Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 31 July 2026 Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2024.
Glory and praise to you, O God our loving Father for the gift of St. Ignatius of Loyola who taught us that "Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul" (First Principle and Foundation, Spiritual Exercises #23).
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2024.
How sad, dear God, that the most painful truth is that you are most often rejected by us who assume to know you most, too familiar with you and your ways like what our two readings reveal today: Jeremiah was rejected by your people led by their priests after speaking your words to them to change their evil ways lest their Temple lie in ruins like in Shiloh along with other disasters God was planning to punish them (Jeremiah 26:4, 7-9); in the gospel, Jesus went home to Nazareth but "the people took offense at him" for his mighty words and deeds (Matthew 13:57-58).
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2024.
Two scenarios, same message of rejecting you, O God because we believe more in our selves, in our ideas and understanding of who you are than believing your very person in Jesus Christ; teach us, O Lord, to be empty always so that you may fill us with your love like St. Ignatius who taught us to pray and contemplate to attain your love: "Take, Lord, and accept all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. Thou hast given all to me. To Thee, O Lord, I return it. All is Thine, dispose of it wholly according to Thy will. Give me Thy love and Thy grace, for this is sufficient for me" (#234, Spiritual Exercises).
All for your greater glory, O Lord. Amen.
Photo by author, the three core group of the Society of Jesus founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola at the middle, St. Francis Xavier at his right, and St. Peter Faber at his left; frame at the facade of Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2024.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, 22 July 2026 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> John 20:1-2, 11-18
“Christ’s Appearance to Mary Magdalene”, painting in 1835 by Russian painter Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov now hanging at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg; from en.wikipedia.org.
"I have seen the Lord!" (John 20:18)
What a joy must have been for St. Mary Magdalene to proclaim to the Apostles your rising, your appearance to her, Lord Jesus.
Most joyous of all, Lord is how you have called her by name, "Mary!"
On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken by Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus (John 20:1, 11-14).
Many times Lord Jesus I feel like St. Mary Magdalene on that very early morning of Easter: feeling lost or distant from you who seem to be missing or taken away from me; but so often, like St. Mary Magdalene, we fail to recognize you with our eyes because we picture you so differently to who you really are.
Many times our sight fails that is why most often, you call us by name; unfortunately in this age of social media and so many other distractions in life, we fail to hear nor even listen to your voice because we are afraid of silence as we are so afraid of the truth - that you love us so much that is why you have forgiven our sins.
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary of Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he told her (John 20:16-18).
“Noli me tangere” (touch me not) fresco in the Lower Basilica of St. Francis Assisi Church in Italy painted by Giotto de Bondone in the 13th century from commons.wikimedia.org.
Everyday you come to us, Jesus, calling us by name like Mary Magdalene - someone you personally know, with all of our sins and most kept secrets in our hearts, in our past.
If we could just be patient like St. Mary Magdalene in picking the pieces of our lives, of converting daily, of transcending the scars of sins of our past, then we shall hear and joyously listen to your voice spoken in a whisper, so sweet, so reassuring of your real presence, most of all filled with tenderness because you love us immensely, Jesus.
If we could just listen to your voice, Jesus, then like St. Mary Magdalene, we can proclaim too with joyful enthusiasm to other disciples "I have seen the Lord!" spreading you love and good news of salvation. Amen.
From Facebook, April 2021: “There is an urgency to announce the Joy, the joy of the Risen Lord!”
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 06 July 2026 Hosea 2:16,17-18, 21-22 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 9:18-26
Photo by Mr. Vigie Ongleo somewhere in Colorado, 03 June 2026.
So many things are happening in your gospel passage today, Lord Jesus, involving three key persons you have healed with crowds at the background; what I like most, dear Jesus are the gestures involved:
the official came forward and knelt before you and you rose and followed him;
the sick woman came up behind you and touched your cloak you turned around to declare her her faith had saved her;
in the official's home, you drove away the crowd making a commotion, then you came to take his daughter's hand laying dead on her bed and she was brought back to life.
How amazing Lord Jesus that you never fail to respond positively to our human gestures of coming forward to you, of coming behind you, and being still before you; in you, Jesus, our human gestures have become so divine, the ordinary so sublime like the sharing of meal in your name.
While Jesus was speaking, an official came forward, knelt down before him, and said, “My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus rose and followed him, and so did his disciples. A woman suffering hemorrhages for twleve years came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.” Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” And from that hour the woman was cured. When Jesus arrived at the official’s house house and … When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by hand, and the little girl arose (Matthew 9:18-21, 25).
Bless us, Lord Jesus, to follow you in the desert of emptiness to be able to listen to you and most especially respond to you "in right and justice, in love and mercy, in fidelity" (Hosea 2:16, 21) that we may remain in your loving relationship always. Amen.
Photo by author, St. Michael Retreat House, Antipolo City, 16 June 2026.
Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 05 July 2026 Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A
Photo by Ms. Marivic Tribiana on Facebook, 17 April 2020 following fire in Tondo,Manila.
Our gospel this Sunday is short but one of the most loved words by our Lord Jesus Christ often quoted even in some popular songs and music: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Everyday Jesus calls us to come to him, to learn from him, to experience lightness in life not heaviness of compulsion and duty as most people would think of his demands. However, it is not a kind of R&R we all aspire every weekend at the beach or a mountain resort. Christ calls us today to come to him and learn from him on how to have a steady, realistic, day-to-day approach to life lived in his company, lived in love for one another as brother and sister (https://lordmychef.com/2026/07/04/learning-from-jesus-2/).
And that is why we remembered and chose this beautiful song from 1969 by The Hollies, “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.”
...The road is long With many a winding turn That leads us to who knows where, who knows where But I'm strong Strong enough to carry him He ain't heavy, he's my brother
… So on we go His welfare is of my concern No burden is he to bear We'll get there
… For I know He would not encumber me He ain't heavy, he's my brother
Most captivating with this song is its opening music of a harmonica that stirs ones soul superbly balanced with a bass guitar that perfectly filled the rhythm and melody until Allan Clarke burst with the opening lines that give you a picture right away of the song meaning – love for one another as brothers and sisters.
Composed by Bobby Scott and Bob Russell who was then dying of lymphoma cancer, the song was recorder earlier by another American artist; The Hollies’ guitarist Tony Hicks heard it while searching for songs to record for their group. Hicks found the demo tape of Scott and Russell too slow, asked permission to make it a little upbeat by adding an orchestra with the young Elton John playing the piano. It became an instant hit both in Britain and the US, spawning other versions until now.
More than its beautiful music and lyrics, the ballad is so appealing because of its message of love. It is interesting to know that the phrase “he ain’t heavy, he is my brother” is the motto of the Boys Town children’s home founded in 1917 by Fr. Edward Flanagan in Omaha, Nebraska. The following year, Fr. Flanagan saw a boy carrying up a set of stairs another resident stricken with polio, wearing braces; Fr. Flanagan asked the boy if it was heavy and was told, “he ain’t heavy, Father; he is my brother.” The phrase got stuck and became the motto of Boys Town that inspired this beautiful song. (Pope Leo XIV recently declared Fr. Flanagan “Venerable” as his cause for beatification moves closer to realization.)
In today’s gospel, this is precisely the yoke Jesus is telling us that is his, light and easy: love. Everything becomes light when seen and done in love, with love. Without love, everything becomes heavy due to sadness; hence, the need for more love as the last three stanzas tell us with the long road ahead filled with more pains and sufferings.
… If I'm laden at all I'm laden with sadness That everyone's heart Isn't filled with the gladness Of love for one another
… It's a long, long road From which there is no return While we're on the way to there Why not share?
… And the load Doesn't weigh me down at all He ain't heavy, he's my brother
… He's my brother He ain't heavy, he's my brother He ain't heavy, he's my brother
Amen. May you have a lighter week in Christ this week with this music.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 12 June 2026 Deuteronomy 7:6-11 ><}}}*> 1 John 4:7-16 ><}}}*> Matthew 11:25-30
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, March 2026.
You read it right. The title of our reflection on this Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the same title of The Smiths’ 1984 classic Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now.
It is one of my all-time favorite songs, my theme song after graduating in 1986, landing on my first and only job as it captured my exact situation of the period:
I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour But Heaven knows, I'm miserable now I was looking for a job, and then I found a job And Heaven knows I'm miserable now
Since then, the song has remained relevant with me especially after learning how the young generation appreciate a lot The Smiths that I have used their other music in my spiritual conferences and recollections as a university chaplain. That’s why during our Sacred Heart Novena in our university chapel, the same song kept playing at the back of my mind especially while meditating on the second reading on this feast of the Sacred Heart.
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins (1 John 4:7-8, 10).
How lovely and simple is our second reading from the letter of the beloved disciple, John who gives us the deepest theological grounding of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: “God is love.”
Pope Benedict XVI used to say Christianity is the only religion is the world with that kind of declaration about God; it is not merely that God loves but that love is God’s very nature!
And what does it mean to us? The older I get, the more I realize and experience that I live because of God’s love: it is the reason I wake up and sleep; why I strive to be my best in everything despite my weaknesses and limitations; why I still love even if I am not loved or misunderstood and even maligned; why I still go in living even if I am sure one day I shall die.
We live because we are loved by God.
Simply loved because he is love himself.
Not because we are good or does something important or fulfills his divine will.
God loves because it is his very essence as Moses reminds us in the first reading, “It was not because you are the largest of all nations that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you, for you are really the smallest of all nations. It was because the Lord loved you” (Dt.7:7-8).
Hence, John insists that in this is love – not that we loved God but that God loved us first. Our love for God and for one another is a response to his very love.
Would there be any difference at all to begin with God’s initiative rather than our own love?
Surely a lot. Even unthinkable to just rely on our own love and initiative because it is never enough for we humans are imperfect.
Human love is imperfect; only God can love us perfectly. That is why love is always initiated by God. We can’t love on our own. No matter how good and holy we may be. Mayroon palaging maisusumbat ating minamahal sa ating pagmamahal. Sa Diyos wala.
That is why I love the song Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now.
We humans are so miserable in loving but because of our loving God who is love himself, we are able to love, to keep on loving despite and in spite of everything because to live is to love. Jesus came so that we can continue to love, to keep loving even if the world tells us it is foolish. Even if people don’t care at all for us and do not love us as Morrissey sang it so well in the chorus of Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now:
In my life, why do I give valuable time To people who don't care if I live or die?
Very true – fascinatingly – is Morrissey’s third chorus line because he openly brings out the usual thoughts we hide in dealing with people we hate or do not like:
In my life, why do I smile At people who I'd much rather kick in the eye?
Funny is it not? But very true! And that’s because of God’s love in us, of his grace that despite the many people who hurt us and do not love us, we still choose to be loving and kind, at least smile at them than stoop down to their low levels.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart of Jesus Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
The feast of the Sacred Heart is an invitation to look at the heart of God – at what God most desires for us and for our world. It is not a sentimental image but a radical one: a love that goes all the way to the Cross.
God knows how miserable we are these days when things like positions and power, fame and wealth have become more important than persons to be loved and cared for. Despite the many technological advances we have achieved that promised to make life easier, the opposite proved to be more true. Life has been reduced to mere lifestyle, persons have become objects to be possessed by companies and brands, even by schools!
Today’s celebration of the Sacred Heart feast invites us to go back to Jesus who knows fully well our miseries; songs like Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now can identify and express them to offer respite for a while but only Jesus can uplift and change us for he alone truly loves us because he is love himself.
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Amid the many miseries we are all going through these days, let us take time today to respond to the love of Jesus Christ in the most honest and true ways that will make others experience his love. Many times, it is the simplest gesture of just being gentle with others in words and in deeds, of not adding to their many burdens in life. Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like yours! Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 10 June 2026 1 Kings 18:20-39 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 5:17-19
Photo by Ms. Analyn Dela Torre, Caypombo, Santa Maria, Bulacan, June 2024.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place (Matthew 5:17-18).
How funny it is, O god our loving Father long before all these gadgets came with its many apps needing constant updates, we have always been seeking "updates" on your laws too: your people turned away from you during the time of Elijah to follow Baal, a sort of "updating" themselves of the latest trends in life courtesy of the pagan queen, Jezebel.
And when her priests of Baal lost to the challenge of Elijah whose God can start fire on the offerings, the people fell and said, "The Lord is God! The Lord is God!"
Everyday we repeat that sin: we turn away from you to follow modern trends and beliefs but when troubles come, we then find your laws and teachings are indeed true and valid at all times; most of all, that salvation comes only from you in Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.
Forgive us, Lord, in turning away from you, in allowing ourselves to be deceived and misled by modern thoughts and ways of the world that come to us like updates in that fix bugs in our gadgets and apps; you sent your Son Jesus Christ not to update us on your laws but to fulfill them because they are perfect. Let that sink in us today: God fulfills laws into love, man updates programs and apps to fix errors and shortcomings. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time, 08 June 2026 1 Kings 17:1-6 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 5:1-12
Photo by author, St. Anthony de Padua Chapel, D’Alta Tagaytay, Tagaytay City, 02 June 2026.
Today we begin to listen anew to your wonderful story of love for your people Israel during the time of your great prophet Elijah, during the reign of your unfaithful King Ahab who married the pagan Jezebel; on this gloomy Monday, the setting is so unsettling even for us as you pronounced a severe drought over Israel for turning away from you, in worshipping Baal.
God, our Father, it is a story we keep on repeating: we have so many baals these days - from gadgets to every kind of foreign beliefs to celebrities and people we idolize down to our very selves with ego so bloated by social media; forgive us for turning away from you.
Many times, when troubles happen, we easily blame you, Lord for being too far from us when in fact we are the ones who always turn away from you.
Make these drought and dryness in our lives as grace-filled moments; lead us back to you even if we have to go through a desert like Elijah; most of all, lead us back to your word like a stream quenching our thirst, washing away our dirt, filling us with life.
Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the god of Israel, lives, whom I serve, during these years there shall be no dew or rain except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1).
Let us re + member you always, Lord: inasmuch as you have made us back as your part in Christ Jesus, let us not forget to make you a part also of our lives; give us the "be attitude" to be poor and open for you, Lord so that we may find life and fulfillment anew. Let us be near to you again, Lord. Amen.
Photo by author, St. Anthony de Padua Chapel, D’Alta Tagaytay, Tagaytay City, 02 June 2026.
Lord My Chef Wedding Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Homily for the Wedding of Luiz & Jana Aranda San Antonio de Padua Chapel, Alta D' Tagaytay Hotel, Tagaytay City 02 June 2026
Photo by author, St. Anthony de Padua Chapel, Alta D’Tagaytay Hotel, Tagaytay City, 02 June 2026.
Congratulations, Jana and Luiz! Finally, the day has come which we all waited for two years since you announced your plans of getting married. And of all present here today in this lovely chapel, Jesus is the most joyful of all.
Yes, Jana and Luiz: Jesus set aside this date of June two, 2026 in all eternity, not last year or next year, yesterday or tomorrow. Jesus set this date apart for you Jana and Luiz to make you “part” of each other as husband and wife – magkataling puso, magkabiyak.
Our first reading from Genesis tells us how God after creating the first man said, “it is not good for man to be alone…. let us create a suitable partner for him.”
I love that word “partner” from the root “part” which we call as bahagi and kabiyak in Filipino. Every whole is made up of a part; without a part, there is no whole.
That is what marriage is all about. As a sacrament or visible sign of Christ’s saving presence, marriage is two people – a man and woman becoming one, becoming a whole in Jesus.
Photo by author, St. Anthony de Padua Chapel, Alta D’Tagaytay Hotel, Tagaytay City, 02 June 2026.
Long before you met each other at 7-11 near Capitol Medical Center where you both worked as nurses, long before you were finally introduced to each other during a badminton game in 2017, when God created you Luiz, he said “it is not good for Luiz to be alone…let us create a suitable partner for him”.
And not just suitable partner, a very lovely one – Jana!
Of course, there are no perfect couples nor perfect marriage but every wedding like this is made in heaven because it is God who calls and brings together every man and woman to become husband and wife.
A couple becomes suitable partner for each other the moment they started dreaming of getting married, of spending one’s life someday with another person even they have not met yet. Any one who makes that vision of sharing his or her life with a beloved automatically becomes a suitable partner.
Kaya always have vision in life, Jana and Luiz.
Having a vision is looking beyond one’s self, looking beyond the present moment, and looking beyond material things. Most of all, having a vision is finding Jesus Christ in your lives always, Jana and Luiz because he was the one who really made ways for you to meet and finally become a part of each other in marriage.
Hindi ba Luiz?
Kaya nga walang kang isinama na iba nang manood kayo ng UST-FEU game noong 2017 UAAP season kahit na usapan ay magsama ka dapat ng ibang friends kasi noon pa lang feel mo na si Jana yung hinahanap mong maging part ng iyong sarili.
Kaya maski na ikaw ay FEU graduate, ipinadama mo kaagad kay Jana na graduate ng UST na part siya ng buhay mo kaya nag-cheer ka sa Tigers, hindi sa Tamaraw. At maski panalo kayo ng FEU sa game noon, pinili mong samahan ang pagdadalamhati ni Jana at marami pang taga-USTe para ipakita mo sa kanya na lalo’t higit sa gayong pagkakataon, ikaw ay bahagi – parte – sa kanyang kalungkutan.
At na-feel mo rin iyon, Jana.
At natiyak mo na si Luiz ang part ng buhay mo nang kahit hindi mo siya kaagad sinagot noon, hindi siya nagbago ng pagtingin at respeto sa iyo. Patuloy ka niyang niligawan, sinuyo at sinamahan sa lahat ngn pagkakataon upang madama mo na bahagi ka ng buhay niya. Palagi kang kasali hindi lang sa mga jokes at kuwento ni Luiz kungdi pati sa kanyang mga baon pagkain!
Hindi nagtagal, napasuko ng Tamaraw ang Tiger at naging kayo na noong January 2, 2018 matapos ninyong mag-usap pagkapanood ng “Coco.”
Hindi na ninyo maikaila pareho na kulang kayo kapag wala ang isa’t isa.
Photo by author, St. Anthony de Padua Chapel, Alta D’Tagaytay Hotel, Tagaytay City, 02 June 2026.
Lalo ito naging maliwanag sa inyong dalawa nang mag-COVID pandemic noong 2020: noon mo nadama Jana na nabubuo ka lang kay Luiz na tunay namang ipinadama sa iyo na ikaw ay bahagi na ng buhay niya. At pati ng kanyang pamilya nang kupkupin ka niya na bahay nila lumagi sa gitna ng maraming panganib at hirap ng panahon ng COVID.
You have always been a part of each other, Jana and Luiz. As well as your moms and siblings. Then, in God’s mysterious ways, you both got accepted to work at UK at the same time and the more you realized and felt each other as a part of each one. Most of all, that everything is a part of God’s plan.
Don’t stop in being a part of each other.
Most of all, inasmuch as you invited Jesus into your wedding today, make him a part of your daily life as husband and wife. Remember that Jesus is in your midst always – not in front, not at the back. Between the two of you so that whatever you do to each other, you do it first to Jesus.
Like in our gospel today.
Photo by author, St. Anthony de Padua Chapel, Alta D’Tagaytay Hotel, Tagaytay City, 02 June 2026.
How lovely to think that the first miracle of Jesus happened not in a temple nor a synagogue but in a wedding feast at Cana. the Sacrament of Matrimony is not everything and I assure you Jana and Luiz, a lot of difficulties would come along your way especially when you have children, when you get old and sick.
But, do not be afraid. You always have Jesus by your side to bless you and keep your love alive as you hurdle life’s many challenges.
Luiz when you work hard and stay faithful to Jana, you first work hard and stay faithful to Jesus. Same with you Jana: when you are loving and sweet to Luiz, you are first sweet and loving to Jesus. But, the moment you hurt each other with lies and infidelities, it is Jesus whom you first hurt.
Tuwing nagkakasal ako, mayroon akong tanong: sino ang unang babati kapag nag-away ang mag-asawa?
Sabi sa akin ng iba, iyon daw may kasalanan pero, mayroon kayang aamin sa dalawa ng kasalanan? Sabi naman ng karamihan, dapat daw lalake ang unang bumati pero hindi ba palaging sinasabi, ladies first?
I don’t want to put you on the spot, Luiz and Jana.
My take on this is simple: when couples and lovers have LQ or even friends have tampuhan blues, the one with most love to give is always the first to make the move for peace and reconciliation. Ang may higit na pagmamahal ang siyang unang babati.
Photo by author, St. Anthony de Padua Chapel, Alta D’Tagaytay Hotel, Tagaytay City, 02 June 2026.
That is why, let me close this homily with a simple request to you Jana and Luiz: please “delete” from your mind, from your consciousness that concept of “dasurv.”
It seems our society these days is afflicted with this disease of asserting each one of “deserving” a reward for various reasons. The moment we assert that we “dasurv” this or that because we worked hard or whatever, that is the time we become selfish, self-centered, and conceited.
When we insist on deserving something more, we forget our being a part of the whole.
When a husband or a wife claims to deserve something more, he or she then forgets his or her part-ner. We do not deserve anything at all in this life. Whatever we have is because of Jesus who made us deserving as you have realized in your life journey, Jana and Luiz.
Thank you for inviting us all to be a part of your wedding day. For our part, we promise to pray for you always that God may bless you abundantly with his grace of love and joy, kindness and mercy. Amen.
Photo by author, Taal Lake from St. Anthony de Padua Chapel, Alta D’Tagaytay Hotel, Tagaytay City, 02 June 2026.
Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Solemnity of the Holy Trinity-A, 31 May 2026 Exodus34:4-6, 8-9 ><}}}*> 2Corinthians13:11-13 ><}}}*> John 3:16-18
Photo by author, Dolmabahce Palace, Istanbul, Turkiye, November 2026.
“Life is a mystery.” It is the favorite expression of my Jesuit retreat master during our 30-day retreat in Cebu 1995, the late Fr. Arthur Shea. He would always tell me “life is a mystery” while touching his long, white beard whenever he could not answer my many questions about life and God.
After that retreat and 28 years later as a priest, it had become my favorite expression too not only when I could not find answers to my own questions but when people come to consult and ask me on almost everything.
Photo by author, Dolmabahce Palace, Istanbul, Turkiye, November 2026.
And thank God for life’s many mysteries, especially his very own mystery of being one God in Three Persons as we celebrate this Sunday the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity.
The word mystery is from the Greek mysterion, something hidden but now revealed by God.
While it is true that a mystery is beyond human reason because it is divine, it may still be explained and understood though not fully. That is why it is described as non-logical or beyond reason but not illogical which lacks reason.
Most of all, a mystery is not a problem to be solved because it simply cannot be solved at all. In fact, we need to keep mysteries like secrets because mysteries give meaning and depth to our very existence, to our lives. In this age of social media when everyone thinks that everything needs to be shown to the point of being overexposed, life has become so artificial and hence, for many, empty of meaning. Unknown to many of us, the most wonderful things in life are those hidden and not seen by everyone like the mystery of God within us!
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life (John 3:16).
Photo by author, Dolmabahce Palace, Istanbul, Turkiye, November 2026.
Our gospel this Sunday is very amusing like a mystery in itself; it is the shortest one we have in the entire year yet the most popular verse in the whole bible. But, how can it explain or enlighten us of God’s oneness in three persons?
As we have expressed at the very start, a mystery is not meant to be solved and explained but experienced. Our gospel is not even trying to prove to us about the existence of God because in our very being, it is already a given there is God. God does not prove himself but always shows himself.
Recall that it was taken from the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, a Pharisee who felt drawn to the Lord but was so ashamed to be seen by his fellow Jews that he came to visit him at night. We are all like Nicodemus “feeling” God so true deep within us but often afraid to accept it or even show it for fears of being called as old-fashioned and conservative or someone less scientific, less reasonable and less modern.
Photo by author, Dolmabahce Palace, Istanbul, Turkiye, November 2026.
In that gospel scene, Jesus was inviting Nicodemus to enter into a relationship with him to fully experience God’s mystery because at that time, they tried explaining God like a concept to be learned and even memorized through their many laws and instructions. Unlike the Pharisees, Jesus simply taught Nicodemus that basic truth of God who “so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.“
Nicodemus eventually became a disciple of Jesus along with another Pharisee named Joseph of Arimathea who gave Christ’s burial site on Good Friday.
A mystery is a mystery because it is shared. It is nothing if it is merely in itself.
We are intrigued with stories and reports because they create relationships in us and with us. That is why God in himself as a mystery is a community of persons. Person implies relationship, taken from the Latin word persona which is the mask worn by stage actors/actresses to indicate their roles in a play or drama; hence, the term dramatis personae or list of actors in a play and their roles.
To a certain sense, there are three persons or personae, that is, “roles” in our God as we profess in our Creed: the Father as Creator of everything, the Son as the Savior, and the Holy Spirit as the Sanctifier. With God, his persona is eternal while ours like in drama or play, it is temporary.
The more we enter into relationships, the more we relate with other persons, the more we discover the many mysteries of this life and of God while realizing too in the process that we can only relate with persons and not with things nor even plants and animals. This is the gist of the similarly brief second reading from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, telling us to be close with one another as the Father’s children in Christ through the Holy Spirit. In sending us Jesus Christ his Son, God took the initiative to be closest to us as our breath in the Holy Spirit.
Photo by author, Dolmabahce Palace, Istanbul, Turkiye, November 2026.
Every time we think of God, when we marvel at him and his creations, the more we find ourselves so different, even too distant from him while at the same time we also feel and experience in the most unique manner how closest we are to him.
Imagine this another great mystery of God that despite our sinfulness and worthlessness, he still so loved us and always caring for us. Like Moses in the first reading, we have experienced many times in life when God seemed to have actually walked beside us, even carried us during our lowest moments that in an instance we realized quickly the many “whys” he deals with us in life. We learn that God is so true and so close with us yet, remains the “All-Other” and the “Unknowable” whose mystery we cannot totally penetrate.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.
As we move on in life, we realize it is not about covering distances but going deeper within ourselves, of being transformed into better selves and persons like God, loving and merciful. Eventually we realize too that each one of us is in fact an indwelling of the Holy Trinity, an image and likeness of God himself. This we can easily learn through our most basic and simple prayer of all, the Sign of the Cross that many of us take for granted.
Every time we make the sign of the Cross properly, that is when we let God embrace us and wrap us with his mysteries.
In the sign of the Cross, God comes closest to us in our very selves, relating to us in our head being the Father who is over and above us always, the creator of everything; as the Son who became human like us born by the Virgin Mary passing through her womb, experiencing everything we went through except sin; and as the Holy Spirit on our shoulders giving us balance in this life. Next Sunday, we shall deepen this mystery of God in three Persons in ourselves with the solemnity of Christ’s Body and Blood we receive in the Holy Eucharist. Amen. Have a blessed week filled with God’s wonderful mysteries!
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Eighth Week, Memorial of St. Paul VI, Pope, 29 May 2026 1 Peter 4:7-13 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Mark 11:11-25
Photo by author, 05 May 2019, Jerusalem, Israel.
As we come to nearly closing the month of May, your Prince of Apostles, St. Peter leaves us with beautiful reminders so timely and appropriate in this period of darkness and evil:
Beloved: The end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be serious and sober-minded so that you will be able to pray. Above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins (1Peter 4:7-8).
How lovely, how powerful, and so true are your words to us today through St. Peter: we are living at the end of all things and still, here we are living as if there is no end, as if there is no death, as if there is no judgment.
We have become so bad, so dismal is the world like that fig tree you have cursed, Lord Jesus: so delightful in the eyes but fruitless like us, especially the rich and powerful among us like our lawmakers and public officials so affluent, dressed in fineries without any benefit at all for the society they have abused; oh yes, even our church is like the temple of Jerusalem that has become a den of thieves than a house of prayer when priests and bishops are more concerned with money and clout, with self, leaving You Jesus trapped inside the Tabernacle.
Teach us conversion, Jesus: give us strength and will to turn away from evil, to closely examine our selves for all our sins when we have refused to love; love can truly cover a multitude of sins because when we truly love, that is when we turn away from sin, when we return to You, Jesus found in the least and taken for granted among us; may our love for You through one another be constant because wherever there is love, there is God; when there is love, there is no sin.
May we be witnesses of Your love dear Jesus in this world so wounded by sins and evil; like your servant Pope St. Paul VI, may we witness Your love in our daily lives caring for those in the margins, for those sufferings and especially for those who are weak. Amen.
Photo by author, May 2017, in Ein Karem, Israel near the Church of the Visitation.
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