The gift of persons

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity-B, 26 May 2024
Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40 ><}}}*> Romans 8:14-17 ><}}}*> Matthew 28:16-20

*Photo by author, the Holy Trinity as depicted at the Parish of St. John the Baptist, Calumpit, Bulacan, March 2021.*

We are now into the Ordinary Time and for the next two consecutive Sundays we are celebrating three important Solemnities in the next three weeks.

First in these series of Solemnities in Ordinary Time is that of the Most Holy Trinity, the highest truth in our faith which is our belief in One God in three Persons. Contrary to common beliefs, mysteries can be explained and understood, but, not fully well. After all, mysteries are not really meant to be solved but simply be lived and enjoyed like the mystery of the person which is in the heart of the Most Holy Trinity: How can there be three Persons in one God?

Moses said to the people: “Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of? Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live? Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terror, all of which the Lord, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?”
Deuteronomy 4:32-34

*Photo by author, sunrise at the Lake of Galilee in Israel, May 2019.*

Our first reading this Sunday invites us too to examine ourselves and our lives to see how God has been so personal, so relational with us. As we say in Tagalog, “Sigue nga, paano mo naranasan ang Diyos?”

How did you experience God? Was it not just like the way we experienced other people in our relationships?

Very often when we meet people, our tendency to welcome or accept them were a result of their conduct, of their approach to us. If they are kind and good natured and warm, we are easily disarmed and we feel like knowing them.

That is what Moses was telling his people at that time, including us today: recall how personal was God in dealing with us with all His warmth and love because they indicate relationships and therefore, another person to relate with.

*“The Trinity” (1425-27), an icon by Russian artist Andrei Rublev from wikipedia.org.*

Remember how the books of the bible were written: the first questions the biblical writers asked were not the origins of the world but those asked by Moses today. After they have experienced the kindness and love of God that they eventually asked and reflected on the origins (genesis) of everything on earth and the universe.

In that experience, they felt a relationship with a Father as source of all life like dads giving life as well as protecting life and giving back life to those who may have lost it. That personal experience of God as a Father so loving and caring moved the biblical writers too to ask and reflect on the presence of evil and sufferings as we find in the Wisdom books like the Psalms and the Book of Job.

There is always the primacy of God’s personal relationship and of His conduct towards us humans that prompt us to “know” Him, to believe Him. Like people dear to us, God first revealed Himself to us in the most personal manner through a succession of events and other people we have met and known. That is why when we say “I believe in God”, we not only express a concept but also a relationship. Most of all, in this relationship is a commitment too to get to know God as a person! Before knowing any details about God or people, we first have relationships no matter how little it may be at the start. Later, we get phone numbers and other contact details with people we meet because we feel “committed” to getting to know them more in the future. In a sense, we believe them that is why we keep in touch with them. The same is true with God.

*Photo by author, St. Catherine’s Monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai in Egypt, May 2019.*

The word person means “a conscious relating being”. Whether with God or with others, we experience the person and the relationship unfolding through time. There is always first the experience of a conduct like kindness before questions and details of a person come.

That word “kindness” actually indicates a relationship because its root is kin that means “one of us” or “of same tribe”. When we say “he is so kind to me”, it means he treats me as one of his family or his own. In that kindness and whatever good conduct present, there seems to be an “invisible line” linking us with people we meet. Or with God which the Holy Spirit does.

Of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is the most elusive in nature and yet, it is the most frequently and concretely in contact with us. It is the principle of unity in the Trinity and among us as we have reflected last Pentecost Sunday. Today, St. Paul explains to us how the Holy Spirit as a Person keeps these relationships among us and with God united and strong, enabling us to cry out “Abba” or “Our Father”. It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the courage to keep our relationships as persons and with God especially at this modern time when some people refuse to recognize God and worst, some are bent in deleting God entirely from life.

That is why in today’s gospel, Jesus instructed His disciples including us today to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt.28:19-20). Persons always presuppose relationships; hence, the need to gather others always like what God did and continues to do in His Church.

It has been three weeks since my mother peacefully passed away. People ask me how am I doing. Truth is, I am not so well. I miss mommy so much. It is true we only realize the value of a person after he/she is gone. And it is most difficult with mothers!

*Photo by author, Mt. Sinai in Egypt, May 2019.*

Every time I come home, I have that strange feeling, wondering deep inside me of that great mystery, how did it happen that it was my mom – just one person – who had left us but our home has become so empty? Since May 7, that image of mommy’s empty room after her body was taken to the funeral had remained in my mind and as days passed, I have noticed how our home has been so hollowed when there are still my siblings and niece staying in the house?

That is the gift of person. A person fills not only spaces and homes but most of all, fills us. Every person fills another person in the same manner God first fills us with His love through persons dearest to us. That is why we believe in God.

Let us have good relationships with others so they may experience God too in their lives. Let us gather in the Father’s love in Jesus Christ to celebrate the gift of life together in the Holy Spirit through one another. Let us pray:

God our loving Father,
thank you for the gift of life,
for my gift of person
and for the gift of so many
persons in my life;
dwell in me, Holy Spirit,
fill me with your fire and life,
animate me with the Son's
justice and love
so that in myself
the mystery 
of the Blessed Trinity
be alive.
Amen.

Of vows & commitment

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of Our Lady of the Way (Madonna Della Strada), 24 May 2024
James 5:9-12 ><))))"> + ><))))"> + ><))))"> Mark 10:1-12

*Photo by author, Santa Maria Della Strada Chapel, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.*

Lord Jesus Christ,
on this 24th of May,
I join the Society of Jesus
in honoring Your Mother
they have affectionately called
Santa Maria Della Strada,
Our Lady of the Way;
thank You for introducing me
to her last year, a wonderful
title of Mary reminding me always
of You, Jesus, who declared Yourself
as "the Way, the Truth, and the Life"
(John 14:6).

Help me, O Lord,
along the way, 
to be faithful to You, 
keeping in mind the reminders
of St. James today to
"not complain about one another...
to persevere like the prophets...
and do not swear, either by heaven
or by earth or with any other oath,
but let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes' and
your 'No' mean 'No'" (James 5:9, 11, 12).

How timely are Your words,
O Lord, in this world where promises
and oaths are made only to be broken;
make us more sincere in our words,
to really mean what we say,
to be committed and persevering
always in standing by who we are
as children of the Father,
called to love and be merciful 
like Him.

We pray for all couples
as well as priests and religious
having crises in keeping
their vows to You, Jesus,
to lovingly serve You among
the people You have entrusted us;
through Mary Your Mother,
our Lady of the Way,
may we find You always Jesus
in every turn and stop we make,
to persevere especially when the
path is so narrow and difficult,
never to turn away when we find
the Cross looming in sight.

Forgive us, dear Jesus,
for the "hardness of our hearts",
especially in those moments
we refuse to listen and even stifle
Your tiny voice of truth and
compassion in our hearts,
when we insist on following our
own ways of pride and power 
than Your ways of
peace and justice,
kindness and care;
take away our stony hearts, Lord,
and give us natural hearts
that beat with firm faith,
fervent hope and
unceasing charity and love
in You like Mary,
our Mother.
Amen.

Priesthood is the Cross

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest, 23 May 2024
Hebrews 10:11-18 <*{{{{>< + <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Mark 14:22-25

Praise and glory to You,
Lord Jesus Christ for reminding us
this Thursday after the Pentecost
of Your call for us to be like You, 
our Eternal High Priest,
in gentleness and mercy,
kindness and love;
and the good news is
all these are already in us
when we were baptized
to share in Your priesthood
the Father had promised
to Jeremiah fulfilled in You:

The holy Spirit also testifiesd to us, for after saying: “This is the covenant I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord: ‘I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them upon their minds,'” he also says: “Their sins and their evildoing I will remember no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer offering for sin.
Hebrews 10:15-18

Two Sundays ago,
we celebrated Your Ascension
that is more relational in nature
than spatial, the leveling up of
our relationships with You and
with one another that is affirmed
today by this feast of You,
Jesus our Eternal High Priest
and Mediator when You
established the New Covenant
on that Last Supper:

As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”
Mark 14:22-24

*Photo by author, Chapel of St. Francis Xavier, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.*

These words, dear Jesus
You fulfilled on the Cross 
the following Good Friday; 
in Your self-offering on the Cross,
You fulfilled the temple worship
by putting an end to 
those bloody sacrifices,
rites and rituals of the Old that
were empty due to the sins 
and weaknesses of
the priests and people;
in Your dying on the Cross
as fulfillment of Your words at
the Last Supper as our 
Eternal High Priest and Mediator,
You have consecrated us as
Your holy people;
this perfect offering 
is what we celebrate,
what we remember,
what we make present daily 
in the Holy Eucharist;
help us, therefore, dear Jesus,
to be faithful and true to You
by being more loving with one
another as we face the Father 
in the Sacrifice of the Mass
in You, through You and with You
Jesus by sharing in Your Priesthood,
help us laity and priests alike
to be true in our witnessing,
in our loving sacrifices for each other.

Every priest stands daily at his ministry, offering frequently those same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But this one offered one sacrifice for sins, and took his seat forever at the right hand of God. For by one offering he has made perfect those who are being consecrated.
Hebrews 10:11-12, 14

Forgive us,
 Your priests and bishops,
dearest Jesus
whom You have called
to act in "persona Christi"
but have become more like
the priests of the Old Testament
so concerned with our
name and position,
power and wealth;
forgive us, Lord Jesus,
when we Your priests and bishops
look and move like matinee idols
or think and speak like managers
than pastors of souls;
forgive us, O Lord,
when we Your priests and bishops
have no more time to kneel daily
be with You in prayers
because we prefer
to socialize and party
with the rich and powerful
that we miserably fail
 in finding You
among the poor
 and the suffering.

Transform us
priests and bishops
to be more like You
Jesus Christ,
our Eternal Priest and Mediator
in thinking,
in speaking,
in doing,
in living,
most especially in loving.

Let us not forget
that You saved mankind
by suffering and dying on the Cross,
not with with programs
and activities
because Your glory
can only be found on the Cross
where death is conquered
and led to life and light.
Amen.

Pentecost, death & “re-membering”

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 22 May 2024

I have reflected last Sunday that Pentecost is not just an event in the past but a daily coming of the Holy Spirit upon us, enlightening us of so many things in life we used to take for granted. Like the value of every person, especially when there is a death of a loved one.

In fact, death is a Pentecost when the Holy Spirit comes to remind us that we never – and can never – replace our departed loved ones. Every person is irreplaceable, especially family members. The sooner we realize this, the better for us to avoid those guilty feelings later that we should have been more loving and kind, that we should have said “I love you” more often because we never know for how long we can be with our loved ones. One thing is for sure: we do not replace our deceased loved ones but simply re-member them.

Photo by author, *Bgy. Kaysuyo, Alfonso, Cavite, 27 April 2024.*

The word “remember” is very interesting.

It is from the root word “member” or “part”. When we put the prefix “re” which means “again”, “remember” means to make a part again of the present moment.

Every time we remember a person or an event, we make them part of our present moment. And they are most real, most present when our re-membering happens in the context of a family or a community. Re-membering someone by one’s self surely does happen a lot but very often, it is more of looking back to the past, recalling the days we used to be together. But when we remember somebody as a family or a community, the one we remember is indeed re-membered in our present, becomes real in everyone around celebrating his/her memory. Something concrete happens and the joy is more intense, leading to freedom from past, from pains and hurts of losing a loved one.

That is when death becomes a Pentecost. When the Holy Spirit came down upon the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary in Jerusalem 50 days after Easter, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity did not come to replace Jesus. The Holy Spirit is a distinct Person of the Trinity in whose power all the followers and believers of Christ have been empowered to make Him present until now in our collective re-membering of Him in the Church and the Sacraments. In the Holy Spirit who comes to us daily, we overcome and transcend every death we go through in life, enabling us to re-member our departed loved ones by being a member of those left behind.

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 18 March 2024.*

Since mommy’s death, I have gone home thrice already. How I loved to walk inside her room, trying so hard to get those feelings or vibes when she was still alive I miserably miss most as the days moved on.

One thing I have noticed, though, is that strange feeling of our home suddenly so empty as in “kakalog-kalog” as we say in Tagalog. Mommy ko lang nawala sa amin pero parang nawala ang lahat sa bahay?

Now I know better why the mother is the light of the family or “ilaw ng tahanan” because after she had died, her light in our home was turned off that seemed to have made our home so dark, so light and hollowed. However, when we gathered as siblings together with our nieces and nephew and relatives, the warmth of our home returns as if mommy is with us , still with us.

That is when the Holy Spirit comes amid the darkness of every death. A Pentecost when we are reminded of those still with us who must band closer together to make our departed more present in our collective re-membering. No wonder, it was also the final instruction of Jesus to His disciples at their Last Supper when He told them as He gave them the chalice to “Do this in memory of me” or “in remembrance of me”. In Greek, it is called anamnesis which is more than remembering or recalling but making present, making a reality.

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.*

And the reality is this – every person is valuable beyond measure.

So fragile too! Because we can easily lose them in a snap.

We realize and feel this most true in death when we experience deeply “someone like me” whom I love, whom I care for is gone because in every death of a beloved, a part of us dies too. Even if he/she is an enemy or somebody we are not in good terms with, we feel a loss within because for better or worst, the deceased made us feel our humanity.

It is said that “one life is too many.” Very true. Today God gives us the gift and power to re-member those not with us by connecting with those still living with us. Make that connection now and soon you too shall see the face we sorely miss together. Have a blessed remaining half-week!

We are a “puff of smoke”

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Rita de Cascia, Religious, 22 May 2024
James 4:13-17 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Mark 9:38-40

"you have no idea
what your life will be like
tomorrow. 
You are a puff of smoke
that appears briefly
and then disappears" 
(James 4:14).

St. James' imagery
of our lives
and of our very selves
are so light as the
puff of a smoke
but so heavy in meaning
for it is true indeed
we are nothing in this world
without God;
it is only in God
we have worth
and meaning.

Forgive us,
dear Jesus
when we are arrogant,
proud and boastful,
when we live so far from You,
detached from You,
living on our "own"
as if we have control
of everything;
forgive us,
dear Jesus
when we are like John
who tried to prevent
someone driving out demons
in Your name simply because
he was not one of us;
forgive us,
dear Jesus
whenever we think we
have an edge over others
simply because they are
not with us in the Church
or just because they are
different in their approach
and style.

Like St. Rita of Cascia
to whom You did so many
wondrous things,
help us to rely solely in
You, Jesus;
that nothing is too late
nor too early
with Your grace
for as long as we rely
on You.
Not in us.
Amen.

*Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 25 July 2023.*

Where?

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 21 May 2024
James 4:1-10 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Mark 9:30-37

"Beloved:
Where do the wars and
where do the conflicts 
among you come from?"
(James 4:1)

What a beautiful question
to ponder upon on this
second day of Ordinary Time,
Lord Jesus: the "where",
the origin,
the source,
the root
of our many desires
in life;
ultimately,
the question You have asked
Your disciples "What were
you arguing about on the
way?" (Mark 9:33)
leads also to the same
question of James of
"where".

Many times, 
O Lord, we presume
and insist we are on the 
right tracks,
on the right path
following the world
even if deep inside
we know we are lost,
we have gone astray,
that we are on the wrong
bearings in life
because we merely
follow the rest that like 
everybody, we end up
lost and more confused
than ever.

You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask. You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
James 4:2-3

Teach us, Jesus,
to bravely ask ourselves
from "where" are we coming from
in everything we are doing,
saying, and pursuing;
help us to be sincere
and humble of our "where"
wherever it may be;
most of all, 
let us ask too
"where" we are going to
"where" do we want to be.

During these 33 to 34 weeks
in Ordinary Time,
let us find, 
our bearing in YOU, Jesus
so that our "where" from
and "where" to would only
be YOU.
Amen.

*Photo by Mr. Vigie Ongleo, Sagada, Mt. Province, 2014.*

Mary, Mother of the Church, our model disciple & companion in the mission

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church, 20 May 2024
Acts 1:12-14 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> John 19:25-34

*Icon of Mary “Mater Ecclesiae” (Mother of the Church) in St. Peter’s Square from opusdei.org.*

What a wonderful way 
of assuring us today, dear Jesus,
at the resumption of Ordinary Time
of Your presence and guidance
throughout this year in giving 
us Your Mother the Blessed Virgin Mary
as "Mater Ecclesiae",
Mother of the Church.

From the very beginning,
during Your public ministry
until Your death on the Cross,
Mary Your Mother has always
stood by Your side, Jesus;
when You sent the Holy Spirit
on that Pentecost day in Jerusalem,
Mary was also present with
Your disciples praying in the
Upper Room: "All these
devoted themselves 
with one accord to prayer,
together with some women,
and Mary the mother of Jesus,
and his brothers" (Acts 1:12).

What a beautiful portrayal
of the Church on its very first day
as Your Body, O Christ, 
gathered in prayer with Mary 
whom You have given to us through
Your beloved disciple at the Cross:
"When Jesus saw his mother 
and the disciple there whom he loved,
he said to his mother, 'Woman,
behold your son.' 
Then he said to the disciple,
'Behold, your mother'" (John 19:26-27).

As we resume today
Ordinary Time,
may we imitate Mary
Your Mother, O Lord,
in being a faithful disciple,
open to welcome
and accept You, Jesus,
saying "Yes" to Your will
like at the Annunciation;
let our faith in You be firm
like hers at the wedding at Cana
when she told You immediately
how the newly-weds have ran out
of wine, instructing the servants
to do whatever "he tells you";
most of all, like Mary,
let us remain intimate with You,
Jesus in prayers,
her most important trait
as Your faithful and model disciple.

Teach us, dear Jesus,
to be like Mary,
deeply absorbed in You
in prayers;
her standing at the Cross
was not a result of a spur in the moment
but the fruit of her long, vibrant prayer
life centered in You her Son;
unlike us, we come and pray
 to You only when we are
 going through trials and difficulties
but when everything is going well
in life, we hardly remember You, Lord,
nor pray at all.

All her life,
Mary lived in prayer,
in communion and oneness
in You, Jesus
that is why when the Church
was born on Pentecost,
Mary was there.
She has always been
with us as our Mother
and companion in mission;
let us be like Mary
in her discipleship that
is essentially 
a prayer life.
Amen.

*Photo by author, Della Strada Chapel, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.*

We the Church, an image of the Holy Spirit

The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Pentecost Sunday-B, 19 May 2024
Acts 2:1-11 ><]]]]'> Galatians 5:16-25 ><]]]]'> John 15:26-27, 16:12-15

Blessed happy birthday to everyone this Pentecost Sunday, the “birthday” or official coming out party of the Church! In the Ascension of Jesus last Sunday, we have an upward movement that was a “leveling up” in our relationships with God and one another, calling us to be light to rise.

Today’s Pentecost Sunday is opposite, a downward move that “presses” us to “spread” like in compressing a sandwich to make it wider or bigger, calling us to be small and be “dissolved” so we can be mixed or shared with others.

Sorry for sounding a recipe but that’s how we are all as the kingdom of God here on earth – the Body of Christ we His disciples make up as the Church in the power of the Holy Spirit whose very image is us.

When time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire hose in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
Acts 2:1-4

Pentecost is not just an event in the past but a daily reality calling us to be “dissolved” in ourselves, to be little and small so that we can be one with others to be united in Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Being a Christian is being united, being one in Jesus; remove “Christ” in the word Christian, we are left with the letters -ian that stand for “I-am-nothing”.

That is why we as the Church is the image or icon of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity promised by Jesus to come after His ascension. It is the principle of unity in the Trinity because the Holy Spirit is the love that exists between the Father and the Son. This union between the Father and the Son happens also among us, the community of believers despite our diversities and differences when we allow the Holy Spirit to empower us in our daily dying to ourselves that Jesus likened to the grain of wheat that falls to the ground in order to grow and yield bountiful harvest (Jn. 12:24-26). This is the reason why St. Paul calls us to live in the Spirit in the second reading:

I say, then: live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh. For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want… Now those who belong to Christ have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit. Let us not be conceited, provoking one another, envious of one another.
Galatians 5:16-17, 24-26

Jesus is inviting us today to go through daily Pentecost by allowing the Holy Spirit to “burn” us with its fire, to dissolve our old selves to become new in Him. It is a process of conversion, of daily dying in our flesh in order to build up His Church.

Here we go back to one of the central theme of Jesus of becoming like a child, becoming small which is true greatness because that is when we no longer live but Christ in us as St. Paul experienced. Today he tells us some of the works of our old self we must turn away from like “immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like” (Gal. 5:19-21).

See how all his examples lead to disunity and divisions instead of unity that is happening today. Some people call for inclusivity but the opposite happens as we get divided so sharply that anyone who opposes them is accused of “gaslighting” or worst, end up being “cancelled”! So sad that some people are exaggerating truth when in fact they are exaggerating themselves as new standards of truth, insisting themselves and their beliefs on us.

Why change the rules of grammar or beauty pageants or genders just because they are different? Worst, they want to change even religious feasts like Santacruzan or the praying of the Our Father! Where is the unity in diversity if there is one group insisting on themselves? What happens is a repeat of the Tower of Babel, not of the Pentecost.

Losing ourselves in the Holy Spirit does not hinder our search for truth. The Holy Spirit actually leads us to the whole truth of Jesus revealed in His coming but He is too big to be grasped wholly that He continues to unfold, telling us we can only arrive at truth when we think in Him, with Him, and through Him in the Holy Spirit.

“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak wht he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”
John 16:12-15

The key here is being small, being dissolved in the Holy Spirit to see the larger whole who is Jesus Christ found in the face of every person next to us. See how we find in the first reading the reality of the Church starting out big right away as “catholic” or universal when it began on Pentecost speaking all the languages of the world, uniting the peoples as one in the power of the Holy Spirit.

*Stained glass of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove as background of the Chair of St. Peter in the Vatican in Rome; photo from wikipedia.*

The Church never started small like a club spreading into federations to become one. We become a part of that big reality of the Church in Christ by becoming small, by being dissolved by the fire of the Holy Spirit by letting go of our selfish selves.

The Holy Spirit continues to come down to us in daily Pentecost explaining and revealing to us the truth of Jesus through the many events iand persons in our lives. When my mother was still alive, she was the only reason why I came home; but, after she had left us peacefully last week, I have realized I still have to come home for my family and relatives and friends. It is a process of dying in myself amid the pain of seeing her room empty, that she is gone.

Death, like the ascension of Jesus is not about replacing those who have left us but a Pentecost, of allowing the Spirit to come to make us smaller, to be one with those still with us to continue celebrating life. That is when we experience the “fruit of Spirit” like “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). When that happens, then we have the Church as well as our own family as an image and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray:

Lord Jesus Christ,
make us aware of
the coming of the Holy Spirit
to us in our daily Pentecost;
keep us open and humble,
dissolve our selfishness,
our pride, our "flesh"
so that we may live in
the Holy Spirit
as the Church,
its very image
here on earth.
Amen. 
Have a Spirit-filled week ahead!

Do you love me?

The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Seventh Week of Easter before the Pentecost, 17 May 2024
Acts 25:13-21 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> John 21:15-19

Today, O Lord Jesus,
You asked me the loveliest
yet most dreaded question
of all: "Do you love me?"

And You know very well
my answer, 
"Yes, Lord! I love You!" 
even if most often my yes
to You does not flow to my
works and actions:
You know so well, 
dear Jesus,
how my yes to You remains
only in my lips
and in my heart
because more often I turn away
from Your love to commit sins;
yet, despite these,
You still love me very much,
Jesus.

Yes, I love You, Jesus!
Please help me to pray always
to You, to center my life in You,
to be close and intimate with You,
to be one in You
because love first of all
means being one with 
the beloved,
making time, not finding time.

Yes, I love You, Jesus!
Help me to appreciate
myself more, to find You
in myself despite my sinfulness
and weaknesses like Peter
whom You have called in
his original name, Simon
because loving You and 
others begins in loving
myself, being grateful
to You that I am alive
and most of all, loved.

Yes, I love You, Jesus!
Let me love You 
with all my heart,
with all my soul,
with all my very self;
let me love You first
so that I may truly love
everyone, especially
the poor and the needy
You have entrusted to me;
let me love You first, Jesus,
so that I may love deeply
the Church;
O my Jesus,
let me love You first
so I can truly love
because without You as basis
and foundation of my love,
that love could be self-serving,
momentary and merely an altruism
without meaning 
and depth that truly liberates
the beloved.
Amen.

Araw-araw “Araw ng mga Ina”

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-16 ng Hunyo, 2024

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Our Lady of Fatima University-Sta. Rosa, Laguna, 2023.*

Mula pa man noong una
pinuna ko na pagdiriwang 
ng araw ng mga ina
at araw ng mga ama
dahil sa katawa-tawang
pagbati nila:
"Happy Mother's Day" sa lahat ng Ina!
"Happy Father's Day" sa lahat ng Ama!
Kanino pa nga ba
araw ng mga Ina kungdi
sa mga nanay at ang araw
ng mga Ama kungdi sa mga tatay?
Kaya hindi ko mapigilang matawa
sa tila dispalenghagang turing nila
na mother's day sa mga Ina 
at father's day sa mga Ama:
e para kanino pa nga ba mga
araw na iyon?

Nguni't sadyang mapagbiro
itong tadhana 
nang aming ihatid si ina 
sa kanyang himlayan noong 
Sabado, kinabukasa'y
ikatlong Linggo ng Mayo,
Araw ng mga Ina;
hindi na ako natawa
bagkus naiyak nang makita
sa social media napakaraming 
pagbati sa kani-kanilang ina
ng Happy Mother's Day;
noon ko higit nadama
sakit ng pagiging ulila sa ina,
kalungkutan ng pangungulila 
sa nanay na hindi na makikita,
mahahagkan at mayayakap
palaging tanong kung ako'y kumain na?

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda sa Benguet, 2023.*

Tinakda ang Araw ng mga Ina
tuwing ikatlong Linggo ng Mayo
upang parangalan
kadakilaan nila
ngunit kung tutuusin
araw-araw
 ay Araw ng mga Ina
dahil wala nang hihigit pa
sa pag-ibig nila sa atin
katulad ni Jesus
sarili'y sinaid at binuhos
matiyak ating kaligtasan,
kapayapaan
at katiwasayan;
hindi sasapat
 isang araw ng Linggo
taun-taon
 upang mga ina ay pagpugayan,
parangalan at pasalamatan
dahil sa bawat araw ng kanilang
buhay, sarili kanilang iniaalay;
batid ng mga nanay 
lilipas kanilang buhay
maigsi lamang kanilang panahon
kapos buong maghapon
walang sinasayang na pagkakataon
pipilitin pamilya ay makaahon
sa lahat ng  paghamon.

May kasabihan mga Hudyo 
nilikha daw ng Diyos ang mga ina 
upang makapanatili Siya sa lahat
ng lunan at pagkakataon;
hindi ba gayon nga kung saan
naroon ang nanay, mayroong buhay
at pagmamahal, kaayusan at kagandahan
kaya naman sa Matandang Tipan
matatagpuan paglalarawan 
sa Diyos katulad ng isang ina:
"malilimutan ba ng ina
ang anak na galing sa kanya,
sanngol sa kanyang sinapupunan
kailanma'y di niya pababayaan;
nguni't kahit na malimutan
ng ina ang anak niyang tangan,
hindi kita malilimutan"; iyan ang 
katotohanan ng Diyos at mga ina 
mapanghahawakan
hanggang kamatayan.