It’s a very humid third Sunday of Lent, perfect for a New Wave music from the 80’s to remind us of the season’s call for conversion. But before going to our music, a little background about our gospel today that sounds like our news headlines.
Pontius Pilate massacred a great number of Galileans while many others were killed in an accident at Siloe. People were talking about the tragedies, blaming all victims as sinners being punished by God. But Jesus stopped all their blaming games, warning them that unless they repent and change their ways, they could also perish and suffer the same fate.
For Jesus, all the problems and sufferings in the world are either directly or indirectly caused by sins. He is not trying to offer a simplistic approach but invites us to see events in history as well as in our personal lives as calls to conversion, that is, turning our hearts back to God so we may experience the deeper meaning of life.
How sad that since His coming, after offering Himself on the Cross and rising to new life on Easter, mankind has continued to ignore Jesus Christ and His call to conversion. This is the reality presented by the English band Tears for Fears in their 1985 hit “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”. Wit its superb instrumentation and vocals, this signature song by Tears for Fears next to “Shout” (1984) can immediately catch our attention with its lyrics that confront us with the shameful truths and realities within each one of us like dominion and power, arrogance and corruption, wealth and fame, and total disregard for the environment. Its message remains very true to this day that ironically, has fallen on deaf ears. May its lyrics finally hit us and move us to a conversion of the heart!
Welcome to your life There’s no turning back Even while we sleep We will find You acting on your best behavior Turn your back on mother nature Everybody wants to rule the world
It’s my own desire It’s my own remorse Help me to decide Help me make the most Of freedom and of pleasure Nothing ever lasts forever Everybody wants to rule the world
There’s a room where the light won’t find you Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down When they do, I’ll be right behind you So glad we’ve almost made it So sad they had to fade it Everybody wants to rule the world
I can’t stand this indecision Married with a lack of vision Everybody wants to rule the world
Say that you’ll never, never, never, need it One headline, why believe it? Everybody wants to rule the world
All for freedom and for pleasure Nothing ever lasts forever Everybody wants to rule the world
From the desert of temptation to the mountain of transfiguration, the gospel on this third Sunday of Lent dives directly into its central message of conversion by bringing us closer to realities of life that are as timely as the news headlines.
Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. Jesus said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them – do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”
Luke 13:1-5
Conversion is confronting our true selves by admitting and owning our many sins that may have contributed to the worsening crises we are facing in our personal lives, in our family as well as in the church and in the society. It is doing away with our favorite past time, the blaming game. Since the fall of Adam and Eve, we have always been blaming somebody else including God for every bad thing that happens to us and in the world. We tend to forget or even refuse to accept that every misery in our lives and on earth are the direct or indirect results of our sins like sickness and diseases, wars and terrorism, famines as well as economic and environmental disasters. Everything is by our own doing when our sins mar the human face including Mother Earth.
Jesus Christ in today’s gospel is not offering us with a simplistic view on the many sufferings and problems we have for that would also be getting into our own blaming game. He has no intentions of getting involved with our political and economic discussions to solve our many problems. What Jesus is telling us with His strong words only Luke had recorded is for us to read everything from the spiritual point of view by finding God in our human and personal history. And that is conversion, finding God first in our hearts to find Him in our history and in our world.
In the first reading, we are reminded how the whole earth is a sacred ground, the abode of God who told Moses to remove his sandals as he approached the burning bush in the desert. Moreover, God introduced Himself to Moses in the burning bush as the perfect presence, the “I AM WHO AM” who is all encompassing directing our history into His divine will and plan. With Jesus Christ’s coming as the Emmanuel or “God-is-with-us”, God has become more present among us not only on earth but right in every person.
And that is conversion, having Jesus in our hearts in order to find Him among others. Conversion does not mean we change into another person but more of reorienting our life directions in Christ by allowing Jesus to dwell in our hearts. How sad that so often, we would look into others to blame and to change when we forget the fact that the only heart we can convert is ours. It is said that anyone wishing to change the world must first change one’s self. And that is what Jesus is telling us today.
Jesus came to the world so we may experience the Father’s gentle mercy, kindness and forgiveness. By following His direction in our conversion, it is hoped that we find better ways in solving our many social and personal problems. The recent terrorist attacks in New Zealand that killed almost 50 people, the gruesome rape and murder of that young lady in Cebu, the worsening problems on drugs and crimes as well as traffic and the environment invite us all to a conversion of our hearts in Christ to experience His humility and tender, loving care for the lost, the sick and the suffering. See how our arrogance and harshness have only worsened the many social ills throughout history, not to mention man’s continued alienation from self and from one another.
Throughout history, God has always revealed Himself to us in so many ways through Jesus Christ to show us that the only way to salvation in all forms of human life is the way of conversion, to always find Him in the many events happening around us, in the world, and most especially in our hearts. Let us heed Paul’s warning that “whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall” (1Cor.10:12) by learning from the lessons of powerful men and women in the past now gone and forgotten. As we walk in history, God walks with us too, listening to us, sharing with us Himself. Sometimes, changes do not happen right away or as we want it to be but in His time, God’s plans always prevail. In the mean time, He patiently awaits our conversion in Him.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 22 March 2019
Moss on a pathway in Malagos Garden Resort, Davao, August 2018. Photo by author.
Last midnight I waited for my 54th birthday in our church to thank God for another year in my life. I just wanted to be with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and all I could tell Him was, “Lord, you have given me with so much and I have given you with so little. Teach me to give more of myself and most especially of YOU with others. Amen.”
As I sat alone in darkness, I thought of the many blessings and its lessons I have learned lately.
Everything indeed is grace. Whatever we get in life is always a blessing from God like love, patience, kindness, joy, mercy, knowledge and understanding as well every material thing we have. They are all from God. Share them, or better give them away to make life easier.
We only have two choices in life, either we become better or bitter.
Life is not about destinations but directions. Destinations are just points in life you reach or achieve, often connected with lines. And that’s it. So structured. But directions are about persons we journey with in life, something like your favorite pen or crayon that you pick to write or draw anything. It is always there, either following you or leading you wherever your writing or drawing flows into without any definite pattern, often in curves and circular motions. Always funny and enjoyable. Even crazy.
We do not find God, He finds us. Sooner or later in life and that is for sure.
In every situation in life, always look for Jesus Christ. Without Him, there’s no meaning in life or anything. And we find Jesus always on the cross.
Liars know very well the truth and that is why they lie. So, do not worry about gossips and lies they spread even if some people would believe them. Don’t waste time convincing them of the truth. They know it but refuse to accept it.
Anyone who is afraid to make enemies will never be able to stand for what is true and good.
Sad to say, life is not about intelligence. That is why we have so many stupid leaders everywhere – government, society, and even the Church! No one is gifted with everything in life because we are meant to relate and help each other. Like liars, stupids are not good company. Remember, only intelligent people go to heaven because St. Thomas said, the more we know things, the more we avoid sins and become holy. Idiots and liars are the most evil as they refuse to accept their sinfulness. Pray for them.
Enjoy life. Stop pleasing everybody except God alone.
Always handle life with prayers. No matter what happens with us, prayer is the final straw we are always left with to start anew in life.
40 Shades of Lent, Friday, Week II, 22 March 2019 Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13, 17-28///Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46
Glory and praise to you O God our loving Father for the gift of life! As I celebrate my 54th birthday today which I welcomed last midnight, let me pray this to you: Lord God, you have given me with so much and I have given you with so little.
I have never been like Joseph a dreamer in the first reading. It was late in life – after I have met you or you have found me, Lord – when I started dreaming like Joseph, envisioning myself in the future with you my God.
You have entrusted me with so much and I have wasted so many of these in the past like those tenants in the parable of Jesus today. I feel so unworthy being your servant in those times I have refused to give your share of the many fruits of your vineyard by being more loving and merciful, more kind and humble with others. There were times I have rejected your Son Jesus Christ when I would insist on my own ways than your will.
Yet, despite all these, loving Father, you have always been gentle and generous with me. That is why I have stopped asking you for many things for myself because whatever I need, you always provide. Indeed, you have done so many for me that I never asked for that are “so wonderful in my eyes” (Mt. 21:42)!
Lord God, all I pray again on my 54th birthday today is that you help me to share more of myself and most especially more of YOU with others, that in every here and now, I may always say Yes to your Holy Will. Amen.
Thank you for your prayers for me too, my dear readers and followers. May God bless you always!
Sunrise at Lake Tiberias, the Holy Land, April 2017 photo by the author.
40 Shades of Lent, Thursday, Week II, 21 March 2019 Jeremiah 17:5-10///Luke 16:19-31
“More tortuous than all else is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it? I, the Lord, alone probe the mind and test the heart, to reward everyone according to his ways, according to the merit of his deeds.”
Jeremiah 17:9-10
Thank you very much, O Lord, for this season of Lent, giving us time to examine and repair our hearts that have turned away from you in sin and indifference.
Forgive us in trusting more our selves, our strength, our powers, our intelligence. We have turned away from you, believing only in our selves and fellowmen.
How ironic that while we trust more with human, our hearts are too far away from most people who are poor and suffering! We have not only turned away our hearts from them like Lazarus in the gospel today. We have become indifferent to their plight.
Help us, dear God, through your Son Jesus Christ, to regain our natural hearts that know how to suffer with the poor and dying, hearts that cry with those in pain, and hearts inclined to your Holy Will. Amen.
40 Shades of Lent, Wednesday, Week II, 20 March 2019 Jeremiah 18:18-20///Matthew 20:17-28
Our loving Father, today we share with Jeremiah in crying out to you, “Heed me, O Lord, and listen to what my adversaries say. Must good be repaid with evil that they should dig a pit to take my life? Remember that I stood before you to speak in their behalf, to turn away your wrath from them” (Jer. 18:19-20).
It is so difficult, O Lord, to understand and accept such a reality that after all the love and kindness, the compassion and concern we did for some people, we are repaid with evil.
Help us remain in you in this journey to Jerusalem with our crosses, serving one another without counting the costs or expecting to be paid in return with good favors even recognition.
May we be contented in simply walking with you, trusting in you, sharing with you.
Clear our minds and our hearts of the belief or inclination that every good deed must be rewarded by anybody. May we not be like the mother of James and John in the gospel today who asked that her sons “sit at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom” (Mt.20:20).
The greatest reward in doing good is becoming like YOU. Amen.
40 Shades of Lent, Tuesday, 19 March 2019 Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of Mary 2 Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16//Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22//Matthew 1:16, 18-24
The original site of the workplace of St. Joseph found at the basement of the church in his honor in Nazareth. Photo by the author, April 2017.
How was your sleep last night? And what did you dream about?
Too often, our dreams make our sleep more wonderful and meaningful no matter what we have dreamt. Our dreams are the means in uncovering the impulses and feelings suppressed in our waking state that reveal our unconscious state. And the kind of dreams we experience depend on the kind of waking stage we have. Some say that disturbing, recurring dreams reveal some problems within while wholesome dreams generally indicate everything is most likely going fine with your life. This we find very true in our celebration of the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary.
St. Joseph is the most silent person in the bible without any words uttered ascribed to him. In his silence, he was so filled with God and that is why he is considered holy or “just” and “righteous” according to Matthew. Most of all, St. Joseph has the most enviable distinction of always sleeping soundly while in the midst of serious problems with great dreams where angels delivered him with messages from God – not once or twice but thrice!
Contrary to common beliefs, St. Joseph was able to sleep soundly in the midst of great problem after learning Mary was pregnant with a child because right away, he faced and confronted it with a decision. Being a just or holy man, he had decided to silently divorce Mary so as not to subject her to public humiliation. It must have been a very difficult choice for St. Joseph to make because he loved Mary so much which was also an expression of his great love for God. The love of God was the sole basis of his decision that put him into peaceful sleep.
Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.
Matthew 1:20-21, 24
For St. Joseph to dream of receiving messages from God like in our gospel today shows his deep and profound disposition for God and His will. He made the right decision of silently leaving Mary behind to go on with her pregnancy because he loved her so much. When the angel revealed to him the reason behind Mary’s virginal conception through the Holy Spirit, his decision was perfected as he found himself an essential link, a connector, in the the plan of God! Being from the lineage of King David, he saw the important connection with him to marry the Blessed Virgin Mary so that her Son Jesus Christ would thus become the fulfillment of God’s promise through the Prophet Nathan.
“When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm… Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.”
2 Samuel 7:12, 16
So often, the very reason why we cannot sleep when we are beset with a problem is our failure or refusal to make a decision. It is not the problem that keeps us awake but our inaction and indecision. St. Joseph shows us the healthy link and connection of one’s self with God and with reality, with the present and the future. Just like the other great patriarchs in the Old Testament that included Abraham (second reading) and Jacob, they all received messages from God in a dream along with Peter in the Acts of the Apostles where they saw the interconnection of everything and especially of one’s self in God. Break away from this connection, sin and disorder happen.
Likewise, we also see how in the development of devotions to St. Joseph through history where he has always been linked or connected with the Blessed Virgin Mary. Compared with Marian devotions and other saints, veneration of St. Joseph started very late in the Church. One is the obvious reason that Mary is the Mother of God. The earliest record celebrating this March 19 feast of St. Joseph as Husband of Mary dates back to the year 800 that also indicates how devotion to him has always been linked with the veneration of the the Blessed Virgin. Devotions to St. Joseph spread later in the 12th century when the crusaders built a church in his honor in Nazareth when the Christians soon realized the many links and connections in our lives that our Lord’s foster father pointed us to. In 1621, Pope Gregory XV made this feast an obligatory and 270 years later, Pope Pius IX named St. Joseph patron of the Universal Church. Devotion to St. Joseph gained a big push in 1962 when Pope St. John XXIII introduced his name into the Roman canon which Pope Francis emulated, making it to be officially followed in every Mass after he assumed the papacy in March 13, 2013.
This unique role of St. Joseph being the link with Christ’s Davidic ancestry as well as direct correlation and connection of his love for God and for Mary and eventually, for us all in naming her Son Jesus that means “God saves”, perfectly jibe with the motif of Lent we celebrate this month of March: our interconnectedness with God and with one another in Jesus Christ our Savior. St. Joseph teaches us the basic truth about holiness which literally means being “whole” where there is a direct link or connection with our waking stage and inner self expressed in our dreams during deep sleep.
Main altar of the Church of St. Joseph in Nazareth originally built by the Crusaders in the 12th century above the site believed to be the home of the Holy Family. Photo by the author, April 2017.
Lastly, St. Joseph teaches us today in his dreams and decisions, in his life of silence and holiness what most people say about two kinds of dreamers: those who dream with eyes shut and those who dream with eyes wide opened. Those who dream with closed eyes are those who merely daydream and live in fantasies; those who dream with eyes wide opened are the visionaries, those who work to fulfill their dreams to make it a reality. St. Joseph belonged to that kind of dreamer, a visionary of God who strove hard with patience, protecting Mary and the child Jesus so that God’s plan of salvation is fulfilled. Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, ika-18 ng Marso 2019
Panginoong aming mahal Sa panahong itong banal Aming dalangin kami'y palayain Sa mga sala na umaalipin sa amin.
Ito ang iyong misyon at hangarin Nang iyong sabihin at ganapin yaring propesiya: "Sumasaakin ang Espiritu ng Panginoon; Sinugo niya ako upang ipahayag sa mga bihag na sila'y lalaya."
Kami Panginoon ang mga bihag na iyon Alipin ng mga kasalanan at kasamaan Madalas hindi namim nalalaman Kaya kami'y tulungan manhid na budhi ay mabuksan.
Kadalasan ika'y aming nalilimutan Sa aming pagkagahaman sa atensiyon at kayamanan At kung minsan nama'y tinatalikuran Sa aming kapalaluan na huwag kaming mapapangunahan.
Marami pang ibang pagkakataon Hindi ka namin nililingon Panginoon Dahil lagi kaming nakatuon Sa mga sariling pagkagumon.
Tulungan po ninyo kami, O Panginoon Na aming matunton iyong mga panuntunan; Huwag nawa kaming pakatiwala sa aming mga tuntungan Dahil ang totoo'y munti lamang ito'ng mundo na aming alam.
Isang katatawanan, laging huli na kung aming malaman Sa aming mga kasalanan wala pala kaming tunay na kalayaan Bagkus pawang mga nalinlang ng sandaling kaligayahan Kaya't kami'y mga bihag at alipin lamang.
40 Shades of Lent, Monday, Week II, 18 March 2019 Daniel 9:4-10///Luke 6:36-38
Praise and glory to you, O God our Father that despite our sinfulness you continue to bless us! Teach us the true meaning of penance especially in this season of Lent by getting into the root of our sinfulness, that is, by being radical which is from the Latin word radix or root.
Give us the courage and humility of your prophet Daniel to admit wholeheartedly how wicked we have been, rebelling and departing from your commandments.
We feel shamefaced like Daniel before you, loving Father, for our many sins like when we neglected you among our brothers and sisters in need, unmindful of their great sufferings, be it physical, emotional or spiritual.
We are shamefaced, loving Father, in thinking the good times would never end, when we lived in excesses, bloating our egos as if we were gods.
Help us to return to you, our Root and Being, to turn our hearts back to you so that like you we may become merciful too. Amen.
For our hot and humid second Sunday of Lent, here is Bobbi Humphrey’s “Good Times” from her 1978 album Freestyle to cool you off and remind you of the many storms you have weathered in life.
Bobbi’s soothing voice, lovely lyrics and jazzy beat match so well with the gospel message this Sunday of the Transfiguration of Jesus that at the very core of His glorious Easter is always the Cross of Good Friday. There can never be a complete and correct picture of Jesus Christ without the Cross. In the same manner, there can be no real change in us, transformation into better persons and “good times” without pain and sufferings with Christ leading the way.
You and I have traveled life’s uncharted courses We’ve been tossed around at many times on dark and stormy seas But now the clouds are parting and the sun is shining through It feels so good to know… you’re here with me,
To share the Good Times, that we waited for so long I know the Good Times, will prove we weren’t wrong To hold on to the dreams of how we knew it could be We worked so hard at easin’ all the pain and misery Until the Good Times had come ‘round for you and me And now they’re here, now they’re here
Things may even get worst than better in the world, in our country and in our personal lives marked by sickness and deaths, problems and other woes but the story of the Transfiguration this Sunday assures us of our future glory in Jesus. Let us “stand firm in the Lord” as Paul tells us in his letter to the Philippians by reviewing the many decisions and choices we have made in the past to go back to Christ’s direction to His Cross with more love and faith with one another.
I remember all the hard times when there wasn’t much to eat And the longest coldest winter, when we didn’t have much heat But we had all we needed with love enough to spare Cause more than money we had what I knew would get us here
We fought and won each battle that we had to fight Made it through the darkness when we couldn’t see the light And deep inside I guess we always knew that we were right To try and catch that star….’cause baby here we are. (Let’s share Good Times…. )
Enjoy your Sunday with good food and drinks, great company of family and friends with some music and a lot of prayers. A blessed week ahead with you!
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