Life is a direction, a daily Lent

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Ash Wednesday, 05 March 2025
Joel 2:12-18 ><}}}*> 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 ><}}}*> Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Life is a daily Lent, a journey towards Easter.

We go through a pasch everyday like Jesus Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection when we “pass over” from sin into grace, from darkness into light, from death into life.

Life is a daily Lent because everyday, we go through an “exodus” from another day to the next new day, from sunset to sunrise. However, Lent as a journey is about direction, not destination. This we find clearly at the start of our 40-day journey of Lent with Ash Wednesday.

“Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God” (Joel 2:12-13).

It is strange that while Jesus Christ asked us in the gospel to “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father” (Mt.6:1), what we are doing this Ash Wednesday is exactly the opposite!

Alam na this… that if you meet anyone with ashes on his/her forehead, definitely he/she is a Catholic who had gone to Mass or at least had observed Ash Wednesday.

There are some who would surely be teased by friends as being too serious as they practice abstinence by avoiding meat today and on Fridays this Lent. Most likely too, many would be giving alms today in the collections for the poor in the parishes all because for the reason it is Ash Wednesday.

These three pillars of Lent – prayer, fasting and alms-giving are not only meant for this Season that lasts only for 40 days but something we are hoped to practice the whole year through until we are slowly transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

The purpose of Jesus in asking us in the gospel to do these all in secret is to avoid falling into the trap of the people of His time who flaunted to everyone their prayer, fasting and alms-giving, forgetting God in the process because focus had been on them. And yes, it continues among us that we have religiosity without spirituality, devotion without evangelization.

Moreover, to practice these in secret is actually to enter into our very selves, into our hearts where God dwells, where we meet Him personally.

Our Lenten journey becomes a direction when we take it into our hearts, when we open and rend our hearts to let Jesus come and dwell within by letting Him empty us of our pride to be filled with His humility, justice and love.

Lent then becomes a direction leading us not only to daily Easter but ultimately to our eternal salvation not just in heaven or any “place” but to be one with the Person of God Himself and the persons along the way we shall meet with whom we are called by Christ to be one with in Him.

Therefore, Lent as a direction is an inner transformation as companions in Christ.

In this age of WAZE and GPS, we can easily seek directions to a particular destination. Problem with being focused more on destination is we miss the fun and adventure of every journey. When we reach our destination, what do we do?

We cross out from our list of travel goals every destination that we make and start looking for new places to visit until we have been to every place on earth that we plan to visit the Moon and Mars next! Eventually we get tired with travels and after covering so many distances and destination, we still feel lacking and incomplete. There is no more destination to go to that we confront ourselves with the existential question, is this really what I need most in life? Is this all?

To see life more as a direction means to find its meaning in God that we keep on maturing, we keep on sustaining our journey in Him and with Him. It does not matter wherever He leads me or where I go or stay because what matters most is I am in and with God.

Lent is entering God in and through Jesus Christ. It is going back to Him, staying in Him and with Him in love. This is the reason why we fast, we empty ourselves even our sights and other senses so that we become more sensitive to God’s presence. There are no flowers, no decors, no Alleluia, no Gloria in the church and liturgy. Everything is bare essential so we are not distracted in finding and following God right in our hearts.

Recall the first time you truly fell in love, when truly loved that you literally see and hear even smell your beloved everywhere and in everyone. You always thought it is your beloved whom you saw walking or speaking somewhere but it wasn’t really she! Akala mo lang…

When we truly love, the time and place are not important because all we have are the here and the now together.

Oh how easy to say we love God or somebody! But if we try to probe deeper into ourselves, we find that we have not truly loved God or anyone that much because in many instances, we always prevail over them. We choose our own will than God’s or our beloved’s.

That is when we sin as we turn away from God and our beloved. To sin is not just to break laws and turn away from God and our beloved but ultimately a refusal to love which is actually losing one’s direction in life.

Lent is the wonderful season of finding again our direction in life, our true love, God. Love needs no justifications. And we can only love persons, not things. Hence the need for oneness, for reconciliation as St. Paul asked us in the second reading to be “reconciled with God” (2 Cor.5:20).

Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says: In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you. Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:1-2).

Now is the best time to find our life direction in God in our personal and communal worship and practices this Lent. When you find your direction, you find God, yourself and others. And that is when you find joy and peace which is Easter, the direction of every Lent and life. Amen.

Disciplined living

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 05 February 2025

*Photo by author, Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Dumaguete City, 07 November 2024.*

Discipline is a word so misunderstood these days that too often, it is frowned upon or even feared by many. In this age of so much “freedom” without any regard to “responsibility”, discipline has become its main casualty.

Discipline has very interesting origins. From the Latin verb discere which is to learn or to follow, its noun is disciplina for teaching or learning from which came the word discipulus for disciple, a follower or a pupil. Hence, a person of discipline is one who follows or obeys teachings.

The more disciplined a person is,
the more free a person becomes!

As we have mentioned at the start, due to the wrong perception of “freedom” these days as the ability to do whatever one wants, many see discipline as suppression of freedom. But what is most true is its opposite – the more disciplined a person is, the more free the person becomes!

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

When we discipline ourselves in every aspect of our lives like in food and drink intake, in using our time wisely, in budgeting our money and resources among other things, the more we become free to many other things in life. Remove discipline and do whatever you like in your life, eventually you become “unfree” because definitely you will miss your responsibilities and obligations like studies in school and duties at home and the office.

Freedom is never absolute. It has always been limited to choosing and doing what is good. When freedom is abused, it can lead us into being not free at all.

Likewise, some people think discipline is temporary and optional. Many believe that discipline is just for kids and young people who ought to follow their parents and elders. What about adults following their superiors and those above them in the natural and social hierarchy of things and relationships? This perhaps explain the reason why there is a growing complaint against young people lacking respect to elders and those in authority.

Discipline is a life-long process, the one sure thing we would need even rely upon so much as we age and get old. Discipline is imposed and taught in our younger age so that we would mature, grow and develop as persons. It is a lifelong process, a habit, a good that we keep on doing until we die. Or, even if we get old and sick, discipline is our North Star, the Polaris within ourselves especially when everything is dark, when we seem lost in life. Discipline enables us to succeed and be fulfilled in life. Find any bum and surely you shall find no discipline at all; but, you can never find a successful person without any discipline.

*“Jesus Unrolls Book In the Synagogue” painting by James Tissot (1886-1894), brooklynmuseum.org*

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the most perfect example of a disciplined person, of leading a disciplined life. All evangelists tell us how Jesus always went to the synagogue on a sabbath to worship and to preach. Most of all, Jesus always prayed early in the morning or later in the evening in some deserted place. These were all forms of discipline He must have learned from His parents Mary and Joseph who were both portrayed in the gospels as devout Jews, both with high degrees of discipline in life even before Christ was born.

Prayer after all is a discipline, something we have to cultivate that leads to a loving relationship with God and with others too! And here we find the deeper reality of discipline which is not just a human effort and endeavor. Discipline is the work of God, His gift and grace to each one of us to have fulfillment in life

Discipline is not just a human effort;
discipline is the work of God too!

Brothers and sisters: You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children: My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges. Endure your trials as “discipline”… At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it (Hebrews 12:5-7, 11).

*Photo by author, St. Scholastica Spirituality Center, Tagaytay, August 2024.*

How I wish parents would still use that analogy by the author of the Letter to the Hebrews regarding discipline. When we were growing up, our parents would always explain to us after scolding us due to misdemeanor or a mistake that it was to discipline us in doing what is right or what is good.

This is something so evident these days, when you hear the older folks saying how life was more orderly before because of discipline unlike today. And one may find this lack of discipline everywhere – in public places not only home, including in churches. Partly to be blamed for that is us, the older folks who have stopped teaching discipline to kids and the youth.

Lately I have been seeing many of my former students in elementary and high school. I have always known many of them hated me when in school because I was a strict teacher (and priest). Including many of our teachers too! That is why whenever we talked about their school days, I always asked them to forgive me for making their lives so difficult as I demanded excellence and precision in their studies and most of all, discipline at all times like cleanliness in their clothing and bearing, order and silence in classrooms, and of course, proper decorum inside the church.

*At the wedding of one of my former student with his classmates in January 2020.*

Surprisingly, they always ended up thanking me for the discipline I have taught and instilled in them that according to them led to their success in both their personal and professional life. Many of them have their family of their own now with some living overseas. It brings me so much joy with some tears when they tell me how they have taught their own children of the discipline I drilled in them about studies and reading, of prayer, and of simply being the very best for God in everything. It is the same thing with some of our teachers who have remained some of my dearest friends today with some living and working abroad. In fact, they claimed that it was my “terroristic discipline” that greatly prepared them for their lives and work in foreign lands and cultures.

We need to discipline ourselves for God’s grace to work in us. And remember, grace builds on nature – that’s the beauty of discipline: the more we practice it, the more blessed we become! It is a built-in app or program God has installed in each of us. Use it extensively by switching it on always. In case there’s a glitch, still, switch it on and surely it would work. As always. Have a disciplined week ahead.

That “Simeon Moment”

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 03 February 2025

*Photo from the Presentation Chapel of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC.*

Every night before going to bed, we priests and religious along with some laypeople pray the Compline or Night Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours. From the Latin completus, the Compline completes the daily prayers of the Church.

It is also my most favorite since our seminary days when we chanted Simeon’s Canticle which we heard proclaimed in yesterday’s gospel in the celebration of the Feast of the Lord’s Presentation.

He (Simeon) came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him in his arms and blessed God, saying: “Now, Master you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel” (Luke 2:27-32).

*A painting of Simeon with the Child Jesus from the dailyprayerblog.blogspot.com*

The Simeon Moment 
is befriending death
as we find Jesus Christ.

The “Simeon Moment” is when we are like Simeon in realizing that nothing matters most in this life except God found within us and those closest to us like family and friends whom we would never trade for anybody and anything. It is finding true joy in Christ alone that we are able to befriend death like St. Francis of Assisi who called death a “cousin”.

According to Luke, God had promised Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the promised Messiah (Christ). All his life, Simeon prayed and offered sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem awaiting the coming of Christ – and he was not disappointed even if it took so long! That is why, he burst into a song which we now pray every night because that is when we experience in the stillness of the darkness within and outside us that only Jesus and always Jesus who fulfills us.

Those who have cared and lost a loved one to cancer or any terminal illness have experienced that “Simeon Moment”. Remember when our loved ones have finally accepted their fate, when they suddenly become more emotionally stable and even joyful in their dispositions? Unlike before when they were first diagnosed with their illness, they were so afraid, always crying but as they came to embrace the reality, they cried less with a strong sense of courage while we are the ones crying more and most stressed out?

That is because the dying must have seen their their final destination in life, Jesus Christ. Like Simeon during the presentation at the temple after seeing and holding in his hands so close to himself the Holy Infant, we find the dying so calm and peaceful during their final hours because they have seen or were already in the presence of the Lord.

Like Simeon, they were silently joyful in Christ’s presence while we who were left behind cried not only due to the pain and sadness of separation but because we do not know where we are going, where we are heading unlike our departed loved ones.

Feel the courage and confidence of Simeon boldly telling God to “take him” at that instance because he had found Jesus Christ. Its Filipino translation says it so well, “Kunin mo na, Panginoon, ang iyong abang alipin, ayon sa iyong pangako, yamang nakita na ng aking mga mata ang iyong pagliligtas (Lk.2:29-30).”

We Filipinos often take it as a joke, always laughing to dismiss the topic or cope with the reality that to see God literally means to die like when we say “gusto nang makita si Lord”. But, that was how Simeon really felt because he had literally seen the Son of God, as if telling him to take him “now na!” because the Simeon Moment is therefore we have that realization within us that coming to terms with death is coming to terms with life, and vice versa.

The Simeon Moment
is living in the Holy Spirit

Wherever is Jesus Christ, there is always the Holy Spirit. We will never find Christ and have the Simeon Moment unless we are attuned first with Holy Spirit who animates us and opens us to Christ’s coming.

Imagine the great crowds of people at the temple on that day, of couples trying to fulfill the law of Moses of purification and presenting their first-born son to God. How did Simeon know Joseph and Mary were the parents of the Christ? How was he able to accurately spot and find Jesus is the Messiah amid the many male children being offered on that day at the temple?

“To come in the Spirit” like Simeon is more than being faithful to God; it is having a good and pure heart that is ready to believe and act openly with courage, always looking forward at the fulfillment of what we believe. Coming in the Spirit is being at the right place at the right time when we make things happen than wait, exactly how Luke portrayed Simeon and Anna who both lived in the presence of God! Coming in the Spirit is living in the present moment in God.

*“Simeon’s Moment” by American illustrator Ron DiCianni. From* http://www.tapestryproductions.com

The Simeon Moment
is being rooted in God

We cannot see Christ nor live in the Spirit unless we humbly submit ourselves to God, our Lord and Master. Seeing Christ and living in the Spirit presuppose humility before God – we His creatures, He our Lord and Master.

Most of all, our origin and our end too!

It is the principle and foundation of life as St. Ignatius of Loyola stressed in his Spiritual Exercises, “El hombre es criado para alabar, hacer reverencia y servir a Dios nuestro Señor, y mediante esto, salvar su anima”, that is, “Man is created to praise and serve God his Lord and Master and by doing this save his soul”.

There is something so beautiful and lovely, so touching in the opening verse of Simeon’s canticle that underscores firmly this basic truth we have always forgotten since the fall of Adam and Eve when he asked God to take him after seeing the Christ. Every time we sin, we act like Adam and Eve, playing gods, desiring to be like God.

Also known as Nunc Dimittis, Simeon’s canticle echoes the fiat of Mary to God during the Annunciation, expressing his fidelity and humility, his total submission to God. Most of all, it summarizes both the Magnificat of the Blessed Mother and the Benedictus of Zechariah, making Simeon’s Nunc Dimittis the finale in Luke’s Christmas “concert” on the birth of the Messiah.

This is the reason why we chant Nunc dimittis at the end of our Night Prayer. It is the perfect prayer to close each day as we prepare for the coming new day to meet Jesus again, hoping we may be enlightened in our life’s mission expressed by the antiphon we recite before and after chanting it, “Protect us Lord as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep that awake we may keep watch with Christ and asleep rest in his peace”.

Or, if ever we ever do not wake up the following day, we still thank God all the more in making us meet Jesus the past day, eager to finally sing to him our praises in eternity with Night Prayer’s final blessing, “May the Lord grant us a restful night and a peaceful death”.

The Simeon Moment is a grace and gift Jesus gives us daily not only for the dying but to everyone of us seeking Him, awaiting Him like Simeon. And like Simeon, we are assured that anyone who seeks and awaits God is never disappointed. Have a blessed day in Christ Jesus! Amen.

*Photo by author, sunrise bursting through thick fogs over Taal Lake in Bgy. Dayap Itaas, Laurel, Batangas, 17 January 2025.*

The teacher is the lesson

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 24 October 2024

*Photo by *Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News*, 27 July 2024.*

Classes are still suspended due to severe tropical storm Kristine. While scrolling through Facebook, I chanced upon a funny post supposed to be the cry of many employees. And teachers as well:

"We are trained to work
under pressure but,
please, not in low pressure."

As we come to close October dedicated worldwide as “Teachers’ Month”, my thoughts are into this most noble profession of teaching during these two days of the storm, of how blessed I am to have been taught by selfless teachers and mentors now also a teacher myself being assigned 26 years ago in a school, now as a chaplain in the university.

I never dreamt of becoming a teacher for I am not the studious type – always the certified crammer, forever classified as “under-achiever” from elementary to graduate school. The only subjects I really loved were literature, social studies, and history.

But what a tremendous blessing from God my being assigned in a school and now a university, of meeting and working with teachers who have taught me so many valuable lessons in life and my ministry. Many of them have become some of my truest friends. Most of all, the academe opened my eyes to the wonderful ministry of teaching, of forming young people, of finding Jesus, bringing Jesus in the classroom.

*Photo from wikipediacommons.org of Christ’s washing of feet of Apostles at Monreale Cathedral in Palermo, Italy*.

Every time I give talks and recollections/retreats to teachers, I first remind them of the fact that when Jesus Christ came to the world more than 2000 years ago, He chose to be a teacher.

Jesus was never born to the class of priests and scholars of the scriptures nor any other professions like the physicians and accountants of His time except for a while, He worked with His foster-father St. Joseph as a carpenter. This alone is every teacher’s primary source of pride and honor in being called by Jesus to teach like Him.

So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined at the table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do” (John 13:12-15).

Unlike the teachers of His time, Jesus as a teacher was not for “hire” who got paid for His teachings. Jesus taught not for money but in fulfillment of His mission. He taught more than lessons in life but gave His very life to others.

And that is where the nobility of the teaching profession lies.

The best teachers are the ones who teach life by giving and sharing their very lives like Jesus Christ, our Good and Model Teacher. Teaching is both a mission and a vocation, a call. That is why there can never be a “pay” or “compensation” enough for teachers because they share life. What they teach cannot be quantified nor measured like in number of sales or length of roads built. Like Jesus, teachers give everything, never apiece. When a teacher repeats or elaborates a lesson, he/she cannot charge it as overtime or get an extra pay for their extra efforts in guiding students.

*Jesus teaching his disciples, a painting by James Tissot from commons.wikimedia.org.*

The true reward of every teacher is to find one’s students so fruitful in life! The more fruitful and successful they are, the more rewarding for us teachers. Now I know the feeling of parents having a son growing into a fine gentleman or a daughter blooming into a fine lady and woman.

For me, I feel so proud when I learn my students reaching great heights in life and in their careers like reading their works published here and abroad, even speaking other languages as professors and lecturers, diplomats, OFW’s and responsible parents raising great children with hobbies so varied making me wish I could be young again to join them. Our greatest joy as teachers is when our students are most joyful. They do not have to be rich and famous. Basta joyful with a loving wife or husband, lovely kids, fruitful life.

During the fourth century in Carthage, a Deacon and catechist named Deogratias asked St. Augustine for some tips on teaching catechumens or people being prepared for Baptism.

A very talented teacher himself, St. Augustine wrote at length the methods and many other tips of teaching to Deogratias that these were compiled into a book now a Christian classic called “De Catechizandis de Rudibus” (On Instructing Beginners in Faith).

St. Augustine gave practical tips like first identifying the kind of audience or students so that the catechist and teacher may adjust his/her approach in teaching. He then told Deogratias to always narrate stories from the Bible, especially the creation, the lives of the great men and women in the Old Testament, and most of all, the many gospel scenes of Jesus Christ’s own teachings and parables.

At the end of the very long book of instructions, St. Augustine reminded Deogratias that the “catechist/teacher is always the lesson himself/herself.”

So true and beautiful!

The teacher is the lesson himself/herself because no book nor experiment nor equation will suffice to open the mind and heart of any student when the very person of the teacher is closed or worst, incongruent with wisdom and knowledge, virtues and life.

A true teacher is a witness of Jesus Christ, of how the Lord had transformed him/her into a better person now teaching others to grow and mature in life. A teacher is one who walks the talks, exactly what St. Pope Paul VI wrote in 1975, “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses” (Evangelii Nuntiandi #41).

A true teacher as a lesson himself/herself is one who does not complicate but simplifies life, one who knows when to stop and be contented with what we have.

A true teacher is one who opens the minds and hearts of students to have that drive and passion to learn and find not just answer to questions but also to explore possibilities of finding meaning in life amid the many mysteries and unsolved problems that surround us.

A true teacher is one who does not compete with his/her students but journeys with them as companion, someone who breaks “bread” – life – with them.

A true teacher is one who sets students free from their many fears in life, showing them courage to tackle problems and situations, one who is not afraid to cry when sad and hurt, but always ready to smile and laugh with life’s simple joys and pleasures or kababawan.

A true teacher is one who shows students the realities of life such as failures and mistakes not as obstacles but launching pads for new lessons in life.

The teacher as the lesson himself/herself is one who brings out the giftedness of every student as a beautiful lesson in themselves too for others to learn.

The teacher as a lesson himself/herself need not be perfect, does not need to know an answer to all questions nor everything but someone who celebrates life, values life as a gift from God meant to be shared with others.

Think of your favorite teacher or unforgettable teacher. Most likely, she or he is the one who shares life with you. Thank a teacher today in sharing us, giving us his/her life especially during storms, when we are under low pressure areas. God bless all the teachers!

When is life empty?

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon & Companion Martyrs, 20 September 2024
1 Corinthians 15:12-20 <8{{{{>< + ><}}}}8> Luke 8:1-3

*Photo by author in Bolinao, Pangasinan, 2022.*

"And if Christ 
has not been raised,
then empty too is our preaching;
empty, too, your faith"....

and empty too is our life!

St. Paul's words 
to the Corinthians 
echo so well in our own time 
when many of us believers
live as though there will be no
resurrection of the dead;
so many of us believers today
see life limited only to this
temporal world
that we indulge in everything
that is material and pleasing,
avoiding all pains and sufferings,
simply subscribing to that dictum
to drink and be merry 
for tomorrow
we shall die.

Forgive us,
Jesus, when we see 
life's fullness is found only
in things and pleasures 
of the world that we forget
the truth that life is empty
without your Cross
because it leads us to
Resurrection each day
like the sunrise;
life is empty when we have
more of the world
and less of God
whose ultimate reality
is in the resurrection 
and life everlasting.

Grant us the grace
of those holy women
who followed you in your
ministry, giving up everything
they have especially their
sinful past because in you
they found and experienced
resurrection; most of all, 
like the more than 100 martyrs
of Korea whom we remember today,
let us bear our cross of witnessing
to you and your gospel, 
Jesus, so that people may
realize that truly,
life is most meaningful
most fulfilled
only in you.
Amen.

*St. Andrew Kim Taegon, first Korean priest with his lay associate St. Paul Chong Hasan with 113 other Koreans died as martyrs between 1839 and 1867.*

Nanay Sta. Monica

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 27 August 2024

*Photo of St. Monica from the cover of the book “St. Monica Club: How to Wait, Hope and Pray For Your Fallen-away Loved Ones by Maggie Green, Sophia Institute Press, 2019.*

Today we celebrate the Memorial of St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine. She has always been associated with her son Augustine who is considered as one of the great saints of the Church with so much impact in our theology and almost every Catholic teaching. It was through the prayers and many sacrifices by St. Monica that St. Augustine was converted to Christianity who eventually became a priest then later as Bishop and Doctor of the Church. That is why during the Vatican II reforms of the liturgy, her memorial celebration was moved from May 4 to August 27, a day before St. Augustine’s memorial too.

Next to the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Monica is perhaps the best example of motherhood beyond compare. Patron saint not only of wives and mothers, St. Monica is also the Patroness of those seeking patience and victims of abuse.

Most probably, stories about her suffering in silence in being married to an abusive and philandering pagan husband named Patricius were “overextended” to the extent we Filipinos got a very wrong impression of a “martyr” as being a wife who willingly bears without complaints the abuses by her husband.

St. Monica was very far from that kind of “martyr” but was in fact a “martyr” to the truest sense of its meaning from the Greek word martyria that means to witness Jesus Christ. Witnessing for Christ by bearing sufferings does not mean allowing one’s self to be abused freely by anyone; witnessing for Christ is primarily living a life centered on Jesus in prayers that flow into good works and holiness. Martyrdom is overcoming evil with goodness that is why many times, it ends with death – but, it is not as a defeat but as a triumph that leads to conversion of sinners and unbelievers, exactly how Christianity spread before and until now wherever Christians are persecuted.

According to St. Augustine’s own account in his book Confessions, although domestic abuse was prevalent during their time, their ill-tempered father never beat their mother. Her daily prayers especially her frequent going to the Mass with so many acts of charities to the poor irritated their father Patricius and yet led him to respect St. Monica. Eventually, her prayer life that found expressions in her almsgiving and kindness to everyone won the heart of Patricius, calmed his violent tendencies until he finally converted to Christianity before his death.

Before calming and converting her husband, St. Monica first won over her equally difficult to deal with mother-in-law! So, for those having problems with in-laws, St. Monica is the go-to saint for you!

But it is not that easy at all. We need to do the efforts, to cultivate a prayer life and allow God to work in us in order to grow in faith, hope, and love as well as the virtues especially patience. All these aspects of her faith flowed in her remaining so sweet and gentle despite her problematic husband and three children (whom Patricius refused to be baptized as Christians) that she was able to exercise a good influence over abused wives and suffering mothers who were so moved by St. Monica’s example.

Now here is the funny thing that most likely mothers and wives today would surely laugh at – St. Monica’s advise: “If you can master your tongue, not only do you run less risk of being beaten, but perhaps you may even, one day, make your husband better.”

Huwag daw po kuda nang kuda, mga Nanay at mga Misis…

Having spent most of my 26 years as a priest ministering to students and young people (exactly 17 years and counting), I used to tell them how often our mothers’ nagging is actually their love language; they may be saying a lot even without thinking at all but that’s because they love us, they care for us. That is why I find it amazing, so prophetic when Filipino mothers speak the same thing when children come home, hurt and beaten after not listening to their words of caution: “Sinasabi ko na nga ba…!”

Many times, mothers are prophetic; listen to whatever they may be saying because so often, they tell the truth. About us or of then people we go out with.

One thing I miss these days after my mom’s death in May are her words of love and wisdom as well as her nagging with accompanying threats (tatamaan ka sa akin or lalayasan ko kayo). Psychologists say that is wrong for parents to threaten their kids. I don’t really know but from my own experience those were perfectly examples of tough love that made us strong.

Now Mommy or Mamu as we called her since becoming a grandma is gone, no one reminds us or nags us anymore. And the worst part of that is, you have no one to make sumbong. We have lost somebody willing listen to all of our kuda.

That I think makes every mother to suffer a lot because they keep so many of her children’s pains and hurts, including anger and complaints in their hearts: many times they explain but we refuse to listen, accusing her of bias and favoritism. There are times she would say “hayaan mo na lang anak”… she would be talking and talking again of many things.

Every Nanay is a Sta. Monica, suffering in silence because she has always been loving us in silence. Truly, when a mother dies, our links are never cut off from her as if the umbilical cord remains intact. And wireless up to heaven. How funny that we complain often our our mother’s nagging and endless talking but when she becomes silent, we miss her. Now because we are sure she loves us so much.

Sharing with you this most beautiful tribute of four brothers to their Nanay I found last night in the internet now with 4M views. Pray for all mothers today, thank God for their great gift of life.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/SJHtTEMdeiPdESJh/?mibextid=KsPBc6

Elijah & Jesus with “Lolo and the Kid”

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 13 August 2024

This is a rejoinder to my Sunday homily I posted here Saturday morning (https://lordmychef.com/2024/08/10/when-we-cry-this-is-enough-god-gives-us-more-than-enough-to-go-on/).

I had published my Sunday homily that Saturday morning when I decided to unwind by watching any movie on Netflix which I do only on weekends. So glad it was the first movie I saw, very related with the story of Prophet Elijah and Jesus Christ’s “Bread of Life Discourse” that Sunday.

First think I liked with Lolo and the Kid is its fast-paced story that revolved around the two characters played by veteran Joel Torre and GMA7’s famed Firefly star Euwenn Mikael Aleta.

Second thing so interesting with me is how Lolo and Kid have no proper names at all (I just learned Lolo’s name was Mario after reading the various write ups) maybe because they stand for all of us who are caught in this great race for money and material things but deep inside longing for the more essential and truly lasting in life like love. And people who love us too, who care for us, and would stand by us.

We are Lolo and Kid who many times have traded our principles for momentary satisfaction but despite our seemingly strong facades of pragmatism and “resourcefulness” or madiskarte as Lolo taught Kid in the movie, deep inside us is still our conscience where God dwells, telling us to pursue good and shun evil. Joel Torre perfectly portrayed this beautiful side in each one of us (with his Ilonggo accent) of keeping a conscience despite our sinfulness, like a soft shell we delicately keep whole and intact inside lest we lose everything in life.

Recall our first reading last Sunday about Elijah fleeing to the mountain from an army pursuing to kill him. Elijah felt a total failure like Lolo and us many times in life when after all our goodwill and love, we are dumped by the very people we care for.

Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert, until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it. He prayed for death, saying: “This is enough, O Lord! Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers” (1 Kings 19:4).

In one of the scenes of Lolo and the Kid, we find Lolo crying, cursing everyone and murmuring just like in last Sunday’s gospel. As he tried to end his life with a knife, Lolo suddenly heard the cry of an infant from the heap of garbage around him. What a beautiful portrayal of that infant left in the trash like Jesus Christ born on a manger becoming the savior of Lolo, a definitive message of mercy and love from God after his apparent cry of “This is enough, Lord!”

How many times have we found ourselves in the same situation, often in less momentous ones than Elijah or any prophet and saint, crying out to God in the heavens “this is enough”?

But, what is also most true behind every cry of “this is enough” that we make, we continue to believe and to hope in God that there is still a way out of our plight. And very often like in the story of Elijah last Sunday and in that scene in Lolo and the Kid, God comes at the nick of time like that infant crying in the garbage heap, a reminder of life and beauty found within us despite all the dirt we may have around us.

Here we find the Kid, perfectly played by Euwenn like in Firefly, as the saving grace, the Christ-figure in the movie bringing salvation to Lolo. Kid was “the bread of life from heaven” who “fed” Lolo with life with its meaning and direction. And joy found in Kid, the image of Christ Jesus.

Now, joy according to Jesus at the Last Supper is like a woman at the pangs of childbirth (Jn.16:21-22); it is deeper than happiness. True joy is borne out of self-sacrifice, a fruit of self-denial, of loving somebody more than one’s self. This we find at the end of this moving film.

Now all grown up, Kid finally met again Lolo in the hospital a day after his college graduation. Kid brought Lolo while seated on a wheelchair to visit Taba (another character without a name), their suki in fencing. From there, they went to their usual stop, a videoke bar to eat and drink, singing repeatedly Kenny Roger’s Through the Years.

Then, Lolo died, singing the only tune he knew that summed their beautiful relationship.

After Lolo’s body was taken out of the videoke bar, Kid opened Lolo’s bag that had a tin can of biscuit filled with old photographs taken with their stolen Polaroid camera. The photos did not merely remind Kid of their happy times together but most especially when they were already apart!

Unknown to Kid, Lolo hid to take photos when he moved to his adoptive parents, from his first ever birthday party to his college graduation! Through the years, Lolo, like God, was always there, present in all of Kid’s milestones in life because he is truly loved.

I have never liked that song Through the Years even when it was a hit during our high school days in 1981 but since Saturday, I have been humming it silently, hearing it inside me as an LSS until now. We hear the song playing throughout the end of the movie with scenes of how Lolo secretly took Kid’s photos filled with love and joy amid the strong current of pain within he had to endure to be far and away yet so near to his beloved apo.

If the Kid is the Christ figure in this film, Lolo is the God-the-Father figure, the One who seems so far from us as if He does not care at all. In Lolo and the Kid, there is that message of God never leaving us wherever we may be, whether we are in the squalor of poverty and sin or in the purity and cleanliness of affluence and grace maybe. God like Lolo to Kid is always with us but never interferes, silently doing many things to ensure that despite our many faults and failures in life, we end up in Him and His love.

We go back to Elijah’s cry of “This is enough, Lord!”, our very same cry like Lolo in the movie.

It is a cry that is also a prayer coming from our innermost being when we feel so saddled with no one to unload our woes except to God – who after all is the very reason why we cry! Watch for Lolo’s soliloquy on this reality we often do.

*Photo by author, James Alberione Center, QC, 08 August 2024.*

It is a cry of faith so akin with love because to believe and to love go hand in hand. It is during that moment when we feel like giving up to God, crying “this is enough” when in reality we surrender everything to God because we have been caught up by Him that we cannot resist His attraction.

It is that moment when we feel so “fed up with life” but deep inside, we hear God telling us like Lolo with the cries of an infant or like Elijah with an angel instructing him, “Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!” (1 Kings 19:7).

Yes, our life journey is still long but we have a companion in Jesus, our bread of life from heaven, nourishing us, strengthening us, teaching us that essential beauty of love found only in sharing one’s life for the other. As we have said in last Sunday’s homily, it is when we cry “it is enough, Lord” when God gives us more than enough to sustain us sometimes in the form of a good movie like this one. May we have more “bread” like Lolo and the Kid that feeds our soul and gladdens our heart.

*BTW, we are not paid to endorse this movie; simply sharing with you its good news.

Put life in order

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 19 July 2024
Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 12:1-8

*Photo by author, somewhere in Bgy. Kaysuyo, Alfonso, Cavite, 27 April 2024.*

When Hezekiah was mortally ill, the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him: “Thus says the Lord: Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you shall not recover. Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord… Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: “Go, tell Hezekiah: Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you: in three days you shall go up to the Lord’s temple; I will add fifteen years to your life” (Isaiah 38:1-2, 4-5).

God our Father,
help us
 to put our house in order;
give us the courage and
strength to put our lives
in order
by sincerely admitting our sins
with a firm resolve to turn away
from them and live the gospel
of Jesus your Son.

Let me put order
to my spiritual life by cultivating
the discipline to pray daily
keeping that relationship with You;
let me put order in my life
by seeking ways to be more
loving with others than
finding their faults;
let me put order in my life
by being less judgmental of others
to be more charitable and understanding.

Like Hezekiah
let me accept my fate,
let me accept death:
"In the noontime of life I must depart!
To the gates of the nether world
I shall be consigned
for the rest of my years" (Isaiah 38:10);
how wonderful that without praying
for his healing but for the grace
to accept your will,
You healed Hezekiah
and prolonged his life
to serve You more than ever.
Amen.

Crossings & the Cross

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 03 July 2024

*Photo from The Valenzuela Times, 02 July 2024.*

Honestly… how did you react to this photo published yesterday afternoon after that flash flood at McArthur Highway in Valenzuela City? Do you find it funny? Did you hit the LOL emoticon? Why?

Am I that old and conservative, or prudish, or, is it merely a simple case of generation gap that I felt sad and surprised at how almost everyone in social media last night laughed at this photo? At least, some were sincere enough to admit being jealous as they exclaimed “sanaol” but, why all the laughter?

It is better expressed in our Filipino language – pinagtawanan (laughed at) which is a world apart from nakatutuwa (joyful sight).

What is so funny if a man would carry his girlfriend on his back for her not to get wet or soaked in the flood?

So gentlemanly in fact, hindi ba? Should we not be glad that there are still knights in shining armor these days?

Others simply described it as OA or “overacting”. Maybe…

The photo is a modern gospel, a good news in this age when chivalry is said to be dead. It is so much similar with last Sunday’s gospel that said “Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side” (Mk. 5:21), after they went through a turbulent squall crossing the Lake of Galilee the other week. What a beautiful story last Sunday of Jesus crossing again and again not only the treacherous lake but so often crossed the streets and valleys and mountains to reach out to those sick and lost and even dead to bring them all to the side of grace and life (https://lordmychef.com/2024/06/29/jesus-crossed-seas-streets-to-lead-us-to-the-side-of-life-again-again/).

I love that word “cross” from which came crossing; the former if spelled with a capital C refers to the Cross of Jesus Christ that also means our daily sufferings and difficulties in life we have to accept and embrace while the former refers to the street intersection where pedestrians cross.

Every day Jesus comes to help us cross the streets of this life filled with many pains and sufferings, trials and hardships. Jesus help us cross these busy and stressful streets of daily life for us to get to the side of life and fullness through those willing to suffer and sacrifice like this student in the photo.

How sad that when someone is willing to sacrifice for a loved one, when someone is willing to help others cross the street, whether it is flooded or not that people nowadays laugh at them, calling them OA.

We are not judging anyone.

Maybe we just have to reassess ourselves daily especially in our overexposure to social media and its gadgets that have alienated us from realities of life and from being human, being a person who is a subject to be loved and cherished than object to be possessed and laughed at.

How sad that with too much media, we no longer have that feel and experience of realities.

Go to any wedding or whatever kind of ceremony and parade to see how people are foolishly glued to their camera screens recording the events without experiencing the moment at all!

That gentleman carrying his girlfriend on his back is a good news for us today that Christ is still with us in this modern age. Unfortunately, it seems that like what happened 2000 years ago, there are still some who still want Him crucified for being good and kind, even OA, with others. Have a blessed day. We’d like to hear from you too… thank you!

Why are you here?

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 14 June 2024
1 Kings 19:9, 11-16 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 5:27-32

*Photo by Mr. Vigie Ongleo, Sagada, Mt. Province, 2014.*

O God, dear Father,
how I have loved so much
ever since today's story 
of Elijah fleeing from death 
at the hands of Jezebel's army;
so many times I have felt like Elijah,
so tired, fed up fighting,
hoping for death when the going
gets tough and rough; 
and so many times too, 
You have never forsaken me,
Father like Elijah,
asking me many times 
that question,
"Why are you here?" 
(1 Kings 19:9, 13).

Very often, I get confused, Father,
if I am that zealous for You 
like Elijah or just me so insistent 
with what I believe,
with what I know,
with what I hold so dear
in You and for You;
many times I do not know
if I am still doing your will
especially when it is so difficult,
so uncomfortable and,
yes, I have asked You many times
why not just make me
an ordinary man,
instead of being your prophet....

But your question remains,
Lord, that I rarely face nor
answer squarely: 
"Why are you here?"

You know me so well,
Lord: like Simon Peter in
Capernaum after your discourse
on the bread of life,
my favorite response to You is
"Master, to whom shall we go? 
You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe and 
are convinced that you are the
Holy One of God" (John 6:68-69).

But most of all,
I am here because like the
psalmist,
"I long to see your face,
O Lord" (Psalm 27:7-8);
and for me to see your face
means to love more
until it hurts me;
to see your face, Lord,
is to be still and silent
amid the noise of this world
for you are always there in our
midst among the weak
and voiceless,
among those in the margins
and underneath the heaps
of scraps and garbage;
to see your face, O Lord,
is to remember always
it is your work,
not mine that I must
accomplish.

Why am I here, Lord?
Because You told me so.
Thank you so much
in bringing me here this far,
no matter what
for as long I feel
 getting closer
with You.
In that case,
I shall always be here
for You!
Amen.