The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul Tuesday, 05 March 2019, Week VIII, Year I Sirach 35:1-12///Mark 10:28-31
Sunrise at Lake of Galilee, the Holy Land. Photo by the author, April 2017.
Lord Jesus Christ, you know very well our favorite expression in Filipino “walang wala ako” whenever we do not feel like helping somebody in need especially if it is money.
We always say it to show how poor we are, that we literally have nothing at all. And you know as we also know very well that it is not true at all.
Forgive us in professing that absolute lie for if ever we possess no wealth at all when our hands are totally empty of anything, we still have those hands to share and reach out to anyone in need.
Help us heed Ben Sirach’s admonition,
“Appear not before the Lord empty handed, for all that you offer is a fulfillment the precepts… Give to the Most High as he has given you, generously, according to your means. For the Lord is one who alwaysrepays and he will give back to you sevenfold.”
(Sir. 35:4, 9-10)
Let us not be like Simon Peter who sometimes feel bragging about our sacrifices and offerings for everything we have is not ours but all yours.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-04 ng Marso 2019
Kuwaresma.
Kuwarenta dias ng paghahanda Bawat araw balot ng hiwaga Ng mga salita nagmumula Sa ating Bathala.
Apatnapung araw ng pagtitiis Maraming naiinis, naiinip Ayaw subukang namnamin ang tamis Dahil ang lahat ay pinabibilis.
Ang susi ay naroon sa ating budhi Kung tayo ay makapananatili ng ilang sandali Sa bawat araw ng ating paglagi Kapiling ating Hari na kanyang sarili ibinahagi.
Tuwing kuwaresma Ating kinukuwenta mga ligayang ipinauubaya Ngunit di natin alintana Biyaya at pagpapala kapag tayo’y nagpaparaya.
Akala kasi natin tayo ay nawawalan Sa paghuhunos dili, pag-aayuno At iba pang mga gawain ng kabanalan Gayong ang totoo, napupuno tayo ng Espiritu Santo.
Kung tutuusi'y isang munting Kuwaresma Itong ating buhay araw-araw Ating pananaw namumulat na pinakamahalaga Hindi ang ating taglay kungdi ang ating inaalay at binibigay.
Good morning Lord Jesus Christ. It’s the Monday rush again, as well as the Monday blues. So often on Mondays, we feel like that young man in the gospel coming to you, praying and pleading to you with our life’s many concerns and baggages.
And you are always there present with us and for us, never failing to look at us full of love and compassion.
What a lovely scene we fail to recognize because our faces fell as we hurriedly went away sad from you. We never bothered to even look at you because we are so occupied with our very selves!
Allow us to pause a little, to glance at your loving face, especially those going through many difficulties like medical procedures of surgery, chemotheraphy, dialysis, or physical theraphy. We pray also for those burdened with so many problems with their very self or family members, with work and career, with finances and everything.
You know very well, O Lord whats eating us up inside, what’s bothering us as you could always see our sad faces so focused on the darkness within us and around us. Give us the grace to just turn a little and look at your face, see your glow, and feel the warmth of your presence. In that way, we can slowly return to you and completely trust in you again. Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.
It’s a very beautiful Sunday, the first in this month of March.
I have been thinking of so many other songs that best capture our reflection for the Sunday gospel which is about education of the heart when Jesus said, “A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks” (Lk.6:45).
Our heart is the core of our person and that is why it is called “corazon” in Spanish from the Latin “cor”. And the best way to understand it is to simply feel what is inside.
Can we really look inside one’s heart as David Benoit said?
The French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote that “the heart has its own reasons that the mind can never understand.”
Another Frenchman, the aviator and writer Antoine de St. Exupery expressed in his book “The Little Prince” that “what is essential is invisible to the eye; it is only with the heart one can truly see.”
And so, I have decided this Sunday to share with you the music of the Swedish pop singer Orup (Thomas Eriksson) called “The Keys to Your Heart” released in 1991. I can’t find its lyrics but that’s the key to our heart – just feel the music and enjoy!
A view from the inside of the Church of the Beatitudes overlooking the Lake of Galilee in the Holy Land. Photo by the author, April 2017.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe, 03 March 2019, Week VIII, Year-C 1Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23///1Corinthians 15:45-49///Luke 6:27-38
For the past two Sundays we have been listening to some of Christ’s most sublime teachings filled with paradoxes that may sound like a folly for us humans because they all run contrary to the ways of the world. Beginning with His Beatitudes, Jesus taught that true blessedness comes from being poor and hungry, when we are weeping and being maligned. More difficult yet most sublime of all were His teachings last Sunday when He told us to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, and pray for those who mistreat us.
They are very, very difficult but doable in Christ Jesus who have taken all these lessons directly from life. He knows very well how capable is our hearts in truly loving like Him.
And so today, Jesus turns His attention to us His disciples who shall act as guides in putting into practice all His teachings through the education of our hearts. It is in our hearts where all the good and evils around us originate from. All the problems and sufferings we have in the world today like wars and various forms of violence, hunger and sexual exploitation, human trafficking and all kinds of injustice first happen right in our hearts. Not in Syria or Jolo or the slums of Tondo or any other city in the world. Jesus perfectly hit it right when He said, “A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks” (Lk.6:45).
In the first reading we find the same line of thinking during the Old Testament when Ben Sirach wrote, “When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear; so do one’s faults when he speaks. As the test of what the potter molds is in the furnace, so in tribulation is the test of the just. The fruit of a tree shows the care it has had; so too does one’s speech disclose the bent of one’s mind. Praise no one before he speaks, for it is then that people are tested” (Sir.27:4-7). Remember that in the Bible, speech and being always go together like when God created everything by simply speaking.
And that is the whole point of Ben Sirach: people reveal who they really are in the manner they speak as well as in the words they use to express their thoughts and feelings that all come from the heart. Of all the creation by God, it is only the human person whom He had gifted with the ability to communicate intelligibly with speech. Our ability to speak is in fact a sharing in the power of God who created everything by simply speaking. But how do we use this great power of speech and communication? Are we like the Spiderman convinced in our hearts that with great power comes great responsibility?
It is elections again in the country and sadly, it is more like a circus than a democratic process. And the great tragedy we keep on repeating again and again is how most people put into office candidates without any qualifications at all and worst, deeply mired in every form of immorality and scandals. Where is our heart that we allow blind people to lead us? Or, have we become heartless that we have no regard anymore for our country, for our future and the next generation?
Jesus is challenging us today to educate our hearts, to learn from Him, to come to Him and be like Him to have our hearts transformed like unto Him. Though we are all weak and have all the defects as a person, our readings today lead us to the Christ who revealed to us that ultimately, “communication is more than the expression of one’s thoughts and feelings but at its most profound level is the giving of self in love” (Communio et Progression, 11). It is the Lord Jesus Christ who had revealed in His very person and life of self-giving the paradoxical joy of discipleship, the transforming power of love gained in His own pasch that removed the sting of sin and of death in our weak humanity. May we persevere in our education of our hearts in Jesus, “firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in Him our labor is not in vain” (1Cor.15:58). Amen. Have a blessed week!
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.
Here is the link to one of my favorite songs, “One More Gift” by Jesuit Fr. Manoling Francisco that speaks eloquently of the need to educate our hearts. Sing it prayerfully.
I have been dreaming of former classmates lately. Last Tuesday night I dreamt of a classmate in high school seminary now a priest but have not seen in months. Later that day I met another classmate, told him of my dream, and inquired about him. Unfortunately, he has not seen him too for so long though he presumed he must be doing well in the ministry.
Thursday morning upon waking up, I was thinking hard for the possible meaning of another dream I had the night before about my two seatmates in elementary school. Two dreams in a row about three good, old friends very much still alive but have not seen for so long. And how ironic that until now, I have not reached out to them personally or through the many social media platforms available except for a Facebook post that Thursday morning for a possible explanation about my two dreams!
That is the great irony – or, tragedy of our time when we have all modern means of communications that include extensive road networks and yet we could not even get in touch with those people dear to us. See the simplicity of Jesus Christ in calling us his friends: on the night he was betrayed during supper, he told his disciples, “You are my friends if you do what I command you (i.e., love one another). I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father” (Jn.15:14,15).
Jesus does not need to dial numbers, text SMS, compose emails, or send invitations in Facebook to become friends with us. Jesus simply reveals to us in the most personal manner everything the Father wants to tell us and right away, we are already friends! Of course, it would be difficult to enumerate everything that the Father had told Jesus to relay to us but the greatest of these is the fact that God loves us very, very much. Period.
That is the greatest thing Jesus had achieved in his coming to us by bringing God closest to us by speaking straight to us by himself of his love, his mercy, his forgiveness, and his plans for us. That is one of the great joys of friendship when we talk straight, speak our hearts out freely to our friends without any fears of being rejected or misunderstood. There is always that sense of respect for the other person as a subject to be loved and cherished, not an object to be possessed and used like tools and gadgets.
In our mass-mediated culture, expressing our true feelings to our friends have become more complicated as we become less personal in our relationships. How I hate it when some people would always invite me for breakfast or lunch in some expensive restaurants or hotels only to ask some special favors after the meal that I feel like throwing out the food I have ingested! It is not social grace to treat people to fine dining or gift them with expensive or special things only to ask for some favors in the end. That is corruption or bribery. Simply put, it is lack of respect especially if done by people we regard as friends.
Going back to that Last Supper scene with Jesus Christ when he called us his friends, notice the word “friend”: there is only one letter that makes the difference to make it mean exactly the opposite, “fiend”. It is the letter “r” that stands for respect, from two Latin terms that literally mean “to look again”. To respect is to look again at another human as a person with equal dignity as yourself. Respect is the starting point of love that cannot exist in any situation where there is inequality or feelings of superiority over another person.
Our words coming from our hearts are some of the most wonderful things that create true and lasting friendships. The rest are the actions expressed when these words run out.
“Hapag ng Pag-Asa” by the late Joey Velasco. From Google.
Thank you very much, O God, in giving us this weekend to examine and test our hearts about our relationships and friendships.
How nice of you to speak about “tests” in our Mass readings today:
In the first reading, you ask us to “first test a friend and be not too ready to trust him” (Sir. 6:7).
It is sad, O Lord, that in this age of Facebook and social media, friends have become numbers and status symbol for our popularity than persons to be loved and cherished as gifts from you. To test a friend means to see to it that in our relationships, we do not regard each other as objects to be possessed like things.
Too often, this happens when we disguise as testing you like the Pharisees in the gospel who asked you, “Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?” (Mk.10:2)
How funny, O Lord, that in testing you, we end up being tested about the friendships and relationships we keep!
And so many times, we fail because we have removed you from the many ties that bind us.
Teach us, O Lord, today to always see you in every person we meet, in every relationship we keep. Guide us in the way of your commands that we live together in love and unity as brothers and sisters, never allowing our selfish interests to separate us from one another. Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.
“Wisdom breathes life into her children and admonishes those who seek her. He who loves her loves life; those who seek her will be embraced by the Lord” (Sir.4:11-12).
Forgive us, Lord Jesus, when there are times we think more about our various affiliations like religion that we forget the need for communion of minds and hearts in you.
Like John in the gospel, there are times we feel so entitled in life simply because we are with you, believing that we have the monopoly of doing what is right and what is good.
Instead of building bridges so we could be linked together as one, we put up walls that confine us with our own group but apart from others.
Enlighten us O Lord with your wisdom, finding the great truth that God dwells within each one of us despite our many differences in color and creed.
Give us your grace of wisdom and truth, fill us with your life so we may share your life freely with one another.
May God our Father embrace us with His great love and wisdom to drive away the demons and evil within us that keep us apart. Amen.Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.
Last Wednesday evening I visited to anoint with oil one of your beloved poor patients in the government hospital. She died eventually two days after.
But what remained etched in my memory was the sight of some children crying in pain at the emergency room.
I have always wondered how difficult it must be for children to be sick when they cannot speak of what they feel that they simply cry and hold on to their mother and maybe trust her and the doctors attending.
“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me” (Mk.9:37).
Give me O Lord that same grace of children to suffer and bear all pains.
Teach me O Lord “to trust God and wait for His mercy, hope in Him and love in Him so my heart may be enlightened” (Sir.2:6-9).Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.
Life, sometimes, is a series of “good news-bad news” situation like the Beatitudes preached by Jesus during His sermon on the plain last week: the blessings are the good news while the woes are the bad news.
But, wait…! Such a view is the way of the world, not of Christ’s disciples!
As we have reflected last Sunday, the Beatitudes are the paradoxical happiness of the disciples of Christ because they all run directly against the ways of the world. Today we hear more paradoxical teachings from Jesus that are actually His “win-win” solution for our many problems like wars and other forms of enmities. Unfortunately, we have never given them a try because we always complain the ways of the Lord as being far from realities of life, impossible to imitate because He is God and we are not.
Today let us set aside all these reservations and arguments to reflect on this new set of paradoxical teachings by the Lord: Jesus said to his disciples: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies.od to those who hate you, bless those who curse, pray for those who mistreat you… But rather, love your enemies and do good to them. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. For the measure with which you measure will in turn be measured out to you” (Lk.6:27-28, 35, 36, 38).
It is very striking that Jesus repeated twice His call to “love your enemies”.
Does He not care about us who have to bear with the sins of evil people? What a good news to those who hate us, curse us, and mistreat us! Suwerte sila! We would surely say they must be so lucky, even blessed with us who strive to heed the calls of Jesus to love them our enemies.
But, on deeper reflections, we are actually more blessed when we try to love our enemies because that is when we elevate – or “level up” as kids would say – our hearts to be merciful like God. Experts claim that the best way to exact revenge against people who have hurt us is to shower them with good deeds and kindness from us they have offended. According to these experts in counselling and psychology, evil people get disappointed and angrier with themselves when their evil plots fail especially when their targets do not react negatively. They sound understandable because evil people derive joy in making people miserable. So, why be miserable?
Far from being their “punching bag”, the Lord simply wants us to teach our enemies to respect us, to be kind to us by not being like themselves. In loving our enemies, we teach evil people that more powerful than sin is the power of love. Sin and evil consume a person while love and kindness make a person grow and mature and bloom to fullness.
Far from being passive, to love our enemies by returning evil with good is always the most active method in fighting sins. When Jesus asked us to offer the other side of our cheeks to those who slap our face or when we give them our tunic when they demand our cloak, we are showing these evil people that love is never exhausted unlike evil. Love is boundless and the more we love, the more we have it, the more we keep on doing it. Evil, on the other hand, reaches a saturation point that we get fed up with it, then we we stop doing it because it is exhausting and worst, consumes us within that in the
process destroys us. Think of the most evil person you have known and surely, you find that person so ugly, so zapped of life and energy, eaten up from within by a festering wound. Evil people will never have peace and joy within, glow on their face and skin because they are rotting inside like zombies.
In the first reading we heard how David as a type of Christ foregoing vengeance by holding on to God, trusting Him completely that he chose not to strike King Saul who was then trying to kill him out of jealousy. As disciples of the Lord, we have to trust in the Word of God that can transform our hearts of stone into natural hearts filled with love and mercy like Him. This is the point being explained by St. Paul in the second reading wherein Christ as the “second Adam from heaven” had made us bear the “heavenly image”despite our “earthly image” that is weak and sinful having come from the “first Adam from earth”. Through Baptism, we have been endowed with all the necessary grace from God, transforming us into better persons of heaven.
One of my favorite sayings came from the desk of a friend of mine I used to visit in their office that says “If you have love in your heart, you have been blessed by God; if you have been loved, you have been touched by God.”
See how God has loved us so immensely without measure! Remember that scene two Sundays ago when Jesus borrowed the boat of Simon as He would do with our voice, with our hands, with our total selves? Who are we or what do we really have and own that the almighty God would borrow from us? Nothing! Yet, Jesus comes to us daily with all His love without measure to bless us with everything we need. So, who are we now to love by measuring everything, loving only those who love us, lending only to those who could repay us?
Imagine how astonishingly disproportionate is the love of God with our kind of love. It is in this light must we see the meaning of Christ’s final lesson this Sunday: “For the measure with which you measure will in turn be measured out to you.” So paradoxical and provocative yet so true! This Sunday, may we share God’s love in our hearts with others, especially with our enemies so they may also experience the loving and merciful touch of God. Then we begin to realize too the “win-win” solution of Christ to humanity. Amen.Have a blessed week!Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.
Side garden of the Church of the Beatitudes with the Lake of Galilee at the background. Photo by the author, April 2017.
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