Category: Sins

Opening to God

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 12 February 2021
Genesis 3:1-8     <*(((><<   +   >><)))*>     Mark 7:31-37
Photo by author, Pililla Wind Farm in Rizal, 07 January 2021.

Listening to your words as the day unfolds, dearest Lord, I have realized that not all “opening” is good after all. Sometimes we want to open so many things in ourselves that only lead to opening to sin and evil, instead of opening to truth and peace and justice found only in you.

Teach us, O God our loving Father, to open only to you and completely trust you in your opening to us because it is when we start opening other possibilities like gaining more knowledge, more life, more of ourselves that we actually start closing out from you like in the story of the fall of man.

The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. When they heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the garden at the breezy time of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Genesis 3:6-7, 8
Photo by author, Mt. St. Paul Spirituality Center, La Trinidad, Benguet, February 2020.

So many times in life, dear God, we cannot accept other’s openness because we are so closed to ourselves. There are times that instead of going out into the open, we hide from you as if we can conceal what is exposed and open.

Open our eyes to see you in ourselves, to see ourselves in you and in others too.

How funny that in the gospel today, your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, healed a deaf man by opening his ears. And in doing so, he first “took him off by himself away from the crowd” (Mk.7:33), then healed him by looking up to heaven, groaning with the word “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”).

Ultimately, Lord, it is always easy to open our eyes and see or, open our ears and hear without really opening ourselves, opening our hearts that connect all senses into our whole being.

What matters most which we all pray today is to open us, O God, to you completely so that we may see and listen with our hearts inclined to you. Amen.

Advent is God making us laugh

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Second Week of Advent, 10 December 2020
Isaiah 41:13-20     <*(((><<   +++   >><)))*>     Matthew 11:11-15

Thank you dearest Father in making us all “risible” – the ability to laugh, the gift of having sense of humor for, if there is truly any sign of being alive, it must be when we laugh. And it must have only come from you, O God, for you are the fount of wit and wisdom.

Just like today. You are so Fatherly in telling us,

I am the Lord, your God, who grasp your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I will help you.”

Isaiah 41:13

Then, suddenly like most human fathers, you tease us while declaring your love,

Fear not, O worm Jacob, O maggot Israel; I will help you, says the Lord; your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 41:14

You are so funny and witty, Lord! You assure us of your love and like kids, you called your chosen people worm and maggot?!

Thank you for making us laugh, dearest Father as you tease us full of affections, calling us “worm” and “maggot”.

Thank you for the gift of wit and humor that while teasing us for who we really are, so low and dirty due to sins, we feel deeply inside how much you love us. You are not mad nor exasperated with our sinfulness but simply telling us how we have truly behaved. And that is what most funny about — you still love us, you still call us, you still want to save us even if we are not worthy.

So true are the words of our responsorial psalm: “The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.”

Indeed, we are so blessed that even if we are “the least in the Kingdom of heaven, we are greater than John the Baptist” who was the greatest of all people born of women during the time of Jesus because we have lived in your time of coming and salvation (Mt.11:11).

May we always be open and humble before you, O God, to be able to see the many joys of living tucked in our sense of humor that helps us recognize your Advent in the midst of many darkness. Amen.

*Photos above by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2018-2019.

From “cage” of sin to heavenly wedding

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Week XXXIV, Year II in Ordinary Time, 26 November 2020
Revelation 18:1-2, 21-23; 19:1-3, 9     >>>  +   <<<     Luke 21:20-28

Praise and glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ for your words today that offer us with clear images about true freedom that leads to fullness of life. So often, many among us are greatly misled by the belief that true freedom is breaking free from sufferings and God and morals, of having absolute freedom to do everything.

That has always been one of the fundamental tenets of pagans of ancient Rome you have banished for being a “cage”, an imprisonment!

“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great. She has become a haunt for demons. She is a cage for every unclean spirit, a cage for every unclean bird, a cage for every unclean and disgusting beast.”

Revelation 18:2, 21

True freedom is choosing what is true and good, trying to bear all pains and sufferings that purify us into better persons, that free us from impurities to enter into your heavenly banquet of eternal life.

Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.”

Revelation 19:9

Life continues to bear down upon us these days, Lord, especially the poor who are left with almost nothing in this life; worst, with nothing else but their dignity as persons, there are times they are being forced to give it up for a price.

Give us the grace of perseverance, to withstand all pressures by holding on to you, clinging to your merciful love that amid all the trials and sufferings going on, we may “stand erect and raise our heads because our redemption is at hand” (Lk.21:28).

Let us not be ashamed of being faithful to you, Jesus, for you alone can lead us to true freedom as a person. Amen.

Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera, Christ the King celebrations in the parish, 22 November 2020.

Faithful and free

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Saturday, Week XXVII, Year II in Ordinary Time, 10 October 2020
Galatians 3:22-29     ||+||   >><)))*>   ||+||     Luke 11:27-28
Photo by author, 2019.

Glory and praise, O God, our Father for another week that had passed and another new one to start! Thank you so much for everything we have received this week: the beautiful things that have blessed us wondrously and the sad things that have also blessed us with lessons in life.

Thank you for the gifts of faith and conviction, faith and being realistic, faith and consistency.

And so, I pray today for the gifts of faith and freedom for a truly faithful person is always one who is also truly free!

Brothers and sisters: Scripture confined all things under the power of sin, that through faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe. Before faith came, we were held in custody under law, confined for the faith that was to be revealed. Consequently, the law was our disciplinarian for Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a disciplinarian.

Galatians 3:22-25

You know how so many times, Lord, when we feel imprisoned and chained by our broken and toxic relationships, sickness and handicaps, painful memories, failures and other past sins.

Let us realize and be convinced that you have come to set us free from all of these, that we are now free to love, free to be ourselves, free to grow, free and faithful in you.

Show us the path how we can break the many barriers that continue to imprison us and prevent us from maturing in faith and freedom in you like gender, color, language, social status and even religion.

Help us imitate you, Jesus, who boldly claimed before everyone that true blessedness is not found in affinities or blood ties but in freely receiving and observing the word of God. Amen.

Nang mabuksan ang langit

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-29 ng Setyembre 2020
Martes, Kapistahan ng mga Arkanghel San Miguel, San Gabriel, at San Rafael
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14     >><)))*>   +   <*(((><<     Juan 1:47-51
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, pagbubukang-liwayway sa Lawa ng Tiberias, Israel, Mayo 2019.

At sinabi ni Jesus sa lahat, “Tandaan ninyo: makikita ninyong bukas and langit, at ang mga anghel ng Diyos ay manhik-manaog sa kinaroroonan ng Anak ng Tao.”

Juan 1:51
Batid namin Panginoon
 noon pa mang kami'y 
Iyong tinubos sa kasalanan
 nabuksan na ang langit 
upang kami ay makalapit sa Ama 
na bukal ng buti at bait;
Ngunit ang masakit sa langit 
hindi kami makatingin 
dala nitong mabibigat na pasanin
mga kasalanan aming inaamin;
Kaya sana Iyong dinggin
aming dalangin at hiling
ngayong kapistahan ng tatlong Arkanghel
na palaging nasa Iyong banal na piling.
Kay San Miguel Arkanghel
kahulugan ng pangalan 
ay "Sino ang katulad ng Diyos?" 
kami sana'y bigyan, O Jesus, ng tapang
labanan kasamaan at kasalanan 
upang makapanatili sa Iyong banal na harapan;
Bigyan Mo rin kami, Jesus ng Iyong lakas 
katulad ni San Gabriel Arkanghel
na ang kahulugan ng pangalan 
"Diyos ang aking lakas" 
upang Iyong mabuting balita aming maipahayag
lalo na ngayong panahon na ang daigdig
ay manhid sa kasalanan at kasamaan;
Gayon din naman, Panginoon
batid ninyo minsan dala ng aming karamdaman
hindi lamang pangangatawan nanghihina 
kungdi pati puso at kalooban 
Ikaw ay aming tinatalikuran
kaya naman sana Inyong mapagbigyan
sa pamamagitan ni San Rafael Arkanghel
na kahuluga'y "nagpapagaling ang Diyos"
sana'y gumaling o maibsan hirap at tiisin
ng mga may sakit, hipuin kanilang
puso at kalooban upang paghilumin.

Itulot po Ninyo, Panginoong Jesu-Kristo
na katulad ni Nataniel 
kami ma'y walang pagkukunwaring 
tumalima at sumunod 
sa Iyong tawag bilang alagad 
upang maakay ang marami pang iba
palapit sa langit na Iyong binuksan
upang kami ay maligtas ngayon at magpasawalang-hanggan.
AMEN.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Praying to keep love alive

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Week XXIV, Year II in Ordinary Time, 17 September 2020
1 Corinthians 15:1-11     ///     Luke 7:36-50
Photo by author, Church of the Our Father, outside Jerusalem, May 2019.

I have noticed lately, Lord Jesus, how your words are so relevant with how things are going in our lives as individuals and as a nation in this time of the pandemic. How sad that until now we still do not get the full meaning of this pandemic, of how our morals are being put into test, our faith and beliefs challenged to be more authentic, and be real with the love you have poured upon us.

Like the Corinthians, we are so concerned with our trivial pursuits for things that are selfish and self-centered, forgetting the heart of the gospel the Church proclaims since the time of the Apostles: your saving death and resurrection, O sweet Jesus, that has been faithfully handed on from believing generations to the next.

Maybe if we believers focused more on this saving message and its implications, there would be less divisions among us in the Church because we would be more loving to one another, especially to fellow sinners trying to rise from sinful lives.

Like in the gospel scene where the Pharisees were so concerned with the sinfulness of the woman who poured oil and perfume on your feet, Lord. So often, we forget we are all forgiven sinners, becoming arrogant, feeling better and higher than the rest.

Jesus said to him in reply, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said. “Two people were in debt to a certain creditor; one owed 500 days’ wages and the other owed 50. Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both. Which of them will love him more?” Simon said in reply, “The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.” He said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

Luke 7:40-43

Let us always remember, Lord, that faith in you, in your Passion, Death, and Resurrection is a call for us to be more loving with others. Let us be concerned in sharing this love in words and in deeds like your Jesuit St. Robert Bellarmine who labored so hard for the Church in keeping your love alive during his time. Amen.

From Wikipedia Commons.

Panalangin laging alalahanin

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-17 ng Setyembre 2020
Huwebes, Ika-24 na Linggo sa Karaniwang Panahon, Taon II
1 Cronica 15:1-11   ///   Lukas 7:36-50
Larawan kuha ng may-akda sa Mirador Hills, Baguio City, Enero 2018.
O Diyos Ama naming butihin
sa panahong ito ng COVID-19
aming dalangin huwag naming limutin
bagkus palaging alalahanin 
ang lahat ng pagsubok ay aming malalampasan din.
Lagi nawa naming tandaan aral na iniwan
ng mga Apostol na siyang paalala ng sulat 
 ni San Pablo sa mga taga-Corinto 
  na ang sentro nitong Ebanghelyo
ang muling pagkabuhay ni Jesu-Kristo
na nagpakitang totoo sa mga alagad at mga tao
upang tiyakin sa aming lahat ngayon 
Kanyang pagbabalik sa wakas ng panahon.
Habang Ikaw ay aming inaabangan, O Panginoon,
turuan mo kami manalig at pakatandaan
pamumuhay na marangal aming pa ring makakamtan
kung kasalanan aming tatalikuran
mauupo sa Iyong paanan
upang mga aral mo ay pakinggan
tulad ng babaeng iyong ginawaran ng kapatawaran.
Ito sana aming laging tandaan, alalahanin
huwag lilimutin upang Ikaw ay makapiling.
Amen.

The glory of God

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Week XIX, Year II in Ordinary Time, 12 August 2020
Ezekiel 9:1-7; 10:18-19, 22 >><)))*> || + || <*(((><< Matthew 18:15-20
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera, sunrise at lockdown in our Parish, March 2020.

Almost daily in my prayers I give you praise, O God, without really bothering myself to dwell on what is the meaning of your glory, of that scene from the first reading that says:

Then the glory of the Lord left the threshold of the temple and rested upon the cherubim… They stood at the entrance of the eastern gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was up above them. Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, and the wheels went along with them, while up above them was the glory of the God of Israel.

Ezekiel 10:18, 19b-20

It is so difficult to imagine of your glory, O God, when I am in dirt and sin.

Your glory is your purity.

Cleanse us, merciful Father of our many sins and iniquities that have darkened the world and our very lives with evil and sin.

At the same time, teach us to be like you in Christ Jesus, full of mercy and forgiveness for those who sin because every time we are able to bring back a sinner to you, the more we see and experience your glory.

Most of all, keep on purifying us so that our gathering together becomes your indwelling, fulfilling Christ’s words

Photo by author, sunset in our parish church, April 2020.

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.”

Matthew 18:20

Lord Jesus, more sinister than all the dirt of sin and evil in us and around us today is our refusal to stand against the immoralities going on.

Worst, O Lord, is our attitude of always “moving the lines” when some people cross the boundary between what is right and wrong, good and evil, decent and indecent.

Forgive us and bring us back to your path, Lord, when truth and morality have suddenly become relative for us without realizing how these have muddled our relationships with you and with others, hiding your glory among us. Amen.

Priest as reminder of life’s temporary pains and of God’s permanent love and mercy

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Feast of St. John Baptiste Marie Vianney, Priest, 04 August 2020
Jeremiah 30:1-2, 12-15, 18-22 >><)))*> || + || <*(((><< Matthew 15:1-2, 10-14
Photo by author, pandemic lockdown, March 2020.

Dearest Lord Jesus Christ:

Praise and glory to you, O Lord, and thank you very much for the gift of vocation to the priesthood.

Thank you very much for a wonderful patron Saint for us all whose feast we are celebrating today, St. John Baptiste Marie Vianney, the Curé of Ars in France.

How wonderful that we celebrate his feast this year on the first day of our return to Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) when public Masses are suspended in our province and other places due to the alarming spread of COVID-19 virus.

Yes, it is wonderful. Beautiful.

At first during last summer’s lockdown when we celebrated Mass without people, I felt sad; but today, I feel happy because I am totally yours, Lord Jesus. Somehow, this pandemic is teaching us priests most specially that life is a constant return to quarantine, to be alone with you always, dear Jesus!

Most specially, to remind us priests that the Holy Mass is never a show, never about us but always YOU, Jesus.

Like the prophet Jeremiah in the first reading, every priest like St. John Vianney is a reminder to the people that in life, there are always pains and sufferings. And most of the time, it is because of our sins and wrong choices in life, of turning away from God.

However, these sufferings like our pandemic and St. John’s French Revolution are all temporary.

Like Jeremiah, we priests are most of all reminders of God’s permanent love and mercy to everyone as exemplified by St. John in his life and ministry of hearing confessions for long hours each day!

Thus says the Lord: See! I will restore the tents of Jacob, his dwellings I will pity; city shall be rebuilt upon the hill, and palace restored as it was. From them will resound songs of praise, the laughter of happy men. I will make them not few, but many; they will not be tiny, for I will glorify them.

Jeremiah 30:18-19

As I reviewed anew the life of your humble and holy pastor St. John Vianney, I realized how our present situation is similar with his time: a period of sufferings after the French Revolution when priests were looked down upon, even maligned and hunted.

Yet, St. John persevered in his vocation, reminding us “The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.”

May we your priests be reminders of your love and mercy, courage and faith in the face of adversaries like when you boldly spoke against the Pharisees and scribes, reminding your disciples…

Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into the pit.

Matthew 15:14

St. John Baptiste Marie Vianney, pray for us your brother priests! Amen.

Photo from Primera Missa Solemne by Fr. RA Valmadrid, December 2019.

Contact

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Week XVII, Year II in Ordinary Time, 27 July 2020
Jeremiah 13:1-11 >><)))*> >>><)))*> >><)))*> Matthew 13:31-35
Photo from Google.

What a great way to start our last week of work and studies in July with your sense of humor, O God! Your words are so witty and funny but with a strong punch. Hard-hitting, so biting. And so revealing.

For, as close as the loincloth clings to a man’s loins, so I had made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the Lord; to be my people, my renown, my praise, my beauty. But they did not listen.

Jeremiah 13:11

You really got me, Lord.

What can I say?

Our underwear, that is, the loincloth of Jeremiah’s time, is our most intimate clothing, always in contact with our very selves, in that part of our body that we always guard and keep to ourselves.

But, what happens when we “dirty” ourselves with sins, when we put on all those filth in ourselves, we also feel the same way inside, no matter how clean and crisp our clothes are but when deep down our loincloth – underwear – is rotted and good for nothing?

We can always hide it from others and they will never know the kind of underwear we have but we cannot deceive ourselves of how dirty we are with sins and evil.

And so far from you, O God.

Forgive us when you are supposed to be the closest to us, the one we are always in contact with but we have totally disregarded because of our many sins, when we thought we can always have our own ways without you, denying the fact it simply cannot be for indeed, you have made us to be that closest to you.

Forgive us in your Son and our Lord Jesus Christ. Renew us inside, cleanse us and refresh us to be in close contact with you again, O God.

Help us to remain good and clean inside like the little mustard seed so we may grow to have leafy branches for birds to come and dwell in us.

In your mercy, cleanse us of our sins and be our yeast to mix with us again to leaven into a dough to make your kingdom come here on earth. Amen.

Photo by Life Of Pix on Pexels.com