Tag: halloween

Our hallowed hiddenness

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 31 October 2023

Whether you choose to celebrate Halloween in its truest sense which is the Christian and sacred celebration of All Saints or, the popular and pagan manner that is scary or spooky, November first reminds us always of things that are hidden and not seen.

What is really scary whenever November first approaches is the insistence of so many benighted souls including many Christians who highlight the erroneous pagan practice of dressing evil when halloween literally means “hallowed eve” or “holy evening” before the day set aside for all “holy souls” already in heaven we call “saints”. Any soul who enters heaven is considered a “saint”, that is, holy even if not recognized or canonized by the Church.

Remember the old Our Father translation when we used to say “Hallowed be thy name”? That’s it! Hallowed is the old English for holy. Where people got that idea of halloween as evil is clearly from the devil! And part of that sinister ploy by the devil in making evil funny and acceptable – and visible – is happening in the social media where everything must be seen, shown and exposed. Notice the expression “as seen on TV” to sell and market products while Facebook users brag their rule of thumb “show pictures or it never happened”.

Not everything can be seen and must be seen and shown. Recall how Genesis portrayed Adam and Eve hiding in shame, covering themselves with leaves after eating the forbidden fruit but these days, which could be the second phase of the Fall, men and women are not ashamed at all of their sins and scandals that instead of hiding, they make known to everyone deeds better kept in private, saying words better kept unsaid. They have absolutized the truth, baring all in total disregard of persons’ dignity and unity of the community. We have lost decency because we have also lost our sense of hiddenness, of privacy through silence and stillness.

Photo by author, sunrise at the Pacific from Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort in Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.

Hiddenness is a sacred presence where each of us can be all by one’s self focused on God who is the root of our being and existence no matter how one may call Him.  St. John Paul II said in one of his writings that God created man first to be alone with Him.  And that is how it will be to each of us in the end: we die alone. With God.

We all have this gift of hiddenness within each one of us. This we experience in our desires to be still, to go to the mountains or anywhere for a retreat or introspection, for some “me” time to rediscover and find one’s self anew. 

Hiddenness is the passageway to the great gifts of silence and stillness that everyone needs to maintain balance in this highly competitive world filled with so much noise where everybody is talking, including cars and elevators.  Compounding the problem of noise within and outside us are the cameras everywhere that entertain us and safeguard our well-being. But, are we really safer these days with all the CCTV’s and Face ID’s we use?

From forbes.com.

Many times, we have actually stripped ourselves of the innate mystery of being human, of the beauty and gift of personhood that some have tried to reveal using the camera but failed because we are beyond seeing. We do not notice how the cameras actually rob us of respect when unconsciously we give ourselves away to the world with our photos and videos spreading far without our knowing. Worst, we have allowed the camera to invade our hiddenness without us realizing that its effects backfire to us as we rarely have the time to analyze the possible outcomes of our photos and videos that usually tend to show what is negative and bad than what is positive and good about us. Our fascination with cameras perfectly capture our Filipino term palabas that literally means “outward”, a mere show without substance inside (loob). As a result of these sounds and images saturating us daily, the more we have become confused and lost because we do not have our grounding or “bearing” found only in hiddenness.

“In our society we are inclined to avoid hiddenness. We want to be seen and acknowledged. We want to be useful to others and influence the course of events. But as we become visible and popular, we quickly grow dependent on people and their responses and easily lose touch with God, the true source of our being. Hiddenness is the place of purification. In hiddenness we find our true selves.”

Fr. Henri Nouwen
Photo by author, Anvaya Cove in Morong, Bataan, July 2023.

We need to regain our hallowed hiddenness if we wish to grow and mature truly as persons – emotionally, psychologically and spiritually.  With the phone and TV always around us even in the church, everybody and everything has become so ordinary and cheap. 

Regaining our hiddenness is learning to put our technology in its proper place to be grounded in God in silence, the one commodity that has become so scarce these days since the invention of the Sony Walkman more than 40 years ago that spawned all these gadgets all over us now.

Silence is the language of God which leads us to Him and to our true selves. Every communication by God is always preceded by silence, something we have refused to learn as the most basic requirement of every communication. No wonder, we quarrel a lot, ending up more confused than ever because we never listen to others in silence. We never dialogue but simply talk, talk, and talk.

Genesis tells us in the beginning when God created everything, there was silence before He said, “Let there be light” while the fourth gospel solemnly tells us, “In the beginning was the Word… And the Word became flesh” (Jn.1:1, 14). Both instances evoke the beauty and majesty of God in grand silence.

All books in the Old Testament especially those of Psalms and of Job teem with many instances of God in silence amid every sunrise and sunset, in the gentle breeze and vast skies and oceans. In the New Testament, all four evangelists reported nothing Jesus said and did in childhood until the age 30 except for his lost and finding in the temple when 12 years old; Jesus was totally silent all those “hidden years” of his life in preparation for his ministry that lasted only three years, accomplishing so much whereas we speak all our lives and still end up empty. Most of all, the evangelists tell us too how Jesus frequently invited his disciples to a deserted place to pray, be silent and rest to be in communion with God his Father.

Hiddenness is God’s mode of presence that cannot be captured nor described in human terms. That is why He is hidden. It is not that God is hiding from us but He is inviting us to be intimately close with Him to exclusively and personally experience Him, be filled with Him.

Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte in Atok, Benguet, 01 September 2019.

It was the same thing Jesus did on Easter, remaining hidden from the disciples. When he finally appeared to Mary Magdalene who tried to touch him, Jesus stopped her to signal to her and to us all of the new level of relating with the Risen Lord in hiddenness. In all Easter stories, we are told how the disciples fell silent whenever Jesus appeared to them. In Emmaus, after the breaking of bread, the two disciples finally recognized Jesus who immediately vanished too! Why? Because Jesus wanted his disciples including us today to follow him personally in his hiddenness to find him and ourselves too.

Appearances or images and noise in life are very fleeting. Very often, the most significant moments and insights we have in life are those that come from our long periods of silence, of prayers and soul-searching.

This November 1 and 2 as we remember all those who have left us in this world, let us keep its sacred origins:  All Saints Day for those souls already in heaven and All Souls’ Day for those who have departed but still being purified in the purgatory.  Both dates invite us to “hide” in prayers, in silent remembering to experience God and our departed loved ones in the most intimate and personal manner without the gadgets and things that numb us of their presence. Amen. Have a blessed All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days!

Ang ating kamukha

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-28 ng Oktubre 2019

Mula sa Google.
Todos los Santos na naman
at kay laking kabaligtaran
naka-ugalian ng karamihan
ipagdiwang mga aswang at katatakutan
sa halip na mga banal at kanilang kabutihan.
Dati-rati nama'y hindi laganap
sa ating kapuluan banyagang kaugalian
pagdiriwang ng Halloween na nasira 
tunay na kahulugan sa kaisipan ng mga
makamundong taga-kanluran.
Halloween ang taguring na nagmula sa 
pinagsamang "hallowed evening"
na kahuluga'y "gabi ng mga banal"
ngunit pilit binabalikan ng mga hangal
maling paniniwala noon pa napasinungalingan.
Akala ng mga paganong Druids 
ng Scotland at Wales sa Bretanya noong unang-una
lumilitaw sa lupa tuwing katapuasan ng Oktubre
mga impakto at masasamang espiritu 
upang makabihag ng mga tao.
Nagdaramit sila at nag-aayos na nakakatakot
parang multo, kamukha ng mga lamang lupa
sa paniniwalang malilito mga impakto na sila'y kasamahan
kampon ng kadiliman at kasamaan
kaya sila iniiwan at hindi sinasaktan.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Maraming Kristiyano hindi ito nalalaman ni nauunawaan
nakalimutan pangunahing katotohanan ating pinananaligan
nang pumarito si Hesu Kristo, kanya nang tinalo
kapangyarihan ng demonyo 
nang pumaroon siya sa dako ng mga yumao.
Nang mabuhay mag-uli ang Panginoong Hesu Kristo
napanibago niya buong sangnilikha
higit sa lahat, muli nating nakamukha 
Diyos Ama sa ati'y lumikha,
tiniyak ating tahahanan sa piling niya sa kalangitan.
Bakit nga ba ikaw, Kristiyano
ang siya pa ngayong lito at sadyong lilo
mas ibig pag makamukha mga impakto at demonyo
nakukuha pa ninyong matuwa at ikagalak
mga anak ninyong mukhang tiyanak?!
Akala ba ninyo demonyo ang mga nalilito 
sa inyong pagbibihis at pag-aanyong multo?
Hindi ba ninyo batid kayo ang nalilinlang 
sa pagdaramit at pag-aayos ng hunghang
at magtataka pa kayo asal ng inyong anak parang animal?
Madalas kay hirap unawain mga gawi natin 
na katakutan kabutihan at katuwaan ang kasamaan;
sadya nga bang atin nakalimutan
dakilang karangalang tayo'y nilalang 
katulad at kawangis ng mabuting Maykapal?
Diyos ang kamukha natin
kanyang liwanag sana'y mabanaagan din sa atin
upang maghatid ng kagalakang bumubukal
sa malinis at magandang kalooban
lipos ng kabanguhan ng kabutihan at kadalisayan.

Our Hallowed Hiddenness

RaffySunset1
Quiet Storm by LordMyChef, 31 October 2018:

            Whether you choose to celebrate today’s Halloween in its truest, Christian sense that is sacred or in the more popular pagan manner that is scary, today’s feast that literally means All Hallowed (Holy) Eve reminds us of things that are not seen, always hidden.  Hiddenness is a sacred presence where each one of us is all by one’s self focused on God who is the root of our being and existence no matter how one may call Him.  In one of his writings which I could no longer recall despite the help of Google, St. John Paull II explained that God created man first to be alone with Him.  And that is how it has always been even if people get married for eventually in the end, we die alone with God.

             This gift of hiddenness within each one of us is manifested in our desire to once in a while be still, to go to the mountains or anywhere for a retreat or introspection, for “me” time to rediscover and “find” one’s self anew.  Hiddenness is the passageway to the great gifts of silence and stillness that everyone needs to maintain balance in this highly competitive world filled with so much noise where everybody is talking, even cars, ATM’s, and elevators.  How funny that we complain of not having enough time for ourselves but we never cease to stop talking and listening.  And not only that:  we have allowed everything about us not only heard but even seen on cameras.  First came the Sony Walkman almost 40 years ago that became the ancestor of every gadget that have invaded our hiddenness; now, we have camera everywhere, shooting and recording everything that nothing is hidden anymore in us and from us.  We have stripped ourselves of the innate mystery of being human, of the beauty and gift of personhood that some have tried to reveal using the camera but failed because we are beyond seeing and appreciation.

             While it is true that cameras are essential in keeping our surroundings safe and secured that it is referred to as “big brother”, again we find here another case of abusing technology to the detriment of our humanity.  As I have told you here last week (Respect In Digital Age), we need to put technology at its right place, particularly the camera that robs us of that essential thing we call respect.  But the greatest threat and danger posed on us by the camera is how we have allowed it to invade our hiddenness with almost everybody wanting to be on camera without realizing it often backfires, sometimes painfully.

            The camera is a projector, trying to show in a bigger picture deeper realities notably the plain truth.  Here lies our quiet storm when we are so eager to project everything and everyone including our very selves on the camera when we do not realize nor examine what we are really showing.  The great paradox is that the camera does not lie that always seem to show what is negative than what is positive in us.  Keep in mind the TV is called “idiot box”because those inside the television presuppose everybody watching them is an idiot when in fact, they are more idiots.  Watching television – news or entertainment – can reveal who are superficial and those with substance.  Sometimes TV can be deceiving that we take some people and things appearing on the screen as good and credible without us realizing these are “presentations” that are manipulated to produce a desired effect called the hypodermic theory.  This explains the popularity of YouTube as people prefer “raw footages” that show people and events “as it happened.”  Even movie directors are adapting to this style to show action “as it is” to give the film a more realistic feel that contribute to the blurring of lines between reality and virtual reality.

            We need to regain our hallowed hiddenness if we wish to grow and mature truly as persons – emotionally, psychologically and spiritually.  With the camera always around us even in the church, sad to say, everybody and everything has become so ordinary and cheap.  Even God has to keep His hiddenness simply because that is how He had created everything.  See the beautiful speech of God before Job that can transport you to the sublime beauty of nature and creation.  The beloved apostle also tells us of the hiddenness of Jesus Christ who “In the beginning was the word.” (Jn.1:1)  All four evangelists likewise have no records of the “hidden years” of Jesus before the age of 30 except for Matthew and Luke who gave us little glimpses of the birth and childhood of the Lord.  These are all meant to teach us of the value of hiddenness, of being rooted always in our being and with God.  Appearances in life are very fleeting and for more impact, we have to spend more time in hiddenness as revealed to us by Christ, the saints, artists and other great men and women of the world who came to be known and popular only after upon death.  So many times we have also experienced in the funeral of our relatives and friends that we discover their hidden goodness and kindness from stories of those condoling with us.

            This November 1 and 2 as we remember all those who have left us in this world, let us keep its sacred origins:  All Saints Day for those souls already in heaven and All Souls’ Day for those who have departed but still being purified or staying at the purgatory.  Both dates invite us to hide also in some prayer, remembering God and our loved ones whom we shall surely follow someday without any camera at all.  Like them in hiddenness from us, let us be focused more on God than on self and things that pass.  Here is the late Fr. Henri Nouwen on hiddenness:

“In our society we are inclined to avoid hiddenness. We want to be seen and acknowledged. We want to be useful to others and influence the course of events. But as we become visible and popular, we quickly grow dependent on people and their responses and easily lose touch with God, the true source of our being. Hiddenness is the place of purification. In hiddenness we find our true selves.”

2-corinthians-4-18-2

*Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA-7 News, sunset on a flight to Dubai, October 2018.  Used with permission.  Bible verse from Google.

Narrow Gate, Hallowed Parents and Children

DSCF0854
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer
Wednesday, 31 October 2018, Week XXX, Year II
Ephesians 6:1-9///Luke 13:22-30

            Dearest God our loving Father:  it is the last day of the month of October, the eve of the feast of All Saints – the Hallowed or Holy Ones now with you there in heaven.  How sad that people today, especially from those so-called advanced countries have wrongly chosen to honor what is evil and abominable, to celebrate death and damnation.  How sad that there are still so many benighted souls among us who would rather believe with witches and monsters than with a loving and merciful God like you we have experienced with our departed relatives and friends?

            How wonderful are the words of St. Paul today reminding us of your fourth command to “honor your father and your mother”, your only commandment with a promise of blessing at old age.  How wonderful of St. Paul to remind us also of our relationships with one another, to always revere each other, to “hallow” one another for we only have one Master in you our God.

            Give us the grace to see more clearly your path which is a “narrow gate” of holiness (Lk. 13:24) where everyone is welcomed with their good works, enjoying your sacred presence than the scary darkness of evil now glorified in our midst in various forms.

            Give us the true sense of Halloween, of having a hallowed, holy evening and eve for all our loved ones who have gone ahead of us into heaven we have all loved and revered while here on earth until now as we hope them to be in your presence as saints.  AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022. 

*Photo by the author, Jerusalem, April 2017.