Lord My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 07 May 2026 Acts 15:7-21 ><)))*> + ><)))*> + ><)))*> John 15:9-11
Photo by author, Anvaya Cove, Bataan, May 2023.
Let me abide in you, Jesus, our true vine; let me abide in you, so that my joy may be complete in you, Jesus.
More than mere happiness when our lips express our good feelings, joy comes from the heart, deep down there where we feel wholeness, security, contentment, and assurance of being one in you, Jesus, our way, our truth, our life.
Joy is fulfillment in you, Jesus, in standing by your truth, bearing all pains of being misunderstood, of fighting for what is right and just, most of all, of simply loving beyond measure by seeing you on the face of those different from us like during the Council of Jerusalem in the first reading.
Today, we debate a lot, Jesus, without even facing each other, throwing insults, invectives and threats in social media; true discussions result in joy, unity and magnanimity, not anger and animosity; grant us the grace to seek you, Jesus, in our discussions of everything that are often centered on our own selfish interests; make us open to others and to you, Jesus, so that our joy may be complete in you by adhering to your gospel of life and love. Amen.
Sampung buwan na 'kong hindi natutulog Kasi naman, ang ingay ng aming kapitbahay 'Pag gabi, disco house at videoke Kaya't sorry na lang kung wala sa aking sarili Mahal kita, pero miss na miss na miss ko na
Ang aking kama at ang malupit kong unan Ba't 'di ka na lang sumama? Hihiga tayo at kakanta
I have always loved the Eraserheads whose songs are like vintage wines that get better with age like Kamasupra from their thrid studio album considered as the best Pinoy rock album, “Cutterpillow” released in 1995.
See the genius and artistry of Ely Buendia in composing Kamasupra, a witty play of words and ideas, of the bed we call kama in Filipino and that bible of erotica Kama Sutra from ancient India.
More than a furniture, the bed is also an altar of the highest order in every home where we perform our final acts as humans at the end of each day – of retiring and of dreaming while entrusting ourselves, consciously or unconsciously to God. In the same manner, it is on our bed where we also desecrate our very selves and those dearest to us.
Photo from LightRocket via Getty Images Erotic sculptures of the Khajuraho group of monuments, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India.
Please. There’s nothing bastos with both Kamasupra and Kama Sutra; both speak of the joys and sanctity of our relationships, of our being with our loved ones in bed that leads us to eternity as every old and dying person would tell you.
I know. I have met so many of them being a chaplain in a hospital for five years now. Whether in our home or in the hospital, the bed is always the final step board of every soul going to eternity.
Whenever I would bless the master’s bedroom in a new home, I say a prayer of blessing on the couple’s bed and before sprinkling it with Holy Water, I ask them to first bless it so that they would feel its sanctity as an altar where they give themselves to each other completely.
Hence, only them the husband and wife can sleep in that bed and nobody else, not even the children.
I do the same ritual of blessings in the other rooms of the children, praying that they would find rest of body and soul in their bed with a strict reminder that no visitors can stay inside their bedroom because it is sacred. Period.
This is most true for the bed of every priest. Notice how in most parish rectories and convents of nuns you find the sign “Private” to indicate no visitors allowed in their private quarters.
The priest’s bedroom and bed are literally his “inner sanctum” where only he and Jesus can be together at all times. Usually in silence too.
That is why I tell young priests to first have an altar in their bedroom where they could pray first thing in the morning and just before hitting the sack. Next to our breviary, the bed is the priest’s most beloved and blessed partner in life.
Most of all, the priest’s bed should always be “celibate” too like himself – that is, single-size only. No need to have big beds nor expensive ones because a priest’s bed is a reflection of his vows in the ministry – celibacy, poverty, and obedience.
Photo by author, personal altar in my bedroom.
Some of my most memorable images and experiences as a priest happened when I accompanied two elderly priests of our diocese in their deathbeds.
First was Msgr. Macario Manahan who died on 16 March 2014, the Second Sunday in Lent that year. I was by his side when he died that Sunday afternoon as he lived near my previous parish assignment. The second priest was Msgr. Vicente Manlapig who was confined in our hospital where I serve as chaplain. He died a few hours after my last visit to him on a Sunday morning, 26 February 2023, the Second Sunday in Lent.
Yes. They both died in Lent that is why since 2023, I have kept on telling people that life is a daily Lent, a preparation for Easter.
Bed of St. John Marie Vianney, Patron of all priests; from devotiontoourlady.com
It was at their deathbeds when I strongly realized that our bed is also our altar especially when we get sick and old, where we shall celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, where we meet and receive Jesus Christ in the Holy Viaticum when too weak to celebrate the Eucharist.
It is on the bed of a dying priest I have felt deeply and truthfully the vocation in the priesthood – of how we were called by Jesus to become his priest that in the end he shall be calling us again as his priest to join him eternally.
And there in our bed comes the painful truth of how when we were young and strong we were called to do everything for Jesus and his Church, often lording it over the flock, so powerful as if like a god until all of a sudden without any warning, we just find ourselves already old or sick and weak, bedridden.
That’s when we hear anew Christ our Eternal Priest calling us, this time not to do anything at all but simply hang there on the cross with him like the two thieves at the Calvary.
That is when in our deathbeds we priests call on Christ anew like Dimas, the good thief, admitting all sins and faults while confessing our faith in Jesus.
The priest’s bed is where the priest cultivates his intimacy with Jesus too – his very celibacy and purity, his poverty and simplicity, as well as his docility and obedience not only to his bishop but ultimately to God.
Because it is also on that bed where the priest wages all kinds of battle in his life and ministry until the end, where the devil begins and ends all temptations to displace Christ from the side of the priest.
The Death of St. Martin of Tours, detail from an altar frontal from the Church of Saint Martin in Chia, 1150-1200 (tempera on panel) by Johannes Pintor, Ribagorça Workshop (fl.1150-1200); Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain ; (add.info.: Saint Martin on his deathbed, covered with a blanket in the colours and stripes of Aragon, rebukes the devil;).
It is said that when St. Martin of Tours, our patron saint in Bocaue, Bulacan, was dying in Candes (France) surrounded by his disciples, the devil appeared at his bed side, trying to claim his soul. Having lived a life of intense spiritual warfare, most likely some of it in his own bed, St. Martin rebuked the devil with his firm faith in Jesus Christ. The devil vanished and St. Martin died on November 11, 397 AD.
Every night towards the end of our Compline, we pray Simeon’s Canticle, the Nunc Dimittis (Lk.2:29-32) with an antiphon that goes like this: “Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake; that awake we may keep watch with Christ and asleep rest in his peace.” We then close our prayers with the final words, “May the Lord grant us a restful sleep and a peaceful death. Amen.”
It does not really matter whether one is a priest or not. Most of all if your bed is comfortable or not. What is important is that on that bed we are at peace with ourselves, with others and most of all, with God. So, keep your bed sacred at all times.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 05 May 2026 Acts 14:19-28 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> John 14:27-31
Photo by author, Cabo da Roca Villas, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 15 May 2025.
What really is your kind of peace, Lord Jesus?
Jesus said to his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27).
I have told you last Sunday, Lord, what troubles me: the fear of being alone, of being left out; even if the world gives me money, and people with all kinds of relationships, I am troubled because everything and everyone passes; only you remain, Lord.
St. Teresa said it so well: Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things are passing away; God never changes. Patience obtains all things Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices.
Photo by Dean Mon Macatangga, Our Lady of Fatima University-Valenzuela City, 16 May 2024.
Your peace, Lord Jesus, is not found outside us but within us – right in our hearts where we allow you to dwell, to reign in us amid all our trials and sufferings so we continue to forge on in this life.
Grant us, dear Jesus, the courage and wisdom you have given Paul and Barnabas who, despite the physical harm and emotional distresses they went through, they never wavered in their mission of proclaiming your Gospel because they have you in their hearts.
That is your peace, Jesus: not an absence of trials and sufferings, of storms and darkness and other troubles but your very presence in our hearts where you reign supreme, filling us with your humility, justice, and love. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 04 May 2026 Acts 14:5-18 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> John 14:21-26
Photo by author, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City, 25 February 2026.
We begin today our novena to our Lady of Fatima whose feast falls on May 13, 109 years since the Blessed Virgin Mary first appeared to the three children at Cova da Iria in Fatima, Portugal. Two of the three visionaries are now saints, the siblings Francisco and Jacinta Marto while their cousin, the Venerable Sr. Lucia dos Santos who died in 2005 at the age of 97 is on the way to sainthood too.
The Fatima is one of the most significant Marian apparitions in modern time that continues to affect the world and our country particularly with its ever-relevant messages of prayer and conversion of the people.
Photo from Pinterest.com.
And yet, until now, many are still skeptical of the Fatima apparitions especially the miraculous “dancing sun” of October 13, 1917 despite the great number of witnesses who attested to its veracity. Most of all, for many of us Catholics, it seems the Blessed Mother’s call for conversion in her Son Jesus Christ remains unheeded. Or even disregarded.
Because, as the former Catholic Anais Nin wrote in one of her journals, “we do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.”
This we see not only so true with the Fatima apparitions but even since the time of our Lord Jesus Christ when his very own people rejected him, even crucified him.
We wonder like the Apostle St. Jude why did Jesus not appear to His enemies and to more people after Easter at that time so that they would finally believe that He is the Christ?
Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him, “Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (John 14:22-23).
Artwork from thecripplegate.com.
Of the many healings performed by Jesus, the most amazing ones are those concerning the blind like Bartimaeus at the roadside and the man born blind He had healed on a sabbath on the way to Jerusalem.
Blindness in the bible especially in the healings of Jesus are not just physical in nature but more of spiritual in meaning. The American writer Helen Keller who was herself blind wrote, “The worst thing that could happen to anyone with sight is not to have a vision.”
True. Having vision is being able to look beyond not only into the future but most of all to see deeper realities that only the heart can see.
That is why Jesus did not have to appear to His enemies after Easter or even to more people then and today: His coming and appearing mean nothing unless we have His eyes of faith, His very love for us and for others especially the weak, the old, those not like us at all.
The more we love God, the more we see Him in ourselves and in others. When we love, when we care, when we share, when we truly pray, that is when the Father and Jesus dwell in us, enabling us to see Christ in others. Without that faith and love in Jesus and of Jesus, we will never see Him even if He suddenly appears today before us!
Truly, “we do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.”
If we are empty of Christ, we will never see Him who is “the way and the truth and the life” (Jn.14:6). And that is when we remain in darkness of sin and evil and ignorance. Even stupidity.
Just like now. How unfortunate that in spite our living in an age of images, of everything seen and shown and revealed, the more we still doubt the truth and worst, choose to believe and hold on what is false, what is fake!
Despite the glaring clarity of evils of corruption, lies, and so many other sins, some of us simply justify or have alibis and excuses when things do not match up with truth and reality. It is not that many cannot see the truth these days; what is most tragic is how so many refuse and choose not to see the truth and realities because they are self-centered, believing only in themselves, see themselves as the ideal and standard of everything. Or their gods.
Like the people at Lystra we heard in the first reading. After Paul had healed a crippled man, the people offered him and Barnabas with sacrifices, thinking they were Zeus and Hermes who have gone down to their city. Despite their tearing of their garments to show they were humans and their words proclaiming Jesus as the Christ, the people were not restrained from worshipping them (Acts 14:14-18).
National Pilgrim Image of Fatima, National Shrine of Fatima, Valenzuela City, 25 February 2025.
As we begin our Novena to our Lady of Fatima, the Blessed Virgin Mary invites us not only to open our eyes but most especially our hearts to Jesus, to finally feel Him in us, calling us to conversion so that He may reign in us, that we may be more loving, more kind, more just especially in this time of crisis.
Like the three children of Fatima, St. Francisco, St. Jacinta, and Venerable Sr. Lucia.
Or that Roman centurion at the foot of Christ’s Cross who declared after His death, “Truly, this was the Son of God” (Mt.27:54).
The Blessed Virgin of Fatima had seen 109 years ago the future – its errors and evils but she had also seen the grace and blessings unfolding upon us in Jesus Christ.
From the Annunciation until her Assumption, Mary had always lived in the love of her Son Jesus, seeing us always in the love of Christ. That is why she had returned in Fatima in 1917 because she loves us so much as our Mother.
Let us imitate her humility and fidelity in Christ her Son, living in His love so that we too may find Jesus ever present among us despite the many darkness looming around us. Amen.
Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A, 03 May 2026 Acts 6:1-7 ><}}}}*> 1Peter 2:4-9 ><}}}}*> John 14:1-12
Photo from Our Lady of Fatima University official page at FB.
We are celebrating our 60th foundation anniversary at the Our Lady of Fatima University (OLFU) and the Fatima University Medical Center (FUMC) next year. As part of our year-long celebrations beginning last February, we are building 60 homes in two Gawad Kalinga sites in Bagac, Bataan and Trece-Martirez, Cavite.
It is the second time we have embarked on the same project when our administrators, faculty and employees as well as students volunteered to build and delivered 50 homes through GK too ten years ago in celebration of our golden anniversary.
Our University President Dra. Caroline Santos-Enriquez explained that it is not enough for us to provide our people with good, quality education we have always strived in the last 60 years when many are without a home because when people have homes of their own, they are filled with hopes and that is when they truly start to dream for a better future.
Such a desire in having one’s own home is deeply rooted in the Bible. Jesus Christ’s third beatitude in his sermon on the mount, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land” (Mt.5:5) refers to the longing of the Israelites not only for their own homeland but also for their own homes too.
That is why at his last supper, he mentioned something so similar to that aspiration of his disciples but this time on a deeper level.
Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way” (John 14:1-4).
It is very interesting that in the Hebrew language, the name they use to commonly address God is HaShem written as השם for “The Name” because they cannot utter the word YHWH or Yahweh as we pronounce written as יהוה which is so sacred for the Jewish people.
Now take a look at the first letter of HaShem shaped like a house, השם while its third last letter looks like a door or a small “n” in our english alphabet. It is the same shape of the letter Yod they use to write YHWH – יהוה.
According to a spiritual writer I have read, God’s very name connotes a house, a home and a door that imply “relationships”. Remember last Sunday when Jesus introduced himself as the “gate” through whom the shepherd and his sheep pass through?
Jesus now deepens this lesson he taught us last Sunday as he moved to its next scene which is his last supper.
Imagine the silent stillness of the room heavy with emotion.
With lamps flickering in the evening light, we feel the ebb and flow of intimacy and uncertainty just like in our own homes during times of crisis.
And in the midst of it all is Jesus speaking with comforting assurance.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.”
What is troubling you at this very moment or lately these past days or weeks?
Many times, what really troubles us most is the fear of being left out, of being alone. That is why money and sickness as well as death trouble us a lot. We are afraid of having nobody by our side not only to defend and comfort us but simply be with us. Here we find the value of having our own home where we feel safe and secured with loved ones.
Being left out, being alone is perhaps the deepest pain one could ever have. That is why we are troubled when people we love and care for threaten us of walking away from us to be on their own. Every time a beloved leaves us by choice or by circumstances, whenever we feel “apart” from others and separated, we feel losing a part of very selves because each one is also our part. Jesus came, suffered and died for us on the Cross so that in his Resurrection, we would never be apart from him and everyone anymore, here on earth and hereafter.
Photo by author, Manaoag Basilica, Pangasinan, 09 January 2026.
Jesus assures us today of his presence among us, of being with us and in us – a relationship so personal like having our own home and dwelling place in heaven. But, are we ready and willing to walk his path, to stand by his truth and live his life?
Vis-a-vis the things that trouble us, what is our deepest yearning at the moment? Are we still in the same level with Philip relying more on the physical and material aspects of relationships?
In my previous post after my annual retreat, I have mentioned to you my dear friends of my decision to rest a little from my daily blogs. Not really as a respite from my busy schedules but more of finding Jesus anew. During that retreat in March, I realized the thing that most bothered me lately was being far from God. I have been praying to blog, not for God.
Many times, we serve God in others without really being centered in Him, without any relationship at all with Him in Christ Jesus. And we priests are often guilty of it, of too much ministry without Jesus that lead us to burnout and exhaustion, most especially the lack of love for others. Anything especially relationships without Jesus eventually dies naturally because he indeed life himself.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.
The Apostles realized this early in the Church as we have heard in the first reading that they assigned seven deacons to serve the Greek-speaking converts to Christianity lest they forget Jesus Christ in prayers.
The same is true with us. It can happen that we feel we are doing God’s work, following his will but we are not in him in Christ. That is why Jesus clarified with Thomas: his very person is the way the truth and the life. And that is because he is the “cornerstone” of our very lives as explained by Peter in the second reading.
We are the “living stones” who make up the Church, the mystical body of Christ both visible and invisible. As God’s “chosen people” and “royal priesthood”, we have a deep spiritual bonding in Christ nourished and sustained in our prayers and liturgy. As disciples of Christ, we move visibly adjusting and innovating in our ways like the Apostles by remaining focused on the person of Jesus who is our everything.
Going back to our housing project at OLFU at FUMC, I was amazed at the faith of some of our recipients of the new homes we’re building in Trece-Martirez, Cavite who came to see me after the groundbreaking ceremonies. They told me how for so many years they prayed together as families to have their own homes and now it is slowly becoming a reality; hence, if I could bless – finally – their images of the Virgin Mary, Sacred Heart and Divine Mercy they have kept in their rented homes for many years.
They were so thankful for the blessing but, unknown to them, I felt more blessed in them as I felt God reassuring me that whatever troubles me in life, Jesus places great trust in us in continuing his mission here on earth. Let us remain in him and hold on to his words, “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.” A blessed week ahead to everyone! Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin & Doctor of Church, 29 April 2026 Acts 12:24-13:5 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> John 12:44-50
Photo by author, Bolinao, Pangasinan, April 2022.
While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, completing their fasting and prayer, they laid hands on them and sent them off (Acts 13:2-3).
As we move in your Spirit Lord Jesus Christ, moving with you and moving to you, teach us to be set apart from the rest like what you did to Barnabas and Saul; give us the docility to follow your movement away from others we have been comfortable with in order to move where we may experience discomfort and be dislocated; give us the same grace you gave St. Catherine of Sienna who saw the whole Church as her community, recognizing the need for unity through reconciliation; in this time of too much tensions happening in the Church within and outside, give us the courage to be set apart like St. Catherine to confront the growing rifts among the clergy and the faithful.
Let us realize, dear Jesus, that sometimes we need to be set apart to speak your words that bring light into the world so darkened by sins and evil that many times I perpetrate. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the Fourth Week of Easter, 28 April 2026 Acts 11:19-26 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> John 10:22-30
Photo by author, Fatih Square, Istanbul, Turkiye, November 2025.
Easter is about movements: of moving in Jesus, moving with Jesus, moving to Jesus.
Those who had been scattered by the persecution that arose because of Stephen went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but Jews. There were some Cypriots and Cyrenians among them, however, who came to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks as well, proclaiming the Lord Jesus. The hand of the Lord was with them and great number who believed turned to the Lord (Acts 11:19-21).
How lovely, dear Jesus to hear that despite the fears due to the martyrdom of Stephen in Jerusalem, your disciples moved north to Antioch now part of Turkiye not to hide but to proclaim your good news!
Strengthen my faith in you, Jesus that when things get tough, when the Gospel is challenged and dismissed, let me move boldly in upholding your message of truth of a loving God we call Father calling us to a life of holiness and freedom from sin and evil.
Photo by author, St. Anthony de Padua Church, Taksim Square, Istanbul, Turkiye, November 2025.
Let me move in your Spirit, dear Jesus like Barnabas filled with joy not suspicion, encouraging others to remain faithful in your teachings; most of all, let me move in compassion and brotherly love like Barnabas to search for those shy and ashamed of their sinful past like Saul who later came to be known as Paul; may our movements be more of gathering than scattering to unite and bring together other believers as one body, one community witnessing your gospel that others may know us your disciples, Christians like in Antioch.
In this world with so many voices shouting and screaming for our attention to be famous, to be rich, to be powerful, teach us to be silent to distinguish your voice and call, Lord Jesus, our Good Shepherd whom we must follow in poverty, simplicity, and humility. Amen.
Photo by author, Bosphorus River cruise, Istanbul, Turkiye, November 2025.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Fourth Week of Easter, 27 April 2026 Acts 11:1-18 <*((((>< + ><))))*> John 10:11-18
Photo by author, the Sofia Hagia, Istanbul, Turkiye, 12 November 2025.
I miss you, Lord Jesus Christ; I miss reaching out to others in prayer, sharing you with them. Like Peter in Joppa.
The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem the circumcised believers confronted him, saying, “You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.” Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying, “I was at prayer in the city of Joppa…” (Acts 11:1-5).
Lord Jesus, continue to work in me, most especially, let me see you working in others too, right in their hearts, especially those different from us not only physically but most especially in background and beliefs; remind me often that God's grace cannot be contained nor limited among us nor in a particular location only; may this Easter season be an occasion for us to change how we see one another as you yourself had said, "I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold" (John 10:16).
There are so many things I need to change in myself, Jesus, our Good Shepherd especially those so different from what I have been used to like in meeting you, seeing you, and following you. Amen.
Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Fourth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A, 26 April 2026 Acts 2:14, 36-41 ><}}}*> 1 Peter 2:20-25 ><}}}*> John 10:1-10
Photo by author, 09 February 2026, Museo Valenzuela.
In the next three Sundays beginning today, our gospel readings will bring us back to Jesus Christ’s teachings before his passion and death because all his pronouncements then are clearest when seen in the light of his resurrection.
As we have mentioned last Sunday, it does not really matter that many or everyone would see the Risen Lord in order to believe him. Like what Jesus had told Thomas the other Sunday, blessed are those who believe without having seen him while last week we have realized in the story of the two disciples returning to Emmaus that the mystery and beauty of Easter is found in the “breaking of bread” when our eyes are opened to recognize Christ who immediately vanishes. This breaking of bread is not just the Holy Eucharist but includes our many experiences when we too experience brokenness in life like the Jews addressed by Peter after the Pentecost.
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed: “Let the whole house of Israel know for certain that God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and they asked Peter and the other apostles, “What are we to do, my brothers?” (Acts 2:14, 36-37)
“The Road to Emmaus” painting by Ronald Raab, CSC, from ronaldraab.com.
What a beautiful expression by Luke, “they were cut to the heart” that means they were stirred, they were moved deep inside to a great reality, to a truth that led to their conversion.
It is in our own brokenness when our eyes are opened, our hearts are cut that we find Jesus and become converted.
Despite the scathing words of Peter on their sins on having Jesus crucified, the people did not feel “guilty” in the negative sense of being hopelessly mired in sin. The same thing is true with us: there are moments in life we realize deeply, truly feeling the hurt of having offended God in our many sins that actually lead us to conversion and be transformed into a better person as a disciple of Christ. True contrition does not stop in the realization and admission of our sins; true contrition always leads to conversion. Though we are broken, we are not scattered. In fact, it is in our being broken that we become one, we become whole in Jesus Christ.
Guilt buries, conversion liberates because we find Jesus as the true gate to life who leads us to freedom. In Jesus as our gate in life, we enter a new phase of being free and faithful and loving.
So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I come so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:7-10).
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, at Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort in Infanta, Quezon, 03 April 2024.
Every fourth Sunday of Easter is known as the Good Shepherd Sunday. Only John has this section of Jesus teaching actually to the Pharisees of himself as the Good Shepherd following the controversy in his healing of the man born blind on a Sabbath day.
But before Jesus spoke of his being the Good Shepherd, he first identified himself as the “gate” where the shepherd and the sheep pass through, the direct opposite of the Pharisees and priests of their time who have taken upon themselves as the final standard and arbiter of what is good and holy, of actually usurping the role of God but so stern, so strict. And impersonal.
Hence, the distinction by Jesus in this passage between “thieves and robbers” like his enemies and himself as “the gate” and “the shepherd”.
Whenever I bless homes, I always begin at the door. From the many house blessings I have made, I am not really impressed with the modern, “minimalist” doors with sleek metal handles. What fascinates me most are simple doors with bold colors like lively red or blue. For me, a door is something that exudes with security and protection, not necessarily massive, evoking power.
Photo by author, Angels’ Hills Retreat Center, Tagaytaty City, April 2025.
That’s Jesus Christ for me as the gate. My security and protection.
However, still with house blessings, I have always wondered why we Filipinos even abroad are so fond of two things so peculiar just to us: first is having a regular kitchen often for display and a dirty kitchen for daily use and second, side doors to pass through because the main door is kept locked, used only for visitors.
I think they both reveal something about our spirituality wherein we recognize Jesus our gate, our door, our shepherd yet, we still desire to have other doors and gates, perhaps even shepherds like buddhas and amulets we hung in our homes.
This we find when we examine our inner selves, the cacophony of negative voices that fill us, even entertain us like jealousy, envy, anger, resentment, bitterness, greed, and lust. There are times despite our having faith in Christ, we are filled with more negative than positive like curse than blessing, revenge than reconciliation, war than peace, and worse of all, death than life.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.
Where are they coming from?
Very often, we take them for granted, allowing them to percolate inside us until they boil and burst that we hurt others, most of all, our selves in the process.
“I come so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”
Jesus our door, our gate, our Good Shepherd invites us anew this Sunday to remain in him, to stay with him. Jesus calls us to break free from these other doors and gates that trap us within so that we may be free and faithful. Most of all, be more loving in the real sense.
Jesus invites us to examine our lives today, before having him and after having him. Like what Peter tells us in the second reading, we are reminded of the new freedom we have in Christ: “By his wounds you have been healed. For you had gone astray like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls” (1Pt.2:24-25).
During the Last Supper, Judas (not the Iscariot) asked Jesus why he would appear only to them and not to everyone and he replied with mysterious words, speaking about love and keeping his commandments so that he and the Father would dwell on his disciples (Jn.14:23-24). Actually, in speaking that way, Jesus was showing his disciples who include us today that his revelation is not about public display of power but of personal relationship in him based on love. In the whole discourse of Jesus during their last supper from the perspective of John, what is most essential is the love of Jesus and the love of his disciples. And this we shall explore in the next two Sundays before Jesus ascends into heaven.
Again, there is no need to see Jesus physically; the more we love, the more we believe, the more we see him in our hearts. Most especially when we pass only in him as our gate, our door to life and fullness. Amen.A blessed week ahead to everyone.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.
Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Third Sunday of Easter, Cycle A, 19 April 2026 Acts 2:14, 22-23 ><}}}*> 1Peter 1:17-21 ><}}}*> Luke 24:13-35
Photo by author, view from Jerusalem Temple, May 2019.
We heard last Sunday Jesus Christ’s coming to his disciples on the evening of Easter and a second time eight days later when Thomas was present, reminding us how Easter is a story of coming and believing, of believing and coming.
This Sunday we find an opposite movement and direction in the two disciples leaving Jerusalem in disbelief at the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing a debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him (Luke 24:13-16).
“The Road to Emmaus” painting by Ronald Raab, CSC, from ronaldraab.com.
Easter is also about leaving in disbelief. Not necessarily because of not believin like Thomas last Sunday.
Cleopas and the other disciple were leaving Jerusalem in disbelief which our Filipino language adequately express in “hindi makapaniwala” and “matay ko mang isipin” that both indicate a strong sense of belief with a dash of doubt because the story, the event, or the very person involved is beyond comprehension.
Or, bigger than reality like Jesus Christ and his very mystery of love for us.
Many times, we could not believe how good and loving God can be to us, so personal, so real and true but how can it be he “allows” bad things to happen to us or in the world.
Like the two disciples going home to Emmaus, we walk away from God to distance from him and everything and everyone to find our selves and see the real picture of what is going on when times are rough for us.
Those are the times we silently tell ourselves “this could not be happening” especially when it is so difficult, so unbelievable simply because – we believe. Hence, our usual litany of striving to be good, of serving the poor and needy, of going to Mass every Sunday, of always praying…
Look back in our many experiences in life when we could have died or have lost more or could have been a total wreck. Amazingly, despite our being in the opposite direction in life, consciously or unconsciously, that is when we feel more blessed. That’s when we are able to declare with conviction, “hindi ako pinabayaan ng Diyos, napaka-buti ng Diyos, and binigay niya pa rin ang lahat”. This is what the first reading reminds us of Peter’s speech before the Jews at Pentecost, at how God never left us, sending us Jesus Christ as fulfillment of his promise to Abraham and David.
Modern painting of the road to Emmaus from the internet.
Like in the road to Emmaus, Jesus journeys with us in the opposite direction only to bring us back to Jerusalem filled with joy by reminding us how everything that happens in our lives, Jesus had gone through the same sufferings too as foreshadowed and explained in the Sacred Scriptures.
Here we are reminded of the importance of personal prayer which is more than the mere recitation of prayers but having a relationship in God who never leaves nor abandons us.
Most of all, here we are reminded too of how the Sunday Eucharist opens ourselves to Christ’s reality and loving presence among us as experienced by the two disciples after Jesus had broken bread with them. It is called a Holy Communion because in that “breaking of bread”, we share in our common experiences of suffering and death. That we are not alone. Most of all, that we too like others rise to new life in Jesus Christ who suffered, died, and rose to life first for us.
It can happen that our eyes too are prevented from recognizing Jesus like Cleopas and companion on the road to Emmaus because of our many fixations in life like that blessings can only be in positive things like good health, security like steady income, a rising career or a profitable business and endeavor.
But, experience has taught us so many times that blessings are not only found in good things but even in bad or negative ones like sickness, failures, losses and death. And when we look back, they were not really that bad at all because it was in our failures and losses, sickness and deaths when we realized and learned most in life.
Notice how Luke succinctly narrated the breaking of bread in the home of Cleopas in Emmaus, it was so swift unlike the building up of drama along the road to Emmaus. It was so simple because that’s how things happen in life too – so quick that the simplest things and gestures, even so bad can suddenly become so loaded with meanings that we realize God’s loving presence in us.
“Supper at Emmaus” by renowned painter Caravaggio. See the emotion depicted by Caravaggio with his trademark of masterful play of light and shadows. At the center is the Risen Lord blessing the bread that caught the two disciples who are seated in disbelief, one outstretching his arms and the others pushing back in his chair. The third character in the painting is the innkeeper unaware of the significance of the gesture of Jesus. It was at this instance that the two disciples recognized Christ as the travelling man with them to Emmaus.
During the COVID pandemic, on the first Sunday of lockdown when there was no public Mass, I started a motorized procession of the Blessed Sacrament in my former parish by mounting our big monstrance on the roof of a parishioner’s truck. I announced the route of our procession during our online Mass that Sunday and people waited.
What an amazing sight of the people’s deep faith in God as they knelt and bowed before the Blessed Sacrament whether on the main highway or the inside streets. Some were crying while everyone was deep in prayer.
There lies the great mystery of Easter: Jesus need not appear to us in person because as he vanishes in the Blessed Sacrament, that is when we recognize him!
In the most simple gestures of the Mass under the most simple signs of bread and wine, Jesus vanishes from our outward view and through this vanishing our interior or inner recognition opens up that we “see” him in the many instances he had touched us especially in our “heart-breaking” experiences in the past, our Emmaus road.
Photo by Ms. Anne Ramos, 22 March 2020, Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.
We know with certainty that “it is the Lord” – Dominus est – present in every breaking of bread because part of the Easter mystery tells us deep within that it is only in his vanishing that he truly becomes recognizable to us. That is why we have to stop all those “theatrics” in our liturgy as noted by many netizens this past Holy Week and Easter. Unknown to many priests and their alalays, the more we have gimmicks in the Mass or even in our sacred spaces, the more we “displace” and remove Christ.
After an hour every Sunday, we leave the Mass and go back to our usual way of life, facing life’s many challenges. Peter reminds us in the second reading to hold on to that “faith and hope in God” who gave us Jesus Christ, “the spotless unblemished lamb.”
Let us not forget this mystery of Easter that, the more Jesus vanishes, the more we recognize him because Jesus is more than enough than anybody or anything else especially when we in our Emmaus experience. Let us pray like Cleopas and companion “Stay with us, Lord” so we may show him in our witnessing especially when we could not find him in others. Amen.
From Facebook, 21 April 2021: “There is an urgency to announce the Joy, the joy of the Risen Lord.”
lordmychef.com 