Category: storms in life

Lent, a pilgrimage to God

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sunday Recipe for the Soul, Lent I-B, 18 February 2024
Genesis 9:8-15 + + 1 Peter 3:18-22 + + Mark 1:12-15
Photo by Walid Ahmad on Pexels.com

Pope Benedict XVI eloquently described Lent in his first papal Lenten message in 2006 when he wrote, “Lent is a privileged time of interior pilgrimage towards Him Who is the fount of mercy. It is a pilgrimage in which He Himself accompanies us through the desert of our poverty, sustaining us on our way towards the intense joy of Easter.”

What a beautiful picture too of the short gospel from Mark we heard this first Sunday in Lent that briefly describes the temptation of Jesus so unlike the detailed versions by Matthew and Luke. Nonetheless, Mark’s terse account is loaded heavily in rich symbols and meanings.

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among the wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him. After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of god is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Mark 1:12-15

This scene comes right after the baptism of Jesus by John at the Jordan. It is sad that our liturgical texts have not yet adopted the new revised editions of major Catholic bibles wherein Mark noted how “immediately” or “at once” after his baptism, Jesus was tempted in the desert.

(At once) The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert tempted by Satan.
“Temptation in the Wilderness” painting by Briton Riviere (1840-1920) from commons.wikimedia.org.

Do we not experience the same thing daily in life when even right in the moment we are trying to pray, trying to become better when temptations come our way like when we decided to pray or go celebrate the Mass, something else would distract or prevent us from fulfilling it?

See how difficult it is to go on diet when suddenly mother cooks your favorite meal or somebody comes for a visit with burgers and sodas and cakes! Just when you have decided to quit a vice, at once the temptation comes to pick it up again, as we plea to make it our “last” cigarette or joint, last shot of alcohol, last look at pornography, last gamble and so many other lasts that never really ended! Recall those times we decided to finally embark on any religious or spiritual endeavor when at once we are intensely challenged by carnal and material desires.

It is a reality of life that Jesus faced too like us, being tempted immediately by Satan after his baptism when God identified him as his beloved Son with whom he is well pleased. Mark warns us today how Satan is bent on tempting us to abandon God, be lost and just be ordinary without meaning and fulfillment in life and existence. The five Sundays in Lent depict to us our internal pilgrimage and journey into God’s inner room to be with him in Christ Jesus. It is a pilgrimage as we return to our very root and grounding who is God. Let us not waste the grace of this blessed season to become like God again, truly his image and likeness marred by sin and evil.

Oh what a joy to be one with God again, to regain our true selves – contented and fulfilled in our very selves minus all the trappings of this world’s artificialities of fake selves with fake faces and skin, of fake lives glamorized in social media. It is a pilgrimage in the desert where we are invited to leave everything behind, to be bare and nothing for we solely need only God to truly see again our selves as true, good, and beautiful. Not with cosmetics nor food nor even modern thoughts and ideas pretending to be just and fair that deceive us and leave us more empty and lost.

He was among the wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.

“Jesus Ministered to by Angels” painting by James Tissot (1836-1902) from commons.wikipedia.org.

Lent is an interior pilgrimage to God lived in the wilderness too, an invitation for us to go back to Paradise even in the midst of the chaos around us. This we do every Sunday in the Mass when we go back to God, to his Church and the sacraments.

This is why Lent is the time for more prayers, fasting and alms-giving as they all strengthen our spiritual resolve to become better persons, to become who we really are – beloved children of God with dignity, meaning and purpose found in him.

Despite the fall of Adam and Eve, God never abandoned us because he loves us so much that he sent us Jesus Christ his Son to accompany and show us how among the wild beasts around us, there are angels attending to our needs at all times. Everyone has a struggle, a problem dealing with. Nobody is without any crisis nor lives perfectly. That’s the imagery of the desert, a wilderness with the wildest beasts that are most ferocious and most poisonous.

Yet, God has assured us even right after the Fall that we are his most precious creation that he takes the initiative always to save us from every danger of sickness and death. Most of all, of sin like when Cain was so jealous of his brother Abel, the Lord said to him, “Why are you angry? Why are you dejected? If you act rightly, you will be accepted; but if not, sin lies in wait at the door; its urge is for you, yet you can rule over it” (Gen. 4:6-7).

In the first reading we heard how God acted like human, so fed up with our sinfulness that he sent a great flood to wipe the earth clean again. However, do not forget that before sending the great flood, God sent first Noah and his family. Again, that is exactly how our life is!

Unknown to us, long before any problem and sufferings come to us, there is always God preparing already a remedy, a solution, an exit plan for us in the first place like when he sent Noah and his family to ensure there would still be good people left after the flood. This reached its highest point in Jesus whom the Father sent to become the new rainbow of the sky when Christ stretched out his arms on the Cross to save us. Peter beautifully explained this truth in our second reading today, reminding us how the great flood at Noah’s time was a prefiguring of our baptism in Jesus Christ when we become the Father’s beloved and forgiven children.

Never lose hope when things seem to be so bad and miserable in life. Remember how the silver linings appear always after the heavy rains or how the leaves are greenest after the storm. Yes, life is like a desert, a wilderness with so many wild beasts that may times we could not escape temptations and fall into sins. But God is greater than our hearts, sending us more than enough angels even his only begotten Son so we may overcome temptations and sins, downfalls and defeats in life. Go back to God, go back to paradise in prayers and the Mass. Handle life with prayer, always PUSH, that is, Pray Until Something Happens.

After John had been arrested, 
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: 
"This is the time of fulfillment. 
The kingdom of God is at hand. 
Repent, and believe in the gospel."
Photo by shy sol on Pexels.com

This is the most unique feature in Mark’s brief account of the temptation of Jesus by Satan. Mark began his gospel just like the three other evangelists linking the life and mission of Jesus with John the Baptist; however, he abruptly removed John from this scene by simply saying “after John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God.”

“Ganun lang yon?” we might ask in Filipino. It would take five more chapters before Mark explains to us the fate of John the Baptist.

And yes, that’s the way it is with us too! We never stop with our mission like Jesus amid all the storms and darkness hovering above us. There will always be sufferings and trials coming and these in itself are the reasons for us to continue with our mission like Jesus.

Inasmuch as the lives and fate of Jesus and John are intertwined, so are our lives and fate as disciples of Christ with him! It is during trials and difficulties when our proclamation of God’s kingdom are loudest and most credible. Most of all, it is in our sufferings when we go back to our internal desert when we truly experience the time of fulfillment if we remain faithful to God like Jesus Christ.

Let us pray:

Dearest Jesus:
accompany us 
on this first week of Lent
into the Father's house; 
make us stop all whining
and complaining on the many
desert experiences we are going 
through for that is how life is -
like a wilderness with many wild beasts!
Let us never lose sight of your
loving presence among us, Lord,
of your angels ministering to us,
assuring us of the colorful rainbow
of life in the horizon if we remain
faithful and true.
Amen.
Photo by Ms. Annalyn Dela Torre, Bgy. Caypombo, Santa Maria, Bulacan, 14 February 2024.

“Touch & Go” by Rupert Holmes (1976)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 04 February 2024
Photo by author, Our Lady of Fatima University-Laguna Campus in Sta. Rosa, 19 February 2024.

Our gospel this Sunday speaks a lot about the importance of person-to-person communication, of the healing wonders of the sense of touch and its deeper implications in our relationships when Jesus healed the mother-in-law of Simon Peter.

On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

Mark 1:29-31

See how the evangelist narrated in details the healing by Jesus who “approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up.” More than the actual touching and face-to-face or actual encounter, the scene speaks so well of deep personal relationships among us. That is why we have chosen Rupert Holmes’ 1976 single Touch and Go.

Nobody said that
Life is always fair
Sometimes it clips your wings
While you’re in mid-air
But there’s a thread
Between your life and mine
And when you’re losin’ hope
This rope won’t unwind

REFRAIN:
Hold on tight
‘Cause life is touch and go
It’s sink and swim
But never doubt
If you’re out on a limb
I’ll get the call
To break your fall
I’ll never leave you
Even when life
Is touch and go
Or hit and run
We’ll never break
If we take it as one
I’m here to stay,
I pray you know
I’ll never touch
I’ll never touch and go

Someday you’ll find
There’s nothin’ in the night
That wasn’t there before
You turned out the light
Straight from your mind
The monster ‘neath your bed
The voices in the hall
They’re all in your head

A gifted musician with a knack in story-telling, Holmes’ songs are always imbued with his deep insights about life he had gathered from ordinary experiences like his earlier hit Terminal (1974) and his two hit singles Escape (The Piña Colada Song) in 1979 and Him in 1980. These three are all dashed with humor that can tickle our bones but disturb our conscience too.

In Touch and Go, Holmes goes philosophical, sounding a bit like Job in today’s first reading of how life can sometimes be unfair that “Sometimes it clips your wings while you’re on mid-air” while assuring his beloved of his deep love and dedication that no matter what happens, he would always be there by her side to save her.

That is exactly what Jesus tells us in the gospel this Sunday, of how he would always approach us, grasp our hand and help us up when we are down. The question is, are we in touch with Jesus too? Or, we always go and leave him especially when things are doing great in our lives?

If us humans like Holmes can boldly assure our beloved of always being there, of being in touch and connected especially in times of trials and sufferings, all the more is Jesus Christ who had come to empower us by connecting us with God and one another always in loving service (https://lordmychef.com/2024/02/03/real-power-empowers/).

It is a Sunday. Don’t forget to celebrate Mass or go to your places of worship to get in touch with God and with others in your community. Here is Rupert Holmes to help you chill more on this cool February Sunday amidst life’s many “touch and go, sink and swim” situations.

From Youtube.com.

Ituloy pagbati ng Maligayang Pasko!

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-27 ng Disyembre 2023
Larawan mula sa Facebook, 23 Disyembre 2023 ng pagtutulungan ng Red Letter Christians at ng artist na si Kelly Latimore ng  @kellylatimoreicons upang lumikha ng bagong larawang ito na pinamagatang “Christ in the Rubble” nagsasaad na kung sakaling ngayong panahon isinilang si Jesus, malamang siya ay ipinanganak sa gitna ng mga durog na bato sanhi ng digmaan doon sa Gaza.

Maligayang Pasko!

Tayo raw mga Pilipino ang mayroong pinaka-tumpak na pagbati sa panahong ito dahil sinasaad ng salitang “pasko” ang buong katotohanan ng hiwaga ng pagkakatawang-tao (Incarnation) ng Diyos Anak na si Jesu-Kristo.

Mula sa wikang Hebreo na pesar o pesach na kahulugan ay “pagtawid”, ito ay pascua sa wikang Kastila na atin ding ginagamit na ugat ng Pasko at pasch naman sa Inggles. 

Una natin itong natunghayan sa Matandang Tipan, sa Aklat ng Exodus nang itawid ng Diyos sa pamumuno ni Moises ang mga Israelita mula Egipto patungong lupang pangako. Iyon ang larawang paulit-ulit na tinutukoy sa ating kasaysayan ng pagliligtas, sumasagisag sa pagtawid mula sa kaalipinan patungo sa kalayaan, pagtawid mula kadiliman patungo sa liwanag, pagtawid mula kasalanan tungo sa kapatawaran, at higit sa lahat, pagtawid mula kaparusahan tungo sa kaligtasan. 

Iyon din ang batayan ng tinutukoy na misteryo paskuwa o ng ating pananampalataya kay Kristo-Jesus na ating ipinahahayag tuwina sa Banal na Misa, “si Kristo ay namatay, si Kristo ay muling nabuhay, si Kristo ay babalik sa wakas ng panahon!“

Larawan kuha ng may-akda, 2021.

Tumpak at ayon ang ating pagbati na Maligayang Pasko dahil nagsimula ang misteryo paskuwa ni Jesus nang Siya ay ipaglihi at isinilang ng Mahala na Birheng Maria sa Bethlehem mahigit 2000 tao na nakalilipas.

Sa pagkakatawang-tao ni Jesus, Siya ay tumawid mula sa kawalang-hanggan (eternity) tungo sa mayroong hanggan (temporal) dito sa lupa; mula sa kanyang ganap na pag-iral taglay ang lahat ng kapangyarihan tungo sa limitado niyang pagkatao tulad ng pagiging mahina at mahuna lalo na sa pagiging sanggol at bata. Kasama na doon ang kailangan Niyang mag-aral lumakad, magsulat, magbasa at magsalita na kung tutuusin ay alam Niya ang lahat.

Taong-tao talaga si Jesus bagamat hindi nawala ni nabawasan Kanyang pagka-Diyos sa Kanyang pagkakatawang-tao kaya lahat ng ating mga karanasan bilang tao ay Kanya ring naranasan maliban ang kasalanan at magkasala. Siya man ay nagutom, nauhaw, nahapis at tumangis nang mamatay ang kaibigan Niyang si Lazaro, nahabag sa mga tao mga may sakit at balo. Wika nga ni Papa Benedicto XVI na malapit na nating ipag-ibis luksa sa katapusan, ang Diyos na ganap na kung tutuusin ay hindi nahihirapan ni nasasaktan ay pinili na makiisa sa hirap at sakit nating mga tao pamamagitan ng pagkakatawang-tao ni Jesu-Kristo (Spe Salvi, #39).

Napaka-ganda at husay ng paglalahad ni San Pablo sa pagtawid o paskuwa na ito ni Jesus na kanyang tinaguriang kenosis, ang paghuhubad ni Jesus ng Kanyang pagka-Diyos bagamat para sa akin mas angkop ang salin na “pagsasaid” dahil sinimot ni Jesus ang lahat ng sa Kanya para sa atin doon sa Kanyang pagkakatawang-tao na ang rurok ay doon sa Krus.

Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Baguio City, Agosto 2023.

Magpakababa kayo tulad ni Cristo Jesus: Na bagamat siya’y Diyos, hindi nagpilit na manatiling kapantay ng Diyos, Bagkus hinubad niya ang lahat ng katangian ng pagka-Diyos, nagkatawang-tao at namuhay na isang alipin. Nang maging tao, siya’y nagpakababa at naging masunurin hanggang kamatayan, oo, hanggang kamatayan sa krus.

Filipos 2:5-8

Naalala ko isang araw ng Pasko noong bata ako nang kami ay papaalis patungo sa mga Nanay at kapatid ng aking ama sa Maynila, masungit ang panahon at maulan. Hindi ko matanggap na umuulan at masama ang panahon sa araw ng Pasko kaya tinanong ko aking ina, “Bakit po ganun, birthday ni Jesus may ulan, may bagyo? E hindi ba God Siya? Di ba Niya puwede ipahinto mga ulan sa birthday Niya?”

Di ko matandaan sagot ng mommy ko pero malamang hindi malayo sa luku-luko at gago!

Nang magka-isip na ako, natutuhan ko sa mga pagbabasa na sa maraming pagkakataon mayroong mga bagyo at kalamidad, digmaan at kung anu-ano pang mga sigalot at paghihirap na nangyari kasaysayan tuwing Pasko. 

Tayo man mismo, marahil sa ating personal na buhay, maraming pagkakataon na tayo ay lumuluha, nanlulumo, hapis na hapis sa buhay sa ilang mga masasakit na karanasan sa araw ng Pasko. Kaya marami sa ating habang tumatanda nasasabing para lamang sa mga bata ang Pasko na masaya.

Ngunit hindi po iyan totoo! Batid natin sa ating mga karanasan na sa padaraan ng panahon, lumalalim ding pag-unawa nating sa Paso.

Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Setyembre 2023.

Balikan natin mga panahon ng ating pagsubok sa buhay lalo na sa panahon ng kapaskuhan, higit tayong namamangha at tiyak sasang-ayon ng lubos na tumpak nga ang bati nating mga Pinoy ng “Maligayang Pasko!” dahil mas malalim at makabuluhan ang pagdiriwang ito o ano pa mang selebrasyon sa buhay kapag ating napagdaanan at nalampasan mga hirap at sakit.

Ito ang kagandahan at katotohanan ng buhay natin na isang paulit-ulit na pasko, ng pagtawid at paglampas sa mga hirap at hilahil, pagbubulaanan sa ano mang sakbibi at pag-aaalinlangan ating ikinakakaba.

Hindi inalis ng Diyos ating hirap at sakit maging kamatayan bagkus tayo ay Kanyang sinamahan sa pagbibigay Niya sa atin ng Kanyang bugtong na Anak, ang Panginoong Jesu-Kristo na tumawid mula langit patungo dito sa atin sa lupa upang tayo naman Kanya ring maitawid patungong langit. 

Kaya naman, pakiusap ko sa lahat na ipagpatuloy natin pagbati ng Maligayang Pasko hanggang ika-pito ng Enero 2024, ang Dakilang Kapistahan ng Pagpapakita o Epiphany ng Panginoon. Napakasama at malaking kahangalan na kay tagal inabangan ang Pasko na nagsisimula ng hapon ng ika-24 ng Disyembre at pagkatapos ng ika-25 ay biglang magbabatian ng Happy New Year!?

Kalokohan! At marahil, hindi naunawaan diwa ng Pasko. Mababaw at puro happy, happy gusto ng mga maraming tao, di batid ang diwa at lalim ng kahulugan ng Pasko na sa paglalagom ay iisang salita lamang: PAG-IBIG o PAGMAMAHAL. Ng Diyos sa atin.

Ano man ang mangyari sa buhay natin, sa ating mundo, hindi mapipigil ang Pasko, tuloy ang Pasko dahil kasama natin palagi si Kristo. At kung ikaw man ay mayroong pinagdaraanan, matuwa ka at magalak, ikaw ay nasa paskuwa – pasko – kasama, kaisa si Kristo! Amen.

Larawan kuha ng may-akda, 2021.

Mater Dolorosa & Alanis Morisette

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 15 September 2023
“Mater Dolorosa” also known as “Blue Madonna” (1616) by Carlo Dolci. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

I started praying about this blog last month after the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It just occurred to me on that day to greet some of my “girlfriends” – yes, God has blessed me with so many of them who are mostly women and ladies who have taught me and shared with me so many lessons and thoughts about life only women can see.

One of them is my former colleague at GMA-7 News, Kelly, widowed for six years since the passing of her husband Larry whom I have visited and anointed many times during his long battle with cancer. When I asked her how she has been doing since our last meeting before the pandemic, she was her usual self – candid yet a bit sardonic in her reply, “I’m good. I have health issues but I’m handling them, living a simple but contented life… alam mo naman ako, I’m so Alannis Morissette.”

I thought she was again speaking “gay” as in chorva when she described herself as Alannis Morisette. And before I could ask her the meaning of “Alanis Morissette”, she turned out to be speaking English – referring to the singer Alanis Morissette as she sent me lyrics of her 1995 song Hand in My Pocket. Immediately I checked it on Youtube and found it perfect too for today’s celebration of the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows or Mater Dolorosa as it speaks of every woman’s sacrifice and sufferings in this world that is sadly still dominated by male chauvinists.

Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows reminds us of every woman’s fidelity to God through her husband and children, family and loved ones as well as vocation. Her remaining at the foot of the Cross was her lowest and painful point in life to be with her crucified Son, Jesus Christ. She was so absorbed with his pain and sufferings that at Easter, she was in turn absorbed by the glory of our Risen Lord which culminated at her Assumption into heaven.

How was Mary able to keep her composure? Oneness in Christ her Son from whom all good things come even in the most trying times. When I look at her face as portrayed in the arts, it is not pity that I feel but her dignity, nobility and simplicity. Notice her praying hands, totally surrendering herself to God which began at the Annunciation when she told the angel, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk.1:38). There at the foot of the Cross of Jesus, her hands remained in praying position, entrusting everything to God, filled with faith, hope and love.

Alanis Morissette express almost the same faith, hope and love in the modern sense today with her 1995 Hand in My Pocket. A Canadian-American, Morissette grew up in a devout Roman Catholic family. Although she is now a practicing Buddhist, Morissette claimed repeatedly in some interviews that she owes her singing career to her Catholic faith. Her personal life is marked with so many pains and sufferings too, going through depressions and eating disorders as well as having been raped while 15 years old. It was from these experiences that she got all her inspirations in her many songs that strike chords in the hearts of many modern people, not just women, who strive to find meaning by hoping to brighter tomorrows amid the many hardships modern life has brought us.

I’m broke, but I’m happy
I’m poor, but I’m kind
I’m short, but I’m healthy, yeah
I’m high, but I’m grounded
I’m sane, but I’m overwhelmed
I’m lost, but I’m hopeful, baby
And what it all comes down to
Is that everything’s gonna be fine, fine, fine
‘Cause I’ve got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is giving a high five

We just have to remember our own mothers to realize and appreciate how our Lady of Sorrows and Alanis Morissette were able to bear all of life’s sufferings. It is in their hands. The praying hands. The hand in the pocket holding on to the present realities and the other hand up in the air hoping everything will be fine.

How ironic – pun intended as it is the title too of my favorite Morissette song – that despite all the great love women have offered and given us through our own mothers and sisters, aunts and grandmothers, teachers and nurses, not to forget the multitude of women who make our economy grow by laboring here and abroad plus the nuns who pray and run so many orphanages, women are still neglected and forgotten, even unloved, maltreated, and abused. Sadly, their fellow women are the ones who inflict those pains in this cruel and ungrateful world.

Starting today, be kind to women, especially those closest to you, those who have remained loving and kind despite your excesses and other idiosyncrasies.

Here is Ms. Alanis Morissette. Her music video is very interesting too, showing the many contrasts every disciple of Christ like Mary our Lady of Sorrows goes through in this life. Set in black and white, it evokes rawness yet at the same time brings out that eternal spring of hope within each one of us. Have a blessed rest day ahead!

From YouTube.com.

A lesson about prayer and storms

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 05 September 2023
The well-defined eye at the center of the storm Hurricane Florence seen from the International Space Station taken by astronaut Alexander Gerst in 12 September 2018, https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/staring-down-hurricane-florence.

Much of my 25 years in the priesthood were spent in the school ministry. My first assignment after ordination in 1998 was as a school administrator and teacher at our diocesan school in Malolos City until 2010. After a decade of parish ministry with a parish of my own, I was again sent to the school setting as chaplain of the Our Lady of Fatima University in Valenzuela City in 2021 to present.

As I celebrated Masses of the Holy Spirit in our six campuses amid the rains of the past two weeks, I told our students of the one important lesson they must first learn every school opening: there will always be storms in life. Literally and figuratively speaking. There are no ways of preventing storms and typhoons. Just like other calamities. Hence, the need for our students at a very young age to learn too the very important lesson of prayer.

Photo by author.

My dear students, prayers do not necessarily change situations like typhoons and calamities but prayers transform the person.

A man of prayer or a woman of prayer is like a gold bar or a diamond that even if it is thrown into the mud or sewage, it remains a gold or diamond. A person of prayer becomes strong and pure like gold and diamond or any precious stone.

So, have a prayer life.

Handle life with prayer so you will be able to weather every storm that comes to your life. Have that sacred space within you where you meet and commune with God, with Jesus Christ. Remember, God’s presence is never determined by outside forces like storms. God is always with us, even within us. Problem is we rarely notice nor recognize him because we are not attuned with him.

Experts tell us that every storm has an eye as its central part; however, the eye is the calmest part of every storm, always bright and sunny. It is its walls that are most dangerous where winds are most strongest and unpredictable. Having a prayer life, having a sacred space within us is like having that eye of the storm, our center of being that is always calm and peaceful because that is being rooted and grounded in God.

More than reciting prayers, having a prayer life is entering into a relationship with God in Jesus Christ, creating that sacred space within us where we experience his Divine presence whatever the season or weather is. It is being one with God. This relationship with God is reflected in our relationships with others, enabling you to make many friends and create wonderful relationships that enrich you as a person and eventually, after graduation, as a professional.

Photo by author.

The post-COVID period offers us with so many new ways of learning even amid class suspensions during storms. New methods, new technologies will emerge in the future making learning more enriching, more sustainable amid many outside factors like storms. But one thing remains very true in all our learning endeavors: we can only know so much, and there is only one who truly knows everything in this life – God. Know him first. And well.

This school year and every school opening until your graduation, remember these three things always, my dear students: study hard, work harder, and pray hardest. God bless!

God in the “eye of the storm”

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sunday in the Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 13 August 2023
1 Kings 19:9, 11-13 ><}}}}*> Romans 9:1-5 ><}}}}*> Matthew 14:22-33
The well-defined eye at the center of the storm Hurricane Florence seen from the International Space Station taken by astronaut Alexander Gerst in 12 September 2018, https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/staring-down-hurricane-florence.

Our gospel this Sunday speaks of winds and storms, something we have experienced recently that brought so much rains and caused widespread floods even in Metro Manila.

Storms and typhoons are categorized by the winds they pack that induce the heavy rains which result in floods. At the center of every storm and typhoon is called the “eye” which is its most calm part without winds at all, even with clear skies; however, all the hazards and dangers of a storm come from the wall of that eye of the storm that is why we have the expression “lull in the storm” – that moment of calmness before suddenly everything breaks loose as the storm passes or pummels an area.

Our first reading and gospel today imply something about this “eye of the storm” where God is found, where Jesus comes. Both readings tell us that it is not really in the raging storm where we find God but right in that eye of the storm, the peace and stillness of our heart within.

Photo by author, Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.

In the first reading, God told Elijah to wait for him at the entrance of the cave as he fled from soldiers of Queen Jezebel out to kill him. First came a strong wind, followed by an earthquake, then, fire, but God was nowhere.

After these shattering events, Elijah found God in a “tiny whispering sound” that followed. What a beautiful imagery of the prophet deep in prayers! It was in his serenity, in his complete trust in the Lord – in the eye of a storm – that he found God and had to cover his face with a cloak as a sign of respect. Imagine the stormy condition of Elijah at that time, of being hunted.

Here we find again the importance of prayer life, the eye of the storm, our communion with God in Jesus Christ. It is in prayer where God first comes and reveals himself to us. More than the recitation of traditional prayers, prayer is being one with God, of wrestling with him in our inner selves that is always in turmoil, always with a storm that makes us choose whether to stay or to leave, to wait for God or go ahead with what we believe and think. Prayer is wrestling with God like Jacob because deep within us is always a storm and typhoon going on, with an eye as its center where God is, where Jesus walks on water to save us when like his apostles we are in the middle of a storm at the darkest hour of the night.

Photo by author, sunrise at the Lake of Galilee, Israel, May 2017.

When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “come.” Peter got out the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”

Matthew 14:26-33

These two instances of Elijah in the cave and Jesus walking on water show us that God is always present in our lives. Whatever is happening around us does not determine God’s presence.

What matters most is that we pay attention to him alone in Jesus, our Emmanuel or God-is-with-us. Every time we cry out “where is God?”, it is us who have left him, it is us who have doubted like Peter who even in the middle of a storm was thinking more of himself than Jesus. See how doubtful was Peter that even after Jesus had identified himself by saying “It is I” which is actually “I AM” as God had called himself to Moses and the Israelites, he dared to say “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on water.” How funny that when Jesus gave in to his request, Peter sank because he still doubted the Lord. Just like us when we would dare God but when he plays our games, we chicken out, still unbelieving, still unconvinced.

Is it really God whom we are seeking especially in moments of storms in life?

Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 24 July 2023.

If all we seek is fame, comfort and pleasure even amid the storms in life, paying attention only to our selves, we would surely miss the Lord who is always beside us. People, things, events can distract us and lead us astray at critical moments in life.

Hence, the need for us to remain focused in Jesus by looking right into the very “eye of our storm”, into what is disrupting us, seeking Christ like the psalmist in our responsorial psalm today who begged, “Lord let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.”

In this age with so many storms of distractions outside us in a world on a 24/7 mode with almost everyone in his/her own world listening/watching to their playlists and podcasts with eyes stuck on their gadgets or stuck in their ears, do we make time to find our “eye of storm”, our center of peace and calmness where God is?

See how St. Paul in the second reading was tormented or tortured in himself because of his fellow Jews’ refusal to accept the good news that Jesus is their awaited Christ. It was a perfect storm within him that saddened him but never bothered him because he was focused with God and his mission. He had no qualms in bearing many sufferings and facing death because amid all the storms in his life, he had found Jesus. This focus on God is the reason why Jesus remained behind to pray that night when he told the Twelve to go ahead to the other side of the lake. This is the first time Matthew tells us Jesus was praying. Two things I wish to share with you regarding prayer life as the eye of our storms in life.

First, the most difficult prayer is always the most meritorious. Prayer is not about feelings nor of feeling good and light but in giving one’s self to God wholly that even if nothing seems to happen, we remain in God, with God. Desire only God in prayer, asking him for courage to find and follow Jesus. Like the apostles in the boat, true prayer happens when we feel abandoned and isolated, so far from God. It is in our many trials in life when we pray that we learn how strong and faithful are we in God’s grace!

Second, there are no distractions in prayer. I have realized that most often, the distractions we consider during prayer periods may actually be from God, not from the devil as we usually believed. Recall how Jesus forced the 12 to go ahead to the other side of the lake perhaps to test them and face their inner distractions and storms. The people, things, and events that distract us in our prayers are from God as reminders of the issues we have to face and resolve in life so we may see him clearly.

12th century mosaic in the Cathedral of the Assumption in Monreale, Sicily of Jesus saving Peter. From https://orthodoxartsjournal.org/icon-carving-of-christ-pulling-st-peter-from-the-water/.

Why do you see your enemies in your prayers? Maybe it is time to forgive them.

Why all these malicious thoughts happening during prayers? Maybe it is about time you stop watching porn and start respecting women as persons.

Why do our embarrassing moments keep on appearing in prayers? Maybe God wants us to forgive ourselves and move on with life.

They are not distractions but blessings that if we open ourselves to confront our inner storms, no strong wind from outside can topple us because we have Jesus inside us. Today is a Sunday. Go celebrate Mass in your parish. Forget all the noise and distractions you experience, be focused only on God. Find your eye of the storm in yourself and there you shall find God, loving you, comforting you, blessing you! Amen. Have a blessed week ahead.

The dark side of our complaints

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest, 08 August 2023
Numbers 12:1-13   ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*>   Matthew 14:22-36
Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 24 July 2023.
Thank you very much,
God our loving Father,
for continuing to comfort
us, especially those maligned
by many with their complaints
and grumblings; but, 
at the same time, 
grant us the grace too
to be firm and strong that
the darkest side of 
complaints and grumblings
always come from people
closest and nearest to us
like Miriam and Aaron,
the siblings of Moses.

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on the pretext of the marriage he had contracted with a Cushite woman. They complained, “Is it through Moses alone that the Lord speaks? Does he not speak through us also?” The Lord heard this. Now, Moses himself was by far the meekest man on the face of the earth. So at once the Lord said to Moses and Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the meeting tent.” Then the Lord came down in the column of cloud… so angry was the Lord against them that when he departed, and the cloud withdrew from the tent, there was Miriam, a snow-white leper!

Numbers 12:1-5, 9
O Lord,
we mean no harm 
to those closest to us 
who complain against us,
grumbling against us at our back;
let us be assured always that 
you know this very well
especially when we strive
to do your will and people
become jealous of us.
For our detractors,
the complainers and grumblers
especially when we are not around,
grant them the courage to be like
Simon Peter to open up with you,
Lord, to come close to you
even in the midst of a storm;
let them feel and experience
the turbulence within,
the pains and hurts
of doing your work.
Like St. Dominic,
let us be your torch-bearer
in bringing light not only
to the dark corners of the world
but to the darkness enveloping
us within like our jealousies
and insecurities, 
especially of those closest to us.
Amen.

St. Dominic de Guzman,
Pray for us!

In the eye of the storm

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 04 July 2023
Genesis 19:15-29   <*(((>< <*(((>< + ><)))*> ><)))*>   Matthew 8:23-27
Photo by author, November 2020.
Your words today, O God
our Father, are all about
chaos and destruction,
storms and calamities
in the sea and the land;
just like so many of us these days
who are in the "eye of the storm",
in the midst of great trials
and sufferings in life
due to their own making
or somebody else's sins and
wrongdoing, or simply
being in the wrong place
at the wrong time.
The whole world is yours,
O Lord; you have the whole world
in your hands and you know
everything that is happening.

Grant us the trust and confidence
in you of Jesus your Son 
and the deep faith of Abraham
as you kept your promise to save
his nephew Lot and family
from the catastrophe that fell on
Sodom and Gomorrah.

As Jesus got into a boat, is disciples followed him. Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves but he was asleep.

Matthew 8:23-24

When he (Lot) hesitated, the men, by the Lord’s mercy, seized his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughter and led them to safety outside the city.

Genesis 19:16
Keep us strong, O God,
in the face of trials and tribulations of life;
calamities inevitably happen,
it is how we face and deal with these
that truly matter;
cleanse us of our impurities,
of our stubbornness,
of our sins,
never to needlessly look back 
like Lot's wife but instead move
forward in life learning your important
lessons of being morally upright and holy.
Amen.
Photo by author, Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.

A prayer for tired souls

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, 16 June 2023
Deuteronomy 7:6-11 ><}}}*> 1 John 4:7-16 ><}}}*> Matthew 11:25-30
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD in San Antonio, Zambales, 05 June 2023.
My dearest Lord Jesus,
let me come to you 
and rest in your 
Most Sacred Heart;
you know very well my 
countless labors
and heavy burdens in life;
ease my sufferings,
I do not ask to see 
the distant shore nor
end of the tunnel,
just one step is enough for me
to forge on in you. 
Despite my many tears
and laments in this life,
let me listen to your silence,
Lord Jesus;
let me feel your hug and embrace;
let me learn from you
to keep on serving lovingly,
to be always gentle and humble
of heart amid the many trials
and difficulties I face that are
often unknown to many
even to those dear to me.
O Jesus in your Most Sacred Heart,
let me be present in you
by leaving my past behind
and stop worrying of the future;
help me to let go
of my many disappointments
and frustrations to see 
the many opportunities you offer me
in every here and now,
to finally take your yoke that is easy,
and your burden that is light
by living in every present moment 
right in your heart,
here deep inside me.
Amen.