Mary Is the True Miss Universe

The Lord Is My Chef Simbang Gabi Recipe-5

20 December 2018

Isaiah 7:10-14///Luke 1:26-38

Allow me to join the jubilation over our very own Ms. Catriona Gray’s winning of the Miss Universe 2018 title last Monday in Thailand. As usual, I did not see it but cannot resist checking the news as everybody talked about her beauty and grace, and most especially her intelligence. Though I have not seen the other candidates and their performances, I am very convinced she rightly deserves the title especially with her answer to the final question given her. One quality I like most with Ms. Gray is her being filled with enthusiasm that was very evident with the way she projected herself, exuding with good vibes and life. Enthusiasm is from two Greek words “en theos” that mean to be filled with God – like the Blessed Virgin Mary who is “full of grace and the Lord is with her” (Lk.1:28).

On this fifth day of our Simbang Gabi we hear the second story by St. Luke of how the first Christmas happened. He tells us how six months after announcing to Zechariah the coming of their son John, the angel Gabriel went to Nazareth to announce the good news of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ to the Blessed Virgin Mary who was betrothed to St. Joseph. Unlike Zechariah who doubted the angel’s message, Mary was more open with her response by asking how it would all take place. 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” (Lk.1:35).

Last Monday we have reflected how St. Matthew ended his story of the genealogy of Jesus Christ with Mary to show her as the new beginning of everything in the world. Through Mary’s giving birth to Jesus, we now share with Him one common origin in faith who is God as our Father so that despite our many sins and failures, we are given with a fresh start, new opportunities in life daily. St. Luke bolsters this today with his account of the annunciation of the birth of Jesus to Mary. As a Jew, Mary must be totally aware of the words of the angel about herself being “overshadowed by the Most High” like in the Old Testament stories of God’s presence in the cloud during their journey in the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt. Even Moses could not enter the tent when “the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Ex.40:34-38). To be filled and overshadowed by the presence of God is to be to be possessed by God and eventually to be transformed by God. Remember how in the movie “The Ten Commandments” when the face of Moses was transformed after meeting God. The three synoptic gospels record a similar incident of God’s presence in a cloud hovering with Jesus during His transfiguration at Mount Tabor witnessed by Peter, James and John. The two great prophets of Israel were there, Elijah and Moses conversing with Jesus when a cloud overshadowed them with a voice declaring “this is my beloved Son, listen to Him.”

Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us how the apostles were all terrified at the sight of the Transfiguration. And we can also surmise how terrifying it must be to experience God’s presence, to be filled with God. But that is how grace works! After seeing our own limitations and yet we are still able to forge on, to achieve greater things, it is God working in us. This is the reason that St. Luke tells us how the angel greeted Mary during the annunciation using the Greek words “kaire” which is to rejoice and “charis” or “karis” for grace: “Hail (or rejoice), full of grace! The Lord is with you” (Lk.1:28). Wherever and whenever there is grace, surely there is rejoicing. We rejoice in the winning of Ms. Catriona Gray as Miss Universe because it is indeed a grace she had received as an individual and for us as a nation plagued with so much sufferings and miseries. The late American spiritual writer and monk Thomas Merton rightly said, “We live in a time of no room, which is the time of the end. The time when everyone is obsessed with lack of time, lack of space, with saving time, conquering space… The primordial blessing, ‘increase and multiply’ has suddenly become a hemorrhage of terror… In the time of the end there is no longer room for the desire to go on living. Why? Because they are part of a proliferation of life that is not fully alive, it is programmed for death” (Raids on the Unspeakable, pp. 70-72).

Advent is the time to get real, to stop pretending. Advent is the time for us to finally admit our own limitations, to create a space in our hearts and in our lives to let God fill us, to let God possess us. Like Mary, can we allow God’s power to hover over us and do the same to renew our lives in welcoming Jesus Christ? Like the question posed to Ms. Gray, think of the many instances in your life where you have learned your most important lessons in life and most surely like her, these were also the moments we have faced or seen many hardships and sufferings yet, instead of being down, they have inspired us, they have transformed us into better persons. It is here where I admired most Ms. Gray when she said how the slums of Tondo made her look among the poor children for beauty, to see the silver linings, and still be grateful. What a beautiful soul indeed – something like our Blessed Virgin Mary who told the angel, “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Let us now open our hearts to God so the Holy Spirit may hover us, fill us with Jesus Christ. AMEN. Fr.NicanorF.LalogII,Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, .Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan

*Photo by my former student at ICSB, Arch. Philip Santiago, mosaic of the Annunciation to Mary at the San Giovanni Rotondo Church, Italy, October 2018. Used with permission.

Advent is the Comfort of God

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Tuesday, 11 December 2018, Advent Week 2

Isaiah 40:1-11///Matthew 18:12-14

I can strongly feel your words today, God our loving Father: “Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; indeed, she has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins.” (Is.40:1-2)

If there is one thing I long for today, Lord, one thing I strongly desire from you is comfort. I am so tired and exhausted. Nobody seem to care at all for your ways or for what is good except for what is self-serving. Deafening and maddening are the cacophony of so many voices shouting for what should be, insisting on everyone’s own idea of what is good that at the moment it is better to be silent in your presence.

Strengthen me, Almighty God, for that is what comfort is, “cum fortis” – with strength. Give me comfort to carry on, to strive, to be patient, to bear all pains in silence so that in due time as you shall will, I may rise to strike in your perfect time my enemies who try to divide your flock.

Like your Son our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, give me determination to seek the lost and the tenderness to carry them back on my shoulders to your fold. AMEN.Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II,Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria,Bulacan 3022.

*Photo by Jim Marpa, 2018. Used with permission.

LMC

Advent Is Time to Wake Up, to Rise and Walk in Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Monday, 10 December 2018, Advent Week 2

Isaiah 35:1-10///Luke 5:17-26

As morning breaks on this first working day of the second week of Advent, I echo O Lord Jesus the joyful words of the people of your time,“We have seen incredible things today.” (Lk.5:26)

It is so incredible Lord that in this season of Advent as I try to befriend my inner self in the spirit of prayer and silence, as I try to accept all of me, my worth and unworthiness, the more you are amazingly loving and kind to me. I feel both like the paralyzed and those men in the gospel today who broke the roof of the house where you were staying so they could lower before you their sick friend. And the first words that came from you were not about healing but forgiveness! Most of all, you have forgiven the sick man after you have seen the faith of the friends who have taken apart the roof of your house. What a way of creating a room for you, Lord Jesus!

Teach me to be daring like them in creating a space for you by taking apart the many sins and pretensions I use to cover myself. Help me to take apart the various insecurities where I hide myself that prevent me from meeting you, from welcoming you into my life. So many times, Jesus, you know how I just sleepwalk in my being a Christian when I think I am radically living as your disciple when in fact I am just dreaming, just sleeping.

Teach me to abandon myself to you Lord, to relinquish all false securities that the world offers me. Most of all, let me abandon those thoughts I have about you that are not so you at all, those ideas I have about God like the scribes and Pharisees who have usurped upon themselves the standards of what is holy and not, of what is right or wrong. Let me start living in your pasch, unafraid of being vulnerable and weak so I can rise and walk again, freed from sins and infirmities. AMEN.Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II,Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria,Bulacan 3022.

*Photo by Jim Marpa, 2018. Used with permission.

LMC

Advent Is Creating A Room for God In My Life

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The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe

Advent-2, Year C, 09 December 2018

Baruch 5:1-9//Philippians 1;4-6, 8-11//Luke 3:1-6

I must confess that I am also guilty of getting into the so-called “Christmas rush” that is totally empty of Jesus Christ. No, I am not a “shopaholic” but this early I am already so stressed out with my toxic schedules of activities for the coming Christmas. And that is when God in His amazing ways intervened by totally cutting me off from the “loop” to redirect me to the spirit of Advent that calls us to create a room for Christ’s coming. It started two weeks ago when our internet connection became erratic which we thought was just normal in our country so notorious for its dismal internet services. But when I could no longer connect with the internet for my work last Tuesday and Wednesday for my talks, classes and blogs, we called a technician to fix the bugs, only to be told that the problem is my nine year-old Sony Vaio that needs to be upgraded or totally replaced. My first reaction was to replace the technician but it was the first time I really felt to be out of the web that can be alienating and even debilitating. That was when I realized to pray more, to fast from social media and modern communications, hoping to find Jesus Christ anew in my additional periods of prayer and silence. It was also at that time when my Ninong and Ninang came from the US to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary at the church where they got married with me as the priest-presider. After the reception, they asked me to go with them to their hotel where they surprised me with a Christmas gift, a new laptop computer! See how God works in amazing ways if we give Him a room in our lives; my plan was to get a new computer next year but here is God sending me one from heaven right on my lap in the most perfect time.

“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysania was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Lk.3:1-3).”

Every time, every moment is a perfect time for God to come but, do we have a room for Him in our lives? Luke presents us today the setting of the first coming of Jesus Christ more than 2000 years ago. Times may have changed but the situation and feelings remain the same to this day when God comes to us right in the midst of our present situation, whether in our personal lives or in our political world or religious set up. There is always that voice in the wilderness calling us to repent and prepare His way, His coming. In the first Sunday of Advent last week, we reflected how this season of preparation is the presence of God which we can truly experience when we dare to open ourselves to Him in prayer and silence. On this Second Sunday of Advent, our readings deepen this reflection of finding the presence of God by having a room or space for Him in our hearts and in our lives.

According to the late American Neal A. Maxwell who was an Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, “Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus.” What a beautiful insight that is very true! We need to create a space and room in ourselves – more than just merely opening – to welcome Jesus Christ’s intense presence in our lives these days! With all hyperrevolution now happening in our midst due to modern means of communications that have greatly affected our lives, the more we need to experience Christ’s intense presence so that we are not only informed and formed but most of all transformed like during the time of John the Baptizer. Every year, the second and third Sundays of Advent are always about the preaching of John the Baptist which is essentially about the coming of Jesus Christ.

The key here is the intense presence of Jesus Christ not only in us but also in the world. The detailed reportorial by Luke of the setting of Christ’s coming over 2000 years ago suggests the integration of salvation history with secular history of all peoples. Christ has come and Christ will come again though Christ had never left us but remains with us in the present. We have just celebrated the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception that reminds us of God’s presence amid man’s absence. We become absent to God when we sin like Adam who hid from God after eating the forbidden fruit. We fail to meet and experience God in His power and grace when we are absent to Him as we prefer to spend more time with things of the world than of heaven. We become absent from God when we refuse to abandon our sinful ways or when we have stopped to hope for any change and salvation coming from God with whom nothing is impossible. This Sunday, let us intensify the presence of God by creating a room, creating a space in our hearts and in our lives where Jesus may dwell and reign to direct our lives like John the Baptizer who went to desert to fast and create a space in himself and in his life for Christ. It is impossible to meet God when we are so filled with things of the world and of ourselves. God has many plans for us in Jesus that He sent Him to us but He cannot do anything if we do not let Him into our lives. St. Paul tells us in the second reading that he is “confident” or sure that God will fulfill his promise that every man and woman shall see “the salvation of God” (Lk. 3:6). Let us continue to dare on this second Sunday of Advent to open ourselves to God by creating a room for Him in our hearts and in our lives and allow Him to take possession of us like what Baruch prophesied in the first reading when Jerusalem would eventually be liberated from its conquerors. Look back to your past and see how the Lord has done great things for you; trust Him, hope in Him always for He has come, He shall come and He is come. AMEN. Fr.Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, .Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan

*Photo by Jim Marpa, St. James the Greater Parish, Solsona, Ilocos Norte, 17 July 2018. Used with permission.

LMC

Presence of God, Absence of Man

murilloImmCon

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Saturday, 08 December 2018

Solemnity of Immaculate Conception

Genesis 3:9-15, 20//Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12//Luke 1:26-38

God our Father, on this most joyous Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I join St. Paul in praying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.” (Eph. 1:3)

Praise and thanksgiving to you our Father in heaven who has always been present among us, never leaving our side and in fact went out to seek us since the fall of Adam: After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree, the Lord God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?” (Gen.3:9)

Since that day, we have always been hiding from you, running away from you that the gap had widen so much that you have to send us your Son Jesus Christ to be born like us, become like us except in sin so we may be one with you again.

Yes, O God, we have always been absent from you when you are always present with us and in us though we always refuse to recognize you. In your infinite wisdom and in all eternity, you chose Mary to be immaculately conceived so she may be the worthy vessel of your Son Jesus Christ.

Give us the same grace of Mary to be always present in you, present for you and your will. Give us the courage to say “be it done unto me according to your word” (Lk.1:38) so that we may become your presence too. Give us that emptiness of Mary, of always having a room in our hearts for the Holy Spirit to come upon us and overshadow us with your power to become your presence in this world now so empty of values and meaning, so full of pride and sin and hatred.

Dwell upon us O Lord and fill us with your grace. AMEN.Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II,Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria,Bulacan 3022.

Advent Is Seeing God Among Others

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Wednesday, 05 December 2018, Advent Week 1

Isaiah 25:6-10///Matthew 15:29-37

Like during the season of Lent, Lord, I have always been amazed with the antiphons and prayers of Advent. Since Monday, we have been praying after Communion for the grace to focus more about things of heaven than of earth. And the most amazing thing about it is we really do not have to look up high to see what is heavenly; we simply have to look at one another just like what you did on the mountain today in the gospel.

After receiving the heavenly food last Monday, we prayed “to love the things of heaven and to hold fast to what endures”; then at Tuesday we implored “to judge wisely of the things of earth and to hold firm to the things of heaven” while today we asked “to be cleansed of our faults and prepare us for the coming feasts” in heaven. These are all calls from you, Lord Jesus, for us to see you among our suffering brothers and sisters.

Stir our hearts, O Christ, and move them into pity like when you worried at the great crowd of people that included “the lame, the blind, the mute, and many others” (Mt.15:30) who have followed you for three days on the mountain with nothing to eat. Make us worry like you for all the sufferings of those forgotten by the society and even by their families. Use our hands to “wipe away the tears from all faces” (Is. 25:28) and let us be the heavenly food and drinks to be partaken by everyone after receiving your words and your Body and Blood in the Eucharist.

Come, Lord Jesus, this holy season of Advent, “illumine what is hidden in darkness” (Entrance antiphon) and let your light penetrate my inner self so I may truly see how far I have been from you and from others, and most especially that I may see you as you are so that in the process I may also see my real self. Renew me this season, Jesus, and let me enter your fullness of life. AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.

*Photo by Jim Marpa, a former colleague at the Varsitarian of UST (circa 1986). Used with permission.

LMC

Advent Is Conversion of the Heart

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Tuesday, 04 December 2018, Advent Week 1

Isaiah 11:1-10///Luke 10:21-24

“Behold, the Lord will come, and all his holy ones with him; and on that day there will be great light” (from the entrance antiphon of today’s Mass).

Has this day come, Lord? It is supposed to have been fulfilled a long time ago in your birth, Lord Jesus, after Isaiah had prophesied of how a “shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.” (Is.11:1) But it has not happened yet, remaining only a dream and a sight to behold in our imaginations when there would be peace and harmony at your coming, “when the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the young lion shall browse together with a little child as their guide, the cow and the bear with their young resting as neighbors, the lion eating hay like ox, and the baby playing by the cobra’s den as he lay his hand on the adder’s lair.” (Is.11:6-8)

It is a beautiful sight, a reality we are all wishing for but has never happened despite your coming to us, Lord Jesus Christ. And we know why: because we have not truly welcomed you in our hearts like children.

Give us the grace to be filled with your Holy Spirit, that we may be childlike so that this blessed season of Advent may dispose us to conversion and single-mindedness in you alone. Fill us with your Holy Spirit so we may attend to our deepest needs and hopes like peace and justice by being more compassionate with those who are suffering like the poor and the weak. Let us bring your light in this world darkened with sin and individualism, marred by senseless wars and petty competitions and rivalries among us. Hear our prayer, Lord, that we learn “to judge wisely the things of earth and hold firm to the things of heaven” (from today’s prayer after Communion). AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.

*Photo by the author, altar inside our parish sacristy, 03 December 2018.

Advent Is For Discerning The Most Essential

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Monday, 03 December 2018, Advent Week 1

Isaiah 2:1-5///Matthew 8:5-11

Dearest Lord Jesus: Forgive me on this first Monday of December of the first week of the Season of Advent when I joined everyone in the Christmas rush that has nothing to do with your coming at all. Forgive me in feeling it is a time of no room, a time of the end that I have to finish everything, fulfill so many tasks without finding you. Forgive me for being so obsessed with lack of time, lack of space, of having no room even for myself this Christmas.

How sad, and what a shame when I myself forget that Advent in its truest sense as a time of joyful expectation and preparation for your Second Coming is when we must dare to open up for you, when we must create and find more time, more space, and yes – a room in our hearts for you Jesus who is definitely coming again.

Like that centurion in the gospel, grant me that grace to learn and to discern what is most relevant, what is most essential for us individually and communally because with you, there is always plenty of room, plenty of space, and plenty of time for everyone who is welcomed to “climb the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob” (Is.2:3).

May the centurion’s words be my prayer today and always, sweet Jesus: “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.” (Mt. 8:8). AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.

*Photo by the author of the eagle, the symbol of our Patron St. John Evangelist, known for it sharp sense of sight in seeing the details in the life of Jesus Christ. Taken yesterday first Sunday of Advent 2018.

Disturb Me Within, Lord

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Friday, 30 November 2018, Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle

Romans 10:9-18///Matthew 4:18-22

Thank you very much Lord Jesus for the gift of your Apostle Andrew whose feast we celebrate today. I have always loved his attitude of always being disturbed deep within his heart and bringing it out in the open with you.

The moment he first saw you when John the Baptist proclaimed you as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” Andrew was there, moved in his heart and asked you, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” You asked him and his companion to “come and see,” and he believed you are the Messiah! (Jn.1:35-41)

When you tested Philip in the wilderness and asked him where you could buy food to feed more than 5000 people, Andrew again felt his heart stirred within, presenting to you a boy with a boy with five loaves of bread and two pieces of fish. But, Andrew could not also contain himself in knowing their situation then that he asked you, “what good are these for so many?” And the great miracle happened when everyone was fed and satisfied with so many leftovers! (Jn.6:1-15)

“For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.” (Rom. 10:10)

Indeed, Lord Jesus Christ! St. Andrew the Apostle always believed in his heart, always allowed his heart to be stirred with your words, with your presence, with your feelings. And he dared to open his mouth, to express to you these stirrings in his heart, always asking you and voicing out his feelings and thoughts no matter how crazy or even stupid they may be. But because of his inquiries that you were made known as the Christ!

Give me that grace Lord Jesus, to always recognize the stirrings in my heart, no matter how crazy they may be and to always tell these to you. Give me that same courage Lord to ask you, to express whatever disturbs me deep within so that like Andrew, you may reveal more of your ways, more of your heart, and more of your very Self to me and others. AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.

*Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA-7 News, Batanes before typhoon Ompong, 14 September 2018. Used with permission. Photo below from Google. St. Andrew, like his brother St. Peter, felt unworthy of being crucified like Jesus Christ; he asked to be crucified on an X-shaped cross.

st.andrew

Prayer to Avoid Destruction

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Thursday, 29 November 2018, Week XXXIV, Year II

Revelation 18:1-2, 21-23; 19:1-3,9///Luke 21:20-28

Lord Jesus Christ, let me put all my trust and hope in you to avoid destruction.

In the world today, all I hear and see are destruction. In your words too are all about destruction. Destruction is inevitable, especially if we remain in our sinful, evil ways. Your words have always been fulfilled and we have always seen how cities and nations have risen and fallen. Most especially, people who have refused to recognize you, those who have dared challenged you, those who have blasphemed you have all vanished, now totally forgotten.

One thing I ask you Jesus Christ is to keep my eyes and my heart open to you, to always heed your voice and your lessons, to always stand erect and raise my head (Lk.21:28) to submit to you, to follow you, to abide in you for that is the only way to avoid destruction and gain redemption.

Let me be among those blessed to have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb (Rev.19:9) by remaining faithful to you, doing what is right and just despite all the destruction going on. AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.

*Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA-7 News at Natonin, Mountain Province 04 November 2018 after a destructive landslide hit the town. Used with permission.