Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, 22 July 2026 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> John 20:1-2, 11-18
“Christ’s Appearance to Mary Magdalene”, painting in 1835 by Russian painter Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov now hanging at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg; from en.wikipedia.org.
"I have seen the Lord!" (John 20:18)
What a joy must have been for St. Mary Magdalene to proclaim to the Apostles your rising, your appearance to her, Lord Jesus.
Most joyous of all, Lord is how you have called her by name, "Mary!"
On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken by Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus (John 20:1, 11-14).
Many times Lord Jesus I feel like St. Mary Magdalene on that very early morning of Easter: feeling lost or distant from you who seem to be missing or taken away from me; but so often, like St. Mary Magdalene, we fail to recognize you with our eyes because we picture you so differently to who you really are.
Many times our sight fails that is why most often, you call us by name; unfortunately in this age of social media and so many other distractions in life, we fail to hear nor even listen to your voice because we are afraid of silence as we are so afraid of the truth - that you love us so much that is why you have forgiven our sins.
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary of Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he told her (John 20:16-18).
“Noli me tangere” (touch me not) fresco in the Lower Basilica of St. Francis Assisi Church in Italy painted by Giotto de Bondone in the 13th century from commons.wikimedia.org.
Everyday you come to us, Jesus, calling us by name like Mary Magdalene - someone you personally know, with all of our sins and most kept secrets in our hearts, in our past.
If we could just be patient like St. Mary Magdalene in picking the pieces of our lives, of converting daily, of transcending the scars of sins of our past, then we shall hear and joyously listen to your voice spoken in a whisper, so sweet, so reassuring of your real presence, most of all filled with tenderness because you love us immensely, Jesus.
If we could just listen to your voice, Jesus, then like St. Mary Magdalene, we can proclaim too with joyful enthusiasm to other disciples "I have seen the Lord!" spreading you love and good news of salvation. Amen.
From Facebook, April 2021: “There is an urgency to announce the Joy, the joy of the Risen Lord!”
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 21 July 2026 Micah 7:14-15, 18-20 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 12:46-50
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, April 2023.
"Shepherd us your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, that dwells apart in a woodland, in the midst of Carmel. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old" (Micah 7:14).
Bring us back into your fold, merciful God and Father, for you delight in exercising forgiveness and mercy; we have gone too far from you as we have refused to love, regarding each one as different instead of as kins; we have been more concerned with physical presence without giving much attention to the deeper ties of our relationships in Jesus your Son; like Mary his Mother, let us listen to his words and obey them always, give them fulfillment in our lives of witnessing. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday in the Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 02 July 2026 Amos 7:10-17 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 9:1-8
Illustration from parentandchildbiblereading.com.
Dearest Lord Jesus,
today I pray for the many among us
carrying so much weight on their
shoulders,
those depressed,
those feeling unforgiven
or worthless -
heal them, Lord.
Make them realize there is
always a chance to change for
the better in you.
Clear their minds
and hearts of doubts
and mistrust on others
especially those who genuinely
love and care for them but
they feel are against them.
Like that paralytic,
relieve those still carrying
the burden of past mistakes and sin
that have paralyzed them,
trapped them that they could
not move on with life.
May they have the courage
to stand up
and walk free.
How amazing,
dear Jesus,
that you noticed the man lying
on the mat was the one burdened with
past sins; so lovely to realize how
nothing escapes you, Jesus:
the friends of the paralytic
were the ones carrying,
exerting effort to bring the paralytic
yet you knew for sure it was
actually the paralytic burdened
not his friends.
Likewise,
we pray for the countless
family and friends of those paralytics
overburdened with sin and worries
who patiently carry them;
shower them with blessings in
their perseverance in putting up with
a loved one like that paralytic -
unappreciative of other's care and
concern for them
so that one day,
they may look at their message
of love and understanding
and not see them as enemies.
Amen.
Photo by author, Cabo de Roca, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 15 June 2025.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Memorial of Sts. Timothy and Titus, 26 January 2026 2 Timothy 1:1-8 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Mark 3:22-30
Photo by author, Carmel of the Holy Family Monastery, Guiguinto, Bulacan, 23 January 2026.
Let me not be ashamed of witnessing, of testifying for you, Lord Jesus Christ; let me not be ashamed of you, Jesus in this time when things of God and of virtues and holiness are looked down upon as old fashioned, so conservative, fill me with your "grace, mercy, and peace", Lord like what St. Paul prayed for his disciple Timothy.
For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord…(2 Timothy 1:6-8).
As I prayed St. Paul's letter to Timothy, I felt as if those very words were spoken too to me by you, Jesus - thank you so much, Lord! I feel shy but so encouraged too because indeed everything we have is a pure grace from you, Jesus; even our calling is a gift you have freely given us, Jesus; that is why, grant me the courage not to be ashamed to proclaim your truth always; grant me the courage not to be ashamed to witness your love and mercy and justice with others especially those with less in life. Amen.
Photo by author, Carmel of the Holy Family Monastery, Guiguinto, Bulacan, 23 January 2026.
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.
Photo by author, 2021.
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.
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.
Mula sa FB post ni Dr. Tony Leachon.
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.
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
Photo by author, Atok, Benguet 27 December 2024.
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)
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.
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.
Photo by author, Chapel of Angel of Peace, RISE Tower, Our Lady of Fatima Un iversity, Valenzuela, 28 March 2025.
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.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.
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.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.
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.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.
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.
Photo by author, Canyon Woods Resort, Laurel, Batangas, 15 March 2025.
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