Welcoming God

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II

Monday, Week XXII, Year II in Ordinary Time, 31 August 2020

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 >><)))> |+| <(((><< |+| >><)))> |+| <(((><< Luke 4:16-30

Photo by author, CICM Retreat House, Taytay, Rizal, 2007.

Praise and glory to you, O God our loving Father! Please, keep us open to your coming in Jesus Christ. Surprise us always with your simplicity, silence, and hiddenness.

You know how we are always attracted with people’s credentials and titles, outward appearances, and great talents in speaking and explaining things that we get carried away, leaving you behind.

I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:3-5

Let us come to you and meet you in Jesus by forgetting our self, taking our cross and following him in his passion and death.

Sometimes we forget your simple invitation to come to you with our sinful selves minus our pretensions and masks because all you want is our total selves. You do not ask for our perfections but imperfections, nor for our virtues and talents but for our lacking and sins.

And through this all, Lord, you give us life and freedom, fulfillment in you in our hearing:

Photo by Fr. Gerry Pascual at Yvoire, France, 2018

Jesus unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Luke 4:17-21

Come, Lord Jesus, you are most welcomed in me. Amen.

Buksan ang aming Puso

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-19 ng Mayo 2020

Larawan kuha ng may-akda, tabernakulo na walang laman bago magsimula Misa ng Huwebes Santo, 2020.

Kay hirap maunawaan
at hindi ko mailarawan
matay ko mang isipin
ngayong panahon ng COVID-19
pinaiiral nati'y karahasan
sa halip na kahinahunan
at kabutihan.
Minsa'y aking napakinggan
kaya aking tinunghayan
balita sa telebisyon nang 
si Mang Dodong ay nakulong
mahigit sampung araw sa Navotas
nang siya ay dakpin dahil 
walang papeles ng quarantine.
Asawa niyang si Aling Patring
di malaman gagawin 
dahil ayon sa balita, 
walang gaanong napag-aralan
mabuti't tinulungan ng mayroong 
magagandang kalooban.

Kayo na mga mayroong pinag-aralan
napakaraming kaalaman at nalalaman
tingnan itong larawan kung pagdududahan
kakayahan at katauhan ni Mang Dodong
 na kailangan siyang pahirapan
sa tanging pagkukulang sa panahon ng lockdown
hindi nakakuha sa tirahan sa Kalookan
ng quarantine pass upang makahango ng isda sa Navotas.
Sino ang hindi mababagbag
at mababagabag sa mga kuwento
ng karahasan at karanasang ganito
sa panahon ng pandemya
na sa halip tayo ay magtulungan at magdamayan
nagpapahirapan at nagmamatigasan
sa mga bagay na mapapalampas naman.
Hindi ba puwedeng pagbigyan na lamang
kung hindi naman gaanong kabigatan, kalala ang kasalanan?
Nasaan ang katarungan kapag mga makapangyarihan
pinalalampas, kinakatuwiran taglay na husay at galing
samantalang nagkamali rin naman at masahol pa sa karamihan?!

Hindi sasapat kailanman ating isipan
dapat mabuksan din ating puso at kalooban
dahil ang katotohanan hindi lamang
karunungang nababatid, naikakatuwiran
kungdi isang kapatid nararanasan
nararamdaman bawat pintig ng kalooban,
hangad makatawid sa gutom, mabuhay lamang.
Maraming pagkakataon sa iba't-ibang panahon
kapag nabubuksan isipan sa maraming kaalaman
mga kasangkapan pinahahalagahan, kapwa tao nalilimutan
tulad sa mga digmaan at labanan ng kanya-kanyang karapatan
hindi baleng tapakan at yurakan katauhan ng iba
pati sanggol sa sinapupunan
huwag lamang mahadlangan sariling kagustuhan.
O Diyos naming makapangyarihan,
Iyo sanang buksan aming puso at kalooban
upang sa amin Ika'y makapanahan;
Iyong mukha na puno ng awa at kabutihan 
sa amin ay mabanaagan, huwag mong hayaan
paghariin kapos naming isipan at baka kami magkaubusan.

A prayer to be not afraid like St. Joseph

40 Shades of Lent, Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary, 19 March 2020

***2 Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16* +++ Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22 +++ *Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24***

Photo from zenit.org, “Let Mom Rest” figurine

Praise and thanksgiving to you, O God our loving Father in giving us your Son, Jesus Christ our Savior. In sending him to us, you have asked St. Joseph to be not afraid to be the husband of the Blessed Mother of Jesus, Mary Most Holy.

…the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.
Matthew 1:20-21, 24

We pray today on this Solemnity of St. Joseph that we may also not be afraid in fighting this pandemic COVID-19.

Let us be not afraid to stay home to be with our family again, together and longer.

Photo by author, Chapel of St. Joseph, Nazareth, Israel, May 2017.

Let us be not afraid to talk and converse really as husband and wife, parents and children, brothers and sisters. Help us to be more open and more silent like St. Joseph to hear our family members’ innermost thoughts and feelings again with love and understanding.

Let us be not afraid, O Lord, to seek and work for real peace in our family now disintegrating as we disregard each other, choosing fame and wealth than persons.

Let us be not afraid to reach out also to those living alone like the sick, the elderly, the separated, those abandoned by family and friends or society, those widowed.

Let us be not afraid to share food and money to the needy, time and talent, joy and hope to those living in the margins.

Let us be not afraid to ask for forgiveness, to say again those beautiful words “I am sorry” to those we have hurt in words and in deeds; likewise, let us be not afraid to say also those comforting words “I forgive you” to those who have hurt us in words and in deeds.

Let us not be afraid to show respect anew to our elders. Forgive us, O God, in making disrespect a way of life in our time, in our society, in our government and right in our homes and family as we disregard the dignity of one another.

Let us not be afraid to pray again, to kneel before you, and humbly come to you as repentant sinners, merciful Father.

Let us be not afraid to bring Jesus your Son into this world with your love and kindness, sympathy and empathy so we may be healed of so many brokenness and pains deep within.

Let us not be afraid to be humans again and realize we are not gods, that we cannot control everyone and everything in this world.

Let us be not afraid to be open to you and to others, especially the weak and needy because the truth is, we need you O God and one another.

Please, like St. Joseph, let us not be afraid to wake up to the realities of this life to follow you always in your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

O blessed St. Joseph, Husband of Mary, pray for us!

Photo by author, site of St. Joseph’s shop in Nazareth beneath a chapel in his honor, May 2017.

Advent is looking forward

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Friday, Advent Week-I, 06 December 2019

Isaiah 29:17-24 ><)))> ><)))> ><)))> Matthew 9:27-31*

Time flies so fast, O Lord, and we are almost over with the first week of Advent! How reassuring are your words today especially in the first reading of the wonderful things coming soon, in fact happening now in Jesus Christ’s coming.

Thus says the Lord God: but a very little while, and Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard, and the orchard be regarded as a forest! On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book; and out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. The lowly will ever find joy in the Lord, and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel…
Isaiah 29:17-19

I know, Lord, and yes, I can see clearly now that great things are coming for us who faithfully await your coming. There shall be joy and justice, healing and consolation for those who suffer and cry.

Keep our eyes opened, remove our blindness to see the more essential things in life especially you so we may always experience your presence, your coming. Amen.

“Walking in Rhythm” by The Blackbyrds (1975)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music, 09 June 2019

It’s Pentecost Sunday, the coming of the Holy Spirit to the first disciples of Jesus Christ who were filled with fire and zeal in spreading the good news from Jerusalem to the whole world. But more than an event in the past, Pentecost is something the Church needs so badly these days to continue the work of Christ in the world that has become cold and without direction and fulfillment.

What we need in the Church that has become so rigid and lethargic in one end and pompous and glitzy at the other end is a “perennial Pentecost”, the daily coming of the Holy Spirit to enlighten us again in following and sharing Jesus with others in loving service. We need the Holy Spirit to convert us and go back to Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and the Holy Eucharist which is the sacrament of love.

The Blackbyrds’ 1975 hit “Walking in Rhythm” captures the image of somebody filled with the Holy Spirit who is so full of love and life, joy and excitement. The smooth rhythm and blues jazzy beat of the song is so moving and uplifting. It is exactly what the Holy Spirit does when its fire burns and purifies us to realize that our true greatness as human is in being small, in our ability to share to become a part of a larger whole.

“Walking in Rhythm” tells of a man so in love and passionately driven to come home to meet his sweetheart after being away for some time. He is walking in rhythm because he knew he would be complete again when he becomes one with his beloved.

That is essentially the meaning of being a Christian, of being a member of the Church: we become whole with others in Christ. Jesus is our head and we are the body. Every body is important. How sad that whenever we gather every Sunday during the Mass, we are on our own! The priest delivers a boring homily he himself does not understand because he had not prayed nor prepared at all. The congregation are on their own, some asleep, others with thoughts wandering, while the young are either texting or plugged to their playlists. We have to dispose ourselves to the coming of the Holy Spirit always. It is Pentecost or nothing if we want to walk in rhythm, to be fill with life and joy.

Like the lover in “Walking in Rhythm”, or the apostles at the Upper Room in Jerusalem during that Pentecost, we have to open ourselves to give a space within us for the Holy Spirit to work in us, to fill us with life and joy. Most of all, with love.

Walking in rhythm
Movin' in sound
Hummin' to the music
Trying to move on
I'm walking in rhythm
Singin' my song
Thinkin' about my baby
Tryin to get home....

When Being Amazed Is Not Enough

Yehliu3 — *The “amazing” rock formations at Yehliu Geopark in Taiwan: one may see so many images for as long one’s eyes and minds are open. Photo by the author, 30 January 2019.*

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Wednesday, 06 February 2019, Week IV, Year I

Hebrews 12:4-7, 11-15///Mark 6:1-6

How amazing O Lord Jesus Christ is the word “amazed” used today in the gospel.

When you came to your native synagogue at Nazareth, the people were amazed or “astonished” with your speech that immediately they doubted where you have learned so many things when you were just one of them, a son of Joseph the carpenter.

As a result O Lord, you were “amazed at their lack of faith” in you that you did not perform many miracles among them.

To be amazed is a feeling borne out of being surprised that could either lead one to see more or see less. Being amazed is never enough. Amazement leads to more wonder and curiosity, to deeper conviction and faith, to more love and appreciation. But when amazement leads to doubts and skepticism even unbelief, then, we were not really amazed but simply surprised because we simply felt but did not see at all.

Teach us Lord Jesus Christ today not to be contented with being surprised and amazed with you and other things. Open our eyes and our hearts to see more of the bigger picture, more of the details of every scene that comes in our lives, be it good or not so good like those moments we have to go through many trials and difficulties that have disciplined and made us into better persons in you (Heb.12:5-7). Amen. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.