40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Third Week in Lent, 28 March 2025 Hosea 14:2-10 + + + Mark 12:28-34
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And no one dared to ask him any more questions (Mark 12:34).
Lord Jesus, bring us close to the Kingdom of God; let us return home to you to ourselves to one another in love.
We have “collapsed“ due to sin which is a refusal to love; many times we are so concerned counting our ways to love when we just have to love, love, and love the way you love us.
Make us realize, be aware and most of all, be convinced of your immense love for each of us, a love so unbelievable yet so real so true!
In this season of Lent, bring us close, not far from the Kingdom of God by being more loving to you in others; let us get rid of our many small choices in life though not really a vice but has a tinge of selfishness that eventually make us a less loving person and far from God's Kingdom. Amen.
Oh God... I can hear your voice so loud today; your words are meant for us though you have proclaimed it thousands of years ago through Prophet Jeremiah.
Thus says the Lord: This is what I commanded my people: Listen to my voice; then I will be your god and you shall be my people. Walk in all the ways that I commanded you, so that you may prosper. But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed. They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces from me. Say to them: This is the nation which does not listen to the voice of the Lord, its God, or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech (Jeremiah 7:23-24, 28).
God our Father, we have become so possessed by the deaf mute demon you exorcised by Jesus in today's gospel: almost everyone has that thing plugged into the ears, listening by themselves, speaking by themselves, laughing by themselves, walking by themselves unmindful of the persons around, not hearing the cries of the poor and suffering, not caring at all to those slumped on the floor due to failures and sickness even death; living in their own world wired to technology but never to one's self, to others and to God.
Forgive us, O God, in rejecting you so many times, in believing more in ourselves, to our technology than to you; open not only our ears but also our hearts to listen to you; a long time ago, it was deemed crazy to be walking speaking to one's self, or laughing alone but today it has become a mark of honor and prestige when people talk alone, laugh alone with the aide of blue tooth; we have been so foolish, Lord that despite all these technologies and affluence of today, we are more lost because we walk aimlessly to nowhere as we have forgotten to listen to you for directions in life. Amen.
Minsan daw
sa isang perya
natanawan ng payaso
sunog sa kabayanan
ngunit siya ay pinagtawanan
nang sabihan niya mga tao
dahil sa kanyang anyo
at kasuotan;
paano nga ba
paniniwalaan ang katotohanan
kung ang katibayan
ay sarili lamang?
Mabuti pa ang payaso may katinuan sa kanyang isipan tanggap ang kanyang katayuan sa anyo at kasuotan ay katatawanan ngunit sa kalooban kanyang nalalaman ang buong katotohanan hindi tulad ng karamihan mas paniniwalaan kasinungalingan.
Inyong subukang kausapin mga baliw at wala sa kanilang aamin na sila ay kulang-kulang lahat daraanin sa biruan upang pagtakpan kanilang kahangalan habang ang matino ang isipan batid kanyang kakulangan nalalaman kanyang kahinaan kababawan at kabaliwan mga tanda ng karunungan!
Kay laking katatawanan pagdagsa ng mga baliw nitong nakaraan kahangalan pinangangalandakan hindi alintana kanilang kahibangan sa paninindigang nakasandig sa kasinungalingan ng bulok at buktot na kaisipan; ganyang tunay ang mga baliw walang malay, parang patay na namumuhay sa guni-guni at sabi-sabi.
Maging babala: marami na silang nahahawa hindi batid sila ay baliw hangal at hunghang hindi alam katotohanan ipinagpipilitan sila ang nasa katuwiran gayong ligwak mga kaisipan nakalublob sa kadiliman.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Third Week in Lent, 26 March 2025 Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9 + + + Matthew 5:17-19
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 21 March 2025
“However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children’s children” (Deuteronomy 4:9).
God our loving Father, you encompass the whole Earth and universe where nothing is hidden from you nor escapes your notice even the smallest of particles in your whole creation most especially us, your beloved children, that, though we are sinful, you loved us beyond measure, mindful of us always.
But, we are all beings of forgetfulness. easily forgetting even your most recent blessings as well as intimacy and bond with us in Jesus Christ your Son; many times, we get distracted by so many concerns we forget you that we disregard one another in love and kindness; we easily forget your mercy and forgiveness that we return to our wayward life of sin quickly; most of all, we turn away from you as we refuse to love you when we get impatient in life, believing there could be better and other ways to fulfillment.
Direct us, dear God into becoming more loving like you, into desiring the Cross of your Son Jesus Christ for our love in him so that we may never forget to love you always in others for it is in our love for one another especially the weakest where our greatness as a nation is recognized. Amen.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, 25 March 2025 Isaiah 7:10-14;8:10 + Hebrews 10:4-10 + Luke 1:26-38
“Cestello Annunciation” by Botticelli painted in 1490; from en.wikipedia.org.
As we journey towards Easter, we thank you dear God our Father for the gift of this Solemnity of the Annunciation of the birth of Jesus to the Blessed Virgin Mary, teaching us how the Christ came into this world with the Blessed Virgin Mary's attitude and example worth emulating as our companion in this Lenten journey when she asked Archangel Gabriel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" (Luke 1:34).
Photo by author, Our Lady of the Poor, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.
Many times in life, we live as if there is no God, with us not only playing like you, O God but actually acting truly as God. We live our lives according to our own ways, to our own standards, to our own thinking that most often lead to more disasters, more problems and worst, broken self and broken relationships; we feel we know better than you than anyone.
Teach us, Jesus, to be humble like your Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary: in her asking Archangel Gabriel "How can this be", she had already expressed her acceptance of the Father's invitation to be your Mother; many times, we refuse to even listen to God’s plan for us as we we rarely or have stopped praying at all so unlike Mary who must have been at prayer when Gabriel came. In her asking "How can this be?", Mary was already setting aside her own plans in life to give way to God's plan; in asking "How can this be?", Mary showed us the beauty of prayer as a relationship where there is true freedom and openness to God in you, Jesus.
Forgive us Jesus when we act like King Acaz so hypocrite, pretending not to test you when in fact we have already decided on our own without considering you at all. . How, O Lord, can we truly change our ways to follow God’s plans and most unique ways for nothing is impossible in him? Amen.
Photo by author, Our Lady of the Poor, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 24 March 2025
Some people have been asking me how does it feel to be sigisty years old? I really don’t have any complete answer yet except the feeling of sudden shift in my perspectives in life.
Whether it is what experts call as the gestalt shift, I do not know. However, since I have failed in a psychological exam to the major seminary in 1982 that forced me to forget all about the priesthood momentarily (nine years), I have always thought of myself as “crazy” with weird thoughts and ideas, weird perceptions coming from weird images and illusions I see on many things
These manifest in my photography subjects that are often wala lang, as in trip trip lang talaga. Like in my recent annual retreat at the Sacred Heart Novitiate in Novaliches where I have been coming since 2016. Suddenly this year, my focus were so bent on the most ordinary features of this venerable institution that is about 75 years old.
During my stay there last week, the stairs, the windows, and the arches that are even older than me be4came so lovely and interesting. I felt so drawn to them that I had a lot of shots taken upon my arrival.
The Sacred Heart Novitiate is my “happy place” because it is my Bethel where I “dreamt” like Jacob of the stairway to heaven (Gen. 28:10-22). It is also my Peniel or Penuel (Gen. 32:23-32) where like Jacob I also wrestled with God or an angel in deep prayers every year.
In my previous article, I have explained that maybe my focus on the stairs was due to my excitement in awaiting the Netflix documentary on Led Zeppelin whose most famous song is called Stairway to Heaven.
Today, I share with you some photos I have taken with my weird perceptions of the Sacred Heart Novitiate’s windows that suddenly evoked a lot of ideas in me as a sigisty year old man so loved by God.
Being a new senior sixty cent only last Saturday, I felt the joy of being able to look at a very long past of both beautiful and sad even painful memories that have made me who I am today.
Despite the hurts and scars from the many battles in life, I am still glad and thankful for the gift of six decades.
Being a sigisty year old man is like looking out the window, marveling at how fast times have flown that many times, some scenes in my life are like some spots outside that look so near that are actually so far and distant.
I felt my getting old started the time I kept saying “40 years ago ba iyon” when commenting on an event or a song or a movie. Parang kailan lang pero matagal na pala!
Like in life itself, you can choose your focus when looking outside the window: you may include the window itself in the vista like a frame or totally disregard its existence and simply look at the world outside or the past itself. You may also focus on the sceneries you prefer, more of the lovely ones and less of the unsightly.
On the other hand, I have strongly felt too as I turned sigisty years old how my remaining days on earth are numbered. Looking back to the past seems an endless horizon while looking into the future is very definite. You can see already the end of the line, so to speak s you get that feeling my days are numbered. That is the moment when the eternal spring within tells you that at the end of that tunnel or wall is eternity. But, before that, you know the end is near.
The word “window” came from the Old Norse vindauga, from vind or “wind” that was pronounced as the English “wind” and auga for eye that phonetically sounded as “ow” that literally meant “wind-eye” that became the Old English word wind-ow or “window” as we know and use it today.
Hence, window became the term for an opening in any building like home that allows air and light to pass through. Most of all, it is an opening for people inside to see the world outside while giving those outside a glimpse of what’s inside.
How lovely is that interplay happening in every window that opens a person’s vista outside and inside. It is how one looks on windows that makes the great difference that eventually forms our perspectives in life.
About three decades ago, Bill Gates launched his company Microsoft’s operating system called Windows that greatly revolutionized our lives with computers becoming easily accessible for everyone. Unlike its funny looking predecessor called dost, Windows was aptly called as one had to simply click a box like literally opening a window to explore its many programs.
Windows – the real ones like in buildings – still present us with such great possibilities when we look outside or into them.
But of course, that still greatly depends on that one great window God had gifted us – our eyes that have both sight and vision.
Jesus told his disciples, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be” (Matthew 6:22-23).
How unfortunate that many times, we prefer to limit the use of our eyes to just sights that limit our perspectives on what are simply obvious and visible.
Only a few called as visionaries dare to use their eyes to have vision, that is, to see and look beyond what’s visible and before us, whether from the window or into the window.
If we can have our eyes synced together with both sight and vision, then we shall see much more in this life that we become grateful with our past while at the same time filled with joyful expectations of the fast approaching beyond of this world as we age. Amen.
*All photos taken by the author using the iPhone 16 Pro Max at the Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, March 17-22, 2025.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Third Week in Lent, Cycle C, 23 March 2025 Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15 + 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12 + Luke 13:1-9
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.
Thank you very much for all your birthday greetings yesterday, my 60th. Until now my heart overflows in joy from your expressions of love to me that confirmed God loves me so much in the most personal manner. Hence, my firm resolve in these senior years of my life to be able to love like God, to desire always the Cross for the love of our Crucified Lord Jesus Christ.
Yes, it is very ambitious, too idealistic but, that is God’s love for each one of us! Jesus became human like us so we may finally experience God’s immense love for each of us. And that is the invitation of Lent to us – that we go back to God, our very first love. Very often, we experience that very personal love of God for us in the desert of our lives when we are in darkness and emptiness like Moses in today’s first reading.
Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There an angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in fire flaming out of a bush. As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on fire, was not consumed (Exodus 13:1-2).
Fire is a very powerful sign not only in the Holy Bible but in every culture for the warmth it generates and the light it illuminates the surrounding. Fire signifies power because of its unique abilities to cleanse, purify and transform materials into something better. It is history’s most significant discovery of all time, facilitating our growth and development as peoples and nations with the advent of cooking that gave us food that delights and nourishes us.
That is the fiery love God has for each one of us we often find when we least expected like Moses in the first reading. Moses ended up in the wilderness tending sheep after fleeing from Egypt when he learned it was widely known that he had murdered an Egyptian maltreating a Hebrew slave.
What a beautiful image here of God’s love so fiery yet not burning us! In the burning bush, God revealed Himself as the omnipresent One always with us we are rarely aware of. There in the burning bush, God also reminded Moses and us today how this whole planet Earth is a sacred ground, His dwelling-place that we keep on desecrating with our sins.
And there lies the great paradox of our lives where God lighting us, straightening our crooked path to help us find our way back to Him, to life and to meaning. God is the fire burning the impurities in us without us knowing in many instances while He prevents us from being consumed like the burning bush. In fact, many times unknown to us, the fires of our failures and disappointments, pains and trials have actually brought out the best in us. Unconsciously to us, we are like the burning bush aflame with God’s fiery love that transforms us into better persons and more committed disciples of Christ.
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 those Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all the other Galileans? by no means! But I tell, if you do not repent, you will perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower of 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 perish as they did!” (Luke 13:1-5)
How timely is our gospel today, reminding us to go deeper into our very selves, into those dark places in our hearts to realize too God’s message to us in the light of recent turn of events in the country.
What a mess we are now into that we easily blame on others except us. We have become so divided as a nation that we have refused to find the face of God, choosing to remain in the level of personalism and worst, of politics.
Sin is not just a turning away from God nor a breaking of any law but a complete refusal to love. When there is no love, there is no trust, there is no other person, there is no God. Just one’s self. Sin, therefore, is selfishness, the thinking more of one’s self, not of others.
That was the very sin of the people after the exodus when they refused to love one another, grumbling against Moses and even God most of the time. St. Paul has a grim reminder to each of us this Sunday as he recalled that desert experience of the Israelites when he wrote:
I do no want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea… Yet God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the desert. These things happened as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil things, as they did. Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure should take not to fall (1 Corinthians 10:1, 5-6, 12).
Five years ago I celebrated my birthday on a Sunday, the fifth in Lent just before Palm Sunday. That was very memorable to me because it was the first Sunday during the COVID lockdown when public Masses were prohibited.
That afternoon, I decided to go on a motorized procession of the Blessed Sacrament around my parish with a handful of our parish volunteers using a borrowed F-150 truck of a generous parishioner. Oh how the people knelt while lining up the main highway and inner streets as we passed by with the Blessed Sacrament.
Halfway through our libot, it started to rain but I instructed my companions to still go on even if it there would be a downpour. As we approached the last purok of our parish, I saw a rainbow. And cried as I felt God telling me at that moment like Noah after the floods that He would not forsake us in that time of COVID.
God kept that promise until I left Parokya ni San Juan Ebanghelista in Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan that was the least affected barangay by COVID in the whole town during my term.
Reflecting on that scene of Moses before the burning bush, I remembered that rainbow during my 55th birthday at the start of the COVID pandemic and lockdown. God often comes to us in many disguises, enlightening us to see the present situation we are into especially when it is all dark. It is the time we look inside our hearts to find God and experience His love; if we can’t find God or feel His love, let us be converted. Let us do penance as Jesus told the people in the gospel. Only with a contrite heart that one can truly find love again because being sorry for one’s sin is the beginning of loving.
That is the surest sign of God’s love for us – when everything especially us and our relationships become visibly clear , no matter how slowly it may be, one step at a time. The more we experience the love of God, the more we resolve to love; that is when this life and world become brighter. Let us love like God by returning to Him in His love. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-22 ng Marso 2025
Larawan ng una kong birthday, sigisty years ago; nakaalalay sa akin si mommy (SLN) habang masayang nagsindi ng kandila ang kanyang Ditse, ang Tita Connie na nasa Amerika at buhay pa kasama ng kanyang mga anak na sina Alexis na ka-birthday ko katabi ng mommy at si RAF katabi ko; si Kuya Edgar pinakamatangkad at matanda sa mga pinsan ay nasa Amerika din. Di ko matiyak sinu-sino mga kasama sa party na mga pinsan ko lahat.
Sigisty years old na ako. Sa isang taon sigisty one Sa susunod sigisty two tapos sigisty three sigisty four sigisty five sigisty six sigisty seven sigisty eight at ewan, kung aabutin ko pa mag(ing) sigisty-nine.
Salamuch sa lahat ng mga nakasama at nakasabay sa paglalakbay sa buhay nitong anim na dekada, sa mga naniwala at ayaw pa ring maniwala; ang lahat ay pagpapala ng Mabuting Bathala na sa atin ay lumikha itinakda tayong maging ganap sa piling Niyang Banal.
Maraming dapat ipagpasalamat sa aking mga biyayang natanggap bagaman kulang na kulang at tiyak kakapusin aking mabubuting gawain kaya sana ako ay inyong patawarin lalo ng Panginoong butihin; wala akong panghihinayang sa aking mga nakaraan na kung aking babalikan ay hindi ko na babaguhin bagkus lahat ay uulitin pa rin!
Hindi man pansin ako ay mahiyain, alinlangan sa aking husay at galing, napipigilan palagi lumarga at magsapalaran sa maraming hamon ng buhay kaya't nitong mga nagdaan akin nang pinag-iisipan magpahingalay tigilan nang pakikibaka manahimik na lang, umiwas sa ingay at gulo ng buhay.
Bukod sa 20-percent discount
ng pagiging senior sixty-cent
pinakamasarap sa pagiging sigisty
ang napakaraming ala-alang masarap
balikan maski na marami ring
masasakit at mapapait na di malilimutan
na sadyang sakbibi nating palagi
dapat pa ring ipagpasalamat
sa maraming aral sa atin nagmulat
masarap pa rin ang mabuhay
kaya't sabik ko nang hinihintay
walang hanggang kinabukasan
maaring malasap
ano man ating edad
kung mamumuhay nang ganap.
2004 sa Parokya ng Santisima Trinidad, Malolos City.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 20 March 2025
Photo by author, Canyon Woods Resort Club, Laurel, Batangas, 15 March 2025.
“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” – Paulo Coelho, “The Alchemist”
It is exactly what I am experiencing these days since we had our university management team-building seminar in Batangas last weekend when my realizations there were reinforced in my ongoing annual personal retreat here in Novaliches that started Monday evening.
It is a moment of consolation when suddenly, the whole universe conspires not only to get whatever you want but simply to affirm you being on the right track, giving you the proverbial pat on the shoulder that everything is going fine, everything falling into its right places.
Photo by author with flash, Canyon Woods Resort Club, Laurel, Batangas, 15 March 2025.
Pardon me for writing for the third time about perspectives and point-of-view (POV) as I could not contain the joy of the fruits of my prayers.
Another thing is the fact that when I took these photos randomly, there was no plan at all in writing about the subject of perspective. Never thought how these photos would turn out to be pieces of a jigsaw puzzle on perspective and POV.
We have reflected the other day how our perspectives of things and people as well as events contribute to the understanding or breakdown in communication as they reveal our inner thoughts and dispositions. It is not only important at how we narrate a story from whatever POV but most of all, at how open are we in refining our perspectives so that we achieve unity.
(More photos from our team-building in Batangas.)
Lights at the lobby of Canyon Woods taken from below.
Sunset from my room…
sunrise from same room.
Delighful scene of window and moon at night.
During our Holy Hour Tuesday night to cap our first day of prayers, I realized something very close to our subject of perspective while praying over the following gospel passage regarding the Mystery of God:
Jesus told his disciples, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be” (Matthew 6:22-23).
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.
When we have the right perspective in life, we get a clear vision of life too.
That is why in our previous blog we have said we need to refine our perspective like an artist who has to spend and invest time not only in his/her studies but most especially in his/her dealing and interactions with people to come up with an obra maestra.
Living, after all, is an art, of our participation in the grace of God to bring out the best in each of us. St. Paul was very clear about this perspective regarding leadership and community life that both aim to show the giftedness of every member.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.
Our perspectives are put to the test in moments of darkness like when we are in trials and tribulations, difficulties and crises. It is during darkness in life when people are distinguished from merely having sight or with a vision. According to the American writer Helen Keller, the worst thing that can happen in life is for anyone with sight not to have any vision at all.
Of course, we all know Helen was blind who wrote some of the loveliest poetry of her time.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.
Many people just have sight that can be easily blurred that eventually affect their perspective. It is more than looking from the inside or from the outside (POV) but of how we see or look at everything and everyone from within us.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.
A person of vision always sees beyond and therefore achieves more, always more fulfilled and fruitful than those who merely sees things, people and events as they are.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.
People with the right perspective will always have vision in seeing everything despite many obstacles in life. They remain focused on what they “see” that others could not see at all. With a right perspective and proper vision, that person still sees when “darkness is his only light and hopelessness is his only hope” (T. S. Eliot in Four Quartets).
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.
My spiritual director since 2016, Jesuit Father Danny Gozar asked me during outside prayer periods that I “deliberately appreciate” God’s creation like feeling the gentle breeze, walking barefooted to be caressed by the green grass soaked in morning dew, feel the burning heat of the sun and if it rains – which it did briefly – try to get wet to feel the raindrops.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.
What struck me most were the many sounds of nature here in Sacred Heart Novitiate due to its mini-forest.
Crows caw the whole day along with the crickets while the ugly gecko fills the whole place with its cries of tu…ko! tu…ko!
Their sounds were so musical to my ears, sounds I have last heard decades ago while growing up in the province but almost totally gone in the city.
What is amusing is how with merely the sounds they make, we can form images of how these creatures look like!
The same thing with God himself.
When we are formed in Jesus Christ’s perspectives in life, everything around us becomes a reminder of God’s presence, of himself with us. We cannot see him but with his gift of vision, we see him. And follow him.
That is why, with proper perspective comes vision. Then, mission!
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 19 March 2025 Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary 2 Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16 + Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22 + Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.
God our most loving Father, thank you for this Solemnity of St. Joseph, the most chaste husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary who witnessed to us with his life of faith the important aspects of Lent that have become a rarity these days - silence and stillness in you.
In this world of 24-7 when everything is "instant", we have lost the sense and beauty of silence and stillness in you, O Lord, making us to drift farther away from you, not believing you, not obeying you relying more in our powers and control of everything.
But life is not about doing and things as your Son Jesus have shown us: life is about being and loving, of persons in whom we find you and meaning of our lives.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. 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…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 1:19-20, 21, 24).
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.
Teach us, Jesus to be like St. Joseph your foster father to be holy and righteous: obedient to your laws but most of all, faithful and loving to God through one another.
Teach us, Jesus
to be like St. Joseph
your foster father
to be silent because
silence is the domain of trust:
let us trust you more
than our selves,
than our gadgets,
than our modern thoughts
and beliefs;
teach us Jesus
to be like St. Joseph
to be still in this time
when everyone is easily
agitated foolishly
by the cacophony of
various shouts and cries
in social media that are mostly
not true.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
Teach us, Jesus, that life is a daily Lent, of being silent and still in your presence, in your voice, in your plans so that like St. Joseph your foster father we may take care of you found in each one of us especially the weak and the poor. Amen.
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