The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 14 April 2024
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
We go punk this Sunday with the 1984 hit Ghost in You by the British band Psychedelic Furs more known to our generation with the song Pretty in Pink that was eventually made into a movie though not necessarily an interpretation of the music itself.
Ghost in You was written by the Psychedelic Furs’ lead vocalist Richard Butler, their second single from their fourth studio album Mirror Moves released in 1984. It is another poignant love song about someone most probably gone yet still so loved. The music and lyrics are very mysterious that we feel it perfectly captures our reflection this third Sunday Easter on the meaning of Christ’s Resurrection which is getting real as opposed with how young people today use the word “ghost” and “ghosting” which is to leave behind or drop like a hot potato. Our Filipino expression say it so well: to be ghosted is “iwanan sa ere” or to be left hanging.
In our gospel this Sunday, Luke tells us how the disciple thought Jesus was a ghost when He appeared to them anew after Easter; Jesus read their minds and clarified He was not a ghost but truly alive with flesh and bones.
The Filipino expression says it all completely, iniwan sa ere which is worst than the English expression “dropped like a hot potato”. To be ghosted is to be betrayed, to be taken for granted, to be discarded like a thing. It is utter lack of respect to another person. Worst, it is lack of life full of pessimism and indifference to life itself.
In Ghost in You, Butler tells us how he seemed to have been ghosted by his beloved for reasons not so clear. And we go with him, in his pains and deep longing to be loved in return by his beloved.
A man in my shoes runs a light And all the papers lied tonight But falling over you Is the news of the day Angels fall like rain And love is all of heaven away Inside you the time moves
And she don’t fade The ghost in you She don’t fade Inside you the time moves And she don’t fade
Notice how the lover declares his deep love that is so pure, “all of heaven away” that remains within him through time like a ghost “And she don’t fade/ The ghost in you/ She don’t fade”.
About ten years ago, we used to pass by a billboard somewhere in the Banaue-C3 area in Quezon City that says “True love is like ghosts, which everybody talks about and only a few have seen.” It is quote from French moralist Francoise de la Rochefoucauld (163-1680).
Very true!
Like our reflection this Sunday, Easter calls us to be real, not like ghosts. The Psychedelic Furs’ Ghost in You is great music because we all go through it some times even many times. Easter tells us to get real and move on with life.
Jesus Christ is not a ghost. Had never and would never ever ghost us because He is faithful, truly alive and truly present with us especially in our darkest and emptiest moments in life. Many times, we do not see nor recognize Him because we are so focused at how we were ghosted especially by loved ones.
Here’s one of our favorite music in the 1980’s worth listening to today to see how far we have gone real, especially in our love. Or, have we remained ghosted?
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Third Sunday in Easter-B, 14 April 2024 Acts 3:13-15, 17-19 ><}}}}*> 1 John 2:1-5 ><}}}}*> Luke 24:35-48
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 27 March 2024 at Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon.
More than ten years ago, there used to be a billboard at the C3-Banaue area in Quezon City that said, “True love is like ghosts, which everybody talks about and only a few have seen.”
I googled the saying and found it was from French moralist Francoise de la Rochefoucauld (1613-1680). Nonetheless, we remembered that billboard because in our gospel today, we have heard how the Apostles thought upon seeing the Risen Lord that He was a ghost!
While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones and you can see I have.”
Luke 24:36-39
“The Road to Emmaus” painting by American Daniel Bonnell from fineartamerica.com.
This is the last Sunday we shall hear a story of the Risen Lord’s appearance to His disciples; beginning next Sunday, our gospels will be the accounts of Jesus Christ’s discourses at their Last Supper.
It is not really important to count how many times the Risen Lord had appeared to His disciples who in the first place never bothered themselves with it. John explained it last Sunday why only a few of these were written so that we may believe and have life in Him (Jn.20:31). There are two things we find always in these few Resurrection stories that convince us the Lord is risen.
First, there is always the intensity we feel in the Resurrection stories we have. Even though there is no account of how it happened, we could feel in the whole New Testament that it actually happened. It is historical but beyond the physical and ordinary. So real yet surreal. That is why initially, there is the incredulity not only among the disciples but even among us at this time. As we say in Filipino, “hindi makapaniwala” as opposed to “hindi maniwala” because Jesus Christ’s Resurrection opened new possibilities in our human existence that only faith in Him can explain though not fully. It is when all we can say in Filipino is “a…basta!”
From this intensity of His Resurrection, there is always that movement to gather together as a community of the risen Lord’s disciples. Easter is always in the context and setting of a community. See how Jesus would always tell or lead His disciples to gather together as a community, always appearing to them when there are at least two of them gathered like Clopas and companion on the way to Emmaus on the evening of Easter. And we see its effect – once they recognized Jesus at His breaking of bread, they both hurried back to Jerusalem to join the other disciples to share the good news!
That’s the beauty and mystery of Easter. It is so intense, so true we can feel and experience, always leading us to gather together as a community, as a family. It is never selfish nor personal. Do we have the same intensity today as individuals and as a community especially in our Sunday Masses?
From Facebook, 04 April 2021: “There is an urgency to announce the Joy, the joy of the Risen Lord.”
Today’s gospel scene is the continuation of that Emmaus story. While Clopas and companion were telling the disciples their experience, Jesus suddenly came into their room and again, they were startled and terrified.
But Luke added that one word “ghost” that was used twice in this scene: first in v.37, “But they were starteld and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost” and in v. 39 when Jesus read His disciples’ minds, telling them to “Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.”
Sorry for the long introduction as I wish to direct our attention to that word ghost.
When we were growing up, there was a cartoon show on TV called “Casper the friendly ghost.” In Filipino, we always refer to ghost as multo, something scary because like the aswang, they look terrible and would always harm people. That is why the Church later on changed the name Holy Ghost to Holy Spirit because of the very negative connotation of the word ghost.
These days, the young people are using again the word ghost, turning it into a verb form that means so negative: ghosting as in “iniwan sa ere”. At first, I thought to be ghosted is the equivalent of what we used to say “na-Indian” when a date or someone stood you up in a meeting or coming together.
But ghosting is more than just not appearing nor coming to a meeting or get together. It is almost like betrayal or infidelity. Precisely what the youth say, to be left hanging on air not knowing at all what is next. Very disappointing. Most of all, painful as it hurts us deeply when ghosted. The Filipino expression says it all completely, iniwan sa ere which is worst than the English expression “dropped like a hot potato”. To be ghosted is to be betrayed, to be taken for granted, to be discarded like a thing. It is utter lack of respect to another person. Worst, it is lack of life fulln of pessimism and indifference to life itself.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, 18 March 2024.
Jesus Christ is not a ghost. Had never and would never ever ghost us because He is faithful, truly alive and truly present with us especially in our darkest and emptiest moments in life. Many times, we do not see nor recognize Him because we are so focused at how we were ghosted especially by loved ones.
In the first reading, we heard Peter’s second discourse on Pentecost Sunday about the Resurrection of Jesus as the summit of everything that was written in the Old Testament, the fulfillment of salvation history. But at the same time, he was telling the people of how they have ghosted the Lord “whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence, when he decided to release him” (Acts 3:13).
Peter was not accusing the people then or anyone today for being accomplices in Jesus Christ’s death because he himself denied the Lord thrice, remember? Peter ghosted Jesus too but repented. And that was his point to everyone including us today of how may times we too have ghosted Jesus when we sin against each other, when we betray our loved ones, when we are remiss in our duties and responsibilities, when we are unfaithful that people fail to experience the Risen Lord coming to them.
Peter is asking us this Sunday to look into ourselves at how we continue to ghost each other that we contribute to the vicious circle of violence happening in the world that often starts right in our family and community, even in the Church.
That is why the beloved disciple asks us in the second reading “to keep his commandments so that we may not commit sin” by rejecting the lusts of the flesh not only in the sexual sense but in all of our selfish interests. Most of all, to imitate Jesus Christ by living like Him full of love and kindness, always understanding and forgiving and caring especially of the weak and marginalized.
Photo by author, 09 April 2024.
The Resurrection remains a mystery. It is a call for us to be real with flesh and bones not like a ghost. Easter is an invitation to live our lives as Easter people, full of joy and hope in Christ even when the chips are down.
Being real as opposed to ghosting means proclaiming Jesus Christ with our very own witnessing of His loving presence and service to others with our very lives.
Being real as opposed to ghosting is avoiding “back burning” those dearest to us.
Being real as opposed to ghosting is not “bread crumbing”, of being mediocre that we do only the bare minimum.
Easter is Jesus faithfully present with us especially in the most trying and difficult moments of our lives because He assures us nothing can keep us nor hostage us in whatever darkness or emptiness we are in.
Not being able to see someone does not mean that someone does not exist. Many times in life, it is after our loved ones are gone – permanently or temporarily – when we actually experience them closest. That’s because of the Resurrection of Jesus!
Let’s get real by praying:
Lord Jesus Christ, open my mind and my heart to Your words; let me develop that prayer life You have always been inviting me to get into a relationship with You; let me find You in my wounds so I may find Your glory too; let me find You in my many hurts and scars in my heart so I may find and share Your healing and comfort with those still in the darkness of Good Friday or silence of Holy Saturday; dearest Jesus, fill me with life and joy so that people may see You in me alive and not like a ghost. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Second Week of Easter, 12 April 2024 Acts 5:34-42 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> John 6:1-15
Photo by author, 09 April 2024.
What an amusing incident again in our readings today, Lord Jesus, when You teach me when to continue and when to stop; how to find God's will and to keep doing Your work among us:
A Pharisee in the Sanhedrin named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up, ordered the Apostles be put outside for a short time, and said to the Sanhedrin, “Fellow children of Israel, be careful what you are about to do to these men… For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” They were persuaded by him.
Acts 5:34-35, 38-39
Lord Jesus, teach me to distance myself sometimes from the heat of issues and arguments, even of personalities like when Gamaliel ordered the Apostles be put outside for a short time; many times it helps a lot in freeing my mind and my heart from my many ideas and biases that prevent me from distinguishing endeavor or activity of human origin and those from God that cannot be stopped at all.
Most of all, Lord Jesus, keep me close to You, let me seek You only and always, even if I have to go inside your circle just to be involved like Andrew the brother of Peter when he joined Your conversation with Philip on where to find food for the people; any thing coming from God surely has You, Jesus at its center and essence; You know exactly what to do, Lord, whenever we are facing difficult situations but still just the same the suggestion by Gamaliel, we need to separate sometimes to determine the Father's will that so often we presume be what we think, what we believe, and what we must do.
Let us not forget finding you Jesus in every activity and endeavor because that is when people are not only fed but also nourished and fulfilled. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 07 April 2024
Photo by author at the refectory of Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 18 March 2024.
We turn to jazz this Second Sunday in Easter in order to express the meaning of Jesus Christ’s Resurrection that is simply too deep for words because of its intense nature. Unlike Christmas that lights up our minds with so many images, Easter is different in the sense that it is something we have to feel and dig deep down inside us to really appreciate. Like jazz music that stirs our souls with its unique sounds that enable us to touch our very being.
For this Sunday we have chosen David Sanborn’s Love Will Come Someday from his 1982 album As We Speak because it captures the spirit of this Easter Octave also known as Divine Mercy Sunday when Jesus appeared to His disciples inside a locked room for fears from the Jews on the very night of His Resurrection. We reflected in our previous blog that the Resurrection of Jesus opened a new dimension in human existence when we could no longer be held hostage or captive by even the most difficult plight in life with Jesus opening many possibilities for us even while in this life (https://lordmychef.com/2024/04/06/easter-is-new-existence-in-christ/).
Sanborn’s almost two minutes of sax introduction to his Love Will Come Someday gives us the feel of the prevailing setting of Easter and life wherein there is the constant presence of darkness and emptiness where we also find Christ’s light and fullness. Sanborn has been a session musician collaborating with almost every big name in the music scene across all genres. His sax is so soothing yet penetrating that brings out even those things we have been hiding deep inside us resulting in a sort of catharsis which is very Easter too!
Written by Michael Sembello and David Batteau with the latter doing the vocals, Love Will Come Someday is a poignant song of the ups and downs not only of love but of life itself. Very often, like the darkness and emptiness we find in the Easter stories since last week, we find our lives in the same setting too when we could not figure out exactly or right away at why or how certain things happen in our lives despite our best efforts.
Funny how the legends die When heroes never come alive in the day time Funny we can be sad It doesn’t have be so bad in the night time
You want know where they The songs all go in your life time One of these we’ll go And find out where they stay
Once upon a lovers song There was a boy who sang along in the night time Once upon a lovers dream There was a tale of broken wings in the day time
But, there are times when suddenly, Jesus comes to us amid all locked doors, appearing to us, extricating us from difficult situations that amid great joy, we could not believe it happening at all that we doubt like Thomas simply because they are so surreal!
And there lies the mystery of life and love, of Easter: visions and images are not so important because it is the intensity within us which makes Jesus and those we love so present that we respond with more love and adoration.
Catch a piece falling star Try to keep in a jar till the morning Catch a summer firefly Willing it’ll stay alive till the morning
You want to know where did the songs all go In your life time One of these days we’ll go and find out Where they stay
Love will come someday Love will find a way Love will come someday Love will find a way
The songs that I sing, the songs that I bring The songs that I sing, the songs that I bring The songs that I sing, the songs that I bring, yeah, yeah
As we mature and journey in this life, the more we find God and our very selves and those we know more real, more loved and lovable. In the end, love always finds a way someday. Like Thomas, we just have to believe in order to see. Here is David Sanborn and to those belonging to my generation, cheers to the music we grew up with, hoping the younger ones find these treasures too.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Second Sunday in Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, 07 April 2024 Acts 4:32-35 ><))))*> 1 John 5:1-6 ><))))*> John 20:19-31
Photo by author, Mirador Jesuit Retreat House, Baguio City, 2018.
We celebrate today the Octave – eighth day – of Easter which coincides with the Feast of Divine Mercy. Both Christmas and Easter observe an octave signifying eternity because when you count from Easter Sunday to this Sunday, there are actually eight, not seven days. That is why there is no such thing as weekend for us Christians because the week never ends but continues on and on every Sunday.
And that is also the mystery, beauty and reality of Jesus Christ’s Resurrection that according to Pope Benedict XVI, “a life that opens up a new dimension of human existence” (Jesus of Nazareth, Part Two, p. 244).
Photo by author, view the refectory, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 18 March 2024.
From now on, nothing can hold us nor keep us locked in sadness and grief, suffering and misery as well as sin and death because in rising from the dead, Jesus had opened up for us new possibilities in the future not only in eternal life but right here on earth.
Like the apostles on that same evening of Easter, we also find it so difficult to grasp and understand, even believe and explain right away though we could feel and experience deep down within us that Jesus is risen.
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
John 20:19-22
Photo by author, dusk at Sacred Heart Novitiate, 20 March 2024.
Since Sunday we have the prevalence of darkness and emptiness in our Easter stories, reminding us how often that it is in the darkness of our lives when we find light, when in the midst of emptiness when there is fullness.
This Sunday we find the presence of Jesus but still in an unusual manner. There was still darkness for it was night but more than that was the darkness within each disciple who locked themselves inside the Upper Room for fears from Jewish officials who might arrest and put them to death like Jesus.
Many times in life we feel locked in, imprisoned in some situations, feeling resigned as there is no way out from our troubles and miseries but through faith in Jesus, out of nowhere and without any explanation at all, we find ourselves extricated from our inescapable situations.
When my youngest sister was diagnosed with cancer the other year, she told me how she prayed on the eve of her surgery asking God to simply give her the grace to accept whatever the results of her tests would be. But after her surgery, it turned out her cancer was at its earliest stage that required no treatment at all except constant medical checkups! Last February on her major checkup again, doctors found no traces of cancer in her while her surgery had healed so well.
Hope is not positive thinking that things could get better; in fact, to hope is even to expect things to get worst like when the disciples were hiding in fear, expecting to be arrested too. Or my sister resigning to God her fate, just asking for the grace to accept she had cancer.
But it was in that darkness when Christ came and brought light to His disciples and my sister and our family. Strangely enough, it was after seeing the wounds of Jesus when they rejoiced because that proved that the Lord had risen. It was in my sister’s cancer we found ourselves together more in love and care for each other.
In life, our wounds will remain with us but most important of all for Easter to lead us into new existence in Christ, we must first remain in Him and with one another amid our wounds and darkness around us. And for us to remain or stay in Jesus with each other, we must first come.
Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst… Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands”… Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?”
John 20:26, 27, 28-29
Caravaggio’s painting “The Incredulity of St. Thomas” (1602) from en.wikipedia.org.
My dear friends, while praying over the gospel this week, this line by the Lord kept on echoing within me. And every time it would echo, the Lord shortened the sentence like these:
“Have you come to believe because you have seen me?”
“Have you come to believe because…?”
“Have you come to believe…?”
“Have you come…?”
Before we can stay and remain in the Lord, we must first come. Like Thomas.
What he had asked as proofs to believe in the Lord’s Resurrection were not really doubts to be taken negatively. John referred to him being known as Didymus for Twin. We were the ones who gave him that nickname Doubting Thomas. Like us, there are times we feel at a loss like Thomas with our faith and with ourselves when extraordinary things happen to us. It was not that he did not believe but in fact, he wanted to believe more. That is why he came the following Sunday.
Though I have always loved Caravaggio’s paintings, I don’t think Thomas ever touched the Lord’s wounds. Thomas must have been overwhelmed with the presence of Jesus that all he could say was “my Lord and my God” which we repeat during consecration of the bread and wine into Christ’s Body and Blood.
Photo by Ka Ruben, Easter Vigil 2024, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City.
Easter leads us into community life centered in the Eucharist. See how since Sunday when Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, He instructed her to tell Simon Peter and others of His Resurrection; after appearing to Cleopas and companion on the road to Emmaus, they hurried back to Jerusalem to proclaim the good news of seeing the risen Lord at the breaking of bread; and while they were together which would be the gospel next Sunday, Jesus appeared to them again as a community.
In His rising to life, Jesus brought us together, fellow wounded healers to heal each other, to remain with each other amid our poverty and sufferings because together in Christ, that is when we open new dimensions in existence, in living as a community. We grow into an I-Thou person from the selfish ego. That is what the first reading is telling us in how “the community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possession was his own, but they had everything in common” (Acts 4:32).
It is the risen Lord who comes and stays among us in darkness and woundedness whenever we come and reach out to others like Thomas in the gospel. Even in our doubts, Jesus comes for us to believe more in Him. That is when great things start to happen, many so unbelievable and too deep for words. Basta.
That is why St. John Paul II rightly made the eighth day in Easter as the feast of Divine Mercy too because it is the love of God poured out to us in Jesus Christ’s suffering and death on the Cross when Blood and Water flowed out from His heart as an ocean of mercy for us. This is the love of God John was reflecting in the second reading that was too deep for words to explain except that it is the power that also “conquers the world” (1 Jn.5:3-4). Like St. Faustina in her Diary number 163, let us also pray:
"Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful" by being more loving, by coming and remaining in Jesus among our brothers and sisters in their many darkness and emptiness and wounds in life. Like You, Lord Jesus, let me come to reach out to those in doubts to be Your very proof of Your having risen from the dead. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday in the Octave of Easter, 04 April 2024 Acts 3:11-26 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 24:35-48
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 18 March 2024.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for always touching me, making me experience You truly alive in prayers and Sacraments but most especially in the people You send to touch me and be touched by me for You.
Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.”
Luke 24:38-39
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 18 March 2024.
How amazing, O Lord, in Your rising from the dead, You still have those wounds You bore for us there on the Cross but all healed to remind us that all wounds we have can be healed in You!
Most of all, though our hands and words wound so many others, it is also our same wounded hands and hearts You use to heal others wounded.
Most loving Jesus, "open our minds to understand the Scriptures" (Lk.24:45), help us to touch base with our very selves, with our past, with our sins and mistakes we refuse to admit or did not know at all like when Simon Peter reminded the people of Jerusalem so that we remain in touch with You, with others, and with our true selves. Amen.
*Sharing with you one of my favorite prayer-music by Fr. Manoling Francisco, SJ; speaks so well of Fr. Henri Nouwen’s reflection on our being a “wounded healer” as well as the amazing power of human touch.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Octave of Easter, 01 April 2024 Acts 2:14, 22-33 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 28:8-15
Photo by author, Refectory of Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
My dearest Lord Jesus Christ, while everyone's greetings of "Happy Easter" have waned due to Monday's usual grind to the highest degree, I found myself wallowing in Your words today to thoughts of things unfair and feeling cheated; In Tagalog, madaya!
The chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel; then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’ And if this gets to the ears of the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” The soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day.
Matthew 28:12-15
Narra flowers cover paths at the Sacred Heart Novitiate, 20 March 2024.
And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day. O Jesus, not only this story but this vicious circle of lies and cheating, of being unfair has continued to circulate even among us your followers right in Your Church!
Everywhere there is this glorification of selves, of dishonesty, of excesses that result in inequalities and sadly in desecration of Your liturgy, of Your Body, the Church made up of so many who are misled from You, dear Jesus.
But this is why You rose from the dead, Jesus; this is the reason there is Easter: You turned over, "binaligtad Mo, Panginoon ang maraming pagkakataon at sitwasyon ng kawalan ng patas, kawalan ng kaayusan" - in Your rising, You have given us more reasons to persevere even amid darkness and emptiness like that early morning of Easter because soon enough, You are surely there at the next turn, at a corner, awaiting those faithfully seeking and following You!
In this Monday of Your Easter Octave Jesus, help me pray like the psalmist, "Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope." Amen.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, 20 March 2024.
The Lord Is My Chef Good Friday Recipe, 29 March 2024 Isaiah 52:13-53:12 > + < Hebrews 4:14-16;5:7-9 > + < John 18:1-19:42
Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, June 2016.
The evangelists tell us that Jesus died on the Cross on a Friday at about 3PM. And they tell us too that our Lord died praying, exactly what most of the Seven Last Words expressed.
But from the gospel we have heard this afternoon written by the beloved disciple, we discover something very beautiful about the death of Jesus, that He was very calm and peaceful in His prayer unto death.
After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.
John 19:28-30
Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, June 2016.
When we are deep in suffering, in severe pain like Jesus on the cross, what do we usually pray? Most often, we pray that the terrible ordeal we are going through would finally end, would be finished.
And sometimes, due to desperation, we even pray for death, of how we wish God would finally end our life to be free from all the problems we are going to.
One of the things I keep telling to sick people I visit came from Meryl Streep who acted as mother of Winona Ryder in the 1990’s movie “House of Spirits” when she said, “Do not pray for death because death surely comes.” Sometimes in our desperation, we feel death is the solution to our problems and sufferings. But when Jesus died on the Cross, He made death an offering, a gift of self in love.
Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, June 2016.
In the original Greek text, the word used to express Jesus Christ’s final prayer “It is finished” is tetelestai from the root word telos meaning the final end and direction. It is not just an ending but a direction too.
From the very start, Jesus was clear with His mission and how it would be accomplished. He has always been sure of Himself, of who He is. Notice how the beloved disciple repeated many times in his account of the Last Supper how Jesus was “fully aware” of everything that was going to happen to Him that He was actually in control and never left to the whims and powers of His enemies when He went through His Passion and Death.
Last night we heard how Jesus knew everything was coming to end that He washed the feet of His disciples after their supper. Most of all, Jesus was so composed and serene that He even gave bread to His betrayer Judas Iscariot during their meal. In fact in the washing of the feet of His disciples to His agony in the garden, Jesus calmly and courageously faced death that in the end, on the Cross, He had the upper hand that He was able to pray “It is finished” because He was never made under the power of death completely as He would rise again on Easter.
In praying “It is finished,” Jesus consecrated not only Himself but also all humanity to the Father so that we are able to bear and face death squarely like Him. Very notable in this part is how we find only in the fourth gospel how Jesus died by “handing over his spirit to the Father.”
Remember the verb to hand over is the literal meaning of the Greek word used paradidomi or betrayal. But here at the death of Jesus, handing over has no negative connotation but purely positive; Jesus never betrayed or handed anyone over to sufferings. He bore all sufferings and handed these over to the Father. That is true passion in the active sense when we let things happen not because we are helpless and resigned to the situation but we passively take everything in the positive sense because we have that firm faith and deep conviction that being silent, being patient, being persevering will eventually bear fruit for us like the death of Jesus that led to Easter.
Suffering and death thus are not resignation nor mere surrender but submission to the higher power of God to convert darkness into light, sadness into joy, and death into life. There on the Cross Jesus showed that true power is in weakness.
Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, June 2016.
After the consecration of the bread and wine into Christ’s Body and Blood in the Mass, we proclaim “Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.” We call it as “the mystery of our faith” because when we say “Christ has died,” we admit that truly, the Son of God went through all kinds of sufferings in life we all go through like betrayal, rejection, loneliness, sickness, hunger, thirst, and yes, even death. And His sufferings continue as we suffer more in this world marred by evil and sins, making us cry, asking when would these end and be finished.
There lies the mystery of our faith on the Cross that led to Easter: when we look at Jesus Christ on His Cross, we see our own pains and agony as God’s pains and agony too. Jesus joined us in our anguish and death so that we could experience all the more His immense love for us. Without Jesus and His Cross, we would never be able to bear or even face the many deaths we go through daily. May we recognize God’s immense love for us again this afternoon when we venerate the Cross and see it as the merging point of human and Divine suffering. Keep praying with Jesus who has the final say with death in Easter. Amen.
Photo by Ka Ruben, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valezuela City, August 2022.
The Lord Is My Chef Holy Thursday Recipe, 28 March 2024 Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14 > + < 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 > + < John 13:1-15
Photo from wikipediacommons.org of Christ’s washing of feet of Apostles at Monreale Cathedral in Palermo, Italy.
Tonight we start the Easter Triduum – the three holy days of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and Washing of the Feet.
In our Mass tonight, there will be no dismissal after Holy Communion that is immediately followed by a short procession inside the church of the Blessed Sacrament to its repository that will be the focus of “Visita Iglesia” (not Stations of the Cross) when people “visit” at least seven churches to pray to the Divine Presence of Jesus. Tomorrow in most parishes is the “via Crucis” or Way of the Cross then in the afternoon after the Veneration of the Holy Cross is the Procession of the Burial of the Lord.
See how on these most holy days of the year, much of our activities involve a lot of walking – and rightly so because Jesus Christ was always walking even to His Crucifixion and after Resurrection.
Hence, on the night He was betrayed after Supper, He washed the feet of His disciples including us today because He had also known how difficult and tiring it is to always walk in this life.
“…fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist.”
John 13:3-5
From IStock/GettyImages.
More than reenacting the washing of the feet, tonight we are reminded by Jesus of the journey ahead to his Crucifixion when – with apologies to Robert Frost – we still have to walk “miles to go before we sleep” by choosing the road less travelled “that made the difference.”
And here lies the problem of our time: with the advancement of technology, our modes of transportation like communication have greatly affected our relationships with others, for better and for worse. From being peripatetic persons, we have become more accustomed to riding, of getting fast and effortless to our destination that we no longer walk that much unlike before that has affected even our relationships with one another. How can we continue the work of Jesus when we no longer walk that much?
Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA-7 News, 2020.
Observe how it has become so difficult to ask for directions these days because nobody is walking anymore. Most of us are ensconced in our own vehicles that have become our own little world and tiny universe every time we travel even if it were just a “walking distance”. Aside from breaking apart from the rest of humanity, we have also become very impersonal in the sense that we now rely more with Google maps and other travel apps than with the ordinary “man on the street.” Worst, we rarely touch the ground with our bare feet that if ever we would walk, it has been relegated to mere physical fitness often done alone with earphones as companions. We have not only grown apart from others but have also lost touch with earth because we no longer walk that much like Jesus and His disciples.
Two weeks ago during my retreat, I walked around the vast grounds and mini-forests of the Sacred Heart Novitiate in Novaliches when I realized that priesthood is peripatetic in nature because it is a ministry that walks to reach out, search for the missing sheep as per instruction of the Lord. Jesus even added that in fulfilling our mission, we must carry nothing when we walk except a staff and sandals.
Walking with our parishioners in the Via Crucis, 01 March 2024.
Moreover, priesthood is a ministry of being companions as shepherds in the journey of the people. That is why Jesus is our Good Shepherd because He is the One who truly journeys with us in this life. He is the One who continues to walk with us in our many ups and downs, in the many dusty trails and harsh realities of life that no gadget or wealth or media platform could bring comfort and security to any weary traveler.
It is only in walking when we could truly journey with others in life to converse with them and listen to their doubts and frustrations like the two disciples walking back to Emmaus three days after Good Friday. It is only in walking can we truly meet the sick, the orphaned and the widowed, the blind and the lame, the sinners and the misfits the world had left behind or pushed onto the margins of the society, far from our superhighways.
Most of all, when we walk we touch ground, we feel the earth called “humus” in Latin, the origin of the words human and humility. Could it be that we have become less humble today partly because of our refusal to walk more often?
Forgive us your priests when we have refused to walk with you especially when you are troubled and lost. Forgive us your priests as we have ceased to be like Jesus who walked most of the time because we have been so obsessed riding and travelling most of the time in our cars and SUV’s as well as mountain bikes and big bikes that have insulated us from your cries and anguish. We have not only lost the art of walking but have totally forgotten about walking the extra mile to pray and commune with our Lord and Master Jesus Christ found among the poor and the sick, the marginalized peoples forgotten in our upwardly, mobile society.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches 20 March 2024.
We always hear the expression “life is a journey.” Our first reading tonight attested to this reality when God reminded the chosen people preparing for exodus from Egypt “to eat and dress like those who are in flight”(Ex.12:11).
The original concept of the restaurant is not just a place where people stop to eat during a long journey. Restaurants were truly “rest stops” where travelers could rest their feet by soaking them in warm water so that they could travel again to reach their destination.
The Holy Eucharist is a “sacred restaurant” where we eat and drink the Body and Blood of Christ who nourishes us in our life journey. Most of all, in the Eucharist and Sacrament of Reconciliation, Jesus continues to wash our feet to cleanse us from our sins and burdens to make this journey of life lighter and easier. When we receive Him in the Holy Communion, we make Him our “companion” in life filled with darkness and pains, uncertainties and lack of direction. The word companion literally means “someone you break bread with” – a beautiful picture of the Eucharist described to us by St. Paul in the second reading.
From istock/GettyImages.
In washing the feet of His disciples, Jesus Christ showed us in His humble gesture that He is indeed our Savior who went down so low even unto death on the Cross to express His immense love and mercy for each of us. Everything that transpired on the night He was betrayed prefigured the events of Good Friday which we make present every time we celebrate the Eucharist that is summed up in loving service for one another.
Do we still walk? And if we walk, who is our companion, the one we break bread with? Likewise, do we walk our talk of our faith?
May we never leave behind Jesus among our family and friends as we walk through this life. A blessed Holy Thursday to everyone. Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II Ika-pitong Huling Wika ni Jesus, 27 Marso 2024
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, 2019.
Nang mag-iikalabindalawa ng tanghali, nagdilim sa buong lupain hanggang sa ikatlo ng hapon. Nawalan ng liwanag ang araw; at ang tabing ng templo’y napunit sa gitna. Sumigaw ng malakas si Jesus, “AMA, SA MGA KAMAY MO’Y IPINAGTATAGUBILIN KO ANG AKING ESPIRITU!” At pagkasabi nito, nalagot ang Kanyang hininga.
Lukas 23:44-46
Mayroon ba kayong bucket list ng mga bagay na dapat gawain o mga lugar na puntahan o kaya ay pagkaing kainin bago mamatay? Usung-uso mga bucket list na iyan ng mga dapat magawa, marating, matikman o masubukan ng isang tao bago raw mamatay.
Ipagpaumanhin ninyo na hindi ako naniniwala sa mga bucket bucket list na iyan na pawang kaartehan. “Father, goal setting po iyon” madalas paliwanag sa akin ng mga nakakausap kong kabataan. Para daw yung mga dream car o dream house na pinapangarap mo balang araw.
Hindi ko sinasabing huwag tayong magkaroon ng mga pangarap at mithiin sa buhay. Kailangan at mahalagang mayroon tayong plano sa buhay para sa kinabukasan pero iba ang pakahulugan ng bucket list: ito ay mga dapat magawa bago mamatay. E, bakit hindi mo pa gawain na ngayon, puntahan na ngayon o tikman mo na ngayon habang may oras pa sapagkat malalaman ba natin kung kailan tayo mamamatay?
Iyon ang ayoko sa mga bucket list – isang pag-aaksaya ng oras at panahon na pinag-iisipan mga gagawin, pupuntahan o kakanin bago mamatay e kung pwede namang gawain mo na ngayon dahil baka ngayon ka na rin mamatay! Hindi po ba?
Lahat naman tayo ay tiyak na mamamatay. Ang tanong sa wari ko ay hindi ano pa ba ang dapat kong gawin bago mamatay kungdi ano ang magagawa ko sa ngayon para sa aking pagpanaw ay patuloy na magbunga ng mabuti aking naging buhay.
Siguradong mamamatay tayo nguni’t magiging maayos ba ating kamatayan? Will we die well?
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, libingan ng mga Heswita sa Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Marso 2023.
Ewan ko ba pero napansin ko lang habang tumatanda at nagiging totoong-totoo realidad ng kamatayan di lamang sa aking sarili kungdi sa mga malalapit sa akin na ang iba ay mga nangamatay na nga na kung tutuusin, ang ating kamatayan ang pinakamaganda at pangmatagalang regalo na maihahandog natin sa ating mga mahal sa buhay kung maiiwanan nating sila ng isang ganap at mabungang buhay.
Sa halip na pag-isipan natin kung ano pa yung magagawa natin sa nalalabing taon ng buhay natin na di nga nating alam kung hanggang kailan pa, ang dapat nating itanong sa sarili ay paano ako mamumuhay ng maayos at ganap upang sa gayon sa aking pagkamatay ay magbunga pa rin aking naging buhay sa aking mga maiiwan.
Huwag nating sayangin ang panahon sa pag-iisip sa hindi pa dumarating kungdi sa ano mayroon tayo ngayon sa sandaling ito. Sabi nga ng commercial ng Sprite, “magpakatotoo ka!” Get real by living fully in the present. Coming to terms with death is coming to terms with life. The moment we realize we shall die one day, that is when we start living authentically. And joyfully. Mamuhay tayo ng totoo at ganap gaya ng ating napagnilayan sa ika-anim na wika, ang mamuhay sa pagmamahal.
Namatay nang maayos si Jesus noong Biyernes Santo dahil naisuko o naitagubilin Niya ang lahat lahat ng sa Kanyang sarili sa Ama at para sa ating lahat sapagkat namuhay nga Siya ng ganap. Wala Siyang pinanghinayangang dapat ay nagawa o nasabi dahil nagawa at nasabi Niya mga mabubuting nararapat nang Siya ay buhay pa.
Tayo kaya? Linggu-linggo kitang kita ko sa mga pasyente at kanilang pamilya ang hapis at kalungkutan sa panghihinayang na sana ay naging mapagmahal sila, mapagpatawad, lahat na. Kay raming mga pasyente nakikiusap dugtungan pa kanilang buhay para magbago at iaayos kanilang sarili.
Iyon ang malungkot. Hindi nga natin alam kailan tayo magkakasakit o mamamatay kaya ang paghahanda sa kamatayan ay pamumuhay ng ganap. Mabuhay sa pagmamahal at kagalakan, habag at kapatawaran. Ipagdiwang palagi ang buhay, kumain ng masasarap kung kaya, mamasyal habang malakas, gawin kung ano man gustong gawin basta ba makabubuti. Totoo sinasabi ng marami, maigsi lang ang buhay para sayangin ito sa mga drama at pag-iisip.
Sa oras ng ating pagpanaw sa lupang ibabaw tulad ni Jesus noong Biyernes Santo, maibibigay kaya natin sa Diyos at mga mahal natin sa buhay ating sarili kalakip ng lahat ng pagmamahal, tuwa at kabutihan? Masasabi ba natin sa Diyos at kanino man na “itinatagubilin ko aking espiritu?”
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Kapilya ni San Francisco Javier, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, 20 Marso 2024.
Manalangin tayo:
Panginoong Jesu-Kristo, pagkalooban Ninyo ako ng biyaya na maisabuhay ko itong buhay kong ito sa Iyo at sa pamamagitan Mo upang sakaling ako ay pumanaw ano mang oras mula ngayon, katulad Mo ay aking maitagubilin sa Ama ang aking espiritu ng walang sakit panbghihinayang maging kasalanan bagkus puno ng tuwa at pasasalamat na pagyayamanin ng mga mauulila ko hanggang sa magkasama-sama kaming muli kaisa Ka sa Iyong Paraiso. Amen.
Salamuch po sa inyong pagsubaybay sa ating pagninilay sa Pitong Huling Wika ni Jesus. Maari ninyong balikan ang iba pang wika sa pagclick dito sa https://wordpress.com/view/lordmychef.com.
Nawa ay pagpalain kayong lagi ng Diyos sa ngalan ng Ama at ng Anak at ng Espiritu Santo tungo sa mabiyayang Pasko ng Pagkabuhay. Amen.
lordmychef.com 