Eba’t Adan… wala tayong magagawa?

Lawiswis Ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-03 ng Hunyo 2025

Marahil inyo nang napakinggan ang nakakaaliw na rap music na Eba’t Adan. Kahit saan maging sa simbahan lalo na sa social media pinaguusapan, pinakikinggan, binabanggit ang hiphop na ito.

Eba't Adan
Eeba't Adan
Eba't Adan
Eeba't Adan
Alam mo ba (Alam mo ba)
Mahal mo na (Mahal mo ba)
Wala tayong magagawa
Mahal mo na
Eba't Adan
Eeba't Adan...

Nakakaaliw ang saliw ng tugtugin at mga titik na paulit-ulit lang naman. Sa aking pagsasaliksik, mayroong iba’t ibang version ang naturang rap music ngunit iisa lang ang sinasaad nitong lahat kaya marahil naging trending at viral – ang kapangyarihan ng pag-ibig. Wika nga ni Francisco Balagtas, “O pag-ibig kapag pumasok sa puso ninoman, ang lahat ay hahamakin masunod ka lamang”.

At iyon nga kasi itinakda noon pa man kina Eba at Adan. Kaya daw wala ka nang magagawa sabi ng rap.

Pero, teka… talaga bang wala nang magagawa kapag ikaw ay tuluyang nahulog na sa pag-ibig gaya ng sinasaad ng hiphop na Eba’t Adan?

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda sa Nagsasa Cove, San Antonio, Zambales, Oktubre 2024.*

Sa isang version na aking pinakinggan, binabanggit doon hindi lamang pag-ibig ng lalake sa isang babae kungdi pati pag-ibig ng lalake sa kapwa lalake at ng babae sa kapwa babae.

Ganun din ba ang ating tugon kung ikaw ay umibig sa iyong pinsan o kamag-anak? Paano kung ang iyong iniibig ay mayroon nang asawa o pareho kayong may asawa? Eba’t Adan, E-Eba’t Adan wala ka nang magagawa?

Dito makikita natin na hindi ganoon kasimple ang pag-ibig. Hindi lahat ng pag-ibig ay tama tulad nang sa mga kapwa lalake at kapwa babae, sa mga may asawa na at maging sa mga pari at relihiyoso. Mayroong disordered love na kung tawagin sa Inggles. Ito yung maling pagmamahal hindi lamang sa kapwa tao kungdi maging sa mga hayop at gamit na labis nating pinahahalagahan kesa sa Diyos.

Maliwanag ang turo ni Jesus: ang pag-ibig na tunay ay palaging naka-ugat at may kaisahan sa Diyos na siyang pag-ibig mismo! Kasabay nito, naroon ang napakagandang pagninilay at paglalahad ni San Pablo ukol sa pag-ibig na matatagpuan sa Unang Sulat sa mga Taga-Corinto, kapitulo trese.

Alalahanin din na hindi lamang damdamin ang pag-ibig kungdi isang desisyon o pagpapasya kasi, feelings are sometimes high, sometimes low. Hindi weather weather lang ang pag-ibig. Ito ay desisyon gaya ng inawit nina Ben&Ben:

Mahiwaga
Pipiliin ka sa araw-araw
Mahiwaga
Ang nadarama sa'yo'y malinaw.

Bagaman nagsisimula sa damdamin bilang attraction ang pag-ibig, kailangan itong lumago at lumalim. Kailangan mag-mature ang pag-ibig kaya ito ay nililinang sa pananalangin at wastong pag-iisip.

Mahiwaga ang pag-ibig ngunit hindi naman wala kang magagawa. Bagkus, malaki nga ang ating magagawa para sa pag-ibig ay yumabong at mamunga ayon sa turo ni Jesus tulad ng paglimot sa sarili. Ang pag-ibig ay palaging papalabas at hindi pakabig, hindi makasarili. Ang totoong sukatan ng tunay na nagmamahal ay kapag kaya mo nang ibigin ng higit sa iyong sarili ang ibang tao.

Kay sarap ugatin na ang isa pang kataga na gamit natin sa pag-ibig ay pagmamahal na mas ibig kong ginagamit lalo na sa pagkakasal. Iyon kasing pagmamahal ay paglevel up ng pag-ibig na kadalasan ay mababaw pa ang kahulugan tulad ng kapag sinabig “ano ibig mong sabihin o kainin?”

Ang pagmamahal ay nagsasaad ng pagpapahalaga kaya mahal ang presyo ng isang bilihin dahil ito ay mahalaga. Ang pag-ibig na tunay gaya ng pagmamahal ay pagpapahalaga sa minamahal na handang limutin ang sarili hanggang kamatayan.

*Larawan mula sa The Valenzuela Times, 02 July 2024.*

Ang taong nagmamahal ay palaging nagpapahalaga. Iyon ang masaklap at masakit na nangyari noon kina Eba’t Adan nang sila ay magkasala dahil tumanggi silang pahalagahan ang Diyos higit sa lahat.

Kaya naman sa madaling salita, ang kasalanan ay isang pagtanggi na magmahal kasi mas pinahahalagahan ng nagkakasala ang kanyang sarili kesa ibang tao lalo na ang Diyos. Iyon ang kapalaluan o kayabangan na sa Inggles ay pride.

Itinuturing na pride ang naging kasalanan nina Eba’t Adan dahil hinangad nilang maging Diyos, hindi lang makatulad ang Diyos. Ayon kay Sir Cecil B. De Mille, and direktor ng pelikulang The Ten Commandments noong 1956, ang palaging nilalabag na utos ng Diyos ng mga tao ay ang unang utos na huwag magkakaroon ng ibang Diyos maliban sa Kanya. Paliwanag ng batikang direktor, tuwing tayo ay nagkakasala, mayroon tayong ibang Diyos na sinusunod.

Kaya nakapagtataka rin naman itong mga LGBTQ na ipinagmamalaki pa ang kanilang pagdiriwang na Gay Pride ngayong buwan ng Hunyo. Bakit kailangang ipagmalaki ang “pride” gayong masama kadalasan ang kahulugan niyon?

Dalawang bagay ang sinasaad ng pride, maari itong positive na mabuti at banal o negative kaya ito ay mali at kasalanan. Yung positive pride kung tutuusin ay kapakumbabaan na kung saan kinikilala natin ng may karangalan at pagmamalaki sa tamang paraan ang ating katayuan na nilalang ng Diyos bilang lalake o babae. Ito yung wastong pride na sumasalungat sa linya at excuse parati na “ako’y tao lamang na mahina at makasalanan.” Bagaman hindi tayo perpekto, tayo ay bukod tanging pinagpala ng Diyos ng mga katangian at kakayahan upang lubos na makibahagi ng buhay ng Diyos.

Subalit hindi iyong ikalawang uri ng pride na mali at dapat iwasan dahil sa bahid at dungis ng kapalaluan at kayabangan. Ito ang dahilan kaya pride ang una sa lahat ng pitong capital sins. Ito yung pride na ipinagpipilitan ang sariling kagustuhan kahit na ito ay hindi ayon sa katotohanan, sumasalungat maski sa Diyos at lahat maipilit lamang ang sarili. Ito yung pride na kasalanan nina Eba’t Adan dahil ipinagpilitan nila kanilang sarili na maging Diyos din gayong hindi naman maaring mangyari.

*Mula sa Facebook ng Ateneo De Manila University, 02*
*Hunyo 2025.*

Kaya mahirap maunawaan at tanggapin itong laganap tuwing buwan ng Hunyo bilang Pride Month ng mga kasapi sa LGBTQ. Kailangan bang ipagmalaki at ipangalandakan kanilang sariling kagustuhan?

Hindi lamang binabago kanilang kasarian kungdi pati balarila sa wikang Inggles, mga gawi at mga pananaw sa mundo. Hindi po kasalanan maging bakla o tomboy. Nangyayari ito bunsod ng maraming kadahilanan ngunit sa kahuli-hulihan, isa ring itong pagpapasya o pagpili – choice – na ginagawa ng may katawan. Lalake pa rin o babae na mayroong homosexual tendency ayon sa Katesismo. Ang maliwanag na masama mula sa Banal na Kasulatan ay ang pagtatalik ng kapwa lalake at kapwa babae. Iyan, noong pang panahon nina Eba’t Adan ay masama at ipinagbabawal na.

Hindi mababago ang pagkatao kung papalitan ang ari at iba pang bahagi ng katawan ng tao dahil ang kasarian ay kabuuan ng pagkatao. Hindi mababago ang kabuuan kung babaguhin lang ang isang bahagi. Hindi naman gamit ang tao na maaring palitan ang piyesa tulad ng mga sasakyan at iba pang kasangkapan.

Ang maling pag-ibig kailanman ay hindi maghahatid ng kaganapan kanino man dahil malinaw na ito ay makasarili – selfish – isang pagpapahayag ng pride o kapalaluan na masama at kasalanan.

Ito ba ang ibig mangyari ng mga LGBTQ? Batay sa marami nang pag-aaral wala din namang mga nagpabago ng ari o nagpasame sex marriage ang tunay na nakatamo ng kaganapan at katuwaan sa buhay. Marami sa kanila ang malungkot at bigo batay sa mga pag-aaral.

*Larawan mula sa sunstar.com.ph kung saan nag-viral noong isang taon ang pagpapatayo sa isang waiter upang turuan ng gender sensitivity matapos tawaging “Sir” ang isang celebrity na LGBTQ sa mall.*

Pero mayroong magagawa. Kaya sinugo ng Diyos ang Kanyang Bugtong na Anak na si Jesus, ang Kristo. Ipanakita at ibinigay niya sa atin ang mga kinakailangang biyaya at grasya upang tayo man ay makapagmahal nang tunay katulad niya.

Nasa atin ang biyaya na magmahal ng tunay kung saan ay ating makakayang limutin ang sarili para sa mas mahalagang layunin, ang kaisahan sa Diyos (communion) na siyang paraan upang matamo natin ang kaganapan o fulfillment na higit pa sa kasiyahan at tagumpay sa buhay.

Ang pagmamahal gaya ng ating nasabi na ay hindi pakabig kungdi palaging papalabas ang tungo, mapagbigay at mapagparaya.

Mahirap talagang magmahal ng tunay ngunit hindi maaring sabihing wala tayong magagawa. Diyos na ang gumawa ng lahat upang tayo ay makapagmahal ng tunay. Makikibahagi at makikiisa o cooperate lamang tayo sa Kanyang biyaya.

Una ay tanggapin ang katayuan natin sa buhay bilang lalake o babae o bakla o tomboy; may-asawa o hiwalay; may sinumpaang pangako na hindi mag-aasawa tulad ng mga pari at madre at relihiyoso.

Huwag ipilit ang hindi naayon sa nature natin bilang tao. Marami nang mga bakla lalo sa showbiz ang nagsabing hindi kinakailangan ang mga gay pride na ito dahil tanggap nila katauhan nila. Ano mang hindi natural at tunay ay hindi makapaghahatid sa atin sa kaganapan at kagalakang tunay.

Isang biyaya na nakakaligtaan sa panahong ito na tila lahat na lang ibig ang relasyon kahit sa murang edad ay ang dalisay na pagkakaibigan o true friendship na nagpapahiwatig ng ibang mukha ng pagmamahal na nakapagpapaging-ganap at kasiya-siya ding tulad ng pag-aasawa. Ibang antas ito ng pagmamahal at ugnayan na biyaya din ng Diyos kung bukas sana ang ating puso at kalooban sa kanya at di lamang sa ating sariling kagustuhan.

Bilang pangwakas, ibig kong iwanan ang isang katotohanan hindi pansin ng karamihan ngayong panahon ng social media: mabuti pa sina Eba’t Adan nang magkasala, sila’y nahiya at nagtago sa Diyos. Bakit ang mga tao ngayon bukod sa hindi na nahihiya sa kasalanan at kasamaan, ipinagmamalaki pa lalo na sa social media? Sabi nga ng matatanda, ang mahiya pa lamang ay pagpapakatao na. Ano kaya tingin sa atin ngayon nina Eba’t Adan? Siguro, hiyang hiya na sila sa atin.

(Mis)understanding Jesus

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Seventh Week of Easter, 02 June 2025
Acts 19:1-8     <*[[[[><  +  ><]]]]'>     John 16:29-33

*Photo by author, mountains of San Antonio, Zambales from the side of Anawangin Cove, 2024.*

Lord Jesus,
teach me
and help me
understand you.

I really wonder if
the disciples truly understood you
on that Last Supper:

The disciples said to Jesus, “Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. Now we realize that you know everything and that you do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe” (John 16:29-31)?

Oh how easy it is
to claim I have understood you
Lord Jesus
when in fact
more often
I misunderstand you
when difficulties and sufferings
 come my way
that I complain a lot;
when pains and disappointments
happen I lose interest
in following you;
when frustrations come
 because I cannot know fully
what is to come
after following you.

There are times
mediocrity seeps in me
that I become lackluster
making no effort to learn more,
to be more daring,
and to be a better
person and disciple
in following
and imitating you, Lord.

To understand you, Jesus
means to experience peace
always in you,
to keep on choosing you still
no matter what
because that is when
we truly enter in your presence
with nothing else important
but do your will.

Understanding you Jesus
is being open and ready
not to understand
everything about you
and still believe you
and trust you.
Amen.

Presence in Absence

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Cycle C, 01 June 2025
Acts 1:1-11 ><}}}}*> Hebrews 9:24-28;10:19-23 ><}}}}*> Luke 24:46-53

*Photo by author, Atok, Benguet, 26 December 2025.*

We all have experienced dreams so real where we met friends and relatives even strangers that we described as “totoong-totoo” that we woke up crying or simply joyful and feeling so light. The clothes even the scent and ambiance were so real that we tried going back to sleep to continue the dream!

This is what we call as the dynamic of “presence in absence” when loved ones long dead or gone or simply far from us we still feel near and close too. It is the same familiar kind of relationship that we have with God whom we feel also as too near yet so far like what Luke described to us in the Ascension of Jesus Christ:

As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God (Luke 24:51-53).

*Photo by Mr. Sean Pleta in Melbourne, March 2015.*

When Luke said that Jesus “As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven”, he was describing to us Christ’s new and higher kind of relationship with all his disciples that include us today.

Jesus did not merely enter a physical reality that the author of the Letter to the Hebrews tells us in the second reading; he actually entered into a new level of relationship with us and everyone. This “leveling up” in our relationships that no longer require physical presence is the dynamic of presence in absence. We don’t have to be physically present because there are deeper ties that bind us with God and with others, both the living and the dead.

Recall how since Easter we have been reflecting on this aspect of new level of relationship with Jesus who told Mary Magdalene at their first meeting to “touch me not” because of the need for a higher level of relating with him no longer bound by time and space. This Jesus showed when on the evening of Easter he entered the locked doors where the disciples were hiding. And Luke tells us that beautiful account of Jesus walking to Emmaus with two disciples who did not recognize him but upon reaching home after the breaking of bread, the two disciples recognized Jesus who immediately disappeared from their side. It was always a case of presence in absence!

Note also that in all appearances of Jesus after Easter to his disciples, there was always joy that continued even after his Ascension when “they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.” Normally, there is sadness after every separation and goodbye. But not with the disciples of Jesus including us!

How can you explain that even if Jesus does not seem to answer our prayers, we just keep on praying to him? Why do we remain in Jesus despite his apparent absence? That’s because deep in our hearts we are certainly sure he is always with us, that he loves us so much, that eventually, he will answer our prayers though he does answer our prayers always but not in the way we wanted it to be.

That is why we need to make that effort to deepen and cultivate our relationship with Jesus to always see his presence in his absence like what the angel told the disciples in the first reading after his Ascension, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven” (Acts 1:11).

Do not look up or anywhere but look inside our hearts where Jesus dwells as he had told us last Sunday if we keep his words and love one another. We need to level up in our relationship with God through prayers and good works.

We need to see more with our heart than with our eyes because the deepest truths and realities in life are seen with the heart and soul. The ancient Persian sage and poet Rumi said it so beautifully, “Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with heart and soul, there is no such thing as separation.”

Since Easter, we have been reflecting on the profound difference of Christ’s Resurrection with his birth on Christmas filled with external signs and symbols. Easter is characterized by absence like darkness and emptiness where we find the presence of Jesus and his light.

This presence in absence is also the reality we have in those we refer to as “low-maintenance” friendships where we have some people who do not demand anything from us nor we demand much from them. We meet when time allows and chat once in a while yet we remain the bestest friends because of the love and respect we have for each other. Basta, alam na this!

That is also the reality of our relationship with God. Do we experience the same joys in his presence in absence? Are we at home with our relationship with Christ found in darkness and emptiness, present in his apparent absence? Let us pray:

Lord Jesus,
let us rise up in our
relationships with you with others;
let us be more loving and faithful,
kind and understanding,
fair and just
even without seeing you
and one another.
Amen.

*Photo by author, Anvaya Cove and Resort, Morong, Bataan, 25 May 2023.*

Kapatiran at sinodo sa lipatan

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-29 ng Mayo 2025

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, St. Scholantica Retreat House, Tagaytay City, Agosto 2024.*

Ito ay pagsang-ayon sa ginawang pagninilay kamakalawa ni P. Ritz Darwin Resuello ukol sa nalalapit naming lipatan ng mga pari. Malaman ang kanyang mga sinulat. At nakatutuwa ang kanyang pamagat na mayroong halong salya at padyak: GUMUGULONG LANG BA ANG ROLETA? ISANG PAGNINILAY SA NALALAPIT NA LIPATAN.

At iyon nga ang punto de vista nitong ating pagninilay din: gumugulong lang ba ang roleta sa lipatan ng mga pari?

Nakakatawa. Kasi totoo lalo nitong mga lumipas na panahon. Kung minsan nga parang hindi lang roleta kungdi tila bolang kristal na rin ang ginagamit sa lipatan.

*Larawan kuha ng may akda noong Misa ng Krisma, 2025.*

Hindi natin kinukuwestiyon ang pagpapasiya ng Obispo na siyang may final say ngunit gaya ng nilahad ni P. Ritz, napakinggan ba ng “may pag-galang at pag-unawa ang tunay na pangangailangang pastoral” ng parokya?

a. Pakikinig nang may paggalang at pag-unawa sa tunay na pangangailangang pastoral ng parokya: Mahalaga pong lumikha ng malugod na kapaligiran para sa lahat ng boses, lalo na sa mga direktang naapektuhan ng lipatan na ito – ang mga pari, at higit sa lahat, ang mga parokyano. Ang mga hinaing, ang mga natatanging katangian ng isang komunidad, at ang kanilang kasalukuyang pastoral na sitwasyon ay lubhang mahalaga. Ang espirituwal na kapakanan ay manatili nawang pangunahing priyoridad. Gaya ng idiniin ni Papa Francisco, ang diyalogong ito ay hindi lamang tungkol sa pagdinig kundi tungkol sa pagpapatibay ng isang tunay na pagpapalitan ng mga ideya kung saan tayo ay natututo nang sama-sama at kung saan ang bawat atas ay malinaw na tumutugon sa kung ano ang tunay na kinakailangan sa parokya (P. Ritz, aka Heinrich Atmung sa FB post, 27 mayo 2025, 8:30 ng umaga).

Noong ako ay nasa ICSB Malolos, dumating ang ilang panauhin namin na mga lingkod layko ng parokya sa UP-Diliman na pawang mga propesor sa naturang pamantasan.

Hindi tungkol sa agham at edukasyon aming naging paksa sa hapunan kungdi ang kanilang tanong: paano ba kami tinuturing at tinitingnan ng mga pari sa pagbibigay ng aming mga pastol?

Pakiramdam nila kasi na tila hindi tiningnang mabuti kanilang katayuan sa buhay bilang mananampalataya nang bigyan ng pastol na palaging naroon sa mga rally kesa nasa parokya. Bagama’t anila maraming nagrarally sa UP, hindi nila kailangan ng isa pang ralliyistang pari kungdi isang nananatili doon upang kanilang masangguni sa maraming bagay sa buhay nila ng pagtuturo at pakikisalamuha sa mga mag-aaral na mayroong natatanging pangangailangang espiritwal.

Nadarama nga ba naming mga pari ang pintig ng mga tao sa parokya? Hindi tuloy nila maiwasang magtanong bakit tila sila ginagawang “tapunan” sila ng mga paring may problema.

Iba na ang mga tao ngayon. Mulat at handang makipag-usap at suriin hindi lang mga homilya kungdi mga desisyon ng kanilang pari. They deserve nothing less, ika nga dahil nga naman sa tagal ng pag-aaral at paghubog ng mga pari bago maordenahan, pagkatapos ay puro pagpalakpak at telenovela lang kuwento sa Misa? Hinubog ang mga pari upang maging mahuhusay at masisipag sa paglilingkod kaya kawalan ng katarungan na ipapasan sa mga tao lalo na kung ituring silang maliit na parokya na puwede nang pagtiyagaan mga pari na may problema sa iba’t-ibang aspekto tulad ng pananalapi, pag-uugali, at seksuwalidad.

*Kuha ng may-akda, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 Marso 2025.*

Nasaan ang diwa ng sinodo o sama-samang paglalakbay kung saan ay nakikinig ang lahat ng panig lalo’t higit ang mga nag-aasign ng pari? Maraming parokya nasisira dahil hindi isinaalang-alang kapakanan ng mga mananampalataya kasi nga naman yung mahusay nilang kura pinalitan ng tamad at walang pakialam o makasarili. Lahat ng pagsisikap ng naunang pari ay pilit binubura at winawasak ng sumunod na kapalit dahil sarili ang inuuna at hindi ang mga kawan. At mayroong pari na hindi maka-move on, hindi maiwanan dating parokya dahil pakiwari sa sarili ay Mesiyas!

Problema ito sa buong Simbahan maski sa ibang bansa dahil marahil sa isang pinag-uugatan: ang pagturing sa mga parokya bilang maliit o malaki, mayaman o mahirap. Hindi totoong may pangit na parokya; nasa uri ng pari iyon. Mayroong mga munting pamayanan na napapayabong ng ibang pari na tingin ng iba ay imposible.

Panahon na upang alisin sa talasalitaan ng mga pari ang label na maliit at malaki o mahirap at mayamang parokya dahil bawat pamayanan ay katipunan ng mga alagad ni Kristo. Higit sa lahat, bawat parokya ay pinanahanan ng Espiritu Santo bilang Katawan ni Kristo na dapat palaging pahalagahan ano man ang katayuan. Kung tutuusin batay sa turo ng Panginoong Jesus, iyon ngang hirap na parokya at tila pinagtampuhan ng panahon ang dapat bigyang halaga ng mga pari gaya ng mga nasa kabundukan at liblib na pook. Hindi ko malilimutan ang salita noon sa amin sa seminaryo ng dating naming Obispo na Arsobispo Emerito ng Naga, ang Lubhang kagalang-galang Rolando Tria-Tirona, “those who have less in life should have more of God.”

Ito ang sinasaad ng katagang sinodo, ang katagang palasak na ngayon ngunit hindi pa rin maramdaman dahil wala namang nakikinig at nagbibigay halaga sa bawat isa.

Usiginga… kailan nanaig kalooban ng mga kawan kesa sa kura? O ng karamihan ng mga pari kesa sa Obispo at iilan niyang upisyal?

Totoong walang demokrasya sa Simbahan sa larangan ng chain of command dahil ito ay isang hierarchy, na mayroong hanay ng mga upisyal sa pamumuno ng Santo Papa katuwang mga Obispo na kinakatawan ng mga Kura sa bawat Parokya.

Subalit, hindi ito nangangahulugang diktadura ang Simbahan. Kung tutuusin nga ay sa Simbahan dapat matagpuan ang tunay na diwa ng kalayaan na kung saan ay masinsinang tinatalakay ng lahat ang higit na makabubuti sa karamihan batay sa kalooban ng Diyos. Ito ang dahilan kaya nagpatawag ng sinodo ang yumaong Santo Papa Francisco.

Dito makikita din natin ang isang malinaw na problema ng Simbahan na hindi namin matanggap – na kaming mga pari mismo ang problema ng Simbahan. At sa Simbahan. Ngunit saka na natin iyan pag-usapan at balikan ang pagninilay ni P. Ritz na ating pinagtitibay. Wika niya muli sa kanyang FB post noong Mayo 27:

b. Pagyakap sa maagap na pastoral na karunungan: Mahalaga pong isaalang-alang kung paano nakatutulong ang bawat “assignment” sa paglago ng isang pari sa ministeryo at nagpapayaman ng kaniyang mga karanasan, laging naghahanap ng balanse sa pagitan ng mga pangangailangan ng mga parokya at ng paglago ng indibidwal na mga pari.

Matalik na kalakip ng diwa ng sinodo ang kapatiran ng mga pari. Ngunit kapansin-pansin tuwing lipatan ang problema ng aming mga tampuhan at mga reklamo sa assignment. Totoo namang mayroong mga pari na namimili at mareklamo sa assignment ngunit hindi sila ang problema sa lahat ng pagkakataon tuwing may lipatan.

Ang problema ay ang sistema at patakaran – o kawalan ng mga ito.

Masakit sabihin ngunit aking pangangahasan sa pagkakataong ito na sa dalawamput-pitong taon ko sa pagiging pari, mas maayos ang lipatan at mga assignment noon kesa ngayon. Problema na rin naman noon din ngunit mas malala ngayon ang pananaw ng hindi pagiging patas o unfair sa pagpili ng mga assignment.

Hindi matatapos ang mga reklamo at hinaing sa bawat lipatan hanggat hindi naiibsan ang pananaw na ito. Hindi po salapi ang problema ng mga pari. Hindi rin naman babae o mga pogi. Ito palagi ang problema at daing natin – ang hindi patas sa maraming aspekto at pagkakataon.

Dito pumapasok ang maruming kahulugan ng “politika” sa Simbahan tulad ng barkadahan at favoritism. Mayroong napaparusahan, mayroong pinalalampas. Mayroong pinag-iinitan at mayroong kinukunsinti. Ang malungkot, mayroong mga pinangingilagan kaya pinagbibigyan lahat ng kagustuhan. Bato-bato sa langit, tamaan sapul!

Gayon pa man, on a positive note, dito makikita ang mabuti at malalim na kapatiran ng mga pari kung saan mayroong ilang maninindigan upang kausapin ang lahat kung kinakailangan alang-alang sa ilang bagay na nakakaligtaan o ayaw tingnan ng ilan sa mga kapatid naming naka-kahon na hindi makaahon sa kabila ng kanilang pag-amin at pag-ako ng kanilang pagkakasala at pagkakamali. Problema ng stigma.

Tanging hiling lang naman ng mga pari ay kausapin sila upang mapakinggan kanilang kalagayan at kalooban sa pagbibigay ng assignment. Ito yung pinupunto ni P. Ritz sa kanyang pitak. Sadya bang nasuring mabuti ang lahat ng paraan upang mapalago ang sino mang pari sa kanyang destino? Wala namang pari na likas na masuwayin kungdi ang ibig rin ay sariling ikapapanuto. Sa kabutihang-palad, mas marami pa rin ang mga paring masunurin at nagpapahalaga ng pangako ng obedience kaya sana ay naroon palagi ang fairness.

Hindi mawawala mga inggitan at siraan sa lipatan ngunit huwag mawawala ang “sense of fairness” dahil dito nakasalalay mabuting samahan at ugnayan. Susunod at susunod pa rin mga pari sa lipatan alang-alang sa obedience at faith in God ngunit palaging uusok ang isyu ng lipatan parang isang takore ng kumukulong tubig. Pakinggan natin ang sipol ng kumukulong tubig sa takore, yung tinatawag sa Inggles na tempest in teapot. Diyan pumapasok ang ikatlong punto ni P. Ritz:

c. Pagpapatibay ng malinaw at mapagmalasakit na komunikasyon: Kung posible po, ang pagbibigay ng napapanahon at “transparent” na impormasyon tungkol sa lipatan ay maaaring makapagpapagaan ng mga alalahanin at makapagpadali ng mas maayos na pagsasaayos para sa lahat – ang mga pari, kawani ng parokya, at ang mga mananampalataya. Ang isang maikli ngunit napag-isipang paliwanag ay maaaring lubos na makapagpatibay ng tiwala sa loob ng ating pamilya sa diyosesis.

Ang Simbahan ay komunikasyon. Kaya naman sa mga dokumento nito lalo mula nang Vatican II, sinasaad na sa Simbahan dapat masaksihan ang pinakamainam at pinakamataas na antas ng pagtatalastasan.

Ngunit taliwas palagi. Maraming pagkakataon sa mga pari kulang ang komunikasyon. Ni walang formal communication sa mga lipatan. Mayroong mga pari na atat nang lumipat na akala mo ay makikipagpalit lang ng tsinelas! Juice colored…! Kaluluwa ang pinag-uusapan habang ang antas ng aming usapan ay parang paglipat lang ng bahay kung saan ang pananaw ng ilan ay mag-impake lang ng mga gamit at damit. Kapirasong text o sulat hindi pa magawa kung hindi kayang tawagan o personal na kausapin sa mga balakin.

Kaya nga babalik tayo sa tanong ng mga tao: ano nga ba turing natin sa kanila tuwing maglilipatan kasi ang sagot dito ay siyang sagot sa tanong ano nga ba turingan naming mga pari sa isa’t isa? Hangga’t walang maayos na sagot sa mga katanungang ito, mananatili ang pananaw at paghahalintulad sa roleta na gamit sa perya ang lipatan. O bolang kristal ng mga manghuhula.

Sa diwa ng sinodo at kapatiran bilang sama-samang naglalakabay na Simbahan, patuloy tayong manalangin para sa mga pastol at kawan. At huwag din mag atubiling makilahok sa mga talakayan at usapan na ang tanging mithiin ay hanapin at sundin ang kalooban ng Diyos upang higit Siyang mapaglingkuran at masalamin dito sa lupang ibabaw. Salamuch po.

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Chapel of the Angel of Peace, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, Marso 2025.*

The need for sensitivity

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 28 May 2025

*Photo by author, Cota da Cabo, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 15 May 2025.*

Salamuch for the very positive response to our blog Praying to “do no harm” where we underscored the need for more sensitivity among us to be able to respond to those being pushed to the limits in life (https://lordmychef.com/2025/05/27/praying-to-do-no-harm/) .

Sensitivity is the condition of a person (or thing) being sensitive that in the positive sense means someone who is quick to detect and appreciate other’s feelings while in the negative sense, one who is easily hurt or delicately affected by other’s feelings and attitudes.

For this sharing, we refer to the positive sense of the need for sensitivity especially in these days when it has become more of a rarity as more and more people seem to becoming numb and even callous. It is maybe a sign that points to one reality we have been seeing but refused to acknowledge these years – the dwindling number of people praying these days.

Prayer is more than reciting certain formal prayers we have learned by heart since childhood or reading novena prayers to a host of our devotions and practices. Prayer is primarily a relationship we keep with God. We pray because we love God.

This is the reason that in prayer, it does not really matter we are able to say or tell God everything because He knows them so well even before we asked Him (Mt.6:8). What really matters most in prayer as St. John Paul II used to say is that we are able to hear and listen to what God wants from us. That we surely do not know at all that is why we need to pray.

Just like in our relationships with others when we simply have to be sensitive with their presence when each one’s presence is more than enough. Or in fact, is everything!

When we pray more and cultivate a prayer life – a relationship with God – it is our sensitivity that is most heightened. The more we become sensitive of our ourselves and surroundings, we become more aware of God’s presence in us and among us. The more we become sensitive of ourselves and of God, then, we become sensitive of others too. Then our relationship with God flows naturally into our relationship with others which becomes the fruit of our prayers: have we become more kind and understanding, more loving and forgiving, more just?

Another beautiful thing with prayer that heightens our sensitivity is the gift of being proactive when we are able to “predict” the future without really predicting it! Our Filipino expression of magdilang-anghel says it so well that whatever we say happens or turns out to be true because we can feel everything and everyone with our heightened sensitivity.

*Photo by author, Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Dumaguete City, 07 November 2024.*

Prayerful people are always sensitive in the positive sense. They are the ones most in touch with the realities of life, literally and figuratively speaking. They are always “present” like God who calls Himself “I AM WHO AM” – the perfectly present. Without sensitivity, there can be no presence at all.

See how kids these days do not mind at all nor pay respects or at least recognize anyone – whether family member or guests – when they are engrossed in their computer games or watching movies or simply scrolling their cellphones. Sorry as I find many of these kids are growing disrespectful as in, bastos.

Experts have long been warning us of the dire effects especially to children of these gadgets and social media itself that make us insensitive, numb and callous practically with the world around us.

How sad and sickening to see young people literally so absorbed and immersed as in subsob in their cellphones, wired with those pods stuck in their ears living in a world of their own, unmindful of the sounds and commotion, of the people and everything happening around them.

Going back to that beautiful scene after an earthquake shook the prison cell of Paul and Silas in yesterday’s first reading, see how the apostle’s sensitivity and presence saved and converted their jailer.

The crowd in Philippi joined in the attack on Paul and Silas… After inflicting many blows on them, they threw them into prison and instructed the jailer to guard them securely. About midnight… there was suddenly such a severe earthquake… When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted out in a loud voice, “Do no harm to yourself; we are all here” (Acts 16:22, 23, 25, 26, 27-28).

Speaking of earthquake, I just found it quite amusing how some students did not feel at all the “jolt” when the 5.1 earthquake struck us before noon yesterday. After we have evacuated our building, I met some students who were laughing at themselves to have not felt at all the earthquake, saying they were caught by surprise when the alarm went off that signaled the evacuation.

Sorry and please excuse us as this may be extending too much the earthquake this noon but, it isn’t funny anymore when we are jolted by news of some people we hardly know taking their lives for various reasons. We wonder and even search our souls wondering what happened they “harmed” themselves until we realize that partly because, we were not there at all when they most needed us.

*Photo by author, Cota da Cabo, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 14 May 2025.*

This is why we need to recover our vanishing sensitivity through prayers to be aware, to notice and feel others around us, especially those silently screaming for help when many are so absorbed in their own little worlds. Every time we become sensitive of God’s presence and reality, we become sensitive of ourselves and of others too. Let us pray:

Forgive us,
Jesus for being far
from those in pain and sufferings,
for being insensitive
to those crying in silence,
for being indifferent
to the realities of mental health
and total well-being
of everyone.

Give us a chance,
Jesus to be like Paul and Silas
of saving one life
from doing no harm to one's self
by first being sensitive
to your presence in prayers
because the more we pray,
the more we become sensitive
of you and of others.
Amen.

Our imperfect love

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 26 May 2025

*Photo by author, Northern Blossoms Farm, Atok, Benguet, 26 December 2024.*

Human love is imperfect; only God can love us perfectly.

Many times we get disappointed with our loved ones for not loving us enough or not loving us at all when in fact, they do love us! They come in different forms like strict parents or teachers, an OFW who has to leave his/her loved ones behind for better earnings so the children can go to good schools or an eager-beaver colleague who sometimes gets to our nerves for the things he/she does for us not to irritate us but to help us actually. And yes, parents who give away their children in the belief they can have a better future if they grow up not with them.

We all want to love perfectly or be loved perfectly but that is not possible because we humans are not perfect. We err, miscalculate situations and misjudge persons. Many times, we do not understand nor comprehend situations for we cannot know everything right away nor at all.

The good news is, the more we realize the imperfections of our love, that is when we are perfected, when we become better persons, when we actually become more loving with others by being patient and understanding, kind and forgiving. Our efforts to love though imperfect shall perfect us.

It is in our imperfect love we also learn how to sacrifice and let go because we love. The beloved disciple of Jesus wrote that “No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us (1 John 4:12). Every time we are bothered, when we feel guilty of not loving much or not being loved, chill. Be patient. And wait for everything to clear up. There must have been a breakdown in communication or too much presumptions on anyone’s part. Be open. Most of all, even if you felt not loved or no one loves, keep loving. For as long as we love, we grow. We mature.

Love, love, love!

It is the most potent force in the universe. We came into being because of love. We live to love. For as long as there is love, we shall not perish.

Stop loving, then we die.

*Photo by author, Sakura Farm, Atok, Benguet, 26 December 2024.*

When we do not love, that is when we perish because we no longer hope and believe in anyone nor anything. That is the end.

St. Paul said it perfectly, “So faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13). After we have died, only love remains in heaven: we do not need faith nor hope because love is everything we believe and hope. Even those we leave behind will just keep on loving that life will continue until we all come together in eternity. Still loving.

Hence, love cannot be defined. Love is infinite and can only be described. And though it is imperfect in human terms, our expressions of love has no limits. That is why, “tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all” (Lord Alfred Tennyson in 1849). Bow. To love.

*Photo by author, Angels’ Hills Retreat and Spirituality Center, Tagaytay City, 18 April 2025.*

Living Inside Your Love (1976) by Earl Klugh

Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 25 May 2025

We shift this Sunday into jazz with Earl Klugh’s sophisticated Living Inside Your Love to slow cool down our simmering summer and to feel more the meaning of the Mass readings today as we enter the penultimate week of Easter.

We were already in our early teens when we discovered Earl Klugh along with other jazz greats with the opening of the country’s first and only jazz radio station 101.9 WK-FM in the late 70’s. Maybe it was part of growing up when we experimented on a lot of things for more adventures that I found myself venturing into jazz from rock and pop music, switching from RJ to RT and then WK.

For me, Earl Klugh was the jazz version of rock’s Eric Clapton or Carlos Santana. Klugh has that certain touch or pluck in his guitar that can make you be in love, not necessarily be in love with anyone. It is a nakaka-in love ma-in love na feeling! That is why we remembered his Living Inside Your Love piece from his second studio album released in 1976 by the legendary Blue Note Records and Liberty Records produced by another jazz great, Dave Grusin.

Actually, we just realized today Living Inside sounds like a prelude to the turn of the century’s new age music where Klugh’s masterful playing of the guitar taking the centerstage of a great symphony backed up with cool vocals repeating just a few lines and stanzas of simple verses over and over that is similar with the vision of John in this Sunday’s second reading from the Book of Revelation when he saw and experienced the “new heaven, new earth” in the great luminous light of God who is himself the temple in the city (https://lordmychef.com/2025/05/24/easter-is-god-dwelling-in-us/). See how Klugh inserted the vocals into his great guitar music enhanced by a symphony like John’s vision of heaven:

Can't get over the feeling
Living inside your love
I never want to lose the feeling
Living inside your love

Baby, you made my life so free
Living inside your love
You're just where I want to be
Living inside your love

Baby, you made my life so free
Living inside your love
You're just where I want to be
Living inside your love

Very interesting with his wonderful guitar music, Klugh’s lyrics – though sparse and repetitive – were loaded in meaning. Consider the line “living inside your love” which is exactly what Jesus said at the Last Supper, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (John 14:23).

“Living inside one’s love” is what we call as “Divine indwelling”, that is, our home is in God – and with any one we love!

Moreover, consider also Klugh’s first line in his next stanza, “Baby, you made my life so free/ Living inside your love/ You’re where I want to be/ Living inside your love.”

When we love, we enter a relationship that becomes our dwelling, our home where we become free – free to love more, free to be faithful. When we truly love like Christ, the more we find ourselves more free to love, more free in everything because being free is choosing always what is good. We believe that more than a stroke of genius, it was also a kind of divine inspiration about true love that made Klugh at put at the end of this 1976 classic the longer stanza that actually repeated inn order to stress the truth of his first two stanzas.

Can't get over the feeling
Living inside your love
I never want to lose the feeling
Living inside your love
Can't get over the feeling
Living inside your love
I never want to lose the feeling
Living inside your love
I can't get over the feeling
Living inside your love
I never want to lose the feeling
Living inside your love
I can't get over the feeling
Living inside your love

Here is Earl Klugh’s lovely Living Inside Your Love. Have a lovely Sunday and week ahead.

From YouTube.com

Easter is God dwelling in us

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sixth Sunday in Easter, Cycle C, 25 May 2025
Acts 15:1-2, 22-29 ><}}}}*> Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23 ><}}}}*> John 14:23-29

*Photo by author, Chapel of the Angel of Peace, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 28 March 2025.*

Let us start again our Sunday reflection from the Book of Revelation where we heard last week John mentioning the word “new” four times when he saw “new heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem” coming with a voice of the Lord declaring “I make all things new” (Revelation 21:1, 2, 5).

In continuing his narration this Sunday of his visions while imprisoned in Patmos, John tells us how he not merely “saw” but also “experienced” heaven when he wrote:

The Angel took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal… I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb (Revelation 21:10-11, 22).

I saw no temple in the city, 
for its temple is the Lord God almighty 
and the Lamb.

Try imagining John’s experience of heaven, almost indescribable for its beauty and majesty as the very presence of God when he specified “there is no temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb.”

John reminds us again this Sunday that though these new heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem are the things to come at the end of time, these are already happening right now in our midst. His description of heaven like jasper and other precious stones indicate not only the incomparable beauty of heaven but the very truth that our home is in God. Thus, an invitation too for us today to live in the light of God for he dwells among us in Christ.

This “divine indwelling” has always been a part of our Catholic doctrine.

*Photo by author, Cabo da Roca, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 14 May 2025.*

Recall how in the Old Testament during the chosen people’s wandering in the desert when God dwelled among them in a tent or booth called sukkoth where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. God’s presence was marked by a pillar of smoke over the tent at daytime and a pillar of fire at night. From this came their Feast of the Booths being the dwelling of God; hence, at the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor, Peter told the Lord how they would build booths for him, Moses and Elijah as he felt they were already in heaven!

Booth or tent or temple. Or church.

These indicate the presence of God now manifest in Jesus Christ, “the word who became flesh and dwelled among us.” That is why these past three Sundays of Easter we returned to his words spoken at the Last Supper to deepen our understanding and appreciation of Easter that teaches us about our relationship in God expressed with one another.

Two Sundays ago Jesus identified himself as the Good Shepherd who knows his sheep, us; then, last Sunday he gave us his “new commandment” of love that is rooted in God, a love that leads to our communion or oneness with God like Jesus and the Father. This Sunday, Jesus deepens that relationship we all have in him in the Father which perfectly matches the vision and experience of John found in the Book of Revelation.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (John 14:23).

*Photo by author, Cabo da Roca, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 15 May 2025.*

This “dwelling” of Jesus and the Father among those who love him and keep his word is the Church, his Body which we his disciples make up.

In instructing his disciples at the Last Supper that included us today to keep his word and commandment to love, Jesus taught how this love is manifested in the Church, his Body, the indwelling of God in Jesus Christ with us his people.

Recall when the curtain in the temple was torn apart from top to bottom at his death on Good Friday that signaled the end of temple worship when people will worship in truth and in spirit as Jesus had spoken to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well.

When Pope Leo XIV was elected two weeks ago, one of the news that have struck me was about the presence of non-Catholics at St. Peter’s Square celebrating on that day. According to the news, the non-Catholics joined the crowds because they never felt such kind of unity where people were one in praising God, celebrating his loving presence in gifting the world – not just Catholics – with a Pope as the Vicar of Christ.

What a beautiful reality we now have of God’s dwelling among us as the Church!

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2025.*

From the Hebrew concept of qahal or congregation, Jesus linked love and his dwelling with his disciples in forming a community as his Body, the new Temple he had told he would raise in three days we now call the church which in Greek is called ekklesia that literally means to lead out “ek” the people, “kaleo”. Loving and dwelling of God among us is the reality of the Church as a community of believers called to lead others out of darkness into light, out of emptiness into fullness, out of death into life in Jesus Christ – exactly what the early Church did in our first reading today when they agreed not to impose burdens on gentile converts like circumcision and other Jewish traditions.

The Church herself is a Sacrament, a visible sign of Jesus Christ’s saving presence along with the other seven sacraments we have. The challenge is how these sacraments become dynamic ways of living for us, truly a Divine indwelling and not just signs we go through.

Every Sunday in the Mass, we renew our baptismal vows as children of God, expressing our love for each other as a community, visibly the dwelling of God, making the new heaven, the new earth and the new Jerusalem not just a vision but a reality happening now. Let us pray:

Lord Jesus Christ,
dwell in us,
dwell among us
by making us follow your light
not the artificial lights of the world;
let us keep your word
by loving more like you
for where there is love,
there is God dwelling in us
because he is love himself.
Amen.

Friends in Christ

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 23 May 2025
Acts 15:22-31     <'[[[[><  +  ><]]]]'>     John 15:12-17

Thank you, 
dear Jesus
in choosing me
and making me your friend;
let me be a friend to others too
like you.

You said it so well,
Lord, "You are my friends
if you do what I command you" -
which is to love!
Furthermore, 
you told us, "I no longer
call you slaves, because a slave
does not know what his master
is doing" (John 15:14) but,
how sad that we do the opposite:
we do not truly love one another
like you, taking each one as a friend;
worst, we make others like slaves
especially if they are not like us
in color and status, belief and gender.

Teach us,
dear Jesus,
to imitate Judas called
Barsabbas and Silas along
with Paul and Barnabas sent
to the Christians in Antioch 
to deliver the letter of the Apostles
and presbyters regarding the issues
of circumcision and other Jewish 
practices some wanted the Gentile
converts to undertake;
how lovely that as the faith spread
far and wide reaching many people,
the Apostles and the presbyters
decided not to burden the brothers
with Jewish customs and practices;
here we find love in action,
friendship is in taking away
the burdens of others than
putting on heavier burdens on them;
most of all,
a true friend who loves like you
Jesus is one who encourages others
in your way.
Amen.

Praying to make our joy complete

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 23 May 2025
Acts 15:7-21     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     John 15:9-11

Make my joy complete,
Lord Jesus,
let your joy be in me
(John 15:11)!

True joy comes only
in union with the Father
like you, dear Jesus;
in a world that had shrunk
into one global village
due to modern technology
that has spawned so many forms
and kinds of connections among peoples,
we are not yet filled with joy, Lord;
in fact, the more we have been
separated than ever because
our "connections" are fleeting,
empty of any love at all;
true connections in you,
with you Jesus lead to joy
as we have seen in the experience
of the early Church:

After much debate had taken place, Peter got up and said to the Apostles and the presbyters… “Why, then, are you now putting God to the test by placing on the shoulders of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they” (Acts 15:7, 10-11).

When we keep your commandments,
then we remain in your love, Jesus;
that's the only basis and most essential
in every connection and relationship
because when there is love even if in
the midst of pain and suffering,
there is always joy which is more
than a feeling but an assurance that
no matter what, there is God always
on our side, loving us, blessing us
as Peter explained in the Council of Jerusalem;
grant us the grace to remain in your love,
Jesus, to examine in what areas of our life
we remain and grow in your love.
Amen.