Category: Truth

Praying for a pure heart

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Week XXI, Year II in Ordinary Time, 25 August 2020
2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, 14-17 >><)))*> || + || <*(((><< Matthew 23:23-26
Photo by author, Betania Retreat House in Tagaytay City, 2017.

How ironic and even sad, Lord Jesus Christ that in this age of too much information around us, when nothing is hidden with everything revealed without any propriety and decency, all the more we live in a world of lies and insincerity.

There is the great disparity between what is deep inside our hearts and what we put up front for all to see.

We have become like the scribes and Pharisees who give too much emphasis on little things, forgetting the more essential ones in life like love and mercy, kindness and goodwill to one another.

We have become so concerned with our outside appearances, forgetting what is in our hearts.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.”

Matthew 23:25-26

Teach us, O Lord, to have a pure heart so we may see you!

Remove our blindness to fame and popularity, blindness to what is easy and convenient, blindness to our false beliefs, and blindness to you, Lord Jesus because we are so full of ourselves. Amen.

Value of hiddenness

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Week XVIII, Year II in Ordinary Time, 03 August 2020
Jeremiah 28:1-17 >>><)))*> >><)))*> ><)))*> Matthew 14:22-36
Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA-7 News before a storm in Batanes, 2018.

God our Father, we come to you again fervently asking for your guidance and protection as the threats of COVID-19 infections are getting closer to home. More and more are getting sick and we could feel them so strongly for they are no longer statistics we read and see in news but persons we know very well in our home and community.

Thank you very much that finally, our government leaders have listened to the calls of medical experts to go on at least two weeks of quarantine to reassess our response to the pandemic.

In this quarantine period, we pray that we learn to value again silence and hiddenness that we have taken for granted in our 24-hour world of media and noise.

So many times, we have taken for granted things that are not seen, that are invisible and hidden, that we ourselves also hide in evil and sin, convincing ourselves nobody would know or “see” it.

And so, we try deceiving others with our false claims of knowledge and competencies like Hananiah and other false prophets among us who give false hopes to people who are eventually misled from you and from one another.

To the prophet Hananiah the prophet Jeremiah said: Hear this, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, and you have raised false confidence in this people. For this, says the Lord, I will dispatch you from the face of the earth; this very year you shall die, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.

Jeremiah 28:15-16

In this time of modified enhanced community quarantine again, teach us O Lord Jesus to deepen our faith in you so that we may remain focused on you alone in moments of storms when it is so difficult to recognize you, when it is easier to “see” and “believe” the powers of the unseen winds like Simon Peter in today’s gospel.

Let us befriend your holy silence and stillness again, sweet Jesus, because in you, the most significant are always the most hidden too. Amen.

The “heart is false”

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Week XIV, Year II in Ordinary Time, 08 July 2020
Hosea 10:1-3, 7-8, 12 <*(((><< >><)))*> Matthew 10:1-7
Photo by Dr. Mai B. Dela Peña, statues of the Twelve Apostles on the facade of the Church of our Lady of Montserrat in Spain, 2019.

How beautiful are your words today, dearest God our Father. You never fail to surprise me with your deep personal involvement with us all that you can capture exactly what is inside us without any doubt at all.

After praising Israel’s great achievements that have brought them material prosperity, you remain impartial and fair in pronouncing your judgement:

Israel is a luxuriant vine whose fruit matches its growth. The more abundant his fruit, the more altars he built. The more productive his land, the more sacred pillars he set up. Their heart is false, and now they pay for their guilt. God shall break down their altars and destroy destroy their sacred pillars.

Hosea 10:1-2

Indeed, only you can read our hearts, our inmost beings.

How many times have we been deceived by outward appearances like material prosperity in life, thinking these are the crowing glory of one’s great efforts in balancing prayer and work only to be rejected by God for their hard headedness and pride?

A heart that is false is also a heart that has turned away from you, O God; sometimes, these are not evident right away because a heart can always fake outside what is inside.

A heart that takes pride in its grand designs and visions is a heart that is false. Most of all, a heart that refuses to look into the pains and hurts of others, their shortcomings and sins, is a heart that is false because it denies humanity, its being a human flesh tormented by love amidst pains and sufferings. A heart that is false is a heart that refuses to see other hearts with many hurts because it believes more with its self than with God’s love and mercy.

A heart that is false is a heart that has refused to grow and outgrow its previously held convictions and beliefs, more intent in looking at its own heart than into Christ’s meek and humble heart, eventually betraying Jesus and loved ones.

Incline our hearts into the Father’s loving heart, dear Jesus, and give us a heart that is both true and humble, accepting our many limitations, full of hope in becoming a better person in you like your Apostles who started out like us all with imperfect hearts. Amen.

Photo by author, Davao City, 2018.

Listening to God, Speaking for God

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Week XIII, Year II in Ordinary Time, 02 July 2020
Amos 7:10-17 >><)))*> >><)))*> >><)))*> Matthew 9:1-8
Photo by author, Bible Sunday, January 2020.

Again, O God our loving Father, we pray that you send us prophets especially in this time of so many “spokespersons” who do not know how to listen, like Amaziah the priest at Bethel and the scribes in Capernaum.

Like many of our public figures and even some of us priests who speak a lot in public these days, we all claim to be speaking the truth, speaking for you.

But to speak is always a gift from you, a sharing in your power that whatever you speak happens like in creation and in Jesus Christ, the Word who became flesh presented today in the gospel healing a paralytic by simply speaking the words of forgiveness and then telling him to rise and walk.

How funny that in your words today, dear God, are two groups of people claiming to be speaking for you and yet too far from your words and realities, Amaziah and the scribes; and on the other hand, another group, that of Amos and Jesus, claiming nothing for themselves but doing everything in your name.

Teach to be like Amos and Jesus your Son, to speak and do only your Holy Will.

Amos perfectly explained the giftedness of being your prophet:

Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor have i belonged to a company of prophets; I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. The Lord took me from following the flock, and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'”

Amos 7:14-15

Make us realize, Lord, that to speak for you, we must first listen to your voice, wait and listen to your words.

To be your prophet or spokesman is to never harbor evil thoughts on others.

And most of all, like Amos and Matthew, to be your prophet means to leave everything behind especially fame and honor in order to follow you — even to the Cross! Amen.

Prayer to become small

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, 19 June 2020
Deuteronomy 7:6-11 ><)))*> 1 John 4:7-16 <*(((>< Matthew 11:25-30
Photo from Google.

O most Sacred Heart of Jesus, make my heart like yours — make me small and little in standing, hidden and unknown among many, simple and humble in a world now measured in influence, popularity, and following.

On this Solemnity of your Most Sacred Heart, I thank you dear Jesus in choosing to be small and little, always hidden in the simplest things of life like soft voices of kindness and mercy, reason and wisdom, gratitude and love.

You have shown us that to be truly loving like you, we have to be small and little like children.

Most of all, free to be ourselves as beloved children of the Father!

Free from inhibitions and guilt to truly express the love and joy within.

Help us, Jesus, to cast all our worries to you, to take your yoke that is easy, burden that is light.

It is so difficult to love when we are burdened by many concerns and considerations, when we cannot be our true selves that we lack spontaneity, of being natural and easy.

In the same manner, it becomes hard for us too to love or even please someone who sees him or her self bigger than reality, when they see themselves as “big shots” and “heavyweights” who have to be pleased and “followed” or affirmed.

May we always keep in mind the words of Moses so applicable also to us today:

“It was not because you are the largest of all nations that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you, for you are really the smallest of all nations.”

Deuteronomy 7:7

O Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, you have given us your heart that bleeds due to the thorns of our sins, yet aglow with the fire of your immense love and mercy.

May we come to you, today and always to find rest, to learn from your gentle and humble ways so needed in our heartless world. Amen.

Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.

Ang tunay na nakakikilabot

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-18 ng Hunyo 2020
Nasubukan mo na bang 
manahimik
upang makinig
at makipag-niig
sa Diyos
na tanging ibig
ating kaganapan
at kagalakan?
Minsan kung kailan
hindi mo inaasahan
saka Siya mararanasan:
nangungusap, nagpaparamdam
lalo na kapag binabalikan
mga nakaraan ika'y 
nasaktan at nasugatan,
o nasiyahan at maraming natutunan.
At habang iyong ninanamnam
Kanyang kabutihan
kailanman hindi ka iniwan
pinabayaan o tinalikuran
saka daratal buong kalaliman
ang hindi maikakaila
mayroon ngang Diyos
sa atin nagmamahal!
At iyan ang higit 
nating mapapanaligang
katotohanan
higit nakakikilabot
kesa multo o ano pang kuwento;
dahil ang Diyos ay totoong-totoo
ngunit ang multo
doon lang sa guni-guni mo!
*Mga larawan kuha ng may-akda maliban sa takip-silim at bongavilla sa aming simbahan na parehong kuha ni G. Gelo Nicolas Carpio.

Beneath the surface


The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Saturday, Week IX, Year II of Ordinary Time, 06 June 2020
2 Timothy 4:1-8 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Mark 12:38-44
Photo by author, Sonnen Berg Mountain View, Davao City, 2018.

Imagining and praying this whole scene at the temple, Lord, is so chilling, demanding each of us to examine our being your disciple especially in this time of social media when every good deed being presented is no good at all.

There you are, Lord, warning us against doing every piety and religiosity for a show:

“Beware of the scribes , who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers.”

Mark 12:38-39

Forgive us, dear Jesus and have mercy for those moments we think more of getting famous, of getting known, of having more likes and more followers, when everything is done for the sake of setting a trend and becoming viral.

How sad that we miss the more important that is always beneath the surface, of what is in our hearts.

Photo by author, Church of St. Anne in Jerusalem, May 2017.

As I prayed on your next scene when you “sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury”, that’s when the veracity of our prayers and deeds are proven, when what is in our hearts are trul poured out.

If anything is done not coming from the heart, nothing can truly come out from the heart!

Grant us, Jesus, the same gift of selflessness of St. Paul that at the end of each day, we can sincerely pray to you,

“I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.”

2 Timothy 4:7

If possible, Lord, teach me today to be like that poor widow to draw from my inmost being what is most precious to give and offer you. Amen.

Buksan ang aming Puso

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-19 ng Mayo 2020
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, tabernakulo na walang laman bago magsimula Misa ng Huwebes Santo, 2020.
Kay hirap maunawaan
at hindi ko mailarawan
matay ko mang isipin
ngayong panahon ng COVID-19
pinaiiral nati'y karahasan
sa halip na kahinahunan
at kabutihan.
Minsa'y aking napakinggan
kaya aking tinunghayan
balita sa telebisyon nang 
si Mang Dodong ay nakulong
mahigit sampung araw sa Navotas
nang siya ay dakpin dahil 
walang papeles ng quarantine.
Asawa niyang si Aling Patring
di malaman gagawin 
dahil ayon sa balita, 
walang gaanong napag-aralan
mabuti't tinulungan ng mayroong 
magagandang kalooban.
Kayo na mga mayroong pinag-aralan
napakaraming kaalaman at nalalaman
tingnan itong larawan kung pagdududahan
kakayahan at katauhan ni Mang Dodong
 na kailangan siyang pahirapan
sa tanging pagkukulang sa panahon ng lockdown
hindi nakakuha sa tirahan sa Kalookan
ng quarantine pass upang makahango ng isda sa Navotas.
Sino ang hindi mababagbag
at mababagabag sa mga kuwento
ng karahasan at karanasang ganito
sa panahon ng pandemya
na sa halip tayo ay magtulungan at magdamayan
nagpapahirapan at nagmamatigasan
sa mga bagay na mapapalampas naman.
Hindi ba puwedeng pagbigyan na lamang
kung hindi naman gaanong kabigatan, kalala ang kasalanan?
Nasaan ang katarungan kapag mga makapangyarihan
pinalalampas, kinakatuwiran taglay na husay at galing
samantalang nagkamali rin naman at masahol pa sa karamihan?!
Larawan kuha ng may-akda.
Hindi sasapat kailanman ating isipan
dapat mabuksan din ating puso at kalooban
dahil ang katotohanan hindi lamang
karunungang nababatid, naikakatuwiran
kungdi isang kapatid nararanasan
nararamdaman bawat pintig ng kalooban,
hangad makatawid sa gutom, mabuhay lamang.
Maraming pagkakataon sa iba't-ibang panahon
kapag nabubuksan isipan sa maraming kaalaman
mga kasangkapan pinahahalagahan, kapwa tao nalilimutan
tulad sa mga digmaan at labanan ng kanya-kanyang karapatan
hindi baleng tapakan at yurakan katauhan ng iba
pati sanggol sa sinapupunan
huwag lamang mahadlangan sariling kagustuhan.
O Diyos naming makapangyarihan,
Iyo sanang buksan aming puso at kalooban
upang sa amin Ika'y makapanahan;
Iyong mukha na puno ng awa at kabutihan 
sa amin ay mabanaagan, huwag mong hayaan
paghariin kapos naming isipan at baka kami magkaubusan.

Open our hearts, Lord

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Monday, Easter Week VI, 18 May 2020

Acts of the Apostles 16:11-15 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> John 15:26, 16:4

Photo by author, Parokya ni San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Bagbaguin, Santa Maria, Bulacan, January 2020.

Open our hearts, Lord, to the truth that it is you who truly works in us and through us in changing the world. We are your instruments, your lips, your voice, your arms, your body… And you remain the Message we have to deliver.

But it seems, there is another more important reason why we have to pray to you to open our hearts in this time of the corona pandemic: after more than 60 days of staying home due to quarantine, many of us have grown callous and cold inside like zombies.

Many of us do not seem to care at all for our less needy brothers and sisters.

Many of us still go on our own selfish ways, thinking only of each one’s own good.

Nobody seemed to care at all, especially our government leaders who refuse to admit their negligence in handling this pandemic trying to win the peoples’ hearts with monetary assistance that have bred corruption. They are more concerned with material needs, giving into the temptation of the devil in the wilderness as a fast solution in making stones into bread.

Now, they have allowed to open businesses especially malls over the weekend in order to spur economic activities, forgetting the other essential need of people for spiritual nourishment in their houses of worship.

Many were left in total disbelief how this government arrogantly preferred to keep churches and other houses of worship to remain closed when so many hearts and souls are dried up, longing to experience you again in the celebration of the sacraments?

More than the opening of our minds, please open our hearts in this time of pandemic when minions of this government are more concerned in silencing their critics than mass testing the people for the virus, when all they have in their minds are money and food forgetting the spiritual nourishment that teaches contentment and charity among people.

Open our hearts, Lord, for us to be more loving and kind to one another like the women in Philippi who listened to the preaching of St. Paul in the first reading.

Most of all, Lord Jesus, open our hearts to welcome your Holy Spirit who would lead us to the truth and be one in the Father so we may find him in the face of every person we encounter.

It is only in opening our hearts that we can truly be kind and charitable with others because that is when you and the Father in the Holy Spirit truly dwell in us, abide in us in your great love. Amen.

Photo by author, Sleeping Santo Niño, January 2020.

A prayer for trolls and liars

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Saturday, Easter Week-IV, 09 May 2020

Acts of the Apostles 13:44-52 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> John 14:7-14

According to Pope Francis, the serpent is the first peddler of “fake news” when it deceived Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit in Paradise. Photo from gettyimages.com.

As we end another week O Lord, we pray this time for those who refuse to follow your path of truth. We pray for all trolls and peddlers of fake news and lies, including those who concoct and spread nasty and malicious talks about us.

The gossipers and slanderers.

We pray for them, Jesus, that they may finally come to their senses to see and accept the realities around them.

We pray that they may stop living in darkness, speaking of lies that have destroyed many good names and have caused so much heartaches to those they have maligned.

How sad, O Lord, that these liars and trolls are using the modern means of communications to spread their fake news and lies and gossips to mislead a nation, destroy families and organizations.

Photo by author, February 2020.

In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we saw how Jews were filled with jealousy against Paul and Barnabas while proclaiming your Gospel at the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia.

Not contented in engaging your apostles into “violent abuse of contradicting” their teachings, they also “incited the women of prominence and leading men of the city” to persecute Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:45, 50) because they cannot accept the truth, they cannot accept you, Jesus.

And that continues to happen today when people cannot accept you as Lord and God who truly loves us, forgiving our sins and setting us free to become better persons despite our sins and weaknesses.

Keep us faithful to your words, Lord, and purify our minds and our hearts that we may be one with you in the Father in thoughts, words, and deeds.

Likewise, we pray for everyone that we may always be on guard in examining information and stories we read and hear in order to stop the spread of fake news and lies. Amen.