Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 25 September 2025 Thursday in Twenty-Fifth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I Haggai 1:1-8 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 9:7-9
God our loving Father, give us humility and courage to admit our sins and faults for all the mess we are into today as a nation: the wholesale corruption and looting of government money that resulted in more floods, substandard facilities, inefficient services and shameless servants; painful but true, these are all because of our misplaced priorities in life.
Now thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways! You have sown much, but have brought in little; you have eaten, but have not been satisfied; you have drunk, but have not been exhilarated; have clothed yourselves, but not been warmed; and whoever earned wages earned them for a bag with holes in it (Haggai 1:5-6).
Like the people at the time of your Prophet Haggai, we have been preoccupied with our selves, of gaining so much money and material things forgetting you, O God, and things of the above like decency, morality, and spirituality; for the right price, many among us have brought into power not just corrupt but inept officials to run our government; many among us have glorified thievery, of amassing wealth even in sinful ways that everything is now measured in terms of money and gold; many among us have forgotten you, Lord, to live in your ways and precepts following more of the world that led us to destruction and emptiness; let us prioritize you again, Lord so that we too may see how you see things and persons unlike Herod in the gospel; let us prioritize you, Lord so that we may start planting and building things you want in life that delight you and perfect us in the process. Amen.
Photo by author, Dangwa Flower Center, Manila, September 2018.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 22 July 2025 Tuesday, Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time Song of Songs 3:1-4 ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> John 20:1-2, 11-18
“Martha and Mary Magdalene” painting by Caravaggio (1598). The painting shows Martha of Bethany and Mary Magdalene long considered to have been sisters. Martha is in the act of converting Mary from her life of pleasure to the life of virtue in Christ. Martha, her face shadowed, leans forward, passionately arguing with Mary, who twirls an orange blossom between her fingers as she holds a mirror, symbolising the vanity she is about to give up. The power of the image lies in Mary’s face, caught at the moment when conversion begins (from en.wikipedia.org).
Thank you dear Jesus in giving us a chance to revisit your Resurrection with this Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, the Apostle to the Apostles; she whom you love so much by forgiving her sins and later called her by name on that Easter morning reminds us of your lavish mercy and love for each of us; how lovely that in that crucial moment of darkness as she grieved your death with your body missing, she suddenly burst into deep joy filled with life upon seeing you!
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and what he told her (John 20:18).
“The Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene” painting by Alexander Ivanov (1834-1836) at the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia from commons.wikimedia.org.
"I have seen the Lord."
I have seen you, Jesus when I stop clinging to my sinful past, when I stop doubting your mercy and forgiveness, wondering how I could move the huge and heavy stone of my weaknesses and failures, addictions and vices that make me mistake you into somebody else like the gardener because I am so preoccupied with many things in life.
Teach me, Jesus to stop clinging to you, "touching" you and having you according to my own view and perception not as who you really are so that I may meet you to personally experience you right here inside my heart like St. Mary Magdalene that Easter.
The Bride says: The watchmen came upon me as they made their rounds of the city. Have you seen him whom my heart loves? I have hardly left them when I found him whom my heart loves (Song of Songs 3:1, 3-4).
"I have seen the Lord."
I have seen you, Jesus when I love truly like the Bride in the first reading when I seek you in persons not in wealth and power, in silence not in the noise and cacophony of vanity and fame; let me see you Jesus by being still, patiently waiting and listening for your coming and calling of my name to proclaim You are risen to others who believe in You, also searching You, waiting for You. Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City
Painting by Giotto of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ appearing to St. Mary Magdalene from commons.wikimedia.org.
Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe, Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Solemnity of Sts. Peter & Paul, Apostles, 29 June 2025 Acts 12:1-11 ><}}}}*> 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18 ><}}}}*> Matthew 16:13-19
St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican in Rome.
We enter today the 13th week in Ordinary Time with a fourth celebration on a Sunday of another Solemnity, that of Saints Peter and Paul, the two pillars of the Church Jesus Christ established over 2000 years ago.
Sts. Peter and Paul were men of diverse backgrounds with Peter the fisherman, impulsive and so human while Paul the Pharisee was an intellectual converted by an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Both were flawed as persons yet so loved and called by the Lord – Peter as first leader of his church and Paul as its first missionary to the Gentiles. Their Solemnity reminds us of Christ’s call for us to build his Body, his Church here on earth.
While this celebration is about the two great apostles of Jesus, our readings direct us to God’s goodness and grace in his actions on behalf of the church founded by Christ. Its focus is on God, not ourselves.
Statues of Sts. Peter & Paul, st. Peter’s Basilica, Rome; photos from opusdei.org
Being an apostle of Jesus is not about doing great things or being so good but more of encountering and keeping faith in Christ our Lord. By recognizing ourselves as the church – the Body of Christ as we have reflected last Sunday, all of our actions are indeed God’s actions on behalf of the church because it is through us that the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection is continued and completed in this age.
What is essential is we constantly enter into a conversation with Jesus in prayer not only to tell him things but most especially for us to realize how he sees us!
When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi 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?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:13-18).
Photo by author at Caesarea, Israel, May 2017.
What really happened at Caesarea Philippi was a close encounter of the apostles with Jesus, especially Simon whom would he called as Peter on that day on.
Very often in most reflections and commentaries, we are told to answer the question of Jesus like Peter in our most personal way not based from what we have read or heard: “who do you say I am?”
Of course, what else can we say but imitate Peter’s answer that seems to be the most correct answer.
But, is it really the best answer? Not really.
Paul later in his many writings will declare similar answers but far more better like when he said “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil.1:21).
Jesus is telling us something else in this scene, as if asking us too, would you want to know “who do I say you are?” What the Lord is actually telling us in this scene is the fact that he knows us so well inasmuch as he knows himself perfectly because he is God. In fact, he had said there was no need for him to have human testimony as the Christ (Jn. 2:25; 5:34).
Photo by author, Sea of Galilee, Israel, May 2019.
What I see more at Caesarea Philippi is Jesus Christ’s omniscience as God who knows everything – even that early he already knew Peter would deny him thrice, that Judas Iscariot would betray him, so on and so forth.
Jesus knows everything about us but he chose to love and believe in us that despite and in spite of everything he knew that could go wrong with us later in life, of how we would fall into sin over and over, STILL – he calls us, he sends us on a mission because he believes in us, he loves us.
Many times in life, we forget the truth about the saints who are just like us, ordinary people with many weaknesses and flaws, imperfections and even idiosyncrasies. What made them stand out and did all those great feats for the Lord was because they were able to see themselves the way Jesus sees them.
That’s the very core of the story at Caesarea Philippi – Jesus made the apostles felt especially Peter how valuable they were, how they were all loved, of how Jesus saw them as his ambassadors later when he returns to the Father.
Bass relief of St. Peter at the Malolos Cathedral, 2019.
Jesus had no need of knowing what people were saying about him because he knew himself so well aside from the fact he surely knew what they were saying about him. Actually, the answers the apostles gave him were for them to know and think about why people wrongly perceived Jesus.
Most of all, Jesus had no need to know what everyone of us is saying about who he is because, again, he knows himself perfectly. Whatever answer others would have given about him would have been surely appreciated and praised by Jesus. What matters most for everyone to realize is the fact that despite Christ’s foreknowledge of Peter’s fall and weaknesses, he still dared to call him to head his church. The same holds true with everyone of us. Jesus wants us to continue building his Body, his church here on earth, to make Jesus more present in us in this world so dark and lost searching for meaning except in Christ.
The same thing is true with Paul when Jesus called him on the road to Damascus to persecute the first Christians. Jesus knew everything Paul was doing; most of all, Jesus knew that even when converted, Paul would still be stubborn and insistent, would eventually quarrel with other disciples like Peter, Barnabas and John Mark but still, Jesus called him and even set him aside for a special mission to the Gentiles.
Bass relief of St. Paul at Malolos Cathedral 2019.
Again in his experiences, Paul saw how Jesus loved and trusted him that even he were the worst of all the apostles of the Lord, he was given such great task of proclaiming the gospel to the ends of the earth at that time. That is why in our second reading we find Paul giving up his whole life in the service of Jesus after experiencing Christ’s tremendous love for him.
Like Peter and Paul, we are all gifted with the same faith in Christ Jesus who challenges us to accept the same mission to continue in this modern time of proclaiming his gospel of love and mercy, of building up his Body the church so that there would be a more humane and just society here on earth as Vatican II envisioned (Lumen Gentium).
Many times when God works in us and through us, we could not believe it as happening like Peter when set free from prison by an angel at night. There are times we are resigned with our situations, of being deserving of the many hardships and sufferings without realizing that there are more bad things we deserve to suffer in this life but Jesus spared us because he believes in us that he sends us to some more missions for him.
Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for still calling me, sending me to a mission despite my many flaws and imperfections; thank you for trusting me, believing me; let me see myself the way you see me as someone worth loving and trusting. Amen.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 10 June 2025 Homily on the advanced birthday celebration and book launching last June 4 of Dr. Vic Santos Jr., President of Fatima University Medical Center in Valenzuela and Antipolo
Photo by author, Manila House, BGC, Taguig, 04 June 2025.
We heard today in the first reading St. Luke’s account of St. Paul’s departure from Miletus to Rome for his trial and eventual martyrdom. We are told how the priests and leaders of the Ephesus community cried as St. Paul bid goodbye. It was a major turning point in the Apostle’s life.
We too are gathered tonight at a major turning point in the life of Dr. Vic as he officially becomes an elder among us, a senior sixty cent. There are no crying as we so filled with joy celebrating his gift of life. Like the Ephesians who were so glad in being a part of the life and mission of St. Paul, we praise and thank God for Dr. Vic’s gift of self especially to us, his family and friends and colleagues.
I’d like to focus your attention to St. Paul’s speech where he discussed how he had used his hands in his ministry, “You know very well that these very hands have served my needs and my companions. In every way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort we must help the weak, and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive'” (Acts 20:34-35).
What a beautiful imagery of the hardworking hands of St. Paul who was a tent maker by profession who earned money for his own needs so as not to be a burden to the community.
With his caring and loving hands, people accepted Jesus Christ and Christianity.
With his gentle and kind hands the people saw and experienced the love of God, felt more convinced than ever of God’s presence among them.
With his strong hands as an Apostle of Jesus, the people felt the discipline of God.
Photo by author, Manila House, BGC, Taguig, 04 June 2025.
It is the same thing why we are here tonight. So many sights were restored by the gentle hands of Dr. Vic that helped us to better or even see again.
Dr. Vic’s hands toiled not only in the clinic and OR but also in the tennis court and golf course as well as the kitchen that reminded us of God’s loving presence among us, of the Divine grip that everything will be fine so we can enjoy life. The hands of Dr. Vic as an ophthalmologist, as a husband and a dad, a brother and a friend and a colleague tell us we are in good hands. Like the hands of St. Paul, his hands allowed us to be touched by God’s love and mercy, kindness and forgiveness.
But there is something else about the hands of Dr. Vic I would like you to reflect upon. Like St. Paul, Dr. Vic’s hands not only restored sight but most of all allowed us to have vision, of seeing beyond physical or material things.
St. Paul’s hands were so gifted that more than half of the New Testament writings were from him; in fact, he was the first to write about Jesus Christ, way ahead of the gospel writers. By his writings, we are able to have a glimpse about God in Jesus Christ and eternal life.
Photo by Dra. Mary Anne Santos, Manila House, BGC, Taguig, 04 June 2025.
With his gifted hands in writing not just prescriptions but also elegant prose and essays, Dr. Vic opened our eyes to see the deeper realities and truth behind our many common experiences in life. His hands seem to have eyes too that he can weave a beautiful tapestry of the joy of living side by side with its many pains and hurts, even losses and griefs, failures and disappointments. Dr. Vic’s hands are so precise not only in surgery but especially in writing, giving us hope to never give up, to always forge on, and be open to many possibilities in life.
Like St. Paul, Dr. Vic can boldly proclaim of the timeless truth of Christ’s teaching that “it is better to give than receive” because he had experienced God’s abundant blessings through his very hands that were always opened, ready to work and take on new tasks, willing to hold others hands to lead and guide them to healing and new life.
Salamuch po, Dr Vic in sharing with us your blessed hands that taught us to find God we rarely see due to our many blindness in life.
Your hands did not only heal our sight but gave us a vision of God present in us and among us always. We pray like Jesus in the gospel tonight that the Father may consecrate you with his sacred hands in order to bless you with more fulfillment and fruitfulness on your 60th birthday. With Dra. Mary Anne and your sons – Angelo, Francis, and Vince – may God fill your hands with his blessings, holiness and healing. Amen.
Photo by author, Manila House, BGC, Taguig, 04 June 2025.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 18 February 2025
Genesis 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10 <*000>< + ><000*> Mark 8:14-21
Photo by author, Nagsasa Cove, San Antonio, Zambales, October 2024.
When he became aware of this he said to them, “Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Do you not understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? Do you still not understand?” (Mark 8:17-18, 20)
Yes, dear Jesus, I still do not understand; enlighten my mind and my heart, Jesus, to see your light, to find your face among the people I meet so I could understand more; I still do not understand so many things and people, Lord Jesus, because I have become numb and oblivious to your presence; worst, I have become so complacent with those around me without realizing their needs nor situation as I focus more on what I have and what I do not have.
Cleanse my heart and my mind, Jesus, like what the Father did to earth at the time of Noah; wash away my many presumptions and prejudices against others so I may understand more, stop concluding right away until I have seen more in order to love more like you. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Third Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 27 January 2025 Hebrews 9:15, 24-28 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Mark 3:22-30
Lord Jesus Christ, take away our colored lenses that prevent us from seeing the real pictures in the world and of life; many times, our lenses are not only colored but even defective that make us see distorted images as the realities when they are not.
Like the Pharisees, we wear different lenses that prevent us from seeing your true self as full of good, of love and mercy; like the Pharisees, our views of others are distorted because we see only ourselves as better while at the same time, still like the Pharisees, we debate truth because we could not accept others as better than us, leaving us all trapped in self-condemned state of sinning that make us see everything as hopeless, worst, nothing is good at all in the world even in our very selves which is the sin agains the Holy Spirit.
Make us see through your loving and merciful lens our selves, others, the world around us, and most especially YOU; give us your lenses to see we have been saved and most of all, worth saving because we are loved by YOU and the Father in heaven.
Let us rejoice and relish your saving power, Lord, when You as the Christ, "Offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sins but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him" (Hebrews 9:28). Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 27 October 2024 Jeremiah 31:7-9 ><}}}}*> Hebrews 5:1-6 ><}}}}*> Mark 10:46-52
Photo by author, Nagsasa Cove, San Antonio, Zambales, 19 October 2024.
“Seeing” is a word with so many meanings for us. More than its literal sense of having eyesight, “seeing” is used as a metaphor like referring to understanding when we say “I see your point” or poetically as in to see with one’s heart.
Filipino mothers have a very funny, unique expressing about seeing when telling us children to look for something that if we could not find it, every Nanay fumes with a warning saying, “kapag hindi mo nakita iyan, makikita mo sa akin!”
Whatever that means, it shows “seeing” reveals to us a lot about ourselves and others, of life and most especially of God.
Illustration from linkedin.com.
As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me”… he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him”… Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.” Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way (Mark 10:46-48, 49, 51-52).
See Mark’s gift in storytelling in this second crucial teaching by Jesus on discipleship sandwiched between His third prediction of His Pasch and entrance to Jerusalem.
See the contrast between James and John “wanting” fame and power by seating beside Jesus in glory and Bartimaeus “wanting” to see Jesus: the brothers were rejected after being told “you do not know what you are asking” whereas the beggar’s plea was granted after asking him “what do you want me to do for you?”
Clearly, this is about what we see in Jesus, of how ironic like James and John that we who have eyesight and closer to Jesus do not have the vision of a blind beggar like Bartimaeus asking to see more of Jesus, more of faith, more of life!
The scene has many layers so beautifully assembled together by Mark for us to see beyond our sight in order to have a clearer vision of discipleship and ultimately of God in eternal life.
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me." And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But the more he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me."
Photo by author, Jericho City, the Holy Land, May 2019.
Though blind, Bartimaeus “saw” Jesus, calling Him “Son of David” which is the messianic title of the coming Savior so awaited by the Jewish people. It is a title so unique among them, referred with David in the Old Testament being their greatest king and deliverer. Jeremiah tells us in the first reading today of how “the Lord has delivered his people… gathering the blind and the lame” (Jer. 31:7,8) now fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
How amazing that Bartimaeus without eyesight staying at the sides of the road of Jericho being able to “see” Jesus as his Savior, asking most especially the vision to see eternity like that man who approached Jesus two Sundays ago. The big difference is that Bartimaeus was convinced of his faith in Jesus based on what have heard about Him.
Very crucial here are the cries of Bartimaeus to Jesus as “Son of David”. See how the crowds around him tried to silence him but the more he shouted aloud to Jesus. That is more than persistence in prayer but a conviction in the very person of Jesus as Savior, as Messiah, as God, truly a Brother and a Friend.
Bartimaeus reminds us to go back to Caesarea Philippi where Jesus asked the Twelve and us everyday, “who do you that I am?” Our answer to that question is essential because it is on that conviction and faith in Jesus where our prayers and prayer life itself are essentially hinged on. Now, compare what James and John saw in Jesus last Sunday with their request and with what the blind Bartimaeus saw in asking for his sight.
When we truly know Jesus, then we know what we want from Him. Many times in life, when we feel so blinded, when everything seems so dark we could not see where we are, who our friends are, when all we can do is simply cry like Bartimaeus, whispering Jesus, Jesus… that is when we unconsciously see Him right beside us.
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon, 2020.
As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging... And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
See my dear friends how in this scene those traveling with Jesus looked upon Bartimaeus as an interruption on the journey to Jerusalem. It seemed like a distraction but the truth is, Jesus saw Bartimaeus as the very point itself of His journey!
We have seen this year how Jesus visited even the most unlikely places of pagan territories, of where lepers are even Samaritans to heal and speak to them. Jesus is always passing by in our lives but, are we there to meet Him?
Recall those failures and disasters that punctuated our lives, when we saw them as distractions and interruptions that have delayed and even set aside many of our plans, but, look now how those disasters were actually providential that led us to success.
When we review our lives, we see God truly writing straight with crooked lines with those countless times when He turned our failures into triumphs, sadness into joy, losses into gains. It was during those blinding moments in life when we were actually able to see clearly our selves, our family and friends, and most especially, God in Jesus Christ.
This is what the author of the Letter to the Hebrews is telling us in the second reading, of Jesus the Son of God, our eternal high priest exceedingly better and perfect than any high priest “able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring, for he himself is beset by weakness” (Heb. 5:2). Jesus is the Son of God who transforms not only water into wine or bread into His Body but most especially us like the blind Bartimaeus into whole persons again. The key is to keep our sights on Him, to see Him more clearly so that we can follow Him closely.
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon, 2020.
Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see."
Jesus today is asking us too, “What do you want me to do for you?” What would our request be? What do we want? Jesus wants us to focus our sights to Him alone.
Discipleship is never about us but always Jesus, only Jesus who invites this Sunday to take a sincere look into ourselves like Bartimaeus, without alibis and excuses to root out whatever that keeps us from seeing Him truly like self-centeredness and selfishness or preoccupation with wealth and fame, or pleasures and comfort.
To see Jesus truly like Bartimaeus is to be like a child, to die into one’s self by “throwing aside” whatever we have, “springing up to come to Jesus”. That is when we discover too that the more we see Jesus, the more we realize that Jesus gives us more than what we ask Him because He is actually never far from us especially when we cry out to Him!
To see Jesus truly like Bartimaeus is to leave the sides and walk the main roads with Jesus to Jerusalem, up to His crucifixion. In doing so, we must learn to always stop for others struggling in their blindness to see Jesus too.
Most of all, to see Jesus like Bartimaeus is to keep on asking Him, “Master, I want to see” so that we keep on experiencing a new way of seeing Jesus in life’s many complexities these days that have rendered so many of us blinded by the enticing lures of the world. Amen.And, see yah! Have a new way of seeing life and others this week in Jesus!
Photo by the author, Pundaquit Mountains in San Antonio, Zambales at the back of Nagsasa Cove, 19 October 2024.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 20 October 2024 Isaiah 53:10-11 ><}}}}*> Hebrews 4:14-16 ><}}}}*> Mark 10:35-45
The Jewish Cemetery of Mount of Olives facing the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem where the Messiah is believed would pass through when He comes, exactly where Jesus entered on Palm Sunday over 2000 years ago (photo by author taken in May 2019).
Jesus Christ’s three predictions of His coming Passion, Death, and Resurrection punctuate Mark’s narration of the Lord’s journey to Jerusalem. They were already fast approaching Jerusalem when Jesus revealed His third prediction of His Pasch to His followers.
According to Mark, the Twelve and the crowd were “amazed and were afraid” after hearing for the third time Christ’s coming Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
Photo by author, Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, April 2017.
And this was the prevailing mood among the followers of the Lord as they approached Jerusalem; beginning today and next Sunday, Mark reminds us of the need to have a clear sight and understanding of Jesus and His mission so that we may not be blinded by fame and glory in following Him like the brothers James and John:
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” He replied, “What do you wish me to do for you?” They answered him, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking… but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared” (Mark 10:35-38, 40).
Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking."
Photo by author, Betania Tagaytay, 2018.
Whoa…! We might all exclaim with some indignation like the other ten Apostles upon hearing this request by James and John, two of the most intimate friends of Jesus with Simon Peter.
Were they trying to ease their worries and fears that they made the request without thinking it so well, a case of mema, me masabi lang? Or, do they really understand nothing at all of the Lord’s teachings especially last Sunday of the need to let go of our possessions to enter eternal life?
Whatever may be the reason, we could just imagine the treachery of the two who left the group behind, trying not to be noticed by the ten, and approached Jesus who was walking ahead. They have both belittled Jesus who reads the minds and the hearts of everyone. And most sad is the fact that many times, we too act like James and John.
Oh yes! We know so well of the sufferings and trials, of the “cup we have to drink and baptism we have to undergo” Jesus told the brothers. Very much like the two, we also know Christ always triumphs! Jesus never fails!
And that’s the crux of the matter here not only with James and John but with us: we bet on Jesus like in gambling casinos for we know Jesus wins all the time, hoping for some rewards following His glory.
James and John like us today believed so much in Jesus that despite His coming Passion and Death, they knew as we do that He would rise again and be King. Long before the Passion of Jesus had begun, still far from entering Jerusalem, James and John were already betting on the success and glory of Christ because they wanted a guarantee of a reward. It was a sort reminding Jesus they have always been with Him since the beginning like Peter last Sunday who bragged about having left everything to follow Him.
Are we not like them? It is the same attitude found among many of us not only in politics and government but even at home, in school and offices, or the church! Be the first to register to make it known how well qualified we are for commendations and rewards simply because of being in the company of every journey or advocacy or struggle.
It is the tragedy that happens even in our faith journey as Christians when we are blinded by so many worldly things about Jesus whom we see merely as a miracle-worker or worst, an ATM who never runs out of cash. We believe in Jesus as the Son of God, all-powerful and merciful who can do everything, especially the impossible as He had assured us last Sunday but many times, we do not know what we are asking like James and John.
When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John. Jesus summoned them and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be with so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you you will be slave of all. For the Son of God did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:41-45).
Photo by author, wailing wall of Jerusalem, May 2019.
Jesus clarifies today with us that His glory has nothing in common whatsoever with those things we gain here on earth by claiming our rights or resorting to undue favors, by competing with others to get the better of them or even push them away or step on them to crush them for us to be on top.
We cannot be Christ’s disciples if we are preoccupied with rewards. We serve Jesus because we love that we want to be with Him in eternal life. And in loving Him, we serve lovingly others without expecting anything in return simply because we love.
See how in calling together the Twelve, Jesus reminded them and us today of His central teaching of becoming like a child, confidently entrusting everything into the Father’s hands, exactly like Him, the Suffering Servant of God referred to by the Prophet Isaiah in the first reading who “gave his life as a ransom for many” (Mk.10:45).
Photo by author, 2021.
Jesus reminds us this Sunday that love alone – like His self-sacrificing love on the Cross – is the basis of our relationships with each other, unlike the world where relations are based on power and domination.
Noteworthy too is the reminder of the author of the Letter to the Hebrews today about Jesus our High Priest who entered the sanctuary of heaven through the Cross so that we may be saved and receive mercy from the Father.
What else do we want Jesus to do for us when He had done everything for our salvation? Let us pray for a clearer vision of Jesus, to always see and find Him in our lives so that we desire only Him and share only Him. And follow Him like the blind Bartimaeus next Sunday. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday in the Twenty-fifth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 26 September 2024 Ecclesiastes 1:2-11 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 9:7-9
Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:2, 9).
How lovely are your words today, God our Father: "All things are vanity", a mist, a dew, or breath that vanish quickly, no permanence, and no real value at all but because of You, everything got meaning, got value especially in the coming of Jesus Christ your Son, our Lord and Savior.
You are no longer far from us, dear God; in Jesus Christ, You have been among us, most of all within us; yet, many of us could not find you nor experience you.
Like Herod the tetrarch, so many of us have heard a lot about you, O God, in Jesus Christ but are still perplexed, refusing to believe, refusing to recognize, refusing to accept especially His Cross.
Bless us, dear Jesus, especially those who keep on trying to see you but could not find you because to see you O Lord is to forget one's self, take up one's cross, and follow You. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 17 June 2024 1 Kings 21:1-16 <*((((><< + >><))))*> Matthew 5:38-42
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD in Infanta, Quezon, April 2020.
Your words today, O God are so agitating, "nakaka-init po ng ulo": it is an old story we have all memorized but every time we hear it, we are so moved in anger because it continues to happen in our own time, especially the truth that we never run out of scoundrels, of corrupt and evil people willing to sell their souls, to lie and malign others, even kill for money and wealth.
This is what Jezebel wrote in the letters: “Proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. Next, get two scoundrels to face him and accuse him of having cursed God and king. Then take himmout and stone him to death.” His fellow citizens – the elders and the nobles who dwelt in his city – dis as Jezebel had ordered them in writing, through the letters she had sent them… On hearing that Naboth was dead, Ahab started off on his way down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
1 Kings 21:9-11, 16
Forgive us, merciful Father in conniving with the modern Jezebels and scoundrels with our nasty talks and comments against others especially in social media; we may not be committing sin at the same scale as that of Jezebel and her cohorts but still, we continue this cycle of evil and violence in what we consider at small talks that are true after all... Oh God, forgive us in taking away the honor and dignity of so many people with our careless comments and even likes in social media posts.
Teach us in Jesus Christ your Son, Father, to go the extra mile in fighting this vicious circle of evil; give us the courage in Jesus to turn the other cheek by firmly standing on our ground at His Cross in resisting violence and revenge, in showing others that love always prevails, the love is the most potent force in the universe not greed nor hatred, that only love conquers all. Amen.
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD in Infanta, Quezon, April 2020.
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