Prophetic nursing

Homily by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II at the Second Capping and Pinning Ceremony
Our Lady of Fatima University-San Fernando, Pampanga, 20 July 2022
Jeremiah 1:1, 4-10 ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> Matthew 13:1-9

*Photo by author, 16 July 2022, Our Lady of Fatima University-Cabanatuan City.*

This is my fourth capping and pinning ceremony of our nursing students in five weeks. And now more than ever, I am so convinced that nursing is like the priesthood – a vocation, a call from God to serve his people.

That is why our first reading on the call of the prophet Jeremiah is so perfect for our Second Capping and Pinning Ceremony of the College of Nursing here at our San Fernando Campus. As a vocation, nursing is a call to prophetic witnessing of Christ’s gospel especially in this age when life and dignity of every person is taken for granted.

Maybe there are some of you who are here had no plans of becoming a nurse before but one thing led to another and here you are, about to take the first major step in becoming a nurse. And despite that reality, maybe by this time you have come to love nursing already that you are feeling nervous for this momentous ceremony that was pout on hold for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yes, thanks too to COVID-19 for it had made it clearer to you that it was God who really called you to become future nurses!

The word of the Lord came to thus: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you… See, I place my words in your mouth! This day I set you over nations and over kingdoms, to root up and to tear, to destroy and to demolish, to build and to plant.”
Jeremiah 1: 4-5, 9-10

How beautiful it is to hear God telling each one of you today, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a NURSE to the nations I appointed you.”

That’s the meaning of your cap.

*Photo by author, 10 July 2022 at the RISE Tower, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City.*

You must have heard that expression we have “to wear different hats” in life – when you are at home, you wear the hat of an Ate or Kuya, when you are in the classroom you wear the hat of a student before your professors and mentors, when you are out with your barkada, you wear a different hat as a friend.

God is giving you another hat – or cap – to wear in life beginning today.

It is something so distinct and special not everyone can wear. Only a selected few are called and chosen to wear that cap our model Florence of Nightingale wore with pride, honor and dignity when she elevated the status of Nursing as we know and so value today.

In the Jewish culture, the wearing of a hat means to recognize somebody higher or above us – and that is God. That is why men and children wear those tiny “skull caps” called zucchetto when they are inside the ruins of the temple of Jerusalem. Our Pope and Bishops also wear that skull cap to signify God is above them whom they must serve and obey.

My dear nursing students, to be a nurse is to be a servant of God, a prophet or a “prophetic nurse” who witnesses the gospel of Jesus Christ to our patients, especially to the poor and disadvantaged.

Witnessing the gospel of Christ is to speak and act on the word of God. That is why when you take your pledge of Florence Nightingale later, you invoke the name of God “to pass my life in purity and practice my profession faithfully.”

As you have invited God into your lives today as you take this major step in your formation as future nurses, make God a part of your life everyday. Handle your life with prayer. Moreover, as I would remind our students during Baccalaureate Mass, “study hard, work harder, and pray hardest”.

Be open to God.

I assure you, nursing is a very demanding and difficult profession. You have seen it these past two years of pandemic.

Baka mamaya aayaw kayong bigla katulad ng mga butil nahulog sa daanan na tinuka ng mga ibon. HIndi kayo yayaman, hindi kayo magiging milyunaryo o milyunarya sa nursing. Kung yun ang pakay ninyo, mali napuntahan ninyo. Magpulitiko kayo, baka sakali…

Baka naman ngayon, very enthusiastic kayo with all the glamor and attention you get as nursing students, lalo na kapag naging RN na kayo and you start wearing those scrubs with all the gadgets for monitoring patients na talaga naman pogi points – then after a few months, you get burned out like the seeds that fell on rocky ground with little soil.

Pwede rin naman makita ninyo maraming opportunities sa nursing para yumaman o sumikat o maging notorious gaya ng mga nababalitaan natin lalo na sa abroad but, remember to be credible, to elevate the standards of nursing, to never administer harmful drugs for shameful profits like those seeds that sprouted but choked by thorns.

Be like the rich soil in the parable of the sower, listen and act on the word of God so that you mature and bear fruit as nurses.

St. Augustine said “grace builds on nature”; that means, the grace of God will always be there for you to become a good nurse but you have to dispose yourself properly by cultivating habits and virtues through discipline. One of these is punctuality, being on time. Another is obedience which is actually listening attentively to instructions. Of course, do not forget charity and kindness. And many others so that you reflect the goodness of God.

You do not become a good nurse tomorrow or when you graduate or when you pass the board exam nor when you get employed as a nurse.

You become a good nurse today. Now na!

St. Paul said “God’s gift and call are permanent and irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29) – tinawag kayo ng Diyos upang maging mahuhusay na nurse at hindi niya iyon babawiin… ibibigay niya ang lahat para sa inyo kung ibibigay din ninyo ang inyong sarili sa kanya sa paglilingkod sa kapwa. At ang iba pa ay susunod na kalakip ang maraming biyaya, “siksik, liglig at umaapaw” (Lk. 6:38).

God bless you, BS Nursing Students of Our Lady of Fatima-Pampanga.

God bless all nurses of the world, especially our very own, Filipino nurses serving everywhere!

God sends us on a mission

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time, 20 July 2022
Jeremiah 1:1, 4-10 ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> Matthew 13:1-9

*Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2021.*

"Talaga?
Is it really true, O God?"

These are the words that
came from my heart as I prayed
over your words today through
the prophet Jeremiah:

The word of the Lord came to me thus: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you… See, I place my words in your mouth! This day I set you over nations and over kingdoms, to root up and to tear down, to destroy and to demolish, to build and to plant.”
Jeremiah 1:4-5, 9-10

It is not that I do not believe you,
dear Father, but your words are so
comforting, so encouraging;
how wonderful indeed that I am no
accident, that I have a reason being here
because you have always have a plan
for me, for each one of us.

Thank you for believing in me, Lord;
thank you for sending me to a mission;
make me like a fertile ground, a rich soil
so that your seeds sown in me may grow
and mature and produce fruit;
in the name of Jesus your Son, 
open my ears and my heart to always
listen to your instructions, give me
the courage most especially to be your
prophet like Jeremiah, "comforting the
afflicted and afflicting the comfortable"
by giving witness to your truth and 
justice, mercy and charity at all times.
Amen.

Meeting Jesus who comes as guest

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sixteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 17 July 2022
Genesis 18:1-10 ><}}}}*> Colossians 1:24-28 ><}}}}*> Luke 10:38-42

*An icon of Jesus visiting his friends, the siblings Sts. Lazarus, Mary and Martha. Photo from crossroadsinitiative.com.*

Immediately after Jesus our “Good Samaritan” had told this parable on his way to Jerusalem last Sunday, Luke now tells us the Lord making a stop over at the home of two sisters named Martha and Mary.

The two ladies were of contrasting attitudes in receiving Jesus as guest that he took it as an occasion to teach anew on “what we must do to gain eternal life” when Martha complained to him of Mary not doing anything to help her prepare for him.

Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need only of one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”
Luke 10:40-42

*Photo by author, Baras, Rizal, January 2021.*

Focusing on Jesus more when he comes

We are again presented here with a very familiar story only Luke has like the parable of the good Samaritan last Sunday. Almost everyone feels like knowing Martha and Mary so well, that they have covered everything when Jesus dropped by to visit the two sisters.

And that’s the problem when we feel so familiar with a story by Jesus or in an event in his life that we take it lightly and miss the more essential aspects as well as learn new insights being presented to us.

In this story of Jesus visiting the two sisters, Martha is often presented as the “active” type while Mary is the “contemplative” who sat at the Lord’s feet to listen to his words. As a result, many have thought Jesus favored Mary over Martha, that praying is more important than acting.

That is absolutely wrong! Jesus is not saying it is best to be a contemplative than active, nor Mary is better than Martha.

*From Facebook during the first wave COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020.*

Through Mary and especially Martha, Jesus is reminding us today not to be so preoccupied or “anxious and worried about many things” in life like food and clothings, money and wealth and other material things.

Jesus had always been consistent in teaching everyone not to be so concerned with wealth, power and fame that prevent us from growing in the kingdom of heaven like in the parable of the sower, of how the seeds that fell among thorns “were choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life, and they failed to produce mature fruit” (Lk.8:14).

Most of all, recall that when his pasch was approaching, Jesus became more pronounced in warning us all in having that overwhelming concern and cares for things of the world especially in relation with his second coming, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth” (Lk.21:34-35).

Such preoccupation with things of the world detracts us from the most essential which is Christ himself and witnessing him in this world so concerned with wealth and power, with fame and ego.

And that is what Martha was missing in having Jesus as guest in their home — she was so busy preparing meals that she had entirely forgotten Jesus himself was in the house! Mary was praised because she chose the most important – Jesus himself who was their guest and the Word he spoke to them! Every time we recognize Christ’s coming in our home and in our very selves, something wonderful always happens. The good news is made known to us like a mission or a plan from God we have long been praying over.

*The famous icon of The Trinity visiting Abraham at Mamre by Russian artist Andrei Rublev done in the 15th century. Photo from en.wikipedia.org.*

This is the reason we have the beautiful story of Abraham welcoming three guests who turned out to be God himself, the Blessed Trinity coming to his tent at Mamre in our first reading today.

More than the story of Abraham’s hospitality is the announcement of the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham of finally having a child of his own with Sarah:

They asked Abraham, “Where is your wife Sarah?” He replied, “There in the tent.” One of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son.”
Genesis 18:9-10

In both the Old and New Testaments, the Bible teems with so many lessons and admonitions from God and his prophets and later from Jesus himself on the need to always welcome and accept strangers especially the poor and the sick for “whatsoever you do the least of these, that you do unto Christ”.

Jesus comes to us daily but are we home to welcome him, to receive him and most of all, listen and act on his words? Or, are we so preoccupied with so many other affairs that we forget his presence, not only among those in need like the priest and Levite last week who just passed by a victim of robbery left half-dead in a street?

The grace of this Sunday lies in the very fact that many times, it is Jesus himself who comes to us right in our homes, in our family members and loved ones, in the ordinary people we take for granted but we are like Martha “so anxious and worried about many things” that we miss the good news he brings to us often. That is why we only get tired with all our efforts, not bearing fruits because we miss the most important of all, Jesus himself!

Let us imitate Paul in the second reading trying to see Jesus in everyone by deepening his reflection last week of Christ as the image of the invisible God and now “Christ in you, the hope for glory” (Col.1:27).

It is our task and mission like Paul to reveal in our lives of loving service to others God’s plan that Jesus came to dwell in us his believers and followers so we may participate in his glory. But how can we participate in God’s glory when we fail to meet Jesus coming daily to our lives because we are like Martha?

*Photo by author, Tagaytay, February 2022.*

The simplest way to receive Jesus our guest is to seriously participate in our Sunday Eucharist which we tend to take for granted. In the Eucharist, we gather as the Body of Christ with Jesus as our head, the Church.

Notice that in Rublev’s icon of the Trinity at Mamre, the three men are actually gathered in a meal, the Eucharist. When you try to view the icon, you become the fourth person in the painting sharing the meal with the three angels.

That is the mystery of Christ’s coming to our homes daily, in our loved ones and right in our hearts too to share us himself and tell us the good news daily. The Eucharist is in fact our rehearsal in entering heaven in the future, that is why this Sunday, cast away all your anxieties and simply focus in the Lord and you will never get lost! Have a blessed week ahead! Amen.

Put Christ before everything

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot, 11 July 2022
Isaiah 1:10-17 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 10:34-11:1

*Photo by author, Church of St. Agnes, Jerusalem, Israel, May 2018.*

Your words today, O God
are not only disturbing but 
also puzzling; it is disturbing
for us who continue with all of
our fake religiosities that are more
of a show than an intimacy with you.
Your words through Isaiah
should awaken us to be more truthful,
to show more our love for you in our
actions that are just and fair to others.

“Trample my courts no more. Bring no more worthless offerings; your incense is loathsome to me. Your new moons and festivals I detest; they weigh me down, I tire of the load… learn to do good. Make justice your aim, redress the wronged; hear the orphan’s plea; defend the widow.”
Isaiah 1:13, 14, 17

Your words are also puzzling,
as spoken by Jesus Christ your Son
who declared:

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword.”
Matthew 10:34

Puzzling and disturbing are
your words, Lord, and we thank
you for disturbing us, for puzzling us:
may we have the courage to confront
our true selves, strip ourselves naked 
of our pretensions of being good and
faithful so we may be true to your call
to be holy and just, loving and merciful;
so many times, even in our religion and 
faith, it is not you whom we put first but
our very selves.

Through the prayers and examples of
St. Benedict, may we put Christ before
everything by thinking more of others
than of ourselves; may we always begin
our works by appealing to Jesus our Lord
to bring these to perfection and lead us to
everlasting life.  Amen.

St. Benedict, 
Pray for us!

Walking our talk

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, 08 July 2022
Hosea 14:2-10 ><]]]'> + ><]]]'> + ><]]]'> Matthew 10:16-23

*Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD in France, March 2022.*

Another week is closing,
another brand new week coming
but here I am, O God, still undecided,
dilly-dallying when to follow you,
when to change my ways,
when will I ever be true
in walking my talk; this time,
may I take with me my words
of contrition, of decision to turn
away from sin and follow your path
in Jesus Christ your Son.

Thus says the Lord: Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt. Take with you words, and return to the Lord, say to him, “Forgive all iniquity, and receive what is good, that we may render as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.”
Hosea 14:2-3

Grant me, O Lord, 
the courage to be wise as the serpent 
and gentle as the dove in this world 
so filled with wolves and other
predators out for a kill with 
their seductive temptations
to rule and dominate; may I always
have the presence of mind to think
what is fair and just, true and good
that I may not be tempted to take 
shortcuts in life; inspire me to innovate
and be creative in proclaiming 
and living out the gospel of Jesus 
in this highly modern and complex
world; most of all, keep me faithful
to you, to always walk your path
for you are the way, the truth and 
the life.

Let him who is wise understand these things; let him who is prudent know them. Straight are the paths of the Lord, in them the just walk, but sinners stumble in them.
Hosea 14:10

There is no other way
to life, Lord, except you 
and this is the reason why
so many want to remove you,
to delete you from life, from
the world so that they can do
what is most pleasing to themselves
without realizing nor admitting
the collapse and slow death
they are experiencing.
Amen.

Seeking the face of the Lord

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr, 06 July 2022
Hosea 10:1-3, 7-8, 12 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 10:1-7

*Photo by Mr. Jay Javier, January 2020.*

Today's responsorial psalm 
perfectly says our prayer, O God,
which is to "Seek the face 
of the Lord".

But, what is your face,
O Lord that we must seek?
Do you have a face like ours,
now covered with masks due to
pandemic?  The author of Genesis
claims you created us, O God,
in your image and likeness but
how can that be if you are spirit?

Indeed, the beloved disciple of
Jesus was right:  "nobody has ever
seen God.  Yet, if we love one another,
God remains in us, and his love is 
brought to perfection in us" (1John 4:12). 

To seek your face, O Lord, is to be one
in you, one with you.
To seek your face, O Lord, is to be
intimate with you.
To seek your face, O Lord, is to be 
like you, holy and loving.
To seek your face, O Lord, is to be
pure and chaste in thoughts and
in deeds like St. Mary Goretti who
chose death than sin.

Forgive us, merciful Father,
in choosing to love wealth and power,
in becoming to look like money -
so "mukhang pera" as we would say
in Filipino for our hearts have become
false as we turned away from you in sin.

Thank you that despite our sins,
you continue to call us in Jesus Christ
to be his apostles, being sent out to
seek those who are lost; help us to always
seek your face, Lord, for in every ministry,
it is your face of mercy and love that we
must share with everyone.  Amen.

When harbor is not a harbor…

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Memorial of First Martyrs of Holy Roman Church, 30 June 2022
Amos 7:10-17 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 9:1-8

*Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD at Nazare, Portugal, March 2022.*

Harbor (noun) – a place on the coast where vessels may find shelter, especially one protected from rough water by piers, jetties, and other artificial structures.

Harbor (verb) – keep (a thought or feeling, typically a negative one) in one’s mind, especially secretly; also, shelter or hide (a criminal or wanted person). In Pilipino, “magkimkim”.

On this final day of June 2022
as we honor all the martyrs in the
persecution under Nero in 64 AD Rome,
you gave me O Lord the word "harbor"
as a focus of prayer and reflection after
finding the playful twist in the gospel
of Jesus crossing the lake into his own town 
where he healed a paralytic by telling him 
"Courage, child, your sins are forgiven" 
(Mt.9:2).

At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts?”
Matthew 9:3-4

What a sad turn of events that continue
to this day when prophets come into our midst, 
especially those of our own like Jesus to his folks, 
who are denounced for speaking your words, 
O God our Father; instead of finding shelter among
us like a "harbor" for telling the truth, prophets
have always become targets of negative thoughts
we "harbor" within like when Brazilian Archbishop
Helder Camara said, "When I give food to the poor,
they call me a saint; when I ask why they are poor,
they call me a communist."

Bless us, dear Father, to be like a "harbor"
to your prophets; let us not imitate Amaziah
in the first reading who drove away your prophet
Amos back to Judah to earn his keeps as
shepherd and dresser of sycamores;
forgive us when we "harbor" negative thoughts
on those who tell and speak to us your truth;
and most especially, let us "stir into flame 
the gift of God that we have" (cf. 2 Tim.1:6)
at Baptism, the sharing in Christ's prophetic
ministry of witnessing your truth and mercy,
justice and love among the people at all time.

Let us not fear, O Lord, 
to cross the seas of this life
to spread your gospel of salvation,
finding only in you our safe harbor
from all storms that come our way
in carrying your Cross.  Amen.

Meeting God

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Irenaeus, Bishop & Martyr, 28 June 2022
Amos 3:1-8, 4:11-12 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 8:23-27

*Photo by Ms. Danna Hazel de Castro, Kiltepan Peak, Sagada, Mountain Province, 2017.*

Disturbing words by Amos in the
first reading and a violent storm in
the gospel while the apostles where
crossing the lake with Jesus asleep
remind us dear God our loving Father
of the inevitable "meeting with you".

Who would not be shaken with the 
words of Amos threatening:

Does a lion roar in the f0rest when it has no prey? Does a young lion cry out from its den unless it has seized something? Is a bird brought to earth by a snare when there is no lure for it? Does a snare spring up from the ground without catching anything? If the trumpet sounds in a city, will the people not be frightened ? If evil befalls a city, has not the Lord caused it? So now I will deal with you in my own way, O Israel! And since I will deal thus with you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel.
Amos 3;4-6, 4:12

Forgive us, Lord, for being complacent
in knowing you, feeling one with you
even if our lives are far from your
teachings that we neither see your
nor are you seen in us or in our live; 
help us realize that because 
you have given us so much, much are
expected from us.

At the other extreme, many times
we are like the apostles in the boat
caught in a violent storm while at the
middle of the sea and even if Jesus were
with us, we act as if he were away.

Many times we do not meet you
because we do not live our faith in you
faithfully, so afraid of what others would
say to us; but, there are also many times
we do not meet you when our fears overtake
us that we do not see you being with us.

The glory of God gives life; those who see God receive life… Life in man is the glory of God; the life of man is the vision of God.
St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies

Help us imitate St. Irenaeus who lived
his faith faithfully that he saw you daily
in his life.  Amen.

Praying to fulfill Christ’s prayer for us

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday After Pentecost, Feast of Jesus Christ, Our Eternal Priest, 09 June 2022
Hebrews 2:10-18 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> John 17:1-2, 9, 14-26

*Photo by author, Garden of Gethsemane, Israel, May 2017.*

O dearest Lord Jesus Christ,
our Eternal Priest and Savior,
thank you so much for praying 
for us your disciples, 
thank you for consecrating us
to the Father in truth, most of all,
thank you for praying for our
protection against the evil one
(John 17:14-19).

How lovely it is that you, 
O Lord, personally prayed for us!
It is so touching, so humbling.

But most blessed of all, 
dear Jesus, is how you have
fulfilled yourself your prayer
said at the Last Supper right
away the following day on the Cross.

Therefore, he had to become like his brothers in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God to expiate the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.
Hebrews 2:17-18

Forgive us, Jesus
when we especially your ordained
priests live so detached from you,
when we have forgotten your priesthood
is for others, not for us; when we think
more of our comfort and well-being,
enslaved by the lures of the world,
from flesh to the latest gadgets and 
even way of life.

Forgive us, Jesus
when we especially your ordained
priests forget the very essence of
your victimhood as Priest, 
offering your very self, flesh and blood,
to nourish the people when we escape
and deny all kinds of pains and sufferings,
or the Cross itself.

Continue to pray for us, 
Lord Jesus Christ, 
our Eternal Priest that like you,
we your disciples especially us
your ordained priests may 
imitate you, live like you,
suffer like you so that we may rise
to new life like you.
Pray that we may fulfill your prayers
for us in words and in deeds.
Amen.

Imitating Jesus, our Eternal Priest

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday after Pentecost, Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest, 09 June 2022
Hebrew 10:11-18 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> John 17:1-2, 9, 14-16

In a world becoming so callous and impersonal with one another despite the fresh lessons of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, our recent celebrations this week after Pentecost are so well-timed for us to recover our lost “loving feeling” and attitude with one another.

Monday after Pentecost we had the Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church to remind us of imitating the beloved disciple in “taking care” the Church signified by Mary as well as the women sent to us by God like our own mother, your wife, our sisters and aunts.

Today, Thursday after the Pentecost, we celebrate the Feast of “Jesus Christ, Our Eternal High Priest” established in 1987 by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments to have Jesus as our model as believers and most especially for us priests who act in his person (in persona Christi) in the celebration of the sacraments.

You must have seen that viral video picked up by the news this week of the traffic enforcer bumped and later “intentionally ran over” by an SUV in a busy street corner in Mandaluyong. The video was so disturbing not only because it was so graphic but most of all, the inhumanity and utter lack of respect and mercy by the driver of the SUV who went into hiding after the incident.

Napaka-walang puso (so heartless)!

Our Feast today invites us to become like Jesus Christ, to imitate him in his gentleness and mercy, kindness and love. And the Feast itself shows us it is already in us, the ability to be like Jesus because he is our perfect mediator with God, our Eternal High Priest who became like us so that we become like him.

*Photo from flickr.com, 7th-century mosaic from the church of Sant’Apollionare in Classe, near Ravenna, Italy.*

This truth is found in the beautiful reflection by the author of the Letter to the Hebrews on the priesthood of Jesus as compared to the Old Testament priesthood at the temple of Jerusalem. For the author of this letter, Jesus is the the one heralded by the high priest Melchizedek mysteriously encountered by Abraham in Genesis out of nowhere. Nothing is mentioned of his origins or his whereabouts after meeting Abraham briefly; hence, Melchizedek is regarded as the type of Christ in the New Testament, “a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb.7:17).

Unlike the priesthood of the Old Testament was temporary and imperfect, Christ the Eternal Priest is perfect because he is truly human and truly divine (Heb. 2:17) who intercedes for us with the Father in heaven not just in a temple or sanctuary made by human hands, “able to save those who approach God through him, since he lives forever to make intercessions for them” (Heb.7:25).

Recall how we reflected two Sundays ago that Jesus did not ascend somewhere in the universe up in the heavens but actually entered into a higher level of relationships with us his disciples, making his Ascension more as relational than spatial in nature. In Jesus Christ, we have been one with God and with each other which is being stressed by this Feast of Jesus as our Eternal Priest.

But, what have happened to us lately? Have we forgotten the value of one another and of God and Jesus that the early days of the pandemic’s lockdown had wisely taught us? Where is our compassion and kindness to one another like that of Jesus especially to the poor and elderly, the sick and those others marginalized in our society?

Jesus as our Eternal Priest, so human like us who had gone hungry and thirsty, weakened and abandoned by friends, mocked and jeered by enemies who eventually died for us is the perfect model we must imitate and whom we can become because as priest, he had shared us his divinity. This he showed us not only in his dying on the Cross but even before that happened, he prayed for us.

Imagine, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and our Savior, praying for us. Like the “Our Father” he had taught us, his high priestly prayer for his disciples that included us today must be so powerful, one that is surely heard and fulfilled by the Father.

It was my mother who first taught me how to pray personally to God when I was about four or five years old. Every night before she would tucked me in bed, she would ask me to repeat after her by praying for everyone in the family including our relatives and friends by mentioning their names – one by one! As I child, there were times I did not like it especially when I felt so sleepy because it was so long. Later in life, I realized the beauty and value of praying for others by specifically mentioning their names as it gives us a personal link with one another. And that was how I realized as a priest that praying for other people by mentioning their names is as close as doing the simplest kind of deed to anyone that is so personal and so touching too!

*Photo by author, Chapel of the Most Holy Rosary, SM Grand Central, Caloocan City, 19 May 2022.*

That is what Jesus Christ our Lord and Eternal Priest did for us at the Last Supper when he specifically prayed not only for his apostles but also for us all who would believe them in their teachings (Jn.17:20). In this prayer, Jesus repeatedly mentioned our consecration or sanctification to the Father, of being made holy, of belonging exclusively to God, not to the world.

When Jesus had said this, he raised his eyes to heaven and said this, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him… I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one.”
John 17:1-2, 14-15

One thing we can be sure of is the sincerity of Jesus in praying this for us as well as its fulfillment. We have always been taken cared of and provided with our needs. Today on this Feast, we pray that we do our share, our part in fulfilling that prayer of Jesus by becoming like him, of being in the world but not of the world.

Most special prayer we must pray also on this day is for us your priests, that we may lead lives worthy as priests like Jesus Christ, priests not for ourselves but for others in our life of prayer and witnessing. And like Jesus, that we priests may keep in mind that aspect of victimhood, of offering our very lives, our very selves for the sanctification of others. May we not mislead and drive the Lord’s flock away from him but instead truly remain a mediator, a bridge to God and to one another. Amen.