Tag: relationships

Mga pamahiin at kaalaman turo sa atin ng paglalamay sa patay

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-01 ng Nobyembre 2024
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 Marso 2024.

Salamuch sa mainit na pagtanggap sa ating nakaraang lathalaing nagpapaliwanag sa ilang mga pamahiin sa paglalamay sa patay.

Sa ating pagsisikap na tuntunin pinagmulan ng mga pamahiin sa paglalamay, nakita rin natin ang kapangyarihan ng mga kaisipan ng tao na mahubog ang kamalayan at kaugalian ng karamihan sa pamamagitan ng mga ito.

Ang nakakatuwa po, mayroon namang praktikal na dahilan sa likod ng maraming pamahiin katulad po ng maraming nagtatanong, bakit daw masamang magwalis kapag mayroong patay?

Larawan kuha ni Fr. Pop dela Cruz, San Miguel, Bulacan, 2022.

Sa mga katulad kong promdi o laki sa probinsiya inabutan ko pa mga kapitbahay naming nakatira sa kubo at mga sinaunang tirahan na mayroong bubong na pawid at silong sa ilalim. Tablang kahoy ang mga sahig kung mayroong kaya at masinsing kinayas na mga kawayan kung hindi naman nakakaangat sa buhay. Ang silong palagi ay lupa din, mataas lang ng kaunti sa kalsada. Bihira naka-tiles noon. Kaya, masama ring ipanhik ng bahay ang tsinelas o bakya o sapatos kasi marumi mga ito.

Masama o bawal magwalis kapag mayroong lamay sa patay kasi nakakahiya sa mga panauhin na nakikiramay – mag-aalikabok sa buong paligid! Liliparin mga lupa at buhangin kasama na mga mikrobyo.

Marumi, sa madaling salita. Kaya ang utos ng matatanda, pulutin mga kalat gaya ng balat ng kendi o butong-pakwan. Noong mamatay Daddy ko, hindi ko matandaan kung tinupad namin pamahiing ito pero hindi ko malimutan paano nilinis ng mga kapit-bahay aming bahay nang ihatid na namin sa huling hantungan aking ama. Bagaman bawal magwalis noong lamay, asahan mo naman puspusang paglilinis ng mga kapit-bahay at kaanak pagkalibing ng inyong patay.

Kapag ako po ay tinatanong kung “naniniwala” sa pamahiin, “hindi” po ang aking sagot kasi iisa lang aking pinaniniwalaan, ang Diyos nating mapagmahal. Tandaan turo ni San Pablo noon sa marami niyang mga sulat, hindi mga ritual at kaugalian nagliligtas sa atin kungdi tanging si Kristo Jesus lamang.

Bakit lamay o "wake" 
ang pagbabantay sa patay?

Nakakatawa at marahil mahirap paniwalaan sagot sa tanong na iyan. Ang paglalamay ay hindi pagtulog sa gabi dahil sa mga gawain at gampanin kinakailangang tuparin. Wake ang Inggles nito na ibig sabihin ay “gising” tulad ng awake.

Naglalamay ang mga tao noong unang panahon lalo na sa Europa kapag mayroong namamatay upang matiyak na talagang namatay na nga kanilang pinaglalamayan. Inihihiga ang hinihinalang namatay sa mesa habang mga naglalamay ay nagkakainan at nag-iinuman upang hindi antukin; higit sa lahat, baka sakaling magising at matauhan hinihinalang patay sa kanilang ingay.

Alalahaning wala pang mga duktor noon na maaring magdeklarang pumanaw na ngang tunay ang isang tao; kaya, hindi malayo na may pagkakataong ang mga inaakalang namatay ay nag-comatose lamang. Kapag hindi pa rin nagising sa ingay ng kainan at inuman ng mga naglamay ang patay pagsapit ng bukang-liwayway, ipinapalagay nila noon na tunay na ngang patay iyon at saka pa lamang pag-uusapan ang libing.

Nang maglaon sa paglaganap ng Kristiyanidad, ang lamay na dati ay kainan at inuman, naging panahon ng pagdarasal ngunit hindi rin nawala mga kainan at inuman sa mga lamayan upang huwag antukin. At higit sa lahat, para maraming makiramay na ibig sabihin, mabuting tao namatay.

Mga salita at kaalaman
natutunan dahil sa mga patay...

Heto ngayon ang magandang kuwento mula sa kasaysayan kung paanong napagyaman ng mga tradisyon sa paglalamay ng namatay ang ating mga wika maging kaisipan. Kitang-kita ito sa kulturang banyaga tulad ng mga Inggles.

Nagtataka maraming archaeologists sa ilang mga takip ng kabaong sa Inglatera ay mayroong kalmot ng kuko ng daliri. At maraming bahid ng dugo.

Napag-alaman sa pagsasaliksik na may mga pagkakataong nalilibing mga yumao noon na hindi pa naman talagang patay! Kaya, kapag sila ay nagkamalay o natauhan habang nakalibing, pinagtutulak nila ang takip ng kabaong hanggang sa pagkakalmutin upang makalabas hanggang sa tuluyang mamatay na nga sa libingan.

Kaya naisipan ng mga tao noon na magtalaga ng bantay sa sementeryo lalo na mula alas-diyes ng gabi hanggang pagsikat ng araw na siyang pinagmulan ng katagang graveyard shift – literal na pagtatanod sa sementeryo o “graveyard” upang abangan sakaling mabuhay ang nalibing.

Larawan kuha ng may-akda, libingan ng mga pari at hermanong Heswita sa Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, ika-20 ng Marso 2024.

Ganito po ang siste: tinatalian ng pisi ang daliri o kamay ng bawat namamatay kapag inilibing. Nakadugtong ang taling ito sa isang kililing o bell sa tabi ng bantay ng sementeryo, yung nasa graveyard shift.

Nakaangat ng kaunti ang takip ng kanyang kabaong at hindi lubusang tinatabunan kanyang libingan upang sakaling magkamalay, tiyak magpipiglas ito sa loob ng kabaong para makalabas… tutunog ang kililing sa gitna ng dilim ng gabi para magising o matawag pansin ng bantay na agad sasaklolo upang hanguin ang buhay na nalibing.

Isipin ninyo eksena sa sementeryo sa kalagitnaan ng dilim ng gabi… at biglang mayroong kikililing? Sinong hindi matatakot sa taong nalibing na biglang nabuhay? Doon nagmula ang salitang dead ringer na ibig sabihin ay isang taong nakakatakot o kakila-kilabot. Ikaw ba namang magtrabao ng graveyard shift sa sementeryo at kalagitnaan ng gabi ay tumunog kililing… marahil magkakaroon ka rin ng tililing sa takot!

Kaugnay din nito, alam ba ninyo na mayroong nakatutuwang kuwento rin ang paglalagay ng lapida sa libingan ng ating mga yumao?

Balikan ang Bagong Tipan ng Banal na Kasulatan na nagsasaad ng isa sa mga pangunahin nating pinananampalatayanan: ang muling pagbabalik ni Jesus o Second Coming of Christ na tinuturing end of the world.

Takot na takot mga unang Kristiyano sa paniniwalang ito na baka wala pa ang Panginoon ay magsibangon kaagad mga naunang namatay sa kanila!

Ang kanilang solusyon, lagyan ng mabigat na batong panakip ang mga libingan tulad ng lapidang marmol upang hindi agad bumangon ang patay bago ang Second Coming of Christ o Parousia.

Isa iyan sa mga dahilan kung bakit sinesemento rin mga puntod at libingan: upang huwag unahan pagbabalik ni Jesus.

Larawan kuha ng may-akda, libingan ng mga pari at hermanong Heswita sa Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, ika-20 ng Marso 2024.
Kahalagahan ng pagsisimba...
hanggang kamatayan... 
bago ilibing.

Mula sa tahanan, dumako naman tayo ngayon sa loob ng simbahan para sa pagmimisa sa mga yumao. Pagmasdan po ninyong mabuti posisyon ng mga kabaong ng mga patay kapag minimisahan.

Kapag po layko ang namatay katulad ng karamihan sa inyo na hindi pari o relihiyoso… pagmasdan ang kanilang paa ay nakaturo sa dambana o altar habang ang ulunan ay nakaturo sa mga tao o nagsisimba.

Kuha ng may-akda, 2018.

Ito ay dahil sa huling sandali ng pagpasok ng sino mang binyagan sa simbahan, siya pa rin ay nagsisimba. Pansinin na nakaturo kayang mga paa sa altar at ulo naman sa pintuan dahil kapag siya ay ibinangon, nakaharap pa rin siya sa altar, nagsisimba, nagdarasal.

Kapag pari naman ang namatay, katulad ko (punta po kayo), ang aming mga paa ay nakaturo sa pintuan ng simbahan at ulo naroon sa direksiyon ng dambana.

Hanggang sa huling pagpasok naming pari sa simbahan bago ilibing, kami ay nagmimisa pa rin ang anyo: nakaharap sa mga tao kung ibabangon mula sa pagkaposisyon ng aming ulo nakaturo sa altar at mga paa sa pintuan.

Larawan kuha ng may akda ng pinakamahal at isa sa matandang sementeryo sa mundo; mga paa ay nakaposisyon sa silangang pintuan ng Jerusalem upang makaharap kaagad ang Mesiyas na inaasahang magdaraan doon kapag dumating. Ang totoo, doon nga dumaaan si Jesus pagpasok ng Jerusalem mahigit 2000 taon na nakalipas.

Salamuch muli sa inyong pagsubaybay sa ating pagninilay at pagpapaliwanag ng ilang mga pamahiin at paniniwala kaugnay ng mga namatay. Ang mahalaga sa lahat ng ito ay patuloy tayong mamuhay sa kabanalan at kabutihan na naka-ugat palagi sa Diyos sa buhay panalangin (prayer life) na ang rurok ay ang Banal na Misa.

Huwag na nating hintayin pa kung kailan patay na tayo ay siyang huling pasok din natin sa simbahan na hindi makasalita ni makarinig o makakita. Tandaan, ang pagsisimba tuwing Linggo ay dress rehearsal natin ng pagpasok sa langit!

Kaya ngayong todos los santos, unahing puntahan ang simbahan upang magsimba. Tiyak makakatagpo natin doon ang ating yumao sa piling ng Diyos, kesa sa sementeryo napuro patay at mga kalansay. Amen.

Larawan kuha ng may-akda, bukang-liwayway sa Camp John Hay, Baguio City, Nobyembre 2018.

Unity in Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. John Paul II, Pope, 22 October 2024
Ephesians 2:1-10     <*[[[[><  +  ><]]]]*>     Luke 12:35-38
Photo by author, mountain range off the coast of Nagsasa Cove, San Antonio, Zambales, 19 October 2024.
Glory to You,
O God our most loving Father
for this blessed Tuesday
as we celebrate the Memorial
of one your great servants in modern
time, Saint John Paul II,
the Pope who truly worked so hard
to spread the Good News 
of Jesus Christ our Savior,
especially to children and young people,
to the sick and suffering.

Oh how we miss him so much
most especially in his efforts to
promote unity in the real sense
without bending Church teachings
and traditions like St. Paul
who taught the unity
effected by Jesus Christ:

So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).

Grant us through your Son
Jesus Christ the grace to have Him
always at the center of our lives
and in our efforts to bridge people
together despite their many differences
so that we may truly build the Body of
Christ here on earth.
Like St. John Paul II,
let us be faithful servants,
let us "gird our loins
and light our lamps"
awaiting your presence,
Lord Jesus,
of your coming
among people who open themselves
to building unity,
to coming together in your name
to promote peace and harmony
not a unity for the sake of appeasing
modern thoughts and trends,
nor to win favors or be popular
but truly standing firm in Jesus
and His teachings because truly,
as St. John Paul had taught us,
"Unity not only embraces diversity, 
but is verified in diversity."
Amen.
Pope John Paul II, using his crosier for support, celebrates an outdoor Mass in Slovenia, Sept. 19, 1999. (photo: Gabriel Bouys / AFP via Getty Images)

We are God’s handiwork

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Twenty-ninth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 21 October 2024
Ephesians 2:1-10     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     Luke 12:13-21
Photo by author, the pristine Nagsasa Cove in San Antonio, Zambales, 19 October 2024.
Your words today, O loving God
through St. Paul are so refreshing,
so lovely to read and hear,
very reassuring especially for 
those of us losing hope in life,
those so tired and exhausted,
those about to give up;
let us sing joyfully to You, O Lord,
and serve You gladness!

For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them (Ephesians 2:10).

Everything that we have become,
every good and beautiful thing we do
is simply because of You, O God,
at work in us,
through us;
what a great honor, O God
You made us so good and beautiful,
You brought us here,
You sent us for a mission;
let us be open in order to give
our unconditional "YES" to Jesus Christ
in faith daily so that we may do continue your work
in keeping this a better and more humane world;
let us give our unconditional "YES" to Jesus daily
so we may experience your guidance 
and help in our undertakings
to reflect You, dear God,
so that it is You who is always
found and recognized in
everything we do that is true,
good, and beautiful;
let us not be preoccupied
with so much material wealth
and fame that fills us with greed
unable to satisfy the deepest 
longings of our hearts 
found only in You.
Amen.
Photo by author, river leading to Nagsasa Cove, San Antonio, Zambales, 19 October 2024.

When we do not know what “we want”

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 20 October 2024
Isaiah 53:10-11 ><}}}}*> Hebrews 4:14-16 ><}}}}*> Mark 10:35-45
The Jewish Cemetery of Mount of Olives facing the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem where the Messiah is believed would pass through when He comes, exactly where Jesus entered on Palm Sunday over 2000 years ago (photo by author taken in May 2019).

Jesus Christ’s three predictions of His coming Passion, Death, and Resurrection punctuate Mark’s narration of the Lord’s journey to Jerusalem. They were already fast approaching Jerusalem when Jesus revealed His third prediction of His Pasch to His followers.

According to Mark, the Twelve and the crowd were “amazed and were afraid” after hearing for the third time Christ’s coming Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

Photo by author, Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, April 2017.

And this was the prevailing mood among the followers of the Lord as they approached Jerusalem; beginning today and next Sunday, Mark reminds us of the need to have a clear sight and understanding of Jesus and His mission so that we may not be blinded by fame and glory in following Him like the brothers James and John:

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” He replied, “What do you wish me to do for you?” They answered him, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking… but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared” (Mark 10:35-38, 40).

Jesus said to them, 
"You do not know what you are asking."
Photo by author, Betania Tagaytay, 2018.

Whoa…! We might all exclaim with some indignation like the other ten Apostles upon hearing this request by James and John, two of the most intimate friends of Jesus with Simon Peter.

Were they trying to ease their worries and fears that they made the request without thinking it so well, a case of mema, me masabi lang? Or, do they really understand nothing at all of the Lord’s teachings especially last Sunday of the need to let go of our possessions to enter eternal life?

Whatever may be the reason, we could just imagine the treachery of the two who left the group behind, trying not to be noticed by the ten, and approached Jesus who was walking ahead. They have both belittled Jesus who reads the minds and the hearts of everyone. And most sad is the fact that many times, we too act like James and John.

Oh yes! We know so well of the sufferings and trials, of the “cup we have to drink and baptism we have to undergo” Jesus told the brothers. Very much like the two, we also know Christ always triumphs! Jesus never fails!

And that’s the crux of the matter here not only with James and John but with us: we bet on Jesus like in gambling casinos for we know Jesus wins all the time, hoping for some rewards following His glory.

James and John like us today believed so much in Jesus that despite His coming Passion and Death, they knew as we do that He would rise again and be King. Long before the Passion of Jesus had begun, still far from entering Jerusalem, James and John were already betting on the success and glory of Christ because they wanted a guarantee of a reward. It was a sort reminding Jesus they have always been with Him since the beginning like Peter last Sunday who bragged about having left everything to follow Him.

Are we not like them? It is the same attitude found among many of us not only in politics and government but even at home, in school and offices, or the church! Be the first to register to make it known how well qualified we are for commendations and rewards simply because of being in the company of every journey or advocacy or struggle.

It is the tragedy that happens even in our faith journey as Christians when we are blinded by so many worldly things about Jesus whom we see merely as a miracle-worker or worst, an ATM who never runs out of cash. We believe in Jesus as the Son of God, all-powerful and merciful who can do everything, especially the impossible as He had assured us last Sunday but many times, we do not know what we are asking like James and John.

When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John. Jesus summoned them and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be with so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you you will be slave of all. For the Son of God did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:41-45).

Photo by author, wailing wall of Jerusalem, May 2019.

Jesus clarifies today with us that His glory has nothing in common whatsoever with those things we gain here on earth by claiming our rights or resorting to undue favors, by competing with others to get the better of them or even push them away or step on them to crush them for us to be on top.

We cannot be Christ’s disciples if we are preoccupied with rewards. We serve Jesus because we love that we want to be with Him in eternal life. And in loving Him, we serve lovingly others without expecting anything in return simply because we love.

See how in calling together the Twelve, Jesus reminded them and us today of His central teaching of becoming like a child, confidently entrusting everything into the Father’s hands, exactly like Him, the Suffering Servant of God referred to by the Prophet Isaiah in the first reading who “gave his life as a ransom for many” (Mk.10:45).

Photo by author, 2021.

Jesus reminds us this Sunday that love alone – like His self-sacrificing love on the Cross – is the basis of our relationships with each other, unlike the world where relations are based on power and domination.

Noteworthy too is the reminder of the author of the Letter to the Hebrews today about Jesus our High Priest who entered the sanctuary of heaven through the Cross so that we may be saved and receive mercy from the Father.

What else do we want Jesus to do for us when He had done everything for our salvation? Let us pray for a clearer vision of Jesus, to always see and find Him in our lives so that we desire only Him and share only Him. And follow Him like the blind Bartimaeus next Sunday. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead!

Only One

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist, 18 October 2024
2 Timothy 4:10-17     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     Luke 10:1-9
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, an orange-bellied flowerpecker (Dicaeum trigonostigma), December 2023.

Beloved: Demas, enamored of the present world, deserted me and went to Thessalonica, Crescens to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. Luke is the only one with me… (2 Timothy 4:10-11).

Lord Jesus Christ,
I pray on this beautiful Friday
for those friends and dearest
ones who are like St. Luke to me:
"the only one with me"
in my moments of darkness,
of trials and sufferings,
when everyone was so busy
and never noticed me,
of my need for company
and comfort,
most especially
who reminded me 
of your fidelity 
and love.
Thank you, Jesus
for those people You
sent me like St. Luke,
"the only one with me"
in prayers as I journeyed 
through life's many adventures
and misadventures;
"the only with me"
who readily saw my points
of view;
"the only one with me"
who cheered me up
and let me cry;
"the only one with me"
in poverty;
"the only one with me"
who truly sought to understand
everything to bring out
the best in me,
to find the Christ in me.
O dear Jesus,
I pray for the other
St. Lukes You send us daily,
"the only ones" who care
and stand for women and children
still taken for granted in this world;
"the only ones" who work 
to uplift the marginalized like
the poor and widows,
the sick and those old
people living alone and dying;
most especially,
"the only ones"
still believing in You
and your Church,
still praying and
still proclaiming
your Gospel,
still remaining in Your side
amid the many lures
of this selfish, 
and godless world.
Amen.

Inmost being for connecting, reconnecting

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Twenty-seventh Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 08 October 2024
Galatians 2:1-2, 7-14     ><000'>  +  <'000><     Luke 10:38-42
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera at Banff, Canada, August 2024.

O Lord, you have probed me and you know me, you know when I sit and when I stand; you understand my thoughts from afar. Truly you have formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are your works (Psalm 139:1-2, 13-14).

Thank you,
loving God our Father
for this brand new day!
Like the psalmist today,
I am at awe with your creation,
beginning with me
at how you have formed
 my inmost being
that enables me to connect
with You through your wonderful
creation!

In forming my inmost being,
You have made me yours,
enabling me to realize my connection
with You, O God, my Creator
as well as with your entire creation;
and if I am lost or had gone astray,
it is still my inmost being You have formed
in me that enables me to reconnect
with You and myself
and others.
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera at Banff, Canada, August 2024.

Brothers and sisters: You heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it… But when he, who from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were Apostles before me: rather, I went into Arabia and then returned to Damascus (Galatians 1:13, 15-17).

How lovely and so true
like St. Paul, 
You have formed our inmost being
so that we may remain connected
or be reconnected with You 
when we are lost
and separated.
Grant us O God
the gift of discipline in 
cultivating a prayer life,
a life centered in You so that 
we remain connected in You
through Jesus Christ like Mary
sitting beside Him at His feet,
listening to His every word;
let us be aware of your precious gift
of our inmost being
by cultivating a prayer life
to make our connections stronger;
You created us, O God
to be connected always
with You,
our self,
and with others;
keep us strong in resisting
temptations to sin,
to separate and be isolated
from You and others
by destroying our connections,
disregarding our inmost being.
Amen.
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera at Banff, Canada, August 2024.

Jesus, the “love language” of God

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 06 October 2024
Genesis 2:18-24  ><}}}}*>  Hebrews 2:9-11  ><}}}}*>  Mark 10:2-16
With our student sacristans in our San Fernando Campus in Pampanga during the Mass of the Holy Spirit last year.

One of the joys of my ministry as chaplain in a university and a hospital is the daily interaction I have with young people who keep me young like them, always updated with the many trends happening among them especially in the languages they speak. In them I continue to find the many faces of Jesus Christ who continues to pass by even in this modern world so swiftly changing due to social media.

Two terms I have recently learned from them are “love language” and “situationship”. Let’s just talk about “love language” this Sunday that is more appropriate with our gospel and reserve that other word “situationship” when the setting is more apt. Lately I have noticed the term “love language” mentioned quite often in social media posts and reels. I never bothered to know it until somebody asked me what is my “love language” that threw me off balance with many wild things rushing into my mind, thinking what is it!

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

It turned out that “love language” is a term coined in 1992 by Baptist pastor Gary Chapman in his book of the same title where he identified five love languages we give and (prefer) to receive: words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time, and physical touch. It was an amazing moment of learning from me when I realized that everyone – including us priests – has a favorite love language in expressing our love to everyone. And in our gospel today, we find that even God who is love Himself has a love language in the very person of His Son Jesus Christ!

The Pharisees approached Jesus and asked, “Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?” They were testing him. He said to them in reply, “What did Moses command you?” They replied, “Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her.” But Jesus told them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate” (Mark 10:2-9).

Photo by author, 2024; I have loved mosses that thrive even with little sunlight, reminding us of God’s grace especially when we are in darkness and tribulations.

Jesus and the Twelve continued their journey to Jerusalem with His teachings not only getting more exciting but actually more difficult and hard as He addressed the thorny issue of divorce which continues to divide us in this modern age.

Interestingly enough, this scene happened while Jesus and the Twelve were in Judea, the province governed by King Herod who had John the Baptist arrested and later beheaded upon the instigation of his wife Herodias. John spoke against Herod’s taking of Herodias as wife because she used to be the wife of his own brother Philip then governing another province. One can just imagine the grave danger the Pharisees have exposed Jesus in discussing divorce right in the turf of an evil ruler living with an adulteress!

As usual, Jesus did not fall into the test by the Pharisees because He had no intentions of joining our endless debates about divorce as He knew very well that it is something so complicated that has continued to ruin human relationships as a result of the “hardness of our hearts”. Recall too similar instances when Jesus was asked for an opinion in politics like the paying of taxes to Caesar and the settlement of disputes among brothers regarding their inheritance. See how Jesus would always make it clear that His mission is not to settle our disputes in economics and politics nor personal relationships but to always reveal to us the will of God.

Instead of giving a simple answer of “yes” or “no” on the lawfulness of a divorce or the paying of taxes to the Romans, Jesus would always bring us to God our Father, the very core of our being and relationships. It is only in being rooted again in God when we realize personally, existentially why we have to strive in choosing what is true, good and beautiful no matter how difficult it may be.

Photo by Deesha Chandra on Pexels.com

This Sunday, Jesus is not offering compromises to us weak human beings about divorce but rather proposes the ideal of marriage by going back to its very source and beginning, God Himself who is love.

That is why our first reading was taken from Genesis to remind us and make us realize that everything, most especially man and woman – is created by God. Everything in this world was from God, especially our desire for union and communion which we also find expressed even by trees and plants as well as animals.

However, what makes us distinct from the rest of creation as we see in other parts of Genesis is God breathing on us His breath of life that gives us the consciousness of our oneness, of that transcendent otherness called humanity that makes us realize our deeper reality in the “I-Thou” relationship. Plants and animals do not have that consciousness.

Photo by author, St. Scholastica Retreat Center, Tagaytay City, August 2024.

The creation of a woman as suitable partner of man is not a result of an after-thought of God as if He never knew man would never be fulfilled without a woman. The creation of woman being taken from one of the ribs of man cast into a deep sleep by God reminds us of each person being a gift to everyone. No pet nor plant can bring that kind of ecstasy and joy of finding somebody like us, of bringing unity in every one who is incomplete in one’s self.

See how Jesus repeated the Genesis account “that is why” or “for this reason” a man leaves his father and mother and be joined with his wife to become one.

This tendency of ours towards one another, a consciousness of then other person, is a gift and a grace indicating our origin who is God who always relates with us. Every time we destroy this unity, whenever we upset this complementarity among us in God, that is when disorder happens, generating competitions among us that lead to our endless conflicts that only leave us with more pains and sorrows. Hence, back in the house again towards the end of our gospel scene this Sunday, Jesus reiterated the example of the child after His disciples drove them away.

Photo by author, statue of the Child Jesus hugging St. Joseph, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, March 2024.

How lovely and ironic that despite the weaknesses and incompleteness of children, we find in them all five love languages too. What a joy to play and converse with children, especially carry babies despite their lack of language skills we find each one a love language in himself/herself – exactly like Jesus Christ, the love language of God who gave us everything to experience oneness in love.

God knows everything that He created us in His own image and likeness. Nothing, not even sin could ever destroy His grand design for us since creation so that right after the Fall, God right away promised salvation fulfilled in Jesus Christ whom He had sent to remind us anew of His wonderful plan for us.

I have a similar image like this in my room, my most favorite statue of St. Joseph as protector of the Child Jesus and Mary. But most of all, we find Jesus being the love language of God even in his childhood with His all-encompassing love that reached its highest point at the Crucifixion.

God knows everything, especially our weaknesses in keeping our relationships. Jesus is not judging us and knows very well the pains many are enduring as a result of separation and divorce. The Letter to the Hebrews we heard in the second reading tells us how Jesus in suffering death has become like us in order to share with us the grace we need to keep our human relationships strong.

Every Sunday, I visit our patients in the hospital to give them Holy Communion, hear their confessions and often, anoint most of them with Oil for the sick.

Whenever I meet couples especially those already old and with debilitating sickness, I praise God for the tremendous grace he gives them. In them I always find God so truly present among us, especially in every husband and wife lovingly serving each other in sickness and in health. Let us pray for all couples that they may cooperate with God’s grace in keeping their marriage alive. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead!

Job, St. Francis of Assisi, and… Pocahontas

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi, 04 October 2024
Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5     <*{{{{><  +  ><}}}}*>     Luke 10:13-16
Photo by Fr. Bien Miguel, Diocese of Antipolo, 25 September 2024.

This is actually a rejoinder to our prayer earlier published today on the Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi. And how I love the first reading today, of God’s “speech” to Job’s lamentations that remind us all of the wonder and majesty of creation St. Francis of Assisi highly regarded in his life and teachings.

The Lord addressed Job out of the storm and said: “Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning and shown the dawn its place for taking hold of the ends of the earth, till the wicked are shaken from its surface? Have you entered into the sources of the sea, or walked about in the depths of the abyss? have the gates of death been shown to you, or have you seen the gates of darkness? Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell me, if you know all” (Job 38:1, 12-13, 16-18).

How interesting too these words written about 2700 years ago in the Middle East are echoed in our own time in theme song of the Disney movie Pocahontas, “The Color of the Wind”:

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountain?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.

Like Job, who was a fictional character, Pocahontas went through a lot of great sufferings beyond explanations which is the aim of the authors of the Book of Job – to reflect on the mystery of human sufferings and misery amid a loving God.

It is easy to understand our sufferings in life when we are the ones who have caused them like making wrong choices and decisions or simply not exerting enough efforts to our endeavors or projects.

The most painful sufferings that are really bothersome are those we feel “undeserved” at all like getting a rare cancer and disease, being offended by someone close to us despite our being good to them, or like Pocahontas who was then living in peace and quiet until the English colonizers came to America who kidnapped and gang raped her.

I have never seen that Disney movie Pocahontas that is loosely based on the life of a native American Indian woman Pocahontas whose actual name was Matoaka; she was the daughter of the Chief of the Powhatan tribe in Chesapeake, Virginia during the early 1600’s.

According to historians, there was really no romance at all between Pocahontas and the British colonizer Captain John Smith as portrayed in the Disney movie. After getting pregnant from that gangrape, Pocahontas was forced to marry the English explorer John Rolfe as a condition for her release that only made her life filled with great sufferings and humiliations until her death.

Though a work of fiction but a fruit of prayerful reflections about life’s realities unlike the Disney movie Pocahontas, Job suffered severely when he lost his children, properties and livestock in a single day. Worst of all, he was stricken with a rare disease and left to the care of a “nagging” wife and three friends who wanted him to curse God or admit his guilt for a sin for which God was punishing him.

But Job’s conscience was clear, remaining faithful to God throughout all his sufferings. His complaints and cries were actually a voicing out of his inner pains to God, an expression of his trust in Him, “But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives, and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust… And from my flesh I shall see God; my inmost being is consumed with longing” (Job 19:25, 27).

Job like us today was not seeking any answer nor explanation at all for his sufferings; he cries to God like us because we believe only God can save us. We do not cry or air our pains to someone we do not trust or believe in; the same is true why we cry and complain to God!

God’s response to Job’s laments remind us today of the need for us to see the whole picture we are into in this vast universe, of how everyone and everything is interconnected in God through His own Son Jesus Christ.

Notice how the author structured the speech of God of seeming opposites in life: commanding the morning and being shown the dawn in verse 12; sources of the sea and depths of the abyss in verse 16; and, gates of death and gates of darkness in verse 17. Jewish thought at that time was so structured that they saw everything distinctly different like morning and dawn, sea and abyss, death and darkness. That explains why they were so strict with the letters of the law that they eventually forgot the primacy of the human person which Jesus tried to emphasized to them in His teachings and healings. Jesus came to show us how everything and everyone in this whole creation is linked together, interrelated in God through Him.

This He did when He died on the Cross.

Photo by Fr. Gerry Pascual of the fresco at the Assisi Basilica, Italy, 2019.

It is sad that St. Francis of Assisi is often “romanticized” by many nature lovers even by some “new agers” for his love for nature and animals. More than sentimental reasons, St. Francis’ love and concern for nature and animals were all the result of his deep love and devotion to Jesus Christ crucified found daily in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

St. Francis realized and experienced the interconnectedness of everything and everyone in his own sufferings and pains in life he humbly embraced and accepted as we see in that verse we pray at every Station of the Cross he had composed:

V. We adore You, O Lord Jesus Christ, and we bless you. R. Because by Your holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.

For his love for the Cross and his own sufferings, Jesus blessed St. Francis with the stigmata, His five wounds at His crucifixion.

Photo by Fr. Gerry Pascual, Sculpture of the young St. Francis in Assisi, Italy, 2019.

After receiving those wounds, St. Francis was blinded as he went through severe sufferings after going through well-intentioned surgeries that went so bad. He was in his 40’s at that time and despite his great sufferings, it was during that period when he produced so many great writings we all cherish until now, notably the Canticle of the Sun where we find his famous expressions “brother sun, sister moon, and cousin death” – the very same things God expressed to Job in that speech out of the storm in our first reading today that is echoed by Disney’s Pocahontas in the theme “The Color of the Wind”.

But unlike that Disney movie that sugarcoats life’s realities of sufferings and pains, both Job and St. Francis of Assisi remind us today that the more we embrace our pains and sufferings in life like them, the more we see life’s wholeness, our oneness in God and the rest of His creations when seen in the light of the Cross of Jesus Christ.

When we see this oneness and interconnectedness in life, that is when we actually grow and mature, become fruitful as we find fulfillment in life despite the difficulties and pains we go through. Have a blessed weekend everyone! Happy feast day too to our Franciscan brothers and sisters!

From YouTube.com.