“What A Fool Believes” (1978) by the Doobie Brothers

Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 08 November 2026

*Photo by author, Bucharest, Romania, November 2025.*

We go funky this Sunday with the Doobie Brothers’ 1978 hit What A Fool Believes so related with the gospel on Jesus Christ’s parable of the ten virgins waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom: five were foolish, five were wise.

While praying over the parable with the Doobies’ music playing inside our head, we wondered why Jesus mentioned first the foolish, then the wise.

Answer: because most people in the time of Jesus even now are foolish! (See at how most of elected officials anywhere in the world are corrupt and inept put into office by fools like them! https://lordmychef.com/2026/11/07/being-wise-not-foolish/)

Being foolish like those five virgins who did not bring extra oil for their lamps is to live as if there is no God, that there is no final reckoning with God at the end of time, acting impiously with what the psalmist says, The fool says in his heart, “There is no God” (Psalm 14:1).

The fools are always the most self-centered, selfish people who think only of themselves, believing the world revolves around them, so foolishly convinced they are indispensable in life not realizing we would be better off without them actually. They may have lamps lighted for a while but are soon dimmed because inside they are empty and shallow, with nothing substantial really to keep their lamps. Exactly like that fool described in What A Fool Believes:

But what a fool believes he sees
No wise man has the power to reason away
What seems to be
Is always better than nothing
And nothing at all keeps sending him...

Composed by Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald in 1978, What A Fool Believes is the usual story unrequited love of some men who develop illusions of being romantically involved in a relationship with a woman they have foolishly fallen in love with. It was first recorded by Loggins but it was McDonald’s version with The Doobie Brothers he had joined in 1975 who made it into the charts, giving them two Grammy awards in 1980 as Song of the Year and Record of the Year. In 2024, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame becoming a certified classic.

Like the parable narrated by Jesus more than 2000 years ago with a dash of humor, What A Fool Believes teems with a lot of humor too set in the superb musicianship by The Doobie Brothers with McDonald on vocals with his most distinctive voice honed in his many recordings as one of the very talented session musicians of the famed Steely Dan composed of the late Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.

What A Fool Believes is very catchy and danceable driven by its syncopated rhythm of percussion and drum track with McDonald’s bouncy keyboard stabs and riffs, blending so perfectly into a smooth groove of soft-rock, jazz and blue-eyed soul music now labelled as yacht rock which we personally strongly dislike. Anyway, we are so glad that even the GenZ’s and Millennials love What A Fool Believes which is actually very intelligent music, from the lyrics to the instrumentations.

He came from somewhere back in her long ago
The sentimental fool don't see
Tryin' hard to recreate
What had yet to be created once in her life
She musters a smile
For his nostalgic tale
Never coming near what he wanted to say
Only to realize
It never really was

She had a place in his life
He never made her think twice
As he rises to her apology
Anybody else would surely know
He's watching her go

But what a fool believes he sees
No wise man has the power to reason away
What seems to be
Is always better than nothing
And nothing at all keeps sending him...

Somewhere back in her long ago
Where he can still believe there's a place in her life
Someday, somewhere, she will return

She had a place in his life
He never made her think twice
As he rises to her apology
Anybody else would surely know
He's watching her go

But what a fool believes he sees
No wise man has the power to reason away
What seems to be
Is always better than nothing
There's nothing at all
But what a fool believes he sees...

It seems the man here is someone we describe as hindi nakayanan his rejection by his beloved kaya bumigay at tuluyang nabaliw, living in that grand illusion of being once the boyfriend of the love of his life.

Like the ten virgins who fell asleep while awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom, we too fail and falter many times in life. But what distinguishes the wise from the foolish ones is that faith in Jesus Christ who sustains us and enables us to weather every storm in this life.

Let me end this with another round of praise and thanks to the great Alex Eala – not only for her athletic prowess but for her simplicity and humility, beauty and maturity when she said in her press conference yesterday after that cardiac game with Tereza Valentova that being tired is a blessing.

Very true!

We all get tired and Jesus assures us in his parable that’s fine like those ten virgins who fell asleep. What matters is we keep that fire burning within us by always having that extra oil in Jesus, always believing, always hoping and always loving as we strive to become better like Alex.

With some great music of course like What A Fool Believes by The Doobie Brothers.

From YouTube.com.

“Do It Again” by Steely Dan for my funeral

Lord My Chef Sunday Music, 01 November 2026

*Photo by author, Don Bosco Batulao Retreat House, Batangas, April 2026.*

You read it right: when I die, it is my wish that Steely Dan’s 1972 classic Do It Again shall be my funeral music. Aside from the fact that it was the first SD song I heard that started my fascination and love for this duo and their music, it speaks so well of my life that if I should live again, I will repeat everything. Just like Jack in Do It Again.

In the mornin' you go gunnin' for the man who stole your water
And you fire 'til he is done in but they catch you at the border
And the mourners are all singin' as they drag you by your feet
But the hangman isn't hangin' and they put you on the street

You go back, Jack, do it again, wheel turnin' 'round and 'round
You go back, Jack, do it again

When Walter Becker died on September 3, 2017, it was the last day of a retreat I facilitated for graduating high school students in Bustos, Bulacan. They were dumbfounded, wondering what had happened to me after hearing their confessions as I spoke of Becker and Steely Dan, singing and playing some of their songs they could hardly relate with. Soon, other musicians died along with actors and actresses whose music and films have shaped us during our growing up years that as a priest, I would include them in my prayers and Masses, hoping some day we could all jam in heaven!

Aside from praying for the souls of my favorite musicians on this All Saints’ Day and tomorrow’s All Souls’ Day, I thought of writing about Do It Again as my funeral song after watching a reel sent by a friend of an imaginary movie of someone dying with this opening track from Steely Dan’s debut album Can’t Buy a Thrill. My friend who sent that said he would have My Old School; but, as I have said, I will have Do It Again.

I must confess I never truly understood the meanings of the SD songs I used to hear and listened to while growing up except that they were all weird and odd like me while at the same time smooth and sophisticated. For me, what matters most always is when the music and lyrics jibe – something Walter and Donald Fagen perfected so well, putting them on top of the pantheon of gods of music.

As I matured, I realized, like me, SD music is deep and profound. Yes, surreal and psychedelic that an aunt (may she rest in peace) used to ask me how would I become a priest while listening to such kind of music. But, I eventually became a priest, still a Danhead! (You should see how some people react when they ask me explain the origin and meaning of Steely Dan.)

Going back to “Do It Again”, it is one of those tracks that I listen to every time I drive because the Remastered Best of Steely Dan is the only CD in my player. Of course I have a USB with other music but every time I drive, Walter and Donald with their fellow gods accompany me in my trips.

Before the Smiths came whom I also love, Steely Dan were there first to “romanticize” life’s many failures and disasters. Alex Pappademas is right after all when he wrote in “Quantum Criminals” that we are actually Jack in Do It Again – the gambler always losing, the one always caught in the crossfires of every battle in life but still somehow survives that hence, we do it again.

That is what I like most with Walter and Donald: they can express truly what we feel in every failures and losses we have had without pinning us down; instead, in their perfectionist music, we feel uplifted that like Jack, we just do it again like in our failed relationships – whether our own fault or others fault. Just choose for yourself and still be consoled, Jack….

When you know she's no high climber then you find your only friend
In a room with your two-timer, and you're sure you're near the end
Then you love a little wild one and she brings you only sorrow
All the time you know she's smilin' you'll be on your knees tomorrow, yeah

You go back, Jack, do it again, wheel turnin' 'round and 'round
You go back, Jack, do it again

I have realized in life that coming to terms with death is coming to terms with life. And vice versa. The moment we start living fully, meaningfully, authentically, that is when we befriend death. That is when we truly become free from others say, from everything that enslaves you to fully become free as your true self.

Now you swear and kick and beg us that you're not a gamblin' man
Then you find you're back in Vegas with a handle in your hand
Your black cards can make you money so you hide them when you're able
In the land of milk and honey, you must put them on the table

You go back, Jack, do it again, wheels turnin' 'round and 'round
You go back, Jack, do it again

I have no claims to greatness nor holiness. I am just like Jack and at this stage of my life at 61 years old, 28 years as a priest, if given a chance to live again, I will do everything again. Yes, still be a priest. And a Danhead. Even perhaps add more mischiefs for more lessons and adventures and fun. Like Jack and the rest of the gang we have come to know as Steely Dan. To all Steely Dan fans, hail! For those wondering what is this all about, listen.

From YouTube.com.

“Through the Eyes of Love” (1979) by Melissa Manchester

Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 25 October 2026

*Photo by author, Bram Castle, Romania, Novvember 2025.*

Many people say love is blind but this Sunday’s gospel shows us how love can actually enable us to see better and clearer one another as brothers and sisters who must be loved and respected and cared for (https://lordmychef.com/2026/10/24/love-and-you-shall-see-2/).

And while preparing for our early morning Masses today, we just felt like humming the very lovely piano introduction to Melissa Manchester’s Through the Eyes of Love that was the theme of the 1978 movie Ice Castles starring Robby Benson and Lyn Holly-Johnson. One of their co-stars in that movie was Tom Skerritt who just died last Wednesday who played father to Johnson, an acctual former American figure skater.

In that romance movie, Benson and Johnson were high school sweethearts: he a hockey player while she, a figure skater. When she moved to another high school that offered her better options for her talent in figure skating, she met another man, dumping Benson in the process. They reunited after Johnson had a bad fall while practicing that left her partially blind; Benson took care of her, convincing her to practice anew to join a competition with him as her guide. Eventually she won in the competition with no one knowing her blindness until she tripped on the roses thrown at her by the fans after winning.

It is one of those unforgettable romantic movies we all fell in love with while in second year high school, especially its lovely theme sang by Manchester. Though it never became a hit, the song has endured all these years as one of the favorite songs in wedding receptions, often as the first dance of the couple. And why not with these realizations of someone who had experienced true love despite everything.

Please, don't let this feeling end
It's everything I am
Everything I want to be
I can see what's mine now
Finding out what's true since I found you
Looking through the eyes of love

Now, I can take the time
I can see my life
As it comes up shining now
Reaching out to touch you
I can feel so much since I found you
Looking through the eyes of love

When Jesus said in today’s gospel that the greatest and first commandment is to love God with all of our heart, and mind, and soul or total self and that the second is to love others as you love yourself, he also revealed to us one of the most profound truths we fail to recognize and even reject so often.

Our love for God and for others unfold first in us, in our love for our self. We cannot love God unless we love and accept who we are – whatever is good and bad in us. Many times, some of us hate ourselves that we change even our gender, manipulate our appearances, fantasize on so many what ifs and wishful thinkings.

The key to loving God totally is to first love our very self; Jesus became human like us to show us that is good to be human. It is only when we have come to embrace and accept wholly our gift of self can we give ourselves to God totally and to others. What I am to myself becomes what I am to others and vice versa. And together we all go to God as he comes to us—in love. Exactly how Johnson who had gone blind in the movie realized.

And now I do believe
That even in a storm
We'll find some light
Knowing you're beside me
I'm all right

Please, don't let this feeling end
It might not come again
And I want to remember
How it feels to touch you
How I feel so much since I found you
Looking through the eyes of love

Just like us in many instances, it is often in those trying moments we realize how much we are loved by God, never leaving us despite our many sins and failures. Imagine in this song Through the Eyes of Love Jesus is our beloved guiding us through our many blindness in life, enabling us to see persons and events in our lives more clearly that we succeed and most of all, become fruitful and fulfilled. Have a blessed week ahead filled with love!

“Man in the Mirror” (1988) by Michael Jackson

Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 11 October 2026

*Photo by author, The Manila House, BGC, June 2025.*

There’s an old saying that goes “If you want to change the world, change yourself first and the world changes.”

So true. It is so easy to join the numerous advocacies today that range from care for environment and providing clean, drinking water for the poor, housing programs and feeding programs and almost anything you can think of but these are nothing if we do not first change our very self.

This is the message of Jesus in today’s parable of the royal wedding feast where a guest came not in proper attire that he was thrown out from the banquet hall by the king (https://lordmychef.com/2026/10/10/crisis-decision-life-salvation/).

It is a call for us to make that important decision to always choose Jesus Chris and be clothed in his charity and service, justice and mercy, kindness and respect for life that all begins in us, in our heart and soul.

That is why we find Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror so appropriately related with this Sunday’s gospel. Though a part of his 1987 Bad album, it was only released as a single the following year that peaked at number 1 in the Billboard Hot 100, reaching the charts anew both in the US and the UK after Jackson’s death in 2009.

We were growing up in the 70’s when MJ first mesmerized us as that youngest among his brothers making up the Jackson 5; as we matured into teens and adulthood, MJ was always there as the soundtrack of our lives reaching his highest heights in hit albums Thriller and Bad.

Without any intention of downplaying his talents and genius, for me, MJ’s true artistry finally came out after his death; it was after 2009 as we have seen in the many features and recent movies about him that MJ was more than a superstar and cultural icon. He is an artist par excellence. I realized this most whenever I would listen to his music that has become a classic in the truest sense. And there are three songs I have come to love so much only after his death: Man in the Mirror, They Don’t Care About Us (1995), and Black or White (1991).

*Photo by author, Our Lady of Ephesus Chapel, Bella Rosa Gardens, Silang, Cavite, 07 October 2026.*

We loved listening to his songs when he was still alive because they were groovy, great to the senses, danceable and really hot. But after his death, I just felt surprised he sang these three songs. Unlike his other songs mostly about love and relationships, Michael ventured into social issues that touched souls and consciousness. From being a hit-maker, MJ had transformed into someone who hits our inmost being, awakening our consciousness of deeper truths and realities like equality of everyone regardless of color or race or creed.

Exactly like Man in the Mirror that was actually composed by Glen Ballard and Siedah Garrett who were asked by the late Quincy Jones to write another hit for MJ. But Garret had other things in her mind when she thought about the concept of a man looking in the mirror – into one’s self first to change the world. Jones loved the lyrics and music by Ballard and Garrett while MJ embraced it as his anthem – of the need for self-reflection to change the world. He even asked the two composers to expand and modify the lyrics that included gospel vocals by the Andrae Crouch Choir.

Moreover, its music video is the most unique of MJ’s other productions that always featured him: he never appeared in Man in the Mirror that is actually a montage of suffering people in sepia and black and white as well as the personalities behind the great events – for better or for worse – in history as well as other social realities that invite us to look into ourselves what have we done for the advancement of peace, justice, and equality among peoples.

The opening music is so haunting with keyboards sounding like chimes or winds blowing in the cold that right away stirs your soul, making you wonder in retrospect, did MJ sing this and why did we not realize right away its deeper meaning? Here is a Michael who had matured as a person. And an artist. Even activist. A music that moves you not only to sing and dance but reflect and meditate. Just like the parable of Jesus this Sunday.

I'm gonna make a change
For once in my life
It's gonna feel real good
Gonna make a difference, gonna make it right

As I turn up the collar on my favorite winter coat
This wind is blowin' my mind
I see the kids in the street with not enough to eat
Who am I to be blind, pretending not to see their needs?

A summer's disregard, a broken bottle top
And a one man's soul
They follow each other on the wind, ya know
'Cause they got nowhere to go
That's why I want you to know

I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make a change

Na-na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na-na
Uh-huh

I've been a victim of a selfish kinda love
It's time that I realize
There are some with no home, not a nickel to loan
Could it be really me pretending that they're not alone?

A willow deeply scarred, somebody's broken heart
And a washed-out dream (a washed-out dream)
They follow the pattern of the wind, ya see
'Cause they got no place to be
That's why I'm starting with me

I'm starting with the man in the mirror (who?)
I'm asking him to change his ways (who?)
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make a change

I'm starting with the man in the mirror (who?)
I'm asking him to change his ways (who?)
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make that change

I'm starting with the man in the mirror (oh, yeah)
I'm asking him to change his ways (oh, you better change)
No message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make the change

You gotta get it right while you got the time
'Cause when you close your heart (you can't)
Then you close your (your) mind (that man, that man)

With the man in the mirror, oh, yeah (that man, that man)
I'm asking him to change his ways (that man, that man, that man)
Oh, you better change (you know, that man)
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make that change

Na-na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na-na
(Ooh) gonna feel real good, yeah (oh, yeah)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (na-na-na), yeah, yeah (na-na-na, na-na-na-na)
Oh-oh, oh, no

I'm gonna make a change
It's gonna feel real good, shamone (change)
Just lift yourself, you know
You've got to start with yourself (yeah)

I gotta make that change today
(Man in the mirror) you've got to
You got to start with yourself, brother
(Yeah) you know

I've got to be that man, that man
(Man in the mirror) you've got to
You got to move, shamone, shamone
You got to stand up (yeah), stand up (make that change), stand up
Stand up and lift yourself now (man in the mirror)

Go make that change, shamone (man in the mirror)
You know it, you know it, you know it, you know (change)
Make that change

The song is more than five minutes and if you went through the lyrics, it is truly like a gospel, a good news that disturb and move us to be dressed in Jesus Christ’s simplicity and humility to truly make a change in the world. The music speaks loudly and clearly the silence of that man not dressed in wedding attire in the parable. May it do the same to us!

From YouTube.com.

“Harvest for the World” (1976) by The Isley Brothers

Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 04 October 2026

You must have noticed our blogs the other week when we were inspired incorporating music into our daily prayer reflections starting September 22 with “Everybody Hurts” that was actually the title of an REM song in 1992 (https://lordmychef.com/2026/09/21/everybody-hurts/); the following day, we borrowed the title and the 1962 song by Bob Dylan “Blowin’ in the Wind” (https://lordmychef.com/2026/09/23/blowing-in-the-wind-3/); then finally on that Friday we prayed and played Pete Seeger’s original take from the Book of Ecclesiastes which the Byrds recorded in 1965 as “Turn, Turn, Turn” (https://lordmychef.com/2026/09/24/turn-turn-turn-to-know-gods-time/).

As we have been saying since we started this blog in June 2018, we have always wished to show how God continues to speak to us in this modern time through secular music by linking our Sunday gospel with every genre like rock and jazz, punk and disco, R&B and even OPM (Original Pilipino Music).

And there have been many instances in the music scene when artists were actually inspired by the Sacred Scriptures in their composition like Seeger we have featured last week.

This Sunday, we go back to year 1976 with The Isley Brothers’ Harvest for the World whose title was a complete take from Matthew’s gospel.

In an interview published six years ago in The Guardian by Dave Simpson, composer Ernie Isley said he had just bought a new 12-string acoustic guitar and was trying it out in their basement in New Jersey in 1976 when words simply flowed that became the song’s first stanza:

All babies together, everyone a seed
Half of us are satisfied, half of us in need
Love's bountiful in us, tarnished by our greed
When will there be a harvest for the world

Ernie was still playing the song in his new guitar when his brother Marvin who played bass came to their basement with their brother-in-law and keyboardist Chris Jasper; they were so impressed with Ernie’s music and later they were joined by their other brothers O’Kelly Jr., Rudolph and Ronald who all contributed lyrics and additional musical arrangements to finally complete Harvest for the World.

According to Ernie, they were largely inspired by the news they have witnessed at that time, from the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy to the growing protest movements following Nixon’s resignation in 1974 due to the Watergate Scandal and the end of Vietnam War in 1975 with the Fall of Saigon.

For the title, they remembered Matthew’s gospel scene of Jesus telling his disciples upon seeing the vast crowd that have followed them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest” (Mt. 9:37-38).

They first released the song as a single in May 1976 and later became the title track of their album Harvest for the World that same year that reaped a lot of harvest for The Isley Brothers, peaking the top ten songs in the Billboard and UK charts that year. It became one of the most memorable music of that era that continues to be covered until now by new artists, including our very own Gary V.

For our part, we have chosen Harvest for the World because of its close links with today’s gospel on the parable of the wicked tenants who have refused to give the owner’s share of the harvest of grapes in his vineyard (https://lordmychef.com/2026/10/03/chosen-to-be-fruitful/).

Both the song and the gospel speak of too much greed among us, not realizing we are indeed the Lord’s vineyard.

Our very life itself is actually not ours to possess and own completely in total disregard of others and of God.

The same is true with our beloved planet Earth: it is the Lord’s vineyard and no one, whether individuals or governments can lay total claim for its land and other resources meant by God for everyone. Here we find its lyrics very prophetic and relevant until now:

A nation planted, so concerned with gain
As the seasons come and go, greater grows the pain
And far too many feelin' the strain
When will there be a harvest for the world

We were in elementary school, perhaps in grade five or six when we first heard Harvest for the World; the song is unforgettable for me because I felt so fortunate to have found its lyrics in one of the very few issues of JINGLE magazine I have bought at that time – just four maybe – because it was so expensive. But, the first time I heard it on radio, I instantly loved it for its music so suave and cool; beat is so inviting especially with the claps in the background. A classic indeed of a gone era of great poetry and philosophy in music.

Before listening to this beautiful music that is truly a gospel too in our time, we quote Ernie from that interview six years ago by The Guardian’s Simpson which we find so fitting in closing this piece:

The world today is at least as turbulent as when we recorded it. There’s a great amount of fear. The only way things will change is if people come together in peace instead of war. That’s what we try to do with the music. When we play the song in concert, you see smiles on people’s faces, like the harvest for the world is something they’re waiting for. (https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jul/06/ernie-and-ron-isley-how-we-made-harvest-for-the-world-isley-brothers?CMP=share_btn_url)

Together let us work in the Lord’s vineyard to enjoy this harvest of the world! God bless and thank you for the visit.

“Turn, Turn, Turn” to know God’s time

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 25 September 2026
Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 9:18-22

*Photo by Vincenzo Malagoli on Pexels.com*

Once again,
O Lord,
your words right away
reminded me of another song
from the 1960's but this time
taken almost verbatim 
from our first reading:

To everything – turn, turn, turn
There is a season – turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

To everything – turn, turn, turn
There is a season – turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together

To everything – turn, turn, turn
There is a season – turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing

To everything – turn, turn, turn
There is a season – turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it’s not too late!

I really wonder, 
Lord, if you have "made
everything appropriate to its time,
and has put the timeless into 
their hearts,
without men's ever discovering,
from beginning to end,
the work which God has done"
(Ecclesiastes 3:11),
then what time is it now 
for me?

A time to weep or to laugh?
A time to mourn or to dance?
A time to scatter or to gather?
A time to be silent or to speak?
A time to love or to hate?

Despite our ingenuity
and intelligence,
we still could not figure out
what time it is, 
Lord, 
because we can never
know you God 
unless we let go
of ourselves,
unless we return to you.

And that is why
Pete Seeger and the Byrds
added those chorus lines
before each stanza
from today's first reading:

To everything – turn, turn, turn
There is a season – turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

*Photo by author, Dominus Flevit Church outside Jerusalem, May 2017.*

Let me turn,
turn, turn to you
always to experience
your time, dear Lord;
let me turn,
turn, turn to you
so I may see you like
Peter as you are 
in today's gospel -
the Christ of God
(Luke 9:20),
the One who suffered
and died but rose again
for our salvation!

In your Passion and Resurrection
Jesus, 
you have shown us 
time is a dimension
for us to determine and measure 
the passing of moments, 
a reference point
to go back in the past,
to plan in the future,
to experience the present
that often escapes us;
may we learn from Richard Bach's
Jonathan Livingston Seagull the parting
words of the wise Chen after teaching
him how to fly higher than most seagulls:
"Friendships should depend on nothing
like time and space; remove time,
we have now, remove space, we have here;
don't you think between
now and here we could meet
once or twice?"

Teach us, 
Lord Jesus
to return to you,
to turn away from sins
and evil to experience fullness
of time in your coming
in every here and now.
Amen.

From YouTube.com

“Ang Himig Natin” (1973) by Juan dela Cruz Band

Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 30 August 2026

*Ang aking tokwarts kagabi, brownout, 29 Agosto 2026.*

We go OPM (Original Pilipino Music) this last Sunday of August, our Buwan ng Wika – kaya dapat nga pala isulat ko ito sa wikang pambansa.

Kakaiba sa ating nakagawian na pag-uugnay ng mga makabagong musika sa ebanghelyo ng bawat Linggo, walang kinalaman itong napili nating awitin ngayon sa Ebanghelyo na inyong napakinggan sa mga Misa ngayong Linggo.

Kagaya ng karamihan kahapon bunsod ng malalakas na ulan at pagbaha, wala din kaming kuryente sa parokya sa Fatima, Valenzuela mula alas-sais ng gabi hanggang kinabukasan ng alas-dos ng madaling araw.

Mag-isa lamang ako sa ibaba ng aming simbahan, katabi ng garahe. Binuksan ko ng lubusan aking pintuan upang pumasok malamig na hangin habang balot ng kadiliman buong silong ng simbahan maliban sa aking munting kandila na sinindihan.

Ma-drama ang eksena.

*Basla ng aking tokwarts sa may garahe, kagabi pa rin.*

At doon ko naalala ang kantang Ang Himig Natin ng Juan dela Cruz Band na binubuo nina Joey “Pepe” Smith, Wally Gonzales at Mike Hanopol. Isa ito sa mga awitin ng una nilang album na pinamagatang Himig Natin na kanilang inilabas noong 1973. Itinuturing ito ang hudyat ng simula ng Pinoy Rock music na pinalaganap noon ng estasyong DZRJ-AM.

Elementary pa ako noon. Narinig ko na inaawit at tinitipak sa gitara ng isang barkadahan ng mga kabataan malapit sa amin bahay noon. Sila nagturo sa akin na makinig palagi sa DZRJ dahil nga sa Pinoy Rock at iba pang mga magagandang tugtugin.

Bagay na bagay sa panahon ngayon itong awiting ito na maituturing na isang panaghoy sa kriminalidad na umiiral, hindi kalamidad.

Ako’y nag-iisa
at walang kasama
di ko makita
ang ating pag-asa

[chorus]
Ang himig natin
ang inyong awitin
upang tayo’y magsama-sama
sa langit ng pag-asa

Tayo tayo lang ang magsama-sama. Puwera mga walang-hiyang pulitiko at upisyal ng gobyerno na nagnakaw ng bilyones na halaga sa kaban ng bayan para sa mga palpak at karamihan ay ghost projects sa flood control kaya lumala pagbaha sa maraming lalawigan at rehiyon.

Mula sa malikhaing panulat ni Smith na siyang ring umawit, maigsi lang naman Ang Himig Natin na nagsasaysay ng dalamhati ng isang kaibigan. Marahil tinutukoy ni Smith ang musikang Pinoy na noon ay hindi pa gaanong katatag na tinatabunan ng mga banyagang musika. Paulit-ulit lang naman ang lyrics kaya masarap kantahin kapag nakainom na…..

Ako’y may kaibigan
at s’ya’y nahihirapan
handa na ba kayong lahat
upang s’ya’y tulungan

[chorus]
Ang himig natin
ang inyong awitin
upang tayo’y magsama-sama
sa langit ng pag-asa

Simple at payak ang mga titik. Malalim.

Ngunit ang nagdala sa awitin ay ang musika.

Out of this world. Parang panaginip sa malalim na pagkatulog.

Astig ang gitara ni Gonzales. Pasakalye pa lamang ika nga e, solb ka na agad, tsong! Mayroon ding sumasaliw na tila piano at baho sa kanyang solo kaya umaabot ng lima at kalahating minuto ang awitin. Tagos hanggang buto pati kaluluwa, parang kinakalawkaw iyong kalooban upang matauhan sa katotohanan kung inyong pakikinggan at nanamnamin.

Ewan ko lang kung tablan din napaka-kapal at sagad-sagad na kasamaan ng mga upisyal sa gobyerno!

[chorus]
Ang himig natin
inyong awitin
ang himig natin
inyong awitin
ang himig natin
inyong awitin …

Patay na sina Gonzales at Smith. Tanging si Hanopol – ang Jeprox- na lamang ang buhay sa kanila ngunit ang kanilang musika, buhay na buhay pa rin. At habang tumatagal, lalong lumalalim at sumasarap sa panlasa. Heto sila muli sa gitna na maulan na araw ng Linggo. Ingat po, mga kapatid at magtulungan sana sa tuwina.

Mula sa Youtube.com

“The Way It Is” (1986) by Bruce Hornsby

Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 23 August 2026

*Photo from Facebook post by Dr. Tony Leachon, “KLEPTOPIROSIS: When Corruption Becomes a Public Health Crisis”, 08 Agosto 2025.*

We go back to the year 1986 for our Sunday music we find so related with our gospel as well as situation in the country where we are literally inundated in government corruption and evil that have caused this massive flooding in various parts of the country.

Every year at this time when the rainy season comes, floods come in many parts of the country especially the city. It used to be normal but for the past decade, it has been getting worse every year. And suspicious until last year when it was uncovered at how officials from the Public Highways connived with lawmakers stealing billions of pesos – not to mention the life and future of countless citizens – through their mostly non-existent but paid flood control projects. (Sadly, it is until under investigation and no big fish had truly been jailed for their crimes.).

Back to our Sunday music – The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby and the Range from their debut album of the same title released in July 1986….

It’s melody mainly in piano is one of those unforgettable soft rock tune wafting on breeze with lyrics so bitterly cold of the sad realities in life. It is actually a gospel in the truest sense because its lyrics are both challenging and disturbing set in a relaxing mood and melody like the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Its title could actually mislead anyone into thinking it as a feel-good music with its sophisticated piano introduction and accompaniment without paying attention to its lyrics and message.

It is not. Hornsby actually dares us even today to leave the comforts of our rooms to get truly examine how things are going on around us as if that’s just the way it is… It isn’t at all. Like poverty and unemployment as mentioned in the first stanza.

Standing in line, marking time
Waiting for the welfare dime
'Cause they can't buy a job
A man in a silk suit hurries by
As he catches the poor old ladies' eyes
Just for fun he says, "Get a job"

That's just the way it is
Some things'll never change
That's just the way it is
Ah, but don't you believe them

Most of all, an end to all forms of discrimination due to color and beliefs found in the fifth stanza.

Well, they passed a law in '64
To give those who ain't got a little more
But it only goes so far
'Cause the law don't change another's mind
When all it sees at the hiring time
Is the line on the color bar, no, no

The Way It Is is so very much like today’s gospel set in Caesarea Philippi where Jesus surveyed his disciples on what people were saying about him before directly asking them, “But who do you say that I am?”(Mt.16:15). Our personal answer to that question of Jesus leads us to our identity as beloved children of God, brothers and sisters in Christ who must be respecting each one other.

And the more we get to know Jesus, the more we also get to know who we are… This may sound simplistic: all these problems we have about school violence, degradation of our moral values as a nation that perpetuate in office corrupt and inept officials while destroying our environment with our disregard for proper disposal of waste and garbage, may be due to our disregard for who is Jesus to us.

The question who connects us with God and everyone. And with our very self. How sad that in this age of too much digitization, we have been so focused on techniques of doing like what and how, forgetting being, the focus of who. (https://lordmychef.com/2026/08/22/the-definitive-question-of-all/)

See the gospel’s relation with Hornsby’s incisive genius and values in the third and fourth stanzas where he challenges the situation we have been so accustomed to, “the way it is” as if challenging us to find Christ on the face of everyone we meet.

Said, "Hey little boy, you can't go where the others go
'Cause you don't look like they do"
I said, "Hey, old man, how can you stand to think that way?
Did you really think about it before you made the rules?"

He said, "Son
Well, that's just the way it is
Some things'll never change
That's just the way it is"
Ah, but don't you believe them
Mm, yeah

Many times in life, the simplest things are the most profound in meaning like the parables and this time the question of Jesus. And don’t forget, like modern music too that truly reflects the way it is in the world we are called to change into something more humane.

Here is Bruce Hornsby and the Range with their 1986 classic. Enjoy. And ponder too.

From YouTube.com.

“Change the World” (1996) by Eric Clapton

Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 19 July 2026

*Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 09 January 2026.*

Our readings this Sunday are so lovely and refreshing, yet so true and realistic with what’s happening around us. Jesus Christ’s parable of weeds among the wheat proves what we have already known as we aged – “we live in an imperfect world, that there will always be diseases and sickness, failures and death along with scammers and criminals, liars and idiots, suckers and ungrateful and traitors among us” (https://lordmychef.com/2026/07/18/our-inexpressible-groanings/).

And yes, we all want to change the world but God cautions us because many times, the solution we find to life’s and world’s many problems create bigger problems:

But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency, and with much lenience you govern us; for power, whenever you will, attends you. And you taught your people, by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind; and you gave your children good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins (Wisdom 12:18-19).

It is a very tall order, most difficult of all, calling us to become holy and patient like God because any change in the world has to start in our selves. That is why we remember this Sunday Eric Clapton’s version of that 1996 collaboration by Tommy Sims, Gordon Kennedy and Wayne Kirkpatrick “Change the World.”

According to Kennedy, they wrote the lyrics and music to “Change the World” over a span of one year. It was first recorded by country singer Wynonna Judd in February 1996 then by Clapton in October of the same year with the famous R&B artist Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds as producer when the song was chosen as soundtrack music to the movie Phenomenon starring John Travolta. Aside from winning accolades from critics and awards including the 1997 Grammy for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, “Change the World” is also one of Clapton’s best-selling hit in his entire career.

It is the music and melody of “Change the World” that is most captivating of all – soulful and reverberates deep inside any lover so in love with a woman to which Clapton has always been so famous (or notorious) like his 1971 hit “Layla” but on a different level and genre. “Change the World” is closer to Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” which he composed after the death of his four year-old son in 1991. Both songs represent for us a new character and dimension in Clapton unfolding as one of music’s foremost forces up to this time.

Clapton’s distinctive guitar-playing virtuoso in “Change the World” echoes so St. Paul’s words in this Sunday’s second reading of how the Holy Spirit within us “intercedes with inexpressible groanings” (Rom. 8:26); according to St. Paul, we do not know how to pray which is so true that is why it is the Spirit who helps us pray to God. It means that God knows so well what’s going on inside us, when we are so loss for words not only in expressing our feelings and desires but most often, we could not even understand why things are going on – like the trials and difficulties we go through, the injustices that happen.

Many times we are tempted to ask where is God amid all these sufferings we go through in life as individuals and as a nation; but, we know deep in our hearts, God is with us, within us and knows so well everything that is happening. And he is in complete control.

That is why we sigh or groan when we could not contain what’s inside us, just like Clapton’s somber yet so relaxingly confident guitar bass lines in “Change the World” he had divinely woven with the lyrics that express wishful longings of him getting better, being the best person for his beloved.

If I could reach the stars
Pull one down for you
Shine it on my heart
So you could see the truth

That this love I have inside
Is everything it seems
But for now I find
It's only in my dreams

And I can change the world
I will be the sunlight in your universe
You would think my love was really something good
Baby, if I could change the world

If I could be king
Even for a day
I'd take you as my queen
I'd have it no other way

And our love would rule
In this kingdom we have made
'Til then I'd be a fool
Wishing for the day

And I can change the world
I would be the sunlight in your universe
You would think my love was really something good
Baby, if I could change the world
Baby, if I could change the world

I could change the world
I would be the sunlight in your universe
You would think my love was really something good
Baby, if I could change the world
Baby, if I could change the world
Baby, if I could change the world

Even the music video evokes the parable of weeds among the wheat, of how Clapton remains undisturbed by the crowd in the terminal while singing, reminding us that changing the world begins in our being changed first into our best person as more loving, more kind, more patient. Have a blessed week ahead!

From YouTube.com.