The definitive question of all

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 23 August 2026
Isaiah 22:19-23 ><}}}}*> Romans 11:33-36 ><}}}}*> Matthew 16:13-20

Last Saturday at the Solemnity of the Assumption, we reflected on the need to ask the right – and difficult – questions in our life like Mary. It does not really matter if we don’t get answers right away because along the way, God reveals and shows us himself and his plans for us if we keep asking him with our questions.

That is why this Sunday as Jesus continued to travel into pagan territory, he asks us like his disciples along the way his most definitive question of all, “who do you say that I am?”

Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:13-15)

*Photo by author, St. Paul Spiritual & Renewal Center, Bgy. Tanyawak, Alfonso, Cavite, 18 August 2026.*

After healing the possessed daughter of a Canaanite woman last week in the district of Tyre and Sidon, Jesus and his disciples reached Caesarea Philippi that used to be the summer capital of the Roman officials in northern Israel. It had an abundant supply of water that is why the Romans built many buildings including a temple to one of their major goddesses.

Imagine such an affluent backdrop for Christ’s intensive “lecture series” about discipleship to the Twelve: first, he surveyed them what the people were saying “who the Son of Man is” before asking them directly, “but who do you say that I am?”.

In 2009, the British-American author and inspirational speaker on business leadership Simon Sinek published his book Start with Why because the question why helps us clear motivation in every undertaking we make. Starting with why is to get to the very core, the raison d’etre of our business or plan or project.

However, we are not only dealing with projects in life; life itself is our very project too which is addressed by the question who. Actually, Sinek’s model of starting with why is anchored on persons and relationships that are directly concerned with the who because every why is sustained by a who. No project nor plan nor business nor whatever endeavor by humans would continue without persons addressed by the question who!

A painting of “The Canaanite Woman asks for healing for her daughter” by Spanish painter Juan de Flandes ca. 1500 as part of the 47 small panels of paintings commissioned by Queen Isabella I of Castile; from commons.wikimedia.org.

More than a person, who is a relationship, a meaning for us to continue with our why like in fulfilling our mission in Jesus, in answering his call to follow him.

As a continuation of our reflection last Sunday about faith and intimacy in the Lord, clarifying who is Jesus Christ for us deepens that faith and intimacy we have in him.

It is only when we are clear and convinced with who is Jesus shall we become clearly convinced with our call and mission in him by finding him among everyone and whatever circumstances we may get into in life. Even in our human relationships.

Relationships and friendships, marriages and ties are shattered and broken these days not merely because of infidelity and betrayals which start to happen the moment we take our beloved for granted. We betray one another not when we speak against them or turn against them; it all starts the moment we no longer recognize them as a beloved, our loved one or friend.

Would you exchange a family member or a friend for any amount of money or thing or property? Or your wife or husband for another better looking woman or man?

Normally, we deal with every question first with our minds like when the apostles gave Jesus varied answers of leading religious figures like John the Baptist and the prophets as what the people thought of him. But, it took on a different dimension when Jesus asked “But who do you say that I am?” that is pointed into our hearts.

And here we find a remarkable quality – sometimes deficiency – of Peter. He was always baring his heart and soul; he easily opens us what’s in him and clearly here as Jesus later explained, Peter allowed the Spirit to speak from his heart, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Notice in Peter’s response we find traces of Sinek’s starting with why. Peter with his his brother Andrew and fishing partners James and John were the first disciples called by Jesus, following him longest than the rest of the Twelve. For Peter, more than finding in Jesus the answers to his starting question of why about life, he had remained with Christ primarily of the who he is to him. Despite that he would waver on this many times, he remained faithful to Jesus with his own martyrdom.

See that in Matthew’s account, Peter said the words “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” while Mark and Luke merely reported Peter as saying “You are the Messiah/Christ” (Mk.8:29 and Lk.9:20). Peter saying Jesus as “Son of the living God” reveals something deeper in who is Jesus for him as he speaks of a relationship. Not just details and facts.

Most likely, Peter must have experienced something so deep as in “living”, so alive like when he saw that miraculous catch of fish before being called to become fisher of men. It was an experience that Paul describes to us in the second reading, of having experienced personally the “depth of the riches and wisdom of God” (Rom.11:33).

That is how we are with those most dearest to us – there are things so deep for words, so profound realities we have experienced that we have come to be so convinced, so in love with someone we follow or regard. Someone like “a peg in a sure spot” as God described Eliakim to Shebna according to Isaiah (22:23).

More than the why of doing, the who leads us to our being. And the more we get to know Jesus, the more we also get to know who we are. Our identity as a person does not depend on what social media portray or what others say. The more we get to know Jesus, the more we get to know ourselves, the more we become at home with our weaknesses and failures, sins and shortcomings.

This may sound simplistic: all these problems we have about school violence, degradation of our moral values as a nation that perpetuate in office corrupt and inept officials while destroying our environment with our disregard for proper disposal of waste and garbage, may be due to our disregard for who is Jesus to us.

The question who connects us with God and everyone. And with our very self. How sad that in this age of too much digitization, we have been so focused on techniques of doing like what and how, forgetting being, the focus of who.

From Caesarea Philippi which is up north, Jesus and his disciples would take a U-turn down towards Jerusalem that is their true destination. After this scene comes the Transfiguration of Jesus and the triple predictions of Jesus of his coming passion, death and resurrection. Let us know who Jesus is so that we can follow him more closely as his disciples. Amen. A blessed, hopefully warmer and drier week ahead to everyone!

Our strained relationships

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 12 August 2026
Ezekiel 9:1-7; 10:18-19, 22 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 18:15-20

*Photo by author, Tam-Awan Village, Baguio City, January 2019.*

"If your brother 
sins against you...."

I feel you speaking to me
directly today,
Lord Jesus;
you know so well how
often my brothers
and sisters sin against me;
let's not included those times
I am the one who sinned against 
them but why is it,
Lord,
it is different when a brother
or a sister sins against me?

There is the deep hurt
because he is a brother
or a sister - there is 
a relationship,
a bond,
a trust
that is broken;
sometimes unintentionally
that they seemed to have not
minded at all,
or overlooked that makes it
more painful actually;
but, how shall I approach
him or her?

So often it becomes 
the source of more problems
because,
simply,
they would claim they have
no intentions of hurting us
or never thought what they
did to us or say to us was
wrong;
and when we approach them,
they do not seems to care at all.

With so much platforms
in expressing our thoughts and
feelings,
the more 
we have become detached
from each other,
the more we are fragmented,
the more our relationships
are strained.

Give us the courage
and wisdom,
and tact as well
to speak with a brother
or sister who sins against us;
more than restoring our ties,
may you dwell anew
dear Jesus amid us
so that more than seeing each
other, may we see you
and share you
to create a sacred ground 
between us because,
"For where two or three
are gathered together 
in my name,
there am I 
in the midst of them"
(Matthew 18:20).
Amen.

*Photo by author, Sonnen Berg Mountain View, Davao City, August 2018.*

Understanding the parables, getting close to Jesus

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 26 July 2026
1 Kings 3:5, 7-12 ><}}}*> Romans 8:28-30 ><}}}*> Matthew 13:44-52

*Photo by author, Anvaya Cove, Morong, Bataan, 20 July 2026.*

We now come to the final installment of the last three parables by Jesus that began two Sundays ago that speak of the mystery of the kingdom of heaven, its unfolding and demands from us his disciples.

There are a total of seven parables in Matthew 13 known as discourse in parables which started with the parable of the sower until last Sunday where Jesus repeatedly told his listeners that included us today that “whoever has ears ought to hear”; now at its final installment, Jesus asks us after explaining everything, “Do you understand all these things?”

“Do you understand all these things?” They answered “Yes.” And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from the storeroom both the new and the old” (Matthew 13:51-52).

From the French word parabolein for “along the road/path”, parables are stories taken from daily life that offer us deep, profound lessons and realities especially about God and his loving presence among us, of the coming of his kingdom in Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, most of us dismiss them because they are so plain and simple. Or ordinary, not realizing that the deepest truths in life actually come from the simplest aspects of daily living. That is why Jesus kept reminding everyone to always listen, not just hear.

Listening is more intentional, deliberate and conscious, leading to understanding which is an internalization of the lessons and message said. Our Filipino translation shows this so well: to listen is makinig while to hear is madinig or marinig.

Makinig demands attention while dinig is passive, indicating more of the surface level of sounds and words, not really minding the meaning and context. That is why, listening is more reliable, more certain than hearing that has no intention of understanding at all what is meant by being said.

*Photo by author, “St. Joseph Protector of the Child Jesus”, 20 March 2024.*

Listening leads to knowing and understanding the what, where, when, how and why of events and things of the story or lessons. When there is understanding, relationship happens because more than the facts and details we listen to, we encounter persons. Pope Leo XIV beautifully said this in his first Lenten Message in February that “listening is the first sign of our willingness to enter into a relationship.”

Now we see the intention of Jesus in teaching in parables which is to have a personal relationship with us his listeners and disciples. Moreover, the very act of listening leading to understanding is a process of formation and transformation which is the bigger picture of Jesus teaching in parables – that we may be transformed in him especially when he asked today, “Do you understand all these things?”

Again, its Filipino translation reveals its true meaning and inner dynamics, Nauunawaan ba ninyo ang mga ito? To understand is maunawaan, from the root word una or first in order.

More than knowing, to understand or maunawaan is to realize which is the first of all others because that is the most essential, the most important. “To understand all these things” is not a question of human intelligence that is often short and lacking, and unreliable. “To understand all these things” is a spiritual intelligence, of the humble and lowly, the child-like whom Jesus praised the other week in our weekday gospel (15th week, Wednesday, 15 July 2026, Mt.11:25-27).

Jesus asks us this Sunday “do you understand all these things” to stress that the kingdom of heaven which is actually the person of Christ himself is a treasure beyond price like that treasure found by a man in the field or that precious pearl a trader had found that we are willing to renounce everything to have and possess him!

Understanding the parables of Jesus is finding “God first” before anything or anybody else. In the first reading, we find why King Solomon is the wisest person of all because when asked by God for any gift, he asked for “an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong” (1Kings 3:9) which delighted God so much. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom indeed!

God is the first One we must always desire, think and search in life. Without God, we only come in vicious circles of addictions and emptiness and meaninglessness. It is no surprise at all that the most corrupt and vicious people are also the ones who disregard God, who live as if there is no eternity. Without God, we are reduced to mere creatures meant to just eat and survive. Nothing else. That is why some people do not mind at all looking stupid (mukhang tanga at tunay na tanga), without any self respect because only matter matters for them like money (mukhang pera) and things like power or popularity.

With God, we find meaning and direction in everything in life as St. Paul tells us in the second reading, “Brothers and sisters: We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

*Photo by author, flower of a Balibago Tree, Anvaya Cove Resort, Bataan, 21 July 2026.*

“All things”… including trials and tribulations for they make us stronger and better persons. When we look back to our past, we see there are more things we have to be thankful to God than be sorry and have regrets. Many times, our past failures and sufferings and tears have become our gateway to our victory and comfort and joy.

Understanding the parables of Jesus and of life in general is actually a movement into getting closer to Christ, of being “every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from the storeroom both the new and the old” (Mt. 13:52).

Here we find the coming into full circle of Christ’s discourse in parables: from listening to understanding which is a process of communion and oneness with the Master, Jesus whose very Person is the kingdom of heaven.

Looking back to these past three Sundays of listening and understanding the various parables of Jesus, we find a remarkable stage in his teachings that bring us closest to him, leading us for the next route of his itinerary which is actually an inner journey into our hearts where he alone dwells. Amen. A blessed week ahead of listening and understanding Jesus among the people we meet and happenings we experience.

*Happy Feast Day to all Lolos and Lolas for today is the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne, parents of the the Blessed Virgin Mary, grandparents of Jesus Christ.

Father & son, Master & disciple

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 09 July 2026
Hosea 11:1-4, 8-9 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 10:7-15

*Photo by Mr. Vigie Ongleo in Colorado, 03 June 2026.*

I have not really known you,
Lord my God;
grant me the grace of intimacy,
like that of a son and a Father
as my life and my mission;
You have nurtured me, O God
as your own son
but I did not recognize you
that later in life,
I followed my doubts,
my false securities
and negatives thoughts
than you.

Thus says the Lord: When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called them, the farther they went from me, sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms; I drew them with human cords, with bands of love; I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks, yet, though I stooped to feed my child, they did not know that I was their healer (Hosea 11:1-4).

Forgive me,
merciful Father;
though I pray always
while striving to be holy,
the more I stray from you
because my love for you is
superficial as seen too in my
skin-deep interpersonal relationships
because your love experiences
are forgotten as I give more 
emphasis on my shortcomings,
expectations,
and "returns".

Let me get closer to you,
Father in the love of your Son
Jesus Christ so that my
brokenness may be healed;
set me free from my many
imprisonment with sin
so that I can go
make the proclamation
that "the Kingdom 
of heaven is at hand"
by letting me 
"cure the sick,
raise the dead,
cleanse lepers,
and drive out demons"
(Matthew 10:7-8);
remind me always of your immense
love for me poured by 
Christ on the Cross 
so that I may "give 
without cost"
(Matthew 10:8)
except that I am doing
your most Holy Will;
and lastly, let me
trust you completely
so that I am not bothered
with so many things for
the journey
except Jesus,
only Jesus,
always Jesus.
Amen.

Our house: our relationships, our faith.

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 25 June 2026
12 Kings 24:8-17 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 7:21-29

*Photo by author, Cantacuzino Castle, Busteni, Romania, 05 November 2025.*

Lord Jesus Christ,
I have learned your words 
early on that "Not everyone who says to me,
'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom
of heaven" (Matthew 7:21);
in the same manner,
I have memorized too
your parable on house:
"Everyone who listens to these words
of mine and acts on them will be like
a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came, 
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been
built solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these
words of mine but does not act
on them will be like a fool who built
his house on sand. The rain fell,
the floods came, and the winds blew
and buffeted the house. And it collapsed
and was completely ruined"
(Matthew 7:24-27).

Unfortunately,
Lord Jesus,
I have not taken your
words into my heart;
so many times I have relied more
from the words of others,
from my own knowledge
colored by my fears
and doubts
that many times
I have fallen into sin;
many times I call out to you,
"Lord. Lord"
but my life is so far
from you
and your ways;
I have been so foolish
like King Jehoiachin of Judah
who abandoned you
to follow other strange gods
that soon enough,
his kingdom fell into
the hands of the Babylonians,
suffering a worse fate
than Israel before.

Help me to cleanse
my house,
my very self
to renew and strengthen
my ties and relationships
in the Father
through you, Jesus
in the Holy Spirit;
help me to remain in you,
always seeking your will
in my decisions
and plans in life
especially amid the fast
changing pace of life
these days.
May I always seek your face
in every new situation
I come into.
Amen.

*Photo by author, St. Michael Retreat House, Antipolo City, 16 June 2026.*

Why pray?

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 18 June 2026
Sirach 48:1-14 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 6:7-15

As we move deeper into Ordinary Time,
your words today Lord Jesus Christ
are so appropriate and timely,
answering our perennial question,
"why pray?"

Jesus said to his disciples: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:7-8).

Actually,
our question becomes more
pressing: why pray at all if
the Father knows what we need
before we ask him?

Thank you dear Jesus
in giving us the grace to pray
despite our questions on the need
to pray; indeed, the Father knows
very well our needs even before
we pray but we need to pray because
we do not know what the Father needs from us.

Teach us to be like the Father's
two great prophets,
Elijah and Elisha
who prayed deeply in their lives
to know and follow the plans
and will of God;
most of all, 
like Elijah and Elisha,
may we realize that prayer
is primarily a relationship,
a friendship in you, O Lord;
you do not need our prayers,
Jesus but we need you so much;
without you, we are nothing;
without prayer therefore, we die
for it is prayer that sustains us in you.
Amen.

“Somebody”, “People Are People” (1984) by Depeche Mode

Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 14 June 2026

*Photo by author, Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.*

We just felt ourself in the ’80s with two of Depeche Mode’s 1984 hits, “Somebody” and “People Are People” while preparing our homily last week based on this Sunday’s gospel where Jesus was “was moved with pity” upon seeing the crowd “troubled and abandoned like a sheep without a shepherd”, telling his disciples that “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send our laborers for his harvest” (Matthew 9:36-38).

My dear friends, we are both the “abundant harvest” and the “laborers” referred by Christ: what we need in this world are people who care and understand others, people who are kind and understanding, most of all loving like him our Good Shepherd. See how Jesus asked us to pray for more laborers, not for more money or food or medicines. Not even gadgets and material things. What we need are persons willing to journey with us in this life, to accompany us especially when days are dark and stormy (https://lordmychef.com/2026/06/13/we-are-the-lords-harvest-and-laborers-too/).

First we remembered was Depeche Mode’s “Somebody” with its unique intro where you hear something that sounds like a heartbeat amid some noise of people or crowd until the vocals come in with that pulsating sound going on until the end. The mood is very intense and deeply intimate, composed and recorded by Martin Gore said to have gone naked in the studio recording of the song “to achieve a more intimate ambience.”

[Verse 1]
I want somebody to share, share the rest of my life
Share my innermost thoughts, know my intimate details
Someone who'll stand by my side and give me support
And in return, she'll get my support
She will listen to me when I want to speak
About the world we live in and life in general
Though my views may be wrong, they may even be perverted
She'll hear me out and won't easily be converted
To my way of thinking, in fact, she'll often disagree
But at the end of it all, she will understand me

Setting aside its romantic meaning, we find “Somebody” speaking to us the very thoughts of Jesus in praying for “laborers” not things to address the needs of people feeling troubled and abandoned. When people are down and lost in life, feeling troubled and abandoned, where do we focus more, to their woes and problems or their very person?

Try thinking of the people you consider as “heaven sent” who helped you in your darkest moments: they are that “somebody” like you who shared your brokenness and most of all brought out your giftedness as a person. Think of that “somebody” who have seen your being an “abundant harvest”, affirming your uniqueness and sharing in your imperfections.

From YouTube.com

As we tried to feel this lovely ballad, we could also feel inside the intensity of Depeche Mode’s other 1984 hit released from the same album with “Somebody” called “People Are People”.

Also written by Gore, “People Are People” is Depeche Mode’s greatest hit showcasing their genre as electronic synth-pop band.

Typical of most British bands of the 1980’s, Depeche Mode shared in this song their call for equality among peoples, directly opposing racism and discrimination, war and violence. Its music video features scenes from a battleship firing its cannons indicating their opposition to war and violence.

People are people, so why should it be?
You and I should get along so awfully
People are people, so why should it be?
You and I should get along so awfully

So, we're different colors and we're different creeds
And different people have different needs
It's obvious you hate me, though, I've done nothing wrong
I've never even met you, so what could I have done?

I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand

Both songs by Depeche Mode, “Somebody” and “People Are People” remind us of the value of every person as God’s abundant harvest, each one of us a gift to be cherished and valued always. Likewise, both songs imply our being brothers and sisters entrusted to each one for God’s greater glory, not ours. Amen. Happy listening.

From Youtube.com

Life is a mystery

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Solemnity of the Holy Trinity-A, 31 May 2026
Exodus34:4-6, 8-9  ><}}}*>  2Corinthians13:11-13  ><}}}*>  John 3:16-18

*Photo by author, Dolmabahce Palace, Istanbul, Turkiye, November 2026.*

“Life is a mystery.” It is the favorite expression of my Jesuit retreat master during our 30-day retreat in Cebu 1995, the late Fr. Arthur Shea. He would always tell me “life is a mystery” while touching his long, white beard whenever he could not answer my many questions about life and God.

After that retreat and 28 years later as a priest, it had become my favorite expression too not only when I could not find answers to my own questions but when people come to consult and ask me on almost everything.

And thank God for life’s many mysteries, especially his very own mystery of being one God in Three Persons as we celebrate this Sunday the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity.

The word mystery is from the Greek mysterion, something hidden but now revealed by God.

While it is true that a mystery is beyond human reason because it is divine, it may still be explained and understood though not fully. That is why it is described as non-logical or beyond reason but not illogical which lacks reason.

Most of all, a mystery is not a problem to be solved because it simply cannot be solved at all. In fact, we need to keep mysteries like secrets because mysteries give meaning and depth to our very existence, to our lives. In this age of social media when everyone thinks that everything needs to be shown to the point of being overexposed, life has become so artificial and hence, for many, empty of meaning. Unknown to many of us, the most wonderful things in life are those hidden and not seen by everyone like the mystery of God within us!

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life (John 3:16).

Our gospel this Sunday is very amusing like a mystery in itself; it is the shortest one we have in the entire year yet the most popular verse in the whole bible. But, how can it explain or enlighten us of God’s oneness in three persons?

As we have expressed at the very start, a mystery is not meant to be solved and explained but experienced. Our gospel is not even trying to prove to us about the existence of God because in our very being, it is already a given there is God. God does not prove himself but always shows himself.

Recall that it was taken from the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, a Pharisee who felt drawn to the Lord but was so ashamed to be seen by his fellow Jews that he came to visit him at night. We are all like Nicodemus “feeling” God so true deep within us but often afraid to accept it or even show it for fears of being called as old-fashioned and conservative or someone less scientific, less reasonable and less modern.

In that gospel scene, Jesus was inviting Nicodemus to enter into a relationship with him to fully experience God’s mystery because at that time, they tried explaining God like a concept to be learned and even memorized through their many laws and instructions. Unlike the Pharisees, Jesus simply taught Nicodemus that basic truth of God who “so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.“

Nicodemus eventually became a disciple of Jesus along with another Pharisee named Joseph of Arimathea who gave Christ’s burial site on Good Friday.

A mystery is a mystery because it is shared. It is nothing if it is merely in itself.

We are intrigued with stories and reports because they create relationships in us and with us. That is why God in himself as a mystery is a community of persons. Person implies relationship, taken from the Latin word persona which is the mask worn by stage actors/actresses to indicate their roles in a play or drama; hence, the term dramatis personae or list of actors in a play and their roles.

To a certain sense, there are three persons or personae, that is, “roles” in our God as we profess in our Creed: the Father as Creator of everything, the Son as the Savior, and the Holy Spirit as the Sanctifier. With God, his persona is eternal while ours like in drama or play, it is temporary.

The more we enter into relationships, the more we relate with other persons, the more we discover the many mysteries of this life and of God while realizing too in the process that we can only relate with persons and not with things nor even plants and animals. This is the gist of the similarly brief second reading from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, telling us to be close with one another as the Father’s children in Christ through the Holy Spirit. In sending us Jesus Christ his Son, God took the initiative to be closest to us as our breath in the Holy Spirit.

Every time we think of God, when we marvel at him and his creations, the more we find ourselves so different, even too distant from him while at the same time we also feel and experience in the most unique manner how closest we are to him.

Imagine this another great mystery of God that despite our sinfulness and worthlessness, he still so loved us and always caring for us. Like Moses in the first reading, we have experienced many times in life when God seemed to have actually walked beside us, even carried us during our lowest moments that in an instance we realized quickly the many “whys” he deals with us in life. We learn that God is so true and so close with us yet, remains the “All-Other” and the “Unknowable” whose mystery we cannot totally penetrate.

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.*

As we move on in life, we realize it is not about covering distances but going deeper within ourselves, of being transformed into better selves and persons like God, loving and merciful. Eventually we realize too that each one of us is in fact an indwelling of the Holy Trinity, an image and likeness of God himself. This we can easily learn through our most basic and simple prayer of all, the Sign of the Cross that many of us take for granted.

Every time we make the sign of the Cross properly, that is when we let God embrace us and wrap us with his mysteries.

In the sign of the Cross, God comes closest to us in our very selves, relating to us in our head being the Father who is over and above us always, the creator of everything; as the Son who became human like us born by the Virgin Mary passing through her womb, experiencing everything we went through except sin; and as the Holy Spirit on our shoulders giving us balance in this life. Next Sunday, we shall deepen this mystery of God in three Persons in ourselves with the solemnity of Christ’s Body and Blood we receive in the Holy Eucharist. Amen. Have a blessed week filled with God’s wonderful mysteries!

Easter is friendship in Jesus

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 08 May 2026
Acts 15:22-31     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     John 15:12-17

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, March 2024.*

Thank for reminding
me today, Jesus,
that we are friends:
"I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know
what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything
I have heard from the Father"
(John 15:15).

Forgive me, Jesus,
in being so caught up
in the hustle and bustle 
of daily life,
of the ministry,
doing so many things for you
that I forget you have called
us friends,
not slaves.

How lovely
it is, Lord, to be
called as your friend,
that we are called and chosen
to be friends in order to love
like how you have loved us;
teach me to have that attitude
of your Apostles at the early
stage of your Church
who decided 
"not to place any burden
beyond" (Acts 15:28)
your command to love
one another;
many times, 
we forget that we are friends
loving one another like you
because unconsciously
we have made you into an earthly master
so demanding for results from us
that in turn made us a slave driver
to everyone.

Let us never forget
that truth that we are friends,
Lord Jesus in you, 
that we too must be a friend
to everyone.
Amen.

“Everytime You Go Away” (1980) by Hall & Oates

Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 04 May 2026

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, 20 March 2026, Novaliches, QC.*

We’re back with our Sunday music blog with a Hall & Oates original we hope will soothe our searing weather and wipe too our troubles in Jesus’ name. But before we go into their lovely music, let us try to recall first this Sunday’s gospel that brings us back to the Last Supper scene just before the betrayal and arrest of Jesus.

Imagine the silent stillness of the room heavy with emotion, with lamps flickering in the evening light.

Feel the ebb and flow of intimacy and uncertainty in the impending separation of the Lord from his disciples.

Then, amid the gloom, feel the comforting assurance of Jesus telling his disciples that include us today to “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me” (Jn.14:1)

What’s troubling you lately?

Many times, what really troubles us most is the fear of being left out, of being alone.

Money, sickness, and ultimately death trouble us a lot because of our fears of having nobody by our side not only to defend and comfort us but simply be with us. That is why we are troubled when people we love cheat on us, betray us or simply threaten us of walking away from us to be on their own.

Every time a beloved leaves us by choice or by circumstances, whenever we feel “apart” from others and separated, we feel losing a part of very selves because each one is also our part.

This we hear perfectly expressed by Daryl Hall and John Oates in 1980:

And everytime you go away
You take a piece of me with you
And everytime you go away
You take a piece of me with you, you

Everytime You Go Away is from the 1980 “Voices” album of Hall & Oates from which also came their highly popular version of You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling, followed by the smash hits Kiss On My List and You Make My Dreams.

Hall & Oates did not release a single version of Everytime You Go Away that was later covered by Paul Young in 1985 when it became number one for several weeks both in the UK and US Billboard charts. Hall admitted in an interview that Paul’s cover of Everytime You Go Away is his most favorite.

But of course, as a Hall & Oates fan, we prefer their own rendition of Everytime You Go Away that is truly more soulful with the long organ introduction that make it sound so gospel and churchy too. Try listening to Hall’s later versions and be awed with his powerful voice that had aged like an expensive wine. How sad that Hall and Oates have parted ways recently after more three decades of partnership that earned them the title of being music’s dynamic duo.

Since becoming a priest in 1998, we have been mentioning this song, sometimes “singing” it in our homily and spiritual talks because of its gospel values about honesty and sincerity, especially fidelity in our relationships (https://lordmychef.com/2026/05/02/easter-is-jesus-our-home-our-cornerstone/).

Being left out, being alone is the deepest pain one could ever have. And that is why Jesus came, suffered and died for us on the Cross so that in his Resurrection, we would never be apart from him and everyone anymore, here on earth and hereafter. Have a blessed week ahead!

From YouTube.com.