Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin & Martyr, 21 January 2026 1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 3:1-6
Today, I thank you dear God our Father for the gift of our hands, our hands that touch and hold others dear to us, hands that keep joyful things closest to us, hands that openly receive so much from you and from others, hands that cover our face and protect our selves from harm, hands that move freely to do so many things and enable us enjoy freedom; forgive us Father when these same hands you have blessed to feed us and keep us warm are the same hands we hurt others, the same hands we close to refuse friendship and goodwill of others; the same hands that make us unfree in taking what is not ours and committing so many sins.
Bless our hands, Jesus, like what you did to that man with withered hand; let us stretch our hand, Jesus to touch and help others in need; open our hands, Jesus to receive and to share you; like David slaying Goliath, use our hands, Lord, small and feeble they may be to do your will and proclaim your power and greatness; may our hands be your hands, Jesus, regardless of our youth like St. Agnes whom we remember today, the little hands that hold on to you in deep faith, the little hands that spread your gospel of love and justice. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Second Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 19 January 2026 1 Samuel 15:16-23 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 2:18-22
It is still too early, Lord Jesus Christ but every moment is always a "happy hour" in you as you speak of new wine into fresh wineskins:
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are wuined. Rather, new wine in poured into fresh wineskins” (Mark 2:22).
Teach me, Jesus to have a "new mind in Christ" (1 Cor. 2:16), to truly fast my mind and my heart by emptying myself of so many things like beliefs and suppositions that prevent me from welcoming you into myself; turn me into a fresh wineskin, Lord by discarding my old self that has become my comfort zone of complacency and mediocrity; teach me obedience, Jesus that I may truly appreciate and realize the true meaning of our many traditions like fasting and prayer that lead to glorifying you and union in you; forgive me on many occasions of acting and believing like King Saul of justifying disobedience, insisting on my own understanding and seeing of things.
Many times, indeed, we "burst" because we never have you in us, Jesus, for we are so filled with our old selves. Amen.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 15 January 2026
Photo by Ar. Philip Santiago, Basilica of the Annunciation, Israel, October 2025.
Two priests and a former nun personally known to me died in our diocese last Sunday. It was also the birthdate of the late Bishop Cirilo Almario, Jr. whom I had remembered in my two early morning Masses on that Sunday, January 11, 2026.
In those two Masses too I mentioned in my homily the retreat I facilitated first week of January with my friends about “ageing gracefully” – my own realizations since joining their ranks as senior citizens last March.
Let me elaborate those two points I have shared with them and in my homily last Sunday.
From forbes.com.
First, let us embrace our being old. Stop saying “when we get old”, pagtanda natin because we are already old. Period. Matanda na tayo.
We cannot reverse our ageing process and it is useless to have all these cosmetic manipulations like dyeing our hair black or stretching our sagging skin and removing those wrinkles.
Embrace old age. It is beautiful and wonderful because it is so good. Our Filipino word for “old” says it all – matanda – which ironically so many women hate to hear as they stress that kalabaw lang ang tumatanda. That is not true.
Our word matanda is from the root word tanda which means “sign” that is why an old person is rightly called matanda because he/she is a sign of God’s goodness, a sign of God’s mercy and love, a sign of God’s beauty and majesty.
Moreover, a matanda is a sign of wisdom and grace that is why when we were young boys, we wanted to be old by putting our dad’s eyeglasses or taste his cigarettes and beer while girls put on their mom’s make up and high heeled shoes. How funny that when we are already old, we resist to accept the fact that we strive to look young again, sometimes ending up as nagmumurang kamatis.
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
Technically speaking, “old” is actually harsh. Old is something about a past phase that has ran its course like being outdated. Luma in Filipino that connotes stale, passe, lacking relevance and sadly, useless. Just for display purposes. As a person, that is the one we refer to as walang pinagkatandaan. Or huklubang matanda.
To be more specific, the better English term referring to ageing gracefully is ancient that exudes with a sense of timeliness, of being perpetually relevant like the ancient ruins in Rome, Athens, and Jerusalem. Actually, some biblical experts have wanted to rename the “Old Testament” as “Ancient Testament” following this line of thinking.
Photo by author, Ephesus, Turkiye, November 2025.
Things and even persons can rightly be referred to as ancient because of their beauty still intact that inspires us and makes us wonder about life itself. They are not just old sites nor old persons that remind us of the past long gone but ancient because still lovely, “still full of sap and green” as the psalmist extolled the seniors of his time.
Persons who age gracefully like ancient sites stir our inner selves with deeper beauty and realities of life that eyes cannot see. That is perhaps the reason these days many senior men and women are so “in” and considered as attractive.
It is the same wisdom realized by St. Augustine when he wrote about God, “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you. You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you.”
Being ancient -whether as a person or a thing – is something of the inside we must turn to not outside like our skin and physical body. From that inside realization and acceptance of being senior or elderly we experience the grace of ageing because we experience God still present in us, in fact loving us more as he makes as a sign or tanda of his loving presence.
Ageing gracefully is a modern virtue we need to cultivate in this age of instants that glorify youthfulness equated with usefulness. That is why when Pope Benedict XVI resigned from the Papacy in 2013, the more I have come to love and admire him. In his resignation, he taught us the importance of embracing and lovingly accepting our old age when we can no longer adequately perform our many tasks in office even in life itself. It was not a failure nor a surrender in the negative sense but more of a deep courage and trust in God that we accept our being weak and ready to come to him soon.
Photo by author, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, May 2025.
This brings me to my second realization since turning sigisty years old last year: corollary to embracing old age is accepting death. That is why, as seniors, let us stop saying and thinking of our coming death because we are already dying. Huwag na nating isipin yung “kapag namatay ako” dahil namamatay na nga tayo.
Being senior is doing away with those bucket lists, of thinking about things to do, places to visit before we die. We are already dying and hence, whatever you can do, do it now. There could be no more tomorrow. All we have is the present moment. Anything could happen to us, for better and for worse.
Ageing gracefully is coming to terms with life which leads us to coming to terms with death. Yes, this is easier said than done, but slowly, I am learning and loving it!
Photo by author, Bucharest, Romania, November 2025.
One of the reasons that made me decide to become a priest in the early 1990’s was the conviction that I have felt so deeply God’s love for me as a person in the many experiences I have gone through in life. I felt at that time that by becoming a priest, I could convince more people about the truth and existence of this loving God we have.
I still hold on to that but a year after turning sigisty, becoming sigisty-one in March 22, another fascinating realization I have had is how wonderful this life is. Now that I am old, the more I can boldly claim with conviction that it is good to be alive. Masarap pa rin ang mabuhay! Maganda ang buhay maski mahirap!
Accepting and embracing our ageing, our getting weak, our failing memory are all kinds of dying. And in that midst that we actually live fullest and meaningfully. I don’t know if I can write any further because I ain’t dead yet but… just in case, it was worth the trip. Amen. May you have a fruitful and fulfilling weekend ahead.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, First Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 14 January 2026 1 Samuel 3:1-10, 19-20 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Mark 1:29-39
Photo by author, Bgy. Ubihan, Meycauayan City, January 2022.
How lovely are your words today, Lord Jesus Christ, the Word who became flesh and dwelled among us!
Thank you very much in sharing with us the power of your words; in fact, we are the only ones with whom you have gifted with this power; the world and everything in it was created simply by God speaking the words that came to exist.
Teach us, Jesus the value of listening to you, letting you speak first so that like Samuel, you may "not permit any word we speak to be without effect" (1 Samuel 3:19); may we truly share in your prophetic ministry by "enfleshing" the words we speak by walking our talk; likewise, heal us, dear Jesus of our many infirmities and sickness due to sins and evil that make us speak too much that instead of building up others we destroy one another; like those demons you drove out from the sick you have cured in today's gospel, keep our mouths shut, "do not permit us to speak" (Mark 1:34) when not necessary. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, First Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 12 January 2026 1 Samuel 1:1-8 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 1:14-20
Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 09 January 2026.
After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:14-15).
Thank you dear Jesus for this brand new week, for this start of Ordinary Time in our liturgical calendar; how wonderful to remind us it is the time of fulfillment, of completion and wholeness in you, O Lord because it is only in you lies our fulfillment.
Teach us to open our hearts and souls to your call, Jesus like the brothers Peter and Andrew, James and John, your first disciples; was it really that quick and easy for them to leave everything behind including the father of James and John just to follow you?
Yes, dear Jesus, like them, we felt incredulous and even fearful with your call, not only last year but even this year; in fact, as we begin our Ordinary Time this Monday, the more I felt your calling continues everyday because without you we shall never be complete.
Like Hannah,
our lives will never be complete
and fulfilled without having you
that may take several forms
like a child for Hannah;
many times Lord we wonder
why we cannot have what we
are specifically praying for
like Hannah who has become
a subject of ridicule by others
for being barren and childless;
but, inasmuch as your call continues
for us, then you hereby assure us too
of your continuing works in our
many deficiencies if we can only
be patient and persevering in you
in awaiting your calls.
Amen.
Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 09 January 2026.
Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph, Cycle A, 28 December 2025 Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14 ><}}}}*> Colossians 3:12-21 ><}}}}*> Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23
Last November we were blessed to have visited Romania’s three famed castles at Transylvania region: the Bran Castle considered as the home of Count Dracula in Bram Stoker’s stories; the Cantacuzino Castle owned by one of Romania’s wealthiest family which is the setting of Netflix’s Wednesday series; and the Pelisor Castle which is the smallest but loveliest for me due to its romantic story behind.
I remembered these Romanian castles because of our gospel today about two kings: one is a ruthless, old king named Herod so “greatly troubled” upon hearing the news of the “newborn king of the Jews”, our Lord Jesus Christ (Mt.2:2, 3).
Very often when we hear of kings and royalties living in castles, so many images of affluence and power come into our minds. And indeed they are so true when we went inside those castles with its wonderful interiors and amazing artworks; however, as we learned more of its history especially of the lives of its occupants, our wonder and excitement dissipated. It was really more like a fairy-tale, or a horror story in the case of Bran Castle.
Photo by author, Cantacuzino Castle, Romania, 06 November 2025.
It must have been so lonely and sad living in those palaces; however, let us admit how often the presence and reality of Jesus whom we take for granted like when he was born in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago invite us into those parts of our lives where we like to rule like kings or queens.
I find this important and even essential before reflecting about the Feast of the Holy Family because it is right in our homes – ironically or tragically – where we are first exposed to evil and sins. It is inside our homes when the father or mother or siblings take on their “power trips”, insisting on their rules, even flexing their powers over each other that in the process we hurt each other. Sometimes, the trauma that comes after may last a lifetime.
Would we rather choose a kingdom or a home? Be a Herod or a Baby Jesus?
Of course, our answers are so obvious as we would generally choose a home than a kingdom and be a Baby Jesus than a Herod. This we can do by imitating St. Joseph.
When the magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell yo. Herod is going to search for the child and destory him.” Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt… When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there… He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, He shall be called a Nazorean (Matthew 2:1314, 19-22, 23).
Photo by author, site of the Nazareth home of the Holy Family underneath the Church of St. Joseph in Nazareth, Israel, 2017.
Remember how Matthew described St. Joseph as a righteous man? Here after the birth of Jesus Christ, we find Joseph’s holiness most shining. See how before this scene, Matthew described to us the attitudes of Herod and the experts in Jerusalem vis-a-vis the Magis from the East: Herod and company were all disturbed while the Magis were all sincere and so open in their search for the Christ.
That’s what we were saying earlier: of how we play so much on our turf and power, on how we want to make our “rule” as sovereignty felt always right in our home, in Jerusalem that was then the seat of power and of worship. Very clear at that time, the temple was already so untidy that needed Christ’s cleansing thirty years later.
When sin especially pride fills us, it is difficult to recognize Jesus. Moreover, even the smallest and harmless or weakest person like a child or a woman would always disturb anyone filled with one’s self, feel threatened like Herod that one’s rule is being taken away. How sad when a father or a husband, a mother or a wife including the eldest children would dare challenge everyone at home, asking who is the father or who is the one supposed to be in command? Sino ba and tatay (o nanay) dito na dapat masunod? It is the most scariest tactic of all not because of what the power trippers can do but actually it was a proof enough they are immatured and lacking of proper understanding about power and authority.
Photo by author, March 2024.
Joseph was clearly not of the same kind. He readily left his home and moved the Infant Jesus and Mary to Egypt. Remember that Bethlehem as the town of David is Joseph’s turf so to speak being from royal Davidic lineage himself. It must have been so difficult for him to leave Bethlehem and be a refugee in Egypt!
But Joseph had none of those airs of rule and superiority. For him, the only rule was God and that meant always the good of Jesus and Mary. That is why Joseph twice “rose” to obey the angel’s instructions to him to take the Infant Jesus and Mother Mary to Egypt and then back to Israel after some time.
Joseph’s rising was actually an act of bowing low to the power and authority of God, most of all to the Son of God he had named as “Jesus”.
Can we imitate Joseph’s “rising” from our selfishness and ordinariness of petty quarrels and assertions of power or “rule” especially in our homes? To imitate the Holy Family, we need to be like Joseph who rose not just literally from his sleep and comfort but rose above his very self. Jesus is inviting us this Sunday to rise too above our pride and self-centeredness to give way to his love and mercy, kindness and understanding for each other so that everyone remains safe and unharmed like the Infant Jesus and Mary following Joseph’s selflessness.
Photo by author, St. Joseph Parish Church, Pacdal, Baguio City, 28 December 2024.
Home is where the heart is. This is most true when we get into the origin of the Filipino equivalent of home which is tahanan which is from the root word tahan that means to stop crying. When children cry, we tell them to tahan na, tahan na… or stop crying.
Home is where we stop crying because that is where we are most safe, that is where we find the people who love us, believe in us, the one who would still accept us and forgive us when we have sinned. Home is our safest place because that is where there are people willing rise above their selfishness, to rise above their painful memories, and rise to let go of their comforts for others in distress and more difficult plight and situation in life.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph all rose from their very selves for each other to be safe. Most of all, they rose above themselves because they love so much for each other, a reflection of their great love for God the Father. Amen. May your family be blessed!
Lord My Chef Simbang Gabi Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Simbang Gabi-III, 18 December 2025 Jeremiah 23:5-8 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Matthew 1:18-25
Photo of St. Joseph with Child Jesus from vaticannews.va.
After presenting to us the genealogy of Jesus, Matthew now gives us the very essence of Christ’s origin who is God himself making him truly Divine but at the same time coming from the lineage of Abraham and David, truly human like us in everything except sin.
But, in the light of the corruption so rampant in our country, I find Matthew’s genealogy so timely as it also shows us so clearly the need to break away from the much vaunted and abused powers of bloodlines and kinship so common in most nations and societies where key positions and status are considered as hereditary.
Sociologists call it “familism” which is too much emphasis on one’s family line that leads to abuses like nepotism in offices, dynasty in politics and even caste systems that all degrade of the value of every human person. We reflected yesterday how in the genealogy of Jesus, we are all beloved children of God; when some people cling to power and positions as if they are the only ones capable of doing things even in bringing Christmas, they are totally wrong.
See how in our country politicians shamelessly abuse their power in a family dynasty occupying all elective positions aside from controlling major businesses in their town or city, region or province. A classic example of kawalan ng kahihiyan. And thank God Jesus was not born in the Philippines!
Sorry for the rant but let us recall Matthew’s shift yesterday in the flow of Christ’s genealogy at the end: “Eliud the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ” (Mt.1:15-16). See the break from the rhythmic cadence of “is the father of, is the father of” to stress that Jesus is from God, not from any man like St. Joseph, biologically speaking. This, I think, is crucial for Matthew so that no one can ever claim an exclusive family tie or bloodline in Jesus nor brag being a “relative” or even the “son” of God like that pastor now in jail in Manila.
Francisco Goya’s painting, “Dream of St. Joseph” (El Sueno de San Jose) done in 1772; from en.wikimedia.org.
With the birth of Jesus by Mary, all mankind by faith in Christ can now trace our origin in God – thanks to both St. Joseph and Blessed Virgin Mary! They showed us that Christmas did not happen by mere bloodlines but through active cooperation in the work of God.
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her (Matthew 1:18-20).
Men are seldom described by their relationship to a woman as it is more often the other way around like in the tradition of wives assuming their husband’s surnames.
Most notable exception anywhere in history is St. Joseph who is known more because of his connection to Mother Mary; however, it is in this unique aspect that we also find his greatness, his holiness.
Like in any patriarchal society, it is always the father who gives the identity to the child especially among the Jews. Every pilgrim who had gone to the Holy Land knows this so well when you look at the ID of tour guides and bus drivers that always include the lines that says “bar” followed by one’s father’s name as “son of so and so.” Unlike men, women easily claim motherhood for a child as part of her nature; a man would never give his name to any child not his.
But not Joseph who was really an exception for being “righteous” according to Matthew.
Photo from vaticannews.va, 2020.
Righteousness among the Jews is also holiness which is to keep and abide by the laws of God.
Here we find Matthew as a Jew writing to his fellow Jewish converts to Christianity that holiness is more than obedience to the Ten Commandments and its over 600 precepts every pious Jew must first follow.
For Matthew, righteousness or holiness is always complementary to justice which is more than legal fairness but having the character of God who is fair and merciful, compassionate and kind especially with the weak. In the first reading, we hear Jeremiah speaking about the coming Messiah to be called “the Lord is justice” who shall restore what’s broken, primarily his people.
Actually we got this thought on the complementarity of justice and righteousness from one of our favorite bloggers at WordPress, Sr. Renee Yann who in her “Lavish Mercy” issue in March 19, 2019 cited a Protestant exegete about the matter:
“Justice in the Old Testament concerns distribution in order to make sure that all members of the community have access to resources and goods for the sake of a viable life of dignity…. Righteousness concerns active intervention in social affairs, taking an initiative to intervene effectively in order to rehabilitate society, to respond to social grievance, and to correct every humanity-diminishing activity” (Walter Brueggemann, Journey to the Common Good).
That complementarity of justice and righteousness in St. Joseph is best expressed by Matthew when he said that “When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.”
When Mary was found pregnant with a child not his, St. Joseph already displayed his righteousness when he took the concrete and painful step of quietly leaving her to spare her of all the shame and even punishment their laws imposed on such cases. And after the angel had explained to him everything about the pregnancy of Mary, St. Joseph all the more showed the depth and reality of his holiness or righteousness that was willing to forget his total self for the greater good of Mary and everyone!
Photo by author, “St. Joseph Protector of the Child Jesus”, 2024.
As a sign of his righteousness in accordance with his deep sense of justice, St. Joseph showed in his very life that true relationship with God is expressed in our love for others which would become later a major teaching by Jesus Christ.
Moreover, it was in accepting Mary as his wife that Jesus finally came into the world as our Savior. Today, St. Joseph is teaching us that Christmas happens whenever we respect and accept each other because that is when Christ comes in our midst like in their eventual marriage.
It was not the first time that St. Joseph displayed his kind of righteousness complemented by the virtue of justice. After the Nativity, St. Joseph took the difficult and perilous task of fleeing to Egypt to protect and save Mother Mary and the Infant Jesus from the murderous wrath of King Herod.
Twice St. Joseph acted as a righteous man in the temple: first at the presentation of Jesus when he allowed Simeon and Anna to take the Holy Infant into their arms and praised him; and second in the finding of Jesus in the temple when St. Joseph chose to step into the background to let the Child Jesus assume his teaching vocation among the learned men there, an apparent anticipation of the ministry of Jesus later. (Recall in that scene that St. Joseph was totally silent while it was the Blessed Mother who did all the talking by speaking to Jesus how worried they have been looking for him.)
Based on these few instances found in the gospel wherein the Holy Family were presented together, St. Joseph remained righteous and just during their hidden years in Nazareth as he worked hard to provide for Mary and Jesus, actively doing good for his family and community while silently fostering, forming the personality and ministry of Jesus Christ.
Let us imitate St. Joseph working hard in silence amid the great temptations of glamor in this social media age, always rooted in Christ, our only Savior and Mediator. True holiness is purely grace and part of that is our hard work in actively bringing Jesus into this world so sick, so dark with evil and sin. Amen. Have a blessed Thursday!
Photo by author, site of the Nazareth of the Holy Family underneath the Church of St. Joseph in Nazareth, Israel.
Lord My Chef Simbang Gabi Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Simbang Gabi-II, 17 December 2025 Genesis 49:2, 8-10 <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]*> Matthew 1:1-17
Photo by author, December 2023.
Next to the Belen and the Parol, the Christmas Tree stands out as the third leading sign of Christmas especially in our country. Though it was first introduced by the German Lutherans in the 16th century, we Catholics have adopted it too with the Vatican having a giant Christmas Tree every year lighted at St. Peter’s Square in Rome.
The Christmas Tree invites us to remember Jesus who was born in Bethlehem is the true Tree of Life, as it “depicted the tree of paradise and the Christmas light or candle which symbolized Christ, the Light of the world” (Book of Blessings, page 443). Remember also that since ancient time especially among the Anglo-Saxons, trees symbolize our relationships as family and kin that is why we have “family trees” that trace our roots.
And that is what a genealogy is all about.
Photo by author, December 2022.
Matthew along with John opened his gospel account with the origin of Jesus; both felt the need to present right away to their specific audience where the Christ came from. John traced it to eternity as the Word (Logos) while Matthew whose followers were mostly Jewish converts to Christianity presented Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promise in the Old Testament through their two main personalities, Abraham and David.
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham became the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar (Matthew 1:1-3).
Every year we hear this gospel proclaimed on December 17 which is also the start of the second and final phase of Advent when all our readings and prayers direct our attention to the first Christmas that happened more than 2000 years ago.
For Matthew, it all started with God’s promises to Abraham, the father of all nations and to David, the greatest King of Israel whose royal lineage made the Christ a King, in fact the King of Kings. What is most interesting in Matthew’s genealogy is the fact that with each of those names that sound so funny for many of us today was a true person just like us – so human and so imperfect, even sinful except the Blessed Virgin Mary. Matthew did not sanitize nor photoshop the personalities in the Lord’s genealogy because that is the Good News: it is good to be human that is why the Son of God became one of us in everything as a human being except sin.
This year, I wish to reflect on just one person, Judah.
Jacob called his sons and said to them: “Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob, listen to Israel, your father. You, Judah, shall your brothers praise – your hand on the neck of your enemies; the sons of your father shall bow down to you. Judah, like a lion’s whelp, you have grown up on prey, my son… The scepter shall never depart from Judah, or the maqce from between his legs, while tribute is brought to him, and he receives the people’s homage” (Genesis 49:2, 8-9, 10).
This is the second Christmas me and my siblings are celebrating without both our parents. Our mother died May 2024. Though it was so heavy and difficult for us, everything moved so fast that year. So unlike this 2025.
Photo by author, December 2020.
We never get used to deaths in the family; the pain becomes most painful as we move through the years especially during Christmas as if our Belen would never be complete without a St. Joseph and a Mama Mary. Of course, Christmas and life itself is all about Jesus Christ but it is a different reality and story celebrating this most joyful season without parents. Especially for a priest like me. (No drama intended.)
That is why I felt so drawn in my prayers to Judah in Matthew’s genealogy as one of the great, great, great grandfather of Jesus Christ.
In the first reading, we have Jacob nearing death while they were all in Egypt courtesy of his eleventh son Joseph who rose to power after being sold there by his brothers. Though my mother never gave such speeches when she was nearing death, all her life she used to tell us similar things when we were growing up, of how after she and dad would be gone that I must look after my two sisters and only brother, that we would not quarrel and be loving one another always. I think such habilin as we say in Filipino is common among us Pinoys along with the usual passing on or entrusting of family and properties to the eldet, either the kuya or ate.
But that’s not the case in our first reading because Judah was not the eldest of Jacob’s children with her first wife Leah. Judah was their fourth son with three elder brothers – Reuben, Simeon and Levi with a sister named Dinah. Judah also had six half-brothers from their father’s concubines or later wives: Dan, Napthali, Gad, Asher, Joseph, and Benjamin.
Rembrandt’s 1660 painting of “Judah and Tamar” via en.wikimedia.org
Why was Judah the one anointed by Jacob to lead his family and not the elder sons as it is the norm among Jewish and even Filipino families?
This is where the story gets most interesting: Judah’s Kuya Reuben fell from grace because he had sex with their father’s concubine Bilha whose sons were Dan and Napthali while his Diko Simeon and Sangko Levi were disqualified from leading the family after their bloody revenge for the rape of their sister Dinah.
However, that does not mean Judah was clean and honorable at all!
Matthew told us in his genealogy of Jesus that Judah’s sons Perez and Zerah (twins) were born through Tamar who was actually the wife of Judah’s eldest son Er who died without having any son. As per Jewish tradition, Judah’s second son Onan married Tamar but refused to have a son with her that he “spilled his seed” to the ground – that is, he masturbated! It angered God that he took Onan (that is why masturbation is sinful and also known as “onanism” from Onan).
After losing his two sons because of Tamar, Judah refused to give his third and youngest son Shelah to marry her. So, Tamar devised the plan of pretending a prostitute, luring Judah into bed and have her pregnant with the twins Perez and Zerah. Read Genesis 38 for the full story!
Of Jacob’s sons, Joseph was the most eligible to lead and continue Jacob’s family lineage and not Judah had no credentials at all to speak of as a great man leading his brothers, eventually becoming the father of the Jewish nation from whose name came the word “Judaism”.
“Patriarch Judah”, a Russian Orthodox painting in 1654 from en.wikipedia.org.
Remember too that Judah was totally silent and timid unlike Reuben when his elder brothers planned of killing Joseph because of jealousy; it was him, however, who thought of selling Joseph into slavery to Egypt to make some money.
Judah’s only saving grace came after more than twenty years when Joseph was already a powerful man in Egypt demanded to have Jacob’s youngest son Benjamin as his slave in exchange for them to purchase foodstuff during the famine (Gen. 42). Judah pleaded for Benjamin’s life that Joseph finally revealed himself as their lost brother after he could no longer contain his tears and joy in being reunited with his brothers anew.
Despite all these shady past of Judah, God chose him to continue the family lineage of his father Jacob from whom the Messiah, Jesus came.
Like Judah, we are not the perfect son or daughter, brother or sister in the family.
Like Judah, we are not most qualified for being the favored one or anointed one in the family or in the organization. There is always somebody better than us.
But God’s works in mysterious ways, in ways so different from our own ways. As the saying goes, God does not call the qualified but qualifies his calls. Likewise, God writes straight in crooked lines.
The Simbang Gabi invites us not only to look forward to the birth of the Messiah; in these nine days of prayers and reflections, we also look back to our past to face and embrace, admit and own those shades of darkness in our lives.
Matthew’s genealogy reminds us today that this family tree of faith in Jesus extends down the generations and includes us today. Feel and experience, most of all, celebrate that joy of belonging to God’s living family tree where every branch, every member is loved and cared for. God believes in us that he entrusted to us his Son Jesus Christ. That’s Christmas – God becoming human, infant and weak like us, entrusting himself to our care and love and protection.
This Simbang Gabi, let us remember our family members and other persons who made us feel belonging in this living family tree of Jesus. Let us also pray for those lost family members and friends that Jesus wants us to draw near to his living family tree with our friendship and warmth, forgiveness and acceptance. As you light your Christmas tree tonight, do not forget to share the light and warmth of Jesus Christ, our Tree of Life. Amen. Have a blessed Wednesday!
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, 08 December 2025 Genesis 3:9-15, 20 ><}}}}*> Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12 ><}}}}*> Luke 1:26-38
“Cestello Annunciation” by Botticelli painted in 1490; from en.wikipedia.org.
We praise and thank God today on this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary that formally kicked off the process of the fulfillment of his promised salvation in Jesus born by the Virgin Mother.
According to our official Church teaching called dogma, Mary was conceived by her mother St. Anne without any stain of original sin through the merits of Jesus Christ our Savior. Mary has to be pure and clean because she would bear the Son of God who is perfect and spotless.
God chose Mary to be the Mother of Jesus not because of her having any special traits but purely out of God’s goodness “who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens” (Eph.1:3).
Hence, this feast reminds us too to imitate the Blessed Virgin in saying “yes” to God’s invitation to cooperate in his wonderful plans of bringing Jesus into this world so darkened by sin that has left us broken and fragmented from each other. Rejoice, therefore, because everyday, God sends us his angel to greet us with “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you” (Lk.1:26), inviting us into an intimacy with him like Mary.
Photo by author, left side of the facade of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, Holy Land, May 2019.
Intimacy is more than being close with another; it is an expression of love that is willing to sacrifice, to suffer and get hurt for the sake of the beloved.
God was the first to express his intimacy with us not just by expressing his immense love for us in words by the prophets in the Old Testament but by sending us his Son Jesus Christ who became human like us in everything except sin. Actually, God does not need to become human like us to save us but he chose to be one of us because he loves us so much. As an expression of his intimacy and solidarity with us, Jesus suffered and died on the Cross while going through every pain and hurt we go through in life like grief and sadness in losing a friend, betrayal by a friend, abandonment by friends, no to mention being terrified, going hungry and thirsty. Jesus became like us so that we may become like God – intimately loving him through others.
Actually, God does not need us but he chose to love us, to be with us, to be intimate with us because he loves us so much. God remains God even without us. When we do not pray, when we do not go to Mass on Sundays, when we are bad and not good, God is still God. It is us humans who are lessened when we turn away from from God.
That’s the intimacy of God with us.
How about us, are we willing to be intimate with God in Jesus Christ?
Sadly, many people “create” and “force” intimacy which is a grace, a gift of God freely given to everyone. Like friendship, we cannot force intimacy into someone not meant to be. And like friendship too, intimacy begins in Christ, blooms in Christ.
Photo by author, chapel beneath the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth; see those pilgrims praying behind iron grills at the back of the sanctuary which is the site where the Angel announced to Mary the birth of Jesus Christ.
Underneath the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth is a chapel near the very site where the angel is believed to have appeared to Mary to announce the coming of the Savior. At the back of the sanctuary of this chapel is that holy site of the Annunciation enclosed by iron grills with an altar table at the center with the declaration in Latin, Verbum Caro Hic Factum Est (The Word became flesh here).
Mary’s intimacy with God began long before the Annunciation to her by the Angel cultivated in her prayer life. Every time I pray this scene of the Annunciation, I always imagine Mary deeply absorbed in prayer. Most likely, she must be praying about her coming wedding to Joseph. Luke and Matthew were both consistent about their status as being “betrothed to each other” when God announced through the Angel the birth of the Christ.
Photo by author, close up of the Annunciation site beneath the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth; written on the altar table that says in Latin, “The Word became flesh here.”
Imagine the excitement and joy of two faithful Jews getting married soon when suddenly the Angel appeared to them on separate occasions and diverse situations to announce God’s plan of sending his own Son Jesus Christ for the salvation of the world?
It must have been most painful to both Mary and Joseph but as being truly faithful and loving of God, they both agreed to the Divine plan! And that is the great sign of their immense love for God – eventually for each other. Moreover, in saying yes to God, both Mary and Joseph showed the kind of intimacy they have with the Divine.
Let us focus on the intimacy of Mary with God on this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception found in our gospel account of the Annunciation.
Photo by Rev. Fr. Gerry Pascual of Iba, Zambales at Santuario di Greccio, Rieti, Italy in 2019.
Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you ahve found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus (Luke 1:30-31).
Notice that in many scenes and prayers about the Blessed Virgin Mary, we find the prominence of her “womb” like here in the Annunciation and when Elizabeth praised her during her Visitation as “blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Lk.1:42).
In Hebrew, the word for womb is “racham, rachamin” which is their word too for “mercy” because for them, God’s mercy comes from his innermost being. Hence, whenever the Jews speak of mercy of God, they point their fingers downward into the womb or uterus and moves it upward to the heart to indicate the flow of mercy of God from his innermost being expressed in love which is he’s very being and core.
This is the reason the Church Fathers translated mercy into “misericordia” from the Latin verb to move or to stir – “misereor” – and word for heart “cor” that literally means “to move or to stir one’s heart”. It is more than a feeling like compassion; mercy is deeper as it encompasses one’s being leading to intimacy that is a communion or oneness with others which is also intimacy.
Photo by author, Church of the Visitation, Ein-Karem, Israel, May 2017.
Where there is love, there is always intimacy with the lover willing to bear all pains and hurts for the beloved. And vice versa. Like Jesus. Then Mary who was willing to sacrifice her wedding and marriage to Joseph by being the Mother of the Son of God.
But why? Because we have experienced too that true joy comes only when there is giving of self, when there is willingness to let go and suffer. At the Last Supper, Jesus described joy as like a mother in the pangs of childbirth when she goes through a lot of pains and worries and fears almost like dying but once the baby is delivered, joy happens because she had brought forth a new life into the world.
True joy is having the firm belief that no matter what happens even in the worst scenarios, God would never leave nor forsake us. Joy happens when we find new life, new directions because there is another person willing to remain with us, assuring us we are never alone. That again is intimacy when you feel not alone especially in the most trying times.
Without intimacy with God and another person, there can be no true joy because no one would dare to take risks in this life like mothers. This is what modern women are missing when they see childbearing more as a chore or a burden or a suffering they can always avoid than self-giving borne out of love which happens in the context of an intimacy. No wonder too that sex has been so trivialized, reduced to an activity and act instead of as a gift of self because there is no more responsibility and intimacy. We cannot have lasting and meaningful relationships without intimacy.
Photo by author, 2021.
On this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, we are reminded of God’s mercy and intimacy with us, of his loving relationship with us that continues in Christ Jesus with Mary.
Let us nurture this beautiful relationship with God that flows and bears fruit in our relationships with one another.
Like Mary, may we finally say yes to God into an intimate relationship with him through our selflessness. Like Mary, we are blessed and full of grace. The joy awaiting far outweighs the pains and sufferings we shall go through in our gift of self in our relationships. Have no fear for Jesus had suffered first before us so that we can love and be intimate like him. Amen. Have a blessed week.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Red Wednesday, 26 November 2025 Daniel 5:1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28 <*{{{>< + ><}}}*> Luke 21:12-19
Photo from Fatima Tribune, 27 November 2024.
It’s the Wednesday after Christ the King when our churches and other religious buildings are lit in red to mark Red Wednesday, the annual campaign for persecuted Christians worldwide.
Started in 2016 by the Aid for Church in Need (ACN), it has been an annual Church celebration with other Christian groups and sects participating to heighten awareness of the continuing persecution of Christians in various parts of the world – exactly what Jesus had predicted to his disciples more than 2000 years ago.
Jesus said to the crowd: “They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony… By your perseverance you will secure your lives” (Luke 21:12-13, 19).
Photo from Fatima Tribune, 27 November 2024.
For us in the Philippines that is majority a Christian nation, Red Wednesday is an opportune time to reflect about our “giving testimony” to Jesus Christ: how “bloody red” is our being a Christian?
Unlike in other countries in Africa or our neighbors in Asia where Christians are persecuted and harassed, we in the Philippines do not go through such sufferings and challenges. Think of any kind of opposition to the Christian faith we have encountered even in the last 100 years. None. The most serious threats ever made against our faith seem to be mere “peer pressures” of being teased as “conservative” in going to Mass and Confession frequently, or upholding the virtue of virginity. Perhaps, the most serious dilemma most of us Christians have ever had in our faith is whether or not we shall pray or at least make the Sign of the Cross when dining in a restaurant or fast food chain. In Europe and the States, chapels and churches are vandalized and burned but here in the country, those who have committed sacrileges in the past three years were “crucified” in social media with one being sued in court.
We do not wish that we also undergo similar religious persecutions like the other Christians abroad whom we pray for today on this Red Wednesday and send with our financial support as concrete actions of our solidarity with them.
In line with this year’s theme of “Living Hope Amidst Suffering” in conjunction with the Jubilee Year celebration “Pilgrims of Hope”, Red Wednesday invites us to simply witness the gospel of Jesus by standing on what is true and good especially these days our country is so deep into the ghost project scandals on flood control.
Giving testimony to Jesus Christ is letting our zeal for him burn anew within us by not bending into the ways of the world that promote a “culture of death” like abortion and contraceptives, or to the many forms of wokism that overextend personal rights contrary to God’s original plan and design like divorce, same sex marriage, and gender manipulation.
Photo by Ms. Kei Abad, Kawaguchiko Lake (Fujisan), 23 November 2025.
Witnessing Christ is being honest and just in a country of such impunity where graft and corruption is a family endeavor, a norm in public service.
Giving testimony to Christ in this time of social media where trending and viral are the new standards is to remain simple and modest even if it is looked down upon, being fair and just even if everyone chooses to disregard them while being concrete in our acts of mercy and charity for the weak and marginalized.
Red Wednesday is reigniting our hope in God which is an expression of our firm faith in him. Religious persecutions happen and abound anywhere God is negated and denied or when a particular group of people insist on their own perception of God.
We Christians are pilgrims of hope because we do believe in the one True and Only God in Heaven who was revealed to us by his own Son Jesus Christ made present up to this day until the end of time by the Holy Spirit. Hope is primarily having faith in God.
In this sense it is true that anyonbe who does not nknow God, even though he may entertain all kinds of hopes, is ultimately without hope, without the great hope that sustains the whole of life (cf. Eph. 2:12). Man’s great, true hope which holds firm in spite of all disappointments can only be God – God who has loved us and who continues to love us “to the end,” until all “is accomplished” (cf. Jn.13:1 and 19:30). (Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi #27)
Hope is not optimism nor positive thinking, believing things will get better. On the contrary, true hope is actually accepting that things and situations could get worst as Jesus mentioned in his predictions of the coming upheavals and persecutions. Hope is putting all our trust in God that no matter what happens in the end when things get worst like death, there is Jesus Christ loving us, comforting us, and saving us.
That’s the kind of faith and hope Daniel expressed in our first reading despite the threats of sure death when he spoke of the God of Israel as the only true God, not the many idols and false gods of the Babylonians. Most of all, because of his fervent hope in God who would raise him up in the end, Daniel delivered his interpretation of the king’s dream of how his days were numbered as the Medians and Persians were soon to conquer them that eventually happened.
Photo by Ms. Kei Abad, Kawaguchiko Lake (Fujisan), 23 November 2025.
Many times in life, all we can have is hope in God especially when pains and sufferings become unbearable, when these get worst without any signs of getting any better.
That is why Red Wednesday’s theme this year is so appropriate, “living hope amidst suffering”.
Hope makes life more worthy and lofty because our sights are not only fixed on this world but even beyond as Jesus assured us in today’s gospel, “By your perseverance you will secure your lives” (Lk.21:19).
And there lies the beauty of hope – it is the most surprising of all virtues as the French poet, essayist and writer Charles Peguy wrote in 1911 in his long masterpiece called “The Portal of the Mystery of Hope.” In this poem, Peguy presents God as the speaker himself, reflecting about the virtue of hope in relation with the other two theological virtues of faith and love. It is so lovely because it is so true especially when I encountered it during my trying months of second year in theology in the seminary.
The faith that I love best, says God, is hope... Faith itself does not surprise me...
Love, says God, that does not surprise me...
But Hope, says God, that is what surprises me. I, myself, find it surprising that my children see what happens and believe things will improve. That is the most surprising, the most marvelous gift. And it surprises me, myself, that my gift has such incredible strength since it first flowed in creation as it always will. Faith sees what is. Hope sees what will be. Love loves what is. Hope loves what has not yet been and what will be in the future and in eternity.
For those suffering, those in pain especially because of faith in Jesus Christ: keep believing, keep hoping and be ready to be surprised by God. Reignite that zeal in Christ and his gospel. Amen.A blessed Red Wednesday to you.
Photo by Ms. Kei Abad, Kawaguchiko Lake (Fujisan), 23 November 2025.
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