church they have been preoccupied in this first aspect of Advent, the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time and of Advent’s essence – our conversion from sins. At the forefront of that call is the Lord’s Precursor, John the Baptist, that is why every second and third Sundays of Advent we hear in the gospel his ministry at Jordan.

John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: A voice crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. … At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region aroun d the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins (Matthew 3:1-3, 5-6).

John the Baptist remains relevant in preparing for the Lord’s coming, whether at the end of time or in preparation for our Christmas celebration. Like him, we are all called to be an Advent person, vigilantly preparing ourselves for Christ’s coming at the end of time that happens in every here and now, right in our own desert in this modern time.

Yes, we are like John the Baptist living in our own desert, a world we describe as a global village wired and connected by the internet yet so apart from each other. Instead of bringing us closer with one another, all these modern inventions have actually grown us more detached from one another like when eating in a fast food. It is so alienating especially for us seniors to be placing our orders on those tall electronic boards programmed for us to order more food and drinks not healthy at all.

Or, take those TNVS or Transport Network Vehicle Services like Grab. We no longer travel in the real sense as we just move to destinations with that desert feeling when inside a Grab car with the driver too far from us passengers in front, following instructions from apps while we at the back sit silently scrolling our phones or pounding a laptop. See also how driving has become going in the wilderness with the horrendous traffic where humans turn into monsters in road rage while machines and CCTVs monitor who’s violating traffic rules and who gets through the RFID.

*Photo by author, Basic Education Department Chapel, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, December 2023.*

This Second Sunday in Advent, John the Baptist invites us to be aware of the desert we are living into where we have become less personal, less human as we move away from God that we have lost our sense of sin, acting more on impulses without much thinking its effects and consequences.

We think more of ourselves than of God and others, overextending our rights insisting on our ways that actually destroy lives through abortions and gender manipulations. We no longer speak of what is true and good by simply following trends and what is convenient. No more feelings, no more compassion. No more others. No more God nor heaven and eternity.

*“St. John the Baptist Preaching in the Wilderness” by German painter Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1779) from commons.wikimedia.org.*

We do not have to dress on camel’s hair nor eat locusts and wild honey like John but simply make a space within us for God and for others.

We would be gravely wrong to think John was only speaking to the people of his time especially to the Pharisees and Sadducees; Matthew wrote his gospel account at that time to nourish the faith of early Christians facing persecutions and many challenges in life like in our own time when it is so tempting to follow the evil ways of the world.

John continues to warn us today of the sure return of the Christ when everyone shall face judgment which is not something to be feared like a sword of Damocles hanging above our heads ready to strike us anytime. It is a call and a demand for concrete actions of conversion, of leaving our sinful ways to follow Christ’s path of holiness.

“Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:10-11).

Advent assures us of Christ’s Second Coming when he shall purify and renew us to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy in the first reading when “the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid… the calf and young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them… the cow and bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest, the lion shall eat hay like the 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).

*“Peaceable Kingdom”, a painting based on Is.11:1-10 by American Edward Hicks, a Quaker pastor (1780-1849)* from wikimedia.org.

As we have reflected last Sunday, every coming of Jesus is a day of judgment but not a catastrophe. It becomes a disaster for those unprepared, living in sin. But for those like John the Baptist, striving to live the gospel amid the desert of this world, Christ’s coming is salvation and peace for Jesus is full of love and compassion and tenderness for his people.

Life is so difficult these days especially when we see our great disparities with the corrupt who simply steal our money and those we call “lumalaban ng patas sa buhay”. Imagine how in our country the world is like a desert, so hostile with the weak and the poor who have to wrestle with 500 pesos – if ever they have – to stretch it for a noche buena on Christmas Eve.

St. Paul reminds us in the second reading that in times like these, we look up to God and his Sacred Words, to keep hoping, trusting and believing in Christ’s coming already happening especially in the Sunday Eucharist. Let us gather together as one community, encouraging each other in Christ like John in Jordan while awaiting the Lord’s coming, rejoicing like the psalmist today who sang, “Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever” (Ps. 72:7). Amen. A blessed Second Week in Advent everyone!

Advent is believing even without seeing

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the First Week of Advent, 05 December 2025
Isaiah 29:17-24 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 9:27-31

I love your words today,
Lord Jesus Christ:
"Do you believe 
that I can do this?"
(Matthew 9:28)

How amazing is this story,
so Advent because the season
calls us to believe,
to wait,
even to see you Jesus
even we cannot see
anything at all!

How can two blind men
follow you except by
merely listening,
even listen intently
when we who can see
cannot see you,
refuse to follow you,
refuse to believe you?

Like those two blind men,
we tell you today that
"Yes, Lord, we believe
you can make us see again."
Please do so.
Make it quick.
For we are so blinded 
by the world's playful lights
including its darkness
so romanticized
that many drift 
away from you.
Amen.

Advent is God working in me

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the First Week of Advent, 04 December 2025
Isaiah 26:1-6     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     Matthew 7:21, 24-27

*Photo by author, Malolos Cathedral, December 2019.*

On that day
they will sing this song
in the land of Judah:
"A strong city have we;
he sets up walls and ramparts
to protect us. Open up the gates
to let in a nation that is just,
one that keeps faith"
(Isaiah 26:1-2).

Like most cities,
O Lord our God,
I lay in ruins:
physically, emotionally,
mentally, and spiritually;
feeling lost, almost collapsing,
trembling in so many fears
and concerns;
but my faith in you
assures me of being
"a strong city" with "walls
and ramparts" that protect me;
I may not see them now
but "open the gates" of my heart
to trust in you,
in your continuing work in me
so mysterious that leads to
victory eventually.

Give me patience
and perseverance;
enliven my hope in you,
Jesus Christ who comes to me
daily, dwelling in me to be
my "everlasting rock".

Jesus said to his disciples: “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rains fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock” (Matthew 7:24-25).

Keep me faithful
in you, Lord Jesus
as I rejoice in your works,
in your comfort,
in your presence
and coming.
Amen.

Advent is being rooted in God in Jesus

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the First Week of Advent, 02 December 2025
Isaiah 11:1-10     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     Luke 10:21-24

Advent is going back
to our roots -
to you O God our Father
like Jesus Christ your Son
who is "the shoot 
from the stump of Jesse"
you have promised through
the Prophet Isaiah:

On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jess, and from his roots a bud a shall blossom… On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious (Isaiah 11:1, 10).

On this first week of Advent,
Isaiah reminds us of the 
beauty of Christ's advent
that brings about peace
when "the wolf shall be a guest 
of the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down
with the kid... 
the calf and young lion 
shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them...
the cow and bear shall be neighbors,
together their young shall rest,
the lion shall eat hay like the 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).

Peace reigns and comes
in every advent of Christ
when we fix our sights on him
while looking deep down
inside our hearts,
emptying ourselves of pride
to find our roots in God,
to find our blessedness
as your indwelling;
let us rediscover you, 
Jesus, "the shoot from 
the stump of Jesse", 
the one completely
consecrated to God who 
journeys with us in this life
helping us find our roots God
by becoming like children,
innocent and humble, 
seeing the deeper
truth and worth of every person
and things not colored
by biases
and prejudices.
Amen.

Jesus, our Temple

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, First Week of Advent, 01 December 2025
Isaiah 4:2-6     ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>     Matthew 8:5-11

*Photo by author, Malolos Cathedral, December 2018.*

Blessed are you,
O God our Father
for this first day of December,
the first working day in this
blessed Season of Advent
as we prepare for your Son
Jesus Christ's Second Coming;
cleanse our hearts, O Lord
so that you may dwell in us,
come to us as as we 
dwell in you, 
come to you,
"our shelter and protection; 
shade from parching heat of day,
refuge and cover from storm
and rain" (Isaiah 4:6).

How lovely are your words today,
O Lord, as you fulfill in Jesus Christ
our gathering in you as your people,
this time not just in a building
like the old temple of Jerusalem
nor our modern churches;
teach us to be more humble
like that centurion in recognizing
your supreme authority for
you are Authority yourself;
despite his not being a Jew,
the centurion had the faith
and humility in Jesus Christ's
healing of his servant without
touching nor seeing him.

O dear Jesus,
you are the New Temple,
you are our Temple,
our dwelling no longer made
by hands: grant us the grace
of genuine faith and humility
in you especially during the Mass
right before we receive you in
the Holy Eucharist saying the
very same words of that centurion
you praised, "Lord, I am not worthy
that You should come under my roof,
but only say the word and my soul
shall be healed" (Matthew 8:8).
Amen.

God surely comes

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul, Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
First Sunday of Advent-A, 30 November 2025
Isaiah 2:1-5 ><}}}}*> Romans 13:11-14 ><}}}}*> Matthew 24:37-44

*Photo by author, the Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkiye, 01 November 2025.*

I rarely travel abroad and though I am joyful and grateful for those rare occasions especially through the kindness of some friends, I feel so sad seeing how other countries are doing so well, so good – so unlike us in the Philippines.

After my recent trip to Turkiye and Romania, the more I am convinced I would never experience a better Philippines at least in my lifetime for sure.

*Photo by author, Bucharest, Romania, 07 November 2025.*

Look at Hong Kong: while firemen were still fighting the blaze in a high-rise housing complex last Wednesday that caused over 120 deaths with scores wounded and missing, authorities have already arrested in less than 24 hours at least three suspects linked with the deadly fires while here in the Philippines, all the key players in the multi-billion peso ghost project scam remain free with some already hiding abroad.

And just as we are about to end November for the merry month of December, the secretary of Trade and Industry came out in the news insanely insisting that anyone with 500 pesos can have a noche buena of ham, spaghetti and fruit salad?! What else can we say but a heavy sigh with OMG…

Sorry for the lamentations. In times like these you really can’t avoid wonder sometimes where is God? Has he forgotten us in the Philippines? So very sad.

*Photo by author, Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 01 December 2018.*

Oh, by the way, a blessed “Happy New Year” to everyone! We begin this first Sunday of Advent as the new year in our Church calendar.

From the Latin adventus that means “coming” that used to designate the arrival of the Roman emperor in the provinces and colonies of the ancient Roman empire, we have adopted it in the Church as a season of preparing for the coming of the true King of kings, Jesus Christ. Notice how we closed last Sunday our Church calendar with Christ the King and now opens it with preparations for the coming of Christ, the King of kings.

Advent has two aspects: from this Sunday until December 16, all readings and prayers are directed to the Second Coming of Christ or parousia at the end of time; from December 17-24, all prayers and readings shift our attention to look back and reflect at the first coming of Christ in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago. That is the meaning of the four candles in our Advent wreath.

*Photo by author, Basic Education Department Chapel, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 2021.*

Between these Second and First comings of Jesus that Advent prepares us, we celebrate every day Christ’s Third Coming according to St. Bernard of Clairvaux which is the meaning of the very words of the Lord to his disciples then and now as narrated this Sunday by Matthew in the gospel:

Jesus said to this disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:37-39).

Despite all the negative news we have in the country and from around the world, despite all the darkness and problems we have in our lives, we are still blessed today because Jesus has come, will come again, and always comes. Welcome!

Let us get that feeling therefore on this first Sunday of Advent of having “arrived” to another year of journey in our spiritual life with Matthew as guide every Sunday Mass, praying for God’s grace for us to prepare not only for the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time but most especially for his daily coming to us which could also mean our death.

Jesus comes every day and therefore, every day is judgment day.

But it does not mean catastrophe because Christ’s coming at the end of time is about our attitude in living as he pointed out to his disciples during the days of Noah. Jesus comes in the most ordinary circumstances without us even knowing at all that it could be the end just like when the floods came after Noah’s family have entered and locked the ark.

It is not being morbid nor pessimistic in life. We know for sure death’s certainty except its precise moment. Death is not something to be afraid of but something we have to prepare for as it leads us to eternal life in God. It is scary for those not living life fully in God. To meet Jesus Christ is to live fully and authentically, to find life’s meaning in him not in things. How sad that many people these days live superficially without any qualms at all about God and spirituality and morality. More sad is the fact that many practically live their lives in social media without even knowing it at all! Observe what we post, the language we speak, our line of thoughts that are all influenced by media. Reflect on the great amounts of screen time we make daily and weekly that eat up our very existence!

Advent is the season of vigilance, of being awake. Jesus reminds us today never to doubt his coming for he surely comes. If we are negligent, we end in disaster and catastrophe like in his example:

“Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:40-42).

The prophet Isaiah tells us in the first reading how the coming of the Messiah is so sure that it does not depend in the vagaries of history because our God is the God of history himself. He fulfills his promises according to his plans, not according to man’s designs and manipulations. Despite the many wars and natural calamities the world has experienced in history, Jesus had come and keeps on coming. How foolish governments spend billions of dollars and countless hours studying how to find life in outer space while working on how to annihilate each other, destroy life at its weakest moments of infancy and old age while forgetting the hungry and dying among us. If we could just open our minds and our hearts to Christ’s daily coming then we fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” (Is.2:4).

This can only happen when we recognize every here and now, every present moment as Christ’s coming that is already taking place in our midst as St. Paul reminds us in the second reading, “For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Rom. 13:11-12).

Aside from preparing for our salvation that happens in Christ’s coming, Advent is also the season when we are called to share the light of Jesus to those in darkness. This early, so many malls, offices and homes have already put up with their colorful Christmas decorations like lanterns and Christmas trees. May we not forget to share most of all the light of Jesus Christ that brings joy and peace from our firm faith, fervent hope and unceasing charity and love especially when times are dark and rough for that is when the Lord truly comes. Amen. A blessed Advent season to everyone!

Living Hope Amidst Suffering

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Red Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Daniel 5:1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28   <*{{{>< + ><}}}*>   Luke 21:12-19

*Photo from Fatima Tribune, 27 November 2024.*

It’s the Wednesday after Christ the King when our churches and other religious buildings are lit in red to mark Red Wednesday, the annual campaign for persecuted Christians worldwide.

Started in 2016 by the Aid for Church in Need (ACN), it has been an annual Church celebration with other Christian groups and sects participating to heighten awareness of the continuing persecution of Christians in various parts of the world – exactly what Jesus had predicted to his disciples more than 2000 years ago.

Jesus said to the crowd: “They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony… By your perseverance you will secure your lives” (Luke 21:12-13, 19).

For us in the Philippines that is majority a Christian nation, Red Wednesday is an opportune time to reflect about our “giving testimony” to Jesus Christ: how “bloody red” is our being a Christian?

Unlike in other countries in Africa or our neighbors in Asia where Christians are persecuted and harassed, we in the Philippines do not go through such sufferings and challenges. Think of any kind of opposition to the Christian faith we have encountered even in the last 100 years. None. The most serious threats ever made against our faith seem to be mere “peer pressures” of being teased as “conservative” in going to Mass and Confession frequently, or upholding the virtue of virginity. Perhaps, the most serious dilemma most of us Christians have ever had in our faith is whether or not we shall pray or at least make the Sign of the Cross when dining in a restaurant or fast food chain. In Europe and the States, chapels and churches are vandalized and burned but here in the country, those who have committed sacrileges in the past three years were “crucified” in social media with one being sued in court.

We do not wish that we also undergo similar religious persecutions like the other Christians abroad whom we pray for today on this Red Wednesday and send with our financial support as concrete actions of our solidarity with them.

In line with this year’s theme of “Living Hope Amidst Suffering” in conjunction with the Jubilee Year celebration “Pilgrims of Hope”, Red Wednesday invites us to simply witness the gospel of Jesus by standing on what is true and good especially these days our country is so deep into the ghost project scandals on flood control.

Giving testimony to Jesus Christ is letting our zeal for him burn anew within us by not bending into the ways of the world that promote a “culture of death” like abortion and contraceptives, or to the many forms of wokism that overextend personal rights contrary to God’s original plan and design like divorce, same sex marriage, and gender manipulation.

*Photo by Ms. Kei Abad, Kawaguchiko Lake (Fujisan), 23 November 2025.*

Witnessing Christ is being honest and just in a country of such impunity where graft and corruption is a family endeavor, a norm in public service.

Giving testimony to Christ in this time of social media where trending and viral are the new standards is to remain simple and modest even if it is looked down upon, being fair and just even if everyone chooses to disregard them while being concrete in our acts of mercy and charity for the weak and marginalized.

Red Wednesday is reigniting our hope in God which is an expression of our firm faith in him. Religious persecutions happen and abound anywhere God is negated and denied or when a particular group of people insist on their own perception of God.

We Christians are pilgrims of hope because we do believe in the one True and Only God in Heaven who was revealed to us by his own Son Jesus Christ made present up to this day until the end of time by the Holy Spirit. Hope is primarily having faith in God.

In this sense it is true that anyonbe who does not nknow God, even though he may entertain all kinds of hopes, is ultimately without hope, without the great hope that sustains the whole of life (cf. Eph. 2:12). Man’s great, true hope which holds firm in spite of all disappointments can only be God – God who has loved us and who continues to love us “to the end,” until all “is accomplished” (cf. Jn.13:1 and 19:30). (Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi #27)

Hope is not optimism nor positive thinking, believing things will get better. On the contrary, true hope is actually accepting that things and situations could get worst as Jesus mentioned in his predictions of the coming upheavals and persecutions. Hope is putting all our trust in God that no matter what happens in the end when things get worst like death, there is Jesus Christ loving us, comforting us, and saving us.

That’s the kind of faith and hope Daniel expressed in our first reading despite the threats of sure death when he spoke of the God of Israel as the only true God, not the many idols and false gods of the Babylonians. Most of all, because of his fervent hope in God who would raise him up in the end, Daniel delivered his interpretation of the king’s dream of how his days were numbered as the Medians and Persians were soon to conquer them that eventually happened.

Many times in life, all we can have is hope in God especially when pains and sufferings become unbearable, when these get worst without any signs of getting any better.

That is why Red Wednesday’s theme this year is so appropriate, “living hope amidst suffering”.

Hope makes life more worthy and lofty because our sights are not only fixed on this world but even beyond as Jesus assured us in today’s gospel, “By your perseverance you will secure your lives” (Lk.21:19).

And there lies the beauty of hope – it is the most surprising of all virtues as the French poet, essayist and writer Charles Peguy wrote in 1911 in his long masterpiece called “The Portal of the Mystery of Hope.” In this poem, Peguy presents God as the speaker himself, reflecting about the virtue of hope in relation with the other two theological virtues of faith and love. It is so lovely because it is so true especially when I encountered it during my trying months of second year in theology in the seminary.

The faith that I love best, says God, is hope...
Faith itself does not surprise me...

Love, says God, that does not surprise me...

But Hope, says God, that is what surprises me.
I, myself, find it surprising
that my children see what happens and believe things will improve.
That is the most surprising, the most marvelous gift.
And it surprises me, myself, that my gift has such incredible strength
since it first flowed in creation as it always will.
Faith sees what is.
Hope sees what will be.
Love loves what is.
Hope loves what has not yet been
and what will be in the future and in eternity.

For those suffering, those in pain especially because of faith in Jesus Christ: keep believing, keep hoping and be ready to be surprised by God. Reignite that zeal in Christ and his gospel. Amen. A blessed Red Wednesday to you.

Visions and images

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr
Daniel 2:31-45 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 21:5-11

*Photo by author, Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Dumaguete City, 07 November 2024.*

Thank you,
dearest God our Father
in reminding us today of
visions and images:
vision in the dream of
Nebuchadnezzar of the rise
and fall of kingdoms and empires
vis-a-vis 
your absolute power above all
in this world;
and of the image of the temple
as your presence made permanent
in Jesus Christ your Son.

While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, “All that you see here – the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down” (Luke 21:5-6).

You sent us your Son, Jesus Christ
as the ultimate sign of your presence,
better than any temple nor building;
clear our minds of the temporal nature
of things, to be more focused on Jesus
as the sign interconnecting us with you
and one another; most of all,
may his warnings spoken in Jerusalem
resound in us today of the destruction
not only of temple but also of a 
breakdown in our relationships
with you and with one another;
may Jesus be our sole temple
and foundation in life.

Teach us to be like
St. Catherine of Alexandria
who spent her life in prayer
and studies to know you more,
love you more and serve you more
even in offering her very self 
as a virgin and apologist
of your truth; like her,
may we be consistent
in professing our faith in you
so that even in the face of
strong opposition, we too
may win over those who doubt you
as Lord and God.
Amen.