Tag: life

When Despair and Hope Come Together

LordMyChef “T-G-I-F” Quote, 05 October 2018:

“No loss can be mourned without some intuition that we will find new life… That’s how we generally approach the Eucharist.  With a strange mixture of despair and hope.  As we listen carefully to the deeper voices in our heart we realize that beneath our skepticism and cynicism there is a yearning for love, unity and communion that doesn’t go  away even when there remain so many arguments to dismiss it as sentimental childhood memories.”

Henri Nouwen, “With Burning Hearts”, pp. 39-41.

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Photo by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, Chapel of St. Jerome, Bethlehem, 18 April 2017.

Knowing Too Much, Understanding Too Little

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The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer
Friday//05October2018//Week XXVI, Year II
Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5///Luke 10:13-16

            It is the first Friday of the month, the end our work week O God.  Some of us are rejoicing for the weekend, others are thankful for the many blessings of the past week but many are still complaining.  Sometimes we are like Job:  we complain a lot in life because we claim to know so much yet understand so little.

            “Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning and shown the dawn its place for taking hold of the ends of the earth, till the wicked are shaken from its surface?  Have you entered into the sources of the sea, or walked about in the depth of the abyss?  Have the gates of death been shown to you, or have you seen the gates of darkness?  Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth?  Tell me, if you know all…” (Job 38:12,16-18)

            O God, deflate our bloated egos when we feel to know all yet understand nothing in this life, when we complain and whine more than simply work and try our best, when we become cynical and pessimistic because things do not happen according to our plans.

            Most especially, take away our feeling of entitlement and open our eyes to the many blessings you have showered upon us that only a few have seen because we are like the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum who disregarded the coming and the miracles by Jesus Christ. AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.

Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA-7 News, Batanes, 17 September 2018.  Used with permission.

On Tenacity and Grit

LordMyChef “I-Like-Mondays” Quote, 01 October 2018:

“If 99 out of a hundred people give up when they’re faced with rejection, you can distinguish yourself by being the one who keeps at it.  Other people might get mad and walk away after being rejected.  But be different.  Be tenacious. 

After you learn tenacity, grit can come into play.  Grit is the stamina to sustain continuous sacrifice in the face of continuous difficulty.” 

Injap Sia, “Life Principles” with Kristine Fonacier, page 114.

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Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA-7 News, Batanes a day before Typhoon Ompong, 14 September 2018.  Used with permission.

“Caravan of Love” Performed by Daryl Hall and Friends at Live from Daryl’s House (2010)

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LordMyChefSundayMusic//Week XXVI-B//30September2018
Discipleship, Not Membership

            Sorry for the delay in our LordMyChefSunday music due to toxic schedules… after all it is still a Sunday with enough room to enjoy our beautiful choice:  “Caravan of Love” performed by Daryl Hall and his friends at his award-winning online show Live From Daryl’s House.  Daryl reunites with his longtime buddy and partner John Oates in this special show as tribute to the late musician T-Bone Wolke who suddenly died that year.  Composed and originally performed by the Isley Brothers in 1985, Caravan of Love perfectly fits our gospel this Sunday wherein we reflected on the importance of discipleship than membership.  The song invites everyone, regardless of color and creed to join a caravan of love where there is respect and kindness among everyone.  What is the use of claiming to be Christian or whatever if you do not practice justice and charity?  For Jesus, what really matters is how much we love each other as brother and sister….

 

Are you ready, are you ready?
Are you ready, are you ready?
Are you ready for the time of your life?
It’s time to stand up and fight
It’s alright it’s alright
Hand in hand we take a caravan to the motherland
One by one we gonna stand up with pride
One that can’t be denied
Stand up, stand up
From the highest mountain, valley low
We’ll all join together with hearts of gold
Now the children of the world can see
There’s a better place for us to be
The place in which we were born
So neglected and torn apart

Every woman every man
Join the caravan of love
(Stand up) stand up
Stand up
Everybody take a stand
Join the caravan of love
(Stand up) stand up
Stand up

I’m your brother
I’m your brother don’t you know
She’s my sister
She’s my…

Photo from Google.

Finding Meaning and Direction in Life

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The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer
Thursday//27September2018//Week XXV//Year II
Ecclesiastes 1:2-11///Luke 9:7-9

            It is a Thursday Lord and I wonder what you feel how we have made this day a “throwback Thursday” when we all look back to the past partly just for fun, partly perhaps to find meaning in life today.  We listen to old music, we dig albums for old photos to reminisce good old days to feel good, to find direction and meaning in life.

            And despite all these, Qoheleth hit it right, “What has been, that will be, what has been done, that will be done.  Nothing is new under the sun.”(Eccl.1:9)

          There are times we are like Herod the tetrarch in today’s gospel who could not believe at all the wondrous things happening around despite the many darkness in life.  There are times we have refused to accept and recognize your presence among us, Lord Jesus, amid the many sufferings and poverty in this world because we are scandalized by your cross.  We are so afraid to even get near your cross not knowing that you can only be found there.
           Fill our hearts with the same courage and charity you have given St. Vincent de Paul who found you among the poorest of the poor he had willingly served in his lifetime.  Make us realize like him that meaning and direction in life can only be found in you and your cross, lest everything becomes “vanity of vanities”.  AMEN.  Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.
*Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA-7 News, Batanes before Typhoon Ompong, 14 September 2018.  Used with permission.

Deepening Our Family Ties In Christ

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The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer
Tuesday//25September2018//Week XXV//Year II
Proverbs 21:1-6, 10-13///Luke 8:19-21

             Dearest God:

             Every time we would pray, we always call you “our Father” without really realizing its deeper meaning and implications.  Today’s gospel surprised and even shocked us when your Son Jesus Christ claimed “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”(Lk.8:21)  Thank you in showing to us the deeper realities of our family that we always take for granted.

            It is always easy to know who are our family but so difficult to recognize them deeper and truly with all the love and respect as father and mother, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.  Give us the grace like Jesus to find our relationships rooted in you so we can have more harmony and peace in the family.  Bless us today with your grace to always “do what is right and just”especially in dealing with our family for that is “more acceptable to you than sacrifice.” (Prov.21:3)  AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.

Photo from Google.

“That’s The Way of the World” by Earth, Wind and Fire (1975)

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LordMyChefSundayMusic//Week XXV-B//23September2018
The Way of the World Vs. The Way of the Lord

            For our Sunday music today, we take the title track from the sixth studio album of the renowned group Earth, Wind and Fire“That’s The Way of the World” released in March 15, 1975.  It is also the soundtrack of the movie of the same title at that time.  EWF’s “That’s the Way of the World” hits the inner chords of our souls that perfectly fits the Sunday gospel where Jesus identified Himself with a child to show us how our relationship with children (and women) also reflect our relationship with God:  “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.” (Mk.9:37)

             Childhood is a value in itself, the most pristine image of holiness, of God!  When we go back in the gospels and see the teachings of Jesus Christ, we always find His constant reference to children and to childhood, warning us not to lead them into sin because their angels are always guarding them (Mt.18:1-10).  It is plain and simple that anyone who abuses and molests children and women are not of God.  And that is the problem we have always have in the way of the world in relating with children, contrary to the way of the Lord which is to becoming like a little child (Mt.18:3).  EWF captures in their song this problem lost in our insistence of being “adults”.

Hearts of fire creates love desire
Take you high and higher to the world you belong
Hearts of fire creates love desire
High and higher to your place on the throne

We come together on this special day
Sing our message loud and clear
Looking back, we’ve touched on sorrowful days
Future pass, they disappear
You will find peace of mind
If you look way down in your heart and soul
Don’t hesitate ’cause the world seems cold
Stay young at heart, ’cause you’re never, never old

That’s the way of the world
Plant your flower and you grow a pearl
Child is born with a heart of gold
Way of the world makes his heart so cold

Hearts of fire create love desire take you
High and higher to the world you belong
Hearts of fire love desire
High and higher, yeah yeah yeah
Hearts of fire love desire

Ahh higher

*Photo courtesy of Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA News taken at Batanes a day before typhoon Ompong hit the country Sept. 14, 2018.  Used with permission.

Why Life Is Precious

LordMyChef “TGIF” Quote, 21 September 2018:

“The beauty and preciousness of life is intimately linked with its fragility and mortality.  We can experience that everyday — when we take a flower in our hands, when we see a butterfly dance in the air, when we caress a little baby.  Fragility and giftedness are both there, and our joy is connected with both.”  (Fr. Henri Nouwen, “With Burning Hearts”, page 34.)

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

 

Loving Much

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The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer
Thursday//20September2018//Week XXIV//Year II
1 Corinthians 15:1-11///Luke 7:36-50

            Dearest Lord Jesus Christ,

            On this feast of South Korea’s first priest-saint Andrew Kim Taegon and companions, I praise and thank you for your immense love expressed in forgiving my many sins.
             In your mercy, my sinful moments have become my deepest religious experiences too.  Whenever I find myself in grave sin, full of shame that I could not even call your name, you are always there – lovingly, patiently waiting for me.  Silently and very kindly, welcoming me to come near you even if I have not told you “I am sorry”  or “please forgive me.”
             You know me so well, and that’s the most amazing thing – that you still love me!
Like that woman in Simon’s house you have allowed to come to you, to cry at your feet and wipe them dry with her hair, kissing them and anointing them with ointment  (Lk. 7: 37-38), you just sat there, full of gentleness and mercy.  Though you knew who she was and, most especially of how the people there judged and condemned her, you remained silent.  But when you finally spoke out loud, your words were unbelievable: “Your sins are forgiven.” (Lk.7:48)
             So wonderful, O Lord, of you  reminding me always to strive harder to love and serve you among others because when I recall my many sins and feel shameful, that is also when I must feel grateful to you like Paul and that sinful woman.
             Teach me, Lord Jesus, to love much because much was forgiven of me, first by forgiving those who have hurt me so I could give them all the chances you have given me.AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.
Photo courtesy of Mr. Raffy Tima of GMANews, Batanes After Typhoon Ompong, 18 September 2018.  Used with his permission.