Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the Sixth Week of Easter, 27 May 2025 Acts 16:22-34 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> John 16:5-11
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2025.
Let me begin this prayer Lord Jesus with the call of St. Paul to their jailer, "Do no harm to yourself; we are all here" following the many sad news of people harming themselves and others because of so much pains and sufferings.
The crowd in Philippi joined in the attack on Paul and Silas… After inflicting many blows on them, they threw them into prison and instructed the jailer to guard them securely. About midnight… there was suddenly such a severe earthquake… When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted out in a loud voice, “Do no harm to yourself; we are all here” (Acts 16:22, 23, 25, 26, 27-28).
These are the words most precious these days, Lord: "Do no harm to yourself."
Do no harm to yourself even if you have failed for you are more precious than grades and achievements.
Do no harm to yourself despite the pains and hurts there must be a better way to stop the beatings.
Do no harm to yourself because we are here... but, alas, Lord! We can only cry those words after they have harmed themselves and others. Worst, we call only those words "Do no harm to yourself" when they are gone.
Forgive us, Jesus for being far from those in pain and sufferings, for being insensitive to those crying in silence, for being indifferent to the realities of mental health and total well-being of everyone.
Give us a chance, Jesus to be like Paul and Silas of saving one life from doing no harm to one's self by first being sensitive to your presence in prayers because the more we pray, the more we become sensitive of you and of others. Amen.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2025.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 26 May 2025
Photo by author, Northern Blossoms Farm, Atok, Benguet, 26 December 2024.
Human love is imperfect; only God can love us perfectly.
Many times we get disappointed with our loved ones for not loving us enough or not loving us at all when in fact, they do love us! They come in different forms like strict parents or teachers, an OFW who has to leave his/her loved ones behind for better earnings so the children can go to good schools or an eager-beaver colleague who sometimes gets to our nerves for the things he/she does for us not to irritate us but to help us actually. And yes, parents who give away their children in the belief they can have a better future if they grow up not with them.
We all want to love perfectly or be loved perfectly but that is not possible because we humans are not perfect. We err, miscalculate situations and misjudge persons. Many times, we do not understand nor comprehend situations for we cannot know everything right away nor at all.
The good news is, the more we realize the imperfections of our love, that is when we are perfected, when we become better persons, when we actually become more loving with others by being patient and understanding, kind and forgiving. Our efforts to love though imperfect shall perfect us.
Photo by author, Northern Blossoms Farm, Atok, Benguet, 26 December 2024.
It is in our imperfect love we also learn how to sacrifice and let go because we love. The beloved disciple of Jesus wrote that “No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us(1 John 4:12). Every time we are bothered, when we feel guilty of not loving much or not being loved, chill. Be patient. And wait for everything to clear up. There must have been a breakdown in communication or too much presumptions on anyone’s part. Be open. Most of all, even if you felt not loved or no one loves, keep loving. For as long as we love, we grow. We mature.
Love, love, love!
It is the most potent force in the universe. We came into being because of love. We live to love. For as long as there is love, we shall not perish.
Stop loving, then we die.
Photo by author, Sakura Farm, Atok, Benguet, 26 December 2024.
When we do not love, that is when we perish because we no longer hope and believe in anyone nor anything. That is the end.
St. Paul said it perfectly, “So faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13). After we have died, only love remains in heaven: we do not need faith nor hope because love is everything we believe and hope. Even those we leave behind will just keep on loving that life will continue until we all come together in eternity. Still loving.
Hence, love cannot be defined. Love is infinite and can only be described. And though it is imperfect in human terms, our expressions of love has no limits. That is why, “tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all” (Lord Alfred Tennyson in 1849). Bow. To love.
Photo by author, Angels’ Hills Retreat and Spirituality Center, Tagaytay City, 18 April 2025.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Sixth Week of Easter, 26 May 2025 Acts 16:11-15 <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> John 15:26-16:4
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2025.
Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning” (John 15:26-27).
Thank you, dear Jesus in sending us the Holy Spirit as our Advocate who empowers us to speak also of the truth he tells us; most of all, to abide with you and your gospel truth.
Remind us, Lord Jesus that being an advocate for you, witnessing your gospel need not be dramatic at all like that chance meeting of Paul with some women at a river in Philippi where he spoke about you and your good news of salvation; forgive us, Jesus when in this age of instant and widespread communications, we balk and even feel ashamed of speaking about you and your teachings, even ashamed of proudly making the sign of the Cross.
Forgive us, Jesus when we are inhibited for many reasons from speaking about our faith in you, when even the powers of the Advocate we doubt.
Give us a joyful heart like that of St. Philip Neri always opened to your loving presence most especially in prayerful moments in you. Amen.
Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 25 May 2025
Photo by author, Angels’ Hills Retreat and Spirituality Center, Tagaytay City, 18 April 2025.
We shift this Sunday into jazz with Earl Klugh’s sophisticated Living Inside Your Love to slow cool down our simmering summer and to feel more the meaning of the Mass readings today as we enter the penultimate week of Easter.
We were already in our early teens when we discovered Earl Klugh along with other jazz greats with the opening of the country’s first and only jazz radio station 101.9 WK-FM in the late 70’s. Maybe it was part of growing up when we experimented on a lot of things for more adventures that I found myself venturing into jazz from rock and pop music, switching from RJ to RT and then WK.
For me, Earl Klugh was the jazz version of rock’s Eric Clapton or Carlos Santana. Klugh has that certain touch or pluck in his guitar that can make you be in love, not necessarily be in love with anyone. It is a nakaka-in love ma-in love na feeling! That is why we remembered his Living Inside Your Love piece from his second studio album released in 1976 by the legendary Blue Note Records and Liberty Records produced by another jazz great, Dave Grusin.
Actually, we just realized today Living Inside sounds like a prelude to the turn of the century’s new age music where Klugh’s masterful playing of the guitar taking the centerstage of a great symphony backed up with cool vocals repeating just a few lines and stanzas of simple verses over and over that is similar with the vision of John in this Sunday’s second reading from the Book of Revelation when he saw and experienced the “new heaven, new earth” in the great luminous light of God who is himself the temple in the city (https://lordmychef.com/2025/05/24/easter-is-god-dwelling-in-us/). See how Klugh inserted the vocals into his great guitar music enhanced by a symphony like John’s vision of heaven:
Can't get over the feeling Living inside your love I never want to lose the feeling Living inside your love
Baby, you made my life so free Living inside your love You're just where I want to be Living inside your love
Baby, you made my life so free Living inside your love You're just where I want to be Living inside your love
Very interesting with his wonderful guitar music, Klugh’s lyrics – though sparse and repetitive – were loaded in meaning. Consider the line “living inside your love” which is exactly what Jesus said at the Last Supper, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (John 14:23).
“Living inside one’s love” is what we call as “Divine indwelling”, that is, our home is in God – and with any one we love!
Moreover, consider also Klugh’s first line in his next stanza, “Baby, you made my life so free/ Living inside your love/ You’re where I want to be/ Living inside your love.”
When we love, we enter a relationship that becomes our dwelling, our home where we become free – free to love more, free to be faithful. When we truly love like Christ, the more we find ourselves more free to love, more free in everything because being free is choosing always what is good. We believe that more than a stroke of genius, it was also a kind of divine inspiration about true love that made Klugh at put at the end of this 1976 classic the longer stanza that actually repeated inn order to stress the truth of his first two stanzas.
Can't get over the feeling Living inside your love I never want to lose the feeling Living inside your love Can't get over the feeling Living inside your love I never want to lose the feeling Living inside your love I can't get over the feeling Living inside your love I never want to lose the feeling Living inside your love I can't get over the feeling Living inside your love
Here is Earl Klugh’s lovely Living Inside Your Love. Have a lovely Sunday and week ahead.
Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Sixth Sunday in Easter, Cycle C, 25 May 2025 Acts 15:1-2, 22-29 ><}}}}*> Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23 ><}}}}*> John 14:23-29
Photo by author, Chapel of the Angel of Peace, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 28 March 2025.
Let us start again our Sunday reflection from the Book of Revelation where we heard last week John mentioning the word “new” four times when he saw “new heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem” coming with a voice of the Lord declaring “I make all things new” (Revelation 21:1, 2, 5).
In continuing his narration this Sunday of his visions while imprisoned in Patmos, John tells us how he not merely “saw” but also “experienced” heaven when he wrote:
The Angel took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal… I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb (Revelation 21:10-11, 22).
I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb.
Try imagining John’s experience of heaven, almost indescribable for its beauty and majesty as the very presence of God when he specified “there is no temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb.”
John reminds us again this Sunday that though these new heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem are the things to come at the end of time, these are already happening right now in our midst. His description of heaven like jasper and other precious stones indicate not only the incomparable beauty of heaven but the very truth that our home is in God. Thus, an invitation too for us today to live in the light of God for he dwells among us in Christ.
This “divine indwelling” has always been a part of our Catholic doctrine.
Photo by author, Cabo da Roca, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 14 May 2025.
Recall how in the Old Testament during the chosen people’s wandering in the desert when God dwelled among them in a tent or booth called sukkoth where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. God’s presence was marked by a pillar of smoke over the tent at daytime and a pillar of fire at night. From this came their Feast of the Booths being the dwelling of God; hence, at the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor, Peter told the Lord how they would build booths for him, Moses and Elijah as he felt they were already in heaven!
Booth or tent or temple. Or church.
These indicate the presence of God now manifest in Jesus Christ, “the word who became flesh and dwelled among us.” That is why these past three Sundays of Easter we returned to his words spoken at the Last Supper to deepen our understanding and appreciation of Easter that teaches us about our relationship in God expressed with one another.
Two Sundays ago Jesus identified himself as the Good Shepherd who knows his sheep, us; then, last Sunday he gave us his “new commandment” of love that is rooted in God, a love that leads to our communion or oneness with God like Jesus and the Father. This Sunday, Jesus deepens that relationship we all have in him in the Father which perfectly matches the vision and experience of John found in the Book of Revelation.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (John 14:23).
Photo by author, Cabo da Roca, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 15 May 2025.
This “dwelling” of Jesus and the Father among those who love him and keep his word is the Church, his Body which we his disciples make up.
In instructing his disciples at the Last Supper that included us today to keep his word and commandment to love, Jesus taught how this love is manifested in the Church, his Body, the indwelling of God in Jesus Christ with us his people.
Recall when the curtain in the temple was torn apart from top to bottom at his death on Good Friday that signaled the end of temple worship when people will worship in truth and in spirit as Jesus had spoken to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well.
When Pope Leo XIV was elected two weeks ago, one of the news that have struck me was about the presence of non-Catholics at St. Peter’s Square celebrating on that day. According to the news, the non-Catholics joined the crowds because they never felt such kind of unity where people were one in praising God, celebrating his loving presence in gifting the world – not just Catholics – with a Pope as the Vicar of Christ.
What a beautiful reality we now have of God’s dwelling among us as the Church!
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2025.
From the Hebrew concept of qahal or congregation, Jesus linked love and his dwelling with his disciples in forming a community as his Body, the new Temple he had told he would raise in three days we now call the church which in Greek is called ekklesia that literally means to lead out “ek” the people, “kaleo”. Loving and dwelling of God among us is the reality of the Church as a community of believers called to lead others out of darkness into light, out of emptiness into fullness, out of death into life in Jesus Christ – exactly what the early Church did in our first reading today when they agreed not to impose burdens on gentile converts like circumcision and other Jewish traditions.
The Church herself is a Sacrament, a visible sign of Jesus Christ’s saving presence along with the other seven sacraments we have. The challenge is how these sacraments become dynamic ways of living for us, truly a Divine indwelling and not just signs we go through.
Every Sunday in the Mass, we renew our baptismal vows as children of God, expressing our love for each other as a community, visibly the dwelling of God, making the new heaven, the new earth and the new Jerusalem not just a vision but a reality happening now. Let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, dwell in us, dwell among us by making us follow your light not the artificial lights of the world; let us keep your word by loving more like you for where there is love, there is God dwelling in us because he is love himself. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 23 May 2025 Acts 15:22-31 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> John 15:12-17
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2025.
Thank you, dear Jesus in choosing me and making me your friend; let me be a friend to others too like you.
You said it so well, Lord, "You are my friends if you do what I command you" - which is to love! Furthermore, you told us, "I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing" (John 15:14) but, how sad that we do the opposite: we do not truly love one another like you, taking each one as a friend; worst, we make others like slaves especially if they are not like us in color and status, belief and gender.
Teach us, dear Jesus, to imitate Judas called Barsabbas and Silas along with Paul and Barnabas sent to the Christians in Antioch to deliver the letter of the Apostles and presbyters regarding the issues of circumcision and other Jewish practices some wanted the Gentile converts to undertake; how lovely that as the faith spread far and wide reaching many people, the Apostles and the presbyters decided not to burden the brothers with Jewish customs and practices; here we find love in action, friendship is in taking away the burdens of others than putting on heavier burdens on them; most of all, a true friend who loves like you Jesus is one who encourages others in your way. Amen.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2025.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-22 ng Mayo 2025
"Sunrise, fried rice
Sunset, pancet!"
ang aking laging sambit
ngunit ang aking favorite
ay sunrise
maski wala nang
fried rice kasi maaga
akong gumising;
sa mga "madrugeño"
na katulad ko (early riser
sa wikang Kastila),
mayroong kakaibang alindog
itong pagbubukang liwayway
kung saan ang liwanag ay unti-unting
sumasagitsit na kahit hindi mo
tanaw ang araw
banaag ang buhay
saan ka man lumingon
mayroong sorpresa;
kakaiba ang dapit-hapon
na palaging inaabangan
sa makukulay na tila isang palabas,
sa pagsikat ng araw
papalaoob ang landas na
tinatahak
kayat hindi lamang
ito tinitingnan kungdi
dinarama sa kalooban.
Kaunti lamang marahil ang nagpapahalaga sa pagbubukang-liwayway bukod sa mahirap gumising ng maaga, walang masyadong nakikita ngunit narito ang ganda at hiwaga ng bawat umaga: kinikilala ito katulad ng isang bagong kakilala, kinakaibigan hanggang sa hindi mo na namamalayan iyo nang nakakapalagayan at maya-maya ay dadantay ang katotohanan kayo ay kailangan nang maghiwalay; kaya rin naman mas marami ang nabibighani at nahahalina sa dapit-hapon: malinaw na sa iyo ang katuturan ng maghapon na lumipas kaya iyo na lang inaabangan paglisan ng mabuting kaibigan bago balutin ng dilim ang kapaligiran sa pagtatakip-silim.
Sunrise, Sunset hangganan ng bawat araw sa ating dumarating bagama't magkaiba sa pandama lalo na sa ating paningin nagtuturo ng katotohanan na hindi lahat nakikita ng mga mata; gayon din, naroon palagi ang dilim sa piling natin upang higit nating mahalin at laging hanapin tunay na liwanag na hindi napaparam, si Jesu-Kristo na dumating sa pinaka-madilim na gabi ng buong taon at muling nabuhay habang madilim-dilim pa nang unang araw ng sanglinggo; sa pagbubukang-liwayway at sa dapit-hapon o takip-silim man, palaging naroon ang Panginoon tinitiyak sa atin sa bawat ngayon at dito tuloy lang ang buhay!
*Mga larawan kuha sa aking iPhone16 sa Cabo da Roca, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales Mayo 14-15, 2025.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 23 May 2025 Acts 15:7-21 <*((((>< + ><))))*> John 15:9-11
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2025.
Make my joy complete, Lord Jesus, let your joy be in me (John 15:11)!
True joy comes only in union with the Father like you, dear Jesus; in a world that had shrunk into one global village due to modern technology that has spawned so many forms and kinds of connections among peoples, we are not yet filled with joy, Lord; in fact, the more we have been separated than ever because our "connections" are fleeting, empty of any love at all; true connections in you, with you Jesus lead to joy as we have seen in the experience of the early Church:
After much debate had taken place, Peter got up and said to the Apostles and the presbyters… “Why, then, are you now putting God to the test by placing on the shoulders of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they” (Acts 15:7, 10-11).
When we keep your commandments, then we remain in your love, Jesus; that's the only basis and most essential in every connection and relationship because when there is love even if in the midst of pain and suffering, there is always joy which is more than a feeling but an assurance that no matter what, there is God always on our side, loving us, blessing us as Peter explained in the Council of Jerusalem; grant us the grace to remain in your love, Jesus, to examine in what areas of our life we remain and grow in your love. Amen.
Photo by author, Chapel of the Angel of Peace, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 28 March 2025.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 21 May 2025 Acts 15:1-6 <*((((>< + ><))))*> John 15:1-8
Photo by author, Cabo da Roca Villas, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 15 May 2025.
Let me abide in you, Lord Jesus for you are the true vine and we are your branches, having life and sustenance only in you and through you; Let me remain in you like the branches of the vine so I may remain fruitful, not just successful that is based only on my efforts that are never good enough; Let me abide with you, Lord especially when no one else can truly be relied on for you alone remains unchanged in love and mercy.
Jesus said to his disciples, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit… Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me” (John 15:1-2, 4).
There are so many things in me that need to be pruned and removed especially those blocking my growth in you as a person and a disciple; so many parts of my life need your nourishing presence Lord like my temper and anxieties that make me hurt many people around me; prune me of my old vices and new ones that I have acquired that prevent me from totally giving myself to you in prayer and charity; cleanse my heart and my mind to see the other "branches" that link me to you our true vine like the Apostles and the presbyters in the early Church (Acts 15:6) by being open to meet with others and discuss the many issues that divide and separate us from each other by focusing alone in you dear Jesus. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in Fifth Week of Easter, 20 May 2025 Acts 14:19-28 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> John 14:27-31
Photo by author, Cabo da Roca Villas, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 14 May 2025.
Jesus said to his disciples, “Peace be with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27).
Come, Lord Jesus! Come and let me search peace in you, not in the world that is uncertain and always dependent, transactional in nature; you know it, Lord, how often like your disciples at the Last Supper, I look for peace in the world, in things and in what people say and approve that peace remains elusive; you know very well too, Jesus, my fears and anxieties that I give into the peace of the world that is quick and easier; give me courage, Jesus, to look for peace in you here in my heart, to trust in you, not afraid to love totally even to get hurt because it is the path to your peace.
Like Paul and Barnabas after being stoned and rejected by their fellow Jews, they never backed out from preaching your good news, Lord; instead, so true to your words at the Last Supper not to let our hearts troubled or afraid, they asserted, "It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).
Grant us, O Lord, the same faith and courage and trust in you in order to finally find your lasting peace. Amen.
Photo by author, Cabo da Roca Villas, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 14 May 2025.
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