The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Eighteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 02 August 2022
Jeremiah 30:1-2, 12-15, 18-22 ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[>< Matthew 14:22-36
Photo by Mr. Jay Javier in Taal, Batangas, 15 February 2014.
I like your words today,
God our loving Father;
they are so true, and yes,
so hurting. They are a
bull's eye or "sapul" as
we say in Filipino.
Many times, I feel so
confident with myself,
with my goodness, or
holiness; many times I
feel I am so equipped
to hurdle everything in
life; and many times, I feel
so sure I have done nothing
wrong and sinful like Peter
in the gospel who asked
Jesus to make him walk
on water.
Thus says the Lord: Incurable is your wound, grievous your bruise; there is none to plead your cause, no remedy for your running sore, no healing for you. All your lovers have forgotten you; they do not seek you. I struck you as an enemy would strike, punished you cruelly; why cry out over your wound? Your pain is without relief. Because of your great guilt, your numerous sins, I have done this to you. Thus says the Lord: See! I will restore the tents of Jacob, his dwellings I will pity; city shall be rebuilt upon hill, and palace restored as it was.
Jeremiah 30:1-2, 12-15, 18
Give me courage, O Lord,
to look inside myself and
confront my true self;
build me up anew, Lord,
as your people and you
our God.
Forgive us, O God,
for the many times we
have misread your coming
in Jesus Christ as like a ghost
in the dark sea; so many times
we are so sure of our swimming
skills like Peter, confident we
would not drown, unaware
of the strong winds that can beat
and pummel us into pieces.
When overconfidence
drown us, let us shout like
the disciples in the boat,
"Truly, you are the Son of
God, Lord Jesus!"
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Alphonsus Ligouri, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, 01 August 2022
Jeremiah 28:1-17 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 14:13-21
Photo by Mr. Jay Javier, Acacias in UP-Diliman, QC, April 2022.
Praise and glory to you,
O God our loving Father
for this gift of the month of
August, of another 31 days
for us to be better and stronger,
firmer in faith, vibrant in hope
and unceasing in charity and love.
On this first day of August when
we celebrate the memorial of
St. Alphonsus Ligouri, patron
of moral theologians, we pray
for the grace of accepting and
embracing, owning the truth,
avoiding lies and falsehoods always.
I have heard and experienced the
veracity of the expression "truth hurts" -
so true and so painful indeed!
Let me not be like Hananiah who
prophesied in the name of the Lord
falsely in today's first reading,
sugarcoating the true situation of
the Israelites held bondage in Babylonia
for its wickedness; instead of telling them
the painful truth of their exile, Hananiah
lied and spoke of "good news", of deliverance
from Nebuchadnezzar and a return of
the stolen vessels of the Lord's temple.
Give me the courage to tell the painful
truth, to stand by it always even if it is
unpopular like your prophet Jeremiah
who spoke of your truth during the
Babylonian Captivity: of the need to
reform their lives and ways, to atone for
their sins and go back to you, O God;
let me keep in mind, dear Jesus, that
a good news is only good when it is
difficult, uncomfortable, and disturbing
like the feeding of the vast crowd in the
wilderness; a good news is not good at all
when there is no Cross.
Remove me, O Lord,
from the way of falsehood
and favor me with your law;
take not the word of truth
from my mouth, for in your
ordinances is my hope (Ps.119:
29, 43). Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 31 July 2022
Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21-23 ><}}}*> Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11 ><}}}*> Luke 12:13-21
My former parish, photo by Mr. Gelo Nicolas Carpio, January 2020.
Last Friday I officiated at the funeral Mass of a younger first cousin; a week earlier, I had anointed him with Oil for the Sick with general absolution of his sins, commending him to God as he was afflicted with a rare disease that attacks the autoimmune system.
It is one of the difficult part in our lives as priests, when sickness and death come closest at home considering that fact that I officiated his wedding about 20 years ago and baptized his eldest son now grown up. That is why our readings today are so timely for me because my cousin Gilbert was only 49 when he died, being the most silent and “goodest” of my cousins who never got into any trouble nor any sickness while we were growing up together in Bocaue, Bulacan. How I felt like Qoheleth, saying….
Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity. Here is one who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill and yet another, who has not labored over it, must leave the property. This is also vanity and a great misfortune.
Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21
Photo by author, Pangasinan, April 2022.
Qoheleth is what the author calls himself which is not a proper name but a function of a speaker or a preacher to an assembly which is in Latin ecclesia; hence, it is called the Book of Ecclesiastes.
Despite the tone of his message of “vanity of vanities”, the author is not a “kill joy” or KJ who is provoking a culture of pessimism; in fact, he is trying to search for what truly lasts, for the Absolute good who is God. We have seen how in literature and music that poems and songs of despair are often the most beautiful because the anguish we feel can paradoxically be expressions of our burning desire for something, someone more permanent, more lasting and unchanging – who else and nothing else but God who is not vanity!
If we try to own every line of Qoheleth and reflect deeply on it, we somehow feel a strong similarity with our own cries of despair in life when nothing matters anymore especially with the lost of a loved one, or something so precious that deep inside us we felt with certitude that only God could fill that void.
Yes, all is vanity if we are cut off from God, when all our efforts and our very lives are separated from him because he alone is the Reason. Everything, everyone is meaningful because of God. That is why in the second reading, St. Paul is asking us to “seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (Col.3:1).
In this world where everything is measured in popularity, in being viral or trending that are all vanities because of their temporariness, so many have fallen into the trap of empty promises of modern lifestyles. See how despite the affluence we now enjoy, we have become more empty in life, more alienated from each other even from one’s self, lacking in meaning and depth in life and existence. Sometimes, results can be fatal when people realize what they have been seeing and hearing in media are not at all true and so far from reality that death becomes an escape than a direction that leads us to the Absolutely Perfect, God and eternal life.
Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell. my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” Then he told them a parable.
Luke 12:13-16
Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2020.
Like Qoheleth, here we find Jesus acting like a “kill-joy” to the man requesting his help to have his share of the inheritance. His responses seems so abrupt and worst of all, very cold! But, it was not really addressed to the man asking the Lord’s intervention. Notice how Luke tells us Jesus addressing the man as “friend” before turning to the “crowd”.
Jesus is still on his way to Jerusalem and saw another opportunity today to teach the people – the crowd – not just the man asking his help of something of high importance in this life which is of being “rich in what matters to God” (Lk.12:21).
Jesus is just and fair, so loving and merciful, very mindful of our needs; however, in the light of the previous gospel scenes we have reflected, we find that Jesus concerns himself only in what matters to God. He does care about our bodily and material needs that he assures us to not worry so much about these because God will never forsake us.
Jesus had come not to be our judge and arbiter on matters about our material and worldly concerns like getting rich and famous and other vanities in life; Jesus came to teach us about what matters to God like love and mercy, kindness and care, justice and freedom. Jesus came to teach us ways of how we may inherit eternal life!
We do not have to spell out and enumerate one by one these things that matters to God of which Jesus is most concerned with; eventually, as we journey with him in life, as we carry our cross, we realize slowly in life these things that matter to God are for sure not material possessions, most often things that matter after death.
That is the grace we find ironically in every death – when somebody dies, we realize deep inside what truly matters to God. As they say, death is the best equalizer in life. And best teacher.
Last week we have the beautiful series of readings from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, teeming with life and assurances of love and protection from God. We see how the loving hands of God are like of the potter who molds us into fine earthen vessels of his majesty and glory.
Photo by author, March 2019.
Sometimes we sink into so much self-pity when things are not turning out according to our plans in life, forgetting how God loves us so much, of how he uses even the most tragic and painful events in our lives for our own good because he believes in us.
Yes. God believes in you! Everything is vanity without him, without you!
Would you rather spend everything just for a piece of land or some money or level of fame than living in peace, the greatest gift we can all have in life? That is the whole point of God in telling Jeremiah about being a clay in the potter’s hand – many times in our lives we have to be crushed and mashed, even reduced to being grounded for us to emerge finer and refined, better and more beautiful than before.
Recall those trying days of the past when you chose to bear it all, to be silent and patient. Maybe for a while or a few moments our opponents seemed to have won, or have the upper hand but in the long run, we find we are more fruitful, we are more peaceful because everything and everyone has become meaningful in God. That is because we love.
Of all that things that matter with God that we should be rich is love. Love, love, love. As the Beatles said, all you need is love! True. Sometimes it could be foolish to love, to let go of things and insults and pains and hurts.
But, God is greater than our hearts (1 Jn.3:20) and can never be outdone in generosity.
The more we love, the more we are given with more love. That is when we become truly rich in what matters to God. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of Sts. Mary, Martha, & Lazarus, 29 July 2022
Jeremiah 26:1-9 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> John 11:19-27
An icon of Jesus visiting his friends, the siblings Sts. Lazarus, Mary and Martha. Photo from crossroadsinitiative.com.
Glory and praise to you,
O Lord Jesus Christ who
had come to us not just a
family but most especially
as a friend you have stressed
during the Last Supper
(cf. Jn.15:14-15).
And even before that evening
of Holy Thursday came, you have
been a friend to the siblings
Mary, Martha and Lazarus so
dear to you, visiting them often,
sharing not only in their meals but
in their lives and death, joys and
pains; what a beautiful imagery
not only of friendship but of the
neglected ties that bind brothers
and sisters in this time when
family is being destroyed
by new emerging thoughts
and ways of life.
In this time of the pandemic
you know how, dear Jesus,
we have finally come together
as families free from all excuses
of work and studies, of being far and away;
but sadly, many have ignored and missed
the opportunities to bond together
and mend many gaps long festering
among siblings; instead of fighting and
rivalries, may brothers and sisters
in every family emulate the love and
respect among Saints Martha, Lazarus and Mary.
We pray for all siblings to gather anew
as one family in prayers before you, Lord,
like Saints Martha, Lazarus and Mary;
help them create a space anew for God in our
lives, the surest bond among us despite
our many differences as we open our ears
and hearts like St. Mary to your words,
to heed and fulfill them unlike the people
of Judah who cursed your prophet Jeremiah
when he spoke to them
of the truth.
“The Raising of Lazarus”, 1311 painting by Duccio de Buoninsegna from commons.wikimedia.org
Most of all, give us the grace
to be the presence of Jesus Christ
when our siblings are sick and burdened
with all kinds of sufferings and miseries
like Martha and Mary present to each other
awaiting Christ’s coming after Lazarus had died:
Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died." Jesus told her,
"I am the resurrection and the life; whoever
believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
and everyone who lives and believes in me
will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:21, 25-26)
Like St. Martha, and most likely
her siblings, too, St. Lazarus
and St. Mary who may not have
understood fully your words and teachings,
keep us open to your coming,
to your visits, sweet Jesus;
make our hearts like theirs
filled with warmth and hospitality
to let you stay and reign inside us;
most of all, like the three holy siblings
let us share with others the gift of kindness,
of being a kin to everyone in you, with you. Amen.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 28 July 2022
Photo by author, 2018.
Dear friends: Since Monday I have felt in my prayers God leading me to reflect on his “gracious hands” taking care of us, handling us with care like St. James the Greater in Monday and the prophet Jeremiah beautifully expressing today God with a potter’s hand molding us into great “earthen vessels” of his majesty and mystery according to St. Paul (https://lordmychef.com/2022/07/28/we-are-in-gods-good-hands-always/).
Early today I went to visit a patient with “high myopia” who underwent a surgery for a “clear lens extraction” of her right eye. From what I have gathered, she never finished school and could not find a job because she could not read nor even walk straight as she would hit objects and people despite her glasses of 1000 grade!
After celebrating Mass this morning, I rushed to the Fatima University Medical Center in Valenzuela to visit her after her operation. Though I totally do not know her as she was only referred to me, I immediately felt her deep joy within as she told her doctor how she could see everything so clearly right after surgery! You could sense her ecstasy within as she described the immense light she could finally see with her right eye. She was with her younger sister and I felt both young ladies controlling their joys from bursting to avoid making a scene outside the OR.
And so, to complete their joys, I led a simple prayer session right there outside the OR and this is what the Lord put on my lips:
Praise and glory to you,
God our loving Father for the
gift of life, for the gift of sight!
Lord Jesus Christ, you have
healed so many blind people
recorded in the gospels like
Bartimaeus; we pray for Eden
and others with eye problems;
restore their sight not only to see
the beauty of the world but most
especially to see your kindness and
majesty among people!
Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ
for the gift of doctors,
of ophthalmologists whose
hands you use to touch and
heal the blind and those
with ailments in their eyes;
bless them always,
keep them safe and their
loved ones as you
fulfill their dreams.
Amen.
Healing of Batimaeus, from Pinterest.com.
I have said in my previous blogs these past three weeks how I have noticed many among us going through a lot of storms in life these days, of getting sick and diagnosed especially with the big “C” with some in advanced stages; others having family problems; and most especially, coping with death in the family.
Amid all their cries of pains and hurts, feelings of rejection and being left out, even forgotten by God, I remember the French poet Charles Peguy who said that hope is God’s most favorite virtue because it “surprises him.”
Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte, Atok, Benguet, September 2019.
Hope indeed is very surprising not only to God but even to us.
To hope is like remaining seated at the movies after the show, still waiting for a loud roar or a teaser for the sequel. Even if you know it is the end of the show, the end of the line, you still believe and hope something beautiful would come because you are so sure that the one we hope in – God – is Life itself. Life just goes on and eventually, if not here, in the afterlife, there we shall have the fullness of life.
For the moment, let us be still and be calm, remaining in God, like a clay in the potter’s hand as he molds us into someone better.
It is said that sometimes, the hands of God would pat us on our shoulders or caress our backs but, sometimes would “beat” us too that cause many pains.
Just remember, whether we are caressed or beaten in life, these are all from the gracious hands of God that make us see later the beauty of all those darkness and sufferings we go through. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time, 28 July 2022
Jeremiah 18:1-6 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 13:47-53
Photo by author, St. Anne Church, Jerusalem, May 2017.
Bless me today,
loving God our Father;
help me to be still,
to be silent, and be like
a clay in your hands.
Do whatever you want
with me for I have offered you
myself long ago though like
your prophet Jeremiah, there
were times I have whined and
complained, or worst even indulged
in self-pity when I felt you
have left me or forgotten me
when things get rough and tough
with me.
Thank you, loving Father
for what and who I am today -
these are all because you have
molded me like a clay in the potter's
hand: so many times I have to be
mashed over and over again,
remodeled, redesigned, reconstructed
until your desired image appears;
truly, all we can do is to propose but
ultimately, it is you, O God, who disposes.
Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Can I not do to you, house of Israel, as this potter has done?” says the Lord. “Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.”
Jeremiah 18:5-6
When I look back to those difficult
and even painful days of molding,
everything was pure grace from you
and your loving hands: nothing was
wasted because I have become a better
person, I have learned to blend what is
new and what is old.
And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”
Matthew 13:52
In the name of Jesus
your Son, keep me strong,
fill me with courage to forge on
with life's many trials as you
mold me into your beautiful
masterpiece, an "earthen vessel"
of your glory and mystery.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time, 27 July 2022
Jeremiah 15:10, 16-21 ><)))*> + ><)))*> + ><)))*> Matthew 13:44-46
Photo by author, Ubihan Island, Meycauayan City, Bulacan, 31 December 2021.
July is about to end,
God our Father,
and while we are surprised
at how fast time flies,
our litanies of complaints
and self-pities drag us down,
afraid of moving on with our
mission like your prophet
Jeremiah in the first reading.
Forgive us, dear God,
for always forgetting that
fulfilling your mission means
rejection and persecution for us
even from those people we serve,
from those supposed to be closest to
us and understand us; remind us,
O Lord like your prophet Jeremiah that
despite your protection and strength,
we cannot expect to be loved in return
by everyone.
And so, let us stop all our self-pity
and just keep on with our mission
as you told Jeremiah today.
May we keep in mind that what we
seek in this life is your kingdom,
your will and not the adulation and
praises of people.
Amen.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 26 July 2022
My dad at his office, Bureau of Forestry (now Forest Development), 1972 in his typical shirt-jacket, wearing his wedding ring.
Today is supposed to be a day for grandparents being the Memorial of St. Joachim and St. Anna, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary – therefore, the lolo and lola of Jesus Christ. When my father Wilfredo was still alive, he would always tell as that if he had been a girl, he would have surely been named Anna because in 1932, it was only St. Anne who was celebrated with a feast in the Church.
Now you know, today is my dad’s 90th birthday but now that he is in heaven, I am sure they are no longer celebrating any birthdays at all for they are in eternity, forever happy and joyful, no more sufferings and pain.
According to my mom, my dad’s first crush was Dorothy Jones or Nida Blanca, his classmate at Adamson High School; he would just smile when we would ask him it it were true as we look at his annual that was lost to flood.
It is us who are left behind who celebrate their birthdays here because despite the 22 years that have passed since his sudden death, the pain and emptiness have remained. That is the saddest and most difficult part in the death of a loved one: I cannot say we just get used to “it” because though he is absent, deep in my heart I could feel him present in me and with me.
Maybe that is what they call as healing – when we learn to live, find meaning in life, and most of all “mature in life” as we age hoping someday we would finally meet in eternity when we shall all be totally complete again, literally and figuratively speaking.
Lately as I age, I notice a marked change in me in remembering my dad when I see myself more in him and likewise see him more with me. Somehow, every day I have slowly realized that old age indeed is the final stage of human maturity with all of God’s bountiful blessings while it subtly reminds us of our own twilight too.
Maybe that is the reason why we mellow and become more spiritual as we get older. Our departed loved ones, especially with those we are closest with, continue to teach and guide us just like when we were kids. And stupid.
The more I look at my face every morning and see those wrinkles and lines topped with white hair, I get more convinced I look like my dad.
Anak nga ako ng tatay ko! – whatever that means.
My parents’ wedding at St. Rita Parish in Philam, QC, 26 April 1964, reception was at the Aristocrat Cubao; my mom kept the receipt but again we lost to flood.
Perhaps, like in the experience of St. Mary Magdalene, we learn to relate with our departed loved ones on a higher level, no longer physical but something spiritual and more personal.
Basta! It is difficult to explain but we move on with life, still limping and complete without them on our side yet we feel more intensely them with us at the “other side” looking at us, laughing or smiling at us, sometimes irritated or covering their face because of shame, but always loving us, believing in us.
And that is why for me, especially as a priest trying my very best to live my celibacy as faithfully as my dad had been as a husband to my mom, he has always been my inspiration in everything. In fact, he is always the one I think as my audience every time I write these blogs. Every Sunday, I imagine him one of those seated on the pew celebrating with me in our Mass, imagining how he would be bored or delighted with my homilies. And I am very sure of him, whether he liked or not my blogs and homilies, he would never tell me and just keep it to himself but would surely call his brother Arturo or sister Neneng or nieces Toots and Joji how he liked my stories and preaching.
A few years ago when I started blogging by relating a secular music with the Sunday gospel, I learned that David Gates of The Bread actually had his departed father – not his girlfriend at that time as inspiration in composing “Make It With You” in 1970.
During an interview at the peak of their success, Gates was asked of one more thing he would wish in life as they were so famous. He told the interviewer that he wished his dad were alive to experience his joys in having a successful career. And that was when he explained it was actually his father he was referring to in every line of their greatest song that was repackaged as a love song addressing it to a girl.
Hey, have you ever tried Really reaching out for the other side? I may be climbing on rainbows But baby, here goes
Dreams, they’re for those who sleep Life is for us to keep And if you’re wondering what this song is leading to I want to make it with you I really think that we could make it, girl
Like Gates, that is one thing I have always wished for since my dad passed away 22 years ago: how I wished he had heard me for 16 years having regular programs at Radio Veritas to which he had always been glued to since the time of the late Fr. Ben Carreon; how I wished he could have visited me in my own parish when I finally became a parish priest; and now, how I wish he could see our beautiful University where I am the chaplain.
It is a grace to get old most especially when you have old folks to look up to, those who have gone ahead of us to eternity as we now approach its threshold too.
Life can be short or long Love can be right or wrong And if I chose the one I’d like to help me through I’d like to make it with you I really think that we could make it, girl.
By the way, my dad died on my mom’s birthday on June 17, 2000. I always say that’s a proof of how much my dad loved my mom so much, his birth into eternal life was my mom’s birthday. But, that is easier said than done because the reality is it was doubly hard for us losing our dad on my mom’s birthday. Especially for Mommy who had never been happy in life. And that fact makes his death more painful and even difficult for us.
My father loved my mother so much. Since childhood until I became a priest, he never ate without my mother with him at the table. He does her coffee and did all the cooking at home. Every Sunday was a feast with his pochero, chili con carne, mechado. Bulalo was our simplest fare that is why we all have gout too!
My mom and dad always together even in parties.
On the first two years since his death, I would ask him whenever I would visit his grave why did he die on mom’s birthday? Why that date when there are 364 other days?
After two years, I felt his answer: me and my mom had some LQ at that time and I did not go home for a month but I would still visit his grave when I felt him telling me, “Nick, I died on your mom’s birthday so you would also love her as I have loved her.”
And that is what I have always tried to fulfill until now. Like what the late Luther Vandross expressed in his 2003 hit “Dance With My Father”.
Sometimes I’d listen outside her door And I’d hear how my mother cried for him I pray for her even more than me I pray for her even more than me
I know I’m praying for much too much But could you send back the only man she loved? I know you don’t do it usually But dear Lord she’s dying to dance with my father again Every night I fall asleep and this is all I ever dream
My father never asked me to become a priest but it was him who unconsciously planted the seeds of my vocation when I would always see him praying before our altar before leaving for work and upon arriving home in the evening. It was from him I have learned and realized what true love is and most of all, that indeed, God is love. He loved us so much and even though it has been 22 years since he died, I can still feel his love.
How I wish his grandchildren have all met him too.
Thank you in taking time to bear with me, in listening me bare my heart out.
God bless to all the grandparents! And moms and dads too!
*We have no intentions of infringing into the copyrights of this music and its uploader except to share its beauty and listening pleasure.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Joachim and St. Anne, 26 July 2022
Sirach 44:1, 10-15 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 13:36-43
From forbes.com, 2019.
God our Father,
thank you very much in
giving us your Son Jesus Christ
not only to save and redeem us
but among so many other things,
in his becoming human, he had
also brought back the value of old
age, of the seniors among us like
Simeon and Anna who received him
during his presentation at the temple
and most of all, his very human experience
of having grandparents in St. Joachim
and St. Anne we honor today.
Forgive us Father in refusing
to see old age as the final stage of
human maturity and a sign of your
blessing because we are so concerned
only with human usefulness and
productivity (St. JP2, Letter to the
Elderly, October 1999).
These are the weeds the enemy
had planted in today's parable that
prevent us from seeing the grace
and blessings of old age that gives us
a correct perspective on life that is a
preparation for eternity, the harvest time.
Let us get close with our elderlies,
Lord Jesus, thanking them, praising them
for their many virtues especially their
wisdom of the heart that enables us
to also consider our own "twilight":
The line separating life and death runs through our communities and moves inexorably nearer to each one of us. If life is a pilgrimage towards our heavenly home, then old age is the most natural time to look towards the threshold of eternity.
St. John Paul II, Letter to the Elderly, 01 October 1999, #14
More than the indulgences
offered by Pope Francis for those
visiting the old people on this feast
of St. Joachim and St. Anne, grant us
the grace of honoring our grandparents
by welcoming them,
helping them, and
making good use of their qualities.
Amen.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 25 July 2022
Image from Pinterest.
It has been a long time since I have truly enjoyed a movie in Netflix that seems to me not only in big trouble with its decreasing number of subscribers but mostly to lack of any good offering lately. Not even their documentaries are exceptional anymore. In fact, I have been trying to finish out of charity and old time’s sake since May the new season of “Stranger Things” that has become so strangely uninteresting even with its music selection.
Yesterday was a very exhausting Sunday with so many patients to visit and anoint in our hospital that after a much delayed lunch, I tried treating myself with a good dose of action with its new release “The Gray Man”.
But, I was totally wrong.
Photo from imdb.com.
It has a great stellar cast led by Ryan Gosling but sad to say, sayang (what a waste in Filipino).
It started great but quickly became so boring. It is like being misled into a new roller coaster in town but it turned out it is just a caterpillar ride that you just tell your self, “what the heck… let us just try to enjoy the stupid ride.” Again, because it is sayang.
Action movies are meant to excite us but “The Gray Man” has a lot of grey areas that are not only confusing but actually distracting and detracting from whatever plot it has which is the usual story of some CIA big shots out to terminate a morally upright agent (Gosling) who had uncovered their dark and evil operations worldwide.
And the main culprit is perhaps is its long duration of two hours, bringing you to different cities around the world that it looked like a travel show. Hence, the problem with its pacing wherein when actions begin exploding, they would abruptly stop and shift somewhere else with new twists. As I have told you, it is like taking a caterpillar ride which you thought was a roller-coaster.
Worst of all, the ending was not good enough to even motivate viewers to make wild guesses on what could have possibly happened to the bad guys. Of course, it left so much room for a sequel but after seeing this initial installment based on Mark Greaney’s novel, it is doubtful if anyone would really care to wait for its sequel.
The microchip everybody wanted to have was simply pulverized — and, oh! how crudely and primitively it was done by the evil CIA official who prides himself in the movie as a graduate of Harvard that you now begin to suspect anyone can easily brag being an alumnus of any Ivy League school or even Oxford like our own president without any bearings at all of a genius or an erudite.
There are, however, two saving factors in “The Gray Man”.
First is the parting line by the Tamil assassin who surrendered the microchip embedded in a pendant to the agent helping Gosling because the CIA bosses were “not honorable people” partly because they hurt women. There are some notable scenes women are highly extolled and for that, the movie is exceptional for me. One of the few instances in Hollywood where women are explicitly mentioned as persons to be respected and cared for.
Secondly, I think Gosling could be another Bruce Willis with his physique and acting abilities if given with better handlers next time.
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