Lord My Chef Simbang Gabi Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Simbang Gabi-1, 16 December 2025 Isaiah 56:1-3, 6-8 <*((((>< + ><))))*> John 5:33-36
From Facebook post, 14 December 2023.
2025 is a very difficult year for us Filipinos. It is mixture of many bad news with some good news coming out from them like the deeply entrenched problem of corruption in government. Actually, we knew it already long before but the recent uncovering and revelations from the ghost project scam not only confirmed our suspicions but disturbed us so much of its extent and astronomical proportions.
Napaka-sama at napaka-walang-hiya nilang lahat na natiis maghirap tayong lahat habang sila ay nagpasasa sa kayamanang nakaw. A friend told me one morning she felt not like going to work anymore, kasi siya daw magpapagod sa pagtatrabaho habang yung nasa gobyerno magnanakaw lang tapos mas mayaman pa?!
True. And that is what I am worried at this time: when many of us start losing the zest and drive to work harder for a better tomorrow in our pitiable country. Almost everybody feels like moving out of our country to work somewhere else to find more meaning in their lives.
This Simbang Gabi, let us offer prayers for each of one to never lose that spark, of being a light leading others to Christ our true Light especially those who have lost light or about to give up and simply resigned to the widespread darkness enveloping our nation at this time.
Jesus told the crowd, “He (John) was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light. But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me” (John 5:35-36).
Photo by author, December 2021.
Next to the Nativity scene or Belen, Christmas in our country is often symbolized by the parol or lantern. From our churches to our homes, to malls and highways, the parol delights and reminds us of Jesus Christ, our true Light and only Star to follow in life.
More than to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem that guided the Magis to the newborn Christ, the parol literally used to guide early Filipinos on their way to the church for their Simbang Gabi during the Spanish period.
The parol is not the light itself itself but simply the carrier of that light which comes from a lamp inside. That is what Jesus is telling us today: John was like a parol who illumined the path of many people of his time to prepare them to meet him, the Christ, the Light himself.
The problem with us Filipinos is our ningas cogon mentality which had Jesus hinting too when he spoke of the light of John: like the cogon grass, we are easily ignited and drawn to various efforts but immediately die down without pursuing and sustaining the more essential things like reforming our lives by finding and following Jesus Christ our true Light.
Photo by author, November 2021.
Notice that Jesus was born at this time considered when the darkest nights happen. Science explains it according to the tilting position of earth but spiritually, Christmas reminds us of God’s immense love and care for each of us that he sent us his Son Jesus as our Savior in our darkest moments in life.
Finding and following Jesus Christ our Light is a long and tiring journey often in the darkness of our sins and failures, weaknesses and hurts, doubts and fears. The more we use light and follow the Light of Christ, the more we see and realize our unworthiness and sinfulness that often lead us to stop following Jesus. But that is the way in having the light of Christ – the more we see things clearer, the more we become better because we learn more of the things we must work on and change in ourselves as God told Isaiah in the first reading today.
Thus says the Lord: Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed. Happy is the man who does this, the son of man who holds to it; who keeps the sabbath free from profanation, and his nhand from evildoing (Isaiah 56:1-2).
Photo by author, November 2022.
Two weeks ago, an English lay preacher and blogger I follow published anew one of her old reflections about their porch light.
Their two daughters have gone to party in the city with some friends. She and her husband thought their daughters would either stay overnight in the city or take the late bus trip that night. With that in mind, her husband thought it best to leave their light on at their porch but she felt otherwise and turned the light off just before bedtime. It surprised her husband – and herself too that the following morning during prayer she wrote:
Jesus reminded me that we (His followers) are the light of the world.
We carry the light of Christ.
Jesus left a light on when He went back to His Father God in Heaven – He left us.
Jesus hasn’t switched that light off yet.
I will leave a light on.
We shine as lights in the darkness of this world and point the way home to God through faith in Jesus the Son.
One day though the reality is that my earthly light will be switched off. I won’t be here anymore to shine the light for others.
I need to shine whilst I can.
Whilst I still have the time.
I hope I can leave a legacy of light behind me.
You may be the only light in your family, your friends, your colleagues, your neighbourhood, your community – the place where the Lord has put you.
Your light is really important so be encouraged and “let your light shine before men so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
I really think there is someone who needs to hear this today.
Don’t give up but let your light shine – It will lead someone home to God.
Leave a light on and it will lead that person home – they may be in a dark place at moment, have wandered far from truth, be in a very very dark place but the Lord is saying:
“I will leave a light on” – that light is you.
Don’t let the light go out – it will lead them home.
On this first day of our Christmas Novena, let us not forget the essence of our Simbang Gabi which is to find and follow Jesus Christ, the Light of the world. More than leaving our light on to lead others to Jesus, we also need to see ourselves and our history in the light of Christ.
Photo by author, December 2019.
Examine the light others may be sharing us that do not lead us to Christ but to their selfish motives. Be critical in reading and listening to various posts that may be feeding us with fake news that actually confuse us with truth and realities. It is only in the light of Christ when things that are dull and drab become clear, enabling us to take the right and proper decisions that can truly move us toward change and development as an individual, as a Christian and as a nation. Let us be a light leading others to the True Light Jesus Christ for he alone can lead us back home to God, to our true selves, and to our loving relationships. Amen. have a blessed and enlightening Tuesday.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 13 October 2025 Monday, 108th Anniversary of Last Apparition at Fatima, Portugal Romans 1:1-7 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 11:29-32
We celebrate today the 108th anniversary of the final apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal that made it the most relevant proof in modern times of the existence of God and of his immense love for mankind through his Son Jesus Christ.
It was on this date, October 13, 1917 when the “Miracle of the Sun” happened at Fatima as the Virgin Mary appeared for the last time to Lucia Santos and her two younger cousins now Saints Francisco and his sister Jacinta Marto along with an estimated crowd of 70,000 made up of believers and unbelievers as well as skeptics and hecklers. They all witnessed the phenomenon that many verified with sworn accounts of how the Sun “danced” in the sky and then careened to Earth while emitting radiant colors that lasted for about ten minutes.
It was the sixth and last apparition of the Blessed Mother to the three children that began on May 13, 1917 and since then, devotion to Our Lady of Fatima grew which also boosted the praying of the Holy Rosary after the Blessed Virgin Mary introduced herself as the Lady of the Rosary. It was on that last apparition when the Blessed Mother told the children how World War I would soon end with a warning that “People must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend our Lord any more, for He is already too much offended!”
Though the Fatima feast is officially set on May 13, many churches and devotees around the world still celebrate the October 13 apparition not only because of the dancing sun miracle but most of all of the ever-timely and relevant calls of the Blessed Mother for penance and conversion that echo the teachings of her Son Jesus Christ in today’s gospel:
While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah… At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here” (Luke 11:29, 32).
Procession of the National Pilgrim Image of Fatima at her National Shrine in Valenzuela, 13 May 2025. Photo credit to the owner.
With the recent calamities and corruption scandals that have been rocking our nation these past four months, the Fatima apparition of October 13, 1917 remains significant especially for us in the Philippines today for three reasons.
First, we have to see the last apparition of October 13, 1917 not as the final one but the start or beginning of the unfolding of more revelations and realizations for us. In fact, Sr. Lucia continued to received private visions while in the convent as a nun in 1925 through the 1930’s. During her last interview in 1957 while already a cloistered Carmelite nun, Sr. Lucia revealed how during that last apparition to them (her two cousins have died in 1919 and 1920 during the flu pandemic), the Blessed Virgin Mary looked very sad and never smiled to indicate the gravity and seriousness of her messages to them.
The Blessed Mother must be looking more sad than ever with us Filipinos since July this year with the wholesale corruption by DPWH officials in connivance with some former and current lawmakers that have caused so many people to suffer with perennial flood. Most especially because those involved in the worst corruption we have so far are Catholics and Christians! Imagine the pain of the Blessed Mother who is surely crying, saying, “mahiya naman kayo!”
One problem with the common perception of many people even up to now with the last apparition of Fatima is to equate it with the end of the world, of worldwide catastrophe that have instilled more of fear and even controversies that included doubts of the Vatican allegedly not fully revealing the Third Secret despite assurances from the visionary herself, Sr. Lucia who said before her death in 2005 that all Fatima Secrets have been fully revealed.
If we take the Fatima apparitions as a whole, we find in it more of messages of hope and joy for us in the Philippines and the world. The Blessed Mother appeared in Fatima not to scare us but to inspire us to turn away from sins, to be converted and be holy so that the world may truly find peace in Jesus her Son.
The last things do not necessarily mean destruction like when we say in Filipino it is the end or “wakas”, it usually means “wasak” or destruction; normally, when there is wakas and wasak, there is “bago” or new being built or established to replace the old one.
Therefore, the last apparition at Fatima in 1917 is also the signal of new beginnings, new undertaking, new opportunities, new hope in Jesus Christ who is the ultimate sign of God’s loving presence among us amid the trials and difficulties like these calamities and corruption in the country. It is not being simplistic but we just have to trust Jesus and his Mother Mary that we be sorry for our sins, stop doing what is sinful and evil, be converted and lead holy lives. Repentance leads to true wisdom because it is only in doing what is right when things would be right in order.
Photo by author, July 2023.
At the last apparition in Fatima 108 years ago, it is very interesting how two elements prevailed on that day: rains and the sun. And these are our second and third points of reflection on the sign of Fatima.
According to official accounts, rains have soaked wet the people and the whole of Cova da Iria in Fatima, Portugal for two days, October 12-13, 1917 before the Blessed Mother’s final apparition. How wonderful is the plentiful sign of rains, of water that signify the call for inner cleansing and purification of our hearts and person.
And when the sun “danced” later, the people were astonished how they and their clothes where dried along with the whole surroundings as if it had not rained the previous day and night after witnessing the spectacular display of colors and light!
May we see more of the light of Jesus in our lives so we may be cleansed and ready to work for another day of conversion and holiness just like St. Paul in the first reading today who reminds us to be witnesses of Christ:
… but established as Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Bentiles, among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ (Romans 1:4-6).
As witnesses of Christ and pilgrims of hope, we are invited today more than ever in the light of the Blessed Mother’s last apparition at Fatima in 1917 to usher in new hopes for us to become better persons who build stronger families and more vibrant church communities.
At Fatima 108 years ago today, we are invited by the Blessed Mother to be focused more in revealing God’s will as experienced and prayed in the the Sacred Scriptures than taking sides in politics and going down to the worldly debates on abortion and divorce as well as gender issues beyond male and female.
How true indeed are the words of Jesus that “this generation is an evil generation seeking so many signs” to stretch its concepts of justice and equality, of rights and freedom without recognizing the need for humility and acceptance, responsibility and maturity as exemplified by the three children at Fatima. Let us make today the beginning of our conversion and transformation in Christ Jesus with the help of the Blessed Mother. Amen. Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for us.Fr. Nicanor F. lalog II, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com)
From cbcpnews.net, 13 May 2022, at the Parish of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City.
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, 06 August 2025 Wednesday, Feast of Transfiguration of the Lord, Cycle C Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 ><)))*> 2Peter 1:16-19 ><)))*> Luke 9:28-36
Apse of the Transfiguration Church at the Holy Land from wikimedia.org.
Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray. While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem (Luke 9:28-31).
Lord Jesus, I feel afraid in this scene; how difficult it must have been to the three Apostles privileged to join you up on Mount Tabor at your Transfiguration for it was not all glory - I could imagine the fear and sadness hearing Moses and Elijah speaking about your coming "exodus", your Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Why do you have to go through those sufferings and death? Why do you have to leave and depart from us?
Like Peter, I would have said the same to you, "Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" so that we could just stay and remain up there in glory.
You know it so well, Jesus how when we are so wrapped in joy and glory and mystery, we hardly understand a thing except the experience of being overwhelmed, of finding you, of seeing you, and being with you; lead us down the mountain into life's daily realities where we you want us to bring that light to many others going through darkness in life.
We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable. You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts (2 Peter 1:18-19).
Spring blooming of poppies in Galilee near the Nazareth, against the background biblical Mount Tabor, Israel; photo from iStockphoto.com.
Enlighten our minds and our hearts, Jesus, like Peter to realize the deeper truths of your transfiguration and of our own transfiguration that begin always in a prayer life, an intimate relationship with you that gets clearer when we are in darkness, when with you at the Cross; let us take seriously every Mount Tabor experience proclaiming it as "altogether reliable" like Peter because we experienced you, we heard you and was with you; guide and strengthen us, Jesus when we are in darkness for that is when you transfigure us into yourself, when you speak to us of our own "departure"; most of all, keep us "attentive" to you in those dark moments to be like a "lamp shining in a dark place" (2 Peter 1:19). Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com)
Church of the Transfiguration, Mount Tabor, Holy Land; from custodia.org.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Memorial of St. Scholastica, Virgin, 10 February 2025 Genesis 1:1-19 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Mark 6:53-56
Photo by author, sunset in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.
Blessed are you, God our loving Father in giving us a taste of the beginning everyday especially on this first day of work and of school as your words in the first reading remind of our daily beginning in you!
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said, “Let there be…” Thus evening came, and morning followed… (Genesis 1:1-3, 7).
In the beginning there was nothing but chaos just like in our lives until you brought light, order and life, God; it is always light and order that come first to set the stage for life like in those first two days; what is most lovely, Father is when the third day came and there began balance and symmetry in your creation like sea and earth, day and night, sun and moon that relationships happened and everything started to be good.
Photo by author, sunset in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.
In the gospel today as in our lives, every day is a new beginning with its many chaos: sickness and diseases, emptiness, self-alienation, rejection in all forms, failures and disappointments as well frustrations that all remind us of how everything was in the beginning; but, with Jesus Christ's coming and healing we saw the light and experienced healing and order.
Everything becomes good when seen in your light and design, Lord Jesus; when our relationships are kept and maintained especially at home like with our siblings, parents and family as exemplified by the twins St. Scholastica and St. Benedict.
Make everything new again and most of all good, dear Jesus in our lives like in the Genesis as shown by St. Scholastica who was able to do more because she loved most. Amen.
Painting “Altar of St. Scholastica” by Johann Baptist Wenzel Bergl (1765), ncregister.com
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Thirty-first Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 06 November 2024 Philippians 2:12-18 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 14:25-33
Photo by author, Fatima Ave., Valenzuela City, 25 July 2024.
Grant me, dear Jesus the serenity and composure of St. Paul: so peaceful, so dignified, so free in the face of death.
Do everything without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world, as you hold on to the word of life… But, even if I am poured out as a libation upon the sacrificial service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with all of you. In the same way you also should rejoice and share your joy with me (Philippians 2:14-16, 17-18).
Many times O Lord the burdens are too heavy and unbearable, with pains and suffering so overwhelming that I really wonder if I would make any difference at all; but, you are always here present in the "nick of time" sending people reminding me of jokes I have long forgotten but still tickle them; or simple lessons I could not recall but they have kept and guided them through life; or music I made them listened to that have lingered in their heads; or books and poems that have opened their horizons.
Teach me, Jesus to renounce everything I have, empty me of my pride, of my self to be filled with you only so that I may truly shine like light in this world so at home and fascinated with neons and klieg lights that mislead them to darkness. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Memorial of Guardian Angels, 02 October 2024 Exodus 23:20-23 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 18:1-5, 10
Photo by author, Baguio City Cathedral, January 2019.
How good and gracious are You, God our Father in assigning a guardian angel to each one of us in order to lead us closer to You and eventually, face-to-face with You in all eternity!
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father” (Matthew 18:10).
Forgive us, O God, for disobeying our guardian angels so often when we choose to sin than remain in your grace; forgive us most especially when we forget we too are an angel to everyone tasked to care and look after of every one especially the children and elderly who are weak, the sick and the poor, those disadvantaged in our society that does not believe in You anymore and in angels.
Photo by author, Fatima Avenue, Valenzuela City, December 2023.
“See, I am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared. Be attentive to him and heed his voice. Do not rebel against him, for he will not forgive your sin. My authority resides in him (Exodus 23:20-21).
Bless us, dear God to be humble always like your angels leading others from darkness into light, from ignorance into wisdom and knowledge, from bondage to sin into the grace of freedom to be more loving and faithful in serving You through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Photo by author, Fatima Avenue, Valenzuela City, December 2023.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Memorial of St. Padre Pio, Priest, 23 September 2024 Proverbs 3:27-34 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 8:16-18
Photo by Mr. Jay Javier, 07 September 2024.
Jesus said to the crowd: “No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lampstand so that hose who enter may see the light… Take care, then, how you hear. To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away” (Luke 8:16, 18).
God our loving Father, thank you very much in giving us a modern saint in San Pedro Pio who is so beloved not only for his miracles but most of all in his bringing your Son Jesus Christ's light into this dark modern world, listening always not only to You but to everyone so weighed down by sin and all forms of sufferings.
With your so many gifts to San Padre Pio especially the stigmata of Jesus, he remained so humble, witnessing to this modern world of excessive wealth and poverty in money and spirituality, San Padre Pio refused no one whatever good he could offer to those who came to him and continue to come to him for intercession.
Fill us, dear Father, with St. Padre Pio's same love of You and love of neighbor rooted in the meaningful celebration and deep love for the Holy Eucharist, always making your light shining brightly in our life of witnessing as we too listen intently to your words through Jesus Christ. Amen.
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 II, 10 September 2024 1 Corinthians 6:1-11 <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]*> Luke 6:12-19
By Kay Bratt, Facebook, 13 December 2023.
Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ for continuing to call us to be your disciples and apostles, inviting us to get closer with You like the Twelve to share your light first of all to our fellow disciples and apostles who have lost their will to burn.
Now indeed then it is, in any case, a failure on your part that you have lawsuits against one another. Why not rather put up with injustice? Why not rather let yourselves be cheated? Instead, you inflict injustice and cheat, and this to brothers. Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the Kingdom of God? That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had yourselves washed , you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:7-9, 11).
Forgive us, Lord Jesus, when many times we live and act like the Corinthian Christians forgetting our new person in You received in Baptism, when we turn to the courts to get justice that often terribly end in bitterness and recriminations; instead of bearing your light of justice and mercy, love and equality, kindness and tenderness, we resort to the ways of the world, endlessly debating on technicalities that we forget the person and the wrongs and evil done; let us return to you, Jesus, the true Light of the world to dispel the darkness of sin and evil around us by being your witnesses of the good news of salvation as your new chosen people. Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-01 ng Agosto 2024
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, bukang liwayway sa Lawa ng Galilea, Israel, Mayo 2019.
Unang araw sa buwan ng Agosto, buwan ng wika ako ay nakatunganga sa pagkamangha sa isang salita: PALIWANAG sa wikang Inggles, "explanation" at kung gagamiting pandiwa "to explain" ito ay magPALIWANAG.
Kay sarap namnamin
at damhin mga kataga
nitong ating wika
tulad ng PALIWANAG
nagsasaad ng pagbibigay
liwanag dahil mayroong
kadiliman minsa'y panlalabo
kaya nililinaw upang
matanaw, makita kahit man lang
maaninag upang matukoy, makilala.
Mahirap kasi mag-apuhap sa gitna ng kadiliman na kawalan ng katiyakan: ika'y nangangapa at nangangamba kung ano iyong mahawakan, makuha kaya nakakatakot sa dilim na wala kang nakikita dahil pati ikaw baka tuluyang mawala pa!
Inyong pagmasdan malaking kadiliman na sa ati'y bumabalot kamakailan kaya kay raming nagpapaliwanag naglilinaw dahil sa mga ginawa at ipinahayag na puro kaguluhan:
Waiter sa Cebu pinagpaliwanagan ng halos dalawang oras habang nakatindig sa harapan ng customer na tinawag niyang "Sir" na ibig ituring siya na "Mam"; kay daming paliwanag ni "Mam" pero malabo pa rin dahil malinaw pa sa araw maski sa mga larawan na siya ay Sir!
Hanggang ngayon nagpapaliwanag pa rin mga pasimuno ng paglapastangan sa Huling Hapunan ng Panginoon na lalong nababaon dahil maliwanag kanilang kasinungalingan na ang kadiliman ng kapalaluan at kasamaan kanilang pagpugayan taliwas sa layuning magkaroon ng pagbubuklod at kaisahan.
Hindi lang minsan ating narinig masabihang "ang labo mo naman" kaya kinakailangang magpaliwanag upang maunawaan at maintindihan na siyang daan sa magandang pagsasamahan.
Heto ngayon ating pagnilayan pagbulayan aking katanungan: nagPALIWANAG ba ang Panginoong Jesus sa Kanyang mga pangangaral? Maliban sa pagpapaliwanag ng mga talinghaga ng sarilinan sa mga alagad, walang ipinaliwanag si Jesus dahil maliwanag Siyang palagi at higit sa lahat Siya ang Liwanag ng Sanlibutan.
Madalas hindi Siya maunawaan, maintindihan at matanggap ng mga tao noon hanggang ngayon ngunit kailanman walang binawi na salita ang Panginoong Jesus dahil maliwanag ang lahat: "Ako ang daan at katotohanan" (Jn.14:6), "Ako ang muling pagkabuhay at ang buhay" (Jn. 11:25) "Ako ang pagkaing bumaba mula sa langit; ang kumakain ng aking laman at umiinom ng aking dugo ay may buhay na walang hanggan, at muli ko siyang bubuhayin sa huling araw" (Jn. 6:54).
Nang linisin ni Jesus ang templo sinabi sa mga tao na gibain iyon at kanyang itatayo sa loob ng tatlong araw; Siya ay pinagtawanan ng mga kalaban ngunit malinaw na sinasaad sa kasulatan nang muli Siyang mabuhay ay naunawaan ng mga alagad ang tinutukoy Niyang templo ay ang Kanyang Banal na Katawan (Jn. 2:18-22); maliwanag si Jesus ay palaging malinaw kaya kahit sa gitna ng kadiliman Siya ay maliwanag.
Lumapit tayo kay Jesus at hayaang liwanagan Niya kadiliman sa ating puso at kalooban katulad nina Nicodemo at Dimas na umamin sa kanilang kamangmangan at kasalanan kaya natamo ang liwanag at kaligtasan; hindi mahirap tuntunin katotohanan at liwanag ng Panginoon natin kung ating aaminin at aalisin mga piring sa ating paningin upang mabuksan puso at kalooban sa kagandahan at dangal ng kabutihan ng bawat nilalang hindi ang ipangalandakan sariling husay at kaalaman maging antas ng kalinangan!
Tandaan at panghawakan, tiyak na kaliwanagan ng mga salitang binitiwan ng Panginoon sa atin sana ay magpaalaala: "Ang nagpapakataas ay ibababa, at ang nagpapakababa ay itataas" (Mt.23:12)
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