Tag: home

Easter is Jesus, our home, our cornerstone

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A, 03 May 2026
Acts 6:1-7  ><}}}}*>  1Peter 2:4-9  ><}}}}*>  John 14:1-12
Photo from Our Lady of Fatima University official page at FB.

We are celebrating our 60th foundation anniversary at the Our Lady of Fatima University (OLFU) and the Fatima University Medical Center (FUMC) next year. As part of our year-long celebrations beginning last February, we are building 60 homes in two Gawad Kalinga sites in Bagac, Bataan and Trece-Martirez, Cavite.

It is the second time we have embarked on the same project when our administrators, faculty and employees as well as students volunteered to build and delivered 50 homes through GK too ten years ago in celebration of our golden anniversary.

Our University President Dra. Caroline Santos-Enriquez explained that it is not enough for us to provide our people with good, quality education we have always strived in the last 60 years when many are without a home because when people have homes of their own, they are filled with hopes and that is when they truly start to dream for a better future.

Such a desire in having one’s own home is deeply rooted in the Bible. Jesus Christ’s third beatitude in his sermon on the mount, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land” (Mt.5:5) refers to the longing of the Israelites not only for their own homeland but also for their own homes too.

That is why at his last supper, he mentioned something so similar to that aspiration of his disciples but this time on a deeper level.

Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way” (John 14:1-4).

Photo by MART PRODUCTION on Pexels.com

It is very interesting that in the Hebrew language, the name they use to commonly address God is HaShem written as השם for “The Name” because they cannot utter the word YHWH or Yahweh as we pronounce written as יהוה which is so sacred for the Jewish people.

Now take a look at the first letter of HaShem shaped like a house, השם while its third last letter looks like a door or a small “n” in our english alphabet. It is the same shape of the letter Yod they use to write YHWH – יהוה.

According to a spiritual writer I have read, God’s very name connotes a house, a home and a door that imply “relationships”. Remember last Sunday when Jesus introduced himself as the “gate” through whom the shepherd and his sheep pass through?

Jesus now deepens this lesson he taught us last Sunday as he moved to its next scene which is his last supper.

Imagine the silent stillness of the room heavy with emotion.

With lamps flickering in the evening light, we feel the ebb and flow of intimacy and uncertainty just like in our own homes during times of crisis.

And in the midst of it all is Jesus speaking with comforting assurance.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.” 

What is troubling you at this very moment or lately these past days or weeks?

Many times, what really troubles us most is the fear of being left out, of being alone. That is why money and sickness as well as death trouble us a lot. We are afraid of having nobody by our side not only to defend and comfort us but simply be with us. Here we find the value of having our own home where we feel safe and secured with loved ones.

Being left out, being alone is perhaps the deepest pain one could ever have. That is why we are troubled when people we love and care for threaten us of walking away from us to be on their own. Every time a beloved leaves us by choice or by circumstances, whenever we feel “apart” from others and separated, we feel losing a part of very selves because each one is also our part. Jesus came, suffered and died for us on the Cross so that in his Resurrection, we would never be apart from him and everyone anymore, here on earth and hereafter.

Photo by author, Manaoag Basilica, Pangasinan, 09 January 2026.

Jesus assures us today of his presence among us, of being with us and in us – a relationship so personal like having our own home and dwelling place in heaven. But, are we ready and willing to walk his path, to stand by his truth and live his life?

Vis-a-vis the things that trouble us, what is our deepest yearning at the moment? Are we still in the same level with Philip relying more on the physical and material aspects of relationships?

In my previous post after my annual retreat, I have mentioned to you my dear friends of my decision to rest a little from my daily blogs. Not really as a respite from my busy schedules but more of finding Jesus anew. During that retreat in March, I realized the thing that most bothered me lately was being far from God. I have been praying to blog, not for God.

Many times, we serve God in others without really being centered in Him, without any relationship at all with Him in Christ Jesus. And we priests are often guilty of it, of too much ministry without Jesus that lead us to burnout and exhaustion, most especially the lack of love for others. Anything especially relationships without Jesus eventually dies naturally because he indeed life himself.

Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.

The Apostles realized this early in the Church as we have heard in the first reading that they assigned seven deacons to serve the Greek-speaking converts to Christianity lest they forget Jesus Christ in prayers.

The same is true with us. It can happen that we feel we are doing God’s work, following his will but we are not in him in Christ. That is why Jesus clarified with Thomas: his very person is the way the truth and the life. And that is because he is the “cornerstone” of our very lives as explained by Peter in the second reading.

We are the “living stones” who make up the Church, the mystical body of Christ both visible and invisible. As God’s “chosen people” and “royal priesthood”, we have a deep spiritual bonding in Christ nourished and sustained in our prayers and liturgy. As disciples of Christ, we move visibly adjusting and innovating in our ways like the Apostles by remaining focused on the person of Jesus who is our everything.

Going back to our housing project at OLFU at FUMC, I was amazed at the faith of some of our recipients of the new homes we’re building in Trece-Martirez, Cavite who came to see me after the groundbreaking ceremonies. They told me how for so many years they prayed together as families to have their own homes and now it is slowly becoming a reality; hence, if I could bless – finally – their images of the Virgin Mary, Sacred Heart and Divine Mercy they have kept in their rented homes for many years.

They were so thankful for the blessing but, unknown to them, I felt more blessed in them as I felt God reassuring me that whatever troubles me in life, Jesus places great trust in us in continuing his mission here on earth. Let us remain in him and hold on to his words, “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.” A blessed week ahead to everyone! Amen.

Inside, outside the house

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 23 September 2025
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Padre Pio de Pietrelcina
Ezra 6:7-8, 12, 14-20     <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*>     Luke 8:19-21
Photo by author, Angels’ Hills Retreat House, Tagaytay City, 19 April 2025
How amusing are
the settings of your
words today,
God our loving Father!
In the first reading
is the story of the 
rebuilding of your home,
your temple in Jerusalem,
of your people's homecoming
in you while in the gospel
is the striking story of
our Lord Jesus Christ's
Mother standing outside
the house where he was 
preaching.

They completed this house on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. The children of Israel – priests, Levites, and the other returned exiles – celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy (Ezra 6:15-16).

The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. He was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you.” He said to them in reply, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it” (Luke 8:19-21).

How lovely,
dear Jesus 
that in Hebrew 
the first letter 
in the word "God" 
resembles a house,
or a door because
you, O Lord, 
is our home,
our house;
like our home,
it is more than
walls and beams
but of relationships,
of love and kindness
that make each one of us
your indwelling.
Bless our homes,
bless our families
with your presence
always, Lord.

Through the intercession
of St. Padre Pio,
help us heed his words:
"Always be united 
in the Faith
and try to be
a family according 
to the heart of God."
Amen.

St. Padre Pio,
Pray for us!

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

Lent is returning from exile

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Fourth Week in Lent, 02 April 2025
Isaiah 49:8-15     + + + + +     John 5:17-30
Photo by author, Nagsasa Cove, San Antonio, Zambales, August 2024.

Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I answer you, on the day of salvation I help you; and I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people to restore the land and allot the desolate heritages… I will cut a road through all my mountains, and make my highways level… Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you (Isaiah 49:8, 11, 15).

Many times I find myself
like your people in exile, O God:
so far from you,
so far from home,
so far from my true self
all because of evil and sin,
of my refusal to love you
to love others
and worst,
my refusal to acknoledge
your love in me.
Like your people 
exiled for so long from
Israel not knowing the way
back, I too, am afraid at times
to come home;
this Lent, 
help me find my way back home
to you, Lord;
help me find my way back 
to you in prayers;
help me find my way back 
to you in finding you among
my brethren;
help me find my way back
to listening to you again
in Jesus Christ your Son
(John 5:24) so I may pass from
death to life.
Amen.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.

Jesus our home, our tahanan

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fifth Sunday in Easter-A, 07 May 2023
Acts 6:1-7 ><}}}*> 1 Peter 2:4-9 ><}}}*> John 14:1-12
Photo by Ms. April Oliveros, March 2023, Mt. Pulag.

From being our “gate” as the Good Shepherd last week, Jesus today introduces himself as our “home”, our dwelling by being “the way and the truth and the life”. Our scene is still at the last supper with Jesus teaching his disciples including us today with some of his important lessons expressed in words so touching and full of mysteries.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.”

John 14:1-3

Though the apostles were still at a loss at the meaning of the words spoken by Jesus that night, they knew and felt something so bad would happen, that life for them would no longer be the same as before that troubled them so deeply inside.

To be troubled here means more than the feeling but experience itself of confrontation with the power of evil and death, when we get that existential feeling of our mortality, when we feel so helpless in a situation, asking “paano na ito?” or “paano na kaya ako/kami?” Like the apostles that night, we too have been into similar situations of being troubled deep inside when we realize in no uncertain terms something so sweeping is happening, altering our lives “forever” like when we or a loved one is diagnosed with cancer, gets a stroke, or has to undergo a major surgery of the heart or brain, and losing a loved one.

Jesus is telling us this Sunday like on that holy Thursday evening to stand firm because these evil and death will just have momentary control over us, a passing over that is why we have to summon all our strength and courage, confidence and perseverance in him as he himself had already triumphed with his own passion, death, and resurrection.

And that is the good news! Jesus had won over all our worst fears like death. It is the gift of Easter, of the Lord’s Resurrection right there inside our hearts, already in our very core we only need to recover by abiding in him always. But before going any further, let us first confront one important lesson this gospel scene offers us: When are we really most troubled in life?

Photo by Ms. April Oliveros, March 2023, Mt. Pulag.

When we examine the many troubles we have been through, we find that more than the difficult and harsh situations we have faced were the many troubles within our very selves. What really trouble us most are not those outside us but within us. These are those little guilt feelings we used to take for granted, little details in life we used to ignore and dismiss as nothing for so long that suddenly now under our very nose as so serious, so important after all.

The most troubling experience of all is when we realize how we have wasted so many opportunities to love and be kind, to be more forgiving and understanding, when we know we have done something wrong and have done nothing to rectify it. We are troubled when outside conditions throw us into situations that make us confront not only death and evil but our very selves that suddenly, we feel unprepared and inadequate especially sickness and death that both surely come. Always.

And here is the big difference: Jesus was not surprised, was never caught unaware of his pasch because all his life he has been one in the Father and one with us. See in all four gospel accounts how Jesus had total control over everything that is why he was so prepared for his passion, death and resurrection because he never turned away from the Father and anyone in need of healing, of forgiveness, of comfort, of his presence. Jesus never turned away from his very essence, his mission which is oneness in the Father and oneness with us his beloved.

Jesus was so at home, so to speak, with himself and with the Father that he never fell into sin despite the devil’s temptations nor the scheming traps and plots of his enemy. This is what Jesus is telling us of preparing a room for us in the Father’s house, that we be at home with our true selves in the Father in him.

We are most troubled when we are not home, literally and figuratively speaking. And sadly, many times as we have experienced in this pandemic that even in our own homes we could not be at home because we are detached and away from our families and loved ones.

“In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places… Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.”

John 14: 2, 10
Photo by author, Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, 04 March 2023.

The word “dwelling” is a favorite of John especially in this part of his gospel. For John, dwelling is more than a home but unity of Jesus and the Father as well as unity of Jesus and his disciples including us. In his prologue he spoke of Jesus as the Word who became flesh and “dwelled” among us. So beautiful an imagery of the Son of God living among us, being one with us and in us, not just physically present but through and through like going through our human experiences except sin.

To dwell is not just to reside but most of all to abide in Christ, to be united, to be one in him which he would say in the following chapter when he identified himself as the true vine and we are his branches.

Therefore, to dwell is to be one, to commune in the Lord. That is why heaven is not just a place but a condition, a being of eternal union with God where Jesus assures us of a dwelling. And because Jesus is our dwelling, our home, that is why he is also our way because he alone is the truth and the life.

Now, if anyone lives in Jesus, he/she lives in the Father too as he clarified with Philip who asked him to show them the Father and that would be enough.

How lovely that Jesus taught these lessons of unity and oneness in him and the Father and with one another in the context of the table, of a meal.

Here we find his last supper was not just a prelude to his coming Passion, Death and Resurrection but to his Ascension into heaven too when Jesus was already speaking of his entrance into a new and higher level of relating with the Father and with us his disciples, his Body as the Church.

This “dwelling” continues in our Eucharistic celebrations especially the Sunday Mass and even right in our own homes too during meal time. And there lies the challenge of our gospel this Sunday.

The first major problem in the early church came in the context of the table when “the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution” (Acts 6:1) of food. The Hellenists were the Jews who have lived outside Israel that when they returned home, they have become so alienated because of language barriers even of outlook in life. The Apostles resolved the issue by ordaining the first seven deacons.

It is interesting that the word “deacon” came from the Greek word diakonia which means “to serve at the table”. In Latin, diakonia is ministerium which is service in the table too. How lovely that to serve is actually rooted in the table found in homes!

We say home is where the heart is. In that case, God is our home. Jesus is our dwelling. We are troubled when we are not at home with God in Jesus and with our own families. Any problem at home takes priority in us too because family is important to us. How sad that some people could reject their own family without realizing that no matter what happens to us, it is still our family who would save us and stand by us in the end. This is what St. Peter’s was saying in the second reading of Jesus being the stone rejected to become the cornerstone when often we dismiss our family but in the end remain with us when our chips are down.

This Sunday, let us go home in Jesus our true home found in our own families. Home in Filipino is tahanan from the root word tahan which means to stop crying. To dwell in Filipino is manahan, from the same root too. We stop crying in our home because that is where we find security and comfort, love and acceptance, most of all, life and direction. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead!

Advent is being at home – with self, with others, and with God

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of St. Francis Xavier, Priest, 03 December 2021
Isaiah 29:17-24   ><)))*> + ><)))*> + ><)))*>   Matthew 9:27-31
Photo by author, Mt. St. Paul, La Trinidad, Benguet, 2020.
Your words today, O God,
are so Fatherly - comforting
and reassuring of your great
promises of redemption and
liberation from sin and miseries; 
your words are so "homey" too - 
help us this Season of Advent to find 
our way back home to you, O loving
God our Father!
Inasmuch as your words today
also speak of seeing and hearing,
make us feel at home first with
our very selves, to be at home with
who we really are, especially with our
past that no matter how dark or
painful life may have been, we are loved
most specially by you - no ifs, no buts.
Bring us home to you, Father, free from
any shame at who we really are!

Thus says the Lord God: but a very little while, and Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard, and the orchard shall be regarded as a forest! On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book; and our of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. The lowly will ever find joy in the Lord, and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. Now Jacob shall have nothing to be ashamed of, nor shall his face grow pale.

Isaiah 29:17-19, 22
I wonder, Lord, how so often
I feel one of those two blind men
who have followed you into your 
house - of how you first lead me into you,
into your presence, into your love 
and mercy and forgiveness before 
you make me see and hear again.
Thank you dear Jesus for always
coming to us even if so many times
we do not see nor notice you passing by
especially through others; grant us the 
zeal of St. Francis Xavier in reaching out
to others specially this season amid the
pandemic; may we try to see you among
one another as we listen to each one's
cries of pains and joys.
Most specially, let us keep our eyes
and ears and hearts open like St. Francis
Xavier who always believed in your
presence and providence even in the most
difficult and alienating situations
in life because he has always been
at home with you.  Amen.

Advent is being at home with God

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Advent Week I, 02 December 2020
Isaiah 25:6-10     >><)))*>   +   <*(((><<     Matthew 15:29-37
Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, Katmon Harbor Nature Sanctuary, Quezon, March 2020.

O God our loving Father, as we eagerly await the coming Christmas break to finally come home and be with our loved ones, may we also pray and reflect the greatest homecoming of all when your Son Jesus Christ returns to bring us back to you in heaven, our truest home.

How interesting that Jesus must come again to finally bring us home to you; yes, he had already come and always comes to us but unfortunately, we rarely come home to you. We insist on going somewhere or to someone else who just leave us empty and disappointed.

Home is where the heart is and that is you, Father, in heaven. May we constantly search you and dwell in you while still in this world; destroy the “veil that veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations” (Is.25:7) that mislead and imprison us with false hopes in superficial relationships and materialistic briberies of the world.

Sometimes we have to go hungry and thirsty to realize the more essential things in life like you, dear God and the people who truly care for us and love us like our immediate family and friends.

Like the crowd who have followed Jesus in the wilderness for three days with nothing to eat: they experienced advent, the coming of God when Jesus fed them after they were first disposed to desire the longings of their soul than of their bodies. It was only then when Jesus fed them through the miraculous multiplication of the loaves of bread for the second time.

May the darkness and gloom that envelop us this season of Advent like the pandemic and other personal crises dispose us to desiring you alone, God our Father, so we may finally enter your heavenly banquet with “rich food and choice wines” (Is.25:6). Amen.

We are God’s indwelling

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Monday, Easter Week V, 11 May 2020

Acts of the Apostles 14:5-18 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> John 14:21-26

Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera, Blessed Sacrament Procession in our Parish during quarantine, May 2020.

As we brace ourselves, O Lord, for the announcement this week of another possible extension of our quarantine period, we pray for more of your grace of presence and indwelling in us during this time that our churches remain closed to public worship.

Give us the fire and zeal of Paul and Barnabas in proclaiming your Gospel in words and in deeds.

Most especially, give us the same humility and decency to direct all praise and glory to your Divine Majesty and not to us.

Let us abide in you, O God our Father so that we may be your indwelling in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Photo by author, our closed church in time of corona virus, March-May 2020.

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. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.”

John 14:23

May we always have the courage, O dear Jesus, to accept your invitation to belong to you wholly, to be at home in you.

Most often, we are so anxious of so many things, peace and calmness become elusive because we cannot rest in you, we cannot persevere and wait in finding you here in our very selves, in our daily life, in our worries and concerns.

Let us come home to you, Jesus, and abide in your love so that we become your indwelling of the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“A House Is Not A Home” by Dionne Warwick (1964)

Lord My Chef Sunday Music, 21 July 2019
Old experiment from my room while assigned at the Fatima Shrine in Valenzuela City, June 2010-2011.

Our Sunday gospel today speaks about true hospitality that leads to an encounter of Jesus Christ in our home and family.

Burt Bacharach’s “A House Is Not A Home” composed in 1964 for a movie of the same title easily came as our choice for this Sunday’s music.

Problem was choosing which of the many versions to feature in our blog today.

Though the different versions do matter a lot with slight variations in the lyrics, we decided in favor of the original recording by Ms. Dionne Warwick in 1964 that was the B-side of her top 40 single “You’ll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart)”.

Despite her excellent voice (a favorite of Bacharach), Warwick’s “A House Is Not A Home” did not fare well in the US charts. However, since its release in 1964 it has become a classic for its lovely tune and truthful lyrics.

A chair is still a chair, even when there’s no one sittin’ there
But a chair is not a house and a house is not a home
When there’s no one there to hold you tight
And no one there you can kiss goodnight….
A room is a still a room, even when there’s nothin’ there but gloom
But a room is not a house and a house is not a home
When the two of us are far apart
And one of us has a broken heart

Hospitality is from the Latin hospes that means to welcome. From this root came also the word hospital.

The story of Martha and Mary reminds us of the need to first welcome our family members so Jesus could dwell in our home. And this calls for love and respect for one another, for kindness and care.

How sad that right in our own family we could feel unwelcomed, or even hostaged which is from another Latin word hostis that means enemy.

This Sunday, experience Jesus and his good news of salvation in your family by breaking those barriers that prevent you from welcoming one another.

Have a “home sweet home” in Christ Jesus with a lot of love and kindness to one another in the family. God bless everyone!

Going back to our roots

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Wednesday, Easter Week IV, 15 May 2019 (Feast of St. Isidore Labrador)
Acts 1224-13:5///John 13:16-20
Plants growing on walls along the Palm Sunday Path of Jesus in Jerusalem. Photo by author, 03 May 2019.

You know O Lord Jesus Christ how grateful I am and my fellow pilgrims for the gift of coming to your Holy Land last week. And you know how we felt later when we were so eager to come home, to get back to the Philippines.

Partly it was homesickness but largely I think due to our “rootedness”, to our desire to get back to our roots in our home, with our family, with my parishioners.

Yes, we have felt and experienced you Lord in the Holy Land but you are felt most when we all go back to our roots, when we touch base to our home, family and friends.

After Barnabas and Saul completed their relief mission, they returned to Jerusalem… While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Acts 12:25, 13:2

This touched me so much,Lord: Barnabas and Saul began to venture far and wide in their mission to the Gentiles while they were praying with the others in Jerusalem. It happened when they returned to Jerusalem, their home, their base where you first gathered them together after Easter!

Yes… you are most present whenever we come home and touch base with our roots like family and relatives, friends and neighbors, even schools or places where we first met you!

You can boldly claim that whoever believes in you believes also in the Father who sent you because you remained rooted in the Father, Lord Jesus.

Help us, Lord, to find our way back home to you in the Father. Give us the courage to touch base with our roots, to find you in our selves, in others around us including our places of work and study.

Like St. Isidore Labrador who always prayed and visited you, touching base with you as his roots always before farming, may we come to realize that ultimately, our rootedness is in God alone. Amen.

The Our Father Church in Jerusalem. Photo by the author, 03 May 2019.