Openly speaking to Jesus

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sunday in the Twenty-fifth Week of Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 22 September 2024
Wisdom 2:12, 17-20 ><}}}}*> James 3:16-4:3 ><}}}}*> Mark 9:30-37

*Photo by author in Caesarea Philippi, Israel, May 2017.*

Time flies so fast these days and so does our gospel reading with Mark telling us in quick succession Jesus journeying south towards Jerusalem, passing through Galilee then making a stopover in a house in Capernaum.

Jesus is now intensifying His teachings to the Twelve – and us too today. For the second time since Sunday after being identified as the Christ, Jesus “spoke openly” of His coming Passion, Death, and Resurrection to His Apostles; but, unlike last Sunday, the Twelve remained silent and instead debated on who among them is the greatest as they grappled on the meaning of their Master’s coming Pasch.

Jesus was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him. They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest (Mark 9:31-34).

*Photo by Ms. Marissa La Torre Flores in Switzerland, August 2024.*

Did you notice that beautiful interplay again in the scene with the preceding Sunday?

Last Sunday, Jesus spoke openly of His coming Passion, Death, and Resurrection where Peter reacted by taking Him aside to protest. Jesus rebuked Peter, telling him how he thought in man’s ways than God’s ways.

Today, Jesus spoke openly anew of His coming Pasch but this time, the Twelve fell silent because according to Mark, “they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him.”

Are we not like the Twelve so often with Jesus? We follow Him, we believe Him, we listen to Him but never understand His words and worst, so afraid to question Him?

What do we not understand in His words? Or, is it more of still refusing to accept the reality of His Passion, Death, and Resurrection like Peter last week?

We are afraid to ask Jesus the meaning of His words, of His plans for us not because they have hidden meanings but usually due to our own hidden agendas.

*Photo by Mr. Jay Javier, 07 September 2024.*

We find it hard to trust Jesus enough unlike the upright in the first reading especially in this age of social media and instant fame and popularity when numbers of “likes” and votes prevail over what is true, good, and beautiful. Real talents, innate goodness and whatever natural are disregarded. That is why I have never watched nor believed in any beauty or singing contest these days because winners are decided not really on their talents or beauty and intelligence but more on the votes they get from viewers and people. Life has become more of a popularity contest often seen in terms of money. Pera pera lang?

This propensity of equating number of votes and likes with what is true and good and beautiful reeks with a lot of those stinky attitudes of the wicked in the first reading. The author of the Book of Wisdom perfectly expressed the inner thoughts and dynamics of the wicked who are intolerant of contradiction in whatever form, most especially unbearable to them is the living reproach and challenge of the life of just persons in their midst. This was fulfilled in Christ Jesus, the Just One of God the wicked men have crucified.

The wicked say: Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training… Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him” (Wisdom 2:12, 20).

Jesus Christ’s teaching of the Cross is the perfect spirit of being a child that runs contradictory to the ways of the world. To be like a child these days as Jesus showed the Twelve is to invite sarcasm and ridicule, unacceptable to those who live in the dictates of the world of power and force, wealth and fame that certainly lead to more divisions and destruction.

Jesus invites us this Sunday to “speak openly” to Him like a child filled with trust and enthusiasm to know and learn more about life and its meanings like our doubts and fears, incomprehension and uncertainties.

See how children’s face light up when grown-ups recognize their inquiries even without any explanations at all. The same is most true with Jesus in whom anything that is dull and drab shines brightly when seen in His light.

*Photo by author, St. Scholastica Retreat Center, Baguio City,*

We cannot escape the scandal of the Cross. To dwell on Easter Sunday without the Good Friday only makes our life journey difficult and tiring without any direction, a waste of time and energy circling around the ways of the world that has always been proven wrong.

The essence of Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection is found in being a child in the same manner Jesus remained the Son of God there on the Cross. He has always been clear with this; though He knew His fate, Jesus was totally free in choosing to suffer and die on the Cross because He fully entrusted Himself to the Father as He prayed before dying on the Cross, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Lk.23:46).

That beautiful imagery of a child Jesus placed in their midst as He put His arms around him encapsulated perfectly His own Passion and Death:

Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me” (Mark 9:35-37).

*Photo by Mr. Red Santiago of his son Clyde, January 2020.*

Every Sunday, Jesus gathers us in the Eucharist, just like the house in Capernaum where He spoke privately to the Twelve to explain the Cross and being like a child.

Let us not be afraid to speak these openly to Jesus because in our shame or fears of questioning Him, the more we live in rivalries among each other, the more we covet and envy, the more peace becomes elusive because as St. James rightly said, “You do not possess because you do not ask. You ask but not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (James 4:2c-3).

Let us gather around Jesus every Sunday, speak openly to Him especially after receiving Him Body and Blood in Holy Communion to cast unto Him all our worries and doubts in life. Let us take time to listen to Him and be imbued with His teachings. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead, everyone.

Jesus openly speaking

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 15 September 2024
Isaiah 50:5-9 <*{{{{>< James 2:14-18 ><}}}}*> Mark 8:27-35

There is something very striking with the similarities and differences in our gospel last Sunday and today that greatly reveal to us the person of Jesus Christ whom we all imitate and follow as His disciples.

In Decapolis last Sunday, Jesus separated a deaf man – “took him off by himself away from the crowd” – to heal him by putting his fingers into the man’s ears, then spitted and touched his tongue as he groaned “Ephphatha” – be opened – and the man was healed as “he spoke plainly”.

Further up north of Decapolis which is the chief pagan city of Caesarea Philippi, the Apostle Peter took Jesus away from the crowd after the Lord spoke openly of His coming Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

But unlike the deaf mute healed when separated from the rest, Jesus rebuked Peter as He returned to the crowd as He continued to speak openly of His coming Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do” (Mark 8:31-33).

*Photo by author at Petra in Jordan, May 2019.*

I love the contrast of these two events Mark tells us so succinctly without missing details that speak so well of God’s ways and man’s ways, of what is to think and act like Jesus and how the devil tricks us into its devious and insidious ploys.

See also how last Sunday the healed deaf-mute “spoke plainly” in Christ while today we are invited by Mark to “openly speak” like Jesus of life’s sufferings and death.

When God separates us from the rest of the people and our usual routines like what happened at Decapolis last Sunday, it is because He wants us to experience Him more closely, for us to be healed, and for us to touch base with Him anew who is the very root of our being. Like that nameless deaf man, we need to separate once in a while from the world for us to be healed of our many deafness so that we may listen more intently to God’s voice and words right in our hearts, in the scriptures, and in the cries of the poor and suffering among us.

Actually, Jesus was continuing in Caesarea Philippi His method last Sunday of “separating” when He first asked the Twelve “Who do people say that I am?” that prompted them to tell Him the many misconceptions about His identity. In a similar way with the deaf at Decapolis, Jesus took off the Twelve in Caesarea Philippi when He asked them the more specific question “But who do you say that I am?” and Peter rightly answered Him, “You are the Christ.”

Matthew has a similar story probably with some additions from other sources that we find Jesus praising Peter for his answer, entrusting to him the church, and promising him with the key to heaven. The rebuke of Peter would happen later in their journey.

Mark had none of that considering his gospel was Matthew’s basis. We find in Mark’s brief account of Peter’s confession at Caesarea Philippi Perhaps how often just as when we feel so close with God like Peter, it is the same moment when the devil comes to trick us to break away from God and follow our own ways, not His.

*Photo by author near ancient city of Caesarea Philippi, May 2017.*

The event at Caesarea Philippi gives us clearest sign to identify Jesus as the Christ, that is when Jesus speaks openly of His coming Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly (Mark 8:31-32).

Jesus never hides us from the realities of life as He speaks “openly” of His Pasch. From Caesarea Philippi, Jesus and the Twelve would head back south towards Jerusalem making a stop over on Mount Tabor for the Transfiguration where Christ’s glory was revealed to Peter, James and John.

It was during His Transfiguration that that Father and the Son made clear that Christ’s glory cannot be separated from the Cross. It was after Caesarea Philippi when Jesus announced thrice to the Twelve His coming Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

Notice too that qualifier “must” – that He “must suffer greatly”.

Just one word but so powerful, showing us the consistency of Jesus in speaking about His Pasch, the Cross, and later its relationship with discipleship, of the need for us to forget ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him.

*Our motorized procession of the Blessed Sacrament in our previous Parish at the start of the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020. Photo by Ms. Anne Ramos.*

It saddens me when some priests and people in the Church shy away from talking openly about life’s many sufferings. We recognize their good intentions of not forgetting the beautiful and brighter side of being a Christian but to look at the Cross negatively and all its other implications is totally unChristian.

We cannot disregard the pains and darkness that come in being a disciple of Jesus; the Cross is the life of a disciple because it is the center of Christ’s person and teachings as expressed in yesterday’s Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. All these “health and wealth” style of many preachers even in the Church are red flags of the devil’s ploy, of Peter separating Jesus from the Cross.

We act like Peter rebuking Jesus in Caesarea Philippi whenever we try to soften or hide, even cover the corruption and abuses going on in the society and families, the Church and our communities. That is clearly thinking in man’s ways not in God’s ways.

We cannot arrive at the truth and beauty of life disregarding the falsehoods and negativities around us. That was the problem with the people in mistaking Jesus as one of the prophets who were seen more as miracle workers who instantly healed them of their sickness.

*Photo by author in my previous parish, 2017.*

And here lies the danger too to us that we will never be able to have a good answer to Christ’s question “But who do you say I am?” if we avoid the many passion and death of this life in Jesus.

To openly speak like Jesus and embrace the sufferings and death we must endure is our first expression of faith with works we heard in the second reading from James.

To openly speak like Jesus and embrace the sufferings and death we must endure is the fulfillment of the first reading’s Song of the Suffering Servant who is Jesus Himself.

When we openly speak and embrace life’s daily sufferings and deaths like Jesus is to trust completely in God like Him. Let us speak openly of the Cross, of love and mercy, of God like Jesus Christ! Let us pray:

Lord Jesus Christ,
let me continue to follow 
you closely by separating
from the rest often 
to hear you more,
to love you more,
to trust you more;
let me know you more clearly
so that I may love you more dearly
and follow you more closely
speaking plainly,
speaking openly
without sugarcoating your call,
your Cross.
Amen.

Ituloy pagbati ng Maligayang Pasko!

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-27 ng Disyembre 2023

Larawan mula sa Facebook, 23 Disyembre 2023 ng pagtutulungan ng Red Letter Christians at ng artist na si Kelly Latimore ng @kellylatimoreicons upang lumikha ng bagong larawang ito na pinamagatang “Christ in the Rubble” nagsasaad na kung sakaling ngayong panahon isinilang si Jesus, malamang siya ay ipinanganak sa gitna ng mga durog na bato sanhi ng digmaan doon sa Gaza.

Maligayang Pasko!

Tayo raw mga Pilipino ang mayroong pinaka-tumpak na pagbati sa panahong ito dahil sinasaad ng salitang “pasko” ang buong katotohanan ng hiwaga ng pagkakatawang-tao (Incarnation) ng Diyos Anak na si Jesu-Kristo.

Mula sa wikang Hebreo na pesar o pesach na kahulugan ay “pagtawid”, ito ay pascua sa wikang Kastila na atin ding ginagamit na ugat ng Pasko at pasch naman sa Inggles.

Una natin itong natunghayan sa Matandang Tipan, sa Aklat ng Exodus nang itawid ng Diyos sa pamumuno ni Moises ang mga Israelita mula Egipto patungong lupang pangako. Iyon ang larawang paulit-ulit na tinutukoy sa ating kasaysayan ng pagliligtas, sumasagisag sa pagtawid mula sa kaalipinan patungo sa kalayaan, pagtawid mula kadiliman patungo sa liwanag, pagtawid mula kasalanan tungo sa kapatawaran, at higit sa lahat, pagtawid mula kaparusahan tungo sa kaligtasan.

Iyon din ang batayan ng tinutukoy na misteryo paskuwa o ng ating pananampalataya kay Kristo-Jesus na ating ipinahahayag tuwina sa Banal na Misa, “si Kristo ay namatay, si Kristo ay muling nabuhay, si Kristo ay babalik sa wakas ng panahon!“

Tumpak at ayon ang ating pagbati na Maligayang Pasko dahil nagsimula ang misteryo paskuwa ni Jesus nang Siya ay ipaglihi at isinilang ng Mahala na Birheng Maria sa Bethlehem mahigit 2000 tao na nakalilipas.

Sa pagkakatawang-tao ni Jesus, Siya ay tumawid mula sa kawalang-hanggan (eternity) tungo sa mayroong hanggan (temporal) dito sa lupa; mula sa kanyang ganap na pag-iral taglay ang lahat ng kapangyarihan tungo sa limitado niyang pagkatao tulad ng pagiging mahina at mahuna lalo na sa pagiging sanggol at bata. Kasama na doon ang kailangan Niyang mag-aral lumakad, magsulat, magbasa at magsalita na kung tutuusin ay alam Niya ang lahat.

Taong-tao talaga si Jesus bagamat hindi nawala ni nabawasan Kanyang pagka-Diyos sa Kanyang pagkakatawang-tao kaya lahat ng ating mga karanasan bilang tao ay Kanya ring naranasan maliban ang kasalanan at magkasala. Siya man ay nagutom, nauhaw, nahapis at tumangis nang mamatay ang kaibigan Niyang si Lazaro, nahabag sa mga tao mga may sakit at balo. Wika nga ni Papa Benedicto XVI na malapit na nating ipag-ibis luksa sa katapusan, ang Diyos na ganap na kung tutuusin ay hindi nahihirapan ni nasasaktan ay pinili na makiisa sa hirap at sakit nating mga tao pamamagitan ng pagkakatawang-tao ni Jesu-Kristo (Spe Salvi, #39).

Napaka-ganda at husay ng paglalahad ni San Pablo sa pagtawid o paskuwa na ito ni Jesus na kanyang tinaguriang kenosis, ang paghuhubad ni Jesus ng Kanyang pagka-Diyos bagamat para sa akin mas angkop ang salin na “pagsasaid” dahil sinimot ni Jesus ang lahat ng sa Kanya para sa atin doon sa Kanyang pagkakatawang-tao na ang rurok ay doon sa Krus.

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Baguio City, Agosto 2023.*

Magpakababa kayo tulad ni Cristo Jesus: Na bagamat siya’y Diyos, hindi nagpilit na manatiling kapantay ng Diyos, Bagkus hinubad niya ang lahat ng katangian ng pagka-Diyos, nagkatawang-tao at namuhay na isang alipin. Nang maging tao, siya’y nagpakababa at naging masunurin hanggang kamatayan, oo, hanggang kamatayan sa krus.
Filipos 2:5-8

Naalala ko isang araw ng Pasko noong bata ako nang kami ay papaalis patungo sa mga Nanay at kapatid ng aking ama sa Maynila, masungit ang panahon at maulan. Hindi ko matanggap na umuulan at masama ang panahon sa araw ng Pasko kaya tinanong ko aking ina, “Bakit po ganun, birthday ni Jesus may ulan, may bagyo? E hindi ba God Siya? Di ba Niya puwede ipahinto mga ulan sa birthday Niya?”

Di ko matandaan sagot ng mommy ko pero malamang hindi malayo sa luku-luko at gago!

Nang magka-isip na ako, natutuhan ko sa mga pagbabasa na sa maraming pagkakataon mayroong mga bagyo at kalamidad, digmaan at kung anu-ano pang mga sigalot at paghihirap na nangyari kasaysayan tuwing Pasko.

Tayo man mismo, marahil sa ating personal na buhay, maraming pagkakataon na tayo ay lumuluha, nanlulumo, hapis na hapis sa buhay sa ilang mga masasakit na karanasan sa araw ng Pasko. Kaya marami sa ating habang tumatanda nasasabing para lamang sa mga bata ang Pasko na masaya.

Ngunit hindi po iyan totoo! Batid natin sa ating mga karanasan na sa padaraan ng panahon, lumalalim ding pag-unawa nating sa Paso.

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Setyembre 2023.*

Balikan natin mga panahon ng ating pagsubok sa buhay lalo na sa panahon ng kapaskuhan, higit tayong namamangha at tiyak sasang-ayon ng lubos na tumpak nga ang bati nating mga Pinoy ng “Maligayang Pasko!” dahil mas malalim at makabuluhan ang pagdiriwang ito o ano pa mang selebrasyon sa buhay kapag ating napagdaanan at nalampasan mga hirap at sakit.

Ito ang kagandahan at katotohanan ng buhay natin na isang paulit-ulit na pasko, ng pagtawid at paglampas sa mga hirap at hilahil, pagbubulaanan sa ano mang sakbibi at pag-aaalinlangan ating ikinakakaba.

Hindi inalis ng Diyos ating hirap at sakit maging kamatayan bagkus tayo ay Kanyang sinamahan sa pagbibigay Niya sa atin ng Kanyang bugtong na Anak, ang Panginoong Jesu-Kristo na tumawid mula langit patungo dito sa atin sa lupa upang tayo naman Kanya ring maitawid patungong langit.

Kaya naman, pakiusap ko sa lahat na ipagpatuloy natin pagbati ng Maligayang Pasko hanggang ika-pito ng Enero 2024, ang Dakilang Kapistahan ng Pagpapakita o Epiphany ng Panginoon. Napakasama at malaking kahangalan na kay tagal inabangan ang Pasko na nagsisimula ng hapon ng ika-24 ng Disyembre at pagkatapos ng ika-25 ay biglang magbabatian ng Happy New Year!?

Kalokohan! At marahil, hindi naunawaan diwa ng Pasko. Mababaw at puro happy, happy gusto ng mga maraming tao, di batid ang diwa at lalim ng kahulugan ng Pasko na sa paglalagom ay iisang salita lamang: PAG-IBIG o PAGMAMAHAL. Ng Diyos sa atin.

Ano man ang mangyari sa buhay natin, sa ating mundo, hindi mapipigil ang Pasko, tuloy ang Pasko dahil kasama natin palagi si Kristo. At kung ikaw man ay mayroong pinagdaraanan, matuwa ka at magalak, ikaw ay nasa paskuwa – pasko – kasama, kaisa si Kristo! Amen.

Jerusalem, O Jerusalem!

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Twenty-Sixth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 03 October 2023
Zechariah 8:20-23 <*(((>< + ><)))*> Luke 9:51-56

*The old city of Jerusalem with the Golden Dome Mosque seen from the inside of the Church Dominus Flevit (the Lord Cried); photo by author, May 2017.*

Today O Dear God
our loving Father,
I pray for those going
through many difficulties
and sufferings in life;
those travelling the road
to Jerusalem,
even inside Jerusalem
already, one with Jesus
without them knowing 
carrying their Cross
to the Calvary.

When the days for Jesus being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.
Luke 9:51

Open our eyes,
open our hearts, 
dear Father to recognize
Jesus our companion 
to Jerusalem,
in Jerusalem;
help us to be "resolute"
like Christ in going to
Jerusalem to face 
Passion and Death
to eventually realize our
Resurrection in him
 too!

I pray, dear God,
for those giving up,
have given up to
continue the journey
to Jerusalem:  those
who have been living
all these years with
dialysis or chemotherapy,
those with never-ending
rehabilitation due to stroke
and other accidents,
those living daily with
medications and motivations
to fight depression,
to resist suicide;
those nursing so much pains
and hurts within not only 
due to physical trauma but
especially emotional and
spiritual traumas;
Lord, I pray also for their
caregivers, their family
and loved ones so 
often pushed to the limits
physically, emotionally,
and spiritually; console and
comfort them with the warmth
of the Holy Spirit, strengthen them
and assure them of your love;
tap their shoulders and whisper
to them they are doing well.

I pray dear Father
for those grieving,
those still grappling with
the loss of a loved one;
those suddenly thrown into 
emptiness within and without
with the death of a wife or
husband, a mother or a father,
a brother or a sister;
Jesus Christ knew so well the
deep hurt and emptiness every
death creates; accompany them
in the eerie silence and darkness
of suddenly not seeing
nor hearing, not embracing
nor serving a beloved departed.

God, 
life is a journey;
thank you in giving us Jesus
our companion; like
the two disciples going
back to Emmaus in
sadness and disappointments,
ignite our hearts anew with
Christ's loving presence,
to go to you, to seek you
right in our hearts,
our little Jerusalem
until we come to you in heaven,
the new Jerusalem.
Amen.

*Facade of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where one finds inside another church enclosing the very site of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ; photo by author, Jerusalem, May 2017.*

God among us

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 21 July 2023
Exodus 11:10-12:14 <*(((><<< + >>><)))*> Matthew 12:1-8

*Photo by Fr. Pop Dela Cruz in San Miguel, Bulacan, 2022.*

Your words today, dear God
remind us of your presence,
of your journeying with us,
of your passing over:
"But the blood will mark 
the houses where you are.
Seeing the blood, 
I will pass over you;
thus, when I strike 
the land of Egypt,
no destructive blow will 
come upon you"
(Exodus 12:13-14).

This came into fulfillment
in Jesus Christ's coming
in our midst:
"Jesus was going through 
a field of grain on the sabbath"
(Matthew 12:1) when the Pharisees
noticed the day than the persons
at the scene that they sorely
missed the whole point of
the Lord's presence among them,
"I say to you, something greater
than the temple is here"
(Matthew 12:6).

Keep us aware of you
always, O God;
let us find your face
on the face of everyone we meet,
let us recognize you in the person
next to us especially those 
searching for you,
in need of comfort,
and those lost
because no one sees them,
no one recognizes them
nobody loves them.
Amen.

Possessed by Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 02 July 2023
2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16 ><}}}}*> Romans 6:3-4, 8-11 ><}}}}*> Matthew 10:37-42

*Photo by author, Our Lady of Fatima University-Quezon City with the La Mesa Dam Forest Reserve at the back, 01 July 2023.*

Jesus continues to instruct the Twelve with important lessons on discipleship as he sent them on their first mission the other week. Last Sunday he taught them – including us today – to face all fears not to be fearless of anything or anyone but to fear only God.

Today, Jesus cautions us not to be unduly influenced by people especially those closest to us in fulfilling our mission in him. Very often, intimidation and influence can be used to adversely affect our ministry that eventually veer us away from our Lord Jesus Christ in the process. Hence, his encouragement too for us to persevere through those influences as we follow him.

Jesus said to his apostles: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Matthew 10:37-39

*James J. Tissot, ‘The Exhortation to the Apostles’ (1886-94) from Getty Images.*

Being a Christian is being possessed by Christ. That is why he told us last week to “be not afraid of those who kill the body but not the soul” so that we fear only him our Lord Jesus Christ in the sense that we lose all meaning in life without him.

To be possessed by Jesus Christ is to have a life centered in him, detached from undue influences including from our family and friends especially us priests and religious. When priests focus more with self and family or with other people instead of Jesus Christ, everything crumbles – pati sutana nalaglag na! That is when priesthood becomes a career and a means for social mobility and livelihood with money as the priest’s new “lord and master”.

Priesthood is Jesus Christ, the Caller, not the call as I have always insisted to seminarians I teach and direct. Problems happen when the Caller is dislodged from the top spot and focus shifts on the call or priesthood when priests literally and figuratively throw their weight around when we hear the notorious lines “matutulog ang pari, pagod and pari, unawain ang pari”.

*Photo by Ka Ruben, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, August 2022.*

Discipleship in general of which the priesthood is just a part is indeed a very difficult life. Nobody said it would be easy as the opening instructions of Jesus to the Twelve clearly stated, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.”

Jesus is not asking us to disregard our family and friends. What Jesus is telling us is actually a warning against too much expectations that our family and friends would love and embrace him too inasmuch as we have given ourselves to him. Not true at all, sad to say.

There are times that those closest to us are the ones who could not accept Jesus Christ’s call of discipleship. There are times that the most difficult people to be catechized and evangelized are those dearest to us.

Many of us must have felt in many instances how our family or friends are the ones who reject the ways of Jesus, the values of Christ. In this highly competitive world so exaggerated by the social media when everyone feels so entitled and deserving for everything, people have become so impersonal in dealing with each other, forgetting the basic courtesies in life, especially respect and kindness. Many are blinded by fame and wealth forgetting God and the people around them.

*Photo by Mr. Mon Macatangga, 12 May 2023.*

This Sunday, Jesus is teaching us to always have him as the basis and foundation of our relationships. Remember the gospel two Sundays ago when upon seeing the crowds Jesus was “moved with pity because they were troubled and abandoned like sheep without a shepherd” that he taught us to pray for more workers in the harvest (Mt.9:36-37). The problems in the world can never be solved by money and any material thing but only by another person, by someone with the heart and face of Christ filled with his warmth and his loving presence, someone not afraid to love, not afraid to get hurt, not influenced by fads and trends or by what others say.

Everything in this life, in our ministry and in our discipleship has to be seen in the light of Jesus Christ. Things become cloudy or dull and shady when Jesus is absent that can greatly affect, for better or for worse, our relationships with one another. This we see in the first reading about the hospitality offered by that Shumenite woman to Elisha the prophet whom she recognized as a man of God. Elisha clearly saw the woman’s basis of hospitality – God – that he never abused it. In fact, we find a trace of humor when Elisha had to ask his servant what their graceful hostess most needed to reward her hospitality. Sometimes like Elisha in our being so focused in serving the Lord, we become so ignorant of the most obvious with those closest to us; imagine Elisha asking his servant what to reward the Shumenite woman, his seeming oblivious to the fact she and husband were childless! Eventually, Elisha would grant the couple the gift of a son whom he would later bring back to life.

*At my 25th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood with friends from UST’s the Varsitarian, 18 April 2023.*

To be possessed by Christ means to be “dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus” as St. Paul explained in our second reading today (Rom.6:11). For some it may sound foolish but that is the reality and mystery of life we have been reflecting since the resumption of Ordinary Time last month. It is what we call as Christian paradox when in our sharing in Christ’s paschal mystery of his suffering and death, that is also when we find and experience our resurrection and life.

Last Monday, a very dear friend died, Sr. Gina of the Religious of Good Shepherd. We met in 1984 when I joined UST’s the Varsitarian where she was an outgoing staff member. She was the one who proclaimed the first reading at my celebration of my 25th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood last April 18.

*Photo by author, Chapel of the RGS Mother House in Quezon City, 29 June 2023.*

When I first invited her to my anniversary, she declined due to a big retreat of priests at their spirituality center in Tagaytay; within a few hours, she texted me back and told me she would fix her schedule so she could come to my anniversary celebration. She later texted me twice to insist she had to be present at my silver anniversary.

Unknown to us all, her cancer had recurred and metastasized last November which we learned only June 28 when the RGS Sisters issued a health bulletin about her condition. Sr. Gina had decided to stop all medications to wait for the inevitable at their mother house in Quezon City two weeks earlier. June 29 she texted me to inform me of her condition. I was so happy to chat a few lines with her, asking her if I could visit her this week.

She never replied.

When I learned her condition the other Wednesday night, I cried as I realized the very reason why she insisted on coming to my anniversary in April: to remind me we are possessed by Jesus, only Jesus, always Jesus. Please pray for her beautiful soul. Thank you and God bless!

Prayer for fellow workers in Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time , Year I, 19 June 2023
2 Corinthians 6:1-10 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 5:38-42

*Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD in San Antonio, Zambales, 05 June 2023.*

Thank you dear Jesus
for the call to serve you;
thank you Lord for your
trust and belief in us;
thank you for the grace
to respond to your call
in every present moment
because, indeed, every 
here and now is the acceptable
time and day of salvation.

Help us dear, Jesus,
as your great apostle St. Paul
appealed to us 
in the first reading today, 
may we not receive
the grace of God 
in vain:

on the contrary, in everything we commend ourselves as ministers of God, through much endurance, in afflictions, hardships, constraints, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, vigils, fasts; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, in a Holy spirit, in unfeigned love, in truthful speech, in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness at the right and the left; through glory and dishonor, insult and praise.
2 Corinthians 6:4-8

Nobody said it to be easy
to follow you as your disciples, 
Lord Jesus; you have personally
shown us the way of love and 
mercy, peace and kindness
that the world would never
understand; only someone with
a heart like yours, no matter how
imperfect it may be, will find you 
and the joy and fulfillment you 
give especially when "we are treated
as deceivers and yet are truthful; 
as unrecognized and yet acknowledged;
as dying and always rejoicing; as poor
yet enriching many; as having nothing
and yet possessing all things"
(2 Cor. 6:8-10).

Lord Jesus Christ,
let us not give up easily
in the face of trials and
criticisms; please erase
or delete from our minds
and hearts that our efforts to
be like you, to be your witnesses
in the world should be met
with admiration and respect;
let us keep that in mind
so we may not waste time
and energy complaining
and whining with our
sufferings in doing your work;
O Lord Jesus, open our eyes
and our hearts to find you
always in our ministry
and realize that great 
privilege of sharing 
in your passion, death,
and resurrection daily.
Amen.

Our unique giftedness

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Seventh Week of Easter, 25 May 2023
Acts 22:30, 23:6-11   ><))))*> + <*((((><   John 17:20-26

*Photo by author, Anvaya Cove, 27 February 2023.*

How wonderful and
so touching, Lord Jesus,
for you to call us 
a gift from the Father.

“Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”
John 17:24

Help me keep, dear Jesus,
that being of a gift to you
from the Father by being
a witness of your glory
which is standing by your
side at the Cross like St. Paul
whom you have called "to bear
witness to you in Jerusalem and
in Rome" (Acts 23:11).

May we always remember
this truth, our being a gift to
you dear Jesus, so that in moments
we feel so overburdened,
when we are losing hope,
when we feel like giving up,
we may forge on 
and persevere
in bearing witness 
to your Cross of suffering
so that eventually be one
in your glorious Resurrection.
Amen.

Choosing what is difficult

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Seventh Week of Easter, 23 May 2023
Acts 20:17-27 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> John 17:1-11

*Photo by author, Anvaya Cove, Morong, Bataan, 19 May 2023.*

Lord Jesus Christ,
give me the courage and
strength to choose what is
most difficult
in order for me to follow you
more closely.
It is in choosing 
the most difficult
that we are able to
follow and do your
most holy will, Lord;
it is in the most difficult,
in the most painful,
and in the most trying
when we become truly selfless,
being able to give ourselves to you, 
Lord,
through others
like your great apostle
St. Paul.

“But now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem. What will happen to me there I do not know, except that in one city after another the Holy Spirit has been warning me that imprisonment and hardships await me. Yet I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the Gospel of God’s grace.”
Acts of the Apostles 20:22-24

How ironic, dear Jesus
that in this age when
the instant and easy ways
are glorified and desired much
especially when they bring
fame and wealth,
the more our lives
have become empty
of meaning and 
lacking directions.
Keep me close to you,
Jesus, especially
to your Cross
for it is through
your suffering and
death we also enter
eternal life in you.
Amen.

Praying for those in tears

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious, 17 November 2022
Revelations 5:1-10 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 19:41-44

Lord Jesus Christ,
today I pray for those who cry,
for those who weep,
especially those who
are shedding tears
in silence.

You yourself wept over
Jerusalem when you saw it
for its hardness of her heart,
in rejecting you, O Lord,
as the Christ, our Savior:
"As Jesus drew near,
he saw the city and wept over it,
saying, 'If this day you only knew
what makes for peace ---
but now it is hidden from
your eyes'" (Luke 19:41-42).

Thank you, dear Jesus,
in making our tears blessed
that cleanse us inside,
washes away our guilt
and other dirt,
pains and sins
and everything not nice 
from the past
to fill us with your joy
and life!

But most of all, Jesus,
thank you for suffering,
dying, and rising for us
that every time we cry and weep,
when there are tears rolling
down our cheeks,
we feel assured of your 
loving presence
in times of grief and sadness,
failures and disappointments,
sickness and death
because in your pasch,
you have triumphed not only
over sin and evil here on earth
but also assured us of entrance 
into heaven as seen by John:

I shed many tears because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to examine it. One of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed, enabling him to open the scroll with its seven seals.”
Revelation 5:4-5

Praise and glory to you,
dear Jesus, the lion of the tribe of Judah,
the root of David,
the Lamb who was slain and
found worthy to save us
and lead us back to the Father,
now and forevermore.
Amen.