Welcoming Jesus in life’s many contrasts

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, Cycle A, 29 March 2026
Isaiah 50:4-7  +++  Philippians 2:6-11  +++  Matthew 27:11-54

We begin today the Holy Week with Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. Its long name is derived from the two celebrations that developed separately in Jerusalem and Rome during the first one thousand years of Christianity, one of the oldest in our liturgy.

As early as the fourth century, Christians in Jerusalem celebrated Palm Sunday at the city gate with a procession led by its bishop followed by people holding palms reenacting Christ’s entry into Jerusalem. Meanwhile in Rome, the Pope ushered the Holy Week with the proclamation of the long gospel account from the Lord’s Supper to his Passion, Death and Burial. Eventually in the 12th century, Jerusalem’s practice of a palm procession with the blessing of palms added by the French in year 800 reached Rome and was celebrated separately. After more than a 1600 years, it was only in Vatican II when the two celebrations from Jerusalem and Rome were merged into one that we now have its official designation as Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion.

It is a beautiful story of how two distinct practices in Jerusalem and Rome, of two contrasting liturgies mirrored our different and unique journeys into the mystery of God in Jesus Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

And I love that contrast because our life is filled too with many contrasts that make it so beautiful and meaningful.

Contrast is when we compare differences between two or more things in order to highlight distinctive features like light and shadows, or pains and joys that make us see life fullest. Contrasts many times are a grace from God when he works in disguise among us, within us, as he writes straight crooked lines in our lives that eventually lead us to him and be fulfilled.

All our readings today present us with many contrasts that enable us to find and welcome Jesus coming to us like that Sunday in Jerusalem in the midst of our pain and sufferings, joys and fears. Three things I wish to reflect this Sunday.

*Photo by author, Hagia Sophia, Turkiye, November 2025.*

First contrast we find is the wisdom of God and the folly of man.

Read the longer version of the gospel from Matthew 26:14-27:66 and you find the many contrasts presented by the evangelist to highlight God’s wisdom in Jesus and man’s folly among the Jewish people led by their priests and elders, Pontius Pilate, and even with the prince of Apostles, Simon Peter!

At his trial before the Sanhedrin at the house of the high priest Caiaphas, Jesus was so comp-composed, silently listening to the many false accusations against him, and then shocked when he admitted amnd declared his being the Christ indeed (Mt.26:57-68)! And while all these were going inside the house of Caiaphas, outside was Peter denying Jesus thrice when asked of his being a disciple (vv.69-75)!

Again we see this glaring contrast of God’s wisdom in Christ and man’s folly in Pilate as Jesus remained silent during trial, answering briefly only when necessary that have put his enemies at the defensive posture (Mt.27:11-14). And how foolish they were in choosing to set free a known criminal in order to crucify the Christ (vv.21-26) which continues to these days in our own country as we keep on electing corrupt and inept people into office.

The most tragic of all is how some people while professing to be Christians are like those mob in Jerusalem still defending a known murderer now facing trial for crimes against humanity who had cursed God several times, made fun of women including those raped and under whose administration happened rampant and shameless corruption and decadence.

How sad that despite our supposed to be many advancements in science and technology that have completely altered our way of living and way of thinking, we have actually become more lost and empty than ever. Like Pilate and the Jewish people of that time with their elders, the more we assert our supposed to be superior knowledge on everything, the more we sink into emptiness and meaninglessness.

Let us not be blinded with our intelligence that have sent men to space and moon and shrunk the globe into a village but have made us grow more apart from each other; open our eyes and our hearts in Jesus Christ who is the truth because he is the only way in life.

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.*

Second contrast we find is that true power is in weakness not in strength.

Everybody at the trial and crucifixion of Jesus were at their own kind of “power play” especially the soldiers with the Jewish leaders and their cabal of followers (Mt.27:27-44). Imagine the very act of stripping Jesus or anyone for that matter of clothes – it is the most brazen display of power over someone. Not contented with that, they mocked Jesus while unconsciously recognizing him truly as king with the sign placed above his head, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews” (v.37). They would confirm this later at the death of Jesus when they declared “Truly, this was the Son of God!” (v.54).

At his trial and sentencing until his crucifixion, Jesus showed that true power lies in weakness and surrender as St. Paul eloquently expressed in the second reading today, “Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather he emptied himself” (Phil.2:6-7).

How sad the whole world is now plunged into a great disaster without any clear sight of an end in the war launched by the US and Israel against Iran. Who’s really winning? Despite the sophisticated and powerful weapons of the US and Israel, how come Iran still continues to launch many missile attacks against its neighbors and worst of all, control a supposed to be tiny strait that had sent fuel prices beyond reach of Tomahawk missiles!

Let’s look into our own lives, in those moments we “power tripped” against others: what happened? Have we really won over them or, are we now suffering its dire consequences, even paying the price of our too much pride and display of power and strength? Jesus shows us in his triumphal entry into Jerusalem until his Passion and Death, true power is in weakness and surrender. It is the only path to Easter because it is the path of life and love which we shall see next.

Third contrast we have seen in the passion of the Lord: life symbolized by blood is for love and caring, not for vengeance nor convenience. Not even a solution to a problem.

At the trial of Jesus, when Pilate felt at a loss that he could not set Christ free, he decided to wash his hands to free himself of any responsibility for his death: “I am innocent of this man’s blood. Look it to yourselves.” And the whole people said in reply, “His blood be upon us and upopn our children” (Mt.27:25-26).

It was the height of human arrogance and pride, of folly and insensitivity that sadly happens right in our homes, in our schools and offices, in the society and even in the church maybe.

Instead of using technology and the sciences for the care and preservation of human life symbolized by blood, these have actually objectified persons into things, from contraceptives to abortions, genetic manipulation and gender redefinition. We have become so impersonal that people are seen more in economic andn utilitarian terms especially infants and children as well as the sick and elderly, the most vulnerable ones among us. Worst, criminals and others labeled as misfits are disposed like things either through judicial or extrajudicial killings. So heartless.

See the contrast presented by Matthew in this aspect when at the Last Supper, Jesus “took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins'” (Mt.26:27-28).

Life is precious because it is vulnerable that is why God became human in Jesus Christ like us in everything except sin. Right after his birth, he faced the murderous threats of a king and now an adult, he offered himself freely to die on the Cross because he loved us so much so that we too may finally be able to love again like him as willed by God since the beginning.

Isaiah’s Song of the Suffering Servant in the first reading showed this contrast of Yahweh’s servant fulfilled in Christ Jesus of how he valued life so much, of bearing all pains and hurts because of love.

In his triumphal entry into Jerusalem up to his Passion and Death, Jesus showed us so many contrasts for us to see the bigger picture of life itself, of one another as brother and sister, of God who loves us so much. Take time to examine every contrast in life for God is surely in there, even sometimes in disguise. Amen. Have a blessed Holy Week ahead!

Lent is seeing the Light amid darkness

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fourth Sunday in Lent (Laetare Sunday), Cycle A, 15 March 2026
1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a  +  Ephesians 5:8-14  +  John 9:1-41

We continue our Lenten journey with John still as our guide this fourth Sunday known as “Laetare Sunday” for “Rejoice Sunday” because we are fast approaching the end of the Lenten journey to celebrate Easter – but not that too easily.

More than that the path is still long, what makes the journey difficult is our own “blindness” that we fail to see and recognize Jesus as the light who had come to illumine us. His healing of the man born blind shows Jesus precisely in the exercise of the mission given him by the Father that John made clear in his gospel prologue about the coming of God’s Word, the Christ, as the light that enlightens everyone which the darkness refuses to accept (Jn.1:5, 9-10).

In a similar manner when Jesus told the Samaritan woman last Sunday that he is the living water who quenches our deepest thirsts in life, he clearly declared in this healing of the man born blind that he is “the light of the world … who had come so that those who do not see might see” (Jn.9:5, 39). But, unlike in the story of the Samaritan woman, Jesus appears only at the start and the end of the scene of our gospel this Sunday. And the most amazing part is how the man born blind eventually turned out to be the one who led those in the crowd including us today in realizing why Jesus indeed is the light of the world.

*Photo by author, 25 February 2026, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City.*

This beautiful story of the healing of the man born blind is like a huge painting or a tapestry best seen by slowly going through certain sections and details little by little until we see the whole picture.

As he passed by he saw a man born blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him” (John 9:1-3).

Actually, the man born blind wasn’t the only one blind in the story: everyone else is blind led by the Apostles themselves who are like us today always looking for someone to blame, a scapegoat for all the miseries in life. Everyday we repeat in various forms their question “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Its worst part is how we continue to insist like them with the Pharisees and those in the crowds in molding Jesus into the person or God we want him to be, either so stern at one end or too lax at the other extreme to accommodate our own ideas who God is.

The late American Trappist monk Thomas Merton wrote that God is not an “object” like a thing our minds can comprehend or grasp, saying that such attitude in seeing God leads to a false, idolatrous understanding of God. According to Merton, God is a pure “Who” and “Thou” we experience in silent prayers, a reality we experience and meet in ourselves and with others.

Maybe that explains why more than half of the wars going on today in various parts of the world are sadly because of religion!

How ironic that in this mass-mediated world where people practically live in social media, the more we see and expose everything, the more we have become blind, forgetting that the deepest truths and realities in life are hidden from our eyes that only our hearts can see. Hence, like the Pharisees and scribes of Jesus’ time, we still demand signs from God about his reality. In the first reading, we find God reminding Samuel and us to go beyond material things and outside appearances “because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart” (1 Sm.16:7).

Worst of all blindness is our being blind to those closest to us like family. Notice that John specifically mentioned how the parents of the man born blind refused to attest to their own son’s miraculous healing by Jesus for fear of reprisals from the temple authorities. Like them, we are blinded by power, wealth and prestige. Likewise, we are divided by affiliations and labels with public and moral issues nowadays decided not in its merits of truth and veracity but in its sheer number of followers. Talents and genius take the backstage to whatever viral and trending seen as the best, as the “in” thing. As a result, the more we are plunged into darkness despite the 24/7 “lights” of the world.

Interspersed in the amusing exchanges and conversations among the crowd with the man born blind after his healing by Jesus, we see now why Christ is the light of the world: because he brings hope amid darkness in life.

When Jesus heard they had thrown him out, he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered and said, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him and the one speaking to you is he.” He said, “I do believe, Lord,” and he worshipped him (John 9:35-38).

It was in the ensuing drama in the conversations that followed after his healing that John assembled the beautiful pattern of the light of Christ shining through the man born blind as he joyfully and enthusiastically spoke of Jesus. It must have been dark for the healed blind man of being questioned and even laughed at by the Pharisees and crowd, and worst, not supported by his own parents; yet, despite all these, he held on as he affirmed his faith in Jesus as a prophet who had healed him because finally he had found a glimmer of hope and meaning in life. Recall now what St. Paul says in the second reading of our own moments in darkness, of how Jesus our light had enlightened us.

Many times in life our knowledge and experience of God do not happen instantly but slowly, little by little. And like that blind man who was healed, there are even times we could be already in front of Jesus without realizing it was already him because he comes in disguises – often in darkness of failures and sufferings, in our blindness in sin.

*Photo by author, La Union, 09 January 2026.*

It is in those moments of darkness and blindness we see and realize the light of Christ because that is when we experience hope and meaning in life.

The joy of this fourth Sunday is found in Jesus Christ like shafts of light filling us with hope within amid the darkness and failures, sufferings and pain we go through in life. Jesus is the light of the world because light is brightest in darkness like the stars at night.

When we hope, we believe, then we love despite the suffering we are going through because deep in our hearts we know something good is happening, that darkness is not the final say in life but light when everything becomes clear. In the healing of the man born blind, Jesus offers us hope for something good and better. Without hope, we stop loving because we have darkness within, finding no sense at all in living that we destroy, even kill. With Christ, even a glimmer of light can pierce the wall of darkness to lead us to life and meaning. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead sharing the light of Christ with others, especially those blinded within.

Lent is “leaving our water jar” for Christ

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Third Sunday in Lent, Cycle A, 08 March 2026
Exodus 17:3-7  +++  Romans 5:1-2, 5-8  +++  John 4:5-42

*Photo by author, an old well somewhere in the desert of Egypt, May 2019.*

We continue our lenten journey from the wilderness of temptations of Jesus to the high mountain of his transfiguration. As we have claimed since Ash Wednesday, life is a daily Lent, an inner journey that takes us into different directions that surprise us like this Sunday when Jesus entered an “enemy territory” and even spoke with a Samaritan woman!

It is a very long story but a lovely one with so many layers filled with inexhaustible meanings for us today.

Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land thart Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. the Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water” (John 4:5-10).

*Jesus and Samaritan Woman, AI-illustration from stock.adobe.com.*

Imagine Jesus going into “enemy territory”. That’s how much Jesus loves us. He goes directly where we are most empty and dark, even tired and exhausted, lost and alienated, perhaps when we are deep into sin like that Samaritan woman who had to fetch water at noon to avoid the Marites, the gossipers speaking about her sixth husband.

It is very clear that what we have here is more than a geographical setting but a revelation of God’s immense love (and thirst) sending Jesus for us all especially the sinners and those neglected by the society, living in the margins like women and children, the poor and the elderly.

We are that Samaritan woman always hiding from everyone even from ourselves, hoping the decay and wounds within us can be hidden or simply be gone. And that is why like that Samaritan woman, we keep on going back to our “well” of comfort and false securities and affirmations to draw “water” that would quench our deeper longings and desire in the heart like mercy and forgiveness

Jesus knew the Samaritan woman was coming at that time. In engaging her into a conversation, the woman opened up and realized her deeper needs she had always been disregarding or setting aside for a long time, hoping there could be a perfect time to fix everything in her.

With Jesus, every day is a perfect day. He does not beat around the bush. He talks straight but never judgmental, calling a spade a spade. No need to soften the impact as we are wont in doing and saying. That is why our responsorial psalm today says it so well, “If today you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts.”

Let Jesus come into your heart. Don’t be afraid to speak openly. Complain like the Israelites in the wilderness in the first reading. Was it wrong? Not really. Like us, the Israelites complained to God not because we are mad at him but actually because we believe in him. We know he alone can do something to our situation and problem. He alone can quench our thirst not just for water but inner thirst.

*Photo by author, Third Week of Lent 2019, Parokya ni San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.*

The woman left her water jar
and went into the town…
(John 4:28)

This is what the Samaritan woman realized in conversing with Jesus: more than the waters of pretensions and false affirmations of friends, the alibis and rationalizations we make, the noise we cover the truths within us, the well will eventually dry up until finally we have to confront and face our true selves in Christ right there in our hearts.

Why wait when we can do it now, this Lent?

Going back in the first reading, we see our situation: our inner longings that deep inside we cry out to God because we believe only him can hear us and satisfy us.

Have you realized this inverse proportionality with God? We come to God because we have nothing, convinced that only God can give what we need. God comes to us always especially when we foolishly believe we have everything that is actually nothing because he knows so well only him can fulfill us.

God knows this so well. As St. Paul tells us in the second reading, “For Christ, while we are still helpless, died at the appointed time for the ungodly. Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhpas for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for is in that while we were still sinner Christ died for us” (Rom.5:6-8).

This Sunday, we have come to celebrate this Eucharist believing only Jesus can fulfill our deepest longings in life. Let us leave our jars that hide our many pretensions and false securities, our doubts and dilly-dallying in life. Empty yourself in Jesus, let him fill you for he is the Living Water.

The water in the well invites us to confront our true selves – no alibis, no ifs nor buts. Be our true self to realize we are an empty jar. Which kind of water you wish to be filled with, of the world or of Christ? Have a blessed week and let us pray:

Lord Jesus Christ,
you have given me with a jar
filled with fresh,
living water
I have wasted for so long
to be filled with the
world's water of fame
and wealth and power;
You know everything about me,
Jesus: forgive me,
refresh me in your love
and mercy, 
in your words and
loving presence;
fill me with yourself
the only Living Water
that may flow and be
shared with others
so thirsty
and untidy
with sin.
Amen.

Lent is listening, trusting God

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
First Sunday in Lent-A, 22 February 2026
Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7   +   Romans 5:12-19   +   Matthew 4:1-11

We now live in a world so noisy with many voices competing for our attention. Everybody is talking including cars and elevators, phones and gadgets and apps with names Siri and Alexa. So often, it is from these competing voices come our temptations in life, too.

In his first Lenten Message, Pope Leo XIV invites us to listen more to the word of God in order to be converted anew to Him. He said it so well that “The willingness to listen is the first way we demonstrate our desire to enter into a relationship with someone.”

Very true! And the question this first Sunday in Lent asks us is, whose voice do I follow? Because the voice we listen most is likely the one we prefer or love most – in fact, it could be the voice of the one we keep a relationship with!

That is the tragic truth of the story of the fall of Adam and Eve in the first reading today – they listened more to the voice of the devil signified by the serpent than to God who warned them not to eat the forbidden fruit.

And that continues to happen every day in our lives! That is why to sin is not merely to turn away from God but actually a refusal to love because sin is rejecting a relationship with God to whom we must listen to. This we see today in Matthew’s version of the temptations of Christ in the desert.

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” He said in reply, “It is written: One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:1-4).

*Detail of “The Temptation of Jesus According to St. Matthew” on the wall of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice, Italy. Photo from psephizo.com.*

Right at the start, Jesus made it clear by quoting the Sacred Scriptures, the word of God, that “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”

Jesus, the Word who became flesh to live among us tells us clearly today that same truth. God’s word is life when He created everything by just speaking. Any voice that leads to destruction is from the devil, the father of fake news. And the devil’s biggest lie we must always avoid is making and having things easily. See how until now every fake news is always about “instants” like instant food and health, instant solution to everything without realizing its sinful effects as well as side effects that may actually harm us more.

Listening is an art because it teaches us to be patient, to wait and most of all, to persevere which leads us to perfection and excellence. Haste always makes waste. When we listen, we become patient, choosing to wait than take shortcuts or get instants that avoid difficulties and hardships like gambling to be wealthy without working, or cheating to pass exams without learning as well as freedom without responsibilities.

Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on then parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command is angels concerning you’ and ‘with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'” Jesus answered him, “Again, it is written, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” (Matthew 4:5-7).

*Photo by author, Domiican Hills, Baguio City, January 2019.*

More than an art, listening is a virtue because it demands silence which is a fullness wherein we are able to listen and distinguish every voice and sound so that we may choose which to listen to and follow.

The word “listen” is the palindrome of “silent” – we listen best in silence to hear God, others and our very selves.

When we learn to be silent, we also become more trusting because when we trust, we speak less and listen more. The most silent people are the also the most trusting. When we trust, we wait and avoid shortcuts and instants.

The voice of God stirs our inner self, not just our senses because His voice leads us to deeper realities and meanings in life. Remember that Jesus eventually fed more than five thousand people from just five loaves of bread and two pieces of fish when He saw them already prepared inside their hearts and soul; when Jesus felt them more open to God than to the world, then He gave them bread and fish for their stomach.

Notice how the devil’s temptation to Jesus continues among us with those voices calling us to overly assert ourselves, to be influencers and clout chasers or content creators to be praised and followed by everyone when actually is all about wealth and money, and of course, power. It is the voice of control and manipulation. How sad that many of us gobble their lies completely, consuming everything, filling ourselves even with trash.

The voice of God calls us to sacrifice, to bear pains and sufferings not to be overburdened in life but for us to see God especially among those mostly in need like the poor and marginalized. Often, the voice of God is the softest and tiniest in our hearts calling us to simply trust Him by doing the simplest things like smiling to strangers, easing the pain of those lonely and sad, giving bread to the poor and hungry. Listening to the silence of God enables us to trust Him more that we learn to share and forget ourselves. Then, we grow and mature truly as persons.

Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, “All these I shall give you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.” Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him (Matthew 4:8-11).

Again, we go back to Pope Leo XIV’s Lenten Message about listening as “the first way we demonstrate our desire to enter into a relationship with someone.”

Don’t you feel sad at the sight of today’s everyday life where everyone has something in their ears, whether the tiny earpods or the headset/headphone?

What used to be insane like talking by one’s self has now become a status symbol as everyone looks crazy speaking by themselves through modern devices amid a crowd while walking or seated anywhere conversing to somebody at the other end of their lines unmindful, oblivious of the persons around them. May sariling mundo.

Many these days have created their own worlds and universe with them at its center through our new Baal, the cellphone – the very first thing everyone is looking for after waking up and the last thing in everyone’s hand before sleeping. How sad many among us today practically live in social media. What is most tragic is that all these modern means of communications were invented to bring us closer together when in fact, the more we have grown apart from each others! We are not only polarized as people but even separated from God.

The third temptation of the devil to Jesus continues with us today with all those voices telling us to forget God and morality and truth so that we become popular by being viral and trending. It is the biggest scam and fake news of all by the devil – of us being the “master” to rule and have world with all of its luxuries and power. The voice seems harmless, as if asserting our true selves but actually destroys our being and relationships with God, with others and eventually with our very selves.

Lent is an inside journey into our hearts, of finding Jesus anew inside our hearts where He dwells. St. Paul tells us in the second reading how Jesus brought us back to God, to grace and salvation.

Lord Jesus Christ, help us not to harden our hearts today so that we may listen anew to Your voice within us to find our way back to God, to peace and to fulfillment in ourselves and in one another. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead!

*Photo by author, Carmel of the Holy Family Monastery, Guiguinto, Bulacan, 22 January 2026.*

Being the light of Christ

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 08 February 2026
Isaiah 58:7-10 ><}}}}*> 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 ><}}}}*> Matthew 5:13-16

*Photo by author, Carmelite Monastery, Guiguinto, Bulacan, 22 January 2026.*

We continue today Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount that started last Sunday when he called “Blessed” are the poor in spirt, those who mourn, the meek, the hungry and thirsty for righteousness, the merciful, the clean of heart, the peacemakers, those persecuted and insulted falsely.

These blessed ones are not different kinds of persons but every disciple of Jesus Christ who is the truly Blessed One who is poor and meek, hungry and thirsty, merciful and clean of heart. Blessedness is an inner disposition, a being than doing.

And so this Sunday, Jesus reminds his disciples that include us today, of our dignity and responsibility in being blessed, as if telling us, “Blessed are you… You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world.”

We whom Jesus called “blessed” already possess the kingdom but in a hidden manner; that is why we as his disciples must make it shine upon the world in our lives, in our witnessing especially in this age that has turned away from God and holiness.

Jesus said to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:13, 14-16).

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

Last February two we celebrated the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord at the Temple that is also known as Candlemass or Candelaria where Simeon recognized the Child Jesus as the “light of the nations”.

It is one of the beautiful feasts we have with the blessing and lighting of candles outside the church; then, led by the priest, the people enter the church with lighted candles to signify Jesus Christ as our only light and fulfillment in this life.

Jesus asserts that this Sunday. The Bible itself teems with so many references of God being the source of light with Israel as bearer of that light. This explains our first reading today from the Prophet Isaiah:

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am! If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusations and malicious speech; if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday” (Isaiah 58:8-10).

So beautiful! And what a prophecy fulfilled in Christ that continues to happen today among us, his blessed ones as disciples!

To be a Christian especially nowadays is to be the bearer of the light of Christ, to illumine the darkness among us especially in this world that has become so fascinated with artificial lights like studio lights that emphasize and focus on men and women, on their fame and glory and wealth. How ironic that the more artificial lights we flood the world these days, the darker life becomes with more crimes, more abuses, and more emptiness and meaninglessness within us.

*Photo by author, Mt. St. Paul ?Retreat House, La Trinidad, Benguet, January 2025.*

Bringing the light of Christ, sharing his light is being holy, being good, being a blessed one, doing what is right, what is true, what is good as Isaiah reminded the people in the first reading.

Bringing the light of Christ, sharing his light is sharing Jesus to the world that we become the God’s answer to the cries and pleas of his people for mercy and justice, for healing and comfort.

Hence, bringing the light of Christ, sharing his light is actually to bring out Jesus within us who had come to us sacramentally in Baptism and continues to come to us in the Sacraments especially the Holy Eucharist we celebrate on Sundays.

Problem is we keep on hiding Jesus within us. This is why he calls us not to hide him like a lamp placed under a bushel basket but let him be like a lampstand that illumines the house.

We are the light of Jesus Christ who shines before others with our good deeds that make God known to others. Not the other way around. Young people call them as “performative” like performative couple, performative student or performative employee. They are all performance, all for the show or the content. Puro palabas, walang paloob kaya walang laman. These are the very ones that Jesus warned to “take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them” (Mt. 6:1) which we shall hear soon in Lent.

How sad that many people today have become “performative” – pakitang-tao as we say in Filipino who would go to great extent of publicizing everything they say and do like many of the so-called content creators and vloggers. This is most painfully true in the Church of priests and laypeople posting in social media everything they do or “perform” that are always empty of meaning and any sense at all.

Bringing the light of Christ, sharing his light always leads to God’s glory, not to us humans.

Let us keep in our hearts the words of St. Paul today in our second reading:

When I came to you, brothers and sisters, proclaiming the mystery of God, I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:1-2).

*Photo by Architect Philip C. Santiago, Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth, Israel, October 2025.*

Being the light of Christ in the world is to bring Jesus Christ himself, not ourselves. It is being one in Jesus in his Cross where there is more of inner fulfillment and joy than mere success and happiness.

Being the light of Christ in the world is more than having all those quotable quotes and lofty proses and poetry nor of those grand plans and visions and programs left on paper but never materialized in reality.

Bringing the light of Christ in the world is being wounded and scarred by the Cross, always fading from the light so that only Jesus remains.

Like John the Baptist his Precursor, may his words be our prayer always: “Jesus must increase and I must decrease. Amen. Have an enlightening and illumining week ahead brothers and sisters in Christ!

Jesus our Light

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 25 January 2026
Isaiah 8:23-9:3 ><}}}}*> 1 Corinthians 1:10-13.17 ><}}}}*> Matthew 4:12-23

*Photo by author, sunrise at the Lake of Galilee, the Holy Land, May 2019.*

More than a month ago at the Midnight Mass of Christmas we have heard this Sunday’s first reading, that beautiful prophecy by Isaiah fulfilled in Jesus Christ’s coming.

First the Lord degraded the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the end he has glorified the seaward road, the land west of Jordan, the district of the Gentiles. Anguish has taken wing, dispelled is darkness: for there is no gloom where but now there was distress. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone (Isaiah 8:23-9:1).

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled… (Matthew 4:12-14).

As we move forward into Ordinary Time, we hear anew one of the most beautiful promises in the Old Testament of how the coming of the Christ is the “breaking of dawn of salvation” as Zechariah sang in his Benedictus after naming his son “John” when light bursts forth to dispel the darkness that had enveloped us for a long time.

*Photo by author, sunrise at the Lake of Galilee, the Holy Land, May 2017.*

Notice that it is those who live and walk in darkness literally and figuratively speaking are always the first to come forward into the light like the people in Galilee at that time, especially the towns of Zebulun and Naphtali who were actually names of Jacob’s two other sons. Their tribes settled in that area of Galilee that was at the border with other pagan countries always subjected to wars and conflicts with foreigners. Their lands were literally in the dark, never at peace as if forsaken.

Here lies the good news of this Sunday: after hearing the news of John’s arrest, Jesus launched his public ministry. Notice how plain and simple was Matthew’s narration, “When Jesus heard that John had been arrested” – it was another period of darkness for the people with rampant violence and injustice. However, it was not totally dark at all: see how Jesus withdrew to Galilee; Christ’s “withdrawing” to Galilee was not something negative but actually more of a positive development. Jesus chose to begin his ministry in that forsaken province of Galilee to show his love and concern for the people long forgotten. Remember how at that time that Jerusalem was the center of everything, something like an “imperial Manila” we call these days.

Here we find again that imagery of Jesus like in his birth that happened during the darkest night of the year that 30 years later, he chose to go to the darkest region of Israel to bring light of salvation to everyone. Jesus comes to us most in moment of darkness in our lives! When we are troubled by sins and problems, never lose that spark within for Christ had come, is coming and continues to come to us! Matthew mentioned this prophecy of Isaiah of the great light shining in the land of gloom not really for his readers then and now to remember what God had done in the past but to make us all aware always that God continues to send us his Son Jesus in these dark moments of our lives. In telling us how Jesus began his ministry by withdrawing to Galilee in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, Matthew wants us to be aware of what God has done for us, of giving us Jesus, the true Light of the world right into the many darkness we are going through in life today.

More than the news overseas that we have heard like wars and the breaking apart of world peace and order with America suddenly flexing its muscles to remind everyone they are still great and powerful or the very frustrating corrupt lawmakers of the country, we are all in some form of being in the midst of darkness in our personal lives too like a sick loved one or a problematic brother or sister.

*Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 08 January 2026.*

God has delivered us from slaveries of sin and selfishness in Christ’s coming and presence among us. Surely there would always be darkness and shadows in our lives this 2026 but Jesus is telling us today in his withdrawing to Galilee after hearing John’s arrest that we need to get out of our own darkness! There is no more darkness in Christ’s coming; it is us who have darkened our lives with our selfish interests like the quarrels and animosities against one another that St. Paul warned against in the second reading.

Every time we destroy our unity, our oneness, we plunge ourselves into darkness. Whenever we refuse to bow down, when we refuse to give way, when we refuse to forgive even forgo or let go of others inanities, we go back to darkness. Inasmuch as Jesus Christ is the great light who shone on the many darkness of our lives, he is calling us like the first four disciples to bring his light to others.

Was it really that easy for the brothers Simon and Andrew, especially brothers James and John to immediately leave behind their livelihood and father so easily for Jesus? Not really. Matthew need not go into details about their call and conversion because most likely, they went through the same stages we have gone through or going through right now as we pray and reflect about our life direction. Like us today, Simon and Andrew, James and John experienced burn out, searching for meaning in life that after listening to the words of Jesus, they felt and saw him as the light enlightening everything for them. They saw in Jesus their lives and very person getting clearer that they decided to follow him and become fishers of men.

How far are we willing to repent and be converted in the light of Christ to start anew living in the land of loving God, self, and others?

*Photo by author, Bolinao, Pangasinan, 19 April 2022.*

I have always loved sunrise. Though sunsets are more colorful and dramatic like a spectacular show called palabas in Filipino, sunrise is different: it is more of paloob, an inside movement that is subtle yet intense when light steals into shadows as the sun is gradually breaking open the darkness to reveal what is unseen.

That is why our Filipino term for sunrise is more evocative of its deeper meaning as pagbubukang liwayway which literally means breaking of dawn. Every morning person (madrugeño in Spanish) knows so well those feelings of being up before sunrise, of exactly catching the breaking of dawn that is always joyful and liberating with a certain kind of lightness and relief from deep within because another day is given us.

Maybe it is a carry over with my having worked for three years in the graveyard shift covering the police beat while still working at GMA News in the late 1980’s. But more recently, I feel that imagery of coming forward into the light resonates most after a good confession when we deeply realize God’s immense love, that God is not that really angry at all with us because of our sins, that there is a bright light to always look forward in this life amid all the darkness and shadows enveloping us.

Today is the National Bible Sunday. It is when we prayerfully read the Sacred Scriptures everyday that we see the light of Christ in our selves, in our lives. The more we pray the Scriptures, the more we are enlightened, the more we are filled with the light of Christ that enables us to see too his light on the face of those we meet daily. Let us step out of our darkness in life this Sunday and everyday to henceforth experience and share Christ. Amen. Have a blessed, enlightening week ahead!

Joy to the world

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Epiphany: recognizing Christ revealed

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, 04 January 2026
Isaiah 60:1-6 ><}}}}*> Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6 ><}}}}*> Matthew 2:1-12

*From https://www.godwhospeaks.uk/what-is-epiphany/*

After the Nativity of the Lord and the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, comes now the third major celebration of Christmas Season, the Epiphany of the Lord we celebrate this Sunday. It is still the Christmas Season, so, continue greeting one another with Merry Christmas!

Had the rare opportunity of spending the past week after Christmas with my two nieces and only nephew in a staycation in Makati. I requested them to bring me to the Mind Museum inasmuch as I wanted to stroll at the BGC too after 20 years since I last hanged out there!

And that was when I realized the irony of our Christmas celebrations when we unconsciously leave Christ behind because the harder we try to be “in” Jesus from our Simbang Gabi to our shopping and noche buena, the more we actually push Jesus “out” as we think more of ourselves than of Him and others. This is most sadly true at how so many benighted Catholics imitate the westerners led by these giant malls in removing Jesus from Christmas in their more “inclusive” greeting of “Happy Holidays” instead of the Merry Christmas.

*Photo by author, Ayala Triangle, 28 December 2025.*

The more we celebrate Christmas, the more we think of our selves as we are so concerned with everything new and beautiful like our clothes and gifts, forgetting the poor and marginalized as well as the sinful and outcasts for whom Jesus actually came for. Of course, Jesus comes and dwells in our hearts but let us not forget that Christmas is not being “in” but being “out” in Him by thinking less of ourselves, more of Him and of His love and mercy.

Christmas is getting out of our comfort zones inside our old, usual self to meet Jesus outside the box so to speak.

And that is also the meaning of our celebration today, the Epiphany or Manifestation of the Lord to the Nations of the world represented by the magi. For us to find Jesus who manifests Himself in so many ways daily, we need to get out of ourselves like the magi and avoid being locked inside and held captive by our fears like King Herod and the people of Jerusalem.

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him (Matthew 2:1-3).

It was totally odd that when the magi inquired about “the newborn king of the Jews”, Herod and the people in Jerusalem were troubled instead of at least checking on their statements like looking up to see if there was indeed that star leading them, or ask for clarification about what kind or who was the king they were talking about. Instead of being troubled, the strongest feeling one could have would be perplexed or baffled, with the familiar reactions of “what?” or “duh…” or “huh” or as we would always say, “ha, ano daw iyon?”

This is what we mean of Christmas more as being “out” than “in”: instead of going out to check on the inquiry by the magi, to look up the sky to see for themselves about the star, Herod and the people of Jerusalem went inside themselves and got locked in their positions!

They were troubled because they felt the status quo would be altered that could throw them off their comfort zones. And the biggest irony is that they who have the answers in the scriptures remained locked inside their own selfish worlds, refusing to get out and meet the newborn king!

How often does it happen with us especially in our parish, in our Church, in our families that we are so stuck into our old beliefs even traditions that we refuse to go out and meet Jesus Christ Who have come into the world more than 2000 years ago to set us free from all forms of slavery caused by sins? Herod and the rest of Jerusalem were troubled simply because they were not interested with Jesus Christ which tragically continues to happen these days on many occasions in our lives when we do not really search for the Lord as we are more intent in pursuing our own stars of fame and glory.

Epiphany in Greek means manifestation, appearance and revelation. On Christmas day, we celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ while Epiphany today is telling us the identity and mission of the Lord, that is, He is the Son of God, the Messiah or “Anointed One” (Christos in Greek) who had come to set all people free from sins.

Jesus fulfilled the longings of the people since the Old Testament time as heralded by Isaiah’s prophecy in the first reading which St. Paul beautifully explains in the second reading in his concept of “the mystery made known by God to him.” Mystery in this sense is not something hidden but revealed so that in Christ Jesus, the mystery of God, His plan for us is revealed or made known for everyone not only the Jews but for all peoples of the world represented by the magi.

Yesterday, GMANews reporter Joseph Morong posted an experience at a burger stand when he told the server to “keep the change” of ₱50.00. According to Mr. Morong, the server refused to accept his gift because the amount was so big. That’s when the reporter commented “may mali sa ating mga Filipino”: yung nasa burger stand hiyang-hiyang tanggapin yung tip na ₱50 habang yung mga corrupt sa gobyerno at congress, di masiyahan sa ₱50-M at ₱50-B!”

So true! Many of us keep on looking inward, of what is for us that we forget Jesus found among the poor and marginalized. Today’s celebration of the Epiphany is reminding us how Jesus Christ continues to reveal and manifest Himself to us today outside in our daily lives to lead us back to the Father.

Are we willing to be like the magi who dared to leave everything behind, unmindful of the long and perilous journey to make in order to meet Jesus Christ?

In meeting the Lord like the magi, are we willing to give up everything we have especially the most precious ones and offer these to Him?

Most of all, upon finding God, are we willing to go back home by “another way” like the magi as instructed in a dream never to return to Herod?

The Lord continues to manifest Himself to us in so many ways every day, often in the simplest occasions and things. May we have the courage to meet Jesus Christ so that we may see the light and beauty of this New Year He has for us. Amen. May your new year be filled with Jesus Christ’s peace and grace!

A kingdom or a home?

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph, Cycle A, 28 December 2025
Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14 ><}}}}*> Colossians 3:12-21 ><}}}}*> Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23

Last November we were blessed to have visited Romania’s three famed castles at Transylvania region: the Bran Castle considered as the home of Count Dracula in Bram Stoker’s stories; the Cantacuzino Castle owned by one of Romania’s wealthiest family which is the setting of Netflix’s Wednesday series; and the Pelisor Castle which is the smallest but loveliest for me due to its romantic story behind.

I remembered these Romanian castles because of our gospel today about two kings: one is a ruthless, old king named Herod so “greatly troubled” upon hearing the news of the “newborn king of the Jews”, our Lord Jesus Christ (Mt.2:2, 3).

Very often when we hear of kings and royalties living in castles, so many images of affluence and power come into our minds. And indeed they are so true when we went inside those castles with its wonderful interiors and amazing artworks; however, as we learned more of its history especially of the lives of its occupants, our wonder and excitement dissipated. It was really more like a fairy-tale, or a horror story in the case of Bran Castle.

*Photo by author, Cantacuzino Castle, Romania, 06 November 2025.*

It must have been so lonely and sad living in those palaces; however, let us admit how often the presence and reality of Jesus whom we take for granted like when he was born in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago invite us into those parts of our lives where we like to rule like kings or queens.

I find this important and even essential before reflecting about the Feast of the Holy Family because it is right in our homes – ironically or tragically – where we are first exposed to evil and sins. It is inside our homes when the father or mother or siblings take on their “power trips”, insisting on their rules, even flexing their powers over each other that in the process we hurt each other. Sometimes, the trauma that comes after may last a lifetime.

Would we rather choose a kingdom or a home? Be a Herod or a Baby Jesus?

Of course, our answers are so obvious as we would generally choose a home than a kingdom and be a Baby Jesus than a Herod. This we can do by imitating St. Joseph.

When the magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell yo. Herod is going to search for the child and destory him.” Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt… When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there… He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, He shall be called a Nazorean (Matthew 2:1314, 19-22, 23).

*Photo by author, site of the Nazareth home of the Holy Family underneath the Church of St. Joseph in Nazareth, Israel, 2017.*

Remember how Matthew described St. Joseph as a righteous man? Here after the birth of Jesus Christ, we find Joseph’s holiness most shining. See how before this scene, Matthew described to us the attitudes of Herod and the experts in Jerusalem vis-a-vis the Magis from the East: Herod and company were all disturbed while the Magis were all sincere and so open in their search for the Christ.

That’s what we were saying earlier: of how we play so much on our turf and power, on how we want to make our “rule” as sovereignty felt always right in our home, in Jerusalem that was then the seat of power and of worship. Very clear at that time, the temple was already so untidy that needed Christ’s cleansing thirty years later.

When sin especially pride fills us, it is difficult to recognize Jesus. Moreover, even the smallest and harmless or weakest person like a child or a woman would always disturb anyone filled with one’s self, feel threatened like Herod that one’s rule is being taken away. How sad when a father or a husband, a mother or a wife including the eldest children would dare challenge everyone at home, asking who is the father or who is the one supposed to be in command? Sino ba and tatay (o nanay) dito na dapat masunod? It is the most scariest tactic of all not because of what the power trippers can do but actually it was a proof enough they are immatured and lacking of proper understanding about power and authority.

Joseph was clearly not of the same kind. He readily left his home and moved the Infant Jesus and Mary to Egypt. Remember that Bethlehem as the town of David is Joseph’s turf so to speak being from royal Davidic lineage himself. It must have been so difficult for him to leave Bethlehem and be a refugee in Egypt!

But Joseph had none of those airs of rule and superiority. For him, the only rule was God and that meant always the good of Jesus and Mary. That is why Joseph twice “rose” to obey the angel’s instructions to him to take the Infant Jesus and Mother Mary to Egypt and then back to Israel after some time.

Joseph’s rising was actually an act of bowing low to the power and authority of God, most of all to the Son of God he had named as “Jesus”.

Can we imitate Joseph’s “rising” from our selfishness and ordinariness of petty quarrels and assertions of power or “rule” especially in our homes? To imitate the Holy Family, we need to be like Joseph who rose not just literally from his sleep and comfort but rose above his very self. Jesus is inviting us this Sunday to rise too above our pride and self-centeredness to give way to his love and mercy, kindness and understanding for each other so that everyone remains safe and unharmed like the Infant Jesus and Mary following Joseph’s selflessness.

*Photo by author, St. Joseph Parish Church, Pacdal, Baguio City, 28 December 2024.*

Home is where the heart is. This is most true when we get into the origin of the Filipino equivalent of home which is tahanan which is from the root word tahan that means to stop crying. When children cry, we tell them to tahan na, tahan na… or stop crying.

Home is where we stop crying because that is where we are most safe, that is where we find the people who love us, believe in us, the one who would still accept us and forgive us when we have sinned. Home is our safest place because that is where there are people willing rise above their selfishness, to rise above their painful memories, and rise to let go of their comforts for others in distress and more difficult plight and situation in life.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph all rose from their very selves for each other to be safe. Most of all, they rose above themselves because they love so much for each other, a reflection of their great love for God the Father. Amen. May your family be blessed!

Advent is God encouraging us

Lord My Chef Simbang Gabi Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fourth Sunday in Advent-A, Simbang Gabi-5&6, 21 December 2025
Isaiah 7:10-14 ><}}}}*> Romans 1:1-7 ><}}}}*> Matthew 1:18-24

*Photo by author, moon over Istanbul, Turkiye, 02 November 2025.*

We shared last month in our blog a Filipino movie called Gaano Kadalas ang Minsan? as jumping board of our reflection of the readings of the day (https://lordmychef.com/2025/11/18/gaano-kadalas-ang-minsan/).

Allow me on this final Sunday of Advent and fifth day of our Simbang Gabi to begin my reflection with a another Filipino movie released in 1983, Nagalit ang Buwan sa Haba ng Gabi starring Dindo Fernando with Laurice Guillen who played the role as his wife in the Flor de Luna TV series in the 80’s.

Don’t worry… I know something about this movie because I have seen it being the operator of the Betamax player when my mother watched it. And if I remember it right, Laurice had “lent” her husband Dindo to another woman as his mistress; it was an extra-marital affair “with consent”. Basta. When things were already getting offhand as Dindo had a near-fatal heart attack due to over-fatigue in his work and life, Laurice reminded him to finally decide to stop his affair because “kahit buwan magagalit sa haba ng gabi.” (That’s how poetic our movies and music!)

That catchy movie title came as I prayed today’s first reading and gospel that mentioned Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming of the Messiah to be called Emmanuel – emanu ‘Elohim – which means in Hebrew God-is-with-us.

The Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying: Ask for a sign from the Lord, your God; let it be deep as the netherworld, or high as the sky!” But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!” Then Isaiah said: “Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel” (Isaiah 7:10-14).

Ahaz was one of the notoriously evil Kings of Judah who revived the barbarous custom of human sacrifice as he followed other idolatrous practices of their neighboring pagans especially the Assyrians.

When the king of Syria was threatening and later attacked Jerusalem, God told Ahaz through Isaiah to trust in Him alone for He shall save the Jewish people, explicitly warning him against entering into any alliances with Judah’s pagan neighbors. But Ahaz disregarded all these as he secretly entered into military alliances with his pagan neighbors in the belief they could defend Judah against the threat of Syria.

To prove His fidelity and truthfulness in His promise of protecting Judah, God asked Ahaz to ask for any sign from Him; the king declined, pretending he did not want to test God when in fact He knew already of his secret alliances with Judah’s pagan neighboring countries. That was when Isaiah declared in exasperation, “Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.” That’s how I likened Isaiah to Laurice Guillen, complaining to the stubborn King Ahaz, as if warning him “baka magalit ang buwan sa haba ng gabi.”

View of a decorated Christmas tree and tower of the Franciscan Monastery of St Saviour locally also known as San Salvador monastery in the Christian Quarter Old city East Jerusalem

How sad when we are like King Ahaz with God who always encourages us to come to Him, to be intimate with Him, to trust Him, even encouraging us to ask Him for signs just to prove that He loves us so much.

What a shame when we pretend like Ahaz of not testing God as if we are faithful to Him when in fact we have already made up our mind or had made a decision on something as we totally disregard God’s suggestions and instructions! Worst of all, we are so convinced in ourselves that God does not know at all of what is really in our hearts!

Let us be honest: oftentimes, we reject God’s offer of signs and His encouragements not because we love and respect Him but simply we doubt Him. Like Ahaz, we believe more in ourselves or in the prevailing way of thinking of most people we find in social media or what ever science tells us especially these days of modern technologies.

And what happens next? We fail. It is while amid our guilt feelings and sorrow that we realize later how through our family and friends and the church that God was right after all. If only we have been more sincere, more open and had the courage to change our mind and decisions…

But, despite all these, the good news is that God remains with us, still loving us, forgiving us, and most of all giving us another chance to make better. Like with King Ahaz despite his rejection of God and His plans, we too are given with the sign of Jesus Christ who had come and continues to come to encourage us to keep on following Him despite our weaknesses and failures.

*Francisco Goya’s painting, “Dream of St. Joseph” (El Sueno de San Jose) done in 1772; from en.wikimedia.org.*

Here we find the great sign of Joseph, the righteous man who completely trusted God.

Like Mary, Joseph was encouraged by God to change his mind and decision, to trust Him completely to fulfill the prophecy of Jesus, the greatest of all signs.

Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her”… All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home (Matthew 1:20, 22-24).

*Photo by Ar. Philip Santiago, Church of St. Joseph, Nazareth, Israel, October 2025.*

Each one of us is like Joseph, a sign of God’s presence, of God-with-us especially when life is dark and difficult, when others are confused with all the cacophonous sounds of the world centered on ego and materialism.

Every prophecy of God is fulfilled through a combination of active cooperation of man with the Divine plan which is what St. Paul is reminding us in the second reading. We are all “called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God” (Rom. 1:1) who is Jesus Christ.

We are all weak like St. Paul or King Ahaz or even Joseph who did not know the whole story before of Mary’s pregnancy; by being open to God’s encouragement, to the many signs He sends us, what we must consider is not our weaknesses nor insignificance in the world but the power and reality of Jesus “established as Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness through the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom.1:4).

*Photo by author, “St. Joseph Protector of the Child Jesus”, 2024.*

Advent and Christmas happen when despite all odds especially with what other people are saying or conventional wisdom tells us, we still follow that little voice of encouragement of God from the innermost part of our hearts.

Like Joseph, it was not superstition that he obeyed God’s instructions through an Angel in his dream when he awoke. It was his deep and matured faith in God that made him decide to change his mind, to take that deep plunge of faith in God. In taking Mary as his wife, Joseph expressed his great love for God so that in taking Mary, Christ came into the world.

This final Sunday in Advent as we approach Christmas Day, we are encouraged to trust God completely by making Jesus truly present first in us and then with others. God is merciful and forgiving, always encouraging us to come back to Him, to obey Him, to be like Him. But remember too, long dark nights end that we might get caught off guard of Christ’s coming. Baka magalit din sa atin ang buwan sa haba ng gabi. Amen. Have a blessed and meaningful Christmas!