“Got To Get You Into My Life” by the Beatles (1966)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music//Week XX-B//19August 2018

Body and Blood of Christ, Our Communion With God

Finally… the Beatles in our LordMyChefSundayMusic!

But did you know that the great Paul McCartney wrote this song not for a particular person but as an “ode to pot”? Yes, in honor of marijuana, that holy grass producing holy smoke!

I was alone, I took a ride
I didn’t know what I would find there
Another road where maybe I
Could see another kind of mind there
Ooh, then I suddenly see you
Ooh, did I tell you I need you
Every single day of my life

Sir Paul revealed this only recently in an interview for a book about him and his works (check Google). But again, as I have told you last Sunday, that is the beauty of music: truly a universal language that takes on a life of its own wherein it becomes applicable to every situation. On this penultimate Sunday of the Lord’s “bread of life” discourse, we find this classic Beatle music speaking also of God’s “communion” with us through Jesus Christ’s Body and Blood in the Eucharist: “we find Jesus speaking more boldly to the unfriendly audience by increasing the force of His declaration as “the bread of life” by repeating it eight times in eight verses! Jesus did not budge in the arguments of the crowd and instead slowly spiraled up His discourse as food and drink for eternal life…showing us the direction we have to follow in Him.” https://lordmychef.wordpress.com/2018/08/18/lordmychefsundayrecipe-19-august-2018/

Have to be clear with you, dear reader, I was not into pot and have not read the inspiration behind this song when I wrote my Sunday reflection… but that is indeed the effect of getting into Jesus in the Sunday Mass, beyond compare with weeds or any other drug: Here again is Jesus Christ before us…inviting us to enter into a communion with Him and in Him without murmuring and quarrelling to calmly reflect on this mystery of the Lord as our food and drink to eternal life… let us not rush God like the crowd at Capernaum by demanding spectacular and verifiable things to remind us of His presence. Jesus is with us in the most ordinary things like bread and wine, in the most common experience like the Mass. He speaks to us in the most consistent manner, always repeating the same words of assurances of His love and mercy, kindness and presence. Never doubt for we are making progress every Sunday, from Eucharist to Eucharist. Sooner or later, we shall come to that promised day of eternal life in the Father through Jesus Christ.” Have a hearty lunch with family and friends and God. And music!

The Body and Blood of Christ, Our Communion with God

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe, Week XX-B, 19 August 2018

Proverbs 9:1-6///Ephesians 5:15-20///John 6:51-58

Our gospel is now getting more interesting as the drama among the Jews and Jesus Christ unfold into new dimensions on this penultimate Sunday of the “bread of life” discourse. Last week, the Jews murmured among themselves when Jesus declared “I am the bread that came down from heaven” (Jn.6:41); today, the Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”(Jn.6:52)

Notice the beautiful interplay of “antes” noted by John in this part of the bread of life discourse: from murmuring, the Jews have turned into quarrelling among themselves in their renewed refusal to believe in Jesus. They have deteriorated from being skeptical into being insidious, reaching its lowest point next week when in their refusal to take the words of Jesus, they would eventually leave Him behind along with other disciples who have followed Him after that episode of feeding of more than 5000 people. Only the 12 would remain with Jesus. On the other hand, we find Jesus speaking more boldly to the unfriendly audience by increasing the force of His declaration as “the bread of life” by repeating it eight times in eight verses! And this time, He would even add that not only His flesh is food but also His blood is drink for eternal life. Jesus did not budge in the arguments of the crowd and instead slowly spiraled up His discourse as food and drink for eternal life. Jesus is trying to establish here a new direction in knowing Him, in following Him. In presenting Himself as our food and drink for eternal life, Jesus is also showing us the direction we have to follow in Him. Remember our reflection last July 15 that discipleship is not destination but directional? And the direction Jesus is taking us in His bread of life discourse is about our Holy Communion in God.

If you have observed in these past four weeks, sometimes the discourse by Jesus seems to be going nowhere, could be vague or ambiguous that it does not seem to progress at all. See how since last Sunday Jesus was repeating over and over His being the bread of life who came down from heaven and that whoever eats His flesh and drinks His blood will have eternal life. Jesus is not trying to get our attention with some fancy thoughts or brilliant expositions; Jesus is inviting us to a more personal experience of Himself in His bread of life discourse. He is asking us to take our time in listening and digesting His words because in the end, His goal is not to fill our minds but to rest in our hearts. Jesus is seeking communion with us, a oneness that can be achieved in the mystery of faith with a certitude deep in our hearts. It is something like our daily prayers and weekly celebration of the Sunday Mass when we sometimes feel nothing is happening; even in our minds, we know we have known everything. Yet, as we try to be open, holding on to our faith in God, we continue to pray and celebrate the Sunday Mass that deep within us we are convinced something had changed, that we have experienced Someone so real and profound. That is communion. When we receive Jesus Body and Blood, we realize and know for a fact we are not one. We have a communion not only with others with similar pains and hurts like ours but most of all with God who became human like us because He loves us so much. Now in Holy Communion, He is one with us, truly inside our body, flesh and blood under the signs of bread and wine. There is now an existing relationship on common experiences inexhaustible in its richness. That is how personal God is with us.

Since the fall of Adam and Eve, God had always longed to restore our union with Him. In the first reading, we have heard how the author of the Book of Proverbs had personified God as Wisdom (a feminine) inviting us to come to her. “Let whoever is simple turn in here; to the one who lacks understanding, I say, Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed! Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding.”(Prov.9:4-6) Wisdom is God Himself who is at once transcendent and close at hand, very lofty but also in the daily realities of life because He is always seeking a communion with us humans. Note in this passage, God is food and wine – the essentials of life! In the Eucharist, we have the most ordinary food, bread and wine, becoming the most divine presence of God with us in Christ Jesus. It is our common union with God in Christ who became human like us in everything except sin so that we can become like Him who is divine. Observe when the priest prepares the wine during the Mass, he would pause before pouring water to recite the silent prayer, “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” I love praying that, especially when I could see that amid the great amount of wine, our human contribution is just a droplet of water because Jesus did everything for us, we just have to believe! Then again while the “Agnus Dei” is sung in preparation of the Holy Communion, the priest pauses in silence as he breaks the bread, takes a little piece of it and puts it into the wine, silently praying “May this mingling of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ bring eternal life to us who receive Him.”

Here again is Jesus Christ before us, like the scene at Capernaum after the feeding of more than 5000 people, inviting us to enter into a communion with Him and in Him without murmuring and quarrelling to calmly reflect on this mystery of the Lord as our food and drink to eternal life. Let us heed St. Paul’s reminder to the Ephesians today “to watch carefully how we live, not as foolish persons but as wise” (Eph.5:15) more concerned with God and not of the worldly things. Most of all, let us not rush God like the crowd at Capernaum by demanding spectacular and verifiable things to remind us of His presence. Jesus is with us in the most ordinary things like bread and wine, in the most common experience like the Mass. He speaks to us in the most consistent manner, always repeating the same words of assurances of His love and mercy, kindness and presence. Never doubt for we are making progress every Sunday, from Eucharist to Eucharist. Sooner or later, we shall come to that promised day of eternal life in the Father through Jesus Christ. Amen. A blessed week to you!Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022

*Photo by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, Church at Tabgha where Jesus is believed to have fed more than 5000 people; at the altar floor is a mosaic of the loaves of bread and two pieces of fish. Taken during our Holy Land pilgrimage April 2017.

“Everything I Own” by Bread (1972)

selective photo of teal cross decor — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

“Everything I Own” by Bread (1972)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music//Week XIX-B//12August 2018

Believe. Love. And live.

On this third consecutive Sunday of the “bread of life” discourse of Jesus found only in the sixth chapter of John’s gospel account, our LordMyChefSundayMusic takes its cue again from the 70’s group Bread with their hit “Everything I Own.” Listeners have always interpreted it as a song about a broken relationship; but, according to its composer David Gates, the song is tribute to his late father when he composed it in 1972. The first stanza says so well Gates’ love for his late father.

But that is the beauty of music! It has a unique quality of being so universal in meaning with many applications in the various instances of our lives. It is indeed the food of the soul, like Jesus Christ as the bread of life. We simply have to believe. And when we believe, we love and start to live. But when we stop believing, then we also stop loving because there is no more life to live. Jesus is now offering us Himself as our bread of life, our sustenance in this life and to eternity. Most of all, when we have Jesus as our bread of life, we partake in His divine life that leads us to real fulfillment. But, are we willing to let go of everything to have Jesus, to believe in Him so we can truly love and live fulfilled?

You sheltered me from harm
Kept me warm, kept me warm
You gave my life to me
Set me free, set me free
The finest years I ever knew,
Were all the years I had with you

(Ref.) And I would give anything I own
I’d give up my life, my heart, my home
I would give everything I own,
Just to have you back again

You taught me how to love
What it’s of, what it’s of
You never said too much,
But still you showed the way
And I knew from watching you//Nobody else could ever know,
The part of me that can’t let go (repeat refrain)

Is there someone you know,
Your loving them so,
But taking them all for granted?
You may lose them one day
Someone takes them away,
And they don’t hear the words you long to say (Ref.)

Believe. Love. And Live.

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe, Week XIX-B, 12 August 2018

1Kings 19:4-8///Ephesians 4:30-5:2///John 6:41-51

Is it sinful to complain to God?

This is the most frequently asked question (FAQ) I get from everyone especially during confessions. And I always explain that it is not really sinful to complain to God in the sense that complaining to Him may actually be an expression of our deep faith and intimate relationship with Him. In our first reading we find the prophet Elijah complaining to God as he fled to the desert from the soldiers of Queen Jezebel sent to kill him: “This is enough, O Lord! Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”(1Kgs.19:4) In that sense, complaining is a prayer that comes from our hearts, expressing our deep, emotional pain as well as physical sufferings when we all we wanted is to take a deep sigh and blurt out what’s deep inside to complain or share with others. Especially with God whom we believe would do something to our plight. What is sinful is the “murmuring” we have heard from today’s gospel: The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread of life that came down from heaven,” and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heave’?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day.”(Jn.6:41-44)

When we were growing up, it was a big “no-no” to murmur to elders like mothers, lolas and titas. Recall how sharp their eyes and ears that even if you are already on your way up to your room or leaving their presence, they knew so well you were murmuring that the next thing you knew, you have been slapped! “Tumigil ka sa kabubulong-bulong at tatamaan ka sa akin” is a clear a present danger situation, not a warning. It is bad, and sinful to murmur because it comes from the intellect than from the heart. There is resistance and refusal to be open, an insistence on what we know or deem as right and better to something being presented. See how the Jews rehashed their perceptions against Jesus when He first came home and preached in their synagogue as “they took offense at him” (Mk.6:1-6, 14^th week) again in this scene in Capernaum. Murmuring is sinful not only because it lacks respect but most of all, there is the underlying current, even a sinister one that runs deep within us to undermine or go against somebody, especially God and those above us like parents and superiors. It is an expression of a lack of faith. That’s the problem with those around Jesus in Capernaum: they refused and could not believe Jesus because He was one of them as they thought. We need to be open to enter into the reality and mystery of Jesus. Hence, after telling them to stop murmuring, Jesus said “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day… Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.”

According to St. Augustine, “everything is grace but grace builds on nature.” It is always a grace from God to believe in Him, to have faith in Him but we have to nurture that gift within to grow and bloom. It is difficult to grow in faith and be captured by this faith if we do not stop “murmuring”: being too cerebral cannot solve everything because there are more realities in this life not visible with our eyes. It is only with the eyes of faith can we truly see the most essential things in life as the Little Prince realized. Through faith, we not only become open to God but also experience and realize something bigger which is love. Faith is akin to love. Both always go hand in hand because when we believe, we love. The more we love, the more we believe! When we believe, we love, then we live authentically. When we stop believing, we also stop loving, and we refuse to live anymore because there is nothing else to hope for in this life.

Believe. Love. And live. When we believe in Jesus, we love more truly – that is when we live authentically. This we shall see in the Lord’s discourse of His being the bread of life. But why “bread”? Bread is the most basic and essential food anywhere. Jesus offers Himself as the bread of life to show us that more essential and more basic than food and other material things for man is God alone. In declaring Himself as the bread of life, Jesus now presents Himself as the reality of God we do not see. Like the reality of bread as food, God is truly our life and sustenance not only in this life but in eternity! This we can see in the wonderful flow of the Lord’s discourse when He solemnly declared “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life” in verse 47. Then, two more times He declares His being bread of life as the “bread that comes down from heaven”(v.50) and “the living bread” before concluding that the bread He shall give is His “flesh for the life of the world” both found in verse 51. We do not eat simply to be nourished or worst, to be filled with food; we eat to celebrate life with others. Every celebration always has some food to offer because ultimately, what we offer in every meal is also our very selves. That is most true in Jesus as the bread of life we eat in the Eucharist to partake in His divine life so that our lives are not only lived but also fulfilled in Him with others. May we “live in love” as St. Paul admonished the Ephesians in today’s second reading by always believing in Jesus Christ so we could love like Him and live in Him. Amen.Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ni San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022

*Photo taken by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II at Sonnem Berg Mountain View, Davao City, 10 August 2018.

“Lost Stars” (2013), OST “Begin Again”

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music//Week XVIII-B//05August 2018

Meaningful Existence in Christ, the Bread of Life

To fully appreciate this lovely song, try watching the movie “Begin Again” with your family and friends this Sunday. Just stay home, be together to feel each other’s presence and find Christ among you. In our Sunday reflection today, we said that “Sometimes, we feel we truly love God and those around us but when we examine our priorities in life, we do not really love that much because we fail and even refuse to care, recognize and look for the person. What we easily and often look for is the object, the things we can have to fill us, even bloat us.” It is the same point of view of this song “Lost Stars” wherein we never stop searching for meaning in life, trying to lead others out of darkness to more fulfilment in life. “Begin Again” shows us how true are the teachings of Jesus in the gospel today, that we must search and aspire for the higher things in life, not to be consigned with what the world offers that bloat our egos. Life’s direction calls us to a continuous laboring in love, of always finding and giving meaning in our lives in God. I have underlined some lyrics that are so related with the gospel today too.

Please don’t see just a girl caught up in dreams and fantasies
Please see me reaching out for someone I can’t see
Take my hand, let’s see where we wake up tomorrow
Best laid plans, sometimes are just a one night stand
I’ll be damned, Cupid’s demanding back his arrow
So let’s get drunk on our tears

And God, tell us the reason youth is wasted on the young
It’s hunting season and this lamb is on the run
We’re searching for meaning
But are we all lost stars?
Trying to light up the dark

Who are we? Just a speck of dust within the galaxy
Woe is me, if we’re not careful turns into reality
Don’t you dare let our best memories bring you sorrow
Yesterday I saw a lion kiss a deer
Turn the page, maybe we’ll find a brand new ending
Where we’re dancing in our tears…

*You may follow the lyrics on the music video. Enjoy!

Meaningful Existence In Christ, the Bread of Life

grayscale photography of crucifix — Photo by Pete Johnson on Pexels.com

Meaningful Existence in Christ, the Bread of Life

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe, Week XVIII-B, 05 August 2018

Exodus 16:2-4,12-15///4:17,20-24///John 6:24-35

Existence. From “ex estare”, “to stand out.”

The word “existence” is a very obvious concept in our lives but also the most overlooked if not seen or understood at all. A very peculiar greeting among us Filipinos when we meet someone is “Hi! Nandito ka pala?” When translated into English, the more it is illogical and dumb as “Hi! You are here?” or worst, “Hi! Are you here?” Now, what kind of a question is it especially if the person you meet is like me standing at 5”5’, weighing 265 pounds? Do you ask “are you here?” when the presence is very obvious? It is a case of what teenagers call “MEMA” for “may masabi” or “just to have something to say”, indicating a very shallow perception and a lack of depth in friendship or acquaintanceship. The normal and most sane things to say when you meet anyone anywhere after the usual greeting of “Hi” and “Hello” are “how are you”, “what’s up”, and “what are you buying or looking for?” It was exactly the situation with the people who asked Jesus a silly question upon finding him on the other side of the lake in our gospel today.

And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.”(Jn.6:25-27)

At least the people did not ask Jesus “Rabbi, are you here?” But still, their query of “Rabbi, when did you get here?” showed their lack of deep appreciation for the person of Jesus. They were really looking for bread and for things. Not for Jesus and His person which is exactly what our relationship with God and with others too! We always look for something else except for the very persons we relate with like family and friends and God. This is what I refer to as “objectifying” the subject or taking persons as things. Sometimes, we feel we truly love God and those around us but when we examine our priorities in life, we do not really love that much because we fail and even refuse to care, recognize and look for the person. What we easily and often look for is the object, the things we can have to fill us, even bloat us.

It is very amazing that John recorded this seemingly trivial anecdote but loaded with meanings. After all, he is often referred to as the “beloved disciple” that, for his love for Jesus he must have seen something very special in this episode. It was not merely a simple question on the part of the people but the sad reality of their lack of love for God and others, something we too must admit as very true with us today. Like in the first reading, the people were so tired and seem to have lost all zeal in following God in the wilderness that they have become very shallow in their perception of everything and of themselves. They were disillusioned and tired with the wandering in the desert, the circuitous route they were taking that suddenly, they have forgotten their deepest desires and aspirations when still in Egypt as slaves. They have forgotten God. Like us in this life of so many concerns when we forget the most essential ones like persons and the values they represent – love, kindness, and loyalty.

See how Jesus did not answer the people’s question and instead declared to them in very clear manner something that echoes even within us today: “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal… This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent – the Christ.” Have we become like those people who approached Jesus at the other side of the lake with the silly question to mask their desire for things, for material bread than for the person of Jesus Christ? Have we forgotten all the lofty ideals of life and being a person created in God’s image and likeness? Is this the reason why these days we could easily dispense prayer and celebration of the Mass because we have been so focused with material things than with deeper realities? How ironic that when life has become more convenient and easier today, the more we experience of being lost and anxious, sad and unfulfilled. What a tragedy that amidst the material affluence of life these days, lives and people have become more empty and unfulfilled.

Last Sunday we reflected on the need to see things with the eyes of Christ to fully understand and appreciate the feeding of more than five thousand people by Jesus from five loaves of bread and two fish. Today, Jesus is telling us to search for Him, for His very person and not for the bread and other material things it represents. Jesus Himself is the bread of life, the bread from heaven – the Christ or the Anointed One of God. When we believe in Him, then we see Him too in the many signs He comes in our lives daily. Then we eventually realize we are also like Him – bread offered, blessed, broken and shared with others to sustain earthly life into eternity. That is when we find meaning in our lives! This is the direction of life we must all take as we reflected three weeks ago. It is a direction demanding a continuous laboring in love, of always finding and giving meaning in our lives in God. And that is the wondrous reality in every Eucharistic celebration we have when we are constantly renewed in Christ as St. Paul told the Ephesians in our second reading today. The great St. John Paul II described the Eucharist as a “cosmic reality” or the brief experience of eternity while still here on earth!

When Jesus declared Himself as the bread of life, He made Himself existent among us, very present in us and among us. In the Eucharist, Jesus exists, standing out to us, reaching out to us to fulfill our very person so we could also stand out and reach out unto others in loving service and presence. For a meaningful existence, may we desire more of the person of Jesus, the only essential in life readily available to us in the Holy Eucharist. A blessed week to you! Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ni San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022

Seeing With The Eyes of Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe, Week XVII-B, 29 July 2018

2Kings 4:42-44///Ephesians 4:1-6///John 6:1-15

Beginning today for five weeks of Sunday we shall hear from the sixth chapter of John to discover and experience the mystery of the person of Jesus Christ. Taking off from where Mark left us last week when Jesus and His apostles crossed the lake to rest at a deserted place, John now introduces us to the long but beautiful bread of life discourse of Jesus Christ: Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.(Jn.6:1-2)

John’s gospel is also known as “the book of signs” wherein he arranged the major miracles of Jesus as revelations of His being the awaited Messiah or Christ. But unlike the other evangelists, John preferred to call these miracles as “signs”, from the Greek “semeion”that denotes the existence and character of unseen, deeper reality. The word miracle is from Latin “mirum oculis” or something that causes wonder when seen or beheld. But a sign is deeper in meaning that John preferred to use it to show that the healings and other acts performed by Jesus are proofs and evidence that indeed He is the Christ. In doing so, John is inviting us to see more beyond the healings and other acts by Jesus the deeper realities He wishes to reveal and share with us to be experienced too. He wants us to shift our perceptions of persons and things to higher levels. Like Jesus Christ, John wants us to see beyond material things for every detail can be a bearer of meaning, a sign of deeper reality and of Christ Himself. Let us try:

Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?”(Jn.6:3-9)

Imagine standing there with Jesus, looking at the great crowd of people coming. It was getting dark, the feast of Passover was approaching and you were at a deserted place. Then suddenly Jesus asks you like Philip where can we buy enough food for them to eat?

Notice that if we examine the Lord at how He looked at the situation, it could lead to a shift in our perception from scarcity to plenty by first seeing the people coming as persons who need to be fed and cared for. Jesus felt their hunger and thirst, seeing them as brothers and sisters. It was an opportunity for Him to teach them some lessons about God. Unfortunately, the disciples saw the opposite – it was a big problem. Philip even viewed it as a nightmare when he told Jesus that even “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” The same thing with Andrew who found a boy with five loaves of bread and two fish not good enough for everyone. They saw it as a hopeless situation.

This is perhaps one of the main tragedies of our time when we begin to see and look at people as problems and mere statistics. We have failed and even refused to see each one as a person to be loved and cherished! Andrew did not even bother to ask the name of the boy and just brought him to Jesus with his bread and fish. Exactly how in media these days people are objectified and made into things, referring to persons with demonstrative pronouns this and that or ito at iyan in Filipino. On the other hand, objects are subjectified like food as “he/she’s delicious” or “masarap siya”. Sometimes I fear that one day PAGASA might even ask us priests to baptize typhoons as forecasters keep on referring to them like a human being: ang bagyon si Josie ay kumikilos pakanluran at may lakas siya ng hanging na… The most glaring sign of how low we have come to regard persons came from Congress during the SONA when Duterte reiterated the relentless continuation of his anti-drug campaign based on his erroneous view that human rights and human lives are two distinct realities. The list of instances continues when we take people for granted especially women and children when we give more emphases on things like money and clothes than persons. There is always more than enough bread for everyone when we learn to stop looking at everyone as a commodity to be bought and used. In the first reading, the prophet Elisha highly regarded those around him as persons who need to be fed with food that he had to remind his servant there was enough for everyone. With God, there are always plenty of bread for everyone but to the devil, there is never enough that is why its first temptation to Jesus was to turn stones into bread, the temptation to always take people for granted.

There is no doubt in the powers of Jesus Christ and most of all of His knowing what to do when in such difficult situations. Inasmuch as we trust in His powers, we also need to see others as brothers and sisters who are beloved by the Father. John mentioned in our gospel today the setting of this feeding of 5000 when the Jewish feast of Passover was near to show us the Eucharistic nature of the sign. How wonderful to remember that during His supper, Jesus took the same gestures at the wilderness and gave the bread to His disciples, saying “This is my body which will be given up for you.” Notice how there in the wilderness that the Son of God who had become man like us took on a body to remind everybody is a somebody and no one is a nobody. We are all bread meant to be shared and broken with one another for we are all one Body in Christ as Paul reminds us today in his letter to the Ephesians. Amen.Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ni San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022

*Photo from Google.

“Land of the Loving” by David Benoit with Diane Reeves (1986)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music//Week XVI-B//22July 2018

Resting in Jesus Christ

It is again Sunday, the day of the Lord, our rest day too. Rest is not merely a stop in our tasks and routines; rest is coming home to God. Our tagalog word for rest is pahinga that literally means to be breathed on. In the story of creation, man became alive after being breathed on by God. Whenever we rest in God, we come home to Him and let Him breathe on us His life-giving Spirit in the Holy Mass, in our prayers, and in our family gatherings. That is when we are also recreated in God. That is the deeper meaning of “R&R” – rest and recreation can only happen in God.

Here is a beautiful song by David Benoit sang by Dianne Reeves in 1986, “Land of the Loving.” It speaks of how a woman had finally found the love of her life, the one who truly loves her and gives meaning to her life. In finding her true love, she also found home, the land of the loving. Sing with Dianne in the lovely music by David, recall how Jesus invites you to come home to Him and rest. When you find Jesus and rest in Him, then, you are home sweet home…

Deep in your eyes is a promise
Love can be ours if we want it
Starting tonight every dream I ever knew
Here in your arms I’m believing
Finally my life has a meaning of its own
Here in the land of loving I am home

I was alone in the city

Searchin’ for someone to find me

Cold empty nights and a million strangers’ eyes

Here in your arms I’m beginning

To leave behind all the loneliness I knew

Here in the land of loving there is you

In this simple room magic is made

Though the world seems unchanged

Leave the lights on I’m a little afraid

This might be just one sweet dream

Deep in the night love is growing

Though I had no way of knowing

That when I found you I found ev’rything I need

Here in your love I’ll be staying

Fin’lly my life won’t be living all alone

Here in the land of the loving I am home

*Photo by Gretchen Ira Banaticla, Virginia, USA. Used with permission.

Resting In Jesus

Resting in Jesus Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe, Week XVI-B, 22 July 2018

Jeremiah 23:1-6///Ephesians 2:13-18///Mark 6:30-34

As I was telling you last Sunday, discipleship is directional than about destination. And though we have different missions in life, every mission always has Jesus Christ as direction. Today we deepen this direction in Christ with the return of the Twelve after being sent by Jesus to their first mission last week when He invited them to rest with Him to a deserted place.

The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat… When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to preach them many things. (Mk.6:30-31)

Friends always wonder what kind of “rest” I take when I go on a little solitude every Thursday on my weekly day-off or during my annual personal retreat. They ask, “anong klaseng pahinga po iyon Father kung nagdarasal pa rin kayo?” Of course, I sometimes go on out-of-town vacation but when we try to reflect on our gospel today, we discover some beautiful dimensions about rest. To rest means to stop because tasks have been completed. This we find in Genesis 2:2 when God rested on the seventh day after creating everything good. In John 19:30, we find Jesus Christ saying “it is finished” when He died to complete His work of salvation that after His Resurrection, He ascended into heaven to seat at the right hand of His Father in heaven. To rest primarily means to stop because work has been completed like God when He completed His works of creation and salvation. But in the gospel today we find how Jesus and the Twelve could not rest nor eat because of the people coming!

Here we find the essential reality about rest which is always to rest in the Lord. We do not only rest with Jesus Christ but also rest in Him. Unlike God, we complete our works by episodes, not in its entirety. Jesus invited the Twelve to rest after completing their first mission given them. There would still be other missions to be given to them until Jesus ascended into heaven. Those missions continue to this day and would never be fully completed until His Second Coming. For us to fulfill any mission in life, we need to rest always in Christ because as we have seen last week, He Himself is our direction in the ministry. That is the direction of intimacy with Jesus, of being close with Jesus because it is Jesus Himself whom we share with the people we serve.

People would always be coming to us but never forget that before they all came, Jesus came first to call us and send us. Therefore, when we rest, we rest in Him too which is a call to a personal and intimate relationship with Him. Note how Mark referred to the “Twelve” last week and now being called as “apostles” upon their return from their first mission. This is an important shift in calling them as apostles for later we shall see they are distinct from followers or disciples. An apostle is someone who is sent forth ahead of Jesus. It is from the Greek verb “apostolein”, to send forth while disciple is from “discipulous”, to follow like discipline. Most of all, an apostle is someone who had seen Jesus Christ like the Twelve so that Paul had to insist on this title too because he met the Lord on the way to Damascus. In a deeper sense, an apostle is also someone very intimate with Jesus Christ, always interacting with Him, doing His works. We are all apostles of the Lord sent into the world to continue His saving works which demands a close relationship with Him in fulfilling that mission that is very demanding, even impossible. Most of all, what the people are really hungry and thirsty of are not things of this world but Jesus Christ Himself – His love and presence, His mercy and forgiveness, His joy and consolation. It is for this reason that when a priest asked St. Mother Teresa for any message to priests, she simply asked them “to give them Jesus, only Jesus, and always Jesus.” This will also be the focus of the gospel in the next five weeks when we shift to John’s gospel account of the bread of life discourse in chapter six.

In the recent Philippine Conference on New Evangelization, speakers kept on reminding us priests, religious and consecrated persons on this essence of our ministry: we can never be moved with compassion to feed the multitude like Jesus Christ when we are apart from Him. Of the many speakers there, I was moved most on the first day by the Bulakenyo Jesuit Fr. Albert Alejo who asked us, “who/what gives you joy in the ministry?” He reminded us to always go back to Jesus Christ in everything we do because without Him, we could never lead people to Him. He capped his talk with a beautiful metaphor of the rooster by demonstrating and mimicking how the rooster would crow at the break of dawn. According to Fr. Alejo, once the rooster had seen the first rays of light of the day, he stands erect first, flaps his wings to make sure he is already awake, then beats his chest to muster enough courage and strength to announce morning has broken with a powerful crow. And when other roosters follow with the same methodology of crowing, the whole farm is awakened as the new day begins filled with life and hope.

Without Jesus in our hearts, without resting in Jesus in every mission we have labored along with its triumphs and failures, pains and joys, it would always be difficult to feed the multitude. Worst like the shepherds of Israel, we could “mislead and scatter the flock of the Lord’s pasture”(Jer. 23:1) that has sorely marred our own history of the Church with the many scandals that have rocked us. Jesus Christ is the promised Good Shepherd God had spoken through Jeremiah (Jer.23: 5-6), the one sent to reconcile us all in God and with others (Eph.2: 16) whom Paul proclaimed in the second reading. This Sunday, let us not just stop from our work to rest with our gadgets and other things. Let us rest in God – magpahinga – let Him breathe on us His life-giving spirit so we may be recreated for the challenges of this new week. Amen. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan. <lordmychef@gmail.com>

“Devotion” by Earth, Wind and Fire (1974)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music

Week XIV-B//15July2018

Discipleship is Directional, Not About Destination

Somebody asked me last night after reading my Sunday reflection, “where is the direction?”

As I have shared with you, life is essentially directional and not about destination. Life is more of dealing with the questions “why” and “what” than of “where”. When we search more of the where, we can get frustrated because in this journey of life, we really do not know the place where we should be or would be. As we journey in life centered on Christ in prayer and silence, the more we still do not know of what will happen next, of what we’ll see next – yet, we are so excited. We continue living because we believe, and most of all, we love! When we love, we experience God. That is when we begin to realize that indeed, heaven is more than a place or destination but a presence — that is also when we find our direction. Here is a soothing music from Earth, Wind and Fire called Devotion from their album aptly titled Open Our Eyes released in 1974 that points to a direction. Enjoy!

Through devotion, blessed are the children
Praise the teacher, that brings true love to many
Your devotion, opens all life’s treasures
And deliverance, from the fruits of evil
So our mission, to bring a melody
Ringin’ voices sing sweet harmony

For you here’s a song, to make your day brighter

One that will last, you long through troubled days

Giving your heart the light to brighten

All of the dark that falls in your way

You need devotion, bless the children

Deliverance from the fruits of evil

In everyone’s life, there’s a need to be happy

Let the sun shine, a smile your way

Open your heart, feel a touch of devotion

Maybe this song will help uplift your day.

Make a better way

You need devotion….

https://youtu.be/13heVfqIRBE