The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Feast of St. Lorenzo Ruiz & Companion Martyrs, 28 September 2023
Haggai 1:1-8 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 9:7-9
Photo by Mr. Jay Javier, August 2023.
Teach me,
O God our Father,
to be sincere and true,
humble and docile
to heed your call
today to "consider
my ways" in relating
with you and others:
Now thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways! You have sown so much, but have brought in little; you have eaten, but have not satisfied; you have drunk, but have not been exhilarated; have clothed yourselves, but not been warmed; and he who earned wages earned them for a bag with holes in it. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways! Go up into the hill country; bring timber, and build the house that I may take pleasure in it and receive my glory, says the Lord.
Haggai 1:5-8
I confess, Lord,
so many times in life
I have been thinking more of
myself and less of you,
less of others,
and yet,
the more I get
everything and all
the attention, the more
I feel lost and empty
because I do not have you.
How true are your
words to Haggai, Father:
it is not really working
on so much but doing
everything for you and
in you; it is not simply
eating but also feeding
my soul that is truly
filling; more than drinking
is the reason for celebrating;
better than clothes is
the warmth of another
person; and better than
all the fruits of our labor
are the treasures of
kindness we save
in heaven that is never
lost.
Let us consider
our ways in the light
of Jesus Christ;
like Herod, many times
we just keep on trying
to see him without
any firm resolve
to follow him like
St. Lorenzo Ruiz and
companion martyrs
we celebrate today.
You are so kind,
O God; all you ask us
is to consider our ways
to become witnesses
of your love without any need
to shed our blood
like St. Lorenzo and
company; make us see,
dear Father, the life
and joys you offer us
freely, compared to
the ways of the world
that is misleading
and utterly empty,
lacking in meaning.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Twenty-fifth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 25 September 2023
Ezra 1:1-6 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + >]]]]'> Luke 8:16-18
Photo by author, view from Jerusalem temple, May 2019.
Thank you,
dearest God our Father,
in giving us this new day
to pick up the pieces of
our lives, to become better,
to be well, to be fulfilled in you
through Christ Jesus.
Let me claim this life,
Father; let me own
and embrace this gift
of life to make it good;
let me be focus with
the present and what lies
ahead, to let go but learn from
the past. Let me live
the life you have meant
for me so that when finally
I have reached the end
of this journey, you may take
my whole life as my only offering
to you, dear God.
As the psalmist says today,
"The Lord has done great things
for us; we are glad indeed. Restore our fortunes, O Lord...those who sow in tears shall reap
rejoicing. Although they go forth
weeping, carrying the seed to be sown,
they shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves."
(Ps. 126:3,5-6).
May your word guide us
as we live our lives, Jesus;
let us shine like lamps to make
you known to everyone,
that you alone O Lord is
our life and meaning,
our only fulfillment.
We pray also today
for those rebuilding their
lives - those who are finally
set free by all kinds of bondage
to sin and evil, those who have
finally decided on their own
to choose you, to do what is
good, those who have finally
broke free from vices and
every kind of slavery this world
has continued to surreptitiously
promote to hide its sinister plans;
may we find the "goodwill" of
the many other "King Cyrus of Persia"
you continue to send us, Father,
so we too, like your exiled people
of old, may start to pick up the
pieces of our lives
and rebuild our
lives in you again.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sunday in the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 17 September 2023
Sirach 27:30-28:7 ><}}}}*> Romans 14:7-9 ><}}}}*> Matthew 18:21-35
Photo by author at the RISE Tower, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 28 July 2023.
This past week has been a very toxic one for us in the hospital where I serve as a chaplain.
Beginning last Sunday morning after our Mass at the University adjacent to our hospital, I had to proceed to the ICU to anoint a critical patient who expired 20 minutes later while I was still attending to seven other patients there in the unit. One died that evening, the other the following day. Last Tuesday and Thursday I had to go back to the hospital to anoint four more patients, two of them eventually died before this Saturday.
When that patient died last Sunday morning, the doctors and nurses at the ICU thanked me, telling me how the deceased must have just waited for me to receive the Sacrament of Anointing. “Hinintay lang po kayo, Father.”
I have heard that so many times even while I was assigned in a parish. And every time people would tell me that, I thank God deep in my heart for his infinite love and mercy, in never allowing patients to die until they have been anointed and absolved of their sins. That is why I am so convinced that almost everybody goes to heaven or purgatory when they die because God ensures that each one of us will have a chance to prepare to meet him in heaven. Only a few, even almost no one, except anyone who would reject God totally goes to hell.
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD at Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 13 September 2023.
My dear friends and family, today we continue the second in a series of what I have told you last Sunday of the Lord’s teaching on some of life’s most delicate issues we are all aware of but find so difficult to accept and practice.
Last Sunday, it was about fraternal correction, of the need for us to speak to those living in sin. Today, Jesus teaches us to forgive those who sin against us.
Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants….”
Matthew 18:21-23
Notice how Jesus used a parable in explaining forgiving to Peter and other apostles along with us today. Forgiving from the heart because of love can never be fully explained as a concept; love is best expressed in forgiveness which Jesus showed us on the Cross where his first words were for the forgiveness of his enemies who “knew not what they were doing”.
Photo by Dean Mon Macatangga, May 2023.
When we love, we level up in our existence and that becomes most true when we forgive. See how love remains the antidote to sin which is lack of love. Both fraternal correction and forgiving are expressions of love that is true, the love of Christ. That is the point of Christ’s parable when he said, “That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants.”
To love, to forgive, to correct those who sin are all in the realms of God, of the divine as Shakespeare said, “to err is human, to forgive is divine.” Whenever we forgive because we love like God, we become like him!
Becoming like God, becoming divine happens when we recognize one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. Here lies the beautiful twist in the Lord’s parable: forgiving is in the realm of the kingdom of God where we are brothers and sisters, not just servants who owe God our king or anyone with debts to be paid that are measurable in exact amount or quantity. St. Paul expressed it beautifully last Sunday, “Brothers and sisters: Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law” (Rom. 13:8).
Love is the only debt we owe everyone. We can never repay love because it is a debt so huge, like the debt of that servant summoned by the king in today’s parable. Jesus came to “save” us from that debt of love that God asks us not because he needs it repaid but because he showers us with so much of that love. We just have to keep on sharing that love of God that is infinite because love is the essence of our lives. To live is to love and when we love, that is when we truly live. And that is why we must forgive also like him. On our own it is impossible to love and to forgive but that grace has always been there for us to take and share because we are all loved and forgiven children of God. To forget or disregard this truth is to separate from God and from everyone which is what hell is all about.
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD at Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 13 September 2023.
Both teachings and instructions by Jesus to correct our wayward brothers and sisters and to forgive those who often sin against us are expressions of our love of God. Indeed, they are both difficult, most especially forgiving from the heart. Problem with forgiveness is the fact that the most painful hurts we incur are always inflicted by those we love, by those people closest to us and dearest to us. It is a grace we have to pray for always, whether for us who have sinned or hurt by others.
But, there are also practical considerations why we have to forgive as Ben Sirach had noticed since the Old Testament days. It is something we continue to experience these days and sadly, even see on social media like the endless series of road rage everywhere in the world that has become like a pandemic.
How true were the observations by Ben Sirach that “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight” (Sir. 27:30) as clips of road rage vividly show us in social media, from the lack of respect of those involved to abuse of authority as well as destruction of lives and properties. Like the other servants in the parable, we feel sorry for the victims of road rage considering mostly are about petty things blown out of proportions.
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, Quezon Province, August 2022.
Psychologists and experts also tell us the importance of forgiving for practical reasons but they all pale in the light of the simple fact that the obligation to avoid resentment, hatred and violence is strictly enjoined on us who know God and are conscious of our own need for his forgiveness and mercy. In the end, let us forgive one another as St. Paul reminded us today in the second reading that everything will be determined and judged in our relationship with Jesus Christ who suffered and died for our sins. This we constantly honor and deepen when we forgive, when we pray the Our Father, and when we celebrate the Holy Eucharist. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead!
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 15 September 2023
“Mater Dolorosa” also known as “Blue Madonna” (1616) by Carlo Dolci. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.
I started praying about this blog last month after the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It just occurred to me on that day to greet some of my “girlfriends” – yes, God has blessed me with so many of them who are mostly women and ladies who have taught me and shared with me so many lessons and thoughts about life only women can see.
One of them is my former colleague at GMA-7 News, Kelly, widowed for six years since the passing of her husband Larry whom I have visited and anointed many times during his long battle with cancer. When I asked her how she has been doing since our last meeting before the pandemic, she was her usual self – candid yet a bit sardonic in her reply, “I’m good. I have health issues but I’m handling them, living a simple but contented life… alam mo naman ako, I’m so Alannis Morissette.”
I thought she was again speaking “gay” as in chorva when she described herself as Alannis Morisette. And before I could ask her the meaning of “Alanis Morissette”, she turned out to be speaking English – referring to the singer Alanis Morissette as she sent me lyrics of her 1995 song Handin My Pocket. Immediately I checked it on Youtube and found it perfect too for today’s celebration of the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows or Mater Dolorosa as it speaks of every woman’s sacrifice and sufferings in this world that is sadly still dominated by male chauvinists.
Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows reminds us of every woman’s fidelity to God through her husband and children, family and loved ones as well as vocation. Her remaining at the foot of the Cross was her lowest and painful point in life to be with her crucified Son, Jesus Christ. She was so absorbed with his pain and sufferings that at Easter, she was in turn absorbed by the glory of our Risen Lord which culminated at her Assumption into heaven.
How was Mary able to keep her composure? Oneness in Christ her Son from whom all good things come even in the most trying times. When I look at her face as portrayed in the arts, it is not pity that I feel but her dignity, nobility and simplicity. Notice her praying hands, totally surrendering herself to God which began at the Annunciation when she told the angel, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk.1:38). There at the foot of the Cross of Jesus, her hands remained in praying position, entrusting everything to God, filled with faith, hope and love.
Alanis Morissette express almost the same faith, hope and love in the modern sense today with her 1995 Hand in My Pocket. A Canadian-American, Morissette grew up in a devout Roman Catholic family. Although she is now a practicing Buddhist, Morissette claimed repeatedly in some interviews that she owes her singing career to her Catholic faith. Her personal life is marked with so many pains and sufferings too, going through depressions and eating disorders as well as having been raped while 15 years old. It was from these experiences that she got all her inspirations in her many songs that strike chords in the hearts of many modern people, not just women, who strive to find meaning by hoping to brighter tomorrows amid the many hardships modern life has brought us.
I’m broke, but I’m happy I’m poor, but I’m kind I’m short, but I’m healthy, yeah I’m high, but I’m grounded I’m sane, but I’m overwhelmed I’m lost, but I’m hopeful, baby
And what it all comes down to Is that everything’s gonna be fine, fine, fine ‘Cause I’ve got one hand in my pocket And the other one is giving a high five
We just have to remember our own mothers to realize and appreciate how our Lady of Sorrows and Alanis Morissette were able to bear all of life’s sufferings. It is in their hands. The praying hands. The hand in the pocket holding on to the present realities and the other hand up in the air hoping everything will be fine.
How ironic – pun intended as it is the title too of my favorite Morissette song – that despite all the great love women have offered and given us through our own mothers and sisters, aunts and grandmothers, teachers and nurses, not to forget the multitude of women who make our economy grow by laboring here and abroad plus the nuns who pray and run so many orphanages, women are still neglected and forgotten, even unloved, maltreated, and abused. Sadly, their fellow women are the ones who inflict those pains in this cruel and ungrateful world.
Starting today, be kind to women, especially those closest to you, those who have remained loving and kind despite your excesses and other idiosyncrasies.
Here is Ms. Alanis Morissette. Her music video is very interesting too, showing the many contrasts every disciple of Christ like Mary our Lady of Sorrows goes through in this life. Set in black and white, it evokes rawness yet at the same time brings out that eternal spring of hope within each one of us. Have a blessed rest day ahead!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, 15 September 2023
1 Timothy 1:1-2, 12-14 ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> John 19:25-27
Lady of Sorrows from a triptych by the Master of the Stauffenberg Altarpiece, Alsace c. 1455; photo from fraangelicoinstitute.com.
What a joy for us,
sinful children of the Father
to be your children too,
O Blessed Virgin Mary
through your Son
our Lord Jesus Christ!
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
John 19:25-27
More than the tears and sorrow
on your face portrayed in arts,
O Sorrowful Mother,
all I see and experience
in you is a disciple
so absorbed in prayer,
so united and close
with our Lord Jesus;
yours is a different kind
of sadness
that I feel when I look
at your images
as our Lady of Sorrows:
no pity but dignity,
no dramatics nor theatrics
but purely
noble simplicity.
How sad,
dear Mother and Lady of Sorrows
that many of us disciples
of your Son Jesus
have forgotten this very
important aspect of discipleship
you have shown us,
a life centered on prayer
that is more than reciting prayers
but residing in Christ,
of being absorbed in his
Passion and Death
so that like you,
we may be absorbed by
his glorious Resurrection!
Indeed,
dear Lady of Sorrows,
as St. Paul tells us today,
"the grace of our Lord has been
abundant, along with the faith
and love that are
in Christ" (1 Tim.1:14);
pray for us your children
and fellow disciples
to be first absorbed in prayers
because before everything
else came,
there was Jesus
who first came
calling us
to be one in him,
with him,
and through him
like you
absorbed by his glory
in heaven.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, 14 September 2023
Numbers 21:4-9 ><]]]]'> Philippians 2:6-11 ><]]]]'> John 3:13-17
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 2017.
The cross is perhaps one of the most widely used but also abused and misunderstood sign in almost every generation. In fact, we are so accustomed to the cross of Jesus Christ found everywhere like in churches and cemeteries, offices and classrooms, hospitals, inside every kind of vehicle and, of course, houses. Almost everybody carry it on our persons for various reasons: as an object of veneration, as a badge, or as a jewel.
On the cross we find Jesus shown in glory, peacefully sleeping in death, sometimes with his body broken by suffering. Hence, many times we use the word “cross” like in “cross my heart” to indicate our sincerity and truthfulness. But, are we truly aware of its meaning and significance in our faith, of its centrality as the symbol of God’s love for us expressed by the self-sacrificing death of Jesus Christ his Son?
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Convent, Baguio City, 23 August 2023.
Today we celebrate the Exaltation of the Cross which started in the fourth century. According to legend it began with the miraculous discovery of the True Cross by Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, on 14 September 326, while she was on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. She then ordered through her son the emperor the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre that was dedicated nine years later with a portion of the True Cross placed inside it in September 13, 335. The following day, the Cross was brought outside of the church to be venerated by the clergy and the faithful.
In the year 627, during the reign of the Emperor Heraclius I of Constantinople, the Persians conquered the city of Jerusalem and removed a major part of the Cross from its sanctuary. The emperor then launched a campaign to recover the True Cross which he regarded as the new Ark of the Covenant for the new People of God. Before embarking into war, Emperor Heraclius went to church wearing black as a sign of penance, then prostrated himself before the altar and begged God for courage. His prayer was granted as he won the war and recovered the Cross from the Persians. He brought the Cross back to Jerusalem in 641 amid great celebrations by carrying it on his shoulders. Upon reaching the gate leading to Calvary, the emperor could not go forward! Heraclius and his retinue were astonished and could not understand what had happened until the Patriarch Zachary of Jerusalem told him, “Take care, O Emperor! In truth, the imperial clothing you are wearing does not sufficiently resemble the poor and humiliated condition of Jesus carrying His cross.”
Upon hearing those words, the emperor removed his shoes and bejewelled robes, put on a poor man’s clothing and was eventually able to proceed to Calvary and replaced the Cross inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where a number of miracles happened during the occasion: a dead man returned to life, four paralytics were cured, ten lepers were healed, 15 blind men were given their sight, with several possessed people exorcised and many sick people totally healed!
Photo by author, Mirador Jesuit Villa & Retreat House, Baguio City, 24 August 2023.
Very notable in this story were the words of the Patriarch of Jerusalem. It was only after the emperor had taken off his royal clothings and put on those of the poor was he able to carry the Cross.
It is the same thing that is asked of us today: it is so easy to display the cross inside our homes and cars, or wear it as a jewelry or even as a tattoo on our skin. But that would amount to nothing unless we have the cross inside our hearts, our very being. More than the many signs of the cross and imaginary drawing of its lines we draw on our chest is the need for us to empty ourselves of our pride and sins so that we can be filled by Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters: Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:6-8
Called kenosis in Greek, self-emptying is the way of the Cross of Christ. It is choosing love and mercy than self-centeredness and self-righteousness; sacrifice than satisfaction; fairness and justice than greed and possession; bearing all the pains and perseverance than complaining and whining about difficulties and trials in life like the Israelites in the wilderness (first reading); and, thinking more of others than of one’s self.
Photo by author, 02 September 2023.
The recent COVID-19 pandemic had taught something very amusing about the positivity of being negative, when negative was actually positive – healthy and COVID free! Remember how during those days when we would always wish we would yield negative results in our swab tests for COVID?
When we look at the sign of the cross (+), it is a positive sign, a plus sign. Though the cross calls us to let go, to be detached and dispossessed, it is actually an invitation to have more of God, of life and fulfillment! In this time of affluence when everything is practically easily available for as long as you have the means and the resources, the sign of the Cross reminds us that life is more of letting go and of giving than of having like God who “so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that he who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn.3:16). St. Francis of Assisi said it perfectly why the Cross is an exaltation, a triumph:
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.Have a blessed Thursday!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, 14 September 2023
Numbers 21:4-9 ><}}}}*> Philippians 2:6-11 ><}}}}*> John 3:13-17
Photo by author, 02 September 2023.
With their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses…
Numbers 21:4
Forgive us,
God our Father,
for always complaining
even challenging you
when things get
difficult and rough
for us in life;
forgive us,
merciful Father
when our patience
is worn out
by life's journey
that we forget all
your good works,
not seeing the long
distances we have
covered,
the rivers we have crossed,
and mountains and hills
we have overcome
with you,
through you,
in you.
Brothers and sisters: Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:6-8
Empty our hearts
of our pride,
Lord Jesus Christ
and fill us
with your humility,
justice,
and love;
make us realize
Jesus that it is in
being empty
and detached
when we are truly free
and hence, more faithful
and loving without
any encumbersome
or excess baggages
that bog us down
in moving on in life.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that anyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.
John 3:16
Let me love
like you,
dear God:
a love that seeks
relationships
and connections
not isolation
nor self-sufficiency;
let me love
like Jesus,
a love rooted in the Father,
a love that is more than a feeling
but a decision,
a choice made daily,
affirmed in actions of
fidelity and kindness,
obedience and trust;
let me love
like you, O God:
a love that gives life,
other-centered,
veritable/truthful,
and enduring.
Let me love my Cross,
Jesus,
to let me lose
everything in you
and for you
in order to gain
life and you.
Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-12 ng Setyembre 2023
Larawan kuha ni G. Cristian Pasion, Bihilya ng Pasko ng Pagkabuhay 2022, Pambansang
Noong bata ako buong akala ko ang paglalamay at pakikiramay ay iisa. Alalaong-baga, kapag may lamayan, mayroong namatay at paraan iyon ng pakikiramay. E hindi pala ganun!
Sa aking pagtanda at pagkamulat sa wika, higit sa lahat sa buhay na palaging kaakibat pagkamulat din sa kamatayan, napagtanto ko na bagaman magkaiba ang lamay at ramay, malalim at matalik ang ugnayan ng dalawang kataga.
Ang paglalamay ay pagpupuyat, tulad ng pagsusunog ng kilay o pag-aaral sa gabi. Maari din itong hindi pagtulog sa magdamag upang matapos ang isang proyekto at gawain. Naglalamay din bilang bahagi ng gampanin at tungkulin tulad ng mga nagtatrabaho ng pang-gabi o graveyard shift gaya ng mga pulis, mamamahayag, drayber, mga viajero at mga nasa call center.
Maraming pagkakataon sa paglalamay ikaw ay may kasamang nagpupuyat upang tulungan na tapusin ang gawain o gampanan ang tungkulin. Sa paglalamay, palaging mayroong kasama upang tulungan tayong malampasan ano mang pagsubok na pinagdaraanan. Doon nagsasalapungan ang dalawang kataga ng lamay at ramay: sa gitna ng kadiliman ng gabi, mayroong maasahang kasamang nakikibahagi at nakikiisa sa pagdurusan at hirap na pinagdaraanan.
Larawan kuha ni G. Jay Javier, Tayabas, Quezon, 13 Agosto 2023.
Napakaganda ng larawang sinasaad ng lamay at ramay – ang kadiliman ng gabi. Sa bibliya, ang gabi at kadiliman ay sumasagisag sa kapangyarihan ng kasamaan.
Ipinanganak si Jesus sa pinakamadilim na gabi ng buong taon, mula Disyembre 23 hanggang 25. Malinaw na pagpapahayag ito ng pakikiramay ng Diyos sa kadiliman ng ating buhay. Doon siya palaging dumarating kung tutuusin.
Huwag nating pag-alinlanganan katotohanang ito na muli nating natunghayan noong Huling Hapunan ng Panginoon na naganap sa pagtatakip-silim ng Huwebes Santo. Kinagabihan si Jesus ay nanalangin sa halamanan ng Getsemani ngunit tinulugan ng tatlong malalapit na mga alagad. Huli na ang lahat nang sila ay magising nang dumating si Judas Iskariote, isa sa kanilang mga kasamahan na nagkanulo kay Jesus sa kadiliman ng gabi.
Anong saklap na walang karamay si Jesus sa paglalamay na iyon na nagpatuloy sa kanyang paglilitis sa Sanhedrin kung saan naman tatlong ulit siyang tinatwa ni Simon Pedro habang nasa labas ng tahahan ng punong pari. Kaya nga kung sakali man tayo ay nasa napakadilim na yugto ng buhay at tila nag-iisa, alalahaning si Jesus ay ating kapiling, nakikiramay sa atin dahil siya ang naunang nakaranas na maglamay ng walang karamay! Kanya itong binago at tiniyak na hindi na mauulit kanino man upang siya ay makaramay sa bawat lamay ng ating buhay nang siya ay muling mabuhay, nagtagumpay sa kamatayan at kasamaan sa gitna rin ng kadiliman ng gabi.
larawan kuha ni G. Cristian Pasion, Bihilya ng Pasko ng Pagkabuhay 2021.
Kamakailan ay dumadalas aking pagmimisa sa mga lamayan ng mga yumaong mga kamag-anak at kaibigan. Noon pa man lagi nang nasasambit ng mga kaibigan bakit nga ba hindi tayo magkita-kita habang buhay pa kesa naman doon na lamang palagi nabubuo pamilya at barkada sa lamayan ng namamatay?
Tama rin naman kanilang bukambibig sa mga lamayan. Ano pa ang saysay ng pagsasama-sama gayong nawala na at pumanaw ang mahal sa buhay?
Ngunit kamakailan ay napagnilayan ko rin na tama lamang na magkita-kita tayo sa mga lamayan upang ipahayag ating pakikiramay dahil naroon tayo hindi lamang upang makidalamhati kungdi magpuri at magpasalamat din sa isang yumao. Wika nga ng marami, lamay lamang ang hindi ipinangungumbida kasi doon masusukat tunay na kabutihan ng isang tao sa kanyang pagpanaw: kung marami ang naglamay at nakiramay, ibig sabihin, mabuti siyang tao, mapakisama, laging karamay noong nabubuhay pa.
Napagtanto ko ito sa nakakatawang pagkakataon; kundangan kasi, bilang mula sa mga sinaunang panahon, para sa akin ang pakikiramay ay dapat seryoso. Malungkot nga dapat at nakikidalamhati. Hirap na hirap ako noong matanggap ang picture taking sa lamayan! Iskandalo kung baga sa akin ang magpose at picture-taking sa lamayan, lalo na sa tabi ng labi ng yumao. Paano ka namang ngingiti e mayroong ngang patay at namatayan?
Larawan kyha ng may akda, 2018.
Nakatutuwang isipin kung paanong itinuro sa akin ng teknolohiya ang malalim na kahulugan ng pakikiramay sa paglalamay. Na ito ay higit sa lahat pagdiriwang ng buhay, pagpupugay at pasasalamat sa magandang samahan na ating tinitiyak na magpapatuloy pumanaw man ating kaibigan at kamag-anakan. Ang ating pakikiramay ay hindi lamang pagpadarama ng pakikiisa sa dalamhati kungdi pagtiyak ng pagkakaisang ito sa pagmamahal, pasasalamat at pag-alala tuwina sa isang pumanaw at kanilang mga naulila.
Mainam pa rin makadaupang-palad mga kamag-anak at kaibigan habang nabubuhay ngunit hindi pa rin huli ang lahat na sakali man dala ng maraming kadahilanan tayo ay makiramay tuwing mayroon lamay dahil ang totoo’y buhay pa rin ating ipinagdiriwang. Ito ang dahilan kaya ating tawag sa pumapanaw ay hindi namatay kungdi sumakabilang buhay. Balang araw siya ring ating hantungang lahat kung saan ang lamay at ramay ay iisang katotohanan na lamang na kung tawagi’y, pag-ibig.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Twenty-third Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 12 September 2023
Colossians 2:6-15 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 6:12-19
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
Father,
our loving God,
I am getting old;
there is indeed a gap
not only in our age
but also in many other things.
Yet, it is so amazing
that even in this modern age
of great technological
advances me and my
generation could not keep up
much less even learn nor
understand, I am so grateful
to you loving Father
that people still these days
thirst for you,
yearn for you,
search for you.
In my dealings with
people these days,
both young and old alike,
they still prefer meaning
in life than just mere
material pursuits;
more people still find
themselves in moral dilemmas,
a sign they still have moral fiber,
a conscience bothered
by evil and sin.
Help us, dear Father,
to walk in Jesus Christ,
be rooted in him and be
built upon him so as not
to be captivated with empty,
seductive philosophy afflicting
even some churchmen
according to the tradition of men
and elemental powers of the world
not according to Christ
(Colossians 2:6-8).
May we remain
true to your teachings
and to your very person,
Lord Jesus
so as not to mislead
others to modern fads and
trends because we have
tried and tested,
you never go out of style;
you are always "in" because
you dwell in each of us,
truly "hip" because you are
forever true.
Amen.
Much of my 25 years in the priesthood were spent in the school ministry. My first assignment after ordination in 1998 was as a school administrator and teacher at our diocesan school in Malolos City until 2010. After a decade of parish ministry with a parish of my own, I was again sent to the school setting as chaplain of the Our Lady of Fatima University in Valenzuela City in 2021 to present.
As I celebrated Masses of the Holy Spirit in our six campuses amid the rains of the past two weeks, I told our students of the one important lesson they must first learn every school opening: there will always be storms in life. Literally and figuratively speaking. There are no ways of preventing storms and typhoons. Just like other calamities. Hence, the need for our students at a very young age to learn too the very important lesson of prayer.
Photo by author.
My dear students, prayers do not necessarily change situations like typhoons and calamities but prayers transform the person.
A man of prayer or a woman of prayer is like a gold bar or a diamond that even if it is thrown into the mud or sewage, it remains a gold or diamond. A person of prayer becomes strong and pure like gold and diamond or any precious stone.
So, have a prayer life.
Handle life with prayer so you will be able to weather every storm that comes to your life. Have that sacred space within you where you meet and commune with God, with Jesus Christ. Remember, God’s presence is never determined by outside forces like storms. God is always with us, even within us. Problem is we rarely notice nor recognize him because we are not attuned with him.
Experts tell us that every storm has an eye as its central part; however, the eye is the calmest part of every storm, always bright and sunny. It is its walls that are most dangerous where winds are most strongest and unpredictable. Having a prayer life, having a sacred space within us is like having that eye of the storm, our center of being that is always calm and peaceful because that is being rooted and grounded in God.
More than reciting prayers, having a prayer life is entering into a relationship with God in Jesus Christ, creating that sacred space within us where we experience his Divine presence whatever the season or weather is. It is being one with God. This relationship with God is reflected in our relationships with others, enabling you to make many friends and create wonderful relationships that enrich you as a person and eventually, after graduation, as a professional.
Photo by author.
The post-COVID period offers us with so many new ways of learning even amid class suspensions during storms. New methods, new technologies will emerge in the future making learning more enriching, more sustainable amid many outside factors like storms. But one thing remains very true in all our learning endeavors: we can only know so much, and there is only one who truly knows everything in this life – God. Know him first. And well.
This school year and every school opening until your graduation, remember these three things always, my dear students: study hard, work harder, and pray hardest. God bless!
