Tag: relationships

Loving God is continuous service

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fourth Week of Easter, 05 May 2023
Acts 13:26-33   ><)))*> + <*(((><   John 14:1-6
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2023.
Thank you very much,
Lord Jesus Christ
for the assurance 
"Do not to let 
your hearts be troubled.
You have faith in God;
have faith also in me.
In my Father's house 
there are many dwelling places.
If there were not, would I have
told you that I am going
to prepare a place for you?"
(John 14:1-2).
Thank you,
thank you,
thank you, Lord Jesus!
We pray for those whose hearts
are so troubled these days:
those who will undergo surgery
especially in the heart and 
in the brain; parents worried of
their sick children or children
who have gone wayward, lost
in life despite the love they 
have showered them;
spouses taking care of their
sick husband or wife;
those of us going through
anxiety or panic attacks
for so many reasons that
are often not valid at all:
Lord, we are so troubled 
with everything because 
so often we do not dwell
in you, our true home!

Many times, we are troubled
because we do not abide 
or dwell in you with each other 
when some of us have suddenly
turned cold and distant,
unfaithful or feeling betrayed
and taken for granted.

Let us be present, Lord,
in you in others; 
let us serve in love.
Loving God is a 
continuous service
of being present 
with others,
especially our family
and friends.
Help us renew our ties,
our dwelling in you,
Lord Jesus, God's 
"begotten Son" (Acts 13:33)
by continuing this journey
of loving service in you
for you are "the way 
and the truth
and the life" (Jn. 14:6).
Amen.

To serve is to be at home in Christ & with others

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Fourth Week of Easter, 04 May 2023
Acts 13:13-25   ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> + ><}}}*>   John13:16-20

O Lord Jesus Christ,
how lovely that you taught
us how to lovingly serve you in
others by washing the feet 
of your disciples to show 
that service is in the context 
of a table gathering,
of a meal of family
and friends.

When Jesus had washed the disciples’ feet, he said to them: “Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master not any messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it.”

John 13:16-17
Service which is
ministerium or ministry
in Latin and diakonia in
Greek both connote 
"table service",
serving in one's little
way at home (oikos),
an expression of your "dwelling" 
Lord Jesus in the Father
and of your "dwelling" in us,
of our "dwelling" in God in you
with others; 
how lovely, indeed, 
that serving is directly
related with the table found
in home or dwelling so that,
therefore, to serve means to be
at home, to dwell in God,
to dwell with others in Christ;
furthermore, service is 
to be rooted
in our home, 
in our family
who is God himself
ultimately as St. Paul
explained today in the
first reading!
Help us realize this,
Lord Jesus, that to serve
is not to do something so big
for others, something so
spectacular for everyone to see;
to serve is simply to be present
with our loved ones, with others
in facing life's so many challenges;
to serve, O Lord, is to continually
dwell in you, 
to find and recognize you
in each other as your
indwelling, your home
who must be respected
and honored as a person,
a brother and a sister
in you; being present
with another is service
in itself.

Of what use are all
our efforts in serving
those far if we cannot 
even look at those near us 
in their eyes 
to recognize them
as your indwelling too?

Let us be at home in you
and with you, Jesus, 
so we may be at home too
with others.
Amen.

Dwelling in Jesus

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Feast of Sts. Philip & James the Less, Apostles, 03 May 2023
1 Corinthians 15:1-8   ><))))"> + ><))))"> + ><))))">   John 14:6-14
Photo by author, sunrise at Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.
Thank you, dearest Lord Jesus Christ
for the gift of two Apostles whose
feast we celebrate today,
St. Philip and St. James the Less;
thank you in giving us examples
to personally be near you,
to be one with you 
and to be one in you.
How lovely it is to recall
when Philip along with Andrew 
approached and asked you 
where you stayed and you told them
to "come and see"; what they saw
and experienced must be so wonderful
that Philip was so convinced in
calling Nathanael to come and see you
whom he had recognized as the Messiah.

In being your apostles,
Philip and James remind us 
of the need to be close 
and familiar with you to
discover your true identity,
to enter into a personal contact
with you by listening, responding
and communing in you Jesus daily,
of the need to dwell in you always.

During your last supper,
you expressed clearly how
the word "dwelling" means -
intimacy and oneness in the Father
in you and with one another also
in you, dear Jesus. 
Your cousin James who eventually
became the bishop of Jerusalem
practiced this meaning of dwelling
in you by working to resolve the
the tensions among the Jewish 
and Hellenist converts to
Christianity; how beautiful that
the early Church lived in 
harmony with each other,
rooted in you, Jesus, 
our home,
our dwelling.
Amen.

Praying to be a “devout” person

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Third Week of Easter, 26 April 2023
Acts 8:1-8   ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>   John 6:35-40
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
Lord Jesus,
teach me to be a "devout"
person; not just righteous or
holy but devout as well
like those "Devout men (who)
buried Stephen and made a loud
lament over him" (Acts 8:2).

Yesterday, you taught us dear Lord
that whatever is in our heart is
reflected on our face;
today you teach us that
to be "devout" is still of the heart
which is to be of a good heart 
ready to believe and act openly
with courage on that belief.
Only St. Luke used the adjective
"devout" to describe some persons
like Simeon who praised God upon
seeing Jesus when presented to the
temple by his parents; the Jews from
all over the world who came to observe
Pentecost day in Jerusalem;
the men who buried Stephen, and
Ananias who sought Saul while 
still blind to bring him to the Church.
Many times dear Lord
our being devout is 
self-serving when we merely
open our eyes for things 
that are seen in our many 
devotions, seeing more our selves
failing to see Christ in 
the other persons
who have to be loved
and cared for, understood
and forgiven, accepted and
affirmed.  
No wonder until now,
though we receive you Jesus
in the Eucharist, we do not 
experience and feel your Body,
your Person because our hearts
are not open at all to you through
others especially the sick and
suffering.  Amen.

A face-to-face prayer

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Third Week of Easter, 24 April 2023
Acts 6:8-15   ><)))*> + <*(((><   John 6:22-29
Photo by author, La Mesa Eco Park seen from OLFU-Quezon City campus at Hilltop Subdivision, January 2023.
Many times
people ask me 
how your face looks like,
Lord?
Often I tell them you
are spirit like the angels
without a physical face
as we know so well
but even I, dear Lord,
wonder too how your face
really looks like.

Today's first reading 
does not give us a direct 
answer to that but somehow
helps us a lot in finding 
the meaning of what's 
in a face, inviting us to
face our face.

All who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him (Stephen) and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Acts 6:15
In Genesis,
we are told you created us
in your image and likeness,
O God, the crowning glory 
of all your creation;
image and likeness imply a face,
an identity, a recognition;
O Lord, help us to find your face,
to imitate your face,
to have a face like yours
that must be totally 
different from the face 
of those in the Sanhedrin
who looked intently at Stephen.
How sad that it is either we 
could not look at the face of
others because of lack of interest 
or with anger and suspicion that we
look intently for the wrong reason; 
what a face we have filled
with malevolence and negativities,
locked in ourselves unlike the face of
an angel, your face that must be aglow
with love and joy, openness and
kindness!
On the other hand,
like those people looking
for Jesus who found him at
Capernaum, we also have 
a thick face, a shameless one 
that sees the other face for self-interests;
no matter how we hide what's
in our heart, the face would 
always show and radiate
what is inside us!

And so we pray,
dear Jesus today,
as we face another week
of work and studies,
another week of showing
our face, looking or avoiding
other's faces, let us face
the truth within us
by purifying our hearts
of our pride so that our
face may be filled with warmth
and tenderness to reflect 
your presence in our hearts.
Amen.
Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima, GMA-7 News, March 2020.

The companionship of Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Third Sunday in Easter, 22 April 2023
Acts 2:14, 22-33 ><)))*> 1 Peter 1:17-21 ><)))*> Luke 24:13-35
The Road to Emmaus” painting by American Daniel Bonnell from fineartamerica.com.

As I have been telling you, the beauty and joy of Easter is in its “nothingness” like the empty tomb of Jesus and its “darkness” found in the setting of the Lord’s appearances. We have found these in the past two Sundays when Jesus appeared to the Twelve “on the evening of the third day” and “eight days later” amid locked doors.

This Sunday is very different. It is the story of two disciples going back home to Emmaus whom St. Luke did not identify except the one named Cleopas. There is still the setting of darkness as it happened at sunset to early evening while news of the empty tomb was still trending amid reports Jesus had appeared to some women but still nowhere to be seen. But this time, darkness is more evident inside the two disciples walking away from Jerusalem – sad, disappointed and frustrated, forlorn.

Now that very day two of them were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?” They stopped, looking downcast.

Luke 24:13-17
From https://www.clarusonline.it/2017/04/29/i-discepoli-di-emmaus-andata-e-ritorno/

Did you feel the sadness of the two disciples? Today, Jesus assures us of his companionship especially when we are in a “perfect storm”, when everyone and everything are against us, when it is all darkness within us, when we are at our lowest low awaiting for the next worst thing that could happen to us.

It is during these times we think of quitting, of just going home, going back where we have been before, abandoning everything because it seems better to start all over again as everyone/everything have been lost. There need not be tragedies in life for these to happen. Many times it could be when we are in the midst of grave sins or even with our most common sins repeated over and over like venial sins. We feel discouraged, even depressed we could not see any sense at all in going back to God in prayers and the sacraments especially the Holy Eucharist. Those moments we tell ourselves and everyone, “para que?” or “para saan pa?” that we would go back to God, our Jerusalem.

Like the two disciples, we have become so nega that as we walk to the opposite direction in life, we fail to notice Jesus accompanying us, making sakay (ride on) with our trip, just listening to our woes and complaints, stories of sins and failures, pains and hurts, disappointments and frustrations.

Here we find Jesus our only true friend who allows us to be our truest self, even our worst self. He walks with us not only in darkness but in the opposite direction, waiting for the prefect timing to gently bring us back to the right path to Jerusalem. And sometimes, he does it with a splash of humor like when he told the two disciples “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that prophets spoke!” (Jn. 21:25).

Many times, we fail to bring back to God and to the right path our lost family and friends because we lack the compassion and gentleness of Jesus. Very often, fail because we react than act like Jesus who’s companionship and compassion opened the hearts of the two disciples: it was only after they have unloaded their burdens when Jesus loaded them or filled them with his words and eventually with his very presence at the breaking of the bread.

“Supper at Emmaus” by renowned painter Caravaggio from en.wikipedia.org. See the emotion depicted by Caravaggio with his trademark of masterful play of light and shadows. At the center is the Risen Lord blessing the bread that caught the two disciples who are seated in disbelief, one outstretching his arms and the others pushing back in his chair. The third character in the painting is the innkeeper unaware of the significance of the gesture of Jesus. It was at this instance that the two disciples recognized Christ as the traveling man with them to Emmaus.

Human transformation happens only in Christ, with Christ and through Christ in the Eucharist where we also experience a reversal of roles in our relationships with God and with others. Notice how the attitudes and perspectives of the two disciples changed when Jesus broke the bread. Remember it was the two disciples who invited Jesus inside to stay because it was getting dark, hosting a meal for him as their guest but that changed at the table: the two disciples ended up as guests of Jesus who merely joined them in their journey!

And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?” So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

John 21:30-35

One thing I have found in life these past 25 years as a priest is that we can only realize and understand, even see the clearer and bigger picture of our life later after so many years of series of trials and tribulations, joys and celebrations. And often, what we see is the Lord, the companionship of Jesus Christ even in those times we were in sin and away from him. St. Peter said it so well in the second reading that we are in a “sojourning, realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Pt. 1:17, 18, 19).

Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2023.

Many times in life we feel as if we are really the captain of our ship, we direct everything, we control everything but it is actually Jesus. There is always Christ our companion in this journey of life, our true host and we are his guests who shared himself with us on the Cross so we can share in the mystery and victory of his Resurrection. In being one with us in our brokenness, Jesus immediately vanishes the moment we recognize him so we may keep on following him by changing course and direction in our lives.

In this time when people have lost interests in the Church, the Sacraments especially the Holy Eucharist, and the Scriptures along with prayers and devotions, we who are inside the church especially us priests are reminded of this important truth by Jesus, that he is the one in command, he is our host. We only share him in our co-journeyers in life, he is the one who opens our eyes, the one who effects transformation and changes within us. Not us.

Are we one with Jesus, especially in the Eucharist we manipulate so much with our many rituals and acts not necessary? See that the more we manipulate the Mass and other devotions, the more Christ disappears and persons especially priests become the focus.

In Emmaus, Jesus walked with the two disciples going the opposite direction to lead them back and never the other way around as it happens when we priests and volunteers are the ones who mislead people away from Jesus with our lack of warmth and charity for people like the unchurched.

Jesus is truest in the Eucharist when we touch people literally with our hands, when we get our hands dirty in taking care of the sick and needy, when we are truly present with them especially in their griefs, emptiness and sinfulness. That is when they experience, not just know that Jesus is real and true in the Eucharist when they first experience him in us his disciples, in our companionship and compassion with those suffering.

Nobody is perfect. As St. Peter had noted in the first reading, we are all responsible for the suffering and death of Jesus with our sinfulness; however, God’s love for us is far greater than our sins so that in our darkness and emptiness, we are able to see and have fulfillment in Jesus his Son. Amen. Have a blessed week!

Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2023.