Category: Prayer/Spirituality

Our first task

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 19 March 2023
Monday, Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of Blessed Virgin Mary
2 Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16 + Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22 + Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2023.
Praise and thanksgiving to you, God our Father
for the gift of calling me like St. Joseph
to bring your Son Jesus into the world
despite my many fears and doubts,
inadequacies, weaknesses 
and sinfulness, 
you entrusted me 
with the same task you gave St. Joseph 
of making known your Son
as “God Saves” - Jesus.

…the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home… 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
Remind me always, dear God,
of this first task you gave us 
your beloved children
to make known to everyone 
that Jesus came to die on the Cross 
to show us “God saves” - 
that we are so wrong to think
you are domineering and ruthless God,
that you are not a God hungry of power,
that you are not insistent, and demanding God,
most of all, you are not a God who competes
with us your mere creatures like everyone thinks
from Adam and Eve down to us today.
Photo by author, Chapel of Holy Family, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 2014.
Teach me to be silent, 
trustful of you, O Father, 
like St. Joseph not bothered at all
of how things would turn out 
with my task to make people realize and
experience Jesus Christ;
give me the courage and obedience 
of St. Joseph to do as you have
tasked me to witness this great mystery 
and wonder of your love
because “God saves”.
Amen.
Photo from https://www.vaticannews.va

The truth is… we are loved.

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Third Week of Lent, 17 March 2023
Hosea 14:2-10   >>> + <<<   Mark 12:28-34
Photo by PhotoMIX Company on Pexels.com
More than any other prophet, O Lord, 
Hosea is the one who tells us most
of your immense love for us all;
his writing moves like a beautiful
love story so unbelievable
yet exists, so true.
After so many harsh words
against us your people for our
infidelity like prostitutes,
here at the last part of his book,
Hosea tells us to never lose hope
because you love us so much.
Moreover, dear God our Father,
what I like most in Hosea's writings
is how you yourself reveals to us
how we must approach you
like a teacher coaching us 
for the best answers so we may pass
your final exam.

Thus says the Lord: Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God, say to him, “Forgive us all iniquity, and receive what is good, that we may render as offerings the bullocks from our stalls

Hosea 14:2, 3
Please Lord, help us experience
your promises of "healing our defections,
loving us freely, becoming like dew 
so we shall blossom like the lily, 
our splendor be like the olive tree
and fragrance like the Lebanon cedar,
allowing us to dwell in your shade again
and raise grain, blossom like the vine,
and our fame be like the wine of Lebanon"
(cf. Hosea 14: 5-8).
Cast away our doubts of your love
and mercy for us, Father for as your Son
Jesus Christ had revealed, all the commandments
is summed in LOVE, your great love for us
as the very reason why we must love you
not because you need our love but 
so that we can have more of your love
when we love.
May we love,
love,
and love!
Amen.

Praying to listen & gather

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Third Week of Lent, 16 March 2023
Jeremiah 7:23-28   >>> + <<<   Luke 11:14-23
Photo by author, sunset in the metropolis seen from Our Lady of Fatima University-QC, February 2023.
Lord, teach me to listen.
Let me not harden my heart
if today I hear your words,
O Lord.
Your people in Jeremiah's time
have indeed committed the most
grave sin of disregarding your
covenant:

Thus says the Lord: This is what I commanded my people: Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk in all the ways that command you, so that you may prosper. But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed. They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.

Jeremiah 7:23-24
But we are no different from them,
Lord!  We are like them, totally
disregarding your commands,
walking in the hardness of our evil
hearts and turned our backs, not
our faces, from you!  Worst than
the time of Jeremiah, we have imitated
the people at the time of Jesus,
accusing him too of casting out demons
by the power of Beelzebul
when media glorify satanic
cults, promoting same sex relationships,
abortion, and contraception;
when we speak about life
and justice, we are laughed upon
and when we cry for decency,
we are accused of hypocrisy.
Teach us to listen to your words,
O Lord; enable us to distinguish your
voice from that of the world and
the devil; most of all, help us
gather than scatter.
Amen.

Love is perfection of life

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Third Week of Lent, 15 March 2023
Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9   >> + <<   Matthew 5:17-19
Photo by author, La Mesa Eco-Park from Our Lady of Fatima University-QC, February 2023.
Thank you very much, O God
our loving Father for being
so close with us in a very personal manner, 
giving us laws meant to lead us closer 
to living with one another in peace
and harmony, and eventually
discover the beauty of love.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”

Matthew 5:17
This season of Lent,
help us realize and discover
that the laws as expressions of justice
are the minimum requirements of love;
the fulfillment of laws is love
which is more than a special way of living
but itself the perfection of life
because when we truly love,
we go beyond the letters of the laws
and do more than what is required
that slowly we become a new person
in Jesus Christ.
Enable us, O Lord, 
in fulfilling the laws
into love where we become more alive,
more real,
more personal
more perfect
like you.
Amen.

Lent is for sincerity of heart

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Third Week of Lent, 14 March 2023
Daniel 3:25, 34-43   >>> + <<<   Matthew 18:21-35
Photo by author, sunrise at Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Bgy. Binulusan, Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.
God our Father,
grant me the grace of sincerity
to pray like Azariah whom you
spared from death along with
Shadrach and Meschach in the fiery
furnace of King Nebuchadnezzar;
not even their clothes were singed
by the intense heat that burned to death
their executioners!

Teach me to be sincere
like Azariah who prayed to you while 
walking into the furnace with his
companions, telling you one of the 
most beautiful prayers in the Bible 
we too pray in our Sunday Lauds:

“For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation, brought low everywhere in the world this day because of our sins. We have in our day no prince, no prophets, or leader, no burnt offering, sacrifice, oblation, or incense, no place to offer first fruits, to find favor with you. But with contrite heart and humble spirit let us be received. Do not let us be put to shame, but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy. Deliver us by your wonders, and bring glory to your name, O Lord.”

Daniel 3:37-39, 42-43
Yes, dear God,
there is no need,
not even necessary,
for us to do anything
"to win your favor" 
to grant our prayers except
that we be sincere before you,
that is, to be true and humble,
putting ourselves into your hands
completely that you would take care
of us like Azariah and companions.
Many times, O God,
we can't be like you and be
forgiving as a Father to those
who have wronged us because
we ourselves are not true,
lacking sincerity in begging
your mercy and forgiveness;
many times we doubt your
mercy and forgiveness
that often we act like
the unforgiving servant
in Jesus Christ's parable.
Amen.

Lent is simplicity

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Third Week of Lent, 13 March 2023
2 Kings 5:1-15   >>> + <<<   Luke 4:24-30
Photo by author, Tagaytay City, 07 February 2023.
Praise and glory to you,
God our loving Father 
on this first working day of Monday
in the third week of Lent!
Teach me to be simple,
teach me to simply
follow my "thirst for you,
my soul's longing for you
to behold your face, O God"
(Psalm 42:3).
How wonderful and amazing
that you used, dear God,
simple people in the healing 
of Naaman the Syrian army general:
first was the servant of Naaman's wife,
 a little girl captured after their 
victory over Israel in a battle who
informed her mistress, "If only my master
would present himself to the prophet in Samaria,
he would cure him of his leprosy"
(2 Kings 5:3);
second were Naaman's servants
who pleaded with him to obey 
Prophet Elisha's instruction to wash
himself seven times in Jordan for his
skin be cleansed of leprosy
(2 Kings 5:13).

But the servants came up and reasoned with him. “My father,” they said, “if the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary, would you not have done it? All the more now, since he said to you, ‘Wash and be clean’ should you do as he said.” So Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times at the word of the man of God. His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

2 Kings 5:13-14
Many times, O God,
we forget that you are perfect
because you are simple;
many times, we humans 
prefer to do things
that are complicated,
that are difficult to show our
greatness and prowess,
not realizing your power
lies in weakness and lowliness;
deepen our faith in you,
teach us to learn submission
and obedience to you like
your Son Jesus Christ our Lord
to effect change in ourselves,
in our lives,
and in the world.
Amen.

Lent is for kindness

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Second Week of Lent, 10 March 2023
Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13, 17-28   >> +++ <<   Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46
Photo by author, sunrise at Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.
Today O God you speak to us
of the most lovely virtue of kindness
which is more than being good to another
but precisely of treating others as a "kin" 
or a kindred; being "kind" is the most
Christian word because it refers to our
being one big family in you our Father
with each one a brother and a sister in
Jesus Christ.
How sad we have become more
unkind than ever, just like the sons of
Jacob, the brothers of Joseph:
They said to one another:  
“Here comes the master dreamer!  
Come on, let us kill him and throw him
 into one of the cisterns here;
 we could say that a wild beast devoured him.
  We shall then see what comes of his dreams 
(Gen.37:19-20).”
From petty jealousies among us,
our being unkind deteriorate further
into sinister plots right in our hearts
to destroy our own loved ones,
those closest to us; worst of all,
it happens in the midst of us recognizing
them as "our own flesh" like Judah
and yet still "sell" them!
Forgive us, dear Jesus, for being so unkind:
 “when the tenants saw the son,
 they said to one another, 
‘This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him 
and acquire his inheritance.’  
They seized him, 
threw him out of the vineyard, 
and killed him (Mt.21:38-39).”
Our responsorial psalm captures 
the reason why we must always be kind, 
“Remember the marvels the Lord has done.”
  Let us heed your warning against being unkind, 
“When the Lord called down a famine
 on the land and ruined the crop
 that sustained them, 
he sent a man before them,
 Joseph, sold as a slave 
(Ps.105:16-17).” 
Teach us to be kind with everyone because
 "the stone that the builders rejected
 has become the cornerstone;
 by the Lord has this been done, 
and it is wonderful in our eyes" (Mt.21:42);
 This season of Lent, 
let us bring back kindness in our hearts, 
in our words, 
in our thoughts
 and in our deeds 
even if others are not kind to us
because very often, 
kindness has a way of teaching us 
the importance of this virtue 
that may not always be kind at all.
Amen.

Lent is getting nearer to God

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Second Week of Lent, 09 March 2023
Jeremiah 17:5-10   >>> +++ <<<   Luke 16:19-31
Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2022.
God our loving Father,
let me come to you closer,
let me get nearer to you
in Jesus Christ present
among the sick and suffering,
among those we take for granted,
in those we have forgotten
in our family, in the church,
and in the society.

Jesus said to the Pharisees: “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.

Luke 16:19-21
Yes, O Lord Jesus,
your parable continues to 
happen among us today
despite our many technologies,
we have grown more apart
from each other not only in
physical distance but worst
even in heart as being kindreds in you.
Indeed, what you had told Jeremiah
is most true even today, 
"More tortuous 
than all else 
is the human heart,
 beyond remedy;
who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9)
but you alone, O Lord!

Cleanse our hearts,
incline our hearts to you,
dear Jesus;
let us be nearer to you
than anyone or anything else;
let us trust in you alone
for it is in you only is
found life and its fullness
here and the hereafter.
Amen.

Lent is more of questions than answers

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Second Week of Lent, 08 March 2023
Jeremiah 18:18-20   >>> +++ <<<   Matthew 10:17-28
Photo by author, sunrise at Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon 04 March 2023.
Many times you have
heard me O God our Father
asking the same question by
your prophet Jeremiah,
"Must good be repaid with evil
that they should dig a pit
to take my life?" (Jeremiah 18:20).
Many times too, 
like with Jeremiah,
you have not answered 
my questions directly
but consistently in my life
you have shown how much
you love me by giving me
the strength and courage,
the assurance to keep on
doing what is good
simply because
it is good,
it is right,
it is just,
it is your will.
Many times
even without 
your clear answer
I just feel you 
inside me,
beside me.

Into your hands I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, O Lord, O faithful God. I hear the whispers of the crowd that frighten me from every side, as they consult together against me, plotting to take my life. But my trust is in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” In your hands is my destiny; rescue me from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.

Psalm 31:6, 14, 15-16
Your Son Jesus Christ
our Lord and Savior
had shown us that indeed
in this world, people are not
ready nor willing to accept
whatever is true and just;
hence, good is always repaid 
with evil because many are
not on the side of what is 
right and true.
Teach me, O Lord,
to forget all about
the perks of discipleship
if there is really any at all
but instead be simply
focused in remaining 
faithful to you,
always sharing in your 
sufferings and death
without desiring any
rewards;
most of all, 
like St. John of God
and other saints,
let me be content in
asking you questions
that is a prayer
in itself because
it is always answered
in ways so different
from what I expected
until I find myself
totally giving myself
to you
for you alone
are my Lord,
my God,
my Teacher,
my Father.
Amen.