Joy to the world

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Feast of the Sto. Niño, Cycle A, 18 January 2026
Isaiah 9:1-6 ><]]]]'> Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-18 ><]]]]'> Matthew 18:1-5, 10

*Photo from https://santoninodecebubasilica.org/chronicles/viva-pit-senor-viva-senor-santo-nino/*

On this Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, we extend for a day our Christmas celebration with the Feast of Sto. Niño (Child Jesus), a special feast granted to us by Rome in honor of the crucial role in our evangelization by that image gifted by Magellan to Queen Juana of Cebu over 500 years ago.

As Nick Joaquin claimed in many of his writings, it was the Sto. Niño who actually conquered our country to become the only Christian nation in this part of the world which shows indeed as Christ had declared in today’s gospel that whoever humbles himself like a child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

At that time the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me” (Matthew 18:1-5).

*“Jesus and the Little Child” painting by James Tissot between 1886-1894 now at Broolyn Museum; from wikimedia.org.*

One of the things I cherish in my hospital ministry since 2021 is visiting new born babies: now I know why there are called a “bundle of joy” and always a sight to behold for me whenever I see them yawning and stretching then curling their little hands and arms when I sprinkle them with Holy Water.

Babies and children have something so uniquely in them that elicit joy in everyone even the most hardened criminals. They are so lovely because they speak to us of the beauty of life, of the joy of living, of the bright future still coming for us all. That is why experts are worried anywhere there is a falling or zero birth rate because that paints a bleak future of all kinds of problems and disaster to any nation or society so evident these days among developed countries that lack younger generation to care for their elderly and workforce to run their economy.

The sight of every child and baby is always a celebration of life, most specially in the arrival of Jesus Christ, the eternal Word in time and space over 2000 years ago. This Sunday, Jesus is inviting us to remember that scene at the first Christmas when he was born, to see him in every child like that one he had called in the midst of his apostles with flesh, bones, and blood pitched among us.

*Photo by Mr. Darwin Arcilla, Chapel of the Angel of Peace, RISE Tower, OLFU-Valenzuela, Christmas 2025.*

Here is the Son of God so intimate with our own lives including all its mess especially sickness and death itself.

Here is the Child Jesus we fondly call Sto. Niño who came to be born among us because he loves us so much.

Here are the children of the world, the greatest among us because they assure us of continuity in the future.

Looking at the Child Jesus and the child he had called in the midst of the apostles, we are challenged today to feel and realize what is to be with a baby or a child as another person with breath, body and a purpose yet to unfold throughout his/her life. Being like a child is the greatest of all because that is when we are fully human, entrusting everything to God. Que sera, sera!

It is said that in ancient Egypt, people cried aloud whenever a baby was born because of the sufferings every newborn is due to undergo in life. So true! In fact, my earliest lesson about life came through an illustration in a Reader’s Digest magazine of a newly delivered baby crying while being held by a doctor in the OR. I asked my mother why the baby was crying and she told me that when a child is born and cries, then it is alive; if a baby does not cry at birth, it could be dead that is why the doctor has to spank to make him/her cry. That lesson had remained until now with me as a priest – that life is difficult and growing up is always painful.

And how ironic as in the gospel today that Jesus directs us to becoming like children to fully grasp these realities. It is not only Jesus but also the little children who enlighten our unclear minds with such great light that “shone in darkness” (first reading) because of their simplicity. We adults tend to complicate things by overthinking while children remind us of all the beautiful possibilities in life despite the mess and chaos we are into.

It is this simplicity of children that also disarm us of our false securities and pretensions when they playfully smile and laugh at us as they simply live in the present moment enjoying our company. In their fragility and vulnerability is their strength making us so concerned with them that we can’t stand leaving a baby or a child alone especially when he/she is crying, when in need.

There lies the good news of the Sto. Niño and of being like a child: he calls us to stay because Jesus too like children remain with us. There is no turning back for Jesus and for every child here today.

Jesus is here along with every child that is why we too are here gathered today to receive them and to ensure every life is safely protected and lovingly cared. It is in our staying, in our remaining we become child-like as we realize the tremendous blessings God has bestowed on us as his children (second reading) called to grow and mature in Christ by making him felt and known in this world that has slowly become so unwelcoming of babies and of God.

Notice how with the growth of what St. John Paul II called as “culture of death” promoting artificial contraceptives and abortion to control population growth, there is the corresponding turning away of people from God and eventually from one another. In this age of “Do-It-Yourself” Christianity, deciding on the number of kids to raise depend more on the couple’s financial capabilities than faith in God’s grace and power so that couples and people in general have unconsciously considered babies more as things to have than persons to love.

We end our reflection on this Feast of Sto. Niño with this Christmas song we have always taken for granted, “Joy to the World”. Written in 1719 by the English minister Isaac Watts, “Joy to the World” expresses the very joy not only of Christ’s coming but also of the birth of every child who reminds us of God among us in Jesus and of the need for us adults to be one with God always.

*Photo by author, Sto. Niño Exhibit at the Malolos Cathedral, January 2022.*

Joy to the world,
the Lord is come
Let Earth receive her King
Let very heart prepare him room
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing.

Joy to the world,
the Savior reigns
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods,
rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy

He rules the world
with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness
And wonders of his love
And wonders of his love
And wonders of his love

For heaven and nature to sing anew of this joy, we have to be like the children welcoming Jesus in our hearts without any ifs and buts.

For us to repeat the sounding joy in life, we have to be like children in trustingly following Jesus in his Cross; notice how the gospels are silent about children calling for the crucifixion of Jesus. Only the adults demanded his death!

Finally, for us to experience the wonders of God’s love, we have to become like children who let truth and grace be the rules in life, not lies and powers. That is the greatness of being like a child – of trusting more in God than in man and his sciences and technologies, ideologies and philosophies that all fall short in bringing true joy and fulfillment in life. Amen. A blessed week ahead of everyone!

Simplicity of God. And Mary.

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 16 July 2025
Wednesday, Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Exodus 3:13-20     ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> + ><}}}*>     Matthew 11:25-27

*Photo by author, Sonnenberg Mountain View, Davao del Sur, August 2018.*

Today, O Lord
your words bring us 
to the mountain
as we celebrate too
the Memorial of Our Lady of
Mount Carmel; 
in the first reading you 
brought Moses to your
mountain in Horeb to see you in the 
burning bush while the
Memorial of our Blessed Mother
today reminds us of the early monks 
who banded together 
to pray at Mount Carmel.

When the Lord saw him coming over to look at it more closely, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses! Moses!” He answered, “Here I am.” “Come, now! I will send you you to Pharaoh to lead my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He answered, “I will be with you; and this shall be your proof that it is I who have sent you: when you bring my people out of ??Egypt, you will worship God on this very mountain” (Exodus 3:4-5, 10-12).

How lovely 
was your conversation, Lord
with Moses,
so similar with our
conversations when we would
readily answer your call
with the declaration
"Here I am" that suddenly
when you hand us our mission,
we balk and question you,
"Who am I that I should go
to Pharaoh?"

Many times
we are like Moses -
while showing humility 
with some fears in our quick response
to your call,
we suddenly doubt ourselves
upon learning the mission you
entrust us with whereas you
simply assure us of your presence,
of being our companion
with your simple statement
"I will be with you."
Such is your simplicity, Lord.

Teach us to be like Mary
your Mother, dear Jesus Christ,
simple and childlike
filled with humility,
always open to God and
his plans; after all, you call us
first of all for a relationship
with you not with a task to be
achieved.

May the Brown Scapular 
given by Mary to St. Simon Stock
be a reminder of our relationship 
with God in Christ with Mary;
always open to his will but most
of all faithful and obedient to his call
of communion and oneness. Amen.

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City

Ordinarily extraordinary

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Week I in Ordinary Time, Year I, 13 January 2025
Hebrews 1:1-6 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 1:14-20

*Photo by author, Mt. St. Paul Spirutality Center, Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 04 January 2025.*

Brothers and sisters: In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through the Son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe, who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word (Hebrews 1:1-3).

O how lovely and so deep,
dear God are your words 
on this first day of Ordinary Time;
they are so touching and personal
yet very ordinary,
common,
and typical.

That is how we take the word
"ordinary" so often -
lacking in special or 
distinctive features
that we take for granted 
anything ordinary
because it is...
ordinary.

Maybe this is the reason why we
find it so hard to really believe
in you, Father;
when you sent us your Son,
Jesus Christ, the "refulgence" or
reflection of your glory and
"imprint" of your being,
we find him so ordinary 
because we wanted someone more,
someone bombastic,
someone so different from us,
not so like us
because we feel so ordinary.

It is so funny and silly
of us, God, that we 
cannot accept you in Jesus
who became human like us,
who chose to be ordinary,
preferring to be poor than rich,
simple than complicated
yet so kind, so very much akin to us
in everything except sin;
instead of being honored
and grateful in your choosing
to be ordinary like us,
we rejected him
and us in the process.

Open our minds and our hearts
to your coming to us in Jesus like
the brothers Simon and Andrew,
James and John
who left everything behind to follow
Jesus whom they have found to be
extraordinarily ordinary;
may we find meaning in life
in Jesus your Son in whom
the ordinary is actually the
orderly order of things in life
with you Father always above all.
Amen.

*Photo by author, sunrise at Mt. St. Paul Spirituality Center, Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 06 January 2025.*

Advent & Christmas begin in the church

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Simbang Gabi-4 Homily, 19 December 2024
Judges 13:2-7, 24-25     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     Luke 1:5-25

*Photo by author, wailing wall of Jerusalem where Jews pray until now being the section closest to the Holy Holies destroyed in year 70AD*.

From Matthew, we now shift to Luke to listen to his account of Christmas which is the most complete and detailed. In fact, most artistic renditions of Christmas were inspired by Luke’s gospel.

Very surprising in his Christmas story, Luke started it with the annunciation of the birth of John the Baptist to his father Zechariah who was then serving at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. It is a reminder to us all these days that Advent and Christmas begin in the church, in our holy celebrations.

In the days of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the priestly division of Abijah; his wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Once when he was serving as priest in his division’s turn before God, according to the practice of the priestly service, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to burn incense. Then, when the whole assembly of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense offering, the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense (Luke 1:5, 8-11).

Luke’s detailed account of the event is the Jewish Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) when their priests incense yearly between September 18-24 the Holy of Holies where they used to keep the Ark of the Covenant. From this detail by Luke we got the reliable timetable in the celebration of Christmas on December 25 by considering this event as the time of Elizabeth’s conception of John who was born June 24 or nine months after. Tomorrow we shall hear in the gospel how “on the sixth month” of Elizabeth’s pregnancy which fell on March 25, the angel Gabriel announced to Mary the birth of Jesus, the Solemnity of the Annunciation we celebrate on that date. Nine months from March 25, we have December 25! Who said our Christmas date is not in the Bible? We got it here in our gospel today courtesy of Luke!

*Photo by author, Parish Church of St. Joseph in Morong, Rizal, January 2021.*

It may sound simple yet, it is so profound. In narrating this to us, Luke reminds us today that the Christmas story began in a holy celebration in the temple of Jerusalem now happening in our Eucharistic celebrations in every church around the world.

Many take our Sunday Masses for granted these days with so many excuses and alibis but, let us set aside all these to reflect on this simple detail from Luke’s first story on Christmas.

First, this is a call for us all to go back to the church by finally putting a stop NOW of online Masses. Online Mass as a term is an oxymoron because it presupposes actual presence of people. There can be no virtual Mass because there is no such thing as virtual sacrament nor virtual grace. That is why God introduced Himself to Moses as “I AM WHO AM”, the One who is perfectly present, always actual never virtual.

Since the waning of the COVID virus last year, both the Pope and the CBCP have called for the ending of online Masses but unfortunately, so many priests have remained stubborn with some making “shameful profit” out of it which is strongly prohibited by Canon Law and other Church and papal documents. Unless online Masses are stopped, people will always find reasons and alibis not to go to church on Sundays.

As we reflect on Luke’s account of the celebration at that time of the annunciation of the angel to Zechariah while he was incensing the Holy of Holies, we get the feel of solemnity and sacredness that are sorely missing these days in many of our celebrations of the Mass.

Like Zechariah and the priests of the Jerusalem temple at that time who were all steeped in traditions and presumably spirituality, we have every reason to expect the same, even more, from our bishops and priests today. They are the ones who set the tone of every celebration and of life in the parish; their spirituality or lack of it is manifested in the parish life, from its building structure to its witnessing.

*Photo by author, pious Jews and Rabbis in another enclosed section of the wall of the temple of Jerusalem, May 2017.*

How sad when priests have lost the sense of the sacred of the Holy Mass when they disregard the solemnity of the celebration with all their antics and gimmicks; worst of all, of coming to Mass unprepared without a homily and good vestments, sometimes without having showered or shaved! What is tragic is when the priest attends all socials in proper attire, but never in the Mass.

The other day, I saw a sticker at the back of a delivery van that asks, “How’s my driving? And my grooming?” Too bad I was not able to get the name of the company of that delivery van but how great are its people must be in giving a premium on how their drivers behave and look!

Some priests shamelessly argue that what is essential is what is inside but they forget that the outward appearance is an indication of what’s inside them too. How can the people feel and experience God if their pastor comes shabbily dressed without any good vestments, so untidy as in dugyot, unprepared for the Mass, without a good homily?

What had become of our churches that have been the shining glory of architecture through the centuries but now look like malls? Some churches look like videoke bars with a lot of giant TV screens while priests serenade the people with their wonderful voices instead of delivering a homily.

How sad that many churches are untidy and ugly. Yes, ugly is the word. And kitschy, bereft of any sense of the holy that people cannot experience God except be played on their emotions with dramas and not to forget, second and third collections. Choirs are on their own with a concert, totally deaf to the fact their music is supposed to lead the congregation into prayerful reflections not to applaud them for a performance. It is about time we restore the dictum of the Roman liturgy of noble simplicity not only of the church and also of celebrations.

Photo by author, *Archdiocesan Shrine of Nuestra Señora De Guia, Ermita, Manila, 28 November 2024.*

Our gospel invites us today, especially us priests and bishops along with those involved in preparing our parish celebrations to be silent like Elizabeth – lest we be silenced and be made mute by the Lord like Zechariah to finally open ourselves to listen to God’s instructions about His Son’s coming.

Let’s face that sad reality of so many of us clergy and laity in the church who are like Zechariah trying to control everything including God, even playing God who give the people enough reasons to turn away from the Church completely.

Photo by author of the beautiful sacristy of the *Archdiocesan Shrine of Nuestra Señora De Guia in Ermita, Manila where even a guest priest could feel at “home” with everything in order.*

Like Elizabeth, let us choose to be silent in order to pray truly, awaiting God in the Holy Spirit to stir us into His Divine Plans like Samson in the first reading, “The boy grew up and the Lord blessed him; the Spirit of the Lord first stirred” (Jgs.13:24-25). We find the same thing in the gospel when Gabriel told Zechariah how John while still in Elizabeth’s womb would be filled with the Holy Spirit (Lk.1:15) in accomplishing his mission as precursor of Jesus.

If we could allow ourselves to be stirred by God first – not by fad or ulterior motives in our church celebrations – then every Mass becomes a Christmas, a coming of Christ.

Let us do away with unnecessary things in the church and in our celebrations that call attention to us, to our abilities and talents, even power like Zechariah by being more daring in silence and noble simplicity to experience God’s coming every Mass.

As we shall see in the coming days from the gospel of Luke, Christmas is both a journey into Bethlehem, Jerusalem and other places as well as into the very hearts of Joseph and Mary and of those who would recognize and accept Jesus Christ. May our churches reflect what is in our hearts as disciples of Christ, always with a space for Jesus to come and dwell inside and among us. Amen.

*Photo by author, Simbang Gabi in our previous parish, 2018.*

Exaggerating the truth, exaggerating self, part 2

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 23 July 2024

*Photo from sunstar.com.ph of that viral incident between a Cebu personality addressed as a “Sir” by a waiter in a mall last Sunday.*

It is a classic case of “brouhaha” in the real sense, especially if we consider our Tagalog word buruha or bruha: a waiter was told to stand for more than an hour to be “lectured” on gender sensitivity by a Cebu personality belonging to the LGBTQ community after being addressed as a “Sir”.

Well, at least, the issue had been settled amicably with an apology by the celebrity after a deluge of negative reactions from netizens. Likewise, we can now sigh with some relief that there are no plans among the LGBTQ community to imitate their sistah from the Queen City of Cebu, proof that there are more sane and kind LGBTQ who have better things to do than make a big fuss about themselves or the rainbow. Imagine if every LGBTQ will lecture everyone of us just on how to address them in Metro Manila alone, life would be disrupted and paralyzed, worst than what we went through during the lockdowns during COVID-19!

But kidding aside, what makes that incident disturbingly sad is how it had shown again the sad plight of the poor in our country. Bawal maging mahirap, maging dukha sa Pilipinas. So sad. Even in the church it is very true. We do not have to look far to see how this is so true among us. Kawawa palagi ang mga maliliit.

How do we treat our house helpers and drivers, delivery personnel, janitors and janitresses, even professionals doing not so glamorous tasks like nurses. And security guards, of course. (Kudos to our alma mater, the Faculty of Arts and Letters of UST who had their security personnel joined the march of their recent graduates!)

The very sight of a waiter standing in front of a customer immediately caught my attention while scrolling my Facebook, asking myself, “what happened?” Gut feelings told me something was very wrong and surely, the guy must have been so disadvantaged.

For addressing that celebrity customer as “sir”, the waiter had to endure the humiliation of standing before him like in a trial. Even if it was just between the two of them. Even if he did not scream or yell at the waiter. What’s the big deal? Iyon lang?

His ego, his femininity more valuable than the very person of the waiter? It is the new pandemic among us spreading these last 20 years. The malady of entitlement, of never making the mortal sin to address some people as Doctor or Attorney or even Father. We have lost touched with our humanity, our being a human being, a person, a tao first of all.

Good thing there was a good soul around that mall who came to the waiter’s rescue.

What we have here is a classic case of “exaggeration of truth, exaggeration of self” – a phrase I have found years ago in one of the many writings of Pope Benedict XVI. It was my parting shot to our graduates of Senior High School last July 05, 2024 during our Baccalaureate Mass.

Many times in this age of so many platforms of communications, we tend to exaggerate the truths, of clamoring for so many things like inclusiveness everywhere when in the process, they have actually become so exclusive! Many times, people exaggerate the truth presenting themselves as disadvantaged and victimized when in fact it is far from reality. Many people are advancing so many things these days when in fact they are actually promoting themselves. Many are exaggerating the truths when they are actually exaggerating themselves (https://lordmychef.com/2024/07/10/exaggerating-truth-exaggerating-self/)

The tragedy of our time characterized by affluence and upward mobility so splattered across social media daily, is how so many among us who have lost touch with our humanity. Everything has become a show – a palabas we say in Filipino. We forget that inside – the loob – as more essential.

And what is inside each one of us?

Our dignity as image and likeness of God or pagkatao that is best seen and expressed in our being small, being little like the children, the very core of Jesus Christ’s teaching.

Look outside even in the countryside now invaded by those giant tarpaulins – why have we become like those tarpaulins, thinking and feeling we are larger than others?

Truth in Greek is aletheia that literally means an opening, of not being concealed like the blooming of a flower.

Simply be yourself. And don’t forget everyone as they are.

God bless everyone!

*Photo by Dra. Mai B. Dela Pena, MD at Deir Al-Mukhraqa Carmelite Monastery in Isarel, 2014.*

God has the whole world in His hands

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 17 July 2024
Isaiah 10:5-7, 13-16 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew11:25-27

*Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD in Infanta, Quezon 2020.*

Praise and glory to You,
God our loving Father
who has the whole world
in your hands;
nothing happens by chance,
all good things come from You
and if ever something bad happens,
You know it for sure;
You never punish us
for our sins and whatever bad
happens to us is a result of our
transgressions, of turning away
from You; therefore,
let us always hope and trust in You
for You never abandon us your children
especially in our times of trials
and tribulations;
in the same manner,
let us not be so proud when
we are in the height of our success
believing we are the best because
You have the final say in history;
let us not be proud like Assyria
of old:

“My hand has seized like a nest the riches of nations; as one takes eggs left alone, so I took in all the earth; no one fluttered a wing, or opened a mouth, or chirped!”

Will the axe boast against him who hews with it? Will the saw exalt itself above him who wields it? As if a rod could sway him who lifts it, or a staff him who is not wool! Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will send among his fat leanness, and instead of his glory there will be kindling like the kindling of fire (Isaiah 10:14-16).

Teach me, dear Jesus,
to be small like a child,
simple and trusting in You;
feeling more than thinking more,
kind and loving than
analyzing and sizing up others,
most of all,
lowly and humble because
You alone has the whole world
in your hands.
Amen.

Words, words, words…

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 12 July 2024
Hosea 14:2-10 <*[[[[><< + >><]]]]*> Matthew 10:16-23

Thus says the Lord: Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt. Take with you words, and return to then Lord; Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity, and receive what is good, that we may render as offerings the bullocks from our stalls” (Hosea 24:2-3).

Loving Father,
let us "take words" with us
this Friday,
words of contrition for our sins,
words of true repentance,
words begging your mercy,
words that are sincere
not empty words;
many times in this world
of social media,
we multiply words,
we shout words,
we alter words
to give new meanings
that suit us;
many times our words
are mere words,
never bearing fruit,
could not even stand
because they are not true;
like Jesus your Son,
teach us to "enflesh"
our words,
let our words to You be
translated into realities of
conversion and loving service 
for one another.

When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matthew 10:20).

Let us heed your words,
Lord Jesus Christ,
for us to be "shrewd as serpents
and simple as doves"
by learning to be silent
to let the Holy Spirit speak
through us;
in this noisy world
with so many competing 
words and sounds,
it has become indeed 
a persecution to be silent;
it is more difficult to be silent
to await your words, Lord;
it is always easier to speak
and add to the cacophony of
deafening and hurtful words
against each other
than to just listen to
our hearts,
to listen to your words
of love and mercy;
like the psalmist,
let my mouth
declare your praise
by awaiting your words
first, not mine.
Amen.

Getting married in time of pandemic

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 25 June 2024

*Photo by Joseph Kettaneh on Pexels.com*

It’s been more than four years since the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic that threw many of us out of sync in life, especially those planning to get married during those critical years of 2020-2022.

I had four weddings affected by the COVID-19 lockdowns in that period; three were postponed but I was able to officiate at the two weddings when reset to another dates except the first one that did not fit my schedule. The fourth wedding I was not able to officiate because I got the virus and had to be isolated.

This is the homily I delivered at one of those three weddings postponed I officiated, between Cris my former student at the Immaculate Conception School for Boys (ICSB) in Malolos City and Tim whom I met when they were going steady while we were all taking MA courses at UST.

More funny than that was the fact Cris and Tim have planned of getting married in 2020 but have to move it to 2021 due to the pandemic; but, when COVID still persisted that year, they finally fixed their altar date to early 2022. Alas! Just as they were all set in January 2022, the church was closed on the week of their wedding after its priests got the virus!

Cris and Tim were at a loss when their wedding would finally take place until they were offered by the parish the date February 22, 2022 after the weddings of those others postponed like them. I told them to go for it than wait further for other dates lest they in turn get the virus too!

Looking back to their wedding day, I have realized how God always finds ways in helping married couples in all their problems for as long as they are willing to cooperate. This is why we cannot allow divorce to be legalized in the country for God never fails in His grace and blessings. We just have to work on them.

*From stillromancatholicafteralltheseyears.com, January 2022.*

You must have heard the saying that “God writes straight crooked lines”. And today that proves so true not only with how God wrote so crooked His straight lines in your life, Cris and Tim, but even wrote in circles to make this date your wedding day – 22 February 2022!

Cris and Tim, God has always been so sure in calling you before His altar on this date, which will similarly happen again in 200 years – 22 February 2222! God writes straight crooked lines because everything in him is perfect, like numbers. Precise and exact. Like this date you never chose, 02-22-2022.

When you consulted me last month when priests here offered you this date due to their recent lockdown, right away I told you it is the most wonderful date for your wedding being the Feast of St. Peter’s Chair… St. Peter as in San Pedro like Cristopher Tabafunda San Pedro and later, Mrs. Fatima Macam San Pedro!

It was God who willed in all eternity that you, Cris and Tim, be married today — not last year, not the other week nor next week because today is the day that the Lord has made!

*Cris and Tim are both very prayerful and good, practicing Catholics.*

You are both good with numbers like God, a mathematician who is very precise and exact like an economist and stock trader (Cris) and a marketing and sales executive (Tim) who used to do a lot of chemical research before.

But God has better and deeper plans for you that numbers cannot count nor quantify.

God wants you to always go back to basic numbers, not to those found in equations only you two can understand or multiple digits only you can count.

Jesus said it so well in the gospel today: two is equal to one. So mathematical ba?

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”Matthew 19:5-6

Life is not about having the most but the least. That is where faith grows and deepens.

When we have so much in life, when we feel so sufficient, when we are so filled with things, we forget God. We stop believing in him, we believe more in ourselves.

And when we stop believing in God, we lose our faith and then, we stop loving, too. Sooner or later, we become empty and miserable.

So, be simple, Cris and Tim.

Reduce everything to the barest and simplest. Simplify, simplify, simplify as Henry David Thoreau said: “let your affairs be two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand.”

When we get complicated like our Facebook, life becomes difficult as we can’t find right away who and what matters most to us.

Kaya nga isa lang ang asawa, Cris at Tim, kasi hindi puwede marami. Hindi lang magulo. Magastos pa. Imagine kung dalawa o tatlo wedding rings? Pag isa lang, kita agad at alam na this – married na ang mamang ito na may cute na dimple o itong girl na ito na naka glasses at dalawa pa ang dimples! Hayaan ninyo sabihin ng mga makakita singsing ninyo na sayang at taken na pala siya!

You see, the lower the number, the simpler, the better. Madaling tumaya at manampalataya.

That’s faith! Parang PBA game kung saan kayo nagkakilala. And you have both experienced, walang tatalo sa faith in God ninyong dalawa!

God is greater and more than the numbers the wiz kids and supercomputers of the world can calculate and predict. His thoughts are not our thoughts, nor His ways. He first created just one man and one woman – just two – to be one with each other in Him, and to be faithful to Him and each other.

Because the more we become faithful, the more we become loving.

That is the message of this Feast of the Chair of St. Peter which is the “Primacy of Rome” or of the Pope: it is the primacy of faith and the primacy of love together which cannot be separated.

*Chair of St. Peter in Rome, from Wikipedia.*

Forget all those numbers Cris and Tim, focus only in the One – God in Jesus Christ. Just focus on Jesus, always Jesus.

Love is not about counting or keeping tabs and tallies, like how many “likes” and “followers” we get in our posts.

The true measure of love is when we love without measure, when we simply love, love, love. And love.

That is why we only have one heart so we can love with all our heart. Forget Sana Dalawa ang Puso Ko. It is just a song.

When you have LQ (lover’s quarrel), who should blink first, or smile? Who should take the first move to reconcile, the first to offer the hand of peace?

Whenever lovers and couples or even friends quarrel, I always say, whoever has more love to give must be the first one to initiate reconciliation, the first to blink, or smile, the first to offer the hand of peace.

To have the most love to give and share does not mean to be better or superior than the other; to have the most love to give and share is to have more faith, to have a deeper faith the he/she is ready and willing to lose everything for the sake of the loved one.

Like Jesus Christ who gave everything for us on that Cross because of love.

God bless you more, Cris and Tim. Amen.

You may check our original post at https://lordmychef.com/2022/02/23/faithful-and-most-loving/.

Why are violets blue?

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 12 March 2024

When we were growing up
discovering the power of love,
these nursery rhymes
were so sublime
we used to find
every Valentine's
without knowing why
"Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet.
So are you.
And I love you!"

Red means love
but what about blue
that has become violet too?
Late have I known 
as a chaplain to kids 
and grown ups too
when I Googled that
violets mean simplicity,
humility and modesty
that to give a violet 
close to blue is to say
"I love you too!"

In this blessed season of Lent
when everything is violet
a shade akin to blue
to keep things subdued
as we try to imbue
virtues and values
of repentance and
contrition for sins,
of patience and perseverance,
of sacrifice and alms-giving
that lead to a sharing of self in love
like Jesus Christ did a long time ago.

True,
violets are blue,
hue of God's mercy
for me and you;
as we go through
 this journey in Lent
hear my plea to you,
 Jesus:
"Roses are red,
violets are blue;
let your Lent come true
because I love you too!"
Amen.

Lent is simplicity

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Third Week of Lent, 04 March 2024
2 Kings 5:1-15    ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>     Luke 4:24-30

How amazing it is,
God our loving Father,
that Lent is often portrayed
in shades of violet that signify
"modesty" and "humility" -
or, simply put,
s-i-m-p-l-i-c-i-t-y.

May we rediscover 
in this Season of Lent
the beauty and fulness 
of simplicity,
of just being by our
true self,
without the ifs
and buts,
lovingly embracing
our weaknesses
and shortcomings,
contented with our
finite humanity
you created as good.

Many times,
we are like Naaman:
despite our feelings of
inadequacy deep within
in contrast with our stature
following our many accomplishments,
we still insist on 
what is complicated,
extraordinary
and difficult
which we often take 
as more grand
and therefore,
better.

With this, he (Naaman) turned about in anger and left. But his servants came up and reasoned with him, “My father,” they said, “if the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary, would not have done it? All the more now, since he said to you, ‘Wash and be clean,’ should you do as he said.” So Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times at the word of the man of God. His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
2 Kings 5:12b-14

Keep us simple,
Lord,
so we may believe more,
trust more,
dare more,
and achieve more!

The world has gone
so complicated
even with life and 
relationships we have made
into something like our  
technologies that accomplish
so much but still empty;
the world has gone
so complicated
and competitive
that unfortunately, 
we take pride in being so
even though deep
within us
we know it isn't good
at all, for you, O God,
is perfect because
you are first of all
simple.
Amen.