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.

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Jesus Christ Alone Is Our Master and Lord

51591225_1949126778488760_1233675252072972288_n — *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

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.

Prayer to Avoid Destruction

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Thursday, 29 November 2018, Week XXXIV, Year II

Revelation 18:1-2, 21-23; 19:1-3,9///Luke 21:20-28

Lord Jesus Christ, let me put all my trust and hope in you to avoid destruction.

In the world today, all I hear and see are destruction. In your words too are all about destruction. Destruction is inevitable, especially if we remain in our sinful, evil ways. Your words have always been fulfilled and we have always seen how cities and nations have risen and fallen. Most especially, people who have refused to recognize you, those who have dared challenged you, those who have blasphemed you have all vanished, now totally forgotten.

One thing I ask you Jesus Christ is to keep my eyes and my heart open to you, to always heed your voice and your lessons, to always stand erect and raise my head (Lk.21:28) to submit to you, to follow you, to abide in you for that is the only way to avoid destruction and gain redemption.

Let me be among those blessed to have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb (Rev.19:9) by remaining faithful to you, doing what is right and just despite all the destruction going on. AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.

*Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA-7 News at Natonin, Mountain Province 04 November 2018 after a destructive landslide hit the town. Used with permission.

What’s on your mind, Who’s in your heart?

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe, 25 November 2018

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Daniel 7:13-14///Revelation 1:5-8///John 18:33-37

The trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate occupies a very important role in the fourth gospel. Unlike the other three evangelists, John mentioned only in passing that Jesus was brought to the high priest Caiaphas (Jn.18:24) after being examined by his father-in-law Annas while Simon Peter was outside denying the Lord thrice (Jn.18:12-23). In narrating to us this trial of Jesus before Pilate, we see the spirituality and artistry of the beloved disciple who began his gospel account by solemnly declaring the eternal divinity of the Lord, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn.1:1). Building up the climax of his gospel, John placed Jesus for the first time – in fact the only time – face to face with the world’s representative of political power. And this shows us the meaning and essence of what we are celebrating today with Jesus Christ our Lord as King of the Universe, that His kingdom is “in this world but not of this world.”

Pilate said to Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” (Jn.18:33-35)

Every morning when we open our Facebook, this scene seems to be happening again in a similar manner when Mark Zuckerberg’s creation asks us“What’s on your mind?” Facebook and social media are gifts from God, a tremendous blessing for mankind where people meet to forge new friendships and renew old ones. However, its overuse and abuse have led to many occasions of sins and evil. In asking Pilate “Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me”, Jesus was not merely asking him what was on his mind but more of who was in his heart. And we all perfectly know what happened next: despite pleadings even by his own wife when he himself knew deep inside him the truth, Pilate washed his hands and went on with what was on his mind to sentence Jesus to death even if he knew deep in his heart He was totally innocent and in fact a very good man.

The question “what’s on your mind” is so enticing for us to just open up without really thinking hard with what we say that may hurt others or have long lasting negative effects not only on other persons but especially to us. It is a question with so many other implications that do not really seek to address anything substantial but only to affirm our own selves that in this world, at this very moment, “I am the king or the queen” and I can do everything! We say whatever is on our minds to lord it over other people, sometimes literally throwing our weight around on others that in the process, we destroy our relationships. Worst of all, when we keep on letting out what is on our minds without checking its veracity, we actually reveal our stupidity than sanity. If we have to ask any question, we have to be ready to know its answer. That is why, when we ask Jesus a question, we must inquire things of the above than things of this world for we might not like His answer that eventually would forcibly bring out from our hearts the right answer like what happened with Pilate later. When Pilate asked Jesus “are you the king of the Jews”, he was not really ready to know yet the answer because deep in his heart he felt and knew the people behind the plot to kill Jesus. Pilate was not ready to confront them because he also knew the Jewish leaders were very much aware of his corrupt practices. How sad that so often we ask not to know the answers but simply to affirm our convictions especially if we know they are not sound at all. When we ask more of this world, of things verifiable by facts and things that can be seen and tested, then we are not yet ready for the truth.

Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king.” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” (Jn. 18:36-37)

Jesus Christ is king but His kingdom does not belong to this world. It is in the world but not of the world. His kingdom transcends beyond this world but right here in us. Jesus Christ is king when in our hearts He reigns supreme, when we see Him among others as our brothers and sisters in Him. More than our thoughts and ideas, more than our feelings and assumptions are persons to be loved and respected. This is the reason why the question is not“what’s on your mind” but “who’s in your heart” which asks the more crucial question, “is Jesus our king?”

To recognize Jesus our King is to follow Him by taking up our cross because His kingdom is based not on force or power but on love expressed in humility, kindness, patience, and mercy that are often seen as weakness in the world. Yes, one may say His kingship is out of this world but that is exactly what the world needs these days! Remember His lessons to us His disciples these past weeks when He sent us with “no food, no sack, no money in our belts” (Mk.6:8), that we must be like little children for “whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it” (Mk.10:15), insisting that whoever wants to be great in His kingdom must be the slave of all like Him who came “not to be served but to serve and to give his life as ransom for many” (Mk.10:44-45).

The Solemnity of Christ the King reminds us at the closing of our liturgical calendar as we prepare for Advent next week of that main truth that we as a Church must continue to be an image of this kingdom. And what is the truth? In the bible, truth is a road or a path one can follow with complete trust to have life found in God’s law. Truth is something that must be done as in the expression “to walk in truth” (Ps. 119:105) by conforming our lives to the word of God. See again the spirituality and artistry of the beloved disciple, of how he alone recorded the Lord’s declaration “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn.14:6). Here we find the totality of Christ the King who is the Truth because He is the way and the life. Let us recognize today with thanksgiving to God Christ’s coming to us as our Alpha and Omega, our beginning and end. May His kingdom come as we heed His call every day, especially in the Holy Mass as “the time of fulfillment… Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk.1:14-15). Jesus my King, stay in my heart, reign in my life always! AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ni San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022. Email: lordmychef@gmail.com

*Photo by my former student Arch. Philip Santiago, Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls in Rome, October 2018.

LMC

A Prayer to Stop Hurting the Church

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Friday, 09 November 2018, Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran

Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12//1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17//John 2:13-22

On this Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, I humbly pray to you O Lord Jesus Christ for mercy and forgiveness in having hurt your body, the Church.

It is so painful specially these days when people utter all profanities and blasphemies for your Holy Body, but what is most painful is when we in the Church are the ones inflicting your wounds. You have warned us long ago of how people would try to destroy your Church. We need not be alarmed when we are attacked and maligned. That is part of our lives. Just keep us strong and faithful, Lord.

What we must be concerned with – and ashamed of – is when the attacks on your Holy Church come from within, from us your disciples, especially the priests. You were so angry when you saw how the leaders have turned the Temple into a “marketplace” (Jn.2:16). Cleanse us your Church again, Lord Jesus, whip and overturn us when we your pastors are more concerned with money to be earned and collected than to be shared.

Forgive us, O Jesus, in forgetting we are “the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in us” (1Cor.3:16) and we have played gods, possessing your Church, building monuments to our greatness, forgetting the cries of the poor and the women and the children some of us have abused. Have mercy on us, Lord Jesus, when some of us have driven out many from your flock because of our pride and lack of concern, of insensitivities to the plight of many believers confused and lost. Forgive us when we are so quick to defend and safeguard one another’s bruised ego, disregarding the many victims of all forms of abuses by some priests so lost in sin and evil.

Teach us, Lord Jesus our Eternal Priest, to once again be filled with more of you so that we may give life to your people, like the fresh waters of the river seen by Prophet Ezekiel in the first reading flowing from the heavenly temple that every tree planted along its banks is filled with fruits and greenery. Teach our flock also to be holy and help us priests live our vows of poverty, obedience and celibacy. Merciful Jesus, remind us priests and laity always that we do not become holy because we are in the church but that our church becomes holy because of our presence as your indwelling. AMEN.Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.

PhilipLateran2

*Photos of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome by my former student at ICSB, Arch. Philip Santiago during a pilgrimage Sept. 26, 2018. It is the Cathedral of Rome whose Bishop is also the Pope. Hence, it is the “mother of all churches” and sign of our unity as the Catholic Church.

Continuing Christ’s Work

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Tuesday//23October2018//Week XXIX, Year II

Ephesians 2:12-22///Luke 12:35-38

Dear God:

Last night while praying I found myself in a very amusing situation over the words of your Son Jesus Christ telling us in today’s gospel to “Gird your loins and light your lamps.” (Lk.12:35)

Remember how yesterday at the meat section of the supermarket, the butcher was enticing me to buy some loins that are tender and tasty, good for dinner and how I struggled? Thank you for preventing me from falling into that temptation, a little victory in my daily battle of the bulge!

But, as I prayed on your words today, I have realized that is really how it is with life: we always have to gird our loins, to prepare and strengthen ourselves for what is to come. The loin is where our basic instinct and urges emanate from, always evoking pleasures in us that are so powerful and irresistible. And so, keep me always on guard like those faithful servants in today’s parable to gird my loins and light my lamps especially in continuing Christ’s work of reconciliation, of “keeping us all together as a sacred temple for God.” (Eph.2:21)

How sad that we always forget the beautiful preaching of St. Paul of how Jesus Christ have reconciled us all in you, O God, with His precious Blood. How sad when we destroy our unity by looking more at our many differences because we cannot control our urges, our loins. And it is most painful, O God, when we allow it to happen right inside your Church, the Body of Jesus Christ! Help us to embrace the diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds of everyone that we may become new persons in your Son our Lord Jesus Christ. AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.

*Photo by the author, from the inside of the Church “Dominus Flevit” (the Lord Cried) overlooking Jerusalem as background. How sad that Jesus continues to cry today because we are still divided.

Keeping the Church A Good News Amid Bad News, Part 2

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Friday, 31 August 2018, Week XXI, Year II

1Corinthians 1:17-25///Matthew 25:1-13

Your word, O God, is indeed “living and effective” (Heb.4:12), very “useful for teaching” (2Tim.3:16) especially at this time our Church is in the midst of a sickening crisis not only of sexual abuse but also of intrigues and careerism among clergy and hierarchy. As we continue to pray for the Church now in crisis, may we also learn from today’s first reading of how St. Paul tactfully and spiritually tackled the problem of divisions among the early Christians of Corinth by directing their attention solely into Jesus Christ your Son who offered Himself up on the Cross for us all.

This is our folly, O God, when we focus more on people and personalities – even on our very selves – as the center and main attraction in the Church instead of your Son Jesus Christ. We refuse to recognize your immense love for us expressed in the crucified Christ who have sanctified us all and restored us all to you and to one another. So many times, we are like the five foolish virgins in today’s parable who were more concerned with their very selves than with their task of waiting for the coming of the groom.

Awaken us, O God, from our “sleep” like those five foolish virgins when we spend more time seeking you in human thoughts of wisdom or some mathematical equation unmindful of your coming. Most of all, bless Pope Francis, keep him strong and guide him in these times when many forces within are coming together against him, even using the modern means of communication to destroy him without realizing the many other souls they are misleading in their self-righteousness. Let us learn anew St. Paul‘s teaching that “the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger that human strength” as revealed in Christ crucified (1Cor.1: 25). Amen. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria,Bulacan 3022.

*Photo taken in 30 Nov. 2012 by Chester Ocampo of ICS Batch ’82: Crucified Christ made of iron but hollow inside to depict kenosis or emptiness; one of the early works by the late National Artist Ed Castrillo hanging at the altar of the chapel of Immaculate Conception Seminary (ICS) in Guiguinto, Bulacan.

Keeping The Church A Good News Amid Bad News

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer

Thursday, 30 August 2018, Week XXI, Year II

1Corinthians 1:1-9///Matthew 24:42-51

Lord Jesus Christ, we come to you today deeply saddened with the many scandals and divisions rocking YOUR Church. The new series of sexual abuses brought out in the open recently are not only scandalous but very sickening. And what makes this so viciously evil is the claim by some from within that they are doing this for the good of the Church by attacking your Vicar, the Holy Father Pope Francis.

May we imitate St. Paul in his manner of dealing with the “problematic” Corinthians as we start reading and hearing today his first letter to them.

How wonderful it is to be filled with the Holy Spirit like St. Paul in greeting the Corinthians first with “grace and peace from the Father” (1Cor.1:3) despite the divisions and infighting that beset them at that time. Give us that same grace of St. Paul in seeing first the Father’s wonderful work of calling us all to “sanctification and election as a holy people (1Cor.1:2).”

May we keep in mind like the “the faithful and prudent servant” (Mt. 24:45) in your parable today that we are mere stewards of the Church, keepers of your precious gift of communion which enables us all to feel and experience being welcomed and loved by God. Amen. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria,Bulacan 3022. (Photo by the author, 5:18AM of 01 August 2018 at the Parish.)