Mystery of God, mystery of sin

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fourth Sunday in Lent (Laetare Sunday), 30 March 2025
Joshua 5:9, 10-12 ++ 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 ++ Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

*Photo by author, Chapel of Angel of Peace, RISE Tower, Our Lady of Fatima Un iversity, Valenzuela, 28 March 2025.*

We enter the fourth Sunday in Lent today with shades of pink to “rejoice” not only because Easter is getting close but most of all for the joy of God’s immense love expressed in His mercy and forgiveness to us sinners.

Known as Laetare Sunday from the Latin entrance antiphon of the Mass calling us to “Rejoice!” as it is hoped that by this time, we feel nearer to God in our Lenten journey, having experienced His Mystery which our gospel presents today courtesy of Luke who invites us to enter the scene of the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Many times we find ourselves wrapped in God’s Mystery with a capital “M” while entangled too in that other mystery of sin with a small “m” as this parable shows us.

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them Jesus addressed this parable: “A man had two sons…” (Luke 15:1-3, 11).

Jesus came to make God closest to us as our breath. As a Mystery, God is neither a concept nor an idea we have to understand in order to have or grasp to be possessed. It is God Whom we let to possess and wrap us in His Mystery for He is totally transcendent yet so personal with each of us. We do not see Him but we feel and experience Him as all-encompassing like nature around us that can be so breath-taking and awesome yet cannot be totally captured even by cameras. God is like the presence of insects and birds in a forest we delightedly listen to but so difficult to find or see.

That’s God – all around us, all-encompassing. Unfortunately, we are like the youngest son, proud and feeling independent with the gall and guts to ask God for our share of everything to be on our own when we do not have anything at all.

And off we leave to live a prodigal life or “wasteful extravagance”, slaving ourselves for wealth and fame and power until we hit rock bottom when suddenly we find ourselves empty and lost, sick and even alone. That is when we remember to come “home”, to return to our roots where it all began who is God.

As we sank deep in despair, we find a glimmer of hope within us where God is, where God had never really left us, always awaiting our return right there in our heart. He has always been there though we never recognized Him. Actually, that very moment we realized we are down and out, that was when God immediately ran to meet us.

Now, that mystery with a small “m” called sin we hardly notice.

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.*

See again Luke as master storyteller in this lovely parable he alone has. See how Luke presents in a most subtle manner the mystery of sin not only as a breaking away from God and a violation of laws but a complete refusal to love.

Feel the youngest son in his asking for his share of inheritance from his father and his leaving home was not simply a breaking away but a refusal to love, a refusal to live, a refusal to be with the father.

That happens when we sin.

We do not tell God and our family and friends that we don’t love them but our walking away from them tells that so clearly. However, as we refuse to love when we sin, that is also when we deny the love right in our hearts, that we cannot stop loving because whatever we take after we have left are actually the very love of God and of our family and friends!

There is nothing truly ours in this world and because of God’s Mystery, we never lose His gift of love within us that when things get worst in our lives, it is the same love that gives us the spark to hope and believe again. It was that love that the youngest son missed and realized despite all his dramas as he went home to his loving father just like us too.

On the other hand, the parable presents to us too another pernicious effect of sin as a mystery which is its direct effect to our personality. As a refusal to love, sin has a direct effect to our personality because every time we sin we become a less loving person that is a contradiction of our identity and nature.

Its worst part happens when we take small sins for granted including the little decisions we make that do not seem to be evil or bad, even without any vice at all; notice how after sometime of repeatedly committing them, our personality is affected, making us a less loving person that eventually breaks out in the open and we freakout like the elder son or those people caught on cam doing all the crazy stuff in public.

He said to this father in reply, “Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf” (Luke 15:29-30).

How often have we made the excuse para yun lang naman? That a little lying or cheating once won’t really matter, asking ano ba masama doon? (what’s bad/wrong)? as an excuse for things that seem to be not bad or sinful at all.

Recall the first Sunday of Lent, the temptation of Jesus, of how the devil is always in the details, tempting us with that device of increments, of apportioning to little things the big evil things, not showing us the whole picture like fake news peddled by demons.

A sin is always a sin, a refusal to love. Period. Whether we go big time in sins like the youngest son or small time in sins like his elder brother, sin is clearly a refusal to love that greatly affects our personality, our lives and that of others.

We rejoice today for that great Mystery of God, of His immense love for each of us no matter how bad and how dark our sins are. God’s Mystery is His abounding love and mercy, forgiving our sins the moment we feel sorry for them.

He said to him, “My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found” (Luke 15:31-32).

As I turned 60 last Saturday, the overwhelming feeling I have had inside me is that deep gratitude to God’s love for me. Everything is grace that all the more I pray, “Lord you have given me with so much but I have given so little; teach me to give more of myself, more of your love, more of you to others.”

This time, I pray it with deeper conviction as I see both with joy and fear the bright horizon ahead with a distant shore beyond. There’s no more time to waste as St. Paul had noted in the second reading, I feel life now more definitive, that God is so undeniably real. Like St. Paul, “we are ambassadors for Christ” with the mission to help people “reconcile to God” especially in this final journey in life. God reminds us today that like during the time of Joshua in the first reading, the Eucharist is our new Passover where we thank God for His abounding love and mercy for us in this life and beyond. Amen.

Lent is being wrapped in the mysteries of God

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, First Week in Lent, 12 March 2025
Jonah 3:1-10     + + +     Luke 11:29-32

*Photo by author, Timberland Highlands Resort, San Mateo, Rizal, 08 March 2025.*

Fill me, O God,
with wonder and awe
for you like Jonah!
Surprise me always
of your goodness among
your peoples;
help me in my unbelief!

The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you.” So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the Lord’s bidding. Now Nineveh was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,” when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth (Jonah 3:1-5).

Loving God our Father,
you are so great and awesome,
more wide than the great city
of Nineveh yet so mysterious
that Jonah himself could not 
believe what he had seen:
the people of Nineveh believed 
in you and repented
a mere half day yet 
when he proclaimed
your message to them!

Many times in life,
we are like Jonah -
very reluctant in following
you, in obeying you because
your ways are so different, 
even beyond comprehension
yet so real; many times,
we feel we know more 
than you know; most of all,
most of the time, 
we insist our own
even to you.
Sorry, Lord.

*Photo by author, Hidden Valley Springs Resort, Calauan, Laguna, 20 February 2025.*

In this Season of Lent,
banish our evil thoughts,
banish the many reasons
and explanations we have
to open our minds and our hearts
to your mysteries
so we may read your many
signs of presence and power,
love and mercy
for us even in this time
in the world
when it has become
more difficult to believe in you
due to modern trends,
most especially of our own
stubbornness;
grant us that same disposition
you gave Jonah who finally
believed and obeyed you
in doing your work
in the way you want it done.
Amen.

Jesus our light & fulfillment

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, 02 February 2025
Malachi 3:1-4 ><}}}}*> Hebrews 2:14-18 ><}}}}*> Luke 2:22-40

“Presentation at the Temple” painting by Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna done around 1455; Mary holding Baby Jesus while St. Joseph at the middle looks on the bearded Simeon. The man at the right is said to be a self-portrait of the artist while the woman at the back of Mary could be his wife. Photo from wikipedia.org.

We take a break from our regular Sunday cycle of readings today being the second of February, the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple which is also 40 days after His birth. That is why it is technically the end of Christmas when Joseph and Mary left Bethlehem to bring Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem.

The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple is one of the earliest major feasts celebrated by the Church in Jerusalem in the third century that reached Rome 300 years later with the designation as the Purification of Mary. Years later as it spread to France, it came to be known as Chandeleur, or Candlemas in English speaking countries and Candelaria in Spanish when the blessing of candles with a short procession was incorporated into its liturgy due to that part of Simeon’s Canticle calling Jesus as the “light of the world” (gentiles). Following the reforms of Vatican II in 1969, St. Paul VI brought it back to its original title as the “Feast of the Presentation of the Lord” due to its Christological emphasis while retaining the traditional rite of the blessing of candles and short procession into the church.

In the Eastern Churches, this Feast is called the Encounter or the meeting of Jesus with the two elderly Simeon and Anna who were both promised by God to witness the coming of His promised salvation before they died.

One thing remains clear in its long history of celebrating the Lord’s Presentation is the beautiful assurance and sign of Jesus Christ’s presence among us enlightening us, lighting our paths, meeting us most especially in our old age as our fulfillment in life.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel” (Luke 2:25-32).

*Presentation in the Temple painting by Fra Angelico from fineartamerica.com.*

For our reflection, let us identify ourselves with Simeon as we dwell on his actions and words in that momentous Presentation of the Lord in the Temple.

From our long gospel account this Sunday, we get a picture of Simeon as an old man; however, not just chronologically speaking in age but also in his feeling isolated and weak deep inside, waiting for so long in faith and in hope for the coming of the Christ who would bring salvation and peace to a troubled world and a troubled self like us. Let us now reflect on Simeon’s action:

"he took him into his arms and blessed God" 
(Luke 2:28)

Look at the artistry of Luke as a storyteller and a physician who knew so well how people felt when approaching death whether due to an illness or old age like Simeon and Anna. See how Luke had assembled in one scene the two old people meeting the eternally young Son of God in the temple as if telling us not only to meet Jesus Christ but also to take Him into our arms to embrace and carry Him!

To embrace and carry the Infant Jesus like Simeon and Anna is a call for us to transform and level up our way of looking at old age as a reality we must accept and appreciate than hide or avoid with many illusory tactics that only make it more difficult and leave us more fearful.

Be proud of your grey or white hair like George Clooney and Meryl Streep. Don’t be ashamed of those wrinkles for they are our badges of the many wars and battles we have fought in life, regardless whether we have won or lost. One thing is clear though and that is we are still alive. Laugh it off when our memory fails, when we get slow in everything because life is not a race nor a competition but an art that is perfected as we age.

*“Simeon’s Moment” by American illustrator Ron DiCianni. From* http://www.tapestryproductions.com

Taking to carry Baby Jesus like Simeon and Anna is embracing old age called “ageing gracefully” – a modern virtue that calls us to deepen our prayer life as we realize and accept the fact that it is now our “boarding time” for the final Encounter with the Lord in eternity.

In my previous parish assignment, there were three elderly men I have become friends with until their death. As they declined in their health, they came to me so often and later called for me to hear their Confessions whenever they would suddenly remember sins they have committed when they were younger. It must have been a unique grace from God to have that “Simeon moment” of carrying and embracing Jesus to be cleansed and purified before they have died. And I am convinced in my four years as a hospital chaplain that everyone is gifted with this “Simeon moment” to carry Jesus just before our final Encounter with Him in the afterlife. To carry Jesus is to cultivate a spiritual life centered in prayer like Simeon and Anna and those three friends I had.

Inversely, the young are blessed too with “Simeon moment” when like Mary and Joseph they share the Christ in them with those who are old and weak by accompanying them, understanding them, and bearing with them in their old age. It is only after we have “taken” the Child Jesus into our hands to hold and carry and embrace can we sing praise to God like Simeon:

"Now, Master, you may let your servant 
go in peace, according to your word, 
for my eyes have seen your salvation"
(Luke 2:29-30)

*A painting of Simeon with the Child Jesus from the dailyprayerblog.blogspot.com*

To age gracefully by carrying and embracing the Infant Jesus like Simeon is realizing deep within us that getting old and weak is also part of our celebration of life because that is when we enter Life Himself and when we also let Him enter us completely.

How did Simeon recognize it was the Savior that the two poor couple with a pair of turtledoves or pigeons were presenting in the temple that day?

Long before Joseph and Mary came to offer Jesus at the temple that day, Simeon had already entered into God’s presence in his long period of waiting through prayers and sacrifices. When Mary and Joseph came to the temple to present Jesus, God entered Simeon through the Holy Spirit to recognize the coming of the awaited Christ. Simeon’s prayerful singing of his praise to God while holding the Infant Jesus on that day was the fulfillment and expression of his long fidelity to God, of his being attuned to the Divine presence and promptings all his life.

In this age of instants, nobody waits anymore because many think that waiting is empty, a weakness and a poverty. A waste of time and energy.

*The Fourth Joyful Mystery portrayed in the Presentation Chapel of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC.*

But Simeon shows us the exact opposite in his Canticle. It is in our waiting for God amidst the darkness and nothingness when Jesus really comes like that day in the temple. God is most present and closest with us when all we can do is cry “Lord” or “Jesus” because His very name is already His presence. If we keep that in mind like Simeon, we will surely find and embrace Jesus wherever, whenever.

As we celebrate the Jubilee of Hope this 2025, let us be reminded of Simeon along with the Prophetess Anna who were both Pilgrims of Hope who never lost sight of Christ in the midst of their long waiting. The first and second readings this Sunday assure us that God is coming, God has come in Jesus amid our many darkness and nothingness, weakness and decline.

Like Simeon and Anna, let us await to approach Jesus always for He alone matters most in this life found within us, among our family and friends and the people around us, expressed in love and mercy, kindness and forgiveness, and joy. Just be patient and wait, Jesus will appear for you to take Him and embrace Him in your arms like Simeon. Tell that to Jesus now with your other deep longings and you will not be disappointed. Amen.

*Photo by author, sunrise bursting through thick fogs over Taal Lake in Bgy. Dayap Itaas, Laurel, Batangas, 17 January 2025.*

Entering God’s rest

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Memorial of St. Anthony, Abbot, 17 January 2025
Hebrews 4:1-5, 11 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Mark 2:1-12

*Photo by author, sunset in Atok, Benguet, 27 January 2025.*

God our Father,
let us enter into your rest,
let us go back to you in Jesus Christ
and enter your rest like in Paradise
before the Fall;
spare us of your wrath like with
the Israelites in Meribah and Massah
when they challenged and provoked you
and thus be prevented from entering
your rest, the Promised Land.

Let us be on guard while the promise of entering into his rest remains, that none of you seem to have failed. For in fact we have received the Good News just as our ancestors did. But the word that they heard did not profit them, for they were not united in faith with those who listened. Therefore, let us strive to enter into that rest, so that no one may fall after the same example of disobedience (Hebrews 4:1-2, 11).

With Christ's coming,
you have opened anew heaven
to us, enabling us to enter your rest
like what happened in the
opening of the roof above him
to lower a paralytic;
in Jesus,
that rest you have after creating
everything in Genesis
has become a reality
with his gift of forgiveness
and reconciliation
to everyone as experienced by
the paralytic in today's gospel;
O dearest Lord Jesus,
help me to rise again
by picking up the pieces of my life
made whole in you again
filled with your breath,
filled with your life,
soundly at rest
in your love
and mercy.
Amen.

We are partners of Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Week I in Ordinary Time, Year I, 16 January 2025
Hebrews 3:17-14 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 1:40-45

*Photo from Fatima Tribune, Red Wednesday at the Angel of Peace Chapel, Our Lady of Fatima University, 27 November 2024.*

Encourage yourselves daily while it is still “today,” so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin. We have become partners of Christ only if we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end (Hebrews 3:13-14).

Let us not waste
the present moment,
the "today", 
Lord Jesus
to be faithful and true to you
always;
may we not imitate
the Israelites at Meribah and Massah
where they tested God though
they have seen his works;
soften our hearts
and open them
to your truth, Jesus
that we may not turn like
the Jewish Christians 
to whom this letter
was addressed 
because they could not accept
you as the Christ,
the Messiah.

In this time when your
most holy name dear Jesus
is being mocked and laughed
at by those supposed to be
learned and sophisticated,
make us realize the fact
there are so many things in this
world and universe still so beyond
our knowing nor understanding;
instead of disregarding
and ignoring you among us,
may we acknowledge
your presence in the many 
instances of grace and 
salvation in life; 
teach us to turn to you more
often, Lord Jesus
as your part-ners,
that is, part of your very self
because without you,
we are incomplete;
open our eyes so we may
meet you especially when
you go out of your way
to find us in our alienation
and sin
as well as darkness and sufferings
like that leper you have healed;
make us ponder more deeply
your realities
and mystery, Jesus
as we follow your instruction
to be silent and to go
to the temple
to the church
to pray more,
to listen more
to your instructions.
Amen.

*Photo by author, Mt. St. Paul Spirituality Center, Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 04 January 2025.*

Ordinarily extraordinary

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Week I in Ordinary Time, Year I, 13 January 2025
Hebrews 1:1-6 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 1:14-20

*Photo by author, Mt. St. Paul Spirutality Center, Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 04 January 2025.*

Brothers and sisters: In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through the Son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe, who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word (Hebrews 1:1-3).

O how lovely and so deep,
dear God are your words 
on this first day of Ordinary Time;
they are so touching and personal
yet very ordinary,
common,
and typical.

That is how we take the word
"ordinary" so often -
lacking in special or 
distinctive features
that we take for granted 
anything ordinary
because it is...
ordinary.

Maybe this is the reason why we
find it so hard to really believe
in you, Father;
when you sent us your Son,
Jesus Christ, the "refulgence" or
reflection of your glory and
"imprint" of your being,
we find him so ordinary 
because we wanted someone more,
someone bombastic,
someone so different from us,
not so like us
because we feel so ordinary.

It is so funny and silly
of us, God, that we 
cannot accept you in Jesus
who became human like us,
who chose to be ordinary,
preferring to be poor than rich,
simple than complicated
yet so kind, so very much akin to us
in everything except sin;
instead of being honored
and grateful in your choosing
to be ordinary like us,
we rejected him
and us in the process.

Open our minds and our hearts
to your coming to us in Jesus like
the brothers Simon and Andrew,
James and John
who left everything behind to follow
Jesus whom they have found to be
extraordinarily ordinary;
may we find meaning in life
in Jesus your Son in whom
the ordinary is actually the
orderly order of things in life
with you Father always above all.
Amen.

*Photo by author, sunrise at Mt. St. Paul Spirituality Center, Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 06 January 2025.*

When Jesus echoes our words

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday After the Epiphany, 10 January 2025
1 John 5:5-13     ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*>     Luke 5:12-16

*Photo by author, Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2025.*

(Hello my dear friends and relatives, especially followers: still, a blessed Merry Christmas to you all! I have gone to an extended vacation for much needed rest and recreation; haven’t been writing at all to truly enjoy the rare cold weather and new sites I have been to. See you soon and God bless you always!)

How fast time flies,
Lord Jesus!
It is again the new year
and soon, January will be over;
as I look back to 2024,
You were always there with me,
for me,
as You never left me, Lord;
like in our gospel today,
many times You made ways
to meet me head on, 
dear Jesus;
how lovely to remember
and to keep in mind
and heart how You,
dear Jesus,
would echo my prayers,
my silent wishes
and desires.

It happened there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded to him, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I do will it. Be made clean.” And the leprosy left him immediately (Luke 5:12-13).

Many times,
I meet You Jesus
when I am most dirty,
most embarrassing,
most shameful,
when I am like a leper -
sick and lost,
rejected by everyone,
dejected in myself;
still, You were there
with your outstretched arms,
touching me,
embracing me.

Most of all,
echoing my very words,
my silent wishes,
my cries.

When You echo my words,
my thoughts
and my feelings
that many times I am afraid to
speak out loudly,
I feel so free and liberated
from my own leprosy;
when You echo my words,
You assure me You always listen;
when You echo my words,
You answer my prayers,
dear Jesus.

And so,
I pray today Jesus
that in my very self
I may echo
 Your loving presence
to those most in need,
to those forgotten
and taken for granted.
Amen.

*Photo by author, Northern Blossom Farm, Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.*

Advent as a dialogue leading to Christmas, the presence of God

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Simbang Gabi-5 Homily, 20 December 2024
Isaiah 7:10-14     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     Luke 1:26-38

*Photo by Mr. Boy Cabrido, National Shrine of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, QC, 16 December 2024.*

Last Monday at the start of Simbang Gabi, one of our priests became viral when at the recessional of their Mass while the choir was joyfully singing “Pasko na! Pasko na!”, he sarcastically sang “Hindi pa! Hindi pa!”

Many people laughed at the viral video with some commenting that Father was right because it wasn’t Christmas yet while a liturgist advised choirs to check the many choices of Advent songs now available online. But, sad to say, the people missed the whole point of the incident.

What our brother-priest did was not funny at all in putting to shame his own choir members and most of all, in destroying the solemnity of the Mass.

And the problem was not really the choir at all but the priest himself. What the priest did at the end of the Mass was a self-indictment of his lack of formation for his choir members and of any dialogue at all.

*Photo by author, Advent in previous parish, 2018.*

Advent is a dialogue between God and humans that led to the presence of God among us in Jesus Christ on Christmas. It is a process that continues in our own time as we are all called to be open to God and with others for dialogue like Mary in the annunciation of Christ’s birth by Archangel Gabriel.

Dialogue is more than conversing to improve relationships among people in a community or organization but a way of being with others as opposed to a way of thinking through issues and problems only. Dialogue is being present with others, of giving one’s self to feel and listen and experience the other person.

Luke shows us in his second Christmas story today how this true meaning of dialogue between God and Mary happened.

In the sixth month, 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 of her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! Then Lord is with you.” But she was greatloy troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God… But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God” (Luke 1:26-30, 34-37).

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

See the artistry and genius of Luke as a storyteller. Yesterday he presented to us the annunciation of the birth of John the Baptist to his father Zechariah while incensing the Holy of Holies in the temple of Jerusalem.

Notice the great differences in the flow of conversations and dialogue in the two annunciations narrated by Luke. Both Zechariah and Mary were troubled at the coming of the angel. And who would not be in a such unprecedented event? However, there is one minute detail we find in Luke’s narration of the two annunciations that reveal something so big and deep in meaning.

According to Luke, “Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him” (Lk. 1:12) while Mary “was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be” (Lk. 1:29). Both were troubled which is normal but their reactions differed so great with Zechariah becoming proud while Mary was humbled.

I believe that it was more than their age and differences in social status that Zechariah was simply “troubled” while Mary was “greatly troubled” but it was largely due to their dispositions and openness to God.

Zechariah was proud of his stature and of his intelligence, trying to take hold and control of everything that is why he was seized with fear. When he told the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years” (Lk.1:18), Zechariah was troubled and fearful because he felt challenged as a priest much respected in the community, choosing to stand proud of his position and intelligence as if having a child is all an effort of man and woman alone! There was no dialogue as Zechariah was proud that is why he was made mute by the angel. He had forgotten all about God!

*Photo by author, Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth, Israel, May 2019.*

Compare Mary’s reaction to the annunciation, “But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.”

Luke always portrayed Mary as the listener and doer of the word, the one who ponders at the words spoken to her not only by the angel here but later at the birth of Jesus those spoken by the shepherds, then by Simeon at the Presentation and by Jesus Himself at the wedding in Cana. Mary has always been open to dialogue, to feeling the other person conversing with her. She was not concerned only with the news and information but with the persons involved.

In that sense, there is her remarkable humility and great courage at the same time. True humility is not really about being submissive but most of all being filled with courage, not with fear. Mary as the very young virgin from a poor family in a town nobody gave importance stood fearless before the angel as she took hold of herself to ponder on the words spoken to her. Despite the very unprecedented moment with an angel, Mary had that inner engagement with the words she had just heard without any violent reactions.

Unlike Zechariah, Mary was the one actually in control of herself and of her emotions. The Jedi Master Yoda of Star Wars said it so well, “fear leads to anger, anger leads to destruction”. Zechariah was afraid of losing power and control but Mary was not bothered at all. In fact, she faced the challenge head on, reflecting deep in her what is this going on? Am I awake, is this a dream would most likely be the words playing in her mind and heart. Mary had presence as she tried to feel the angel and later God that no wonder, Jesus came to her womb and we have Christmas!

The humility and courage of Mary became more evident when she said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”

She was not afraid at all to be become the Mother of God! There was already her willingness to submit, as if telling the angel, “OK let’s do it but tell me how?” whereas Zechariah was argumentative, trying to escape responsibilities? Such was the attitude too of Ahaz in the first reading, denying he won’t test God when in fact he had already aligned with other kings in the region as he feared the invading enemies near his borders.

It was at this moment when the good news became most closest to us through Mary when the angel explained of the coming of the Holy Spirit, of how the power of God would overshadow her, assuring her that nothing is impossible with God.

How wonderful is this scene for us to emulate Mary so that we experience Christmas daily in our lives, not only of God coming but being present in us and among us. Can we dare to be open before God like Mary? Have a blessed Friday!

*Photo by author, Fatima Avenue, Valenzuela City, December 2024.*

Advent is living the future in the present moment

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Memorial of Our Lady of Gudalupe, 12 December 2024
Revelation 11:19, 12:1-6, 10 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Luke 1:39-47

*Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com*

O most Blessed Virgin Mary
of Guadalupe,
patroness of the Americas and the Philippines,
you appeared in Mexico in a very crucial
moment in history when the world was
expanding its horizon and reach,
when powers were consolidating,
with so many new things being learned
and discovered, a period of great
advancements but also of moral decay
when people and their lives were
taken for granted.

Like during that time,
many people are suffering today
not only from sickness, poverty and illiteracy
but also from lack of respect for life,
the prevalence of a culture of death
versus the culture of life;
what a beautiful image you presented
yourself to St. Juan Diego and us,
dear Lady of Guadalupe 
so that we may always value every 
human person especially those at
their weakest stages of infancy
and old age, of being indigenous,
of being poor and disadvantaged.

At the Annunciation of the Lord's birth,
you already lived the future birth of Christ
in the present moment as your words
 to the Angel attested to this truth:
"Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word"
(Luke 1:38).

Let us live the gospel now
amid our joyful expectations
of Christ's Second Coming
by allowing the transforming
presence of Jesus work in us
and among us to make true
the voices heard by John in heaven:
"Now have salvation 
and power come,
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed"
(Revelation 12:10).
Amen.

We are an offering

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Memorial of the Presentations of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 21 November 2024
Zechariah 2:14-17 <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]*> Matthew 12:46-50

*Photo from https://www.vaticannews.va/en/liturgical-holidays/presentation-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-.html*

God our loving Father,
on this memorial of the
Presentation of the Blessed
Virgin Mary,
we offer ourselves too
to you, our Lord and Master.

May our lives always reflect
the joys of being your children
like the festive mood of the first reading
when you told Israel to
"sing and rejoice" on their liberation
from bondage; may we always realize
the great honor and privilege of being
your children through Jesus Christ who
became one of us so that we may
become like Him.

Most of all,
like Mary our Mother,
may we offer ourselves totally
to your loving service
by listening, dwelling,
and acting on your words;
may our lives be an "enfleshing"
an "enfleshment" of your word
so that it is You dear Jesus
who is seen and experienced
through us like Mary.
Amen.