The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Memorial, St. Francis Sales, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, 24 January 2024 2 Samuel 7:4-17 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 4:1-20
“The Sower at Sunset” by Vincent Van Gogh, oil on canvas painted in June 1888 from wikimedia commons.
Lord Jesus Christ, as you narrated to us today the parable of the sower, I wonder what were the other seeds you have sowed aside from your word?
On another occasion, Jesus began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land. And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them, “Hear this! A sower went out to sow.”
We are not just the different kinds of soil where your seeds fell, Lord Jesus; like you, may we also be sowers of your word and teachings, sowers of your love and mercy, sowers of compassion and kindness, sowers of your light and life, sowers of your hope and healing, sowers of your very presence.
When God told David not to build him a temple as he promised to raise a house for him from whom shall come the Christ, that was when the Father also sowed the seeds of redemption and fulfillment in you, Lord Jesus!
On this feast of St. Francis Sales, patron of Catholic journalists and media practitioners, we pray for all communicators to sow unity and peace, not division nor misunderstanding, nor animosities; we pray for all journalists of different platforms to sow understanding and clarity, to sow justice and equality among peoples, and to sow respect for life at all times because every communication must promote first of all the dignity of every person. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the Third Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 23 January 2024 2 Samuel 6:12-15, 17-19 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Mark 3:31-35
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 15 January 2024 in Davao.
How timely are your words today, O God, for us always checking on what is trending and viral, on who's in, and who's out:
The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house. Standing outside they sent word to Jesus and called him. A crowd seated around him told him, “Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you.” And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Mark 3:31-32, 34-35
Remind us, dear Jesus that being in and being out with you is not physical nor spatial but spiritual in nature; even with one another! How sad many of us these days are preoccupied in being in, being hip, being included and accepted for the sake of status and fame; being in being out is being close, being far from the beloved's heart.
Help us, dear God to imitate King David though he was inside the circle of those carrying your ark to Jerusalem, his heart, his mind, his very self was in you totally! Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Feast of the Sto. Niño, Cycle B, 21 January 2024 Isaiah 9:1-6 ><}}}*> Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-18 ><}}}*> Mark 10:13-16
Photo by Ms. Anne Ramos, 22 March 2020 in Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria,Bulacan during our “libot” of the Blessed Sacrament at the start of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Our Lord Jesus Christ’s attitude to children is perfectly clear in our gospel this Sunday, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it” (Mk 10:15).
Being like a child is actually the main teaching of Jesus Christ who came to us precisely as one. Right at his infancy like most babies these days, Jesus faced a lot of great risks of being harmed or even getting killed.
See how Jesus insisted in all his teachings on this need to become like a child, to go back to one’s beginnings in order to get into God’s kingdom which is actually him, his very person. Keep in mind that the kingdom of God is not a territorial domain but the very person of Jesus Christ himself. It is from this fact we realize that being a child as taught by Jesus is a mystery that can never be explained nor solved in our minds and mental faculties. This we find in that occasion when Nicodemus, a Pharisee, came to Jesus hiding in the darkness of the night to discuss the kingdom of God. When Jesus told him of the need to be born from above (or, be born again in earlier translations) which is to become like a child, he thought it to be in the literal manner.
Jesus chided Nicodemus by saying, “You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this?” (Jn. 3:9-10). It was not sarcasm nor an insult by Jesus but a clarification to everyone including us today that being a child to enter the kingdom of God is a mystery we have to embrace and experience and feel in the heart not deduced in the mind.
And this is exactly what the Feast of the Sto. Niño is all about that we celebrate every third Sunday in January.
The Vatican has given us this special celebration as an extension of the Christmas season in recognition of the great role played by the image of Sto. Niño Magellan gifted Queen Juana of Cebu in 1521.
After leaving our shores after Magellan was killed in Mactan, the Spaniards returned in 1565 under Miguel Lopez de Legazpi to claim our islands for the King of Spain. Upon their arrival in Cebu, they found the Sto. Niño enshrined in a house of worship prominently displayed as the main God of the natives along with their other idols and gods. Historians say the people of Cebu during those years between 1521 to 1565 have found the Sto. Niño as the most powerful and effective in granting their prayers for children (fertility), rains and bountiful harvests that rightly it was the Sto. Niño who actually conquered the Philippines that we have become the only Christian nation in this part of the world. In those 44 years after Magellan and his men left the Philippines, the Sto. Niño had remained and stayed with the natives keeping them safe and secured all those years until the Spaniards returned to be colonized through Legazpi.
What a beautiful imagery of the Sto. Niño staying behind with our forefathers conquering them not with swords nor force but with love and mercy, and youthfulness of the Child Jesus!
Recall how last Sunday we have reflected the words stay and remain when Andrew asked Jesus where he was staying: to stay, to dwell mean more than its spatial nature as a place or location but also in a deeper sense, a communion. It is in dwelling in Jesus who is the kingdom of God that we belong, we become a part of that kingdom.
When Jesus spoke of “being born from above” to Nicodemus, he was not only referring to the Sacrament of Baptism but to the very fact how he as the Christ from the very start has always dwelled and remained in the Father.
Three days after being found in the temple in Jerusalem when Jesus was 12 years old, he told Mary his Mother, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”(Lk.2:49). What a beautiful expression of that union in “being in my Father’s house” to show us this mystery of Jesus being like a child, the Son of God who has remained the Father’s beloved One into his adulthood because he had always been in union with the Father. Jesus is inseparable from the Father because he himself takes abode and dwelling in God.
“The Finding of the Savior at the Temple” painting by William Holman Hunt (1860) from en.wikipedia.org.
When Jesus was approaching his Passion and Death, he repeatedly told everyone how everything he had said and done were not his but his Father’s to indicate his communion and union in him. Ultimately there on the Cross, his final words expressed the same truth that he is the Son of God obedient unto death especially when he called out, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Lk.23:46).
Therefore, to accept and welcome a child in Jesus’ name is not just an act of charity nor of a simple finding of Jesus among children. It is ultimately being one, of remaining in the Father because Jesus also said “whoever welcomes such a child in my name, welcomes me” (Mt 18:5).
Photo by author, 2022.
That is why the kingdom of God is for those who are like children always one with God like Jesus.
To be a child is to remain in God, to always love expressed in kindness and care for others especially the weak, being forgiving and merciful and compassionate with those lost like the Father.
To be like a child is being a light who brightens the life of others just like a babies whose very sight and smiles can ease our pains and sorrows, giving us the much needed boost to forge on in life. We are filled with hope whenever we encounter or see infants because they remind us too of God dwelling in them, of a God who assures and ensures us with s bright future.
This the reason we have in our first reading that part of the Book of Isaiah we heard proclaimed on Christmas day to remind us that Jesus is the light born on the darkest night of the year to illumine our lives and the world darkened by sins and evil like wars, poverty, and diseases. We see light in being like a child because that is when we are one in the Father too in being like a child.
Let me cite again that beautiful movie Firefly where the main character, the child named Tonton loved his mother so much that he totally believed her stories that sent him into a journey to search for the magical island filled with fireflies. Tonton dwelled in his mother’s love that he eventually found the magical island with the many fireflies that in the process also brought light into the darkness within the three adults he befriended in the bus going to Bicol.
Many times in my ministry as chaplain in our hospital, I have seen the great powers within every child – of how a sick baby, a sick child could send his/her parents to summon all their faith in God to heal them, to save them.
Listen to the stories of those who join the Traslacion every year in Quiapo: most of them had their panata borne out of answered prayers for their sick children. Every parent knows it so well how they have moved mountains and did the most extraordinary for the sake of their infants and children.
That is the mystery of the kingdom of God belonging to children when God gives us every spiritual blessing we need to achieve the impossible (second reading) to become like children by remaining in God as the only power and salvation in this life.
Be with a child, stay with a child and you shall find God’s kingdom.
Be like a child and you shall experience the kingdom of God! Amen. Have a blessed week ahead!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. NIcanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 19 January 2024 1 Samuel 24:3-21 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Mark 3:13-19
Photo by Ms. April Oliveros on Mt. Pulag, March 2023.
Dearest Lord Jesus: today I imagined myself one of your twelve Apostles you have called and appointed; I also imagined myself like David in the first reading, stealthily cutting off an end of King Saul's mantle while inside a cave in pursuit of him to kill him!
In my prayers, I felt one desire, one important thing I need in the moment: the grace to overcome personal differences especially with my co-workers in your vineyard, with those above me as superiors.
Teach me, O Lord, to overcome differences with others like your Apostles who came from various backgrounds with temperaments and attitudes even poles apart like Matthew the former tax collector and collaborator with the Romans working with Simon the Cananean also referred to as the Zealot; teach me to focus more on you, to always find you, most of all, to bring you and share you in every dealing with others I have differences with.
Grant me the grace to be centered in you alone than be overtaken by our many differences that ruin the mission you have entrusted to us.
Likewise, teach me the virtue of respect that literally means to look again and again (re specere); when differences become so deep, even would cause us to fight others like David and King Saul, let me still focus on you, O Lord, to respect the person and their office and designation in order to avoid hurting and dividing your precious Body, the Church. Amen.
Photo by Ms. April Oliveros on Mt. Pulag, March 2023.
Kapatid. Mula sa salitang ugat na "patid" ibig sabihi'y putol at hiwalay, nag-iisa at walang buhay ni saysay; sa unlaping -ka, nababago kahulugan, nagkakaroon ng kasama nabubuo ugnayan di lamang sa pamilya at tahanan kungdi saanmang samahan.
Kapatid. Ito ang tawagan natin sa isa't-isa na pinagbubuklod di lamang ng dugo kungdi higit sa lahat ng puso at isipan na kung mawawala ang ka-patid, nawawala katuturan at saysay nitong buhay kaya lahat handang ialay habang may buhay.
Kapatid. Turingan at diwa di kayang mapatid kahit ng kamatayan dahil ugnayan magpapatuloy magpakailanman di kayang putulin o tabunan ng libingan dahil batid natin sa pagpanaw buhay di nagwawakas samahan at ugnayan nananatiling wagas.
Kapatid. Kaputol. Ng sarili. Ng buhay. Ng mithiin at adhika. Kadugtong ng tuwa pati ng luha tunay na pagpapala ng Diyos na may likha sa ating mga kapatid at kaibigan upang tayo ay samahan, alalayan, at abangan sakali man maunang pumanaw upang maging ating pisi at lubid sa langit na hindi mapapatid.
Rest in peace, Dindo (larawan kuha ng kanyang ika-60 kaarawan, Marso 09, 2018).
Paalam, aking kinakapatid Fernando "Dindo" R. Alberto Jr.; ikumusta mo ako sa langit sa mga pumanaw nating idolo sa musika, kami na lamang ni Toby magdiriwang ng birthday tuwing Marso dito habang kayo at ang Ninong magkasama na sa buhay na walang hanggan.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 15 January 2024 1 Samuel 15:16-23 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Mark 2:18-22
Photo by author, 2019.
God our Father, teach me to be innovative in witnessing you, in proclaiming you, in making you present in this fast changing world but at the same time still rooted in you, obedient to you; how sad that in our Church today with so many efforts in the guise of "creativity" that led only to empty novelties pretending to be attuned with the time, many have slowly desecrated our liturgy, our celebrations and worst, put into question the relevance of our long held beliefs and teachings on faith and morals; while we have to embrace change happening in the world and in the Church, may we not forget it is YOU, dear Lord, whom we seek, whom we desire, whom we aspire not the social influencers nor rock stars nor any celebrities; teach us to innovate in our ways that are still rooted in you and your precepts not with technology nor with new thoughts; may we learn to understand your Son Jesus Christ's words in today's gospel:
“No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”
Mark 2:21-22
Forgive us, dear God, for all the novelties we have brought even into our worship and teachings that have detached us more from you and one another; instead of fostering openness and inclusivity, the opposite had happened because to win more people is first of all to remain faithful and obedient to you which King Saul of Israel had forgotten:
But Samuel said: ”Does the Lord so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obedience to the command of the Lord? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission than the fat of rams.
1 Samuel 15:23
This New Year, lead us back to you, God, through our leaders in the Church who are faithful to you in prayers, in liturgy, in teachings; innovative like Jesus Christ who fulfilled your Laws of Old in the New settings. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday in the First Week of Ordinary Time, 11 January 2024 1 Samuel 4:1-11 <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]*> Mark 1:40-45
Photo from Inquirer.net, 09 January 2024.
God our loving Father, your words today from the first reading as so similar with our annual experiences at Traslacion of Quiapo's Black Nazarene image; every year, we all ask in awe and wonder as well as with skepticism even cynicism by some if this is faith or fanaticism because after January 9, our nation remains the same - defeated in corruption, defeated in inequality, defeated in poverty, so defeated in fact that many are still suffering from all kinds of impoverishments that like the Israelites at Ebenezer, we ask:
“Why has the Lord permitted us to be defeated today by the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the Lord from Shiloh that it may gointo battle among us and save us from the grasp of our enemies.”
1 Samuel 4:3
We have the Black Nazarene, we have the Sto. Niño, we have the La Naval, we have everything like your Ark of the Covenant, dear God and yet like the Israelites, we are still defeated: we elect into office to govern us men and women without integrity nor abilities, much less concern for our well-being; we ourselves disobey simple traffic rules, could not give the due respect to our parents at home!
Forgive us, dear God, in relying so much on what eyes can see, what hands can do, what mouths can shout or speak as we forget to move our hearts, to deepen our faith like that leper, wholeheartedly believing in Jesus Christ that he was cleansed and healed; but, unlike him, let us obey the prescriptions of the law, of those above us to avoid sensationalisms that may spark faith in many but fail in deepening that same faith when we turn more on ourselves than to you, O God, in Christ Jesus found in everyone whom we eventually forget as we become self-centered. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the First Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 09 January 2024 1 Samuel 1:9-20 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 1:21-28
Photo by Mr. Jay Javier, Quiapo, 09 January 2020.
Praise and glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ, that today we shift into Ordinary Time in our liturgy that coincides with the annual Traslacion of the image of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno as you remind us too in our readings true meaning of authority we often relate with power.
Jesus came to Capernaum with his followers, and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority not as the scribes.
Mark 1:21-22
People were astonished with your authority, Lord Jesus, not only because it is all-powerful but most of all, it is most kind, most compassionate, most humane because in your life, in your very self as Jesus Nazareno, you have shown us that authority is not just having power to make thing happen nor lording over others; like in Quiapo today as in Capernaum, we are astonished with your authority not because of its powers of being efficacious but because of your being so close with us who are weak and suffering; true authority for you, dear Jesus, is to be one with the people - in our miseries and anxieties, in our pains and hurts, as well as in our aspirations and dreams; authority is most real, most powerful and most appreciated when that authority is felt as power for the people to be healed and comforted, raised up and inspired like you have shown in your coming to us, in your carrying the cross, of your bearing our infirmities. Like Hannah in the first reading, we beg those authorities above us to "think kindly" of us people; many times, people in authority lord it over us like Eli initially, suspecting Hannah being drunk, scolding us, reprimanding us, worst, judging us without even knowing our plight, so unlike you who became poor like us, most of all, died for us. Amen.
The Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 07 January 2024
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, in Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 13 September 2023.
It’s the first Sunday of 2024 and we are celebrating in the Church today the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord used to be known as Feast of the Three Kings. Today is the final Sunday of the Christmas season which closes tomorrow with the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus before we go into the Ordinary Time the following Tuesday.
From the Greek word epiphanes that means appearance or manifestation, today’s celebration reminds us that Jesus came for everyone especially those forgotten and unloved, the poor and marginalized, the sinner and those lost.
Most of all, Christ became human like us except in sin so that it would be easier for us to find God who loves us so much without any reservations. In fact, it is actually God who searches for us and always finds us. Whenever we think we are looking for God and have found Him, it was actually God who first sought us and found us.
It was God who moved the magi from the East to search for Jesus Christ born in Bethlehem and they found him. Ironically, it was the people of Jerusalem, especially King Herod along with the scribes and priests who knew where the Christ would be born were the ones who did not find him because they were not really interested in finding Jesus.
Christmas is being “out” with Christ when we think less of ourselves within like the magi from the East who went out of their ways, of their comfort zones and even ivory towers to find Jesus in Bethlehem… Yes, Jesus is out there, manifesting himself daily in so many ways but we could not recognize him because we are locked inside our own beliefs of the Christ, held captive by our many fears like King Herod and the people of Jerusalem.
This is the second time we are featuring on Epiphany Sunday Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’77’s classic “Waiting for Love” composed by Randy McNeill from their 1974 album Vintage 74. One good thing with social media today is how we are able to unearth or discover so many wonderful things about our music in the past like the impressive talents behind this lovely song with vocals from the lovely Bonnie Bowden who collaborated with many other albums later with Mr. Mendes as well as Jazz artist George Duke. Jazz legend Dave Grusin was the conductor and arranger for the orchestra music of the album with some acoustic guitar renditions by another legend Antonio Carlos Jobim.
What we like most with Waiting for Love that rings true to everyone of us is the fact how very often we are so locked inside – with our past pains and hurts, even sins and failures as well as presumptions on everyone and everything that we could not find Jesus and love itself outside in other people.
Was it something in the rain Or a chance of love again That made me explain The secrets of my soul I guess I only needed Someone to hold
But I was gone without a trace And the rain blew away
And it seems I've spent my whole life Waiting for love And when it comes I always run away
Was it something on a dream That touched my memory Or a picture I didn't know I'd seen That made me stop and stare And then I lost him, If he was ever there
Waiting for Love challenges us like the Epiphany to be wise like the magi to recognize and follow Jesus appearing daily in our lives in many occasions and circumstances. Surely, there were other people who have seen the bright star of Bethlehem when Christ was born but why only the three magi from the East came to follow it and search for Jesus?
This 2024, stop being “afraid of being close where I need to be the most”to start following and believing in the bright star of Jesus Christ found in people who come to us daily. Cheers to more love this 2024!
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, 07 January 2024 Isaiah 60:1-6 ><}}}}*> Ephesians 3:2-3,5-6 ><}}}}*> Matthew 2:1-12
I have been thinking these past days after Christmas at how ironic when we rejoiced on the Lord’s birthday, we also unconsciously left him behind our celebrations. It seemed that the more we celebrated Christmas, the more we think of our very selves, the more we forget Jesus found in other people, especially the little ones.
This is perhaps the problem with our prolonged Christmas season in the country that as we try so hard to be “in” beginning September, the more we actually push Jesus “out” of Christmas! We are so concerned with everything new and beautiful – from our clothes to our gifts and decorations, food and parties when Jesus actually came for what is old and worn out like the sinful, the outcasts, and the marginalized. Christmas is being “out” with Christ when we think less of ourselves within like the magi from the East who went out of their ways, of their comfort zones and even ivory towers to find Jesus in Bethlehem.
This is what Epiphany or Manifestation of the Lord to the Nations of the world is showing us today in this last major celebration in the Christmas season before we shift into Ordinary Time on Tuesday after the Feast of the Lord’s Baptism tomorrow.
Yes, Jesus is out there, manifesting himself daily in so many ways but we could not recognize him because we are locked inside our own beliefs of the Christ, held captive by our many fears like King Herod and the people of Jerusalem.
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
Matthew 2:1-4
Photo by author, Jerusalem, May 2017.
If somebody today would come inquiring where is the newborn king or lord and master of Christians, how would we feel? Would we feel “greatly troubled” like King Herod and the rest of Jerusalem?
Don’t you find it odd that when the magi asked about the newborn king of the Jews, Herod and the people were troubled instead of at least first asking for clarifications on who was the king they were looking for? The least they could have done was looked up to see the star that brought the magi there in the first place so that instead of being troubled, they could have felt perplexed or baffled, with the familiar reactions of “what?” or “duh…” or “huh” or as we would always say, “ha, ano daw iyon?”
This is what I meant of Christmas as a celebration of going out to check on others like the magi and their star: Herod and the people of Jerusalem went inside themselves and got locked in their beliefs and presuppositions as well as fears! They were troubled because they felt the status quo would be disturbed that could throw them off their comfort zones. And the biggest irony is that they who have the answers in the scriptures remained locked inside their own selfish worlds, refusing to get out and meet the newborn king!
But there is another side to this reality of our refusal to go out, to meet and recognize Christ in his manifestations. This is a more dangerous expression of being locked inside ourselves when our motivation in asking questions is dubious. Why do we ask and inquire on someone or anything? Is it because we want to learn and know better or is it because we want our beliefs validated and affirmed?
The magi were clearly searching for the truth, for an answer to their queries. They wanted to know because they knew very well that they knew nothing or so little about the newborn king of the Jews that is why they asked questions in Jerusalem. See their sincerity and humility in finding the truth that they they went out of themselves. And they were not disappointed for eventually, they were filled and fulfilled with Jesus.
King Herod on the other hand inquired about the birth of the Messiah because of his sinister plans against him. He was filled with pride and conceit, locked inside himself without any intentions of truly learning and knowing, of relating with Jesus nor with anybody else. He felt he knew everything so well without realizing he knew nothing at all. Herod and the rest of Jerusalem were troubled precisely because they were not interested with Jesus Christ.
It is said that a person is known by the questions he/she asks. Very often, our questions are a manifestation too of who we are.
Let us not be complacent that this happened only to King Herod and the people of Jerusalem more than 2000 years ago for it continues to happen to this day in many instances in our lives, in our families, and in our parishes and the Church when we no longer search for Christ Jesus as we are busy pursuing many other things for personal fame and glory.
How often does it happen with us in our parish, in our Church, in our families that we are so stuck into our old beliefs even traditions that we refuse to go out and meet Jesus Christ Who have come to set us free from all forms of slavery caused by sins?
Jesus fulfills the longings of the people since the Old Testament time as heralded by Isaiah’s prophecy in the first reading which St. Paul beautifully explains in the second reading as “the mystery made known by God to him.” Mystery in this sense is not something hidden but revealed so that in Christ Jesus, the mystery of God, His plan for us is revealed or made known for everyone not only the Jews but for all peoples of the world represented by the magi.
Are we willing to be like the magi who dared to leave everything behind, unmindful of the long and perilous journey to make in order to meet Jesus Christ? In meeting the Lord like the magi, are we willing to give up everything we have especially the most precious ones and offer these to Him? Most of all, upon finding God, are we willing to go back home by “another way” like the magi as instructed in a dream never to return to Herod? The Lord continues to manifest Himself to us in so many ways every day, often in the simplest occasions and things. May we have the courage to meet Jesus Christ so that we may see the light and beauty of this New Year He has for us. Have a blessed week ahead!
“Lord Jesus Christ, give us the courage to leave our baggages of 2023: the pains and hurts, the sins, the failures and disappointments so that we may meet You this New Year 2024. Teach us to give up our worldly treasures so that we could truly ask honest and sincere questions to know You, to love You, and to follow You in Your many epiphanies of truth and realities, of love and kindness, of mercy and forgiveness through the people we meet. Amen.”
