*Photo by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II at Malagos Garden Resort, Davao City, 11 August 2018.
What really happened Lord Jesus Christ when you saw Nathanael or St. Bartholomew “under the fig tree” that prompted him to give that great confession of faith that “you are the Son of God; the King of Israel”? (Jn.1:48,49)
Give me O Lord the grace and courage to strip myself naked, to be flayed like St. Bartholomew in order to reveal and accept what is deep beneath my skin, to be without guile like him. Despite his harsh words about you and your origins which are not really true because you actually came from Bethlehem, it became an opportunity for St. Bartholomew to feel being loved and accepted by you. In calling him a “true child of Israel”(Jn.1:47), St. Bartholomew must have felt that here at last is the Son of God, the Messiah who truly knows him and most of all, accepts him. He must have felt so good of finding you who finally understood and accepted him as he is.
Sometimes Lord Jesus, we refuse to make that bold move of knowing you more clearly, of being under the fig tree, praying for your coming to us personally. And most of all, so often we refuse to be surprised by you like St. Bartholomew in that simple encounter. Make us “come and see” you as you are, Lord Jesus, true God and true Man. Amen. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria,Bulacan 3022
*A popular sketch of the call of Nathanael under the fig tree (courtesy of Google).
Praise and glory to you, O God our almighty Father on this Memorial of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth! It is purely because of your goodness that we now honor her as Queen. Since the beginning, we have always revered Mary as Queen for being the Mother of your Son Jesus, the King of Kings. Most of all, you remind us, O God, that Mary is rightly a Queen because you reigned supreme in her whole life while here on earth.
We praise and thank you our loving Father for this holiday you have given us. Give us the grace to renew everything in Christ your Son, especially our very selves as your servant St. Pius X envisioned during his papacy at the start of the 20th century.
Until now, like the princes of Tyre of the Old Testament and the other men of the past century when two World Wars plunged the world into darkness, there are still many of us who believe and live as “god”. Everywhere, Lord, we speak and act as if we are god, insisting on what we want, bragging on our achievements, and relying on our strength and power. Everybody is claiming the streets and highway as his or her own sovereignty, feeling like a deity with our vehicles as our “seat of power and might”. We have run out of solons and statesmen in congress and government for all they are concerned with is their own interests.
It is very unfortunate, dear Father, even in your Church, we priests are so lost too in our belief and way of life as being god. Instead of building lives, we have destroyed so many lives with all kinds of clergy abuses that are not only scandalous but very sickening. We no longer smell like your sheep and worst, we have slaughtered many of your little lambs.
In 1983, you sent us Ninoy, believing the “Filipino is worth dying for.” He set aside all his plans, including his very safety and went home to work for peaceful transition. A bullet felled him but not our belief in bringing back democracy in our country. So sad, Lord, how we have easily forgotten YOU who made EDSA a miracle. Many have played gods and destroyed EDSA like Jerusalem of old, making it a symbol of everything that is wrong with us. Primary among these is our belief in being god. We pray to you, our loving Father, in these moments of darkness in our history like at the fall of Jerusalem and at the start of World War I in St. Pius X’s time, give us the grace to renew our love and commitment to You, the only True God for only you who can deliver us. Nothing is impossible with you, especially when we start being human and stop being god. Amen.Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria,Bulacan 3022
Photo by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, tree canopy at Sacred Heart Novitiate (Novaliches), 4-6 July 2018.
Today is the memorial of one of my favorite saints, Bernard of Clairvaux. A devotee of the Blessed Virgin Mary, he wrote the lovely prayer Memorare. For this gloomy Monday due to the weather and whatever troubles that may happen this week especially on our streets, let us pray with St. Bernard:
Photo from Google: Painting by Italian artist Pietro Perugino at a church in Florence. St. Bernard was in deep study when the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him in a vision. The two men beside St. Bernard at Apostles St. John Evangelist and St. Bartholomew whose feast we celebrate this Friday, August 24.
Our dearest Lord Jesus Christ: of the many questions we have always asked you, perhaps the young man’s question in the gospel today is the one you have always wanted – and waited us to ask you: “What do I still lack?”(Mt.19:20)
Every day we pray, confessing our sins for what “I have done and what I have failed to do.” It is always easier Lord to think of what I done wrong; but rarely do we really take time reflecting on what we have failed to do, our sins of omission.
The young man in the gospel today must have been dealing with a lot of people, like us today especially in the social media but, we never ask ourselves if we fulfill the requirements of love in these interactions with others. Many times, our dealings these days are mediated by technology, lacking sincerity and love. Like the young man, it is easy to obey commandments even without much love to our own discomfort because it is not right. But, we do not care to reflect more about it because we are so afraid to discover the sins we are not aware of!
Give us the grace, Lord Jesus to identify our sins of omission so we can achieve greater self-knowledge of our selves for it is the surest way to truly love you and others. Help us to learn from St. Bernard of Clairvaux whose we feast we celebrate today that “Love is a great thing so long as it continually returns to its fountainhead, flows back to its source, always drawing from there the water which constantly replenishes it.”(from the Office of Reading)
This is what we really lack, Lord Jesus Christ: the real good we must do of letting go of our selves, giving away our wealth and other valuables, setting aside our plans and agenda so we can follow you more closely daily. Amen.Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria,Bulacan 3022 .
*Photo by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, moss at Malagos Garden, Davao City, 10 August 2018.
Finally… the Beatles in our LordMyChefSundayMusic!
But did you know that the great Paul McCartney wrote this song not for a particular person but as an “ode to pot”? Yes, in honor of marijuana, that holy grass producing holy smoke!
I was alone, I took a ride
I didn’t know what I would find there
Another road where maybe I
Could see another kind of mind there
Ooh, then I suddenly see you
Ooh, did I tell you I need you
Every single day of my life
Sir Paul revealed this only recently in an interview for a book about him and his works (check Google). But again, as I have told you last Sunday, that is the beauty of music: truly a universal language that takes on a life of its own wherein it becomes applicable to every situation. On this penultimate Sunday of the Lord’s “bread of life” discourse, we find this classic Beatle music speaking also of God’s “communion” with us through Jesus Christ’s Body and Blood in the Eucharist: “we find Jesus speaking more boldly to the unfriendly audience by increasing the force of His declaration as “the bread of life” by repeating it eight times in eight verses! Jesus did not budge in the arguments of the crowd and instead slowly spiraled up His discourse as food and drink for eternal life…showing us the direction we have to follow in Him.” https://lordmychef.wordpress.com/2018/08/18/lordmychefsundayrecipe-19-august-2018/
Have to be clear with you, dear reader, I was not into pot and have not read the inspiration behind this song when I wrote my Sunday reflection… but that is indeed the effect of getting into Jesus in the Sunday Mass, beyond compare with weeds or any other drug: Here again is Jesus Christ before us…inviting us to enter into a communion with Him and in Him without murmuring and quarrelling to calmly reflect on this mystery of the Lord as our food and drink to eternal life… let us not rush God like the crowd at Capernaum by demanding spectacular and verifiable things to remind us of His presence. Jesus is with us in the most ordinary things like bread and wine, in the most common experience like the Mass. He speaks to us in the most consistent manner, always repeating the same words of assurances of His love and mercy, kindness and presence. Never doubt for we are making progress every Sunday, from Eucharist to Eucharist. Sooner or later, we shall come to that promised day of eternal life in the Father through Jesus Christ.” Have a hearty lunch with family and friends and God. And music!
Our gospel is now getting more interesting as the drama among the Jews and Jesus Christ unfold into new dimensions on this penultimate Sunday of the “bread of life” discourse. Last week, the Jews murmured among themselves when Jesus declared “I am the bread that came down from heaven” (Jn.6:41); today, the Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”(Jn.6:52)
Notice the beautiful interplay of “antes” noted by John in this part of the bread of life discourse: from murmuring, the Jews have turned into quarrelling among themselves in their renewed refusal to believe in Jesus. They have deteriorated from being skeptical into being insidious, reaching its lowest point next week when in their refusal to take the words of Jesus, they would eventually leave Him behind along with other disciples who have followed Him after that episode of feeding of more than 5000 people. Only the 12 would remain with Jesus. On the other hand, we find Jesus speaking more boldly to the unfriendly audience by increasing the force of His declaration as “the bread of life” by repeating it eight times in eight verses! And this time, He would even add that not only His flesh is food but also His blood is drink for eternal life. Jesus did not budge in the arguments of the crowd and instead slowly spiraled up His discourse as food and drink for eternal life. Jesus is trying to establish here a new direction in knowing Him, in following Him. In presenting Himself as our food and drink for eternal life, Jesus is also showing us the direction we have to follow in Him. Remember our reflection last July 15 that discipleship is not destination but directional? And the direction Jesus is taking us in His bread of life discourse is about our Holy Communion in God.
If you have observed in these past four weeks, sometimes the discourse by Jesus seems to be going nowhere, could be vague or ambiguous that it does not seem to progress at all. See how since last Sunday Jesus was repeating over and over His being the bread of life who came down from heaven and that whoever eats His flesh and drinks His blood will have eternal life. Jesus is not trying to get our attention with some fancy thoughts or brilliant expositions; Jesus is inviting us to a more personal experience of Himself in His bread of life discourse. He is asking us to take our time in listening and digesting His words because in the end, His goal is not to fill our minds but to rest in our hearts. Jesus is seeking communion with us, a oneness that can be achieved in the mystery of faith with a certitude deep in our hearts. It is something like our daily prayers and weekly celebration of the Sunday Mass when we sometimes feel nothing is happening; even in our minds, we know we have known everything. Yet, as we try to be open, holding on to our faith in God, we continue to pray and celebrate the Sunday Mass that deep within us we are convinced something had changed, that we have experienced Someone so real and profound. That is communion. When we receive Jesus Body and Blood, we realize and know for a fact we are not one. We have a communion not only with others with similar pains and hurts like ours but most of all with God who became human like us because He loves us so much. Now in Holy Communion, He is one with us, truly inside our body, flesh and blood under the signs of bread and wine. There is now an existing relationship on common experiences inexhaustible in its richness. That is how personal God is with us.
