God surely comes

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul, Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
First Sunday of Advent-A, 30 November 2025
Isaiah 2:1-5 ><}}}}*> Romans 13:11-14 ><}}}}*> Matthew 24:37-44

*Photo by author, the Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkiye, 01 November 2025.*

I rarely travel abroad and though I am joyful and grateful for those rare occasions especially through the kindness of some friends, I feel so sad seeing how other countries are doing so well, so good – so unlike us in the Philippines.

After my recent trip to Turkiye and Romania, the more I am convinced I would never experience a better Philippines at least in my lifetime for sure.

*Photo by author, Bucharest, Romania, 07 November 2025.*

Look at Hong Kong: while firemen were still fighting the blaze in a high-rise housing complex last Wednesday that caused over 120 deaths with scores wounded and missing, authorities have already arrested in less than 24 hours at least three suspects linked with the deadly fires while here in the Philippines, all the key players in the multi-billion peso ghost project scam remain free with some already hiding abroad.

And just as we are about to end November for the merry month of December, the secretary of Trade and Industry came out in the news insanely insisting that anyone with 500 pesos can have a noche buena of ham, spaghetti and fruit salad?! What else can we say but a heavy sigh with OMG…

Sorry for the lamentations. In times like these you really can’t avoid wonder sometimes where is God? Has he forgotten us in the Philippines? So very sad.

*Photo by author, Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 01 December 2018.*

Oh, by the way, a blessed “Happy New Year” to everyone! We begin this first Sunday of Advent as the new year in our Church calendar.

From the Latin adventus that means “coming” that used to designate the arrival of the Roman emperor in the provinces and colonies of the ancient Roman empire, we have adopted it in the Church as a season of preparing for the coming of the true King of kings, Jesus Christ. Notice how we closed last Sunday our Church calendar with Christ the King and now opens it with preparations for the coming of Christ, the King of kings.

Advent has two aspects: from this Sunday until December 16, all readings and prayers are directed to the Second Coming of Christ or parousia at the end of time; from December 17-24, all prayers and readings shift our attention to look back and reflect at the first coming of Christ in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago. That is the meaning of the four candles in our Advent wreath.

*Photo by author, Basic Education Department Chapel, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 2021.*

Between these Second and First comings of Jesus that Advent prepares us, we celebrate every day Christ’s Third Coming according to St. Bernard of Clairvaux which is the meaning of the very words of the Lord to his disciples then and now as narrated this Sunday by Matthew in the gospel:

Jesus said to this disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:37-39).

Despite all the negative news we have in the country and from around the world, despite all the darkness and problems we have in our lives, we are still blessed today because Jesus has come, will come again, and always comes. Welcome!

Let us get that feeling therefore on this first Sunday of Advent of having “arrived” to another year of journey in our spiritual life with Matthew as guide every Sunday Mass, praying for God’s grace for us to prepare not only for the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time but most especially for his daily coming to us which could also mean our death.

Jesus comes every day and therefore, every day is judgment day.

But it does not mean catastrophe because Christ’s coming at the end of time is about our attitude in living as he pointed out to his disciples during the days of Noah. Jesus comes in the most ordinary circumstances without us even knowing at all that it could be the end just like when the floods came after Noah’s family have entered and locked the ark.

It is not being morbid nor pessimistic in life. We know for sure death’s certainty except its precise moment. Death is not something to be afraid of but something we have to prepare for as it leads us to eternal life in God. It is scary for those not living life fully in God. To meet Jesus Christ is to live fully and authentically, to find life’s meaning in him not in things. How sad that many people these days live superficially without any qualms at all about God and spirituality and morality. More sad is the fact that many practically live their lives in social media without even knowing it at all! Observe what we post, the language we speak, our line of thoughts that are all influenced by media. Reflect on the great amounts of screen time we make daily and weekly that eat up our very existence!

Advent is the season of vigilance, of being awake. Jesus reminds us today never to doubt his coming for he surely comes. If we are negligent, we end in disaster and catastrophe like in his example:

“Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:40-42).

The prophet Isaiah tells us in the first reading how the coming of the Messiah is so sure that it does not depend in the vagaries of history because our God is the God of history himself. He fulfills his promises according to his plans, not according to man’s designs and manipulations. Despite the many wars and natural calamities the world has experienced in history, Jesus had come and keeps on coming. How foolish governments spend billions of dollars and countless hours studying how to find life in outer space while working on how to annihilate each other, destroy life at its weakest moments of infancy and old age while forgetting the hungry and dying among us. If we could just open our minds and our hearts to Christ’s daily coming then we fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” (Is.2:4).

This can only happen when we recognize every here and now, every present moment as Christ’s coming that is already taking place in our midst as St. Paul reminds us in the second reading, “For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Rom. 13:11-12).

Aside from preparing for our salvation that happens in Christ’s coming, Advent is also the season when we are called to share the light of Jesus to those in darkness. This early, so many malls, offices and homes have already put up with their colorful Christmas decorations like lanterns and Christmas trees. May we not forget to share most of all the light of Jesus Christ that brings joy and peace from our firm faith, fervent hope and unceasing charity and love especially when times are dark and rough for that is when the Lord truly comes. Amen. A blessed Advent season to everyone!

Have no fear, Jesus is here!

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 17 October 2025
Friday, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop & Martyr
Romans 4:1-8     <*{{{{><  +  ><}}}}*>     Luke 12:1-7

*Photo by Johannes Plenio on Pexels.com*

Your words,
O Lord Jesus 
this Friday
are so lovely,
so comforting
especially in this time
when many fear ageing,
suffering, and death.

I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more. I shall show you whom to fear. Be afraid of the one who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna; yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one (Luke 12:4-5).

How I wish 
I could hug you, Jesus,
lean on you 
while relishing your
calling us "my friends" 
not to be afraid of those 
who kill the body;
more than trusting you,
let me live in you, Jesus
like Abraham as explained
by St. Paul in the first reading
who deeply trusted God in
everything; deepen my consciousness
as a senior citizen that life
does not end in the grave
because the soul persists 
even after death;
thank you also 
for the gift of hair
though it had thinned
and turned gray,
now sparse and perhaps
easier for the Father to count
and remember but most of
all as signs of his love
and care for me;
let me not be afraid,
Jesus, for I am worth
more than the sparrows.

St. Ignatius of Antioch
whose feast we celebrate
today, pray for us modern 
people so afraid of pain
and suffering and death:
pray for us to be like you -
to accept death, even
pursue death which is
our rebirth to new life.
Amen.

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City
(lordmychef@gmail.com)

Begin with the End in sight

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 10 August 2025
Wisdom 18:6-9 ><}}}}*> Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 ><}}}}*> Luke 12:32-48

*Our new College of Medicine Building with the lovely flowers of Banaba trees welcoming the new academic year this Monday, 11 August 2025.*

One of the remarkable trends in management these past two decades is the emphasis on values-based approaches like The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by the late Dr. Stephen Covey. Second in his list is the title of our reflection this Sunday, “Begin with the end in sight.”

Actually we mentioned that in our reflection last Sunday but we stressed the word “end” begins with a capital “E” to refer to things of God and eternal life as in the End of all in death. This is the theme of the Lord’s teaching today he presented in three parables with the last two calling us to be faithful stewards awaiting their Master’s return in the End while the first one expressing the summary of his lessons, “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Lk.12:34). But unlike most Sundays, we reflect today on the second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews that shows us Abraham’s faith journey as an expression of Christ’s teachings on setting our sights with the End.

Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go (Hebrews 11:1-2, 8).

*Photo by author, RISE Tower, Our Lady Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 06 August 2025.*

We all believe in something, whether it is something good or something bad. However, what or who we believe in makes the difference because what or who we believe in determines how we live.

That is why Dr. Covey’s declaration is most true, especially when we talk of our End that is actually a Who – God. It is our faith in God who drives us in this life especially when it is dark and difficult, even painful so that we may achieve our End to be with him in eternity. The author of Hebrews found Abraham’s faith journey so remarkable as it enlightens too our own faith journey in God through Jesus Christ our High Priest as a context.

First, the author of Hebrews defined faith as “the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” Faith is more than trusting God in Jesus Christ. For the author of Hebrews, faith is more of knowing and understanding of what lies ahead though it cannot be seen. Faith here is more of having vision than sight, of seeing beyond things, so convinced of its existence even not seen like Noah who built an ark on God’s command even if there were no dark clouds nor rains visible at all. Faith for the author of Hebrews is like our Filipino expression “a…basta!” of having the conviction God created the universe even though no one saw the act of creation. It is something real that “only the heart can see” because it is also borne out of a deep relationship with God and with those we love. See now the three instances cited by the author of Hebrews in Abraham’s faith journey that are similar with our own experiences.

“By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents… for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God” (Heb.11:9-10). Abraham was a “pilgrim” – a wayfarer – not only from his place of birth into the promised land but also on the journey from the present into the future and eternity. See how Abraham looked into the End at the start of his journey in God and with God walking on the path of what is to come.

All he had was faith in God. Surely there were times of darkness and distress along the way which the author of the Book of Wisdom in our first reading accurately described as “night of the passover” that reminds us of darkness hovering the path of God. Jesus reiterated this “night of passover” literally and figuratively speaking. Have faith in Christ whenever our journey gets tough and rough, when there are detours or when we actually get lost. God will find us to reach his city he made for us.

“By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age – and Sarah herself was sterile – for he thought that the one who made the promise was trustworthy” (Heb.11:1). We all know the story of Abraham and Sarah having their own son in old age, of the many twists and turns in their lives before Isaac was finally born and thus fulfilled God’s promise that Abraham became the father of all nations. In Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus Christ, Abraham is mentioned first as a testament of his faith in God that led to the birth of the Messiah.

Many times we ask why God takes so long in fulfilling his promises to us. We wonder if God really called us to a certain vocation or profession or wanted this and that for us especially when in our prayers we are convinced of God’s will. Why does God keep us waiting?

Experience had taught us that more than a test of our faith, those waiting moments for God’s answer to our prayers were grace-filled moments of our own transformation into better persons so that we may value more his gifts to us, whether they are persons or things or moments. God is faithful. Remember the words of St. Paul, “God’s gifts and call are permanent and irrevocable” (Rom.11:29).

“By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son…He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol” (Heb.11:17, 19). This is the most moving and touching in the story of Abraham’s faith: he never doubted nor questioned God at all when he was asked to offer his son Isaac. Imagine how Abraham must have felt after waiting for so long for a son, then suddenly God asked him to offer him back Isaac?

See the unfolding of this scene in Genesis 22 with Abraham totally silent going up the mountain with Isaac who asked what shall they offer to God? Abraham simply assured him God will provide. Everything proceeded in silence until Abraham was to kill Isaac when an angel stopped him and told him how God was so pleased with his fidelity. This scene reminds me of the pain of many parents, especially mothers at the funeral of their son or daughter. It is the most difficult Mass for me to celebrate; normally, it is the children who bury their parents, not the other way around. When parents bury their children, no matter how young or old they may be, it is beyond words. I just try to believe more, to have more faith in God that he would bless and comfort the grieving parents.

Abraham’s faith is a gift from God we too have all received and must deepen. It is easier said than done but we have to accept that nothing in this life is really ours to keep for all is God’s. And if ever God takes something from us, it is because he is giving us something even more than what we already have. That is why Jesus asks us in the gospel this Sunday to give up everything for him for he is our only End.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Luke 12:32-34).

This Sunday, Jesus invites us to examine where our treasure is for that is where our heart is, giving himself to be our treasure for he alone can lead us to our final End. Like Abraham, Jesus asks us to see beyond the present moment, to give up whatever we have, whether good or bad, people or things, even memories. It is very difficult and even painful but with faith in God, it could be our most liberating and grace-filled moment in life when we learn to forgive and be sorry, to be content, and finally start living by loving and be convinced we are loved because these are all we need in the End. Amen. A blessed week to everyone!

One in Christ in life, in death

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 29 July 2025
Tuesday, Memorial of Sts. Martha, Mary and Lazarus, Siblings
1 John 4:7-16     <'[[[[><  +  ><]]]]'>     John 11:19-27

*“The Raising of Lazarus”, 1311 painting by Duccio de Buoninsegna from commons.wikimedia.org*

What a beautiful reminder to us,
dear Jesus on this day as we celebrate
the Memorial of the Holy Siblings
Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus:
the only time they are presented as one
and complete was during the raising of 
Lazarus; you were there in their most
sorrowful moment in life as brother and 
sisters because you have always been there
with them in good times when they were
all alive and well.

I pray,
dear Jesus,
for all siblings like
Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus
to remain one as a family after
their parents have been gone;
so many times in such deep sorrow,
we are like Martha telling you Lord,
"if you had been here my brother -
or sister or parents -would not have
died" (John 11:21); but, your response
to her and to us was so rich in meaning
we can only summarize in love,
"your brother will rise... I am the resurrection
and the life; whoever believes in me,
even if he dies, will live, and anyone
who lives and believes in me will never die. 
Do you believe this?"
(John 11:23, 25-26)

Help me believe
like Martha,
Jesus;
help me believe by being
more loving and caring
with my family while still alive
and well;
help me believe by being
more understanding
and forgiving,
more kind and sensitive
with my brother or sister
while still alive;
please help, Jesus
 the siblings
at odds with each other,
not talking with each other,
grouping together against each other
because of betrayals
and dishonesty in their share
of inheritance;
help them seek your face
to be more just and loving
because "love is of God"
(1 John 4:7);
let siblings be like
Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus
be one in you, Jesus
in faith,
hope
and love
while still alive
so that in their death
they remain one in you.
Amen.

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City
(lordmychef@gmail.com)

*An icon of Jesus visiting his friends, the siblings Sts. Lazarus, Mary and Martha. Photo from crossroadsinitiative.com*.

Scammers & Samaritans: living in the net

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 15 July 2025

Bless me, for I have sinned: this Father is a “dinosaur” so afraid of modern technology, so hesitant even in upgrading my cellphone and laptop. And most of all, always suspicious of messages in social media.

Generally, I am more inclined to mistrust everything in the net. But, something happened this Monday that I feel like changing this attitude.

I have celebrated Mass of the Holy Spirit in our Cabanatuan City campus before noon when I found multiple “message requests” from some people asking if I know their former boss at NEDA, Mr. Joseph T. Lalog, a first cousin we fondly called Kuya Jojo.

My initial reaction was budol. Scam.

But when I read that he was in the ER of a hospital in EDSA, I prayed and finally hit the number sent to me by a certain Byron to inquire about Kuya Jojo. After a brief introduction, I was told Kuya Jojo had just died after being rushed that morning to the Victor R. Potenciano Medical Center (VRPMC) in EDSA, Mandaluyong City.

Kuya Jojo was allegedly found by a janitress lying on the floor in one of the restrooms of Shangrila Mall morning of July 14, 2025. He was rushed by the mall’s emergency response team to the ER of VRPMC where doctors tried to revive him but later declared as dead around noon that Monday.

The people at the ER checked Kuya Jojo’s contacts in his cellphone and like my initial reaction, his former staff and colleagues at work thought it was also budol until after they have personally called the hospital with some of them going there to verify the report.

That was when Byron and his colleagues at NEDA who were under Kuya Jojo tried reaching out to us by checking his Facebook contact lists of “Lalog” and “Tobias”. And similarly, we all suspected it could be a scam because Kuya Jojo had always been healthy without any vice at all. He was a varsity of the track and field team at De La Salle University where he finished AB Political Science.

What convinced me to set aside my doubts and press that number provided by Byron was his message that my Kuya Jojo would always speak to him about my being a priest. He asked in one of his texts, “kayo po ba si Father Nick pinsan ni Sir Jojo?” With that, I finally felt deep inside this must be true. Not a scam. Or budol.

Mahirap palang maging netizen, mabuhay sa internet.

You know that daily or maybe every second of struggles just to verify and check whether those messages and information in the social media are true or not.

Baka niloloko ka lang? O, ako lang ang OC, takot at duda sa social media?

Ang hirap lalo na sa gitna ng maraming kuwento ng pangloloko at mga budol ng kung sino sino sa social media at internet na kahit kaming mga pari niloloko o ginagamit sa pangbubudol!

At ang pinakamahirap sa lahat – kapag binabanggit na pangalan ng mga taong malapit sa iyo katulad ng pinsan kong buo na si Kuya Jojo. Ang hirap at nakakatakot paniwalaan mga texts na namatay o kung napano na…

That entire stretch of travel from Cabanatuan City to EDSA, I felt being warped between reality and virtual reality, between the net and the real world. What if this is not true? Paano ako?

Aside from those things running in my mind, I was also thinking of my elder relatives. How am I going to break the news? How reliable were those people if they were really the colleagues and staff of my cousin even after I spoke to one of them on phone?

As I thought of my cousin lying on the floor of the CR of the mall, suddenly I remembered last Sunday’s gospel of the good Samaritan. It was like a modern version. My cousin almost dead or already dead on the marble floor of the restroom when a janitress had the courage and mercy to call their emergency response team.

Most of all, of the most kindred souls of Kuya Jojo’s friends and colleagues who never gave up on reaching out to us. They are all the modern good Samaritans who “treated him with mercy” (Lk.10:37).

I arrived 4:30 PM in the hospital where the ER doctor in charge briefed me of Kuya Jojo’s death. Soon Byron arrived and told the doctor my cousin’s medical condition while the funeral service sent by my uncle in Los Baños finally arrived at around 8:00 PM.

At the morgue, I gave the final blessings for Kuya Jojo before being transported to Los Baños where his wake will be held at the Heaven’s Gate Memorial Park in Bgy. Anos. After thanking and blessing Byron and the hospital staff, I booked my ride home as I had earlier sent home our university driver to rest for another trip to our Pampanga campus the following morning.

*Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com*

In less than ten minutes I was on board my Grab ride to Valenzuela City, still wondering what had happened that Monday. As I scrolled on my Facebook and Instagram with its bright light filling my ride, I felt a sense of relief that Jesus is very much present in the internet, in social media. St. Paul wrote it so well more than 2000 years ago that “where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more” (Rom. 5:20).

No matter how bad we see the world including the internet these days with its many sins and evil, God assured me that night that there are still far more good people, good Samaritans than evil ones. We simply have to make the right choice always by choosing Jesus who remains “the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn. 14:6). God bless everyone!

*Thank you to the staff and colleagues of the late Joseph T. Lalog at the NEDA. We do not have yet the details of his wake and interment as his sisters are arriving only this Thursday. On behalf of our clan, thank you and may God bless you more!

Mothers’ nine lives

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 07 July 2025

For the first time in 25 years since daddy’s passing, I did not deliver any homily during his death anniversary Mass in our home last June 17, 2025. My sisters readily agreed when I told them after the gospel proclamation “hindi na ako mag-homily at baka maiyak lang tayo.”

It was the second time we celebrated daddy’s death anniversary after mommy’s passing last May 7, 2024 but, it was only at that time when I truly felt the deeper realities of both parents being gone, of being “ulilang lubos”.

Perhaps that’s because we have been preoccupied for over two decades with mommy’s grief when dad passed away right on her 61st birthday before dawn of June 17, 2000. We were at a loss how to pacify her with such a surreal date for the two most loving couple we have known first hand. During my dad’s wake, we have to warn everybody not to mention anything about mom’s birthday.

From then on, mommy practically stopped celebrating her birthday even when she turned 70, 75, and 80 as we threw small gatherings at home for her siblings and friends but she would always remind us all not to forget it was also daddy’s death anniversary.

That is why I have always dreaded the days approaching June 17 because I felt sad for her. I thought after her death last year, it would be different because we would no longer see mommy sad on her birthday mourning dad’s death. I told myself, “hindi na malulungkot si mommy… hindi na rin kami malulungkot.”

But I was wrong.

Hindi na nga malungkot ang mommy ko ngayon pero ako naman ang malungkot – malungkot na malungkot. Noon ngang araw ng Linggo bago mag-June 17, naalala ko ang mommy at daddy bigla kaya naluha ako sa bahagi ng Ama Namin noong aming Misa sa Dambana. Wala na sila dito. Iyon una ko nadama, ulila na nga kami at saka pa lamang naisip ko magkasama na sila sa buhay na walang hanggan.

Indeed, the pains of losing our loved ones never decrease through time but actually increase. Those pains will remain until we are reunited with them in death and eternity.

There are pains in life meant to remain, that cannot be removed like a hole or a scar in our hearts not to burden nor hurt us but to uplift us actually. These wounds keep us in persevering in love to keep our relationships alive with those left behind after the deaths of our loved ones like parents or children. These wounds enable our hearts to sing of faith, hope and love in God all merciful who would one day unite us all together as one family after our days on this earth. These pains make us see the very thin line separating us from eternity, telling us that life goes on among us even after death. They open our eyes to see beyond, to have visions of the future.

*Photo by author, my mom’s kitty bank, 10.5 inches to the tip of ears.*

While these things were running through me during our family dinner that night, my brother presented to me mommy’s “kitty bank” which is older than I am, 61 years old. It is one of her most cherished possessions she truly took great care as far as I can remember.

I have been thinking about it recently if it were still around though I never had any interest with it when growing up as a child except that I enjoyed counting the rare coins inside mostly dating back to the American occupation with the usual designs of the US flag and an eagle.

That evening on dad’s 25th death anniversary that could have been mom’s 86th birthday if she were still alive today, I felt a very strong attraction with that “kitty bank” whose face seemed to be speaking to me.

*Photo by author, my mom’s kitty bank, circa 1964.*

As I held it closer to see its many fissures and tapes following the wear and tear of over 60 years, I saw mommy again, of how she loved us and life so much, especially cats, dogs and fish, and most of all, plants- being a certified tita herself. Our house may be small but mommy lovingly took care of her pets and plants, always talking with them even after having a stroke.

Like the cat with its nine lives, death is never the end but the prelude to new life or, more lives hereafter.

And that is the nobility and giftedness of every mother – even after they are gone, they continue to bring forth and nurture life. God bless everyone… and the cats.

*Photo by author, my mom’s kitty bank in my room.*

Easter in Death

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 22 April 2025

Easter is God surprising us with every death of a loved one as a testament of the Resurrection of his Son and our Lord Jesus Christ. What a big surprise this afternoon right after Easter, we all heard the news of the death of the Holy Father, Pope Francis.

Of course, there was the sadness and surprise of the news but deep within us as the news sank deeper is the joy of his being with God in eternity.

The first Pope from South America, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina broke many traditions in the papacy first when he picked a name never been used by his predecessors, choosing instead a non-priest saint known for simplicity and humility, St. Francis of Assisi.

When he was presented to the city and the world (Urbi et Orbi) as the new Pontiff, instead of blessing those present at St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis announced first his request for prayers from the people before blessing them eventually as every new Pope would do.

Yesterday at his Easter Message to the people, Pope Francis spoke about death and eternal life, of how “the Risen Christ fills us with the certainty that we too are called to share in the life that knows no end, when the clash of arms and the rumble of death will be heard no more.” In life, Pope Francis faced head on the many problems of secularism and materialism in the world, becoming the voice of the poor and the marginalized with mercy of God as one of his major themes in his papacy.

Personally, his most defining moment as a Pope happened during his special Message at the height of the pandemic in 2020 when despite his age and frailty, he walked through the empty St. Peter Square with courage and determination, faith and hope to lead us in prayers and love in crossing the turbulent sea of life amid the storm of COVID virus.

In life, Pope Francis proved to us like his two predecessor St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI the truth and reality of God amid a world that has continued to refuse his very existence and relevance.

In dying, Pope Francis showed us too like his two predecessors that death is in fact a blessing because it is a sharing in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ especially when you die in Easter.

St. John Paul II died on April 02, 2005 in the Easter Octave, the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday while Pope Benedict XVI died on the eve of the new year in December 31, 2022 during the octave of Christmas.

Octave refers to the eight day celebration of the major Solemnities of Easter and Christmas to remind us of its depth and meaning that cannot be grasp in just one day of the actual feast. Moreover, the eighth day or octave is actually signifies eternity: from Sunday to Saturday of every week we have seven days; octave as the eighth day is heaven.

How lovely that on Easter Sunday at the balcony of the Vatican, Pope Francis gave his blessings to the urbi et orbi anew to be his final one – consciously or unconsciously as he stepped onto the threshold of eternal life. It was his final homily too that was most eloquent, blessing us all in the “Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Thank you for blessing us, Pope Francis – Lolo Kiko – in life and in death. Amen.

*See also our homily last Easter Sunday that dwelled on death as a blessing, a proof of Christ’s Easter, https://lordmychef.com/2025/04/20/easter-is-god-surprising-us/.

Easter is God surprising us

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Easter Sunday of the Lord's Resurrection, 20 April 2025

Sunrise and flowers at Angels’ Hills, Tagaytay City, Holy Saturday, 19 April 2025.

A blessed happy Easter to everyone! The joy of Easter is God surprising us of Christ’s Resurrection as our resurrection too even in the midst of emptiness and darkness of this life here on earth.

Surprisingly, it is only now that it occurred to me after 27 years as priest how our Holy Week readings began and ended with the women disciples of Jesus honoring his death. Actually, the readings of Holy Week and Easter do not change except for the three cycles of Easter Vigil and the two Masses of Easter.

On Holy Monday we heard the gospel about Mary of Bethany recognizing the coming sacrifice of Jesus by pouring “a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard” on the feet of the Lord and then dried them with her hair that “the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil” (Jn. 12:3). Last night and this morning we heard from Luke and John how Mary of Magdala with other women went to the tomb “early in the morning, while it was still dark” to anoint Christ’s body with oil but found him nowhere!

Here is our God of surprises at work; but, unlike those funny and annoying surprises from the pranks we see on TikTok and social media, God’s surprises are real, so true, and so touching because they are life-changing which began in that Easter morning!

Illustration of the empty tomb of Jesus.
Mary Magdalene at Easter.
Mary Magdalene and another woman on the way to the tomb of Jesus early Sunday morning.
Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene on Easter morning.

During my recent annual retreat, my spiritual director asked me to pray and write the blessings I have received in the past twelve months. After five days of praying, I listed only six but they were mostly ordinary things I have taken for granted in life except the fourth one – my mother’s death last May 7.

I was surprised when that came to my prayers because it was painful and difficult time for me. So many things have changed in my life since mommy left us and there lies the paradox and mystery of life and death. It was in her dying when I felt anew so close to God.

First, God surprised me with the tremendous outpouring of love and support from so many people during her wake. Second, despite the grief and depression that followed a few months later, I still felt so blessed and closest to God with the unique intensity of the relationships we keep and instilled by our mom which we have taken for granted all these years. And third, I have experienced and realized how death is profoundly good in so many ways because it was after mommy’s death when I found the answers to my many questions about life. With her death, the more I appreciated the grace of my father’s sudden death 25 years ago right on her birthday.

That is the grace and surprise of Easter: in Christ’s dying and rising to life, death has become a blessing to us all as we have come to share in his glorious resurrection too.

Despite that feeling of emptiness within and in our homes, of the irrevocable reality they are gone forever never to join us in our meals and bonding like Christmas, of never hearing their voices again nor be able to hug and embrace them can be shattering, the angel’s reminder to Mary Magdalene and companion women at the empty tomb echoes in our hearts too: “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day.” And they remembered his words (Luke 24:5-8).

*Photo by author, Mirador Jesuit Retreat House, Baguio City, 2017.*

Every deceased loved one is a testament of Easter, of Christ’s resurrection because they all assure us they are alive and living, never to die again like Jesus. That feeling of somehow seeing them again is a tension borne out of the reality of Easter as supranatural and non-logical. Hence, the call for us like Mary Magdalene to always remember!

Remember!

Not only the painful Good Friday but most of all the words of Christ, the experiences with Christ, the love and hope of Christ there in our hearts. Every time we remember the words and memories of our deceased loved ones, they too point us to the realities of Christ’s resurrection. Jesus and our loved ones will always be one of us, among us.

The word remembering literally means to make a person and an event a “member” of the present moment again, that is, “RE” + “MEMBER”.

That is the greatest surprise of Easter – in the Resurrection of Jesus, there has now come a bond among us all, both living and deceased that cannot be broken, that continues today and hereafter.

That is what Peter was telling his fellow Jews on Pentecost Sunday, asking everyone to remember the words and life of Jesus Christ for that is where we find the surprising moments of life we never realized because we took them for granted.

That is why Paul tells us in the second reading to “seek what is above” – the spiritual things and not the material things because that is where we truly belong. That is where we experience again in the most unique and surprising way the presence of Jesus and of our deceased loved ones.

Great surprises happen on the unseen realms of realities giving meaning to what we see and perceive and feel. In that moment we are surprised that we are suddenly enlightened of why deaths and loss happen because there is something better, more real about to unfold. That moment is a hairline between the temporal and eternal when we get a rare glimpse and taste of the Lord risen, of heaven itself.

*Photo by author, Mary of the Poor, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.*

When my mother died last May, I must confess how I had to swallow many of the homilies I have shared in the past because they are so far from the realities of losing a loved one. That is when we realize too the great surprising truth of how death makes us more whole than before. We feel transformed when what we know and what we feel become one and integrated. It is like the feeling of “a basta!” in Tagalog.

Our task and mission is to be like Mary Magdalene, to proclaim the Lord is risen, to awaken everyone of the many surprising moments of God with us in Jesus which we have taken for granted.

Not every death is the same but all deaths are one in Jesus Christ – a grace, a blessing, a reminder of Easter, of our own resurrection. Now, right here.

With mommy’s death last year, now I have realized too why Jesus appeared first to women on Easter and that is because they, especially mothers have the most intimate link with us here on earth. The umblical cord is never cut off because mothers are the first to believe in their children, the first to believe in God that is why they are our first catechists too. Women and mothers especially are the most intimate persons that they have visions that go beyond sights, enabling them to be surprised most often. Has God ever surprised you in unexpected ways like Easter? Or death and loss? Amen.

*From Facebook, 04 April 2021: “There is an urgency to announce the Joy, the joy of the Risen Lord.”*

Lent is the Cross of Christ

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday after Ash Wednesday, 06 March 2025
Deuteronomy 30:15-20  +  Luke 9:22-25

Why always the Cross,
Lord Jesus Christ?
Many times
I grapple not only
with myself but especially
with others at how to explain,
what to tell them
the need for your Cross
when all in our lives
has always been the cross.
Even the simple act of choosing,
of deciding
is a cross.

And yet,
we still foolishly
choose
death in the process
by avoiding your Cross,
Lord.

Moses said to the people: “Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom” (Deuteronomy 30:15).

In this Season of Lent,
let me appreciate anew
the beauty and majesty,
nobility and divinity 
of your Cross,
Jesus;
always looming in our lives
is your Cross
because that is where
you are always found,
that is where you stay
most of the time
to heal us,
to forgive us,
to save us.
There is always
the Cross in our lives
because it is the direction
to life,
to fulfillment,
to fruitfulness
in you, Jesus
who was the first
to suffer and die
on the Cross
for us
so we can have life.
Let us carry our Cross
to make that crossing
into life in you.
Amen.

The joy of endings

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 17 November 2024
Daniel 12:1-3 ><}}}}*> Hebrews 10:11-14, 18 ><}}}}*> Mark 13;24-32

*Photo by author, the Mount of Olives as seen from the Temple of Jerusalem, May 2019.*

We are now at the penultimate Sunday of our Church calendar ending on the Solemnity of Christ the King next week to usher in the four Sundays of Advent before Christmas. That is why every 33rd Sunday, we hear Jesus speaking about the end of everything to usher in new beginnings in Him.

Jesus said to his disciples: “In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky” (Mark 13:24-27).

After spending a day of teaching at the Temple wherein the Twelve were so impressed with its beauty, Jesus warned them of its impending destruction, explaining it further as they proceeded to rest on Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem below with the magnificent Temple.

No, Jesus was not a “KJ” at all.

Jesus was simply telling His disciples including us today of life’s natural cycles of endings and beginnings. Actually, long before Jesus came, people have always been preoccupied with thoughts of the “end of the world” – with or without God – which persist to these days.

*Photo by Emilio Su00e1nchez on Pexels.com*

Jesus reminds us this Sunday that indeed, the world is going to end but, it is not just a catastrophic end destroying everything. It is an end with a direction, to God and eternal life. It is an end we have to joyously await and prepare for as a new beginning in Jesus Christ.

“Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates… But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:28-29, 32).

"Learn a lesson from the fig tree."

Again, Jesus spoke here in parable which is also the word for “lesson” in Mark’s original Greek writing of the gospel. A parable is a simple story with a deep, profound reality and lesson. That is why Jesus used it so often just like here a few days before His Pasch.

And this is the lesson or parable of the fig tree that Jesus spoke of: most of the trees in Jerusalem are evergreen that keep their leaves all year round despite the changing of season while fig trees are deciduous that shed their leaves in winter and summer. This changing condition made the fig tree a perfect parable about the end of the world that Jesus was speaking of – an end of the season to usher in a new one!

In theology, we call this study of the “end” or “last” things as eschatology. There are two kinds of last things in life that we deal in eschatology: our individual end in our death (particular) and the parousia which is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ at the end of the world (general).

Of course, it is always fearful to think of both endings. We hate endings because they are good byes. However, we know deep inside ourselves too that despite that “sweet, sweet sorrow” of every ending comes also a more wonderful hello, a more amazing new beginning. In reality, there are no endings but more beginnings: when children move out of the home to study, they begin their adult life in college; later on, they leave home for good to get married to start a family of their own. Life is a cycle of beginnings and ends that goes on and on and on.

The trick is really to learn the lesson of the fig tree, that is, to live our lives to the fullest in each season and phase, to learn to let go of the past, to savor every present and look forward to every tomorrow. Yes, it is easier said than done but, as we mature and age gracefully in Jesus Christ, we become fulfilled, less stressed amid the many things we are totally unaware and ignorant of what both particular and general endings would bring us.

*Photo by Alina Vilchenko on Pexels.com*

In presenting to us the parable or lesson of the fig tree regarding the end of our lives or the end of the world – both of which nobody knows when – Jesus is actually encouraging us to live more faithfully in Him and His gospel.

It is useless to know the precise date and hour of both endings nor the exact indications of its imminence; what matters most is that every moment of our lives, we live in Jesus Christ our High Priest who had offered Himself for our salvation (second reading). There is no point in interpreting even visualizing how St. Michael would battle the devil at the end of time; what the prophet Daniel is telling us is how we are assured of victory and salvation in the end if remain faithful to God (first reading).

Live fully by celebrating life. All throughout the year, we have heard Jesus reminding us, assuring us how much He loves us so immensely that is why He became human like us; in His coming, He joined us in all our sufferings except sin to show us that the path back to the Father in heaven is through the path of His Cross.

Despite my coming to Israel thrice, I have never tasted a fresh fig but have always loved it even better than dates. Its sweet taste and tiny bits of seeds inside make it always a pleasure to eat. If we can truly learn its lesson, we can end up like figs too – delightfully sweet inside.

I recently bought an electric shave as an early Christmas gift to myself. I really don’t mind seeing my hair including mustache and beard turning grey and white; what bothers me lately is how my skin has become so easily irritated by my razor. Yes, I am getting older with skin sagging and add to that a vision getting blurred that shaving with a razor every morning is no longer fun but short of an agony.

As I examined my new shave set, I remembered a Japanese saying I used to tell young people before in my talks and recollections, “Growing up is nice, but sometimes painful.”

Indeed, growing up is nice – and ageing is even nicer though twice painful sometimes.

Like the fig tree, I can sense losing a lot of myself daily, yet becoming more tender and softer in the process, simpler and more joyful, perhaps. To my fellow 59ers and above, May the Lord Jesus lead us through the end in His loving embrace. Amen.