Marriage is completing each other

The Lord Is My Chef Wedding Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Homily, Wedding of Dra. Arianna Julia Enriquez & Dr. Dexter Falcon
Santuario de San Jose Parish, Greenhills, Mandaluyong
28 February 2025

Congratulations, Dra. Arianna and Doc Dexter in choosing to get married in the Church. Many people these days disregard the Sacrament of Marriage, sadly seeing it more in human terms and most sad of all, many would rather follow superstitions than faith in getting married.

When I was still in a parish in Bulacan, a couple met with me due to a problem with the date they wanted to get married that fell on a Saturday. I offered to them a Friday but the mother of the bride said “araw po ng mga mangkukulam ang Biyernes!” Whoa! Did you know that?

Trying to hide my laughter, I told the couple how about on a Thursday which is my day off and would just cancel it to officiate their wedding. The mother again interjected, “nakupo Father… lalo na po ang Huwebes! Araw ng kasal ng mga tikbalang!” I could not contain myself anymore and I told the mother, “Katoliko pala mga tikbalang dito sa inyo!”

I mentioned this experience because in the provinces, very few couples get married in the month of February like you. Your Tita, Dra Mylene knows this very well… happy birthday po! When people find out you were born in February, they say “kaya ka pala ganyan, kulang-kulang.” And that’s how most people see February – kulang or incomplete – that is why even couples avoid it as a date for their wedding.

Of course that is not true. Every day is a perfect day for wedding for each day is blessed by God – most especially the days of February, the most perfect month in number of days. February was added to our calendar to complete the 365 days of revolution of Earth around the Sun to make it a year. It is February that completes the year as it fills the missing days following the miscalculations by the early Romans.

And that’s marriage. A man and a woman get married to complete each other.

Remember God’s declaration in the first reading, “It is not good for man to be alone.”

See how in creating the woman, God cast a deep sleep on man and took his rib to form it into a woman. The man was totally unaware of what was going on when God created and gave him the woman as his “suitable partner.”

This is most true with you, Dra. Arianna and Doc Dexter: you were both totally unaware in the beginning of how God worked silently in the background that you would eventually complete each other as friends, as lovers and now as husband and wife.

You have realized after your long relationship from pre-med to med proper and now as full-pledged doctors that you both cannot be complete without each other that even if you were separated by time and distance, you still made efforts to be together because that is love. You have realized that you can only be complete and whole with each other. Ikaw lang, sapat na!

Nothing is so toxic and difficult, nothing is most joyous when you think of each other, when you love each other. And so, simply love, love, and love! Huwag kayong magbibilangan! No need to have the numbers “224” tattooed on your arms like Philmar and Andi Eigenman.

When you have an LQ, who must make the first move to reach out and make peace?

Some couples say the man should make the first move but what happened to the rule “ladies first”? Others say the first to reconcile and say sorry is the one who started the lover’s quarrel but, would anyone really admit that?

The answer is this: when couples have an LQ, the one who has the most love to give must be the first to make the move for peace and reconciliation. Yung higit na nagmamahal ang unang kikibo.

Love is not a competition and love cannot be really measured. The true measure of love is when you love without measure. Nobody is perfect; hence, human love is also imperfect. Only God can love us perfectly. That is why, just keep on loving each other, letting your love flow to each other by taking care of each other.

That is the beautiful imagery of the ribs – inside the rib cage, the most vital organs of the body are protected and kept safe like the heart, the lungs, the liver. Lalo na ikaw, Doc Dexter: you are lacking in one rib and that is Dra. Arianna. Alagaan mo siyang mabuti. Boss namin siya…

God willed in all eternity that the two of you get married today not tomorrow nor next year nor last year. It was God who set February 28 as your wedding date because on this day God completes you.

However, though the husband and the wife complete each other, it is Jesus Christ who cements their union in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. Jesus is the “gold paint” in the Japanese kintsugi art of repairing broken pottery.

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of joining together the broken pieces of a jar or a vase with a glue and then pain with gold its cracks to make the broken piece more beautiful. Along this line of thought is St. Paul the Apostle who described us as “earthen vessels” – palayok in Tagalog: so delicate and easily broken yet God still fills us with Himself and His grace because He loves us so much.

And that is my second final reflection for you dear Dra. Arianna and Doc Dexter: love is not natural but supernatural – it is divine because it is rooted in God! Love is more than a feeling which is natural. Love is a decision, requiring your cooperation with God who pours out His blessings to you since you met despite your imperfections and flaws. That is the meaning of Marriage as a Sacrament – it is more than a human and natural bond but a supernatural, divine union of man and woman who become the signs of Christ’s saving presence in the world.

Heed the call of Jesus in our gospel today, “remain in me and make my joy complete.”

How lovely is your love story! Clearly of divine origin that you met in a theology class during your senior year in college. You did not meet in a party nor in any of those rows of restaurants across Ateneo or at the parking lot. You met in a theology class where you learned about God.

And the more you discovered God, the more you discovered each other, realizing in the process that the more you need God to make you both complete which is the principle and foundation of St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises.

We are able to love because God loved us first as the beloved disciple wrote in his first letter. That is the mystery of love, of married love specifically that Ben & Ben said so well in their song, “Mahiwaga… Pipiliin ka sa araw-araw… Mahiwaga… and nadarama sa iyo ay malinaw.”

When I think of this mystery of divine love in married couples, the image that comes to my mind are the “praying hands”. Each hand represents the husband and the wife. They retain their individuality as they freely pursue growth and maturity and fulfillment in life and career. Both hands are flexible and can move freely.

But, look at these two praying hands: as you get closer with each other, you also create a sacred space between you for Jesus Christ. Like that glue painted gold in the Japanese art of kintsugi, it is Jesus who makes you one and complete, it is Jesus who joins you together in his love.

Hence, whatever you do to each other, you do it first to Jesus. When you are faithful and true to Dra . Arianna, you are first faithful and true Doc Dexter to Jesus. The same with you Dra. Arianna: when you bake pastries and cakes for Doc Dexter, it is Jesus whom you first make happy and delighted.

But the moment you Doc Dexter cheat and lie to Dra. Arianna, you first fool Jesus. When you make taray to Doc Dexter, you first make taray to Jesus, Dra. Arianna.

Handle your life always with prayer. Every day, invite Jesus into your married life, Dra. Arianna and Doc Dexter in the same manner you have both invited Him today on your wedding day. God bless you always, Dra. Arianna and Doc Dexter! May today be your least happiest day in your life as couple! Amen.

The heart of the disciple, the heart of discipleship

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 02 March 2025
Sirach 27:4-7 ><}}}}*> 1 Corinthians 15:54-58 ><}}}}*> Luke 6:39-45

The last time we have celebrated the eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle C was in 2001 when just like this year, the Season of Lent started late in March. In fact, the other last two Sundays of sixth and eighth in Cycle C were last celebrated in 2010 and 2007, respectively.

It is worth noting this because as Jesus delivered his Sermon on the Plain, we find that contrary to claims by many in this modern time, the teachings of Christ are actually taken directly from life as he reveals to us the truth in our hearts. Two Sundays ago, Jesus taught us the paradoxical happiness of our lives, of being poor, hungry, weeping, and maligned than rich, filled, laughing and well-spoken of; last Sunday, he taught us of the need to love truly that is rooted in God by loving without measure, loving even our enemies.

This Sunday, Jesus tells us something we often debate about as it usually puts us into a bind even a quandary on what to say and do.

Jesus told his disciples a parable, “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye” (Luke 6:39, 41-42).

*Photo by author, Hidden Valley Springs Resort, Calauan, Laguna, 20 February 2025.*

Very often in many instances, most of us choose to be quiet than speak out against evil and other irregularities among us and in our society because of this teaching of the Lord. Many are afraid to notice the splinter in the brother’s eye lest they too might have a wooden beam blocking their views of themselves.

And that is why, evil persists everywhere that eventually, many of us become silent partners in the many sins happening around us which is very far from the demands of Jesus for us to choose what is right and good, to always make a stand for him even on the Cross.

See the flow of the Sermon on the Plain, of how Jesus is first of all never condemning nor judgmental of anyone. We have reflected his four “woes” were actually invitations for the rich et alii to change their ways in life, to think more of things that do not pass like wealth and other material things.

Secondly, last Sunday, Jesus directed our intentions into our hearts, to probe our hearts and find his grace of supernatural or divine love poured in there so that we can love selflessly without measure like him.

This Sunday, Jesus still directs us into our hearts, to examine whether we are truly his disciple or a hypocrite as someone who says something yet does the opposite. It is not opposite his exhortation last week for us to be merciful like God our Father rather a challenge to examine what we practice, our Christian praxis.

“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear a good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles. A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:43-45).

*Photo by Mr. Lorenzo Atienza, leftmost section of the stained glass at the National Shrine of Our lady of Fatima in Valenzuela City, 25 February 2025.*

It is clearly a lesson in holiness, in integrity of every disciple! Do we walk our talk? The most basic norm of morality is that what we know in our mind and what we feel in our heart is what we say and therefore what we do.

Where are we now? Everybody is speaking about corruption while the devils celebrate everywhere as we are all entangled in all forms of corruption not only in the streets and government offices but even in our homes, in schools and offices and yes, right inside the church in many parishes.

Now we come full circle with Christ’s opening to his parable, Can a blind person guide a blind person? And this is what is now happening in the world, in our lives, in our country and in our parishes. Nobody would want to speak because nobody would want to examine one’s heart and follow the path of Jesus.

It is in our deeds that one is recognized as a true disciple. Let us not forget that. And let us not be afraid to examine constantly the value of our many ways and practices.

*Photo by author, St. Paul Spirtuality Center, Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 05 January 2025.*

One of the famous bishops and saint both recognized by the Eastern and Western Churches is St. John Chrysostom who served as Archbishop of Constantinople until the early 400’s. He is called the “golden mouthed” because of his gift in eloquence most true in his witnessing Christ, always meaning what he said like in this homily that sounds so 2025:

The Church is in an extremely critical state, and you think that all is going well. The fact is that we are plunged into countless sins, and we do not even know it!

You wonder why. We hav e churches, money, and everything else. There are places for assembly, people come there everyday; surely this is not nothing?

But it is not thus that we judge the state of the Church. Then how?, you ask.

Whether we lead a truly Christian life. Whether everyday we make ourselves spiritually more rich, bearing fruit, whether great or small; if we are not content simply with flfilling the law and expediting our religious duties.

Who is a better person, after having frequented the church all month?

This is what we must look for! After all, even what appears to be a good action is only a bad action, when one does not follow it up… If we bring nothing to fruition through it, it would be better to stay home (from Days of the Lord, vol. 6, page 62).

*Photo by Mr. Lorenzo Atienza, 25 February 2025.*

The kind of life we lead is the final test of our discipleship, the proof of what is in our hearts. St. Francis of Assisi used to tell his followers whenever they would preach to use only their mouth if necessary. Our actions speak louder than our words.

This is the biggest problem in the Church today: our lack of credibility as bishops and priests when our lives are far from what we say and teach.

God shared with us his power of the words. In the Bible, we find how his words and his being are always one since the story of creation into the coming of Jesus Christ who could heal with just mere words being the word who became flesh.

This is the whole point of Ben Sirach in our first reading this Sunday, reminding us that inasmuch as the potter knows the quality of his work after it has passed through fire, the same thing is most true with our words. We have to harness and master our speech, our words so that we walk what we talk.

We master our power of the words in our prayer life as St. Paul assured us in today’s second reading how in the Lord our labor is not in vain (1 Cor. 15:58). Let us pray to the Holy Spirit especially this Sunday as we approach the Season of Lent with Ash Wednesday. Let us keep our zeal for Christ not nonly for his words and teachings but most especially in his life and witnessing. Amen. See you at Ash Wednesday.

*Campus Ministry, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City.*

Love your enemies

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 23 February 2025

Jesus said to his disciples: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse, pray for those who mistreat you… But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:27-28, 35-36).

yes, i hear you Lord.
love my enemies.
i have tried
and continue to strive
at loving my enemies;
but, who are my enemies?

yes, it is easier said than done,
loving my enemies
who are most easy to identify
as those i hate and do not agree with,
those who have hurt me,
those who do not believe in me,
those who simply differ with me
both outside
and inside.

as i rested in you, Jesus
i have realized 
something deeper,
and pernicious: 
my worst enemies
are those within me
like a sin i refuse to admit,
a sin i continue to justify,
a darkness i'm afraid to look into.

yes, Jesus!
my worst enemy 
is actually myself 
when i deny your love 
and presence in me;
let me look deep inside me
where in my life
is God asking me to love
more like you, Jesus?

yes, it is terrifying,
disturbing and difficult
but it is only when i love more
like you Jesus
that i experience your love more
and begin loving my enemies within!

More than natural, love is supernatural & divine

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 23 February 2025
1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23 ><)))*> 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 ><)))*> Luke 6:27-38

*Photo by author Santisima Trinidad Parish, Malolos City, 18 March 2023.*

We continue this Sunday Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Plain with his teachings getting more disturbing, twice telling us to love our enemies. Yes, you heard it right…

Jesus said to his disciples: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse, pray for those who mistreat you… But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:27-28, 35-36).

See that after selecting Twelve from among his many disciples, Jesus will be asking more from his followers that includes us today. As we have reflected last Sunday with the four woes of Christ, there is no middle ground in being a Christian. We have to make a decision, to choose Jesus always.

This Sunday, Jesus shows us it is no simple choice we have to make because loving our enemies is easier said than done.

In this age of social media when everything is blown out of proportion with everyone dragged even into the quarrels and infidelities among celebrities, the more it is difficult to avoid making enemies with many of us easily taking sides in the petty issues that are trending.

It is the same thing with our way of loving these days with how easy it is to love people who love us too. Anyone can be so nice to people nice also to them as it comes naturally.

But real love is not really that natural.

True love as Jesus had shown us on the Cross is more than the natural flow of things. It is always supernatural, beyond the natural flow of emotions. Jesus is asking us that we go beyond what comes naturally especially with love because love is a decision, a fruit of the meeting of mind and of heart, a oneness within every person that is also a sure sign of one’s maturity, spirituality.

Loving our enemies, doing good on those who do bad against us is love of the highest order. It is not weakness but actually a strength for no weakling can muster the courage and clarity to be loving with one’s enemies.

Loving our enemies is knowing better than the rest on the repercussions, the intricacies and complexities of being adamant and insistent.

This is the beautiful example shown by David in the first reading: instead of delivering into his hands King Saul he had found sleeping unguarded inside a cave while pursuing him and his men, David spared his life out of respect for God who anointed Saul as King of Israel.

See also the practicality of Jesus in teaching us to love our enemies and those who do us bad: if you only love or care or be kind with those who love and care and are kind to us, then it is not real love and caring and kindness at all you are giving. Jesus pointed out that even criminals and bad people do it. If that is the case, then, we are no different from them if we love only those who love us!

*Fatima University students spent a Sunday afternoon of prayers and fun with kids with cerebral palsy and their families, 09 February 2025.*

True love, real love is never transactional, never a deal nor an agreement in this age of many marriages punctuated with pre-nuptials. True love is freely given without any reservations, no ifs nor buts. As St. Mother Teresa used to say, the true measure of love is to love without measure.

Love is something we fully give away, never kept. You never scrimp on love. It is always given in full. Scrimp on your love, you lose because the love you keep and withdraw is never kept nor save. In fact, a love not shared and given becomes stale. Or expired. Napapanis.

Like the things we love eating or using, love comes without any expiration date that says “best consumed before February 23, 2025.”

Love is best when freely given and shared. Once “opened” or given, no need to keep and refrigerate it. Consume it right away! Everything. No love is ever wasted. Walang sayang na pagmamahal, lahat may pinatutunguhan at binubungang mabuti.

*Photo by author, Hidden Springs Resort, Calauan, Laguna, 20 February 2025.*

Love is like a natural spring water, or the waterfalls that keep flowing, watering and refreshing countless tributaries, people, plants and animals. Just keep loving! Love, love, love!

At his Sermon on the Plain, Jesus clarifies that true love like his love is first of all not of natural level and flow but of supernatural nature, divine like him. Jesus emphasized this at his Last Supper, describing it as a “new commandment of love” because it is a love rooted in God not just in man.

The following Good Friday on the Cross, Jesus proved his love as true and real. Most of all, free.

We today experience that true love of Jesus even to this day because of his rising three days after his crucifixion at Easter. This is what Paul meant in the second reading that in Jesus Christ, we have become heavenly and spiritual. The love of Christ have made us like him, divine and heavenly. What a great honor we now have! For being so loved by God in Jesus Christ, we too must love truly and freely like him!

Last month, I strongly reacted to a statement by Rappler’s Ms. Maria Ressa in her interview before a speech at the Vatican Jubilee of Journalists.

I called her “heretic” when she told her interviewer that Filipinos should “stay away from dogmas and be good” (https://lordmychef.com/2025/01/27/on-being-good-as-a-catholic/)

That night in my prayer, I felt God “disturbed” me for being so harsh and judgmental of a journalist presumably totally unaware of the meaning of “dogma” in the Church.

The following day, I got a message from the reporter who posted that story and naturally, did not like what I wrote. As days went on, I felt “disturbed” and “uneasy” with my calling her “heretic”. After three days, I edited my blog and removed the harsh word as I realized calling others with names or labels would not help at all in clarifying things especially about our faith.

Most of all, it is not the Christian way of loving others, of putting others down just to uphold our faith and beliefs. It is not love. And I felt so afraid Jesus might personally get down from his Cross to take away that harsh word I have written.

Next month, I will be turning 60 years old, a senior sixty-cent so excited with my discount card. As I reflected these days on the immense love of Jesus for me in these 60 years, 27 as his priest, I have been praying, where in my life is God asking me to love more like Christ?

Loving our enemies is not merely the people we hate, or those who have hurt us or different from us, not like us. Loving our enemies includes those darkness within us, those weaknesses we hide and cover, sins we refuse to admit or continue to justify. Many times our worst enemies are those within us, our very selves.

It is difficult. And terrifying. Loving our enemies is easier said than done. It is also disturbing but at the same time, so liberating because the more we love, the more we feel free for Christ and for others. Amen. Have a blessed, loving week ahead.

Sharing with you a video I have taken last Thursday at the Hidden Springs Resort in Laguna; the sight and scene of a waterfalls reminded me so much of God’s love that never runs out.

Jesus on the street

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 20 February 2025
Genesis 9:1-13 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Mark 8:27-33

Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the Christ.” (Mark 8:27-29)

You are always on the move,
Lord Jesus:
you are always moving,
crossing the lake,
hiking in the mountains
and most often,
walking the streets.

What a lovely imagery
of you, Jesus,
always on the road 
with me following you,
watching you,
observing you,
sometimes stopping
because of being tired
but you are always there
waiting for me.

And now,
what a lovely scene
of you back on the road again
but this time asking those closest
to you - including me! -
with that most personal question
of all: "But who do you say 
that I am?"

Who are you for me, Jesus?

So many, actually.
I may not be as eloquent
like Peter, but no doubt about
who are you for me, Jesus:
my life,
my meaning,
my love,
my hopes,
my fullness.

But,
very often along this
road,
on these streets we walk
and cross,
dear Jesus
when that who are you for me
is shaken,
is tested,
even doubted
like Peter:
how could you allow 
yourself and us your followers
suffer and cry,
and die?

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

Let us think always
as God does, Jesus,
not as human beings do
seeking fame and prestige,
comfort and wealth,
self and ego;
let me walk closer with you
Jesus on the streets,
on whatever road
you take
upholding that covenant
of God with Noah to
uphold and respect
human life by
"accounting for human
life" (Genesis 9:5);
more than the colorful
rainbows of the skies,
may we always see in your
outstretched arms on the Cross
the true and new covenant
of God with us sealed in 
your blood.
Amen.

*Photo by author, St. Scholastica Spirituality Center, Baguio City, August 2023.*

Our quest for signs & occasions of sin

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 17 February 2025
Genesis 4:1-15, 25 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 8:11-13

*Photo by author, DRT, Bulacan, November 2024.*

How interesting are your words
today, O God our loving Father,
of how Cain like the Pharisees
came to Abel to "discuss" about 
something as a pretext before
killing him; the Pharisees went to
Jesus to argue with him 
and asked him for a sign
from heaven to test him.

How funny and insane,
dear Father,
how much time we spend
just to discuss
and argue things
about you
and your ways,
asking for many signs
just for us to believe
you; how unfortunate,
our quest for signs
has often led us to sin,
to more divisions
and separations,
more lies
and more hate
because
we have too much self.

Forgive us, Father.
Teach us to offer
you a sacrifice of praise
as the psalmist
sings today
by "doing well,
holding up our heads"
(Genesis 4:7)
giving our best to
listen to you,
to seek you,
and follow you.
Amen.

Magnanimous Jesus

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 16 February 2025
Jeremiah 17:5-8 ><}}}}*> 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20 ><}}}}* Luke 6:17, 20-26

After the call of his first disciples last Sunday, Jesus went on to preach in Galilee as great crowds followed him with some of them becoming his disciples too. From among these many disciples, Jesus chose twelve to be his Apostles after praying one night on a mountain (Lk. 6:12-16).

As they went down from the mountain, Jesus taught the Twelve along with his other disciples and crowd of people who have gathered to listen to him in what came to be known as his Sermon on the Plain.

Luke patterned his Sermon on the Plain on earlier account of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount that portrayed Jesus like the new Moses and moreover, the new Law himself. Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount has a smaller audience that was limited to just the Twelve while Luke’s Sermon on the Plain had a wider audience of not just the Apostles but also the other disciples and the crowd of people who have been following him.

But, more than their differences in their setting and audience, the two sermons differ greatly in the message itself. Both Luke and Matthew begin with four beatitudes, but Matthew concludes with additional beatitudes while Luke matched the four beatitudes with four woes that frankly speaking, are very disturbing.

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way” (Luke 6:24-26).

Again, Luke is telling us something deeper about Jesus in his version of the Sermon on the Plain that actually echoes the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Magnificat found only in his gospel too.

Recall in the Magnificat how Mary spoke of God sending the rich “away empty” (Lk.1:53) as he blessed the poor and the hungry. And here now is Jesus Christ fulfilling those words of his Mother.

The gospels and the whole Bible itself teem with many pronouncements against the rich and those in similar good fortune in life. Is God against the rich, those happy and those of good reputation? What’s wrong with being rich or well-off, of having our fill of food and laughter, and being spoken well of by others?

Nothing really.

Jesus is not against anyone for he loves everyone as he preached extensively on the need to love one another as we love God. If Jesus preached only love, he would have not been crucified, and most definitely would have not made so much enemies. But, the kind of love Jesus preached was so radical that shook not only the ways of the old but also of modern time because it is a kind of love that pulls down the mighty and favors the poor and those suffering. His Sermon on the Plain rings louder than ever today as we have not seemed learned from the lessons of the past. And believe it or not, the four woes declared by Jesus in his Sermon on the Plain are actually expressions of his magnanimous love, contrary to what others claim.

The four woes that are antitheses of the four blessings are not actually maledictions as most interpretations have expressed. A malediction is like a curse, an expression of one’s desire for someone’s harm like in calling down God’s wrath. The four woes of Jesus in his Sermon on the Plain is far from that reality nor a condemnation against anyone.

*Photo by author, Church of the Beatitudes, the Holy Land, May 2017.*

In calling the rich “woeful” along with those who are filled and those who laugh “now” as well as those of whom “all speak well”, Jesus is neither condemning them nor declaring them as evil-doers; in calling them “woeful”, Jesus reminds them and us today of being on the wrong and bad path in life that can lead to a fatal outcome or end.

Like in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus that only Luke has an account in his gospel, Jesus Christ’s “woes” are warnings – “red flags” – everyone must consider who might be in the wrong direction and wrong choices in “enjoying” life “now” without any concern for those who are suffering like the poor and the hungry, those who grieve and those maligned and hated.

*Photo by Mr. Jay Javier, Quiapo, 09 January 2020.*

The poor, the hungry, the weeping and the hated are blessed not simply because of their state in life but more of their willingness to forego so many worldly things “now” for they trust in God who shall deliver them to salvation and justice.

They are blessed because they have realized that things of the world are passing, something that the worldly could not accept. How sad that many today have lost sight of eternity and even of God, living only for the “now”.

Jesus is not asking us to be “masochists” or at the other end of the extreme, to be complacent in the face of widespread suffering and pains. Remember how in the synagogue at Nazareth one sabbath when Jesus launched his ministry by proclaiming from the Prophet Isaiah how the Spirit of God rested on him to bring glad tidings to the poor, liberty to captives, healing to the sick (3rd Sunday, Jan. 26).

By calling the poor and the suffering as “blessed”, Jesus assures them that God is with them and that justice shall be reestablished on “that day” when they enter the kingdom that has been prepared for them in eternal life. He called us “woe” to warn us while there is still enough time to change our course in life to be blessed not only now but in all eternity too!

See how our readings this Sunday are actually about our making of wise choices in life: in the first reading, Jeremiah warns us of the consequences of trusting God or trusting humans while the psalms show us the ways of the just and the ways of the wicked; Paul in the second reading presents to us the grace of believing in Christ’s Resurrection and the folly of denying it while in the gospel, Jesus offers us blessing or woe in living.

These readings show us there is no middle ground in following Jesus nor grey areas in God. Our decisions in life define the course of our lives like what the Pepsi Cola ad used to say in the 1990’s, “we are made (or unmade) by the decision we make.”

Moreover, in giving us those four woes, Luke reminds us that in making our decisions, we must consider more than the moral but the Christological perspective of life to be like Jesus Christ – who is himself the “blessed” because he is the poor one, the hungry, the weeping and the hated.

Should we make the wrong decisions in life, Jesus remains magnanimous, remaining in us, telling us those woes over and over so we would still make the right choices in life. Don’t take it personally; Jesus cares for you.

In three weeks we shall be entering the Season of Lent. Incidentally, the last time we celebrated Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time in Cycle C was in 2010, the Seventh Sunday in 2007, and the Eighth Sunday in 2001!

Our gospel readings in the coming two more Sundays before Ash Wednesday would still be taken from Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Plain to emphasize the closeness of God with those who are poor and suffering.

As we approach the holy Season of Lent that calls us to more prayers, fasting and almsgiving, we can already start this Sixth Sunday examining our lives to see if we are aligned with the blessed ones of God or are we the woeful ones. The choice is ours. Let us pray for the grace to choose Jesus, only Jesus, always Jesus. Amen. A blessed week ahead to everyone!

God hears us

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 13 February 2025
Genesis 2:18-25 ><0000'> + ><0000'> + ><0000'> Mark 7:24-30

*Photo by author, Fatima Ave., Valenzuela City, July 2024.*

Your words today, O Lord,
are very striking:
in the gospel you were
seeking rest while 
a Syrophoenician woman -
a pagan and outsider -
was seeking healing of her
daughter;
in the first reading,
God felt it was not good 
for man to be alone
and he cast him into a deep
sleep, took one of his ribs 
and made it into a woman;
in both instances,
you listened and heard
O God the needs of your 
people whether it was
loudly voiced out like that
pagan woman or
simply kept in the man's heart.

And that's the good news 
so good for us to hear today:
you listen.
Always.

Likewise,
in both stories,
there is always a giving up
on our part for us to be
heard and answered by you,
Lord:
the Syrophoenician begged
and disregarded her very self
for her daughter possessed by
the demon while the man
gave names to all the creatures
and animals given him;
moreover, 
the man had to lose his one rib
to give way for the woman's coming
in order for him to have company
while in the gospel,
the pagan woman accepted
her being a foreigner,
an outsider
that Jesus reintegrated her
into the fold.

Many times, Lord,
we feel left out in you,
we feel you not listening
nor hearing our deepest pleas
and longings
when in fact
you know them so well
that you only await us
to come to you
and voice them out,
express them to you
trustingly.
Amen.

Jesus our water of healing in Cana & Lourdes with Mary.

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes & World Day of Sick, 11 February 2025
Isaiah 66:10-14 <'000>< + ><000'> + <'000>< + ><000'> John 2:1-11

*Photo by author, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Bignay, Valenzuela City, 03 February 2025.*

Thank you, 
dearest God our loving Father
in sending us your Son Jesus Christ
who gave us his Mother 
the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be our Mother too!

From the very beginning of
his ministry to our modern time,
Mary has always been close with
Jesus who showed us your great signs
of your loving presence, 
generosity and mercy,
life and joy first anticipated
at the wedding at Cana,
his first miracle.

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. when the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:1-5).

*From stillromancatholicafteralltheseyears.com, January 2022.*

How lovely that Jesus Christ's
first sign (miracle) happened
 "on the third day" -
a prefiguration of Easter -
the fullness of your coming to us,
the fullness of our healing and salvation,
the third day after his "hour";
how prominent that
at his "hour" on the Cross,
blood and water flowed out
from Jesus' side pierced by a lance
while there at the wedding at Cana,
Jesus transformed water into
an excellent wine.

Both at Cana and at Lourdes
 there was water,
 the sign of life;
most of all,
 in both instances
 like at the Cross,
 Mary was present
bringing us healing
and joy.

At Cana,
 water became an excellent wine
 to prefigure the Lord’s Supper
 we celebrate each day in the Holy Mass
 as a foretaste of our promised glory in heaven
 while at Lourdes,
 water transformed
and healed the sick.

*Photo by author, Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes at St. Paul Spirituality Center in Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 06 January 2025.*

Thank you 
most Blessed Virgin Mary
to your witness of faith in Christ;
your example enabled us
to encounter 
the gift of God in Jesus, 
to create the feast of joy 
of communion, 
of healing, 
of fulfillment 
that can only be made possible 
by God’s presence 
and his gift of self 
in Christ;
in Cana and on to Lourdes 
and wherever we may be, 
every day is God’s coming, 
the “hour” of Jesus 
in every “here” and “now” 
when we experience the sign 
of God’s overflowing generosity 
to us all who are so tired 
and exhausted
most especially 
so sickly;
you, O Blessed Virgin Mary, 
are the fulfillment
of Isaiah's prophecy of God
sending us a mother who shall
comfort us in moments of 
sickness and darkness;
continue to help us,
most Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes
to get through these times
of many diseases and sickness;
get us closer to Jesus your Son
who is our true peace and joy
by doing whatever he tells us
like the servants at Cana.
Amen.

In the beginning…

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Scholastica, Virgin, 10 February 2025
Genesis 1:1-19 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Mark 6:53-56

*Photo by author, sunset in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024*.

Blessed are you,
God our loving Father
in giving us a taste of
the beginning everyday
especially on this first day
of work and of school
as your words in the first reading
remind of our daily
beginning in you!

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said, “Let there be…” Thus evening came, and morning followed… (Genesis 1:1-3, 7).

In the beginning
there was nothing but
chaos just like in our lives
until you brought light,
order and life, God;
it is always light and order
that come first to set the
stage for life like in those first
two days; what is most lovely,
Father is when the third day came
and there began balance and
symmetry in your creation 
like sea and earth, 
day and night,
sun and moon
that relationships happened
and everything started to be good.

In the gospel today
as in our lives,
every day is a new beginning
with its many chaos:
sickness and diseases,
emptiness,
self-alienation,
rejection in all forms,
failures and disappointments
as well frustrations
that all remind us of how
everything was in the beginning;
but, with Jesus Christ's coming
and healing
we saw the light
and experienced healing
and order.

Everything becomes good
when seen in your light
and design, Lord Jesus;
when our relationships are
kept and maintained
especially at home like with
our siblings,
parents and family
as exemplified by the twins
St. Scholastica
and St. Benedict.

Make everything new again
and most of all good,
dear Jesus in our lives
like in the Genesis
as shown by St. Scholastica
who was able to do more
because she loved most.
Amen.