Nicodemus and James Taylor

Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 10 March 2024

*“Nicodemus and Jesus” painting by James Tissot (1836-1902) from SuperStock/GettyImages via learnreligions.com.*

One of our favorite singer-songwriters James Taylor is coming next month for a one-night concert at the Mall of Asia Arena; hence, we are featuring two of his songs we find so related with the gospel message this fourth Sunday in Lent also known as Laetare or Rejoice Sunday.

But first, let us take a slight deviation from our usual manner of coming up with the music right away as we realized too the strong links between Nicodemus and James Taylor in their experiences.

Nicodemus belonged to the group of Pharisees, one of the enemies of Jesus at that time. But he admired and believed in Jesus that is why he chose to visit the Lord at night so that people would not notice. Eventually, Nicodemus became a disciple of Jesus after Good Friday after he and another Pharisee named Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Christ and buried him in a tomb (https://lordmychef.com/2024/03/09/lent-is-the-love-mercy-of-god-in-me/).

Nicodemus’ coming to see Jesus at night evoked his situation of being in the darkness of fears and confusions, trying to find directions in life which he found in Christ. It was similar with James Taylor’s plight he beautifully expressed in his 1970 hit Fire and Rain which is about the suicide of a childhood friend as well as his coping with his addiction and depression following his fame.

Just yesterday morning, they let me know you were gone.
Suzanne, the plans they made put an end to you.
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song,
I just can’t remember who to send it to.
I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain. I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end.
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend, but I always thought that I’d see you again.

Won’t you look down upon me, Jesus, You’ve got to help me make a stand.
You’ve just got to see me through another day.
My body’s aching and my time is at hand and I won’t make it any other way.
Oh, I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain. I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end.
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend, but I always thought that I’d see you again.

*From https://www.wildflowersprovence.fr/plant/convolvulus-lanuginosus/*

Many times, we find ourselves in situations like Nicodemus when everything is all dark like the night, or James Taylor going through fire and rain.

Now look, Jesus is most present with us when we are in the darkest darkness of the night, right in the middle of a raging storm. Many times we could not see him because he hugs us, embraces us to shield us from more harms.

When Jesus told Nicodemus about his coming crucifixion – “when the Son of Man is raised up” – it was an assurance to us all too that Christ is with us in our worst situation because he suffered first for us on the Cross. I am so glad that JT mentioned Jesus in his song, pleading to the Lord to “look down upon me and help me make a stand.”

That is why we rejoice this Sunday: in the midst of our troubles and sufferings, there are bursts of joy and relief from Jesus within us dwelling in our hearts. And that is why, we find JT’s 1976 hit, Shower the People, so related too with our gospel this Sunday.

When Jesus told Nicodemus how “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn.3:16), it was also a call for us all to be the love and mercy of Christ in the world.

Nicodemus eventually became a disciple of Jesus while JT is still very much around, having weathered so many fires and rains or storms in his life, both telling us how God finds ways to save us, even extricate us from our worst situation. Hence, the need for us to become the presence of Christ’s joy and mercy to people especially those closest to us so that they may realize and experience that God so loved the world because of the way we shower them with love through us.

You can play the game and you can act out the part,
even though you know it wasn’t written for you.
Tell me, how can you stand there with your broken heart ashamed of playing the fool?
One thing can lead to another; it doesn’t take any sacrifice.
Oh, father and mother, sister and brother, if it feels nice, don’t think twice,
just shower the people you love with love, show them the way that you feel.
Things are gonna work out fine if you only will do as I say, just
shower the people you love with love, show them the way you feel.
Things are gonna be much better if you only will.

Here is our doubleheader from the “Sweet Baby James”. Have a blessed, lovely week ahead!

*Both materials are not ours without any intentions at all of infringing its copyrights.

From YouTube.com

From YouTube.com.

Lent is the love & mercy of God in me

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sunday Recipe for the Soul, Lent IV-B, 10 March 2024
2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23 ><}}}}*> Ephesians 2:4-10 ><}}}}*> John 3:14-21

*Photo of pink convolvulus from the Botanical Gardens of Jerusalem, flora.org.il.*

Many times during prayer periods I banter with God especially when I feel overwhelmed by his kindness and love. Like last Thursday on my way to the adoration chapel when I passed by a row of banks.

As I knelt before the Blessed Sacrament to pray, I just felt like asking God: “BDO (Banco De Oro) ka ba, Lord? Kasi…you always find ways.”

That, for me, my dear friends is the meaning of this fourth Sunday in Lent – God never stops in finding ways to reach out to us, to be with us, to make us experience his love and mercy, kindness and forgiveness despite the hardness of our hearts.

Our altars burst in shades of pink this Sunday called Laetare (Latin, rejoice) Sunday from the entrance antiphon that says, “Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her. Be joyful, all who were in mourning; exult and be satisfied at her consoling breast.”

It is a misconception to see Lent as dull and drab due to its penitential nature; while there is the sober tone in our liturgy, let us keep in mind that it is also a season filled with joy and excitement for the coming Easter, the mother of all feasts in the Church.

And today we rightly rejoice because John reminds us in our gospel scene only him narrates – Nicodemus meeting with Jesus in the cover of the darkness of the night – of God’s immense love for us manifested in the dying of Jesus on the Cross.

Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”
John 3:14-16

John saw a deeper meaning, of a sign pointing to Jesus as the Christ in this conversation with Nicodemus at night. Nicodemus was a Pharisee afraid to come out in the open to show his admiration and belief in Jesus. He eventually joined the disciples on Good Friday with another Pharisee, Joseph of Arimathea when they buried Jesus in a tomb.

See the deep perception of John in this recalling by Jesus to Nicodemus of the bronze serpent raised by Moses in the wilderness (see Num. 21:4-9) as a prefiguration of his own crucifixion.

In the gospel of John, the “lifting up” of the Son of Man refers to Jesus on the Cross. After that scene with the woman caught committing adultery, Jesus declared, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM…” (Jn.8:28). Then on Palm Sunday while in the temple area, Jesus told the crowd “‘And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.’ He said this indicating the kind of death he would die” (Jn.12:32-33).

John’s gospel teems with other similar passages showing the inseparability of Christ’s Cross and glory. And so with our life, that is why in the middle of Lent, we rejoice this Sunday!

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

Like last Sunday, here we find again early in the gospel of John how Jesus laid his vision-mission statement of coming to save us by dying on the Cross during his conversation with Nicodemus that night.

Jesus assured Nicodemus and us today that even while we are in the darkness of life’s many confusions and fears, problems and sufferings, we just have look up to him crucified lighting up our way to life and salvation. That night in their conversation, Jesus assured Nicodemus and us today that even in the worst situations in life when “darkness is our only light and hopelessness is our only hope” as T.S. Eliot wrote in his Four Quartets, God is in us, with us and for us in Christ. Just as when the world was covered in darkness on Good Friday when Jesus died on the Cross, it was the precise moment too of Christ’s glory when he conquered death and sin in obedience to the Father.

Yes, it is true these things are easier said than done but like Nicodemus, even in the darkness of the night we have to dare come close to Jesus, to speak to him and most of all, to hear and listen to him. As one poet had said, “only the brave who walk the darkness of the night shall see the brightness of the stars above.” Most of all, Jesus calls us today to be his love and mercy, his joy and light to the many other Nicodemus groping in the darkness of sin and evil.

In my three years as chaplain in a hospital, I have experienced personally and through others that truth so clear as crystal of God most closest with us in the worst days of our lives. Sometimes, we just sigh deeply as we feel him inside us, assuring us how everything is taken cared of, that everything would be fine.

Like the Israelites in the first reading, we too have to go through an “exile”, a kind of “punishment” not from God but as a result of own our sins and wrongdoing. Many times God let bad things happen to us because we insist on our ways; as God retreats to the back or sides of our lives, he never stops finding ways to save us, even “extricate” us from our imprisonment to sin and sufferings!

Indeed, as St. Paul had said in our second reading today, God is “rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us” (Eph.2:4). Let us not waste that gift. Even though God forgives every sin no matter how bad it may be, do not forget some of our sins have irreversible consequences we shall face and suffer. Of course, God would still be there to help and guide us but, why wait for that to happen?

There lies the joy and grace – and challenge – of this fourth Sunday in Lent: even while we are in our worst situations in life, in our darkest nights, Jesus is always there for us, in fact, the first to have suffered and died for us so that with him on Easter, we may rise again to new life.

Be the sower of his love and mercy. Be his presence. Be another Nicodemus in the night leading others to the light of Jesus. Let us, therefore, rejoice in the Lord as we pray:

Praise and glory to you,
dearest Father 
in giving us your Son 
Jesus Christ our Lord,
our light,
our life,
our joy;
make us, O Lord,
your love and mercy
in this world 
so everyone may experience
that indeed, God loves the world
that He gives us Jesus through me;
let your Holy Sprit enlighten 
my mind and my heart
like Nicodemus 
leading those in darkness
into the light of Christ.
Amen.

A joyful week to everyone!

Endings are beginnings

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 01 February 2024
1 Kings 2:1-4, 10-12 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Mark 6:7-13

*Photo by author, Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 12 July 2023.*

Praise and glory
to you God our loving Father!
Thank you for January,
thank you very much for February;
as we start this second month
of the year, you remind us 
how in life every ending is also
a beginning.

When the time of David’s death drew near, he gave these instructions to his son Solomon: ”I am going the way of all flesh. Take courage and be a man. Keep the mandate of the Lord, your God, following his ways and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees as they are written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in whatever you do, wherever you turn.”
1 Kings 2:1-3

Give us the grace of
ageing gracefully, Father,
like your servant David;
give us the courage
and sincerity to accept,
to embrace when we are 
"going the way of all flesh";
yes, we all wish a life of joy
and happiness with less pains
and difficulties but as we forge on
life, we have experienced,
we have realized,
and proven so many times
that hardships and hurts
are inevitable parts of this life,
even separations and death
that David perfectly called
as way of the flesh.

Joy and fulfillment
happen when we embrace
these shadows and darkness 
for it is in those spaces
where lights are most visible
and life is most meaningful;
give us, Lord Jesus,
the courage to let go,
to leave our extra baggages
behind in order to travel light
in this life proclaiming your 
good news;
make us realize that true wealth 
is in having less of the material
and more of the spiritual;
most of all, every ending
is also a beginning,
hence, the need for us
to prepare those next to us.
Amen.

Gladden our souls, Lord…

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 30 January 2024
2 Samuel 18:9-10, 14, 24-25, 30-19:3 ><}}}}*> + <*{{{{>< Mark 5:21-43

*Photo by author, 19 January 2024, Our Lady of Fatima University-Sta. Rosa, Laguna Campus.*

Today, O God,
I join the psalmist
in his prayer to you:
"Incline your ear, O Lord;
answer me, for I am afflicted and poor.
Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for to you I call all the day.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord,
I lift up my soul"
(Psalm 86:1, 3-4).

Gladden our hearts,
gladden our souls, Father
 in Jesus Christ
your Son;
many mothers
are now grieving
over their lost sons or
daughters to sickness
and accidents;
like David in the first reading,
it does not matter what kind of
a son or a daughter
one's children
may have been;
their death is always
a terrible loss,
a most unfair and unkind
one when parents should
have gone first
ahead of children.

You alone,
Lord Jesus Christ,
can comfort and gladden
our souls amid our many
griefs and miseries;
you alone, Jesus,
can stop our internal bleeding
for the many pains and hurts
within us we silently
endure like that woman in today's gospel
afflicted with hemorrhages
for 12 years;
raise us up, Jesus,
from the pits of
our agonies and slow deaths,
bring back to life
those losing zest of living
because of betrayals and
infidelities,
those in countless despair
of failures and frustrations.

Dear Jesus,
we pray for those who hide
all their pains and sufferings
as they forge on daily in life,
keeping the faith in you as they
try to make ends meet and
most especially struggling
to fulfill their promises of life
and brighter future
 for their loved ones
gladly awaiting their
coming home.
Amen.

*Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, an orange-bellied flowerpecker (Dicaeum trigonostigma) somewhere in the Visayas, December 2023.*

So, this is Christmas and what have you done?

The Lord Is My Chef Christmas Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, 25 December 2023

Of course, that is the opening line of John Lennon’s 1971 song Happy Xmas (War Is Over) he wrote and recorded with his second wife Yoko Ono. It is actually a protest song against the Vietnam War.

It was not an LSS for me because I have not heard it played anywhere except inside my mind ever since the start of the Simbang Gabi when I was visiting our patients at the Fatima University Medical Center in Valenzuela City where I serve as a chaplain. Soon, even during my prayer periods, I would hear and later hum those lines even in my office, in my room, and in the elevator. That is why I thought of making it my homily this Christmas.

Most likely, aside from being a fan of John Lennon (and Paul McArtney and the Beatles), one reason I felt Happy Xmas (War Is Over) so strongly during Simbang Gabi was due to the war in Gaza which is a Palestinian territory like the West Bank where Bethlehem is located, the birthplace of Jesus Christ.

“So this is Christmas 
and what have you done? 
Another year over, 
a new one just begun… 
A very merry Christmas 
and a Happy New Year, 
let’s hope it’s a good one 
without any fear.”

*Photo by author, Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Holy Land, May 2019.*

I find those opening lines so powerful, searing one’s heart amid this cold season, probing deeply our very person, examining our sense of personal responsibility and accountability in the light of all the troubles going on in the world and in our selves.

Lennon reminds me of God’s question to Cain after he had killed his brother Abel, “What have you done! Listen: Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the soil!” (Gen. 4:10).

It is the same question God is asking us on this birthday of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: ”So, this is Christmas, what have you done?“

Have you been like Joseph thinking more of the welfare of Mary when he found her pregnant, choosing to “quietly divorce” her before being told of the whole story by an angel in a dream or, have you jumped into conclusions and spread lies especially in social media of certain stories of people you have not verified?
Have you been like Mary lovingly saying yes to God’s plans, trusting God through your parents and those above you or, have you been stubborn and rash in your decisions that have hurt so many other people in the process, only to find out you have been misled by your friends, and now abandoned by everybody else except by those closest to you like your family and friends who dared to speak the truth to you?
Have you been like Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, who chose to go into seclusion to be silent to pray more on the wondrous things done to her by God or one who refuses to be separated from all gadgets, living practically in media, without any concern for persons and nature?
Have you been like any of those innkeepers who refused to provide room for Mary and Joseph for the birth of Jesus Christ, becoming deaf and blind to the plight of the poor and marginalized around, thinking only of one’s self and welfare that despite your wealth and fame and everything, you still feel empty and unfulfilled inside?
Have you been like a Caesar Augustus or a Quirinus, acting like an emperor or governor today lording it over everybody else especially on the road madly raging against other motorists or, insisting on using the EDSA bus lane to get ahead of others or, simply having a power trip anywhere to impose your authority and superiority over others especially the weak, manipulating them for your selfish motives?
Have you been like those pretending to be the light of the world, influencing others with your false beliefs in the name of equality and freedom of expression you espouse on glossy pictures and illustrations, lively music and empty words and promises being liked and followed in social media?
Have you been like the shepherds living in the margins of the society, in the darkness of sins and evil who led others into the light of Bethlehem, listened to the calls of the angels from above to give peace a chance to look for the Mother and Child in a manger or, have you been a shepherd without any regard for your flock except your comfort and well-being?
Have you been like John the Baptist who made a stand for the weak and disadvantaged, who spoke the truth, tried to be simple and humble, most of all just and fair with everyone because with us always is the Christ whom we do not know?

I leave up to you, my dear friends, to continue the list of what have you done this Christmas.

*“The Adoration of the Shepherds”, a painting of the Nativity scene by Italian artist Giorgione before his death at a very young age of 30 in 1510. From wikipediacommons.org.*

And so this is Christmas (War is over)
For weak and for strong (If you want it)
The rich and the poor ones (War is over)
The road is so long (Now)
And so happy Christmas (War is over)
For black and for white (If you want it)
For yellow and red ones (War is over)
Let's stop all the fight (Now)

Notice in this last stanza how Lennon – like Luke in his Christmas account – sounded in the present moment, in every here and now, challenging us to make Christmas happen even if it is not December 25.

Most of all, the will – if you want it – to keep Christmas and its message vibrantly alive amid the great darkness enveloping us.

It has been reported that Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem, the Lord’s birthplace, have been cancelled due to the war in Gaza. Though the news is very sad, there still some sparks of light bursting from the darkness there because only the festivities are cancelled but not Christmas.

Red Letter Christians partnered with artist Kelly Latimore of @kellylatimoreicons to create this new icon, “Christ in the Rubble,” which illustrates the prophetic message that if Jesus was born today, he would be born “under the rubble.” *From Facebook 23 December 2023.*

Christmas is never cancelled and can never be cancelled no matter how miserable our lives would be because that is also when it truly happens: Jesus came to bring us light and life, comfort and res, peace and mercy the world badly needs, then and now. Whether we do something or nothing, Christmas happens because Jesus will never leave us. That is has always been the truth as the fourth gospel tells us this Christmas:

All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:3-4

But, why not do our part like Joseph and Mary, the shepherds, including Zechariah and Elizabeth and their son John the Baptist – the ones who have done so much – to make Christmas truly a happy and merry one as God willed it so. Come and do something to share Jesus our light, especially where there is darkness and death, where there is war and rubble. Amen. Have a blessed Merry Christmas!

Here is John Lennon. Happy listening too!

From Youtube.com.

Jesus and the Archangels

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Feast of Archangels Michael, Gabriel & Raphael, 29 September 2023
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 >><}}}}*> + <*{{{{><< John 1:47-51

*Photo by author, St. Scholastica Convent, Baguio City, 23 August 2023.*

Lord Jesus Christ,
thank you for coming
to us, opening the heaven
anew for us after the Father
had it closed when Adam 
and Eve sinned;
thank you, too,
dear Jesus,
for in your coming,
the heaven was opened
for us to see "angels of God
ascending and descending
on the Son of Man" (Jn. 1:51).

Lord Jesus,
you are 
the ultimate message
and ultimate messenger
of the Father;
let us adhere to you,
believe in you
and follow you
to experience 
your archangels:

keep us firm in our faith
in you so we may be strong
like St. Michael whose
name means "who is like God?";

enliven our hope
so we may be open to your coming
even in the many darkness of life 
to welcome St. Gabriel who brought
the good news of your birth
to the Blessed Virgin Mary;

and lastly, grant us
unceasing charity and
love to be your healing 
presence like St. Raphael.

In the sight 
of the angels,
let me sing your praises,
Lord.
Amen.

Lamay, Ramay

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-12 ng Setyembre 2023

*Larawan kuha ni G. Cristian Pasion, Bihilya ng Pasko ng Pagkabuhay 2022, Pambansang*

Noong bata ako buong akala ko ang paglalamay at pakikiramay ay iisa. Alalaong-baga, kapag may lamayan, mayroong namatay at paraan iyon ng pakikiramay. E hindi pala ganun!

Sa aking pagtanda at pagkamulat sa wika, higit sa lahat sa buhay na palaging kaakibat pagkamulat din sa kamatayan, napagtanto ko na bagaman magkaiba ang lamay at ramay, malalim at matalik ang ugnayan ng dalawang kataga.

Ang paglalamay ay pagpupuyat, tulad ng pagsusunog ng kilay o pag-aaral sa gabi. Maari din itong hindi pagtulog sa magdamag upang matapos ang isang proyekto at gawain. Naglalamay din bilang bahagi ng gampanin at tungkulin tulad ng mga nagtatrabaho ng pang-gabi o graveyard shift gaya ng mga pulis, mamamahayag, drayber, mga viajero at mga nasa call center.

Maraming pagkakataon sa paglalamay ikaw ay may kasamang nagpupuyat upang tulungan na tapusin ang gawain o gampanan ang tungkulin. Sa paglalamay, palaging mayroong kasama upang tulungan tayong malampasan ano mang pagsubok na pinagdaraanan. Doon nagsasalapungan ang dalawang kataga ng lamay at ramay: sa gitna ng kadiliman ng gabi, mayroong maasahang kasamang nakikibahagi at nakikiisa sa pagdurusan at hirap na pinagdaraanan.

*Larawan kuha ni G. Jay Javier, Tayabas, Quezon, 13 Agosto 2023.*

Napakaganda ng larawang sinasaad ng lamay at ramay – ang kadiliman ng gabi. Sa bibliya, ang gabi at kadiliman ay sumasagisag sa kapangyarihan ng kasamaan.

Ipinanganak si Jesus sa pinakamadilim na gabi ng buong taon, mula Disyembre 23 hanggang 25. Malinaw na pagpapahayag ito ng pakikiramay ng Diyos sa kadiliman ng ating buhay. Doon siya palaging dumarating kung tutuusin.

Huwag nating pag-alinlanganan katotohanang ito na muli nating natunghayan noong Huling Hapunan ng Panginoon na naganap sa pagtatakip-silim ng Huwebes Santo. Kinagabihan si Jesus ay nanalangin sa halamanan ng Getsemani ngunit tinulugan ng tatlong malalapit na mga alagad. Huli na ang lahat nang sila ay magising nang dumating si Judas Iskariote, isa sa kanilang mga kasamahan na nagkanulo kay Jesus sa kadiliman ng gabi.

Anong saklap na walang karamay si Jesus sa paglalamay na iyon na nagpatuloy sa kanyang paglilitis sa Sanhedrin kung saan naman tatlong ulit siyang tinatwa ni Simon Pedro habang nasa labas ng tahahan ng punong pari. Kaya nga kung sakali man tayo ay nasa napakadilim na yugto ng buhay at tila nag-iisa, alalahaning si Jesus ay ating kapiling, nakikiramay sa atin dahil siya ang naunang nakaranas na maglamay ng walang karamay! Kanya itong binago at tiniyak na hindi na mauulit kanino man upang siya ay makaramay sa bawat lamay ng ating buhay nang siya ay muling mabuhay, nagtagumpay sa kamatayan at kasamaan sa gitna rin ng kadiliman ng gabi.

*larawan kuha ni G. Cristian Pasion, Bihilya ng Pasko ng Pagkabuhay 2021.*

Kamakailan ay dumadalas aking pagmimisa sa mga lamayan ng mga yumaong mga kamag-anak at kaibigan. Noon pa man lagi nang nasasambit ng mga kaibigan bakit nga ba hindi tayo magkita-kita habang buhay pa kesa naman doon na lamang palagi nabubuo pamilya at barkada sa lamayan ng namamatay?

Tama rin naman kanilang bukambibig sa mga lamayan. Ano pa ang saysay ng pagsasama-sama gayong nawala na at pumanaw ang mahal sa buhay?

Ngunit kamakailan ay napagnilayan ko rin na tama lamang na magkita-kita tayo sa mga lamayan upang ipahayag ating pakikiramay dahil naroon tayo hindi lamang upang makidalamhati kungdi magpuri at magpasalamat din sa isang yumao. Wika nga ng marami, lamay lamang ang hindi ipinangungumbida kasi doon masusukat tunay na kabutihan ng isang tao sa kanyang pagpanaw: kung marami ang naglamay at nakiramay, ibig sabihin, mabuti siyang tao, mapakisama, laging karamay noong nabubuhay pa.

Napagtanto ko ito sa nakakatawang pagkakataon; kundangan kasi, bilang mula sa mga sinaunang panahon, para sa akin ang pakikiramay ay dapat seryoso. Malungkot nga dapat at nakikidalamhati. Hirap na hirap ako noong matanggap ang picture taking sa lamayan! Iskandalo kung baga sa akin ang magpose at picture-taking sa lamayan, lalo na sa tabi ng labi ng yumao. Paano ka namang ngingiti e mayroong ngang patay at namatayan?

Nakatutuwang isipin kung paanong itinuro sa akin ng teknolohiya ang malalim na kahulugan ng pakikiramay sa paglalamay. Na ito ay higit sa lahat pagdiriwang ng buhay, pagpupugay at pasasalamat sa magandang samahan na ating tinitiyak na magpapatuloy pumanaw man ating kaibigan at kamag-anakan. Ang ating pakikiramay ay hindi lamang pagpadarama ng pakikiisa sa dalamhati kungdi pagtiyak ng pagkakaisang ito sa pagmamahal, pasasalamat at pag-alala tuwina sa isang pumanaw at kanilang mga naulila.

Mainam pa rin makadaupang-palad mga kamag-anak at kaibigan habang nabubuhay ngunit hindi pa rin huli ang lahat na sakali man dala ng maraming kadahilanan tayo ay makiramay tuwing mayroon lamay dahil ang totoo’y buhay pa rin ating ipinagdiriwang. Ito ang dahilan kaya ating tawag sa pumapanaw ay hindi namatay kungdi sumakabilang buhay. Balang araw siya ring ating hantungang lahat kung saan ang lamay at ramay ay iisang katotohanan na lamang na kung tawagi’y, pag-ibig.

Loving God is continuous service

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fourth Week of Easter, 05 May 2023
Acts 13:26-33   ><)))*> + <*(((><   John 14:1-6

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2023.*

Thank you very much,
Lord Jesus Christ
for the assurance 
"Do not to 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?"
(John 14:1-2).

Thank you,
thank you,
thank you, Lord Jesus!

We pray for those whose hearts
are so troubled these days:
those who will undergo surgery
especially in the heart and 
in the brain; parents worried of
their sick children or children
who have gone wayward, lost
in life despite the love they 
have showered them;
spouses taking care of their
sick husband or wife;
those of us going through
anxiety or panic attacks
for so many reasons that
are often not valid at all:
Lord, we are so troubled 
with everything because 
so often we do not dwell
in you, our true home!

Many times, we are troubled
because we do not abide 
or dwell in you with each other 
when some of us have suddenly
turned cold and distant,
unfaithful or feeling betrayed
and taken for granted.

Let us be present, Lord,
in you in others; 
let us serve in love.
Loving God is a 
continuous service
of being present 
with others,
especially our family
and friends.

Help us renew our ties,
our dwelling in you,
Lord Jesus, God's 
"begotten Son" (Acts 13:33)
by continuing this journey
of loving service in you
for you are "the way 
and the truth
and the life" (Jn. 14:6).
Amen.

Light amid darkness: the grace of grieving in Mary Magdalene

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, 22 July 2022
Song of Songs 3:1-4   ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*>   John 20:1-2. 11-18

*Photo from GettyImages/iStockphoto.com*

Praise and glory to you,
O Lord Jesus Christ in giving
us today this Feast of St. Mary
Magdalene, the "apostle of the
apostles" who proclaimed to Peter
and company that you have risen
on that Easter morning!

Thank you most especially in 
showing us through St. Mary Magdalene
the grace in that state many of us find
ourselves so often especially these days
of the pandemic - that of grieving.

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken by Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus.
John 20:1, 11-14

Dearest Lord Jesus,
I pray for those weeping, 
for those grieving for the lost
of a beloved wife or husband,
a son or a daughter, a brother or
a sister, a friend or a colleague;
I also pray, Jesus, for those 
who are weeping in silence,
fighting their tears, hiding when
they cry as they attend and care 
for a dying loved one at home or
in the hospital.

Like St. Mary Magdalene, death
from its approach and coming
always has that dark presence in
us; mourning and weeping become
more difficult when nights become
longer we could hardly know morning
is coming or has broken.

And many times in those dark moments
we do not recognize you, Jesus, 
present among us in our weeping,
right in our grieving for our loved ones.
Open our eyes, open our hearts,
enkindle our faith and hopes in you, Lord
in these long, dark hours of our grieving.
You know very well how difficult it is
to let go of a loved one like St. Mary Magdalene
when you have died; like her, we continue
to "cling" and "hold" to our beloved 
in our old ways of relating with them 
in the hope of again hugging them,
touching them, and perhaps telling them 
how we love them and if given a chance,
to say sorry too for our sins and lapses.

*“Noli me tangere” (touch me not) fresco in the Lower Basilica of St. Francis Assisi Church in Italy painted by Giotto de Bondone in the 13th century from commons.wikimedia.org*.

Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'” Mary of Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he told her.
John 20:16-18

Call us with our name again,
dear Jesus; call us anew with your
reassuring voice of love and kindness,
of mercy and forgiveness no matter
who we really are 
for you are the only one sent by the Father 
to assure us we are accepted despite and
in spite of our sins and weaknesses.

Let us exclaim again "Rabbouni" like
St. Mary Magdalene, filled with joy in
finding you amidst the darkness 
in our lives as we learn to stop "holding"
on to our departed and dying loved ones
as we recall and realize your teaching 
that every death is a sharing in your pasch,
a passing over into eternal life,
of leveling up our ties with them 
in you, Christ Jesus
to the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

*Photo by author, sunrise at Camp John Hay, Baguio City, November 2018.*

Praying to be in the world, not of the world

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Seventh Week of Easter, 19 May 2021
Acts 20:28-38 ><)))'> ><)))'> ><)))'> John 17:11-19

*From Facebook, 04 April 2021: “There is an urgency to announce the Joy, the joy of the Risen Lord.”*

Lifting up his eyes to heaven,
Jesus prayed, saying:
"I do not ask that you take them out 
of the world but that you keep them
from the evil one.
They do not belong to the world
any more than I belong to the world.
Consecrate them in the truth.
Your word is truth.
As you sent me into the world, 
so I sent them into the world.
And I consecrate myself for them, 
so that they also may be consecrated in truth."
(John 17:11, 15-19)

Oh what a feeling, Lord Jesus Christ for us to be prayed for by you! What an honor and a great privilege for us all to be prayed for and consecrated by you, the Son of God to the almighty Father in heaven.

Thank you very much, Lord, for putting us in the world and consecrating us to you to be not of the world! Help us to keep this in our minds and in our hearts, that we are in the world but not of the world.

Help us remember your beautiful prayer when things are getting so difficult, when troubles bombard us daily, when our burdens get heavier that the temptations to follow the ways of the world by escaping pains and sufferings become so strong and even so enticing.

Make us remember this beautiful prayer you said for us all during your Last Supper so we may remain one in you as brothers and sisters, one as husband and wife, one as a family, one as a community, one in our places of work and studies, one as a nation.

May your prayer, sweet Jesus, prepare us in facing every kind of hostility and indifference of the world as we witness your gospel of salvation in the world through love and mercy, joy and kindness especially to those losing hope, those tired and exhausted, and those in the margins of the society.

Give us the grace to be like St. Paul who faithfully completed his mission at Ephesus that as he bid goodbye to the people there, “they were all weeping loudly as they threw their arms around Paul and kissed him, for they were deeply distressed that he had said that they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship” (Acts20:37-38).

We are all “overseers” of your people and wealth entrusted to our care, Lord; keep us true and faithful, honest and sincere in taking care of them. It is you, O Lord Jesus, whom they must experience and love, not us.

We pray today for those holding positions in government and in the Church, in the private sector specially in our places of work and studies that they may always keep in mind all powers are from God that must be exercised for the good of the people they serve. Keep all authorities aware of their great responsibilities in the world and be careful not to fall into the traps and evil of the world. Amen.