The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Twenty-third Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 11 September 2023
Colossians 1:24-2:3 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 6:6-11
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 2017.
Dearest Father in heaven:
Is there really being at the
wrong place at a wrong time?
It has been 22 years since 9/11
when so many lives were lost,
many families and relationships
were broken by those terrorist attacks;
recently, over 2000 people perished
in a massive earthquake in Morocco;
everywhere, bad things happen to
many people because they were
at the wrong place at the wrong time,
Father?
I know, dear God,
life is not that simple
or simplistic, of being at the
wrong place at the wrong time;
if you are everywhere, Father,
how could there be
a wrong place and
a wrong time?
Brothers and sisters: I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his Body, which is the Church…
Colossians 1:24
NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 11, 2001: (SEPTEMBER 11 RETROSPECTIVE) Smoke pours from the twin towers of the World Trade Center after they were hit by two hijacked airliners in a terrorist attack September 11, 2001 in New York City. (Photo by Robert Giroux/Getty Images)
But as I prayed with St. Paul,
I realize something more deep,
more profound, even mysterious,
than our common excuse of
being at the wrong place at the
wrong time: every here and now
is always a right place and
right time in you, O God our
loving Father!
St. Paul was at the right place and
right time on that day on his way
to Damascus to persecute
the Christians to meet Jesus Christ;
all throughout his life, as he
completely surrendered to Jesus,
St. Paul found everything falling
into its right place in you, O God.
Many times,
people and nature
may seem to put us
at the wrong place
and the wrong time,
but you always ensure, O God,
in Christ Jesus that everything
will work out in our favor
like that man with a withered hand
planted by the scribes and
Pharisees at the synagogue
on a sabbath to see if Jesus
would heal him.
But he realized their intentions and said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up and stand before us.” And he rose and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than do evil, to save life rather than destroy it?” Looking around at them all, he then said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so and his hand was restored.
Luke 6:8-10
There are many ways of looking
at every situation in life,
either as a blessing
or a curse or a bad luck
as some would usually say;
but with you, dear Jesus
who had come to bring God
closest to us,
every time,
every place
is always the right one,
a blessed one.
Open our hearts
to your loving presence,
Father, in Jesus Christ
who suffered and died
to rise again for us
to experience life
amid death,
joy amid sufferings,
and light in darkness.
Amen.
Photo by author, Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infant, Quezon, 04 March 2023.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 08 September 2023
Romans 8:28-30 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Matthew 1:18-23
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2023.
Praise and glory to God
our loving Father in
choosing you, Most Blessed
Virgin Mary to be the Mother
of his Son, our Lord
Jesus Christ!
You are most unique
of us all not on your own
account but totally
on the goodness of God;
but, there lies your greatness
in teaching us that important
lesson of being open to God,
to his plan and will,
to always saying yes to him,
trusting him,
remaining faithful to him.
We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Convent, Baguio City, 23 August 2023.
You are the only exception,
dearest Mother Mary,
next to Jesus our Savior and
his forerunner St. John the Baptist
whose birthday we celebrate
to remind each of us
that we are born into this
world according to God's plan.
Let us keep that
ingrained in our hearts
and minds:
no matter what
are the circumstances,
sometimes too painful
and even unbearable
for some,
God our Father
has plans for us that
he gifted us with life
to be born,
to be alive
because he called us
according
to his purpose;
each of us
is a part of God's
grand design
and what an honor
and privileged
we are born!
Pray for us,
dear Mother Mary,
to be open to God,
to say yes
and act on his call
to us just like you
to fulfill his purpose;
pray for us,
dear Mother to have
that courage like you
to believe no matter what,
even amid the lack of
any understanding
of the implications of God's
plans for us;
pray for us,
dearest Mother
to be close to Jesus
especially at the Cross
just like you.
Thank you,
Blessed Mother Mary
in saying yes to God
to be the Mother of his Son,
to be the first among us
in being conformed
to the image of Jesus Christ,
from his birth to his death
and on to his resurrection
that you now enjoy
his promised glory
in heaven.
Amen.
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Convent, Baguio City, 23 August 2023.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 27 August 2023
Isaiah 22:19-23 ><]]]]'> Romans 11:33-36 ><]]]]'> Matthew 16:13-20
Photo by author, Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 12 July 2023.
Nothing remains permanent in this world except change. And God who alone forever remains.
Though times change with new and unexpected situations that raise questions never thought of before, we are constantly challenged to make God present in Jesus Christ with our lives of witnessing as his disciples in every age.
That is why Jesus has been teaching us these past weeks of having faith in him alone, of nurturing that relationship with him especially in this time when many are deleting God not only from their lives but even in their history as a nation.
But, despite these human attempts since Adam and Eve to turn away from God, despite the many developments and advancements we have had, we humans still long for God in the end, eventually ending up searching for what is divine and holy, totally different and permanent who gives meaning to us and our existence.
Jesus shows us this Sunday the surest way of keeping our faith alive in these troubled times, in becoming his presence in the ever-changing world with its many shifting trends and paradigms.
Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.”
Matthew 16:13-17
Photo by author, Caesarea in northern Israel near Tyre and Sidon in Syria, May 2019.
Jesus continues his journey into pagan territories, from Tyre and Sidon last week to Caesarea Philippi today. Of course, his journeys were not really geographical in nature but spiritual; nonetheless, Jesus this Sunday is teaching us something very important about discipleship which is to be in the world but never to be of the world.
Let us reflect on the two crucial methods used by Jesus.
First, he made a survey of the situation, of assessing and getting a clearer picture of what is happening at the ground level. I find this very “incarnational” in nature. It speaks so well of his very own kenosis, of becoming human like us in everything except sin. Jesus is so in touch with realities, so grounded with the people when he asked the Twelve, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Convent, Baguio City, 23 August 2023.
Jesus dared to ask to know the truth, unafraid of what people might be saying about him. So unlike of us who are afraid to hear and learn the truth about us especially if that could be painful. Until now, Jesus continues to be in the world, grounded and rooted in the realities of our lives, journeying with us without us being aware of him. The tragedy of our time is how so many of us believe and take social media and the internet as the reality, failing to distinguish reality from virtual-reality!
Look at how so many people live their lives these days as a telenovela, a mere show so that when reality bites, they collapse and cave in. Many are so far from life’s realities and thus become out-of-touch with themselves, with others, and the world. And that includes us in the Church that people find us irrelevant because we are out of sync with them in many aspects of life.
And that was the result of the Lord’s survey! People got it all wrong who he is because they got mixed signals from witnesses and his disciples themselves, including us in our own time! When we lack that deep and personal relationship with Jesus, the Christ we proclaim becomes far from the truth, a big lie from who he really is. These are grace-filled moments from God for us to open anew to him and most of all, to be able for us to level up in our existence.
Here we have Simon Peter as our example and model. See how he had greatly changed in God’s grace, from the proud and doubting fisherman last Sunday to a highly inspired disciple today, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.”
This is the high-point of our gospel this Sunday, of being in the world and not of the world. See at how Jesus categorically declared to the Twelve not only the precision and truth of Peter’s answer to the Lord’s question of who do you say that I am; more important here is the fact that such knowledge and wisdom can only come from God as a revelation which St. Paul expressed so lovely in our second reading, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways! For from him and through him and for him are all things” (Rom. 11:33, 36).
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Convent, Baguio City, 23 August 2023.
The late Casey Kasem, host of the American Top 40 radio show used to sign off saying, “Keep reaching for the stars but keep your feet on the ground.”
What a beautiful reminder that for us to level up in our existence, we have to be grounded with God and reality, of being aware of the dirt and chaos in this world yet, we continue to strive to become better persons, to rise to the top as man as man in the image and likeness of God.
Here lies one of our problems in the Church these past years in our efforts to be “closer” with the flock when we simplified everything including our Masses that have become like variety shows with all the clapping and even dancing. Homilies have become stand-up comedies or rehash of news analyses or review of movies and mini-series. Focus has shifted on the pastor, forgetting Jesus Christ especially in the use of modern means of communications.
As a result, people were confused who is Jesus Christ because as we have removed the sense of sacred and holy in our celebrations and practices, came followed our lack of credibility as witnesses of the Lord with all kinds of clerical abuses that continue to plague us especially after Vatican II. Everything had become ordinary and worldly, or, of the world. All flesh and blood without the Father.
The first reading reminds us that God is the invisible hand always working for our own good, appointing credible and good people to lead us closer to him despite some despots and evil men and women who have plunged the world into chaos and darkness. Until now we can attest how in life we have seen and experienced more good people than bad ones.
Photo by author, Mirador Jesuit Villa, Baguio City, 24 August 2023.
Tomorrow, August 28, we celebrate the feast of the great St. Augustine who wrote, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (Confessiones). There comes a time in our lives when after we have had everything, after all our searching and discoveries, after all our successes and failures in life, there is always that moment when we simply can’t get enough without God. There is always that emptiness within that only God can fill. The more we are rooted in this world, the more we realize we are not of the world too. That there are far more greater and nobler things in life we have to aspire for and become even while in this limited world marred by evil and sin.
The most truthful truths in life are learned while being on the ground, in the world where we are directed to level up in our views and existence; that is when we learn to detach ourselves from worldly things and start following Jesus, witnessing in his being the Christ, especially on the Cross. This we practice every Sunday by celebrating the Mass with our fellow disciples and cojourneyers in Christ to heaven. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Feast of St. John Marie Vianney, Patron of Priests, 04 August 2023
Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34-37 ><}}}*> + <*{{{>< Matthew 13:54-58
Photo by author, Manila Cathedral Sacristy, 07 July 2023.
Praise and glory to you,
God our Father for the gift of
St. John Marie Vianney,
our Patron Saint,
your priests!
Oh what a glorious day
is this day falling on a
First Friday,
a day special to the
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus,
our Eternal Priest.
Thank you,
thank you,
thank you, Lord.
From the very start
as we have heard from
the Book of Leviticus
in the first reading,
you have set special
days of celebrations
to remember you and
your saving works;
at its service are
your priests.
Always.
But, no...
We are not the center
of your festivals, Lord,
but your mere servants;
how sad that since then
in the wilderness
down to your Temple
up to our own time
in these beautiful churches
we celebrate the Holy Mass,
we your priests have
consciously or unconsciously
turned attention and focus
onto ourselves.
Mea culpa, mea culpa,
mea maxima culpa!
Forgive us your priests
for playing God,
O merciful Father.
Help us to keep coming back
to Nazareth like your Son Jesus;
let us get lost in the hiddenness
and silence of Nazareth;
let us be at home with you
in the obscurity and nothingness
of Nazareth;
let us welcome too the
rejections of Nazareth
like Jesus our Eternal Priest.
In all these 25 years as a priest,
my prayer to you dear God
remains the same:
Lord, you have given me
with so much
and I have given you so little;
teach me to give more
of myself,
more of YOU.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, 01 August 2023
Exodus 33:7-11, 34:5-9, 28 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 13:36-43
Photo by author, March 2020.
God our loving Father,
as we enter the brand-new
month of August today,
your words speak a lot of
"entering" too today:
of Moses entering your
tent and Jesus entering
the house:
As Moses entered the tent, the column of cloud would come down and stand at its entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses. The Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as one man speaks to another.
Exodus 33:9, 11
Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
Matthew 13:36
But your entering
in both instances speak
more of physical space
but a union of life and love
made possible in Jesus Christ.
Every time we enter
a church and other places
of worship,
we enter you, God,
to dwell in you
who has been dwelling
in us too.
Like St. Alphonsus de Liguori
whose memorial we celebrate
today, transform our lives
in Jesus Christ, let it unfold
according to your Divine plan,
achieving equilibrium in morality
like you, "merciful and gracious
God, kind and forgiving
wickedness, crime and sin;
yet not declaring the guilty
guiltless" (Ex. 34:6, 7).
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 18 July 2023
Exodus 2:1-15 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 11:20-24
Photo by author, Egypt, May 2019.
It is still too early,
God our loving Father,
but your words today smell
so Christmassy,
reminding us of Jesus Christ's
coming in the story of Moses
being drawn from water
by the Pharaoh's daughter:
On opening it, she looked, and lo, there was a baby boy, crying! She was moved with pity for him and said, “It is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
Exodus 2:6
Yes, dear God,
your Son came as an infant,
a baby, the most wondrous sight
to behold in this life who can
soften the most hardened heart
because every child reminds us
of you, O Lord, our life;
every child calls us to be
loving and kind because
every baby reminds us of our
credential as your image and likeness,
dear God.
Forgive us, Father,
when we close our eyes and our hearts
and dare ask others of their
credentials, like Moses who was asked
"Who has appointed you ruler
and judge over us?" (Ex.2:14);
or, Jesus who lamented at how
his own folks refused to recognize him
as the Christ despite his wondrous
words and works,
"Woe to you, Chorazin!
Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the mighty deeds done
in your midst had been done
in Tyre and Sidon
they would long ago have repented
in sackcloth and ashes"
(Mt.11:21).
But most of all,
loving Father,
enable us to live up
to our credentials as your
beloved children,
forgiven and blessed
to make you known and
present in this world that has
turned away from you,
from some people who think
more of themselves in having
earned their credentials
and hence, be so entitled in the world.
Help us to keep our lines,
our boundaries intact,
of what is sacred and holy,
of what is essential
and true that you are
our Father.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 10 July 2023
Genesis 28:10-22 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Matthew 9:18-26
Photo by author, Ubihan Island, Meycauayan, Bulacan, 31 December 2021.
Surprise us, dear God,
surprise us with your loving presence
in the simplest things today
like Jacob in Bethel:
When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he exclaimed, “Truly, the Lord is in this spot, although I did not know it!” In solemn wonder he cried out: “How awesome is this shrine! This is nothing else but an abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven!”
Genesis 28:16-17
In a world saturated in media
where everything and everyone is
exposed and shown,
bared and revealed,
we have lost the sense of awe and wonder,
of being surprised because
we believe we have seen all;
we are no longer surprised with
little wonders and miracles that
happen daily in life like
the infectious smiles and laughter
children, the thoughtfulness of a friend,
the warmth of a stranger,
or the flowers that color our paths.
We have lost our sense of awe
and wonder, of being surprised
because we no longer believe
in you, O God, nor in people, nor in nature.
Grant us, dear Father, the grace of
wonder and awe like the official and
the woman hemorrhaging in the gospel;
yes they have faith so great but also
have the sense of being surprised
that is why they came to Jesus;
what a surprise indeed, the official's
daughter was brought back to life
and the woman hemorrhaging was
instantly healed when she touched
the tassel of the Lord's cloak!
Forgive us, O God,
for not noticing your many
surprises to us daily;
open our eyes,
open our very selves
to life's many wonders
that point to you!
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Memorial of Sts. John Fisher & Thomas More, Martyrs, 22 June 2023
2 Corinthians 11:1-11 <'[[[>< <'[[[>< + ><]]]'> ><]]]'> Matthew 6:7-15
Photo by author, sunset over the Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas-Valenzuela district, January 2023.
Glory and praise to you,
God our almighty and loving Father
for the gift of two great saints,
John Fisher and Thomas More
whose memorial we celebrate today
after giving their lives in defending
the gospel of Jesus Christ
before the powerful king of England
in 1535.
Like St. Paul in today's first reading,
St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More
spoke their hearts out to everyone,
opposing King Henry VIII's divorce
and call to break away from Rome;
for standing for what is true and good
like the sanctity of marriage
and primacy of Rome,
they were both beheaded.
What a beautiful example for us
to emulate today when so many of us
professing to be Catholics yet
have turned their backs from
the Church and especially from the Gospel,
choosing to be oblivious
to you dwelling in our hearts;
like St. Paul, they have taught us
that standing firm on our faith
is the best expression of our love
not only for God but for everyone;
help us realize that when we allow
ourselves to follow modern trends
that are contrary to the life and teachings
of Jesus our Lord,
that is when we do not love at all
because that is when we allow evil and sin
to spread its errors and destruction
of persons and life in general.
But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts may be corrupted from a sincere and pure commitment to Christ. For if someone comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it well enough.
2 Corinthians 11:3-4
Forgive us, dear God,
when we would call you "Father"
but could not stand for what is
true and just, good and holy
there in our hearts;
forgive us, dear God,
when we would call you "Father"
but would keep on holding to our
anger and bitterness,
refusing to forgive
from our hearts;
forgive us, dear God,
when we would call you "Father"
but would always push the lines
and limits in our hearts
until we fall into temptations and sin.
Forgive us Father,
in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 19 June 2023
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2023.
Forgive me for always having reservations in the celebration of Father’s Day as well as of Mother’s Day. I am not against these celebrations but often wary that being a secular observance, they often miss out the spiritual aspect of fatherhood (and motherhood) that are both gifts of God. In fact, the Ordo of the Mass, that little reference book we use in our daily celebrations of the liturgy, reminds us priests that Fathers’ Day celebration “should not diminish the primary focus of this Sunday as the celebration of the Paschal Mystery.”
Consider also the fact how religious celebrations like Christmas have been “corrupted” to mere commercialisms by our world so driven by consumerism and materialism; how much more a secular celebration like Father’s Day could end up that way too?
As we reel from yesterday’s celebrations with a lot of gifts, food and drinks to all the great dads, join me in reflecting on God as our Father which I have learned from one of my spiritual fathers, the late Msgr. Sabino S. Vengco Jr.
Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago, 2022.
God is our Father because he is the giver of life. This is the first meaning of fatherhood: the father is the source of life. Genetically speaking, even though we inherit equal genetic materials from our parents that make us who we are, researchers say that we “use” more of the DNA from our fathers. Maybe this is the reason why we have that expression in Filipino, “Anak ka ng tatay mo”. Recall how St. Joseph had to marry the Blessed Mother, Virgin Mary when he had to stand as the “foster father” of the Savior by giving him the name “Jesus”. Likewise, being from the house of David, his being the “foster father” of Jesus fulfilled God’s promise in the Old Testament that our Savior shall come from the lineage of King David.
Unknown to many including priests, the rite of Baptism states that in the administration of the sacrament to the infant, it is the father who gives the name to the child being baptized because that child came from him!
But Dads as giver of life is more than in the biological sense. A father inspires and motivates his children to become better and matured persons. As a giver of life, the father shows the best examples of leadership, wisdom and prudence in dealing with life’s many complexities. It is the father who opens the minds and hearts of the children to become better citizens of the nation, not as burdens of the society in the future.
Cheers to all the Dads who have stood by their sons and daughters, working hard not only to provide food and clothing to their children but most especially a brighter future for them with their good examples of being responsible and committed fathers.
Photo by author, St. John the Baptist Parish, Calumpit, Bulacan, 2022.
God is our Father because he protects life. It is always easy to be a parent but not truly a father (or a mother). How sad these days many young men have become like rabbits, lacking the maturity of giving one’s self into marriage and commitments.
A father does not only give life but must also sustain and most of all, protect life. Having lived during those times of frequent brownouts, I have learned this sense of protecting from my dad who would always tell us to be still as he rose to get the flashlight or find the match and candles whenever lights suddenly went off in the middle of our dinner. I grew up with that certainty that dads are men of courage, the ones who would always go first into dangerous situations to protect the family like my dad. When the father is the first to be scared or to scream in the event of dangers, there is surely a big problem at home.
Moreover, I have also observed that though wives outlive their husbands as proof that the female species is stronger than us males, there is still something so noble about fathers as protectors of life and family. Dads are always the first to die because they are the first to go into the great unknown called eternal life in order to watch over us his family. So many times since my father died in year 2000, I have felt him by my side whenever I faced big problems and difficulties. Many times I talked to him in my prayers, asking him for clarifications when I have to make crucial decisions for the family or in my ministry. He would sometimes appear to me in dreams or would make “paramdam” as we call it in Filipino when he sends signs of his presence to convey something important. Even in eternal life, Fathers remain close to us to protect and keep us safe from harm. And perhaps, he goes ahead of us to prepare the welcome party when our turn to die comes.
Rembrandt’s “The Return of the Prodigal Son” rom en.wikipedia.org.
God is our Father because he brings back life when we lose it. This is the most beautiful imagery of God being a Father like that loving father of the prodigal son in Luke’s gospel. That is the height of fatherhood when children even wife lost life to wrong decisions, to sins, or anything that completely alters our way of living, it is always the father who assures us of how life would go on or continue, of how he would do everything to give us back our lives.
Have you noticed how despite being considered as the authority figure at home with their being strict and firm, fathers are actually more easier to approach than mothers when it comes to serious problems? A lot often, we tell our dads first of our major mishaps or accidents or misadventures because they are more calm and serene, always thinking ahead of finding solutions. Unlike mothers who are hyper ones, tending to nag and voice out their feelings inside. When I was in the seminary, a classmate borrowed my new tennis racquet. Unfortunately, he lent it to other seminarians until it was left behind at the tennis court that was picked by some outsiders who used to enter our compound after our recreation time. As vacation time approached, I prayed hard and told my dad if he could give me 300 pesos (that was quite a fortune in the early 1980’s) so I could get a new tennis racquet lest my mom would discover it was lost and I would be scolded, even spanked!
Many times, I have heard from many young people how it was their father who literally saved them by forgiving them and even helping them pick up the pieces of their lives when they got involved into teenage pregnancies. It seems those stories of fathers disowning their children especially the daughter for being disgrasyada is more of an exception than a rule, perhaps true only in telenovelas and movies.
During my final years in my seminary formation until my ordination to the priesthood in 1998, every time I would come home I would look intently at my father’s hands and face, observing his many wrinkles, burned and sagging skin. Whenever I would look at his hands and face, I thought of those days and nights and years when my dad would take the jeep and bus to work so we could have good food and good education, those many sacrifices he had to make for us to have some of the simple pleasures in life, of his fidelity to my mom and to us all that we are his only beloved and nobody else.
That is why when he died on the eve of Father’s Day on that third Sunday of June, the 17th in the year 2000 that coincided with my mom’s birthday, I felt a great part of me had gone too. It was very difficult. The pain has always remained but somehow, in his death, I have continued to feel his fatherhood with the great love he had showered us while still alive. That is why, unlike others, I choose to remain silent on Fathers’ Day, praying and reflecting fatherhood, a most precious gift of God whom Jesus revealed to us is also a Father. God bless all the fathers of the world! Amen.
My dad at his dest at the Bureau of Forestry (later Forest Development), 1972.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Homily, Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, 16 June 2023
Deuteronomy 7:6-11 ><}}}*> 1 John 4:7-16 ><}}}*> Matthew 11:25-30
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2023.
It has been two months since I celebrated by silver anniversary of ordination to the priesthood. Until now, I still continue to reflect and relish on this immense gift of priesthood, still asking with the same sense of awe and wonder since ordination day, “why me, Lord?”
As I reflected this week the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus which is dedicated for the sanctification of us priests, I have realized how I have remained the same sinful, insecure and fearful man ordained 25 years ago with my six other classmates. As I get closer to becoming a senior citizen in 2025, the more my past sins and stupidities, carelessness and vices are coming back like “Facebook Memory”, reminding me how I have them kept under control, that they could burst and be out in the open if I get careless.
But in the midst of all these darkness and weaknesses still in me, the more I feel so blessed and consoled, and overjoyed by the fact that I still have that same desire to proclaim Jesus Christ to everyone, of how beautiful this life is because of the Lord’s immeasurable love for each of us. Whenever I look back to my past with all my sinfulness and weaknesses amid my getting older, the more I am eager to make Jesus known to everyone while I am still strong and able. There is that feeling of being like St. Paul in saying, “To me, the very least of all the holy ones, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the inscrutable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for all what is the plan of the mystery hidden from ages past in God who created all things” (Eph. 3:8-9).
Or, like in our first reading, I could identify with the Israelites being reminded by Moses in the wilderness that “You are a people sacred to the Lord, your God; he has chosen you from all the nations on the face of the earth to be his people peculiarly his own. It was not because you are the largest of all nations that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you, for you are really the smallest of all nations. It was because the Lord loved you” (Dt.7:6-8).
Beautiful!
Love, love, and love!
That is the “inscrutable riches of Christ”, his immense love for us, dying for us, coming for us even if we are worth nothing at all. And it is because of that love of God for us that we have become so worthy that he gave us even his only Son, Jesus Christ.
That is the essence of this celebration of the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Love.
A reality we all experience and know but could not define for it has no limits. Love can only be described and best expressed in actions than in words.
See this Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus comes right after the Solemnities of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Most Precious Body and Blood of Jesus these past two Sundays. Both celebrations speak of love: the latter is about relationships based on love and the former is about giving of self in love.
Now that we are well into the Ordinary Time of our liturgical calendar, our celebration today tells us to remember throughout this year this most basic truth and reality of our faith – that we are so loved by God.
Beloved, let us love one another because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.
1 John 4:7-9
Love is symbolized by the heart, the very core of every person. That is why I love the Spanish word for heart which is corazon, evocative of the core, of the deeper self. And of course, love is the very the person of God.
Of all the writers in the Bible, St. John is the one who most frequently used the word “love”, an indication of its centrality in his thoughts. Moreover, he clarified that this love is not human love because its origin, motives and effects are supernatural in nature who is God himself.
Being the very self and also the riches or wealth of Christ, love is for sharing, for giving. Never for keeping. Because of its supernatural nature, love is inexhaustible. The more you give it, the more you share, the more you have it!
In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.
1 John 4:10-12
Photo by Ms. April Oliveros, March 2023 at Mt. Pulag.
Let me repeat that last sentence, “if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.”
The more we love, the more we are able to see and recognize God and other people amidst the darkness around us. Likewise, the more we love the more we see our true selves too despite dark spots within us.
Love is the law of life. To love God by loving ourselves and others is not an obligation imposed from outside. It is the very proof of our faith and union with God in Jesus Christ.
Jesus makes this very clear to us today in the gospel that opens with him praising the simple people, those who were child-like who welcomed him and his preaching. They were the ones Jesus referred at his sermon on the mount, “Blessed are the poor” because love is not an intellectual structure or system to be learned or analyzed. Love is a call to be disarmed of everything we hold onto so we can totally love and follow Jesus Christ.
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30
Jesus came to reveal to us God our Father. And to know the Father is not through the head or intelligence but through our heart that is like Christ’s, meek and humble, filled with love.
By becoming human like us in everything except sin, Jesus who is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15) enables us to feel and experience God now closest to us than ever. Most of all, we are able to love and still love especially when the going gets tough and rough.
Here Jesus shows us that love is not absence of sufferings. In fact, love is truest and noblest when there are sacrifices and sufferings as exemplified by Jesus in his life and death on the Cross.
There are times we feel grouchy, so sensitive when people seem to ask even demand so much from us.
From Facebook, 2021.
Sometimes we wonder why are we the ones always giving, always loving, always forgiving. Sometimes we even ask God why are we the ones going through all these trials in life, why are we the ones afflicted with this sickness, why are we given with a special child, why your child had gone ahead of you to eternal life?
So many whys, so many questions.
Rest today in Christ. Feel his embrace. Listen to his silence. Be filled with his love. As you ask Jesus with all those questions, realize that each cry, each lamentation is the “inscrutable riches of Christ”, his very love perfected in your labors and burdens. Amen.
Jesus, meek and humble of heart,
Make my heart like thine!
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