Genesis 19:15-29 >< }}}*> <*{{{ >< Matthew 8:23-27
Chapel of the Fr. Al Schwartz Retreat Center at Girlstown, Cavite. Photo by author, 22 May 2009.
Our dearest loving Father: Until now I am still dwelling in our reflection yesterday of prayer as you entering into a dialogue with us.
Prayer is your very presence, O God. And the problem is not only we have refused to pray to be in your presence but worst of all, when those of us who pray so often, those of us so religious always “present” with you doubt and refuse to believe that you are present.
We are always guilty of this feeling when the presence of another person is still not enough for us. We keep on looking for proofs and others things to believe of their love and care, of everything despite their being present with us.
How unfortunate when your very presence – or anyone’s – be never enough for us!
When we fail or refuse to see and experience your presence, Lord, nothing would be enough to convince us about you being present.
In the first reading, Lot at the start was very hesitant with your presence Lord despite the angels coming to rescue him and his family. He could not follow your instructions, seeming to disbelieve your very saving presence through your angels. Good thing that he eventually obeyed your angels unlike his wife who looked back to Sodom and Gomorrah perhaps more convinced with their presence than with you. And she turned into a pillar of salt.
In the gospel, the presence of your Son Jesus among the Apostles in their boat being tossed by giant waves due to a storm was not enough for them to trust in him that they have to awaken him.
Garden at the back of the chapel of the Fr. Al Schwartz Retreat Center in Girlstown, Cavite. Photo by author, 22 May 2009.
Teach us, O loving Father, to accept your good news, your grace, your very presence in our lives. Your very presence with us is more than enough, Lord.
Like Abraham when he conversed with you in Mamre until he bargained with you to spare Lot of your wrath over Sodom and Gomorrah, let us be silent and contented with your very presence.
Most of all, like Abraham, after your burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, let us see you even in the ruins of our lives, that you never failed to warn us with your presence of your abiding justice, and of your coming judgment. Amen.
The lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Thursday, Easter VII, 06 June 2019
Acts 22:30;23:6-11 >< )))*> >< )))*> >< )))*> John 17:20-26
Part of the Mt. Sinai mountain range in Egypt. Photo by author, 07 May 2019.
More than 1500 years before your coming Lord Jesus Christ, God called Moses in a burning bush, introducing himself as “I Am Who Am”. That “name” was more than a word. It was his very presence among the chosen people.
With a name, you enabled us to invoke you, to call you O God for you are always present in us and among us.
But now, your name, your presence gets a deeper meaning in Jesus when he said:
“Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”
John 17:25-26
So wonderful, O Lord, the in you, God is more than a mere presence but has become a loving presence among us and in us! In your great sacrifice for us, you did not introduce to us a new word for God’s name but a new mode of presence that anyone who encounters you Jesus encounters the Father too.
And it is always more than that, O God, for you are semper major, always greater.
In Christ Jesus, we encounter you Father as you approach us in him; then, you lead us out beyond our very selves into your infinite greatness and love for you are always more than a presence!
Exactly what you did to St. Paul during his trial in Jerusalem when the Pharisees and the Sadducees joined forces to pin him down eventually quarrelled when he spoke of Christ’s resurrection.
So many times in life when we feel like giving up, when we feel it is over, you suddenly surprise us with sudden turn of events that are so amazing, bringing joy into our hearts and most of all, reassuring us with your love and protection.
We pray for those hoping for miracles, whether big or small, that they may feel your loving presence to realize you are the “emmanu elohim” or Emmanuel for God-is-with-us. Amen.
Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches. Photo by author, July 2018.
Did our prayer help you? Share us your thoughts and prayers too. Follow our blog for your daily recipe for the soul. God bless! fr nick
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Tuesday, Easter Wk. VI, 28 May 2019
Acts 16:22-34 >< }}}*> John 16:5-11 >< }}}*>
Church of St. Peter Gallicantu (Rooster), Jerusalem, 05 May 2019.
Praise and glory to you, O God our loving Father! Thank you for the night, whether we were able to sleep soundly or not; thank you for the rains, for the sunrise, for the brand new day! Thank you for the internet, thank for the grace of prayer, thank you for the gift of life.
Thank you for your gift of presence in Jesus Christ!
Your readings for today remind us that every presence is always a gift. It is always best to have even a little of anything than nothing at all.
Some of us while reading this still have same problems that persist like a sickness not getting worse, bills to be paid, debts piling up, problems getting bigger. Sometimes for many of us, life is so dark that we cannot even feel you, Lord.
In moments we feel like giving up in life, giving up on you, Jesus, please send us a St. Paul who would shout in a loud voice to us like in the first reading, “Do no harm to yourself; we are all here” (Acts 16:28).
Give us the grace and courage to be present to anyone like St. Paul so we can uplift their sagging spirits and continue to find meaning in life in our simple presence.
Fill us with the Holy Spirit to bring joy and conviction to those who doubt you. May they believe in you and find your presence, find fulfillment to be reassured of the beauty of life. Amen.
Sunset in the desert of Jordan on our way to Amman, 01 May 2019.
Did our prayer touch you? Share us your thoughts and prayers. You are prayed for. Follow our blog for you daily recipe for the soul. God bless you! fr nick
A view from the entrance to the Temple Wall of Old Jerusalem, 04 May 2019.
Life is a series of coming and going where we never really leave at all.
I have been sharing you this quite often since Advent last year. We do not leave completely but simply come to new levels of relationships with our loved ones. When children grow up and go to college, they move into new environment, new stage in life. They never leave but come to new beginnings. Eventually, they leave home when they graduate in college and get married only to start their own family and home.
We call this series of coming and going in life as “presence in absence”. Sometimes it happens that it is after someone had left us, whether temporarily or permanently like death, that we even get closer with that person. Here we find the wonderful truth that if you want to be eternal, love. Then, a departure no longer becomes an exit but an entry to new mode of presence and relationships.
This is why Jesus commanded us last Sunday to love one another as he loved us, that is, to always love in his Father who is love himself. When we love in union with the Father, then our love is made perfect as it is God who eventually works in us.
The Lord deepens this teaching to us in our gospel today as he prepares us for the great celebration of his Ascension on Sunday, a kind of his own “leaving and coming”. Our gospel today is still part of his long discourse during his Last Supper when Thomas, Philip, and Jude asked him some questions about his impending departure that they could not really fully grasp at that time. Anyway, Jesus now answers the last question from Jude concerning his presence while at the same time prepares them for the inevitable when he has to “leave” them first for his Passion and Death and second, when he returns to the Father in heaven.
( Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him, “Master, what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”) Jesus said to his disciples: “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. I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name — will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”
John 14:22-23, 25-26
Altar of the church Dominus Flevit (the Lord Wept) with the old Jerusalem as background, April 2017.
First thing we notice in the Lord’s statement is the great honor for each of us to be the dwelling place of him and the Father. Can you imagine the kind of intimacy that means we now have with both the Son and the Father dwelling in us? It is something beyond our expectations or hopes when all we want in life is to be with him in heaven after death. But we do not have to wait for our death because right now, right here, Jesus and the Father are dwelling in us. And because of this reality, we are able to find meaning and fulfillment in life despite its many trials and difficulties, pains and tears along the way.
We have experienced the Father’s presence through the words and teachings of Jesus passed on to us through the Sacred Scriptures and the Tradition of the Church. Jesus himself stressed that his words are not really his but the Father’s. Loving the Lord and keeping his words are the same because Jesus is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us according to St. John’s prologue to his gospel. It is for this reason that we are also able to call God “Abba” (Father) because we have that inner recognition of him deep within us in Jesus Christ.
Clouds over Sinai desert in Egypt, 07 May 2019.
Jesus continues his presence and teachings in us in our own time in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the second part of his discourse in our gospel today, his sending of the Holy Spirit upon his return to the Father to be his apostles’ and our Advocate or defender and inner guide to all the truths he had taught us.
Christ did not say everything to the apostles. Aside from the fact that the time of his “presence” on earth was limited (33 years), it was impossible for the evangelists to report everything he had said and done (Jn.21:25). But he knew the totally different situations his disciples would be into and that includes us in the present time. Jesus knew very well the shifts and upheavals coming but, as we have seen in the past 2000 years since he went back to the Father, his Church has continued to exist despite the many predictions of its end. And that is largely due to the work of the Holy Spirit as our Advocate or defender.
From Google.
As our Advocate, the Holy Spirit acts as the “memory” of the Church like in a computer that it “processes” us disciples to act according to the Scriptures and teachings of Jesus in our own time. The Spirit powers us like a dynamo to continue to be the living presence of Jesus in his “absence” in a world that tries to delete him. This was first experienced in the first Council meeting of the Church in Jerusalem in the year 50 AD (Jesus ascended to heaven 33 AD) when the first Christians were plunged into a controversy regarding the imposition of Judaic traditions on Gentile converts. The first reading from the Acts tells us how the Apostles were guided in their proceedings by the word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit continues to do the same in the Church when our Pope and bishops pray and reflect on the Scriptures in making its stand on the different issues now confronting us that were non-existent 100 years ago or 2000 years ago like the Internet or global warming. The Holy Spirit is the “heart and soul” of the Church’s living tradition that makes Jesus present in the world today through each one of us, its dwelling-place.
In the second reading, John tells us of the splendor of the heavenly Jerusalem where God is at the middle of everything. It is also the challenge of the gospel to us today, as the indwelling of the Father and of the Son, do we make God present in our family, in our places of work and study? Do we remain faithful to his word that we are not ashamed of praying even in a restaurant?
See that after explaining his mode of presence through us in the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus spoke of the gift of peace. Peace is always the fruit of love when we have Jesus as basis within us in all of our undertakings. How sad that even in many families, couples and children plan on their own for their many projects and activities without including their spouses or children in the process. There is no internal unity that often leads to misunderstanding and divisions that make peace so elusive.
Last Wednesday night I was invited to guest in a radio talk show hosted by former colleagues in the news. They complained to me how the Mass is no longer holy and has become very showbiz. Lourd De Veyra complained of priests not prepared with their homily and so “in love” with their voice that they talk nonsense like TV hosts. Photojournalist Melvin Calderon formerly of TIME Magazine and Pulitzer Prize winner last year Manny Mogato of Reuters News lamented at how our churches have become to look like a studio or a stage with all the pomp and pageantry, empty of any sense of the Holy. Though their observations were painfully true, I still felt so glad for them because despite their being so immersed in the world, they all long for the peace of Jesus Christ they believe can be first found among us priests and in our churches! May we go back to the Father so we may be able to share Jesus, only Jesus, and always Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Amen.
40 Shades of Lent, Thursday in Week-1, 14 March 2019 Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25///Matthew 7:7-12
God our loving Father, if there is one thing we wish to tell you today, it is the Psalmist’s song for today, “Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.”
So many times, we felt like “Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish” with no other recourse but to you O God. We know our limits and our weaknesses as well as sinfulness, yet, you keep on trusting us, giving us so many responsibilities and missions in life. Not because we are great or so good but simply because we trust in you.
Teach us to discover anew that in prayer, our lone objective is You alone, O God: not things like money and wealth, power and honor. It is you alone whom we seek, whom we ask for, whom we knock doors for.
Give us the grace to strive to for your Person for you are more than a concept.
Give us the grace to experience your Person as you are not according to our belief or imaginations.
Just to feel your presence O God is more than enough for especially when we are in great need. Stay with us, remain in us always. Amen.
Sunset at the main plaza of Fatima in Portugal by my former student at ICSB Architect Philip Santiago during his pilgrimage there October 2018. Used with permission.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Thursday, 07 February 2019, Week IV, Year I
Hebrews 12:18-19, 21-24///Mark 6:7-13
Lord Jesus Christ, thank you in bringing God closer to us, in enabling us to experience of belonging to him as our loving Father unlike in the Exodus when his presence was a fearful spectacle that made even Moses “terrified and trembling” (Heb.12:21).
Thank you Jesus for being our mediator with God whose love and mercy we have experienced in you. Let us not be distracted with so many things of the world like food and clothing, fame and wealth, and other allurements that feed on our ego and blind us from you.
Give us the faith and courage to make God present in this world among the poor, the sick and the sinful. Let us continue your work of bringing joy and salvation, mercy and forgiveness, healing and life. Amen. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 24 January 2019
Vacation and vocation are two important realities for us priests. In fact, the two are closely related because both are rooted in God. Problems happen when we priests totally forget God both in our vacation and in our vocation. And this has always been our problem because we have refused to go back, get closer and enter God Himself.
Both vacation and vocation came from Latin: the former is from the word “vacare” that means to be emptied or vacant while the latter has its roots in “vocare” which is to be called. Every vacation is a sabbath, a resting in God who calls us to this priestly vocation. This concept is beautifully expressed in our Filipino word “magpahinga” that literally means to be breathed on by God. When we priests go on vacation, the more we are able to serve people better with joy because that is when we are filled with God. Every vacation is a path leading us closer to God that is why priests are encouraged to go on sabbatical leaves, whether the usual weekly breaks or the yearly longer vacations. This past week we have heard from the gospels in our daily Masses how the enemies of Jesus missed this important aspect of sabbath when they would always question His healings on days of rest, prompting Him to ask them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than destroy it?” (Mk.3:4). God is always bigger than Sabbath because “Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath” (Mk.2:27-28). Even laypeople have fallen into this trap of emphasizing sabbath more than God Himself that we make many excuses of not going to Sunday Masses because bonding with family and friends is more important. Every year, less and less people are going to Church celebrations of the Holy Week and Easter because they would rather take the opportunity to go on vacation as they try hard to convince themselves that God would perfectly understand them anyway.
This problem with vacation takes on its most unfortunate turn when we priests deal with our vocation. In my 20 years in the priesthood with the last seven years spent in direct interactions with seminarians as teacher and spiritual director, I have found something so wrong now becoming a trend that is probably one of the reasons why we are plagued with all kinds of problematic priests in the Church. It is a new kind of idolatry when we have come to worship and adore more our vocation and priesthood than God Himself. We have forgotten the great distinction between the call and the Caller. When the one being called, whether a priest or a seminarian, gets so focused with the call forgetting the Caller, problems arise and not too far from the scene are evil and sin.
“Brothers and sisters: Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. No one takes this honor upon himself but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. In the same way, it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest, but rather the one who said to him: You are my son; this day I have begotten you” (Heb.5:1,4-5).
Priestly vocation is always a gift and a call from God to be closer and be one in Him and with Him in Christ. Vocation is the call of God but not God. The Caller is always above and distinct from the call. The one being called is meant to end with the Caller and not with the call. It is a terrible problem when a seminarian insists on being ordained as if it is a right simply because he is called even if the seminary fathers do not see him responding properly to his priestly calling. It becomes a tragedy when priests insist with their own beliefs and perceptions of things as part of their responding to their vocation, forgetting or even totally disregarding Christ as well as the norms and teachings of the Church, His visible presence (sacrament) on earth. The sex scandals that continue to rock and deeply hurt the Church stem from this erroneous perception by some priests who cling to their vocation, unmindful of the Caller we all need to imitate in holiness so we can also embrace children and uplift women like Him in love and respect. See how some of our churches have become like birthday cakes, malls and even dance halls when pastors pretend to be bringing the people closer to God with all their pomp and pageantry when in fact are just massaging unconsciously their bloated egos. When priests get busy more with church constructions, fund raising and other social events without any time for prayer to be with God and His flock, they worship the call, not the Caller. The height of this idolatrous worship of the vocation by priests is when we make up so many alibis and excuses to justify our various preoccupations like luxurious living, vanities that include too much sports and body-building, vices in all forms like addiction with telenovelas, engaging in businesses, frequent travels that Pope Francis had branded as “scandal of the airports”and yes, even adopting children!
I wrote this not to put down my brother priests and students in the seminary but to contribute in whatever way that we can grow closer with Jesus Christ who calls us to be one in Him. I am also a sinner, “a worthless servant of the Lord who tries to do my duty” as His priest (Lk.17:10). Lately in our daily Masses as well as this coming Sunday we shall hear in the gospel of how Jesus would enter their synagogue in Capernaum on a sabbath. It is a very simple scene but filled with meanings, asking me whether I simply enter the church or do I enter God? How sad that until now there are people like the Magi from the East asking “where is the newborn king of Israel?” while inside our churches that have merely become a building but never the Body of Christ because what we only have is the call, or maybe just the echo of that call without the Caller.
*Photo by the author, chapel of Holy Family, Sacred Heart Novitiate and Retreat House, Novaliches, Quezon City, June 2015.
Sometimes Lord I envy your apostles, the people who have lived during your time and have actually met you, heard you, and most of all touched you.
Of course it is a useless and even a non-sense wishful thinking or daydreaming because as the author of the Letter to the Hebrews explains to us today, you have not really left us. In your great sacrifice on the Cross as our High Priest, you have become present with us always.
“The main point of what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle that the Lord, not man, set up” (Heb.8:1-2).
And that is the challenge for us today: rather than imagining we were present during your time, what we must always think and reflect upon is making you present today, like your disciples who looked for boats where you preached and healed people. Now more than ever as you sit at the right hand of the Father, every moment is your presence of love and mercy, healing and growing.
Make us realize O Lord Jesus that you are communication yourself, your giving of self in love on the Cross is the most perfect communication of all. More than an expression of your thoughts and feelings for us, Lord, your crucifixion became the most profound level of your communication, actualizing your love and mercy for us even today.
Help us communicate your love and mercy to others not only in words but most of all in deeds. Give us the same grace you have given St. Francis de Sales in ensuring our every communication make you present. Amen. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.
Dearest Lord Jesus: Forgive me on this first Monday of December of the first week of the Season of Advent when I joined everyone in the Christmas rush that has nothing to do with your coming at all. Forgive me in feeling it is a time of no room, a time of the end that I have to finish everything, fulfill so many tasks without finding you. Forgive me for being so obsessed with lack of time, lack of space, of having no room even for myself this Christmas.
How sad, and what a shame when I myself forget that Advent in its truest sense as a time of joyful expectation and preparation for your Second Coming is when we must dare to open up for you, when we must create and find more time, more space, and yes – a room in our hearts for you Jesus who is definitely coming again.
Like that centurion in the gospel, grant me that grace to learn and to discern what is most relevant, what is most essential for us individually and communally because with you, there is always plenty of room, plenty of space, and plenty of time for everyone who is welcomed to “climb the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob” (Is.2:3).
May the centurion’s words be my prayer today and always, sweet Jesus: “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.” (Mt. 8:8). AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.
*Photo by the author of the eagle, the symbol of our Patron St. John Evangelist, known for it sharp sense of sight in seeing the details in the life of Jesus Christ. Taken yesterday first Sunday of Advent 2018.
Today we begin the new year in our Church calendar with the Season of Advent, the four week preparation for Christmas. It has two aspects: today until December 16 our focus are set on the Second Coming of Jesus at the end of time, and from December 17 to December 24, we turn our attention to the first Christmas when Christ was born more than 2000 years ago. According to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, between these two comings of Christ is His Third Coming in the present. And that is why Advent is the presence of God among us in Christ. Advent challenges us to be daring in opening ourselves to Christ’s coming in the most ordinary as well as in the most trying and difficult moments of our lives. It is only when we dare to open our hearts to Christ’s daily coming can we truly experience the giftedness of each moment and day of our lives in God.
Let Edie Brickell help you to be bold in opening to God with her 1994 hit single “Good Times”. Edie’s music is very refreshing and natural but bold in its message and lyrics where we find her openness to the presence of her loved one whether in “good times or in bad times.” That is the challenge of Advent to us: if we cannot dare to open ourselves to God in our good times and bad times, we would never have that space for Him in our hearts where He truly comes every day. Dare to open your heart to God, give a space for Jesus to come and that is when Christmas happens regardless of the date and time.
You don’t even have to try
It comes easy for you
The way you move is so appealing it could make me cry
Go out drivin’ with my friends
In bobby’s big old beat up car
I’m with a lot of people then, I wounder were you are
Good times, bad times gimme some of that (3x) Ooh woo ooh
I don’t wanna say goodbye
Don’t wanta walk ya to the door
I spent a little time with you, I want a little more
Good times, bad times gimme some of that (3x) Ooh woo ooh
And baby really, I don’t have to
I have to go anywhere right now
You want some more, you want some more of this
Anywhere where, were ever you want baby, just,
Say it…. Ah…. Just say it
Good times, bad times gimme some of that (3x) Ooh woo ooh
Now want those good, good ,good times
And got those bad, bad, bad times
I want those good, good, good ,good times
Gimme some that
*Photo by author, Advent wreath at the Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan, 02 December 2018.
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