Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 03 July 2024
Photo from The Valenzuela Times, 02 July 2024.
Honestly… how did you react to this photo published yesterday afternoon after that flash flood at McArthur Highway in Valenzuela City? Do you find it funny? Did you hit the LOL emoticon? Why?
Am I that old and conservative, or prudish, or, is it merely a simple case of generation gap that I felt sad and surprised at how almost everyone in social media last night laughed at this photo? At least, some were sincere enough to admit being jealous as they exclaimed “sanaol” but, why all the laughter?
It is better expressed in our Filipino language – pinagtawanan (laughed at) which is a world apart from nakatutuwa (joyful sight).
What is so funny if a man would carry his girlfriend on his back for her not to get wet or soaked in the flood?
So gentlemanly in fact, hindi ba? Should we not be glad that there are still knights in shining armor these days?
Others simply described it as OA or “overacting”. Maybe…
The photo is a modern gospel, a good news in this age when chivalry is said to be dead. It is so much similar with last Sunday’s gospel that said “Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side” (Mk. 5:21), after they went through a turbulent squall crossing the Lake of Galilee the other week. What a beautiful story last Sunday of Jesus crossing again and again not only the treacherous lake but so often crossed the streets and valleys and mountains to reach out to those sick and lost and even dead to bring them all to the side of grace and life (https://lordmychef.com/2024/06/29/jesus-crossed-seas-streets-to-lead-us-to-the-side-of-life-again-again/).
My post last night…
I love that word “cross” from which came crossing; the former if spelled with a capital C refers to the Cross of Jesus Christ that also means our daily sufferings and difficulties in life we have to accept and embrace while the former refers to the street intersection where pedestrians cross.
Every day Jesus comes to help us cross the streets of this life filled with many pains and sufferings, trials and hardships. Jesus help us cross these busy and stressful streets of daily life for us to get to the side of life and fullness through those willing to suffer and sacrifice like this student in the photo.
How sad that when someone is willing to sacrifice for a loved one, when someone is willing to help others cross the street, whether it is flooded or not that people nowadays laugh at them, calling them OA.
We are not judging anyone.
Maybe we just have to reassess ourselves daily especially in our overexposure to social media and its gadgets that have alienated us from realities of life and from being human, being a person who is a subject to be loved and cherished than object to be possessed and laughed at.
How sad that with too much media, we no longer have that feel and experience of realities.
Go to any wedding or whatever kind of ceremony and parade to see how people are foolishly glued to their camera screens recording the events without experiencing the moment at all!
That gentleman carrying his girlfriend on his back is a good news for us today that Christ is still with us in this modern age. Unfortunately, it seems that like what happened 2000 years ago, there are still some who still want Him crucified for being good and kind, even OA, with others. Have a blessed day. We’d like to hear from you too… thank you!
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Easter Sunday of the Lord's Resurrection, 31 March 2024 Acts 10:34, 37-43 ><}}}}*> Colossians 3:1-4 ><}}}}*> John 20:1-9
A blessed happy Easter to everyone! The Lord is risen. Let us rejoice amid all the darkness and sufferings still hovering over our lives at this time as Easter gives meaning to these all, enabling us to experience God closest with us in Jesus Christ.
Let Christ’s assurance of deliverance, of salvation burst forth from your heart, from the depths of your soul that amid all these sufferings, we have already won in Jesus. It is in those darkness and emptiness where Jesus is found as the first disciples realized that first Easter morning.
On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved… When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there… Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.
John 20:1-2, 6, 8-9
Jesus Christ resurrection. Christian Easter concept. Empty tomb of Jesus with light. Born to Die, Born to Rise. “He is not here he is risen”. Photo from iStock/GettyImages.
We can never experience the joy of Easter if we skip going through or deny the agonies and pains of Good Friday. See how in the glory of Christ’s Resurrection is found the empty tomb set in the darkness of dawn, evoking in us the realities of life.
The problem in our time is when people see life only as Easter without Good Friday like those who want to get rich by gambling without working hard or students who want to pass exams without studying. At the other extreme are those who see life only as all Good Friday without Easter, becoming indifferent to joy and life itself.
Absence of sufferings can happen only in heaven after we have died. In rising from the dead, Jesus enables us today to taste heaven, to have a glimpse of eternal bliss which Easter makes a reality within us. That is why all the 50 days of Easter beginning today until Pentecost Sunday are actually counted as one big day because we can never grasp the fullness of Christ’s Resurrection in just one day or one month. As we have reflected last Sunday, life is like the Palm Sunday in the Lord’s Passion, a daily movement from the Lord’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
Actually, every celebration we have in the Church, from Christmas to feasts of Mary and the saints are images of Easter, of Jesus Christ’s Resurrection, of His triumph and glory. This we find in that last line of our gospel account today:
Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.
John 20:8-9
Crucifixion and Resurrection. He is Risen. Empty tomb of Jesus with crosses in the background and cinematic lighting. From IStock/GettyImages.
Many times our life is an empty tomb with nothing inside except signs of Jesus. John used the word sign to refer to the Lord’s miracles, words and actions that point to Him as the Christ, the awaited Messiah. Hence, his gospel is also known as “the book of signs” with seven miracles and teachings by Jesus that signify Him as the Son of God.
Here at the last two chapters of his gospel we find John’s wisdom in using both explicitly and implicitly the word and concept of sign to point at Jesus as the Christ. The empty tomb itself is the sign pointing to Jesus who had risen; since He was not there, He must be somewhere alive! How do we prove it? Again with another signs, the burial cloths neatly folded inside the empty tomb that showed the body of Jesus was not stolen.
From wikipedia.commons, healing of a leper,
John have used this formula repeatedly in his gospel, slowly building up to prepare his readers for the great signs of Easter like the changing of water into wine at Cana, the many cures, the feeding of more than 5000 in the wilderness, the thrusting of lance into the Lord’s side while on the Cross from which flowed blood and water. All of these he consistently claimed as signs that he as “the other disciple” had seen or witnessed.
Whenever we prayerfully read and reflect John’s gospel, we too see and hear Jesus is the Christ in the signs he presents us until finally, we find Jesus present in the many experiences of our lives! John wants us to understand the interaction between signs and Scripture which Luke explained beautifully in the story of the road to Emmaus which is the gospel proclaimed on the evening of Easter Sunday.
For John and the evangelists which Vatican II stressed in Dei Verbum, the Scripture allows us to understand the signs that also lead to understanding the Scripture. If the Apostles have not learned from the Scriptures that Jesus must rise from the dead, the empty tomb would have remained a puzzle to them. Likewise, it was the sign of the empty tomb that led them to understanding fully the Scripture. And that has always been the case in our lives until now that is why it is so essential we cultivate a prayer life which is a relationship with God in Jesus not just a recitation of prayers or celebration of the Mass.
Easter invites us to enter into a relationship with God in Jesus, through Jesus and with Jesus through the many signs He joined us through our trials and tribulations in life so we can be one with Him in His Resurrection.
Detail of the Anastasis (Resurrection) fresco in the Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora, in Istanbul, Turkey. It depicts Jesus’ descent into limbo to liberate Adam and Eve and all the righteous who have been waiting for him there. Photo and caption from Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation (slmedia.org).
How sad in this age when many people have stopped joining church celebrations and communal prayers when they choose to go on vacation during Christmas and Easter, totally unmindful of Jesus Christ’s outpouring of love for us.
How sad when many of us practically live in the media, so concerned with the palabas (the outside peripherals) than the inside, the more essential even in our spiritual celebrations.
How sad when people preferred to video the procession of the Blessed Sacrament on Holy Thursday than to kneel and pray in recognition of Christ’s real presence.
From shutterstock.com
How sad for those who skip Masses on Sundays but would devoutly join the Good Friday processions that have become more of fashion show and picnic when people are busy talking, texting, taking videos or pictures, eating and drinking than praying and meditating the various scenes of the Lord’s Passion and Death.
How sad for those who have made their carrozas a pompous spectacle and display of family wealth than catechism and devotion. One would seriously wonder where is the dolor of Viernes Dolores or the grief and sadness for the Lord’s passion, death and burial depicted by the Holy Week processions. Not to mention the kabaduyan and ka-ek-ekan by priests at the repositories of Holy Thursday that after Visita Iglesia you hardly hear people talking how they were edified at the solemnity of the church they visited; people now talk more after Visita Iglesia of how they were awed by the decors and effects of repositories, not of Christ’s real presence.
Worst, the most crazy and foolish of all is how most Catholics end their devotions at Good Friday without realizing the most important of all celebrations is Easter which is the Mother of all feasts in our Church, the very heart of our faith.
This Easter, let us salvage the remaining gifts and grace God pours upon us in Jesus through this Season by opening our hearts, our minds, our total selves to the Risen Lord we encounter in the Scripture and many signs in our lives. Amen. Have a blessed Easter!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Memorial, St. Francis Sales, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, 24 January 2024 2 Samuel 7:4-17 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 4:1-20
“The Sower at Sunset” by Vincent Van Gogh, oil on canvas painted in June 1888 from wikimedia commons.
Lord Jesus Christ, as you narrated to us today the parable of the sower, I wonder what were the other seeds you have sowed aside from your word?
On another occasion, Jesus began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land. And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them, “Hear this! A sower went out to sow.”
We are not just the different kinds of soil where your seeds fell, Lord Jesus; like you, may we also be sowers of your word and teachings, sowers of your love and mercy, sowers of compassion and kindness, sowers of your light and life, sowers of your hope and healing, sowers of your very presence.
When God told David not to build him a temple as he promised to raise a house for him from whom shall come the Christ, that was when the Father also sowed the seeds of redemption and fulfillment in you, Lord Jesus!
On this feast of St. Francis Sales, patron of Catholic journalists and media practitioners, we pray for all communicators to sow unity and peace, not division nor misunderstanding, nor animosities; we pray for all journalists of different platforms to sow understanding and clarity, to sow justice and equality among peoples, and to sow respect for life at all times because every communication must promote first of all the dignity of every person. Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-26 ng Setyembre 2023
Larawan mula sa redditt.com ng iskulturang pinamagatang “Love” ni Ukrainian artist Alexander Milov naglalarawan ng inner child sa bawat isa sa atin na ibig palaging makipag-ugnayan sa kapwa.
Hindi po tungkol sa pulitika ang aking lathalain kungdi ukol sa tila lumalabis nang pagkahumaling ng mga tao sa computer at mga makabagong teknolohiya. Sa aking palagay ay sumusobra na pagsaklaw ng teknolihiya sa ating buhay at nawawala na ating pagkatao. Hindi ako magtataka na bukas makalawa, magkakatotoo na nga yata yung dating ipinangangamba na pananakop ng mga robot sa ating buhay o mismo sa ating mga tao!
Ang katotohanan po ay tumigil na akong kumain sa mga fastfood restaurant hindi dahil sa magastos at unhealthy nilang pagkain at inumin kungdi ang mga nakaka-inis na sisteng kailangang pa akong umorder nang nagpipindot sa mga screen nila ng kakanin gayong may mga crew naman sila.
Minsan pauwi ako mula sa pagmimisa sa lamay sa patay sa Bulacan. Hindi ako gaanong nakakain kaya dumaan ako sa McDonald’s sa Nlex Drive and Dine. Ayokong mag-drive thru para doon na rin makapagpahinga ng konti sabay pagpag na rin maski hindi ako naniniwala doon.
Sising-sisi ako at dumaan pa ako doon; sana nga pala ay nag-drive thru na lang ako kasi naman ay ganito po ang nangyari.
Larawan mula sa news.abs-cbn.com
Pagpasok ko sa McDonald’s doon ay tumambad sa akin ang mga higanteng screen na doon daw oorder. Kasinglaki ni Ronald McDonald yung mga screen pero hindi sila friendly kasi natakot ako. Aminado akong tanga at walang alam sa mga iyon. Hindi po ako techie. Kahit naka-iPhone ako, inaamin kong hindi ko pa rin alam hanggang ngayon kung paano ito gamitin. Di ko naintidihan yang mga hacks na iyan.
Wala akong nagawa kungdi sumunod sa crew na naka-ngiti naman. Binasa ko instructions. Pindot dito, pindot doon. Ewan ko. Naghalo na rin siguro gutom at katangahan, pabalik-balik ako sa simula at hindi maka-order. Mayroon akong nakasabay na engot din at lumapit sa amin yung guwardiya upang tulungan kami. Nawalan na ako ng ganang kumain sa inis sa screen, sa sarili ko na rin, at sa pamunuan ng McDonald’s. Bakit hindi na lang kinuha order ko kesa pinahirapan pa ako doon sa electronic counter na yun?
Bakit kailangang pilitin ang lahat na gumamit ng computer para sa pag-order? Hindi ba naiisip ng mga fastfood na ito na mayroong mga taong hindi pa rin gamay at handa sa gayong uri ng transsaksiyon? Ang pinaka-ayoko sa sisteng ito ng modernisasyon na ang lahat ay automated at computerized ay nawawala ang ating “pagkatao”, iyon bang human touch at humanness ika sa Inggles.
Larawan mula sa NLEX.
Sa expressway ay mauunawaan ko pa dahil upang mapabilis ang biyahe, mainam ang RFID. Ngunit may mga pagkakataon na hindi ako nagmamadali na pagkaraan ng nakakapagod na pagmamaneho sa trapik, ang ibig ko lang ay mayroong makitang isang kapwa-tao. Yung bang madama lang yung “warmth of another human person” ay malaking bagay na rin upang mapawi pagod at stress, na para bang nagsasabing hindi ka nag-iisa. Noong dati ay nakakausap ko pa ng kaunti mga teller sa Nlex sa paniniwala na makapagpasaya lang ako ng isa pang nilalang na maaring bigat na bigat sa problema. Ngayon, wala na yung koneksiyon na iyon kaya hindi kataka-taka, marami sa atin ang disconnected sa isa’t-isa maging sa sarili! Kaya sabog maraming tao ngayon. Siguro kung maibabalik lang natin marami nang nawalang human interaction, mababawasan yang mga road rage sa lansangan.
Isang nakakamiss para sa akin ang magpunta sa bangko at pumila, makahunta ilang mga tao doong kakilala pati na ang manager at magagandang teller. Iyon ang wala sa electronic banking. Totoong convenient at mabilis ang pagbabangko gamit ang cellphone o computer ngunit napaka-impersonal! Iyon na ba ang mahalaga sa atin ngayon, kaginhawahan kesa ugnayan sa kapwa tao?
Pakikipag-ugnayan ang layon ng komunikasyon. Para sa akin, ang pinakamagandang paglalahad ng kahulugan ng komunikasyon ay mula sa Pastoral Instruction na Communio et Progressio sa pagpapatupad ng dokumento ng Vatican II sa social communication na Inter Mirifica:
Communication is more than the expression of ideas and the indication of emotion. At its most profound level it is the giving of self in love. Christ’s communication was, in fact, spirit and life.
Communio et Progessio, #11
Sa lahat ng nilalang ng Diyos, tao lamang ang kanyang binahaginan ng kanyang kapangyarihang makipagtalastasan o komunikasyon. Ang aso ay tumatahol, pusa nagme-meow at ang baboy ay nag-o-oink-oink. Ngunit ang tao, nagsasalita, nangungusap. Naiintindihan, nauunawaan. At kapag nangyari iyon, nagkakaroon ng ugnayan at kaisahan. Communication, tapos communion.
Hindi ito nangyayari sa computer. Manapa, madalas pakiwari ko ay inuulol tayo ng mga ito! Ano kalokohan yung alam mo namang AI (artificial intelligence) o robot ang “kausap” mo tapos sasagot ka sa kahon na “I am not a robot”? At, mantakin mong utusan ka ng Waze o Google map na pakiwari mas alam niya lahat kesa iyo?
Kaya siguro maraming high blood din ngayon kasi nga kapag sumablay mga teknolohiyang ito lalo na ang mahinang signal, tapos na lahat ng usapan. Sa gayon, walang napagkakayarian, walang napagkakasunduan kaya wala ring kaisahan.
Ito rin ang hindi ko magustuhan sa ipinagmamalaki ng dati kong upisina at network, iyong kailang AI-sportscasters.
larawan mula sa gmanetwork.com.
Heto na yata ang rurok ng kalabisan sa pagkamaliw ng karamihan sa teknolohiya. Unang tanong natin dito ay ano po ba ang turing ng mga kumpanyang gumagamit nito sa kanilang mga taga-tangkilik? Tayo ba ay pinahahalagahan pa nila at ipinauubaya na lamang tayo sa mga robot?
Higit sa maraming mahuhusay na tagapagbalita, sa ganang akin walang puwang sa newscast o ano mang uri ng pagbabalita ang mga AI dahil ang komunikasyon ay ugnayan. Communication is a relationship, lalo na balita at isports. Kahit na maperfect pa ang teknolohiyang iyan, hindi mapapalitan at di dapat mapalitan ang tao sa pakikipag-ugnayan sa kapwa tao.
Ikalawa, ano ang dahilan para magkaroon ng AI na sportscaster? Magmalaki? Magyabang? Ano pa kaya gusto ng GMA-7 gayong wala na silang kalaban?
At dapat nilang asikasuhin ay mabigyan tayo ng buhay na mga programa, coverage na umaantig sa aming pagkatao, kayang hipuin kaibuturan ng aming sarili upang madama tuwa at lungkot ng bawat tagumpay at kabiguan saan mang larangan ng buhay. Maramdaman nating hindi tayo nag-iisa sa pag-aasam ng tagumpay at kaunlaran dahil mayroong kaming mga kalakbay sa biyaheng ito ng buhay. Iyon ang kahulugahan ng integrated news – buo. Paanong naging integrated news kung hindi naman tao ang sportscaster nila? Hindi ba doon pa lamang ay sira na ang kabuuan? Sila ba ay mayroong puso para ituring na Kapuso?
Ang kailangan ay isang kapwa na makakasama sa buhay lalo na sa media. Sa Inggles, tawag doon ay companion. Mula sa dalawang salitang Latin, cum na ibig sabihi’y with o kasama at panis na kahulugan ay bread o tinapay; sa literal na salin, ang companion – cum panis – ay kahati sa tinapay. “Someone you break bread with.” Ang tinapay naman ay tanda ng ating sarili, ng ating buhay. .
Samakatwid, ang companion o kasama ay isang kapwa na nagbabahagi ng kanyang sarili sa kapwa upang mabuhay din. Iyan ang dangal at karangalan ng pagbabalita na sadya namang maipagmamalaki ng GMA News mula marami nilang mahuhusay na newscasters at reporters. Kaya lahat ay nalungkot nang pumanaw si G. Mike Enriquez na naging bahagi ng buhay ng maraming kababayan natin sa kanyang estilo ng pagbabalita. Taong-tao siya, ika nga.
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 13 Setyembre 2023.
Kaya rin naman sa Banal na Misa, ang tawag doon ay Banal na Komunyon, ang pagbabahagi at pagtanggap sa Katawan ni Kristo sa anyo ng tinapay. Nakiisa sa atin si Jesus sa lahat ng bagay sa ating katauhan liban sa kasalanan tulad ng gutom at uhaw, lungkot at hapis, kabiguan maging sakit at kamatayan upang makabahagi niya tayo sa kanyang buhay at tagumpay.
Walang ganyang umiiral sa mga AI na ito at computerization ng mga sistema sa ating buhay. Sana ay isaalang-alang ito ng mga negosyante at umuugit sa mga industriya lalo na sa media. Ang masakit na katotohanan kasi ay kunwari ay kaunlaran at kadalian o convenience ang kanilang dahilan (para kanino?) kungdi kitang kita naman, pera lang ang suma total. Sa gayon, sa landas na ito ng pagiging impersonal na kalakaran ng maraming bagay gamit ang teknolohiya, unti unti rin tayong nade-dehumanize, nawawala katauhan. Kapag nawala ang katauhan, ano ang pumapalit? Alam na natin iyan. Salamuch po.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 08 November 2022
Still streaming in Netflix is The Good Nurse that will surely make you feel good that despite all the evil going on in this world, there are still good people who make our planet a safer place to live. Truly, St. Paul’s words ring so true in this Netflix movie, “where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more” (Rom. 5:20).
Based on the 2013 true-crime book of the same title by investigative journalist Charles Graeber, The Good Nurse is about how a good nurse named Amy Loughren stood her ground to cooperate with two hardworking detectives in New Jersey to arrest and eventually put into jail her fellow nurse Charles Cullen who is considered as one of America’s most prolific serial killers. According to the movie, Cullen admitted to have killed 29 patients by administering harmful drugs in nine different hospitals he had worked as nurse in a span of 16 years although authorities believe he may have killed up to 400 patients!
The only reason I watched The Good Nurse – in three installments while watching Black Butterflies two weeks ago – is because I am assigned as a chaplain in a University offering BS Nursing with a Medical Center. I was hoping to learn some “talking points” for my Masses and spiritual conferences with them from the movie; however, what actually happened was they prepared me to appreciate deeply this kind of movie with my many interactions with them both in school and the hospital.
I just have to warn you that the movie is too long, more than two hours. And very slow. But, it is well worth it especially in the last 50 minutes when tempo changes and shifts to high gear of action and suspense that you get so involved with the movie even if you are watching it alone on a laptop like me. There is that urge you actually talk to Amy not to fall in love with Charlie, especially in that part he was fired from their hospital and he suddenly spent the afternoon with her kids, sending their babysitter home as he prepared even their meal!
Yay…naku!!! I was really telling Amy to spit out that piece of meat Charlie had cooked as it may be laden with poison or insulin and digoxin!!! Hahaha!!!
Dramatic and suspenseful, most of all, feel good is what The Good Nurse is all about.
What I like most in the movie is the courage of Amy to secretly meet with the two detectives after realizing herself Charlie was not exactly true as himself – kind and diligent, silent and reserved. She eventually researched and discovered the many evidences that established Charlie’s culpability that finally put him behind bars serving 18 consecutive life sentences.
Most touching part was when Amy visited Charlie in the police headquarters after his arrest where the detectives have failed to extract any confession from him for the mysterious deaths of patients in their hospital. In one part of the interrogation it was revealed that Charlie had a deeply disturbed and dangerous personality similar with that kid in an old movie also streaming in Netflix, Primal Fear. He just kept shouting and shouting the answer “no” to every question given him, sounding like a deranged man with his face contorting and eyes so menacing.
Everything changed when Amy came inside the interrogation room. The detective warned her not to get near Charlie who was extremely dangerous. Despite that warning, Amy requested Charlie’s cuffs be removed as she sat near him at his side. When she noticed Charlie freezing inside the room, she took off her sweater and put it on him while the detective stood on guard, worried for any untoward incident to happen.
Charlie was at first cold toward Amy, refusing to look at her directly.
When Amy began speaking by apologizing to Charlie, telling him how she felt sorry that despite his being kind to her, despite their being friends, she had to tell everything to the cops. Actress Jessica Chastain who played the role of Amy was able to perfectly exude that kind of warmth and caring self despite the fears in being with a mysterious suspect that slowly, Charlie softened and confessed his crimes.
And that is where the high point of the movie is when Amy asked him to tell her the truth why he did it, Charlie simply said because “nobody stopped me”. He sobbed, covering his face.
Then, Amy asked him for names of his victims and Charlie readily identified them one by one with the next scene showing him being led down the hallway of the prison. The final scene showed Amy in bed with her two daughters, being awakened by the eldest daughter telling her it is a school day.
Amy told her, “today we stay in bed”, finally giving her daughters with the much needed quality time they sorely missed from her who had to work so hard for their needs. According to the notes after the movie, Amy now lives in Florida with her daughters and grandchildren. She eventually had her heart surgery.
The movie is very timely. In fact, I have been using it in my homilies. It is very Christian and Catholic as it presents our so-called universal call for holiness, of how each one of us must strive to be good or perfect and holy like our Father in heaven (Matt. 5:48), echoed by Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium over 50 years ago calling us all to strive in creating a more just and humane society in this imperfect world.
There was no mention of religion nor any scene from the church or of anyone praying but it is very clear in the movie about the need for us all to be good like the good nurse, Amy.
According to the movie based on Graeber’s book, Cullen went on a killing spree as a nurse for 16 years because none of the hospital where he used to work at acted decisively on his case despite their suspicions over the mysterious deaths of some patients. Ironically, according to the movie, those hospitals never bothered to take drastic steps and measures in solving the mysterious deaths of their patients amid the suspicions on Cullen because they were afraid of the legal cases that might be filed against them by the families of his victims that is now exactly happening as per the movie.
There is that quotation attributed routinely to Edmund Burke that says “the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing”.
The Good Nurse Amy Loughren did not let the evil of Charlie Cullen to triumph. Against all odds of losing her job as a nurse, of losing herself as she was afflicted with a heart ailment, Amy proved to be so good indeed that she did everything to stop Charlie who said it so well that he did all those killings “because nobody stopped me.”
Here comes the true relevance of this good movie that challenges us all in this time to be good as always, fighting and standing up against every form of evil, regardless of who is committing them. Of course, it is not enough to just speak and fight without any evidences and most especially efforts to personally confront the evil-doers like the good nurse.
Jesus himself reminded us that “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Lk.14:26).
This is most challenging for us in the Church, most especially among bishops and priests who chose to be silent, to let evil triumph right inside our hallowed houses of worship and apostolate when all these sex scandals occurred even a long time ago and still continues these days. We in the clergy must be above all most good than others in stopping evil from happening among our ranks. It is so sad and deplorable, even shameful when we priests and bishops are so vocal in denouncing injustices in the society perpetrated by civil authorities and politicians when we would not even raise our voices against the evil happening in our own turfs, of clergy and religious breaking all vows of chastity and poverty completely selling their souls to the devil for sex, money, power and fame.
The Good Nurse is a call for us all to return to being good, of saying no to sin and evil, of being truly human who respects and cares for life always which is at the core of our Lord’s teachings and of our humanity too. Happy viewing everyone!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Thirtieth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 24 October 2022
Ephesians 4:32-5:8 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 13:10-17
Photo by author, 2018.
Lord Jesus Christ,
help me to be kind
to one another,
compassionate and
forgiving as you have
forgiven us (Eph.4:32);
let me live in love
by being true always
to you in words and
in deeds.
In this world and life
saturated in media whose
only concerns are profit and
influence, let us not be deceived
with its colorful displays of images,
and most especially of talks and
languages full of obscenities and
curse, reducing persons into things
who can be dispensed in the name of
"human rights" and then portrayed as cool
and progressive; worst, many of them
claim to be your followers as Catholics.
Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient. So do not be associated with them. For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.
Ephesians 5:6-8
Give me the courage,
Lord, to stand for what
is true and good like you
in healing the crippled woman
who was bent and incapable of
standing erect; let me choose to
do what is right and pleasing
to you, doing justice to everyone,
following your straight path
of kindness and compassion
for everyone especially the weak
and powerless.
Amen.
“The most resplendent manifestation of God’s glory is the salvation of souls, whom Christ redeemed by shedding his blood. To work for the salvation and sanctification of as many souls as possible, therefore, is the preeminent purpose of the apostolic life.”
From the Letters of Maximilian Mary Kolbe, Office of Readings
Praise and thanksgiving to you our loving Father for a holy saint in our modern time, St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe whose memorial we celebrate today. His offering of his life in place of another prisoner at Auschwitz in 1941 was a fitting cap for his life of dedication in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ in words and in deeds.
Though there are no more gas chambers unlike during the time of St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe, the killing of so many people in various forms and methods continue to this day — right on our streets, in abortion clinics, in prisons, even in our homes and in social media where we spread toxins of lies that mislead and destroy many lives.
Inspire us like St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe to work for the sanctification of the world by sharing more of your love and kindness, mercy and forgiveness to everyone especially the weak and vulnerable to abuses and worldly influences.
Like this modern saint who lived during the harshest conditions of World War II, may we strive to make you present in the world where despite the ease and comforts of modern life, many of us are still lost and alone, feeling angry, empty, and confused.
Through our lives, may we fill the world with your presence and holiness by reminding people to return to your original plan of harmony and unity in your love as Jesus told the Pharisees in the gospel today:
Jesus said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.”
Matthew 19:8
Most of all, to make the world holy anew, grant us courage to stand for what is true and good, to remain standing at the side of your Son’s Cross for indeed, as St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe had taught us in one of his writings, “The deadliest poison of our time is indifference.”Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-11 ng Hulyo 2020
Kaya pala himpapawirin nagdilim
bandang alas-tres pa man din
oras ng kanilang patayin
doon sa Krus nakabitin
si Hesus na Panginoon natin
nang kanyang sabihin
katotohanang hindi maatim
ng mga tao na ang puso ay ubod ng itim.
Bandang hapon ko na rin napagtagni-tagni
pangyayari bago magtanghali
nasunog matandang simbahan
ng Sto. Niño sa Pandacan
kabila ng Malacañang:
hindi ba nabuwang Haring Herodes
nang marinig niya balitang sumilang
Banal na Sanggol kaya mga bata pinagpapaslang?
Hindi ko nga malaman
sino nga ba aking tatangisan ---
apatnaput-dalawang binawian ng buhay
nitong COVID-19 na tunay na kalaban
o mga Kapamilya na tinanggihan kanilang
prangkisa ng mga hunghang
na tuta at alepores ng bagong Herodes
na walang malay gawin kungdi lahat ay patayin.
Bayan kong ginigiliw
bakit nga ba kung minsan
ang hirap mong mahalin?
Hindi mo pansin panloloko
ng mga matsing?
Aking dalangin
sana ikaw ay magising
o mahimasmasan iyong pagkalasing!
Matatala sa ating kasaysayan
pangalawang Biyernes Santo sa taong ito
ang ika-sampu ng Hulyo, dalawang libo dalawampu;
pinagluluksa natin hindi lamang
pagpatay sa prangkisa ng ating Kapamilya
kungdi pati na rin pagyurak sa ating dangal bilang tao
maging sa mga sandigan ng ating sambayanan.
Umasa at mananalig tayo kay Kristo
sa pagsapit ng Pasko ng Pagkabuhay;
bagaman ito'y natatagalan, hindi kailanman
natalo ng kadiliman ang liwanag,
o ng kasinungalingan ang katotohanan,
kung tayo ay lilingon sa slogan noon:
"Ako ang simula" ng pagbabago
dahil kung tinalo nila tayo kahapon sa boto,
bukas talo sila sa ating boto!
I have been dreaming of former classmates lately. Last Tuesday night I dreamt of a classmate in high school seminary now a priest but have not seen in months. Later that day I met another classmate, told him of my dream, and inquired about him. Unfortunately, he has not seen him too for so long though he presumed he must be doing well in the ministry.
Thursday morning upon waking up, I was thinking hard for the possible meaning of another dream I had the night before about my two seatmates in elementary school. Two dreams in a row about three good, old friends very much still alive but have not seen for so long. And how ironic that until now, I have not reached out to them personally or through the many social media platforms available except for a Facebook post that Thursday morning for a possible explanation about my two dreams!
That is the great irony – or, tragedy of our time when we have all modern means of communications that include extensive road networks and yet we could not even get in touch with those people dear to us. See the simplicity of Jesus Christ in calling us his friends: on the night he was betrayed during supper, he told his disciples, “You are my friends if you do what I command you (i.e., love one another). I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father” (Jn.15:14,15).
Jesus does not need to dial numbers, text SMS, compose emails, or send invitations in Facebook to become friends with us. Jesus simply reveals to us in the most personal manner everything the Father wants to tell us and right away, we are already friends! Of course, it would be difficult to enumerate everything that the Father had told Jesus to relay to us but the greatest of these is the fact that God loves us very, very much. Period.
That is the greatest thing Jesus had achieved in his coming to us by bringing God closest to us by speaking straight to us by himself of his love, his mercy, his forgiveness, and his plans for us. That is one of the great joys of friendship when we talk straight, speak our hearts out freely to our friends without any fears of being rejected or misunderstood. There is always that sense of respect for the other person as a subject to be loved and cherished, not an object to be possessed and used like tools and gadgets.
In our mass-mediated culture, expressing our true feelings to our friends have become more complicated as we become less personal in our relationships. How I hate it when some people would always invite me for breakfast or lunch in some expensive restaurants or hotels only to ask some special favors after the meal that I feel like throwing out the food I have ingested! It is not social grace to treat people to fine dining or gift them with expensive or special things only to ask for some favors in the end. That is corruption or bribery. Simply put, it is lack of respect especially if done by people we regard as friends.
Going back to that Last Supper scene with Jesus Christ when he called us his friends, notice the word “friend”: there is only one letter that makes the difference to make it mean exactly the opposite, “fiend”. It is the letter “r” that stands for respect, from two Latin terms that literally mean “to look again”. To respect is to look again at another human as a person with equal dignity as yourself. Respect is the starting point of love that cannot exist in any situation where there is inequality or feelings of superiority over another person.
Our words coming from our hearts are some of the most wonderful things that create true and lasting friendships. The rest are the actions expressed when these words run out.
“Hapag ng Pag-Asa” by the late Joey Velasco. From Google.
lordmychef.com 