Tag: discipleship

Discipleship, not membership

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 29 September 2024
Numbers 11:25-29 ><}}}}*> James 5:1-6 ><}}}}*> Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
Photo by author, ongoing works on the stained glass of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City, 24 July 2024.

Our Sunday gospel is getting more exciting each week as Jesus gets closer to Jerusalem in fulfillment of His mission with His Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

One thing we see these past Sundays is how Mark followed a certain series of contrasts in the trajectory of his reportage. Note the contrasting scenes with every Sunday as we find today the Twelve appeared united as one unlike last week when they debated on the way who was the greatest among them.

More than that, Mark narrated today two strongly contrasting components of the Lord’s teachings to His disciples about discipleship and membership.

Photo by author in Magalang, Pampanga, 23 September 2024.

First is His tolerance on those who do good even though they do not belong to His fold, telling us to let everyone do what is good because no one has a monopoly of serving.

At that time, John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:38-40).

Then in a sudden shift, Jesus severely criticized those who cause scandal, strongly urging His disciples including us today to totally eradicate whatever that leads us to sin and evil. Rejecting sin is discipleship in essence, not membership.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the un quenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna” (Mark 9:42-43, 45, 47).

Jesus teaching his Twelve Apostles, from GettyImages.

What a lively discussion the Twelve must have had that day with Jesus. This scene is a favorite of many Christians when discussing the scriptures, of how they are to be understood and interpreted with our ready excuses that Jesus did not literally mean what He said about cutting off our sinful hand or sinful foot and plucking out our sinful eye.

But, have we really reflected on its meanings and implications to our lives today?

Jesus reminds us this Sunday that discipleship is more than membership because in doing what is good, “the sky is the limit” so to speak. No disciple of Christ can lay claim to a monopoly in doing what is good, serving others; moreover, no disciple of Christ can belittle the good works of others even if they do not belong to the same religion or church.

Photo by author in Magalang, Pampanga 23 September 2024.

When our good deeds become “exclusive” and selective, then, that cease to be good.

Our ability to do good is always a grace of God, a gift poured out upon us by God daily so that we can be more loving and caring, more understanding and forgiving to one another. The moment we forget that, then, we start playing God.

In telling His disciples to let that man exorcize those possessed even he were not among the Twelve was clearly a command for us to recognize all who do good as brothers and sisters even if they do not necessarily share our beliefs and traditions. It is a call to respect one another.

Recall how in John’s gospel Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd who has other sheep not in this fold. And we cannot deny that many times those who do not belong to our Church or group are doing better in serving others than us who are so entangled with bureaucracy and programs or procedures, not to mention fame and other selfish motives.

This attitude of having a monopoly of ministries and charities is one serious malady afflicting parishes today. Very often, the people with this attitude are the cordon sanitaire of priests who most likely are a Jollibee or a pabida since they were seminarians. They are the epal for short who volunteer in everything leaving nothing else for others to do, eventually spawning more pabida and epal in the church. Many parishioners refuse to serve not because they are lazy nor indifferent nor afraid but simply they are never given a chance to serve due to the monopolistic attitudes of some. It is a sad case of ministry and service based on membership than discipleship.

Photo by author in Magalang, Pampanga 23 September 2024.

Jesus is telling us this Sunday that there should be no divisions in doing good. Allow others to do good! Give them the chance to enter heaven too with their services and charities.

God wants us all to be “prophets” as explained by Moses to Joshua in the first reading when Meldad and Eldad prophesied even though they were not present in the Lord’s meeting tent. Moses rightly identified “jealousy” as one reason for such monopolistic attitude of good works by some believers.

Sin is the only obstacle in doing good, not membership. That is why, Jesus was severely stern in His words, telling how better it is for one causing others to sin to be thrown into the sea with a great millstone around one’s neck. Or, to cut off one’s hand or foot, and pluck out one’s eye that cause anyone to sin.

Photo by author at Fatima Ave., Valenzuela City, 25 July 2024.

If doing good were “sky is the limit” among disciples of Jesus, sin definitely has no room among us.

See how in this Sunday gospel Jesus implied to John and other disciples including us today of the grave sin of pride when we have that attitude of having a monopoly of good works, of relying more on membership than discipleship. It makes us proud and bloats our ego, leading us to more sins along the way until later on, we succumb to what the Greeks called as hubris.

That is why St. James in the second reading instructed us to examine our attitudes on social ills like poverty and inequality because wealth, like fame and glory, are always stained by sin.

A good disciple is always a good member of the Church – or any team and organization for that matter. Most of all, in our own family and circle of friends!

From Caesarea Philippi down to Capernaum that began three Sundays ago, Mark has continued to show us who Jesus really is, as the Christ who invites us with a personal answer to His same question to the Twelve, “who do you say that I am?” (Mk. 8:29).

The contrasts we found in Him today are not opposed to each other like His meekness with the sick and toughness with those who cause sin. Jesus is very open with anyone doing good, being kind and helpful but amid all these contrasts, He remains firm on His demands on discipleship rooted on His Cross, not just membership or being called a Christian.

When we look on His face, on His person, we find integrity and coherence, wholeness and holiness for Jesus is the Christ who had come to make us all divine, to become holy like Him “filled with His spirit” (Num. 11:29). Amen. Have a blessed week and October ahead!

Photo by Ka Ruben, the new stained glass at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City, 13 September 2024.

Bearers of light

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Twenty-third Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 10 September 2024
1 Corinthians 6:1-11     <*[[[[><  +  ><]]]]*>     Luke 6:12-19
By Kay Bratt, Facebook, 13 December 2023.
Thank you,
Lord Jesus Christ
for continuing to call us
to be your disciples
and apostles,
inviting us to get closer
with You like the Twelve
to share your light
first of all to our fellow
disciples and apostles 
who have lost their will
to burn.

Now indeed then it is, in any case, a failure on your part that you have lawsuits against one another. Why not rather put up with injustice? Why not rather let yourselves be cheated? Instead, you inflict injustice and cheat, and this to brothers. Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the Kingdom of God? That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had yourselves washed , you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:7-9, 11).

Forgive us, Lord Jesus,
when many times we live and
act like the Corinthian Christians
forgetting our new person in You
received in Baptism,
when we turn to the courts
to get justice that often terribly
end in bitterness and recriminations;
instead of bearing your light of
justice and mercy,
love and equality,
kindness and tenderness,
we resort to the ways of the world,
endlessly debating on technicalities
that we forget the person and the
wrongs and evil done;
let us return to you,
Jesus, the true Light of the world
to dispel the darkness of sin
and evil around us
by being your witnesses 
of the good news of salvation
as your new chosen people.
Amen.

Learning, following, sending… again. And again.

Homily, Baccalaureate Mass, College Students
Our Lady of Fatima University-Antipolo City, 10 July 2024
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Our gospel today speaks so well of your graduation when “Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and even illness. The names of the Twelve Apostles are these…” (Matthew 10:1).

See how Matthew distinguished the Twelve: first, as disciples then as Apostles, a beautiful reminder to us all that first we learn and then we are sent out like you upon graduation.

Photo by shy sol on Pexels.com

“Disciple” is from the Latin word discipulos or follower which came from the verb discere, to learn. A follower or tagasunod in Filipino is a learner, someone who learns from a teacher. From it came also the word discipline; that is why, a disciplined person – one who is masunurin – is one who follows and obeys always not only persons but also the truths and new learnings he/she may have learned.

On the other hand, the word “apostle” is from the Greek apostolos which is to be sent forth. In the gospel, the Apostles are the Twelve members of Christ’s inner circle, those closest with Jesus. Though the gospel would always have that distinction between a disciple and an apostle, they are essentially inseparable because before one is sent forth, he/she has to be learned first. Therefore, every baptized person is both a disciple and an apostle, a learner of the Lord’s ways and teachings who is sent out to proclaim the Gospel to others in words and in deeds.

Every Christian is a disciple and an apostle with a special relationship with Jesus Christ.

That is most specially true with you, my dear Fatimanians, students and graduates of Our Lady of Fatima University here in Antipolo City.

“The Exhortation to the Apostles” painting by James Tissot (ca.1886-1894) from commons.wikimedia.org.

Being a disciple and an apostle is a continuous process of learning, following and sending.

Don’t ever think that graduation is the end of your studies. The more you get into your professional life, the more you must pursue learning to follow new trends in your fields of specialization as you are sent not only across the Philippines but even abroad, across the globe like most of our alumni.

Being a disciple and an apostle, learning and following and being sent, are more of the inside than of the outside. Remember that first lesson of the pencil: what is inside is most important, not the outside which today is given more importance and prominence especially in social media.

Puro palabas. All about the outside and externalities that are superficial like having the most likes, becoming viral and trending. It is all show which is what the word palabas means. Showbiz na show biz tayo pero walang laman.

When you look at the mirror like what the BINI would sing, “salamin, salamin…”, what do you see? Are you a reflection of a man or a woman of depth and meaning or one who is empty?

Learning is not about stacking information and data inside the brain like a computer; learning involves the education of the heart, of becoming “man as man himself” as we say here at OLFU. “To rise to the top” is not to rule over others but becoming “the glory of God in man fully alive”, reflecting our mottos Veritas et Misericordia.

As you leave the portals of our beloved alma mater, ask yourself: am I more loving and understanding with all the knowledge and learning I have gained after years of studies here at OLFU?

Education literally means “to lead out”… from darkness into light, from slavery into freedom, from ignorance into wisdom. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that the more we gain knowledge, the more we become intelligent, the more we must become holy. A truly intelligent person is one who does what is good and avoids evil and sinful. But, why are we as a nation of so many graduates still kulelat in many aspects in life?

From The Valenzuela Times, 02 July 2024.

You must have seen that photo of our nursing student carrying on his back his girlfriend while crossing the flooded McArthur Highway in Valenzuela City last week.

At first I was so happy seeing that chivalry is still alive in this modern age; later that night, I felt disappointed and so sad when I saw the negative reactions. Most netizens clicked the LOL emoticons with others commenting the girl was OA, saying, sana nagholding hands na lang sila. At least some were honest enough to admit their jealousy, commenting sanaol!

Why the negative reaction these days when somebody does something good like sacrificing? Why do people seem to approve when we see videos and reels of wrongdoings and stupidities? Have we become a nation of delulu?

Even the words we use are being altered. I cannot understand why a girl is now spelled as gurl? Somebody asked me who is my bias among the lovely members of BINI; why say bias when you mean favorite?

Call me old and conservative but the trend these days seem to be rejoicing in what is negative and wrong and frowning at whatever is good and beautiful. Clearly it is not generation gap but more of a symptom of a sick society and generation, exactly like what Hosea mentioned in the first reading, of how people have turned away from God worshipping idols. Who and what are these modern idols we worship and follow these days? Do we still call on God our Father and to His Son Jesus Christ our Savior?

Photo by author, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 2023.

If there is anything most important we must have learned in our university, it is the value of prayer, of opening to God like those three children at Fatima in 1917. See how the Blessed Mother, our Patroness, came to see and teach St. Francisco and his sister St. Jacinta Marto with their elder cousin Sr. Lucia for six consecutive months every 13th day to pray, do penance and celebrate the Mass.

It is my hope that you continue to pray the Rosary, you continue to celebrate Masses on Sundays after your graduation to always learn and follow Jesus who actually sends you to serve those most in need as nurses, medical technologists, pharmacists, accountants, and criminologists. Be the loving hands, the healing hands of Jesus Christ!

Remember what I have been telling you since I came here in Our Lady of Fatima University: even now that you are professionals, continue to study hard, work harder, and pray hardest. God bless you, dear graduates of 2024!

From the cbcpnews.net, 13 May 2022, at the Parish of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City.

First we learn, then we are sent

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 10 July 2024
Hosea 10:1-3, 7-8, 12     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     Matthew 10:1-7
Photo by shy sol on Pexels.com

Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. The names of the Twelve Apostles are these… (Matthew 10:1-2).

Latin "discipulus" from "discere" which is to learn,
is a follower, someone who learns from a teacher;

Greek "apostolos" from "apostello"
is someone sent ahead out on a mission,
deputed to disseminate the teaching of
the master to others.
Lord Jesus Christ,
teach us to patiently learn
your lessons,
following and obeying
your instructions always
as true disciples
so that eventually,
You could send us out
like the Twelve Apostles
to carry out your mission
in this highly complicated and
competitive world.
How sad the words
 of the Prophet Hosea
are still happening these days
among us:
"Israel is a luxuriant vine
whose fruit matches its growth.
The more abundant his fruit,
the more altars he set up"
(Hosea 10:1-2).
Sad to say, O Lord,
those You have sent
have refused to learn,
have ceased from being
disciples because they too
have been lured into the ways
of the world; like yesterday,
many disciples follow the calls
of the world instead of God;
that is why, we have no more
Apostles who could be sent ahead
of You, Jesus, to proclaim You;
many of us have never learned
truly from You,
lacking discipline
in prayer and discerning
your will and plans;
let us seek your face
always, Lord,
so we may do your will
not the ways of the world;
let us seek your face,
Lord, among your people
especially the weak and marginalized
so we may be able to proclaim
"the Kingdom of heaven
is at hand."
Amen.

Mary, Mother of the Church, our model disciple & companion in the mission

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church, 20 May 2024
Acts 1:12-14     ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*>     John 19:25-34
Icon of Mary “Mater Ecclesiae” (Mother of the Church) in St. Peter’s Square from opusdei.org.
What a wonderful way 
of assuring us today, dear Jesus,
at the resumption of Ordinary Time
of Your presence and guidance
throughout this year in giving 
us Your Mother the Blessed Virgin Mary
as "Mater Ecclesiae",
Mother of the Church.
From the very beginning,
during Your public ministry
until Your death on the Cross,
Mary Your Mother has always
stood by Your side, Jesus;
when You sent the Holy Spirit
on that Pentecost day in Jerusalem,
Mary was also present with
Your disciples praying in the
Upper Room: "All these
devoted themselves 
with one accord to prayer,
together with some women,
and Mary the mother of Jesus,
and his brothers" (Acts 1:12).
What a beautiful portrayal
of the Church on its very first day
as Your Body, O Christ, 
gathered in prayer with Mary 
whom You have given to us through
Your beloved disciple at the Cross:
"When Jesus saw his mother 
and the disciple there whom he loved,
he said to his mother, 'Woman,
behold your son.' 
Then he said to the disciple,
'Behold, your mother'" (John 19:26-27).
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
As we resume today
Ordinary Time,
may we imitate Mary
Your Mother, O Lord,
in being a faithful disciple,
open to welcome
and accept You, Jesus,
saying "Yes" to Your will
like at the Annunciation;
let our faith in You be firm
like hers at the wedding at Cana
when she told You immediately
how the newly-weds have ran out
of wine, instructing the servants
to do whatever "he tells you";
most of all, like Mary,
let us remain intimate with You,
Jesus in prayers,
her most important trait
as Your faithful and model disciple.
Teach us, dear Jesus,
to be like Mary,
deeply absorbed in You
in prayers;
her standing at the Cross
was not a result of a spur in the moment
but the fruit of her long, vibrant prayer
life centered in You her Son;
unlike us, we come and pray
 to You only when we are
 going through trials and difficulties
but when everything is going well
in life, we hardly remember You, Lord,
nor pray at all.
All her life,
Mary lived in prayer,
in communion and oneness
in You, Jesus
that is why when the Church
was born on Pentecost,
Mary was there.
She has always been
with us as our Mother
and companion in mission;
let us be like Mary
in her discipleship that
is essentially 
a prayer life.
Amen.
Photo by author, Della Strada Chapel, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.

When we make Christmas not merry

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Feast of St. Stephen, First Martyr of the Church, 26 December 2023
Acts 6:8-10, 7:54-59 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Matthew 10:17-22
Photo by author, December 2017.
Every year, dear Jesus,
you remind us a day after your birthday
to always remember the Cross looming behind
your manger in Bethlehem with the feast of
our first martyr, St. Stephen;
you remind us how in your coming
life will be more challenging
for us as your disciples.

“You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved.”

Matthew 10:22
Every year also, dear Jesus,
on this day we remember and reflect on
the many times life has been so difficult
for us, especially in witnessing your
Gospel in words and in deeds;
but so often, we forget how we ourselves
your disciples cause so much pains
and sufferings among other disciples
when we ourselves are the ones who
"hand over" or betray out loved ones
with our infidelities, jealousies, and greed;
so often we forget how we your disciples
"hand over" or betray our own family 
members to so much agony when 
couples are unfaithful to each other,
when parents disregard thier children
for their various pursuits in the guise of loving them,
when children quarrel with each other,
when children disobey their parents,
and so many other sins that make
our loved ones not be merry at all
especially this Christmas.
For all our sins,
of running away from your Cross,
dear Jesus,
in making others Christmas not merry,
forgive us and have mercy.
Amen.

Life is not a dress rehearsal

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 15 October 2023
Isaiah 25:6-10 ><}}}}*> Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20 ><}}}}*> Matthew 22:1-14
Photo by Mr. Jay Javier in Taal, Batangas, 15 February 2014.

I grew up in a generation when dressing properly – meaning, decently – was deeply inculcated both at home and the school. It has always been considered in our time as a sign of maturity when we come properly attired in every occasion.

Now, those days are gone along with the expression “Sunday’s best” when sneakers are paired with formal suits and worn even in weddings! Dressing has become so relative with total disregard for basic fashion sense and worst of all, without any sense of propriety at all in the name of personal comfort and style as well as individuality. That culture on “liberal” or “liberated” dressing has encroached into the church with priests refusing to wear the proper garments and dress as required by Code of Canon law. How ironic that while the lay people appreciate us priests dressed properly for the liturgy and ministry, the harshest insults and negative reactions against it come from some priests who argue using the hot weather as an excuse. Many priests have subscribed to the lame excuse of people that clothes do not make us who we are, that there is much more beneath the clothing we wear of who we really are.

True but not absolutely because what we wear, how we look outside is indicative of who we are, what we value, what we believe in. Dress speaks a lot about ourselves whether we like it or not as the Lord’s parable this Sunday teaches us.

The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’ Many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Matthew 22:11-14
Photo by Fr. RA Valmadrid, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, 13 October 2023.

We now come to the third and final series of parables addressed by Jesus Christ directly to his enemies, the chief priests and elders of the people while teaching at the temple area in Jerusalem to underscore to them the need to reform their lives and be converted to his good news of salvation like the tax collectors and prostitutes.

See how in today’s parable some semblances with the parables of the two sons and wicked tenants of the past two weeks to show us God’s loving patience in doing everything to make us come to him like the subjects of the king with all the chances to come to his son’s wedding banquet.

And like with the parables of the past two Sundays, Matthew makes again a crucial twist in today’s parable that can be sufficiently ended in that part when the king was enraged by the continued refusal of his guests to come to his son’s wedding banquet that he ordered them all killed and instead extended his invitation to everyone in the streets.

The wedding banquet is heaven like the vineyard in the parables of the past two Sundays.

But it is not only referring to heaven at the end of time but also speaks so well of the here and now – the present life we live as citizens of the kingdom of God in Jesus Christ. Rejecting the invitation to come to the meal which as an expression of our citizenship in God’s kingdom is an act of disloyalty and treason against him.

Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago, Hearts of Jesus and Mary parish, Malolos City, 2022.

When we were baptized, we became citizens of the kingdom of God. We do our “pledge of allegiance” to God as his citizens every time we pray and most especially celebrate Mass which is just half of the whole deal of being citizens of his kingdom! Like in being Filipinos or whatever nationality we have, we must live up to our citizenship in God’s kingdom by being good and holy. That is the wedding dress referred to in the parable, the life we lead as children and citizens of God and his kingdom.

Jesus invites us today to face squarely the uncomfortable issues that prevent us from being his good and faithful disciples and citizens of God’s kingdom. Many times we are like those invited guests in the parable who allowed something else in their lives like their wealth and possession, businesses and worldly pursuits become more important than their allegiance to the King. Every time we sin, every time we skip the Sunday Mass, that is when we have our new God and King that may be our very selves, gadgets, vices, or the malls we frequent more than the church!

Here we find a deepening in Jesus Christ’s invitation to conversion into conforming our lives into him. St. Paul made a lot of beautiful imageries of “putting on Jesus Christ” as our new clothes and garment which we have retained in the Rite of Baptism when the newly baptized is clothed with the white dress. See how the man caught by the king fell silent when confronted because there was no excuse at all at not wearing the wedding dress in the banquet. The same thing is true with us today. We have no excuse for not being dressed, for not being conformed in Jesus Christ in our lives as his disciples. Everyday he gives us the opportunities of being conformed to him through our daily conversions through prayers and good works. God does not expect us to wear extravagant nor expensive clothes for his wedding banquet; just a clean and decent clothes are enough. Nobody is perfect.

Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD at Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 13 September 2023.

One of the things I used to enjoy in my school and seminary days were joining stage plays. Yes, I love acting but I just don’t know if acting (and singing) love me. Nonetheless, one of our most dreaded moments before the actual play was always the dress rehearsal when everything is considered as the “real thing”, the real play as our teaches and nuns have insisted when we were supposed to have memorized our lines and cues.

But, as I grew and matured, I realized that life is not a dress rehearsal at all; each day is an actual “play”, a “live” presentation where we must “perform” or “act” so well. Yes, we are all required to memorize our lines and cues in life but many times, we forget them. Nobody is perfect. And here lies the immense love and kindness of God to us: he allows us to improvise for our selves in case we have forgotten our lines just like those people instantly invited to the wedding banquet of the King’s son. They were able to improvise to make it to the banquet hall except for that one who came not dressed for the occasion. He was silent because he was so lazy to improvise, to find ways like the chief priests and elders in the time of the Lord. Until now, many of us make a lot of excuses and alibis for not being conformed in Christ, from the ordinary excuse of being “difficult” to the most absurd that “I am only human” or tao lamang, mahina at marupok. Keep in mind St. Paul’s words in the second reading, “I can do all things in him who strengthens me… My God will supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Phil.4:13, 19).

Photo by Ka Ruben, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, 2022.

Every Sunday we are invited to celebrate with others the coming of Jesus and the salvation he has won for us. This wedding banquet is the Sunday Mass we celebrate, a fulfillment of the first reading from Isaiah of that mountain where “the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines” (Is. 25:6). In the Holy Eucharist, we have the choicest food and drinks – the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ – given to us to nourish us and keep us strong in this journey of life into eternity in heaven with the Father.

How amazing that nothing is really imposed upon us in coming to this banquet of the Lord in the Eucharist that is totally free of charge except that we have to come properly dressed on the inside, of being conformed in him.

But please, let’s get dressed also on the outside. No need to wear expensive and beautiful clothes. Just proper and clean ones are more than enough. A good rule of thumb we can rely on is this: God has blessed me tremendously this week and I am coming to celebrate with him, for him. How do I look to to express to him my gratitude and appreciation to his wondrous gifts? Amen. It is a Sunday, go to Mass!

Possessed by Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 02 July 2023
2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16 ><}}}}*> Romans 6:3-4, 8-11 ><}}}}*> Matthew 10:37-42
Photo by author, Our Lady of Fatima University-Quezon City with the La Mesa Dam Forest Reserve at the back, 01 July 2023.

Jesus continues to instruct the Twelve with important lessons on discipleship as he sent them on their first mission the other week. Last Sunday he taught them – including us today – to face all fears not to be fearless of anything or anyone but to fear only God.

Today, Jesus cautions us not to be unduly influenced by people especially those closest to us in fulfilling our mission in him. Very often, intimidation and influence can be used to adversely affect our ministry that eventually veer us away from our Lord Jesus Christ in the process. Hence, his encouragement too for us to persevere through those influences as we follow him.

Jesus said to his apostles: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Matthew 10:37-39
James J. Tissot, ‘The Exhortation to the Apostles’ (1886-94) from Getty Images.

Being a Christian is being possessed by Christ. That is why he told us last week to “be not afraid of those who kill the body but not the soul” so that we fear only him our Lord Jesus Christ in the sense that we lose all meaning in life without him.

To be possessed by Jesus Christ is to have a life centered in him, detached from undue influences including from our family and friends especially us priests and religious. When priests focus more with self and family or with other people instead of Jesus Christ, everything crumbles – pati sutana nalaglag na! That is when priesthood becomes a career and a means for social mobility and livelihood with money as the priest’s new “lord and master”.

Priesthood is Jesus Christ, the Caller, not the call as I have always insisted to seminarians I teach and direct. Problems happen when the Caller is dislodged from the top spot and focus shifts on the call or priesthood when priests literally and figuratively throw their weight around when we hear the notorious lines “matutulog ang pari, pagod and pari, unawain ang pari”.

Photo by Ka Ruben, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, August 2022.

Discipleship in general of which the priesthood is just a part is indeed a very difficult life. Nobody said it would be easy as the opening instructions of Jesus to the Twelve clearly stated, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.”

Jesus is not asking us to disregard our family and friends. What Jesus is telling us is actually a warning against too much expectations that our family and friends would love and embrace him too inasmuch as we have given ourselves to him. Not true at all, sad to say.

There are times that those closest to us are the ones who could not accept Jesus Christ’s call of discipleship. There are times that the most difficult people to be catechized and evangelized are those dearest to us.

Many of us must have felt in many instances how our family or friends are the ones who reject the ways of Jesus, the values of Christ. In this highly competitive world so exaggerated by the social media when everyone feels so entitled and deserving for everything, people have become so impersonal in dealing with each other, forgetting the basic courtesies in life, especially respect and kindness. Many are blinded by fame and wealth forgetting God and the people around them.

Photo by Mr. Mon Macatangga, 12 May 2023.

This Sunday, Jesus is teaching us to always have him as the basis and foundation of our relationships. Remember the gospel two Sundays ago when upon seeing the crowds Jesus was “moved with pity because they were troubled and abandoned like sheep without a shepherd” that he taught us to pray for more workers in the harvest (Mt.9:36-37). The problems in the world can never be solved by money and any material thing but only by another person, by someone with the heart and face of Christ filled with his warmth and his loving presence, someone not afraid to love, not afraid to get hurt, not influenced by fads and trends or by what others say.

Everything in this life, in our ministry and in our discipleship has to be seen in the light of Jesus Christ. Things become cloudy or dull and shady when Jesus is absent that can greatly affect, for better or for worse, our relationships with one another. This we see in the first reading about the hospitality offered by that Shumenite woman to Elisha the prophet whom she recognized as a man of God. Elisha clearly saw the woman’s basis of hospitality – God – that he never abused it. In fact, we find a trace of humor when Elisha had to ask his servant what their graceful hostess most needed to reward her hospitality. Sometimes like Elisha in our being so focused in serving the Lord, we become so ignorant of the most obvious with those closest to us; imagine Elisha asking his servant what to reward the Shumenite woman, his seeming oblivious to the fact she and husband were childless! Eventually, Elisha would grant the couple the gift of a son whom he would later bring back to life.

At my 25th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood with friends from UST’s the Varsitarian, 18 April 2023.

To be possessed by Christ means to be “dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus” as St. Paul explained in our second reading today (Rom.6:11). For some it may sound foolish but that is the reality and mystery of life we have been reflecting since the resumption of Ordinary Time last month. It is what we call as Christian paradox when in our sharing in Christ’s paschal mystery of his suffering and death, that is also when we find and experience our resurrection and life.

Last Monday, a very dear friend died, Sr. Gina of the Religious of Good Shepherd. We met in 1984 when I joined UST’s the Varsitarian where she was an outgoing staff member. She was the one who proclaimed the first reading at my celebration of my 25th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood last April 18.

Photo by author, Chapel of the RGS Mother House in Quezon City, 29 June 2023.

When I first invited her to my anniversary, she declined due to a big retreat of priests at their spirituality center in Tagaytay; within a few hours, she texted me back and told me she would fix her schedule so she could come to my anniversary celebration. She later texted me twice to insist she had to be present at my silver anniversary.

Unknown to us all, her cancer had recurred and metastasized last November which we learned only June 28 when the RGS Sisters issued a health bulletin about her condition. Sr. Gina had decided to stop all medications to wait for the inevitable at their mother house in Quezon City two weeks earlier. June 29 she texted me to inform me of her condition. I was so happy to chat a few lines with her, asking her if I could visit her this week.

She never replied.

When I learned her condition the other Wednesday night, I cried as I realized the very reason why she insisted on coming to my anniversary in April: to remind me we are possessed by Jesus, only Jesus, always Jesus. Please pray for her beautiful soul. Thank you and God bless!

Facing our fears

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 25 June 2023
Jeremiah 20:10-13 ><]]]]'> Romans 5:12-15 ><]]]]'> Matthew 10:26-33
Photo from https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/19/europe/titanic-shipwreck-vessel-missing-intl/index.html.

The recent news this week of the implosion of the submersible “Titan” with the death of its five passengers trying to reach the Titanic wreckage at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean had elicited a lot of different reactions from various people around the globe.

While I wonder what’s really behind this obsession by some whites with the Titanic, they made me imagine the kind of courage those five men have to dare journey into the bottom of the sea on board their craft despite its highly questionable worth in safety and reliability. At least as I prayed over this Sunday’s gospel, OceanGate’s “Titan” passengers made me examine and contemplate my courage and fears in life both as a person and as a priest.

How much am I willing to risk in pursuing God, in serving his flock? Will I be able to give my life wholly like those five passengers in trying to see the wreckage of the Titanic that sank in 1912?

Jesus said to the Twelve: “Fear no one. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. So do not be afraid…

Matthew 10:26-28, 31
James J. Tissot, ‘The Exhortation to the Apostles’ (1886-94) from Getty Images.

Jesus chose his twelve Apostles last Sunday to proclaim his good news of salvation to “the lost house of Israel” after seeing them “tired and troubled, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt.9:36).

As he sent them to their first mission, Jesus gave them some important instructions which the gospel tells us today and next Sunday. And leading the list of those instructions is the need to take courage when he told them to “fear no one” and twice to “do not be afraid”.

But first, let us clarify that courage is not the same with bravery that often refers to being able to do great feats like those extreme sports we see in social media. Most often, bravery is closely associated with skills like bungee jumping, sky diving, and skateboarding. Courage is different. It is from the Latin word cor or corazon in Spanish, the heart. To fear no one and be not afraid are expressions of courage, of drawing strength from one’s inner core – the heart – where God dwells. To draw strength from the heart which is the core of every person means to give one’s total self, more difficult than just risking a part of ourselves like an arm or a leg that is often the case with bravery.

Secondly, when Christ told his Apostles that included us today to fear no one and do not be afraid, he was not only instructing us to have courage but most of all showing us too the contrast of fear of human beings and the world with the fear of God.

Photo by author, Anvaya Cove, 19 May 2023.

What do I mean?

Courage is not everything. True courage is still having fears – of being afraid of God, of not being able to follow him, not being able to stand by him, of turning away from him in sin as St. Paul reminded us in the second reading. There will always be fears within us but with courage, we face all fears because we realize in our own weaknesses and shortcomings, there is the power and love of God who values us so much than sparrows and knows the number of our hair (vv.29-31).

Most beautiful example is the Prophet Jeremiah who revealed in his book his weaknesses like his being inadequate in himself due to his being timid and hypersensitive. Read the preceding verses before our first reading today to see how Jeremiah could not resist God who had duped/seduced him that he chose to remain faithful despite the great pains and sufferings he had to face as God’s prophet (Jer. 20:7ff). More than the fears of men who were actually his compatriots bent on hurting him, there was still that greater fear of turning away from God who gives him so much strength to overcome his trials in life. Here we find true courage in Jeremiah when amid his great fears for his life, his trust in God becomes a song of praise:

“O Lord of hosts, you who test the just, who probe mind and heart, let me witness the vengeance you take on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause. Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for he has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked!”

Jeremiah 20:12-13
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD in San Antonio, Zambales, 05 June 2023.

What matters most in this life above all is God. Every pursuit we make, no matter how great are the dangers may be, may we have the courage to examine ourselves, our motives: is it for God or for myself? This is the essence of discipleship.

If what we pursue is for God, it would surely bring joy and fulfillment to people though it would entail sufferings and hardships, even death for us. By all means, go for it like Jeremiah and St. Paul and all the saints including the men and women of science and letters who toiled so hard amid great dangers and obstacles to serve God and people.

But, if our pursuit is for money or fame or position – for one’s self – it could bring only a little and fleeting joy, perhaps make a noise in the world or social media for a little while but we end up sorely losing everything, feeling disgusted and more fearful than ever in losing God.

May the Lord grant us the courage to be always true to him and his call. Amen. Have blessed week as you welcome July!