Advent is sharing the light of Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Simbang Gabi-1 Homily, Monday, 16 December 2024
Isaiah 56:1-3, 6-8     <*((((><  +. ><))))*>     John 5:33-36

*Photo by Mr. Boy Cabrido at Mt. Carmel Shrine, QC, December 2023.*

Today – or last night – we begin our nine-day novena to Christmas more known as Simbang Gabi which actually began last night or Misa de Gallo which is the pre-dawn Mass most of the faithful observe.

How you call it does not really matter for as long as you complete the nine-day Masses before Christmas which is actually a novena to the Blessed Mother Mary known as Nuestra Señora dela Expectacion. And of course, the other important thing is the setting of the Simbang Gabi, that of darkness that calls us to muster enough courage and strength to be awake and vigilant, praying for the Lord’s coming.

Night time and darkness in the bible connote evil and other negativities that Jesus conquered in His coming to us. In fact, His birthdate was pegged at December 25 partly because it is the darkest night of the year, making Jesus truly the light of the world.

*Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com*

It is very interesting that during our Christmas celebrations, our brothers and sisters in the Jewish faith celebrate their Hanukkah (Chanukah) or eight-day festival of lights beginning December 25 to January 2, 2025. It commemorates the victory of the Maccabean brothers and followers against their Syrian-Greek occupiers led by King Antiochus IV who defiled the Jerusalem Temple during their brief take-over of Judah around the year 170 BC. After driving out the pagans, Judas Maccabeus and his followers cleaned the temple and found only a small amount of consecrated oil lamp left that was good only to last for a day. Miraculously, the lamp burned for eight consecutive days, giving them enough time to prepare according to their rituals new sets of holy oil for their temple lamp.

During their Hanukkah, every Jewish family celebrate at home by lighting eight candles in their menorah that means “to shine” in Hebrew to remember and thank God for those eight days of light in their temple as well as their deliverance from their enemies despite their being outnumbered.

Regardless of faith, there is one truth we all believe in, that God’s love and mercy abides in us not only for one day or eight days but all the days of our lives even through all eternity. That is actually the meaning of eight-days which we Catholics borrowed from the Jewish liturgy in having Christmas and Easter octaves to signify eternity. We have always stressed that we do not have weekend because the week does not end but simply goes on and on because after the seventh day of Saturday, we have Sunday again which is eighth day! (The Beatles were right after all when they sang, “eight days a week… I looooo-ve you.”)

*Photo by author, San Fernando, Pampanga, December 2021.*

Whether it is the menorah or the beautiful parol (lantern) that lights our homes during this season, they all remind us of God’s abiding love and presence in the midst of many darkness in our lives.

In the story of creation in the Book of Genesis, God created light first of all on the first day because light is so essential that it also means life itself. In light, we find things easier, we travel better. And we need light so much – literally and figuratively speaking – to move on in life.

As we go through our Simbang Gabi – whether at night or at dawn in preparation for Christmas, Jesus reminds us at the start of our novena to continue searching, following and sharing Him as the true light of the world.

During that time, Jesus said to the Jews, “He (John) was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light. But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me” (John 5:35-36).

It is very sad, even tragic despite our many advancements achieved in science and technology that our world today is still in a lot of darkness due to wars going on especially in the Holy Land, of natural calamities displacing many people that claimed many lives almost everywhere this year, as well as poverty, hunger, and oppression in all forms that put so much sufferings especially to children, women and elderly.

Everyone of us is challenged, as God told Isaiah in the first reading to “observe what is right, do what is just” (Is.56:1) to alleviate and ease the hardships of so many of our brothers and sisters who have to face survival daily.

Let us be the light of Christ with our loving service and presence with others especially those facing financial challenges at this time, those grieving at the loss of a loved one, and others not having a merry Christmas this year. May we share the light of Christ too to those losing hope and faith in life and mankind because of being in too much or prolonged darkness in life. Amen. Have a blessed Simbang Gabi everyone!

*Artwork by Kay Bratt in Facebook, 13 December 2023.*

Immaculate Conception is God making room in us; do we make a room for God too?

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, 09 December 2024
Genesis 3:9-15, 20 ><}}}}*> Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12 ><}}}}*> Luke 1:26-38

*Photo by Rev. Fr. Gerry Pascual at Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Bella, Stresa, Italia 2019.*

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the most awaited feasts in our predominantly Catholic Christian country due to its timing that is so close to Christmas as well as our deep devotion to the Blessed Mother.

Yet, it is also the most problematic because every year, the biblical passage we hear in its celebration is the Annunciation of the Birth of Jesus Christ that is held on March 25 so that people often confuse the December 8 Solemnity as Mary’s Immaculate Conception of Jesus. Of course, there is no direct quotation in the bible of Mary’s Immaculate Conception for it is a fruit of long process of deliberations and reflections in the Church that was finally made official in 1854 as a Dogma.

For those still confused, today’s celebration is when Mary was immaculately conceived in St. Anne’s womb through the merits of Jesus in all eternity, being freed from any stain of original sin so that she may bear our Savior, the Son of God, all-perfect, into the world who is the Christ.

*Photo by Rev. Fr. Gerry Pascual of Iba, Zambales at Santuario di Greccio, Rieti, Italy in 2019.*

Mary was chosen by God to be His Son’s Mother not because of her having any special traits but purely out of God’s goodness. It is a beautiful story that continues to happen daily we hardly notice nor recognize when God intervenes into our time to bless us not because we deserve to be blessed but simply out of His immense love for us.

This is what we celebrate in the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary: we have a very loving God making a room among us so we may dwell and live in His grace since the very beginning of time.

In the bible and in spirituality, the words room and dwelling actually refer to communion of man and God. In fact, the first letter of God’s name “Yahweh” is shaped like a door of a house in Hebrew writing. At the last supper, Jesus told the Twelve that in His Father’s house are many rooms where He shall go first to prepare one for us all. It is not a literal room but a relationship with God that begins here.

In Genesis, paradise as dwelling place of Adam and Eve was more of their oneness with God they have destroyed with sin.

God truly loves us, never gave up on us when He sent Jesus Christ to redeem us to take us back to Him by renewing that relationship with Him. It had always been part of the divine plan even before the fall of man as reflected by St. Paul in the second reading, “as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him” (Eph. 1:4).

Every December 8 (or 9, like today when the solemnity falls on a Sunday), we hear Luke’s beautiful account of the annunciation of Christ’s birth because it also conveys to us the same message of the Immaculate Conception of Mary who made a room too for God in her self.

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary (Luke 1:26-27).

*“Cestello Annunciation” by Botticelli painted in 1490; from en.wikipedia.org.*

The scene preceding this is the annunciation of John’s birth to Zechariah during the Jewish major feast of Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement at the temple in Jerusalem. Observe Luke’s account and we see how God entered through human activities in that scene. Nakisabay, naki-ride on ang Diyos sa takbo ng panahon noon nang ibalita ang pagsilang ni Juan Bautista.

In the Annunciation of the birth of Jesus, it was different: it was God setting everything on His own as we feel from Luke’s solemn reportage. The five major “W’s” of news were there present, namely, who (Mary), what (birth of Jesus), where (Nazareth), when (sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy) and why (Jesus to save the world).

With Mary in Nazareth, the major event was the Annunciation itself of Christ’s birth. It is the entrance of the eternal God into the temporal and finite time of man. That is why we pray the Angelus thrice a day, to sanctify our day as we remember that great event of God becoming human like us in Jesus. (Sadly, so few people pray the Angelus these days, giving more importance to social media, video games and noon time shows or news programs.)

Mary’s Immaculate Conception actually had its fullness in the Annunciation when Mary said yes to God by making a room for Jesus in herself and in her life that led to Christ’s birth and fulfillment of His mission of salvation for us. We see this also in Joseph as narrated by Matthew.

God made everything possible to restore this relationship through Mary who had to be immaculately conceived in order to be the room who would receive His Son Jesus Christ.

*Photo by author, left side of the facade of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, Holy Land, May 2019.*

Nazareth is the only major place in the New Testament never mentioned in the Old Testament unlike Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus and actually His very root being from the lineage of King David was mentioned many times in the Old Testament.

Nazareth was Mary’s hometown, obscured and unknown like her. After returning from Egypt, the angel told Joseph to bring the Holy Family there to avoid Herod, son and namesake of his father who ordered the massacre of children in Bethlehem upon learning from the Magi the birth of the new king of Israel, Jesus Christ. Though officially from Bethlehem, Jesus grew up in Nazareth that is why the people refused to acknowledge Him as the Messiah who would come from Bethlehem.

Nazareth was so insignificant at that time that it was the butt of jokes in Israel. When one of the Lord’s early disciples Philip told Nathanael (Bartholomew) that they have found “the one about whom Moses wrote in the law” as the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (Jn.1:45-46). Jesus did not reprimand Nathanael for his comment because it was true, even praising him as a true Israelite without guile!

*Photo by author, Nazareth Square, Holy Land, may 2019.*

In the first reading, it was God who chose paradise as dwelling of Adam and Eve; in the New Testament, it was God anew who chose the obscured town of Nazareth as the room and dwelling of His Son Jesus Christ, so perfectly jibed with Mary also obscured, so young and perhaps no voice nor say in the Jewish society at that time.

That is how God works, always in silence, often choosing people and places so insignificant in human standards to eventually display His glory like in Mary.

Inasmuch as the Immaculate Conception is God making a room for us to dwell in Him in Mary, God needs also our cooperation and participation in the process. It is not a one-shot deal but an ongoing process, something that continues and most of all, we cultivate and nurture. It is a gift freely given by God, reminding us of our original state and being as clean and pure.

Like Mary, do we have a room for Jesus within us to come especially in this world so preoccupied with man’s pride and achievements? Let us reclaim our original status and pure and clean children of God in making a room for Him in our lives today. Amen.

*Photo by Fr. Gerry Pascual of Iba, Zambales at Einsiedeln Abbey, Einsiedeln, Switzerland, 2019.*

Pope Francis’ rule of 8

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 05 December 2024

*Pope Francis waves to pilgrims as he enters St. Peter’s Square for his general audience on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. Credit: Julia Cassell/CNA*

Pope Francis again called on us priests to keep our homilies short during his General Audience at the Vatican yesterday, December 04, 2024. He said, “Preachers must preach an idea, a feeling, and a call to action. Beyond eight minutes the preaching starts to fade, it is not understood.”

According to the Catholic News Agency, the pilgrims applauded the Pope’s remarks that is again sweeping the social media circles of many Catholics especially in the Philippines. It is trending, in fact, because our people are so fed up with our long, boring homilies.

However, I find the Pope’s reminder lacking in substance, in what is most essential.

*Photo from Catholic News Agency, 12 June 2024.*

This is the second time this year since June and the third since 2018 that Pope Francis urged priests to be brief with their homilies. It is actually an echo to the recommendations by Archbishop Nikola Eterovic’s 2010 book on the 2008 Synod on the Word of God that advised bishops to keep their homilies to eight minutes or shorter to avoid “improvisations” at the pulpit.

(Now you see, the problem actually is with the bishops who mostly give poor homilies but effective tranquilizers. In fact, Pope Francis’ homily last Holy Thursday was over 20 minutes, but, of course, he is the Supreme Pontiff…)

Instead of focusing on the duration of the homily, Pope Francis should have adopted St. Augustine’s stance: the priest must first and foremost pray to give a good homily. Duration and length of homily is secondary when the priest’s homily is the fruit of his prayers (and studies).

In the fourth book of his Doctrina Cristiana, St. Augustine said that “every homily is from God” when truly prayed upon by the priest and deacon. He admitted that not every priest is gifted in preparing good homilies that is why he encouraged priests to share homilies that others may imitate. St. Augustine categorically wrote that there is no problem in copying the homily of other priests; what is unacceptable (and sinful) is when the priest’s homily and life do not jibe, when the priest does not walk his talk.

That is why when people ask me what is the most difficult part of priesthood, I always say since my first year as a priest, it is the prayer life – not celibacy nor poverty. Both are hinged on the priest’s prayer life.

Prayer is always difficult because it is the work of the Holy Spirit, demanding our time and total self. When we pray, we strip ourselves naked before God, facing our true selves minus our many pretensions and masks as a person. And a priest.

Hence, whatever we preach is the fruit of our prayer which is very scary. When we priests deliver our homily, we subject ourselves to your scrutiny. And that’s how we are judged by the people: does this priest practice what he preaches?

I have been a priest for more than 26 years but I still get nervous and scared before every celebration of the Mass, specially in delivering the homily.

When the Alleluia is sung and we bow our heads before the altar to recite our silent prayer – “Lord, cleanse my heart and my lips that I may worthily proclaim the Gospel” – I always add the words of John the Baptist to Jesus at Jordan before His baptism, “Lord, let me decrease so that you will increase.”

We priests are the first to be affected by our preaching. Kami ang unang nasasaktan at tinatamaan sa katotohanang ipinahahayag namin. That is when true connection with people and the gospel happens which Pope Francis discussed lengthily in his 2013 Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium”, giving practical tips in preparing homilies in its third chapter, “Proclaiming the Gospel”. Always at the very core of every homily and of the priesthood in particular is prayer, our communion with Jesus Christ, our Eternal Priest.

When the priest lacks the passion in celebrating the Sacraments particularly Holy Eucharist and Confession, when he habitually skips giving a homily, and worst, when he avoids celebrating the Mass daily – he is no longer praying. That is 100% sure. Most likely, Father is in crisis, deep into a vice, or a relationship.

Therefore, instead of zeroing into the duration of the homily, the Holy Father must encourage – or demand – us priests and bishops to have a prayer life, to go back to Jesus in prayer as the late Pope Benedict XVI had insisted until shortly before his death in December 2022.

And this falls upon you, too, our dear lay people. Please stop inviting us priests too often to late night socials and coffee. Give us the space and time to be home before 9PM or better, to keep us in our rectory in the evening to study and pray for our celebration of the Holy Mass the following day. We may go out at night but not so often. It is not our way of life.

Let me end this with another worthy lesson from St. Augustine in his other book about teaching catechism called De Catechizandis Rudibus, “the catechist is the lesson himself/herself.” In the same manner, “the priest is the homily himself”, too! Pray for us your priests and help us remain holy and prayerful.

The uniqueness of the Cross

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Saturday, Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, 14 September 2024
Numbers 21:4-9 ><}}}}*> Philippians 2:6-11 ><}}}}*> John 3:13-17

*Photo by author in my previous parish, 2017.*

Today we celebrate a most unique Feast, the Exaltation of the Cross.

It is so unique because first of all, the cross is perhaps the most unique thing on earth made up of two pieces of wood that are so ordinary yet so deeply extraordinary in meaning, a sign of God’s immense love for us humans through Jesus Christ’s Passion and Death.

From being the sign of the most inhuman punishment in history, the Cross is now the very sign of how God “so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that he who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn.3:16). It encapsulates the whole mystery of Jesus Christ, of how this all-powerful God beyond the ordinary became weak like us in everything except sin so that we too may be like Him, divine and more than ordinary. In His suffering and death on the Cross, Jesus made the lowly wood so ordinary to be so exalted to become His sign of love and mercy, power and majesty.

Hence, in the Cross is the power of God’s love to transform us to better persons.

In the Cross is God’s power to lead us closer to Him with its vertical beam and to others with its horizontal beam.

In the Cross is the power of good if we choose to embrace it with Christ Jesus as our Lord and Master.

The Cross is most unique of all signs in the world because underneath its ordinariness, that is where we see God’s glory and majesty. It was underneath the Cross of darkness and gloom on Good Friday that humanity began to see light and hope in life’s many absurdities. Most of all, it was underneath that Cross of suffering and death of Jesus Christ that we feel and experience the assurance of the Resurrection.

How?

Through our own pains and sufferings that are most uniquely ours too!

With their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!” In punishment the Lord sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died (Numbers 21:4-6).

*Photo by author, Dominican Hills, Baguio City, January 2018.*

You must have heard that old story of a man who came to Jesus to return the cross given for him to carry; he asked Jesus to have it replaced with a lighter one. Jesus then led the man to a huge room with all kinds of crosses for him to choose which he prefers as the best one for him so that he would stop complaining.

After closely examining the specs of so many crosses, the man finally decided to pick one he deemed as perfect for him after considering its weight and other dimensions, only to find out from Jesus Himself that it was the same cross he had actually returned for exchange!

Many times in life we are like those people in the first reading, never ending in their complaints to God, even challenging Him, accusing Him of forsaking us, of being unfair when life becomes difficult and unbearable. There are times we feel being on the distaff side of life always like a flat tire, never on top. We cry foul to God especially with all our hurts and pains inflicted by others, asking Him where was He when most needed?

Photo by author in Jordan near the Israeli border where Moses put up the bronze serpent as instructed by God to heal those bitten by the snakes after they have complained of their conditions in the wilderness, May 2019.

While it is true life is indeed difficult, the cross reminds us of the fact that the pains and hurts we have are uniquely ours too, something we have to accept and most of all, own.

There are pains that are so deep and won’t go away that have in fact affected us dismally in our lives already. Instead of self-blaming and self-pity, we just have to ask for God’s grace to accept and own them like Jesus Christ. We just have to “bring it home” – that imagery of the Cross planted on the Calvary – into our very selves, in our being as something so true and real. And uniquely ours.

Stop thinking of others’ pains and hurts. We are not all the same. If ever we have similar experiences, the hues and shades even gravity and circumstances are not same because each pain and hurt, like the cross, is uniquely ours. Like every person, every cross is unique because it is also a gift, a mystery, and life. We have to “befriend” our pains and hurts, our own cross instead of resist it. It is in “befriending” our pains and hurts, our cross in life that we grow and mature, becoming more free to love and to be joyful because that is when the cross triumphs over its disgrace and shame in us and with others. That is when our pains and hurts, when our crosses begin to reveal to us the many beautiful truths of Easter awaiting us.

The Cross of Christ triumphed because Jesus carried it wholeheartedly, allowing those two pieces of wood to reveal not only to Him who knew everything beforehand its meaning but most of all to everyone of us the deeper truths the Cross signifies as St. Paul eloquently expressed in our second reading.

*The Cross of Christ atop the church of our Lady of Lourdes in France. Photo by my former student Philip Santiago during his pilgrimage, September 2018.*

One thing I realized after my mother died in May is the fact that while there are so many pains and sufferings in this world, my own pain and suffering in losing her are most difficult to bear; hence, something I must carry because it is uniquely mine.

But, one thing so unique I noticed is that the more I see my cross following my mother’s death, the more I saw also the cross of others. The Cross of Jesus triumphed truly in me when I embraced and owned my cross, when I befriended my pains and hurts that eventually led me to recognize and see, to feel more and experience too the crosses of others.

When we become conscious of each one’s unique cross, slowly we are able to reveal to them the meaning of their personal crosses too because we become more sympathetic, more open, more silent to listen more, love more, care more and be more present with those in their own unique cross. No wonder, I find conversing more engaging with others who also grieve because we can see each other’s unique crosses!

Jesus calls us to imitate Him that by embracing and owning our cross, we too may lead others to finding the meaning of their own cross and thus experience Easter soon. Let us pray:

Give us the grace, O God, 
to always embrace the Cross
 like your Son Jesus Christ 
where we can all be empty 
of ourselves to be filled 
with your Holy Spirit 
to make your love visible in us.  
Amen.

Sacred Heart, love language of God

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus-B, 07 June 2024
Hosea 11:1, 3-4, 8-9 ><}}}*> Ephesians 3:8-12, 14-19 ><}}}*> John 19:31-37

You must be wondering why this photo of a quote from Tom Hanks’ 1994 character Forrest Gump on the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. What’s with shoes and the Sacred Heart of Jesus? Let me explain…

Last Tuesday while checking on my Facebook, I saw the post of a former seminarian who said, “Buying us shoes has been the love language of my parents to us… It will not change.” Posted below were photos of him buying two kids with new pairs of shoes.

How I admired him for being a father to those less fortunate kids! And that’s why I remembered Forrest Gump too who said how his mother used to tell him that shoes tell a lot about people, “Where they are going. Where they been.”

There’s something special with our feet, with the shoes we wear. Or do not wear. One is clear, though: our feet being at the lowest part of our body are most cared when we are growing up but later forgotten though overworked. That is why, it is so wonderful to go back to those days of childhood when our parents used to buy us with new pair of shoes, of how they would stoop down to help us fit the right ones for us. Just like God who is a Father to each one of us!

Thus says the Lord: when Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms; I drew them with human cords, with bands of love; I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks; Yet, though I stooped to feed my child, they did not know that I was their healer.
Hosea 11:1, 3-4

That’s the tenderness of God, so Fatherly to us in taking care of us, teaching us to walk, taking us to his arms, lovingly raising us to his cheeks while we burst in laughter. Try reading that whole quotation to include the second verse skipped by our lectionary today, the more you can feel God’s tenderness. And our sinfulness.

Thus says the Lord: When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called them, the farther they went away from me.
Hosea 11:1-2

Is it not this is how our love relationship is with our parents and family including God?

When we were kids, we loved running to our parents, taking pride for being their son or daughter, always clinging to their big hands. Or, like couples at their early years in marriage who seem to be inseparable and always together. Then, as years passed by as we find new friends and new relationships, we drift apart from our parents or spouse, including God. And worst, we drive them away, even feeling ashamed of them especially when they come near us with their gestures of love and concern. But, when problems arise like betrayal and infidelity, failures and losses, we return to our parents or to our original spouse or family, and most especially to God, rediscovering their genuine love that is so tender and very comforting again: “I took you in my arms, drew you with human cords with bands of love. I fostered you like one who raises an infant to his cheeks; yet, though I stooped to feed you my child, you did not know I am your healer” (Hos.11:3-7).

That “stooping down” by God He had spoken to Hosea hundreds of years earlier took its deepest plunge when He sent us Jesus Christ His Son as our Savior by dying on the Cross. In fact, Jesus literally “stooped down” on the night He was betrayed when He washed the feet of His disciples to portray to them the depth of His love for us all.

From His birth to His passion and death, Jesus Christ, therefore, is the Father’s love language.

This was very evident on Good Friday as John narrated how the soldiers broke the legs of the other two thieves crucified with Jesus to hasten their death; but, when they saw Jesus “already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. For this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled: Not a bone of it will be broken. And again another passage says: They will look upon him whom they have pierced” (Jn.19:33-34, 36-37).

Jesus Christ is the Father’s love language to us all because His death on the Cross is the most tender moment of love in history when our God who personally loves us by becoming like us in everything except sin loved us until the last drop of His blood because we are His beloved brothers and sisters in His loving and faithful Father in heaven we have always deserted in our many sins.

Indeed, when blood and water flowed out from His pierced side on the Cross, the ocean of Divine Mercy flowed out for us, forgiving our most grievous sins, regardless of our many weaknesses.

In His Most Sacred heart, Jesus is inviting us to have tender moments with Him, to have the same “love language” of sacrifice and giving of self for others so that “He may dwell also in our hearts through faith so that once we are rooted and grounded in His love, we may have the strength to comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth of His love that surpasses knowledge and be filled with the fullness of God”(Eph.3:17-19).

Unlike us humans, God makes no mistakes in loving. He remains faithful to us with His love, even “allowing” us often to sin and commit mistakes so that eventually, when we hit rock bottom, we rediscover Him and His love that is so real and so personal.

That is why we must heed St. Paul’s admonition in the second reading to be “rooted and grounded in His love” because human love is always imperfect. Only God can love us perfectly in Christ Jesus who offered Himself on the Cross to fulfill what we have failed since the beginning – that is, to love God and others.

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.*

Today we complete the series of three Solemnities in Ordinary Time right after the great season of Easter: Trinity, Body and Blood of Christ, and now, the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. All three Solemnities tell us how great is this God we believe in, someone so immense and powerful, yet so loving and so gentle; most of all, a God so personal that He is much like us but at the same time so different from us.

This Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is an occasion for us to meditate deeply on how God touches us in the most intimate manner when He stooped down in Christ through the Cross to experience His love and mercy so that we could make others feel that too.

Like John who witnessed everything on the Cross, we need to see more with the eyes of faith the realities of God’s immense love for us who gave His Son Jesus as the new Lamb offered for our many sins and that is why, in accordance with the Jewish law and with the Old Testament, not one of His bones were broken on the Cross. May we learn to stoop down like God in Jesus by looking down to our feet by first examining our hearts as we pray, Jesus meek and humble heart make my heart like thine! Amen.

Pagbabalik-loob vs. pagbabago

Lawiswis Ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Kapistahan ng Pagbabalik-loob ni San Pablo, Ika-25 ng Enero, 2024
Gawa ng mga Apostol 22:3-16 ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> Marcos 16:15-18

*Painting ng “The Conversion of St. Paul” ni Luca Giordano noong 1690 mula sa wikipedia.org.*

“Magbago ka na!” Iyan ang mga salitang madalas nating marinig at sinasabi sa mga tao na alam nating mayroong masamang pag-uugali at gawain. Madalas bitiwan mga salitang iyan tuwing Bagong Taon at mga Mahal na Araw.

Ngunit, maari nga ba talagang magbago ng pag-uugali o ng pagkatao ang sino man? Ibig bang sabihin yung dating iyakin magiging bungisngis o dating madaldal magiging tahimik? Iyon bang matapang kapag nagbago magiging duwag o dating palaban magiging walang kibo at imik?

Kung isasalin sa sariling wika natin ang salitang “conversion”, nagpapahiwatig ito ng pagbabago tulad ng na-convert sa ibang relihiyon o sa ibang anyo o gamit. Ngunit sa bawat pagbabago, mayroong higit na malalim na nababago na hindi namang ibig sabihin ay nag-iiba o naging different.

Kasi iyong sinasabing conversion ni San Pablo o ng sino pa mang tao ay hindi naman pagbabago ng pagkatao kung tutuusin; sa bawat conversion, hindi naman nababago ating pagkatao talaga kungdi ating puso na naroon sa ating kalooban.

Kaya tinatawag itong pagbabalik-loob, di lamang pagbabagong-buhay.

Binabalikan natin ang Diyos na nananahan sa puso natin, doon sa kalooban natin.

Higit na malalim at makahulugang isalin ang conversion sa katagang “pagbabalik-loob” dahil ang totoo naman ay bumabalik tayo sa Diyos na naroon sa loob ng ating sarili.

Dito ipinakikita rin na likas tayong mabuti sapagkat mula tayo sa Diyos na mismong Kabutihan. Kailangang pagsisihan mga kasalanan, talikuran at talikdan kasamaan na siyang mga balakid sa ano mang pagbabalik-loob at saka pa lamang mababago ating pamumuhay.

Katulad ni San Pablo, sino man sa atin na makatagpo sa liwanag ng Diyos, nagiging maliwanag ang lahat kayat atin nang hahangarin ang Diyos na lamang at kanyang kalooban. Nananatili ating katauhan at pag-uugali ngunit naiiba direksiyon at pokus.

Kapansin-pansin na bawat nagkakasala wika nga ay malayo ang loob sa Diyos na ibig sabihin ay “ayaw sa Diyos” gaya ng ating pakahulugan tuwing sinasabing “malayo ang loob”. Ang nagbabalik-loob ay lumalapit, nagbabalik-loob at pumapaloob sa Diyos.

*Pangangaral ni San Pablo sa Areopagus sa Athens (larawan mula sa wikipedia.org).*

Isang magandang paalala sa ating lahat itong Kapistahan ng Pagbabalik-loob ni San Pablo na hindi malayo at hindi rin mahirap maabot, bumalik sa Diyos sa pamamagitan ni Kristo Jesus. Maari itong mangyari sa gitna mismo ng ating sira at maruming sarili.

Hindi nabago pagkatao at pag-uugali ni San Pablo kung tutuusin: nanatili pa rin siyang masugid, matapang at masigasig. Nabago lamang ang direksiyon at pokus o tuon ng kanyang pag-uugali at pagkatao. At siya pa rin iyon. Inamin niya sa ating unang pagbasa ngayon na siya ay “isang Judio, ipinanganak sa Tarso ng Cilicia ngunit lumaki rin sa Jerusalem. Nag-aral kay Gamaliel at buong higpit na tinuruan sa Kautusuan ng mga ninuno at masugid na naglilingkod sa Diyos” (Gawa 22:3).

Nanatiling masugid sa Diyos si San Pablo ngunit naiba na ang batayan na dati ay sa mga Kautusan at tradisyon ngunit sa kanyang pagbabalik-loob, si Jesu-Kristo na ang batayan ng kanyang pananampalataya. Personal niyang naranasan si Jesus kaya gayon na lamang kanyang pagiging masugid na alagad. Sinasabing kung hindi siya nadakip at nakulong hanggang sa patayin marahil ay umabot siya sa Africa sa pagpapalaganap ng Mabuting Balita.

Hindi rin nabawasan kanyang tapang; bagkus pa nga ay higit pa siyang tumapang. Lahat ng hirap tiniis niya at hinarap gaya ng pambubugbog sa kanila, ma-shipwreck sa isla, mabilanggo ng ilang ulit at ni minsan hindi umatras sa mga balitaktakan at paliwanagan sa mga Judio at maging kay San Pedro ay kanyang kayang salungatin at pagsabihan kung kinakailangan.

Gayon na lamang ang malasakit ni San Pablo sa Panginoong Jesu-Kristo at kanyang Mabuting Balita kaya naman sabay ang pagdiriwang ng kanilang Dakilang Kapistahan ni San Pedro tuwing ika-29 ng Hunyo dahil magkapantay kanilang kahalagahan sa pagpapatatag, pamumuno at pagpapalaganap ng pananampalataya at Simbahan.

*Ordinasyon sa pagka-diyakano sa Katedral sa Malolos, ika-12 ng Hunyo 2019.*

Alalaong-baga, katulad ni San Pablo, ano man ating pagkatao at pag-uugali siya pa ring mga dahilan kaya tayo tinatawag ng Panginoon upang maglingkod sa kanya; ililihis at ihihilig lamang niya mga ito ayon sa kanyang panukala at kalooban.

Kaming mga pari kapag inordenahan ay ganoon pa rin naman pagkatao at pag-uugali ngunit nababago direksiyon at tuon sa bagong estado ng buhay at misyon.

Gayun din ang mga mag-asawa. Lalabas at lalabas tunay na pagkatao at pag-uugali ngunit hindi iyon mga sagwil upang lumago at lumalim sila sa pagmamahalan at pagsasama bilang mag-asawa.

Wika nga sa Inggles, “God does not call the qualified; he qualifies the call.” Maraming pagkakataon tinatawag tayo ng Diyos maglingkod sa kanya di dahil sa tayo ay magagaling at mahusay; madalas nagugulat pa tayo na mismong ating kapintasan at kakulangan ang ginagamit ng Diyos para tayo maging mabisa sa pagtupad sa kanyang tawag.

Madalas at hindi naman maaalis na sumablay pa rin tayo at sumulpot paulit-ulit dating pag-uugali. Kaya naman isang proseso na nagpapatuloy, hindi natatapos ang pagbabalik-loob sa Diyos. Araw-araw tinatawagan tayong magbalik-loob.

*Larawan kuha ni G. Jim Marpa sa Dabaw, 15 Enero 2024.*

Gaya ni San Pablo nang siya ay ma-bad trip kay Juan Marcos na iniwan sila ni Bernabe sa una nilang pagmimisyon. Batay sa kasulatan, ibig pagbigayn pa ni San Bernabe na muling isama si Juan Marcos sa pangalawang pagmimisyon nila ngunit mariin ang pagtanggi at pagtutol ni San Pablo kaya’t sila ay naghiwalay ng landas bagamat nanatili silang mga alagad ni Kristo. Sa bandang huli naman ay nagkapatawaran sila.

Ganoon din tayo, hindi ba? Walang perfect. Ang mahalaga araw-araw nagbabalik-loob tayo sa Diyos dahil araw-araw lumiligwak din tayo sa ating maling pag-uugali at mahunang pagkatao.

Higit sa lahat, sa ating patuloy na pagbabalik-loob, doon lamang magiging maliwanag sa ating ang kalooban ng Diyos na palagi nating inaalam sapagkat batid nating ito ang pinakamabuti para sa atin. Ang kalooban ng Diyos ang magtuturo sa atin ng tamang landas na tatahakin upang ating buhay ay maging ganap at kasiya-siya.

Subalit kadalasan tayo ay nabibigo, naguguluhan kung ano ang kalooban ng Diyos dahil akala natin para itong tanong na isang pindot ay malalaman kaagad ang sagot tulad ng sa Google. Mahirap mabatid kalooban ng Diyos kung tayo ay malayo sa kanya dahil sa mga kasalanan. Kaya tulad ni San Pablo, idalangin natin sa Ama sa pamamagitan ni Jesu-Kristong Anak niya na magpatuloy tayo sa pagbabalik-loob upang manatili tayong nakapaloob sa Diyos. Amen. San Pablo, ipanalangin mo kami!

Advent is making Christmas happen

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Saturday, Misa De Gallo VIII, 23 December 2023
Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Luke 1:57-66

*Photo by author, Church of St. John the Baptist (birthplace) also in Ein Kerem, other side of Church of Visitation, May 2019.*

We Filipinos always thought prophets are “fortune-tellers” who predict the future because “prophecy” is wrongly translated as “hula”; thus, when somebody says something would happen and becomes fulfilled, it is often described as “prophetic” because “nahulaan niya”.

But a prophet is neither a fortune teller nor someone who sees the future: a prophet is first of all a spokesman of God. The great prophets of Israel like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Elijah even Moses all spoke for God. It was in their task of speaking for God that they seemed like seers when everything they have spoken happened – but not because they saw the future but more because they made God’s words happened.

Being a prophet or prophetic is making things happen not seeing what is going to happen. This is the meaning of our sharing in the prophetic ministry of Jesus as baptized Christians when in our speaking and standing for the truth of the Gospel, we make Jesus present in the world.

Hence, in that sense, advent is actually making Christmas happen! And that is why John the Baptist is considered a prophet because in preparing the way of the Lord, he already made Jesus present in his time that he was mistaken to be the Christ.

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, “No. He will be called John.” So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.
Luke 1:57, 59-60, 62-64, 66

*Photo by author, apse of Church of St. John the Baptist also in Ein Kerem, other side of Church of Visitation, May 2019.*

In our first reading, we have heard the prophet Malachi declaring the coming of the great prophet Elijah, later understood in the time of Jesus as a reference to John the Baptist, with all the functions of a precursor of the Christ.

Malachi is the last of the prophets in the Old Testament who showed us the transition into the New Testament through John the Baptist that Luke beautifully employed in presenting Zechariah and Elizabeth as links from the Old Testament like the patriarch Abraham and Sarah as well as Elkanah and Hannah, parents of another great prophet, Samuel.

Recall the annunciation of John’s birth that was reminiscent of the annunciation of the birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah while the Temple setting was very similar to the annunciation of Samuel’s birth to Elkanah and Hannah who then prayed in the Lord’s tent who was mistaken for a drunk by the chief priest of that time, Eli.

That is the artistry of Luke who portrayed to us this Old Testament links of John the Baptist so that in some Eastern churches until now you find above their entrance doors murals of the Baptist followed by the Blessed Virgin Mary at the middle and then Jesus to show how St. John marked the end of the Old Testament leading to the New Testament that started with Mama Mary when she accepted Jesus in her womb. It is the reason Jesus himself acknowledged John the Baptist as the greatest person ever born by a woman.

*Photo by author, altar of Church of St. John the Baptist in Ein Kerem, shortly before its closure for restoration, May 2019.*

We today are prophets too when we link the past with the present by continuing the work of Jesus Christ, making him present in this world. We are all bridges, linking and linked with one another in Christ.

Furthermore, the naming of John in itself was very prophetic because his parents made it happened to be fulfilled as God planned it wherein Elizabeth insisted to her neighbors “John” would be his name while Zechariah who was mute at that time affirmed his wife by writing “John is his name.”

That is our mission in this world – to be a prophet who makes things happen by fulfilling God’s plans for us. As prophets, we must be open always to God’s work among us, to always listen to his words in people and events so that we make his words realized. When we become prophetic, we shall hear people say what Luke noted at the end of our gospel today, All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him (Lk.1:66).

As we move closer to Christmas Day, the birth of John the Baptist reminds us of our prophetic role in this world of making that future a present reality by fulfilling God’s words and holy will in us.

If we would just persevere in our prayer life, of immersing ourselves in prayer, the more we become sensitive not only of God’s presence but also of everyone like this very short story I recently found on my friend’s wall in Facebook shared by a certain Therese Williams Hudson last December 15, 2023. She wrote….

"I heard my mother ask the neighbors for salt. 
But we had salt at home. 
I asked her why she asked the neighbors for salt. 
And she replied: "Because our neighbors don't have much money 
and they often ask us for something. From time to time 
I also ask them for something small and economical, 
so that they feel that we need them too. 
That way, they will feel more comfortable 
and it will be easier to keep asking us for everything they need.

And that's what I learned from my mother."

*Photo by author, Fatima Avenue, Valenzuela City, 08 December 2023.*

Lovely, is it not? The author added at the end of her story these words: “Let’s build empathetic, humble, supportive children”. Let’s join her but not just to have emphatic, humble, supportive children but most of all, prophetic ones, those with heightened sensitivity of God and of others made possible only by a deep prayer life where we can all be a “JOHN”, a graciousness of God who makes his divine plans realized. Amen.

The songs we sing, the music we dance

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Misa De Gallo VII, 22 December 2023
1 Samuel 1:24-28 <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]*> Luke 1:46-56

*Photo by author, RISE Tower, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 13 December 2023.*

As a chaplain of our university with six campuses and two medical centers, I have always emphasized to our deans and program coordinators that I strongly advocate a “one-party system” every December – just one Christmas party each day for me!

You know very well that we are really back to normal with the many parties going on since the start of December though, we are still strongly urged to take all necessary precautions for COVID is still with us.

Next to all the food and raffles in every party, there are always the singing and dancing that make these occasions so wonderful.

But I hope that amid all these fun and celebrations, we do not forget the other side of Christmas, of those in pain and suffering this season: those who are sick or taking care of a sick loved one, those grieving at the loss of a beloved, the poor and marginalized.

*Photo by author, Fatima Avenue, Valenzuela City, 13 December 2023.*

That is why I cannot stop sharing with you too the beautiful gesture of our Administrators last Monday in hosting an Appreciation Dinner last Monday for our employees in their senior years, those 60 and above still working, still teaching. I was not able to join them but have heard feelings of fulfillment, deep joy, and gratitude with a lot tears rolling in the eyes of those honored for their service, dedication and passion all these years. They all felt so special that aside from our Christmas party last December 8, there was another party hosted in their honor.

I remembered how when I was still assigned in our diocesan school in Malolos 25 years ago how we taught our students to set aside a certain amount of their budget for their Christmas party so they can host a party too for students in some selected public schools, complete with gift-giving. We wanted to instill in them the spirit of love and charity by thinking always of others during this season.

While we are singing and dancing in our Christmas party, let us not forget those who could not even go to parties because of their poverty, sickness and other limitations. See how the Blessed Virgin Mary taught us this important aspect of sharing Jesus Christ concretely during this Christmas when she visited her cousin Elizabeth.

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his lowly servant. From this day, all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, and has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of servant Israel, for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and to his children forever.”
Luke 1:46-55

In a certain sense, the Visitation was like a Christmas party of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. There was great rejoicing in their getting together as we have reflected yesterday.

Today we heard Mary singing her praises to God in Magnificat as a response to the praises she received from Elizabeth on her Visitation. Notice that instead of returning Elizabeth’s gesture like most of us would do in our “mutual praise club” especially during parties, Mary praised God through her Magnificat his outpouring of love not only to her and Elizabeth but to the whole nation of Israel.

Actually, the Magnificat was composed by St. Luke he placed on the lips of the Virgin Mary. It is a part of his artistry, of putting songs on the lips of some of his Christmas characters like Zechariah after John’s circumcision and later on Simeon at the Presentation of Jesus in the temple.

Why? Because singing, like dancing, is the highest expression of our feelings to the one we love. Mothers sing lullabies to their infants, suitors compose and sing songs to their beloved, and we Filipinos sing and dance in whatever mood we are wherever we may be! There is always music in us from the simple gesture of washing the dishes, ironing of clothes to driving and taking a shower. When we sing and dance, we show what’s inside us as well as who we are.

In singing the Magnificat which St. Luke patterned after a similar song by Hannah at the birth of her son the Prophet Samuel who’s story we heard in the first reading, the Blessed Virgin Mary expressed her joy and gratitude in the nearness of God among us not only with the coming birth of her Son Jesus Christ but also through her!

All those great things done by God to Israel as per the Magnificat – “mercy on those who fear him, showing the strength of his arm, scattering the proud in their conceit, casting down the mighty from their thrones, lifting up the lowly, filling the hungry with good things, sending the rich away empty, coming to the help of Israel, for he has remembered his promise of mercy” – happened not only in the coming of Jesus Christ but every time we share and proclaim him in words and in deeds like Mary.

The late Fr. Raymond Brown, one of the great biblical scholars of our time noted in his classic “Birth of the Messiah” that Mary as the first Christian is teaching us the essential task of every disciple of the Lord, that is, after hearing the word of God and accepting it, we must share it with others, not by simply repeating it but by interpreting it so that people can see it truly as the good news.

How are we interpreting the message of Christmas this Advent so that people would realize Jesus has come?

I hope this beautiful poem from another blog I have found a long time ago could help you sing and dance like Mary the Magnificat this Christmas.

1 Corinthians 13 Christmas Style
by Sharon Jaynes 
(https://sharonjaynes.com/1-corinthians-13-christmas-style/

If I decorate my house perfectly with lovely plaid bows, 
strands of twinkling lights, 
and shiny glass balls, 
but do not show love to my family – I’m just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, 
baking dozens of Christmas cookies, 
preparing gourmet meals, and arranging 
a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, 
but do not show love to my family – I’m just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, 
carol in the nursing home, 
and give all that I have to charity, 
but do not show love to my family – it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce 
with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, 
attend a myriad of holiday parties, 
and sing in the choir’s cantata 
but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn’t envy another home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of your way.

Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return, 
but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

Love never fails.  Video games will break; pearl necklaces will be lost; golf clubs will rust.  
But giving the gift of love will endure.

Amen. May you have and share Jesus Christ always.

God comes any where, any time

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Misa De Gallo V, Wednesday, 20 December 2023
Isaiah 7:10-14 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 1:26-38

*Photo by author, flower garden outside the Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth, Israel, May 2019.*

Experts tell us that much of human communications are non-verbal in nature. And most often, people rely more to our non-verbal than verbal communication because it is more truthful by nature as actions speak louder than words.

For our reflection this fifth day of our Christmas novena, let us examine the two kinds of non-verbal communications employed by St. Luke to portray God’s immense love for us as well as his sublime uniqueness as perfect communicator. These are proxemics or the communication of spaces, of how places are designed or designated to convey something special and profound. The second i which is the use of time in non-verbal communication like time perceptions of punctuality, willingness to wait, and, “timing”.

*Photo by author, Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth, Israel, May 2019.*

See how St. Luke extensively employed these modes of non-verbal communications in his infancy narrative to show us that God is everywhere, any time.

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.
Luke 1:26-27

Right away St. Luke established here the direct correlation between John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, of how their respective mission are directly linked with each other that our Lord was conceived six months after his Precursor’s conception.

More than the time frame conveyed by the six month difference in their births, we find behind it a deeper meaning about their differences as well in stature and nature wherein John was completely human flowing with time while Jesus is both human and divine with God directly intervening in our time. John was born June 24, the summer solstice when days are longer and brightest while Jesus was born December 25 when nights are longest and darkest!

The chronemics and proxemics are undeniably hinting on something deep, of how our eternal God entered through our temporal time so that within we can have that cosmic experience of “the here and not yet” when time seems to stand still because we are being wrapped in God’s eternal embrace of love made possible by Christ’s birth, passion, death and resurrection. This we can see at the contrasting circumstances between the advent of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ where we find God most unique, immensely loving us.

*Photo by author of the site of the Annunciation at the basement of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, Israel, May 2019.*

First, Zechariah was a priest while Mary was a commoner. It was natural for God to work through his ministers but in choosing Mary an ordinary woman was something else not because of any special quality she had but simply because God is good. The angel clearly told this to Mary, “you have found favor with God”. God does not call the qualified but he qualifies the call! Today, God is telling us Jesus is coming through us, no matter who we are or what we have gone through and did in life.

Second, God used the setting of the Temple of Jerusalem in yesterday’s account because that is where he is supposed to dwell but today, everything happened in a very simple house in Nazareth, the only place of significance and importance in the New Testament never mentioned in the Old Testament. It was a place looked down upon by many like St. Bartholomew asking Philip, “can anyone good come from Nazareth?”

The word “Nazoraios” or Nazarene mentioned by Matthew refers to the overall designation of Jesus by the prophets as the hope and fulfillment of God’s promise that there shall come forth a “shoot from the stump of Jesse” (Is. 11:1). Shoot in Hebrew is from the word nezer which is also the context used by Isaiah in chapters 7 and 9 found in Isaiah 11:1 cited by Matthew. Therefore, Jesus being called a Nazarene or Nazorean is more than a reference to his place of origin but most of all his very essence – a shoot from God, someone totally consecrated to God.

And that is also who we are! St. Paul’s letters teem with this beautiful theme of us being called and justified in Christ by God.

Today, God is telling us to never lose hope in life, to never give up because he will never give up on us because we are from him, we are his. For as long as we are alive, God will make a way to make a shoot or nezer bud forth from a stump to bring us back to life.

Yesterday, it was the imagery of barrenness of Elizabeth, of her being fruitless and therefore empty. Many times, that is just what God needs from us, an entry point, an opportunity when we are so weak so he can mightily work with his powers.

One of my hopes after Christmas is to celebrate Mass at the Quiapo Church, to cultivate a devotion to Jesus Nuestro Padre Nazareno. I just feel drawn to him as I have personally met so many people including non-Catholics with devotion to the Nazareno of Quiapo after granting them their almost impossible petitions and prayers.

*Photo by Mr. Boy Cabrido, Quiapo Church, Misa de Gallo, 17 December 2023.*

Third, there was a major feast going on, the Yom Kippur, with a lot of people present when Zechariah was informed of the birth of John; Mary was alone in her house when the angel came to announce to her the birth of Jesus on the sixth month after going to Zechariah. Again, here we find both the place and time conveying something deeper than mere locations and settings. This is what the Church has always been insisting, most especially lately after the lockdown during pandemic when people got the wrong impression that online Masses are enough or can replace actual participation in our Eucharistic celebrations especially on Sundays.

Yes, God comes to us personally as individuals but with Jesus Christ, we have been more interconnected than ever as we have seen how his birth was linked with John’s birth too. Faith and worship, life itself can never be relegated to just a personal matter. There is always the communal aspect of our faith and of life itself because man is a social being, created by God to relate which is what communication is all about.

*Photo by author of a Filipino painting of the Annunciation scene on the facade of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, Israel, May 2017.*

In the first reading we found Ahaz refusing to ask for a sign on the pretext he did not want to offend God but actually because he did not want to show his faith like some people these days who try to see everything on the practical side, on the material side and most of all, the personal side. This is the tragedy of our time even in our Church that has become secularized in certain aspects. See those different guidelines of every diocese and archdiocese about the Simbang Gabi, with others allowing anticipated Masses we have long tried educating people that it is an oxymoron. Many times, we in the Church have overextended or over-interpreted many of our rubrics and traditions just to accommodate others in the name of inclusiveness and other woke ideas.

On this fifth day of our Simbang Gabi, the Annunciation of the birth of Christ invites us to ask ourselves how do we show others that the Lord is with us like Mary? If God is every where, all the time, how come so many have lost him or could not find him? Maybe we no longer have him. Let’s ger him back again today! Amen. Have a blessed Wednesday!

Advent is waking up to God’s realities

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Misa De Gallo III, Monday, 18 December 2023
Jeremiah 23:5-8 ><))))*> + <*((((>< Matthew 1:18-25

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

“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about” (Mt. 1:18). I love this opening line of our gospel this Monday. So simple and warm, even magical that we know the whole story it is about to tell not only by heart but because it is now fulfilled.

It evokes in us that scent of Christmas or amoy Pasko whatever that means to you.

Basta, you know that feeling of being so safe and secured that everything in life will be fine, just like with St. Joseph after being told by an angel in his dream of the coming of Jesus Christ.

*Photo by author, San Fernando, Pampanga, November 2021.*

“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:20-21

Feel the solemn note of Matthew’s infancy account from the perspective of St. Joseph, the fulfillment of God’s promise that burned slowly through long years of waiting that burst into light with the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem more than two thousand years ago.

Every prophecy and dream and longings were finally fulfilled because “When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home” (Mt. 1:24).

As we enter the final stretch of the week leading into Christmas Day when Christmas rush tries to hijack our souls from its true essence, we are invited to go deeper, to be more intense in our prayers and reflections on the meaning of Christ’s coming to us.

Are we willing to be like St. Joseph?

Very often, St. Joseph is taken so lightly because of his silence. And amusingly, his being portrayed always asleep that God communicated to him at least four times in his dreams about the birth and safety of Jesus Christ.

For anyone fast approaching the senior year of 60 like me, you would exactly know the feeling and frustration of difficulty in having a good night sleep. If my alarm clock were a human, he would have long been fired from the job because I always wake up ahead before it alarms!

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2023.*

First thing we find with St. Joseph sleeping soundly in the midst of a major problem – in fact, a fiasco – which invites us to examine our faith in God.

Many times we find it hard to fall asleep not really because of our problems but with our indecisions.

Our failure to confront and solve our problems make us sleepless. If we can be firm in our decisions due to our deep faith and love for God like St. Joseph which is the meaning of his being a righteous man, we too can sleep soundly like him. Go back to the story and you will find how quickly St. Joseph had decided to divorce Mary quietly so as not to expose her to shame. In making that decision, we find St. Joseph’s selflessness and complete trust in God: primary in his consideration was Mary, his beloved. His love for her was the expression of his love for God too.

As we age, can we start our memoir with the similar lines of Matthew, This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about? Can we unabashedly telling everyone in all sincerity “this is how what I am today came about”? Can we wholeheartedly tell straight what really happened amid all the pains and disappointments we went through when God suddenly changed the course of our lives with his own plans? Would we have regrets or none at all like St. Joseph because he obeyed everything upon waking up?

Now, that is the more important part in Matthew’s short infancy narrative: nothing much was told after the St. Joseph awoke except that he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. The final sentence cemented everything with his total union with God that “He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus.”

Here we are given a glimpse of the spiritual maturity and holiness of St. Joseph, his being open to God expressed in his taking of Mary as his wife that in doing so, Jesus Christ the Son of God came into the world. What a wonderful flow of events we too must have experienced in our lives when everything falls into its right places simply because we cooperated with God

According to St. John Paul II’s friend, the Orthodox Christian theologian Olivier-Maurice Clement, a lot often we pretend to be real disciples of Christ when in reality we are merely dreaming. He called it “sleepwalking existence”; my Jesuit spiritual director Fr. Danny Gozar calls it “spiritual dwarfism”. Both refer to our spiritual immaturity due to our lack of honesty with our self and with God.

Being righteous like St. Joseph is simply being holy, a spiritually matured person generous enough to confront and consider everything in one’s life with open mind and open heart to set them aside and give way to God’s greater plans. Sleepwalking existence and spiritual dwarfism happen when there are certain things we want to hold on to and pursue or keep even if we could feel it is not God’s will for us. Tendency is to fool ourselves that we delay any decisions as we claim we are not yet certain with God’s will when in fact we are simply hoping against hope God would change his mind.

The angelic annunciations to St. Joseph and to Virgin Mary may not be literal but we can be certain of one truth with God: he is most consistent in communicating his will to us even if he does not speak clearly and directly as humans or angels. Very often, the faintest voice within us that persists, the most ordinary things and events happening daily we take for granted, the simplest truths we realize and deem so little are God’s consistent communication of his will for us.

This Advent Season, let us try to wake up to life’s realities like St. Joseph in order to hear God’s voice in silence. To be silent is to be awake to life’s realities, to be able to listen and discern God from all other voices and noises. It is important that we are awake to life’s realities like St. Joseph because God’s voice may be the very words, silence, tears or smiles of those who love us most but we often take for granted. Amen.