Kapatiran at sinodo sa lipatan

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-29 ng Mayo 2025

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, St. Scholantica Retreat House, Tagaytay City, Agosto 2024.*

Ito ay pagsang-ayon sa ginawang pagninilay kamakalawa ni P. Ritz Darwin Resuello ukol sa nalalapit naming lipatan ng mga pari. Malaman ang kanyang mga sinulat. At nakatutuwa ang kanyang pamagat na mayroong halong salya at padyak: GUMUGULONG LANG BA ANG ROLETA? ISANG PAGNINILAY SA NALALAPIT NA LIPATAN.

At iyon nga ang punto de vista nitong ating pagninilay din: gumugulong lang ba ang roleta sa lipatan ng mga pari?

Nakakatawa. Kasi totoo lalo nitong mga lumipas na panahon. Kung minsan nga parang hindi lang roleta kungdi tila bolang kristal na rin ang ginagamit sa lipatan.

*Larawan kuha ng may akda noong Misa ng Krisma, 2025.*

Hindi natin kinukuwestiyon ang pagpapasiya ng Obispo na siyang may final say ngunit gaya ng nilahad ni P. Ritz, napakinggan ba ng “may pag-galang at pag-unawa ang tunay na pangangailangang pastoral” ng parokya?

a. Pakikinig nang may paggalang at pag-unawa sa tunay na pangangailangang pastoral ng parokya: Mahalaga pong lumikha ng malugod na kapaligiran para sa lahat ng boses, lalo na sa mga direktang naapektuhan ng lipatan na ito – ang mga pari, at higit sa lahat, ang mga parokyano. Ang mga hinaing, ang mga natatanging katangian ng isang komunidad, at ang kanilang kasalukuyang pastoral na sitwasyon ay lubhang mahalaga. Ang espirituwal na kapakanan ay manatili nawang pangunahing priyoridad. Gaya ng idiniin ni Papa Francisco, ang diyalogong ito ay hindi lamang tungkol sa pagdinig kundi tungkol sa pagpapatibay ng isang tunay na pagpapalitan ng mga ideya kung saan tayo ay natututo nang sama-sama at kung saan ang bawat atas ay malinaw na tumutugon sa kung ano ang tunay na kinakailangan sa parokya (P. Ritz, aka Heinrich Atmung sa FB post, 27 mayo 2025, 8:30 ng umaga).

Noong ako ay nasa ICSB Malolos, dumating ang ilang panauhin namin na mga lingkod layko ng parokya sa UP-Diliman na pawang mga propesor sa naturang pamantasan.

Hindi tungkol sa agham at edukasyon aming naging paksa sa hapunan kungdi ang kanilang tanong: paano ba kami tinuturing at tinitingnan ng mga pari sa pagbibigay ng aming mga pastol?

Pakiramdam nila kasi na tila hindi tiningnang mabuti kanilang katayuan sa buhay bilang mananampalataya nang bigyan ng pastol na palaging naroon sa mga rally kesa nasa parokya. Bagama’t anila maraming nagrarally sa UP, hindi nila kailangan ng isa pang ralliyistang pari kungdi isang nananatili doon upang kanilang masangguni sa maraming bagay sa buhay nila ng pagtuturo at pakikisalamuha sa mga mag-aaral na mayroong natatanging pangangailangang espiritwal.

Nadarama nga ba naming mga pari ang pintig ng mga tao sa parokya? Hindi tuloy nila maiwasang magtanong bakit tila sila ginagawang “tapunan” sila ng mga paring may problema.

Iba na ang mga tao ngayon. Mulat at handang makipag-usap at suriin hindi lang mga homilya kungdi mga desisyon ng kanilang pari. They deserve nothing less, ika nga dahil nga naman sa tagal ng pag-aaral at paghubog ng mga pari bago maordenahan, pagkatapos ay puro pagpalakpak at telenovela lang kuwento sa Misa? Hinubog ang mga pari upang maging mahuhusay at masisipag sa paglilingkod kaya kawalan ng katarungan na ipapasan sa mga tao lalo na kung ituring silang maliit na parokya na puwede nang pagtiyagaan mga pari na may problema sa iba’t-ibang aspekto tulad ng pananalapi, pag-uugali, at seksuwalidad.

*Kuha ng may-akda, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 Marso 2025.*

Nasaan ang diwa ng sinodo o sama-samang paglalakbay kung saan ay nakikinig ang lahat ng panig lalo’t higit ang mga nag-aasign ng pari? Maraming parokya nasisira dahil hindi isinaalang-alang kapakanan ng mga mananampalataya kasi nga naman yung mahusay nilang kura pinalitan ng tamad at walang pakialam o makasarili. Lahat ng pagsisikap ng naunang pari ay pilit binubura at winawasak ng sumunod na kapalit dahil sarili ang inuuna at hindi ang mga kawan. At mayroong pari na hindi maka-move on, hindi maiwanan dating parokya dahil pakiwari sa sarili ay Mesiyas!

Problema ito sa buong Simbahan maski sa ibang bansa dahil marahil sa isang pinag-uugatan: ang pagturing sa mga parokya bilang maliit o malaki, mayaman o mahirap. Hindi totoong may pangit na parokya; nasa uri ng pari iyon. Mayroong mga munting pamayanan na napapayabong ng ibang pari na tingin ng iba ay imposible.

Panahon na upang alisin sa talasalitaan ng mga pari ang label na maliit at malaki o mahirap at mayamang parokya dahil bawat pamayanan ay katipunan ng mga alagad ni Kristo. Higit sa lahat, bawat parokya ay pinanahanan ng Espiritu Santo bilang Katawan ni Kristo na dapat palaging pahalagahan ano man ang katayuan. Kung tutuusin batay sa turo ng Panginoong Jesus, iyon ngang hirap na parokya at tila pinagtampuhan ng panahon ang dapat bigyang halaga ng mga pari gaya ng mga nasa kabundukan at liblib na pook. Hindi ko malilimutan ang salita noon sa amin sa seminaryo ng dating naming Obispo na Arsobispo Emerito ng Naga, ang Lubhang kagalang-galang Rolando Tria-Tirona, “those who have less in life should have more of God.”

Ito ang sinasaad ng katagang sinodo, ang katagang palasak na ngayon ngunit hindi pa rin maramdaman dahil wala namang nakikinig at nagbibigay halaga sa bawat isa.

Usiginga… kailan nanaig kalooban ng mga kawan kesa sa kura? O ng karamihan ng mga pari kesa sa Obispo at iilan niyang upisyal?

Totoong walang demokrasya sa Simbahan sa larangan ng chain of command dahil ito ay isang hierarchy, na mayroong hanay ng mga upisyal sa pamumuno ng Santo Papa katuwang mga Obispo na kinakatawan ng mga Kura sa bawat Parokya.

Subalit, hindi ito nangangahulugang diktadura ang Simbahan. Kung tutuusin nga ay sa Simbahan dapat matagpuan ang tunay na diwa ng kalayaan na kung saan ay masinsinang tinatalakay ng lahat ang higit na makabubuti sa karamihan batay sa kalooban ng Diyos. Ito ang dahilan kaya nagpatawag ng sinodo ang yumaong Santo Papa Francisco.

Dito makikita din natin ang isang malinaw na problema ng Simbahan na hindi namin matanggap – na kaming mga pari mismo ang problema ng Simbahan. At sa Simbahan. Ngunit saka na natin iyan pag-usapan at balikan ang pagninilay ni P. Ritz na ating pinagtitibay. Wika niya muli sa kanyang FB post noong Mayo 27:

b. Pagyakap sa maagap na pastoral na karunungan: Mahalaga pong isaalang-alang kung paano nakatutulong ang bawat “assignment” sa paglago ng isang pari sa ministeryo at nagpapayaman ng kaniyang mga karanasan, laging naghahanap ng balanse sa pagitan ng mga pangangailangan ng mga parokya at ng paglago ng indibidwal na mga pari.

Matalik na kalakip ng diwa ng sinodo ang kapatiran ng mga pari. Ngunit kapansin-pansin tuwing lipatan ang problema ng aming mga tampuhan at mga reklamo sa assignment. Totoo namang mayroong mga pari na namimili at mareklamo sa assignment ngunit hindi sila ang problema sa lahat ng pagkakataon tuwing may lipatan.

Ang problema ay ang sistema at patakaran – o kawalan ng mga ito.

Masakit sabihin ngunit aking pangangahasan sa pagkakataong ito na sa dalawamput-pitong taon ko sa pagiging pari, mas maayos ang lipatan at mga assignment noon kesa ngayon. Problema na rin naman noon din ngunit mas malala ngayon ang pananaw ng hindi pagiging patas o unfair sa pagpili ng mga assignment.

Hindi matatapos ang mga reklamo at hinaing sa bawat lipatan hanggat hindi naiibsan ang pananaw na ito. Hindi po salapi ang problema ng mga pari. Hindi rin naman babae o mga pogi. Ito palagi ang problema at daing natin – ang hindi patas sa maraming aspekto at pagkakataon.

Dito pumapasok ang maruming kahulugan ng “politika” sa Simbahan tulad ng barkadahan at favoritism. Mayroong napaparusahan, mayroong pinalalampas. Mayroong pinag-iinitan at mayroong kinukunsinti. Ang malungkot, mayroong mga pinangingilagan kaya pinagbibigyan lahat ng kagustuhan. Bato-bato sa langit, tamaan sapul!

Gayon pa man, on a positive note, dito makikita ang mabuti at malalim na kapatiran ng mga pari kung saan mayroong ilang maninindigan upang kausapin ang lahat kung kinakailangan alang-alang sa ilang bagay na nakakaligtaan o ayaw tingnan ng ilan sa mga kapatid naming naka-kahon na hindi makaahon sa kabila ng kanilang pag-amin at pag-ako ng kanilang pagkakasala at pagkakamali. Problema ng stigma.

Tanging hiling lang naman ng mga pari ay kausapin sila upang mapakinggan kanilang kalagayan at kalooban sa pagbibigay ng assignment. Ito yung pinupunto ni P. Ritz sa kanyang pitak. Sadya bang nasuring mabuti ang lahat ng paraan upang mapalago ang sino mang pari sa kanyang destino? Wala namang pari na likas na masuwayin kungdi ang ibig rin ay sariling ikapapanuto. Sa kabutihang-palad, mas marami pa rin ang mga paring masunurin at nagpapahalaga ng pangako ng obedience kaya sana ay naroon palagi ang fairness.

Hindi mawawala mga inggitan at siraan sa lipatan ngunit huwag mawawala ang “sense of fairness” dahil dito nakasalalay mabuting samahan at ugnayan. Susunod at susunod pa rin mga pari sa lipatan alang-alang sa obedience at faith in God ngunit palaging uusok ang isyu ng lipatan parang isang takore ng kumukulong tubig. Pakinggan natin ang sipol ng kumukulong tubig sa takore, yung tinatawag sa Inggles na tempest in teapot. Diyan pumapasok ang ikatlong punto ni P. Ritz:

c. Pagpapatibay ng malinaw at mapagmalasakit na komunikasyon: Kung posible po, ang pagbibigay ng napapanahon at “transparent” na impormasyon tungkol sa lipatan ay maaaring makapagpapagaan ng mga alalahanin at makapagpadali ng mas maayos na pagsasaayos para sa lahat – ang mga pari, kawani ng parokya, at ang mga mananampalataya. Ang isang maikli ngunit napag-isipang paliwanag ay maaaring lubos na makapagpatibay ng tiwala sa loob ng ating pamilya sa diyosesis.

Ang Simbahan ay komunikasyon. Kaya naman sa mga dokumento nito lalo mula nang Vatican II, sinasaad na sa Simbahan dapat masaksihan ang pinakamainam at pinakamataas na antas ng pagtatalastasan.

Ngunit taliwas palagi. Maraming pagkakataon sa mga pari kulang ang komunikasyon. Ni walang formal communication sa mga lipatan. Mayroong mga pari na atat nang lumipat na akala mo ay makikipagpalit lang ng tsinelas! Juice colored…! Kaluluwa ang pinag-uusapan habang ang antas ng aming usapan ay parang paglipat lang ng bahay kung saan ang pananaw ng ilan ay mag-impake lang ng mga gamit at damit. Kapirasong text o sulat hindi pa magawa kung hindi kayang tawagan o personal na kausapin sa mga balakin.

Kaya nga babalik tayo sa tanong ng mga tao: ano nga ba turing natin sa kanila tuwing maglilipatan kasi ang sagot dito ay siyang sagot sa tanong ano nga ba turingan naming mga pari sa isa’t isa? Hangga’t walang maayos na sagot sa mga katanungang ito, mananatili ang pananaw at paghahalintulad sa roleta na gamit sa perya ang lipatan. O bolang kristal ng mga manghuhula.

Sa diwa ng sinodo at kapatiran bilang sama-samang naglalakabay na Simbahan, patuloy tayong manalangin para sa mga pastol at kawan. At huwag din mag atubiling makilahok sa mga talakayan at usapan na ang tanging mithiin ay hanapin at sundin ang kalooban ng Diyos upang higit Siyang mapaglingkuran at masalamin dito sa lupang ibabaw. Salamuch po.

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Chapel of the Angel of Peace, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, Marso 2025.*

Easter is Jesus personally knowing each of us

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fourth Sunday in Easter, Cycle C, 11 May 2025
Acts 13:14, 43-52 ><}}}}*> Revelation 7:9, 14-17 ><}}}}*> John 10:27-30

*The new Pope, Leo XIV, appears on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, 09 May 2025; photo from vaticannews.va*

What a lovely fourth Sunday in Easter also known as “Good Shepherd Sunday” when we are blessed with a new Pope – Leo XIV – who will shepherd us into this modern time. Truly, Jesus Christ our Good Shepherd knows us so well that he did not make us wait long in having a new Pope in this troubled time.

Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish” (John 10:27-28).

“I know them.” How lovely are these words of Jesus to us, his “sheep” especially for those going through a lot of trials and difficulties, for those feeling lost and empty, for those about to give up on life.

Let us dwell on his words “I know them”.

For the Jews and in the Bible, knowing is more of the heart than of the mind. Knowing a person is not just knowing one’s name but most of all of being in a personal relationship, an affinity with the person.

In declaring “I know them”, Jesus affirms how he personally regards each one as somebody dear to him, somebody close to him. We are all a somebody, a someone to Jesus whom he personally loves and cares for.

This we have seen among the people we have met in Lent like the apostles Peter, James and John during the transfiguration, the prodigal son, the woman caught in adultery. Or during the Holy Week like Judas who betrayed the Lord, Peter who denied Jesus thrice, Dimas the thief, the centurion who believed in him after his death on the Cross, John and the Blessed Mother at the foot of the Cross. They were all in their most difficult situations in life yet Jesus knew them so well that he assured them of his loving presence, lifting them up to move on with life.

Recall also the people we met this Easter Season like Mary Magdalene and companions early in the morning later followed by Peter and the beloved disciple who all found the tomb empty, the disciples at the upper room with locked doors that evening of Easter, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Thomas Didymus, the disciples led by Peter at breakfast with Jesus at the shore of Lake Tiberias. In their most joyous moments in life amid the darkness and emptiness, the doubts and unbelief or blindness following Easter, they were accompanied and joined by the Risen Lord to ensure and assure them that indeed he is alive and will always be with them.

In the same manner, think also of those moments in your own life of darkness and emptiness, whether negatively or positively, for better or for worse… who remained standing by your side?

Jesus. Only Jesus. And always Jesus. Because he knows us so well.

Jesus is truly the Good Shepherd who knows us so well even in these modern times where there are more vehicles and traffic, more disruptions to life yet he continues to shepherd us like the many shepherds still in many countries in Europe and the Middle East.

And that makes this passage most touching and refreshing because though times may have changed, Jesus has remained personally committed with each one of us. He keeps on looking for us, searching us, following us. Loving us most of all. But, are we present in Jesus?

Notice the four verbs in this short gospel we have today: ascribed to Jesus are the verbs “know” and “give” while to us the sheep, “hear” and “follow” where problems always happen. Do we “follow” what we “hear”? “To hear” is to recognize the authority and importance of the speaker’s words; it is to enter into a communion with him, to put oneself in his guidance, to “follow” him as his disciple.

Jesus speaks to us daily but nobody cares because right after waking up, most of us today look for our cellphone than pray! We are more interested with the “likes” and “followers” we have garnered from our previous posts. We are more enthralled with the seductive voices and images of social media that feed on our ego and senses, giving us false feelings of security and acceptance. We would rather be consumers than disciples who are called to sacrifice like the shepherd.

*Photo of a sheep’s fleece by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2022.*

Though life has become more affluent these days, it has ironically become more empty and lost without direction because we just keep on having and possessing, consuming and ingesting everything the world offers that leave us guilty and empty because we cannot experience any sense of fulfillment and meaning.

How ironic that amid this pandemic of “obesity”, we fill ourselves mostly with trash and poison, literally and figuratively speaking that we feel so lost more than ever with so much time wasted and sadly, life and relationships thrown away. Everything has become more of the mind than of the heart with persons being commodified as things, everything seen in monetary terms, so utilitarian in nature.

Only Jesus “knows” us so well that is why only he “gives eternal life” as Peter exclaimed in this Saturday gospel in the third week of Easter, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and we are convinced that you are the Holy One of God” (Jn.6:68-69).

Unlike anybody, Jesus is the Son of God sent to gather us, to save us and to bring us closer to the Father so that no one among us shall perish. That is the plan of God fulfilled by Christ which we must continue like the apostles as we have heard in the first reading when Paul and Barnabas preached the Gospel of Jesus to the gentiles.

This Sunday, Jesus our Good Shepherd assures us, wherever we may be – in darkness and emptiness, or under the dark clouds of a thunderstorm, under a thatched roof of misery – that he knows us so well. He loves us.

Feel the warmth of Christ’s loving heart this Sunday by being present with your loved ones, the people you know so well like Jesus. Let us pray:

Lord Jesus,
you are our Good Shepherd
and we are your sheep;
only you know us so well,
only you can give us eternal life,
only you can keep us safe 
not to be snatched by anyone
like the corrupt and shallow candidates
running for office again this election;
give us the wisdom, courage and faith
to follow you and stand by you
like those elders in white garments
seen by John in his vision of heaven
in the second reading;
let us vote wisely,
let us not waste that power
you shared with us.
Amen.

*Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2022.*

Praying for a true teacher

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Third Week of Easter, 08 May 2025
Acts 8:26-40     ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>     John 6:44-51

God our loving Father,
our Cardinals have started
their election process for the
successor of Peter, 
the Vicar of Christ 
your Son here on Earth;
send them your Holy Spirit
to enlighten their minds
and their hearts to seek
and follow your will in 
Christ Jesus.

Help them choose a good shepherd
who is also a good teacher like 
your Son Jesus Christ imitated so well
by the deacon Philip with the help
of the Holy Spirit.

Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, that is, the queen of Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury, who had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning home. Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him (Acts 8:27-28, 30-31).

Your Servant,
himself a former Pope too
St. Paul VI wrote us in December 1975
"Modern man listens more willingly
to witnesses than teachers,
and if he does listen to teachers,
it is because they are witnesses"
(Evangelii Nuntiandi, #41);
send us true and good,
teachers who are witnesses 
of the Gospel; give us more
teachers like Philip who taught
clearly of the essential truth 
in this life which is about 
Jesus the Christ.

Next week we shall
choose our new leaders 
to govern us; take away
our blindness as teachers ourselves
that we may elect into office who
are also good teachers who stand 
for what is true and just,
not corrupt and liars;
send us more teachers
who will awaken in us your
Divine Presence to bring out
in everyone each one's
own giftedness as a person.

At the same time,
we pray for our professional 
teachers from the public school
who will work at the polling places
next week; give them strength
not only in body but also in 
mind, heart, and soul
to keep our elections clean
and honest, not to be swayed
by corrupt candidates who poison
the society and keep people away
from Christ and one another.

Let us not forget, 
Lord Jesus that as we share
in your prophetic mission,
we are all teachers like you;
keep our hearts and minds
open to the promptings of the
Holy Spirit to go wherever we
are needed most for your greater
glory. Amen.

Objections…

The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Fourth Week of Easter, 22 April 2024
Acts 11:1-18 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> John 10:1-10

*Photo by author in Silang, Cavite, September 2020.*

Lord Jesus Christ,
as we go back to school and to work
this Monday, I pray
that we "object" less 
to one another,
that we hold our "objections"
to ourselves first until
we have found the merits
of an endeavor or proposal
and most especially,
until we have found Your Holy Will.

The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem the circumcised believers confronted him, saying, “You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.” Peter began and explained it to them step by step… When they heard this, they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying, “God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.” (Acts 11:1-4, 18)

Teach us, dear Jesus,
to widen our perspectives
and to always be alert for
the movements of the Holy Spirit
so that we do not waste 
time and energies with our
endless "objections"
that often paralyze
missions and operations
and worst of all, destroy
people.

How lovely is Your claim,
"I am the gate for the sheep"
(John 10:7) for we all belong 
to You alone; when we object
a lot, we close the gate,
we hinder the flow of people
to the gate, and most of all,
we steal Your sheep!

Do not let our many and endless
objections claimed as for the 
greater good but totally empty of You
hinder our flock in finding You
"so that they might have life
and have it more abundantly"
(John 10:10).
Amen.

Jesus our Good Shepherd, the Gift & the Giver Himself

The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fourth Sunday in the Easter Season, Cycle B, 21 April 2024
Acts 4:8-12 ><}}}}*> 1 John 3:1-2 ><}}}}*> John 10:1-10

*Photo by author, dusk at Anvaya Cove in Bataan, 15 April 2024.*

My kinakapatid is turning 60 this week with a dinner to be prepared by an Italian chef. His sister texted me for my main course and I chose lamb chops. And immediately she replied, “Pareho tayo. Mary’s little pet… the one who takes away the sins of the world.” Her wit floored me that I had to agree with a text, “Right. The most biblical and holiest food.”

Sorry for some little bragging as we celebrate this fourth Sunday in Easter as “Good Shepherd Sunday”…

We Filipinos have a hard time getting the “feel” of the shepherd because we have never had that image in our culture. Hence, it is a most welcomed development that there is now a growing popularity in tending sheep in the country while the Filipino palate had finally discovered a taste for lamb.

Come to think of this: the sheep exists only for two reasons, for food and clothing. They are meant to be slaughtered unlike dogs or cats or birds kept as pets. Another notable thing with sheep is the fact it is the only land animal that go against the flow when crossing a river like the salmon!

*Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, at Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort in Infanta, Quezon, 03 April 2024.*

I love those characteristics of the sheep, for slaughtering which is almost like offering and always going against the tide. Exactly just like our Lord Jesus Christ who identified Himself as the good shepherd.

Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep… This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to raise it up again. This command I have received from my Father (John 10:11, 17-18).

See the flow of the Lord’s statements.

*Photo from https://aleteia.org/2019/05/12/three-of-the-oldest-images-of-jesus-portrays-him-as-the-good-shepherd/*.

First we notice here His use of the “I AM” which for the Jews refers to God when He told Moses “I AM WHO AM.” Clearly, Jesus was declaring to the people at that time that He is the Son of God, the awaited Messiah or Christ.

This scene was shortly before the feast of the dedication of the Jews after Jesus had healed a man born blind, a miracle never heard of at that time. It was a big issue then as authorities refused to accept that Jesus did indeed healed the man born blind.

Secondly, Jesus mentioned four times in just three verses the act of “laying down his life for the sheep” (vv. 11, 17, and 18). It sounded so good to hear how Jesus loves us so much that He would lay down His life for us his sheep; but, those were not just mere words Jesus expressed but a reality that happened at the Cross on Good Friday that He actually explained after this discourse at their Last Supper!

Keep in mind that we are now going back to the earlier discourses and teachings of Jesus that only became clear to the disciples including us today after Easter. We shall be having a lot of these “flashbacks” to understand and love Jesus more and His teachings.

According to Pope Benedict XVI in his first book of the Jesus of Nazareth series, “The Cross is at the center of the shepherd discourse” (page 280). When Jesus said “This is my Body… This is my Blood”, He meant really Himself being given for us; Jesus did not merely give something for us but His very self as seen on the Cross on Good Friday.

That is how Jesus gives life – by giving up His life for us so that when He arose, we then share in His being a good shepherd through our little dying to ourselves because of love, giving life to those around us.

As the good shepherd, Jesus was the first to enter death, to be slaughtered but this time minus the violence and gore of the Cross that was the worst punishment of all time when He said “I lay down my life in order to take it up again”. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.”

Yes, there was victimhood but more than that was His being an offering never forced nor imposed by anyone or by circumstances. Jesus did it all for love!

Though He was handed over (paradidomi) and betrayed by Judas, Jesus was totally free, actively passive went to his Passion and Death because He was very certain of His Resurrection.

We experience the same thing many times in life when we have to make great sacrifices like when we have to allow a loved one to die after a long illness. Death is a grace and a blessing when freely given too by those around the dying, freeing the dying person of any guilt when he/she finally goes.

The same thing is true when friends and lovers separate either because they have found other loves to pursue or worst, have fallen out of love with us despite all our love for them. It is the most unkindest cut of all breakups and separations, excruciatingly painful as we blindly give up our relationships ironically for love. More than the persons and circumstances involved, we freely choose to let go – magparaya in Filipino – because deep in our wounded and hollowed heart is the hope they may grow in their new love.

Here we are like Jesus the Good Shepherd because even in the death of our relationships is still found our love. Like Jesus Christ, we do not simply give something but our very selves. The Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner beautifully expressed this when he described Jesus is both “the Gift and the Giver.”

*Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD of the sheep’s wool, 03 April 2024.*

Love is better shown than said. Love cannot be defined but only be described for it is so wide and vast in its nature and scope. Love simply shows itself. That is why when we speak of love, we use comparisons and analogies and yet, they are not enough. How much more when we speak of the love of God?!

This Sunday, Jesus spoke of His love like every human being using the language of parable and allegories. But truly Divine, we find so much more when He claimed “I AM the good shepherd.” It is His total person and self, His being both the Gift and the Giver.

The good news is, because of His giving of self, we too have become like Him able to give ourselves wholly in love. Like Peter in the first reading, we experienced great powers within us not innately ours but God working in us, enabling us to empower others by healing them not literally but figuratively speaking.

When Jesus declared “I AM the good shepherd”, He reminds us of being the children of God, His indwelling, our being an “I AM” of God Himself. Like Him, we are good shepherds able to love in Christ to the point of being foolish as St. Paul experienced.

Like the sheep, let us continue to forge on with life’s many difficulties, even if many times we have to go against the flow of the world that is always selfish and misleading. Let us pray:

Dearest Jesus,
help me to give more of myself
not just of something from me;
help me to lay down my life
for my friends even if it means
not just losing myself but
losing them in order to gain You;
help me to remain in You,
my Good Shepherd,
to never go astray
because life and love
are found only in You,
the Gift and Giver.
Amen.
Have a blessed week ahead!

Our parish, our priests

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 14 June 2023
2 Corinthians 3:4-11 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Matthew 5:17-19

*Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2020.*

Lord Jesus Christ,
as we approach the Solemnity
of your Most Sacred Heart,
we pray today for your flock
and their shepherds,
we your priests.

How lovely if we 
your priests could only
speak boldly like St. Paul about
our ministry, our priesthood
in you made manifest in our 
own sufferings and sacrifices,
in our efforts to reach out to everyone,
especially the weak and the sick,
the marginalized and forgotten,
in our being one with you in your
Cross, Lord Jesus.

Brothers and sisters: Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that of ourselves are qualified to take credit for anything as coming from us; rather, our qualification comes from God, who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life.
2 Corinthians 3:4-6

Keep us, your priests, 
faithful to your new covenant,
Jesus; let us bring fulfillment
to the many laws we have
by being a leaven for your people
to grow in faith, hope, and love;
set us free from the chains
of legalisms and rubrics
that forget you in every person.

Most of all, let us not forget
to lovingly serve your flock,
your people, O Lord;
may we always be present with
them especially in moments of 
their trials and weaknesses,
when they are seeking directions,
when they are lost and could not
find you.

May they be transformed into your
image, Lord Jesus Christ,
so that like St. Paul we may also
tell our parishioners,
"You are our letter, 
written on our hearts,
known and read by all" (2 Cor. 3:2)
when the works we have done as
your minister, Lord, 
speak for itself.
Amen.

Advent is for comforting

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Second Week of Advent, 06 December 2022
Isaiah 40:1-11 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Matthew 18:12-14

Comfort food
Comfort zone
Comfort room!
How funny these days
things and ideas are supposed
to comfort us but in reality do not.
Thank you very much, dearest
God our Father, for this gift of
the Advent Season when you
truly comfort us again.

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. A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Isaiah 40:1-3

Like your words yesterday,
today's prophecy by Isaiah 
are very comforting:  to comfort,
from the words "cum" and "fortis"
that mean "with strength" means
exactly that - give strength, make
strong again!
Nothing can truly give us strength
no one can truly give us comfort
except you, our loving Father,
who "had expiated all our sins"
and "given us double for all our sins" 
in the coming of Jesus Christ, 
our Good Shepherd.

Make us realize, Father,
that nothing and no one can truly
comfort us in the truest sense -
soothe and heal our pains,
allow us to cry and be our true selves,
most of all, give us strength to go on
with life again amid all the pains and
sorrows except Jesus Christ.
Let us be like Jesus the Good Shepherd
to others in pain due to sickness
and hurts in life, giving them comfort,
by helping them find direction and 
meaning in life,
joy and peace,
someone to listen to them
and be a companion in this
life journey and most of all,
find you again in themselves,
in their giftedness as persons
to be renewed and be strong again.
Amen.

Prayer of an (h)ungry sheep

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time, 17 August 2022
Ezekiel 34:1-11 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 20:1-16

God our loving Father,
what happened in Israel
during Ezekiel's time is happening
again, of "shepherds pasturing
themselves" (Ezekiel 34:2)!

Send us shepherds, dear Father, 
who have vision, who seek Jesus our 
Good Shepherd and not just listen to one's self
or with what our "cordon sanitaires" say and
whisper to our ears no matter how pleasing
or assuring these may be (should we not be
more at home with being bothered than
pleased, Lord?);give us shepherds who would 
come out of their comfort zones like
that landowner ensuring everyone is doing
something; send us shepherds with courage
to smash existing structures of dominance
and cliques within your Church, drive away
the gnostics among us who know only what
is good for one's self to let in a breath 
of fresh air to enliven your flock.

Thank you in calling us
to shepherd your flock in
different capacities as priests,
parents, elder brothers and sisters,
superiors, teachers, leaders and 
managers; but, shepherding is more
than "strengthening the weak,
healing the sick,
binding up the injured,
bringing back the strayed
and seeking the lost" (cf. Ez. 34:4-5):
all these efforts are meant 
to enable every sheep "to work" -
that is, do something good,
something that would awaken
each one's worth and giftedness
as your beloved one like the master
of the vineyard in today's gospel:

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn… at nine o-clock… at noon… at three o’clock… and at about five o’clock to hire laborers for his vineyard.”
Matthew 20:1, 3, 5, 6

O dear Jesus,
forgive us your shepherds,
especially us your priests,
who have refused to go out
literally and figuratively speaking,
to look on your flock, to find every
sheep and give each one a chance to
"work" for you, to do something good
like serve others and harness their talents
you have given;
Oh, please forgive us your shepherds
when we feel so entitled knowing everything
and being capable of everything that we have
refused to stop "working" for you, when we
have refused to leave our "work" and made it
into an office than a ministry, replacing service
with power, simplicity with material comfort,
and yes though very sad, we have made your 
vocation a privilege as we bask in our
positions and ranks, refusing to give others
the chance to work because we have ceased
shepherding, choosing to be herding or worst,
lording over others.
Amen.

*Photo by Mr. Lorenzo Atienza, 12 June 2019, Malolos Cathedral.*

Daily conversion in Jesus

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Fourth Week of Easter, 09 May 2022
Acts 11:1-18   ><))))*> + <*((((><   John 10:1-10

*Photo by author, a house near the home of Cornelius in Jaffa, Israel, 2017.*

Today O Lord we go to the polls
to cast our votes for the next group
of national and local leaders of our
nation; we have long been praying
for these elections to be peaceful
and orderly.  
Most of all, a matured and intelligent one.
That we finally learn to vote according
to our informed and guided conscience,
carefully and prayerfully evaluating every
candidate, listening more to the voice 
of Jesus the Good Shepherd.
But for us to be able to listen to Jesus,
let us first pass through him, our 
only door.

Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.” So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep.”
John 10:1, 7

To pass through Jesus our gate
requires our own conversion to him;
and not just a conversion like that of
unbelievers and Gentiles in the first
reading but to be converted like Peter
himself and the rest of his fellow 
believers who were of Jewish roots:

Peter began and explained it to them (Apostles and brothers in Jerusalem) step by step, saying, “If then God gave them the same gift he gave us when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?” When they heard this, they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying, “God has then granted life-saving repentance to the Gentiles too.”
Acts 11:4,17-18

To pass through you, dear Jesus,
is to be one in you which calls for our
daily conversion to you; so many times
we feel complacent, resting on whatever
we have achieved or reached in our
relating with you; it is in our daily-
conversion in you that truly leads us
to communion in you.  Amen.

Knowing is belonging

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fourth Sunday in Easter-C, 08 May 2022
Acts 13:14, 43-52 ><}}}}*> Revelation 7:9, 14-17 ><}}}}*> John 10:27-30

The Good Shepherd is the earliest portrayal of our Lord Jesus Christ in art. Mostly done in paintings in the catacombs of Rome, Jesus the Good Shepherd is shown as a young, muscular man to signify his eternity carrying on his shoulders a lost sheep.

But that imagery of a shepherd taking care of the lost sheep and flock was an original thought among peoples in the ancient Near East that included Israel. Kings in Babylonia and Assyria regarded themselves as shepherds tasked by their gods to care especially for the weak. This concept we also find in the Old Testament like in the Books of Psalms and of the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel where God promised to send true “shepherds after his own heart” (Jer. 3:15) who shall lead his flock Israel with justice back to him.

That prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus Christ who is not just a shepherd but “the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep” (Jn.10:11) because he is one with his flock.

Oneness is an inner sense of belongingness in personhood and experiences, a common union or communion of selves and experiences like in Jesus becoming human like us to be one in our pains and sufferings and death so that we may be like him in his glorious resurrection and eternal life.

Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. The Father and I are one.”
John 10:27-28, 30

Jesus knows us, gives us eternal life; we hear and follow him.

To know in Jewish thought is not merely an intellectual activity of having information and details especially when used in relation with persons. To know somebody means to have a relationship. Knowing is belonging.

Jesus as the Good Shepherd knows us his sheep because we belong to him, and whether we like it or not, we know him precisely because we are his! Recall that during his trial before Pilate, Jesus declared “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice” (Jn.18:37).

*Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2020.*

From the very start, we have always belonged to God so that out of his great love for us he sent us his Son Jesus Christ so we can find our way back home to him. We are all God’s children created in his “image and likeness” who have become in many instances prodigal sons and daughters living like lost and injured sheep who need all the care and redemption to gain our status again as the Father’s beloved.

Our “belonging” to God is different from “possessing” in the same manner we belong to our parents or spouses to their partner. Human belongingness is way different from things as belongings, although so many times, it happens that people treat persons as things and objects to be possessed than subjects to be loved and cherished.

What do we mean? Children belong to parents and spouses belong to their partner but they can never be considered as possessions or property to be used and manipulated. People belong to one another like children to parents, husband to wife, and wife to husband as most cherished possessions in the sense that they are gifts from God, so unique in one’s self, free to grow and mature as a person. We belong to one another in mutual responsibility not as property; hence, the need for us to accept and support each other in love which leads to deeper communion and oneness through intimacy that extends to eternity!

Now we see why Jesus said he knows his sheep and gives them eternal life. Here we find the image of Jesus the Good Shepherd is in fact the image of Christ the King of the universe which sheds light on his very kingship as seen by John in his vision in our second reading today “of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands” (Rev. 7:9) which is reminiscent of his triumphal entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

In the first reading we have also heard how from the very beginning, it has been God’s plan to lead all men to salvation in Jesus Christ. Despite the setbacks encountered by Paul and Barnabas in Antioch when they were rejected by their fellow Jews, their decision to turn to the gentiles to proclaim the Gospel was in fulfillment of of the Lord’s will that “have made them a light to the Gentiles to be instruments of salvation to the ends of the earth” (Acts 13:47).

The mark of a true shepherd is like a light who leads us to Jesus Christ and his values of prayer, life, persons, family, and justice among others. Here is the distinction between the true shepherd and a thief – a robber does not pass through Jesus, the gate of the sheep (Jn.10:1ff). A thief like many politicians and dictators including their handlers see the flock as things and properties they own and possess who can be bought and be forgotten, even disregarded, until the next elections. (So, vote wisely by listening more to Jesus than to anyone like the candidates’ endorsers.)

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 2018.*

Belonging and mutuality

Human belongingness calls for mutuality for it to truly lead to oneness and communion. Jesus said he knows us and gives us eternal life because according to him, we his sheep hear his voice and follow him (v.27).

Do we listen to him and follow him?

Today we are also celebrating Mother’s Day. What a wonderful tribute to mothers who are indeed one of the truest good shepherdess in the world – the one to whom we all belong to, having cared for us from the very beginning in their womb.

Mothers are the most loving, most merciful, and most forgiving of all persons in the world, just like Jesus our Good Shepherd but sad to say, the one we most hurt when we disrespect her, from answering her back to swearing and sadly, when we disobey her. Ironically, when things go wrong with us and our lives, the first person we go to and accepts us is our mother too!

So many times, mothers bear all pains and hardships in life just to see their children fulfilled in life, choosing to suffer and cry in silence to hide the great difficulties they face daily, both physically and emotionally. That is how loving mothers are that in the Old Testament, God introduced himself as a mother, “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you” (Is.49:15).

It is so easy to say “we love our mom” like claiming “Jesus is our Good Shepherd” but it is entirely another thing to live as a mother’s child or Christ’s sheep.

The grace of this Good Shepherd Sunday is Christ’s coming to us not only to lead us to greener pastures but to renew our relationships, our belonging to him and the Father to experience fulfillment in life. Whether at home or in our nation, may we listen more to Jesus by being mutual in our respect and love for one another and to our Motherland too!

May we have a peaceful and matured elections this Monday! Amen.