40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Feast of St. Peter's Chair, 22 February 2024 1 Peter 5:1-4 <*{{{{>< + + + ><}}}}*> Matthew 16:13-19
Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, 2018.
My Lord Jesus, on this Feast of St. Peter's Chair when the Church's authority especially of the Pope and bishops is put into question, even challenged, you remind us also your priests that “the primacy of Peter symbolized by his chair atop the magnificent altar at the Vatican is the primacy of faith and the primacy of love” (Pope Benedict XVI, "Images of Hope", Ignatius Press, 2006).
These beautiful words by your servant Pope Benedict XVI remind us too that discipleship and life itself are about where we stand not about where we are seated; make us realize, dear Jesus, that like St. Peter and all the saints who served you faithfully in love, we need to make a stand as witnesses of your gospel values of love and justice, mercy and kindness; no one can truly be your disciple nor be fruitful in life by remaining seated comfortably by the roadside; let us do our mission not profession, be concerned with persons not programs, focused on ministry and services not in perks and positions. May we remain standing by your Cross, Jesus, even when the world prefers to avoid pains and sufferings, sacrifices and sharing, inefficiencies and waiting. Amen.
Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, 2018.
Forty Days of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Ash Wednesday, 14 February 2024 Joel 2:12-18 + 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 + Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
Illustration from Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, 14 February 2018.
This is not the first time that Valentine’s Day falls on Ash Wednesday, the start of the holy season of Lent of 40 days before Holy Week in preparation for Easter. The last time they coincided was in February 14, 2018.
Actually, there is no problem at all with both happening together on the same date. Both celebrations have the heart as its focus, inviting us to examine how much love we have in our hearts, because, ultimately when we die and face God our Creator, He will judge us on how truly we have loved while here on earth.
And because they both speak of love, Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day confront the reality of death.
Ash Wednesday reminds us that we all die which is the meaning of the imposition of the ash on our foreheads while the priest says, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” But, we do not merely die and end life on earth. Notice how the ashes imposed on us are shaped as cross because Ash Wednesday assures us that we die in the love of Jesus Christ our Savior who leads us into eternal life.
Meanwhile, Valentine’s reminds us of our undying love for those bonds of love we make throughout our lives as lovers, friends, and admirers. Lovers and couples pledge – with or without God – their love for each other “til death do us part.” Anyone who truly loves and had truly loved knows that death is love’s final test. And the whole world is filled with so many beautiful stories and magnificent buildings and structures that remind of us one’s undying love like the Taj Mahal in India.
Therefore, today is a wonderful celebration, an amazing juxtaposition of the sacred Ash Wednesday and the secular Valentine’s Day on this February 14 so that we may purify the love in our hearts, that our love is not merely expressed in words but most especially in deeds.
From Sisters of Providence of Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods.
For his Lenten Message this year, the Holy Father had chosen the theme of freedom in his reflection by going back to the Exodus experience of the Israelites. Indeed, love and freedom go together. Always.
Lent is the season of grace in which the desert can become once more – in the words of the prophet Hosea – the place of our first love (cf. Hos 2:16-17). God shapes his people, he enables us to leave our slavery behind and experience a Passover from death to life. Like a bridegroom, the Lord draws us once more to himself, whispering words of love to our hearts.
Pope Francis, “Through the Desert God Leads Us to Freedom” (Lent 2024)
Love is most true when there is freedom. We cannot truly love if we are not free. And the more we love, the more we are free, that is, free to love, free to be caring, free to be kind, free to be honest and true, free to be sincere.
From simchafisher.com.
Remember your first crush or your first love. Amid all the exciting feelings and “kilig moments” we have had every time our eyes met those of our crush or when our skin touched each other, one thing we always made sure was to keep it a secret.
During our time, it was imperative that we boys and men keep our feelings to our selves about our crush and love interests because, the moment our love, our feelings are made known, problems happen. Everyone in the class or barkada starts teasing, making us unnatural in our words and actions as they dictate us on what to do and what to say. Our crush or beloved then gets irritated and uncomfortable with all the attention she gets not really from us but from every Maritess and Marisol around!
I have realized later in life that when something so deep is so true, most often we treasure it in our hearts, keeping it in secret not for anything else but to make it grow and mature. In this case, into selfless love. People who brag their love or crush or just everything in life are often the most untrue and unfree. Everything is just a show or palabas for them, a front that is not real which is what we see on social media. Jesus tells us true love that is free is something more of the inside than of the outside appearances:
Jesus said to his disciples: ”Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you… When you pray do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogue and on street corners so that others may see them… When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites… your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
Matthew 6:1-2, 5, 16, 18
Photo by author, Our Lady of Fatima University-Laguna, 19 January 2024.
Love and freedom go together. Love grows and deepens only when there is freedom because love is a grace from God that naturally flows out from us, from our being. There is no need to make noise about it or be dramatic for everyone to see. Just let your love flow as the song from the 1970’s said.
When we “manipulate” our love, we become self-conscious instead of being mutual. Love is always other centered as the late American Trappist monk Thomas Merton said, “the sign that we truly love is when we love somebody more than ourselves.” When we have so much of ourselves, when we are selfish, that is when we reject God and eventually others. That is why every sin is essentially a refusal to love which bothers us inside as we feel guilty and become unfree to be who we are, beloved and loving.
Lent invites us to love and be free through conversion, a turning of our hearts away from the wrong loves we have pursued and led us to loneliness, emptiness, and sadness within. Love and freedom come from within our hearts where God dwells; hence, the call of the Prophet Joel to turn our hearts back to God:
Photo by author, Lent 2019.
“Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God.”
Joel 2:12-13
To speak of the heart is to speak of the whole person whose only fulfillment is found in God. A heart that is far from God is a person separated not only from God but also from others, even from himself. Only a heart that is inclined to God is able to truly love and be truly free. A heart without God is a heart without love, a heart that is not free because it had gone cold and dead.
Conversion then leads us to reconciliation, to being one again in God in Jesus Christ as St. Paul admonished in the second reading, “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). To be reconciled with God is to be one with Him in our hearts through prayer, almsgiving, and fasting that are the hallmarks of the Season of Lent that lead us to true freedom that deepens our love for God and others.
Prayer enables us to pause and regain our freedom to examine our real selves, of how truly free are we especially in this world when there are so many voices dictating us on everything that have left us alienated, lost, and confused within.
Almsgiving sets us free from greed and helps us regard our neighbors as brothers and sisters. It deepens our love for God because our daily encounters with those who beg for our help point us to God Himself who provides us with everything we need.
Fasting on the other hand weakens our tendency to be self-centered, “disarming” us of our false selves, removing the masks we put to impress others so that we can grow and mature as it makes us more attentive to God and others.
As we begin our 40 days of Lent today, let us journey into our hearts and into the heart of God so we can truly be free to love like Jesus Christ His Son who died on the Cross on Good Friday.
Ash Wednesday on a Valentine’s Day is the perfect reminder to us all that the Cross is the best expression of love symbolized by the heart that is free and willing to suffer and die for a beloved. May we “not receive the grace of God in vain” (2 cor. 6:1). Amen. Have a blessed week ahead.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 13 February 2024 James 1:12-18 <*((((>< + ><))))*> + <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 8:14-21
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, at Bgy. Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 2023.
On this eve of Ash Wednesday, help us, dear God, to prepare for a meaningful start tomorrow of our Lenten journey of 40 days to Easter; banish from our minds and hearts all thoughts and apprehensions about the coming days of fasting and abstinence, prayers and penance, and alms-giving; forgive us, Father, when our attention goes to the details and technicalities of Lent that we set aside the most essential which is to return to you - our very first love.
Enlighten our minds and our hearts, Father in your Son Jesus Christ, to understand fully the meaning of Lent which is having less of ourselves and of the world to have more of you and of the Spirit; until now, we have not yet understood Christ's coming and teachings as we are still bothered by our scarcity and poverty, never comprehending at all how despite the affluence and abundance of material things these days, the more we have become empty and lost in life.
When he became aware of this he said to them, “Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?” They answered him, “Twelve.” When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did younpick up?” They answered him, “Seven.” He said to them, “Do you not still understand?”
Mark 8:17-21
Worst, we got it all wrong that our sinful temptations are from God, not realizing these come from our own worldly desires.
Rather, each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his desire. Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death. do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters: all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.
James 1:14-17
On this Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, we pray, O God, for us to understand the sources of temptations and sins within us; give us the courage and strength to confront our true selves, to be sincere before you so that we may be transformed into your image and likeness that Christ had restored in us. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 07 February 2024 1 Kings 10:1-10 <*((((>< + ><))))*> + <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 7:14-23
Photo by Ms. Analyn Dela Torre at Caypombo, Santa Maria, Bulacan, 04 February 2024.
I wonder, God our dear Father, what did the Queen of Sheba ask King Solomon when she visited him that she was so convinced that indeed he was a man of great wisdom? Did she ask Solomon of the Big Bang Theory and everything before history? The evolution of humans and theodicy? Or, did she ask him if the world was flat or round?
The scriptures tell us nothing except that...
When the queen of Sheba witnessed Solomon’s great wisdom, the palace he had built, the food at his table, the seating of his ministers, the attendance and garb of his waiters, his banquet service, and the burnt offerings he offered in the temple of the Lord, she was breathless.
1 Kings 10:4-5
You are a God of order and balance, of fairness and justice, of beauty and majesty, O Lord; these are the attributes of a magnificent palace, of exquisite cuisine, of men and women of great bearing as guests and servants that the Queen of Sheba had noticed that impressed her so much of Solomon's wisdom.
Most of all, the spiritual maturity of Solomon that in his worship, the Queen of Sheba was so impressed and left breathless!
Therefore, what made Solomon so wise, what is true wisdom?
It is this, O Lord which we also pray you grant us to be like King Solomon: perfect our faith in you, most loving God, that we may learn to value those things we believe through faith, starting with you in Christ Jesus right here in our hearts; let your grace and wisdom O Lord flow out like streams from our heart, out to our mouth and into our arms and limbs, into our whole person in loving service to others. Amen.
Photo by Ms. Analyn Dela Torre at Caypombo, Santa Maria, Bulacan, 04 February 2024.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 04 February 2024
Photo by author, Our Lady of Fatima University-Laguna Campus in Sta. Rosa, 19 February 2024.
Our gospel this Sunday speaks a lot about the importance of person-to-person communication, of the healing wonders of the sense of touch and its deeper implications in our relationships when Jesus healed the mother-in-law of Simon Peter.
On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.
Mark 1:29-31
See how the evangelist narrated in details the healing by Jesus who “approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up.” More than the actual touching and face-to-face or actual encounter, the scene speaks so well of deep personal relationships among us. That is why we have chosen Rupert Holmes’ 1976 single Touch and Go.
Nobody said that Life is always fair Sometimes it clips your wings While you’re in mid-air But there’s a thread Between your life and mine And when you’re losin’ hope This rope won’t unwind
REFRAIN: Hold on tight ‘Cause life is touch and go It’s sink and swim But never doubt If you’re out on a limb I’ll get the call To break your fall I’ll never leave you Even when life Is touch and go Or hit and run We’ll never break If we take it as one I’m here to stay, I pray you know I’ll never touch I’ll never touch and go
Someday you’ll find There’s nothin’ in the night That wasn’t there before You turned out the light Straight from your mind The monster ‘neath your bed The voices in the hall They’re all in your head
A gifted musician with a knack in story-telling, Holmes’ songs are always imbued with his deep insights about life he had gathered from ordinary experiences like his earlier hit Terminal (1974) and his two hit singles Escape (The Piña Colada Song) in 1979 and Him in 1980. These three are all dashed with humor that can tickle our bones but disturb our conscience too.
In Touch and Go, Holmes goes philosophical, sounding a bit like Job in today’s first reading of how life can sometimes be unfair that “Sometimes it clips your wings while you’re on mid-air” while assuring his beloved of his deep love and dedication that no matter what happens, he would always be there by her side to save her.
That is exactly what Jesus tells us in the gospel this Sunday, of how he would always approach us, grasp our hand and help us up when we are down. The question is, are we in touch with Jesus too? Or, we always go and leave him especially when things are doing great in our lives?
If us humans like Holmes can boldly assure our beloved of always being there, of being in touch and connected especially in times of trials and sufferings, all the more is Jesus Christ who had come to empower us by connecting us with God and one another always in loving service (https://lordmychef.com/2024/02/03/real-power-empowers/).
It is a Sunday. Don’t forget to celebrate Mass or go to your places of worship to get in touch with God and with others in your community. Here is Rupert Holmes to help you chill more on this cool February Sunday amidst life’s many “touch and go, sink and swim” situations.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Feast of the Sto. Niño, Cycle B, 21 January 2024 Isaiah 9:1-6 ><}}}*> Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-18 ><}}}*> Mark 10:13-16
Photo by Ms. Anne Ramos, 22 March 2020 in Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria,Bulacan during our “libot” of the Blessed Sacrament at the start of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Our Lord Jesus Christ’s attitude to children is perfectly clear in our gospel this Sunday, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it” (Mk 10:15).
Being like a child is actually the main teaching of Jesus Christ who came to us precisely as one. Right at his infancy like most babies these days, Jesus faced a lot of great risks of being harmed or even getting killed.
See how Jesus insisted in all his teachings on this need to become like a child, to go back to one’s beginnings in order to get into God’s kingdom which is actually him, his very person. Keep in mind that the kingdom of God is not a territorial domain but the very person of Jesus Christ himself. It is from this fact we realize that being a child as taught by Jesus is a mystery that can never be explained nor solved in our minds and mental faculties. This we find in that occasion when Nicodemus, a Pharisee, came to Jesus hiding in the darkness of the night to discuss the kingdom of God. When Jesus told him of the need to be born from above (or, be born again in earlier translations) which is to become like a child, he thought it to be in the literal manner.
Jesus chided Nicodemus by saying, “You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this?” (Jn. 3:9-10). It was not sarcasm nor an insult by Jesus but a clarification to everyone including us today that being a child to enter the kingdom of God is a mystery we have to embrace and experience and feel in the heart not deduced in the mind.
And this is exactly what the Feast of the Sto. Niño is all about that we celebrate every third Sunday in January.
The Vatican has given us this special celebration as an extension of the Christmas season in recognition of the great role played by the image of Sto. Niño Magellan gifted Queen Juana of Cebu in 1521.
After leaving our shores after Magellan was killed in Mactan, the Spaniards returned in 1565 under Miguel Lopez de Legazpi to claim our islands for the King of Spain. Upon their arrival in Cebu, they found the Sto. Niño enshrined in a house of worship prominently displayed as the main God of the natives along with their other idols and gods. Historians say the people of Cebu during those years between 1521 to 1565 have found the Sto. Niño as the most powerful and effective in granting their prayers for children (fertility), rains and bountiful harvests that rightly it was the Sto. Niño who actually conquered the Philippines that we have become the only Christian nation in this part of the world. In those 44 years after Magellan and his men left the Philippines, the Sto. Niño had remained and stayed with the natives keeping them safe and secured all those years until the Spaniards returned to be colonized through Legazpi.
What a beautiful imagery of the Sto. Niño staying behind with our forefathers conquering them not with swords nor force but with love and mercy, and youthfulness of the Child Jesus!
Recall how last Sunday we have reflected the words stay and remain when Andrew asked Jesus where he was staying: to stay, to dwell mean more than its spatial nature as a place or location but also in a deeper sense, a communion. It is in dwelling in Jesus who is the kingdom of God that we belong, we become a part of that kingdom.
When Jesus spoke of “being born from above” to Nicodemus, he was not only referring to the Sacrament of Baptism but to the very fact how he as the Christ from the very start has always dwelled and remained in the Father.
Three days after being found in the temple in Jerusalem when Jesus was 12 years old, he told Mary his Mother, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”(Lk.2:49). What a beautiful expression of that union in “being in my Father’s house” to show us this mystery of Jesus being like a child, the Son of God who has remained the Father’s beloved One into his adulthood because he had always been in union with the Father. Jesus is inseparable from the Father because he himself takes abode and dwelling in God.
“The Finding of the Savior at the Temple” painting by William Holman Hunt (1860) from en.wikipedia.org.
When Jesus was approaching his Passion and Death, he repeatedly told everyone how everything he had said and done were not his but his Father’s to indicate his communion and union in him. Ultimately there on the Cross, his final words expressed the same truth that he is the Son of God obedient unto death especially when he called out, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Lk.23:46).
Therefore, to accept and welcome a child in Jesus’ name is not just an act of charity nor of a simple finding of Jesus among children. It is ultimately being one, of remaining in the Father because Jesus also said “whoever welcomes such a child in my name, welcomes me” (Mt 18:5).
Photo by author, 2022.
That is why the kingdom of God is for those who are like children always one with God like Jesus.
To be a child is to remain in God, to always love expressed in kindness and care for others especially the weak, being forgiving and merciful and compassionate with those lost like the Father.
To be like a child is being a light who brightens the life of others just like a babies whose very sight and smiles can ease our pains and sorrows, giving us the much needed boost to forge on in life. We are filled with hope whenever we encounter or see infants because they remind us too of God dwelling in them, of a God who assures and ensures us with s bright future.
This the reason we have in our first reading that part of the Book of Isaiah we heard proclaimed on Christmas day to remind us that Jesus is the light born on the darkest night of the year to illumine our lives and the world darkened by sins and evil like wars, poverty, and diseases. We see light in being like a child because that is when we are one in the Father too in being like a child.
Let me cite again that beautiful movie Firefly where the main character, the child named Tonton loved his mother so much that he totally believed her stories that sent him into a journey to search for the magical island filled with fireflies. Tonton dwelled in his mother’s love that he eventually found the magical island with the many fireflies that in the process also brought light into the darkness within the three adults he befriended in the bus going to Bicol.
Many times in my ministry as chaplain in our hospital, I have seen the great powers within every child – of how a sick baby, a sick child could send his/her parents to summon all their faith in God to heal them, to save them.
Listen to the stories of those who join the Traslacion every year in Quiapo: most of them had their panata borne out of answered prayers for their sick children. Every parent knows it so well how they have moved mountains and did the most extraordinary for the sake of their infants and children.
That is the mystery of the kingdom of God belonging to children when God gives us every spiritual blessing we need to achieve the impossible (second reading) to become like children by remaining in God as the only power and salvation in this life.
Be with a child, stay with a child and you shall find God’s kingdom.
Be like a child and you shall experience the kingdom of God! Amen. Have a blessed week ahead!
Lawiswis Ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-12 ng Enero 2024 Homilya sa Kasal ng Inaanak ko sa binyag, Lorenz, kay Charmaine Simbahan ni San Agustin, Intramuros, Maynila
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, 2019.
Sigurado ako na alam na ninyong lahat, lalo na ng mga Gen Z dito, iyong trending sa social media na post ng isang dilag nang malaman niyang 299-pesos ang halaga ng engagement ring na binigay sa kanya ng boyfriend niya ng walong taon na nabili sa Shopee.
Kasing ingay ng mga paputok ng Bagong Taon ang talakayan noon sa social media hanggang sa naging isang katatawanan o meme ang naturang post gaya ng halos lahat ng nagiging viral. Sari-sari ang mga kuro-kuro at pananaw ng mga netizens, mahuhusay ang kanilang paglalahad, seryoso man o pabiro. Mayroong mga kumampi sa babae habang ang ilan naman ay naghusga sa kanya at sa boyfriend niya.
Hindi ko naman nasundan ang post na iyan. Katunayan, inalam ko lamang iyon kamakailan upang pagnilayan para sa homilya ko sa inyong kasal ngayong hapong ito, Lorenz at Charmaine.
At ito lang masasabi ko sa inyo: ang pag-aasawa ay tungkol sa kuwento ng pag-ibig, hindi ng kuwenta sa mga naibigay, materyal man o espiritwal.
Larawan mula sa YouTube.com
Maliwanag sa ating ebanghelyo na ang pag-aasawa ay kuwento ng pag-ibig ng Diyos sa atin. Maniwala kayo Lorenz at Charmaine, Diyos ang nagtakda ng araw na ito ng inyong kasal. Hindi kahapon o bukas, at hindi rin noong isang taon gaya ng una ninyong plano. Iyan ang sinabi sa atin ni San Pablo sa Unang Pagbasa:
“Kung ang Diyos ay panig sa atin, sino ang laban sa atin? Walang makapaghihiwalay sa atin sa pag-ibig ng Diyos – pag-ibig na ipinadama niya sa atin sa pamamagitan ni Cristo Jesus na ating Panginoon.”
Roma 8:31, 39
Higit sa lahat, batid ninyong pareho sa inyong kuwento ng buhay kung paanong ang Diyos ang kumilos upang sa kabila ng magkaiba ninyong mga karanasan, pinagtagpo pa rin kayo ng Diyos, pinapanatili at higit sa lahat, ngayon ay pinagbubuklod sa Sakramento ng Kasal ngayong hapon.
Sa tuwing pinag-uusapan ninyo ang inyong kuwento ng buhay, palaging naroon din ang inyong kuwento ng pag-ibig maging sa iba’t ibang karanasan – matatamis at mapapait minsa’y mapakla at maisim marahil pero sa kabuuan, masarap ang inyong kuwento, hindi ba? Ilang beses ba kayong nag-away… at nagbati pa rin?
Humanga nga ako sa inyo pareho, lalo na sa iyo Lorenz. Ipinagmamalaki ko na inaanak kita kasi ikaw pala ay dakilang mangingibig. Hindi mo alintana ang nakaraan ni Charmaine. Katulad mo ay si San Jose nang lalo mo pang minahal si Charmaine at ang mga mahal niya! Wala sa iyo ang nakaraang kuwento ng buhay ni Charmaine dahil ang pinahalagahan mo ay ang kuwentong hinahabi ninyong pareho ngayon. Bihira na iyan at maliwanag na ito ay kuwento ng pag-ibig ng Diyos sa inyo.
Paghanga at pagkabighani naman aking naramdaman sa iyo, Charmaine. Higit sa iyong kagandahan Charmaine ay ang busilak ng iyong puso at budhi. Wala kang inilihim kay Lorenz. Naging totoo ka sa kanya mula simula. Higit sa lahat, naging bukas ang isip at puso mo sa kabila ng iyong unang karanasan upang pagbigyan ang umibig muli. At hindi ka nabigo.
Kaya nga Lorenz at Charmaine, ipagpatuloy ninyo ang kuwento ng inyong pag-ibig sa isa’t isa na mula sa Diyos.
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, 2017 sa Israel.
Kapag mahal mo ang isang tao, lagi mong kinakausap. Marami kang kuwento. At handa kang makinig kahit paulit-ulit ang kuwento kasi mahal mo siya. At kung mahal ninyo ang Diyos, palagi din kayong makikipag-kuwentuhan sa kanya sa pagdarasal at pagsisimba.
Palagi ninyong isama sa buhay ninyo tulad sa araw na ito ang Diyos na pumili sa inyo. Wika ng Panginoong Jesus sa ating ebanghelyo, “Manatili kayo sa aking pag-ibig upang makahati kayo sa kagalakan ko at malubos ang inyong kagalakan” (Jn.15:9, 11).
Hindi pagkukuwenta ang pag-aasawa. Hindi lamang pera at mga gastos ang kinukuwenta. Huwag na huwag ninyong gagawing mag-asawa ang magkuwentahan ng inyong naibigay o tinanggap na ano pa man sapagkat ang pag-aasawa ay hindi paligsahan o kompetisyon ng mga naibigay at naidulot. Hindi ito labanan ng sino ang higit na nagmamahal. Kaya, huwag kayong magkukwentahan, magbibilangan ng pagkukulang o ng pagpupuno sa isa’t-isa.
Basta magmahal lang kayo ng magmahal nang hindi humahanap ng kapalit dahil ang pag-aasawa ay ang pagbibigay ng buong sarili sa kabiyak upang mapanatili inyong kabuuan.
Paano ba nalalaman ng mga bata kung magkaaway ang tatay at nanay?
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, 2019.
Kapag hindi sila nag-uusap. Kapag ang mag-asawa o mag-irog o maging magkakaibigan ay hindi nag-uusap ni hindi nagkikibuan, ibig sabihin mayroong tampuhan o alitan. Walang pag-ibig, walang ugnayan, walang usapan.
Kaya nga kapag nag-away ang mag-asawa, sino ang dapat maunang bumati o kumibo? Sabi ng iba yung daw lalake kasi lalake ang una palagi. Akala ko ba ay ladies first? Sabi ng ilan, kung sino daw may kasalanan. E, may aamin ba sa mag-asawa kung sino may kasalanan?
Ang tumpak na kasagutan ay kung sino mayroong higit na pagmamahal, siyang maunang kumibo at bumati dahil ang pag-aasawa ay paninindigang piliin na mahalin at mahalin pa rin araw-araw ang kanyang kabiyak sa kabila ng lahat. Kaya palaging maganda ang kuwento ng pag-ibig, hindi nagwawakas, nagpapatuloy hanggang kamatayan.
Aabangan namin at ipapanalangin inyong kuwento ng pag-ibig, Lorenz at Charmaine. Mabuhay kayo!
The Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 07 January 2024
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, in Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 13 September 2023.
It’s the first Sunday of 2024 and we are celebrating in the Church today the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord used to be known as Feast of the Three Kings. Today is the final Sunday of the Christmas season which closes tomorrow with the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus before we go into the Ordinary Time the following Tuesday.
From the Greek word epiphanes that means appearance or manifestation, today’s celebration reminds us that Jesus came for everyone especially those forgotten and unloved, the poor and marginalized, the sinner and those lost.
Most of all, Christ became human like us except in sin so that it would be easier for us to find God who loves us so much without any reservations. In fact, it is actually God who searches for us and always finds us. Whenever we think we are looking for God and have found Him, it was actually God who first sought us and found us.
It was God who moved the magi from the East to search for Jesus Christ born in Bethlehem and they found him. Ironically, it was the people of Jerusalem, especially King Herod along with the scribes and priests who knew where the Christ would be born were the ones who did not find him because they were not really interested in finding Jesus.
Christmas is being “out” with Christ when we think less of ourselves within like the magi from the East who went out of their ways, of their comfort zones and even ivory towers to find Jesus in Bethlehem… Yes, Jesus is out there, manifesting himself daily in so many ways but we could not recognize him because we are locked inside our own beliefs of the Christ, held captive by our many fears like King Herod and the people of Jerusalem.
This is the second time we are featuring on Epiphany Sunday Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’77’s classic “Waiting for Love” composed by Randy McNeill from their 1974 album Vintage 74. One good thing with social media today is how we are able to unearth or discover so many wonderful things about our music in the past like the impressive talents behind this lovely song with vocals from the lovely Bonnie Bowden who collaborated with many other albums later with Mr. Mendes as well as Jazz artist George Duke. Jazz legend Dave Grusin was the conductor and arranger for the orchestra music of the album with some acoustic guitar renditions by another legend Antonio Carlos Jobim.
What we like most with Waiting for Love that rings true to everyone of us is the fact how very often we are so locked inside – with our past pains and hurts, even sins and failures as well as presumptions on everyone and everything that we could not find Jesus and love itself outside in other people.
Was it something in the rain Or a chance of love again That made me explain The secrets of my soul I guess I only needed Someone to hold
But I was gone without a trace And the rain blew away
And it seems I've spent my whole life Waiting for love And when it comes I always run away
Was it something on a dream That touched my memory Or a picture I didn't know I'd seen That made me stop and stare And then I lost him, If he was ever there
Waiting for Love challenges us like the Epiphany to be wise like the magi to recognize and follow Jesus appearing daily in our lives in many occasions and circumstances. Surely, there were other people who have seen the bright star of Bethlehem when Christ was born but why only the three magi from the East came to follow it and search for Jesus?
This 2024, stop being “afraid of being close where I need to be the most”to start following and believing in the bright star of Jesus Christ found in people who come to us daily. Cheers to more love this 2024!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, 01 January 2024 Numbers 6:22-27 ><]]]]'> Galatians 4:4-7 ><]]]]'> Luke 2:16-21
Photo from Tetra Images/Getty Images, mosaic of Virgin Mary and Jesus in the Haghia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey.
Just like this Christmas, we start our new year reflection with another song, also controversial for some Catholics in the US, composed by two Protestant songwriters in 1994 that had become a hit this 2023 following a cover by Pentatonix.
The song is Mary Did You Know with these following lines that say:
Mary, did you know that your baby boy Would one day walk on water? Mary, did you know that your baby boy Would save our sons and daughters? Did you know that your baby boy Has come to make you new? This child that you delivered, will soon deliver you
Before Vatican II, January first being the octave of Christmas was the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus when he was circumcised and given with that name as instructed by the angel both to Mary and to Joseph.
Yes, Mary was not totally unaware, that she knew some things about Jesus, his identity as Son of God, as the Savior and Messiah. But, she knew nothing really in particular or details like what the song says in Mary Did You Know that is why we find it so appropriate in today’s celebration of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Retreat Center, Baguio City, August 2023.
The only thing Mary clearly knew about her child born on Christmas Day was the name to be given him, Jesus which means “God saves”. Aside from that, there was nothing else she knew.
She never knew how Jesus would die, that he would be betrayed by one of his own apostles. She never knew Jesus would perform all those miracles like feeding thousands of people from five loaves of bread or healing the sick, restoring sight of the blind, or bringing back to life the dead.
Mary did not know Jesus would walk on water nor change water into wine. All she knew was Jesus is the Messiah. And she believed with all her heart that she followed him all throughout his ministry until his death on the Cross, one of the only three followers of Jesus who remained with him when the rest fled.
After the Ascension, Mary remained with the Apostles in praying and serving, being present with them during the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost day.
Like the Blessed Mother Mary when Jesus was born, we know nothing at all of what will really happen to us this 2024. It is totally useless and insane – even sinful – to consult fortune tellers and go with all those superstitious practices every new year to make it a favorable and auspicious one for us.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, March 2023.
Hence, we celebrate every January first not the New Year but the Motherhood of Mary to commemorate the Blessed Virgin’s role in cooperating with God’s plan in putting into action the mystery of salvation in the Incarnation of his Son Jesus Christ.
Like Mary as modern disciples of Christ, we are called first to cultivate within us that intimacy with Christ, of immersing ourselves in his words in a prayer life reflected in our lives. Luke said it perfectly:
And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.
Luke 2:19
It was not the first time that Mary “kept” things and words in her heart. First was at the Annunciation when she simply yes said to the angel and then at the Presentation when Simeon spoke of the coming mission of Jesus and her own suffering too as a consequence.
Mary remained silent and kept all those words in her heart. And when Jesus was 12 years old after he was lost and later found in the temple, Mary did not understand his words but simply kept them in her heart, reflecting very well on their meanings, trying to find God’s will and her role to play in the mission of Jesus.
“The Finding of the Savior at the Temple” painting by William Holman Hunt (1860) from en.wikipedia.org.
I love that expression of Luke, of Mary reflecting in her heart. In this age of modern technology like cellphones, we have forgotten the fact that our hearts are the best and most reliable “memory bank” in the world.
Instead of keeping pictures and videos and voices in our phones and other gadgets including iclouds, let us keep things in our hearts by savoring our experiences, reflecting on their meanings that will surely enrich us as persons and most of all as disciples of Christ.
No matter how big are the storage capacities of our gadgets, they are all prone to corruption and lost. But those stored in our hearts are guaranteed to stay, even if our brain cells suffer short circuits due to Alzheimer’s and other disorders that impair our memory because what can never be erased nor deleted in us are the memories of being loved.
We will never know everything in life ahead but we can all be assured we are loved by God. The more we experience Jesus Christ like Mary, the more we find God indeed is our loving Father – Abba as St. Paul said in the second reading. Again, please forgive me, for mentioning the movie Firefly.
From GMA Films & GMA Public Affairs.
Yesterday in the Feast of the Holy Family, I reflected on how the child named Tonton became the Christ-figure in that movie who showed the light of life and love to his three co-journeyers to the fantasy island; today let us reflect on his mother Elay played by Ms. Alessandra de Rossi.
After seeing her performance in Firefly, I am now convinced Ms. Rossi is in indeed an actress. A very good one.
I first saw her in the comedy romance Kita Kita about ten years ago maybe. In Firefly, Ms. Rossi’s performance was truly impressive that one could feel her presence in the whole story even in those parts of her narrations. It is amazing how the movie remained faithful to the story line and graphics of the award-winning children’s story book that made it so appealing.
Like Mary, Elay did not know everything from the very start, especially after she had killed in self-defense her abusive husband in their former home in the island when Tonton was still a child (sorry). They went to Tondo to begin anew in her life with Tonton in a place I believe we used to call when I was still a reporter as Isla Puting Bato, a protruding land into Manila Bay and home to thousands of informal settlers – the poorest of the poor who could not even afford electricity.
The genius and artistry of the film is found in how in the dark realities of the life of Elay and Tonton – she stricken with breast cancer, so poor in the slum area while he a favorite of the bullies – still looked so light, so promising not only with the great cinematography and effects but most of all of that deeply ingrained love of mother to her child.
Parang anak talaga ni Elay si Tonton sa Firefly kaya nakakaiyak.
From GMA Films & GMA Public Affairs.
She warned Tonton that in life, it is inevitable that separation could happen like death. But, what would keep us all together even after death is love. At the end of the film, when Tonton already an adult about to receive an award for his short story, a butterfly appeared, presumably his mother Elay. He then discarded of his prepared speech and spoke instead from his heart of the great love for him by his mother.
It is the kind of motherhood of Mary to Jesus and to us today, she still appearing to remind us of going back and being converted to her Son our Lord, of being faithful, of being loving.
In celebrating this Solemnity of Mary Mother of God at the start of the New Year, we are reminded to be like Mary to faithfully and lovingly bring forth Christ into this world so badly needed these days. In this celebration, may we imitate Mary in lovingly serving others, of being the face of God (first reading) especially to those who have never known him because they have never felt being loved at all.
Like Mary, we do not know what will happen this 2024 but we all know, and we are so sure, that God loves us that he had given us his Son Jesus Christ so that not one among us shall perish but gain eternal life. Amen. A blessed new year and still, a merry Christmas to you!
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Feast of the Holy Family, Sunday in the Christmas Octave-B, 31 December 2023 Genesis 15:1-6, 21:1-3 ><]]]'> Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19 ><]]]'> Luke 2:22-40
Photo by author, 25 December 2023.
After the birth of the Christ in Bethlehem and the visit of the shepherds, Luke tells us how the Child was circumcised on the eighth day and given with the name Jesus. A short while after that, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to Jerusalem to present him to God in the temple.
And that was when more exciting and wonderful things continued to happen to Mary and Joseph when two elderly people filled with the Holy Spirit, Simeon and Anna, took the Child Jesus and spoke great things about him to his astonished parents.
The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them… There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple… And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.
Luke 2:33-34, 36-38
Photo from crossroadinitiative.com.
See again the artistry of Luke in showing to us in this scene how Jesus Christ makes every family holy. In narrating to us the story of Christmas, Luke had earlier shown us that Jesus comes first in every family, in every husband and wife and their children.
Clearly we see Luke’s consistency in telling us that in this season and beyond, our focus must always be centered on the person and mission of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, our Savior who makes every family holy like his! How they unfolded through Mary and Joseph is worth reflecting this Sunday.
I have always been amazed since our 30-day retreat in 1995 with this gospel scene of the presentation of Jesus at the temple. The situation of the Holy Family of Joseph, Mary and Jesus was simply an ordinary one with hundreds of other families making the same journey to the temple with nothing unusual happening.
Then all of a sudden, the unforeseen and unforeseeable take place amid all the crowds in the temple on that day. A great revelation by God not only for people at that time but also for us today is made known which allowed us too to perceive the hidden Jesus coming daily in our lives. See the obedience of Mary and Joseph to their Laws and customs. Most of all, their continuing openness to the many revelations still unfolding about their child Jesus.
Photo by author, Nazareth, Israel, May 2019.
It was not a case of exceptional grace to exceptional couple of Joseph and Mary nor to individuals like Simeon and Anna whom I always wondered how were they able to recognize Jesus as the Christ being offered on that day in the temple.
Again, we are invited to be attuned and opened always to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, of keeping that spark of faith within us like Abraham in the first reading who “put his faith in the Lord, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). Here we find how God guides us in our steps and those of others in our long and often circuitous journeys in life to have faith in him in finding Jesus the light of our salvation and fulfillment. But faith is more than simply putting ourselves blindly in the hands of God, just moving on with life with a bahala na attitude.
Faith is more than believing and trusting God and persons. It is entering into a communion, a bond with God as our Lord and Master or anyone we love so dearly like our family. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews stressed this aspect of faith as a communion and a bond in our second reading which we find not only in Abraham but also in Joseph and Mary as well as in Simeon and Anna, too.
Recall those moments when you felt like Abraham who was already too old, when you felt it was already “game over” for our plans in life, the end of your rope or when you felt everything is down the drain that you simply accepted it as the reality when suddenly, because of that firm faith and union in God, something happens like a twist or a turn when everything in your life just falls into its right places!
Remember those moments in the past when we dared to walk in the right direction of Jesus – full of humility amid the pains and sufferings of his Cross – when we find later on how his words jibed perfectly with our experiences, so intertwined with our dreams and aspirations along with other people especially with our family that eventually get fulfilled – if not in us, in those next to us. This is the gist of the beautiful movie Firefly.
From GMA Films and GMA Public Affairs.
Firefly is one exceptional film in every aspect. Everything is so good. Watching it convinced me of a renaissance in Filipino film industry. It is a fantasy movie everyone must see this Season because it is a Christmas story, a Christ-film in fact.
Its main character is a small child named Tonton who lost his mother at a young age and embarked on a long journey to bring his mother’s ashes to her birthplace in an island in Bicol said to be inhabited by fireflies.
All Tonton had was faith and love for his mother played by Alessandra de Rossi. His map was actually his scrapbook of his colorful illustrations of the story narrated to him by his mother. Along the way, he met three individuals living in the darkness of their past, uncertain of their future: an ex-convict heading home, doubtful if he would be accepted by his wife and son; a broken-hearted man cheated by his girlfriend at a loss what to do with her name tattooed on his bicep; and a lovely lady on a backpack trip with a camera and some envelops she used to scam money from people for her supposed outreach programs for kids.
From GMA Films and GMA Public Affairs
They all found the light of life through the life and words of Tonton whom they helped reached his mother’s home island where he too eventually came to terms with his own ghosts of the past.
I won’t tell you any details any more. Do watch the movie and be enthralled with its attention to details, the many symbolisms, most of all, of the good news about the beauty of this life made manifest by the Child who opened our eyes to see the light of love and life. Amen. Have a blessed family in Christ Jesus this new year of 2024!
A short poem I wrote after watching Mallari and Firefly:
Two fantasy movies, One so scary The other a thing of beauty!
The best in cinematography Indeed is Mallari: How they sew together seamlessly Fiction into a true story so eerie Of the evil reality But sadly sank deeply In vicious circle of sin And infamy.
But if you have to see A movie do not miss Firefly Everything is about beauty Despite the ugly reality Of life we all see; The slum by the sea The kid and his bullies The story of his mommy Led him into a journey Intertwined with a many Treading blankly from each one’s past Into their present afraid of what will be Only to see through this kid’s story That many times a fantasy Is in fact the reality We refuse to believe That is why we can’t see; How lovely is the movie Though not about history Or social malady But deep theology Of how a child brought Fire and light And made us see We are loved so immensely So that someday We too can rise and fly High to the sky.
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