Kristong Hari ng sanlibutan, tunay nga ba nasasalamin natin?

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-28 ng Nobyembre 2023

Habang naghahanda para sa Dakilang Kapistahan ng Kristong Hari ng Sanlibutan noong Linggo (26 Nobyembre 2023), pabalik-balik sa aking gunita at alaala ang unang taon ng COVID-19 pandemic kasi noong mga panahong iyon, tunay na tunay nga si Jesus ang Hari nating lahat.

Marahil dahil sa takot at kawalan ng katiyakan noong mga panahon iyon na kay daming namamatay sa COVID at wala pang gamot na lunas maging mga bakuna, sadyang sa Diyos lamang kumakapit ang karamihan.

Hindi ko malimutan mga larawang ito noon sa dati kong parokya na mga tao ay lumuluhod sa kalsada sa pagdaraan ng paglilibot namin ng Santisimo Sakramento noong Dakilang Kapistahan ng Kristong Hari noog Nobyembre ng 2020.

Marubdob ang mga eksena noon at damang dama talaga pagpipitagan ng mga tao sa Santisimo Sakramento.

Sinimulan namin ito noong unang Linggo ng lockdown, ika-22 ng Marso 2020 na ikalimang linggo ng Kuwaresma. Tandang tanda ko iyon kasi birthday ko rin ang araw ng Linggong iyon.

At dahil walang nakapagsimba sa pagsasara ng mga simbahan noon, minabuti kong ilibot ang Santisimo Sakramento ng hapong iyon upang masilayan man lamang ng mga tao si Jesus, madama nilang buhay ang Panginoon at kaisa sila sa pagtitiis sa gitna ng pandemic.

Hiniram ko ang F-150 truck ng aming kapit-bahay. Hindi ko pinalagyan ng gayak ang truck maliban sa puting mantel sa bubong nito kung saan aking pinatong ang malaki naming monstrance. Nagsuot ako ng kapa at numeral veil habang mga kasama ko naman ay dala ang munting mga bell para magpaalala sa pagdaraan ng Santisimo.

Pinayagan kami ng aming Barangay chairman si Kuya Rejie Ramos sa paglilibot ng Santisimo at pinasama ang kanilang patrol kung saan sumakay ang aming mga social communications volunteer na Bb. Ria De Vera at Bb. Anne Ramos na silang may kuha ng lahat ng larawan noon hanggang sa aking pag-alis at paglipat ng assignment noong Pebrero 2021.

Nakakaiyak makita noon mga tao, bata at matanda, lumuluhod sa kalsada. Ang iba ay may sindi pang kandila at talagang inabangan paglilibot namin na aming inanunsiyo sa Facebook page ng parokya noong umaga sa aming online Mass.

Pati mga nakasakay sa mga sasakyan nagpupugay noon sa Santisimo Sakramento.

Nang maglaon, marami sa mga tahanan ang naglagay na ng mga munting altar sa harap ng bahay tuwing araw ng Linggo sa paglilibot namin ng Santisimo Sakramento.

Napakasarap balikan mga araw na iyon na bagama’t parang wakas na ng panahon o Parousia dahil sa takot sa salot ng COVID-19, buhay ang pananampalataya ng mga tao dahil nadama ng lahat kapanatilihan ng Diyos kay Jesu-Kristong Panginoon natin.

Katunayan, noong unang Linggo ng aming paglilibot ng Santisimo Sakramento, umulan ng kaunti nang kami ay papunta na sa huling sitio ng aming munting parokya. Nagtanong aking mga kasamahan, sina Pipoy na driver at Oliver na aking alalay kung itutuloy pa namin ang paglilibot. Sabi ko ay “oo”.

Pagkasagot ko noon ay isang bahag-hari ang tumambad sa amin kaya’t kami’y kinilabutan at naiyak sa eksena. Noon ko naramdaman ang Panginoon tinitiyak sa akin bilang kura noon na hindi niya kami pababayaan.

At tunay nga, hindi niya kami – tayong lahat- pinabayaan.

Kaya noong Biyernes, ika-24 ng Nobyembre 2023, napagnilayan ko sa mga pagbasa kung paanong itinalaga muli ni Judas Macabeo ang templo ng Jerusalem matapos nilang matalo at mapalayas ang mananakop na si Hariong Antiochos Epiphanes habang ang ebanghelyo noon ay ang tungkol sa paglilinis ni Jesus ng templo.

Bakit wala tayong pagdiriwang sa pagwawakas o panghihina ng epekto ng COVID-19? (https://lordmychef.com/2023/11/24/if-covid-is-over/)

Nakalulungkot isipin na matapos dinggin ng Diyos ating mga panalangin noong kasagsagan ng pandemya, tila nakalimutan na natin Siya. Kakaunti pa rin nagsisimba sa mga parokya at nahirati ang marami sa online Mass.

Walang pagdiriwang ni kapistahan ang Simbahan sa pagbabalik sa “normal” na buhay buhat nang mawala o manghina ang virus ng COVID.

At ang pinamakamasaklap sa lahat, hindi na yata si Jesus ang naghahari sa ating buhay ngayon.

Balik sa dating gawi ang maraming mga tao.

At nakakahiyang sabihin, hindi na nalampasan ng mga tao at pati ilang mga pari katamaran noong pandemic.

Nakakahiyang aminin na pagkaraan ng araw-araw na panawagan sa Facebook noong isang linggo na lumuhod at magbigay-galang kay Kristong Hari na nasa Banal na Sakramento mga tao, maraming mga pari noong Linggo ang kinatamaran magsuot na nararapat na damit tulad ng kapa at numeral veil. At pagkatapos, sasabihin, isisigaw, Mabuhay ang Kristong Hari?

Hindi pa lubusang tapos ang COVID, pero, ibang-iba na katayuan natin ngayon. Malayang muli nakakagalaw, walang face mask maliban sa ilang piling lugar tulad ng pagamutan. Ang tanong ngayong huling linggo ng ating kalendaryo sa Simbahan ay, si Jesus pa rin ba ang haring ating kinikilala, sinusunod at pinararangalan sa ating buhay, maging sa salita at mga gawa?

Nasasalamin ba natin si Kristong Hari sa ating mga sarili, lalo na kaming mga pari Niya?

Blessedness & beauty of poverty

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Thirty-fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 27 November 2023
Daniel 1:1-6, 8-20   ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*>   Luke 21:1-4
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD in Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 17 November 2023.
Praise and glory to you, 
our loving Father! 
Thank you 
in bringing us closer to you 
in Jesus everyday 
especially in this final stretch 
of our church calendar 
as we come to prepare for Christmas soon.
But, rather than focusing 
on the outside appearances 
and material inclinations 
of our Christmas feelings,
teach us to empty ourselves
to be filled by you in Jesus Christ!
Let us be poor, O God!
Let us embrace poverty
 and simplicity
 to experience you,
your coming,
 your presence
in Jesus,
our Emmanuel!
Let us treasure poverty
for it is our true wealth
in this life
like that “poor old widow”
who gave everything she had
into the temple collection box;
let us realize that it is in poverty
that we find true wisdom
and strength
like what Daniel and his companions
have taught the chief chamberlain
of King Nebuchadnezzar
(Daniel 1:11-20).
Let us be poor, O God,
like Jesus Christ to find
power and strength in weakness,
glory and honor in humility,
and life in death.
 Amen.

Christ the King, the Power to Love

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, Cycle A, 26 November 2023
Ezekiel 14:11-12, 15-17 ><}}}*> 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28 ><}}}*> Matthew 25:31-46
Detail of Jesus Christ at the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey; photo from wikipedia.org.

We now come to the final Sunday celebration of the year, the Solemnity of Christ the King. See how we close the liturgical calendar celebrating Christ’s kingship, only to open it anew next Sunday with Advent Season in preparation for Christmas, the birth of the King of kings.

Far from the connotations of power and authority of kings of the world, Christ’s kingship is more pastoral in nature by taking its cue from the image of a shepherd prevalent in the ancient Middle Eastern culture. In fact, Jesus is more perfect than any shepherd being the Good Shepherd himself, the fulfillment of the promise of God we heard in the first reading who would come to personally tend his flock.

As I prayed over our readings of this Solemnity which is one of the youngest feasts we have in the church at less than 100 years old since its introduction in 1925 by Pope Pius XI, my thoughts wandered during that first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when churches were closed and public Masses were prohibited.

Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera, Christ the King celebration in our former parish during pandemic, November 2020.

Right on the first Sunday when lockdown was imposed, we started our weekly “motorized procession” of the Blessed Sacrament around our former parish in Bulacan. I was so moved at the piety of our parishioners who knelt on the streets whenever we passed by.

We continued the practice until the Solemnity of Christ the King on that year of 2020. As usual, the people knelt on the streets when we passed by with the Blessed Sacrament. Even passengers of buses and other vehicles that chanced upon our procession paid homage to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

Photo by Ms. Anne Ramos, March 2020.

Looking back to those days during my prayer periods this week, I realized that it was on that first year of the pandemic when we had the most meaningful liturgical celebrations in the Church when people felt intensely the need for God, when they clearly had Jesus alone as King and Lord.

Everyone’s faith was put to test as we were all gripped in fears and uncertainties with the deadly effects of COVID virus. Almost every family prayed the Rosary daily or nightly, so many trying to sneak inside churches to attend Mass celebrations. Of course, there were still some who went on their evil ways during those difficult times with the tokhang still implemented while those in power shamelessly grabbed the opportunity to rake in millions of pesos from corruption at the expense of the poor and suffering people.

When we recall that year 2020 of the pandemic, it was at that time we experienced Christ’s Second Coming as everyday was a judgment day, the end of the world — though not entirely fearful because it was also during that time we felt closest to God in Jesus our Lord and King!

Behind all those acts of kindness and goodness of the people are the immense love and mercy of God in Jesus Christ we have experienced in the recovery of infected loved ones or in the simple negative results of our COVID tests.

It was during those days when we experienced and felt Jesus truly present in us and among us that we simply radiated him on many occasions. That first year of the pandemic proved to many of us that being good, being kind, being helpful would never destroy nor diminish our person but had actually strengthened us as individuals and as a community. Recall how the “community pantry” caught the whole country on fire in just a matter of weeks when a young lady started it in their neighborhood at Maguinhawa Street, UP Village in Quezon City.

When families and communities banded together in love and kindness to help the poor and needy, the sick and those who have lost loved ones, the experience did not pulverize them but actually crystallized them as family or friends or neighbors. Walang nadurog sa pagdadamayan bagkus nabuo ang lahat ng nagtulungan!

That is the kingship of Jesus Christ. His power and authority were never meant to destroy us. In fact, when he came to us, he showed us and made us experience that the power and authority of his kingship is found not in force but in love and mercy that sadly many see these days as weaknesses.

Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’

Matthew 25:37-40
Photo by Ms. Marivic Tribiana, April 2020.

Christ the King today reminds us that true authority and power lead to humility which is more than being lowly but also of seeing the other person as another human in need, vulnerable and weak. Being humble is not only accepting our humanity but recognizing the humanity of those around us who need to be respected, loved and cared too.

Moreover, Christ the King reminds us that whatever authority and power we have is a sharing in God’s power and authority; hence, these must be used to help others, not lord over them. True power and authority lead to compassion, enabling us to feel the sufferings of others that move us to do something for them like Jesus.

This is what St. Paul reminds us in the second reading: the kingship of Jesus Christ – his power and authority – are a sharing in God. Unlike the worldly kings, Christ’s kingship is intimately related to the rule of God and ultimately subjected to the Father that is why it is transformative and performative to borrow one of Pope Benedict XVI’s favorite terms.

Artwork by Fr. Marc Ocariza based on Ms. Tribiana’s photo, April 2020.

The Kingship of Jesus Christ is the power to love, the most potent force in the universe. Yes, there are still evil and sin in the world today but soon, they shall be finally removed in Christ’s return as king. The present moment calls us to see Jesus in everyone we meet so that we act like him in loving service to others.

Notice how Jesus ended today his teachings at the temple area with a parable of the judgment of nations where people are separated according to their deeds. At the end of time, that is what Jesus will ask and judge us: how much have we loved like him? What have we done in this world, in life?

For us to better answer that, let us keep in mind what Jesus had done and still does to us and for us, of how much he loves us as our King and Protector. Recall the countless times he poured us his love for us. The moment we see his kingship in God’s way, then we follow Christ’s power and authority in the name of love and mercy, kindness and gentleness. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead!

If COVID is over….

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of St. Andrew Dung-Lac & Companions, Martyrs, 24 November 2023
1 Maccabees 4:3-37, 52-59   ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*>   Luke 19:45-48
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, in Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 13 September 2023.
If COVID is over,
If COVID is no longer
that threat,
I wonder, dear God our Father,
why we especially in the Church,
have not set any major celebration?

Why have we not staged any
major celebrations for COVID'S 
demise or waning?

Do we not care anymore
that is why we have stopped praying
and celebrating Masses in churches
because you have heard our prayers, God?

Oh, not to forget, dear God,
the evil among us who took
advantage of the poor and
suffering during pandemic by
profiteering from others miseries!

How I wish and pray today,
God our Father,
that we imitate Judas Macabeus
of the first reading to rededicate
ourselves, our world
to you as we reel from COVID;
may we also have some serious
cleansing of our selves and
the Church like Jesus at the temple
to gather and assess 
the important implications and 
lessons from the recent pandemic
by working to close the big gaps and 
imbalances among peoples and nations.

Since COVID started,
Christmas countdowns and
decorations have started earlier
than usual to uplift our spirits
dampened by the pandemic;
now that COVID is almost gone,
may we remember too how
you, O Lord Jesus came among us
in our darkest hours to bring your light
of healing and life, joy and peace
during those troubled years of pandemic;
May "we praise your glorious name,
O mighty God" like the psalmist today.
Amen.

Our “dying” cities

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Memorial of St. Clement, Pope & Martyr, 23 November 2023
1 Maccabees 2:15-29   ><)))*> + <*(((>< = ><)))*> + <*(((><   Luke 19:41-44
Photo by author, Metro Manila seen from Antipolo City, August 2022.
God our Father,
bless our cities,
bring back life to our
dying cities;
amid the many signs
of progress and affluence,
there are also the many signs
of decay and poverty
that cannot be hidden.
And they all begin in
our hearts that have
turned away from you.

Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes.

Luke 19:41
So many of us, O Lord,
are so allured by the glitter
and lights of the city
that we forget you,
our only light that can vanish
all darkness within us;
we have been so fascinated with
the material prosperity,
wealth and fame our cities
offer us that we have forgotten
your Cross, dear Jesus,
that enable us to love truly
and bring life to others;
we have turned away from you,
Jesus, our Lord and God,
to worship new gods
that leave us empty,
lost and confused than ever.
Like Mattathias and his sons
along with his many followers
during the Maccabean revolt in Israel,
let us "leave" our cities and its
many temptations and sins,
lies and empty promises
to search our hearts,
to find you again
and follow you
in order to bring you back
to our cities like
your martyr St. Clement.
Amen.
Photo by author, the Church of Dominus Flevit (the Lord Cried/Wept) with roof shaped like four tears believed to be the very site where Jesus wept over the impending destruction of Jerusalem that happened in year 70 AD.

Noble spirit

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Cecilia, Virgin & Martyr, 22 November 2023
2 Maccabees 7:1, 20-31   ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>   Luke 19:11-28
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, in Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 13 September 2023.
Praise and glory to you,
God our loving Father!

Today I pray to you for 
the gift of a "noble spirit"
like that courageous mother
of seven brothers who died on
the same day before her as she
extolled them to resist temptations
and remained faithful to you:
"Filled with a noble sprit that 
stirred her womanly heart with
manly courage" (2 Maccabees 7:21).
What a beautiful description of that
woman's great courage and faith 
in you, dear God!
Give us a noble spirit, Lord, 
a selfless soul that thinks more
of others than one's self especially
in this age when we are so self-conscious
and conceited with our bloated egos
always on the take, as if the world
revolves around us; a soul that is
not selfish and other centered
because of deep faith and trust
in you, Father.
Stir your noble spirit in us, Lord;
let us find anew our moral compass,
our moral grounding in you and your
laws especially in this age when
"everything and anything goes"
regardless of morals and virtues,
an age that glorifies every person as
a universe in himself,
crowning himself as god, 
yet so afraid of the truth,
so ignorant of freedom,
without any idea of 
the real meaning of living
and loving that in the end,
could not accept death.
Like that courageous woman
and St. Cecilia, stir the noble spirit
within us, Lord Jesus,
to embrace wholeheartedly
our being human,
our being finite,
our being-towards-death
so that we may start living
as you have taught us by
giving and sharing ourselves
and everything we have
in order to be fulfilled,
by facing death so that
we may live in you.
Amen.

Make us presentable to you, O Lord

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of the Presentation of Mary, 21 November 2023
Revelation 11:19a, 12:1-6a, 10ab   <*((((>< + ><))))*>   Luke 1:39-47
Photo from https://www.vaticannews.va/en/liturgical-holidays/presentation-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-.html
On this Memorial of the
Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
in the temple, we pray, O God,
you make us presentable too
before you like our Blessed Mother.
The words presentation
and presentable connote 
things of beauty on the outside:
a presentation can be a show
like a play or a dance 
while to be presentable means
to be pleasing to the eyes.

But deep its external connotations 
is its inner meaning with 
religious roots actually,
like to be dedicated as 
being good and beneficial
to you, O God.
Like the Blessed Mother Mary,
teach us to present ourselves wholly
to you, dear God, by believing
in you and your words,
to have that firm faith on what is
not seen and sure or certain,
not carried away by all those
fancy and make-believe
images and promises of the world
based on superficialities
of materialism and consumerism.

In this age when fame and wealth
are the measure of what is good,
may we always choose true blessedness
like Mary who believed your words
 would be fulfilled;
in this age when everyone prefers
to listen to outside noise and sounds
especially of media, may we always
choose to be silent like Mary,
listening to your voice O God within,
contemplating on its meaning;
in this age with so many false idols
being followed or with everyone
playing god, may we have the courage 
and humility of Mary 
to always be with Jesus,
never abandoning him even at the Cross,
standing by his side, 
choosing to love and sacrifice, 
to bear than complain,
to witness your mercy and majesty,
to be your presence and peace.
Amen.

When “indignation” seize us

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Thirty-third Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 20 November 2023
1 Maccabees 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-63   <*(((>< + ><)))*>   Luke 18:35-43
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, at Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 18 November 2023.
God our loving Father
I feel so much like your psalmist today,
asking you to "Give me life,
O Lord, and I will do your commands."

I have been praying for this for 
sometime with the abuses 
and abominations among us priests,
of how like in the first readings
many of us have turned away from you,
worshipping money and self,
usurping your sacred altar as ours
with all of our grandstanding and inanities,
of how we have become 
beholden to the rich and powerful
always present in all their functions
at the expense of the poor,
always seeking the ways of the world
as influencers than ministers
and pastors shamelessly splashed
all over social media.

Indignation seizes me because of the wicked who forsake your law. Though the snares of the wicked are twined about me your law I have not forgotten. Redeem me from the oppression of men, that I may keep your precepts. I beheld the apostates with loathing, because they kept not your promise.

Psalm 119:53, 61, 134, 158
I have no claims to holiness
nor cleanliness except I strive
to follow your Son Jesus;
and many times, amid my 
indignation at the abuses and
abominations done to our sacred 
duties even by those supposed to
lead us, I never fail to see myself
as the blind man at Jericho,
possibly blinded by my sins
and imperfections;
like him, dear Jesus,
I pray and beg you,
"Lord, please let me see"
(Luke 18:41).
Lord, please let me see
not only the things that make
me indignant;
let me also see you most
importantly:
your gentle mercy
amid your strong conviction
against sin and evil,
your wisdom in confronting
errors and misinterpretations,
your peace and serenity
in the middle of storms
and adversaries.

Let me go against the tide,
and be my guide.
Amen.
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, at Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 18 November 2023.

“Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” by the Police, 1981

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music, 19 November 2023
The Housewife 1871 Frederick Walker 1840-1875 Bequeathed by R.H. Prance 1920 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/N0352.

Hi everyone! So glad to be back this Sunday for our music related with our Mass celebration. We hope you have gone to your local church or wherever for the Sunday Mass where the first reading was taken from the Book of Proverbs that spoke of a “worthy wife”, a perfect wife.

When one finds a worthy wife, her value is far beyond pearls. Her husband, untrusting his heart to her, has an unfailing prize. She brings him good, and not evil, all the days of her life. She obtains wool and flax and works with loving hands. She puts her hands to the distaff, and her fingers ply the spindle. She reaches out her hands to the poor, and extends her arms to the needy.

Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20

You must be wondering if there is a perfect wife – or a perfect husband – who really exist.

Of course, none. Nobody is perfect. You have to understand human words are so limited to express God’s thoughts and words. What the author of Proverbs mean today is an “ideal wife” – someone who keeps all the little things at home we (especially men and children) often take for granted that are actually the most important things that keep our homes nice and clean, cozy and orderly (https://lordmychef.com/2023/11/18/little-things-are-the-big-things/).

The reading from the Book of Proverbs this Sunday invites us to imitate the attitudes of the “worthy wife” like her diligence and fidelity to her tasks at home in actively waiting for the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the world. It supports the teaching of Jesus in today’s parable of the talents that God is not asking us great things in life but simply to be faithful to the tasks and responsibilities he entrusted to us. Exactly like the perfect wife who got everything covered not only at home but even outside! When we die, the only thing Jesus will ask us is how we have cared for those persons and things he entrusted us in this life – not what we have done nor achieved nor amassed like wealth.

And that is why as I prayed while preparing this Sunday’s homily, I kept hearing at the back of my head Sting and the Police singing their 1981 hit Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.

Though I’ve tried before to tell her
Of the feelings I have for her in my heart
Every time that I come near her
I just lose my nerve as I’ve done from the start
Every little thing she does is magic
Everything she do just turns me on
Even though my life before was tragic
Now I know my love for her goes on
Do I have to tell the story
Of a thousand rainy days since we first met?
It’s a big enough umbrella
But it’s always me that ends up getting wet
Every little thing she does is magic
Everything she do just turns me on
Even though my life before was tragic
Now I know my love for her goes on

Written by Sting, the song is about a man who could not express his love for a woman he finds so beautiful and amazing. The song is actually about unrequited love and she never became his wife!

I resolved to call her up
A thousand times a day
And ask her if she’ll marry me
Some old-fashioned way
But my silent fears have gripped me
Long before I reach the phone
Long before my tongue has tripped me
Must I always be alone

And so you ask how do I find this song related with that reading from the Book of Proverbs about a perfect wife? We find that in the repetitive chorus line “Every little thing she does is magic” as well as in the superb instrumentation, especially its opening tune. This piece of music in itself is magic.

Let’s face it, man… women are so good in this life that without them, our world would stop, including the Church. For me, that “battle of sexes” had long been won by women because they are better than us in many accounts. That is why God gave them to us as our part-ners in life. Women, especially mothers and wives, have that attention to details we could not see (ask any husband how his wife could still see even even nothing can be seen?). Most of all, they have that flair and elan so built in within them that everything they do is magic – effortless, easy, so natural and personal.

Jesus is not asking us to do something so great or monumental in life. He simply wants us to be faithful and consistent with our calling as his disciples, as Christians who lovingly serve God through one another. Something that women, especially wives and mothers, could teach us a lot with in this life. Here’s the Police to all the great women out there with their loving and faithful men.

From Youtube.com.