When we do not know what we are doing

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, Cycle C, 13 April 2025
Isaiah 50:4-7   ++   Philippians 2:6-11   ++   Luke 22:14-23:56

*Photo by author, Palm Sunday in our previous parish, 2019.*

If we were given one wish with a guarantee that it would be fulfilled, what would that wish be?

Of course, each of us would have different wishes depending on what really matters for us like healing or good health for someone who is sick, wealth for one who is poor, even youth for someone already old. No matter what our wish, it is always a desire for a better future, a chance to change any dissatisfaction we have in our present condition.

However, many times whether in our wishful thinking or future-looking and planning, it is highly probable that what we long for is already present to us.

As we begin the Holy Week with the celebration of Palm Sunday in the Lord’s Passion, we are reminded by the liturgy with its long readings how so often in life, we just need to see with different eyes, hear with different ears, expect with different hearts to find fulfillment, peace and joy.

The sad truth is that many times, we really do not know what we want and most of all, we also do not know what we are doing because we are so far from Jesus Christ.

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

*Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 2016.*

Consistent with his theme of the mercy and forgiveness of God to us as shown the other Sunday in the parable of the prodigal son, Luke presents to us again this most wondrous and touching trait of God in Christ even while crucified.

Again, only Luke has this detail of Jesus praying for forgiveness for his enemies while being reviled and mocked by them on the cross. It is one of the many examples of Luke’s artistry in presenting to us God’s mercy and forgiveness in Christ in a sort of play of words, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” as we confront our selves with the question, “what do we really know?”

What do we really know at all that we continue to crucify Jesus today, nailing him on the cross with our many sins as we pretend and assume to know so many things in life?

To know in the Jewish mind is to have a relationship, an activity more of the heart than of the mind. To know is to love, to care. Therefore, when Jesus prayed to the Father to forgive them for they know not what they do is to forgive them because they refuse to love which is what sin is all about. And that is what we still do not know until now – to love, to care for one another that we keep on crucifying Jesus Christ.

Until now we pretend to know the truth by waging wars in various parts of the world with more than half of them ironically due to our different religious beliefs! Debates continue on who must live and who must die as lawmakers pretend to know the truth with their proposals for abortions and artificial contraceptives as well as capital punishment.

Until now we pretend to know the truth as some sectors push for divorce and same sex marriage that destroy the family. Out in the streets are the daily road rage happening with everyone pretending to know the truth on who has the right of way even at the cost of life and dignity of a person.

Until now we pretend to know the truth in all those fake news and speeches defending immoralities and crimes committed against many poor people never given a fair chance to defend themselves from accusations as drug users and pushers. What a shame when some people claim to know the truth asserting freedom of expression by making fun of women and sex as well as those terminally sick or taking advantage of those with disabilities just to win votes in the coming elections.

See how almost everyone would claim to know the truth but what we actually show is our ignorance and lack of any knowledge at all of the realities around us as our problems become more complex that lead to more deaths, more disillusions, more anxieties and more emptiness in life.

Until now as we pretend to know the truth when in fact we know nothing at all that we continue to crucify Jesus Christ who – thankfully continues to pray to the Father to forgive us for we do not know what we are doing.

See how in his passion narrative Luke invites us to enter every scene, to find our roles, of whether we are on the side of Jesus or not because neither the Jewish leaders nor the Roman officials even the Apostles understood anything at all. Jesus was crucified because they did not know what they were doing.

Notice how Luke shuffled different scenes, contrasting the ignorance of characters with the certain knowledge of Jesus: Peter denied him thrice while he blanked all lying efforts of the Sanhedrin; Pilate sent Jesus to Herod to find the truth but both were too coward to acquit him that though enemies for a long time, they eventually became friends because of Jesus(!); and while crucified there on the cross, the people who reviled Jesus are contrasted with the centurion who realized him as the Christ at his death.

See? Who knows anything at all? And the most wonderful part of the passion narrative of Luke, he tells us about that beautiful conversations of the three men crucified on that day. One insulted Jesus while the other, the good thief, had a conversion by calling out, “Jesus remember me in paradise” and thereby stole heaven for himself!

Here we find what we were saying at the start: we keep on projecting ourselves to a better future but right here with us is Jesus Christ not knowing he is our fulfillment.

We do not know like the Jewish leaders, the Roman officials and soldiers as well as the Apostles who kept on pinning their hopes in the worldly kingdom, totally unmindful of the kingdom of God that had come in Jesus Christ’s coming.

This Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion invites us to slow down in our lives.

In this Holy Week, let us empty ourselves of our pride, of everything we know about life, of ourselves and of others for us to listen really to God’s voice within us. The kingdom of God is Jesus Christ. It is not a territorial domain protected by armies and navies or tariffs and laws; we become a part of God’s kingdom in Jesus Christ when we learn to commend our spirit like him to the Father amid our crosses in life.

Please, the Holy Week is meant for God, for us to meditate and pray his great love for us in Jesus Christ who suffered and died for us on the Cross. Let us return to him so we may know him, love him and follow him. Amen.

Knowledge inflates, love builds

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 12 September 2024
1 Corinthians 8:1-7, 11-13 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Luke 6:27-38

Brothers and sisters: Knowledge inflates with pride, love builds up. If anyone supposes he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if one loves God, one is known by him (1 Corinthians 8:1-2).

O dear Jesus,
how lovely are your words
today through St. Paul;
so timely like during his time
when so many of us today 
have become so proud and
arrogant in knowing so much
that have bloated their egos,
seeing only themselves 
unmindful of others around them,
losing their personal touch,
forgetting their humanity,
miserably failing to love
at all.

Dear Jesus,
remind us anew of that
basic truth that true knowledge
is when we realize we know
so little,
that we must learn more
not only from books 
but most of all from persons;
let us be more loving
so that we can build more
lasting and fulfilling relationships;
let us be more loving
so we can build more trust
and understanding when we
learn to love our enemies;
let us be more loving
so we can build more goodwill
and fellowship by being more
merciful like the Father in heaven;
let us be more loving
so we can build persons
than destroy them by being
non-judgmental of one another;
let us be more loving, Jesus,
so we can build and overflow
with more grace and gifts
as we give more of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Be careful not to fall

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Ninth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 04 June 2024
2 Peter 3:12-15, 17-18 <*((((><< + >><))))*> Mark 12:13-17

*Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, an orange-bellied flowerpecker (Dicaeum trigonostigma) somewhere in the Visayas, December 2023.*

Therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, be on your guard not to be led into the error of the unprincipled and to fall from your own stability.
2 Peter 3:17

Your words of caution
through St. Peter are so timely,
Lord Jesus in this time
of discussions and debate
on the proposed law on divorce;
how sad there are some
supposed to be learned and
knowledgeable, seemingly stable
in their positions as teachers
and educators and journalists
calling for more openness
in the discussions
 of moral and social issues
are the ones who are really
closed to their own thoughts
and ideas they have labeled as
progressive and liberal,
insisting their own interpretations
of Scriptures and moral laws;
what is most sad,
even deplorable at times,
is when they cite so many
thinkers without even citing You,
dear Jesus
 regarding Your own words
and teachings
that are clearly against divorce.

Forgive us, Jesus,
when we look so highly
of ourselves,
believing so much
 to whatever we know
like those Pharisees and
Herodians who banded together
to test You;
keep us humble, Lord
with whatever sense of stability
we feel we have or know;
let us grow in grace by constantly
affirming that feeling and
experience of being
loved by God
and most of all,
to grow in Your knowledge
which is to grow in a deeper
and personal relationship
with You.
dear Jesus.

Lord Jesus,
let us not only fall from our
own stability
but most of all.
may we not mislead
others to joining us in
our follies.
Amen.

Of skin and saints and layers of faith

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle, 24 August 2022
Revelation 21:9-14 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> John 1:45-51

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Spirituality Center, Novaliches, QC, 2018.*

Everywhere we find
layers of everything:
layers of clothing,
layers of skin,
layers of meaning;
thank you, dear God
our Father in inviting me
today as we celebrate
the feast of St. Bartholomew
to examine the different
"layers" of my faith and
knowledge of you in
Jesus Christ.

First is the layer of my
self-knowledge:  how true
am I with myself?  How free
am I in being myself, in
expressing freely my thoughts
and feelings?

Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.”
John 1:45-47

Dear Jesus,
grant me that kind of
sincerity and honesty
of Nathanael/St. Bartholomew:  
you were not disgusted with his words 
for they were very true;
most of all, you even praised
him for being a true Israelite
without any guile!
What a revelation of the true
layer of St. Bartholomew
bared for everyone to see
unlike us in many occasions when
we hide our identity in many layers
often not true, so unreal of who
we are; teach us to come and see
you in your deepest layer, Jesus,
so we may be at home too with
who we really are.

Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
John 1:48-49

Grant me also the grace,
Lord  Jesus like Nathanael/
St. Bartholomew to perceive deeply
your true identity as "Son of God"
and "king of Israel"; two different layers
of your person that can only be perceived
by a deep faith, to see you who you really are,
the Son of God, and also the fulfillment
of our aspirations here in this life,
in this world as our Christ the King!

How interesting,
O God that St. Bartholomew
died a martyr after being skinned
alive and crucified upside down
like St. Peter; it must have
been his most glorious achievement
that after being skinned alive,
his persecutors must have seen
and realized too his faith was not that
skin-deep after all, that layers upon layers
of skin, they have found only you, Jesus
deeply ingrained in his very person.
Amen.

St. Bartholomew depicted by Michelangelo at the Sistine Chapel holding in one hand a large knife said to have been used in skinning him alive with his own skin held by his other hand. Photo from Pinterest.

Easter is being rooted in Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Athanasius, Doctor of the Church, 02 May 2022
Acts 6:8-15 ><))))*> + <*((((>< John 6:22-29

*Photo by Ms. Jing Rey Henderson in Taroytoy, Aklan, 29 April 2022.*

In this Season of Easter,
help us, dear Lord Jesus 
to know you more clearly
so that we may deepen our
faith in you and eventually do
your work of loving service
to one another; so many times 
in life we seek you for selfish 
and personal reasons 
like the people you have fed 
at the wilderness.

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

Like St. Stephen in the first
reading, fill us with passion 
in "working for God" which is
primarily to believe in you as 
the Christ, the one he sent;
but so many times, even in this
modern age, we doubt you,
O Jesus, as the Son of God:
like those Jews, we ask
"when did you get here" -
from where are you, Jesus,
because we always doubt you
as the Son of God like our separated
brothers and sisters until now
influenced by Arianism.

Hence, it is not enough for us 
to be simply passionate like St. Stephen -
grant us the academic discipline 
of St. Athanasius whose memorial 
we celebrate today;
his sound mental acumen formed by
his deep spirituality based on prayers
made him a pillar of the Church in 
defending your truth as the Son of God.
The more he knew you more clearly,
the more he followed you closely
even if he was banished so many
times from his posts due to his rootedness
in you; most of all, in his knowledge 
and wisdom, the more he loved you dearly, 
Jesus, by serving the flock entrusted to him.  
Amen.

God knows what is best

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Memorial of St. Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, 15 July 2021
Exodus 3:13-20 ><)))*> + <*(((>< Matthew 11:28-30

*Photo by author, Assumption Sabbath, Baguio City, January 2019.*

Your words today, O Lord,
are very encouraging,
so reassuring in these days
when many are languishing
of having that feeling something 
is not right, unable to move
and make progress in life
and in one's self due to this pandemic.
Like your people in Egypt during 
the time of Moses,
we feel alone and abandoned,
trapped and imprisoned.

Therefore, we pray dear God,
that you awaken in us that courage
and deep trust in you
fill us with your very self
or "enthusiasm" from "en-theos"
to forge on in this life amid 
the many darkness and difficulties
we encounter right now
whether at home or at school,
in our office and community
in our country where we have so 
many pharaohs lording over us!

"Yet I know
that the king of Egypt will not
allow you to go unless he is forced.
I will stretch out my hand,
therefore,
and smite Egypt by doing all kinds
of wondrous deed there.
After that he will send you away."
(Exodus 3:19-20)

You really know what is best
for us, O God our loving Father!
Even before any problem happens
or trial comes to each of us,
you have already prepared us
a long time ago how we can handle
or deal with any crisis, even sending us
the right persons who can help us
to overcome every obstacle 
and difficulties that come our way.
Problem is we always turn away from you,
we always forget you.

Jesus said:
"Come to me,
all you who labor
and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you
and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble
of heart; and you will find rest
for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy,
and my burden light."
(Matthew 11:28-30)

Let us come to you,
dear Jesus, in all humility;
like St. Bonaventure whose 
memorial we celebrate today,
may we learn to balance
what we know and what we feel,
of what is in our mind and 
of what is in our heart
so we may follow the path 
to your mysteries of wisdom and love.
Amen.

Keeping our eyes open

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Saturday in the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time, 29 May 2021
Sirach 51:12-20 <*(((>< + ><)))*> Mark 11:27-33

*Photo by author, Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto chapel, Baguio City, 2019.*

Let me join Ben Sirach in praising you today, O God our loving Father as I take his parting words in his beautiful book as my prayer to you too on this blessed and beautiful Saturday:

I thank the Lord and I praise him;
I bless the name of the Lord.
When I was young and innocent,
I sought wisdom openly in my prayer.
I prayed for her before the temple,
and I will seek her until the end...
In the short time I paid heed,
I met with great instruction.
Since in this way I have profited,
I will give my teacher grateful praise.
(Sirach 51:12-14, 16-17)

O dear God, how sad at how so many people these days seek wisdom and knowledge outside of you. They think you have nothing to do with it, without realizing you are all-knowing and truly the fount of wisdom and knowledge.

May we imitate Ben Sirach and all the saints and wise men of the world who found and learned much wisdom and knowledge from you in prayers.

How sad at how some people supposed to be learned and yet still blind to the reality that so many times in this life, not everything can be planned nor calculated nor be fool proof. There are so many other things that can happen in our lives, for better or for worst, without us really knowing and so prepared how to deal with the severe blows and beatings we receive especially from others whom we trust and expect so much.

It is only your Divine wisdom that can truly teach us how to deal and go on with life’s many questions and difficulties we might never answer nor understand.

Give us the grace of humility to come to you through Jesus Christ your Son in our prayers to cultivate a spiritual life which is a relationship centered on you, not on us or anybody else. Give us the grace of humility most especially to keep our eyes wide-opened to your coming, to your prodding, and to your words of wisdom that run contrary to what we think and believe as true.

Help us not to fall into the shameful errors of the chief priests, the scribes and the elders of Jerusalem who were so blinded with pride and intellectual arrogance that they have refused to open their eyes to your working and coming in John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.

Jesus said to them, “I shall ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.” They discussed this among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?” — they feared the crowd, for they all thought John really was a prophet. So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.” Then Jesus said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Mark 11:29-33

Have mercy on us, dear God especially on those who continue to insist on their arrogance and pride because their ego have been badly hurt and bruised that no light of reason can open their eyes to see the bigger beauty of life you offer in following your “unconventional wisdom”. Amen.

Loving and knowing

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Week XXIII, Year II in Ordinary Time, 10 September 2020
1 Corinthians 8:1-7, 11-13 >><)))*> >><)))*> >><)))*> Luke 6:27-38

Photo by author, dusk at my parish, July 2020.

Thank you, dear Jesus, for the grace of being together again with our family and relatives at this time of the pandemic. Your words from St. Paul today are so timely as we now spend more time together at home due to shortened work periods while kids have online classes.

But, despite these grace-filled moments in the pandemic while being together again with our family, frictions happen because we have never been truly at home with each other. We always forget the fact that love of one another is more important than being right.

Brothers and sisters: Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up. If anyone supposes he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if one loves God, one is known by him.
1 Corinthians 8:1-3

Oh yes, Lord! We are sometimes surprised at how fast we have grown in age with our parents and siblings. And yes, how we have grown apart too from each other, still carrying those sentiments and memories we have had when younger.

Purify us, Jesus. Heal our memories. Enable us to let our love flow to others specially those dearest and closest to us. Remove all emotional blockages in our hearts and mental blocks in our minds that prevent us from being kind and understanding, and be more spontaneous and more sincere with everyone.

Make us realize that the more we know, the more we must be loving and understanding.

Photo by author, Malagos Garden Resort, Davao City, 2018.

Let our knowledge make us “holier” because to know what is right always leads us to being more loving as we heed your words in the gospel today, “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Lk.6:31).

Inspire us to reflect further on these words by St. Bernard about spiritual life so that it may soothe our souls and calm our minds:

The whole of the spiritual life consists of these two elements. When we think of ourselves, we are perturbed and filled with salutary sadness. And when we think of the Lord, we are revived to find consolation in the joy of the Holy Spirit. From the first we derive fear and humility, from the second hope and love.
Office of Readings, Wednesday of 23rd Week, The stages of contemplation by St. Bernard

We pray in a very special way today, Lord, for our family and relatives, for those we live together at home. Amen.

New heart, new person in Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II

Thursday, Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church, 20 August 2020

Ezekiel 36:23-28 >><)))> || + + + || <(((><< Matthew 22:1-14

Photo by author, an oasis at the Dead Sea area, May 2017.

Thank you very much, dear God our Father in bringing us closer to you more than ever through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Thank you for “taking away our stony hearts and giving us natural hearts” (Ez.36:26) as you have promised your prophet Ezekiel in the Old Testament.

Thank you for inviting us always into your “wedding banquet”, revealing to us your wonderful plan of being with you in eternity.

Forgive us, too, O merciful Father when despite our new and natural heart in Christ, we refuse to follow your Spirit within us to totally change our ways, when we forget to realize that for every gift from you is our responsibility to nurture and make this bear fruits in our lives.

Like the man who came to the wedding banquet not dressed for the occasion in the parable by Jesus, we always miss the chance of being truly one with you in loving charity when we fail to seek knowledge to serve you in others.

May we keep in our hearts these beautiful teachings by St. Bernard whose memorial we celebrate today that like him, may we nurture your gifts through constant studies and prayers:

There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge: that is curiosity.
There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others: that is vanity.
There are those who seek knowledge in order to serve: that is LOVE.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)

Lord Jesus, please take away our stony hearts and give us natural hearts that beat with firm faith, fervent hope, and unceasing charity and love. Amen.

What does it take to believe in God?

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Monday, Easter Week VII, 25 May 2020

***Acts of the Apostles 19:1-8* ><)))> ><)))> ><)))> John 16:29-33***

Stained glass in our parish of the appearance of Jesus to Thomas Didymus. Photo by author, April 2020.

If you ask me Lord, or even anyone for that matter, I may never be able to answer completely and satisfactorily that question: what does it take to believe that you are God?

The disciples said to Jesus, “Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. Now we realize that you know everything and that you do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God.”
John 16:29-30

As I prayed on your words today, dear Jesus, I wondered on what was it that you must have told the apostles that they realized you knew everything that you do not need anyone to question you that finally convinced them to believe you came from God?

Could it be that as you neared your Passion and Death, the more they felt your love?

As I have told you, if you or anyone asks me how I have come to believe that you come from God, that you are the Son of God, I cannot give any precise answer except that I have felt your love.

Love is your only distinction that enables us to believe in you.

Before we believe, before we know, we first felt loved.

Love is your simplest language, Lord, because you are love.

You are able to love us all because you know everything.

And that is why you love.

So unlike us.

When we have known the other person, usually, we stop loving. But not you: the more you know, the more you love.

Mary Magdalene knows it so well, she from whom you have driven out seven demons!

For that great love, I thank you dearest Jesus, for loving me so immensely through my parents and siblings, my relatives and friends, through all the people you have sent me to experience your love.

When you called me to the priesthood, the first I really felt was your love, of how much you love me that I felt so special.

Before priesthood came, there was your love first.

That continues to these days. That feeling of being loved despite my sins and shortcomings make me believe you are from God, dear Jesus.

I am sure when St. Paul laid his hands on some disciples in Ephesus to receive the Holy Spirit, what they must have really felt to be so inspired and energized in doing their mission is your immense love.

Give us the grace to remember, to recall these many moments you felt us your love that we usually take for granted or disregarded.

Once we have retrieved those loving memories in you, give us the courage Jesus to share this love you pour on us daily, especially at this time of the pandemic when all we long for is a little love from one another: a smile, a pat on the shoulder, an encouragement, a kind word, a sweet voice calling our name.

Teach is to be more loving on this last Monday of the Easter Season, Lord Jesus. Amen.