The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Cornelius (Pope) and St. Cyprian (Bishop), Martyrs,
16 September 2020
1 Corinthian 12:31-13:13 /// Luke 7:31-35
Photo by author, Mt. St. Paul Spirituality Center, La Trinidad, Benguet, January 2020.
Praise and glory to you, God our loving Father!
Thank you for the rains these past three days. Thank you for the feasts of the Exaltation of the Cross and of Our Lady of Sorrows, respectively these past two days.
Most of all, thank you for the present moment!
As I prayed on your words for today, I got fixed on St. Paul’s description of love as the greatest of all your gifts:
It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
1 Corinthians 13:7-8
I just prayed on these verbs, Lord. I do not know if I make sense. But, through them I felt your love!
Love bears all things when you keep on carrying, having someone just because you love the person, you feel a link with the person like a brother or a sister, a friend, a parent. Like you, our Father. Or Jesus our brother.
Love believes all things when you give more room, more space for something to be realized and fulfilled in a person just because you love. Like when we feel unworthy with all our sins, you still welcome us back to you, you let us “shower” and clean up to begin anew in you and with our loved ones.
Love hopes all things when you know even if things get worst, you still love us, Lord. I know some things in me and my loved ones will not get any better. Some day we shall die and everything will end. But, you will always love us, dear God, because you are love.
Love endures all things because it bears all things, it believes all things, it hopes all things. That is why love never fails.
Photo by author, Petra, Jordan, May 2019.
In all of these, Lord, I found love is everything because it is the present, the here and the now – the meaning and reality of your name “I AM WHO AM”.
All these verbs describing love are all in the present tense, not in the past nor in the future.
And that is love, always present, also a present — a gift. A most wonderful gift leading to eternity!
That is why love is the greatest!
Teach me, Jesus, to be always present in you, to you, and with you through others around me as you implied in the gospel today. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Martha, 29 July 2020
1 John 4:7-16 >><}}}*> ))+(( <*{{{><< John 11:19-27
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 2018.
Thank you very much Lord Jesus Christ is sending us holy women like St. Martha whose Memorial we celebrate today. Seven days ago we celebrated the feast of her younger sister St. Mary Magdalene.
How nice of you coming to visit families, even calling brothers and sisters as your disciples like St. Peter and St. Andrew, St. James the Greater and St. John, and now, St. Martha and her siblings St. Mary and St. Lazarus.
What a beautiful reminder for us today so busy with other people like friends and clients and everybody else except family: that you always come first in the family, among husband and wife, parents and. children, and siblings.
Most of all, in the life of St. Martha, you remind us of the need to be present in you and with you every time you come for a visit.
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”
John 11:23-27
Many times, Lord Jesus, you come to us to be present with us but we are always absent from you like St. Martha.
Like her, so often we are working for you, doing for you, so busy because of you without realizing you prefer us to be doing your work by first being present in you.
There are times, we overthink of your words and of your thoughts we forget the present moment like when you told St. Martha that her brother Lazarus would rise again: we believe in our minds than in our hearts that we look more into the future than in the present moment when our departed loved ones can be truly present with us in you.
As we keep ourselves preoccupied with so many tasks here on earth, teach us also, sweet Jesus like St. Martha that in the resurrection of the dead, we shall all be present in you and with you as the one serving us all in the heavenly banquet. May we choose wisely what is most important like her sister St. Mary. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle, 03 July 2020
Ephesians 2:19-22 >><)))*> <*(((><< >><)))*> <*(((><< John 20:24-29
Thank you very much, dearest Jesus, in founding your church upon your Apostles who were all like us: full of flaws and weaknesses, faults and failures, sins and imperfections.
Every time we celebrate their feasts, you remind us of your call to be near you like the Apostles despite our sins and inadequacies, to be sorry and make amends to return to you to be built into a dwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Brothers and sisters: You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you are also being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:19-22
Help us, Lord Jesus, to be like St. Thomas your Apostle who came but doubted, returned and saw you a week later and believed, declaring “My Lord and my God” upon seeing you.
But what did St. Thomas really see that he believed?
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and out it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
John 20:27
Through St. Thomas, you have blessed us and helped us, dear Jesus to believe in you not in seeing your face but more in seeing and feeling your wounds.
How wonderful, O Lord!
It is not your face but your wounds that enable us to recognize you and believe in you.
We will never see your face in this lifetime, Lord, but every day in our trials and sufferings, in our pains and hurts, in our wounds and woundedness, in our brokenness — there you are most present in us and among us.
Heighten our awareness of your presence, to accept pains and sufferings for your love and mercy so we may deepen our faith in you, following you always in your path of the Cross.
Like St. Thomas, may we follow you closely at your Cross, offering ourselves like you to be broken and shared so that in our wounds and woundedness, others may find healing, most especially you, sweet Jesus. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, 14 June 2020
Photo by author, sculpture of Jesus Christ as a homeless man sleeping on a bench at the entrance to the ancient town of Capernaum in Galilee where he grew up. May 2019.
Nice to be back, my dear readers and followers!
We have been unable to post our Sunday music since March due to demands of the ministry during this quarantine period of COVID-19 pandemic. Hoping you are all doing well, getting by each day with music.
Our featured music this Sunday should have been last week when we celebrated the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity as it talks about “l-o-v-e”, the love of God expressed in their community of Persons as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
But, any talk about love always presupposes “presence” because any one who truly loves is always present to the one he/she loves.
That is why we find Same in Any Language from the motion picture “Elizabethtown” (2005) still appropriate this Sunday of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ which is an invitation to us all to be present with everyone like God who is always present among us especially in our life’s dark moments.
Written and directed by Cameron Crowe, “Elizabethtown” is a romance-comedy starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst. Though it did not measure up to Crowe’s “Almost Famous” released in year 2000, “Elizabethtown” is still a good film despite the negative reviews by most critics.
It is a story about love found in the most strange yet ordinary situation when Orlando was at his lowest point in life after losing his job as a shoe designer that turned out to be a big market flop. As he contemplated suicide, his father died and had to fly to Elizabethtown for the cremation.
It was on that flight he met and befriended the stewardess Kristen whose presence – and love – helped him overcome his darkness in life.
And that is what the song tells us, that love is the same in any language.
Anywhere there is somebody willing to listen or lend a hand, be present to anyone in need, that is love.
Sometime ago I met a Navajo
In a parking lot in Tokyo
He said everything wordlessly
Wonderlust in my eyes, he did see
Oh yea
Oh oh yea
Those postcards I sent to Birmingham
All the way from those windows of Amsterdam
I copped a gram from Dappersan
Just to fall at her man in another jam
Oh yea
Oh oh yea
Its the same in any language
A brother is a brother if there's one thing I know
Its the same in any language
Wherever you go
Oooo yea
It is the same in every language when Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven” (John 6:51) because he gives himself as food and drink to nourish us in this life full of pains and sufferings. Jesus came and gave himself to us because of love, to give life to us. And that is what he is also asking of us, especially in this time of corona virus pandemic to share his love with others.
It’s the same in any language, even when put into music….
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Week X in Ordinary Time, Year II, 12 June 2020
1 Kings 19:9, 11-16 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Matthew 5:27-32
Photo by author, sunrise at Camp John Hay, Baguio City, November 2018.
At the mountain of the God, Horeb, Elijah came to a cave, where he took shelter… After the fire, there was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, “Elijah, why are you here?” He replied, “I have been most zealous for the Lord , the God of hosts. But the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they seek to take my life.”
1 Kings 19:9, 12b-14
The rainy season has started, Lord, and we have covered almost half of the year, making it through more than two months of quarantine period and here we are, before you… tired and exhausted, a bit lost, and frankly, your question to Elijah echoes within, stirring our inmost being.
Why are you here?
It is both a mystery and a gift why we are here.
Some of us have lost family and friends these past six months, some to the dreaded disease of COVID-19. Many of us have lost money and time due to the pandemic. This early, 2020 is practically gone for many of us.
Many of us are just awaiting for you, to your tiny voice to tell us what is next.
That is why we are here, Lord.
Like Elijah, we await your coming.
Unlike before when we await dates and occasions, now, we await you, O God for you alone are sure and guaranteed in coming.
Photo from NCCA.
On this day, Lord, we also celebrate our Independence Day that has become more of a festivity than a reality. Forgive us for wasting, for throwing away our country to undeserving people who have all been puppets of foreign powers with same personal interests.
Yet, one reason why we are here is also because we believe we can change our country for the best.
Help us, O God, by cleansing our hearts, purifying our desires and motivations so that we may be more faithful to you.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 11 June 2020
Painting by Raphael (1515) of St. Paul preaching at Areopagus in Athens, Greece. From wikipedia.
With houses of worship still closed despite the opening of most business establishments, here is the final installment of reflection in our series on how the life and teachings of St. Paul may help us in our ministry during this time of COVID-19 amid a perceived government “persecution” of the Catholic Church.
There is no doubt that like during his time, St. Paul would be using modern means of communication to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ especially in this most trying time of our history, using the internet as the new “Areopagus” with social media in particular.
Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said: “You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To An Unknown God.’ What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all that is in it…”
Acts of the Apostles 17:22-24
Social Communication
Perhaps before we go into our reflection, it is imperative especially for bishops and priests to be reminded anew of some important terms in communications; this is more than about names or nomenclature because for as long these terms of communications are not clear with us, all our evangelization efforts would be askewed as it is now showing with an explosion of online Masses and other religious celebrations.
First priority is to stop using the words “mass media” and even “social media” in our church communications because these are very limited in scope and context.
It is important to note that in the 2000-year history of the Church, it was only in Vatican II that we have issued a conciliar document on communication wherein the Fathers also introduced the term social communication as a new name for communications in the Church.
How sad that there are still bishops and priests using the terms “mass media” or “media” and lately “social media” when more than 50 years ago the Church through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit coined social communication to refer to “the communication of and in human society including all the ways and means used in this process” (Fr. Franz-Josef Eilers, svd, 2009 BISCOM-FABC, Bangkok).
Social communication is a very prophetic term because it is theological and rooted in God who is communication himself, sharing with us his power to communicate so we may also communicate with him and with others. Most of all, God continues to communicate with us and from that lies our task as a Church to communicate him to the world.
This is the reason why we have to keep on using this term “social communication” in our Church communications to keep us Christocentric, meaning, every communication in the Church and by the Church has Jesus as Message.
And that is essentially the kind of communication process followed by St. Paul the Apostle. In fact, reviewing his letters and the various accounts about him would show us that early, this great apostle has been into social communication, specifically “pastoral communication” that is an emerging field in Church communications whose realities have long been espoused by St. Paul himself.
Pastoral Communication
Pastoral communication is anchored on Jesus Christ, the “Good Shepherd” who sets himself as the norm and standard of our Church communications.
Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep… I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep.”
St. Paul has always been very clear with this in all his communications that towards the end of his life, he had beautifully written his disciple this wonderful piece:
Beloved: I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: proclaim the word; per persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient… For I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.”
2 Timothy 4:1-2, 6-7
Communicating Jesus Christ is always about self-sacrifice, about giving of one’s self like our Lord and Master. In whatever form of communication we use, it is always a call to “enflesh” the Word. In short, communication is spirituality that indicates the kind of relationship we have with God. How we reflect that relationship with God in words and in deeds, in our clothings and everything is communication.
Like St. Paul, he was able to offer himself wholly to God as reflected in his writings and preaching because he was more concerned with the needs of the flock and not with his own needs.
And this is where I sadly feel our bishops sorely absent and silent except for just two, Lingayen-Dagupan’s Archbishop Soc Villegas and Manila’s Apostolic Administrator Bishop Broderick Pabillo.
Where are the other bishops?
Business establishments are almost all opening, even dine-in restaurants and yet, until now for no valid reason, the government continues to ban religious mass gatherings except for maximum of ten persons in areas under GCQ.
When are the bishops and priests going to speak out against this and open the churches so people may be spiritually nourished?
What an auspicious time for the clergy and hierarchy to speak against this continued closure of churches as we are on the eve of our 500th year of Christianization when under serious persecution. Has the Church grown timid in the face of an unfriendly government?
Worst are some priests who seem to follow more the secular world in their digital presence but empty of Jesus Christ, concerned only with popularity measured in number of likes and shares as well as followers.
Many of us have become more of personalities than as priests and ministers, unconsciously trying to be more popular than the Lord himself that we no longer have sacrifice of the Mass but a variety show, complete with sound effects and digital characters, some wit dance numbers and raffles!
When God is displaced, then our love is misplaced, then, we lose all communications too.
Communication is more than the expression of ideas and the indication of emotion. At its most profound level it is the giving of self in love. Christ’s communication was, in fact, spirit and life. In the institution of the Holy Eucharist, Christ gave us the most perfect and most intimate form of communion between God and man possible in this life, and, out of this, the deepest possible unity between men. Further, Christ communicated to us His life-giving Spirit, who brings all men together in unity. The Church is Christ’s Mystical Body, the hidden completion of Christ Glorified who “fills the whole creation”. As a result we move, within the Church and with the help of the word and the sacraments, towards the hope of that last unity where “God will be all in all”.
Communio et Progressio # 11
From Google.
Problem with online Masses and religion
Every communication presupposes presence. That is essentially the meaning of God’s “I AM” in the burning bush to Moses and the “I AM” declarations by Jesus in the New Testament, especially in the fourth gospel where we find him saying “I am the good shepherd”.
Even St. Paul in his letters always began with his standard salutations like “I, Paul…” to indicate his very presence among his “parishioners”.
However, in the digital media, presence is not so essential and can even be faked both ways, either by being “taped” or “replayed” by viewers.
And there lies the great danger of online Masses and other celebrations: whether we like or not, online religious celebrations give the impressions on people that God is a “consummable”, a product or a show that can be had when most convenient to us like video on demand or the streamed shows of Netflix.
That is why we have to open churches soon to stop these online Masses except for those in the Cathedrals and in existence long before COVID-19 that cater to the needs of the sick and elderly in their homes.
Pope Francis has always been clear with this, stressing that these online Masses and religious celebrations are very temporary due to the extraordinary situation brought about by the pandemic.
From Pinterest/Aleteia.
Imagine the problem at Corinth that reached St. Paul’s attention, prompting him to write them another letter to reprimand them but at the same time to encourage them to mend their ways. It was a problem of abusing the Eucharist when St. Paul was no longer with them.
It is the same thing happening in many of our online Masses that have become variety shows to impress viewers. Long before we got into this lockdown, many priests have crossed the boundaries without knowing they have made fools of themselves as they rely more on “likes”, on being viral or trending, dishing out shallow reflections covered with cute song numbers, litany of greetings on air, and so many other inanities that Jesus is lost in the process.
Unfortunately, many laypeople are now also having their own digital preaching or evangelization with their own “productions” taking their cue from their showbiz pastors.
If St. Paul were with us today, he would surely write again to express his dismay at the people seeking more of entertainment than having Jesus Christ.
“But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts may be corrupted from a sincere and pure commitment to Christ. For I think that I am not in any way inferior to these “superapostles”. Even if I am untrained in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.
2 Corinthians 11:3, 5-6
Church communication is Jesus Christ and his Cross as St. Paul reminds us in his writings (1Cor.15:1-3); it is never about techniques or gadgets.
Though we need to be present online, the cutting edge of real communication remains in pastoral communication that means being present with others who need us most including those without internet access, witnessing to the values of Jesus in relating with people, bringing people together into a communion and helping them find answers in their search for meaning and directions in life, in making the right choices and in living their convictions and faith.
What we are speaking of are real people, persons and lives that matter so much, more precious than goods and commodities.
Let us not fall into the trappings of this “media revolution” that made one futurologist describe our contemporary society as
Technologically Intoxicated Zone defined by the complicated and often paradoxical relationship between technology and our search for meaning.
John Naisbitt
According to Naisbitt and other experts, while people prefer quick fixes online of everything, from religion to nutrition, while at the same time fearing and worshipping technology that had blurred the distinction of what is real and fake, the more they live their lives distanced and distracted — something we are already seeing even before the coming of social distancing!
To communicate in the Church at this time is to imitate St. Paul: be present for and with the people wherein we help them find their way to God by being their companions and “co-journeyers” in life, witnessing to them the Cross of Jesus Christ with our very lives as an offering and sacrifice, not as a commodity or a show to be “liked” on Facebook and Instagram.
And, lest we forget, it is God whom people must follow and worship, not us.
So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.
Ephesians 5:1-2
Pope Francis praying before an empty St. Peter’s Square last March 27, 2020 at the height of COVID-19 in Italy.
Daniel 2:31-45 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 21:5-11
It is again the approaching end of the month, end of the year, Lord. Everybody is talking about the coming ultimate end of the world, the apocalypse, with or without you, O God our mighty Father.
How funny that we spend so much time thinking about the end of the world, so fascinated with predictions and doomsday scenarios forgetting the present moment and most especially you, O God.
Pagans and Christians alike entertain it because deep within ourselves is the reality that everything comes to an end for that is our orientation and direction. if we have you in our sights.
Open our eyes, O Lord, like Daniel in the first reading to see that only you shall remain in the end: everything and everyone, no matter how powerful and greatly endowed with power will ever remain in control of everything. Worst, even those we tend to ignore as so little and so small in stature could one day topple us!
Likewise, widen our horizons, Lord, and let us not be so fixed with certainties like dates and signs on the coming end. May we always see everything in your light, Jesus Christ, so that we may always see every here and now as your coming.
Most of all, let us keep in mind that your coming is always the end of our old selves and the beginning of a new person in you. Amen.
Exodus 33:7-11; 34:5-9, 28 >< )))*> Matthew 13:36-43
Photo by Jim Marpa, 2018.
Dear God:
When I come to think about your dwelling place, your tent like in the first reading today where Moses used to enter and converse with you, there is always that peaceful feeling within me. There is that kind of serenity, of stillness and calmness that is very “homey”.
To enter your tent or your dwelling place, O Lord, is simply to be in you, to be one with you. You dwelling place is lovely because it is YOU – how lovely indeed to be in your dwelling place, to be in you, O Lord!
In the same manner, when Matthew told us in today’s gospel your Son Jesus Christ “entered the house”, it is you, O Lord, in turn who comes not only to us but “in” us, when you fill us with your warmth and joy.
Thank you for dwelling in us, Lord.
Indeed, you are kind because you chose to become “one of us”, your kin or kindred.
Help us today to be one like you in love and mercy, kindness and generosity where others especially the weak and the poor may dwell in you in us, Lord. Amen.
Exodus 16:1-5, 9-15 >< }}}*> <*{{{ >< Matthew 13:1-9
Clouds over the Egyptian desert, May 2019.
The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the grumbling of the children of Israel. Tell them: in the evening twilight you shall eat flesh and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread, so that you may know that I, the Lord , am your God.” In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp. In the morning, a dew lay all about the camp, and when the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desert were fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground.
Exodus 16:11-14
Like the psalmist, so often I wonder O God when I see the heavens the work of your hands, I ask what are we humans that you are mindful of us, mere mortals that you care for us (Ps. 8:4-5)?
You could have remained there in the heavens, O Lord, and yet you choose to stoop down upon us, listening to our voices, even to our cries and senseless grumblings.
Most wonderful of all, you have blessed us and our land when you decided to be one with us on the ground with the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ, the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us.
You have never stopped like the sower in the parable patiently sowing your seeds of love and mercy among us.
Open us, O Lord, and make us like the fertile ground so your word may grow and bear fruit abundantly in us with good works.
Make us fertile ground for your seed that we may become your presence and bring your healing and justice on your people who until now grumble, refusing to pause in silence to experience your presence on these hallowed grounds we have desecrated with wars and hate. Amen.
Genesis 32:23-33 >< )))*> >< )))*> Matthew 9:32-38
Photo by John Bonding, Architecture & Design, May 25, 2019 via Facebook.
Dearest God our Father:
Teach us to live every moment of our lives with you and with one another.
Teach us to be like your servant Jacob who wrestled with you and prevailed that you named him Israel “because you have contended with divine and human beings and have prevailed” (Gen. 32:29).
So many times in this “digital age” when everything is “mass mediated” like our relationships and even faith in you, we have forgotten to live every moment with you and with others.
We are so out of touch with the reality, tinkering with our gadgets that are meant to bring us closer together but have in fact brought us more apart.
We are so concerned with our gadgets than persons and nature and you, Lord.
Until now, we are a “people who are troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt.9:36), lacking in real, personal relationships and intimacy with others and you.
We pray through your Son Jesus Christ that you may send us more workers for your harvest, not more gadgets or money or things but persons who love and care. Amen.
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