Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 09 September 2024
Image from crossroadsinitiative.com.
And people brought to Jesus a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” – that is, “Be opened!” – And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly (Mark 7:31-35).
Come, Lord Jesus, take me away from the routines and ordinariness of this life that has become my comfort zone; touch me again and speak to me that word "Ephphatha" so I may be opened to speak plainly again: let me speak plainly of love not with eloquent words but with sincere gestures of care and kindness for the other person; let me speak plainly of love not with technicalities of the laws and rituals but with mercy and compassion for a sinner and those who have gone wayward; let me speak plainly of love, dear Jesus, like you, not with letters and punctuations but full of tenderness for the weak and the sick; let me speak plainly by being open, giving all that I have not only whatever is in excess; let me speak plainly not with advocacies so passionate but simply doing what is right and good to keep this world clean and just; let me speak plainly, O Lord, with a ready smile to anyone, wide arms to hug and welcome family and friends, warmth and joy to inspire those lost and about to give up; let me speak plainly, Jesus, like you that in the end of this life the heavens may open as I pray, "into your hands I commend my spirit." Amen.
Photo by author, Chapel of St. Francis Xavier, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Twenty-Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 06 September 2024 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 5:33-39
Photo by author, 15 August 2024.
Thank you, our loving Father for another week about to close; thank you dear God for this first Friday in September 2024: despite the rains and the floods and the inconveniences these have brought, thank you for a new beginning today. Let us celebrate this gift of life you have given us by putting on a new attitude, a new disposition, a new outlook in life for you have made everything new in Jesus Christ.
And he also told them a parable. “No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one. Otherwise, he will tear the new and the piece from it will not match the old cloak. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine must be pured into fresh wineskins” (Luke 5:36-38).
Make us your trustworthy stewards of your mysteries, Lord; make us truly your servants who shall reveal your many mysteries of life and death, of joy and sufferings, of poverty and wealth, of fruitfulness and fulfillment, of redemption and forgiveness be known in our life of witnessing without any regard for fame nor popularity except that we do your work in Jesus faithfully. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Twenty-first Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 30 August 2024 1 Corinthians 1:17-25 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 25:1-13
Photo by author, Chapel of angel of Peace, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City.
For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength (1 Corinthians 1:22-25).
One of the most enduring and endearing words by the great St. Paul, O Lord this final Friday of August.
In a milieu when even the Church is threatened by interest groups and ideologies running down to the many parishes sowing distractions and divisions, let us find our unity anew in the crucified Jesus Christ; let us be like the five wise virgins who brought extra oil in waiting the groom's coming, accepting the situation of darkness and bringing along extra oil of faith, hope, and love in Christ; make us humble, O Lord, that whatever we have achieved and gained are all by your grace, O God; let us not be complacent like the five foolish virgins; let us choose whatever is difficult like Christ crucified allowing each of us to change for the best in God; let us choose whatever is painful like Christ crucified allowing us to empathize more; let us choose always Christ crucified because the Cross is a plus sign, an addition than a subtraction in this life through eternity. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday, Memorial of St. Monica, Married Mother, 27 August 2024 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, 14-17 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 23:23-26
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Spiritual Center, Tagaytay City, 20 August 2024.
I thank you today, dear God our Father for the gift of mothers as we celebrate today the Memorial of St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word (2 Thessalonians 2:15-17).
How wonderful to find St. Monica handled her life with prayer, the most beautiful tradition the Church had always taught and passed on since its beginning; it was St. Monica's life of prayer that flowed out into the grace of patience and perseverance as well as kindness to others leading ultimately to undying hope in God's goodness in converting first her pagan husband Patricius and then their three sons led by the eldest St. Augustine.
Thank you dear God for our mothers who shed tears when we go wayward as children so lost in a life of sin, and for us aching and hurting deep inside only mothers can detect and empathize with.
Thank you dear God for our mothers who have taught us the importance of prayer and goodness to others and most especially of the value of sincerity than hypocrisy. Bless all mothers today, merciful Father, may they find comfort in Jesus always. Amen.
Photo of St. Monica from the cover of the book “St. Monica Club: How to Wait, Hope and Pray For Your Fallen-away Loved Ones by Maggie Green, Sophia Institute Press, 2019.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Twenty-first Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 26 August 2024 2 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 11-12 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 23:13-22
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Spirituality Center, Tagaytay City, 21 August 2024.
Thanks be to God, our loving Father, the month of August is about to end, always a difficult time of the year for various reasons that some have called it a "ghost month"; of course, it is not true at all! August is the month of so many great saints and celebrations that remind us of your presence among us amid the many hardships and difficulties.
We ought to thank you God always for you, brothers and sisters, as is fitting, because your faith flourishes ever more, and the love of every one of you for one another grows ever greater… This is evidence of the just judgment of God, so that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are suffering. We always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in him, in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:3, 5, 11-12).
Dear God our Father, make us twice worthy like the Thessalonians in the midst of many trials this August: to be worthy of the kingdom of God who is Jesus Christ our Lord, and to be worthy of your calling in His most Holy Name; many times, we have become the modern scribes and Pharisees, modern hypocrites who "lock the Kingdom of heaven before men" with so many of us, especially in the clergy without any desires at all of getting closer to Jesus nor entering heaven!
Make us worthy of Jesus Christ, the Kingdom of God by embracing and carrying our cross, of suffering with the people, most especially praying and sacrificing with the people.
Make us worthy of your calling, dear Father to be your presence among men and women in this turbulent times when ironically, as we advance in science and technology, that more we grow apart from each other and from our very selves.
Help us find our way back to You, Father in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit with Mary and your Saints. Amen.
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Spirituality Center, Tagaytay City, 21 August 2024.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-22 ng Agosto 2024
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Sacred heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 Marso 2024.
Halina't magpahingalay hindi lamang upang mapawi pagod at hirap kungdi sarili ay mabawi sa kawalang kabuluhan at mga kaguluhan, pagkawindang mapigilan kaayusan ng buhay ay mabalikan; limang tanong sana makatulong upang landas ng makatuturang buhay ating masundan:
Larawan kuha ng may-akda sa Alfonso, Cavite, Abril 2024.
"Nasaan ka?"
Kay gandang balikan nang ang Diyos ay unang mangusap sa tao, ito ang kanyang tanong sa lalaking nagkasala at nagtago, "nasaan ka?" Nang maganap unang krimen, Diyos ay nagtanong din kay Cain, "nasaan kapatid mong si Abel?"
"Nasaan" lagi nating tanong lalo na't sarili ang nawawala tumutukoy di lamang sa lunan kungdi sa kalagayan at katayuan ng sarili madalas ay sablay at mabuway; magpahingalay upang tumatag at maging matiwasay.
Larawan kuha ng may-akda sa Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 12 Hulyo 2023.
Susunod na dalawang tanong ay magkadugtong: "Saan ka pupunta?" at "Paano ka makakarating doon?"
Walang mararating at kahihinatnan sino mang hindi alam kanyang pupuntahan maski na moon na tinitingala hindi matingnan, magroadtrip broom broom man lamang! Muling mangarap libre at masarap higit sa lahat magkaroon ng layon na inaasam-asam!
Larawan kuha ni Bb. Ria De Vera sa Banff, Alberta, Canada, 07 Agosto 2024.
Nasaan ka? Saan ka pupunta? Paano ka makakarating doon? Ang mga unang tatlong tanong sa ating pamamahingalay nitong paglalakbay ng buhay; ika-apat na tanong naman dapat nating pagnilayan ay "Ano aking dadalhin sa paglalakbay?"
Marahil pinakamahalagang dalhin ang ating sarili hindi mga gamit o kasangkapan dahil kaalinsabay ng mga dalahin ay ating mga iiwanan din; huwag nang magkalat ng gamit bagkus iwanan ay bakas ng mabuting katauhan pagmamalasakit sa iba pang naglalakbay sa landas nitong buhay!
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, St. Scholastica Spiritual Center, Tagaytay, 21 Agosto 2024.
Ngayo'y dumako tayo sa huling tanong nitong pagpapahingalay upang mabawi ating sarii di lamang pagod ay mapawi: "Sino iyong kasama sa paglalakbay sa buhay?"
Ito marahil pinakamahirap sagutin maski harapin dahil problema natin hindi naman mga nabigong pangarap at adhikain kungdi nasira at nawasak nating mga ugnayan bilang pamilya at magkakaibigan; may kasabihan mga African, kung ibig mong maglakbay ng mabilis, lumakad kang mag-isa ngunit kung ibig mong malayo marating, magsama ka ng kasabay sa paglalakbay.
Dito ating makikita diwa at buod ng tunay na pagpapahingalay o pagpapahinga: mula sa salitang "hinga" ang magpahinga ay mahingahan ng iba, mapuno ng iba; mauubos tayo parang upos sa dami ng ibig nating maabot at marating, huwag mag-atubiling tumigil, mamahinga, magpahingalay sa Panginoong Diyos na Siya nating buhay at kaganapan na tiyak din nating hahantungan sa walang hanggang pahingalay. Hayaang Siya sa ating umalalay at pumuno ng hininga ng buhay!
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 21 August 2024 Photos and poem, annual clergy retreat, 19-23 August 2024 St. Scholastica Spiritual Center in Tagaytay City
Vacare Deo: A vacation with God a most awaited Sabbath when He is truly Lord and God, and we are His children; He the Creator, we His creature so beloved coming home to Him, back in Paradise.
Vacare Deo: A vacation with God to be with Him, to experience Him, to find and listen to Him, not that He is lost but because we have drifted and turned away from Him.
Thank you for finding me, O God, in making me stop to find myself anew to enjoy this beautiful journey with your gift of company; breathe in me your Holy Spirit to fill and animate me with love and passion in finding and following Jesus Christ in everything especially within!
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 18 August 2024 Proverbs 9:1-6 ><}}}}*> Ephesians 5:15-20 ><}}}}*> John 6:51-58
Photo by author, James Alberione Center, QC, 15 August 2024.
It is our fourth consecutive Sunday listening to the sixth chapter of John’s gospel that opened with the miraculous feeding by Jesus of more than five thousand people in a deserted place; Jesus fled from there, went back in Capernaum where people caught with Him and disciples as He began three Sundays ago His “Bread of Life” discourse now getting deeper while the drama among the crowd is heating up.
From murmuring last Sunday about Jesus who said “I am the bread that came down from heaven” (Jn.6:41), the people today quarreled among themselves after Jesus said “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (Jn. 6:51).
Photo by author, James Alberione Center, QC, 15 August 2024.
Notice the beautiful contrast of reactions by people to Jesus: from murmuring last Sunday, they sank deep into quarreling while Jesus leveled up to “the living bread from heaven” from merely “the bread from heaven” last week. For us to live well, we have to eat well by having Jesus Himself as our food and drink.
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me” (John 6:52-57).
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera in Banff, Alberta, Canada, 07 August 2024.
Eating is the most common human activity anywhere, any time. Human life basically revolves around eating as we have seen since time immemorial how we have progressed following our search for food. We work to feed ourselves and loved ones. Without food, we die. Food is so essential that there is always food to share in our gatherings.
That is why Jesus chose the bread and wine as the signs of His living presence among us in the Holy Eucharist He established during the Last Supper on Holy Thursday. In the Eucharist, Jesus elevated the most ordinary human activity of eating as most sublime and Divine. In the Holy Mass, we share in Christ’s Body and Blood so we too may share our very selves with one another.
When Jesus said in Capernaum that the bread He is giving is His own flesh with His blood as drink, He was already preparing the people for the Eucharist while at the same time teaching them that eating is not everything. We have to eat well to live well. When tempted by the devil in the wilderness, Jesus right away taught us to remember that man does not live by bread alone but with every word from God. At the start of this discourse last August 04, Jesus challenged the people, “Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (Jn.6:27).
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera in Banff, Alberta, Canada, 07 August 2024.
Many times, we get so used in our many activities that unconsciously, we miss life itself as we punish ourselves with exhaustion and sickness as well as emptiness.
Food is not just something that fills our stomach but must also lead into our heart and soul. Observe any cuisine and you get a taste of the culture and people it represents, even with strong hints of its geographical origin. In the first reading we find how the Book of Proverbs personified Wisdom as God to remind us that though He is transcendent and so above us, God is easily accessed even in the most ordinary instances like eating.
Wisdom has built her house, she has set up her seven columns; she has dressed her meat, mixed her wine, yes, she has spread her table. She has sent out her maidens; she calls from the heights out over the city: “Let whoever is simple turn in here; to him who lacks understanding, I say, Come, eat of my food, drink of the wine I have mixed! Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding” (Proverbs 9:1-6).
How lovely is that part of God calling us to come like Jesus in the gospel when He said “come to me all who are burdened” or when He ordered to “let the children come to me”. Is it not the same thing we say when we are about to eat, to come and get it?
Sadly these days, we seem to have retrogressed in our manner of eating. Social media rightly labeled it as “food porn” when we are flooded with everything about food and drinks minus its deeper meanings. Food is sadly seen in its material aspect that eating is more on filling the stomach, forgetting the soul because we have totally forgotten God and the people around us. No wonder that despite the growing food production and plethora of food we have these days, many still starve while the rest of us remain lost in life, more sick.
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera in Banff, Alberta, Canada, 07 August 2024.
See, my dear friends, the great coincidence on the very Sunday Jesus began his bread of life discourse, it was also the opening of the Paris Olympics with a mockery of the Last Supper that led us into a kind of “quarrel” as organizers and their supporters insisted it wasn’t the Last Supper at all despite the clear indications and proofs.
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Suddenly, we heard anew that same question by the people in Capernaum to Jesus reechoed in the Olympics at the capital city of the Church’s so-called “eldest daughter”, France. Of course, we know this bread of life discourse by Jesus refers to the Holy Eucharist and surely, the many defenders of the Paris Olympics are aware for many of them are Catholics. But, Jesus must have willed this gospel be proclaimed at this time coinciding with the Olympics for us to evaluate anew our faith in Him because at the very core of this bread of life discourse is the mystery of faith.
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” In the gospel of Luke, we find a similar question by Mary at the Annunciation that is filled with faith, “How can this be?” (Lk.1:34); but today, like in Capernaum as exemplified by the Paris Olympics, that question is a renewed refusal to believe in the words of Jesus Christ. Worst of all as we noted earlier in our perceptions of food and eating these days, that question shows modern man’s insistence on everything material, totally disregarding our spiritual nature.
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera in Banff, Alberta, Canada, 07 August 2024.
Like in Capernaum, many people today who refuse to believe Christ’s words resort to malicious and insidious arguments that it becomes useless to really converse with them as they would rather insist on their grossly material understanding and perception of life these days. Many prefer to quarrel these days than accept life’s many mysteries not merely seen nor tasted by the senses but experienced and realized through faith in God.
Life for them has become merely material which in Greek is bios as in biology. There is another Greek word for life which is zoe that refers to the eternal, divine life of God that Jesus repeatedly used in our gospel today.
Like last Sunday, Jesus did not engage Himself into debating with the crowd in Capernaum by simply repeating the words living and life to emphasize the total acceptance of Him – Body and Blood – in faith: “I am the living bread… my flesh for the life of the world. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.” These are the very same words too, life and living that Jesus would mention before His Passion and Death as well as after His Resurrection because eating His flesh and drinking His blood is to share in His life that is also the fullness of life. It is only in Christ Jesus can we find fulfillment in life. Let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, help me watch carefully how I live, not as a fool but as wise as St. Paul taught us today in his letter to the Ephesians; let us not be intoxicated with life's pleasures and worldly pursuits but let us be filled with the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 15 August 2024 Revelation 11:19;12:1-6, 10 ><}}}}*> 1 Corinthians 15:20-27 ><}}}}*> Luke 1:39-56
Photo from shutterstock.com
Glory and praise, God Almighty Father in sending us Jesus our Savior who gave us His Mother the Blessed Virgin Mary, the very first fruit as St. Paul said of Christ's wondrous work of salvation due her oneness in Him.
Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-40).
Right after the Annunciation to Mary, her path to her Assumption began when she "set out and travelled to the hill country in haste" to share Christ in her with Elizabeth; what a beautiful imagery of the same path to the Calvary, another hill outside Jerusalem to be with Christ her Son.
Bless us with the same grace You gave Mary your Mother, Lord Jesus, to follow your path to every hill in this life, to be one with those especially who are in pain and suffering; let us trust in You fully in faith, hope and love that the sufferings we may endure in setting out to travel to the hills of this life is the very path of our assumption in You; let us realize that despite the many comforts and ease of technology today, it is not what life really is, that we all have to go through your Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Like Mary, may we believe your words, Jesus, will be fulfilled. Amen.
“The Assumption of the Virgin” by Italian Renaissance painter Titian completed in 1518 for the main altar of Frari church in Venice. Photo from en.wikipedia.org.
I had published my Sunday homily that Saturday morning when I decided to unwind by watching any movie on Netflix which I do only on weekends. So glad it was the first movie I saw, very related with the story of Prophet Elijah and Jesus Christ’s “Bread of Life Discourse” that Sunday.
First think I liked with Lolo and the Kid is its fast-paced story that revolved around the two characters played by veteran Joel Torre and GMA7’s famed Firefly star Euwenn Mikael Aleta.
Second thing so interesting with me is how Lolo and Kid have no proper names at all (I just learned Lolo’s name was Mario after reading the various write ups) maybe because they stand for all of us who are caught in this great race for money and material things but deep inside longing for the more essential and truly lasting in life like love. And people who love us too, who care for us, and would stand by us.
We are Lolo and Kid who many times have traded our principles for momentary satisfaction but despite our seemingly strong facades of pragmatism and “resourcefulness” or madiskarte as Lolo taught Kid in the movie, deep inside us is still our conscience where God dwells, telling us to pursue good and shun evil. Joel Torre perfectly portrayed this beautiful side in each one of us (with his Ilonggo accent) of keeping a conscience despite our sinfulness, like a soft shell we delicately keep whole and intact inside lest we lose everything in life.
Photo from de.flixable.com
Recall our first reading last Sunday about Elijah fleeing to the mountain from an army pursuing to kill him. Elijah felt a total failure like Lolo and us many times in life when after all our goodwill and love, we are dumped by the very people we care for.
Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert, until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it. He prayed for death, saying: “This is enough, O Lord! Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers” (1 Kings 19:4).
In one of the scenes of Lolo and the Kid, we find Lolo crying, cursing everyone and murmuring just like in last Sunday’s gospel. As he tried to end his life with a knife, Lolo suddenly heard the cry of an infant from the heap of garbage around him. What a beautiful portrayal of that infant left in the trash like Jesus Christ born on a manger becoming the savior of Lolo, a definitive message of mercy and love from God after his apparent cry of “This is enough, Lord!”
How many times have we found ourselves in the same situation, often in less momentous ones than Elijah or any prophet and saint, crying out to God in the heavens “this is enough”?
But, what is also most true behind every cry of “this is enough” that we make, we continue to believe and to hope in God that there is still a way out of our plight. And very often like in the story of Elijah last Sunday and in that scene in Lolo and the Kid, God comes at the nick of time like that infant crying in the garbage heap, a reminder of life and beauty found within us despite all the dirt we may have around us.
From netflixlovers.it
Here we find the Kid, perfectly played by Euwenn like in Firefly, as the saving grace, the Christ-figure in the movie bringing salvation to Lolo. Kid was “the bread of life from heaven” who “fed” Lolo with life with its meaning and direction. And joy found in Kid, the image of Christ Jesus.
Now, joy according to Jesus at the Last Supper is like a woman at the pangs of childbirth (Jn.16:21-22); it is deeper than happiness. True joy is borne out of self-sacrifice, a fruit of self-denial, of loving somebody more than one’s self. This we find at the end of this moving film.
Now all grown up, Kid finally met again Lolo in the hospital a day after his college graduation. Kid brought Lolo while seated on a wheelchair to visit Taba (another character without a name), their suki in fencing. From there, they went to their usual stop, a videoke bar to eat and drink, singing repeatedly Kenny Roger’s Through the Years.
Then, Lolo died, singing the only tune he knew that summed their beautiful relationship.
Photo from list23.com.
After Lolo’s body was taken out of the videoke bar, Kid opened Lolo’s bag that had a tin can of biscuit filled with old photographs taken with their stolen Polaroid camera. The photos did not merely remind Kid of their happy times together but most especially when they were already apart!
Unknown to Kid, Lolo hid to take photos when he moved to his adoptive parents, from his first ever birthday party to his college graduation! Through the years, Lolo, like God, was always there, present in all of Kid’s milestones in life because he is truly loved.
I have never liked that song Through the Years even when it was a hit during our high school days in 1981 but since Saturday, I have been humming it silently, hearing it inside me as an LSS until now. We hear the song playing throughout the end of the movie with scenes of how Lolo secretly took Kid’s photos filled with love and joy amid the strong current of pain within he had to endure to be far and away yet so near to his beloved apo.
If the Kid is the Christ figure in this film, Lolo is the God-the-Father figure, the One who seems so far from us as if He does not care at all. In Lolo and the Kid, there is that message of God never leaving us wherever we may be, whether we are in the squalor of poverty and sin or in the purity and cleanliness of affluence and grace maybe. God like Lolo to Kid is always with us but never interferes, silently doing many things to ensure that despite our many faults and failures in life, we end up in Him and His love.
We go back to Elijah’s cry of “This is enough, Lord!”, our very same cry like Lolo in the movie.
It is a cry that is also a prayer coming from our innermost being when we feel so saddled with no one to unload our woes except to God – who after all is the very reason why we cry! Watch for Lolo’s soliloquy on this reality we often do.
Photo by author, James Alberione Center, QC, 08 August 2024.
It is a cry of faith so akin with love because to believe and to love go hand in hand. It is during that moment when we feel like giving up to God, crying “this is enough” when in reality we surrender everything to God because we have been caught up by Him that we cannot resist His attraction.
It is that moment when we feel so “fed up with life” but deep inside, we hear God telling us like Lolo with the cries of an infant or like Elijah with an angel instructing him, “Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!” (1 Kings 19:7).
Yes, our life journey is still long but we have a companion in Jesus, our bread of life from heaven, nourishing us, strengthening us, teaching us that essential beauty of love found only in sharing one’s life for the other. As we have said in last Sunday’s homily, it is when we cry “it is enough, Lord” when God gives us more than enough to sustain us sometimes in the form of a good movie like this one. May we have more “bread” like Lolo and the Kid that feeds our soul and gladdens our heart.
*BTW, we are not paid to endorse this movie; simply sharing with you its good news.
lordmychef.com 