Loving God our Father, make our hearts bigger to accept you and let our minds be contented when we can no longer understand you. So often we complain of so many things we do not have, failing to see what you have given us, because we always try to understand you and your ways, both beyond us.
From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road, to bypass the land of Edom. But with their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!” In punishment the Lord sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit then people so that many of them died.
Numbers 21:4-6
Forgive us O Lord for complaining so much, forgetting to be grateful for what we have received from you freely. Forgive us most of all for challenging you, questioning you, doubting you. Please forgive us when we forget you are our God, we are your creatures.
How amazing were the poor among those in the temple that day listening to Jesus. So humble, so open to your presence who accepted the Christ while speaking in mysterious ways as a Person that the learned could not understand. How amazing were those poor they recognized the Christ in his pronouncements of the “I AM”:
“For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins… When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me.”
John 8:24, 28
Remind us always, O God, that you are not a concept to be understood but a Person to be loved and accepted. Amen.
Crucifix at the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception Seminary by National Artist Erwin Castrillo, Guiguinto, Bulacan. Photo by ICS alumnus (Batch 82) Chester Ocampo, November 30, 2014.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, ika-8 ng Abril 2019
Mula sa Google.
Madalas nating akalain Pananahimik ay kawalan ng imik Tinitikom yaring mga bibig Di pinapansin mga naririnig.
Ang tunay na pananahimik ay pakikinig Sa gitna ng katahimikang pilit dinaraig Ibuka ang bibig dahil baka kumabig ang dibdib Manaig iniisip sa loob ng munting daigdig.
Larawan kuha ni G. Howie G. Severino ng GMA-7 News sa Taal, Batangas, Nobyembre 2018.
Taliwas na madalas na kaisipan Katahimikan ay hindi kawalan kungdi kaganapan Mundo'y hindi iniiwan bagkus tinutunguhan Niyayakap at niyayapakan upang lubos na maranasan.
Sa panahong atin ngayong ginagalawan Puro ingay at salitaan, walang unawaan Hindi mapigilan talastasan na wala namang kaliwanagan Puro kadiliman, walang naiintindihan dahil walang katahimikan.
Tanging sa katahimikan mapapakinggan Ibinubulong at kinukuyom ng ating kalooban; Gayon din naman sa katahimikan matutukalasan Kahulugan ng sinasaysay ng sino mang pinakikiharapan.
Kung ibig ninumang Diyos ay makaniig at mapakinggan Kanyang mga Salita kailanma'y hindi maiintidihan Kung ang Kanyang katahimikan ay di natin kayang sakyan Dahil ang Diyos sa Kanyang kaibuturan ay pawang kahulugan at kaganapan.
Ang talong Shifen sa Taiwan. Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Enero 2019.
Sikaping makaibigan ang katahimikan Bagama't hindi madali, ito ay maaring pagsumakitan Dahil dito lamang matatagpuan mahahalaga at walang kabuluhan Pati na mga bagay na pansamantala at pangmagpakailanman.
Sa katahimakan ating nabibistay Mga bagay na lantay at walang saysay Buhay ay nahihimay, nakikita ang tunay Kapag tayo ay naghinay-hinay sa daloy nitong buhay.
Ating pagkatao ang siyang dinadalisay Takbo ng buhay nagiging matiwasay Dahil sa katahimikan buo ang ating pagtitiwala Kasabay ang pananampalatayang walang kapantay.
Larawan kuha ni G. Raffy Tima ng GMA-7 News sa Batanes, Agosto 2018.
It is the final week of our 40-day preparation for Easter, Lord, yet your readings today remind us of your coming judgment day. And you know how we feel whenever we hear those words, “judgment day”.
Fear always grips us because we always feel we are not ready.
But when do we really get ready to meet you and face your judgment, Lord?
He spoke these words while teaching in the treasury in the temple area. but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
John 8:20
Unlike you, Lord Jesus, we are not God. We really do not know when that hour would come. But we are sure, O Lord, you will always give us the grace and the courage to face that hour that can be happening now. Right now.
Keep us rooted in you always, doing your holy will so that our works are verified in God.
From Google.
Keep us faithful to your laws, let us practice justice especially among women and the disadvataged. Like the prophet Daniel in the first reading, let us never allow ourselves to be silent where there is injustice going on. Disturb us where people are maligned, rights are disregarded, lives are taken for granted.
O God, let us never allow evil to triumph by doing nothing, saying nothing because today is your judgment day. Amen.
Batanes sunset after a storm. Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA7 News, October 2018.
Photo by Dra. Mai Dela Pena in Athens, Greece, April 2017.
Hello…! Today is the last Sunday of Lent. It is hoped that by this time since Ash Wednesday, we have slowly acquired a contemplative spirit of prayerful silence. It is something very essential not only during these 40 days and in the coming Holy Week. It is only in silence can we truly find balance in life as we discover what is valuable and what is worthless, things that last and things that pass. Silence teaches us to slow down, to be more discerning, and more trusting. It is in silence where we learn to pray deeply, to enter into communion with God to allow Him to suffuse us with His love and grace, mercy and forgiveness to be transformed into a better person.
From Google.
In today’s gospel only found in St. John’s account, we find the remarkable silence of Jesus Christ among the crowd demanding his opinion on whether the woman caught committing adultery should be stoned to death or not as per the Law given by Moses. Jesus chose to be silent so we may realize that issues of sin and evil are best resolved in a contemplative spirit where we find the value of every person.
“Condemn the sin, not the sinner.” History has shown us that where there is severity in measures against evil, we find only more deaths and burials happening but never peace and justice. In Christ Jesus, we have found and experienced God’s mercy so abounding and closest to us sinners if we are truly sorry and ready to change. It is in silence where we discover our sinfulness that leads us to conversion which leads us to more silence which is the contemplative spirit.
Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA7-News, Natonin, Mountain Province after landslides, Nov. 2018.
In the spirit of this Sunday gospel about the woman caught committing adultery, I invite you to listen anew to Paul Simon’s classic “The Sound of Silence” first released in 1964 with his friend Art Garfunkel. It was a commercial flop upon its release but, “silently” the following year when some radio stations started playing it in Florida and Boston areas when it gained followers, forcing Columbia records to rerelease the song in 1965.
Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again Because a vision softly creeping Left its seeds while I was sleeping And the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains Within the sound of silence
In restless dreams I walked alone Narrow streets of cobblestone 'Neath the halo of a street lamp I turned my collar to the cold and damp When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light That split the night And touched the sound of silence
From Bing.com.
And in the naked light I saw Ten thousand people, maybe more People talking without speaking People hearing without listening People writing songs that voices never share No one dared Disturb the sound of silence
"Fools" said I, "You do not know Silence like a cancer grows Hear my words that I might teach you Take my arms that I might reach you" But my words like silent raindrops fell And echoed in the wells of silence
Sunset at Fatima Shrine, Portugal by Arch. Philip Santiago, October 2018.
And the people bowed and prayed To the neon god they made And the sign flashed out its warning In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets Are written on the subway walls And tenement halls" And whispered in the sounds of silence
40 Shades of Lent, 5th Sunday-C, 07 April 2019 Isaiah 43:16-21///Philippians 3:8-14///John 8:1-11
From Google.
Sunrise at Lake of Galilee. Photo by author April 2017.
Today is the last Sunday of Lent. It is hoped that by this time since Ash Wednesday, we have slowly acquired or even regained our contemplative spirit of prayerful silence. It is something very essential not only during these 40 days and in the coming Holy Week. It is only in silent prayers can we truly find balance in life as we discover what is valuable and what is worthless, things that last and things that pass. Prayerful silence teaches us to slow down, to be more discerning, and more trusting. The contemplative spirit thus leads us to grow deeper in our faith, hope and love in God. It is in the contemplative spirit where God works best in us.
We find this invitation to a contemplative spirit in our beautiful gospel today of a woman caught committing adultery whom Jesus refused to condemn. Unlike the previous four weeks when we heard all gospels taken from Luke, this Sunday’s story is from John that perfectly fits last week’s parable of the prodigal son to show us God’s immense love and mercy for us sinners. Every conversion, every contrition of sins presupposes silence. Recall how the lost son last Sunday realized his sinfulness while silently tending swine in a far away land.
From Google.
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.
John 8:1-6
From Google.
We have seen how Jesus foiled other insidious plots against him through tricky questions but this one involving a woman caught committing adultery shows us a fine image of him as the Christ. His silence, his bending down and his writing on the ground are moving moments that touch our hearts and make us wonder all the more, who is this man?
More than addressing a question that concerns the many dilemmas we face in life, this episode shows us that it is something that directly concerns Jesus Christ himself, his being our Savior. Notice at the start of the story where Jesus is presented always going to the Mount of Olives to pray, to be one with the Father. This episode happened after he had entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, showing us how Jesus became more intense in praying, in being one with the Father when his final days were approaching. That is the contemplative spirit.
Now feel the atmosphere of those tense moments when people brought the woman caught committing adultery to Jesus: everybody was saying something, emotions were running high, just like us in our own time with social media around us. We live in so much noises where everybody and everything is talking that we fail to listen to our very selves, to others and most especially to God always silent. See how Jesus was so cool – or “chillax” as young people would say. It was an astonishing reaction to the situation. Only a person with deep contemplative spirit like Jesus can be so composed and silent in a tense situation like that. It is always easier to react and say something than be silent to weigh everything. Too often in the world today, words are so empty that they have to be shouted all around and repeated so often in the hope they become true, exactly what every election candidate is doing!
From Bing.com.
Jesus chose to be silent so we may realize that issues of sin and evil are best resolved in a contemplative spirit where we find the value of every person that we condemn the sin not the sinner. History has shown time and again how wars and violence or any other harsh methods like death penalty have proven ineffective in correcting any injustice or wrongdoing and preventing crimes. Where there is severity in measures against evil, we find only more deaths and burials happening but never peace and justice.
Now more than ever in Jesus Christ, we have found and experienced God’s mercy so abounding and closest to us sinners if we are truly sorry and ready to change. Like the woman caught committing adultery or the prodigal son last Sunday, we have to reach out to Christ to be forgiven from our sins. He assures us of never being condemned, of deleting our past sins and assuring us with a bright future to receive his promises if we “go and sin no more.”
We have to stress that Jesus does not approve sins. Never. He recognized the sinfulness of the woman when he told her “go and sin no more.” Likewise, Jesus never asked us to stop fighting sins. When he dared the people of whoever has no sin be the first to cast the stone, Jesus never meant us to be silent with the evil and wrongdoings happening around us. This encounter between Jesus and the woman committing adultery invites us to examine first, our own attitudes toward others guilty of serious sins. And secondly, to examine our own reactions when our misery meets with God’s mercy especially in the sacrament of penance or reconciliation.
Do we choose to be harsh like the crowd or be gentle like Christ?
How sad that even with our very selves we are so unforgiving, so severe that we hardly move on in life. Only in a contemplative spirit can we truly experience God’s liberating mercy and forgiveness within us and with others. The contemplative spirit enables us to trust God that no matter how sinful we are, his love and mercy are more powerful, able to transform us all into better persons, even saints! This is the promise of God in the first reading that he would do something greater than what he had done in liberating his people from Egypt – that he would send our Savior not only to forgive our many sins but even to share in his glory as saints.
Assumption Sabbath Baguio, January 2019.
St. Paul in the second reading could speak of “considering everything as a loss in knowing Christ Jesus” because of the contemplative spirit he acquired after his conversion. His letters all reveal to us St. Paul’s contemplative spirit and intimacy with Jesus Christ that flowed out into his daily life, reaching its summit in his martyrdom.
As the season of Lent comes to a close on this fifth Sunday, we are reminded of the path of conversion we have followed these past four weeks under St. Luke’s guidance. Conversion leads to contemplation, a daily communion with God in prayerful silence and allow him to suffuse us with his love. Its fruits are seen in our daily lives. It is the work of God, not us. It is God who renews us in silence into a new creation. We simply have to remain in Christ and strive always “to go and sin no more”. Amen.
We know it deep in our hearts, Lord. We knew it all along because we have felt being the object of their evil thoughts and plans:
The wicked said among themselves, thinking not aright: “Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training.”
These were their thoughts, but they erred; for their wickedness blinded them, and they knew not the hidden counsels of God; neither did they count on a recompense of holiness nor discern the innocent of souls’ reward.
Wisdom 2:1, 12,21-22
When will the evil people ever stop plotting all plans against us, O Lord? When will they realize their errors, their mistakes, their sins? When will they ever get tired with the unnecessary burdens of thinking evil against others?
On this first Friday of April, O God, we pray for those who persecute us, for those who malign us, for those who make life so difficult for us without realizing the goodwill we have for them. We pray for the wicked who are bent on crushing us but would never truly succeed because you would never allow evil to triumph over what is good.
So many times, they are all talk because they never have the guts and courage to be true and honest. They are always hiding. Like Jesus openly exposing Himself at the temple area, yet nobody could lay their hands on Him because it was not yet His hour.
Our merciful Father, grant us the courage and strength to endure every evil and lies when our time finally comes to stand up for you like Jesus. Amen.
40 Shades of Lent, Thursday, Week-IV, 04 April 2019
Exodus 32:7-14///John 5:31-47
From Google.
So true, O God our Father, we are like your people in the desert – “stiff-necked” – who easily turned away from you to worship the golden calf while you conversed with Moses up on Mt. Sinai.
We are easily carried away and distracted by so many other “golden calves” we worship because for a moment have given us delight or answers to our needs and questions.
We doubt your love for us, we doubt your fidelity to your promises, and we doubt your powers despite the tremendous blessings you have showered upon us. Like the people led out of Egypt by Moses, we are always tempted not to believe we are your chosen people that we would rather get trapped with our daily worries in life.
We prefer to be second or even third rate people when in fact we are all your children, your beloved and forgiven children.
Help us to raise our bar, so to speak, O Lord, of not simply being contented with the prophets or with John who was like a “burning and shining lamp” for many when he was merely your precursor.
Help us, O Lord, to desire you and nothing less for we are all special in your eyes. Amen.
Another snapshot from the painting exhibit we saw at the Davao Museum last August 2018.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 03 April 2019
From Google.
A follower is protesting the title of my Lenten blogs called “40 Shades of Lent”. She, or he, wrote us that “Our Roman Catholic Church is pure and sacred to be associated with a title of a pornographic movie.” Our follower also suggested to us to “Please inform your Bishop and Priests before posting these titles on social media.”
Our follower is absolutely right that the title of my lenten reflections is indeed from E.L. James’ novel published in 2011 and later adapted into a movie in 2015. I have never read it nor seen any of its movie adaptations that were both a hit and a trending topic in 2016. At that time, I thought of having a series of reflections for Lent distinct from my regular Sunday homilies I have called “The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe” since 2006. I thought that if everybody was talking about “50 Shades of Grey”, why not ride on the strong recall of the brand by having my “40 Shades of Lent” where people can find the many colors and meanings of our sacred season?! After all, Lent’s motif of the color violet comes in many shades and hues, too!
That’s it, pancit! In no way does the title “40 Shades of Lent” becomes erotic or, as our follower described, pornographic simply because of its similarity with the book or movie title “50 Shades of Grey”. But her, or his, contention has opened for us a springboard for discussion regarding the way we deal with modern media if you can bear with me.
From Google.
We live in a “mass-mediated culture” where every baby is now born with a mouse. If Jesus were with us today, maybe He would have directed us priests to “feed my geeks” instead of telling us to “feed my sheep”. Since the time of the great St. John Paul II to Pope Francis today, the Holy Fathers have all recognized this reality, asking us to find ways in proclaiming the Gospel among the young people without losing our Christian identity.
“The question confronting the Church today is not any longer whether the man in the street can grasp a religious message, but how to employ the communications media so as to let him have the full impact of the gospel message.”
St. Pope John Paul II , “Religion in the Mass Media” (Message, 1989 World Communication Day
The need for an equilibrium in our approach with media.
The two most media savvy Popes, St. John Paul II and Pope Francis have both noted in their speeches that young people today practically live in the world of media; hence, the need to reach out to them. Problem with us in the Church, both among the clergy and the laity, is when we respond in both extremes when some end up succumbing to the world of media while there are those at the other end rejecting it altogether or in some forms. What we need is some degree of equilibrium wherein we try to keep technology and media in their proper places. See the many instances when priests embrace media and technology so much that churches lose the sense of sacred with giant video screens all over with a barrage of tarpaulins in all sizes that make one wonder if it is a house of worship or videoke bar. On the other hand, there are those who reject media and technology, stepping back in history like in a parish in Poland recently where priests and the faithful burned some books including the Harry Potter series they deemed as sacrilegious and have evil forces.
It is difficult to achieve such equilibrium or balance in our dealing and use of modern media in the ministry for as long as we remain in our Pharisaical stage, of associating almost everything in the world and of the world as evil and sinful especially books and music. The gospel accounts teem with many instances when the Pharisees and scribes questioned Jesus eating and drinking with tax collectors and known sinners of His time. How sad that until now we still don’t get what He had said during that time.
Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.
Mark 7:15
From Google.
Equilibrium is first achieved in the constant examination of our hearts so we can respond properly to the spirit of modernity not easily reconcilable with the demands of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Attaining that equilibrium calls for a return to the contemplative spirit where we try to maintain our spirit of silence and prayer amid the constant changes in thoughts and beliefs including values often due to the growing efficiency of technology. Let me share with you the very words of a communication expert to conclude this piece that I hope may enlighten us to see the various shades of colors, including shadows and lights that surround us in this modern world today.
The contemplative spirit is not easily acquired, but without it people find it hard to discern the valuable from the worthless, or the enduring from the transitory. Contemplation puts us in touch with reality in a world in which a host of communication technologies work to sustain a multitude of illusions and images: a media world. The contemplative spirit helps us to see and hear beyond and through the sights and sounds we take for granted. The contemplative spirit is an attitude of mind and heart that enables us to focus on the essential, important things. It refuses to be hurried into premature rejection or acceptance of technology. If we Christians allow it to inform our use of communication technologies we shall learn to be realistic, but always hopeful, able to love and reverence our culture even as we strive, with God’s help, to transform it.
James McDonnell, “Communicating the Gospel in a Technological Age: Rediscovering the Contemplative Spirit”.
Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches. Photo by author, July 2018.
40 Shades of Lent, Wednesday, Week-IV, 03 April 2019
Isaiah 49:8-15///John 5:17-30
How lovely are your words for us today, O God our loving Father! So refreshing, so reassuring especially at times when dark clouds loom above us, when we are in deep turmoils or when our pains hurt so much.
Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I answer you, on the day of salvation I help you, and I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, to restore the land and allot the desolate heritages, saying to prisoners: Come out! To those in darkness, Show yourselves! Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.
Isaiah 49:8-9, 15
What an amazing God indeed! So close, so personal like anyone.
Yet, O God, how unfortunate that so often we are tempted to doubt your love, your truth, your presence! So often we choose not to believe that we are loved by you or by those closest to us.
We keep on denying you have chosen to love us, preferring to live trapped in the many worries of this life.
Give us the grace of faith to embrace your truth, your love, especially Jesus Christ your Son who had come to make you closest to us as our breath. Let us see your work continuing in Christ that may eventually continue them in us and among us. Amen.
A snapshot from the painting exhibit we viewed at the Davao City Museum, August 2018. Too bad never had the chance to get artists and title of artworks.
40 Shades of Lent, Tuesday, Week IV, 02 April 2019
Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12///John 5:1-16
Dearest Jesus: Last night as I prayed amid the heat of summer, I realized that since the start of our 40-day journey of Lent, it is only now I have been reminded of one of the highlights of this Season, the sacrament of Baptism symbolized by water in the two readings today.
So often, Lord Jesus, we take water for granted, not realizing its value until it is gone.
Just like you, Lord.
Cleanse us, O Jesus, with your purifying waters of Baptism, keep us nourished like the trees seen in Ezekiel’s vision planted near the rivers, always filled with life, always green, always bearing fruits of good works.
Most of all, come to us Lord Jesus like in the pool at Bethesda or “house of mercy”.
Quench our thirsts for life’s meaning. Without you as our water, we are dehydrated, weakened, dried up by life’s so many demands and concerns. May you always refresh us, awaken us to many possibilities of life especially when the well runs dry. Amen.
lordmychef.com 