Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 28 July 2025 Monday in the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I Exodus 32:15-24, 30-34 <*(((>< + ><)))*> Matthew 13:31-35
Photo by Mr. Red Santiago of his son praying in our former parish, January 2020.
Lord Jesus Christ, let me be like the mustard seed, "the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full grown it is the largest of plants" (Matthew 13:32); let me be like yeast "that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened" (Matthew 13:33); let me be small, dear Jesus in this world where the rule is to be big, to be loud, to be noticed.
Let me be small silent, and hidden, like the mustard seed and the yeast because life's fullness lies in you, Jesus who comes in emptiness not fullness, in darkness not klieg lights, in silence not noise, in poverty not wealth and in simplicity not popularity and fame; true peace happens only in your Kingdom, Jesus not in the competing kingdoms of the world.
When I look back in time, I have realized how those things I considered as small and insignificant both in my life and the world were the things that have grown into something that sustain and shelter others, of course with much faith, hope and love in you!
Now I am older too, I have realized the value and benefits of bread but bread cannot rise to become nourishing without the lowly yeast; before I can become a bread for others like you Jesus, I need the grace to be child-like, to be little, to decrease like the yeast so that you increase, Jesus.
Let me be small, hidden and silent, Jesus, always patient in waiting for you unlike the Israelites in Sinai who made a golden calf when they became impatient with Moses' meeting with God atop the mountain; let me stop comparisons so I remain little and humble in you, Jesus who has become human and small like us to stir us to true greatness as beloved children of the Father to begin building your kingdom. Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com)
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul, 23 July 2025 Wednesday, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious Exodus 16:1-5, 9-15 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 13:1-9
Photo by Fr. Pop Dela Cruz, San Miguel, Bulacan, 2022.
Lord Jesus, you are the Sower and your seed is always good: wherever it falls, it grows; most of all, you are most good as you never tire of going out to sow your good seed!
“A sower went out to sow… Whoever has ears ought to hear” (Matthew 13:3,9).
“The Sower” painting by Van Gogh from en.wikipedia.org
Open my heart and my soul, dear Jesus to listen intently to your word and be a "rich soil" like St. Bridget of Sweden whose devotion to family, to her people especially the poor and to Church reforms that led to the return of the papacy to Rome proved her to be a seed well sown; there are times when I am just like the path where your seeds fell that fed only the birds; quite often, I am like the rocky ground so full of enthusiasm but wanes quickly when challenges come; worst of all, Lord Jesus, free me from the many thorns that steal me from you that I stop maturing and growing; let me be the rich soil who receives you and your seed: let your light of truth and warmth of faith help me grow; may your hope nourish me especially when days are dark and nights are long; most of all, water me with your love and charity to bear all and be fruitful. Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Third Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 29 January 2025 Hebrews 10:11-18 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> ><]]]]'> Mark 4:1-20
From Facebook, 11 March 2024.
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer offering for sin (Hebrews 10:18).
How lovely and reassuring are these words from the author of the Letter to the Hebrews today, Lord Jesus Christ; thank you for coming to save us from our sins, for forgiving our sins, for teaching us to forgive others most especially by being more loving.
Thank you, Jesus, for being the Sower, always coming out to scatter seeds of love and mercy to us; open our ears, Lord, that we may ought to hear you: forgive us for being hard and harsh in our ways and words, forgive us for being easily pricked and agitated, forgive us for not listening at all to you, Jesus.
Let me open myself to you, Jesus, by opening myself too with others to listen to their points of view in order to understand them, not to judge them; open myself to your healing words so I may also soothe others pains and hurts than add salt to their injuries. Lastly, let me do your will Jesus by always listening and forgiving. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 16 June 2024 Ezekiel 17:22-24 ><}}}}*> 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 ><}}}}*> Mark 4:26-34
Photo by author, Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 12 July 2023.
While preparing this homily, I cannot resist thinking of this poem by Joyce Kilmer because of its similarities with the first reading from the Book of Ezekiel and partly with the parables of Jesus in the gospel.
Kilmer tells us in his poem that trees are God’s presence among us, a sign of His own majesty, a reminder of life’s mysteries, something many of us seem to have learned only recently after the scorching heat of last summer when everyone was posting on Facebook the need to plant trees!
I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree.
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, April 2020 in Infanta, Quezon.
In the first reading, the Prophet Ezekiel picturesquely imagined how God would plant a great Lebanon cedar on a mountain as a sign of His divine intervention for our salvation that was eventually fulfilled in Jesus Christ’s coming.
Ezekiel lived during the Babylonian exile, the lowest point in life of Israelites when they did not have a country, nor a temple, not even a future. They felt abandoned, punished by God due to their sins; hence, Ezekiel was sent to give them hope. Through this beautiful allegory of the future Israel, Ezekiel tells his countrymen including us today how God would eventually intervene in a very personal manner to fulfill His promise of salvation.
Thus says the Lord God: I, too, will take from the crest of the cedar, from its topmost branches tear off a tender shoot, and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. It shall put forth branches and bear fruit, and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it, every winged thing in the shade of its boughs. And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord, bring low the high tree, lift high the lowly tree, wither up the green tree, and make the withered tree bloom. As I, the Lord, have spoken, so will I do.
Ezekiel 17:22-24
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, April 2020 in Infanta, Quezon.
That beautiful imagery of the cedar tree planted in Israel reminds us that in whatever state of life we may be – whether we are like a tall or a lowly tree, a green or withered tree – it is always God who has the final say in life because He is the very reason for our existence.
Jesus declared to us in one of the Sundays of Easter, “I am the true vine and you are the branches…without me you cannot do anything” to show that more than a giver of life, He is life Himself because He is the tree planted firmly by God in our midst.
Incidentally, the word “tree” which is treowe in Old English is the root of the word true which connotes something firmly rooted, steadfast and faithful. From the same word treowe came trust because the roots of a tree signify relationships or interconnectedness. That is why the Anglo-Saxons have always traced their ancestors and family by using the diagram of a tree from which came our concept of “family tree” today.
How lovely to imagine that tree planted by God in our midst is Jesus Christ, “the Way, the Truth and the Life”, the One we must trust always!
Hence, Mark invites us today to listen more attentively to the Lord’s teachings, asking us to not just sit beside or around Him but try to “get inside” Him by taking into our hearts His words like Mary His Mother as we have reflected last Sunday.
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, April 2020 in Infanta, Quezon.
Again, Mark surprises us in his story of Jesus teaching the people about seeds and plants, and ordinary activities like sowing we take for granted but so rich in meanings. That is what a parable is – a simple story with deep meanings about life.
Our life itself is a parable wherein we find the most profound realizations in the most ordinary things and events in our lives. And that is where Jesus Christ comes too often. He is in fact the kingdom of God He spoke so often in His teachings and parables.
Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and through it all the seed would sprout and grow he knows not how (Mk.4:26-27).”
Mark 4:26-27
This parable of the seed growing by itself tells us of that reality of God living among us, right with us in Jesus Christ. The seed is His word germinating in us if we cultivate it daily in prayer and good works. Just like the fecundity of the tiny seed planted in the field, God grows in us beyond all our hopes and expectations because He is never absent nor distant from us.
Photo by Ms. April Oliveros on Mt. Pulag, 2023.
Look back in your life this past week or past month, examine how many times you were blessed, of how you were pulled out and saved from a dire situation in the nick of time. Surely you can offer a lot of rational explanations but, when you come to think of it, there’s always an “Invisible Hand” saving you, guiding you.
That’s the point of the parable of the seed planted without the farmer knowing how it grows: God works best in our lives in silence.
This is the reason why St. Paul tells us to “walk in faith, not by sight” (2Cor.5:7): our life is a journey of faith wherein we cannot see everything clearly, cannot appreciate right away the extent of how God works His miracles in us daily.
Yesterday we celebrated the 40th day of my mom’s passing then tomorrow, June 17, is her 85th birthday which is also the 24th death of my dad. I told my sisters and brother that maybe that is the reason why dad died on mom’s birthday 24 years ago: so that it would not be difficult for us to visit their graves on June 17. Isang lakad at punta na lang para matipid!
But kidding aside, though it is so difficult and painful to be ulilang lubos (orphaned), I still feel so positive more than a month after my mother’s death because in those 24 years when my father died, God never abandoned us. With mom’s passing, I’m sure God will never forsake us too.
When I look back at how many times God has blessed us in the past, I also see that soon in the future, if we remain faithful to Him, Christ shall unfold in us and around us in ways we never imagined.
Photo by Ms. Analyn Dela Torre, March 2024.
Time flies so fast indeed these days; we are almost done with the first half of the year. In a short while we shall be hearing Jose Mari Chan singing again “Christmas In Our Hearts” as the Christmas countdown begins even before September first.
And that’s what I have noticed these past 20 years: with all the comforts in life, we have become impatient that we rush everything, even Christmas and holidays. We live in a world of instants that we cannot wait anymore like the farmer in the parable of Jesus. Or the Prophet Ezekiel imagining God coming soon.
We don’t have to discard the modern amenities we have in life today for most of these are gifts from God Himself. However, we must remember these are not everything, that many times in life despite all our careful planning, things still do not turn out as we expect.
There is only one thing we can be sure of, Jesus Christ silently in our midst. Look at any tree around you, the many years it had weathered all kinds of storm and heat. Still standing, still green, reminding us of Jesus. Let us pray:
God our Father, teach us to be patient like the farmer who sows seeds to his field, not knowing at all how these germinate and grow; teach us to be faithful to You in Christ Jesus, always open to find Him and embrace Him in the ordinary things in life; teach us to have more of You, God in Jesus through prayers and Sacraments, to have more faith than gadgets, more hope than instant gratifications and more love than social media. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Memorial, St. Francis Sales, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, 24 January 2024 2 Samuel 7:4-17 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 4:1-20
“The Sower at Sunset” by Vincent Van Gogh, oil on canvas painted in June 1888 from wikimedia commons.
Lord Jesus Christ, as you narrated to us today the parable of the sower, I wonder what were the other seeds you have sowed aside from your word?
On another occasion, Jesus began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land. And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them, “Hear this! A sower went out to sow.”
We are not just the different kinds of soil where your seeds fell, Lord Jesus; like you, may we also be sowers of your word and teachings, sowers of your love and mercy, sowers of compassion and kindness, sowers of your light and life, sowers of your hope and healing, sowers of your very presence.
When God told David not to build him a temple as he promised to raise a house for him from whom shall come the Christ, that was when the Father also sowed the seeds of redemption and fulfillment in you, Lord Jesus!
On this feast of St. Francis Sales, patron of Catholic journalists and media practitioners, we pray for all communicators to sow unity and peace, not division nor misunderstanding, nor animosities; we pray for all journalists of different platforms to sow understanding and clarity, to sow justice and equality among peoples, and to sow respect for life at all times because every communication must promote first of all the dignity of every person. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 15 October 2023
Isaiah 25:6-10 ><}}}}*> Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20 ><}}}}*> Matthew 22:1-14
Photo by Mr. Jay Javier in Taal, Batangas, 15 February 2014.
I grew up in a generation when dressing properly – meaning, decently – was deeply inculcated both at home and the school. It has always been considered in our time as a sign of maturity when we come properly attired in every occasion.
Now, those days are gone along with the expression “Sunday’s best” when sneakers are paired with formal suits and worn even in weddings! Dressing has become so relative with total disregard for basic fashion sense and worst of all, without any sense of propriety at all in the name of personal comfort and style as well as individuality. That culture on “liberal” or “liberated” dressing has encroached into the church with priests refusing to wear the proper garments and dress as required by Code of Canon law. How ironic that while the lay people appreciate us priests dressed properly for the liturgy and ministry, the harshest insults and negative reactions against it come from some priests who argue using the hot weather as an excuse. Many priests have subscribed to the lame excuse of people that clothes do not make us who we are, that there is much more beneath the clothing we wear of who we really are.
True but not absolutely because what we wear, how we look outside is indicative of who we are, what we value, what we believe in. Dress speaks a lot about ourselves whether we like it or not as the Lord’s parable this Sunday teaches us.
The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’ Many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Matthew 22:11-14
Photo by Fr. RA Valmadrid, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, 13 October 2023.
We now come to the third and final series of parables addressed by Jesus Christ directly to his enemies, the chief priests and elders of the people while teaching at the temple area in Jerusalem to underscore to them the need to reform their lives and be converted to his good news of salvation like the tax collectors and prostitutes.
See how in today’s parable some semblances with the parables of the two sons and wicked tenants of the past two weeks to show us God’s loving patience in doing everything to make us come to him like the subjects of the king with all the chances to come to his son’s wedding banquet.
And like with the parables of the past two Sundays, Matthew makes again a crucial twist in today’s parable that can be sufficiently ended in that part when the king was enraged by the continued refusal of his guests to come to his son’s wedding banquet that he ordered them all killed and instead extended his invitation to everyone in the streets.
The wedding banquet is heaven like the vineyard in the parables of the past two Sundays.
But it is not only referring to heaven at the end of time but also speaks so well of the here and now – the present life we live as citizens of the kingdom of God in Jesus Christ. Rejecting the invitation to come to the meal which as an expression of our citizenship in God’s kingdom is an act of disloyalty and treason against him.
Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago, Hearts of Jesus and Mary parish, Malolos City, 2022.
When we were baptized, we became citizens of the kingdom of God. We do our “pledge of allegiance” to God as his citizens every time we pray and most especially celebrate Mass which is just half of the whole deal of being citizens of his kingdom! Like in being Filipinos or whatever nationality we have, we must live up to our citizenship in God’s kingdom by being good and holy. That is the wedding dress referred to in the parable, the life we lead as children and citizens of God and his kingdom.
Jesus invites us today to face squarely the uncomfortable issues that prevent us from being his good and faithful disciples and citizens of God’s kingdom. Many times we are like those invited guests in the parable who allowed something else in their lives like their wealth and possession, businesses and worldly pursuits become more important than their allegiance to the King. Every time we sin, every time we skip the Sunday Mass, that is when we have our new God and King that may be our very selves, gadgets, vices, or the malls we frequent more than the church!
Here we find a deepening in Jesus Christ’s invitation to conversion into conforming our lives into him. St. Paul made a lot of beautiful imageries of “putting on Jesus Christ” as our new clothes and garment which we have retained in the Rite of Baptism when the newly baptized is clothed with the white dress. See how the man caught by the king fell silent when confronted because there was no excuse at all at not wearing the wedding dress in the banquet. The same thing is true with us today. We have no excuse for not being dressed, for not being conformed in Jesus Christ in our lives as his disciples. Everyday he gives us the opportunities of being conformed to him through our daily conversions through prayers and good works. God does not expect us to wear extravagant nor expensive clothes for his wedding banquet; just a clean and decent clothes are enough. Nobody is perfect.
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD at Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 13 September 2023.
One of the things I used to enjoy in my school and seminary days were joining stage plays. Yes, I love acting but I just don’t know if acting (and singing) love me. Nonetheless, one of our most dreaded moments before the actual play was always the dress rehearsal when everything is considered as the “real thing”, the real play as our teaches and nuns have insisted when we were supposed to have memorized our lines and cues.
But, as I grew and matured, I realized that life is not a dress rehearsal at all; each day is an actual “play”, a “live” presentation where we must “perform” or “act” so well. Yes, we are all required to memorize our lines and cues in life but many times, we forget them. Nobody is perfect. And here lies the immense love and kindness of God to us: he allows us to improvise for our selves in case we have forgotten our lines just like those people instantly invited to the wedding banquet of the King’s son. They were able to improvise to make it to the banquet hall except for that one who came not dressed for the occasion. He was silent because he was so lazy to improvise, to find ways like the chief priests and elders in the time of the Lord. Until now, many of us make a lot of excuses and alibis for not being conformed in Christ, from the ordinary excuse of being “difficult” to the most absurd that “I am only human” or tao lamang, mahina at marupok. Keep in mind St. Paul’s words in the second reading, “I can do all things in him who strengthens me… My God will supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Phil.4:13, 19).
Photo by Ka Ruben, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, 2022.
Every Sunday we are invited to celebrate with others the coming of Jesus and the salvation he has won for us. This wedding banquet is the Sunday Mass we celebrate, a fulfillment of the first reading from Isaiah of that mountain where “the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines” (Is. 25:6). In the Holy Eucharist, we have the choicest food and drinks – the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ – given to us to nourish us and keep us strong in this journey of life into eternity in heaven with the Father.
How amazing that nothing is really imposed upon us in coming to this banquet of the Lord in the Eucharist that is totally free of charge except that we have to come properly dressed on the inside, of being conformed in him.
But please, let’s get dressed also on the outside. No need to wear expensive and beautiful clothes. Just proper and clean ones are more than enough. A good rule of thumb we can rely on is this: God has blessed me tremendously this week and I am coming to celebrate with him, for him. How do I look to to express to him my gratitude and appreciation to his wondrous gifts? Amen. It is a Sunday, go to Mass!
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 30 July 2023
Photo by author in San Juan, La Union, 26 July 2023.
Finally we’re back! Sorry for being silent with our Sunday music blog relating secular songs with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
For our return engagement since our last blog in June 11, 2023 with Stephen Bishop’s Parked Cars (https://lordmychef.com/2023/06/11/parked-cars-by-stephen-bishop/), we feature this Sunday one of our favorite local talents, Mr. Zack Tabudlo with his 2021 hit Habang Buhay from his album called Episode.
We can’t recall where and when we first heard this swinging OPM love song that sounds like from our era of VST & Co. Fact is, Tabudlo has other previous hits before Habang Buhay which struck us with two important things we find so close to our Sunday gospel.
First is its melodic upbeat tune teeming with profundity despite its being so light and refreshing to listening (and dancing). Though we find traces of influence from the late 1970 to1980’s disco era in Tabudlo’s music, Habang Buhay is so sincere with its Gen Z identity that is authentically so Pinoy especially with its shouts of Halika nga that is twice repeated.
Aking sinta, ano ba'ng mayro'n sa iyo?
'Pag nakikita ka na, bumabagal ang mundo
'Pag ngumingiti ka, para bang may iba
'Pag tumitingin sa 'kin, mapupungay mong mga mata
Wala akong takas sa nakakalunod mong ganda, ha
Halika nga (ha, ha, ha)
That shout of Halika nga is so typically Pinoy, so warm and genteel like Jesus Christ calling us to be open to his parables, to find God hidden in the most simplest things of ordinary life. Halika nga evokes those tender, loving calls of our Lola during summer vacation calling us to change clothes soaked in dirt and perspiration with a glass of Julep or Sunny Orange juice during those endless afternoons of fun and games.
Halika nga sometimes is an expression of playfulness masking as deeply serious. It is something we rarely hear these days because nobody seems to offer us with comfort and company, with love and concern anymore.
In Habang Buhay, Tabudlo is overjoyed, playfully or teasingly calling his beloved halika nga for them to bask and savor this wonderful love they have found. If we could just hear Jesus calling us too, telling us halika nga to stay with him to discover God as the only worthwhile love and treasure we could ever have in this life.
And where do we find that kind of love? In Christ’s dying for us on the Cross which Tabuldo had thought of as the true expression of his love that is faithful until the end.
Andito 'ko hanggang sa 'ting pagtanda
Mamahalin kita basta't 'pag nahulog
Nakahawak ako, 'wag ka lang bibitaw
Habang-buhay na ako'y iyo
Wala nang ibang nakagawa sa 'kin nang ganito
Kundi ikaw, nag-iisang diyosa ng buhay ko
'Wag ka nang matakot, 'wag kang mangamba
Andito ako 'pag ika'y mag-isa
Wala akong takas sa nakakalunod mong ganda, ha
Halika nga (ha, ha, ha)
This is the second thing that struck us in Habang Buhay, an amazing song that speaks of love that is pure and true, and most of all, willing to suffer and sacrifice. Like in the gospel today of the parables of the treasure buried in the field that prompted the farmer to sell all his possessions to acquire that property and of the fine pearl found by a merchant who also sold everything he had just to have it. The same is true with love, and with God: what are we willing to let go to have the love of our life?
It’s a rarity in this fast-paced world to hear from young people speaking about love in its deeper sense like the giving of self for a beloved, giving us deep sighs of relief that we’re leaving this world in good hands. Habang Buhay assures us not only of a love that is forever but invites us too to trust the next generation by witnessing to them Christ’s love found on the Cross. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sunday in the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 30 July 2023
1 Kings 3:5, 7-12 >><}}}}*> Romans 8:28-30 >><}}}}*> Matthew 13:44-46
Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 24 July 2023.
We are now in the final installment of Jesus Christ’s parables this third consecutive Sunday of his teachings on the kingdom of heaven. It is hoped by this time we have learned and realized God is the only treasure we must have in this life.
And the good news is that God our treasure is found in the most ordinary things!
Many times he simply comes to us even without us looking for him while often would also appear if we truly seek him like in the two short parables we heard this Sunday.
Jesus said to his disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.”
Matthew 13:44-46
Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 25 July 2023.
Our gospel may be the shortest these past three Sundays but it challenges us to be wiser in making choices to acquire the only worthy treasure of all – God.
Both the farmer and the merchant exemplify to us this wisdom in letting go of their other possessions just to have the buried treasure and pearl they have found.
Note how the farmer merely chanced upon the treasure buried in a field not his, while the merchant finally found the fine pearl after years of searching all his life. Here we are reminded how God is not that difficult to find by those truly seeking him. The problem lies with us when we refuse to be the good soil so that the seeds sown in us may grow and bear fruit even amid the weeds! Many times, we have stopped having that sense of awe, of being surprised by God who is like a treasure buried in a field somewhere waiting to be found. Worst, a lot often we have simply given up searching for God as if it is impossible to find him like a fine pearl. God is with us in Jesus Christ, our Emmanuel.
This is the good news of our short parables today. Moreover, God even comes to ask us what we want in life like King Solomon in the first reading. Later in the gospel we find Jesus Christ also asking the blind Bartimaeus what does he want while passing by the city of Jericho. Notice how those healed by Jesus always had clear thoughts and focus, so wise in their choices of what they wanted in life like King Solomon. Can we be wise enough like Solomon in choosing well, in asking the right thing from God?
The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.” Solomon answered: “O Lord, my God, you have made me, your servant, king to succeed my father David; but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act. Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong. For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?” the Lord was pleased that Solomon made this request.
1 Kings 3:5-7, 9-10
Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 25 July 2023.
What is so beautiful, even wonderful here is not just the nearness of God with us but his kindness in asking us what we want. Imagine God saying, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.”
What shall we ask God if he were to come to us in a dream tonight like Solomon? Perhaps we would be at a loss! Remember, God is asking for just one thing we want. At least the genie usually gives three wishes, with only the third one as most crucial being the last for which we are told to always ask for three more wishes!
Here we find again Simon Sinek’s book Start with Why most useful because our whys give us the reason and meaning for whatever we wish to accomplish. Exactly what Solomon must have considered as he laid out to God his situation, his needs, most of all his weakness, “I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act.” See why Solomon asked for that grace instead of wealth or fame or strong army?
It is that consciousness of being small and weak before God that pleases him most in granting our prayers. Earlier before this scene Jesus praised and thanked God in giving wisdom to the little ones who accepted him than the wise and the learned who rejected him (Mt.11:25). That is the attitude of being a “good soil” who allows the seed to penetrate and absorb us!
God was so pleased with Solomon because he knew so well his whys that to govern Israel so well amid his many weaknesses, he needed God more than ever. Unlike Adam and Eve who tried to usurp God in his power in knowing right from wrong, Solomon recognized it as divine prerogative we can only share with God. Actually, what he asked for was God himself who is the treasure hidden in the field and the fine pearl found by the merchant. Solomon did not want to be like God inasmuch as he never thought of being wealthy and powerful nor famous that are of no value at all compared to having wisdom, in having a discerning heart to know right from wrong.
Photo by author, shore of the Lake of Galilee in Capernaum, Israel, May 2017.
I have realized in my 25 years as a priest that what we treasure most are not the ones that give us pleasure but the ones who complete us. We ask and pray to God for something or someone not because of need but more of fulfillment found only in Jesus Christ who promised that whatever we ask from his Father would be granted to us in his name if it is for the mission he had entrusted to us. That is why in my prayers, I no longer ask God for anything except of being with him in eternity because I am so sure that whatever I need, he would give. Most of all, if I have God, then I am complete.
The parables of Jesus are inexhaustibly rich yet so accessible to everyone with open minds and open hearts to meet God in Christ through the simple realities of life. That is why St. Paul tells us in the second reading today that “all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
Let us pray for more zeal and enthusiasm in being the good soil, in choosing wisely the only treasure worthy in this life who is Jesus Christ, our Emmanuel or God-is-with-us. Let us welcome him in the many parables of life we take for granted that are all part of God’s plan of salvation for us leading to glory that is our destiny. Amen. Today is Sunday, go to Mass and pray for those severely affected by super typhoon Egay especially our brothers and sisters in northern Luzon.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sunday in the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 16
Isaiah 55:10-11 ><]]]]'> Romans 8:18-23 ><]]]]'> Matthew 13:1-23
Photo by author, Bgy. Bahong, La Trinidad, Benguet, 12 July 2023.
Surely you will hear in almost all homilies today something about that blasphemous drag version of the Lord’s Prayer trending in social media. What a coincidence that our Scripture readings this Sunday say a lot about words that teach us so much in dealing with this new kind of pandemic sweeping the world, the “LGBTQ+ woke” syndrome happening in the realm of words and languages.
In the light of recent things happening in our society, today’s readings tell us two important things we have forgotten or have deliberately disregarded: the power of God’s word and the need to listen.
Thus says the Lord: Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to him who sows and bread to him who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:10-11
Photo by author, Bgy. Alno, La Trinidad, Benguet, 11 July 2023.
The power of God's word
Our short reading from Isaiah perfectly introduces us to the sequence of Christ’s teachings in the next three Sundays beginning today about the power of God’s word, a preparation for us to understand the parable of the sower.
Here we find from the Prophet Isaiah God’s word as totally “other” – ibang-iba sa lahat – as it reveals and acts because it is the truth and effectiveness in one. See how Isaiah picturesquely expressed the power of God’s word, “Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful… so shall my word be; it shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.“
The Bible never fails in attesting to this conviction, of how God means what he says that has become the very basis of our hopes in him since the very beginning. Everything flows from God’s word, from the creation of the world and the universe to its fulfillment in Jesus Christ until he comes again at the end of time. God’s word creates history with power to renew and restore life, the power to save us as experienced by the thief on the Cross when he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Lk.23:42).
Photo by author, Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 12 July 2023.
Contrast God’s word with our human experience aptly expressed by Shakespeare in Hamlet’s famous quote, “words, words, words!” – of how we use so many words in the belief more is powerful when in fact our words are vain and empty, lacking in substance. Instead of giving life, many times our words hurt and even kill others. In this age of social media, see how we use words to distort truth with lies and deceptions. Its worst aspect is not found in the words we use but in us who pronounce them when we say things without any commitment at all so that many times, our words never stood the test of time because they are easily forgotten when spoken or heard.
St. Paul said it so well in the second reading, of how “all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now” (Rom.8:22) especially when we distort the truth of our words, when we do not mean what we say, when we our words divide instead of unite, when our words destroy instead of build.
See how sin entered through the “words” of the devil that deceived Adam and Eve with the first “fake news” in history that they would not die if they ate the forbidden fruit but instead become like God. Sin took on its ugly face in the use of words again after the first crime of murder committed by Cain who dared to say to God “am I my brother’s keeper” when asked of the whereabouts of Abel.
Words continued to be the means through which sin permeated humans reaching its lowest point when people played God again by building the Tower of Babel to reach the heavens. God punished them by making them speak different languages that resulted in confusion and the collapse of the tower.
How sad that these days, human words are made louder, spread faster by technologies try so hard to undermine God’s word. There is no doubt on the power of the word of God for he himself had shown and assured it. For his words to be fully operational and experienced, we must first listen to Jesus, the word who became flesh.
Photo by author, Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 12 July 2023.
Listening to the word of God
“Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
Matthew 13:9
Jesus used these words seven times in the synoptic gospels, usually in connection with parables like in Matthew chapter 13 which we shall be using in the next three Sundays. We heard it first today and again next Sunday when Jesus explained the parable of the weeds.
His command to “hear” requires more than just taking in the words he speaks to us. To truly hear what Jesus is saying especially within the context of the parables, we must profoundly ponder what he wishes us to know. Just like in our prayers: what is essential is to be able to listen more to God than to tell him our needs which he already knew.
This can only happen in the spirit of silence and openness to God when we suspend our many preconceptions and other ideas especially about the parables we have been so familiar with.
Photo by author, Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 12 July 2023.
The seed is the word of God and Jesus is the Sower who comes to us everyday, speaking to us, telling us the most important things we need to know and do in this life for us to be fulfilled and joyful.
But, do we have our ears attuned to the word of God? Many of us practically live in media, so hooked with gadgets either or both the cellphone and headsets or pods. Nobody seems to listen anymore as we are so engrossed in our own little world centered in the endless me, me, me and I.
In the parable, it does not really matter where the seeds fell; it is always good, at least even as food for the birds! Wherever it fell, the seed always sprang into life! That is the power of the word of God! We just have to give it a chance to grow and mature to bear fruits of “a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold”.
To hear the word of God means also to have our hearts opened to receive God so we can gain insight into the kingdom of God. It is in our hearts where the word of God is sown. Stones and thorns refer to the hardness of our hearts, our refusal to welcome Jesus Christ because we have been dominated by fame and power and other cares of this modern world.
Receiving the word of God is a process, not just a one-shot deal. It is a relationship we have to cultivate in Jesus Christ, just like the ones we try to have with our plants. The Lord himself had warned us repeatedly in the gospels of how there would always be opposition and indifference, even mockery and blasphemy right in the very places where his word should manifest its effectiveness like in our country, the only Christian-nation in this part of the world. If ever the word is not fruitful, it is primarily due to our dispositions and attitudes to God and his word.
Photo by author, Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 12 July 2023.
How timely that at this particular moment in our country we heard again this classic parable of the sower by Jesus Christ.
We, especially in the Church, are being reminded anew to humbly open ourselves to God and his word, to give it a chance to grow and bear fruit, including our rules and other documents especially in the liturgy.
In spending so much time about the posture the laypeople should take in praying the Our Father in the Mass notwithstanding what the rubric says, the devil sneaked into the scene with this drag cover of the Lord’s Prayer. This is something we must reflect. Why even the drag queen had joined the discussion of the Our Father that have deeply hurt us all! With this recent decision by the bishops, the more it seems that the drag version of the Lord’s Prayer is partly our fault too. Let us go back to God and trust his word anew. And the words of the liturgy too. Amen.Have a blessed week ahead!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Thirty-Third Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 16 November 2022
Revelation 4:1-11 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 19:11-28
Photo by author in Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga, 24 October 2022.
Your words today, Lord Jesus Christ,
are difficult to comprehend and imagine
but John's descriptions of his vision of heaven
make us appreciate and realize
God's great love for us
and his desire for us to be
with him in eternity
enjoying this great mystery of his divinity.
After this I had a vision of an open door to heaven, and I heard the trumpetlike voice that had spoken to me before, saying, “Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards.” At once I was caught up in spirit. A throne was there in heaven…
Revelation 4:1-2
St. Paul had told us too
"that the suffering of this present time are
as nothing compared with the glory to be
revealed for us" (Rom.8:18) as you have
shown John in this vision;
teach us to be more firm in our
faith in you,
fervent in our hope in you,
and unceasing in our love for you
through others so that when the time comes,
we may also see and experience
what you have shown John.
Open our eyes and our minds,
especially our hearts and souls
to your reality,
to your presence, dear Jesus,
that we believe in you
and hold on your promises of
returning unlike those people who
refused to recognize their king
and became the biggest losers
of all in your parable.
To lose you, O Lord Jesus,
is life's most biggest lost.
Amen.
lordmychef.com 