Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 02 September 2025 Tuesday in the Twenty-Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year I 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, 9-11 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 4:31-37
Photo by author, sunrise at the Lake of Galilee, Israel, May 2017.
Let your light shine on me, Jesus, keep me "alert and sober so that I may continue to encourage one another and build one another up" (1 Thessalonians 5:6, 11); let your light shine in me, Jesus, fill me with your authority and power to disclose truth and expose evil as people nowadays are so used to sin as very ordinary, tolerable and acceptable; let your light shine in me, Jesus, fill me with your Spirit to always proclaim in words and in deeds your gospel of salvation from self-centeredness, materialism, and relativism that have all tried deleting God and prayer in life; despite my sinfulness and weaknesses, help me bring you Jesus to those burdened and lost, sick and confused after being so misled by the world's many lies and broken promises. Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com)
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 01 September 2025 Monday, Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time, Year I 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 4:16-30
Photo by author, Betania Tagaytay City, August 2018.
Hello, September! Praise and glory to you, God our loving Father for this new month: 30 days of life filled with surprises, 30 days to rejoice in you, 30 days to be better, 30 days to be one in you in Christ your Son our Lord; help us Jesus to imitate St. Paul in helping Christians how your death and resurrection shape our identity and future.
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, console one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:17-18).
"we shall always be with the Lord."
Help me, Jesus to imitate Paul in encouraging one another that "we shall always be with you, Lord" especially when material things and worldly concerns shape my thoughts about the future; lately, I have been so concerned with the moral degradation that has worsened in the country that lately have been shaping my thoughts about the future too; Lord Jesus, help me, forgive me when things of the world shape my thoughts of the future even my identity as your disciple that in the process I fail to recognize your coming your presence in me and among us like your folks in Nazareth; let me feel anew your Spirit in me, Jesus, to let that same Spirit animate me like Paul so I could bring "glad tidings to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19).
Let me share in your paschal mystery, Jesus, to never lose sight of your Cross to find your Resurrection nearby, not the ways of the world that many times worsen our people's plight. Amen.
Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe, 31 August 2025 Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29 ><}}}*> Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24 ><}}}*> Luke 14:1,7-14
“Meal in the House of a Pharisee” 1886-1896 painting by James Tissot from brooklynmusueum.org.
For the next three Sundays beginning today, Luke gathered teachings of Jesus Christ all set on the dining table, a sort of some “table talks” about the great banquet in the end of time and how we could all get in to share in the eternal meal with the Father.
On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table (Luke 14:1, 7).
I love the way Luke presented this scene when he said “the people there were observing Jesus carefully” while the Lord told them a parable after “noticing how they were choosing places of honor at the table.”
How lovely! People observe, Jesus notices.
As it had happened in every instances of gatherings with Jesus, people carefully observed him, trying to find something to accuse him in of disregarding their traditions and laws like healing the sick on a sabbath day. They have “boxed” and judged Jesus as a dissident and a trouble-maker among them in his apparent disregard of laws and traditions.
Photo by author, Manila Club, BGC, June 2025.
In a funny twist, Luke tells us in this scene the immense love of Jesus then and now for everyone that despite his noticing and knowing everything in us, he neither counted those things against us nor ever judged us. How sad many of us with that habit of putting God in a box like a cop keeping tabs of our infractions when in fact God simply noticed our actions and behavior to invite us to become better without any judgment at all.
Keep in mind this scene reveals to us its context of the heavenly banquet which took place after the sabbath services at the synagogue where Jesus participated, hosted by a Pharisee, a VIP of the synagogue and of the society at that time. It was a party where every who’s who was supposed to be present, with everyone competing for the best seats closest to the host. And so, Jesus the keen observant but never judgmental used the occasion to teach us the essence of humility to make it to heaven or eternal life that is signified by a wedding banquet like that big meal he attended.
“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him… For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:8, 11)
These past Sundays, we have seen Christ’s insistence of the Father’s desire to have everyone welcomed into heaven by giving us some instructions of what to do to gain eternal life.
This Sunday while in a big party, Jesus took the occasion to teach us the value of humility to get into heaven. From doing, Jesus now moves into being, our disposition and attitude to make it into heaven where what matters most is not where we are seated but where we stand. Recall how Jesus reminded the brothers James and John with their mother that he has nothing to do with the seating arrangements prepared by the Father in heaven after she requested her two sons to be seated beside him when he comes into his glory.
Heaven is more of where we stand with Jesus where his virtue of humility is most pronounced when he “humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Phil.2:8). That is why St. Augustine taught that “humility is a sign of Christ”, a revelation of Jesus that allows us to recognize him our Lord and Master leading us to the Kingdom of heaven without any feelings of inferiority and despair.
On the Cross which he prefigured at his Last Supper, Jesus showed himself as the most humble of all who went to life’s lowest point of suffering and dying to meet us as he noticed everything in us to lift us up and be like him, humbly standing in our sufferings. It is on the Cross that we find humility as the basic and essential requirement to get into the heavenly banquet of the Lord.
Very often when we examine our state of humility, what comes to our mind are the many negativities we have like our sins and failures, vices and weaknesses, our being unworthy. But, that is when we bow down most to beg for Christ’s mercy like before the Holy Communion when we pray, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you under my roof but only say the word and I shall be healed.”
That is both the humility of Jesus and of us humans so vividly expressed at the washing of the feet after the Last Supper. Normally, we look up to Jesus in heaven but at the washing of feet, like every time we receive Holy Communion, we take the higher position, looking down at him not with pride but with all humility because Jesus humbled himself first before us. Here we find humility as seeing ourselves the way Jesus sees us – weak and sinful, yet so loved and forgiven. This is what Ben Sirach taught us in the first reading: humility is the fundamental attitude of wisdom because it opens us to the splendor of God when we find our self-worth and value too!
Without humility, it is either we see only the best or the worst in us as a person, without God, without others.
This is the bigger issue with the “nepo babies” now being bashed on social media after flaunting their wealth and ostentatious lifestyles. Their posts were far from inspiring, at most are tasteless and most convulsive. All we have noticed in their posts is their pride not only in lacking humility but most precisely in not finding value in themselves. Sadly but I dare say they are the ugliest and most pitiable persons because they find value only in wealth and things, not in themselves as persons. Hence, the flaunting of their possessions that only make them so pathetic because along that came their utter disregard for others especially the poor who suffer most with their parents’ greed for money through corruption.
Humility is always uplifting in the positive sense, not looking at others as below us but to realize despite our sins and weaknesses, we are loved, we are noticed as a person so worthy, so valuable. When we are humble, then we become joyful too because we are assured of love and acceptance despite our flaws. This is the gist of the message to us this Sunday of the author of the Letter to the Hebrews: unlike the Israelites in the Old Testament who were so fearful to approach God who spoke to them with thunder and lightning, we can get close to God in Jesus who humbled himself to be one with us by dying on the Cross.
True humility keeps us rooted with our selves, with others and with God. It is this rootedness best expressed in the Sunday Eucharist that we are able to follow Jesus in his journey to Jerusalem and eventually into heaven in all eternity. Amen.Have blessed Sunday and most blessed September too!
Photo by the Marketing Office, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, June 2025.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 25 August 2025 Monday, Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time, Year I 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 8-10 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 23:13-22
Photo from The Fatima Tribune, Red Wednesday at the Chapel of Angel of Peace, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 27 November 2024.
Today I wonder, God our Father, what if Paul your Apostle or Jesus Christ your Son were to visit our church today, what would they find out? Would Paul be proud of us like the Thessalonians of his time?
We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father, knowing, brothers and sisters loved by God, how you were chosen… In every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything (1Thessalonians 1:2-4, 8).
Oh how I envy the Thessalonians that Paul along with Silvanus and Timothy were so proud of their "faith and labor of love and endurance in hope"; most of all, of their "conviction" that he had no need to say anything, as in, "walang masabi". So beautiful! How I wish Paul could say the same things today to our parish, to our community of believers with their vibrant faith, hope and love.
What I dread, O Father is when Jesus comes and begins speaking the same way to us his priests and bishops:
Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter (Matthew 23:13).
Shame on us, Lord Jesus, your priests and bishops! If you were here today, you would surely say the same things to us: many of us your priests do not pray at all that many have forgotten to pray properly and celebrate liturgy meaningfully; many would rather go on vacation and recreation than celebrate Mass and sacraments for your people; yes, Lord Jesus, "woe to us" your servants for many of us have no plans of going to heaven at all with the kind of Eucharist we celebrate that people have lost faith in you and your church. Forgive us, Jesus, your priests for being blind fools, following the limelight of the world than your path of the Cross; lead us back to you, Jesus, so that your flock may be enlivened again in their faith, hope and love like the Thessalonians of your great Apostle Paul. Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com)
Photo from The Fatima Tribune, Red Wednesday at the Chapel of Angel of Peace, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 27 November 2024.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 21 August 2025
Photo by author, St. Joseph Chapel, St. Paul Center for Renewal, Alfonso, Cavite, 20 August 2025.
As we ended our annual clergy retreat today when we remembered in the Mass a saint, Pope Pius X and a hero, Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino Jr. , I wish to reflect on the word “remember”, a very lovely word worth remembering always.
From the prefix “RE” that connotes repetition as in again and the root “MEMBER” that means a part, to remember literally is to make someone or something a part again. What and who we remember are those gone and away from us, a history in the past. More than mere recalling of a person, event or thing, remembering is making those absent present.
Though the philosopher Martin Heidegger rightly claimed that we humans are “beings of forgetfulness,” God actually programmed us for remembering: from infancy to childhood, our parents drilled into us to remember our name and address, the names of people around us, of things, and everything as we grew. That is why the expression “kalimutan mo na yun” is the most useless piece of advice anyone can give. It is impossible to forget, whether it is so good or so bad. What we need is to harness the power of remembering, to continue learning from the past whether good or bad because whatever is remembered for all its worth is always the best teacher anyone can have.
Remembering is a power because it is a grace, a gift from God himself. When we remember, we not only time travel to the past but make it present in order to perfect us. The past cannot be changed anymore as insisted by Japanese writer Toshikazu Kawaguchi in his series of novels Before the Coffee Gets Cold.
Remembering changes the person, not the past. It is in remembering the bitter lessons of the past we learn most in life because that is when we experience healing and fulfillment. Hence, remembering is at the very core of George Santayana’s warning that whoever does not learn from history is condemned to repeat it. Remembering enables us to move on in life by finding our ways and ultimately our very selves anew especially when lost and confused.
Of God’s many gifts to us, remembering is the most unique because it is never lost at all. People who refuse to remember are the most difficult to deal with like politicians, crooks and low-lifers. And the more corrupt and evil people are, the more they are forgetful, remembering or knowing nothing at all!
God meant us to keep this gift of remembering to be always reasonable and just, or simply good and sane because it keeps us in touch with reality, making us grow and mature in his love. Actually, it is remembering that continues to operate among us despite our faltering memory or even with those afflicted with Alzheimer’s and dementia because remembering is more than keeping information and details like names of people but most of all of God’s interventions through persons and events in our lives individually and collectively that significantly made us experience joy and gladness so crucial for our growth and maturity, eventually in the achievement of our goals.
Photo by author.
On the bulletin board of our sacristy at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Valenzuela City is a laminated piece of bond paper with the Greek word “anamnesis” written in Greek.
It was personally printed and posted on Holy Thursday 2010 by the former rector and parish priest of the Fatima Shrine Msgr. Bart Santos now the Bishop of Iba, Zambales. I remember that so well because that was the first time I was assigned as an attached priest at the Fatima Shrine in June 2010 to June 2011 under Bishop Bart.
According to Bishop Bart who used to teach Sacred Scriptures in the seminary, he wanted to instill in all their servers of the Mass the value and meaning of the Eucharist as an anamnesis or remembering. I was so glad upon my return in February 2021 at the Fatima Shrine again as an attached priest while working full-time as chaplain at the Our Lady of Fatima University and the Fatima University Medical Center that the sign of Bishop Bart was still there – until now! I just hope the people here realize and still remember that word anamnesis as Bishop Bart had explained to them during the Holy Thursday Mass ten years ago.
Photo by author.
When everything seems dark in life with family and friends betraying us, when people we have helped turn against us, denying having known us, try remembering Jesus went through all these first at his Last Supper.
When you feel lost for directions in life, when you are into a burnout, when nothing seems to be working in your favor that you can’t find sparks of inspiration and zeal anymore, remember that first day when you embarked on this journey in life. Remember the people, the places and the things that bring you gladness and joy in pursuing your passion or fulfilling your mission. Most of all, remember when God called you to whatever mission he sent you.
Remembering is a form of stepping back to stop, to create a space and let God work in us as we have reflected last Monday (https://lordmychef.com/2025/08/18/steps-to-god/). This is what we need most in our selves and in our country as a people: the virtue of remembering, of making present the movements of God in our history. Ninoy Aquino did the supreme sacrifice of coming home in August 21, 1983 because he remembered the country he most loved; he remembered his call and mission to serve; he remembered the ideals and mission fought for by our heroes like Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio.
It is in remembering we remain anchored to our call and mission in life, both individually and communally. Without remembering, we cannot progress because we lack reference points of what we have covered, of where we are. That is why even the angels at Easter had to remind Mary Magdalene and companions, “He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you while he was still with you in Galilee…” (Lk.24:6). Most of all, let us remember always the words of Jesus at his Ascension so we may keep on pursuing our mission in him, “And remember that I am with you always until the end of time” (Matt. 28:20). May God bless you always!
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 18 August 2025
Photo by author, pilgrims awaiting their turn inside the Ascension site of Jesus outside Jerusalem, May 2019.
It has been a month since I have taken a break from my daily walking following that fall in our garage when I hurt my left knee that still aches to this day. But as I rested my onehod (twohod if both knees), I have realized in prayers that there are just two important steps we have to take for a fuller life instead of those 10,000 steps daily.
The first is to always step back one or two steps backwards and stop to make a space for God and for others in our life. Though life is a constant moving forward, it is essential that once in a while we step back and stop to see everything in ourselves and around us. Let God direct you because life is more of adjusting to the many shiftings and transitions that happen every day (https://lordmychef.com/2025/08/11/god-in-our-many-transitions/). Stepping back is being flexible in life.
Since turning 18, we have all been taking charge of our lives, each of us demanding a driver’s license, but, as we approach the age of 60, our interest in driving wane that we prefer more to be a passenger than being on the steering wheel. I have semi-retired from driving last year as I leave my car behind six days a week to take ride-hailing and ride-sharing services. Aside from reasons of convenience, taking a Grab car makes me more productive and most of all, relaxed in getting to my destinations and back home.
When life is so confusing, so dark and you feel so lost, step back and stop. Many times in life what really happens is that we unconsciously eject God from our lives as we go on with our responsibilities and projects even apostolates and ministry thinking we are doing the work of God. The moment things go wrong, when failures and problems happen, we then question God where he is or why did he allow bad things to happen with us. Truth is, God never left us, has always been with us but we never recognized him because we were so busy. Hence, the need to step back and stop to meet him. Finally.
Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the headland of Pisgah which faces Jericho, and the Lord showed him all the land… The Lord then said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that I would give to your descendants, I have let you feast your eyes upon it, but you shall not cross over.” So there, in the land of Moab, Moses, the servant of the Lord, died as the Lord had said (Deuteronomy 34:1, 4).
See how Moses was portrayed in the first readings last week, slowly stepping back from the daily scene among the Israelites in the wilderness as he passed leadership to Joshua his successor. It is perhaps the earliest account in the Bible of the virtue of “ageing gracefully” in the Lord by Moses.
It is a virtue so needed these days in modern time that Pope Benedict XVI taught us in 2013 when he resigned, taking that bold step backward to stop from his active duties to spend the rest of his life in prayers. That move proved beyond doubts the true humility and holiness of Pope Benedict XVI who peacefully died right at the transition of the year on December 31, 2022.
Not only successions proceed smoothly when we learn to step back and stop as seen in Moses and Pope Benedict. Stepping back to stop and allow God to do his work among us strengthen and make better our human relationships often strained by those into sin and evil. See these as the steps proposed by Jesus in his instructions when one commits sin:
Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone… If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church. If he refuses to listen even to the Church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector” (Matthew 18:15,16-17).
Relationships are shattered when we “overstep” on family and friends into sinful situations where stepping backward is the more prudent choice to take. Stepping backward allows us to learn more the situation and avoid making rash judgments against anyone that often starts, then gets aggravated in social media. Stepping back is not just being circumspect at all but simply trying to be more fair and accurate where social media is filled with inaccurate and totally false reports or fake news.
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2023.
The second important step that literally brings us closer to God and others is taking that first bold step into water. Yes. Stepping on water is the other special step we need to learn and make for a fuller life in God.
Recall whenever you go swimming at the pool or the beach. There is always that someone in the family or among friends or even our very self so timid or wary of the cold water who would ask that stupid question, is the water cold?
Of course – you will never know how cold the water in the pool or the sea until you take that plunge! It may sound simple but, many times we are afraid to take the first step forward into any body of water or even the shower due to the chills that quickly follow. But we also know very well from experience the great feelings that come after every plunge into water!
The spiritual value of making this crucial step forward into water is found in the first reading last Thursday at the crossing of the Jordan River by the Israelites into the Promised Land under Joshua. Leading them were the priests carrying the ark of the covenant who took the first steps on the banks of Jordan River that caused it to part and enabled the people to cross into the other side, reminiscent of the crossing of the Red Sea during their exodus from Egypt with Moses (https://lordmychef.com/2025/08/14/praying-to-step-forward-in-christ/).
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
The people struck their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant ahead of them. No sooner had these priestly bearers of the ark waded into the waters at the edge of the Jordan…than the waters flowing from upstream halted, backing up in a solid mass for every great distance indeed… while those flowing downstream toward the Salt Sea of the Arabah disappeared entirely. Thus the people crossed over opposite Jericho (Joshua 3:14-15, 16).
Water is life but it also evokes death at the same time. Too much water can drown and kill us that is why we are afraid to take the first step forward into the river or the sea. We fear, we doubt even mistrust God, others and our self in taking the first step forward into water without realizing how that step could be the only thing left for us to move on in life. Stepping into water and allowing our feet to get wet in order to cross a stream or a river is one of the boldest moves we can make in life because that could be the very moment when God is actually making a way for us when our usual routes are impassable.
That is why I tried linking that first reading with the story of the saint of that day, St. Maximilian Kolbe (August 14) who “stepped forward” to their prison guards to take the place of a married man to be executed as a punishment following the escape of a prisoner at Auschwitz. Like the priests of Joshua, St. Maximilian carried the ark of the covenant – Jesus Christ – inside the gas chambers that ignited the flames of courage and faith in God to other prisoners at that time.
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
These days, we need more men and women of faith, hope and love in God willing to step forward into waters that can be dark and murky, even lethal with unknown substances like the modern miseries of human trafficking, substance abuse, sex slavery, extreme poverty and other systematic inhuman conditions that now afflict mankind. Taking that bold step into water carrying Christ across the river is enabling the others to pass through from death to life, from grief to joy, and from hopelessness to love.
Pray for us your priests in the Diocese of Malolos as we go on retreat today until Thursday that we may truly step backwards and stop these days to let God take charge of our lives and ministry anew. Most of all, that we may have the grace of fervor and courage to carry and follow Jesus in crossing the many rivers and streams of life when the usual routes are impassable due to sickness and other miseries. Amen. Have a fulfilling week ahead.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 15 August 2025 Friday, Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Revelation 11:19, 12:1-6, 10 ><}}}*> 1 Corinthian 15:20-27 ><}}}*> Luke 1:39-56
“The Assumption of the Virgin” by Italian Renaissance painter Titian completed in 1518 for the main altar of Frari church in Venice. Photo from wikidata.org.
Thank you, Most Blessed Virgin Mary for being our Mother and most of all, our model disciple in your Son Jesus Christ. As we celebrate today the Solemnity of your Assumption into heaven, we also celebrate our blessed assurance and hope that someday we too may join you with God body and soul if we remain one and united in Jesus Christ our Savior.
Pray for me, O Blessed Mother that I too may rejoice in God for all that he does for me while seeing my lowliness not my pride.
Mary set out and travelled 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).
Pray for me, Blessed Mother to go in haste filled with joy and excitement in the Lord, determined and committed to the mission to proclaim the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ; pray for me, dear Mary to go in haste filled with joy and excitement in the Lord for his love for me I have to share with everyone like you; pray for me, Blessed Mother to go in haste celebrating the Christ's presence and coming, our fulfillment in him.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb…Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my Spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:41-42, 45-47).
Dear Jesus,
forgive me when I am filled
with pride,
doubts,
and mistrust in you
that slow me
from sharing
you with others and
the world;
fill me with humility
like Mary,
that I may sing too
a magnificat to you,
singing your saving grace
because every time
we rejoice in you
and your works in us
that is when we experience
heaven
our ultimate end
when in body and soul
we shall celebrate you
with Mary our Mother too.
Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City
(lordmychef@gmail.com)
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 12 August 2025 Tuesday in the Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I Deuteronomy 31:1-8 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14
Photo by author, the Grotto in Baguio City, February 2019.
How I love your words today, Lord Jesus Christ; we all remain little children after all; though like the Twelve we often debate on "who is the greatest", in the end, we remain that little child you called and placed in their midst.
Yes, Jesus, we remain like children - weak and fearful especially in old age when we prefer to remain in our "comfort zones" yet, like Moses in Jordan, time catches on us when we have to go - whether for good or not - with our many transitions in life.
Then Moses summoned Joshua and in the presence of all Israel said to him, “Be brave and steadfast… It is the Lord who marches before you; he will be with you and will never fail or forsake you. So do not fear or be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 31:7, 8).
Lord Jesus, as I age and get old and weak, the more I doubt, the more I am afraid than ever; indeed, we all remain like little children before you; fill me with more courage to step forward in you when my sight grows dim, my muscles ache and joints weaken in life's journey; teach me to trust more the younger generation as they take charge from us in this life; let me be more silent and deeply aware of your presence in life's many transitions that continue to happen as we advance in age; deepen our faith and hope in you, Lord for you march ahead of us, never forsaking us, nor failed us. Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com)
Photo by author, Tam-Awan Village in Baguio City, February 2019.
Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 10 August 2025 Wisdom 18:6-9 ><}}}}*> Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 ><}}}}*> Luke 12:32-48
Our new College of Medicine Building with the lovely flowers of Banaba trees welcoming the new academic year this Monday, 11 August 2025.
One of the remarkable trends in management these past two decades is the emphasis on values-based approaches like The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by the late Dr. Stephen Covey. Second in his list is the title of our reflection this Sunday, “Begin with the end in sight.”
Actually we mentioned that in our reflection last Sunday but we stressed the word “end” begins with a capital “E” to refer to things of God and eternal life as in the End of all in death. This is the theme of the Lord’s teaching today he presented in three parables with the last two calling us to be faithful stewards awaiting their Master’s return in the End while the first one expressing the summary of his lessons, “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Lk.12:34). But unlike most Sundays, we reflect today on the second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews that shows us Abraham’s faith journey as an expression of Christ’s teachings on setting our sights with the End.
Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go (Hebrews 11:1-2, 8).
Photo by author, RISE Tower, Our Lady Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 06 August 2025.
We all believe in something, whether it is something good or something bad. However, what or who we believe in makes the difference because what or who we believe in determines how we live.
That is why Dr. Covey’s declaration is most true, especially when we talk of our End that is actually a Who – God. It is our faith in God who drives us in this life especially when it is dark and difficult, even painful so that we may achieve our End to be with him in eternity. The author of Hebrews found Abraham’s faith journey so remarkable as it enlightens too our own faith journey in God through Jesus Christ our High Priest as a context.
First, the author of Hebrews defined faith as “the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” Faith is more than trusting God in Jesus Christ. For the author of Hebrews, faith is more of knowing and understanding of what lies ahead though it cannot be seen. Faith here is more of having vision than sight, of seeing beyond things, so convinced of its existence even not seen like Noah who built an ark on God’s command even if there were no dark clouds nor rains visible at all. Faith for the author of Hebrews is like our Filipino expression “a…basta!” of having the conviction God created the universe even though no one saw the act of creation. It is something real that “only the heart can see” because it is also borne out of a deep relationship with God and with those we love. See now the three instances cited by the author of Hebrews in Abraham’s faith journey that are similar with our own experiences.
Photo by author, RISE Tower, Our Lady Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 06 August 2025.
“By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents… for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God” (Heb.11:9-10). Abraham was a “pilgrim” – a wayfarer – not only from his place of birth into the promised land but also on the journey from the present into the future and eternity. See how Abraham looked into the End at the start of his journey in God and with God walking on the path of what is to come.
All he had was faith in God. Surely there were times of darkness and distress along the way which the author of the Book of Wisdom in our first reading accurately described as “night of the passover” that reminds us of darkness hovering the path of God. Jesus reiterated this “night of passover” literally and figuratively speaking. Have faith in Christ whenever our journey gets tough and rough, when there are detours or when we actually get lost. God will find us to reach his city he made for us.
“By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age – and Sarah herself was sterile – for he thought that the one who made the promise was trustworthy” (Heb.11:1). We all know the story of Abraham and Sarah having their own son in old age, of the many twists and turns in their lives before Isaac was finally born and thus fulfilled God’s promise that Abraham became the father of all nations. In Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus Christ, Abraham is mentioned first as a testament of his faith in God that led to the birth of the Messiah.
Photo by author, RISE Tower, Our Lady Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 06 August 2025.
Many times we ask why God takes so long in fulfilling his promises to us. We wonder if God really called us to a certain vocation or profession or wanted this and that for us especially when in our prayers we are convinced of God’s will. Why does God keep us waiting?
Experience had taught us that more than a test of our faith, those waiting moments for God’s answer to our prayers were grace-filled moments of our own transformation into better persons so that we may value more his gifts to us, whether they are persons or things or moments. God is faithful. Remember the words of St. Paul, “God’s gifts and call are permanent and irrevocable” (Rom.11:29).
“By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son…He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol” (Heb.11:17, 19). This is the most moving and touching in the story of Abraham’s faith: he never doubted nor questioned God at all when he was asked to offer his son Isaac. Imagine how Abraham must have felt after waiting for so long for a son, then suddenly God asked him to offer him back Isaac?
See the unfolding of this scene in Genesis 22 with Abraham totally silent going up the mountain with Isaac who asked what shall they offer to God? Abraham simply assured him God will provide. Everything proceeded in silence until Abraham was to kill Isaac when an angel stopped him and told him how God was so pleased with his fidelity. This scene reminds me of the pain of many parents, especially mothers at the funeral of their son or daughter. It is the most difficult Mass for me to celebrate; normally, it is the children who bury their parents, not the other way around. When parents bury their children, no matter how young or old they may be, it is beyond words. I just try to believe more, to have more faith in God that he would bless and comfort the grieving parents.
Photo by author, RISE Tower, Our Lady Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 06 August 2025.
Abraham’s faith is a gift from God we too have all received and must deepen. It is easier said than done but we have to accept that nothing in this life is really ours to keep for all is God’s. And if ever God takes something from us, it is because he is giving us something even more than what we already have. That is why Jesus asks us in the gospel this Sunday to give up everything for him for he is our only End.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Luke 12:32-34).
This Sunday, Jesus invites us to examine where our treasure is for that is where our heart is, giving himself to be our treasure for he alone can lead us to our final End. Like Abraham, Jesus asks us to see beyond the present moment, to give up whatever we have, whether good or bad, people or things, even memories. It is very difficult and even painful but with faith in God, it could be our most liberating and grace-filled moment in life when we learn to forgive and be sorry, to be content, and finally start living by loving and be convinced we are loved because these are all we need in the End. Amen. A blessed week to everyone!
Photo by author, RISE Tower, Our Lady Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 06 August 2025.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 30 July 2025 Exodus 34:29-35 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 13:44-46
Photo by author, sunrise in Laurel, Batangas, February 2025.
God our Father, it has been quite a long time since these rains started and how I miss seeing the sun rising in the morning like your face appearing before me; how I love arising early in the morning to experience the sunrise that I imagine as closest to the experience of Moses conversing with you, Lord, face to face like two friends; in the sunrise I find and experience the paradox of you, of your presence in absence, when you seem "veiled" to me and everyone.
When he finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. Whenever Moses Moses entered the presence of the Lord to converse with him, he removed the veil until he came out again. On coming out, he would tell the children of Israel all that had been commanded. Then the children of Israel would see that the skin of Moses’ face was radiant; so he would again put the veil over his face until he went in to converse with the Lord (Exodus 34:33-35).
"Nobody sees your face, O Lord, and lives again" because to see your face is our final fulfillment in life; to see your face like Moses and still live is to live "veiled" in your mystery that eyes cannot see but the heart and soul can feel and recognize; you come to us, Lord, "veiled" in many instances like the sunrise when I cannot see your face fully and directly like the sun but the more I look at you, the more I experience you in me, the more I become aware of my own face created in your image and likeness; show me your face, God, not as an image but as a reality inside me so that like Moses, your kindness and love may shine in me always, living authentically, living fully in your loving presence, veiled in the mystery and beauty of your kingdom buried like a treasure in the field or like a pearl of great price I would never trade for anything except you in Jesus. Amen.
Photo by author, sunrise over the Pacific from Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Resort, Infanta, Quezon, March 2023.
lordmychef.com 