Magnanimous Jesus

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 16 February 2025
Jeremiah 17:5-8 ><}}}}*> 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20 ><}}}}* Luke 6:17, 20-26

After the call of his first disciples last Sunday, Jesus went on to preach in Galilee as great crowds followed him with some of them becoming his disciples too. From among these many disciples, Jesus chose twelve to be his Apostles after praying one night on a mountain (Lk. 6:12-16).

As they went down from the mountain, Jesus taught the Twelve along with his other disciples and crowd of people who have gathered to listen to him in what came to be known as his Sermon on the Plain.

Luke patterned his Sermon on the Plain on earlier account of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount that portrayed Jesus like the new Moses and moreover, the new Law himself. Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount has a smaller audience that was limited to just the Twelve while Luke’s Sermon on the Plain had a wider audience of not just the Apostles but also the other disciples and the crowd of people who have been following him.

But, more than their differences in their setting and audience, the two sermons differ greatly in the message itself. Both Luke and Matthew begin with four beatitudes, but Matthew concludes with additional beatitudes while Luke matched the four beatitudes with four woes that frankly speaking, are very disturbing.

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way” (Luke 6:24-26).

Again, Luke is telling us something deeper about Jesus in his version of the Sermon on the Plain that actually echoes the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Magnificat found only in his gospel too.

Recall in the Magnificat how Mary spoke of God sending the rich “away empty” (Lk.1:53) as he blessed the poor and the hungry. And here now is Jesus Christ fulfilling those words of his Mother.

The gospels and the whole Bible itself teem with many pronouncements against the rich and those in similar good fortune in life. Is God against the rich, those happy and those of good reputation? What’s wrong with being rich or well-off, of having our fill of food and laughter, and being spoken well of by others?

Nothing really.

Jesus is not against anyone for he loves everyone as he preached extensively on the need to love one another as we love God. If Jesus preached only love, he would have not been crucified, and most definitely would have not made so much enemies. But, the kind of love Jesus preached was so radical that shook not only the ways of the old but also of modern time because it is a kind of love that pulls down the mighty and favors the poor and those suffering. His Sermon on the Plain rings louder than ever today as we have not seemed learned from the lessons of the past. And believe it or not, the four woes declared by Jesus in his Sermon on the Plain are actually expressions of his magnanimous love, contrary to what others claim.

The four woes that are antitheses of the four blessings are not actually maledictions as most interpretations have expressed. A malediction is like a curse, an expression of one’s desire for someone’s harm like in calling down God’s wrath. The four woes of Jesus in his Sermon on the Plain is far from that reality nor a condemnation against anyone.

*Photo by author, Church of the Beatitudes, the Holy Land, May 2017.*

In calling the rich “woeful” along with those who are filled and those who laugh “now” as well as those of whom “all speak well”, Jesus is neither condemning them nor declaring them as evil-doers; in calling them “woeful”, Jesus reminds them and us today of being on the wrong and bad path in life that can lead to a fatal outcome or end.

Like in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus that only Luke has an account in his gospel, Jesus Christ’s “woes” are warnings – “red flags” – everyone must consider who might be in the wrong direction and wrong choices in “enjoying” life “now” without any concern for those who are suffering like the poor and the hungry, those who grieve and those maligned and hated.

*Photo by Mr. Jay Javier, Quiapo, 09 January 2020.*

The poor, the hungry, the weeping and the hated are blessed not simply because of their state in life but more of their willingness to forego so many worldly things “now” for they trust in God who shall deliver them to salvation and justice.

They are blessed because they have realized that things of the world are passing, something that the worldly could not accept. How sad that many today have lost sight of eternity and even of God, living only for the “now”.

Jesus is not asking us to be “masochists” or at the other end of the extreme, to be complacent in the face of widespread suffering and pains. Remember how in the synagogue at Nazareth one sabbath when Jesus launched his ministry by proclaiming from the Prophet Isaiah how the Spirit of God rested on him to bring glad tidings to the poor, liberty to captives, healing to the sick (3rd Sunday, Jan. 26).

By calling the poor and the suffering as “blessed”, Jesus assures them that God is with them and that justice shall be reestablished on “that day” when they enter the kingdom that has been prepared for them in eternal life. He called us “woe” to warn us while there is still enough time to change our course in life to be blessed not only now but in all eternity too!

See how our readings this Sunday are actually about our making of wise choices in life: in the first reading, Jeremiah warns us of the consequences of trusting God or trusting humans while the psalms show us the ways of the just and the ways of the wicked; Paul in the second reading presents to us the grace of believing in Christ’s Resurrection and the folly of denying it while in the gospel, Jesus offers us blessing or woe in living.

These readings show us there is no middle ground in following Jesus nor grey areas in God. Our decisions in life define the course of our lives like what the Pepsi Cola ad used to say in the 1990’s, “we are made (or unmade) by the decision we make.”

Moreover, in giving us those four woes, Luke reminds us that in making our decisions, we must consider more than the moral but the Christological perspective of life to be like Jesus Christ – who is himself the “blessed” because he is the poor one, the hungry, the weeping and the hated.

Should we make the wrong decisions in life, Jesus remains magnanimous, remaining in us, telling us those woes over and over so we would still make the right choices in life. Don’t take it personally; Jesus cares for you.

In three weeks we shall be entering the Season of Lent. Incidentally, the last time we celebrated Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time in Cycle C was in 2010, the Seventh Sunday in 2007, and the Eighth Sunday in 2001!

Our gospel readings in the coming two more Sundays before Ash Wednesday would still be taken from Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Plain to emphasize the closeness of God with those who are poor and suffering.

As we approach the holy Season of Lent that calls us to more prayers, fasting and almsgiving, we can already start this Sixth Sunday examining our lives to see if we are aligned with the blessed ones of God or are we the woeful ones. The choice is ours. Let us pray for the grace to choose Jesus, only Jesus, always Jesus. Amen. A blessed week ahead to everyone!

Tula at paalala sa araw ng mga puso

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-14 ng Pebrero 2025

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Tagaytay, 17 Enero 2025.*

Pansamantalang titigil
sa mga kinikilig 
pag-inog nitong daigdig
sa araw na ito 
ng mga pusong umiibig;
tiyak bibigay din
ano mang hinhin
at yumi 
ng sinomang dilag
kapag nakatanggap
ng bulaklak kanino man
magbuhat.

Ngunit 
ang masaklap tuwing
katorse ng Pebrero 
ang maraming pag-ibig
katulad na lamang ng
petsang dumaraan,
wala nang katapatan
at kadalisayan
mga magkasintahan
pag-ibig dinurumihan
isa't isa'y sinasaktan
at dinudungisan.

Pagmasdan
ating kapanahunan
pilit binibigyang katuwiran
kasalanan at kasamaan
matutunghayan saanman
mga larawan ng kataksilan
wala nang kahihiyan
ipinangangalandakan
mga kapalaluan 
sa gitna ng kapangahasang
magmaang-maangan
na wala silang kalaswaan.

*Photo by Designecologist on Pexels.com*

Alalahanin
at balikan tagpo sa
halamanan 
nang magkasala
una nating mga magulang
sila'y nagulantang
sa kanilang kahubaran
nabuksan murang malay
at kaisipan
nang kainin bawal na bunga
ng puno ng kaalaman 
ng mabuti at masama;
mabuti pa sila noon
nahiya at nagtago
habang ngayon
namamayagpag
sa yabang at kapalaluan
ang karamihan
kanya-kanyang rason
maraming palusot
puro baluktot
at paninindigan
2day
2morrow
4ever
nakalimutang
pag-ibig 
ay panig
sa katotohanan
hindi kasinungalingan;
ang tunay na pag-ibig
hatid ay kaayusan
hindi kaguluhan,
kapayapaan at kapanatagan
hindi takot
at kahihiyan
ang diwa
nitong Valentine's.

Our shameless nakedness & deafness

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of Sts. Cyril (Monk) & Methodius (Bishop), 14 February 2025
Genesis 3:1-8 ><0000'> + ><0000'> + ><0000'> Mark 7:31-37

On this most joyous day
when most hearts has only 
one thing to say,
I pray dear Lord Jesus Christ
that I remain and stay
at your side,
never to hide
because of shame
and sin.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked… When they heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the garden at the breezy time of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the Lord god among the trees of the garden (Genesis 3:7, 8).

How times have changed,
Lord, when in the garden at Eden
the man and his wife sinned,
they hid whereas today
no one is ashamed anymore
of their nakedness;
what a shame that today,
we don't hide in shame
instead flaunt our nakedness
for everyone to be convinced
we are clean,
we are right,
we have not sinned.

Heal our deafness,
Jesus;
take us off away from others
to be with yourself
like that deaf mute,
put your fingers into our ears,
pierce our hearts,
touch our souls
for us to see our
indifference to sin 
and evil
and shout your words
"Ephphatha"
that we may be opened
anew to the sad realities
of our nakedness
we ironically use 
to cover
our sins.
Amen.

God hears us

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 13 February 2025
Genesis 2:18-25 ><0000'> + ><0000'> + ><0000'> Mark 7:24-30

*Photo by author, Fatima Ave., Valenzuela City, July 2024.*

Your words today, O Lord,
are very striking:
in the gospel you were
seeking rest while 
a Syrophoenician woman -
a pagan and outsider -
was seeking healing of her
daughter;
in the first reading,
God felt it was not good 
for man to be alone
and he cast him into a deep
sleep, took one of his ribs 
and made it into a woman;
in both instances,
you listened and heard
O God the needs of your 
people whether it was
loudly voiced out like that
pagan woman or
simply kept in the man's heart.

And that's the good news 
so good for us to hear today:
you listen.
Always.

Likewise,
in both stories,
there is always a giving up
on our part for us to be
heard and answered by you,
Lord:
the Syrophoenician begged
and disregarded her very self
for her daughter possessed by
the demon while the man
gave names to all the creatures
and animals given him;
moreover, 
the man had to lose his one rib
to give way for the woman's coming
in order for him to have company
while in the gospel,
the pagan woman accepted
her being a foreigner,
an outsider
that Jesus reintegrated her
into the fold.

Many times, Lord,
we feel left out in you,
we feel you not listening
nor hearing our deepest pleas
and longings
when in fact
you know them so well
that you only await us
to come to you
and voice them out,
express them to you
trustingly.
Amen.

Remembering, returning to Eden

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 12 February 2025
Genesis 2:4-9, 15-17 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Mark 7:14-23

*Photo by author, sunrise in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.*

Bring me back, Lord
to Eden
to Paradise 
where everything started;
bring me back inside my heart,
inside you, Lord, 
the beginning of your creation,
the center of your attention:

Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east and he placed there the man whom he had formed… to cultivate and care for it. The Lord God gave man this order: “You are free to eat from any of the trees in the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die” (Genesis 2:8, 15, 16-17).

*Photo by author, morning in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.*

Take me back inside my heart,
Jesus, to be clean and free again 
to choose you,
to be faithful,
to be loving;
indeed, "what comes out
of a person is what defiles him"
(Mark 7:20) even from the very start
when the Father created us;
until now, even inside you
our "home" we still could not
understand it like the disciples
(Mark 7:17-18) because
we would always choose 
our own selves,
our own desires,
our limited knowledge.

*Photo by author, afternoon in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.*

Let me remember Eden
and let me return to Eden, 
Jesus,
to be one with you again -
me the creture,
you my Lord and my God;
take me back in your presence,
Jesus and let me realize
that though man is the
master of his world,
God is man's Master
and Lord for He is the
Creator, we are the creature.
Amen.

Jesus our water of healing in Cana & Lourdes with Mary.

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes & World Day of Sick, 11 February 2025
Isaiah 66:10-14 <'000>< + ><000'> + <'000>< + ><000'> John 2:1-11

*Photo by author, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Bignay, Valenzuela City, 03 February 2025.*

Thank you, 
dearest God our loving Father
in sending us your Son Jesus Christ
who gave us his Mother 
the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be our Mother too!

From the very beginning of
his ministry to our modern time,
Mary has always been close with
Jesus who showed us your great signs
of your loving presence, 
generosity and mercy,
life and joy first anticipated
at the wedding at Cana,
his first miracle.

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. when the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:1-5).

*From stillromancatholicafteralltheseyears.com, January 2022.*

How lovely that Jesus Christ's
first sign (miracle) happened
 "on the third day" -
a prefiguration of Easter -
the fullness of your coming to us,
the fullness of our healing and salvation,
the third day after his "hour";
how prominent that
at his "hour" on the Cross,
blood and water flowed out
from Jesus' side pierced by a lance
while there at the wedding at Cana,
Jesus transformed water into
an excellent wine.

Both at Cana and at Lourdes
 there was water,
 the sign of life;
most of all,
 in both instances
 like at the Cross,
 Mary was present
bringing us healing
and joy.

At Cana,
 water became an excellent wine
 to prefigure the Lord’s Supper
 we celebrate each day in the Holy Mass
 as a foretaste of our promised glory in heaven
 while at Lourdes,
 water transformed
and healed the sick.

*Photo by author, Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes at St. Paul Spirituality Center in Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 06 January 2025.*

Thank you 
most Blessed Virgin Mary
to your witness of faith in Christ;
your example enabled us
to encounter 
the gift of God in Jesus, 
to create the feast of joy 
of communion, 
of healing, 
of fulfillment 
that can only be made possible 
by God’s presence 
and his gift of self 
in Christ;
in Cana and on to Lourdes 
and wherever we may be, 
every day is God’s coming, 
the “hour” of Jesus 
in every “here” and “now” 
when we experience the sign 
of God’s overflowing generosity 
to us all who are so tired 
and exhausted
most especially 
so sickly;
you, O Blessed Virgin Mary, 
are the fulfillment
of Isaiah's prophecy of God
sending us a mother who shall
comfort us in moments of 
sickness and darkness;
continue to help us,
most Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes
to get through these times
of many diseases and sickness;
get us closer to Jesus your Son
who is our true peace and joy
by doing whatever he tells us
like the servants at Cana.
Amen.

In the beginning…

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Scholastica, Virgin, 10 February 2025
Genesis 1:1-19 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Mark 6:53-56

*Photo by author, sunset in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024*.

Blessed are you,
God our loving Father
in giving us a taste of
the beginning everyday
especially on this first day
of work and of school
as your words in the first reading
remind of our daily
beginning in you!

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said, “Let there be…” Thus evening came, and morning followed… (Genesis 1:1-3, 7).

In the beginning
there was nothing but
chaos just like in our lives
until you brought light,
order and life, God;
it is always light and order
that come first to set the
stage for life like in those first
two days; what is most lovely,
Father is when the third day came
and there began balance and
symmetry in your creation 
like sea and earth, 
day and night,
sun and moon
that relationships happened
and everything started to be good.

In the gospel today
as in our lives,
every day is a new beginning
with its many chaos:
sickness and diseases,
emptiness,
self-alienation,
rejection in all forms,
failures and disappointments
as well frustrations
that all remind us of how
everything was in the beginning;
but, with Jesus Christ's coming
and healing
we saw the light
and experienced healing
and order.

Everything becomes good
when seen in your light
and design, Lord Jesus;
when our relationships are
kept and maintained
especially at home like with
our siblings,
parents and family
as exemplified by the twins
St. Scholastica
and St. Benedict.

Make everything new again
and most of all good,
dear Jesus in our lives
like in the Genesis
as shown by St. Scholastica
who was able to do more
because she loved most.
Amen.

*Painting “Altar of St. Scholastica” by Johann Baptist Wenzel Bergl (1765), ncregister.com*

Being “caught” by Christ to catch for Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 09 February 2025
Isaiah 6:1-2, 3-8 ><}}}}*> 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 ><}}}}*> Luke 5:1-11

*Photo by author, sunrise at the Lake of Galilee, the Holy Land, May 2017.*

In my almost 27 years in the priesthood, I have always found kids asking the most difficult questions in life than adults. What makes their questions more difficult is that there are no easy answers that you have to use some imagery.

That is why it is always good to pray in advance the coming Sunday gospel like last Tuesday when a young girl asked me why God had allowed her to be given away by her biological mother for adoption.

After a pause of silence as I reflected today’s gospel, I told her that many times we are “thrown” by God – inihahagis, iniitsa – like in baseball or basketball not to be lost but to be caught in order to be cared and loved to score points and win this game called life. God knew so well her adoptive mother is an excellent “catcher” in life who “caught” her to give her a better life like now going to a good school, being dressed properly, never gone hungry. Hence, my reflection on this Sunday’s homily is focused on that magic word “to catch”:

For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him (Luke 5:9-11).

*Mosaic in the Church of St. Peter in Capernaum from thework-fso.org.*

The word “catch” is a very catchy one (pun intended), used in various ways that could mean positively or negatively like in catching a bus or a train and catching a ball. We catch a meaning while we also catch a glance. We do a lot of catching daily in our lives like catching up with lessons and chismis that eventually we catch a cold or catch pneumonia after a kiss like in the song.

To catch means to intercept and hold, to have something or someone like when lovers are told of having a good “catch” with their girlfriend or boyfriend. That is why, it is always said that in catching, never drop what you have caught – take care, and cherish what you caught! It could be a prized catch after all.

It is the same thing that Luke is telling us this Sunday, of how Jesus makes a marvelous catch not only with Peter and company but for all of us in the gospel.

Coming home from a night of fishing without any catch, Jesus saw Peter with his companions washing their net. They must have been very sad with nothing to bring home to their families and then came Jesus who was so keen with everyone’s feelings and situation. Jesus surely noticed the sadness in Peter that He borrowed his boat to teach the crowd who have been following Him.

After teaching and dismissing the crowd, Jesus asked Peter to go fishing again. Imagine Peter twice allowing Jesus to “catch” him: first, in borrowing his boat and second, in instructing him to “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”

Imagine Peter so lugi (bankrupt) with Jesus borrowing his boat that could have been so worn out with holes to be His platform for teaching. Was it not insulting? Are we not like Peter sometimes? Or like his boat then borrowed by Jesus?

Good that Peter did not mind it at all but, when asked by Jesus to go out fishing again, we find a change in Peter already. Jesus had already caught Peter as he had caught the Lord’s words and teachings that he replied, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.”

*Photo by author, Macapagal Blvd.’s dampa restaurant, 2018.*

The miraculous catch of fish caught Peter and everybody by surprise. See how Peter knelt to Jesus in reaction to their great catch instead of helping his men pulled their nets.

Most of all, Peter addressed Jesus as “Lord” whereas earlier, he called Him “Master”. There was already a recognition of Jesus more than a Teacher and Master but the Son of God for how can one really explain the great catch that happened?

The greatest sign that Peter was totally caught by Jesus was his conversion, when he begged the Lord to depart from him for he was a sinful man. At that point, Peter was already all caught up by Jesus along with his brother Andrew and their companions, the brothers James and John

Many times in life Jesus catches us by surprise in the most ordinary instances of our lives like in our daily routines. But most surprising of all is when Jesus catches us in our lowest moments in life too like Peter, deep in sin or deep in trouble, even deep into debts and other darkness in life. There are times we set limits to our patience and perseverance that we are so tempted to give up and quit, saying “I’ve had enough!” or “I’m done with this!”

Don’t give up, don’t quit! Jesus is passing by. If you feel like being thrown out of the room or up in the air or even the sea, muster all your courage and trust, Jesus is around waiting to catch you as you fall. Nobody had really gone rock bottom in life without anything at all. At least, we are still alive and that’s because Jesus had caught us, always carrying us in our worst moments in life.

That is why we have to do a lot of catching up with Jesus too. Persevere in prayer. Every failure, every suffering and pain is an opportunity to grow, to succeed, to meet someone or something so surprising who could be right beside you in the Sunday Mass.

The Sunday gospel reminds us to be like Peter and company to remain open for new things and new persons who come to our lives who may be Jesus Himself passing by.

Yes, we may feel being thrown sometimes in life but not to fall but to be caught by Jesus, the best catcher of all time.

Let us allow ourselves to be caught by Christ like Paul in the second reading and Isaiah in the first reading. Despite their flaws in themselves, especially Paul who admitted being “the least” of all apostles, both were caught in the most ordinary circumstances of their lives. And once caught, there was no turning back: Isaiah offered himself to God to be sent while Paul became the best fisher of men in the early Church.

Remember our prayer before the Holy Communion, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you under my roof but only say the word and I shall be healed.”

*Photo by author, bronze statue of Peter kneeling before Jesus after the miraculous catch of fish near the shore of Capernaum, 2017.*

Every time we pray that, we admit we are caught up in Jesus, by Jesus. What a fitting confession just before we catch Jesus Body and Blood in the Holy Communion. And just like the gospel this Sunday, we find in every Mass, in every week of our lives, Jesus our Lord and Master is the most essential and prized catch we can always have.

We can go “fishing” all our lives but remain incomplete, unfulfilled and even lost without our best catch of all, Jesus who sees us too as His best catch ever. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead.

Remaining in Jesus

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
First Friday, Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, 07 February 2025
Hebrews 13:1-8 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Mark 6:14-29

*Photo by Mr. Gelo Carpio Nicolas, January 2020.*

Keep me faithful and true
to you,
Jesus
because 
you are 
"the same yesterday,
today, 
and forever"
(Hebrews 13:8);
it is I who forgets
all the time,
who chooses to turn away
from you and be unloving,
unkind,
unforgiving.

Forgive me, Jesus
when you tell me
"Let brotherly love continue"
(Hebrews 13:1)....

...but many times
I can't look or even consider
 each one a brother or a sister
because of our many differences.

"Do not neglect hospitality,
for through it some have unknowingly
entertained angels"
(Hebrews 13:2)...

...I think,
more than the angels
but on many occasions it was
you whom I have turned away,
Jesus because I am
so suspicious of others
who come to me for whatever
needs.

"Be mindful of prisoners
as if sharing their imprisonment,
and of the ill-treated as of yourselves,
for you are also in the body"
(Hebrews 13:3)...

I'm sorry,
Jesus for the many times
I have imprisoned others
in my narrow mind
of many biases
 and prejudices.

"Let marriage be honored
among all and the marriage bed
be kept undefiled"
(Hebrews (13:4)...

what a shame,
Jesus in our age when
marriage is no longer honored
and just taken for granted
with many couples
defiling their bed.

"Let your life be free
from love of money but
be content with what you have"
(Hebrews 13:5)...

alas!
my dearest Jesus,
save us your priests
our diocese so in love
with money,
with the rich
and powerful with whom
we are so close
and identified with,
totally neglecting
the poor and the suffering
among us with our
many excuses and alibis,
always at their beck and calls.

Yes, Jesus,
many times we feel like
Herod: bothered
only by the gospel,
bothered only of your
presence among the poor
and suffering
but so much like Herod,
we never bothered ourselves
to truly find you
and follow you.
Amen.

*Photo from Wikipedia, mosaic of Jesus with Mary and John the Baptist at the Hagia Sophia in Turkey.*

Disciplined living

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 05 February 2025

*Photo by author, Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Dumaguete City, 07 November 2024.*

Discipline is a word so misunderstood these days that too often, it is frowned upon or even feared by many. In this age of so much “freedom” without any regard to “responsibility”, discipline has become its main casualty.

Discipline has very interesting origins. From the Latin verb discere which is to learn or to follow, its noun is disciplina for teaching or learning from which came the word discipulus for disciple, a follower or a pupil. Hence, a person of discipline is one who follows or obeys teachings.

The more disciplined a person is,
the more free a person becomes!

As we have mentioned at the start, due to the wrong perception of “freedom” these days as the ability to do whatever one wants, many see discipline as suppression of freedom. But what is most true is its opposite – the more disciplined a person is, the more free the person becomes!

*Photo by author, sunrise at St. Paul Spirituality Center, Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 06 January 2025.*

When we discipline ourselves in every aspect of our lives like in food and drink intake, in using our time wisely, in budgeting our money and resources among other things, the more we become free to many other things in life. Remove discipline and do whatever you like in your life, eventually you become “unfree” because definitely you will miss your responsibilities and obligations like studies in school and duties at home and the office.

Freedom is never absolute. It has always been limited to choosing and doing what is good. When freedom is abused, it can lead us into being not free at all.

Likewise, some people think discipline is temporary and optional. Many believe that discipline is just for kids and young people who ought to follow their parents and elders. What about adults following their superiors and those above them in the natural and social hierarchy of things and relationships? This perhaps explain the reason why there is a growing complaint against young people lacking respect to elders and those in authority.

Discipline is a life-long process, the one sure thing we would need even rely upon so much as we age and get old. Discipline is imposed and taught in our younger age so that we would mature, grow and develop as persons. It is a lifelong process, a habit, a good that we keep on doing until we die. Or, even if we get old and sick, discipline is our North Star, the Polaris within ourselves especially when everything is dark, when we seem lost in life. Discipline enables us to succeed and be fulfilled in life. Find any bum and surely you shall find no discipline at all; but, you can never find a successful person without any discipline.

*“Jesus Unrolls Book In the Synagogue” painting by James Tissot (1886-1894), brooklynmuseum.org*

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the most perfect example of a disciplined person, of leading a disciplined life. All evangelists tell us how Jesus always went to the synagogue on a sabbath to worship and to preach. Most of all, Jesus always prayed early in the morning or later in the evening in some deserted place. These were all forms of discipline He must have learned from His parents Mary and Joseph who were both portrayed in the gospels as devout Jews, both with high degrees of discipline in life even before Christ was born.

Prayer after all is a discipline, something we have to cultivate that leads to a loving relationship with God and with others too! And here we find the deeper reality of discipline which is not just a human effort and endeavor. Discipline is the work of God, His gift and grace to each one of us to have fulfillment in life

Discipline is not just a human effort;
discipline is the work of God too!

Brothers and sisters: You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children: My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges. Endure your trials as “discipline”… At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it (Hebrews 12:5-7, 11).

*Photo by author, St. Scholastica Spirituality Center, Tagaytay, August 2024.*

How I wish parents would still use that analogy by the author of the Letter to the Hebrews regarding discipline. When we were growing up, our parents would always explain to us after scolding us due to misdemeanor or a mistake that it was to discipline us in doing what is right or what is good.

This is something so evident these days, when you hear the older folks saying how life was more orderly before because of discipline unlike today. And one may find this lack of discipline everywhere – in public places not only home, including in churches. Partly to be blamed for that is us, the older folks who have stopped teaching discipline to kids and the youth.

Lately I have been seeing many of my former students in elementary and high school. I have always known many of them hated me when in school because I was a strict teacher (and priest). Including many of our teachers too! That is why whenever we talked about their school days, I always asked them to forgive me for making their lives so difficult as I demanded excellence and precision in their studies and most of all, discipline at all times like cleanliness in their clothing and bearing, order and silence in classrooms, and of course, proper decorum inside the church.

*At the wedding of one of my former student with his classmates in January 2020.*

Surprisingly, they always ended up thanking me for the discipline I have taught and instilled in them that according to them led to their success in both their personal and professional life. Many of them have their family of their own now with some living overseas. It brings me so much joy with some tears when they tell me how they have taught their own children of the discipline I drilled in them about studies and reading, of prayer, and of simply being the very best for God in everything. It is the same thing with some of our teachers who have remained some of my dearest friends today with some living and working abroad. In fact, they claimed that it was my “terroristic discipline” that greatly prepared them for their lives and work in foreign lands and cultures.

We need to discipline ourselves for God’s grace to work in us. And remember, grace builds on nature – that’s the beauty of discipline: the more we practice it, the more blessed we become! It is a built-in app or program God has installed in each of us. Use it extensively by switching it on always. In case there’s a glitch, still, switch it on and surely it would work. As always. Have a disciplined week ahead.