Immaculate Conception, Intimacy of God

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, 08 December 2025
Genesis 3:9-15, 20 ><}}}}*> Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12 ><}}}}*> Luke 1:26-38

*“Cestello Annunciation” by Botticelli painted in 1490; from en.wikipedia.org.*

We praise and thank God today on this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary that formally kicked off the process of the fulfillment of his promised salvation in Jesus born by the Virgin Mother.

According to our official Church teaching called dogma, Mary was conceived by her mother St. Anne without any stain of original sin through the merits of Jesus Christ our Savior. Mary has to be pure and clean because she would bear the Son of God who is perfect and spotless.

God chose Mary to be the Mother of Jesus not because of her having any special traits but purely out of God’s goodness “who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens” (Eph.1:3).

Hence, this feast reminds us too to imitate the Blessed Virgin in saying “yes” to God’s invitation to cooperate in his wonderful plans of bringing Jesus into this world so darkened by sin that has left us broken and fragmented from each other. Rejoice, therefore, because everyday, God sends us his angel to greet us with “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you” (Lk.1:26), inviting us into an intimacy with him like Mary.

*Photo by author, left side of the facade of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, Holy Land, May 2019.*

Intimacy is more than being close with another; it is an expression of love that is willing to sacrifice, to suffer and get hurt for the sake of the beloved.

God was the first to express his intimacy with us not just by expressing his immense love for us in words by the prophets in the Old Testament but by sending us his Son Jesus Christ who became human like us in everything except sin. Actually, God does not need to become human like us to save us but he chose to be one of us because he loves us so much. As an expression of his intimacy and solidarity with us, Jesus suffered and died on the Cross while going through every pain and hurt we go through in life like grief and sadness in losing a friend, betrayal by a friend, abandonment by friends, no to mention being terrified, going hungry and thirsty. Jesus became like us so that we may become like God – intimately loving him through others.

Actually, God does not need us but he chose to love us, to be with us, to be intimate with us because he loves us so much. God remains God even without us. When we do not pray, when we do not go to Mass on Sundays, when we are bad and not good, God is still God. It is us humans who are lessened when we turn away from from God.

That’s the intimacy of God with us.

How about us, are we willing to be intimate with God in Jesus Christ?

Sadly, many people “create” and “force” intimacy which is a grace, a gift of God freely given to everyone. Like friendship, we cannot force intimacy into someone not meant to be. And like friendship too, intimacy begins in Christ, blooms in Christ.

Photo by author, chapel beneath the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth; see those pilgrims praying behind iron grills at the back of the sanctuary which is the site where the Angel announced to Mary the birth of Jesus Christ.

Underneath the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth is a chapel near the very site where the angel is believed to have appeared to Mary to announce the coming of the Savior. At the back of the sanctuary of this chapel is that holy site of the Annunciation enclosed by iron grills with an altar table at the center with the declaration in Latin, Verbum Caro Hic Factum Est (The Word became flesh here).

Mary’s intimacy with God began long before the Annunciation to her by the Angel cultivated in her prayer life. Every time I pray this scene of the Annunciation, I always imagine Mary deeply absorbed in prayer. Most likely, she must be praying about her coming wedding to Joseph. Luke and Matthew were both consistent about their status as being “betrothed to each other” when God announced through the Angel the birth of the Christ.

*Photo by author, close up of the* Annunciation site beneath the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth; written on the altar table that says in Latin, “The Word became flesh here.”

Imagine the excitement and joy of two faithful Jews getting married soon when suddenly the Angel appeared to them on separate occasions and diverse situations to announce God’s plan of sending his own Son Jesus Christ for the salvation of the world?

It must have been most painful to both Mary and Joseph but as being truly faithful and loving of God, they both agreed to the Divine plan! And that is the great sign of their immense love for God – eventually for each other. Moreover, in saying yes to God, both Mary and Joseph showed the kind of intimacy they have with the Divine.

Let us focus on the intimacy of Mary with God on this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception found in our gospel account of the Annunciation.

*Photo by Rev. Fr. Gerry Pascual of Iba, Zambales at Santuario di Greccio, Rieti, Italy in 2019.*

Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you ahve found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus (Luke 1:30-31).

Notice that in many scenes and prayers about the Blessed Virgin Mary, we find the prominence of her “womb” like here in the Annunciation and when Elizabeth praised her during her Visitation as “blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Lk.1:42).

In Hebrew, the word for womb is “racham, rachamin” which is their word too for “mercy” because for them, God’s mercy comes from his innermost being. Hence, whenever the Jews speak of mercy of God, they point their fingers downward into the womb or uterus and moves it upward to the heart to indicate the flow of mercy of God from his innermost being expressed in love which is he’s very being and core.

This is the reason the Church Fathers translated mercy into “misericordia” from the Latin verb to move or to stir – “misereor” – and word for heart “cor” that literally means “to move or to stir one’s heart”. It is more than a feeling like compassion; mercy is deeper as it encompasses one’s being leading to intimacy that is a communion or oneness with others which is also intimacy.

*Photo by author, Church of the Visitation, Ein-Karem, Israel, May 2017.*

Where there is love, there is always intimacy with the lover willing to bear all pains and hurts for the beloved. And vice versa. Like Jesus. Then Mary who was willing to sacrifice her wedding and marriage to Joseph by being the Mother of the Son of God.

But why? Because we have experienced too that true joy comes only when there is giving of self, when there is willingness to let go and suffer. At the Last Supper, Jesus described joy as like a mother in the pangs of childbirth when she goes through a lot of pains and worries and fears almost like dying but once the baby is delivered, joy happens because she had brought forth a new life into the world.

True joy is having the firm belief that no matter what happens even in the worst scenarios, God would never leave nor forsake us. Joy happens when we find new life, new directions because there is another person willing to remain with us, assuring us we are never alone. That again is intimacy when you feel not alone especially in the most trying times.

Without intimacy with God and another person, there can be no true joy because no one would dare to take risks in this life like mothers. This is what modern women are missing when they see childbearing more as a chore or a burden or a suffering they can always avoid than self-giving borne out of love which happens in the context of an intimacy. No wonder too that sex has been so trivialized, reduced to an activity and act instead of as a gift of self because there is no more responsibility and intimacy. We cannot have lasting and meaningful relationships without intimacy.

On this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, we are reminded of God’s mercy and intimacy with us, of his loving relationship with us that continues in Christ Jesus with Mary.

Let us nurture this beautiful relationship with God that flows and bears fruit in our relationships with one another.

Like Mary, may we finally say yes to God into an intimate relationship with him through our selflessness. Like Mary, we are blessed and full of grace. The joy awaiting far outweighs the pains and sufferings we shall go through in our gift of self in our relationships. Have no fear for Jesus had suffered first before us so that we can love and be intimate like him. Amen. Have a blessed week.

Maling habag

Lawiswis Ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-26 ng Nobyembre 2025

*Larawan mula sa Catholic News Agency, 22 Nobyembre 2025.*

Tawag pansin at higit sa lahat ay nakatutuwa ang pahayag ng Santo Papa Leo XIV kamakailan mula sa Roma na mag-ingat aniya ang lahat sa maling habag at awa.

Nagtipon sa Roma noong isang linggo ang mga bumubuo sa court of appeals ng Simbahan kung tawagin ay Roman Rota na siyang humahawak sa mga kaso ng marriage annulment. Heto yung pambungad na bahagi ng balita mula sa Vatican:

In a firm call to avoid “false mercy” in marriage annulment proceedings, Pope Leo XIV reminded that compassion cannot disregard the truth.

During a Friday audience with participants in the legal-pastoral training course of the Roman Rota, the Holy See’s court of appeals, the Holy Father read a lengthy speech in which he recalled the importance of the reform of marriage annulment processes initiated by Pope Francis 10 years ago. (Mula sa ulat ni Almudena Martinez-Bordiu ng Catholic News Agency)

Noon pa mang mahalal na Santo Papa si Leo XIV, marami na siyang pahayag na nakakatawag pansin hindi sapagkat kakaiba o nakakagulat katulad ng sinundan niyang si Papa Francisco.

Pagmasdan palaging malinaw at ayon sa turo ng Simbahan at kanyang mga tradisyon ang mga pahayag ni Papa Leon. Walang malabo na nagbibigay daan sa maling pagkaunawa o interpretasyon. At sa lahat ng kanyang binitiwang salita, ito ang pinaka-nagustuhan ko dahil totoong-totoo. Hindi lamang sa larangan ng pagsusuri sa mga kaso ng annulment ng mga kasal kungdi sa ating buhay mismo.

Bagaman mahalaga ang maging mahabagin na siyang pinaka tuon ng pansin ni Pope Francis noon, niliwanag ngayon ni Papa Leon na hindi maaring puro na lang awa at habag.

Tunay naman na maraming pagkakataon lumalabis ating habag at awa habang nakakalimutan ang katotohanan. Lalo na sa ating mga Pinoy na puro na lang awa at bihira gumana ang batas kaya naman palala ng palala ang ating sitwasyon na nawawala na ang kaayusan dahil bihirang bigyang pagkakataon ang gawi ng katarungan.

Sa tuwing nasasantabi ang katotohanan at nangingibabaw ang pagkaawa, ito ay nagiging maling uri ng habag dahil hindi maaring pairalin ang awa kung walang katotohanan. Ipinaliwanag ni Papa Leon noong isang linggo na palagi sa lahat ng pagkakataon na hanapin at tingnan muna ang katotohanan sa mga bagay-bagay na kinokonsidera ukol sa mga kaso ng sa kasal. Idiniin ng Santo Papa na dapat maunang hanapin at panindigan ang katotohanan dahil ito mismo si Jesu_Kristo na nagsabing “Ako ang daan at ang katotohanan at ang buhay” (Jn. 14:6).

Gayon din sa buhay. Ang maging maawain sa gitna ng kawalan ng katotohanan lalo na namamayani ang kasinungalingan ay maling-mali sapagkat sa tuwing nauuna ang awa at habag kesa katotohanan, nasasantabi rin ang katarungan kung saan mayroong tiyak na napagkakaitan nito. Hindi nagiging patas ang kalagayan kung puro awa at walang katotohanan.

Kasalan sa binaha na simbahan ng Barasoain sa Malolos City, 22 Hulyo 2025; larawan kuha ni *Aaron Favila ng Associated Press.*

Sa tuwing nauuna ang pagkamaawain sa gitna ng kawalan ng katotohanan, lalo tayo nagiging walang awa o merciless sa dapat kaawaan habang hinahayaan natin ang pag-iral ng kasinungalingan. Balang araw, lulubha at lalala ang kamaliang ito kaya higit na marami ang mahihirapan.

Hindi maaring pairalin ang habag at awa kung mayroong mali at kasamaan. Iyan problema sa ating bansa: lahat na lang kinaawan at pinatawad maski walang pagsisisi ni pag-amin ng kasalanan kaya wala ring napaparusahan ni nakukulong! Magtataka pa ba tayo wala tayong kaayusan at higit sa lahat, wala tayong patunguhan?

Kinabukasan ng halalan noong 2019 habang almusal, nagsabi ng sorry sa akin ang aming kasambahay sa kumbento. Bakita ika ko? Kasi daw binoto niya pa rin si Bong Revilla bilang Senador sa kabila ng pagsasabi ko na huwag iboto; paliwanag niya sa akin ay “nakakaawa naman kung walang boboto kay Bong”.

Hindi ko malaman noon kung ako ay tatawa o magagalit. Sabi ko na lang sa kanya, puro ka awa kay Bong e hayun siya pa isa sa mga maraming nakuhang boto bilang senador, dinaig mga karapat-dapat! Ano nangyari mula noon hanggang ngayon? Sangkot diumano sa mga kaso ng pandarambong si Bong Revilla, hindi ba? Kasi nga binalewala ng mga botante ang katotohanan ng dati niyang kaso ng corruption kay Napoles at higit sa lahat ang kawalan niya ng kakayahan bilang mambabatas.

Ganyan nangyayari sa buhay saan man kapag isinasantabi ang katotohanan at pinaiiral palagi ang awa at habag. Kay rami nating mga mag-aaral na nakakatapos at guma-graduate na walang alam dahil kinaawaan lang ng guro. Tama nga tawag sa kanila, “pasang-awa” pero sino ang kawawa kapag bumabagsak ang tulay o lumalala ang pasyente?

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, 20 Marso 2025, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches.*

Walang natututo ng ano mang aral sa paaralan o sa buhay man nang dahil lang sa awa. Hindi titino ang bansa kapag lalaktawan ang mga batas dahil kaaawaan palagi ang mga lumalabag.

Reklamo tayo ng reklamo na namimili ang batas o selective kung saan mayroong mga pinapaboran at hindi kasi naman mas pinipili natin palagi ang awa kesa katotohanan na mayroong mali o kulang.

Kailan natin haharapin ang katotohanan? Kaya nga sinabi ni Jesus na “ang mapagkakatiwalaan sa munting bagayay pagkakatiwalaan ng higit na malalaking bagay, ang hindi tapat sa munting bagay at hindi rin mapagkakatiwalaan sa malalaking bagay” (Lk.16:10-14).

Hindi tayo nagiging maawain o merciful bagkus ay nagiging walang awa o merciless nga tayo kapag maling awa ang umiiral sa atin dahil malayo tayo sa katotohanan. Katotohanang muna bago habag at awa. Veritas et Misericordia gaya ng motto ng aming pamantasan. Naawa ni Jesus sa mga makasalanan tulad ng babaeng nahuli sa pakikiapid, kay Maria Magdalena at kay Dimas dahil umamin silang lahat sa katotohanan na sila nga ay nagkasala. Gagana lamang ang habag at awa ng Diyos kapag mayroong pag-amin at pagtanggap sa katotohanan. Huwad ang ano mang awa kapag walang katotohanan dahil tiyak wala ring katarungan na umiiral doon.

Walang bansa ang umunlad dahil lang sa awa, lalo na sa maling awa kungdi sa pagsasaliksik at paninindigan ng katotohanan.

Higit sa lahat ay nakakabuhay ng pag-asa ang pahayag ni Pope Leo para sa Simbahang Katolika lalo na dito sa Pilipinas. Nakakahiya at nakakalungkot kaming mga pari na gayon na lang kung makapula sa mga politiko at upisyal ng gobyerno sangkot sa anomalya ngunit kapag kapwa pari ang may katiwalian at alingasngas… ano laging hiling namin maging ng mga tao?

Patawarin. Kaawaan. Hayaan na lang.

Bakit ganoon?

Bukod na ang pari ay dapat larawan ng kabutihan, kami rin siyang dapat tagapagtanghal at tagapagtanggol ng katotohanan. Hindi lang ng awa. Iyong tama na awa gaya ng sinasaad ni Papa Leon. At ng Diyos.

Ang masakit ay, palaging pakiusap at sangkalan ng mga pari ay awa kahit na mali ang ginawa o ginagawa. Kaya malaking aral sa Simbahan ang yumanig na sex scandal noon. At diyan natin makikita walang katanda-tanda ang ilang pari at obispo dito sa Pilipinas: kapag pinag-usapan kaso ng mga paring sangkot sa sex at money scams, kaagad-agad ang hiling nila ay “awa”.

Kawalan ng katarungan at isang kasinungalingan kapag mga kaparian sa pamumuno at pangunguna ng obispo ay puro awa habang winawalang bahala ang katotohanan. Nakakatawa at nakaka-inis maringgan mga pari at obispo nasisiyahan sa mga kuwentong Maritess pero kapag ang paksa ay katiwalian ng isang pari, ni hindi man lamang alamin, suriin kung totoo o hindi upang maituwid. Kaya sa kahuli-hulihan, maraming pari at obispo lumalakad may ipot sa ulo dahil kitang-kita ng iba ang kamalian at kasinungaligan na sila ang ni ayaw tumingin ni umamin.

Sa mga nangyayari ngayon sa bansa, ito rin ang hamon sa amin sa Simbahan: magpakatotoo, huwag pairalin maling awa o false mercy wika ni Pope Leo upang si Kristo ang tunay na maghari sa ating buhay upang makamit tunay na pag-unlad sa lahat ng larangan ng buhay. Ano ang iyong palagay sa sinabi ni Papa Leon ukol sa maling awa? Mag-ingat at baka mayroon ka rin niyon. Amen.

Blowing in the wind

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 03 October 2025
Friday in the Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I
Baruch 1:15-22     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     Luke 10:13-16

*Photo by author, Atok, Benguet 27 December 2024.*

Your words today
O Lord remind me so well
of Bob Dylan's classic song
"Blowing In the Wind":

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they're forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

Yes, and how many years must a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
Yes, and how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

Yes, and how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

I could feel your
exasperation, Jesus
in your words,
"Woe to you, Chorazin!
Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the mighty deeds done 
in your midst had been done 
in Tyre and Sidon, 
they would long ago 
have repented,
sitting in sackcloth
and ashes" (Luke 10:13);
many times,
I feel the same like you,
Lord: we have become so numb
and callous of each other,
even indifferent to what is
going on.

On the other hand,
how I wish we all feel like Baruch 
during the Babylonian captivity
"flushed with shame"
for all their sins against God,
not heeding his voice
as they "went off after 
devices of their own 
wicked hearts,
served other gods,
and did evil in the 
sight of the Lord"
(Baruch 1:15, 22);
Lord Jesus,
bring back our
sense of sin
as individuals
and as a people
for us to realize
how all this mess
of corruption in government
is the sum of our 
personal sins
of not heeding your voice
especially in choosing
our leaders.

Earthquake survivor Jesiel Malinao sits beside the coffins of her two sons on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025 after a strong earthquake on Tuesday caused a landslide that toppled their hillside homes in Bogo city, Cebu Province, Central Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Have mercy on us,
Lord Jesus!
Bring back our sense
of sin for us to be 
"flushed with shame" too
like your exiles;
awaken us from our
indifference and numbness
to all the corruption and sin
happening in our country;
we have trapped ourselves
in our own abyss of miseries 
as we remain divided,
seeking to follow people 
than you, O Lord Jesus
who is the truth,
the way and the life.
With all the calamities
and corruption happening
among us,
let us rise and stand
by your side, Jesus -
upholding what is true,
what is good,
and what is just.
Have mercy on us
your people, Jesus
especially the little ones
long been abused 
by the powerful
and suffer most 
in calamities.
Amen.

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City
(lordmychef@gmail.com)

From YouTube.com

“I Don’t Know How to Love Him” (1971) by Yvonne Elliman

Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 06 April 2025

This is the second time we have featured Ms. Yvonne Elliman’s I Don’t Know How to Love Him in our Sunday Music at this time of the year when the Sunday gospel is about the woman caught committing adultery.

Every time that story comes up, my mind automatically links it with this song sang by Ms. Elliman in both the Broadway and movie versions of the rock-opera Jesus Christ, Superstar where she played the role as Mary Magdalene who was believed for a long time as the woman caught committing adultery. Modern biblical scholarships have long debunked that belief but that song by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice plus Elliman’s amazing interpretation has given us with so many perspectives about the gospel itself.

One thing we realized this year is how we – like the woman caught committing adultery meet Jesus Christ face-to-face to experience his immense love and mercy and forgiveness.

We encounter Jesus when we disarm ourselves of our false securities and pretenses, masks and camouflages that all cover our sins. It is when we come face-to-face with our sinful self when we eventually meet Jesus face-to-face too because that is when we surrender in silence like the woman caught in adultery and the mob to some degree because all the charges against us are true.

See also that it is only the fourth gospel that Jesus is portrayed “bending” low – first here before the woman caught committing adultery and secondly at the washing of the feet of his Apostles at their Last Supper. How lovely is that sight to behold, dear friends! Imagine God bending before us, giving us like the sinful woman and the mob that space for us to confront our true self, to realize and accept the whole realities we are all interconnected in love.

Only the woman remained – like the eleven Apostles at the Last Supper – because she was the only one willing to change, probably sorrowful and contrite for her sins. Contrary to our fears, Jesus has only love and mercy, kindness and forgiveness to anyone contrite and sorrowful of one’s sin that so unlike with the people’s wrath and anger, judgment and condemnation. St. Augustine perfectly described that moment in today’s gospel, Relicti sunt duo; misera et miserecordia (Two were left; misery and mercy). https://lordmychef.com/2025/04/05/lent-is-encountering-jesus/

Now, look at the first two stanzas of I Don’t Know How to Love Him:

I don't know how to love him
What to do, how to move him
I've been changed, yes really changed
In these past few days
When I've seen myself
I seem like someone else

I don't know how to take this
I don't see why he moves me
He's a man
He's just a man
And I've had so many
Men before
In very many ways
He's just one more

See the conversion and transformation of the woman caught in adultery expressed by Ms. Elliman in the song: I’ve been changed, yes really changed/ In these past few days/ When I’ve seen myself/ I seem like someone else. It is one of the great ironies in life: when we are most vulnerable and weakest, that is when we are also most truest to our self, that is when we truly grow and mature in life!

And this was all possible because of the gift of love and mercy of Jesus Christ, of encountering the Lord and Savior Himself in our own brokenness which the song and the singer captured so perfectly, He’s just a man/ And I’ve had so many men before/ In very many ways/ He’s just one more.

How amazing that the lyrics and the rendition blended perfectly, making us realize how Jesus is just like any other man but not just another additional man; Jesus is MORE than any one because He is the only who truly loves us most, offering us forgiveness once we strip ourselves naked before Him of all our sins and pride and pretensions. God’s love in Jesus Christ is beyond imagining. This we have seen in the parable of the prodigal son and now in the story of the woman caught committing adultery. Do not let your past sins prevent you from meeting Jesus face-to-face to finally experience that inner peace and joy you have been missing and searching for so long.

We are now in the final Sunday in Lent, next week is Palm Sunday, the start of the Holy Week. We can never experience the joy of Easter unless we join Christ’s Passion of emptying ourselves of sins and pride to be filled with His humility, justice and love.

Here is the lovely Ms. Elliman with her superb singing of I Don’t Know How to Love Him, hoping this helps you prepare in this final week of Lent.

From YouTube.com.

Mystery of God, mystery of sin

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fourth Sunday in Lent (Laetare Sunday), 30 March 2025
Joshua 5:9, 10-12 ++ 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 ++ Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

*Photo by author, Chapel of Angel of Peace, RISE Tower, Our Lady of Fatima Un iversity, Valenzuela, 28 March 2025.*

We enter the fourth Sunday in Lent today with shades of pink to “rejoice” not only because Easter is getting close but most of all for the joy of God’s immense love expressed in His mercy and forgiveness to us sinners.

Known as Laetare Sunday from the Latin entrance antiphon of the Mass calling us to “Rejoice!” as it is hoped that by this time, we feel nearer to God in our Lenten journey, having experienced His Mystery which our gospel presents today courtesy of Luke who invites us to enter the scene of the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Many times we find ourselves wrapped in God’s Mystery with a capital “M” while entangled too in that other mystery of sin with a small “m” as this parable shows us.

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them Jesus addressed this parable: “A man had two sons…” (Luke 15:1-3, 11).

Jesus came to make God closest to us as our breath. As a Mystery, God is neither a concept nor an idea we have to understand in order to have or grasp to be possessed. It is God Whom we let to possess and wrap us in His Mystery for He is totally transcendent yet so personal with each of us. We do not see Him but we feel and experience Him as all-encompassing like nature around us that can be so breath-taking and awesome yet cannot be totally captured even by cameras. God is like the presence of insects and birds in a forest we delightedly listen to but so difficult to find or see.

That’s God – all around us, all-encompassing. Unfortunately, we are like the youngest son, proud and feeling independent with the gall and guts to ask God for our share of everything to be on our own when we do not have anything at all.

And off we leave to live a prodigal life or “wasteful extravagance”, slaving ourselves for wealth and fame and power until we hit rock bottom when suddenly we find ourselves empty and lost, sick and even alone. That is when we remember to come “home”, to return to our roots where it all began who is God.

As we sank deep in despair, we find a glimmer of hope within us where God is, where God had never really left us, always awaiting our return right there in our heart. He has always been there though we never recognized Him. Actually, that very moment we realized we are down and out, that was when God immediately ran to meet us.

Now, that mystery with a small “m” called sin we hardly notice.

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.*

See again Luke as master storyteller in this lovely parable he alone has. See how Luke presents in a most subtle manner the mystery of sin not only as a breaking away from God and a violation of laws but a complete refusal to love.

Feel the youngest son in his asking for his share of inheritance from his father and his leaving home was not simply a breaking away but a refusal to love, a refusal to live, a refusal to be with the father.

That happens when we sin.

We do not tell God and our family and friends that we don’t love them but our walking away from them tells that so clearly. However, as we refuse to love when we sin, that is also when we deny the love right in our hearts, that we cannot stop loving because whatever we take after we have left are actually the very love of God and of our family and friends!

There is nothing truly ours in this world and because of God’s Mystery, we never lose His gift of love within us that when things get worst in our lives, it is the same love that gives us the spark to hope and believe again. It was that love that the youngest son missed and realized despite all his dramas as he went home to his loving father just like us too.

On the other hand, the parable presents to us too another pernicious effect of sin as a mystery which is its direct effect to our personality. As a refusal to love, sin has a direct effect to our personality because every time we sin we become a less loving person that is a contradiction of our identity and nature.

Its worst part happens when we take small sins for granted including the little decisions we make that do not seem to be evil or bad, even without any vice at all; notice how after sometime of repeatedly committing them, our personality is affected, making us a less loving person that eventually breaks out in the open and we freakout like the elder son or those people caught on cam doing all the crazy stuff in public.

He said to this father in reply, “Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf” (Luke 15:29-30).

How often have we made the excuse para yun lang naman? That a little lying or cheating once won’t really matter, asking ano ba masama doon? (what’s bad/wrong)? as an excuse for things that seem to be not bad or sinful at all.

Recall the first Sunday of Lent, the temptation of Jesus, of how the devil is always in the details, tempting us with that device of increments, of apportioning to little things the big evil things, not showing us the whole picture like fake news peddled by demons.

A sin is always a sin, a refusal to love. Period. Whether we go big time in sins like the youngest son or small time in sins like his elder brother, sin is clearly a refusal to love that greatly affects our personality, our lives and that of others.

We rejoice today for that great Mystery of God, of His immense love for each of us no matter how bad and how dark our sins are. God’s Mystery is His abounding love and mercy, forgiving our sins the moment we feel sorry for them.

He said to him, “My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found” (Luke 15:31-32).

As I turned 60 last Saturday, the overwhelming feeling I have had inside me is that deep gratitude to God’s love for me. Everything is grace that all the more I pray, “Lord you have given me with so much but I have given so little; teach me to give more of myself, more of your love, more of you to others.”

This time, I pray it with deeper conviction as I see both with joy and fear the bright horizon ahead with a distant shore beyond. There’s no more time to waste as St. Paul had noted in the second reading, I feel life now more definitive, that God is so undeniably real. Like St. Paul, “we are ambassadors for Christ” with the mission to help people “reconcile to God” especially in this final journey in life. God reminds us today that like during the time of Joshua in the first reading, the Eucharist is our new Passover where we thank God for His abounding love and mercy for us in this life and beyond. Amen.

Lent is being shamefaced

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Second Week in Lent, 17 March 2025
Daniel 9:4-10     + + +     Luke 6:36-38

*Photo by author, Canyon Woods Resort, Laurel, Batangas, 15 March 2025.*

Lord Jesus Christ,
on this first working day of
Second Week in Lent,
give me the grace
to be
 shamefaced;
give me the sense of
embarrassment,
the sense of sinfulness,
a sense of humanity.

Yes, Lord,
we have been so
callous
and numb,
so thick-faced
as in "kapal"!

“Lord, great and awesome god, you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you and observe your commandments! We have sinned, been wicked and done evil; we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws. We have not obeyed your servants the prophets… Justice, O Lord, is on your side; we are shamefaced even to this day… O Lord, we are shamefaced, like our kings, our princes, and our fathers for having sinned against you” (Daniel 9:4-7, 8).

Do not let us sink deeper
into sin and misery 
like your people
in the time 
of your Prophet Daniel,
Lord, for us to be shamefaced 
in admitting our sins,
our treachery against you;
our nation is so divided these days
with no one having any sense of shame
at all with the decadence we have sank
into like excessive profanities,
rampant fake news,
overt personalisms,
too much politics
without any regard
at all with what is right
and wrong,
with what is evil
and what is good
and worst of all,
without any respect
for one another
and for life in general;
many of us have 
discarded your image and
likeness in us as we have lost
our sense of sinfulness
and shame.

Let us be shamefaced
like Daniel, Jesus;
mahiya naman kami, Lord!

Before we can be merciful with
others, let us be shamefaced
first; let us be shamefaced,
Jesus, so we can be generous
with others for without any 
shame at all like with what
is happening now 
in our country,
we are sinking deeper
into the pit of destruction.
Amen.

From our “ark” of life into God’s “house of mercy”

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 19 February 2025
Genesis 8:6-13, 20-22 <*0000>< + ><0000*> Mark 8:22-26

I really wonder,
dear God, 
how it felt to be inside
Noah's Ark for 40 days?
The feeling of restlessness,
of anxiety and uncertainty
of the future,
so unsure of what was to come
while at the same time
filled with hope
praying for the best.

How was the boat too?
How did it look like?
What was the smell inside,
the feeling inside that big ark,
the sounds from all the animals
and everything within and
outside?

We have been there many times,
Father, in that big ark called life;
we have passed through many floods,
have waited many times for the waters
to recede,
for the sun to shine,
for life to return to normal.

Through it all,
you never left us, Lord;
send us Noah 
who would stand with
us inside the ark for
40 days and 40 nights,
stay afloat,
stay alive
wherever direction you bring us.

Help us, dear Father
to be patient even if we can't
see right away the distant shore
like that blind man healed
by Jesus at Bethsaida;
lead us, Father
in this ark of life
away from the idolatry of
modern world,
away from the trappings
of easy and comfortable life,
away from sin and evil
to be closer to your mercy,
to your "beth hesda" -
to your house of mercy.
Amen.

*Photo by author, Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Dumaguete City, November 2024.*

We are Mary Magdalene

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, 22 July 2024
Song of Songs 3:1-4 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> John 20:1-2, 11-18

*“The Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene” painting by Alexander Ivanov (1834-1836) at the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia from commons.wikimedia.org.*

We rejoice today, Lord Jesus,
for this most wondrous Feast of
your friend St. Mary Magdalene:
in her we find hope and joy
that like her, we who are sinners
are assured of a grace-filled future,
of a trustworthy friend in You,
and abounding love and mercy
also in You.

We are, dear Jesus,
the modern Mary Magdalene:
sinful and worldly,
perhaps so vain with our
outside appearance and bearing
in public, sometimes on the brink
of giving up in life because nobody seem
to care at all for us;
many times like Mary Magdalene,
we walk alone in darkness 
searching for You, Lord Jesus;
many times we wonder too
how we could move the huge 
and heavy stone of past sins,
weaknesses and failures, 
addictions and vices 
that cover us and prevent us
from moving forward, finding You;
many times, O Lord,
we mistake You for somebody else
like Mary Magdalene when she mistook
You to be the gardener at the tomb
because we are so preoccupied
of many things in life. 

But, You assure us today
on this Feast of St. Mary Magdalene
our fears and assumptions are not 
true at all; help us to stop clinging 
to our many past for You are not there,
Jesus; You are always in the here and now,
in the present moment, personally calling us
in our name like Mary!

The Bride says: On my bed at night I sought him whom my heart loves – I sought him but I did not find him. I will rise then and go about the city; in the streets and crossings I will seek him whom my heart loves. I sought him but I did not find him. The watchmen came upon me as they made their rounds of the city. Have you seen him whom my heart loves? I have hardly left them when I found him whom my heart loves (Song of Songs 3:1-4).

Like that lover,
the Bride in the first reading,
we are Mary Magdalene
in search of love and meaning
in this world;
in search of You, Jesus,
our Lord and Savior;
so often, we seek You
in this world, in its loud noise
of too much self bragging
as well as in the midst of the
world's riches and powers;
the more we seek You,
the more elusive You have become
until You came when like Mary Magdalene
we have believed in You,
we have listened to You.
we have become silent
and attentive
to You, Lord Jesus;
thank You for coming,
thank You for finding me,
thank You for calling me
like Mary
to proclaim You are risen
to others who believe in You,
searching You,
waiting for You.
Amen.

Lent is white as snow

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Second Week of Lent, 27 February 2024
Isaiah 1;10, 16-20     <*[[[[>< + + + ><]]]]*>     Matthew 23:1-12

Praise and glory
to you, God our Father,
for this Season of Lent!
Though it is characterized
with sobriety due to the
the spirit of penance,
you have ensured 
it not to be dull nor drab
with the joy of Easter
we all anticipate.
And so, what a joy
to listen to your words
today of the bursts of reds
you promised to cleanse
and turn into white as snow.

Come now, let us set things right, says the Lord. Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool.
Isaiah 1:18

Your words make me wonder,
Lord, why sins be like scarlet
and crimson?
Could it be because both
shades evoke power we
humans always abuse
that consciously or
unconsciously, we draw
blood that in the process
take life of others
because of our sinful
desires and schemes;
forgive us, O Lord,
for our hypocrisies
that have killed
others literally
and figuratively.

In Jesus' name,
help us, O God
to "set things right",
to be true and humble
before you for
"Whoever exalts himself
will be humbled; but whoever
humbles himself will be
exalted" (Matthew 23:12);
let us set things right
by being fair and just
especially to those
weak and marginalized;
let us set things right
by giving back
what we have stolen
from others;
let us set things right
by being concerned
with others through
love and good works 
that uplift people
physically,
morally,
and spiritually.
Amen.

*Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera in Calgary, Alberta, 21 February 2024.*

Lent is allowing God do his work in us

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the First Week of Lent, 21 February 2024
Jonah 3:1-10     ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*>     Luke 11:29-32

*Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera, somewhere in Alberta, Canada, 17 February 2024.*

God our Father,
in this Season of Lent,
let us take one step backward 
to let you do your work
in us,
among us.

We have been so used
to our expertise
and knowledge
that we seem to know
everything,
even better than you
like Jonah.

Allow us to take
"sackcloth and ashes"
like the people of Nineveh
to transcend our habits
by taking the back seat this time,
limiting ourselves to your
simple instructions
as we try to believe in you
and others too.

Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,” when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.
Jonah 3:4-5

Continue to speak to us
even harshly like Jesus
in the gospel, 
calling us an "evil generation"
seeking signs of your
presence in Christ;
very often,
we need to be shaken
deep inside,
to stop a while
so you can work in us
and among us,
filling us with your 
love and mercy
so that we discover
your love and mercy
in us when we are 
able to cry like the 
psalmist:
"Have mercy on me,
O God,
in your goodness;
in the greatness of your
compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me
from my guilt and of my sin
cleanse me"
(Ps. 51:3-4).
Amen.