Crisis & decision = life & salvation

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 11 October 2026
Isaiah 25:6-10 ><}}}}*> Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20 ><}}}}*> Matthew 22:1-14

*Photo by author, Our Lady of Ephesus Chapel, Bella Rosa Gardens, Silang, Cavite, 07 October 2026.*

We are a nation always in all kinds of crises: financial crisis, water crisis, energy crisis, transportation crisis, moral crisis. We are practically a nation of crises because we never face every crisis that confronts us!

Crisis is from the Greek word krisis, a time for decision; every crisis calls for a decision to resolve the situation. And that’s the problem with us Filipinos: we either refuse to make a firm decision or waste an opportunity to decide properly that would have solved the many crises we continue to endure to this day like reelecting incompetent and corrupt public officials.

The Gospel accounts these past three weeks may be considered as “parables in times of crisis” because each calls us to decide and choose God: the parable of the two sons reminds us of harmony in what we believe, in what we think, what we say, and what we do; the parable of the wicked tenants tells us we are the Lord’s vineyard, everything is God’s including our very lives meant to be fruitful in Christ.

Today we hear the last installment of parables narrated by Jesus to the elders and chief priests of Jerusalem at the temple area, the parable of the wedding feast that clearly shows anew how God invites everyone to come to Him, to make that decision of choosing Him. There are many similarities in the three series of parables but this Sunday, Jesus injects a “mini-parable” towards the end during the wedding feast of his son:

“But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence. The king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’ Many are invited, but few are chosen” (Mt.22:11-14).

I grew up in a generation when dressing properly and decently were deeply inculcated both at home and the school. It has always been considered in our time as a sign of maturity when we come properly attired in every occasion. Those days are now gone along with the expression “Sunday’s best”.

For some, it may seem to be so trivial but if we truly regard the Eucharist as the highest form of worship, of encountering God through the sacraments and one another, how come we could not even prepare our external appearances? Why can’t we give that proper importance to meeting the Lord and one another in the supposed to be holy occasion of the Mass?

What a tragedy that some priests lead the pack in this aspect of coming not properly, even shabbily dressed during the Mass, saying it is too hot to wear those vestments. Everyone is bragging that fallacy there is more beneath the clothing we wear of who we really are; that is not totally true because how we look outside is indicative of what ‘s inside us, of who we are, of what we value, and what we believe in.

*Photo by author, Bella Rosa Gardens, Silang, Cavite, 07 October 2026.*

How we dress – not the clothes we wear – speaks of ourselves as the Lord’s parable this Sunday teaches because external appearances are indications of the internal realities.

If we push that further, if we seem to find it so difficult in dressing properly for the Mass, how much more difficult we could find it turning away from sins, in dressing our souls properly?

Jesus said in his parable the man was “reduced to silence” when confronted by the king; he could not speak a word because deep inside him he knew something was wrong, something was missing, that he should not be there at all! Maybe he is a Filipino who must have thought baka makalusot as we always reason out in life. Unfortunately, as we all learn later, there are no shortcuts in life: we either hit the mark or miss it.

Our Sunday Eucharist is a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy calling on all peoples to come to the mountain of the Lord where He shall provide us with “rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure choice wines. On this mountain he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations; he will destroy death forever. The Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face” (Is.25:6-8). Every Sunday Mass is an invitation to celebrate with the Lord this great feast of salvation, a foretaste of the coming heaven!

But, are we properly dressed for the occasion?

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.*

Related with being properly dressed is another similar English expression, of “wearing different hats” which means we must learn to adjust and adapt to the many circumstances in our lives where we take on multiple jobs and roles and responsibilities.

We find this present in our Filipino expressions of ilagay sa lugar ang pagkilos or matutong maki-bagay like when we have to professional especially with superiors in the office but remain friends when outside unwinding in a cafe or when parents act strictly as disciplinarians because they are the father or mother but sometimes as a friend or an Ate or Kuya to their children.

This is what St. Ignatius of Loyola expressed in his teaching of “positive indifference” where we choose to become poor than rich, sick than healthy that is not to be taken literally but of being open in imitating Jesus Christ’s simplicity. It is the attitude of contentment in life choosing Jesus above all like St. Paul in today’s second reading:

Brothers and sisters: I know how to live in humble circumstances. I know also how to live with abundance. In every circumstance and in all things I have learned the secret of being well fed and going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need. I can do all things in him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:12-13).

In this highly consumerist society, many of us sadly live in crises because of so much desires and wants for material things. We see everywhere the glaring realities of some living in super abundance of wealth while majority are in dire poverty.

Peace does not come from abundance of material goods anymore than a lack of such goods can deprive one of peace. The key is living with one’s circumstances especially when they cannot be changed and are beyond one’s control. That is learning to wear one’s hat and dressing properly in every situation.

Let us close this reflection by going back to the word crisis. According to my Chinese friends, crisis is represented by two characters in Chinese, indicating danger and opportunity. Like its Greek counterpart, crisis in Chinese calls for a decision too because of the dangers present; it is only in making that decision when one can experience the many opportunities life offers. Are you ready to make that decision of choosing Jesus, of putting on His clothes of love and kindness, mercy and forgiveness as He invites you in His banquet in this Sunday’s Mass?Amen. A blessed week ahead to everyone!

Ageing gracefully

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 15 January 2026

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

Two priests and a former nun personally known to me died in our diocese last Sunday. It was also the birthdate of the late Bishop Cirilo Almario, Jr. whom I had remembered in my two early morning Masses on that Sunday, January 11, 2026.

In those two Masses too I mentioned in my homily the retreat I facilitated first week of January with my friends about “ageing gracefully” – my own realizations since joining their ranks as senior citizens last March.

Let me elaborate those two points I have shared with them and in my homily last Sunday.

First, let us embrace our being old. Stop saying “when we get old”, pagtanda natin because we are already old. Period. Matanda na tayo.

We cannot reverse our ageing process and it is useless to have all these cosmetic manipulations like dyeing our hair black or stretching our sagging skin and removing those wrinkles.

Embrace old age. It is beautiful and wonderful because it is so good. Our Filipino word for “old” says it all – matanda – which ironically so many women hate to hear as they stress that kalabaw lang ang tumatanda. That is not true.

Our word matanda is from the root word tanda which means “sign” that is why an old person is rightly called matanda because he/she is a sign of God’s goodness, a sign of God’s mercy and love, a sign of God’s beauty and majesty.

Moreover, a matanda is a sign of wisdom and grace that is why when we were young boys, we wanted to be old by putting our dad’s eyeglasses or taste his cigarettes and beer while girls put on their mom’s make up and high heeled shoes. How funny that when we are already old, we resist to accept the fact that we strive to look young again, sometimes ending up as nagmumurang kamatis.

Technically speaking, “old” is actually harsh. Old is something about a past phase that has ran its course like being outdated. Luma in Filipino that connotes stale, passe, lacking relevance and sadly, useless. Just for display purposes. As a person, that is the one we refer to as walang pinagkatandaan. Or huklubang matanda.

To be more specific, the better English term referring to ageing gracefully is ancient that exudes with a sense of timeliness, of being perpetually relevant like the ancient ruins in Rome, Athens, and Jerusalem. Actually, some biblical experts have wanted to rename the “Old Testament” as “Ancient Testament” following this line of thinking.

*Photo by author, Ephesus, Turkiye, November 2025.*

Things and even persons can rightly be referred to as ancient because of their beauty still intact that inspires us and makes us wonder about life itself. They are not just old sites nor old persons that remind us of the past long gone but ancient because still lovely, “still full of sap and green” as the psalmist extolled the seniors of his time.

Persons who age gracefully like ancient sites stir our inner selves with deeper beauty and realities of life that eyes cannot see. That is perhaps the reason these days many senior men and women are so “in” and considered as attractive.

It is the same wisdom realized by St. Augustine when he wrote about God, “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you. You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you.”

Being ancient -whether as a person or a thing – is something of the inside we must turn to not outside like our skin and physical body. From that inside realization and acceptance of being senior or elderly we experience the grace of ageing because we experience God still present in us, in fact loving us more as he makes as a sign or tanda of his loving presence.

Ageing gracefully is a modern virtue we need to cultivate in this age of instants that glorify youthfulness equated with usefulness. That is why when Pope Benedict XVI resigned from the Papacy in 2013, the more I have come to love and admire him. In his resignation, he taught us the importance of embracing and lovingly accepting our old age when we can no longer adequately perform our many tasks in office even in life itself. It was not a failure nor a surrender in the negative sense but more of a deep courage and trust in God that we accept our being weak and ready to come to him soon.

*Photo by author, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, May 2025.*

This brings me to my second realization since turning sigisty years old last year: corollary to embracing old age is accepting death. That is why, as seniors, let us stop saying and thinking of our coming death because we are already dying. Huwag na nating isipin yung “kapag namatay ako” dahil namamatay na nga tayo.

Being senior is doing away with those bucket lists, of thinking about things to do, places to visit before we die. We are already dying and hence, whatever you can do, do it now. There could be no more tomorrow. All we have is the present moment. Anything could happen to us, for better and for worse.

Ageing gracefully is coming to terms with life which leads us to coming to terms with death. Yes, this is easier said than done, but slowly, I am learning and loving it!

*Photo by author, Bucharest, Romania, November 2025.*

One of the reasons that made me decide to become a priest in the early 1990’s was the conviction that I have felt so deeply God’s love for me as a person in the many experiences I have gone through in life. I felt at that time that by becoming a priest, I could convince more people about the truth and existence of this loving God we have.

I still hold on to that but a year after turning sigisty, becoming sigisty-one in March 22, another fascinating realization I have had is how wonderful this life is. Now that I am old, the more I can boldly claim with conviction that it is good to be alive. Masarap pa rin ang mabuhay! Maganda ang buhay maski mahirap!

Accepting and embracing our ageing, our getting weak, our failing memory are all kinds of dying. And in that midst that we actually live fullest and meaningfully. I don’t know if I can write any further because I ain’t dead yet but… just in case, it was worth the trip. Amen. May you have a fruitful and fulfilling weekend ahead.

A more decisive 2026 in Christ

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Cycle A, 11 January 2026
Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7 ><}}}}*> Acts 10:34-38 ><}}}}*> Matthew 3:13-17

*Mosaic of the Lord’s Baptism by John at the Neonian Baptistery, Ravenna, Italy; from wikimedia commons.*

Still, our greeting today is a blessed Merry Christmas until the last Mass tonight when we close the Christmas Season with this Feast of the Lord’s Baptism. Tomorrow we shift into the Ordinary Time with the green motif back in our liturgy.

Most often during this time of the year, many of us make “new year’s resolutions” that always end up unfulfilled, discarded, and forgotten because these are merely based on whims or fads or anything less than a matured decision. A decision is the making up of the mind and heart to act firmly on something; hence, it connotes a sense of determination in fulfilling that decision made.

In this Feast of the Lord’s Baptism, Jesus invites us to reflect our decision-making process as we embark on another journey of twelve months in him with Matthew as our guide so we can be more matured in our faith and as a person.

Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now, for thus, it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him (Matthew 3:13-15).

See the brief and direct reportage by Matthew of the event that immediately followed his story last Sunday of the Lord’s Epiphany to the world represented by the wise men from the East as we meet Jesus today all grown up, so matured as a man in his decisions.

And what do we find so remarkable in his decision-making process we can all emulate? His obedience to the Father!

All throughout his ministry, Jesus always made known to everyone that whatever he said and did were not his but the Father’s will. From his coming here at the first Christmas until his death on the Cross, it was all about Christ’s obedience to the Father. In fact, there was no need for him to be baptized by John for it was a baptism of repentance because Jesus is sinless, being the Son of God. Yet, he decided to be baptized “to fulfill all righteousness” as planned by the Father. In a similar manner, see John’s obedience too to Jesus and the Father when he could had insisted not to do it because Jesus is the Christ.

Fulfillment of every aspiration and mission in this life becomes difficult when we insist on what we know or what we prefer rather than what God wills for us.

Obedience is one virtue that is vanishing in this modern age so characterized by everyone wanting to be in control of everything, of one’s life and even of others expressed in those handheld gadgets as well as cars and other vehicles. See how everyone would want to “drive” one’s own life, totally disregarding those in authority especially God.

The word obedience is from two Latin words “ob audire” that literally means “to listen attentively”.

One cannot be obedient without first learning to listen that begins with our willingness to to be silent. Jesus is obedient because he always listens to the Father through frequent and long periods of prayers. Even the Blessed Mother as we reflected last January first exemplified the virtue of obedience when she listened intently and treasured in her heart the words spoken by the shepherds who came to adore the new-born Jesus in Bethlehem.

It would be nice this 2026 that we start cultivating a prayer life by embracing silence to listen attentively to God’s plans for us so that we could make the right decisions in life.

The opposite of “ob audire” in Latin is “absurdus” – exactly what we are when we make the wrong decisions and become absurd.

And sorry, that’s how we can describe this year’s Traslacion – absurd. In fact, every year, it becomes more absurd than ever and something drastic even radical has to be done in the real sense of the word, that is, by going back to its very roots.

When the devotees refused to obey the priests to stop at the San Sebastian Church and insisted on bringing the Poon Nazareno to Quiapo regardless of its many safety and practical implications, it was a clear case of misplaced devotion. It is fanaticism. Selfish and un-Christian. Despite the many defenses and theologizing by many, it is about time Nazareno devotees examine themselves about this devotion, of their panata that admittedly have been so baffling that if our faith in God is such intense, why are we still electing corrupt and evil officials?

Obedience is always a virtue because everything that is good follows when we are obedient, like being more loving at its truest sense. Whenever we decide out of obedience to God and parents and superiors, it is most often because of love.

*Photo by Ryan Jacob, Paco, Obando, Bulacan, 2023.*

This is the second characteristic of Jesus Christ’s decision-making process that is based on his love for the Father expressed in his love for us.

Again, there was no need for Jesus Christ to be baptized by John in the river Jordan because he is sinless but, he chose to be baptized there as a sign of his solidarity, of his oneness with us sinners and weak people. It was all because of love.

Jesus chose to be baptized even there was no need because he loves us and wants to be one with us. Jesus chose to die on the Cross, as depicted in the Black Nazarene of Quiapo, because he loves us and wants to carry our burdens. Jesus chose to be eaten as bread in the Holy Mass all because he loves us too so that we may have eternal life.

When Jesus went down to Jordan river, out of obedience and most of all out of love for all of us, he became one with us in our pains and hurts and sickness and failures and even sins which St. Peter realized personally that he declared after Pentecost that “God shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34) that we are all loved by God and are called to be obedient to him always by loving one another as he loves us. That is our mission, to love and be like Jesus Christ, the “Suffering Servant” who was “sent to bring forth justice… to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness” (Is.42:1,6-7).

*Photo by Mr. Boy Cabrido, January 2024.*

In going down into the dirty waters of Jordan River that signifies this earth, this life, Jesus showed us his mission of redeeming us so that we can become like him, God’s beloved child with whom he is well pleased. Every morning when we wake up, this scene at Jordan happens anew. The choice is ours to make by being like Jesus Christ who throughout his earthly life was a total obedience and yes to God because of love.

Last week I went to Baguio to facilitate a retreat with some of my kababata or teenage friends from my hometown of Bocaue. Being the youngest among them at 60 years old, I reflected about our senior years. Two things I shared with them:

First, as senior citizens, let us stop thinking of getting old because we are already old. Stop saying pagtanda ko… matanda na nga tayo. Let us face the reality we are old and find most especially the grace of God of reaching this stage. Being senior is to look with gratitude to our youth and to our past as we look forward to finding and meeting God who continues to call us to him.

Second, I told them to stop saying or thinking about our coming death because we are already dying. Huwag na nating isipin yung “kapag namatay tayo” kasi namamatay na nga tayo. Being senior is doing away with all those bucket lists, of things to do or places to visit before we die. We are already dying; hence, do whatever you can do now!

Perhaps the same propositions are applicable to anyone of any age. What matters is how much we love God and others expressed in our obedience to them like Jesus Christ. Let us keep following Jesus in the next twelve months of this 2026 to be filled with himself. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead.

Gaano kadalas ang minsan?

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-18 ng Nobyembre 2025

Hindi ko po napanood ang pelikulang iyan noong 1982 pero usap-usapan dahil daw sa sobrang ganda lalo ng aming mga mommy at tita na libang na libang sa Betamax. First year college ako noon at sa sobrang sikat ng pelikulang iyan, isang drayber ang nagpinta sa jeepney niyang nasasakyan ko patungong Recto ng signage na “gaano kadulas ang minsan?”

Pero iba po ang kuwento ko sa inyo. Hindi pelikula o pakuwela kungdi sa Bibliya.

Naalala ko ang pelikulang iyan dahil sa Unang Pagbasa sa Misa ngayong araw ng Martes mula sa ikalawang aklat ng Macabeo kung saan ang isang nobenta anyos na Hudyo, si Eleazar ay hinimok ng kanyang mga kaibigan na kunwari ay kumain ng baboy upang hindi siya patayin ng mga paganong mananakop.

Mas gusto ko ang salin sa Ingles nang sabihin ni Eleazar sa kanyang mga kababayan na patayin na lang siya ngayon din kesa magkunwari pa. Aniya ano ang mabuting halimbawa ang maiiwan niya sa mga kabataan kung sa kanyang katandaan ay magtataksil siya sa Diyos sa pagkain ng ipinagbabawal.

“At our age it would be unbecoming to make such a pretense… should I thus pretend for the sake of a brief moment of life, they would be led astray by me, while I would bring shame and dishonor on my old age” (2 Maccabees 6:24, 25).

Ito yung nagustuhan kong sinabi ni Eleazar, should I thus pretend for the sake of a brief moment of life?”

Iyon yung matindi sa sinabi niya, pretend for the sake of a brief moment of life.

Magkukunwari o magsisinungaling ba ako maski minsan sandali sa buhay ko?

Hindi ba kadalasan iyan ang palusot natin mula pa noong panahon nina Eba at Adan marahil? Minsan lang naman titikim… minsan lang naman gagawin… minsan lang naman nagkamali o nagkasala.

Totoo naman minsan-minsan ay sablay ating mga desisyon at nasasabi. Hindi rin maiwasan minsan minsan ang pagkakasala at pagkakamali. Pero, iyon nga ang punto ni Eleazar marahil upang ating pagnilayan, gaano kadalas ang minsan?

Yung minsan-minsan na iyan ang nakakatakot dahil madalas ang minsan katumbas ay wala ng wakas. Minsan ka lang magkamali o magkasala o magkunwari, maaring ikawasak o gumuho at maglaho lahat ng ating mga plano at pangarap na ilang taong pinagpagalan at pinagpagurang mabuti. Kadalasan, marami sa ating mga sablay sa buhay ay dahil lang sa binale-walang minsan.

Mapapatawad tayo ng Diyos sa ating mga kasalanan pati ng ating mga kapwa tao subalit, yung minsang pagkakamali o pagkakasala ay hindi na maibabalik ang dating kaayusan. Madalas yang minsang pagkakamali o pagkakasala ay mayroong tinatawag kong “irreversible consequences”.

*Larawan ni Vincenzo Malagoli sa Pexels.com*

Kapag ikaw ay nakapatay o maski nga lang masangkot sa krimen ng murder, siguradong maiiba ang takbo ng iyong buhay. Tiyak iyon, kahit na ika’y matapagtago at hindi makulong dahil habang buhay kang uusigin ng iyong konsiyensiya. Iyang minsan lang na pagkakamali dala ng init ng ulo o kalasingan ay hindi na mababago ng gaano mang kataimtim na pagsisisi dahil hindi na maibabalik ang buhay na nawala.

Ikalawang halimbawa na palagi kong sinasabi sa mga kabataan noon pa man na mayroong irreversible consequences ay ang mabuntis ng wala sa panahon. Patatawarin kayo ng Diyos maging ng inyong mga magulang ngunit kapwa ang babae at lalake maiiba na takbo ng buhay pagkatapos ng minsang pangyayari. Mapanagutan man o hindi.

LAOAG CITY, PHILIPPINES – MAY 08: A dog walks past campaign posters supporting presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in a residential neighborhood on May 08, 2022 in Laoag City, Philippines. The son and namesake of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., who was accused and charged of amassing billions of dollars of ill-gotten wealth as well as committing tens of thousands of human rights abuses during his autocratic rule, has mounted a hugely popular campaign to return his family name to power. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. enjoys a wide lead in opinion polls against his main rival, Vice President Leni Robredo, owing to a massive disinformation campaign that has effectively rebranded the Marcos dictatorship as a “golden age.” Marcos is running alongside Davao city Mayor Sara Duterte, the daughter of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte who is the subject of an international investigation for alleged human rights violations during his bloody war on drugs. (Photo by Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)

Ikatlong halimbawa naisip ko ngayon lang ay ang maling pagboto sa bawat halalan.

Isang lingkod ng simbahan ang nagtanong sa akin na pagtitiisan na lang daw ba natin ang kasalukuyang pangulo gayong sinabi na ng kapatid nitong siya ay adik?

Bagamat batid kong siya ay DDS, pinagsikapan ko pa ring pagpaliwanagan. Sabi ko sa kanya, sila lang ang magtitiis, hindi kami kasi sila lang ang bumoto sa tambalang BBM at Sara noon.

Hindi sila nakinig sa sinasabi at paliwanag nating iba ang kandidato sa pagkapangulo at bise nito.

Ganyan kako ang demokrasya, parang pag-aasawa: hindi ka nakinig sa paliwanag ng iba, tapos nagkamali ka sa iyong pinili – aba, pagtiiisan mo. Minsan ka lang nga gumawa ng desisyon ngunit hindi mo sinuring mabuti ni pinagdasalan, pagdusahan mo. Ganun talaga. Kaya hindi uubra ang pagpapababa sa kasalukuyang pangulo na katulad ng sinasabi ng ilan na magdiborsiyo ang mag-asawa dahil minsan lang nagkamali.

Huwag tayong palilinlang sa minsan. May kasabihan sa Ingles na the devil is in the details: nasa mumunting bagay o detalye ang demonyo na mismong uri ng ating minsan na madalas ituring lang naman.

Pag-aralang mabuti mga bagay-bagay lahat na may kinalaman sa pagpapasya na makaka-apekto sa takbo ng buhay natin. Hindi maaring sabihin minsan lang dahil kung madalas ang minsan-minsan, bisyo na iyan!

Pagnilayan po natin yung minsan… gaano kadalas yung ating minsan na sa atin ay nagpahamak? Salamuch kaibigan. God bless!

Facing life’s realities

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 21 July 2025
Monday in the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I
Exodus 14:5-18     <*((((>< + ><))))*>     Matthew 12:38-42

*Photo by author, Cabo da Roca, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 15 May 2025.*

It is a rainy, 
gloomy Monday,
God our Father;
like your people who have
left Egypt led by Moses,
suddenly we are again facing
life's realities of work and 
struggles,
of health and sickness,
of challenges and problems
bigger than us.

Pharaoh was already near when the children of Israel looked up and saw that the Egyptians were on the march in pursuit of them. In great fright they cried out to the Lord. And they complained to Moses, “Were there no burial places in Egypt that you had to bring us out here to die in the desert? Why did you do this to us? Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Did we not tell you this in Egypt, when we said, ‘Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians? Far better for us to be the slaves of Egyptians than to die in the desert.'” But Moses answered, “Fear not! Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the Lord will win for you today… The Lord himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still” (Exodus 14:10-14).

Keep me still, Lord;
let me stand my ground
in you before my adversaries -
primarily my self when I doubt
you, when I lose hope,
when I am disillusioned,
when I am afraid,
when I complain a lot 
when the realities of life 
start to kick in
making me realize of your invitation
and calls for me to welcome you
into my life,
to believe you,
to trust you.

O dear Jesus,
many times in the wilderness
of this life I waste precious
time and efforts like the Pharisees
asking you for signs
when each day,
each waking from sleep
is like me being a Jonah
coming out alive 
from the belly of the whale;
help me live 
your paschal mystery,
Jesus,
one day at a time.
Amen.

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City

Magnanimous Jesus

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 16 February 2025
Jeremiah 17:5-8 ><}}}}*> 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20 ><}}}}* Luke 6:17, 20-26

After the call of his first disciples last Sunday, Jesus went on to preach in Galilee as great crowds followed him with some of them becoming his disciples too. From among these many disciples, Jesus chose twelve to be his Apostles after praying one night on a mountain (Lk. 6:12-16).

As they went down from the mountain, Jesus taught the Twelve along with his other disciples and crowd of people who have gathered to listen to him in what came to be known as his Sermon on the Plain.

Luke patterned his Sermon on the Plain on earlier account of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount that portrayed Jesus like the new Moses and moreover, the new Law himself. Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount has a smaller audience that was limited to just the Twelve while Luke’s Sermon on the Plain had a wider audience of not just the Apostles but also the other disciples and the crowd of people who have been following him.

But, more than their differences in their setting and audience, the two sermons differ greatly in the message itself. Both Luke and Matthew begin with four beatitudes, but Matthew concludes with additional beatitudes while Luke matched the four beatitudes with four woes that frankly speaking, are very disturbing.

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way” (Luke 6:24-26).

Again, Luke is telling us something deeper about Jesus in his version of the Sermon on the Plain that actually echoes the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Magnificat found only in his gospel too.

Recall in the Magnificat how Mary spoke of God sending the rich “away empty” (Lk.1:53) as he blessed the poor and the hungry. And here now is Jesus Christ fulfilling those words of his Mother.

The gospels and the whole Bible itself teem with many pronouncements against the rich and those in similar good fortune in life. Is God against the rich, those happy and those of good reputation? What’s wrong with being rich or well-off, of having our fill of food and laughter, and being spoken well of by others?

Nothing really.

Jesus is not against anyone for he loves everyone as he preached extensively on the need to love one another as we love God. If Jesus preached only love, he would have not been crucified, and most definitely would have not made so much enemies. But, the kind of love Jesus preached was so radical that shook not only the ways of the old but also of modern time because it is a kind of love that pulls down the mighty and favors the poor and those suffering. His Sermon on the Plain rings louder than ever today as we have not seemed learned from the lessons of the past. And believe it or not, the four woes declared by Jesus in his Sermon on the Plain are actually expressions of his magnanimous love, contrary to what others claim.

The four woes that are antitheses of the four blessings are not actually maledictions as most interpretations have expressed. A malediction is like a curse, an expression of one’s desire for someone’s harm like in calling down God’s wrath. The four woes of Jesus in his Sermon on the Plain is far from that reality nor a condemnation against anyone.

*Photo by author, Church of the Beatitudes, the Holy Land, May 2017.*

In calling the rich “woeful” along with those who are filled and those who laugh “now” as well as those of whom “all speak well”, Jesus is neither condemning them nor declaring them as evil-doers; in calling them “woeful”, Jesus reminds them and us today of being on the wrong and bad path in life that can lead to a fatal outcome or end.

Like in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus that only Luke has an account in his gospel, Jesus Christ’s “woes” are warnings – “red flags” – everyone must consider who might be in the wrong direction and wrong choices in “enjoying” life “now” without any concern for those who are suffering like the poor and the hungry, those who grieve and those maligned and hated.

*Photo by Mr. Jay Javier, Quiapo, 09 January 2020.*

The poor, the hungry, the weeping and the hated are blessed not simply because of their state in life but more of their willingness to forego so many worldly things “now” for they trust in God who shall deliver them to salvation and justice.

They are blessed because they have realized that things of the world are passing, something that the worldly could not accept. How sad that many today have lost sight of eternity and even of God, living only for the “now”.

Jesus is not asking us to be “masochists” or at the other end of the extreme, to be complacent in the face of widespread suffering and pains. Remember how in the synagogue at Nazareth one sabbath when Jesus launched his ministry by proclaiming from the Prophet Isaiah how the Spirit of God rested on him to bring glad tidings to the poor, liberty to captives, healing to the sick (3rd Sunday, Jan. 26).

By calling the poor and the suffering as “blessed”, Jesus assures them that God is with them and that justice shall be reestablished on “that day” when they enter the kingdom that has been prepared for them in eternal life. He called us “woe” to warn us while there is still enough time to change our course in life to be blessed not only now but in all eternity too!

See how our readings this Sunday are actually about our making of wise choices in life: in the first reading, Jeremiah warns us of the consequences of trusting God or trusting humans while the psalms show us the ways of the just and the ways of the wicked; Paul in the second reading presents to us the grace of believing in Christ’s Resurrection and the folly of denying it while in the gospel, Jesus offers us blessing or woe in living.

These readings show us there is no middle ground in following Jesus nor grey areas in God. Our decisions in life define the course of our lives like what the Pepsi Cola ad used to say in the 1990’s, “we are made (or unmade) by the decision we make.”

Moreover, in giving us those four woes, Luke reminds us that in making our decisions, we must consider more than the moral but the Christological perspective of life to be like Jesus Christ – who is himself the “blessed” because he is the poor one, the hungry, the weeping and the hated.

Should we make the wrong decisions in life, Jesus remains magnanimous, remaining in us, telling us those woes over and over so we would still make the right choices in life. Don’t take it personally; Jesus cares for you.

In three weeks we shall be entering the Season of Lent. Incidentally, the last time we celebrated Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time in Cycle C was in 2010, the Seventh Sunday in 2007, and the Eighth Sunday in 2001!

Our gospel readings in the coming two more Sundays before Ash Wednesday would still be taken from Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Plain to emphasize the closeness of God with those who are poor and suffering.

As we approach the holy Season of Lent that calls us to more prayers, fasting and almsgiving, we can already start this Sixth Sunday examining our lives to see if we are aligned with the blessed ones of God or are we the woeful ones. The choice is ours. Let us pray for the grace to choose Jesus, only Jesus, always Jesus. Amen. A blessed week ahead to everyone!

To love is to be small to be a part of the other person

A wedding homily for Sir Vicente R. Santos III & Ms. Jillian Bianca Carpio
St. Michael the Archangel Parish, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, 12 July 2024
Tobit 8:4b-8 >><}}}}*> + <*{{{{><< John 15:9-12

*Photo by author in La Trinidad, Benguet, 12 July 2023.*

Congratulations, Sir Teng and Mam Jill on your wedding day. Your decision to get married in the Church is an expression of love itself because love is a decision, not just a feeling. Making a decision to get married is a choice to be small, to be broken into pieces to be united, to be one with the other person, your beloved.

Every time we make that decision to love, we renounce our very selves, our selfishness. The truest sign that we love is when we are able to love somebody more than our self; and to grow in love is to always choose the other person by a daily renunciation of one’s self which Ben&Ben sang so well, “Mahiwaga… pipiliin ka sa araw-araw…”

*Photo by author, Camp John Hay, 12 July 2023.*

This we saw in our first reading in the beautiful prayer by Tobiah with Sarah on their honeymoon when he mentioned God’s original plan in Genesis in creating woman as a suitable partner of man.

The root word of “partner” is part. A part is always small that makes up the whole. Every whole is made up of small parts.

A part-ner means you are both a part of each other and you both have to be small in order to be whole as married couple.

In that beautiful story of Tobiah and Sarah, we find them choosing to become small in order to become part of the bigger whole, of each other, and of God.

Tobiah is the son of Tobit who lived in exile in Nineveh, the capital of Assyria that had conquered Israel in the Old Testament. Tobit used to be wealthy but had a reversal of fortunes later in life made worse with his going blind. He sent his son Tobiah to Media to collect a debt from a fellow Jew with hopes he could also find there a bride for himself among their kindred.

God then sent Archangel Raphael who disguised as a traveler to Tobiah who was so kind to welcome him as companion. On their way to Media, Tobiah was attacked by a large, strange fish while taking a bath at the Tigris River. Tobiah was able to subdue the creature while Raphael instructed him to take out its heart, liver and gall due to its medicinal properties. Tobiah obeyed Raphael and they proceeded to Media to collect the debt owed to his father. There he met and fell for a Jewish woman named Sarah.

But, there was a major problem with Sarah: she had been widowed seven times because the devil Asmodeus would always come and kill her husband just before their honeymoon!

*Engraving of Raphael instructing Tobiah to gut the fish by Georg Pencz (1543) from en.wikipedia.org.*

Raphael pushed Tobiah to still marry Sarah, teaching how to drive away the devil Asmodeus on their honeymoon by burning the heart and liver of the strange fish he had killed. Tobiah followed Raphael’s instructions and Asmodeus was finally driven away that is why we have this scene of them praying in thanksgiving for their marriage. (This is the reason St. Raphael is portrayed with a fish and why arbularyos burn fish intestines to drive away evil spirits.)

Tobiah returned home to present his wife Sarah to his parents in Nineveh; Raphael again instructed Tobiah to apply the dried gall of the fish onto the eyes of his father Tobit to regain his sight. Amid their celebrations for Tobit’s healing and Tobiah’s marriage, Raphael revealed himself as God’s archangel sent to them to bring their healing which is the meaning of the name Raphael, “God has healed”.

See how Tobiah and Sarah, as well as Tobit even Archangel Raphael chose to be small and humble before God and everyone, to play mere parts in the grand plan of God in their lives. They were all willing to be humble and small.

*Photo by author, St. Michael Archangel Parish, BGC, Taguig City, 12 July 2024.*

Sir Teng and Mam Jill, you were sent for each other by God like St. Raphael to Tobiah and Sarah and Tobit. Handle your life with prayer. Always invite Jesus into your life as a married couple just like today you when you invited Him to bless your wedding. Do not forget to celebrate Mass every Sunday, to pray daily, as much as possible together as husband and wife.

True greatness is in becoming small like a little child as Jesus Christ repeatedly told His disciples. In this world where we compete on being the biggest and most powerful, God tells us the key to fulfillment is in being small, being humble, to become a part of the whole. The greatness of every person depends on the measure of his or her ability to share because it is only in participating in the whole does one becomes truly great.

Marriage is becoming small to become one. Husband and wife cannot be one unless they let go of themselves first. Marriage is not a competition of who has more love to give and share but simply of loving and loving, giving and giving.

When you reflected Sir Teng on what to do with your life and realized you will never be complete without Mam Jill, that is being small, that is truly loving because you are willing to let go of yourself to be a part of Jill.

Remember, there’s no perfect husband nor perfect wife but you can be the ideal husband, the ideal wife by forgetting yourself through daily conversion in Jesus Christ who gave His total self out of love for us. And you do not have to die on the cross literally, Sir Teng and Mam Jill.

Sir Teng, the ideal husband is someone who is deaf. Bingi. You know how women are. They talk a lot as they remember everything in detail even from long, long time ago. The moment Mam Jill starts talking, play deaf. So you don’t quarrel or debate.

Mam Jill, the idal wife is someone who is blind. Bulag. Problem with women is you see everything, kahit wala naman, may nakikita pa rin mga babae. When you see something with Sir Teng, play blind. Wala yun. Mabait siya talaga.

You two were brought together by your love for the French language. Every language is made up of small parts called letters used to form words put together in a sentence to express a thought or a feeling so we can communicate.

But, “communication is more than the expression of one’s thoughts and feelings; at its most profound level, it is the giving of self in love like Jesus Christ on the Cross” (Communio et Progressio #11)… just like every husband and wife too.

So, be small, Sir Teng and Mam Jill for you to remain in love, to grow in love, and be great in love. Amen.

Marriage, a choice & a gift of Christ

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 15 July 2024

It is very disappointing that the recent statement of the CBCP on divorce was so unusually soft, trying to balance everything like walking on a thin line, very cautious of not stepping on whoever’s feet or hurting their feelings.

What is most sad is how this statement so watered down unlike the bishops’ previous pronouncements in the last elections supporting a candidate. It is so frustrating for us Catholics when our bishops have repeatedly crossed boundaries getting into partisan politics supporting many election candidates when on this part of our nation’s history they are tepid in standing by the Lord’s flock under attack by fierce and intense pro-divorce lawmakers and supporters. This is the crucial moment when our bishops should rally us more in defending our stand against divorce being the last country where it is still illegal.

We shall have another piece on that later as we continue today our sharing of our past wedding homilies we hope can help you be clarified why we must oppose the divorce bill. Of course, we cannot impose our stand against divorce but we make it clear to everyone why we are against it. After all, it is an informed choice we make guided by the grace of God and the Holy Spirit.

Here is our homily at the wedding at the Manila Cathedral on January 16, 2006 of our very good friend from UST’s the Varsitarian, Dra. Chona T. Capulong and Mr. Stephen Kemp of Kansas.

Twenty three years ago and less than 50 pounds today, our friend and former managing editor Chona had a column at the Varsitarian called “Choice Cuts.”

I will never forget her column with its very catchy title, so well written and most of all, more than 20 years later today, the gospel she had chosen for her wedding speaks about choosing, about choices, Jesus told his disciples, “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain…” (John 15:16).

Today we are so blessed to have been called and chosen by Chona and Stephen to be present in this most joyous day of their lives when they pledge their love for each other before God and His people. Let me stress on those words of Jesus saying how we are all “called and chosen to bear fruit.”

So beautiful.

God calling and choosing us to bear fruit. The all-knowing God making a choice for us and should we be glad and grateful for that!?

When God calls and chooses us, He does not remove our freedom which is the ability to choose what is good, not simply whatever you want. What happens is that when God calls and chooses us, this gift of freedom is actually enhanced because the Ultimate Good shows us what’s best for us.

That God choosing us rather than us choosing Him is evidently true in friendships and marriage. Chona is from this city of Manila, thousands of kilometers from Wichita, Kansas where Stephen comes from.

How they have met and be in love is a long story; what matters is the choice made by God for them and how they cooperated in that choice.

Most often, whenever we make a choice, it is oriented towards success and triumph. We always make it a point that it would be advantageous for us and most of all, easy and convenient because as much as possible, we want lesser problems and lesser risks.

Being successful, whether in life or in marriage or in business is characterized and based on strength and powers, of how we are able to control situations and bend them to our own advantage. It is about power.

On the other hand, when God makes a choice for us, it is different.

When God makes a choice for us, it is always difficult and never convenient, slow and time-consuming. Most of all, God’s choice always entails sacrifices from our part because, it is so good that we have to be emptied first in order to receive such a beautiful gift like marriage.

When God makes a choice for us, it is always based on our weakness and vulnerabilities. God is not concerned with our being “successful” but more with being fruitful because in this life, especially in marriage, it does not really matter what or how much we have achieved but what have we become.

We may have all the wealth and power in the world, all the success but, what have we become?

Have we been more loving, more forgiving, more understanding, more generous, more honest, more faithful?

Bearing fruit is different from being successful in the sense that when God makes the choices for us, He makes us into better persons, becoming the best husband or best wife or the best person in the world. This He does by letting us come to terms with our own weaknesses and vulnerabilities, emptying ourselves of these impurities and being filled by God’s goodness and holiness.

Being fruitful in marriage means being able to understand and accept, even own because of love the shortcomings of a spouse or of those around us. Being fruitful in life or in marriage is being able to bear all the pains and hardships of life because like in gardening, it is the constant pruning of trees and plants that lead to more blossoms and fruits. It is being like Jesus Christ who willingly accepted His Cross because of His great love for us. He did not remove the Cross but made it holy instead.

*Photo by Joseph Kettaneh on Pexels.com*

Chona and Stephen, this wedding is already a fruit of that call and choosing by Jesus on you. After so many pains and hurts as well as sacrifices from both of you, this day had finally come for both of you to stand before the altar of God and offer yourselves to His plans and choices. This is not the end but the beginning of more pains and hurts and sacrifices.

I am not scaring you, Chona and Stephen; however, may this wedding be an assurance for for both of you that, although there would be more problems and difficulties and trials waiting for you along the way of your married life, be assured of the great glory and fruitful life ahead for both of you.

Continue to cooperate with God’s choices for you by leading a life of faith, hope and love rooted in prayers. Jesus had called and chosen you, Chona and Stephen; Jesus would always be with you because He knows what’s best for you. Amen.

Stephen died a few years ago before the COVID pandemic but our friend Chona had remained firm in her faith in God, raising their daughter into a lovely young lady she is now. Last week, Chona told me how proud and happy she is her daughter is going to take her college abroad, away from her!

So glad that despite her fears as a mother, she had allowed her daughter to study abroad, believing, of course, it is God’s choice for her to eventually become a better woman someday. May we be faithful not only in our duties and responsibilities but especially with the people entrusted to us by God whom He had chosen to become parts of our lives.

Life is Lent

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday After Ash Wednesday, 15 February 2024
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 +++ Luke 9:22-25

Our most loving
and merciful Father,
thank you 
for this new season
of Lent, 
in giving us this most
wonderful occasion to
reflect on life's meaning
we always confuse as
outside of us, 
dependent on things,
and most of all,
perfect without pain
and sufferings.

Life is Lent.
It is the only season
that begins not on a Sunday
but on an ordinary day
of the week,
right in the midst 
of our many duties
and worries
because Lent is something
within us, always asking us
to make the right choices,
of choosing life,
not death;
blessing,
not curse.

Many times, Father,
we are out of touch with
ourselves,
with life itself 
which we see as outside
ourselves that we hardly live at all
without experiencing life
itself in its wholeness 
that includes all the beauty 
and scars,
the lights and darkness,
the glory and sorrows,
the defeats and victories,
the tears and laughter,
the Good Friday and Easter.

If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen, but are led astray and adore and serve other gods, I tell you now that you will certainly perish; you will not live a long life on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy.
Deuteronomy 30:17-18

The way to life
that you, Father, offers us
through the life and example
of Jesus Christ your Son
is the exact opposite
that the world
proposes;
help us realize that truth,
clear us of all doubts
and dilly-dallying,
of making excuses and alibis
that what the world sees
as God's ways are limiting
when in fact are liberating!

Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?”
Luke 9:23-25

We have seen
for ourselves many times
how the way of the world of
indulging in every desire
and pleasure like
 wealth and fame,
sex and drugs
have actually led to destruction
and death,
sorrows and miseries
than life and joy;
clear our minds
and hearts
to make the right
choice and decision
of following Jesus
to the Cross daily
because that is what
it means that life is lent,
a daily journey
 to Good Friday
that leads surely
to Easter.
Amen.

Lent is choosing God

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday after Ash Wednesday, 23 February 2023
Deuteronomy 30:15-20   ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'>   Luke 9:22-25

Everyday you bless us,
O God, with that great power
to choose freely what we desire
best for us; but, many times, we make
the wrong choices that often lead us
to more pains and emptiness,
sadness and that feeling of being
lost.

Most of all,
we choose sin,
we choose evil,
than choosing good,
than choosing you, O God.

Moses said to the people: “I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him. For that will mean life for you, a long life for you to live on the land that the Lord swore he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
Deuteronomy 30:19-20

So many times
we make the wrong choices
when we insist on what we like
without really knowing what it is;
we make wrong choices
when we choose to disregard
you and your ways, Lord;
worst, we make the wrong choices
because we reject our very selves!

What a tragedy
when we ourselves refuse
to believe in ourselves,
in our worth,
in our possibilities
because we have lost all hope
in life, in you, and in others
due to failures or disappointments
or frustrations in life;
we choose wrongly when we
avoid pains and sufferings,
when we refuse to choose
the Cross not realizing
it is the one that truly leads
to life and prosperity
because every suffering,
every pain
leads to maturity
that make us better
and more open to
life and prosperity.

These 40 days of Lent,
let us choose you, Jesus
including your Cross;
let us choose people and
things outside of ourselves
because you have chosen to
care us and all our needs;
let us trust you 
so we may always choose you
because the times we choose
wrongly in life,
when we choose people
and things that are seemingly
favorable to us,
that is when 
we do doubt you,
when we do not 
trust you.
Amen.

Jesus,
King of Mercy,
we trust in you!