Jesus makes every family holy – even Firefly the movie!

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Feast of the Holy Family, Sunday in the Christmas Octave-B, 31 December 2023
Genesis 15:1-6, 21:1-3 ><]]]'> Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19 ><]]]'> Luke 2:22-40
Photo by author, 25 December 2023.

After the birth of the Christ in Bethlehem and the visit of the shepherds, Luke tells us how the Child was circumcised on the eighth day and given with the name Jesus. A short while after that, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to Jerusalem to present him to God in the temple.

And that was when more exciting and wonderful things continued to happen to Mary and Joseph when two elderly people filled with the Holy Spirit, Simeon and Anna, took the Child Jesus and spoke great things about him to his astonished parents.

The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them… There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple… And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.

Luke 2:33-34, 36-38
Photo from crossroadinitiative.com.

See again the artistry of Luke in showing to us in this scene how Jesus Christ makes every family holy. In narrating to us the story of Christmas, Luke had earlier shown us that Jesus comes first in every family, in every husband and wife and their children.

Clearly we see Luke’s consistency in telling us that in this season and beyond, our focus must always be centered on the person and mission of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, our Savior who makes every family holy like his! How they unfolded through Mary and Joseph is worth reflecting this Sunday. 

I have always been amazed since our 30-day retreat in 1995 with this gospel scene of the presentation of Jesus at the temple. The situation of the Holy Family of Joseph, Mary and Jesus was simply an ordinary one with hundreds of other families making the same journey to the temple with nothing unusual happening. 

Then all of a sudden, the unforeseen and unforeseeable take place amid all the crowds in the temple on that day. A great revelation by God not only for people at that time but also for us today is made known which allowed us too to perceive the hidden Jesus coming daily in our lives. See the obedience of Mary and Joseph to their Laws and customs. Most of all, their continuing openness to the many revelations still unfolding about their child Jesus.

Photo by author, Nazareth, Israel, May 2019.

It was not a case of exceptional grace to exceptional couple of Joseph and Mary nor to individuals like Simeon and Anna whom I always wondered how were they able to recognize Jesus as the Christ being offered on that day in the temple. 

Again, we are invited to be attuned and opened always to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, of keeping that spark of faith within us like Abraham in the first reading who “put his faith in the Lord, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). Here we find how God guides us in our steps and those of others in our long and often circuitous journeys in life to have faith in him in finding Jesus the light of our salvation and fulfillment. But faith is more than simply putting ourselves blindly in the hands of God, just moving on with life with a bahala na attitude.

Faith is more than believing and trusting God and persons. It is entering into a communion, a bond with God as our Lord and Master or anyone we love so dearly like our family. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews stressed this aspect of faith as a communion and a bond in our second reading which we find not only in Abraham but also in Joseph and Mary as well as in Simeon and Anna, too.

Recall those moments when you felt like Abraham who was already too old, when you felt it was already “game over” for our plans in life, the end of your rope or when you felt everything is down the drain that you simply accepted it as the reality when suddenly, because of that firm faith and union in God, something happens like a twist or a turn when everything in your life just falls into its right places!

Remember those moments in the past when we dared to walk in the right direction of Jesus – full of humility amid the pains and sufferings of his Cross – when we find later on how his words jibed perfectly with our experiences, so intertwined with our dreams and aspirations along with other people especially with our family that eventually get fulfilled – if not in us, in those next to us. This is the gist of the beautiful movie Firefly.

From GMA Films and GMA Public Affairs.

Firefly is one exceptional film in every aspect. Everything is so good. Watching it convinced me of a renaissance in Filipino film industry. It is a fantasy movie everyone must see this Season because it is a Christmas story, a Christ-film in fact. 

Its main character is a small child named Tonton who lost his mother at a young age and embarked on a long journey to bring his mother’s ashes to her birthplace in an island in Bicol said to be inhabited by fireflies.

All Tonton had was faith and love for his mother played by Alessandra de Rossi. His map was actually his scrapbook of his colorful illustrations of the story narrated to him by his mother. Along the way, he met three individuals living in the darkness of their past, uncertain of their future: an ex-convict heading home, doubtful if he would be accepted by his wife and son; a broken-hearted man cheated by his girlfriend at a loss what to do with her name tattooed on his bicep; and a lovely lady on a backpack trip with a camera and some envelops she used to scam money from people for her supposed outreach programs for kids.

From GMA Films and GMA Public Affairs

They all found the light of life through the life and words of Tonton whom they helped reached his mother’s home island where he too eventually came to terms with his own ghosts of the past. 

I won’t tell you any details any more. Do watch the movie and be enthralled with its attention to details, the many symbolisms, most of all, of the good news about the beauty of this life made manifest by the Child who opened our eyes to see the light of love and life. Amen. Have a blessed family in Christ Jesus this new year of 2024!

A short poem I wrote after watching Mallari and Firefly:

Two fantasy movies, 
One so scary
The other a thing of beauty!

The best in cinematography
Indeed is Mallari:
How they sew together seamlessly
Fiction into a true story so eerie
Of the evil reality
But sadly sank deeply
In vicious circle of sin
And infamy.

But if you have to see
A movie do not miss Firefly
Everything is about beauty
Despite the ugly reality
Of life we all see;
The slum by the sea
The kid and his bullies
The story of his mommy
Led him into a journey
Intertwined with a many
Treading blankly from each one’s past
Into their present
afraid of what will be
Only to see through this kid’s story
That many times a fantasy
Is in fact the reality
We refuse to believe
That is why we can’t see;
How lovely is the movie
Though not about history
Or social malady
But deep theology
Of how a child brought
Fire and light
And made us see
We are loved so immensely
So that someday
We too can rise and fly
High to the sky.

When we make Christmas not merry

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Feast of St. Stephen, First Martyr of the Church, 26 December 2023
Acts 6:8-10, 7:54-59 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Matthew 10:17-22
Photo by author, December 2017.
Every year, dear Jesus,
you remind us a day after your birthday
to always remember the Cross looming behind
your manger in Bethlehem with the feast of
our first martyr, St. Stephen;
you remind us how in your coming
life will be more challenging
for us as your disciples.

“You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved.”

Matthew 10:22
Every year also, dear Jesus,
on this day we remember and reflect on
the many times life has been so difficult
for us, especially in witnessing your
Gospel in words and in deeds;
but so often, we forget how we ourselves
your disciples cause so much pains
and sufferings among other disciples
when we ourselves are the ones who
"hand over" or betray out loved ones
with our infidelities, jealousies, and greed;
so often we forget how we your disciples
"hand over" or betray our own family
members to so much agony when
couples are unfaithful to each other,
when parents disregard thier children
for their various pursuits in the guise of loving them,
when children quarrel with each other,
when children disobey their parents,
and so many other sins that make
our loved ones not be merry at all
especially this Christmas.
For all our sins,
of running away from your Cross,
dear Jesus,
in making others Christmas not merry,
forgive us and have mercy.
Amen.

Wrapped in God. By God.

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fourth Sunday in Advent-B, Misa De Gallo IX, 24 December 2023
2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 16 ><}}}}*> Romans 16:25-27 ><}}}}*> Luke 1:26-38
From Clergy Coaching Network, posted on Facebook 13 December 2023.

A few days before Simbang Gabi, I posted on my Facebook wall (14 December 2023) this illustration, saying, “When the wrapping is the gift… not just to those grieving but also who are tired, taken for granted, forgotten, those who thought themselves to be strong but hurting inside. Wrap someone with warmth of Christ’s love.”

It is a fitting reminder to everyone this last Sunday of Advent that is also our last Simbang Gabi when everybody must have been busy with gifts and preparations for Christmas but have sadly forgotten the very essence of the season – Jesus Christ in each one of us! As we wrap our loved ones in our arms to feel Jesus Christ within us, we allow ourselves too, to be wrapped in God, by God.

Photo by author, Basic Education Department chapel, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, Christmas 2022.

Once again we hear for the third time this month of December Luke’s account of the Annunciation of the birth of Jesus Christ to Mary:  first was during the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, then last Wednesday in our Simbang Gabi, and today on this fourth Sunday of Advent. 

This Sunday, our gospel’s focus is the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God and the cooperation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in that great divine plan. Though this Fourth Sunday of Advent would be very short because later this afternoon and tonight we shall have the Christmas liturgy, at least for this brief period we are invited to be like Mary to allow God make wonders in us, to let Him do His work in us so that Christ would come.

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.  And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace!  The Lord is with you.”

Luke 1:26-27
Photo by Mr. Boy Cabrido, Misa De Gallo at National Shrine of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, 21 December 2023.

Unlike Matthew who presented the annunciation to Joseph like a newspaper report to explain what had happened in the past, Luke is more of a live broadcast giving a first-hand account on the angel’s visit to Mary.  However, his presentation is not meant to satisfy our curiosity like in Facebook live or CNN Breaking News but to reveal a mystery and to nourish our faith.

To reveal a mystery.  Luke’s opening scene is the fulfillment of what we have heard at the first reading of Nathan’s prophecy to King David that from his lineage called the “house of David” would come the Savior of Israel.  True enough, it was fulfilled when God sent Gabriel to the Virgin Mary who was betrothed to a man named Joseph of the house of David.  But, there is something deeper than this when seen again in the light of the first reading where we heard how God objected to David’s plan of building a temple for Him. 

It is not the God did not want it. In fact, He would direct David’s successor Solomon to build one for Him.  In objecting to David’s plan, God shows us it is always Him who takes the initiatives in our lives.  This is the reason why we always have to pray to know His plans for us.  He knows what is best for us!  Wait patiently for God surely comes to reveal Himself and His plans for us.

God is a mystery and part of this mystery of God revealed to us in the opening scene of the Annunciation is how He in taking the initiatives chooses those we consider as simple and ordinary – like Mary, a commoner from the obscure town of Nazareth in Galilee. 

We are all special with God who has a specific plan for each of us whom He considers special. When we examine our experiences with God, they all share a common thread but there is always that personal touch that is unmistakably specifically just for me or for you. There is something too deep for words when God speaks to us, when He calls us that we could not explain but deep down inside we know it is so true, especially when we realize how little we are like a tiny speck of dust in the wide universe and yet – so special and chosen by this loving, personal God! 

Photo by Mr. Boy Cabrido, Misa De Gallo at National Shrine of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, 21 December 2023.

Nourish our faith. For Jesus Christ to come not only on Christmas Day but everyday in our lives, we have to set aside our senses of grandeur and greatness when dealing with God for He is not like us.  We just have to believe and trust Him like Mary, always giving Him our fiat – be it done to me according to Your word!

Notice how Luke ended his story of the Annunciation, Then the angel departed from her.

I love that part. Unlike Joseph to whom the angel appeared four times to communicate messages from God about Mary and Jesus, the angel never returned to Mary! But she firmly believed in Jesus! 

From His birth to getting lost and found in the temple as a child to His preaching, healing and other miracles, Mary was always there with Jesus up to the end at the foot of the Cross because she had always believed in Him. At the Pentecost, Mary stayed with the Apostles when the Holy Spirit came. She was never worried with what would happen next but simply nourished her faith in prayers and living among the disciples.

Faith is a gift from God but we are the ones responsible in nourishing that faith too. In the first reading, part of the problem of King David was what would happen after he was gone that he wanted to build a temple for God – to be always remembered too! When we are still preoccupied with ourselves, especially with our labors and everything, we do not have that deep faith in God yet. 

Forget everything except God! Remain in Him by nourishing our faith this coming 2024 in the sacraments especially the Sunday Eucharist as St. Paul told us in the second reading, “To him who can strengthen you, according to my gospel and proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages but now manifested” (Rom. 16:26)

I am always worried during Simbang Gabi because most people observe this beautiful tradition mostly to obtain special favors and wishes. What if you don’t get what you are praying for in this Simbang Gabi, would you then leave?

Most likely, we won’t see others with us tonight until the next Simbang Gabi again. And maybe, if lucky, we might meet again on Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, and Holy Thursday – the rest of the year, kami-kami na lang ulit magdiriwang at maiiwan!

Let me assure you, my dear friends in Christ that the moment you started the Simbang Gabi, you have been blessed, lavishly blessed by God who gives us Jesus daily! Allow yourself to be wrapped in God, by God in Jesus Christ. Pray and celebrate the Holy Mass where we have the Altar of the Eucharist as the new manger of Bethlehem which means “house of bread”. Simbang Gabi is not everything. It is Jesus Christ. Remain in Him even after December 25. See you tonight or tomorrow and the following Sundays! Amen.

Advent is making Christmas happen

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Saturday, Misa De Gallo VIII, 23 December 2023
Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Luke 1:57-66
Photo by author, Church of St. John the Baptist (birthplace) also in Ein Kerem, other side of Church of Visitation, May 2019.

We Filipinos always thought prophets are “fortune-tellers” who predict the future because “prophecy” is wrongly translated as “hula”; thus, when somebody says something would happen and becomes fulfilled, it is often described as “prophetic” because “nahulaan niya”.

But a prophet is neither a fortune teller nor someone who sees the future: a prophet is first of all a spokesman of God.  The great prophets of Israel like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Elijah even Moses all spoke for God.  It was in their task of speaking for God that they seemed like seers when everything they have spoken happened – but not because they saw the future but more because they made God’s words happened. 

Being a prophet or prophetic is making things happen not seeing what is going to happen. This is the meaning of our sharing in the prophetic ministry of Jesus as baptized Christians when in our speaking and standing for the truth of the Gospel, we make Jesus present in the world. 

Hence, in that sense, advent is actually making Christmas happen! And that is why John the Baptist is considered a prophet because in preparing the way of the Lord, he already made Jesus present in his time that he was mistaken to be the Christ.

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son.  When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, “No.  He will be called John.”  So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.     He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed.  Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God.  All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child be?”  For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.

Luke 1:57, 59-60, 62-64, 66
Photo by author, apse of Church of St. John the Baptist also in Ein Kerem, other side of Church of Visitation, May 2019.

In our first reading, we have heard the prophet Malachi declaring the coming of the great prophet Elijah, later understood in the time of Jesus as a reference to John the Baptist, with all the functions of a precursor of the Christ. 

Malachi is the last of the prophets in the Old Testament who showed us the transition into the New Testament through John the Baptist that Luke beautifully employed in presenting Zechariah and Elizabeth as links from the Old Testament like the patriarch Abraham and Sarah as well as Elkanah and Hannah, parents of another great prophet, Samuel. 

Recall the annunciation of John’s birth that was reminiscent of the annunciation of the birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah while the Temple setting was very similar to the annunciation of Samuel’s birth to Elkanah and Hannah who then prayed in the Lord’s tent who was mistaken for a drunk by the chief priest of that time, Eli. 

That is the artistry of Luke who portrayed to us this Old Testament links of John the Baptist so that in some Eastern churches until now you find above their entrance doors murals of the Baptist followed by the Blessed Virgin Mary at the middle and then Jesus to show how St. John marked the end of the Old Testament leading to the New Testament that started with Mama Mary when she accepted Jesus in her womb. It is the reason Jesus himself acknowledged John the Baptist as the greatest person ever born by a woman.


Photo by author, altar of Church of St. John the Baptist in Ein Kerem, shortly before its closure for restoration, May 2019.

We today are prophets too when we link the past with the present by continuing the work of Jesus Christ, making him present in this world. We are all bridges, linking and linked with one another in Christ.

Furthermore, the naming of John in itself was very prophetic because his parents made it happened to be fulfilled as God planned it wherein Elizabeth insisted to her neighbors “John” would be his name while Zechariah who was mute at that time affirmed his wife by writing “John is his name.”

That is our mission in this world – to be a prophet who makes things happen by fulfilling God’s plans for us. As prophets, we must be open always to God’s work among us, to always listen to his words in people and events so that we make his words realized. When we become prophetic, we shall hear people say what Luke noted at the end of our gospel today, All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child be?”  For surely the hand of the Lord was with him (Lk.1:66).   


As we move closer to Christmas Day, the birth of John the Baptist reminds us of our prophetic role in this world of making that future a present reality by fulfilling God’s words and holy will in us. 

If we would just persevere in our prayer life, of immersing ourselves in prayer, the more we become sensitive not only of God’s presence but also of everyone like this very short story I recently found on my friend’s wall in Facebook shared by a certain Therese Williams Hudson last December 15, 2023. She wrote….

"I heard my mother ask the neighbors for salt. 
But we had salt at home.
I asked her why she asked the neighbors for salt.
And she replied: "Because our neighbors don't have much money
and they often ask us for something. From time to time
I also ask them for something small and economical,
so that they feel that we need them too.
That way, they will feel more comfortable
and it will be easier to keep asking us for everything they need.

And that's what I learned from my mother."
Photo by author, Fatima Avenue, Valenzuela City, 08 December 2023.

Lovely, is it not? The author added at the end of her story these words: “Let’s build empathetic, humble, supportive children​”​. Let’s join her but not just to have emphatic, humble, supportive children but most of all, prophetic ones, those with heightened sensitivity of God and of others made possible only by a deep prayer life where we can all be a “JOHN”, a graciousness of God who makes his divine plans realized. Amen.

The songs we sing, the music we dance

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Misa De Gallo VII, 22 December 2023
1 Samuel 1:24-28 <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]*> Luke 1:46-56
Photo by author, RISE Tower, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 13 December 2023.

As a chaplain of our university with six campuses and two medical centers, I have always emphasized to our deans and program coordinators that I strongly advocate a “one-party system” every December – just one Christmas party each day for me!

You know very well that we are really back to normal with the many parties going on since the start of December though, we are still strongly urged to take all necessary precautions for COVID is still with us. 

Next to all the food and raffles in every party, there are always the singing and dancing that make these occasions so wonderful.

But I hope that amid all these fun and celebrations, we do not forget the other side of Christmas, of those in pain and suffering this season: those who are sick or taking care of a sick loved one, those grieving at the loss of a beloved, the poor and marginalized. 

Photo by author, Fatima Avenue, Valenzuela City, 13 December 2023.

That is why I cannot stop sharing with you too the beautiful gesture of our Administrators last Monday in hosting an Appreciation Dinner last Monday for our employees in their senior years, those 60 and above still working, still teaching. I was not able to join them but have heard feelings of fulfillment, deep joy, and gratitude with a lot tears rolling in the eyes of those honored for their service, dedication and passion all these years. They all felt so special that aside from our Christmas party last December 8, there was another party hosted in their honor.

I remembered how when I was still assigned in our diocesan school in Malolos 25 years ago how we taught our students to set aside a certain amount of their budget for their Christmas party so they can host a party too for students in some selected public schools, complete with gift-giving. We wanted to instill in them the spirit of love and charity by thinking always of others during this season.

While we are singing and dancing in our Christmas party, let us not forget those who could not even go to parties because of their poverty, sickness and other limitations. See how the Blessed Virgin Mary taught us this important aspect of sharing Jesus Christ concretely during this Christmas when she visited her cousin Elizabeth.

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior.  For he has looked upon his lowly servant.  From this day, all generations will call me blessed:  the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.  He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.  He has shown the strength of his arm, and has scattered the proud in their conceit.  He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly.  He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.  He has come to the help of servant Israel, for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and to his children forever.”

Luke 1:46-55
Photo by author, Fatima Avenue, Valenzuela City, 13 December 2023.

In a certain sense, the Visitation was like a Christmas party of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. There was great rejoicing in their getting together as we have reflected yesterday. 

Today we heard Mary singing her praises to God in Magnificat as a response to the praises she received from Elizabeth on her Visitation.  Notice that instead of returning Elizabeth’s gesture like most of us would do in our “mutual praise club” especially during parties, Mary praised God through her Magnificat his outpouring of love not only to her and Elizabeth but to the whole nation of Israel.  

Actually, the Magnificat was composed by St. Luke he placed on the lips of the Virgin Mary. It is a part of his artistry, of putting songs on the lips of some of his Christmas characters like Zechariah after John’s circumcision and later on Simeon at the Presentation of Jesus in the temple.

Why? Because singing, like dancing, is the highest expression of our feelings to the one we love. Mothers sing lullabies to their infants, suitors compose and sing songs to their beloved, and we Filipinos sing and dance in whatever mood we are wherever we may be! There is always music in us from the simple gesture of washing the dishes, ironing of clothes to driving and taking a shower. When we sing and dance, we show what’s inside us as well as who we are.

Photo by author, 2019.

In singing the Magnificat which St. Luke patterned after a similar song by Hannah at the birth of her son the Prophet Samuel who’s story we heard in the first reading, the Blessed Virgin Mary expressed her joy and gratitude in the nearness of God among us not only with the coming birth of her Son Jesus Christ but also through her! 

All those great things done by God to Israel as per the Magnificat – “mercy on those who fear him, showing the strength of his arm, scattering the proud in their conceit, casting down the mighty from their thrones, lifting up the lowly, filling the hungry with good things, sending the rich away empty, coming to the help of Israel, for he has remembered his promise of mercy” – happened not only in the coming of Jesus Christ but every time we share and proclaim him in words and in deeds like Mary.

The late Fr. Raymond Brown, one of the great biblical scholars of our time noted in his classic “Birth of the Messiah” that Mary as the first Christian is teaching us the essential task of every disciple of the Lord, that is, after hearing the word of God and accepting it, we must share it with others, not by simply repeating it but by interpreting it so that people can see it truly as the good news

How are we interpreting the message of Christmas this Advent so that people would realize Jesus has come?

I hope this beautiful poem from another blog I have found a long time ago could help you sing and dance like Mary the Magnificat this Christmas.

Photo by author, Fatima Avenue, Valenzuela City, 08 December 2023.
1 Corinthians 13 Christmas Style
by Sharon Jaynes
(https://sharonjaynes.com/1-corinthians-13-christmas-style/            
If I decorate my house perfectly with lovely plaid bows, 
strands of twinkling lights,
and shiny glass balls,
but do not show love to my family – I’m just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen,
baking dozens of Christmas cookies,
preparing gourmet meals, and arranging
a beautifully adorned table at mealtime,
but do not show love to my family – I’m just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen,
carol in the nursing home,
and give all that I have to charity,
but do not show love to my family – it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce
with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes,
attend a myriad of holiday parties,
and sing in the choir’s cantata
but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn’t envy another home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of your way.

Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return,
but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

Love never fails. Video games will break; pearl necklaces will be lost; golf clubs will rust.
But giving the gift of love will endure.

Amen. May you have and share Jesus Christ always.

Blessed are the women

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Misa de Gallo VI, 21 December 2023
Zephaniah 3:14-18 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Luke 1:39-35
Photo by author, bronze statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Elizabeth, Church of the Visitation at Ein-Karem, Israel, April 2017.

For the third straight day since Tuesday until Saturday morning at the end of our Christmas novena, all our gospel readings will be from St. Luke, the only evangelist with the most “comprehensive coverage” of the first Christmas following his extensive research on Jesus Christ’s life and teachings (cf. Lk.1:1-4).

Hence, his gospel has the most stories and parables than the gospel accounts of Mark and Matthew. Most of all, St. Luke’s gospel account has two distinctive characteristics that showed Jesus always at prayer while at the same time gave special emphasis on women like the Blessed Virgin Mary. You must have noticed this by this time since Tuesday when we began listening to his infancy narrative.

Mary set out in those days and travelled to the hill country in haste to a town in Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.  When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”

Luke 1:39-42
Photo by author, mural on the apse of the Church of the Visitation at Ein-Karem illustrating the Visitation (left panel) and how the angel helped St. Elizabeth hid the infant St. John the Baptist after King Herod ordered the murder of all children aged two and below.

It is rare in the Bible to find two women presented positively together in a single scene. Very often especially in the Old Testament, there is always a sort of animosity among them due to the prevailing patriarchal points of view of the time. 

The only instance two women were presented together in good terms in the Old Testament is in the Book of Ruth that still hinted some sense of superiority of Naomi over her daughter-in-law Ruth who was like her a widow but childless.

Therefore, this scene of the Visitation only St. Luke has is a gem in itself as it speaks eloquently of the important place of women in God’s plan of salvation. It beautifully portrays to us the joy of two great women filled with God and humble before him, affirming and acknowledging the two great men in their wombs about to change the course of human history: Elizabeth with John the Baptist who would prepare the way of the Savior, Jesus Christ in the womb of Mary. 

Photo by Mr. Boy Cabrido, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, QC, Misa de Gallo, 18 December 2023.

The story of the Visitation reminds us how God works mysteriously in everyone without exceptions by linking or interconnecting us with each other in Jesus Christ our great Mediator and Savior. How lovely to see in this instance how John and Jesus already performing their mission even while in the womb of their mothers, of bringing together people. What a wonderful illustration of women as God’s vessels and carriers!

In both Mary and Elizabeth, we now “shout for joy” as Zephaniah prophesied in the first reading at how God saved us when he “removed the judgment against you, he has turned away your enemies; the Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior, who will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love… so that no one may recount your disgrace” (Zep. 3:14,15,17, 18).

Do we truly share in this shout for joy for the women of the world, for the women among us? How sad that until now women continue to suffer from all kinds of abuses not only from men but even from their fellow women. 

Some spiritual writers say God is more like a woman because whatever was lacking in man, God put it in her. Perhaps that is why it is the woman who completes every man – including with us priests! But sadly, as we speak a lot about synodality in the Church these days, it is often among us priests with whom women are often taken for granted, and worst, abused.

One problem directly related today with how we regard women is the great number of people especially the youth trapped in the insidious effects of pornography due to prevalence of social media. At its core, the problem and evil with pornography is the failure of so many to recognize the lack of respect for women who are created equal with men in the image and likeness of God. 

St. Joseph showed us the other day that true holiness is expressed in the way we respect women. According to an article by Papal Preacher Cardinal Cantallamessa I have read two decades ago where he cited a Dominican biblical scholar who’s name I could not recall, “the way we treat and regard women is a reflection of our relationship with God”.

That is very true.

When I review my life, I have found God making so many ways to lead me into the priesthood through the many women I have met and known, and many of them have remained my “bestest” friends like the three former executives of GMA-7 News Department who asked me to guide them in their Holy Land pilgrimage in Easter 2017.

Photo by author, Church of the Visitation, Ein Karem, Israel, April 2017.

It was my second Holy Land pilgrimage but my first time to visit the beautiful Church of the Visitation in Ein Karem. 

Outside that lovely church are two bronze statues of Elizabeth and Mary conversing on how God had blessed them with sons under unique circumstances:  Elizabeth was too old and barren while Mary was too young, a virgin, not yet married with Joseph. 

What a beautiful reminder of God coming to us through women!

While there at Ein Karem, I prayed for all the women I have loved and have loved me before, all the women who have blessed me and have taken care so well of my vocation to the priesthood.  I thanked God for the women like Elizabeth who have blessed me in believing that what was spoken to me by the Lord would be fulfilled in the priesthood.  Blessed are the women who like Mary have helped me see the women’s perspectives that made my priesthood more complete especially in dealing with feminine issues.  The women who taught me how to respect differences, to feel the society’s bias against them, and most especially feel their deep pains when they shared with me their ordeals of abuse and rape.

Let me end this reflection with an unforgettable anecdote at the funeral Mass for the mother of our late Bishop Jose F. Oliveros in Quezon province about ten years ago when he recalled how his mother held his right hand while still a child, and taught to make the sign of the Cross.  On her deathbed, it became his turn, as a priest and a bishop, to hold his dying mother’s hands to make the sign of the Cross. 

Hail to all women and mothers in the world who bring life into this dying world with their joy and perseverance, artistry and simplicity, warmth and presence of God almighty. May this story of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Visitation of St. Elizabeth teach us to always respect women for they are the carriers of God to us. Amen.

At the wailing wall of Jerusalem, April 2017.

What’s inside you?

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Misa De Gallo IV, 19 December 2023
Judges 13:2-7, 24-25 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Luke 1:5-25
Photo by Taryn Elliott on Pexels.com

Here’s another beautiful story I got from a blogger I recently followed from Spain at wordpress.com. It is actually an analogy which may sound simple but very true.

You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you or shakes your arm, making you spill your coffee everywhere. 
Why did you spill the coffee?

"Because someone bumped into me!!!"

Wrong answer. You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup. Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea. Whatever is inside the cup is what will spill out.

Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you - which surely happens all the time - whatever is inside you will come out. It's easy to fake it, until you get rattled. So, we have to ask ourselves, "what's in my cup?" When life gets tough, what spills over from me? 

(see, https://pkmundo.com/2023/12/17/i-love-this-analogy/comment-page-1/#respond)
Photo by Mr. Boy Cabrido, Quiapo Church, Misa de Gallo, 17 December 2023.

My dear friends, we are now on the fourth day of our Misa de Gallo and I find that story/analogy so appropriate with our readings today. 

How interesting that Zechariah with his wife Elizabeth – according to St. Luke – prayed so hard all their lives to have a child but when God was about to fulfill it, Zechariah doubted it despite being told by an angel from God. Like in that story/analogy we presented above, Zechariah was “rattled” by the angel’s good news. “What was inside Zechariah that he doubted the good news”? 

Then Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel said to him in reply, “I am Gabriel, who stand before God. I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news. But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the days these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”

Luke 1:18-20
Photo by author, Wailing Wall of Jerusalem, May 2017, the section of the remaining parts of the temple closest to the Holy of Holies where priests used to incense once a year.

Advent is the presence of God but sometimes when we are overburdened with so many things like anxieties and problems in life, frustrations and disappointments, sickness and death in the family, we become unaware of his divine presence even if we continue to pray and do our religious duties and devotions.  Too often we lack the conscious awareness of God in our lives that we take him for granted, considering him more as a given than a presence and a reality.

This is exactly what we told you yesterday about some of us pretending to be real disciples of Christ when in reality we are merely dreaming in a sleepwalking existence. It is a kind of spiritual immaturity due to our lack of honesty and sincerity with one’s self and with God that we remain a spiritual dwarf. Like Zechariah who happened to be a priest who must be more attuned and rooted in God, we too hardly notice God’s coming or even doubt him and his powers because we want to hold on to our comfort zone or insist our own agenda. 

God is never put off by our queries in life but what “irritates” him is when we question him, when we doubt him, when we ask about his character like Zechariah.  That is a lack of faith in God, a lack of trust, and lack of personal relationship with him unlike St. Joseph in our reflection yesterday, truly a righteous man. 

Contrast Zechariah with his wife Elizabeth who is presented by St. Luke in a better position despite her being barren. In the Bible, barrenness is a sign of lifelessness and absence of God’s blessings. Worst, it was seen as a punishment from God for one’s sins.

Yet in this opening scene of St. Luke’s infancy story beginning with the annunciation of John’s birth, we find God’s power at its fullest when we are most emptied which is exactly the imagery of Elizabeth being barren and old. She had nothing at all to be proud of unlike Zechariah who still had duties to perform as a priest. 

As we have reflected yesterday too, we burst in great rejoicing actually in those moments filled with negativities, with a lot of “no” answers of rejections and failure. That was how Elizabeth felt after being pregnant with John.

After this time, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and she went into seclusion for five months, saying, “So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others.”

Luke 1:24-25

Earlier, we asked what was inside Zechariah that he doubted the good news of the angel; now, we imagine what was inside the barren Elizabeth who welcomed the good news rejoicing by voluntarily going into a seclusion?

The story of the elderly couple Zechariah and Elizabeth finally being blessed by God with a child shows us God’s consistency not only in keeping his promises but most of all in working best even in our worst conditions, in the most unusual circumstances. In these two stories, one from the Old Testament and in the New Testament, we find the importance of being filled with God always.

Recall our story/analogy above. What is inside us that comes out when we are shaken? What spills over from our cup, is it joy, gratitude, and peace? Or, anger, bitterness, harsh words and reactions long festering within?

In starting his Christmas story with the annunciation of the birth of John the Baptist, St. Luke is telling us an important aspect in celebrating this blessed season – the need to fill ourselves with God. 

See how Zechariah was forced to be silent and made mute so that he could spend more time listening and rediscovering God anew in his heart, of filling himself with God. On the other hand, Elizabeth opted to go into seclusion also to contemplate God already dwelling in her though she may have never known before that is why she wanted to listen more intently to his other plans with the gift of John. Similarly like her in the first reading was the wife of Manoah who remained silent and open when a man of God told her she would bear a son to be called Samson, saying that “I did not ask him where he came from” (Jgs.3: 6). Advent invites us to simply be still to be filled by God, with God.

The other day I joined my nieces and nephew for lunch. After dropping me off at the parish, they asked for a nearby Starbuck’s because my nephew had to buy a coffee mug for his exchange gift in their class. When I asked him why he had to give a Starbuck’s mug as gift, it turned out that is now the way it is in class Christmas party – your exchange gift partner can make a wish for the gift to receive for as long as it is within the agreed budget by the class.

Anyway, our life gives us the cup or the mug. We make the decision, the choice to fill it with coffee or chocolate or tea, in the same manner we fill ourselves with joy or bitterness, anger or serenity, gratitude or complaints. Or God.

Like Zechariah in the gospel today, we could be so tired already of doing so much, of banging our heads on the wall to solve everything, to answer everything.  In this final stretch before Christmas, let us empty our cups or mugs of our selves and fill it with God who alone can truly fill us with life despite our dryness and barrenness. Amen.Have a blessed Tuesday!

Advent is waking up to God’s realities

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Misa De Gallo III, Monday, 18 December 2023
Jeremiah 23:5-8 ><))))*> + <*((((>< Matthew 1:18-25
Photo by author, sunrise at the Pacific Ocean from Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.

“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about” (Mt. 1:18). I love this opening line of our gospel this Monday. So simple and warm, even magical that we know the whole story it is about to tell not only by heart but because it is now fulfilled. 

It evokes in us that scent of Christmas or amoy Pasko whatever that means to you. 

Basta, you know that feeling of being so safe and secured that everything in life will be fine, just like with St. Joseph after being told by an angel in his dream of the coming of Jesus Christ.

Photo by author, San Fernando, Pampanga, November 2021.

“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:20-21

Feel the solemn note of Matthew’s infancy account from the perspective of St. Joseph, the fulfillment of God’s promise that burned slowly through long years of waiting that burst into light with the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem more than two thousand years ago.

Every prophecy and dream and longings were finally fulfilled because “When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home” (Mt. 1:24).

As we enter the final stretch of the week leading into Christmas Day when Christmas rush tries to hijack our souls from its true essence, we are invited to go deeper, to be more intense in our prayers and reflections on the meaning of Christ’s coming to us.

Are we willing to be like St. Joseph?

Very often, St. Joseph is taken so lightly because of his silence. And amusingly, his being portrayed always asleep that God communicated to him at least four times in his dreams about the birth and safety of Jesus Christ.

For anyone fast approaching the senior year of 60 like me, you would exactly know the feeling and frustration of difficulty in having a good night sleep. If my alarm clock were a human, he would have long been fired from the job because I always wake up ahead before it alarms!

Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2023.

First thing we find with St. Joseph sleeping soundly in the midst of a major problem – in fact, a fiasco – which invites us to examine our faith in God. 

Many times we find it hard to fall asleep not really because of our problems but with our indecisions. 

Our failure to confront and solve our problems make us sleepless. If we can be firm in our decisions due to our deep faith and love for God like St. Joseph which is the meaning of his being a righteous man, we too can sleep soundly like him. Go back to the story and you will find how quickly St. Joseph had decided to divorce Mary quietly so as not to expose her to shame. In making that decision, we find St. Joseph’s selflessness and complete trust in God: primary in his consideration was Mary, his beloved. His love for her was the expression of his love for God too.

As we age, can we start our memoir with the similar lines of Matthew, This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about? Can we unabashedly telling everyone in all sincerity “this is how what I am today came about”? Can we wholeheartedly tell straight what really happened amid all the pains and disappointments we went through when God suddenly changed the course of our lives with his own plans? Would we have regrets or none at all like St. Joseph because he obeyed everything upon waking up?

Now, that is the more important part in Matthew’s short infancy narrative: nothing much was told after the St. Joseph awoke except that he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. The final sentence cemented everything with his total union with God that “He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus.”

Here we are given a glimpse of the spiritual maturity and holiness of St. Joseph, his being open to God expressed in his taking of Mary as his wife that in doing so, Jesus Christ the Son of God came into the world. What a wonderful flow of events we too must have experienced in our lives when everything falls into its right places simply because we cooperated with God

According to St. John Paul II’s friend, the Orthodox Christian theologian Olivier-Maurice Clement, a lot often we pretend to be real disciples of Christ when in reality we are merely dreaming. He called it “sleepwalking existence”; my Jesuit spiritual director Fr. Danny Gozar calls it “spiritual dwarfism”. Both refer to our spiritual immaturity due to our lack of honesty with our self and with God.

Being righteous like St. Joseph is simply being holy, a spiritually matured person generous enough to confront and consider everything in one’s life with open mind and open heart to set them aside and give way to God’s greater plans. Sleepwalking existence and spiritual dwarfism happen when there are certain things we want to hold on to and pursue or keep even if we could feel it is not God’s will for us. Tendency is to fool ourselves that we delay any decisions as we claim we are not yet certain with God’s will when in fact we are simply hoping against hope God would change his mind.

Photo by author, San Fernando, Pampanga, November 2021.

The angelic annunciations to St. Joseph and to Virgin Mary may not be literal but we can be certain of one truth with God: he is most consistent in communicating his will to us even if he does not speak clearly and directly as humans or angels. Very often, the faintest voice within us that persists, the most ordinary things and events happening daily we take for granted, the simplest truths we realize and deem so little are God’s consistent communication of his will for us.

This Advent Season, let us try to wake up to life’s realities like St. Joseph in order to hear God’s voice in silence. To be silent is to be awake to life’s realities, to be able to listen and discern God from all other voices and noises. It is important that we are awake to life’s realities like St. Joseph because God’s voice may be the very words, silence, tears or smiles of those who love us most but we often take for granted. Amen.

“Baby Says No” by Christopher Cross (1983)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 17 December 2023
Photo by author, Gaudete Sunday 2019.

Glad to be back with our Sunday music offering but unfortunately, our choice is neither a Christmas song nor carol. But, we find Christopher Cross’ Baby Says No from his 1983 second studio album so perfect this Sunday because our homily is something about saying “no” (https://lordmychef.com/2023/12/16/saying-no-leads-us-to-rejoicing/).

We have always loved Mr. Cross since 1979 with his great debut album that featured his first hits Sailing and Ride Like the Wind. Truly an artist gifted with superb musical talents, we were so worried in 2020 when news came out of his being stricken with COVID-19 that resulted in some complications that almost left him unable to walk for a time. 

Baby Says No is a touching story of a love lost despite one’s great efforts and how far can a man go despite the great setback.

Baby says no, she can’t let go this soon
Doesn’t feel right, not tonight
Even though I gave her the stars and the moon
I really think I’ve got it bad this time around
Baby says yes but I must confess
It really doesn’t seem to matter
‘Cause I’d follow that girl all around the world
Even if I never had her
I really think I’ve got it bad this time
Really think I’ve got it bad this time
Really think I’ve got it bad this time around

This is where we find Baby Says No very related with our gospel this Sunday also known as Gaudete Sunday or Rejoice Sunday. Many times in life, we are able to rejoice after experiencing losses and failures, after being down. It is in the nos and nots where great rejoicing burst forth like when we receive the negative answer to our offers like what the man is claiming here after being turned down with his love.

Gonna show ’em what love can do
Gonna tell ’em ’bout me and you
Gonna show ’em what love can do when it’s right
And this time, it’s right
Love is the light that can shine so bright
But sometimes it fades away
Then you find one that can shine like the sun
She comes up for you every day

Many times in life, love comes forth after we receive or make the “no” answers to sin and evil and selfishness. Here is Christopher Cross with his classic Baby Says No. Have a blessed Sunday!

From YouTube.com.

Saying “no” leads us to rejoicing

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Third Sunday in Advent Week III-B, Gaudete Sunday, 17 December 2023
Isaiah 61:1-2, 10-11 ><}}}*> 1 Thessalonian 5:16-24 ><}}}*> John 1:6-8, 19-28
Photo by author, Gaudete Sunday 2018.

Our church is bursting with pink shades this Third Sunday of Advent known as Gaudete (Latin for rejoice) Sunday following calls from our antiphons and readings for us to rejoice in Jesus who had come more than 2000 years ago in Bethlehem.

We also rejoice on this date, the 17th of December, as we shift our focus to enter Advent’s second phase when we remember and reflect the events surrounding Christ’s birth on that first Christmas. Today is also the second day of our Simbang Gabi and without sounding a Scrooge, I wish to propose in my reflection this Sunday for us to examine those moments in the scriptures and in our lives when saying “NO” leads us too into great rejoicing.

It is normal most of the time that rejoicing comes after every big “YES” in life like when a woman finally says “YES” to her suitor or when a boss says “YES” to promote an employee. The reason mankind rejoices at Christmas is because of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s “YES” to be the Mother of Jesus Christ our Savior.

Photo by author, Gaudete Sunday 2019.

However, history and our own experiences have taught us also that the key to rejoicing is when we say “NO” or receive or do something in the negative like during the pandemic when we prayed for “negative results” whenever we would get COVID tests. A lot often in life, a negative can be positive like what we see in our gospel today:

A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews from jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, “Who are you?” he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, “I am not the Christ.”

John 1:6-8, 19-20

See the progression of the negatives in the fourth gospel’s Prologue: after establishing “In the beginning was the Word” who is Jesus Christ the “life” and “light” in verses 1-5, John the Baptist is introduced with the immediate declaration “He was not the light, but came to testify to the light” in verses 6 and 8. In the following questioning by the priests and Levites sent from Jerusalem, John twice told them “I am not the Christ… not Elijah”, insisting with a strong “No” if he were the Prophet in verses 21-22 before wrapping up the scene with a solemn statement that “there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie” in verses 26-27.

Photo by author, Gaudete Sunday 2019.

What a lovely scene of negatives, of nots and nos!

Recall those moments in our past filled with painful rejections and humiliating failures that we now look back with rejoicing because of the valuable lessons we have learned and made us stronger today. We realize too that the past negative moments darkened by sin and evil were not totally bad at all as these have led us into the light of Jesus Christ that we now rejoice in being forgiven and loved. When we remember those trials and difficulties we have hurdled in life, we do not feel ashamed but actually feel so proud, being sources of rejoicing for all our victories and successes today.

As we have been saying, Jesus was born during the darkest night of the year, a big negative so we can see the great positive, Christ our Savior, our Light. He is the fulfillment of that great prophecy by Isaiah in the first reading which Jesus himself proclaimed at the start of his ministry in their synagogue in Nazareth on a sabbath. 

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God.

Isaiah 61:1-2
Photo by author, Gaudete Sunday 2019.

Luke tells us in his account how “the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently” at Jesus who then said, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk.4:20-21).

When there is fulfillment, rejoicing follows because that is when we say no to the many negatives holding and preventing us from welcoming Jesus in our lives.

When we feel poor and inadequate and try to find Christ beyond what we do not have, that is when we rejoice to find everything in him who fulfills, enriches and enables us in this life and beyond.

Rejoicing happens when we finally say no to our toxic relationships with people who break our hearts with their infidelities and say yes to Jesus who remain faithful and true to us in our family and old friends who truly loved us ever since.

True joy and rejoicing happen when we finally say no to unforgiveness of self and others, when we say no to the past sins and mistakes, baseless guilt-feelings that have held us captives for so long to find mercy and forgiveness in Jesus.

Every day is a part of the year of favor from the Lord, calling us to say no to hopelessness and despair, to say no to cynicism and indifference because Jesus always vindicates though slowly all our efforts and sacrifices, strivings and perseverance in being good and honest in a world that honors thieves and criminals.

Many times in life, rejoicing bursts when we say no to sin, when we say no to disrespect, when we say no to injustice and inequality. More rejoicings will surely come our way the moment we start saying no to violence and war, no to discrimination, no to deaths and violence, no to selfishness and vanities.

Photo by author, Gaudete Sunday 2019.

The list of the no’s we can say and affirm in Jesus Christ is endless for us to truly rejoice. But of all the great rejoicing in Christ that we need is to everyday have a firm and big NO to all our fears in loving. 

One main reason our lives are miserable because we choose not to love for fears of being hurt, of losing, of separation, of death. St. Paul asks us in the second reading to rejoice always simply by choosing to love always too.

Brothers and sisters: Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Test everything; retain what is good. Refrain from every kind of evil.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19, 21-22

Recall how the great apostle Paul described to us in 1 Corinthians 13 what is love and what is to love; what he told us today in his letter to the Thessalonians are basically the same: love, love, and love. And the first expression of love of God is praying. Just like in human love, we always talk with the one we love. If we truly love, then we must keep on praying which is beng one with God who is love.

To love is simply to be good, to avoid sin and evil. True rejoicing can happen only when we love, when we shun and say NO to sin which is a refusal to love. 

Photo by author, Gaudete Sunday 2021, Basic Education Department chapel, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City.

That is why throughout his ministry, Jesus chose to dine and be with sinners, never afraid of what others would say about him because he truly loved. His enemies could not rejoice for they chose to reject Christ’s calls for them to say no to judging others, say no to legalisms, say no to their self-righteousness and conceit. In their refusal to say no to their pride that have closed their minds and their hearts to God and others, they have chosen not to love and thereby failed to meet Jesus the Christ.

Until now, life continues to be miserable to many people because they could not accept Jesus Christ and his Cross, the very sign of his immense love for us. An essential part of the joy of this Christmas is the Cross of Good Friday looming behind that manger in Bethlehem. Before Christ, the cross used to be a big negative but with Jesus, it literally became a plus sign – a positive when he chose to suffer and die in order to rise again on Easter because he loves us so much. Like him, let us say no to sin and evil so we can rejoice in him and in love. Amen. Have a blessed final week towards Christmas Day!