40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, First Week in Lent, 10 March 2025 Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18 + + + Matthew 25:31-46
Photo by author, view of Metro Manila from balcony of Timberland Highlands Resort, San Mateo, Rizal, 08 March 2025.
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?" (Matthew 25:37-39)
How I long and pray I would someday be asking this same question to you, Lord, totally surprised, wondering what happened when all I did was do something naturally as second nature, without much thinking and ado in being kind and charitable, in responding to anyone who is hungry or thirsty, stranger or naked, ill or in prison.
You are so great, dear Jesus in teaching us not to think of kindness and being Christian as a list to be kept and checked always but simply a way of life in doing what is right, what is good for we are all your kin in one God and Father who is Lord of all (first reading).
Photo by author, same view taken later that night,Timberland Highlands Resort, San Mateo, Rizal, 08 March 2025.
Then they (the accursed) will answer and say, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?" He will answer them, "Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me" (Matthew 25:44-45).
Forgive us, Jesus when our being Christian is more on duties and tasks like a code of ethics; teach us to be utterly different from others as your followers reflecting the Father and his love in a whole new way especially in this time when everyone seems to be so cold and numb even callous with others around them; animate us with your warm presence of joy and love to everyone for them to realize there is one true Lord God above all. Amen.
Photo by author, same view taken with different exposure,Timberland Highlands Resort, San Mateo, Rizal, 08 March 2025.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 26 January 2025
Photo from vaticannews.va.
The Vatican recently invited several journalists from all over the world last January 24, 2025 to celebrate the Jubilee of Communicators in Rome.
Traditionally, the Pope issues on that date which is the Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, the Patron of Catholic journalists and writers, his message for the coming World Communication Sunday celebrated every Ascension or Pentecost Sunday. As far as I can remember, that tradition has been broken perhaps twice when Pope Francis was delayed in releasing on that date his messages for the World Communication Sunday.
But, that is another story… we write this in reaction to a very disturbing message of Rappler’s Ms. Maria Ressa in her interview after her speech at the Vatican gathering last Thursday (correction: this interview happened before her speech).
We do not question Ms. Ressa’s credentials as a journalist for 39 years, having worked with the CNN and before establishing Rappler, was for a long time the head of ABS-CBN News.
We wonder why of all Filipino journalists she was the one chosen by the Vatican is something only the Archangel Gabriel could explain. There are so many other competent Filipino journalists and writers who are good, practicing Catholics who could have shed more light in the celebration of the jubilee of communicators. We name some of whom we personally know like former Inquirer editor Lito Zulueta, Facts First host and Inquirer-ABS-CBN veteran Christian Esguerra, and Prof. Felipe Salvosa II who stood against his bosses at the Manila Times and resigned for the sake of truth and decency when he disagreed in the publication of photos of Sen. De Lima’s affair with her former driver. Two other strongly-grounded Catholics in the field of communications we wished were invited to the Vatican are EWTN’s head in the Asia-Pacific Edwin Lopez and Cambridge-trained lawyer and Business World columnist Atty. Jemy Gatdula who defends our Church stand against divorce in Congress and other halls of discussions.
Due to our aforementioned reasons, I never bothered to read nor listen to Ms. Ressa’s speech at the Vatican gathering; however, my conscience was bothered, even revolted after listening to Ms. Ressa’s interview by her Rappler reporter Peterno Esmaquel II before her speech at the Vatican. Click this link and wait for her final statement.
Photo by author, Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Dumaguete City, November 2024.
When asked for any message for Filipino Catholics, Ms. Ressa minced no words that betrayed her unCatholic stance: “Stay away from dogmas and be good.”
We understand how most journalists are “positively ignorant” about the Catholic faith and her teachings. They do not even know what is the Holy Mass or what is a parish or the distinctions of basilica, cathedral and church.
Most likely, Ms. Ressa along with most journalists take dogmas as teachings of the Church like the ones in the Catechism of the Catholic Church as well as the various writings of the Holy Fathers we also refer to as doctrines.
All dogmas are doctrines but not all doctrines are dogmas. Dogmas are solemnly defined doctrines we have to believe in. There are only two solemnly defined doctrines as dogmas, the Immaculate Conception issued by Pope Pius IX in 1854 through Ineffabilis Deus, and the Bodily Assumption of Mary defined by Pope Pius XII in 1950 through Munificentissimus Deus. Related to these, there are four Marian dogmas we believe: the Motherhood of God (theotokos), her Immaculate Conception, her perpetual virginity and her bodily assumption.
Going back to Ms. Ressa’s message to Filipino Catholics last week from the Vatican that we “stay away from dogmas and be good” is very wrong no matter how you look at it in whatever angles.
Photo by author, Nuestra De Guia Church, Manila, November 2024.
One cannot be good without obeying the teachings of the Church that are based on Jesus Christ’s teachings and the Sacred Scriptures.
One cannot be a good Catholic and yet believe and practice divorce and same sex marriage or premarital sex. We are not judging anyone here. Only God will judge us but we are morally bound to reiterate these teachings that came from the Lord Himself, including the fact that there are only two genders, “male and female, he created them” (Gen.1:27).
In my 26 years as a priest, I have witnessed so many Catholics especially those approaching death so bothered in their conscience for so long a time as they disregarded our many Church teachings like those against contraceptives and abortion. As a hospital chaplain, one of the greatest worries of many family and relatives with their patients is about euthanasia, making sure they do not commit it in dealing with their terminally ill patients.
Jesus Himself clearly said that we have to obey the commandments, the teachings found in the scriptures:
“Do not think that I have come to abish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill… Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17, 19).
Recall how on the issues about divorce and even the paying of taxes, Jesus would always direct us to the Sacred Scriptures, the very word of God to find His Divine Will. That is why, despite the many changes in the world, the Church has remained standing by its teachings because they are God’s teachings, not ours. Priests did not invent them and we are duty bound to stand by them no matter what – though there are some among us who have joined the modern trend in the world in the name of inclusivity and other woke thoughts which is sad. And shameful.
Photo by author, Atok, Benguet, December 2024.
One last note for this piece from that video clip of Ms. Ressa’s interview: she never spoke the word GOD (even in her speech at the Vatican, she just mentioned God once, not even directly as a point reference).
We talk about good because of God; excluding Him from the discussion is totally a fake, a budol. Any good is not good without God.
What are your thoughts with Ms. Ressa’s message to us Filipino Catholics to “stay away from dogmas” and simply be good?
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Third Sunday in Advent (Gaudete Sunday), Cycle C, 15 December 2024 Zephaniah 3:14-18 ><}}}}*> Philippians 4:4-7 ><}}}}*> Luke 3:10-18
Photo by author, Gaudete Sunday, Advent 2018.
Our altars are bursting in shades of pink this third Sunday in Advent known as Gaudete Sunday from the entrance antiphon in Latin of today’s Mass meaning “Rejoice in the Lord”.
To rejoice means to intensify joy which is a world apart from “happiness” many have mistaken as synonym for joy and rejoicing. Happiness is fleeting and superficial, dependent on the outside “stimulus” that makes us happy while joy comes from within one’s heart.
Joy is that feeling of certainty that no matter what happens to us, God would never forsake us, leading us to serenity and peace. That is why one can still rejoice and be joyful even in pain and sufferings like the elderly, the sick, or those struck with tragedy and failures. We can only rejoice when we have that deep faith in God, filled with hope that even if things get worst, our final salvation is in Jesus Christ who had come, would come again, and continues to come to us.
Photo by author, Advent 2021, BED Chapel, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City.
Joy and salvation always come together as expressed by the Prophet Zephaniah in the first reading today which is fulfilled in Jesus Christ who renewed us all in the love of God our Father.
Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has removed the judgment against you, as he turned away your enemies… The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; he will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love (Zephaniah 3:14-15, 17).
True rejoicing can only happen in Jesus our Savior as St. Paul insisted in our second reading today, “Brothers and sisters: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4).
In His sermon on the mount about the beatitudes, Jesus taught us that true blessedness that leads to joy is not in having everything but in being empty and poor for God, being free from the trappings of this material world. Just ask those above 50 years old today: we have less of material things when growing up but we have so much fun so unlike these days of so many gadgets and things when suicides and mental cases are on the rise. People may be happy today but not joyful.
With our Campus Ministry members after our Advent Recollection, 12 December 2024, Chapel of the Angel of Peace, RISE Tower, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City.
At His Last Supper as well as after Easter in His appearances to His disciples, Jesus assured us of joy and peace if we remain in Him by keeping His commandments especially the celebration of the Eucharist until He comes again. But, in a recent Christmas party I attended, a parlor game surprised me when the host asked participants to “bring him” the first thing we look for upon waking up when everybody rushed to him bringing their cellphones!
I thought the answer were eye glasses which I first look for upon waking up to check the time. As a result, I made an informal survey when I took the elevator and during our Mass at the university when I asked the students, “what is the first thing you look for upon waking up?”
And, cellphone again was their unanimous answer which I find very alarming. Is the cellphone the new god of our modern time, replacing not only Jesus but even ourselves! It has slowly robbed us of our true joy, often caused many of our sorrows and breakdown of relationships.
We rejoice because of Jesus Christ and in our union in Him, we become one with others in whom we experience joy and rejoicing too.
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2018.
Now we go to another dimension of joy and rejoicing – its personal and relational aspect. Have you experienced there are times we find it difficult to rejoice with others having fun or enjoying something while on the other hand, we are easily moved to sympathize with anyone crying or feeling api and forlorn even if we do not know them?
Is it not ironic we easily unite with strangers in sadness but not in joy? I think that perhaps, God designed us to sympathize with anyone in pain because there is a thread that connects and binds us together in times of sorrow. It is a lot different with rejoicing which presupposes a relationship, a sort of oneness to experience the others’ joy. Joy is never solitary unlike sadness that is often kept inside by the person. Joy to be really joyful has to be made known. That is why we can easily share in the joy of others when we know them. We turn sarcastic even jealous when we find others we do not know rejoicing simply because we are not part of them nor of their joys.
Photo by author, Gaudete Sunday, Advent 2019.
Rejoicing is not about what we or anyone can do but all about relationships as Luke shows us in his account on John’s baptism at Jordan that is so upbeat that we too could feel the rejoicing of the people in John’s coming and preaching that some of them thought John was the Messiah. The people felt a deep sense of belonging, of relating and knowing that they asked John what they must do to continue rejoicing!
The crowds asked John the Baptist, “What should we do?” Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” Soldiers also asked him, “And what is it that we should do?” Now the people were filled with expectation, nd all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ… Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached good news to the people (Luke 3:10, 12, 14, 15, 18).
In telling us how John answered the queries of the people on what they must do to experience the coming of the Messiah, Luke teaches us that God is not asking great things from us but only simple acts of charity and mercy for one another like being kind and loving because we are already related in Him in the first place. Hence, we all can rejoice in Christ!
Here is our common misconception that if we do what is good and right, then we shall be filled with joy. Wrong. We are already filled with joy and we just have to intensify that into rejoicing because we are already God’s beloved children in baptism. When we live out our status as beloved children of God in Christ, everything follows.
Don’t you feel rejoicing just before communion, praying, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you under my roof but only say the word and I shall be healed”?
Imagine that immense love of God in Christ for us when nobody among us even the priest officiating the Mass is worthy to receive Jesus and yet, He came and made it a reality because He loves us so much! All we have to do is be sorry for our sins, reform our lives, apologize to those we have wronged, forgive those who have sinned against us… it is God who does everything for us in Jesus Christ. We do only so little but sadly, we could not even do the little things so well like coming on time for the Mass every Sunday, much less be silent to pray and listen to Jesus coming to us in Holy Communion because we are so busy conversing with those beside us or checking our cellphones.
This third Sunday in Advent, Jesus invites us to imitate John the Baptist His precursor who “preached good news to the people” with his warm and joyful presence. Spread the joy of Jesus by being kind and warm to others especially those in pain, those alone, those who are lost. After all, we are all one in Christ who is our joy and salvation. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious, 21 June 2024 2 Kings 11:1-4, 9-18, 20 ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[>< Matthew 6:19-23
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
On this Friday, Lord Jesus Christ, there are two things I pray: give me a pure heart and eyes like a lamp.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be (Mt. 6:19-21).”
Help me realize, Jesus, that to "store up treasures in heaven" is not just to pile up a lot of good works in heaven that will be to our credit in the next life for they too can be lost when we slide down into sin and evil; rather, like in your beatitudes, give me a clean or pure heart that is like yours, that is inclined to You always; a clean heart, O Lord, is not of "doing" but of "being" and "becoming" that truly becomes a treasure, something we value most.
How sad in this world so materialistic that many believe there is nothing money cannot buy, nothing money cannot solve even though this belief is proven false all the time!
Cleanse our hearts of pride and sins, fill it with your humility, justice and love, Lord Jesus! Dwell in our hearts, reign over us!
“The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be” (Mt.6:22-23).
Give us that light and vision, Jesus to see the most essential, the most valuable in life that are beyond wealth, fame, and power; free us from the darkness and blindness of not seeing beyond material things so we may discern the real treasures, what is most valuable in this life like You and others, love and peace and joy. Amen.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
First Friday, Dedication of St. Mary Major in Rome, 05 August 2022
Nahum 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7 ><]]]'> + ><]]]'> + ><]]]'> Matthew 16:24-28
Photo by author, September 2021.
Dearest God our loving Father:
You surely know how often we
wonder why you allow bad things
to continue to happen in our lives,
in our community, even in our country;
so many times we feel you seem to
have forgotten us, of must have fallen
asleep unaware of the sufferings we are
going through.
You know these thoughts and feelings
we often have but today, you assure us
you are always with us, that you never
forget us nor abandon us; sometimes, you
allow our sufferings to happen longer
because you believe in us, and most of all,
you want us to become stronger and better.
See, upon the mountains there advances the bearer of good news, announcing peace! Celebrate your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows! For nevermore shall you be invaded by the scoundrel; he is completely destroyed. The Lord will restore the vine of Jacob, the pride of Israel, though ravagers have ravaged them and ruined the tendrils.
Nahum 2:1, 3
Finally, you have liberated Israel
from the clutches of the "scoundrel", Assyria;
perhaps like us today, the Israelites at that
time of the Assyrian conquest wondered
if it ever would end with all the evils
perpetrated by men and women alike;
but it did! History teems with many
episodes of great countries and empires
falling, collapsing from their towers of
success and dominance, reduced to
nothingness because evil never lasts,
it is so bad that it has all the factors
contributing to its destruction and end.
Good always triumphs, always prevails.
Storms and dark nights end,
the sun always rises,
shining brightly to gladded our hearts,
drying our tears and giving us
all the chances in life.
Like the good news brought by Nahum,
may we be your messengers of good news,
of peace to those suffering for a long time
from illness and other problems in life,
including the many evils that seem to have
become so endemic in our country;
give us the grace to persevere
in following Jesus Christ your Son,
forgetting our very selves
for what profit would there really be
for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit one's life (Mt.16:25)?
As we celebrate the dedication of
St. Mary Major in Rome today,
may we imitate the Blessed Virgin Mary
who not only bore your Son Jesus Christ
but continues to lead others to him
by being the messenger of your
love and salvation.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Week XXIX, Year I in Ordinary Time, 20 October 2021
Romans 6:12-18 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 12:39-48
Photo by Ms. Nikki A. Vergara, 2020 in Victoria, Laguna.
We are all slaves,
born as your servants
O God our Lord and Master;
how sad that the more we refuse
to accept this reality, the more
we are enslaved to sin;
the more we assert our freedom
and decide to choose whatever
we want, the more we become unfree.
Do you not know that if you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the heart to the patterns of teaching to which you were entrusted. Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.
Romans 6:16-18
Jesus our Lord and Savior,
let us realize this truth applies to us all;
that although you have saved and
justified us with your offering on the Cross
that continues in our Sacraments like
Baptism and the Eucharist that have
brought us closest to you and the Father,
it is not something like a "magic"
that fixes everything, that automatically
brings us to heaven.
Let us be faithful and prudent stewards,
slaves of grace in you like in today's gospel
who faithfully await your return
with good works and deeds.
Let us keep in our minds and hearts that
the more we profess our faith in you, dear Jesus,
as your servants, the more we have to participate
in your grace to produce fruits of
the Holy Spirit in our lives. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Week XXIII, Year I in Ordinary Time, 06 September 2021
Colossians 1:24-2:3 ><)))*> + ><)))'> + ><)))*> Luke 6:6-11
Photo by author, December 2020.
But now it has been manifested to his holy ones, to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; it is Christ in you, the hope for your glory.
Colossians 1:27
Praise and glory to you, God
our loving and merciful Father,
in choosing us, calling us despite our
sinfulness and weaknesses
to be the indwelling of your Son
Jesus Christ.
Thank you, dear Father,
in making us all a part of your grand
design since the beginning
that Jesus Christ may dwell in us
so we may participate in your glory.
As the "image of the invisible God"
and the "first-born from the dead",
Christ is our own destiny
who cannot be attained apart
from his Church, his Body.
Keep us united and one, Father,
as your children and brother of Christ
in the Holy Eucharist that is the summit
of our Christian life, bearing all pains and
sufferings with joy like St. Paul for the good
of everyone, especially the marginalized;
may in our Eucharistic celebrations
we learn to set things "straight" by doing
what is good and pleasing to your sight
like what Jesus did in healing the man
with a withered hand at the synagogue
on a sabbath day.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Rock (San Roque), 16 August 2021
Judges 2:11-19 ><]]]]'> ><]]]]'> ><]]]]'> Matthew 19:16-22
Photo by author, October 2020.
Your words today, O God
our Father are just what we
needed most in this time when
we feel we are good, when we
are so complacent that all is fine.
Thank you for reminding us today
that we are not that "good" at all!
And worst, so many times our
being good are not even good enough!
A young man approached Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
Matthew 19:16-17, 20-22
So many times, dear Father,
good is not good where better
is expected, when being good
is not enough because in life,
what matters is not only what
we do but also what we have;
like that young man, there is
something or someone standing
between us and you, or anything
we cannot let go to be totally yours!
Forgive us, merciful God,
when we think more of ourselves
and forget you and others.
Forgive us when our possessions
posses us; give us the strength
to give up and surrender to you
our many attachments and false
securities that prevent us from becoming
truly free and truly your followers
like St. Rock, the patron of pandemics.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Eighth Week of Ordinary Time, 28 May 2021
Sirach 44:1,9-13 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Mark 11:11-25
Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2020.
Now I will praise those godly men,
our ancestors, each in his own time.
And for all time their progeny will endure,
their glory will never be blotted out.
(Sirach 44:1,13)
So many times, O Lord, I have heard the same words by your sage Ben Sirach, of how so many people who have gone ahead of us are hardly known nor remembered at all not because they are irrelevant or have not left no impact to anyone and this world.
There have been so many people ahead of us and still more living among us that surely much more would still come in the future after we are gone.
But life and living is not about being remembered for whatever reason.
Life and living is always about being good and holy, of being fully alive, living in you, O God our Father through Jesus Christ your Son.
That is why Ben Sirach praised both the known and unknown men who have gone ahead of him, especially the unknown ones because though there is “no memory of them for they have ceased” (v.9) they continue to exist, they are still relevant and in a sense “remembered” by their progeny because of their goodness and holiness.
How wonderful it is to dwell on this ending words of Ben Sirach in his book that remind us that nothing is lost, everything is gained and kept when we live in goodness and kindness.
Help us, O God, to make good of all your gifts to us lest we become like that fig tree Jesus cursed at Bethany along with the priests and merchants he had scolded when they turned your temple in Jerusalem into a marketplace.
Early in the morning,
as they were walking along,
they saw the fig tree withered to its roots.
Peter remembered and said to him,
"Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed
has withered."
(Mark 11:20-21)
Photo by author, 2019.
So many times in life, we keep on trying to make and achieve so many things for the wrong reason of being relevant, of being remembered without realizing that simply being good ensures us of never being lost and forgotten.
It is in our personal pursuits of fame, of immortality when – sadly – all is lost.
We pray today, Lord Jesus Christ, for those who are always worried of so many things that past and non-essential, of how they look like, of how they will be remembered.
Give us that true faith in you to always experience your presence especially in cultivating a prayer life that leads to real trust and communion in you. It is in prayer when we become fruitful for that is when we become sensitive of your loving presence, of our living realities enabling us to forgive and reconcile with those who hurt us.
It is this kind of faith that produces fruit that endures and lasts forever, even if we remain unknown as Ben Sirach extolled in his teachings and prayer. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Good Friday Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 02 April 2021
Isaiah 52:13-53:12 + Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9 + John 18:1-19:42
Photo by Marc Angelo Nicolas, January 2020.
"Biyernes Santong Biyernes Santo."
(A popular expression among us Filipinos.)
Perhaps, today we can truly feel the meaning and gravity of our favorite expression when somebody looks so sad and gloomy, when somebody seems to have been totally lost: “Biyernes Santong Biyernes Santo”.
That is how we are today – stuck in our homes, others in hospitals while others almost about to give up as this new wave of COVID-19 gets stronger with about 15000 infections today!
As I have been saying since Palm Sunday, this could be our holiest Holy Week in our lives in this most unholy time of our history when we are given the opportunity to be holy, to be good and kind, to be forgiving and caring with others. Side by side every post in Facebook we find prayer requests for sick family and friends, help for those trying to find a hospital that would admit their sick, or buy much needed medicines and equipment like oxygen.
For the second straight year, churches are empty and everyone is home due to COVID-19 pandemic. Perfect example of “Biyernes Santong Biyernes Santo”… so bad… so negative.
That is often how we think of Good Friday – so negative in the sense it is so sad and gloomy, so painful and too difficult.
Ultimately, Good Friday is so negative for us because it means death. Even of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Nothing would be more sad than that.
Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Spirituality Center, Novaliches, QC, 2015.
Lately due to this COVID-19 pandemic we have been living inversely or “baligtad” as we say.
We would always pray at every swab test for the virus that we be “negative”.
Never has been thinking negative has become so positive, so good, in fact!
And it all began more than 2000 years ago at the calvary when Jesus offered himself for us on the cross.
That is why Good Friday is called “Good”: the cross of Jesus Christ is a sign not of death but of the good news or gospel of life, hope, and eternal life. The cross of Jesus Christ is not a negative sign (-) but a positive sign, a plus sign (+).
We celebrate in the most solemn and unique way because the cross is no longer a sign of condemnation but honor. Before, it was a symbol of death but now a means of salvation. The cross of Christ has been the source of countless blessings for us, illuminating our path with light when our lives are so dark with sins and mistakes, sickness and disappointments. Most of all, the cross of Christ has brought us closer to God again and with one another despite our sins and past, promising us a bright a joyful Easter.
Yes, for some the cross of Christ is so negative: why display the body of the Lord everywhere in our churches and homes, bloodied and defeated, lifeless and dead?
See, my servant shall prosper, he shall be raised high and greatly exalted. Even as many were amazed at him – so marred was his look beyond human semblance and his appearance beyond that of the sons of man – so shall he startle many nations, because of him kings shall stand speechless; for those who have not been told shall see, those who have not heard shall ponder it.
Isaiah 52:13-15
Many times in life, and we have proven this, God uses of many of “negative” experiences lead us to more positive outcome and results.
Yes, we may be Biyernes Santong Biyernes Santo in sadness and fear, even anxieties.
But, we continue to pray and forge on with life’s trials and difficulties because we see the cross of Jesus Christ leading us to the light and life, joy and celebration of his Resurrection at Easter.
A very good Good Friday to you. Amen.
Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Spirituality Center, Novaliches, QC, 2015.
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