Tag: church

Finding Jesus in Easter darkness

The Lord Is My Chef Recipe in the Octave of Easter, also Divine Mercy Sunday, 19 April 2020

Acts 2:42-47 ><)))*> 0 <*(((>< 1 Peter 1:3-9 ><)))*> 0 <*(((>< John 20:19-31

Carrying around our parish the Blessed Sacrament every Sunday afternoon since lockdown began.

I have almost forgotten – and it is only now amid this extended lockdown – that I have realized the first Easter happened in darkness! We are in the same situation with the Apostles when Jesus rose from the dead.

What we need is to “quarantine” ourselves more, our heart and soul within to see and recognize our Risen Lord among us like during that first Easter.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

John 20:19-23
Stained glass at the back of our parish church depicting the appearance of the Risen Jesus with Thomas, aka, Didymus. Photo by author, 02 April 2020.

Jesus always comes in darkness to bring light of peace

In our reflection last Holy Wednesday, we have mentioned how Jesus was born during the darkest night of the year to bring us that light of hope and salvation. The same is true with Easter when he resurrected in the darkest part of the day just before dawn.

Jesus indeed is the light that bursts and pierces through the darkest darkness of the world and of our very lives, our sinfulness. This is the reason we also celebrate this Sunday the Feast of the Divine Mercy of God in Jesus Christ.

Through his Passion, Death and Resurrection, Jesus is the only one who can penetrate through whatever blockages and imprisonment we have or we are into like sin and evil, pains and hurts in the past that filled us with so much guilt.

In his Divine Mercy, Jesus had come to give us our life back complete with the gift of freedom that we have all lost to sin and evil.

And that is why on Easter, Jesus gave us his greatest gift of all which is peace or shalom in Hebrew that means wholeness or holiness. To be whole literally is to have a good relationship with one’s self, with others, and with God.

Vatican II asserts in its Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World:

Peace is more than the absence of war: it cannot be reduced to the maintenance of a balance of power between opposing force not does it arise out of despotic dominion, but it is appropriately called “the effect of righteousness” (Is.32:17). It is the fruit of that right ordering of things…

Gaudium et Spes, no. 78

Righteousness in the bible means justice that is also equivalent to holiness which is, to be filled with God, not necessarily to be sinless. That is why after greeting them with peace the second time, Jesus breathed on them the Holy Spirit, an imagery that reminds us of the story of creation when God breathed on the first humans to have life.

At Easter, we were breathed on again by the Risen Lord to renew our lives, to fill us again with God and be closest to him in our breath and thus enabling us to be free again from sin and evil, free for God and for others.

What a joy to read these days due to lockdowns worldwide that the Sierra Madres and Mt. Samat can be seen again from the metropolis or the Himalayas from India after 30 years due to clearer skies with less pollution. Or, the lions in Africa’s wildlife parks lazily sleeping without being disturbed by humans.

These are proofs that there is life indeed amid the darkness of this pandemic when Jesus restores life and balance, making everything new and alive again!

  • From Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA-7 News
  • From Esquire Philippines
  • From malaymail.com
  • From BBC news

Peace and mercy, unity and mission

At his Supper before his arrest, Jesus prayed to God our Father that we may all be one – ut unum sint – like him and Father (John 17:21) are one. This would be partly fulfilled on Easter and eventually at the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost when the Church is eventually launched.

It is in our faith that we enter into communion with the Father in Jesus Christ and with one another as a community, as a church.

That is why it was a beautiful imagery of Thomas eventually joining them the following Sunday not because he lacked faith; he had faith that is why he came to see and experience Jesus. And that faith bloomed upon encountering Jesus again that according to tradition, Thomas preached the good news to India where he died a martyr by being skinned alive.

We have always said in our previous reflections that whenever and wherever there is faith, there is always union and unity with God and others.

Eventually, from every unity and community, there is always mission.

In our first reading today we have heard how the early Christians were one in their faith, always praying, that is, celebrating the Eucharist from which flowed out their mission.

All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need.

Acts 2:44-45
Easter in our Parish amid COVID-19.

In his entire life, we have seen that Jesus had always been clear in his being sent, that the words he had spoken and things he had done were not all his but from and by the Father.

Watch closely John’s narration of after the Lord’s Resurrection:

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

John 20:19-21

After giving them the gift of peace and filling them with his breath of life to signify they have been forgiven for their sins and failures when they left him on Good Friday, Jesus is now drawing them into his great mission: As the Father has sent me, so I send you.

This is the defining and definitive characteristic of the Church, of any community of disciples in every age, most especially in this time of the corona virus pandemic.

Our mission continues in the darkness of COVID-19

Churches may be closed, public Masses are banned but the mission of proclaiming in words and in deeds the good news of the Risen Lord continues very loud and clear.

Detractors would always malign us, would spend for trolls just to ask “where is the Church in this time of crisis” but the people know best that we have never been remiss nor even flinched a single second whenever disasters strike anywhere in the world.

In the darkest moments of history in the past up to the present, the Church as a community of disciples of Jesus has always shine so brightly in Christ standing up for the poor and oppressed, the marginalized and forgotten, the sick and the hungry, those suffering in the most far-flung areas with its extensive networks of parishes and BEC’s.

This is also the reason why people always malign us in the Church about what we are doing amid the poverty and sufferings of the world: we work in silence because we are merely being sent by Jesus Christ. Like him our Lord and Master, whatever we say and do are not ours but the One who sent us, the Father in heaven.

We merely represent Jesus Christ who represents the Father and guided by the Holy Spirit, together we forge onto the darkness of this pandemic despite the many sufferings we go through, “tested by fire so that we may prove to be for the praise, glory, and honor of revealing Jesus Christ” (cf. 1 Peter 1:6-7).

This is who we are, disciples of Jesus sent to proclaim his love and mercy especially in the midst of all darkness.

This Sunday amid the darkness and threats of COVID-19, let us join the psalmist in his song, “Give thank to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting” (Responsorial Psalm , Ocatve of Easter).

A blessed week to everyone. Stay safe but keep working for the Lord! Amen.

Easter Vigil in our Parish, 12 April 2020.

Photos in the collage clockwise: Malolos Diocese Social Action Center, Inc. with Caritas Manila spearheading relief operations in Bulacan; Sisters from the Daughters of St. Anne walking through fields and mountains to reach out to our poorest of the poor; trays of thousands of eggs to be given away to fisherfolks in Binuangan, Obando by Fr. Ramon Garcia III; last two photos, beneficiaries of the 10-m Php worth of Gift Certificates given throughout Bulacan before Holy Week that included everyone even those from other faith and beliefs.

Praying with St. Paul

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Saturday, Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle, 25 January 2020

Acts 22:3-16 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Mark 16:15-18

Photo by Lorenzo Atienza, Malolos Cathedral, 29 June 2019.

Glory and praise to you, O Lord Jesus Christ!

Thank you Lord for not leaving us alone, for continuing to live with us, calling us and sending us to your mission in the Church, your blessed Body!

As we celebrate today the Feast of the Conversion of your great Apostle St. Paul, we do not merely recall this personal event of his in the past but most of all, we try to listen to you with him anew in our own time and situation.

Nothing much had changed, O Lord Jesus since that day in Damascus when St. Paul was on his way to persecute your early followers.

Many of us continue to persecute you because of lack of faith in you, of pride, and yes, because of wrong beliefs all premised in that great lie we have the truth, just like St. Paul who was called Saul then.

I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ I replied, ‘Who are you, sir?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.'”

Acts 22:7-8

It was the single event that converted St. Paul to become your most dynamic Apostle, Lord.

In that short instance, Lord, you remind us of how you personally call each one of us in our own name, no ifs nor buts, everything that is good and bad, even the worst in us.

Like St. Paul, we always hear your personal call but unlike him, we rarely have the courage to answer you, even enter into a dialogue with you just for a brief moment. We would rather stay on top of our horse, only to heed you when we have fallen and blinded by the world.

Likewise, Lord Jesus, in that brief encounter, you taught St. Paul and us today that basic reality of you identifying with the Church, your Body!

Every day, Lord, you continue to call us like St. Paul, asking us the same question, “why do you persecute me?”

O great St. Paul the Apostle, thank you for reminding us always in your letters how Jesus ceaselessly draws us into his Body the Church through the Holy Eucharist that for him is the center of Christian life where we experience Christ’s love in the most personal manner by giving himself for me.

Dearest St. Paul, pray for me that the love of Christ may always be my law and guide in life even to point of offering myself to him who had called me to a life of holiness. Amen.

St. Paul Basilica in Rome. Photo from Google.

Breathe on me, Lord…

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Saturday, Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran Church, 09 November 2019

Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12 ><)))*> 1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17 ><)))*> John 2:13-22

“Praise be to Christ” says the floor of the Church of the Beatitudes, Galilee, Holy Land, 2019.

Our loving Father in heaven:

Thank you very much for the gift of church, especially beautiful and lovely churches where we encounter you in prayers and the sacraments.

How amazing that these churches “breathe” with their walls, “whispering” to you the many praises and thanksgiving of countless people who have encountered you there.

Whenever I come inside a church, I try to feel your presence as well as those other faithful including those who have gone home to you in heaven.

Indeed, we your “chosen people as living stones” are your buildings, your temple and dwelling place.

Whenever we enter a church, we also enter you, our God as you fill us with life like those fruitful trees saw by Ezekiel in the first reading growing on the banks of the river flowing from the temple.

Forgive us when we destroy our bodies and our communities, forgetting that we are your temple.

Forgive us when we refuse to celebrate the Sunday Mass with our fellow believers.

St. John Lateran Basilica, the Cathedral of the Pope as Bishop of Rome, our Mother Church. Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago, 2017.

As we celebrate today the Feast of the Dedication of the Mother of all churches, the Major Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, remind us also to take care of our churches, to always maintain their sacredness, do away with all profanities and “shows” so many priests and lay people are now so fond of doing forgetting it is always your house, not ours.

Breathe into us your life-giving Spirit, Lord Jesus, for us to create a space within us and in our churches for you to come and renew us. Amen.

We are God’s chosen people

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Monday, Week XXI, Year I, 26 August 2019

1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 8-10 ><)))*> Matthew 23:13-22

From Google.

We are now at the final stretch of the month of August, Lord, and everybody is thinking of September already, counting the days until Christmas.

How sad, O Lord, that we are so focused with the dates and we miss the event of your coming to us, of your birth. No wonder we also miss your great gift of calling us unto you, of making us your new chosen people.

St. Paul reminds us today of how you have loved us, God, of how we were chosen and called in Christ Jesus to become his body, the Church.

How sad that these days, churches and houses of worship have become more of places to meet for lovers and friends than for people to gather as a community of disciples waiting for the Lord’s coming again.

How sad that like the scribes and Pharisees of the time of Jesus, we have also become hypocrites living in the darkness of sin and self-centeredness, believing more in our selves than in you.

Lead us out anew, Lord, from the many darkness that blind us and prevent us from living a life of faith in you and love among our brothers and sisters. Amen.

Our Mother, Our Home

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Wk. X, Yr. II
Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church, 10 June 2019
Genesis 3:9-15, 20 >< }}}*> <*{{{ >< John 19:25-34
From Google.

As we resume the Ordinary Time today Lord Jesus, remind us not to take this longest period in our liturgical calendar lightly because it is “ordinary”. It must have been your will when you instructed Pope Francis last year to declare every Monday after the Pentecost as the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church.

Thank you Lord for reminding us today to always relive and fulfill the words you have spoken as you hung upon the Cross:

When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

John 19:26-27

How wonderful that in one of your final acts before your death, you ensured an adoption arrangement for your mother whom you would leave behind when you finally ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father.

But more than that, you are also teaching us that Mary as the image of the Church is also our home, that like the beloved disciple, we have to take her home we may come home to her.

Give us that grace in this Ordinary Time as your disciples that we take Mary your Mother as our Mother too, both as an individual and as the Church. What a great honor to be like your beloved disciple that you entrusted your Mother to us. May we be your true disciples always in loving union with you like Mary.

To love Mary and to protect her is to love and protect your Church O Lord that is now under attacks more than ever in history.

Forgive us for the many times we have wounded and hurt in so many instances the Church in the same manner we have done with our own mother.

Teach us to be like you, a faithful and loving son, who thought until the end at your brink of death the safety and security of your Mother and of your Church. Amen.

Mary, Mother of the Church. From Google.

Blessed Are the Children

MarpaKids
Photo by Jim Marpa.  Used with permission.

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Sou
Thursday, 28 February 2019, Week VII, Year I
Sirach 5:1-10///Mark 9:41-50
 
Dearest Lord Jesus:

Your Mass readings today complement the disturbing and shocking news headlines of sex abuse in the Church festering for the last 30 years or so. 

 
What is so shameful and disgusting with this news is the fact you have never failed in warning us against hurting the little children including women and the poor who have nothing in life except you.
 
 
Those sins are so grave that moved you to harshly declare that “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea” (Mk.9:42).
 
We make no excuses O Lord for these grave sins against children.  No words, no programs and no compensation could ever bring back their lost innocence and dignity from the hands of your priests and servants.  It is a betrayal of the highest degree like what Judas Iscariot did to you.
We are angered by their sins, Lord; but, worst of all, we are deeply angered by our inaction that allowed them to continue with their evil deeds in the guise of mercy and compassion.
But, Lord, there is also something sickening than this news when our brother priests are falsely accused of sexual misconduct.  We pray you keep and protect them.  We pray for faithful priests to be spared of these false accusations.
You know very well O Lord you have more faithful and celibate priests working in silence and hiddenness than the unfaithful ones.  Yet, we still pray that you continue to help us heed your words of wisdom through Ben Sirach (Sir. 5:1-10):
“Let us stop relying on our wealth, power, and strength in following the desires of our hearts.
Let us stop being so sure that no one could prevail against us or subdue us for God will surely exact punishment against us.
Most of all, let us not delay our conversion and stop being overconfident with your forgiveness, adding sin upon sin, for your wrath alights with the wicked.”
Have mercy on us all your priests, dear Jesus, keep us faithful to you our Lord and our God.  Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.

 

It is where we stand that matters most, not where we sit

Christ_washes_apostles'_feet_(Monreale)
During His Last Supper, Jesus rose from His seat to wash the feet of His apostles to show them what position is all about:  loving service to one another.  See in this icon from Google there are only 11 apostles present; Judas left the Last Supper to “unseat” the Lord.  Above is the word “mandatum”, Latin for “command”, Christ’s command for us to love by leaving our seats of power and comfort to stand with Him at His Cross.

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 22 February 2019
If you are a Catholic and a regular Mass-goer, most likely you always follow the “Roman seating position” – that is, you always sit at the back, avoiding the front seats even in other gatherings outside the church.

According to Msgr. Gerry Santos who used to give us retreats and recollections while we were seminarians, the “Roman seating position” is a carry-over from the martyrdom of the early Christians who were always seated at the front rows of the Colosseum in Rome who were forcibly pushed to be devoured by hungry lions and beasts below.

Of course it is a joke but it holds so much grain of truth because we often refuse to take the front row seats for fears of being put on the spot, of making a stand.  How ironic that in this age when seating positions matter so much for us, we have forgotten that more important than the position and prestige that come with the seats we occupy – literally and figuratively speaking – is the stand we take in every issue we face.  Protocols dictate in so many occasions how seats indicate power and authority; the throne is always reserved to the highest in rank like kings and presidents.  And the closer one is seated to the one in command, the wider is one’s sphere of power and influence too.  Unfortunately, this is not everything because every seat of power and authority is always a call to serve, to make a stand for what is true and what is good.

Jesus Christ showed us the true meaning of our seating positions during the Last Supper on Holy Thursday evening when He rose to remove His outer garments to wash the feet of His apostles (Jn.13:1-15).  It was a task left for slaves only but Jesus used it as a gospel parable in action to show us that what matters most in life is not where we are seated with Him but where we stand with Him.  It was exactly what He meant when He said that anyone who wishes to be the greatest must be the least and the servant of all.

Recall my dear readers how during that evening of the Holy Thursday when John the beloved disciple sat not only beside Jesus but even rested his head on His chest to signify their intimacy as friends (Jn. 13:23).  That touching gesture of friendship and love took its summit the following Good Friday when John the beloved was the only one of the Twelve who remained standing with the Lord at the foot of His Cross with the Blessed Mother Mary.  In that scene we see how John literally stood his ground as the beloved disciple by remaining faithful and loving with the Lord from His Last Supper to His Crucifixion.  Peter, the prince of the Apostles, was nowhere to be found on Good Friday after denying Jesus thrice during His trial before the Sanhedrin the night of His arrest.  Very interesting was Judas Iscariot who committed suicide after realizing his grave sin in betraying the Lord.  See how he had left the Lord’s Supper to deal with His enemies for His arrest.  What an image of the traitor who could not stay on his seat during the Lord’s Supper was the same one who could not stand to face Him again at the foot of the Cross.  See how those people who refuse to sit with us are also the ones who never stand with us, stand for us like Judas, a traitor!

I tell you these things even if Holy Week is still more than six weeks from now but in the light of the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter which is about the Primacy of Rome or the Pope as Vicar of Christ and successor of St. Peter.  We celebrate this Feast to remember St. Peter and his successors love and service to the Church as examples we must all emulate.  In 110 AD, St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote the Christians in Rome to describe to them the Church of Rome as the “primacy of love” and the “primacy of faith”.  Every power and every authority signified by the chair or cathedra in the Church as well as in the world when we speak of “seat of power” must always be seen in the light of Jesus Christ’s example of loving service at His Last Supper.  This is especially true for us priests who are united in Christ and with Christ in the Eucharist.

This festering problem of sexual abuse in the Church is largely due to our deviation from this primacy in love for Jesus as priests.  We have been so focused with our seats – positions and titles – that we have forgotten to stand with Christ at the foot of His cross, standing for what is good and true, just and right.  We have been so focused with the “party” of the Supper of the Lord and have forgotten Jesus Himself.  Seminarians have been so focused with the vocation and the call, with ordination, forgetting the more essential, the Caller Jesus Himself!  And that explains why some in the clergy and those in the hierarchy come up with so many excuses and alibis for the many things we do in our ministry, in our churches, in our parishes, and in our lives because we are only concerned with our office and position but never the Master.

When we love Jesus or any other person, we do not have to justify our actions.  Love that is true and pure does not need justifications.  But the moment we start making justifications, something is wrong like when we justify our special relationships, no matter how deep or shallow it may be for clearly, there is no primacy in love for Jesus and the Church.

When we justify our vices, our lifestyles, our business endeavors that Canon Law prohibits, clearly there is no primacy in love for we cannot be poor for Christ.

There is no problem with having advocacies as priests but when we are aligned with ideologies contrary to Christ, or when we play in partisan politics, there is neither primacy of faith nor primacy of love.  It is the Lord who changes the world, not us, not our programs, not our ideas.

It is our duty as priests to love like Christ but to adopt children and raise them as our own children using our names, there is no celibacy, only stupidity.

Like Jesus, we need money to get our programs going but when we lack transparency and accountability, that is stealing and banditry.

When all we have is the ministry, the priesthood without prayer periods, without the Eucharist, we only have the call but not the Caller Jesus Christ Himself.

More than ever, today Jesus Christ is asking us all His priests to make a stand for Him, to stand with Him, to suffer with Him and to die with Him by leaving our seats of comfort and seats of power.

 

Jesus Christ Alone Is Our Master and Lord

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Statue of Simon Peter kneeling before Jesus after the miraculous catch at Lake Gennesaret.  Photo by the author, April 2018.

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe
10 February 2019, Week V, Year C
Isaiah 6:1-2, 3-8///1Corinthians 15:1-11///Luke 5:1-11 

            For the past three weeks we have seen how Luke had been true to his intent of writing in an “orderly sequence” the events in the life of Jesus Christ so we may realize the “certainty of the teachings” handed down to us by the apostles (Lk.1:3-4, Jan. 28).  Taking off from the scene at the Nazareth synagogue, Luke showed us how Jesus is the “word who became flesh” when He told the people, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk.4:21).  And like those people in the synagogue, we too are so amazed with the words of Jesus but likewise disturbed, even mad when He hits a soft spot within us.  That is how Jesus does His mission, always inviting us to listen and act on His word that is fulfilled in the “today” like in the calling of the first four apostles, the brothers Simon and Andrew, James and John.  After driving Him out of their synagogue, Jesus went to preach to the crowd who followed Him along the shores of Gennesaret.

            While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.  He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.  Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.  Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat (Lk.5:1-3).

            What a lovely sight to behold, my dear readers, of Jesus Christ borrowing the boat of Simon to preach to the people.  Imagine the Son of God, through whom everything was created, borrowing the boat of Peter?  Imagine how that boat of Simon must have looked like.  It must be so ordinary and most likely, even with some holes with nothing so outstanding – just like us!  Yet, here is the King of kings borrowing that boat from Simon.  Luke is showing us here a “parable in action” of how the Gospel is to be preached to all people with no exception.  It is a beautiful imagery of the Church gathered around our Lord and Master with Simon – like us – in supporting role.  Today, it is the boat of Simon being borrowed but later on, it would be his voice, his total self that Jesus would borrow, very similar with us too.

            After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”  Simon said in reply, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.”  When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing.  When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”  Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”  When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him (Lk.5:4-6,8,10-11).

             This is the climax not only of our gospel scene today but also of the whole series these three Sundays that started on a day of rest inside the synagogue of Nazareth when Jesus came to proclaim the word of God.  The actualizing power of the word of Jesus Christ fulfilled in every “today” when proclaimed and heard and accepted.  See how Simon was filled with fear that he fell into his knees after seeing the bountiful catch after obeying the words of Jesus, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.”  Of course, the fish is always in the sea; the key to their great catch was the presence of Jesus Christ.  It is the same with our own lives when we work so hard in our jobs or career and in our studies and other pursuits but we are still left empty.  But after finding Jesus, we are so overwhelmed with so much blessings not really in material form but something more deeper and lasting.  The word of God is His very presence and its effect is always in the here and now, not later.  Like the other Sunday, we said it is not enough to enter the church but we enter the person of Jesus Christ.  And the moment we enter Jesus, we then become like Simon, filled with His presence that we no longer address Christ as Master or Teacher but also Lord.  Like Simon, we also experience a deepening in our recognition and relationship with Jesus:  at first, we relate to Him more as a Master and Teacher but later, we realize that He alone is our Lord.

             See how by placing the miraculous catch, the call of Simon and his companions, and their response at the beginning, Luke is teaching us the spirit that must guide us in proclaiming and listening to the Gospel Jesus Christ.  In these three Sundays, we have seen Jesus Christ as the central figure for He alone is our Master and Lord.  He alone is the one calling us all to be fishers of men and to follow Him means to leave everything behind like Simon and company.

               Here lies our problem today when we forget Jesus our Master and Lord.  So many times we in the Church, especially us priests and those in the hierarchy as well as some laypeople forget Jesus, usurping His Lordship that we speak and act like God.  Luke reminds us in this scene at the Gennesaret that we do not replace Christ!  In the first place, remember that people come for Jesus in the first place and only Him, always Him whom we must share to everyone.  How sad that so often, consciously or unconsciously, some priests create cults around their very selves, we become the standard of everything, we claim everything that people look up to us more than to Christ.  Like Simon who would be called as Peter later, our job is to lend our boat and our voice to Jesus and not to replace Him.  Like the prophet Isaiah, we are being sent forth by the Lord to bring Him among people, to make Him present among them.  As Paul explained also these past three weeks in his first letter to the Corinthians, the Church is the living body of Christ that we all build together.  There is the diversity of graces, gifts, and ministries that come from the Holy Spirit to complement each other.  Most of all, in proclaiming and listening to the word of God, there must always be love for without it, nothing would have value at all.  And that alone proves to us the centrality of Jesus Christ who alone is our Master and Lord, who calls us despite our many defects like Simon.  Jesus alone is the one we must love and serve, His very person and not only His call and teachings.  A blessed week to you!  Amen.  Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.

 

Vacation and Vocation: A Reflection on the Caller, the Call, and the One Called

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Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 24 January 2019

            Vacation and vocation are two important realities for us priests.  In fact, the two are closely related because both are rooted in God.  Problems happen when we priests totally forget God both in our vacation and in our vocation.  And this has always been our problem because we have refused to go back, get closer and enter God Himself.

             Both vacation and vocation came from Latin:  the former is from the word “vacare” that means to be emptied or vacant while the latter has its roots in “vocare” which is to be called.  Every vacation is a sabbath, a resting in God who calls us to this priestly vocation.  This concept is beautifully expressed in our Filipino word “magpahinga” that literally means to be breathed on by God.  When we priests go on vacation, the more we are able to serve people better with joy because that is when we are filled with God.  Every vacation is a path leading us closer to God that is why priests are encouraged to go on sabbatical leaves, whether the usual weekly breaks or the yearly longer vacations.  This past week we have heard from the gospels in our daily Masses how the enemies of Jesus missed this important aspect of sabbath when they would always question His healings on days of rest, prompting Him to ask them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than destroy it?” (Mk.3:4).  God is always bigger than Sabbath because “Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath” (Mk.2:27-28).  Even laypeople have fallen into this trap of emphasizing sabbath more than God Himself that we make many excuses of not going to Sunday Masses because bonding with family and friends is more important.  Every year, less and less people are going to Church celebrations of the Holy Week and Easter because they would rather take the opportunity to go on vacation as they try hard to convince themselves that God would perfectly understand them anyway.

             This problem with vacation takes on its most unfortunate turn when we priests deal with our vocation.  In my 20 years in the priesthood with the last seven years spent in direct interactions with seminarians as teacher and spiritual director, I have found something so wrong now becoming a trend that is probably one of the reasons why we are plagued with all kinds of problematic priests in the Church.  It is a new kind of idolatry when we have come to worship and adore more our vocation and priesthood than God Himself.  We have forgotten the great distinction between the call and the Caller.  When the one being called, whether a priest or a seminarian, gets so focused with the call forgetting the Caller, problems arise and not too far from the scene are evil and sin.

            “Brothers and sisters:  Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.  No one takes this honor upon himself but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.  In the same way, it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest, but rather the one who said to him:  You are my son; this day I have begotten you” (Heb.5:1,4-5). 

            Priestly vocation is always a gift and a call from God to be closer and be one in Him and with Him in Christ.  Vocation is the call of God but not God.  The Caller is always above and distinct from the call.  The one being called is meant to end with the Caller and not with the call.  It is a terrible problem when a seminarian insists on being ordained as if it is a right simply because he is called even if the seminary fathers do not see him responding properly to his priestly calling.  It becomes a tragedy when priests insist with their own beliefs and perceptions of things as part of their responding to their vocation, forgetting or even totally disregarding Christ as well as the norms and teachings of the Church, His visible presence (sacrament) on earth.  The sex scandals that continue to rock and deeply hurt the Church stem from this erroneous perception by some priests who cling to their vocation, unmindful of the Caller we all need to imitate in holiness so we can also embrace children and uplift women like Him in love and respect.  See how some of our churches have become like birthday cakes, malls and even dance halls when pastors pretend to be bringing the people closer to God with all their pomp and pageantry when in fact are just massaging unconsciously their bloated egos.  When priests get busy more with church constructions, fund raising and other social events without any time for prayer to be with God and His flock, they worship the call, not the Caller.  The height of this idolatrous worship of the vocation by priests is when we make up so many alibis and excuses to justify our various preoccupations like luxurious living, vanities that include too much sports and body-building, vices in all forms like addiction with telenovelas, engaging in businesses, frequent travels that Pope Francis had branded as “scandal of the airports”and yes, even adopting children!

            I wrote this not to put down my brother priests and students in the seminary but to contribute in whatever way that we can grow closer with Jesus Christ who calls us to be one in Him.  I am also a sinner, “a worthless servant of the Lord who tries to do my duty” as His priest (Lk.17:10).  Lately in our daily Masses as well as this coming Sunday we shall hear in the gospel of how Jesus would enter their synagogue in Capernaum on a sabbath.  It is a very simple scene but filled with meanings, asking me whether I simply enter the church or do I enter God?  How sad that until now there are people like the Magi from the East asking “where is the newborn king of Israel?” while inside our churches that have merely become a building but never the Body of Christ because what we only have is the call, or maybe just the echo of that call without the Caller.

*Photo by the author, chapel of Holy Family, Sacred Heart Novitiate and Retreat House, Novaliches, Quezon City, June 2015.

Let the Light of Christ Shine In You

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Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 02 January 2019

            I come from the fireworks capital of the country, Bocaue in Bulacan about 25 kms. north of Manila.  Unlike most of my town mates, I have always advocated for the total ban of manufacture and sale of fireworks and firecrackers long before I became a priest.  My first reason is because I have seen firsthand how many lives were lost in the manufacture and use of these products meant to bring good luck and more life.  My second reason is simply because it is a pagan practice.  What an irony it is so widespread in our country considered to be the only Christian nation in this part of the world!  The best way to welcome every New Year is to pray in silence to thank God for all the graces of the past year and to ask Him to keep us anew and to guide us through 2019.

             My third reason why fireworks and firecrackers must be banned is the fact these destroy and damage our already fragile environment.  While many are rejoicing that firecracker injuries are down by 68% this New Year celebrations, air quality almost everywhere remained dismal and even hazardous especially for the sick and elderly people.  Coming home to my parish after midnight of January 01, I thought my staff members have forgotten to turn on the lights outside the church or worst, there was a brownout because our whole neighborhood was so dark.  It turned out that thick smokes from the fireworks and firecrackers lit earlier to brighten our lives this 2019 have actually darkened our whole surroundings!  The scene was very surreal that spoke a lot of our inconsistencies and stupidity as a nation and most of all, as Christians.  How crazy that we as Christians are not only imitating the pagans in welcoming the New Year in the hope to better our lives when in fact we are destroying life itself in damaging the environment!

             Jesus Christ was born more than 2000 years ago during the darkest night of the year at winter primarily to be our light.  This is what Christmas reminds us at the end of each year as we usher in the new one that we have no other light but Christ alone.  And the light of Christ shines not from any bright star or comet up in the sky but right from the faces and hearts of every believer to whom Jesus is born within.  This is the daily challenge we all face that we must let the light of Christ shine in us so that people are illumined by His light not by our selfish, bloated ego projected by our supposed to be bright ideas.  How sad that even in the Church and among us priests, what we really project is our own light not Christ’s.  We cannot have the humility of John the Baptizer to admit that we are not the Christ because like during the first Christmas, so many modern day Caesars and Herods continue to claim these days that they are the Messiah or Savior of the world, even in the name of Jesus.

            To be a light of Christ in the world requires us His disciples to first withdraw from the limelight and go back to Jesus in prayer and meditations.  We are now living our faith in a mass-mediated culture but it does not mean we have to immerse into social media and other modern forms of communication.  We in the Church, both the clergy and the lay people have to realize and understand that while these modern communications are a gift from God, we do not have to allow it to overwhelm us that eventually, unknown to us, become our guide replacing Jesus Christ.  What a pity that many churches today look like conference halls with giant TV screens everywhere, tarpaulins covering every wall even the altar that people could no longer feel the sense of the sacred.  See how some priests have become as entertainers even clowns with all the jokes and antics without delivering any homily at all.  Or act like marketing agents using power points to deliver homilies without any point at all.  There are churches that have become ballrooms in total disregard of the sanctity of the place complete with all kinds of lights for dramatic effects with giant ceiling fans hovering above that do not necessarily complement the interiors.  People are rightly complaining of the commercialization of some churches that have become to look like a giant birthday cake than a house of worship due to so many decorations that are mostly cheap and kitschy.  Worst of all are those churches that have become like a perya (fair) with all gimmicks and publicity stunts that fool people by heightening their feeling levels only to get more collections but never to share Jesus Christ.   

                What a shame!  People come to church for Jesus, only Jesus and always Jesus.  And they would always come because that is something natural within each of us, even unbelievers.  The Church does not need public relations as advertisements for media mileage because we offer only Jesus Christ alive within each one of us.  I have always believed that there are only two essential things needed to share Jesus Christ and let His light shine in a parish:  meaningful liturgy and true charity and service to everyone.  Our dignified worship and celebrations of the sacraments along with our loving service and kindness to everyone who comes to our parish are more than enough to be the presence of Christ, to beam His light.  Stop making the church and everything in it a spectacle or a show we call palabas because Christ came in silent simplicity of the darkness of the night to be felt more deep inside by the heart not to be feasted on by the eyes.  The late German-born thinker Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy who converted into Christianity from the Jewish faith after World War II said that “A Christian is a person to whom Christ speaks.  The body of Christ is those who listen to him.”  How beautiful!  All we really need is Jesus Christ alone, not so much of things and gadgets, gimmicks and publicity stunts for He alone is our light who gives life.  The beloved disciple said it so well last Christmas Day, “through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (Jn.1:4-5).  Bring out that light of Christ in you this New Year!

*Photo by Dra. Mai Dela Pena, from a church in Sydney, Australia many Christmas ago.  Used with permission.