The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 23 July 2024 Micah 7:14-15, 18-20 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Matthew 12:46-50
Restore us, O god our savior, and abandon your displeasure against us. Will you be ever angry with us, prolonging your anger to all generations? Will you not instead give us life; and shall not your people rejoice in you? Show us, O Lord, your kindness, and grant us your salvation (Today’s Responsorial Psalm 85:5-8).
It has been raining for almost a week in many parts of the country of the world with images of floods everywhere, many are perennial ones but many are so unusual and unheard of; everybody is complaining, everybody is blaming everyone for the disaster except one's self.
That is why I love the psalmist's prayer today: "Restore us, O God our savior"; it has so many meanings and applications so relevant these days of rains and floods - repair and renovate the many roads and homes destroyed; but most of all, bring us back to You, O God; let us return to You by finding each one a family as Jesus taught us in today's gospel, "For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother" (Matthew 12:50).
Like the remnants of Israel the Prophet Micah spoke of in the first reading, keep me faithful, standing before You, O Lord in these trying times of natural and human disasters. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, 22 July 2024 Song of Songs 3:1-4 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> John 20:1-2, 11-18
“The Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene” painting by Alexander Ivanov (1834-1836) at the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia from commons.wikimedia.org.
We rejoice today, Lord Jesus, for this most wondrous Feast of your friend St. Mary Magdalene: in her we find hope and joy that like her, we who are sinners are assured of a grace-filled future, of a trustworthy friend in You, and abounding love and mercy also in You.
We are, dear Jesus,
the modern Mary Magdalene:
sinful and worldly,
perhaps so vain with our
outside appearance and bearing
in public, sometimes on the brink
of giving up in life because nobody seem
to care at all for us;
many times like Mary Magdalene,
we walk alone in darkness
searching for You, Lord Jesus;
many times we wonder too
how we could move the huge
and heavy stone of past sins,
weaknesses and failures,
addictions and vices
that cover us and prevent us
from moving forward, finding You;
many times, O Lord,
we mistake You for somebody else
like Mary Magdalene when she mistook
You to be the gardener at the tomb
because we are so preoccupied
of many things in life.
But, You assure us today
on this Feast of St. Mary Magdalene
our fears and assumptions are not
true at all; help us to stop clinging
to our many past for You are not there,
Jesus; You are always in the here and now,
in the present moment, personally calling us
in our name like Mary!
The Bride says: On my bed at night I sought him whom my heart loves – I sought him but I did not find him. I will rise then and go about the city; in the streets and crossings I will seek him whom my heart loves. I sought him but I did not find him. The watchmen came upon me as they made their rounds of the city. Have you seen him whom my heart loves? I have hardly left them when I found him whom my heart loves (Song of Songs 3:1-4).
Like that lover, the Bride in the first reading, we are Mary Magdalene in search of love and meaning in this world; in search of You, Jesus, our Lord and Savior; so often, we seek You in this world, in its loud noise of too much self bragging as well as in the midst of the world's riches and powers; the more we seek You, the more elusive You have become until You came when like Mary Magdalene we have believed in You, we have listened to You. we have become silent and attentive to You, Lord Jesus; thank You for coming, thank You for finding me, thank You for calling me like Mary to proclaim You are risen to others who believe in You, searching You, waiting for You. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 21 July 2024 Jeremiah 23:1-6 ><}}}}*> Ephesians 2:13-18 ><}}}}*> Mark 6:30-34
Photo by author, Katmon Nature Sanctuary &Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon March 2023.
After being sent“two by two” last Sunday, the Apostles now return to Jesus, reporting “all they had done and taught.” What a beautiful gospel scene this Sunday, supposed to be our day of rest that begins in God and must be rooted in God.
The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place (Mark 6:30-32).
Last Sunday we were reminded to rediscover the family and friends sent with us “two by two” in this life while today the Lord wants us to be aware of our need to rest in order to rediscover Him first of all, then one’s self and others.
Unfortunately, many people today have entirely forgotten the meaning and importance of rest that we succumb to all kinds of sickness related with stress and fatigue. In fact, Filipino workers were recently ranked as the second worst in terms of work-life balance in a worldwide survey. One factor it cited is the lesser paid vacation leaves our workers have compared with their counterparts in other countries.
Photo by author, Sonnenberg Resort, Davao City, 2017.
Rest is not only stopping from work to be recharged like cellphone batteries; we are not things like robots and drones sent out simply for a task that once achieved, no more. We are inter-related persons meant to form bonds and unity, a family and a community. That is the result of our being sent on a mission to share God’s creative works leading to our union in Him with others.
God rested and made Sabbath holy after creation because He had completed all His works that were all good; we, on the other hand, merely participate in His creative works. That is why no matter how hard we push ourselves with our work, we can’t completely finish them as more things to do come along the way, making us bored or stressed out because we could no longer find life but simply routine. We have been so focused on accomplishing many things as if we are the savior of the world (messianic complex) that we feel so important, bloating our ego. That is when we start literally throwing our weight to those around us like in those reels of road rage. The sad part of this is how we eventually hurt the people we love and supposed to serve like the shepherds of the Old Testament that God through Jeremiah had accused to have “misled and scattered” the people of Israel (Jer.23:1).
Photo by author, border between Jordan and Israel, May 2019.
Today, Jesus is inviting us to “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while (Mk.6:31)” to remind us that in everything we do in this life, what matters most is not the task but us, the persons we love and care for, and Christ who is our only fulfillment in life.
Like the apostles, we have to return to Jesus precisely because our mission, our work is not ours but Christ’s. We need to return to Jesus every Sunday in the Eucharist when we are nourished by His words and strengthened by His Body and Blood to sustain us in our mission.
Rest is neither doing nothing like sleeping all day or doing anything we like that we forget God and in the process, our very self and others. Rest is a time of conversion when we lay aside our plans and agenda by returning to God so that we could have focus again in this life. Rest is actually to be filled with God, to be holy.
This we find expressed perfectly in our Filipino word for rest which is pahinga from the root hinga or breath that is spiritus in Latin. To rest in Filipino is mag-pa-hinga that literally means hingahan, to be breathed on. Genesis tells us how God breathed on man to be alive after creating him while in John’s Gospel we find Jesus breathed on His apostles after greeting them with peace twice on the night of Easter when He appeared to them at the Upper Room. From here we get that beautiful imagery of rest as being breathed on by God – mag-pa-hinga sa Diyos – which is to be closer with God!
Here now is the challenge and best part of the good news this Sunday: the more closer we get to God in Jesus and through Jesus especially on Sunday our day of rest, the more we must get closer with others. The more we pray, the more we rest in the Lord, the more we serve, the more we love.
Mark told us how Jesus invited the Twelve to “come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while” but the people saw them and even got earlier to the other side of the lake!
When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd and he began to teach them many things (Mark 6:34).
Photo by author in the Holy Land, 2019.
Rest is more than the amount of time spent “resting” but the disposition to be with the Lord, to be one with Him that we become holy like Him. That moment when Jesus led the Twelve to rest was already a “rest” for Him that resulted in serving more the people who have followed them.
Jesus being moved with pity for the people indicated His rest and communion with the Father expressed in His oneness with the suffering people who were like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus has always been one with the Father right from the very start until His death on the Cross where He declared “It is finished” and commended His total self to the Father.
The truest sense of us having a real rest, of getting closer with God is when we get closer with others especially those entrusted to our love and care like our loved ones and those who are poor and sick.
Problem these days among us priests including laypeople is our wrong idea about rest; we do not really rest at all but simply indulge in pleasures that are many times scandalous for being godless and unmindful of other people. True rest makes our hearts natural to be aware of the sufferings of others, to be one with them or at least take their plight into consideration in our rest.
We can only say “mission accomplished” to rest when we are one with God through others that St. Paul explains in the second reading at how Jesus Christ reconciled us all through the Cross, “putting an enmity to death by it” (Eph. 2:16). Next Sunday, this we shall see when after teaching and healing the people in that deserted place, Jesus would feed the crowd of over 5000 people from just a few loaves of bread and pieces of fish.
Let us rest in the Lord to prepare our hearts and souls as well as our tired body to be filled with God so we can fill others too with Him. Let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, we live in a highly competitive world of 24/7 wherein everyone is so busy that we forget You and the persons You have entrusted to us; remind us we are not the Messiah nor a superhero to save the world; we can only do as much in this life as God had accomplished all for us in You, the Christ; let us take two or three even five steps backwards to let You, Jesus, do your work in us. Amen.
Our gospel today speaks so well of your graduation when “Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and even illness. The names of the Twelve Apostles are these…” (Matthew 10:1).
See how Matthew distinguished the Twelve: first, as disciples then as Apostles, a beautiful reminder to us all that first we learn and then we are sent out like you upon graduation.
“Disciple” is from the Latin word discipulos or follower which came from the verb discere, to learn. A follower or tagasunod in Filipino is a learner, someone who learns from a teacher. From it came also the word discipline; that is why, a disciplined person – one who is masunurin – is one who follows and obeys always not only persons but also the truths and new learnings he/she may have learned.
On the other hand, the word “apostle” is from the Greek apostolos which is to be sent forth. In the gospel, the Apostles are the Twelve members of Christ’s inner circle, those closest with Jesus. Though the gospel would always have that distinction between a disciple and an apostle, they are essentially inseparable because before one is sent forth, he/she has to be learned first. Therefore, every baptized person is both a disciple and an apostle, a learner of the Lord’s ways and teachings who is sent out to proclaim the Gospel to others in words and in deeds.
Every Christian is a disciple and an apostle with a special relationship with Jesus Christ.
That is most specially true with you, my dear Fatimanians, students and graduates of Our Lady of Fatima University here in Antipolo City.
“The Exhortation to the Apostles” painting by James Tissot (ca.1886-1894) from commons.wikimedia.org.
Being a disciple and an apostle is a continuous process of learning, following and sending.
Don’t ever think that graduation is the end of your studies. The more you get into your professional life, the more you must pursue learning to follow new trends in your fields of specialization as you are sent not only across the Philippines but even abroad, across the globe like most of our alumni.
Being a disciple and an apostle, learning and following and being sent, are more of the inside than of the outside. Remember that first lesson of the pencil: what is inside is most important, not the outside which today is given more importance and prominence especially in social media.
Puro palabas. All about the outside and externalities that are superficial like having the most likes, becoming viral and trending. It is all show which is what the word palabas means. Showbiz na show biz tayo pero walang laman.
When you look at the mirror like what the BINI would sing, “salamin, salamin…”, what do you see? Are you a reflection of a man or a woman of depth and meaning or one who is empty?
Learning is not about stacking information and data inside the brain like a computer; learning involves the education of the heart, of becoming “man as man himself” as we say here at OLFU. “To rise to the top” is not to rule over others but becoming “the glory of God in man fully alive”, reflecting our mottos Veritas et Misericordia.
As you leave the portals of our beloved alma mater, ask yourself: am I more loving and understanding with all the knowledge and learning I have gained after years of studies here at OLFU?
Education literally means “to lead out”… from darkness into light, from slavery into freedom, from ignorance into wisdom. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that the more we gain knowledge, the more we become intelligent, the more we must become holy. A truly intelligent person is one who does what is good and avoids evil and sinful. But, why are we as a nation of so many graduates still kulelat in many aspects in life?
From The Valenzuela Times, 02 July 2024.
You must have seen that photo of our nursing student carrying on his back his girlfriend while crossing the flooded McArthur Highway in Valenzuela City last week.
At first I was so happy seeing that chivalry is still alive in this modern age; later that night, I felt disappointed and so sad when I saw the negative reactions. Most netizens clicked the LOL emoticons with others commenting the girl was OA, saying, sana nagholding hands na lang sila. At least some were honest enough to admit their jealousy, commenting sanaol!
Why the negative reaction these days when somebody does something good like sacrificing? Why do people seem to approve when we see videos and reels of wrongdoings and stupidities? Have we become a nation of delulu?
Even the words we use are being altered. I cannot understand why a girl is now spelled as gurl? Somebody asked me who is my bias among the lovely members of BINI; why say bias when you mean favorite?
Call me old and conservative but the trend these days seem to be rejoicing in what is negative and wrong and frowning at whatever is good and beautiful. Clearly it is not generation gap but more of a symptom of a sick society and generation, exactly like what Hosea mentioned in the first reading, of how people have turned away from God worshipping idols. Who and what are these modern idols we worship and follow these days? Do we still call on God our Father and to His Son Jesus Christ our Savior?
Photo by author, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 2023.
If there is anything most important we must have learned in our university, it is the value of prayer, of opening to God like those three children at Fatima in 1917. See how the Blessed Mother, our Patroness, came to see and teach St. Francisco and his sister St. Jacinta Marto with their elder cousin Sr. Lucia for six consecutive months every 13th day to pray, do penance and celebrate the Mass.
It is my hope that you continue to pray the Rosary, you continue to celebrate Masses on Sundays after your graduation to always learn and follow Jesus who actually sends you to serve those most in need as nurses, medical technologists, pharmacists, accountants, and criminologists. Be the loving hands, the healing hands of Jesus Christ!
Remember what I have been telling you since I came here in Our Lady of Fatima University: even now that you are professionals, continue to study hard, work harder, and pray hardest. God bless you, dear graduates of 2024!
From the cbcpnews.net, 13 May 2022, at the Parish of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 19 July 2024 Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 12:1-8
Photo by author, somewhere in Bgy. Kaysuyo, Alfonso, Cavite, 27 April 2024.
When Hezekiah was mortally ill, the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him: “Thus says the Lord: Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you shall not recover. Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord… Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: “Go, tell Hezekiah: Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you: in three days you shall go up to the Lord’s temple; I will add fifteen years to your life” (Isaiah 38:1-2, 4-5).
God our Father, help us to put our house in order; give us the courage and strength to put our lives in order by sincerely admitting our sins with a firm resolve to turn away from them and live the gospel of Jesus your Son.
Let me put order to my spiritual life by cultivating the discipline to pray daily keeping that relationship with You; let me put order in my life by seeking ways to be more loving with others than finding their faults; let me put order in my life by being less judgmental of others to be more charitable and understanding.
Like Hezekiah let me accept my fate, let me accept death: "In the noontime of life I must depart! To the gates of the nether world I shall be consigned for the rest of my years" (Isaiah 38:10); how wonderful that without praying for his healing but for the grace to accept your will, You healed Hezekiah and prolonged his life to serve You more than ever. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday in the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 18 July 2024 Isaiah 26: 7-9, 12, 16-19 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Matthew 11:28-30
Your words today, O God, are so refreshing that I wish to pray like your Prophet Isaiah: "The way of the just is smooth; the path of the just you make level. My soul yearns for you in the night, yes, my spirit within me keeps vigil for you; For your dew is a dew of light, and the land of shades gives birth" (Isaiah 26:7, 9, 19).
Freshen us, O Lord, from our dirt and exhaustion from sin!
Refresh our thoughts and our feelings, make them crystal clear like the dew in the morning to see your kindness and mercy!
Gladden our hearts, uplift our souls with your presence in Christ Jesus who calls us daily to come to Him and have rest, because His yoke is easy, His burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).
Let us surrender to You in Jesus Christ for there is no salvation outside from You except in Him; so true are the words of Isaiah: "As a woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in pains, so were we in your presence, O Lord. We conceived and writhed in pain, giving birth to wind; salvation we have not achieved for the earth, the inhabitants of the world cannot bring it forth. But your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise; awake and sing, you who lie in the dust" (Isaiah 11: 17-19).
Teach us to appreciate and value the little things in life we take for granted like the droplets of dew in the morning enough to set our face aglow again of new beginnings; in coming to us, Jesus taught us the value of being small, being little, being silent, being humble when life begins and regenerates always. Let us arise anew in Jesus from our deep sleep in sin through His dew of light, a glimmer of better days ahead. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 17 July 2024 Isaiah 10:5-7, 13-16 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew11:25-27
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD in Infanta, Quezon 2020.
Praise and glory to You, God our loving Father who has the whole world in your hands; nothing happens by chance, all good things come from You and if ever something bad happens, You know it for sure; You never punish us for our sins and whatever bad happens to us is a result of our transgressions, of turning away from You; therefore, let us always hope and trust in You for You never abandon us your children especially in our times of trials and tribulations; in the same manner, let us not be so proud when we are in the height of our success believing we are the best because You have the final say in history; let us not be proud like Assyria of old:
“My hand has seized like a nest the riches of nations; as one takes eggs left alone, so I took in all the earth; no one fluttered a wing, or opened a mouth, or chirped!”
Will the axe boast against him who hews with it? Will the saw exalt itself above him who wields it? As if a rod could sway him who lifts it, or a staff him who is not wool! Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will send among his fat leanness, and instead of his glory there will be kindling like the kindling of fire (Isaiah 10:14-16).
Teach me, dear Jesus, to be small like a child, simple and trusting in You; feeling more than thinking more, kind and loving than analyzing and sizing up others, most of all, lowly and humble because You alone has the whole world in your hands. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday, Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 16 July 2024 Isaiah 7:1-9 <*((((>< M+ ><))))*> Matthew 11:20-24
Photo by author, Holy Family Monastery of Our Lady of Carmel, Guiguinto, Bulacan 2019.
Thank You, dear God our Father to your reminder today through your prophet, "Unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm!" (Isaiah 7:9).
So many times I forget this truth as I try to do everything to make myself strong physically, mentally and emotionally; so many times I forget that everything is fleeting in this world especially my body, including my enemies; many times I forget that the path to real strength of my person is in having a firm faith in You because only You remain.
Everything passes in this world; nations and peoples, cities and states rise and fall but, not You, O Lord! You never stop speaking your words of wisdom into the silence of my heart, calling me to trust in You, to have faith in You as You find ways in saving me from my many problems and miseries. Give me the grace to repent and to harden not my heart when I hear Your voice in Christ Jesus with Mary our Lady of Carmel. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Memorial of St. Bonaventure, Doctor of the Church, 15 July 2024 Isaiah 1:10-17 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 10:34-11:1
Photo from The Valenzuela Times, 02 July 2024.
On this blessed Monday, your word "bring" invites me to examine what I bring:
“Trample my courts no more! Bring no more worthless offerings; your incense is loathsome to me” (Isaiah 1:13).
Jesus said to his Apostles: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword” (Matthew 10:34).
Teach me, O Lord, to bring your peace and justice, to bring your truth and light so that I may bring that much-needed balance we are searching in life.
Like St. Bonaventure, help me to bring myself before You, dear God in prayers, to immerse myself in your words in the scriptures so that I may bring together the ideal and practical, the spiritual and material.
Many times, O Lord, we bring our very selves, it is our ego and pride we love to bring everywhere for everyone to see, forgetting that we must first bring You back into our hearts, bring You back into our minds, bring You back into our lives so that we can finally bring out the best worship of You. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 14 July 2024 Amos 7:12-15 ><}}}*> Ephesians 1:3-24 ><}}}*> Mark 6:7-13
It is always easy to spot any flight back to Manila if you happen to travel abroad by searching for for a long line of passengers with so much luggage, including giant boxes of pasalubong. No doubt about it, surely those are Filipinos going home.
We Filipinos are so notorious in having so many bibit whenever we travel here and abroad. Perhaps, it is an indication of our common affliction with excess emotional baggage which the 2014 movie That Thing Called Tadhana beautifully explored and now our gospel this Sunday also tells a lot about travelling in Christ, with Christ:
Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick – no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic (Mark 6:7-9).
Photo by Mr. Vigie Ongleo, Sagada, Mountain Province, 2014.
We have been “travelling” with Jesus these past weeks with the Evangelist Mark as our guide. We have heard His teachings, been amazed at His powers that calmed the storm in the sea and healed the sick, and deeply touched by His perseverance amid the failure when rejected in His native Nazareth last Sunday.
Today and next Sunday, Mark would reveal to us more of the mystery of who Jesus Christ is as He sent forth His disciples to preach His Good News of salvation. We in the present time are all disciples of Jesus too who are sent to continue not only His work of salvation but also of revealing Himself, His love, mercy and compassion.
In giving the instruction “to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick- no food, no sack, no money in belts,” Jesus is not asking us to turn away from the material world but simply for us to examine the spirit and values that have imbued us as a person.
We are in the world but not of the world. We need money, cellphones, cars, and other things but we don’t need to be enslaved by these that they become our master or even gods!
Disciples need not be denied of the basic necessities of life symbolized by the “sandals, tunic, and a walking stick” but we must be aware always of “extra baggage” lest we forget the essence of the mission – Jesus Himself and the people. St. Mother Teresa used to tell priests to “give us only Jesus, always Jesus” whom we must always have and share. Jesus comes to us daily in our prayers and the sacraments and most especially with the people we live and work with.
In sending the disciples “two by two”, Jesus gives us the gift of one another, of companions in the ministry, a co-journeyer and co-worker in Him because as He had said, “where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.” Therefore, in sending His disciples two by two, Jesus tells us that He is in fact the very gift we have to share in our mission. Every disciple is the sign Christ’s presence.
Likewise, every person who comes to our lives is always a gift from God; we just have to discover his or her giftedness in becoming a presence of Christ with us and in us so that with them and through them, we are able to reveal Him too.
We discover that giftedness through our daily breaking and giving of our selves with others. Actually, the literal meaning of the word “companion” is “someone you break bread” from the two Latin words cum panis. Next month, we shall hear Jesus revealing Himself as the bread from heaven, the living bread.
Photo by author, Baguio City, 11 July 2023.
Inasmuch as each of us is a presence of the Christ, then truly the Lord is the greatest gift, the most precious One we all have in this life. But, the question is, do we value Christ and the people He sends us more than our gadgets and things?
Can we not leave our phones in our bags or pockets during meals to enjoy the company of others? Can we spend a whole rainy afternoon with a loved one just smiling, holding hands or simply being together instead of tinkering or even cuddling that iPad or laptop?
This intimacy we have with our loved ones, with our companions in life and ministry is ultimately a reflection too of our communion with Jesus Christ. As disciples of the Lord, we always act in the name of Jesus, in His authority only if we are truly one with Him, in Him and through Him.
Photo by author, Chapel of the Angel of Peace, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 04 July 2024.
How sad many people these days complain of their priests not available when they need them. There are some priests who insist on just sticking to whatever time is most convenient with them regardless of the needs of the people like early morning funerals? Or, scheduled sick calls? What a shame when priests and bishops prioritize the rich and famous, rubbing elbows with them daily as seen on social media. The tragedy in the ministry these days is how we have veered so far from Christ our Eternal Priest found among the poor and marginalized as we have alibis and reasons as well as justifications for everything except loving service to all.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ in accord with the favor of his will… In him we have redemption by his blood (Ephesians 1:3-5,7).
Photo by author, Chapel of St. Francis Xavier, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, 20 March 2024.
How solid is the theology of St. Paul laced with his lovely poetry and prose, truly a fruit of his deep spirituality. Following the expressions of in Christ, in him, and through Jesus Christ, we find St. Paul presenting to us the intimacy we all have in Jesus patterned after His very communion with the Father.
Everything that Jesus said and performed are rooted in His intimate union with the Father which is the very authority He had given us that must be exercised in His name alone and never for our own advantage. It is only from such intimacy with Christ can we have that thing called “spirituality”, the real mark of the work of God in our midst. Being prayerful does not make a person spiritual though prayer is a prerequisite to spirituality.
Like St. Paul in the Old Testament, we find Amos in the first reading providing us with a glimpse of what is to be spiritual, of acting in the name of God as a prophet when he was told to leave Bethel to go back home in Judah “to earn his bread by prophesying” and Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet… I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. The Lord took me from following the flock, and said to me: Go, prophecy to my people Israel (Amos 7:14,15).”
Amos was “taken” by God, plucked from a comfortable life to become the presence of God in Israel that had become so prosperous yet so evil. This Sunday, Amos is telling us that as a prophet, he speaks more from the inside than from the outside, of his very union with God. He had nothing except God who had taken him.
Photo by author, CAS Chapel, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 2023.
This is perhaps the problem with us Catholics today, starting with us your priests and bishops: we speak more of the extrinsic than of what’s or who’s really inside our hearts that in the process, we have replaced our ministry with career, making programs and second collections and bloated egos superseding the persons we must serve. Worst of all is when all we have and give are activities that we forget the fact that Jesus saved us by dying on the cross, of being one with the Father and with the people.
More than being His representatives, we are in Christ that whatever we do and say is always the fruit of our intimate union with Him through others. We say and do nothing separately from Him, even in the midst of all these technologies and activities around us today. Let us rediscover our companions in life, the ones given and sent with us by Jesus. Let us pray:
Dearest Lord Jesus Christ, let me go of my baggage and possessions that posses me; let me go wherever You send me and let me go with the people You send me with; help me to empty my heart of my self, of my pride, of other things so that You may dwell inside me and find You always in the people You send me to serve and to work with. Amen.
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