Ang kasalanang hindi natin alam

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-20 ng Marso 2024
Unang Huling Wika ni Jesus sa Krus

Ang Unang Wika ni Jesus:

Nang dumating sila sa dakong tinatawag na Bungo, ipinako nila sa krus si Jesus. Ipinako rin ang dalawang salarin, isa sa gawing kanan at isa sa gawing kaliwa. Sinabi ni Jesus, “Ama, patawarin mo sila, sapagkat hindi nila nalalaman ang kanilang ginagawa.” At nagsapalaran sila upang malaman kung alin sa kanyang kasuutan ang mapupunta sa isa’t isa.
Lukas 23:33-34

Kay sarap isipin at namnamin na ang kauna-unahang mga salita na sinabi ni Jesus nang ipako siya ay krus ay ang kapatawaran sa ating mga kasalanan. Hindi lamang doon sa mga mismong nagpako sa kanya sa krus kungdi sa ating lahat ngayon na patuloy pa rin siyang ipinapako sa krus “sapagkat hindi natin nalalaman ating ginagawa.”

Ano nga ba iyong sinasabi ni Jesus na patawarin “sapagkat hindi nila nalalaman kanilang ginagawa”?

Sa kaisipan ng mga Judio, ang “malaman” ay hindi lamang matanto ng kaisipan ano mang data o impormasyon kungdi galaw ng puso at kalooban na pumasok sa pakikipag-ugnayan. Ang malaman ay magkaroon ng ugnayan bilang kapwa-tao sa isa’t isa.

Nang sabihin ni Jesus na “Ama, patawarin mo sila, sapagkat hindi nila nalalaman ang kanilang ginagawa”, ipinaaalala din niya sa ating lahat ang katotohanang dapat malaman natin na tayo ay magkakapatid sa kanya, iisang pamilya sa Diyos na ating Ama.

Sa tuwing sinisira natin ang ating mga ugnayan bilang magkakapatid, sa kada pagbale-wala natin sa bawat tao na tinuturing bilang kasangkapan at gamit para sa sariling kaluguran at kapakinabangan ng walang pag-galang at pagmamahal, doon tayo nagkakasala dahil pinuputol natin ating mga ugnayan.

Madalas, iyan ang hindi natin alam kapag ating inaabuso ating tungkulin at kapangyarihan na dapat ay pangalagaan kapakanan lalo ng mga maliliit at mahihina.

Nagkakasala tayo at hindi natin alam ating ginagawa kapag ating nilalapastangan ating mga magulang lalo na kapag matanda na at mahina o hindi makarinig; kapag sinasaktan ating mga kapatid sa masasakit na pananalita at ating pilit ibinababa kanilang pagkatao.

*Larawan kuha nina Teresa at Luis sa Pexels.com*

Hindi rin natin alam ating ginagawa sa tuwing tayo ay sumisira sa pangakong magmahal sa asawa at kasintahan, kapag tayo ay nagtataksil o nagbubunyag ng sikretong ipinagkatiwala sa atin at tayo ay nagiging plastik sa harap ng iba.

Pinakamasaklap sa mga hindi natin nalalaman ating ginagawang masama ay kapag nawalan tayo ng pag-asa at kumpiyansa sa mga mahal natin sa buhay kaya sila ay atin pinababayaan, ni hindi pinapansin o bigyang-halaga dahil sa paniwalang hindi na sila magbabago pa ng ugali o hindi na gagaling pa sa kanilang sakit at karamdaman lalo na kung matanda na at malapit nang mamatay.

Ngayong mga Mahal na Araw, isipin natin mga tao na ating nasaktan sa ating salita man o gawa dahil ating nalimutan o kinalimutan ituring kapatid at kapwa.

Sinu-sino din ang mga tao na nagpapasakit sa ating kalooban dahil hindi nalalaman kanilang ginagawa? Manalangin tayo:

Ipagpatawad po ninyo,
Panginoong Jesus
aking pagpapako sa iyo muli sa krus
sa tuwing hindi ko nalalaman 
aking ginagawa,
kapag aking nililimot at tinatalikuran
itong pangunahing katotohanan
na igalang at mahalin bawat kapwa;
ipinapanalangin ko sa Iyong habag at awa
mga tao na aking sinaktan at tinalikuran
lalo na yaong mga binigay mo sa akin
tulad ng aking pamilya at kaibigan
at mga dapat pangalagaan;
ipinapanalangin ko rin sa Iyo,
O Jesus, yaong mga nanakit sa aking
damdamin, tumapak at yumurak 
sa aking pagkatao na hanggang ngayon
aking pa ring ibig paghigantihan.
Panginoong Jesus,
huwag ko nawa malimutan
na kami ay magkakapatid,
magkakaugnay
sa iisang Ama
na siyang sinasagisag
ng Iyong Krus na Banal.
Amen.

Lent is believing to see Jesus

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fifth Sunday in Lent-B, 17 March 2024
Jeremiah 31:31-34  +  Hebrews 5:7-9  +  John 12:20-33

We now come to the penultimate Sunday of Lent before entering the Holy Week on Palm Sunday as we listened to the final installment of John’s narration of Jesus Christ’s final six days in Jerusalem before his Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

Our gospel today is actually set on Palm Sunday when Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem.

Some Greeks who had come up to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.
John 12:20-26

*Praying at the wailing wall of Jerusalem, May 2019.*

As we have been telling you, John’s gospel teems with many symbolisms and hidden meanings in the way he narrated events and scenes like when those Greeks asked Philip and Andrew to see Jesus.

If they simply wanted to catch a glimpse of Jesus, they could have easily satisfied themselves because Jesus never hid at that time. He had just entered Jerusalem, so warmly welcomed by the people, even by those Greeks perhaps. Most likely, they must have heard many things about Jesus that they wanted to go farther in requesting to see him. Hence, it was more than a request to have an audience with Jesus but something about their faith in him as they were pagans converted to Judaism.

We have to remember here that John used the verb “to see” to also mean “to believe” in his gospel account like when he narrated on Easter morning how Peter and the “other disciple” ran to the empty tomb “and he saw and believed” (Jn.20:8).

Keeping that detail on Easter morning at the empty tomb, we now understand why John never told us if Jesus met at all the Greeks requesting to see him because to see and believe Jesus is to accept and embrace wholly his Passion and Death on the Cross. This is why John jumped into Christ’s monologue upon being told by Philip and Andrew on the Greeks’ request.

What a beauty we have here because we are those Greek converts too, constantly searching, seeking to go farther in our faith in Jesus despite our sins. As we get older and mature, we realize how our days are numbered, that we will definitely die someday and meet God.

Lately I have been thinking why do we really have to be happy on our birthday – much less why greet celebrators a happy birthday when in fact every birthday is a step closer to death, is it not? I am not being morbid but it is the truest matter of fact in life. Life is a lifelong process of preparation for death. What comes next when we age? Death.

However, our faith in Jesus tells us it is not simply death as an end but a blessed death that leads to fullness in life, literally and figuratively speaking.

That is where the beauty of Christ’s parable of the grain of wheat lies, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.”

We do not simply die in the end or even in the in-betweens of life through those failures and losses, defeats and wrong moves. We get better in life as we forge on.

It is the undeniable truth written in our hearts as God told Jeremiah in the first reading, that we are God’s, we solely belong to him no matter how hard we try to flee from him and disobey him in our sins, he would always find us even if we get lost. St. Augustine said it so well, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

There is always that inner longing for God our Creator and End. That is why God sent us Jesus his Son as the author of the Letter to the Hebrews explained in the second reading so that through all our darkness and confusions, sufferings and trials, especially in those daily deaths that weaken us in our desire to search and follow him we may still find to have the strength and courage to forge on in wanting to see him by being with him where he is always – at the Cross.

This is the grace of this fifth Sunday in Lent: we believe so we may see, we die in order to live. Both believing and dying in order to see and to live are grace from God freely given to us even if we are not worthy at all.

The world tells us always that to see is to believe but Christ tells us that first we must believe so that we would see; it is the same thing with living – die to one’s self in order to live fully because “whoever loves his life loses it.”

When we read or watch the news, many times we feel so exasperated and hopeless with the world. Imagine a resort right in a natural wonder there in the Chocolate Hills of Bohol? Or, land developers covering swamps without any considerations for others and the environment? Or, the mess and wastage happening in our offices, schools and homes? Do not forget us your priests living far from witnessing Christ in charity and service?

It’s a crazy world! And in all these abuses, the more we have become empty and lost that is why in the process, more and more of us never stop to believe and see, to hope and pray like those Greek converts seeking Jesus, for only in him we find rest and peace. Let us pray:

Lord Jesus Christ,
many times I really do not know
where I am going;
I cannot see 
the road ahead of me
while many times
I wonder if I am really
following you and doing your will;
but at least, Jesus,
I am sure it is still you
whom I wish to see,
it is you I always desire
even if many times
it does not show
because this time
I am sure
 you alone
is my God,
my life, 
my fulfillment.
Therefore, like the psalmist,
"Create a clean heart for me, 
O God, and a steadfast spirit
renew within me.
Cast me not out 
from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit
take not from me"
(Psalm 51:12-13).
Amen.

Have a blessed week ahead, everyone!

Lent is facing the Cross

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in tbe Fourth Week of Lent, 15 March 2024
Wisdom 2:1, 12-22     ><}}}}*> + <*{{{{><     John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

*Photo by author, Theologate Chapel of the Immaculate Conception Major Seminary, Guiguinto, Bulacan, November 2020.*

Loving Father,
as we come closer 
to the final week of Lent,
the Cross of Christ gets clearer;
 preparing for Easter
 is facing and approaching,
embracing and owning
the Cross of Christ;
hence, grant us the courage
and strength to continue this journey
in Jesus with his Cross:

The wicked said among themselves, thinking not aright: “Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training… Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him… Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him.”
Wisdom 2:1, 12, 17, 20

Like Jesus,
let us overcome our fears
and continue to come to you,
to speak your words,
to do your works
amid the many people
"blinded by wickedness";
indeed, life is a daily Lent,
a passing over from every trial
because you are, O Lord,
"close to the brokenhearted."
Amen.

Lent is reconciliation

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Memorial of Sts. Perpetua & Felicity, Martyrs, 07 March 2024
Jeremiah 7:23-28   ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*>     Luke 11:14-23

Your words today, O God,
are too strong,
that we are so bad
and, that is so true, too.

Thus says the Lord: When you speak all these words to them, they will not listen to you either; when you call to them, they will not answer you. Say to them: This is a nation which does not listen to the voice of the Lord, its God, or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech.
Jeremiah 7:27-28

Though we are so bad,
you are still so good to us,
Father; you continue to speak to us
even if you know we do not listen
nor heed your voice.

What is worst,
even in the coming of your Son
Jesus Christ who offered himself
on the Cross, we still refused
to listen and heed his calls,
always asking for signs.

Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
Luke 11:15-17, 23

Lord Jesus Christ,
in your dying on the the Cross,
you have expressed to us
the Father's immense love for us;
indeed, your Cross until now remains 
a sign of contradiction in the world
as your calls to love and to forgive,
to be humble and be kind,
to give than to receive
remains a foolishness and weakness
for many of us; 
but you continue to speak to us
despite our being deaf and hard-hearted
because by your Cross,
you have shown us too 
it is the greatest sign of reconciliation, 
reminding us of the many
contradictions within and around us,
of the many contradictions
in the world that can be
reconciled and be made one
in your self-giving in love
we must imitate like your martyrs
Saints Perpetua and Felicity.

Reconcile us
in you, dear Jesus,
make us one in you
on the Cross!
Amen.

True authority

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the First Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 09 January 2024
1 Samuel 1:9-20 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 1:21-28

*Photo by Mr. Jay Javier, Quiapo, 09 January 2020.*

Praise and glory to you,
Lord Jesus Christ,
that today we shift into Ordinary Time
in our liturgy that coincides with
the annual Traslacion of the image
of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo,
Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno 
as you remind us too in our readings
true meaning of authority
we often relate with power.

Jesus came to Capernaum with his followers, and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority not as the scribes.
Mark 1:21-22

People were astonished with your
authority, Lord Jesus, not only because
it is all-powerful but most of all,
it is most kind,
most compassionate,
most humane
because in your life,
in your very self as Jesus Nazareno,
you have shown us that 
authority is not just having 
power to make thing happen nor 
lording over others;
like in Quiapo today as in Capernaum,
we are astonished with your 
authority not because of its
powers of being efficacious
but because of your being so close
with us who are weak and suffering;
true authority for you, dear Jesus,
is to be one with the people -
in our miseries and anxieties,
in our pains and hurts,
as well as in our aspirations and dreams;
authority is most real,
most powerful
and most appreciated
when that authority
is felt as power for the people
to be healed and comforted,
raised up and inspired
like you have shown in your 
coming to us,
in your carrying the cross,
of your bearing our infirmities.
Like Hannah in the first reading,
we beg those authorities above us
to "think kindly" of us people;
many times,
people in authority lord it over us
like Eli initially, suspecting
Hannah being drunk,
scolding us,
reprimanding us,
worst, judging us
without even knowing 
our plight, so unlike you
who became poor like us,
most of all,
died for us.
Amen.

Standing up for Christ

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, Year I, 29 November 2023
Daniel 5:1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Luke 21:12-19

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

God our merciful Father,
help us to stand always 
for what is true and good,
just and proper;
give us the courage to
give testimony in Jesus Christ
especially in moments of trials
when the lures of the world 
like power and fame 
are so strong.
Teach us to be like your
servant Daniel:

Daniel answered the king: “You may keep your gifts, or give your present to someone else; but the writing I will read for you, O king, and tell you what it means. You have rebelled against the Lord of heaven. But the God in whose hand is your life breath and the whole course of your life, you did not glorify.
Daniel 5:17, 23

So many times, O God,
especially us your priests
and servants are so afraid,
others too numb, shamelessly 
choosing and preferring 
comforts than difficulties, 
oblivious to your call for sacrifices
have given in to the temptations
of the world, embracing more
the rich and powerful,
gracing all their affairs and parties
unmindful of the needs of the poor.

Worst, many of us 
have turned away from the 
Cross of Jesus Christ,
refusing to give testimony
to him and his teachings,
sorely lacking in any
perseverance at all.

Have mercy on us, Father;
may we live each day 
as our last day
here on earth,
each day a Parousia 
of your Son Jesus,
so that like Daniel,
we serve you alone,
our God and Master
lest we too find 
your words and writings
on the wall - MENE, TEKEL, PERES
warning of our downfall.
Amen.

Cross my heart?

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, 14 September 2023
Numbers 21:4-9 ><]]]]'> Philippians 2:6-11 ><]]]]'> John 3:13-17

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

The cross is perhaps one of the most widely used but also abused and misunderstood sign in almost every generation. In fact, we are so accustomed to the cross of Jesus Christ found everywhere like in churches and cemeteries, offices and classrooms, hospitals, inside every kind of vehicle and, of course, houses. Almost everybody carry it on our persons for various reasons: as an object of veneration, as a badge, or as a jewel.

On the cross we find Jesus shown in glory, peacefully sleeping in death, sometimes with his body broken by suffering. Hence, many times we use the word “cross” like in “cross my heart” to indicate our sincerity and truthfulness. But, are we truly aware of its meaning and significance in our faith, of its centrality as the symbol of God’s love for us expressed by the self-sacrificing death of Jesus Christ his Son?

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

Today we celebrate the Exaltation of the Cross which started in the fourth century. According to legend it began with the miraculous discovery of the True Cross by Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, on 14 September 326, while she was on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. She then ordered through her son the emperor the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre that was dedicated nine years later with a portion of the True Cross placed inside it in September 13, 335. The following day, the Cross was brought outside of the church to be venerated by the clergy and the faithful.

In the year 627, during the reign of the Emperor Heraclius I of Constantinople, the Persians conquered the city of Jerusalem and removed a major part of the Cross from its sanctuary. The emperor then launched a campaign to recover the True Cross which he regarded as the new Ark of the Covenant for the new People of God. Before embarking into war, Emperor Heraclius went to church wearing black as a sign of penance, then prostrated himself before the altar and begged God for courage. His prayer was granted as he won the war and recovered the Cross from the Persians. He brought the Cross back to Jerusalem in 641 amid great celebrations by carrying it on his shoulders. Upon reaching the gate leading to Calvary, the emperor could not go forward! Heraclius and his retinue were astonished and could not understand what had happened until the Patriarch Zachary of Jerusalem told him, “Take care, O Emperor! In truth, the imperial clothing you are wearing does not sufficiently resemble the poor and humiliated condition of Jesus carrying His cross.”

Upon hearing those words, the emperor removed his shoes and bejewelled robes, put on a poor man’s clothing and was eventually able to proceed to Calvary and replaced the Cross inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where a number of miracles happened during the occasion: a dead man returned to life, four paralytics were cured, ten lepers were healed, 15 blind men were given their sight, with several possessed people exorcised and many sick people totally healed!

*Photo by author, Mirador Jesuit Villa & Retreat House, Baguio City, 24 August 2023.*

Very notable in this story were the words of the Patriarch of Jerusalem. It was only after the emperor had taken off his royal clothings and put on those of the poor was he able to carry the Cross.

It is the same thing that is asked of us today: it is so easy to display the cross inside our homes and cars, or wear it as a jewelry or even as a tattoo on our skin. But that would amount to nothing unless we have the cross inside our hearts, our very being. More than the many signs of the cross and imaginary drawing of its lines we draw on our chest is the need for us to empty ourselves of our pride and sins so that we can be filled by Jesus Christ.

Brothers and sisters: Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:6-8

Called kenosis in Greek, self-emptying is the way of the Cross of Christ. It is choosing love and mercy than self-centeredness and self-righteousness; sacrifice than satisfaction; fairness and justice than greed and possession; bearing all the pains and perseverance than complaining and whining about difficulties and trials in life like the Israelites in the wilderness (first reading); and, thinking more of others than of one’s self.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic had taught something very amusing about the positivity of being negative, when negative was actually positive – healthy and COVID free! Remember how during those days when we would always wish we would yield negative results in our swab tests for COVID?

When we look at the sign of the cross (+), it is a positive sign, a plus sign. Though the cross calls us to let go, to be detached and dispossessed, it is actually an invitation to have more of God, of life and fulfillment! In this time of affluence when everything is practically easily available for as long as you have the means and the resources, the sign of the Cross reminds us that life is more of letting go and of giving than of having like God who “so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that he who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn.3:16). St. Francis of Assisi said it perfectly why the Cross is an exaltation, a triumph:

For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.  

Amen.  Have a blessed Thursday!

Our unique giftedness

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Seventh Week of Easter, 25 May 2023
Acts 22:30, 23:6-11   ><))))*> + <*((((><   John 17:20-26

*Photo by author, Anvaya Cove, 27 February 2023.*

How wonderful and
so touching, Lord Jesus,
for you to call us 
a gift from the Father.

“Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”
John 17:24

Help me keep, dear Jesus,
that being of a gift to you
from the Father by being
a witness of your glory
which is standing by your
side at the Cross like St. Paul
whom you have called "to bear
witness to you in Jerusalem and
in Rome" (Acts 23:11).

May we always remember
this truth, our being a gift to
you dear Jesus, so that in moments
we feel so overburdened,
when we are losing hope,
when we feel like giving up,
we may forge on 
and persevere
in bearing witness 
to your Cross of suffering
so that eventually be one
in your glorious Resurrection.
Amen.

Dying well is living well

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
The Seven Last Words, 07 April 2023

*Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 2014.*

It was now about noon and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon because of an eclipse of the sun. Then the veil of the temple was torn down the middle. Jesus cried our in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”; and when he had said this he breathed his last.
Luke 23:44-46

Do you have a “bucket list”, of things to do before turning a certain age or before dying? Very often we read in social media articles of sample “bucket lists”, of things to do, things to see, food to eat before one dies as if these are the ultimate things or cities or food in the world!

I am sorry I do not believe in such “bucket list” no matter how good is that movie of the same title. It is all non-sense! Why spend so much time and energies of things to do before dying or turning 50 or 60 or whatever age when we should be making the most out of every present moment because we could die any time!

We will all die one day for sure. But, will we die well? Our death is our most wonderful and lasting gift to our loved ones if we die for them and for others, if we lived a fruitful life we can leave for them. The question we should be asking is “how do we live our lives meaningfully now in the present so that when we die, our lives would continue to bear fruit in the generations that will follow us?” Stop wondering or asking about what we can do in the future or the years we have left to live because that is highly hypothetical. It has not happened yet and might not even happen at all if we die soon enough. Get real by living fully in the present! Coming to terms with death is coming to terms with life. The moment we realize we shall die one day, that is when we start living authentically. And joyfully.

Jesus died so well on that Good Friday because he was able to surrender everything to the Father and for us all because he lived fully that is why he was able to surrender or give or commend his spirit. How about us? How sad that many times our loved ones left us with much pain and regrets because we never fully lived with them nor enjoy precious moments with them while still alive. Live fully in love and joy, forgiveness and mercy. Celebrate life daily. Life is too short to spend it in dramas and wishful thinking.

At the hour of our death like Jesus on that Good Friday, can we also give others and God our spirit of love and mercy, our spirit of joy and kindness? Or, we are still busy thinking what else we can do in this life? What if we are called back to God now, at this very moment?

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus Christ,
grant me the grace to live 
my life in you,
with you,
and through you
to the fullest in every here and now
so that if ever I should die any moment,
I am able to commend to the Father 
my spirit back to him
without regrets,
without pains,
without sin
but only with joy and gratitude
that my loved ones would 
feel and nurture
until we all meet again
in your kingdom in heaven.
Amen.

Thank you for following our reflections on the Seven Last Words of Jesus on the Cross. May you have a meaningful Holy Week and a joyful Easter! God bless you!

Love is perfection of life

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
The Seven Last Words, 06 April 2023

There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.
John 19:29-30

Every Maundy Thursday, people await that most unique part of the Mass every year when the priest washes the feet of some members of the community. As a priest, it is one of the most humbling experiences I have had when a brother priest washed my feet on that Mass I attended in 2008 and 2021.

But there is something more beautiful to the ritual washing of feet. It is the context and words that accompany that: “Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end” (John 13:1).

The Greek word for the “end” is telos which is not just a terminal end in itself but indicates or connotes direction. Or fulfillment and perfection, not just a ceasing or end or stoppage of life or any operation.

When Jesus said on the Cross “It is finished”, he meant he had fulfilled his mission, that is, he had perfectly loved us to the end by giving us his very life.

At his death on the Cross, Jesus showed us perfectly in no uncertain terms his love for us, the Father’s love for us that he had told to Nicodemus at the start of the fourth gospel that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (Jn. 3:16).

There on the Cross this was definitively fulfilled and perfected more than ever. Jesus did not have to die on the Cross but he chose to go through it because of his love for us.

Here we find the beautiful meaning of love. It is not just obeying the commandments nor being good and kind with everyone. Love in its totality is the perfection of life. It is our only destiny in life, our call to life from the very beginning. Love, love, love. Keep on loving until it hurts. Until the end.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.
1 John 4:11-12

From that same letter, John declared at the very start that God is love which according to Pope Benedict XVI in his first encyclical is the most profound statement about God found only in Christianity.

My dear friends, only God can love us perfectly. Only Jesus can love us perfectly like what he did on the Cross. Human love is always imperfect. In our imperfect love, let us find Jesus filling up, making whole, perfecting our love for each other. Let us die in our selves sometimes when we have to let go with each one’s imperfection like when they make side comments. Forget all about revenge. Forgive. Understand the shortcomings of everyone. Accept and own the pains and hurts inflicted on us by our loved ones like our mom and dad, your former wife or husband, your friends, of those who have hurt you in words and deeds. That is being like Christ, dying on the Cross because of love.

Let us pray for those we love and those who love us despite our imperfections.

Lord Jesus Christ,
how I wish I could love until the end,
how I wish I could say too like you
"It is finished";
forgive me because many times with me,
the pains and hurts I have had are not yet
finished, even festering inside me,
eating me up, rotting inside me
that I could not grow and bloom in you.
Forgive me and teach me to forgive too
for it is in forgiving we truly love
perfectly like you.
Amen.