Genesis 19:15-29 >< }}}*> <*{{{ >< Matthew 8:23-27
Chapel of the Fr. Al Schwartz Retreat Center at Girlstown, Cavite. Photo by author, 22 May 2009.
Our dearest loving Father: Until now I am still dwelling in our reflection yesterday of prayer as you entering into a dialogue with us.
Prayer is your very presence, O God. And the problem is not only we have refused to pray to be in your presence but worst of all, when those of us who pray so often, those of us so religious always “present” with you doubt and refuse to believe that you are present.
We are always guilty of this feeling when the presence of another person is still not enough for us. We keep on looking for proofs and others things to believe of their love and care, of everything despite their being present with us.
How unfortunate when your very presence – or anyone’s – be never enough for us!
When we fail or refuse to see and experience your presence, Lord, nothing would be enough to convince us about you being present.
In the first reading, Lot at the start was very hesitant with your presence Lord despite the angels coming to rescue him and his family. He could not follow your instructions, seeming to disbelieve your very saving presence through your angels. Good thing that he eventually obeyed your angels unlike his wife who looked back to Sodom and Gomorrah perhaps more convinced with their presence than with you. And she turned into a pillar of salt.
In the gospel, the presence of your Son Jesus among the Apostles in their boat being tossed by giant waves due to a storm was not enough for them to trust in him that they have to awaken him.
Garden at the back of the chapel of the Fr. Al Schwartz Retreat Center in Girlstown, Cavite. Photo by author, 22 May 2009.
Teach us, O loving Father, to accept your good news, your grace, your very presence in our lives. Your very presence with us is more than enough, Lord.
Like Abraham when he conversed with you in Mamre until he bargained with you to spare Lot of your wrath over Sodom and Gomorrah, let us be silent and contented with your very presence.
Most of all, like Abraham, after your burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, let us see you even in the ruins of our lives, that you never failed to warn us with your presence of your abiding justice, and of your coming judgment. Amen.
Genesis 18:16-33 >< )))*> <*((( >< Matthew 8:18-22
Man loses head in prayer before God. Photo by JJ Jimeno of GMA-7 News, 27 May 2019.
Thank you very much, our dearest loving Father for the grace to pray to you always. Thank you very much in entering into a dialogue with us, Lord, when you make us feel your presence with us.
We pray because you come. Most of all, whatever we say when we pray is completely because of you!
You perfectly know well our needs long before we call on you. And that is why, even our basic prayer the Our Father were the words of your Son Jesus Christ. Our second most frequently recited prayer, the Hail Mary were the words of the Angel Gabriel you have sent to Mary and of the Holy Spirit speaking through Elizabeth during the Visitation.
Abraham also prayed to you for the just people of Sodom and Gomorrah because you made the first move of coming to visit him at Mamre. You were the first to make the move to enter into a dialogue with him.
And this is what makes prayer so wonderful and beautiful: you always reveal yourself to us as well as your plans.
The Lord reflected: “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, now that he is to become a great and populous nation, and all the nations of the earth are to find blessing in him? Indeed, I have singled him out that he may direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord may carry into effect for Abraham the promises he made about him.”
Genesis 18:17-19
Like Abraham, teach us to listen to your words, O Lord, that we may perceive your Divine Will so that eventually we may find the best possible way to respond to you and your words.
Abraham interceded for the remaining just people of Sodom and Gomorrah which you eventually destroyed but after giving a chance for Lot and his family to flee to safety.
Abraham’s example shows us that in our dialogue with you in prayer, O God, any one of us can turn to you as toward a friend of whom we can ask anything, toward a father whose love and complete generosity is so well known.
Teach us to be hospitable like Abraham, always open to welcome you into ourselves especially Jesus Christ “the Son of Man who has nowhere to rest his head” (Mt.8:20).
Our almighty Father, help us find in prayer the place where we discern good and evil, where we become aware of what you ask of us and most of all, what we await from you our dearest God. Amen.
Walking back to 300 BC on the streets leading to ancient city of Petra in Jordan. Photo by author, 30 April 2019.
It’s a lazy, rainy Sunday.
And today’s gospel speaks of Jesus “resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem” to face his death in fulfillment of his mission from the Father for our salvation.
Jesus is inviting us today to see death in his perspective as something beautiful and even glorious. Coming to terms with death is coming to terms with life. The moment we start accepting the certainty and reality of death like Jesus, the more we lead authentic lives filled with love and celebrations, not with bitterness and resentment.
We are all pilgrims, aliens and sojourners here on earth whose true home is heaven. And the only way to get there is death. It is a journey we all have to take.
Pauline Wilson’s “Follow the Road” captures this so well while her lovely voice assures us of the beauty and joy in taking all the risks in following this road of life. Very interesting is the second stanza where Pauline sings of “this one road that journeys far out of sight” that seems to imply of fullness and fulfillment in God considering her Filipino roots and strong Christian grounding in faith.
Jesus followed the road to Jerusalem over 2000 years ago and conquered death with his glorious Resurrection. Let us follow him more closely each day as we follow the road of life, trusting him, loving him.
Jerusalem as seen from the Mount of Olives with a Jewish cemetery at the foreground facing its eastern wall where the Messiah is believed would pass through when he comes. It is the very route Jesus had taken more than 2000 years ago on Palm Sunday before his Passion, Death and Resurrection. Photo by author, 04 May 2019.
After all the solemnities we have celebrated since the closing of Easter Season last Pentecost Sunday, we now get into the very heart of the Ordinary Time of our liturgy with St. Luke as our guide. Feel the sobriety and hint of solemnity at the start of the second part of his gospel we have heard today which is about discipleship and facing death like Jesus.
When the days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.
Luke 9:51
I love the way St. Luke wrote this part about Jesus “resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.” In some translations, they have retained its literal equivalent from the original Greek text that says “Jesus set his face to Jerusalem”. For Jesus, Jerusalem is where he fulfills his mission from the Father by dying on the Cross. So, if we are going to be more literal with this opening sentence by St. Luke, it would be “Jesus set his face to death.”
In fact, I have been very hesitant to write about death as a topic for my homily this Sunday because Sundays are supposed to be joyful! And that is perhaps our problem with death: we always see it as something dark and negative. (Is it not?)
Today Jesus is teaching us to see death in his perspective as something beautiful and even glorious. St. Luke saw it and is now leading us in this new approach to death as he tells us the story when “Jesus resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.”
One thing that strikes me during sick visitations in my parish and in Metro Manila is how we see death as an escape or an ending. Patients and relatives alike always tell me to pray for death to end all sufferings and pains.
When “Jesus resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem,” he was not sick, physically and emotionally. He was very well and able. When he was hanging on the Cross, he did not wish death to end his pains. On the contrary, he actually faced death head on. And this is one of the very important lessons Jesus had taught and shown us: facing death, even embracing death. Recall how during his Last Supper on Holy Thursday Jesus was never caught surprised by death. He was in total control of everything.
This is the reason why Jesus accomplished so much in just three years of his ministry because he was very aware of his coming death. In coming to terms with death, Jesus lived fully even if he died at 33 years old. The same is very true with some of our saints who have died young and have accomplished so much because they have all lived to the fullest that death did not surprise them at all in their works and mission.
The “sleeping Jesus” on a bench at the entrance to Capernaum. See the wounds on his feet, markings from his crucifixion. Photo by author, 02 May 2019.
One of the new attractions at Capernaum today when you come to visit the ruins of the synagogue Jesus used to visit there during his lifetime is a park where one finds his statue sleeping on a bench at the entrance across the Franciscans’ quarters. The statue is executed artistically and realistically that passersby would drop some coins for alms in a pot near the image! The sleeping Christ on a bench depicts exactly the second part of the gospel we have heard today: there is nothing certain in this life except Jesus Christ. The sooner we come to accept and embrace this reality vis-a-vis death, the better for us.
As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nest, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”
Luke 9:57-58
Discipleship is coming to terms with death, accepting its reality so that we stop wasting our lives with bitterness and resentments to start living joyfully and meaningfully in Christ. I have heard countless of times how most patients including relatives and friends would bargain for more time, for more life because they felt they have not lived fully. As they come face to face with death during sickness or an accident, they beg even for a little time to live fully, proving that “in the end, it is not the years in your life that count but the life in your years.”
Facing death like Jesus Christ is having God as our top priority. Unlike the second and third people Jesus had invited to follow him and asked his permission “to first bury his dead father” and “to first say goodbye to his family.” Jesus is not teaching us to turn away from our family and loved ones; he wants us to always have God and eternal life as our top priorities in life. Like Elisha in the first reading who slaughtered his oxen and cooked them using the yoke and plow as firewood to show he was foregoing everything to follow Elijah as a prophet.
Every disciple is a nomad following Christ, a pilgrim and sojourner whose true home is in heaven with the Father; hence, the importance of thinking always of things of the above, of heaven and of eternal life. St. Ignatius of Loyola calls it the “principle and foundation” in life wherein we do the things that would lead us to salvation and avoid things that would bring us to eternal damnation.
Of course, such a vision about life is not only contrary to the values of the world but even a folly. See how the world tells us to “just do it” and to “obey your thirst” so that we can have easy and comfortable lives, enjoying everything to the fullest by ensuring our security with material wealth. On the other hand, discipleship in Christ as St. Paul reminds us in the second reading is allowing the Holy Spirit to direct our lives because it is the spiritual things that truly fulfill us. What a tragedy especially among affluent nations we hear reports of increasing number of people committing suicides, feeling empty and lost despite their material wealth?!
Jesus alone is our joy and security. In him, trials and sufferings become blessings because they make us stronger and better persons. Most of all, death is neither an end nor an escape in Jesus but a passage to life in the fullest. This is not a simplification of the complex reality of death but an assurance that Jesus had conquered it and had made it into a blessing that we can now discuss and reflect about it.
I know that speaking about death is easier said than done. It may even be Quixotic. But, death is a reality of life we have to face and deal with, even befriend little by little as we age. Reflecting about death is a kind of death itself and at the same time a grace from God who enabled us to face it even in our limited abilities. Let us put our complete faith in Christ, following him resolutely to Jerusalem as his disciples so that when death finally comes to us, we find Jesus by our side. A blessed week to you!Amen.
Statue of St. Peter at the left side of the entrance to the Minor Basilica of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Malolos City. Photo by Lorenzo Atienza, 12 June 2019.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for this Solemnity of your two leading Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul. Thank you in giving us the opportunity to confront ourselves anew of this very ironic problem we have in your Church: the difficulty of doing your work with our fellow disciples.
You know it so well, Jesus, of how often we wish to be left on our own than work with others because we have totally forgotten we are your stewards. We have forgotten how our very selves are an offering to you.
“I, Paul, am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have completed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.”
2 Timothy 4:6-7
Most of the time, we are so concerned with our titles and ministry, programs and achievements and so many other things forgetting the most essential, YOU, “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt. 16:16).
Give us the grace of wisdom and humility, Jesus, to be in communion with your fellow workers in the vineyard as well as with the sheep of your flock, like St. Peter and St. Paul who both transcended their differences, focusing only on YOU as our bond communion.
Teach us to be like St. Peter that despite his many flaws like impetuous generosity to the point of presumptuousness with moments of being hesitant, we may have his kind of solid loyalty to you Jesus. Most of all, like St. Peter, let us not resist the Holy Spirit who upsets our convictions to lead us where we do not want to go with you and for you.
Teach us also to be like St. Paul who was so bold and daring, always asserting his backgrounds as a Roman citizen and a former Pharisee, always insisting his being your Apostle and yet very conscious of his being fragile like a pot of clay or earthen vessel of your grace. Like St. Paul, give us the courage to resolutely go outside our comfort zone to proclaim your gospel to the nations amid the pains of being torn by our own people at home.
Prevail upon us, Lord Jesus, your servants that we may give you our faith and love to be your witnesses and mirrors of your living Church. Amen.
St. Paul’s statue at the right side entrance to the Minor Basilica of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Malolos City. Photo by Lorenzo Atienza, 12 June 2019.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-28 ng Hunyo 2019
Mga pinagbibiling isda sa Dampa, Macapagal Blvd., Lungsod Pasay. Larawan kuha ng may akda ng tula, Nobyembre 2017.
Ang sabi ng mga matatanda Sa bibig nahuhuli ang isda Kaya sa bawat salita makikita Pagkatao ng nagsasalita.
Karunungan at kamangmangan Katapatan at kasinungalingan Tiyak malalaman kapag napakinggan Pinagsasasabi ng sino man.
Itong ating pamahalaan Sadyang puro kabalastugan nalalaman Walang pakialam sa kanyang mga mamamayan Nalantad na katotohanan kamakailan.
Kuha ng may akda sa Dampa ng Macapagal Blvd., Nobyembre 2017.
Sadyang totoo itong ating kawikaan Di lamang sa bibig nahuhuli ang isda Kungdi yaong taong puro dada Kadalasa'y siya ring kulang sa gawa.
Kung ang isda ay sa bibig nga nahuhuli At sila'y makapagsasalita Tiyak may katuturan at kahulugan Kanilang mga pinag-uusapan.
Una nilang liliwanagin Lalo ng mga galunggong at ayungin Hindi sila gunggong tulad nating may nasyon Sabihin sa payasong Senador mahilig magmarunong.
Marahil magsasalita rin mga isdang biya Madalas nating minamaliit at sinasabing Utak biya yaong mahihina gayong silang magagaling Kaya lang sabihin pangungutya at panghihiya.
Mga isda sa Dampa sa Macapagal Blvd., Pasay, Nobyembre 2017.
Hindi ba ninyo pansin karangalan at kahihiyan Mayroon itong mga isda kesa atin? Masansang at malansang tingnan at pakinggan Mga nasa Malakanyang sa mga salitang walang katuturan.
Huling huli na sa kanilang bibig Kahit anong kabig, mga salita'y hindi kaibig-ibig Sariling mamamayan at karagatan Mga kayamanang dapat ingatan, kanilang pinababayaan.
Napaka saklap naman nitong kapalaran Ng ating Inang Bayan: una'y salot ng tokhang Nang tayo'y sukat na magising at maraming buhay inagaw sa atin Pati ba naman karagatan at mga isda ay hindi na rin sa atin?
Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, 28 June 2019
Ezekiel 34:11-16 >< }}}*> Romans 5:5-11 >< }}}*> Luke 15:3-7
Sacred Heart of Jesus at the Jesuits’ Sacred Heart Retreat House and Seminar Center in Novaliches, Quezon City. Photo by author July 2018.
At a glance, the powers of darkness seem to rule the world.
Pains and sufferings are all around us as we see them in the news and, worst, experience them right in our homes and community!
The other Sunday evening, one of our parish lectors was hit by two riders driving under the influence of alcohol that severely damaged her face, particularly her right eye and front teeth. She did not see the motorcycle coming because the drunk riders were going so fast opposite the one way street.
The two riders have no driver’s license and both claim to have no money to pay for the medical expenses of our parish volunteer who comes from a very poor family.
I told her story to our Sunday congregation. Right after the Mass, two ladies came to me, handing me Php 25,000.00 in cash, pledging with more money for the medical and dental bills of our lector. Tears were rolling in my eyes as I thanked the two kind ladies who refused any recognition at all.
Yes, too often we are shocked at the evil going on in the world.
But, more surprising is the fact that it is always God who has the last laugh and final say in all these pain and sufferings around us.
There is always the more powerful Sacred Heart of Jesus offsetting our seemingly heartless world today.
Jesus the Good Shepherd with a lost sheep on his shoulder. A wood carving atop the cathedra of the Minor Basilica Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Malolos City. Photo by Lorenzo Atienza, 12 June 2019.
Jesus addressed this parable to the Pharisees and scribes: “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy.”
Luke 15:3-5
I love that imagery of Jesus the Good Shepherd carrying on his shoulders the lost sheep. It is so powerful and evocative of God’s immense love for us sinners.
God fulfilled his promise to Ezekiel in the first reading that he would personally come to tend and look after us his sheep by sending us his Son Jesus Christ.
For his part, Jesus showed us in teaching this parable the solicitude of the Father in going beyond his words to the prophet of not just affectionately gathering and leading his sheep to green pastures but by communing with sinners of his time. What a wonderful way by Jesus showing us the pains God is willing to go to find one lost sheep.
From Google.
Jesus knows it so well how difficult and painful to get lost that he spent time with sinners, dining with them in many occasions. He knows the fearful thoughts running through us when we were wandering in darkness and sin that he never judges us nor condemns us like the woman caught committing adultery. Most of all, Jesus knows how difficult it would be for us who were lost to find our way back home, to go back to normal life of grace that he is willing to wait like with St. Paul and with St. Augustine.
Hence, when Jesus the Good shepherd finds the lost sheep, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy. Imagine also the spontaneous reflex to clutch to oneself whatever or whomever was lost and is found. That is how intense is the love of God through Jesus for every lost sheep when finally found. He is filled with joy that he carries the lost sheep on his shoulder to hurriedly bring it to safety and comfort, never to get lost again.
Moreover, here we find the great love of God for us who have gone stray in sin: he would patiently look for the lost sheep and likewise willing to patiently carry it on his shoulders so as not to make it suffer further in going back to the fold. Absolutely, no trace at all of any disgust in God in our going stray in sins!
From Google.
Eventually, Jesus proved this intense love of the Father to us in his dying on the Cross. He showed us how true love that comes from God and rooted in God is a love that is always meek and humble. A love that is unconditional, embracing both friends and foes. Yes, it is easier said than done but doable if we love in Christ Jesus.
From Google.
To love in Christ Jesus is to trust in God’s love. Without this trust in God’s love, we will always rely on our own self, prioritizing on our love of self than love of God and others. That is when darkness comes to rule over us, making us heartless too. Then, indeed, the world becomes evil because we have become its slave.
On this Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus when our nation is in so much darkness, Jesus is inviting us to make his love visible by trusting in his unfailing care as our Good Shepherd. When there is a major paradigm shift in the parable of Jesus wherein there are more lost sheep who are also self-righteous in knowing everything, calling those not on their side as stupid, we are more challenged today to witness Christ’s values of dignity of persons and peace. Let us pray for more patience with the appalling governance we now have courtesy of the majority of our people whom we have denied with God’s love and care for the longest time.
Genesis 16:1-12, 15-16 >< }}}*> <*{{{ >< Matthew 7:21-29
The massive Wailing Wall of Jerusalem reminds us of God as foundation of our lives: firm and unshakeable, always present with us. Photo by author, 04 May 2019.
It was raining so hard last night as I prayed to you, O God, about today’s gospel:
Jesus said to his disciples: “Everyone who listens to these words of mind and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.”
Matthew 7:24-25
So often, O Lord, we dilly dally with our decisions, we can’t stand on our choices.
Like Sarai, the wife of Abram: in our first reading, she asked Abram to have a son with her servant Hagar so he could have an heir of his own.
You allowed it to bear fruit, Lord – so, that means, you went with their decision though you still have your own plans for Abram to become the father of nations.
And this is what I like with you, Lord our God: even if we make wrong decisions or forget all about it, you are always there ready to keep us whole and together. You did not forsake Hagar and her son Ishmael. In fact, you blessed them both!
O Lord, help us to always have you as our foundation in life so that even if we get lost, we could still find our way back to you.
Help us to have you as our foundation in life, Lord, so that even if our lives are like a piece of cloth shredded of its threads, there is always one, last, single thread where we could spin another cloth anew to be whole again.
Give us the grace, Jesus, to call you “Lord, Lord” with conviction so that no matter what happens with us, we remain grounded on you our foundation. Amen.
Genesis 13:2, 5-18 >< )))*> >< )))*> Matthew 7:15-20
Petra in Jordan, 30 April 2019. Photo by author.
Almighty God, did you really appear to Abraham when you promised him to be the father of a great nation and made that covenant with him in the desert? What did he see in the desert that he put his faith in you so much, Lord?
The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision…
Abram put his faith in the Lord, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.
Genesis 15:1, 6
To have faith in you, O God, like Abraham is to see more what our eyes can perceive. To have faith in you, O God, like Abraham is to see and experience the fruits of believing in you. To have faith in you, O God, like Abraham is to see nothing at all except you.
When I think of your Holy Land, O Lord, there is really nothing much to see around but its vast wilderness. Most likely during the time of Abraham, it must have been more barren than today. It was in that nothingness that he saw your greatness, O God, that he put his faith in you.
How ironic that it is only when there is nothing left with us that we can truly see your great gifts for us, Lord: our being special, our being loved and cherished by you, our being simply ourselves that we are alive that truly make us have more faith in you than all the things you can shower upon us.
It is in our nothingness, in our simplicity that we become fully aware of your abundance blessings that we start to have faith in you.
Open our eyes of faith to always look for your fruits of love and kindness, mercy and forgiveness, life and fulfillment in us. Amen.
The picturesque Siq leading to Petra in Jordan. Photo by author 30 April 2019.
Every day, Lord God, you give us the wonderful gift of making choices, of deciding for ourselves to choose what is best for us. Unfortunately, we always forget the very essence of making every choice which is to always choose what is good, what is the best.
Very often, we make the wrong choices in life because we fail to consider in choosing you first, the highest good, the summum bonum.
Like Lot in the first reading, we are easily misled by beautiful sights, of abundance, of having everything as bases in choosing what is best for us.
We always forget that saying “not all that glitters is gold” as Lot would eventually found out later how sinful were the people living in those areas he had chosen where the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah thrived.
Teach us to be like Abraham, to always trust in your wisdom, in your plans, and in your providence.
Teach us to choose you first of all above all.
And choosing you, Lord, means choosing the path of sacrifice and of giving of self.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.”
Matthew 7:13-14
Bless, O Lord, those who have to make important decisions today, those discerning your will. Enlighten their minds and their hearts to choose you only and to stand firm on that choice. Amen.
The narrow door leading to the Nativity Church in Bethlehem that reminds us of the need to be small, to be humble to truly meet Jesus Christ. Photo by author, 04 May 2019.
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