The debt that is never paid off

The Lord Is My Chef sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sunday in the Twenty-third Week of Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 10 September 2023
Ezekiel 33:7-9 ><))))*> Romans 13:8-10 ><))))*> Matthew 18:15-20

*Photo by author, St. Scholastica Convent, Baguio City, 23 August 2023.*

Our gospel this Sunday is very difficult but also one of the simplest and fundamental teachings by Jesus Christ: fraternal correction for more harmonious relationships.

That is very difficult because we have all experienced how when we heard of somebody going wayward in life, of living in a life of sin, our immediate reaction is to talk about them, engage in gossips without any intentions at all to correct them. Sad to say, we even distance ourselves from them – exactly the opposite of what Jesus is teaching us today:

Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two other along with you, so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.”
Matthew 18:15-17

Jesus is now heading to Jerusalem to fulfill his mission. Along the way, he taught his disciples important lessons about the Church he had just “established” upon Peter, the Rock, while at Caesarea Philippi three weeks ago.

In these next three Sundays, Jesus tackles three delicate issues we continue to face even in our modern time like fraternal correction, forgiving, and work. These are delicate topics because they are all expressions of mutual love for one another.

Very often, we commit the sin of omission in the realms of these three, particularly of fraternal correction as we tend to detach ourselves from others especially if they are committing sin. By distancing from them, we unconsciously allow them to sin. In the movie The Good Nurse based on that true story of a nurse in the US who killed so many patients for some years by transferring to different hospitals, the good nurse asked him why he did it? The serial killer nurse said, “nobody told me to stop doing it.”

The dark side of the sin of omission lies in that tendency within us to not care at all especially with those who prefer to separate from us and lead their lives in the way they wanted. There is that tendency within us to be like Cain even if we are not guilty of any sin or may even be the offended party, saying, “am I my brother’s keeper?” Most sad are our Filipino expressions when somebody sins, “Bahal ka na sa buhay mo…pinili mo iyan, pagdusahan mo.”

*Photo by author, Camp John Hay, 12 July 2023.*

Fraternal correction is the antidote to sins of omission because it is about keeping our relationships intact as family, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ.

Jesus becomes truly present in the world among us when we live in harmony because “where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt. 18:20).

As early as the Old Testament, God had already insisted on this moral precept as his children that we look after one another like a guard or sentinel in the positive sense as he told the Prophet Ezekiel in the first reading. At that time, the enemies of Judah were closely approaching their borders that they designated watchmen as their first line of defense. Failure by these watchmen to warn the people – as it turned out later – could spell disaster for the kingdom.

The same thing is true with us. We are all interrelated with each other. One rotten tomato can spoil the whole batch. We cannot choose to be indifferent or just be mere bystanders amid the evil and sins happening around us perpetrated by those closest to us. But we must do it all in the spirit of love, not because we are better or holier.

Brothers and sisters: Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.
Romans 13:8, 10

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 22 March 2023.*

Fraternal correction is an expression of our mutual love for one another, the exact opposite of sin of omission. St. Paul offers us a lot today about this love that builds our family and community still from his letter to the Romans.

Let us start with St. Paul’s conclusion that love is the fulfillment of the law which we often hear and even proclaim to others. Main question that arises from this is the nature of this love. For St. Paul, love is the self-sacrificing love that Jesus showed us when he offered himself for us on the cross. Recall last Sunday St. Paul reminded us to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1) like Jesus. In that same chapter, St. Paul spoke about not retaliating or seeking vengeance, an echoing of the Lord’s instruction on love when asked by a scholar of the law which is the greatest of the commandments (Mt.22:37-40).

Here we find, love for St. Paul is the imitation of Jesus Christ, a love that can never be measured at all and even be demanded and decreed! The love of Jesus Christ is so new as he mentioned at his last supper (Jn. 13:34) because it is a love rooted in God, a love that elevates us or as young people say “levels up” every disciple into the mystical plane.

Prior to his telling us today “to owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another”, St. Paul was expounding at the beginning of Romans 13 the theme of obedience to authority, a sort of social responsibilities, of things like justice (vv.1-7). While justice demands we pay off our debts and other dues to one another, to the state and public officials, it is a totally different scenario when it comes to love.

Love is not a possession that anyone can receive or give in an exactly measured quantity. St. Mother Teresa said that the measure of love is when you love immeasurably. There is no such thing as a kilo of love. It is either you love or do not love! And when that happens, when we do not love, then we sin. That sin can only be repaired and corrected by love. Sin is when we lack love; to overcome sin, pour in more love.

In all his writings, St. Paul always had love as the basis of his teachings so that without sounding as imposing, he could persuade us to live deeply moral lives as expression of that love in Christ which he eloquently expressed in his ode to love in 1 Corinthians 13. One of the earliest Latin phrases I have learned as a child was from my elementary school days at St. Paul College Bocaue (Bulacan). Our school motto is “Caritas Christi urget nos” – The love of Christ impels us (to love more) – from 2 Corinthians 5:14.

When we examine our true love experiences that are not selfish but other centered, we realize that love is a debt we can never pay off because love is a gift from God. This gift of his love makes us those who receive it in a filial, loving relationship with him our Father. Most of all, we realize we too can love like Jesus Christ!

God does not “order” nor “command” us in the strict sense to love him. He asks for our love because he loves us, because he is love. When we love, we fulfill the commandments of God. We live in peace and harmony with one another like in heaven. That is why it is only love that will remain in heaven where there will be no more fraternal corrections. Most of all, never be paid off as a debt because love is all that shall remain to become our very person in Christ. Amen. It is a Sunday. If you love, celebrate Mass in your parish. Have a blessed, loving week!

*Photo by author, La Trinidad, Benguet, 12 July 2023.*

God our confidence

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 18 June 2023
Exodus 19:2-6 ><}}}}*> Romans 5:6-11 ><}}}}*> Matthew 9:36-10:8

*Photo by Ms. April Oliveros at Mt. Pulag, March 2023.*

I recently had a long lunch that extended to a longer dinner recently with a good friend who was widowed last January. It was the first time we met again after the funeral of her husband who died three weeks after I had anointed him last Christmas Day.

She was still grieving and yes, angry with God why her husband had to go at an early age. She told me how during her daily prayers she would complain to God, and how she wanted her husband to be still alive, not minding at all of nursing him again.

Likewise, she was worried God might be fed up with her, even mad and angry with her negative feelings and attitudes even though she prays and celebrates Mass more often these days since her husband’s demise.

Does God get angry with us?

The psalmist says, “But you, Lord, are a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, most loving and true” (Ps. 86:15). If God is slow to anger, does it mean he gets angry, even sometimes?

No. Never.

God does not get angry at all because God is love. God is perfect unlike us who easily get angry and could remain angry over a long period of time because we are imperfect. But God, who is also spirit, does not have emotions, neither gets angry nor irritated with us and yet, always one with us in our feelings especially when we are down in pain and sufferings.

In Christ Jesus who became human like us in everything except sin, God became more one with us to prove his love and oneness for us.

At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send our laborers for his harvest.”
Matthew 9:36-38

*Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima, GMA-7 News, June 2020.*

See how Matthew noted that “At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.” So beautiful. So powerful.

That expression his “heart was moved with pity” is the literal meaning of the Latin word misericordia – mercy in English – that means “a heart moved strongly” like disturbed or thrown off perhaps. More than just a feeling, that virtue of mercy is expressed into compassion which is another Latin word that means “to suffer with” or cum patior. Matthew here is telling us it was more than a feeling for Jesus to have his heart moved with pity but a firm resolve to uplift the crowds because in the first place he has that oneness with them.

Until now in our own time, that heart of Jesus is moved with pity for us whenever he sees us troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Just like my friend grieving the loss of her husband. Or anyone who had lost a beloved, a leg or a part of the body, maybe a job or a career, a dream or a future.

For Jesus, it is always the person who matters that is why his proposal has always been to send us another person, another companion, a fellow to accompany us in our brokenness and darkness. There is his move of gathering us, calling us, and sending us forth to a mission.

Jesus never taught us to ask for more money nor food nor gadgets to solve the problems of the world. Recall his temptation in the desert when he rejected the devil’s challenge to change stones into bread because man does not live by bread alone but with every word from God.

For the world, everything is a problem to be solved, including mysteries of God and of the human person. As we have reflected the past two Sundays, mysteries are not problems and therefore not solvable at all. Mysteries are non-logical realities we must embrace or even allow ourselves to be wrapped with to discover the richness and meaning of this life like God and persons.

When people are down and lost in this life, feeling troubled and abandoned, where do we focus more, to their woes and problems or their very persons? Try thinking of the people you consider as “heaven sent” and helped you in your darkest moments. Are they not the ones who brought out our giftedness as a person, as a beloved child of God with Christ’s gospel?

*Photo by author, December 2022 at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City.*

Problem these days, many people no longer believe in God totally, not giving a care at all with the value and meaning of justification and salvation, of reconciliation and communion in Christ through one another that St. Paul explained in the second reading.

Modern man has become so complacent that he would be saved by a loving and merciful God. It is a wrong kind of confidence because it is a confidence in one’s own powers than in God’s saving act through Jesus Christ as St. Paul preached.

Sad to say, such kind of confidence afflicts mostly the so-called religious and pious ones in the Church, especially us priests and bishops who lose sight of the flock and of Christ in the process. No synod nor meetings and documents would make the local even Philippine Church attuned with the present time unless we the clergy and other disciples must first have our confidence in God, not in ourselves.

How tragic that we are still a Church so steeped in being a hierarchy, lightyears away from being any of the other models of the Church proposed by the late Jesuit Cardinal Avery Dulles: sacrament, herald, communion, and servant. Despite our many denials, priesthood is power and prestige where ministry is more of an office and a privilege. We are more concerned with the call, the vocation of priesthood totally ignoring the Caller, Jesus Christ. Visit any parish and chances are, you find the priest throwing his weight around – literally and figuratively speaking so that the sheep remain without a shepherd.

In the Old Testament, the image of Israel as a lost sheep was the result of failures and even of sins of infidelity of their religious and political leaders. History has proven not only in Israel but everywhere especially the Philippines that when there are failures in leadership in both the political and religious spheres, it is always the common people who suffer most.

*Photo by Mr. Mon Macatangga, 12 May 2023.*

If we think about it, Jesus could have reacted negatively at the sight of the crowds and even with us today. He could have felt angry and irritated, even annoyed, frustrated and disappointed with how we are wasting all his gifts and grace, his call and his mission. But Jesus chose empathy and sympathy because he always looks into our hearts, into our total person than to our sins and failures, mistakes and errors.

Let us return to our “desert of Sinai” spoken of in the first reading, a reminder of our turning point in life and history when God called and sent us to be a “kingdom of priests, a holy nation” whose confidence is in him alone, not in our very selves nor our programs and structures to find again the many lost sheep of our flock. It is never too late to make a U-turn for God is full of mercy and compassion, slow to anger, loving and true. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead!

Benedict XVI, the modern John the Baptist

The Lord Is My Chef Christmas Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Christmas Weekday, Memorial of the Holy Name of Jesus, 03 January 2022
1 John 2:29-3:6 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> John 1:29-34

Keep me true to you,
God our loving Father,
and most of all true to myself
as your beloved child so I would
always recognize Jesus Christ
in our midst like John the Baptist.

See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
1 John 3:1

How did John recognize Jesus
coming to him for baptism in 
today's gospel?

I am sure that it was because
of this truth, of being your child,
loving Father;
indeed, beautiful souls
recognize beautiful souls;
John was so genuine and
Jesus was the purest
because he is truth himself
that John could boldly claim
Jesus is the lamb of God,
the one he had said as coming
though he did not know him
(cf. Jn.1:29-31).
What a beautiful scene of two
genuine souls
recognizing each other!
If we could just replicate it daily
in our lives too,
beginning in our home!

In our modern time that
is so very much like the time of Jesus
when people have turned away from you, God
including those who claim to be Christians
yet promoting abortion and same sex union
as well as priests and bishops
supposed to be the light of reason,
decency, and morality but are not,
we are so blessed with your humble servant,
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
His was a genuine soul,
a most genteel person so maligned
by many especially the Western press
 and some clergymen
for his fidelity to the Lord's teachings,
truly a John the Baptist who pointed us all
to go back to Jesus Christ especially
in the light of the sex scams that have rocked
the Church;
his writings are simply the best,
in itself like the gospel exposing your
truth in words so understandable;
most of all,
he lived in all simplicity and humility
that he was able to see
eternity.

Most dearest Jesus,
grant me the grace you gave
Pope Benedict XVI:
may I also say before my death
in all sincerity and truth,
"Lord, I love you".
Let these words be
impressed on my soul
and be my guide
in life.
Amen.

Praying for those persecuted

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Thirty-Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Red Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Revelation 15:1-4 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Luke 21:12-19

Today, O Lord Jesus Christ,
we join your whole Church in 
observing "Red Wednesday"
to voice our concern
and make our stand against
the persecution of Christians
and all faiths globally that sadly
remain unnoticed.

According to the 
Pew Research Centre,
"Christians suffer persecution -
from harassment to murder -
in more countries than any other
faith group.  What a disturbing fact
that too often we thought have ended
many centuries ago!

You have warned us about this persecution
a long time ago while still here on earth;
it had never stopped but simply persisted
maybe partly because many of us have chosen
to be silent and deaf to its realities especially
where Christians are a minority.

Jesus said to the crowd: “They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”
Luke 21:12-13, 19

No action,
no contribution,
no prayer
is too small for each of us
to make a difference this year
in supporting our persecuted 
brothers and sisters
and most of all, 
in putting an end to this kind of hatred
and violence simply because
of faith and belief in you our God!

We pray that one day.
we will finally sing face to face
with you Lord Jesus Christ in heaven
the hymn of praise and adoration
John saw in his vision those
"who had won the victory over the beast";
enable us to make the right choices 
like them on this Red Wednesday to
both pray and act 
for the suffering members of
your Body, the Church.
Amen.

Tasting Jesus Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles, 18 November 2022
Revelation 10:8-11 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Luke 19:45-48

Lord Jesus Christ,
as we celebrate today the
memorial of the Dedication of the
last two Basilicas in Rome -
St. Peter's in Vatican and 
St. Paul's Outside the Walls -
you give us a "taste" 
of what is to be your Church,
your Body,
and your accompanying mission.

I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and swallowed it. In my mouth it was like sweet honey, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then someone said to me, “You must prophecy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”
Revelation 10:10-11

Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ,
for the sweet taste, 
for the sensation of being a Christian,
of listening to your words,
of being a Catholic,
of serving you,
of worshipping you,
of being loved by you.
Definitely so sweet indeed
to experience you in the Church!

But everything becomes sour
and bitter when we internalize
your words,
your call,
your mission
for that is when reality happens,
when we realize being your disciple
is a way of life in you,
a way of the Cross,
of giving one's self
to others like
the two pillars of your Church,
St. Peter and St. Paul.

Sometimes, Lord Jesus,
give us a taste of your anger
like when you cleansed the temple; 
let us taste your strong words
when we make the church a den of thieves
literally speaking;
let us have a taste of your discipline
when we dirty your Body,
when we hurt your Body,
and worst, 
when we mutilate your Body,
the Church with our lives so far from
your calling and mission
especially us your apostles.
Let us learn to love and accept
being Christian is savoring both
the sweet and sour tastes of
proclaiming your gospel 
both in words and in deeds.
Amen.

*Photos from en.wikipedia.org.

Grateful for the gift of Church

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, 09 November 2022
Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12 ><}}}*> 1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17 ><}}}*> John 2:13-22

*Photo of the Lateran Basilica by Fr. Gerry Pascual.*

On this feast of the Dedication 
of the Lateran Basilica in Rome
which is "the mother and mistress
of all churches in Rome and the world"
being the Pope's church as Bishop of Rome,
we praise and thank you O God
for the gift of the Church.

So often, we rarely think of the
Church as your gift, dear God;
sadly, many times we hurt the Church
not only with our attacks that defame
the Body of Christ here on earth
but most especially when we your
priests cause it to bleed with so many
wounds following our sins of
infidelities.

Help us realize this holy giftedness
of the Church as a means for us
to be closer to you, O God,
for us to be saved in Christ,
for us to be blessed and made holy
as your people finally gathered
as one in your Most Holy Name; 
most of all, in giving life
and sustaining life abundantly in Christ.

The angel brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water flowing out from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the facade of the temple was toward the east; the water flowed down from the southern side of the temple, south of the altar. He said to me, “Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish, for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh. Along both baqnk of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow; their leaves shall ot fade, nor their fruit fail. Every month they shall bear fresh fruit, for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary. Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
Ezekiel 47:1, 9, 12

Since Jesus had ascended into heaven,
his Church has always been his sign of unity,
of communion that has continued to exist to this day
despite so many efforts by many men and women
to destroy it both from within and from outside;
all these years, the Church has remained like that
beautiful vision by Prophet Ezekiel from
which all life springs forth.

Cleanse us, dear Jesus,
whip us with your cords,
overturn our various tables of
comforts and new thoughts
especially our attachment with 
the ways of the world
so that we may truly be called
"the Father's house" (Jn.2:15-16).

Most dear Jesus,
let us stop hurting your Church,
let us stop lording over your Church,
let us stop desecrating your Church
as we keep in mind and heart
that it is you, O Lord,
who is the true foundation
of this Church
that begins right in our hearts.
Amen.

*Photo of the Cathedra of the Lateran Basilica by Fr. Gerry Pascual.*

Called to build, not destroy

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Feast of Sts. Simon & Jude, Apostles, 28 October 2022
Ephesians 2:19-22 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 6:12-16

It has always been your desire,
O God our Father that we may
all be one in you that was fulfilled
in Jesus Christ your Son who
had come to call and gather 
first his Twelve Apostles 
who prefigured the Church
representing all the peoples 
of the world.

Brothers and sisters: You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you are also being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:19-22

What a beautiful way to cap
this week with these words 
reminding us of our great honor 
in being called in Jesus Christ
to build up his body the Church 
here on earth,
of being a part of the bigger
whole of peoples gathered 
as one in God;
may we realize that you call
everyone - regardless of color
or gender or status or whatever
differences we may all have
just like the Twelve who 
were united in Christ.

Help us, dear Jesus,
to imitate your two Apostles,
Sts. Simon and Jude whose feast
we celebrate today; fill our hearts
with the zeal and ardent love
for you and your Church
like Simon called the Zealot -
whether he was in fact a member
of such political party or not, 
his love for you must be so evident
that he came to be known as a Zealot;
in this time when Catholics are declining
in numbers in going to church
and even in professing their faith, 
may we be filled wit enthusiasm in
making you known O Jesus especially
in our actions and celebrations.

Grant us also the strength,
clarity and courage like that of
St. Jude Thaddeus in dealing with
the many contradictions of the world
we live in today as Catholics and 
Christians:  "But you, beloved, 
build yourselves up on your 
most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit;
keep yourselves in the love of God;
wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus
Christ unto eternal life.
And convince some,
who doubt..." (Jude 20-22).

Bless us, dearest Jesus,
through the help St. Simon and
St. Jude, to rediscover
the beauty of our Christian
faith and of our Catholic Church
by working hard to build it up
without tiring through our silent 
and peaceful witnessing
of the Gospel.
Amen.

Poverty in priesthood

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 01 September 2022

*Photo by author, Dominus Flevit Church overlooking Old Jerusalem, 2017.*

Along with the vow of celibacy, the vow of poverty has become very contentious even among us priests these days which is very sad that one wonders why they got ordained in the first place if they were not totally sold out to being celibate and poor.

For most people especially Filipinos, how their priests practice poverty weighs more than their fidelity to celibacy, claiming they could understand and forgive priests getting into relationships with women than priests becoming “mukhang pera” (money-faced). For them, a priest falling in love with a woman is natural and therefore, understandable and “forgiveable”; but, a priest who worships money to the point of making his ministry a business endeavor even stealing from the church funds and donation boxes is what people detest most. In some parts of Bulacan and Cavite, they have a saying which is so vulgar to stress this point, “hindi bale madapa and pari sa puki kesa sa piso” (better for a priest to fall on a vagina than peso).

Of course, it is always wrong to break any of these two important vows priests have made along with the third one which is obedience to his bishop because celibacy and poverty are closely related with each other for they both lead us priests to intimacy with God, our Caller. That is why, most often, when a priest has become “mukhang pera”, falling into the trap of money and luxuries, most likely he also has problems with celibacy. Even St. Ignatius had warned in his Spiritual Exercises that money is the first temptation the devil uses against every priest.

Like celibacy, poverty is a spiritual reality that is lived and felt by everyone in the material sense. More than being poor or having less in life, poverty is a choice we make for it to be real. It is our attitude with material things in life: there are priests with so much and yet still feel poor like in advanced countries where cars and appliances are very common and ordinary while there are those with almost nothing and yet so attached with the little they have or wish to have and possess! One priest may have a brand-new car extensively using it to reach and serve his parishioners while another may have a second-hand car or owner-type jeep he tinkers daily, possessing him in the process.

In our previous blog, we have mentioned that people should rejoice when their priest gives away their gifts because that means Father is not selfish, acting as the vessel or conduit of God’s graces and blessings to the poor and needy (https://lordmychef.com/2022/08/08/prayerful-requests-of-a-priest-to-parishioners/).

Poverty is not a question of how much do we have but more of the question of how much do we share. See that very often, we are preoccupied thinking what we already and must still have without ever thinking how much do we share.

It is in sharing when we truly experience poverty; a priest who hoards everything – even people like benefactors and friends – is a priest in trouble. Here we find the direct relationship of poverty and celibacy: we renounce marriage which is a wonderful kind of wealth in the spiritual sense for something higher and better which is to be solely for Jesus Christ. That is the essence of our poverty, our being poor and empty so that we are wholly for Christ alone and his Church. It is being poor, materially and spiritually do we find our true wealth as priests, Jesus Christ and his Church or “people of God” as Vatican II rightly called.

Like everyone else, no priest can have everything in life; nobody is perfect but it is always the truth that we evade, priests and lay alike. Many people including priests often convince themselves of being self-sufficient, that we are the greatest, the most powerful so that we never ran out of construction projects in the church. This is the mentality of the “dream-teams” or the “powerhouses” who claim to have everything and yet in reality, they rarely last long nor achieve much. When everybody feels like a “heavyweight” – literally and figuratively speaking, always throwing their weight around, soon enough, he/she would surely sink. The Greeks call it hubris, another common ailment among us priests.

*Photo by author, Capernaum, Israel, May 2017.*

In my 24 years in the ministry, I have found and experienced that the key in any community and organization including family, profession and vocation like the priesthood is not in having everything, materially and non-materially speaking like talents and abilities that always end up into a mere show, a “palabas” even if it may be spectacular. Life is not about dazzling others with our gifts and abilities but finding our limits and poverty. When we focus on what we do not have like our weaknesses and other limitations, our poverty becomes a wealth because that is when we are most creative and productive, achieving more in life. Why is it when we do not have much on the table that there is always a leftover with everyone feeling satisfied? But when there is a plethora of food, we just feel satiated, filled up but not satisfied?

Look at how many of our churches have become like birthday cakes that are so kitschy or baduy, tastelessly overdecorated looking like dirty old men (DOMs) and their counterparts, the matronix afflicted with hepatitis with all their gold trimmings. Many parishes are afflicted with a different virus more contagious than COVID without a vaccine where priests go “imeldific” in church decorations and renovations including liturgies that even the Blessed Virgin Mary is turned into a Miss Universe being “crowned” amid all pomp and pageantry. It is the virus of triumphalism with its ugly face of priests have too much of everything except God. The best priest, the holiest priest is often the poorest one, the one with less because that is when we have more of God. It is in poverty – and celibacy – we priests witness Christ’s lesson that “whoever saves his life loses it and whoever loses his life gains it” (Mk. 8:37-38).

The problem of the priesthood for me is among other things a problem of poverty. I know that not all priests are necessarily committed, by their priesthood, to absolute poverty. But for my own part it seems to me that the two are connected.

To be a priest means, at least in my particular case, to have nothing, desire nothing, and be nothing but to belong to Christ. Mihi vivere Christus est et mori lucrum. In order to have everything, desire to have nothing.
Thomas Merton, The Sign of Jonas, page 191.

*Photo by Fr. Howard Tarrayo, August 2021.*

Poverty is blessedness because in our weak and fragile humanity, God chose to be one with us so that we can share in his divinity and thereby share in his life. When we see each other’s wealth, the more we feel so poor and helpless; but when we see each other’s poverty, the more we see each one’s value. And we start enriching each one’s life. This is the beauty of our poverty as priests when being poor is not to be destitute but be available to God and everyone. No wonder, poverty is the first of all beatitudes taught by Christ, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God” (Mt. 5:3).

When we try to have less and become poor, that is when we discover the value of life, of every person created in the image and likeness of God. Then, we begin to share and give, to sacrifice and let go, truly loving one another by being forgiving and merciful and kind like Jesus Christ, “who, though he is God, he did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at but rather emptied himself by being born in the likeness of men” (Phil.2:6-7).

Again, help us your priests live simple lives, to be poor so it would not be difficult for you to support us too. Thank you and God bless!

“Sleeping” in Christ, trusting in God

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Solemnity of Sts. Peter & Paul, Apostles, 29 June 2022
Acts 12:1-11 ><}}}}*> 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18 ><}}}}*> Matthew 16:13-19

*Photo by Fr. Howard John Tarrayo, August 2021.*

Our readings today are a parable of the Church, of what we should and would be as the Body of Christ celebrating the Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul, the pillars of the Church.

Despite their personalities being poles apart while their social, cultural and religious backgrounds were greatly different, both men were won over by Jesus Christ to proclaim his good news of salvation, eventually dying as martyrs like the Lord. Both apostles displayed deep trust in Jesus Christ whom they have come to know on a personal basis.

Let us reflect first on St. Peter, the “prince of the Apostles” and servant of all. Notice how Peter could sleep soundly inside prison, even between two soldiers as narrated to us by Luke.

*Photo by Cristian Pasion, Easter Vigil, National Shrine of Fatima, Valenzuela City, 202*1.

On the very night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter, secured by double chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while outside the door guards kept watch on the prison. Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and awakened him, saying, “Get up quickly.” The chains fell from his wrists. The angel said to him, “Put on your belt and your sandals.” He did so. Then he said to him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.” So he followed him out, not realizing that what was happening through the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision.
Acts 12:6-9

It is very amusing, even funny, but facts can truly be stranger than fiction!

How could Peter sleep soundly after being arrested and thrown into prison with two soldiers sandwiching him inside his cell while a host of other guards secured the area outside?

We think again of St. Joseph sleeping soundly in a similar critical situation when he decided to silently leave Mary who was found pregnant with a child before they were married. Too often, we find it difficult to sleep when we have problems because we cannot decide decisively as we lack trust and faith in God. Both Joseph and Peter slept soundly under critical situations because of their complete trust and faith in God.

But, Peter shows us another dimension of his trust in God – his total trust also in the Church, believing that they were all praying for him.

*Photo by Cristian Pasion, Easter Vigil, National Shrine of Fatima, Valenzuela City, 2022.*

It is a beautiful imagery of the Church then and now, always in darkness like during night time when Peter was imprisoned. And that is the parable of this scene: it is always a time of Exodus for us in the Church, of passing over from every trials and difficulties, always trusting our leaders, trusting our faithful and most of all, entrusting everything to God!

If there is one thing most needed these days in our Church especially in the Philippines is this attitude of being in an Exodus, of exiting from our excesses from the past, of submitting ourselves more to God than to our own thoughts and plans especially in politics that we have forgotten the more crucial proclamation of the gospel by reaching out to the grassroots level, of witnessing our faith in God instead of lording it over among people, exerting our influences. The recent elections is a dark period of our imprisonment with secular thoughts and dispositions, forgetting our sphere of influence in spiritual matters.

May we, both clergy and laypeople, imitate Peter by abandoning everything to God in deep prayers, following God not our plans as symbolized by his putting on his belt and sandals as commanded by the angel.

Meanwhile, we find the same kind of total abandonment by Paul of himself to God while in prison where he wrote some of his finest letters like this Second Letter to Timothy, the last of his captivity letters which we heard in the second reading today.

Imagine the stress of being in prison but without any hint of duress on Paul while awaiting death amid all humiliations with his incomparable eloquence:

I, Paul, am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it. The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.
2 Timothy 4:6-7, 17, 18

Very evident in all his letters, Paul had always expressed his total abandonment of self to Christ, of his faith in God. Here in this portion of his second letter to Timothy, we find two important lessons so apt in our celebration of this solemnity.

First is the nature of Christian life lived as a worship: am already being poured out like a libation. That is what I like most with Paul, his mastery of language, always using the most perfect words to express his experiences and ideas. For some, especially first-time readers of Paul, they may find it so “mayabang” as we say in Filipino. But no. For me, Paul is the most sincere and most humble writer in the world of letters then and now.

A libation is a drink offered to gods in ancient Greece and Rome. Here, Paul as he approached death, summarized his entire life as an offering to God that we also see in his other writings.

And that is the challenge of this solemnity to us, that we live our lives as a form of worship to God.

*Photo by Fr. Pop dela Cruz, 15 June 2022.*

Our very lives in itself are a prayer, always centered on God, something so foolish when we go by the standards of the world today that is all show – palabas – with nothing substantial inside because only money and fame matter. Paul was very much like Peter who lived their lives as prayers that like Christ in the end, both offered the highest offering of all, martyrdom.

Second thing we find in this short but rich excerpt from Paul’s letter to Timothy is the deeper meaning of death as a passage to heaven, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom”. Like the gospel last Sunday when we heard Jesus “resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem” wherein Jesus freely chose to face his death to fulfill his mission and express his deep love for the Father and for us. To the Philippians Paul declared that “for me life is Christ, death is gain”. Here in his letter to Timothy, Paul freely accepts his death, making it a blessing for others, something we must emulate. Instead of having those bucket lists of things to do before dying, Paul is teaching us death comes in every present moment that we must always prepare for its happening so that the next generation may continue the good things we have started. And that is exactly how until now the Church’s missionary zeal is kept aflame by Paul’s letters and works.

In the gospel proclaimed today about the investiture of Peter as the head of the church of Christ, we heard Jesus entrusting to him “the keys to the kingdom of heaven that whatever he binds on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever he loosens on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (cf. Mt.16:19).

As I end this reflection for this Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, I wish to use the word “key” in a different sense – the key to unlocking how Peter and Paul achieved so much for God and for the Church lies in their personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Both apostles who have become the pillars of the Church today truly experienced Jesus in their lives in the most personal and in timate manner that in the process they have mirrored the true Christ himself.

The problems we have in the Church today, notably the declining number of the faithful following an all-time low in credibility is largely due to the many wrong answers we give Jesus to his question “who do people say I am?” Many Christians are losing their faith and interest in the Church because of the mixed signals we give them on what do we say who Jesus is.

The Church grew so wide during the time of Peter and Paul because both apostles shared the true Jesus Christ not only in their words but also in their deeds. May we have the courage to open ourselves to Jesus Christ again so we may know him more clearly, love him dearly, follow him closely and preach him daily. Amen.

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 2017.*

Won over by Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Solemnity of Sts. Peter & Paul, Apostles, 29 June 2022
Acts 12:1-11 ><}}}*> 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18 ><}}}*> Matthew 16:13-19

*Photo by Mr. Lorenzo Atienza, Malolos Cathedral, 12 June 2019.*

God our loving Father,
as we celebrate today the
Solemnity of the two pillars
of the Church, St. Peter and St. Paul
who are poles apart in their 
temperament and in their social,
cultural, and religious backgrounds,
help us imitate them in being open
to your grace always, in being open
to your plans so we may set aside
our own agendas in order to be won
over by your Son Jesus Christ.

Nothing is impossible with you,
dear Father:  
Peter denied Jesus
during the passion while 
Paul persecuted Jesus in
the persons of his disciples;
Peter was impetuous and 
presumptuous but sometimes
hesitant yet solidly loyal to
Christ while Paul was proud 
of his Roman citizenship and of
his being a Pharisee, demanding
his title as Apostle but likewise,
admits his fragility as a "pot of
clay", most unworthy vessel of Christ; 
Peter was attached to his Jewish
roots and convictions but did not resist 
the Holy Spirit in leading him where 
he did not want to go while Paul was 
resolute in being led by the Spirit in
proclaiming Jesus to the gentiles
while deep inside was torn within 
by the resistance and
rejection of his fellow Jews.

Merciful Father,
let your Son Jesus Christ
win over us like what he did
to St. Peter and St. Paul
who both gave their lives as 
a living worship to you,
witnessing your love and mercy,
kindness and majesty;
give us the grace to know Jesus
and love Jesus first so we may
follow him to his Cross 
for your greater glory.
Amen.