Easter is God dwelling in us

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sixth Sunday in Easter, Cycle C, 25 May 2025
Acts 15:1-2, 22-29 ><}}}}*> Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23 ><}}}}*> John 14:23-29

*Photo by author, Chapel of the Angel of Peace, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 28 March 2025.*

Let us start again our Sunday reflection from the Book of Revelation where we heard last week John mentioning the word “new” four times when he saw “new heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem” coming with a voice of the Lord declaring “I make all things new” (Revelation 21:1, 2, 5).

In continuing his narration this Sunday of his visions while imprisoned in Patmos, John tells us how he not merely “saw” but also “experienced” heaven when he wrote:

The Angel took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal… I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb (Revelation 21:10-11, 22).

I saw no temple in the city, 
for its temple is the Lord God almighty 
and the Lamb.

Try imagining John’s experience of heaven, almost indescribable for its beauty and majesty as the very presence of God when he specified “there is no temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb.”

John reminds us again this Sunday that though these new heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem are the things to come at the end of time, these are already happening right now in our midst. His description of heaven like jasper and other precious stones indicate not only the incomparable beauty of heaven but the very truth that our home is in God. Thus, an invitation too for us today to live in the light of God for he dwells among us in Christ.

This “divine indwelling” has always been a part of our Catholic doctrine.

*Photo by author, Cabo da Roca, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 14 May 2025.*

Recall how in the Old Testament during the chosen people’s wandering in the desert when God dwelled among them in a tent or booth called sukkoth where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. God’s presence was marked by a pillar of smoke over the tent at daytime and a pillar of fire at night. From this came their Feast of the Booths being the dwelling of God; hence, at the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor, Peter told the Lord how they would build booths for him, Moses and Elijah as he felt they were already in heaven!

Booth or tent or temple. Or church.

These indicate the presence of God now manifest in Jesus Christ, “the word who became flesh and dwelled among us.” That is why these past three Sundays of Easter we returned to his words spoken at the Last Supper to deepen our understanding and appreciation of Easter that teaches us about our relationship in God expressed with one another.

Two Sundays ago Jesus identified himself as the Good Shepherd who knows his sheep, us; then, last Sunday he gave us his “new commandment” of love that is rooted in God, a love that leads to our communion or oneness with God like Jesus and the Father. This Sunday, Jesus deepens that relationship we all have in him in the Father which perfectly matches the vision and experience of John found in the Book of Revelation.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (John 14:23).

*Photo by author, Cabo da Roca, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 15 May 2025.*

This “dwelling” of Jesus and the Father among those who love him and keep his word is the Church, his Body which we his disciples make up.

In instructing his disciples at the Last Supper that included us today to keep his word and commandment to love, Jesus taught how this love is manifested in the Church, his Body, the indwelling of God in Jesus Christ with us his people.

Recall when the curtain in the temple was torn apart from top to bottom at his death on Good Friday that signaled the end of temple worship when people will worship in truth and in spirit as Jesus had spoken to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well.

When Pope Leo XIV was elected two weeks ago, one of the news that have struck me was about the presence of non-Catholics at St. Peter’s Square celebrating on that day. According to the news, the non-Catholics joined the crowds because they never felt such kind of unity where people were one in praising God, celebrating his loving presence in gifting the world – not just Catholics – with a Pope as the Vicar of Christ.

What a beautiful reality we now have of God’s dwelling among us as the Church!

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2025.*

From the Hebrew concept of qahal or congregation, Jesus linked love and his dwelling with his disciples in forming a community as his Body, the new Temple he had told he would raise in three days we now call the church which in Greek is called ekklesia that literally means to lead out “ek” the people, “kaleo”. Loving and dwelling of God among us is the reality of the Church as a community of believers called to lead others out of darkness into light, out of emptiness into fullness, out of death into life in Jesus Christ – exactly what the early Church did in our first reading today when they agreed not to impose burdens on gentile converts like circumcision and other Jewish traditions.

The Church herself is a Sacrament, a visible sign of Jesus Christ’s saving presence along with the other seven sacraments we have. The challenge is how these sacraments become dynamic ways of living for us, truly a Divine indwelling and not just signs we go through.

Every Sunday in the Mass, we renew our baptismal vows as children of God, expressing our love for each other as a community, visibly the dwelling of God, making the new heaven, the new earth and the new Jerusalem not just a vision but a reality happening now. Let us pray:

Lord Jesus Christ,
dwell in us,
dwell among us
by making us follow your light
not the artificial lights of the world;
let us keep your word
by loving more like you
for where there is love,
there is God dwelling in us
because he is love himself.
Amen.

Friends in Christ

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 23 May 2025
Acts 15:22-31     <'[[[[><  +  ><]]]]'>     John 15:12-17

Thank you, 
dear Jesus
in choosing me
and making me your friend;
let me be a friend to others too
like you.

You said it so well,
Lord, "You are my friends
if you do what I command you" -
which is to love!
Furthermore, 
you told us, "I no longer
call you slaves, because a slave
does not know what his master
is doing" (John 15:14) but,
how sad that we do the opposite:
we do not truly love one another
like you, taking each one as a friend;
worst, we make others like slaves
especially if they are not like us
in color and status, belief and gender.

Teach us,
dear Jesus,
to imitate Judas called
Barsabbas and Silas along
with Paul and Barnabas sent
to the Christians in Antioch 
to deliver the letter of the Apostles
and presbyters regarding the issues
of circumcision and other Jewish 
practices some wanted the Gentile
converts to undertake;
how lovely that as the faith spread
far and wide reaching many people,
the Apostles and the presbyters
decided not to burden the brothers
with Jewish customs and practices;
here we find love in action,
friendship is in taking away
the burdens of others than
putting on heavier burdens on them;
most of all,
a true friend who loves like you
Jesus is one who encourages others
in your way.
Amen.

Praying to make our joy complete

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 23 May 2025
Acts 15:7-21     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     John 15:9-11

Make my joy complete,
Lord Jesus,
let your joy be in me
(John 15:11)!

True joy comes only
in union with the Father
like you, dear Jesus;
in a world that had shrunk
into one global village
due to modern technology
that has spawned so many forms
and kinds of connections among peoples,
we are not yet filled with joy, Lord;
in fact, the more we have been
separated than ever because
our "connections" are fleeting,
empty of any love at all;
true connections in you,
with you Jesus lead to joy
as we have seen in the experience
of the early Church:

After much debate had taken place, Peter got up and said to the Apostles and the presbyters… “Why, then, are you now putting God to the test by placing on the shoulders of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they” (Acts 15:7, 10-11).

When we keep your commandments,
then we remain in your love, Jesus;
that's the only basis and most essential
in every connection and relationship
because when there is love even if in
the midst of pain and suffering,
there is always joy which is more
than a feeling but an assurance that
no matter what, there is God always
on our side, loving us, blessing us
as Peter explained in the Council of Jerusalem;
grant us the grace to remain in your love,
Jesus, to examine in what areas of our life
we remain and grow in your love.
Amen.

Abiding with Jesus

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 21 May 2025
Acts 15:1-6     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     John 15:1-8

*Photo by author, Cabo da Roca Villas, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 15 May 2025.*

Let me abide in you,
Lord Jesus for you are
the true vine and we are 
your branches,
having life and sustenance 
only in you and through you; 
Let me remain in you
like the branches of the vine
so I may remain fruitful,
not just successful that is based
only on my efforts that are never
good enough; 
Let me abide with you,
Lord especially when no one
else can truly be relied on
for you alone remains unchanged
in love and mercy.

Jesus said to his disciples, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit… Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me” (John 15:1-2, 4).

There are so many things in me
that need to be pruned and removed
especially those blocking my 
growth in you as a person
and a disciple; so many parts 
of my life need your nourishing 
presence Lord like my temper
and anxieties that make me
hurt many people around me;
prune me of my old vices and 
new ones that I have acquired
that prevent me from totally
giving myself to you in prayer
and charity; cleanse my heart
and my mind to see the other
"branches" that link me to you
our true vine like the Apostles
and the presbyters in the early
Church (Acts 15:6) by being open
to meet with others and discuss
the many issues that divide 
and separate us from each other
by focusing alone in you dear Jesus.
Amen.

Love – our deeper connection

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II'
Monday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 19 May 2025
Acts 14:5-18     ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>     John 14:21-26

Your words today, O Lord
are very amusing:
in the first reading we have
the people at Lystra insisted
on making Paul and Bernabas
as "gods" after they have healed
a crippled man from birth
while in the gospel we felt you
personally speaking to us too
along with your disciples at the Last Supper
of how in our love for you and with
each other that we become divine
like you.

Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him, “Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (John 14:22-24).

How lovely,
dear Jesus are your words:
you never left us,
you continue to speak to us
in the Holy Spirit
you sent to enlighten
our minds and our hearts
so we may continue to love you
in one another;
more than a feeling as
most people believe these days,
love is a response to a loving,
meaningful relationship in you;
love is our deeper connection
with you and with each other;
without love,
we are mere humans,
not persons,
without relationships,
most of all,
without meaning
and direction in life.

Let us love,
love, and love more,
Jesus so we may find and
recognize you in ourselves
and in others,
especially the weakest
and poorest among us.
Amen.

Easter is always new

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fifth Sunday in Easter, Cycle C, 18 May 2025
Acts 14:21-27 ><}}}}*> Revelation 21:1-5 ><}}}}*> John 13:31-33, 34-35

Easter is a reality, an event and experience always new and fresh. And relevant. I refuse to describe it as “ever new” because it is not changing nor evolving; it is “new” as it is “unfolding” like God or a loved one’s person revealed daily.

In his coming to us, Jesus brought God most real and closest to us humans more than ever, enabling us to experience in him a newness in life, so refreshing and relevant always. That is why we heard the word “new” five times in our readings today, four in the Book of Revelation and once in the Gospel.

*Photo by author, Cabo da Roca Villas, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 14 May 2025.*

Then I, John, saw a new heaven and new earth. I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. The one who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:1, 2, 5).

When Judas had left them, Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:31, 34-35).

New heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem, new commandment.
With Jesus making all things new.

“New” as a word connotes something fresh and recent, presupposing two conditions: either as something non-existent before that is introduced and made only now or, something already existing before but found and discovered only recently.

As such, anything “new” is actually a supernatural reality, a gift from God waiting to be discovered by anyone with faith, hope and love. It is in God through Jesus Christ’s Resurrection that we actually experience the true meaning of what is “new”.

First, as something not existing before like John’s vision of “new heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem” in the Book of Revelation. John had been clear at the onset of his writing of his final book which is to report to us the things that will happen in the future. And we all hope that indeed, someday there will be a new heaven, a new earth, and a new Jerusalem in the future. How it would look like, we really don’t know but deep in our hearts we hope for that especially in this time of too much crying, pain and death everywhere.

Of course, it sounds too good to be true but for us disciples of Christ, it is something we have to work for and not just pray for. What a joy to hear the new Pope, Leo XIV mentioning in his first public address asking for the release of all hostages in Gaza as well as for peace in Ukraine. We really hope our new Pope will continue with his more direct and firm assertions of Jesus and his teachings than be like the previous Pope who tried accommodating non-Christian religions and beliefs because peace comes only in Christ.

Though John’s vision of new heaven, new earth, and new Jerusalem refers to the end of time where “there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain” (Rev. 21:4), it is something we can experience now if we let Jesus reign in us so he may wipe away the tears in our eyes caused by our continued hardness of the hearts.

A new heaven, a new earth, a new Jerusalem can only happen when we allow Jesus Christ to reign in our hearts more than ever so that the former heaven, former earth and sea pass away. That is why the Prophet Isaiah called the Christ as the Emmanuel, God-is-with-us, precisely the vision saw by John in Revelation, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them as their God” (Rev. 21:3).

As we have seen two Sundays ago, no locked doors can prevent Jesus from breaking through to get to us, for us to experience his loving presence. Most of all like last Sunday, we must learn to entrust ourselves confidently to Jesus our Good Shepherd because only he knows us his sheep so well. That confidence in him in making all things new happens when we love like him.

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.*

"I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35).

What is new in Jesus Christ’s commandment of loving? Answer: it is a love rooted in God the Father to whom Jesus is totally one with, totally entrusting himself even up to dying on the Cross.

It is a love that has long existed before since the very beginning but only discovered and found recently in Jesus Christ, the Son of God who became human like us in everything except sin. It is new because it ever refreshes anyone who loves like Christ. Most of all, it is new because it is most relevant at all times.

Any love not rooted in God will surely pass and fail. Though other religions and movements preach love, only Jesus tells us to love like him who is rooted in the Father who is love himself. See that Christ’s command to love like him is not only new but also radical at the same time as it brings us to the very root of love, God: “God is love… In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us (first)” (1 Jn.4: 8,10). According to Pope Benedict XVI, “God is love” is the most unique declaration on God not found in other religions except Christianity.

It is a love already existing before and discovered only by the Apostles in their experience of Jesus Christ. That is why in the first reading Paul and Barnabas told the disciples in Antioch to persevere in faith, saying, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). How sad it is a truth we have all known and proven all along but we continue to disregard even avoid, taking shortcuts in everything that often end in failures.

It is said that the more constricted the pupa (chrysalis) of a larva or caterpillar, the better are its chances of transforming into a more colorful butterfly.

The same is true with us humans. Life that is so easy and laid back when everything is provided for without any sweat at all always leads to emptiness and nothingness. Very often, the most fulfilled people – not necessarily successful which is very relative – are those who have gone through a lot of sufferings and hardships in life. They are mostly the men and women of passion for learning, willing to sacrifice a lot even their very selves for the sake of a truth and a love they are so convinced. Actually, what they have found and discovered have always been there hidden for ages even millions of years but due to their intense love, they found something so new that eventually revolutionized our lives and the world for better or for worse.

This Sunday, Jesus offers us to make our lives new and better, definitely more beautiful but not necessarily pain free. Are we willing to love like him to discover something new today or this week?

"Lord Jesus Christ, let us love like you 
so we may be transformed to someone new 
and eventually change the world 
to something new and better in you. 
Amen."

If You Don’t Know Me By Now (1989) cover by Simply Red

Lord My Chef Sunday Music, Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 11 May 2025

*Photo by author, Hidden Valley Spring Resort, Calauan, Laguna, February 2025.*

It is the Good Shepherd Sunday and also the eve of local elections in our country. Clearly God is speaking to us today of the need to vote wisely by choosing candidates who can be like good shepherds who will lead our nation to greener pastures.

What a tragedy that despite our being a predominantly Christian nation not only in Asia but in the whole world, we have continued to lag in growth and development because we have consistently put into office corrupt and inept officials.

That is why this Sunday we have chosen Simply Red’s 1989 cover of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes’ original hit in 1972, If You Don’t Know Me by Now. It is a love song of a man’s lament of how his beloved has failed to “know” him so well that they quarrel so often.

Sing the song everybody, c'mon
If you don't know me by now (Moldova!)
You will never never never know me, ooh

Now all the things that we've been through
You should understand me like I understand you
Now girl I know the difference between right and wrong
I ain't gonna do nothing to upset our happy home

Oh, don't get so excited
When I come home a little late at night
You know, we only act like children
When we argue, fuss and fight

Are we not like that in the Philippines? We cannot move forward as we keep on quarreling because we put the wrong people in government. We never think of the greater majority and of the future generations. Worst, we refuse to accept what we know! We know the candidate as corrupt and shallow yet many still vote for them. We know that the candidates are just popular as actors and actresses without any background at all in governance yet many still elect them into office doing nothing except to entertain.

In a deeper sense, it is in knowing that we are able to love most like Jesus Christ in today’s gospel when he declared “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish” (Jn.10:27-28). For the Jews, knowing another person is more of the heart than of the mind; knowing another person is having a relationship not just being aware of one’s name and address.

Knowing and loving work hand in hand: only Jesus can love us immensely despite his knowing of our flaws and weaknesses and sins. Though it is difficult for us humans to imitate, the most we can do is first of all within ourselves to have that self-knowledge that leads us to accept who we really are to become a better person. Anyone who truly loves God and the country will always choose the best candidate for any office after an effort of knowing everything about them. To hear and follow the Good Shepherd means we choose the best, we reject the worst who are often the most sinful.

Candidates who truly love the country, on the other hand, will never pursue an office if they know in themselves they are not capable of the job ahead. It is something they must learn to accept despite their popularity or desire to be in any position.

Like what the song says, nobody’s perfect but if we work hard to know the other person including ourselves, things can get better for more understanding and acceptance. And love.

We all got our own funny moods
I've got mine, I'll bet you woman, you got yours too
You better trust in me, like I trust in you
As long as we'll be together, it should be so easy to do

Just get yourself together
Or we might as well say goodbye
What good is a love affair
When you can't see eye to eye? Oh
If you don't know me by now (if you don't know me, baby)
You will never, never, never know me (no you won't) ooh
No you won't, no you won't, no you won't
If you don't know me by now (twenty long years, we've been together)
You will never, never, never know me ooh (oh)
If you don't know me by now
You will never, never, never know me (no you won't) ooh

We love the original but we find Simply Red Mick Hucknall’s version so moving, especially the live one from Sydney Opera House in 2010. Enjoy.

From Youtube.com

*Please, know your candidates tomorrow and vote wisely. Together let us build a better tomorrow for all of us despite our flaws and weaknesses.

Easter is Jesus personally knowing each of us

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fourth Sunday in Easter, Cycle C, 11 May 2025
Acts 13:14, 43-52 ><}}}}*> Revelation 7:9, 14-17 ><}}}}*> John 10:27-30

*The new Pope, Leo XIV, appears on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, 09 May 2025; photo from vaticannews.va*

What a lovely fourth Sunday in Easter also known as “Good Shepherd Sunday” when we are blessed with a new Pope – Leo XIV – who will shepherd us into this modern time. Truly, Jesus Christ our Good Shepherd knows us so well that he did not make us wait long in having a new Pope in this troubled time.

Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish” (John 10:27-28).

“I know them.” How lovely are these words of Jesus to us, his “sheep” especially for those going through a lot of trials and difficulties, for those feeling lost and empty, for those about to give up on life.

Let us dwell on his words “I know them”.

For the Jews and in the Bible, knowing is more of the heart than of the mind. Knowing a person is not just knowing one’s name but most of all of being in a personal relationship, an affinity with the person.

In declaring “I know them”, Jesus affirms how he personally regards each one as somebody dear to him, somebody close to him. We are all a somebody, a someone to Jesus whom he personally loves and cares for.

This we have seen among the people we have met in Lent like the apostles Peter, James and John during the transfiguration, the prodigal son, the woman caught in adultery. Or during the Holy Week like Judas who betrayed the Lord, Peter who denied Jesus thrice, Dimas the thief, the centurion who believed in him after his death on the Cross, John and the Blessed Mother at the foot of the Cross. They were all in their most difficult situations in life yet Jesus knew them so well that he assured them of his loving presence, lifting them up to move on with life.

Recall also the people we met this Easter Season like Mary Magdalene and companions early in the morning later followed by Peter and the beloved disciple who all found the tomb empty, the disciples at the upper room with locked doors that evening of Easter, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Thomas Didymus, the disciples led by Peter at breakfast with Jesus at the shore of Lake Tiberias. In their most joyous moments in life amid the darkness and emptiness, the doubts and unbelief or blindness following Easter, they were accompanied and joined by the Risen Lord to ensure and assure them that indeed he is alive and will always be with them.

In the same manner, think also of those moments in your own life of darkness and emptiness, whether negatively or positively, for better or for worse… who remained standing by your side?

Jesus. Only Jesus. And always Jesus. Because he knows us so well.

Jesus is truly the Good Shepherd who knows us so well even in these modern times where there are more vehicles and traffic, more disruptions to life yet he continues to shepherd us like the many shepherds still in many countries in Europe and the Middle East.

And that makes this passage most touching and refreshing because though times may have changed, Jesus has remained personally committed with each one of us. He keeps on looking for us, searching us, following us. Loving us most of all. But, are we present in Jesus?

Notice the four verbs in this short gospel we have today: ascribed to Jesus are the verbs “know” and “give” while to us the sheep, “hear” and “follow” where problems always happen. Do we “follow” what we “hear”? “To hear” is to recognize the authority and importance of the speaker’s words; it is to enter into a communion with him, to put oneself in his guidance, to “follow” him as his disciple.

Jesus speaks to us daily but nobody cares because right after waking up, most of us today look for our cellphone than pray! We are more interested with the “likes” and “followers” we have garnered from our previous posts. We are more enthralled with the seductive voices and images of social media that feed on our ego and senses, giving us false feelings of security and acceptance. We would rather be consumers than disciples who are called to sacrifice like the shepherd.

*Photo of a sheep’s fleece by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2022.*

Though life has become more affluent these days, it has ironically become more empty and lost without direction because we just keep on having and possessing, consuming and ingesting everything the world offers that leave us guilty and empty because we cannot experience any sense of fulfillment and meaning.

How ironic that amid this pandemic of “obesity”, we fill ourselves mostly with trash and poison, literally and figuratively speaking that we feel so lost more than ever with so much time wasted and sadly, life and relationships thrown away. Everything has become more of the mind than of the heart with persons being commodified as things, everything seen in monetary terms, so utilitarian in nature.

Only Jesus “knows” us so well that is why only he “gives eternal life” as Peter exclaimed in this Saturday gospel in the third week of Easter, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and we are convinced that you are the Holy One of God” (Jn.6:68-69).

Unlike anybody, Jesus is the Son of God sent to gather us, to save us and to bring us closer to the Father so that no one among us shall perish. That is the plan of God fulfilled by Christ which we must continue like the apostles as we have heard in the first reading when Paul and Barnabas preached the Gospel of Jesus to the gentiles.

This Sunday, Jesus our Good Shepherd assures us, wherever we may be – in darkness and emptiness, or under the dark clouds of a thunderstorm, under a thatched roof of misery – that he knows us so well. He loves us.

Feel the warmth of Christ’s loving heart this Sunday by being present with your loved ones, the people you know so well like Jesus. Let us pray:

Lord Jesus,
you are our Good Shepherd
and we are your sheep;
only you know us so well,
only you can give us eternal life,
only you can keep us safe 
not to be snatched by anyone
like the corrupt and shallow candidates
running for office again this election;
give us the wisdom, courage and faith
to follow you and stand by you
like those elders in white garments
seen by John in his vision of heaven
in the second reading;
let us vote wisely,
let us not waste that power
you shared with us.
Amen.

*Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2022.*

Easter is transformation, conversion

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Third Week of Easter, 09 May 2025
Acts 9:1-20     ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>     John 6:52-59

*Photo by author, statue of St. Paul the Apostle, St. Paul Retreat Center, La Trinidad, Benguet, 06 January 2025.*

Lord Jesus Christ,
you are alive and always
around us, present in each
one of us that whatever we do
to each one we also do unto you
as you called on Paul before
his conversion, "Saul, Saul,
why are you persecuting me?"
(Acts 9:4)

Enlighten our minds
and our hearts, Lord Jesus
for we are many times more than
a Saul than a Paul; let us admit
the times we "persecute" you 
in others like Saul when we 
speak ill of them especially in social
media; though we may not be exactly
like Saul with a sword and army of men,
many times we "breathe with murderous 
threats" against others who are not like us
in color and creed and outlook in life;
with your grace of light Jesus, remove
our blindness to the many forms of
persecutions we undertake against one
another especially in your name 
that until now we are so divided,
"quarreling among ourselves" like those 
Jews in Capernaum.

Give us the courage,
Jesus, to confront and 
change our behavior and
attitudes that "persecute" others;
help us to go back to you in our
hearts to be converted and 
transformed in your Resurrected
Body as better disciples despite
the wounds we may have that are
due to persecutions too have suffered;
let the cycle of persecution stop
in us so we may start 
a series of transformation
in ourselves,
in our homes,
and in our community.
Amen.

*Photo by author, St. Paul Retreat Center, La Trinidad, Benguet, 06 January 2025.*

Praying for a true teacher

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Third Week of Easter, 08 May 2025
Acts 8:26-40     ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>     John 6:44-51

God our loving Father,
our Cardinals have started
their election process for the
successor of Peter, 
the Vicar of Christ 
your Son here on Earth;
send them your Holy Spirit
to enlighten their minds
and their hearts to seek
and follow your will in 
Christ Jesus.

Help them choose a good shepherd
who is also a good teacher like 
your Son Jesus Christ imitated so well
by the deacon Philip with the help
of the Holy Spirit.

Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, that is, the queen of Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury, who had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning home. Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him (Acts 8:27-28, 30-31).

Your Servant,
himself a former Pope too
St. Paul VI wrote us in December 1975
"Modern man listens more willingly
to witnesses than teachers,
and if he does listen to teachers,
it is because they are witnesses"
(Evangelii Nuntiandi, #41);
send us true and good,
teachers who are witnesses 
of the Gospel; give us more
teachers like Philip who taught
clearly of the essential truth 
in this life which is about 
Jesus the Christ.

Next week we shall
choose our new leaders 
to govern us; take away
our blindness as teachers ourselves
that we may elect into office who
are also good teachers who stand 
for what is true and just,
not corrupt and liars;
send us more teachers
who will awaken in us your
Divine Presence to bring out
in everyone each one's
own giftedness as a person.

At the same time,
we pray for our professional 
teachers from the public school
who will work at the polling places
next week; give them strength
not only in body but also in 
mind, heart, and soul
to keep our elections clean
and honest, not to be swayed
by corrupt candidates who poison
the society and keep people away
from Christ and one another.

Let us not forget, 
Lord Jesus that as we share
in your prophetic mission,
we are all teachers like you;
keep our hearts and minds
open to the promptings of the
Holy Spirit to go wherever we
are needed most for your greater
glory. Amen.