Epiphany: recognizing Christ revealed

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, 04 January 2026
Isaiah 60:1-6 ><}}}}*> Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6 ><}}}}*> Matthew 2:1-12

*From https://www.godwhospeaks.uk/what-is-epiphany/*

After the Nativity of the Lord and the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, comes now the third major celebration of Christmas Season, the Epiphany of the Lord we celebrate this Sunday. It is still the Christmas Season, so, continue greeting one another with Merry Christmas!

Had the rare opportunity of spending the past week after Christmas with my two nieces and only nephew in a staycation in Makati. I requested them to bring me to the Mind Museum inasmuch as I wanted to stroll at the BGC too after 20 years since I last hanged out there!

And that was when I realized the irony of our Christmas celebrations when we unconsciously leave Christ behind because the harder we try to be “in” Jesus from our Simbang Gabi to our shopping and noche buena, the more we actually push Jesus “out” as we think more of ourselves than of Him and others. This is most sadly true at how so many benighted Catholics imitate the westerners led by these giant malls in removing Jesus from Christmas in their more “inclusive” greeting of “Happy Holidays” instead of the Merry Christmas.

*Photo by author, Ayala Triangle, 28 December 2025.*

The more we celebrate Christmas, the more we think of our selves as we are so concerned with everything new and beautiful like our clothes and gifts, forgetting the poor and marginalized as well as the sinful and outcasts for whom Jesus actually came for. Of course, Jesus comes and dwells in our hearts but let us not forget that Christmas is not being “in” but being “out” in Him by thinking less of ourselves, more of Him and of His love and mercy.

Christmas is getting out of our comfort zones inside our old, usual self to meet Jesus outside the box so to speak.

And that is also the meaning of our celebration today, the Epiphany or Manifestation of the Lord to the Nations of the world represented by the magi. For us to find Jesus who manifests Himself in so many ways daily, we need to get out of ourselves like the magi and avoid being locked inside and held captive by our fears like King Herod and the people of Jerusalem.

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him (Matthew 2:1-3).

It was totally odd that when the magi inquired about “the newborn king of the Jews”, Herod and the people in Jerusalem were troubled instead of at least checking on their statements like looking up to see if there was indeed that star leading them, or ask for clarification about what kind or who was the king they were talking about. Instead of being troubled, the strongest feeling one could have would be perplexed or baffled, with the familiar reactions of “what?” or “duh…” or “huh” or as we would always say, “ha, ano daw iyon?”

This is what we mean of Christmas more as being “out” than “in”: instead of going out to check on the inquiry by the magi, to look up the sky to see for themselves about the star, Herod and the people of Jerusalem went inside themselves and got locked in their positions!

They were troubled because they felt the status quo would be altered that could throw them off their comfort zones. And the biggest irony is that they who have the answers in the scriptures remained locked inside their own selfish worlds, refusing to get out and meet the newborn king!

How often does it happen with us especially in our parish, in our Church, in our families that we are so stuck into our old beliefs even traditions that we refuse to go out and meet Jesus Christ Who have come into the world more than 2000 years ago to set us free from all forms of slavery caused by sins? Herod and the rest of Jerusalem were troubled simply because they were not interested with Jesus Christ which tragically continues to happen these days on many occasions in our lives when we do not really search for the Lord as we are more intent in pursuing our own stars of fame and glory.

Epiphany in Greek means manifestation, appearance and revelation. On Christmas day, we celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ while Epiphany today is telling us the identity and mission of the Lord, that is, He is the Son of God, the Messiah or “Anointed One” (Christos in Greek) who had come to set all people free from sins.

Jesus fulfilled the longings of the people since the Old Testament time as heralded by Isaiah’s prophecy in the first reading which St. Paul beautifully explains in the second reading in his concept of “the mystery made known by God to him.” Mystery in this sense is not something hidden but revealed so that in Christ Jesus, the mystery of God, His plan for us is revealed or made known for everyone not only the Jews but for all peoples of the world represented by the magi.

Yesterday, GMANews reporter Joseph Morong posted an experience at a burger stand when he told the server to “keep the change” of ₱50.00. According to Mr. Morong, the server refused to accept his gift because the amount was so big. That’s when the reporter commented “may mali sa ating mga Filipino”: yung nasa burger stand hiyang-hiyang tanggapin yung tip na ₱50 habang yung mga corrupt sa gobyerno at congress, di masiyahan sa ₱50-M at ₱50-B!”

So true! Many of us keep on looking inward, of what is for us that we forget Jesus found among the poor and marginalized. Today’s celebration of the Epiphany is reminding us how Jesus Christ continues to reveal and manifest Himself to us today outside in our daily lives to lead us back to the Father.

Are we willing to be like the magi who dared to leave everything behind, unmindful of the long and perilous journey to make in order to meet Jesus Christ?

In meeting the Lord like the magi, are we willing to give up everything we have especially the most precious ones and offer these to Him?

Most of all, upon finding God, are we willing to go back home by “another way” like the magi as instructed in a dream never to return to Herod?

The Lord continues to manifest Himself to us in so many ways every day, often in the simplest occasions and things. May we have the courage to meet Jesus Christ so that we may see the light and beauty of this New Year He has for us. Amen. May your new year be filled with Jesus Christ’s peace and grace!

Who are you?

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of Sts. Basil the Great & Gregory Nazianzen,
Bishops and Doctors of the Church, 02 January 2026
1 John 2:22-28     ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*>     John 1:19-28

*Photo by author, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkiye, 01 November 2025.*

Lord Jesus,
today I feel like John
being asked by priests
and Levites sent by Jews
from Jerusalem:
"Who are you?"

What a great question 
we all have to confront
at the start of the new year
because unless we truly know
and accept who we are,
we can never give the right
answer in making you known,
Jesus; many times,
we fail to make you known
not because you are difficult to
know but simply because we do not
know who we are unlike John;
we cannot give a definitive answer
"I am not the Christ"
because even if we do not 
claim it verbally, unconsciously
we pretend as the Christ;
many times, Lord
you are not known 
not because you are so far
but because our lives are so far
from you that people could not 
believe what we say about you;
most often, you are not known
Jesus not because your teachings
are hard and difficult but because
we ourselves are lost and could not
find the way into our true selves
to be the voice of one in the desert 
like John crying out,
"Make straight the path 
of the Lord."

At the start of this new year,
dear Jesus,
help me to be like John
or St. Basil or St. Gregory
who knew themselves very well,
embracing everything about me
especially my sins and weaknesses
so that like John, 
I can declare "I am not the Christ"
and therefore, stop from pretending
or acting or speaking as the Messiah;
let me embrace the limitations I have,
the darkness and emptiness
within me so that
I may remain in you
and your grace only.
Amen.

*Photo by author, detail of John the Baptist from the Deesis Mosaic in the hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkiye, 01 November 2025.*

Welcoming 2026 with Mary

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, 01 January 2026
Numbers 6:22-27 ><}}}}*> Galatians 4:4-7 ><}}}}*> Luke 2:16-21

*“The Adoration of the Shepherds”, a painting of the Nativity scene by Italian artist Giorgione before his death at a very young age of 30 in 1510.*

Still a blessed Merry Christmas to everyone! Please continue greeting one another with a Merry Christmas until January 11, 2026, the Feast of the Lord’s Baptism that closes the Christmas Season.

Keep greeting Merry Christmas even on this new year’s day because what we celebrate today is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God – not the New Year! Remember we had our new year last first Sunday of Advent, evening of November 29 and the 30th.

Stop announcing our New Year’s Mass. Our Mass today is Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God which is the Eighth Day within the Octave of Christmas.

It is the oldest feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary that celebrates the mystery of her being the Mother of Jesus Christ who is true God and true Man following the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. Since Jesus remained fully God and fully human in his conception by the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is right and proper too as the Council affirmed to call Mary the “Mother of God” (Theotokos). Since the birth of Christ is also our point reference in reckoning time that we have the terms “BC” (Before Christ) and “AD” (Anno Domini or Year of the Lord), this celebration teaches a lot on how to welcome this 2026 like Mary.

*Photo by author, mosaic of Mary with Jesus, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkiye, 01 November 2025.*

First lesson the Blessed Virgin Mary teaches us this new year in Christ is what we have mentioned last Christmas – if there is anything that merits haste, it is those of things of God. How sad that these days we are so preoccupied with what is trending and viral or we race for what is “in” in fashion and everything. In an age of instants, we rush everything that we miss out life itself, God and one another, especially our very selves.

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child (Luke 2:16-17).

Mary went in haste too for the Lord. Recall her response to the Angel at the Annunciation, “Be it done unto me according to your word.” Her response was immediate. She did not dare the Angel like Zechariah. After the Annunciation, Mary went in haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth pregnant with John the Baptist.

It is true that “haste makes waste” because doing things too quickly leads to mistakes that result in greater losses in time, effort, and materials. The great St. Francis Sales cautioned us that haste is the biggest enemy of growth in spirituality.

However, during the Christmas season, we find that haste is not that totally bad at all.

As shown to us both by Mary and the shepherds, there is something so good with making haste to find Christ, to share Christ, to be with Christ.

We have a prayer formula now rarely used in public prayers wherein the leader says “O God come to my assistance” with the people responding, “O Lord make haste to help me” while making the sign of the Cross like in the praying of the Rosary. It is a beautiful prayer that tells us how God would always hasten to come to us even before we have called Him!

How sad that we rush to everything and everyone except to Jesus our Lord and God! More sad is the fact so many people have been in making haste to these days for the more mundane things without even spending some quality time in the church to pray.

This 2026, let us go in haste in the Lord for He has so many things in store for us as the shepherds and Elizabeth realized.

*From forwarded cartoon at Facebook, December 2020.*

Second important lesson the Blessed Mother is teaching us in welcoming Jesus Christ this new year is the value of silence which is a prerequisite in cultivating a prayer life, in making haste to God.

Though I grew up from the very barrio that manufactures most of the pyrotechnics sold in my hometown of Bocaue in Bulacan dubbed as the fireworks capital of the Philippines, I never liked these popular products every new year. Aside from being so dirty, these are so dangerous as I have seen many of our neighbors who have lost their arms, hands or fingers in manufacturing and playing with fireworks. Worst of all are the many lives of people lost following explosions of some factories in our barrio.

When I became a priest, I kept telling people including my barrio folks that welcoming the new year with fireworks is pagan practice, not Christian. And the most Christian way of welcoming new year like Mother Mary is always in silence, silent prayer like before the Blessed Sacrament.

*Photo by Ar. Philip Santiago, Chapel at the Angels’ Field in Bethlehem, October 2025.*

All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart (Luke 2:18-19).

It is very interesting that Luke had told us how people were amazed at what the shepherds spoke about that night on the birth of Jesus Christ they have found on a manger with his Mother Mary and her husband Joseph. Keep in mind that the shepherds were among the least trusted people of that time but their story went “viral” and “trending” so to speak. Amid all these talks was Mary, the Mother of Jesus, silently meditating everything in her heart!

Tonight or today, try to spend some silent moments of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament to thank God for all the blessings of 2025 as well as to listen to Christ’s instructions and plans for us this 2026. Jesus has always something to tell us but we always go in haste somewhere else or to somebody else. Jesus is right there in our hearts, the faintest voice you always dismiss and take for granted.

Let us cultivate a prayer life like Mary who always kept in her heart the words and experiences she had with Jesus. Let us not be like the shepherds who were there only at Christmas, never came back to Jesus specially when he was preaching in Galilee and when crucified on Good Friday wherein his constant companion in silence was Mary his Mother.

*Photo by Ar. Philip Santiago, Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth, October 2025.*

Third important lesson the Blessed Mother Mary is teaching us this first day of 2026 is to have faith in God in Jesus Christ His Son our Savior. Therefore, please stop all those superstitious beliefs of pampasuwerte like feng shui and fortune telling that are pagan practices.

When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb (Luke 2:21).

Mary was very much like us when Mary gave birth to Jesus on that first Christmas: she too was totally unaware of what was in store for her, of what would happen to her Son. She was totally unaware of what would happen in the future. The only thing she was certain was the name to be given to her child, “Jesus” which means “God is my Savior”.

All blessings come only from God, not from any other spirits. We drive all the malas and bad spirits and negative vibes of the past year not with noises and blasts of trumpets or fireworks but with silence that is rooted in deep faith in Christ Jesus.

Such was the attitude of Mary on that first Christmas until her glorious Assumption into heaven: she never knew Jesus would be betrayed by one of his trusted friends and apostles; she was never told by the angel how after Jesus would feed and heal so many people He would later be arrested and crucified like a criminal except that she believed in Him until the end, remaining with Christ at the foot of the Cross.

All Mary had was a deep faith in Jesus as told her by the angel as the name to be given to her child is also the child of the Most High. Like Mary, let us keep our faith in Christ alone, not to round fruits nor stones nor other stuffs peddled to us to bring luck this new year.

Let us imitate Mary, the Mother of God, so human like us except in sin who was always in haste with things of God, silently meditating his words and workings, and most of all, trusting wholly in her Son Jesus. Amen. May your new year be filled with Christ’s peace and grace!

A kingdom or a home?

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph, Cycle A, 28 December 2025
Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14 ><}}}}*> Colossians 3:12-21 ><}}}}*> Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23

Last November we were blessed to have visited Romania’s three famed castles at Transylvania region: the Bran Castle considered as the home of Count Dracula in Bram Stoker’s stories; the Cantacuzino Castle owned by one of Romania’s wealthiest family which is the setting of Netflix’s Wednesday series; and the Pelisor Castle which is the smallest but loveliest for me due to its romantic story behind.

I remembered these Romanian castles because of our gospel today about two kings: one is a ruthless, old king named Herod so “greatly troubled” upon hearing the news of the “newborn king of the Jews”, our Lord Jesus Christ (Mt.2:2, 3).

Very often when we hear of kings and royalties living in castles, so many images of affluence and power come into our minds. And indeed they are so true when we went inside those castles with its wonderful interiors and amazing artworks; however, as we learned more of its history especially of the lives of its occupants, our wonder and excitement dissipated. It was really more like a fairy-tale, or a horror story in the case of Bran Castle.

*Photo by author, Cantacuzino Castle, Romania, 06 November 2025.*

It must have been so lonely and sad living in those palaces; however, let us admit how often the presence and reality of Jesus whom we take for granted like when he was born in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago invite us into those parts of our lives where we like to rule like kings or queens.

I find this important and even essential before reflecting about the Feast of the Holy Family because it is right in our homes – ironically or tragically – where we are first exposed to evil and sins. It is inside our homes when the father or mother or siblings take on their “power trips”, insisting on their rules, even flexing their powers over each other that in the process we hurt each other. Sometimes, the trauma that comes after may last a lifetime.

Would we rather choose a kingdom or a home? Be a Herod or a Baby Jesus?

Of course, our answers are so obvious as we would generally choose a home than a kingdom and be a Baby Jesus than a Herod. This we can do by imitating St. Joseph.

When the magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell yo. Herod is going to search for the child and destory him.” Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt… When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there… He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, He shall be called a Nazorean (Matthew 2:1314, 19-22, 23).

*Photo by author, site of the Nazareth home of the Holy Family underneath the Church of St. Joseph in Nazareth, Israel, 2017.*

Remember how Matthew described St. Joseph as a righteous man? Here after the birth of Jesus Christ, we find Joseph’s holiness most shining. See how before this scene, Matthew described to us the attitudes of Herod and the experts in Jerusalem vis-a-vis the Magis from the East: Herod and company were all disturbed while the Magis were all sincere and so open in their search for the Christ.

That’s what we were saying earlier: of how we play so much on our turf and power, on how we want to make our “rule” as sovereignty felt always right in our home, in Jerusalem that was then the seat of power and of worship. Very clear at that time, the temple was already so untidy that needed Christ’s cleansing thirty years later.

When sin especially pride fills us, it is difficult to recognize Jesus. Moreover, even the smallest and harmless or weakest person like a child or a woman would always disturb anyone filled with one’s self, feel threatened like Herod that one’s rule is being taken away. How sad when a father or a husband, a mother or a wife including the eldest children would dare challenge everyone at home, asking who is the father or who is the one supposed to be in command? Sino ba and tatay (o nanay) dito na dapat masunod? It is the most scariest tactic of all not because of what the power trippers can do but actually it was a proof enough they are immatured and lacking of proper understanding about power and authority.

Joseph was clearly not of the same kind. He readily left his home and moved the Infant Jesus and Mary to Egypt. Remember that Bethlehem as the town of David is Joseph’s turf so to speak being from royal Davidic lineage himself. It must have been so difficult for him to leave Bethlehem and be a refugee in Egypt!

But Joseph had none of those airs of rule and superiority. For him, the only rule was God and that meant always the good of Jesus and Mary. That is why Joseph twice “rose” to obey the angel’s instructions to him to take the Infant Jesus and Mother Mary to Egypt and then back to Israel after some time.

Joseph’s rising was actually an act of bowing low to the power and authority of God, most of all to the Son of God he had named as “Jesus”.

Can we imitate Joseph’s “rising” from our selfishness and ordinariness of petty quarrels and assertions of power or “rule” especially in our homes? To imitate the Holy Family, we need to be like Joseph who rose not just literally from his sleep and comfort but rose above his very self. Jesus is inviting us this Sunday to rise too above our pride and self-centeredness to give way to his love and mercy, kindness and understanding for each other so that everyone remains safe and unharmed like the Infant Jesus and Mary following Joseph’s selflessness.

*Photo by author, St. Joseph Parish Church, Pacdal, Baguio City, 28 December 2024.*

Home is where the heart is. This is most true when we get into the origin of the Filipino equivalent of home which is tahanan which is from the root word tahan that means to stop crying. When children cry, we tell them to tahan na, tahan na… or stop crying.

Home is where we stop crying because that is where we are most safe, that is where we find the people who love us, believe in us, the one who would still accept us and forgive us when we have sinned. Home is our safest place because that is where there are people willing rise above their selfishness, to rise above their painful memories, and rise to let go of their comforts for others in distress and more difficult plight and situation in life.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph all rose from their very selves for each other to be safe. Most of all, they rose above themselves because they love so much for each other, a reflection of their great love for God the Father. Amen. May your family be blessed!

Christmas Stable, stability of mankind

Lord My Chef Christmas Eve Recipe, 24 December 2025

*Photo by Ar. Philip Santiago, a mural of angels announcing the birth of Jesus Christ to shepherds in the field, Angels’ Field Chapel in Bethlehem, October 2025.*

A blessed Merry Christmas, friends ad relatives, especially our followers. In our Monday’s Simbang Gabi when Mary sang her Magnificat during her Visitation of Elizabeth, we reflected how songs not only express our innermost thoughts and feelings but reveal our very person, too.

Allow me this Christmas to share with you a song I have recently heard to reflect on the meaning of Jesus Christ’s birth. The song is called “My Lord Has Come” written in 2010 by Will Todd, a renowned contemporary British composer and pianist who blends melodic classical compositions with jazz elements. Check YouTube to feel its moving music but for now, experience the sense of wonder in its inspiring lyrics.

Shepherds, called by angels,
called by love and angels:
No place for them but a stable.
My Lord has come.

Sages, searching for stars,
searching for love in heaven;
No place for them but a stable.
My Lord has come.

His love will hold me,
his love will cherish me,
love will cradle me.
Lead me, lead me to see him,
sages and shepherds and angels;
No place for me but a stable.
My Lord has come.

*Photo by Ar. Philip Santiago, a mural of shepherds as first visitors to the newborn King of kings, Angels’ Field Chapel in Bethlehem, October 2025.*

I learned and heard this song last week while researching for materials this Christmas. And the word “stable” struck me.

See its varied meanings. First, “stable” means firm and sturdy, unshakeable like a stable table, stable ground, and stable truth or opinion. But during this period, we know a “stable” also refers to the Nativity scene or creche which we Filipinos call as a Belen that is actually a translation of the Lord’s birthplace of Bethlehem.

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn (Luke 2:1-7).

How lovely that God manifested to us in the most humble way, being born on a manger, at a stable for animals!

And see now why Christmas is the greatest exchange gift of all time when God became human like us born in a stable so that we too may become divine like Him.

But, it is no easy exchange gift we often do in our Christmas parties when we just have to buy gifts that fall within the range of prices we have agreed upon. Jesus Christ the Son of God came not for any price that can be bought and paid by humans for He came with His whole life and being.

Picture the Christmas stable, of how the eternal entered the temporal, the infinite and perfect became flesh and bones and blood among us, so intimate with life and all the mess and chaos of living including death itself. He was born because He loves each one of us immensely.

And listen now to Will Todd telling us, “The Lord has come in a stable… anyone searching for Him – whether angels or shepherds or sages like the Magis, there’s no place except the stable.

Even for me and for us searching for stability in life, meaning in life, direction in life that can be found only in the stable where the Lord has come. How lovely!

In the silence of the darkest night of the year, amid the loud claims of everyone being the greatest and most powerful, the best and brightest, unknown to them the only true great and mighty one is in the stable.

In the gospel we heard too how the shepherds went in haste to visit the newborn Messiah in the stable, rejoicing afterwards at the great sight and good news they have found.

But, how about us today? How sad nobody cares at all to go to the Holy Mass which is actually the modern Christmas stable of Bethlehem which means “house of bread”. Jesus is the Bread of life as He preached later in life in the Gospel of John. On the eve of His death at the Last Supper, Jesus gave Himself as the Bread broken and shared for all lifetime to lead us to eternity.

How sad that we search for life’s meaning and sense in the most unstable of all instances like science and technology, new thoughts and ideas that overextend our rights without any regard for responsibilities and true freedom. If there is anything that merits haste these days, it is the things of God like the Mass and prayers and Sacred Scriptures. Not social media and all those viral and trending reels of our follies and stupidities we love to follow.

*Photo by author, Christmas 2021 at Basic Education Department Chapel, OLFU-Valenzuela City.*

See also the animals in the Christmas stable especially the ox and donkey who all symbolize our blindness to God who humbly came to us in the stable. Isaiah and the other prophets in the Old Testament lamented how animals particularly the ox and donkey “know” so well where to go when hungry and thirsty which is the stable while we humans wander far because we are so blinded by many things.

Christmas tells us humans to stop looking so far as Will Todd insists in his great composition My Lord Has Come inspired by our readings last night and today: it is only in Bethlehem that we find the true stable reality of life where the Son of God was born so that we now reckon time according to His birth with BC and AD because humans and civilizations do not last. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebews 13:8).

Our only stability in life is found in the Christmas stable especially when the nights are dark and long. Amen. A blessed and stable Merry Christmas to you!

Advent is the light of Christ coming

Lord My Chef Simbang Gabi Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Simbang Gabi-XIX, 24 December 2025
2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 16 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 1:67-79

*Photo by author, sunrise at Lake of Galilee, the Holy Land, May 2019.*

Being an early riser or “madrugeño” in Spanish, I have always loved and preferred early morning Masses because churchgoers at that time are mostly silent, either still sleepy or simply truly reverent.

Though sunsets are more colorful and dramatic like a spectacular show – a palabas in Filipino -sunrise is different because it is more of paloob, of inside movement that is subtle yet intense when light steals into shadows as the sun isgradually breaking open the darkness to reveal what is unseen. Our local term for sunrise or breaking of dawn says it all, pagbubukang liwayway.

There lies the beauty of our Simbang Gabi especially on this final day of our novena when we are slowly seeing the light of Christ’s coming. It is hoped that in these nine days of prayers and reflections on the Sacred Scriptures, we have been enlightened about the the true meaning of Christmas, of how it continues to come and happen in our modern time so darkened by sin and evil.

On this final day of our Simbang Gabi, we reflect on the wonderful aftermath of the assertions by Elizabeth and later by her husband Zechariah on the name “John” meaning “God is gracious” being given to their child as instructed by God. Suddenly, Zechariah who was rendered deaf and mute following his unbelief in having a child, sang praises to God!

Zechariah his father, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied, saying: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; for he has come to his people and set them free. He has raised for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of his servant David… In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:67-68, 78-79).

*Painting by Italian Riccardo Cessi in 1892 of Zechariah giving name to his son John;from commons.wikimedia.org.*

In singing the Benedictus, Zechariah affirmed and confirmed in himself the reality and truth of God being present in our lives.

Many times we are like Zechariah that even if we pray, celebrate the Masses, do all the devotions but still deep inside, doubt God’s reality that we simply do all this sacred rites and traditions just for the sake of doing them. Last week at the start of our Misa de Gallo, we have invited you to reassess and examine the reason why we are keeping this sacred tradition. Is it because of special favors we are asking from God or is it because we want to see God?

The late American Trappist monk Thomas Merton said in one of his writings that seeking God is not like searching for a “thing” or a lost object because God is more than an intellectual pursuit or a contemplative illumination of the mind. Merton explained that God reveals Himself to us in our hearts through our communion and fellowships in the Church.

*Photo by Ar. Philip Santiago, Benedictus on the wall of the patio of Church of St. John the Baptist in Ein-Karem where he was born.*

In singing the Benedictus, Zechariah realized God’s presence and His coming communion throughout Israel’s history, from the Patriarchs down to the birth of his son John who would prepare the way of Jesus Christ. The Benedictus describes to us the coming of the Christ as expected by the people of Israel in the Old Testament and that is why, unlike Mary’s Magnificat, it is in the future tense. While Zechariah mentions the mission of his son John, the main focus of the Benedictus is Jesus Christ who was about to be born six months later at that time.

Therefore, when we who believe in Jesus as the Christ or Messiah expected by the people of Israel in the Old Testament, the Benedictus becomes an affirmation of God’s presence in us and among us today and forever.

It is in this most sublime expression by Luke we find Christ’s coming like the breaking of dawn like shafts of light bursting forth, “In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.” It is in this breaking of dawn we find and experience the poetry of sunrise that is more of the heart than of the eyes we mentioned earlier.

After seeing the coming of the Christ in the birth of his son John, Zechariah now summarizes to us the very essence of Jesus our Savior, of God Himself: tender compassion or in the original Greek, splaghna or “tender mercy” of God.

It is not just compassion which is to suffer with us but at the same time be filled with tenderness that one is so moved to reach out, to do something by going down with the one suffering.

Like courage, mercy is a movement in the heart called misericordia in Spanish from the Latin mittere, meaning to be moved, to be stirred. It is something dynamic, not static. It is a deep feeling that moves toward someone in pain and suffering. An identification of Jesus with every person going through so much hardships and sufferings in life.

*Ar. Philip Santiago reverently kissing the very site of John’s birthplace in Ein-Karem, October 2025.*

See now the culmination of movements we have mentioned in Luke’s Christmas story: last Saturday at the Annunciation to Mary, the Angel mentioned the “overshadowing of Holy Spirit” on her in bearing our Savior; today in the Benedictus, there is the moving or stirring of the heart in Zechariah. Whenever we allow God to overshadow with His powers, our hearts are moved to love more, to be tender like God.

Zechariah’s heart is no longer hardened with negativity and cynicism – it was so stirred by God that he mentioned His tender mercy or compassion because he had personally felt it as he recovered his voice and speech. With the birth of John, he now believes that God’s love for his suffering people is deep and personal.

And that is perhaps one of the things we sorely lack in our history as a nation especially during the decadent years of the last Administration – the utter lack of tenderness by our officials and their kawatan in corruption. Wala silang awa at habag sa taong-bayan.

Recall the tender compassion, tender mercy of Jesus, how during His ministry all four evangelists would narrate Jesus was moved with pity and compassion to the people who were lost, tired and sick “like sheep without a shepherd” that no matter how tired He may be, He would always find time to teach them, heal their sick, and even feed them. That is the mercy of God that Jesus had brought forth to us in His coming, experienced by Zechariah himself that he could foresee its coming at the birth of John.

*Photo by Ar. Philip Santiago, Filipino translation of the Benedictus on the wall of the patio of Church of St. John the Baptist in Ein-Karem where he was born.*

That is the Benedictus, the song of every faithful disciple of Jesus introducing His coming, His birth. So many people have forgotten God, do not know God, refused to believe in God because many among us He had lavishly loved have refused to share His love with others, choosing to remain in the darkness of the night, thinking more of themselves and of their hurts and pains that they revenge with by stealing billions of money.

How lovely to think that God’s tenderness moves in us like the breaking of dawn, of shafts or streaks of lights slowly penetrating, bursting forth through cracks in the skies, in our homes and even right in our very selves. Bask in that light saw by Zechariah, shared by John the Baptist his son. Amen. Have a blessed and meaningful Christmas! Thank you for following our reflections. Share it and let it be shafts of light to somehow illumine the darkness in others.

Advent is asserting God’s plan

Lord My Chef Simbang Gabi Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Simbang Gabi-VIII, 23 December 2025
Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24     <*[[[[><  +  ><]]]]*>     Luke 1:57-66

*Photo by author, birthplace of John the Baptist under the Church of St. John the Baptist at Ein-Karem, the Holy Land, May 2019.*

As we near the completion of our Christmas novena, we hear today the birth and naming of John the Baptist that is still filled with drama just like in the announcement of his birth to his father Zechariah.

Recall how Zechariah not only doubted the good news but even challenged God at “how” his barren wife Elizabeth could still bear a child. All these come into fore when that promise is fulfilled in the birth of the old couple’s child. Such is the artistry of Luke in keeping our attention, hoping we could learn and realize how we can at this modern age still be a part of the Christmas story like Zechariah and Elizabeth.

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. 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,” But they answered her, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.” 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 (Luke 1:57-64).

Everybody expected that this first-born’s naming would continue the family line by giving him his father’s name, Zechariah.

*Photo by Ar. Philip Santiago, altar at the very site of John’s birthplace also below the Church of St. John. the Baptist in Ein-Karem, October 2025.*

Imagine the sight narrated to us by Luke of everybody so happy, trying to take a piece of action while Zechariah, father of the new-born child, old, deaf, and mute was so silent like a nobody in a corner. In the Jewish society, it is the father who gives name to the children, especially to the son; but, due to Zechariah’s condition, nobody bothered to ask him so that their neighbors who were all epal as we call in Filipino, assumed that role.

However, keep in mind that up until that time it was only Elizabeth who clearly believed in what was God doing to them, having instructed that their son would be called “John”. Feel her firm stand when she insisted on everyone, “No. He will be called John.” Be with Elizabeth as her neighbors and relatives react with disbelief, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.”

Like Elizabeth, has there been a time for you where God has invited you to do the unexpected or out of the ordinary? How was God with you through it?

*Photo by author, birthplace of John the Baptist, Church of St. John the Baptist at Ein-Karem, the Holy Land, May 2019.*

When I was growing up, I have heard from my father and then from some of my superiors and colleagues in media and now in the Church of how people are more inclined to believe foolish people than geniuses and more sane people.

Look at the kind of lawmakers and officials who get elected in our countryn from the barangay to the national levels – they are only famous or well-known ether because they are actors/actresses or members of political dynasties who are totally benighted beings bereft of any love for country and fellowmen. Tuwing matatapos ang halalan, nanghihinayang na lang tayo palagi sa mga hindi naboboto na gaya nina Heidi Mendoza at Chel Diokno na sa wakas nakapasok dahil sa party-list.

When I was still a seminarian until I became a priest, I have proven on many occasions as well as in many experimentations I conducted that indeed, when you speak the truth, be honest and sincere with people, they will doubt and even hate you; but, tell them lies and fake news, bolahin mo sila, they readily believe you, even will defend and support you!

And there lies the challenge to us today: are we willing to assert no matter how unpopular what is true and good like Elizabeth and Zechariah? Can we insist on the plan of God that is even contrary to the ways of the world like these the parents of the Lord’s precursor?

It was a crucial moment when Zechariah boldly made a stand about his faith in God, obeying the angel’s instruction to name his son “John” or Jehohanan in Hebrew that means “God is gracious” or “graciousness of God”.

How lovely is that scene Luke presents us today when amid all the noise, Zechariah made the bold move of writing on a tablet “John is his name” to confirm the name given by his wife Elizabeth that also reaffirmed the instruction to him by the Angel at his annunciation.

With a single stroke of hand, everyone felt God present among them as “fear came upon the neighbors for surely the hand of the Lord was with him” that they realized something very special with the child.

So amazing too as experienced by the people was when Zechariah asserted God’s plan by naming his son “John”, he was finally able to speak and hear again!

*Photo by author, Church of St. John the Baptist, Ein-Karem, the Holy Land, May 2019.*

Whenever we assert the plan of God in our lives, in our community, in our family and country, new possibilities open as we break free from all obstacles and hindrances that prevent us from growing and maturing, from being joyful and fulfilled.

Whenever we assert the plan of God in our lives, in our community, in our family and country, that is when Christmas happens because Jesus Christ comes when we become like John.

Whenever we obey and assert the plan of God in our lives, in our community, in our family and country, that is when we take that leap of faith, believe again and experience God again.

In the first reading, the Prophet Malachi spoke of how the Messiah’s precursor or messenger would be “like the refiner’s fire, or like the fuller’s lye” (3:2). Though he was referring to John, see it would be Zechariah his father who was first to be refined and purified by God by making him deaf and mute until John’s birth.

The imposed silence on Zechariah made him realize how he had been held prisoner by his disappointments and frustrations over a long period of time when God did not hear his prayers for a child. Imagine their shame being childless despite their being good persons and as husband and wife. At that time, childlessness was seen as a punishment from God, a curse. It must have been a strong blow too to Zechariah’s ego as a priest consulted by everyone for advise and prayers yet could not sire his wife with a child!

*Photo by Ar. Philip Santiago, site of John’s birthplace below the Church of St. John the Baptist, Ein-Karem, October 2025.*

All those negative feelings of humiliation and dejection could have caused Zechariah’s trust and faith in God to wane that even his priestly duties have become perfunctory that he never saw the tremendous grace and blessing of incensing the Holy of Holies of the temple.

Many times we have been like Zechariah, numb and even indifferent to the movements and works of God in our lives following our many failures in life. Though we may be praying with many devotions doing so many religious activities, we have actually become “spiritual dwarfs” who never grew and matured in faith. Our prayers and devotions have become mere “habits hard to break” that are empty and meaningless.

Today God is calling us to do a Zechariah, to take that bold step of asserting and insisting God’s plan like when Elizabeth and later Zechariah boldly declared in writing “John is his name”. How lovely to know too that Zechariah in Hebrew means “God remembers” while Elizabeth means “God has promised.” God remembers and keeps his promise always because he is gracious all the time. Amen. Have a blessed Christmas ahead!

Our song, our music – our self

Lord My Chef Simbang Gabi Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Simbang Gabi-VII, 22 December 2025
1 Samuel 1:24-28     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     Luke 1:46-56

*Photo by author, Church of Visitation, Ein-Karem, Israel, 2017.*

One of the most beautiful and touching sites in the Holy Land I have always loved is the Church of the Visitation at Ein-Karem outside Jerusalem where Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth.

It sits atop of a hill and there’s no other way to get there except by foot due to the narrow road but, it is worth all the effort for anyone going up there with the beautiful scenes all the way with cool breeze soothing your face and lovely flowers delighting your eyes and senses. It somehow gives every pilgrim a taste of the great love and joy of Mary pregnant with out Lord Jesus Christ visiting her cousin Elizabeth on the sixth month of her pregnancy with John the Baptist.

*Photo by Ar. Philip Santiago, Church of Visitation, the Holy Land, October 2025.*

Perhaps we could say the Visitation was the first Christmas party in history as Luke tells us today how Mary rejoiced in God singing the Magnificat after Elizabeth praised her:

“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).

Aside from this beautiful bronze statues of Mary and Elizabeth at the patio of the Church of the Visitation are the translations of the Magnificat in different languages, including in our very own Filipino which is one of the most popular songs we often sing in our Masses.

But, do we really realize the meaning of this song of Mary?

Actually, the Magnificat was composed by Luke that he placed on the lips of Mama Mary. It is part of his artistry, of putting songs on the lips of some of his Christmas characters like Zechariah after John’s circumcision (the Benedictus) and later on Simeon (Nunc Dimittis) 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 not only show what’s inside us but most of all 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, Mother 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!

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 in her Magnificat the essential task of every disciple of the Lord which 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.

Here we wish to mention something we have read recently about singing and dancing that the best singer or best dancer is one who can listen or hear – and fill the silent gaps in every piece of music. That’s amazing because singing and dancing are not about having super beautiful voice or precise steps. Singing and dancing are more of attitude, of claiming and owning a piece of music as yours. That’s why it is called an interpretation or as young people these days refer to as “cover”.

As we have mentioned earlier, one of the most popular Mass songs in the country is Mary’s Magnificat called Ang Puso Ko’y Nagpupuri but does it reflect our spirituality as a Christian nation?

Have you noticed how this 2025 that we heard so little of Mr. Jose Mari Chan his Christmas in Our Hearts?

I feel sorry for Mr. Chan when suddenly this 2025 he is more heard and seen in the McDonald’s commercial shouting “George!” to a fellow senior citizen. We as a nation momentarily forgot about Mr. Chan’s classic line “whenever I see girls and boys selling lanterns” because we as a nation is so disgusted with the ghost project scams of flood controls. We could not even emphatize with the family of the former Undesecretary of DPWH who had died of an apparent suicide because of the “breadth and depth and height” of their corruption running into trillions of pesos. They have cheated on us big time and we really wonder why the big “congtractors” and senators are not yet in jail?

But God has been so good to us this Christmas that we can all sing with conviction the Magnificat for indeed, “the Almighty has done great things for us” like putting into jail in a far away land the former president who called God as stupid not once nor twice but multiple times on television. That is aside from ordering the bloodiest anti-drug campaign he shamelessly likened to Hitler’s Holocaust of Jews in World War II.

The Lord invites us to make this 2025 as the last Christmas we allow corrupt and inept people get elected, that we finally put an end to political dynasty, and stop the stupidity and callousness of people in government who set a budget of 500pesos for people to enjoy noche buena.

This Christmas let us sing like Mary, as faithful disciple of Christ, sharing Jesus, always Jesus and only Jesus in singing the Magnificat in our daily witnessing to the Gospel, making Jesus come in our life of loving service to everyone especially those in need. Let us actively cooperate with Jesus like Mary his Mother to make these lines a living reality in our midst – “he has mercy on those who fear him in every generation, showing the strength of his arm by 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”.

More than a song and hymn, the Magnificat reveals us as the signs of the Christ, the Emmanuel, God-is-with-us! Amen. A blessed week ahead of everyone!

Advent is God encouraging us

Lord My Chef Simbang Gabi Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fourth Sunday in Advent-A, Simbang Gabi-5&6, 21 December 2025
Isaiah 7:10-14 ><}}}}*> Romans 1:1-7 ><}}}}*> Matthew 1:18-24

*Photo by author, moon over Istanbul, Turkiye, 02 November 2025.*

We shared last month in our blog a Filipino movie called Gaano Kadalas ang Minsan? as jumping board of our reflection of the readings of the day (https://lordmychef.com/2025/11/18/gaano-kadalas-ang-minsan/).

Allow me on this final Sunday of Advent and fifth day of our Simbang Gabi to begin my reflection with a another Filipino movie released in 1983, Nagalit ang Buwan sa Haba ng Gabi starring Dindo Fernando with Laurice Guillen who played the role as his wife in the Flor de Luna TV series in the 80’s.

Don’t worry… I know something about this movie because I have seen it being the operator of the Betamax player when my mother watched it. And if I remember it right, Laurice had “lent” her husband Dindo to another woman as his mistress; it was an extra-marital affair “with consent”. Basta. When things were already getting offhand as Dindo had a near-fatal heart attack due to over-fatigue in his work and life, Laurice reminded him to finally decide to stop his affair because “kahit buwan magagalit sa haba ng gabi.” (That’s how poetic our movies and music!)

That catchy movie title came as I prayed today’s first reading and gospel that mentioned Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming of the Messiah to be called Emmanuel – emanu ‘Elohim – which means in Hebrew God-is-with-us.

The Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying: Ask for a sign from the Lord, your God; let it be deep as the netherworld, or high as the sky!” But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!” Then Isaiah said: “Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel” (Isaiah 7:10-14).

Ahaz was one of the notoriously evil Kings of Judah who revived the barbarous custom of human sacrifice as he followed other idolatrous practices of their neighboring pagans especially the Assyrians.

When the king of Syria was threatening and later attacked Jerusalem, God told Ahaz through Isaiah to trust in Him alone for He shall save the Jewish people, explicitly warning him against entering into any alliances with Judah’s pagan neighbors. But Ahaz disregarded all these as he secretly entered into military alliances with his pagan neighbors in the belief they could defend Judah against the threat of Syria.

To prove His fidelity and truthfulness in His promise of protecting Judah, God asked Ahaz to ask for any sign from Him; the king declined, pretending he did not want to test God when in fact He knew already of his secret alliances with Judah’s pagan neighboring countries. That was when Isaiah declared in exasperation, “Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.” That’s how I likened Isaiah to Laurice Guillen, complaining to the stubborn King Ahaz, as if warning him “baka magalit ang buwan sa haba ng gabi.”

View of a decorated Christmas tree and tower of the Franciscan Monastery of St Saviour locally also known as San Salvador monastery in the Christian Quarter Old city East Jerusalem

How sad when we are like King Ahaz with God who always encourages us to come to Him, to be intimate with Him, to trust Him, even encouraging us to ask Him for signs just to prove that He loves us so much.

What a shame when we pretend like Ahaz of not testing God as if we are faithful to Him when in fact we have already made up our mind or had made a decision on something as we totally disregard God’s suggestions and instructions! Worst of all, we are so convinced in ourselves that God does not know at all of what is really in our hearts!

Let us be honest: oftentimes, we reject God’s offer of signs and His encouragements not because we love and respect Him but simply we doubt Him. Like Ahaz, we believe more in ourselves or in the prevailing way of thinking of most people we find in social media or what ever science tells us especially these days of modern technologies.

And what happens next? We fail. It is while amid our guilt feelings and sorrow that we realize later how through our family and friends and the church that God was right after all. If only we have been more sincere, more open and had the courage to change our mind and decisions…

But, despite all these, the good news is that God remains with us, still loving us, forgiving us, and most of all giving us another chance to make better. Like with King Ahaz despite his rejection of God and His plans, we too are given with the sign of Jesus Christ who had come and continues to come to encourage us to keep on following Him despite our weaknesses and failures.

*Francisco Goya’s painting, “Dream of St. Joseph” (El Sueno de San Jose) done in 1772; from en.wikimedia.org.*

Here we find the great sign of Joseph, the righteous man who completely trusted God.

Like Mary, Joseph was encouraged by God to change his mind and decision, to trust Him completely to fulfill the prophecy of Jesus, the greatest of all signs.

Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “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”… All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home (Matthew 1:20, 22-24).

*Photo by Ar. Philip Santiago, Church of St. Joseph, Nazareth, Israel, October 2025.*

Each one of us is like Joseph, a sign of God’s presence, of God-with-us especially when life is dark and difficult, when others are confused with all the cacophonous sounds of the world centered on ego and materialism.

Every prophecy of God is fulfilled through a combination of active cooperation of man with the Divine plan which is what St. Paul is reminding us in the second reading. We are all “called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God” (Rom. 1:1) who is Jesus Christ.

We are all weak like St. Paul or King Ahaz or even Joseph who did not know the whole story before of Mary’s pregnancy; by being open to God’s encouragement, to the many signs He sends us, what we must consider is not our weaknesses nor insignificance in the world but the power and reality of Jesus “established as Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness through the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom.1:4).

*Photo by author, “St. Joseph Protector of the Child Jesus”, 2024.*

Advent and Christmas happen when despite all odds especially with what other people are saying or conventional wisdom tells us, we still follow that little voice of encouragement of God from the innermost part of our hearts.

Like Joseph, it was not superstition that he obeyed God’s instructions through an Angel in his dream when he awoke. It was his deep and matured faith in God that made him decide to change his mind, to take that deep plunge of faith in God. In taking Mary as his wife, Joseph expressed his great love for God so that in taking Mary, Christ came into the world.

This final Sunday in Advent as we approach Christmas Day, we are encouraged to trust God completely by making Jesus truly present first in us and then with others. God is merciful and forgiving, always encouraging us to come back to Him, to obey Him, to be like Him. But remember too, long dark nights end that we might get caught off guard of Christ’s coming. Baka magalit din sa atin ang buwan sa haba ng gabi. Amen. Have a blessed and meaningful Christmas!

Advent is allowing God to overshadow us like Mary

Lord My Chef Simbang Gabi Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Saturday, Simbang Gabi-V, 20 December 2025
Isaiah 7:10-14     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     Luke 1:26-38

*Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, Israel; photo by Ar. Philip Santiago, October 2025.*

On this fifth day of our Simbang Gabi we hear the second Christmas story by Luke, telling us how six months after announcing to Zechariah the coming of their son John, the angel Gabriel went to Nazareth to announce the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ to the Blessed Virgin Mary who was betrothed to St. Joseph. Unlike Zechariah who doubted the angel’s message, Mary was more open with her response by asking how it would all take place.

And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).

We reflected the other day how Matthew ended his story of the genealogy of Jesus Christ with Mary to show her as the new beginning of everything in the world. Through Mary’s giving birth to Jesus, we now share with Him one common origin in faith who is God as our Father so that despite our many sins and failures, we are given with a fresh start, new opportunities in life daily. Luke bolsters this today with his account of the annunciation of the birth of Jesus to Mary.

*Photo by Ar. Philip Santiago, Annunciation Basilica in Nazareth, October 2025.*

As a Jew, Mary must be totally aware of the words of the angel about herself being “overshadowed by the Most High” like in the Old Testament stories of God’s presence in the cloud during their journey in the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt. Even Moses could not enter the tent when “the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Ex.40:34-38).

To be filled and overshadowed by the presence of God is to be to be possessed by God and eventually to be transformed by God.

Remember how in the movie “The Ten Commandments” when the face of Moses was transformed after meeting God. In the New Testament, the three synoptic gospels record a similar incident of God’s presence in a cloud hovering with Jesus during His transfiguration at Mount Tabor witnessed by Peter, James and John. The two great prophets of Israel were there, Elijah and Moses conversing with Jesus when a cloud overshadowed them with a voice declaring “this is my beloved Son, listen to Him.” Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us how the apostles were all terrified at the sight of the Transfiguration.

And we can also surmise how terrifying it must be to experience God’s presence, to be filled with God. But that is how grace works!

At the start of our Simbang Gabi we have reflected how under the light of Christ we are able to see our sinfulness and weaknesses that sometimes we feel so sorry for ourselves but that is actually when grace works in us – the moment we change our sinful ways, then we grow!

When we see our limitations as humans yet still forge on in life to achieve greater things, to become better persons, that is God working in us. That is why Luke tells us today how the angel greeted Mary during the annunciation using the Greek words “kaire” which is to rejoice and “charis” or “karis” for grace: “Hail (or rejoice), full of grace! The Lord is with you” (Lk.1:28).

This is actually unusual because Jews greet each other with “shalom” for peace; why did Luke use kaire? Because wherever and whenever there is grace, surely there is rejoicing like in our Third Sunday of Advent called Gaudete Sunday: we rejoice because the Lord who is pure grace is near!

The late American spiritual writer and monk Thomas Merton rightly said, “We live in a time of no room, which is the time of the end. The time when everyone is obsessed with lack of time, lack of space, with saving time, conquering space… The primordial blessing, ‘increase and multiply’ has suddenly become a hemorrhage of terror… In the time of the end there is no longer room for the desire to go on living. Why? Because they are part of a proliferation of life that is not fully alive, it is programmed for death” (Raids on the Unspeakable, pp. 70-72).

Advent is the time to get real, to stop pretending. Advent is the time for us to finally admit our own limitations, to create a space in our hearts and in our lives to let God fill us, to let God possess us.

Can we, like Mary allow God’s power “hover over us” to renew our lives in welcoming Jesus Christ? This was the problem of Isaiah with King Ahaz in the first reading who pretended to refusing God giving signs of his presence when actually he had already entered into alliances with other pagan kings in the region as the Babylonians were closing in them; that is why Isaiah uttered the prophecy to insist that God is our protector: “Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel” (Is.7:13-14).

Let me end this reflection by inviting you dear friends to pray for Fr. Flavie Villanueva, an SVD priest so active in caring for the poor especially the orphans left by victims of tokhang. He was recently awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award considered as Asia’s equivalent of Nobel Peace Prize for his works for the poor.

Yes, he had a very dark past, being a former drug dependent but God used that chapter in his life to make him turn around and become a missionary priest. Fr. Flavie had never hidden nor sanitized his dark past because it was during those years when he also found the light and grace of God’s love and mercy for him. Perhaps, he is most effective in his works among the poor and the addicts precisely because he used to be one of them! He is now under attack for his works by the dark elements of the past administration, the most decadent in our history.

*From Facebook via Political Insight Today, 18 December 2025.*

Fr. Flavie is no Virgin Mary but like her, he opened his heart to God who eventually overshadowed him with His powers to do all these great things for the poor who now feel Christ’s presence.

Recall now the many instances in our lives where we have learned our most important lessons in life and most surely, these were also the moments we have faced many hardships and sufferings but, instead of being down, these have inspired us and transformed us into better persons.

Let us imitate Mary in saying yes to God – “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word!” Let us open our hearts to God so the Holy Spirit may hover on us to fill us with Jesus Christ we can share with others broken like us. Amen. A blessed weekend everyone!