The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday in the Thirty-Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 28 November 2024 Revelation 18:1-2, 21-23; 19:1-3, 9 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 21:20-28
Photo by author, Pulong Sampalok, DRT, Bulacan, 22 November 2024.
God our loving Father, have mercy on us your people marching towards You in Jesus Christ; as we approach the closing of this liturgical calendar to usher in the Advent Season, let us see with an upbeat mood the upheavals going on these days especially in our own country.
Keep us strong, Father, in our faith in You and in our firm resolve to persevere in doing what is good and just amid all the destabilizations and noise going on; keep us patient with all the evil still going on, aware always of the sufferings and tribulations we all must endure as part of our witnessing to the Cross of Jesus Christ.
Keep us upbeat in Jesus Christ our Lord, to always live and share in the vision and values of His Gospel despite the many immoralities and profanities by some in power; may we strive to seek and find and follow Jesus always because truth and justice and goodness have the final say in everything in this life - not lies and malice and evil. Amid all the hardships, may we continue to sing the song of the Lamb here on earth so that eventually in the end, we too may be invited to come to the wedding feast of the Lamb there in heaven like what You have shown John in Revelation. Amen.
Photo by author, Pulong Sampalok, DRT, Bulacan, 23 November 2024.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Red Wednesday, the Thirty-Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, 27 November 2024 Revelation 15:1-4 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Luke 21:12-19
The Colosseum in Rome is lit in red to draw attention to the persecution of Christians around the world. (CNS photo/Remo Casilli, Reuters, posted in February 26, 2018.)
Today we bathe our churches and other religious buildings in red to mark Red Wednesday, Aid to the Church in Need’s (ACN) annual campaign for persecuted Christians that started in 2016.
Since then, participation in the campaign has increased steadily in more than 30 countries including the Philippines which is one of the early supporters of the initiative to make known the realities of anti-Christian persecution in this modern time. According to ACN’s biennial report called “Persecuted and Forgotten?” published in October this year, Christian persecution has significantly worsened in most countries surveyed between 2022 and 2024 as it highlighted incidences of displacement, forced marriage of women and girls, and anti-conversion laws.
This year’s campaign focuses on Christian children and young people displaced by persecution and violent conflicts in Africa, the Middle East, and elsewhere. Persecutions of the faithful come in various forms, sometimes hiding in conservatism and the laws of the land. In Iraq last week, conservative lawmakers have moved closer to slashing the country’s legal age of consent from 18 to nine years old that would allow men to marry young children that could give rise to many grave abuses against women.
Photo by author, Red Wednesday 2019.
Red Wednesday aims to emphasize the importance of religious freedom as a fundamental human right often circumvented in many countries these days, particularly those under totalitarian regimes.
For the first time this year, the Church of England is joining Red Wednesday as ACN-UK spearhead a signature campaign to ask the British Foreign Ministry to channel more taxpayer-funded Overseas Development Aid to support Christians and other religious minorities worldwide, recognizing their unique vulnerabilities.
Significance of Red
Red is the color of blood, signifying the countless people especially children and women who have lost their lives and those who continue to suffer in systematic persecutions perpetrated not only by some regimes but by criminal syndicates too.
On this day, we remember and pray for them all as we also try to reflect on what kind of opposition to our faith have we experienced here in our country the Philippines which is 90% Christian.
This is something for us to ponder every Red Wednesday which happens after the Christ the King: while we are so free – not just free but so free in fact without any opposition or costs at all to celebrate the Mass and other religious feasts and festivities all year round, how can the words of Jesus in today’s gospel apply to us?
Jesus said to the crowd: “They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony… You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives” (Luke 21:12-13, 16-19).
The red color signifies courage that vividly portrays the blood shed by our many brothers and sisters in faith facing persecution in other parts of the world like those singing the song of the Lamb before God in heaven as seen by John in the first reading.
But, we wonder, will it be bloody red too for us here in the Philippines? What kind of opposition to the Christian faith have we encountered here in the country? What is the most serious threat ever made against our faith or to anyone personally?
Maybe nothing that much like chapels being burned or altars being vandalized. Or, maybe none at all except for peer pressure when we are teased for being so “conservative” in going to Mass or to Confessions. Perhaps, the most serious dilemma we have had in our faith is whether or not we shall pray or at least make the Sign of the Cross properly when eating in a restaurant or a fast food!
Photo by author, Red Wednesday 2019.
We are not trying to denigrate our being Christians nor are we insulting our fellow faithful; we simply want everyone to praise and thank God for this tremendous blessing of being so free to worship Him in our country.
Let us value this religious freedom we have and enjoy by being faithful to our Sunday Mass as God commands in His Ten Commandments (3rd) by cultivating a deep, personal prayer life that flows into our good deeds as Filipino Christians.
Let us stand for that freedom by safeguarding our democracy from threats within and outside the country.
Let us thank God for this religious freedom we enjoy by being more responsible and truly inclusive of everyone, not just for the rich and powerful or those like us. Jesus dared us to “give testimony” to Him in today’s gospel – that is, be a witness which is literally speaking in Greek, martyria. At least, we do not have to shed blood literally speaking like in other countries. So, let us be witnesses of Christ’s love and presence. Let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, help us to truly express our oneness in suffering, oneness in consolation with our persecuted brothers and sisters by witnessing to Your love and mercy through our personal and communal prayers as Your Body, the Church; may our liturgies flow into our loving service to those in need especially those in the margins, those forgotten by their loved ones and by the society, and those disadvantaged in life; may this Red Wednesday illumine our hearts and minds not only to see the plight of others but most of all of our many blessings so that we may make the right decisions to make ourselves truly Your temple, O God, here on earth amid the persecutions going on; may our voices one day join those blessed in your presence to sing the song of the Lamb. Amen.
Campus Ministry, Our Lady of Fatima University-Valenzuela City.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 26 November 2024
Photo by author, Pulong Sampalok, DRT, Bulacan, 23 November 2024.
Since my mom’s passing in May, I have finally been more resolved in having days off and overnight breaks after some bouts with depression and grief. Last Friday I went to DRT – Doña Remedios Trinidad – the final frontier of Bulacan province where the Sierra Madres link us with Quezon and Rizal provinces.
The Retirement Home of the Dominican Sisters of St. Joseph at DRT.
Named after the mother of former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos, DRT was a barrio or barangay of the town of Angat. When Mrs. Marcos separated Valenzuela from Bulacan province in the mid-70’s to create the Greater Manila Area (GMA) that became Metro Manila in the 1980’s, DRT was separated from Angat to become the last and youngest town of Bulacan.
It was actually a homecoming for me after 27 years when I chose to be assigned at Galilee Home, our diocesan rehab for drug dependents before our ordination as deacons in 1997 found at the opposite side of the Dominican Sisters’ House of Prayer where I stayed last weekend.
The Dominican Sisters of St. Joseph were so kind to welcome me to their spiritual center and had promised to join them there every fourth Saturday to celebrate their Mass by staying overnight for my much-needed rest or sabbath.
Indeed, it was a Sabbath to me, a return to Paradise, so close with nature where time seems to stand still or at least goes so slowly.
Those bamboo fences remind me so much of my childhood days in Bocaue; see how modernity represented by the electric meter competing with the countryside’s laid back atmosphere.
What I like seeing all the nature around me is when my memory is shuffled to those days as a promdi when like these kids we ruled supreme on the streets, never worried of being run over by vehicles so kind to stop if we were playing.
Lahat kasali – pati poste! Kids playing Chinese garter.
As my childhood memory sauntered, I realized it was truly another setting than the city when at 545PM I heard a mother shouting to her children, “kakain na… uwi na!” and the kids obediently went home.
Lovely sunset….
The following morning, as usual, I woke up at 5AM. Prayed and did my warm up exercises and shortly before 6AM, I went off to walk. My destination was the view deck of DRT where a giant statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary stands right after the welcome arch.
So peaceful… as if the whole world is yours!
Every time I walk around Valenzuela, I just bring about 200 pesos in my pocket and nothing else – no glasses which I hate so much and likewise, no cellphones. I find these as distractions.
But, that Saturday morning, I brought along my cellphone in order to shoot scenes and of course the sunrise.
Late did I realize on my way back that I should have brought my glasses for better focus especially with the abounding bird species in the area of Pulong Sampalok.
Oh, they were so many but I failed to catch them in my camera phone because I had no glasses…
Actually, not related to my not bringing of glasses, I got lost that morning.
Instead of turning right from the Damascus circle, I made a left.
Funny too while walking, I felt something was wrong with my t-shirt – it was baligtad!
Since nobody was around not even houses in the area, I changed my shirt and went happily in my walking.
Barrio folks have always believed that in order to find one’s way in the forest or anywhere, one has to change his/her shirt. Baligtarin ang suot na damit kontra sa tiyanak.
But, despite that act of pagbaligtad of my t-shirt, I still got lost and went onto high steeps that really challenged me so greatly.
Many times I had to stop to catch my breath. Even the cyclists I have met admitted it was a very steep climb while others opted to walk with their bikes.
All in all, I walked 6.69 kilometers without reaching the view deck but, God, I found so many views I never expected that truly refreshed me!
As I got lost walking nowhere, I realized life’s parable – that the most joyful and loveliest things are found in ordinary places like along the sides of the road like these plants and flowers as well as rock formations.
Many times in life, it is actually a grace to go nowhere, to get lost once in a while and simply keep on walking, trusting God for He would always find us a way to Him. Within.
Even met my former student in High School riding with his cousins to visit their lot in the area that Saturday!
What I like most as I have mentioned earlier are the natural fences people have in the countryside like these lovely garden at a store I passed by…
Even dogs seem to be most kind here… not a single dog barked at me despite my getting lost in their area!
Unfortunately, there have been a strong influx of settlers in DRT with presumably big people buying out large tracts of lands for future developments. What an ugly sight to see barbed wires in the mountain area.
And… whoa!
Or, is it the installation of the post that was wrong? Some misplaced priorities that destroy nature.
What kind of road construction is this?
Meanwhile… we are not sure if these are indicative of the climate change at all….
Join me next month in my “Friday I’m In Love” journey to cure my grief as I take you to Dumaguete City. Thank you for the visit! God bless!
I don't care if Monday's blue Tuesday's grey and Wednesday too Thursday, I don't care about you It's Friday, I'm in love Monday you can fall apart Tuesday, Wednesday, break my heart Thursday doesn't even start It's Friday, I'm in love (Friday I'm In Love by The Cure)
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the Thirty-fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 26 November 2024 Revelation 14:14-19 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 21:5-11
Photo by author, San Antonio, Zambales, 19 October 2024
It happens so often, Lord Jesus Christ - just as when we are enjoying something like a vacation, exactly at that moment too when it ends or, at least, its coming end is felt and realized?
While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, “All that you see here – the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.” Then they asked him, Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?” (Luke 21:5-7)
What a paradox, a mystery so beautiful that inspires us to live more fully than sulk with life's sure endings like what your words tell us today:
I, John, looked and there was a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud one who looked like a son of man, with a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand (Revelation 14:14).
Endings are beginnings, Lord; everything and everyone shall end in order to begin anew; despite the destruction, endings happen to build up new beginnings, to signal another start.
Teach us, dear Jesus, to be ready always, to prepare for our endings by living fully, celebrating life in your love that banishes all fears like death and endings. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus, King of the Universe, 24 November 2024 Daniel 7:13-14 ><}}}}*> Revelation 1:5-8 ><}}}}*> John 18:33-37
Photo by author, Bohol Sea scene from Salum Dive Resort, Dauin, Negros Oriental, 10 November 2024.
We are now on the final Sunday of the year, the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. Next Sunday we begin the Season of Advent, the official countdown to Christmas which is the birth of Jesus Christ, King of kings.
See how our Church calendar begins and ends each year in Jesus Christ’s eternal kingship as seen by Prophet Daniel in his vision (first reading); Christ’s coming to the world was not an addendum or a plan B of God because Jesus has been enthroned at His side, conferred with “dominion, glory, and kingship” (Dn. 7:14).
“Ecce Homo” painting by Vicente Juan Masip (1507-1579) from masterapollon.com
Jesus reiterated this in our gospel this Sunday from John’s account of His trial before Pilate, His first “face-to-face” with a representative of political power. According to St. John Paul II in an interview published in 1994 (Crossing the Threshold of Hope), this scene continues to happen when we, too, like Pilate put God on trial when we insist in doing what we perceive as right and true. Let’s try to enter this scene to unravel its many layers of truth about ourselves who are actually the ones in trial, not Jesus Christ.
Pilate said to Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world…” So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king, for this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:33-36, 37).
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera, Christ the King procession during COVID, November 2020.
From the very start of His trial before Pilate, we find Jesus so “cool” – so sure of everything, actually the One in control of the trial despite the sarcasm of Pilate who, eventually, would be the one to give in to the penetrating truth of Christ.
In fact, we find here how Pilate was already inclined to the truth of Christ as the King as he later affirmed unconsciously when he wrote the inscription on the Cross, “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews” that the priests tried to edit but Pilate insisted, “what I have written, I have written” (cf. Jn.19:19-22).
Many times like Pilate, the more we try to justify our sins or inclinations to evil with our various excuses and alibis, the more we sink deeper into admitting the truth that Jesus Christ is King, that He is truth and good Himself. We imitate Pilate’s sarcasm even with God through others like our parents or elders, teachers, even friends who truly love us and care for us as we remain adamant with our wrong beliefs and points of view.
Photo by Mr. Joey Principe, Parish of St. Joseph the Worker, Jaro, Iloilo, 10 November 2024.
What really gave away Pilate – and us – in the process of our trial of Jesus was his final question which I love so much, “What have you done?”
Pilate was sincerely trying to know the truth about Jesus as he was evidently irritated with the case thrown to him by the priests and scribes. His asking Jesus “Are you the King of the Jews?” was a request for clarification as a Roman state official because the word “king” meant only one thing.
And here is the twist in our own days – it is the same question we unconsciously ask Jesus so often to clarify too!
How many times have we sought clarification on the kingship of Jesus especially in this modern time when we discuss divorce, abortion, same-sex marriage, and almost everything from clothes we wear to how we conduct ourselves in this modern time that has become so relative and permissive in morals?
Every time we put Jesus on trial when we insist on what we want and what we believe in, the Pilate within us question Jesus, what have you done? Let us count them… you may add .
"What have you done, Jesus?"
You have forgiven our sins, Jesus, giving us new chances in life daily; You have saved us, Jesus, from many instances when we felt so lost, even gone that's why we are still intact at this very moment in our lives; You have consoled us, Jesus, in countless times that made us to keep believing, hoping, and trusting God and others; You love us so much, Jesus, in ways we can't believe nor understand that's why we too keep on loving despite the hurts and pains; and the list goes on and on and on... that makes You truly our King, Jesus!
Photo by author, Chapel of St. Francis Xavier, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
See that when we remember everything Jesus had done to us, we also realize His being a King of different kind who never forced us to believe Him nor follow Him unlike the powerful people of the world.
Jesus as a King simply invites us gently and lovingly to come to Him to find rest and comfort when we are burdened in life. There were times when we have felt Jesus just closed His eyes to our many sins and imperfections, not even reminding us of our shameful selves like when He washed the dirty feet of His Apostles after their last supper.
Jesus never threatened us when we were in the height of our pride and stupidity and instead waited patiently for us to come home to Him like the prodigal son. He never locked us, allowing us to go and explore everything, standing by just in case we cross the point of no return.
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Retreat House, Baguio City, 2023.
Whatever Jesus had done to us, it is always good and comforting, beyond our expectations and imaginations like healing us of our every sickness, feeding us and clothing us when we were hungry and naked, even cleansed us when we were so dirty and untidy.
Therefore, this Sunday as we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, let us cast off all our fears of Jesus taking away our perceived “kingdoms” like King Herod who ordered all infants and children killed on that first Christmas upon hearing the news of “the birth of the king of the Jews” (Mt. 2:2).
Jesus never said “My kingdom is not in this world” because His kingdom while not of this world is right here below on earth that is why John tells us in the second reading from his vision of the end of time, Jesus is coming again here on earth to take us to eternity. The Kingdom of Jesus is here in the world but not of this world; similarly, we are in this world but we are called not to be of this world for our true citizenship is in heaven.
This Sunday, Jesus is asking us in the most personal manner, what have I done to you that have kept you running away from Me? Most lovely of all is that Jesus never asked us what have we done to Him nor for Him… Let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, my Lord and my God, You have done so much good to me and I have done so little for You and for others; reign in my heart so that I can make others experience Your loving kind of Kingship. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Memorial of the Presentations of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 21 November 2024 Zechariah 2:14-17 <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]*> Matthew 12:46-50
God our loving Father, on this memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we offer ourselves too to you, our Lord and Master.
May our lives always reflect the joys of being your children like the festive mood of the first reading when you told Israel to "sing and rejoice" on their liberation from bondage; may we always realize the great honor and privilege of being your children through Jesus Christ who became one of us so that we may become like Him.
Most of all, like Mary our Mother, may we offer ourselves totally to your loving service by listening, dwelling, and acting on your words; may our lives be an "enfleshing" an "enfleshment" of your word so that it is You dear Jesus who is seen and experienced through us like Mary. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Thirty-Third Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 20 November 2024 Revelation 4:1-11 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 19:11-28
Photo by author, sunrise in Dumaguete City, 11 November 2024.
How lovely are your words these past days, dear Lord, of Bartimaeus gaining his sight and Zacchaeus being raised in his stature before you in his conversion.
We are Bartimaeus and Zacchaeus!
Grant us, Jesus vision more than sight to see beyond material things so that we may aspire always to rise above our many shortness in life.
Open our hearts and our minds like John to experience a vision of God, of heaven amid all the darkness and sufferings in this life.
I, John, had a vision of an open door to heaven, and I heard the trumpetlike voice that had spoken to me before, saying, “Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards” (Revelation 4:1).
You are beyond descriptions, God our Father like what John saw in his vision; teach us to submit ourselves to You in prayer and silence than manipulate who You really are so beyond understanding!
“He replied, ‘I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king, bring them here and slay them before me.'” After Jesus had said this, he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem (Luke 19:26-28).
Like Zacchaeus yesterday, he realized that to rise in one's stature is actually to go down, to be humble to allow Jesus raise us up in His loving mercy; take away our worldly thoughts about "Jerusalem" and learn to lose ourselves in You, Jesus, to truly see the glory awaiting us in You. Amen.
Photo by author, Bohol Sea from Salum Dive Resort, Dauin, Negros Or., 10 November 2024.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 17 November 2024 Daniel 12:1-3 ><}}}}*> Hebrews 10:11-14, 18 ><}}}}*> Mark 13;24-32
Photo by author, the Mount of Olives as seen from the Temple of Jerusalem, May 2019.
We are now at the penultimate Sunday of our Church calendar ending on the Solemnity of Christ the King next week to usher in the four Sundays of Advent before Christmas. That is why every 33rd Sunday, we hear Jesus speaking about the end of everything to usher in new beginnings in Him.
Jesus said to his disciples: “In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky” (Mark 13:24-27).
After spending a day of teaching at the Temple wherein the Twelve were so impressed with its beauty, Jesus warned them of its impending destruction, explaining it further as they proceeded to rest on Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem below with the magnificent Temple.
No, Jesus was not a “KJ” at all.
Jesus was simply telling His disciples including us today of life’s natural cycles of endings and beginnings. Actually, long before Jesus came, people have always been preoccupied with thoughts of the “end of the world” – with or without God – which persist to these days.
Jesus reminds us this Sunday that indeed, the world is going to end but, it is not just a catastrophic end destroying everything. It is an end with a direction, to God and eternal life. It is an end we have to joyously await and prepare for as a new beginning in Jesus Christ.
“Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates… But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:28-29, 32).
"Learn a lesson from the fig tree."
Again, Jesus spoke here in parable which is also the word for “lesson” in Mark’s original Greek writing of the gospel. A parable is a simple story with a deep, profound reality and lesson. That is why Jesus used it so often just like here a few days before His Pasch.
And this is the lesson or parable of the fig tree that Jesus spoke of: most of the trees in Jerusalem are evergreen that keep their leaves all year round despite the changing of season while fig trees are deciduous that shed their leaves in winter and summer. This changing condition made the fig tree a perfect parable about the end of the world that Jesus was speaking of – an end of the season to usher in a new one!
In theology, we call this study of the “end” or “last” things as eschatology. There are two kinds of last things in life that we deal in eschatology: our individual end in our death (particular) and the parousia which is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ at the end of the world (general).
Of course, it is always fearful to think of both endings. We hate endings because they are good byes. However, we know deep inside ourselves too that despite that “sweet, sweet sorrow” of every ending comes also a more wonderful hello, a more amazing new beginning. In reality, there are no endings but more beginnings: when children move out of the home to study, they begin their adult life in college; later on, they leave home for good to get married to start a family of their own. Life is a cycle of beginnings and ends that goes on and on and on.
The trick is really to learn the lesson of the fig tree, that is, to live our lives to the fullest in each season and phase, to learn to let go of the past, to savor every present and look forward to every tomorrow. Yes, it is easier said than done but, as we mature and age gracefully in Jesus Christ, we become fulfilled, less stressed amid the many things we are totally unaware and ignorant of what both particular and general endings would bring us.
In presenting to us the parable or lesson of the fig tree regarding the end of our lives or the end of the world – both of which nobody knows when – Jesus is actually encouraging us to live more faithfully in Him and His gospel.
It is useless to know the precise date and hour of both endings nor the exact indications of its imminence; what matters most is that every moment of our lives, we live in Jesus Christ our High Priest who had offered Himself for our salvation (second reading). There is no point in interpreting even visualizing how St. Michael would battle the devil at the end of time; what the prophet Daniel is telling us is how we are assured of victory and salvation in the end if remain faithful to God (first reading).
Live fully by celebrating life. All throughout the year, we have heard Jesus reminding us, assuring us how much He loves us so immensely that is why He became human like us; in His coming, He joined us in all our sufferings except sin to show us that the path back to the Father in heaven is through the path of His Cross.
Despite my coming to Israel thrice, I have never tasted a fresh fig but have always loved it even better than dates. Its sweet taste and tiny bits of seeds inside make it always a pleasure to eat. If we can truly learn its lesson, we can end up like figs too – delightfully sweet inside.
I recently bought an electric shave as an early Christmas gift to myself. I really don’t mind seeing my hair including mustache and beard turning grey and white; what bothers me lately is how my skin has become so easily irritated by my razor. Yes, I am getting older with skin sagging and add to that a vision getting blurred that shaving with a razor every morning is no longer fun but short of an agony.
As I examined my new shave set, I remembered a Japanese saying I used to tell young people before in my talks and recollections, “Growing up is nice, but sometimes painful.”
Indeed, growing up is nice – and ageing is even nicer though twice painful sometimes.
Like the fig tree, I can sense losing a lot of myself daily, yet becoming more tender and softer in the process, simpler and more joyful, perhaps. To my fellow 59ers and above, May the Lord Jesus lead us through the end in His loving embrace. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Thirty-Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 15 November 2024 Memorial of St. Albert the Great, Bishop & Doctor of the Church 2 John 4-9 <*{{{{>< +++ ><}}}}*> Luke 17:26-37
Photo by author, 20 August 2024, St. Scholastica Retreat House, Tagaytay City.
Another short letter for our first reading today, Jesus but filled with wonder and power that impacts our daily life: help us to keep your love Lord! The words of your beloved disciple are strikingly so true to us these days:
Anyone who is so “progressive” as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son (2 John 9).
Forgive us, dear Jesus, with our so many excuses and alibis along with our endless arguments for the sake of being modern and progressive to be excused from your only law and command which is to love; let us love always for to love is live in your presence; without love, there is disorder and sin, and fear; with love, there is true freedom to be who we truly are as children of the Father.
Therefore, open our eyes that we may consider the wonders of your laws, O Lord (Psalm 119:18). Amen.
Photo by author, Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Dumaguete City, Negros Or., 07 November 2024.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday in the Thirty-Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 14 November 2024 Philemon 7-20 <*[[[[>< + + + ><]]]]*> Luke 17:20-25
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera at Banff, Canada, August 2024.
Refresh my heart today, Jesus; refresh my heart that has become hard like a stone because of the many pains and hurts; refresh my heart, Lord, that has become numb to the cries and pleas of others in pain; refresh my heart, Jesus, that has turned away from you because of many disappointments; please refresh my heart, dear Lord because I am so tired of being by myself.
Like Philemon, I feel life has been so unfair, with me asking like Jeremiah in the Old Testament, "why should doing good be repaid with evil?"; and yes, like St. Paul, many times I find the gospel so difficult to balance with the ways and realities of the world that like the computer, I need to be "refreshed" in you, Jesus to be truly responsive and faithful to you.
Refresh me in you alone, Jesus, for you are the only one who is our life and meaning; you are the kingdom of God within I refuse to reign over me due to sin; refresh me in you, Jesus, by being faithful to you in my prayer life, of making time, of keeping our time together instead of looking for your many physical signs when all along, you have always been in me if I just stop and be silent to let you refresh me; refresh me, Jesus so I may also refresh others in you. Amen.
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, an orange-bellied flowerpecker (Dicaeum trigonostigma), December 2023.
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