Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday, Second Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 20 January 2026 1 Samuel 16:1-13 <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]*> Mark 2:23-28
Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord of Sabbath, our very rest, teach us to go back to you and rest in you; for the second straight day, Pharisees attacked you though your disciples: yesterday they challenged you about fasting, today about the sabbath.
As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on a sabbath?” Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for man not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is the Lord even of sabbath” (Mark 2:23-24, 27-28).
How lovely is the imagery of Sabbath: the day when God rested from creating everything; it is the only day standing alone on its own because it is God's alone; hence, a sabbath is always a return to you, O God, a return to paradise where you alone are the Lord; but, alas, we have also infected this blessed day with our sin and evil, taking it also as our own.
Make us realize, dear Jesus, that like fasting, we need to enter into Sabbath by first recognizing you as our Lord and God, not the day nor the tradition nor the laws; teach us to see more inwards like God in choosing David as next king of' Israel. Amen.
Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul, 12 October 2025 Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C 2 Kings 5:14-17 ><}}}}*> 2 Timothy 2:8-13 ><}}}}*> Luke 17:11-19
Photo by author, view of Israel from Mt. Nebo, Jordan, May 2019.
Our gospel setting this Sunday strikes a deep lasting impression on anyone who had been on a Holy Land pilgrimage: of those vast expanse of desert in Israel where dusty roads have been replaced by modern concrete or asphalted roads.
Perhaps the feelings remain the same today and during the time of Jesus when he and the Twelve were near the border between Samaria and Galilee, several figures who turned out to be ten lepers appeared at a distance, waving their hands to the Lord. It must have been a surprising sight, then and now, of being found in the desert. Imagine the desperation in their voices of those ten lepers, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” (Lk.17:13).
Jesus right away told them to go show themselves to the priests, and as they went, they were healed. But only one—a Samaritan—returned to thank Jesus who wondered aloud: “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you” (Lk.17:17-19).
“The Healing of Ten Lepers” painting by James Tissot en.wikipedia.org
Last Sunday we reflected that faith is primarily a relationship with God; hence, its powers or efficacy will work only when aligned with God and his Holy Will. We will never know how strong we have grown in faith until we get into tests and trials. That is why, the need for us to imitate the Twelve in praying to Jesus, “Increase our faith” (Lk.17:5).
We grow best in faith when we worship God with our fellow believers in the celebration of the Holy Mass especially on Sundays which is our Sabbath. More than a day of rest, Sabbath is a day of restoration to God, with others and most of all, with one’s self. It is a return to Eden, a dress rehearsal of our entry into heaven to dwell in God’s presence eternally.
This is where lies the beauty and significance of this healing of ten lepers – they were not only restored to health but restored in God, to their families, and to their community and fellow believers.
Photo by author, Jerusalem, May 2017.
Those ten lepers have never known any rest at all since getting afflicted with the disease for they were cut off from homes, worship, and community. That is why they could not get near Jesus as they have to keep their distance from everyone according to their laws in order to prevent infecting others and spreading the disease. Likewise, it was the very reason that anyone healed of leprosy or any serious sickness must first present themselves to the priests who have the sole authority to declare one has been healed and therefore may be allowed to reintegrate with their family and community or society in general. Being declared as healed of sickness like leprosy at that time meant the restoration of one’s rights to worship in the temple or synagogue especially on Sabbath.
When Jesus healed them, he restored more than just their bodies and physical health. In sending them to the priests, Jesus invited them into the wholeness of what the Sabbath really is like peace, inclusion, and dignity.
Or, salvation in short.
Sad to say, only one realized this when he returned to thank Jesus. The healed Samaritan leper knew and felt a deeper healing had taken place within him that he responded with heartfelt gratitude to God in Jesus. There was a deepening of his faith in Jesus when he decided to return to thank the Lord that also expressed his desire to enter into a relationship with Jesus.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2025.
Whenever we thank people for their kindness no matter how little that may be, it is more than acknowledging the other person but most of all, of expressing our links with them as well as our desire to be one with them, especially with God who showers us with good things daily. That is why the Mass is also called Eucharist – from the Greek eucharistia meaning “thanksgiving”. After his skin was cleansed of leprosy in the first reading, Naaman the Syrian Army General declared before the Prophet Elisha that he would worship the Lord alone as he returned to his home with two mule-loads of Israeli soil.
Sorry to say but whenever we refuse to celebrate the Mass on Sundays, it means that we are one of those nine ungrateful lepers healed by Jesus! Don’t you feel being called like the Samaritan to return and give thanks to Jesus for the many blessings you have received this Sunday?
See how in this age of faith in a mass-mediated culture that we have become so impersonal, trusting more our gadgets and all those apps like Siri and Waze as if we have already lost faith in the human person. And God.
Photo by Mr. Nicko Timbol, Chapel of the Angel of Peace, OLFU-RISE, Valenzuela City, 03 October 2025.
We spend practically our entire days in front of all kinds of screens than with the face of a human person. Again, this sadly extends to the way we worship with many still stuck in the pandemic mode of online Masses not realizing the important and irreplaceable aspect of personal encounter of Jesus in the actual Mass with other believers.
God remains God even if we do not go to Mass every Sunday. It is us who are losing greatly whenever we skip Sunday Masses, our Sabbath. God specifically made his third commandment to “Remember to keep holy the sabbath day” because Sabbath reminds us that life itself is holy in the first place, a sharing in the life of God. What a tremendous blessing still that even if we forget God or disregard God every Sunday, Paul reminds us today of the beautiful truth and reality that “If we have died with Jesus we shall also live with him; if we persevere we shall also reign with him. But if we deny him he will deny us. If we are unfaithful he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself” (2Tim.2:11-13).
Can you imagine that? If we are unfaithful to Jesus, he remains faithful?
Every Sunday, Jesus tells us to “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you” despite, in spite of our many sins and absences from the Sunday Masses in the past because he wants us to experience the deeper wholeness that comes with faith and gratitude as experienced by that Samaritan leper he had healed. As we continue to journey with Jesus toward Jerusalem facing many trials and sufferings along the way, he calls us to come to him in the Sunday Mass to deepen our faith by resting in his presence.
Is there a space in your life at this stage that you feel like one of those lepers, longing for healing and restoration? In the silence of this Sabbath day in our Sunday Mass, speak to Jesus especially after receiving him Body and Blood in the Holy Communion. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead! Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com).
Our Lady of Fatima University-Valenzuela, June 2025.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin & Martyr, 21 January 2025 Hebrews 6:10-20 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Mark 2:23-28
Photo by author, Nagsasa Cove, San Antonio, Zambales, 19 October 2024.
Brothers and sisters: God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones… This we have as an anchor of the soul, sure and firm, which reaches into the interior behind the veil, where Jesus entered on our behalf as forerunner, becoming high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:10,19-20).
What a beautiful passage, so reassuring and timely in this Ordinary Jubilee of 2025 with the theme of Hope; in this world where promises are often made to be broken than kept, thank you dear Jesus in assuring us of your keeping your promises.
Like the anchor that keeps a ship or a boat stable while moored, you O Lord Jesus Christ as our anchor keeps us filled with hope because you never disappoint like most humans.
Forgive us, dear Jesus, when we anchor our hopes in rituals and things like the Pharisees who were so focused on the letters about sabbath, forgetting its essence as a good news, a break, a release and freedom from the burdens of work and time to be attentive to God our very root and life.
Forgive us, dear Jesus, when we are so afraid not to break rules but we break persons, we break promises to love and to be kind with one another; grant us the grace of courage to persevere holding on to your promises in the gospel like St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr who opened herself to your Spirit because you alone, O Christ is able to "reach into the interior behind the veil" of the temple into the very presence of God in Heaven.
Grant us, O Lord, a true sabbath, a break from our harsh judgments of others based simply on incomplete videos and stories. Amen.
Photo by author, Nagsasa Cove, San Antonio, Zambales, 19 October 2024.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 26 November 2024
Photo by author, Pulong Sampalok, DRT, Bulacan, 23 November 2024.
Since my mom’s passing in May, I have finally been more resolved in having days off and overnight breaks after some bouts with depression and grief. Last Friday I went to DRT – Doña Remedios Trinidad – the final frontier of Bulacan province where the Sierra Madres link us with Quezon and Rizal provinces.
The Retirement Home of the Dominican Sisters of St. Joseph at DRT.
Named after the mother of former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos, DRT was a barrio or barangay of the town of Angat. When Mrs. Marcos separated Valenzuela from Bulacan province in the mid-70’s to create the Greater Manila Area (GMA) that became Metro Manila in the 1980’s, DRT was separated from Angat to become the last and youngest town of Bulacan.
It was actually a homecoming for me after 27 years when I chose to be assigned at Galilee Home, our diocesan rehab for drug dependents before our ordination as deacons in 1997 found at the opposite side of the Dominican Sisters’ House of Prayer where I stayed last weekend.
The Dominican Sisters of St. Joseph were so kind to welcome me to their spiritual center and had promised to join them there every fourth Saturday to celebrate their Mass by staying overnight for my much-needed rest or sabbath.
Indeed, it was a Sabbath to me, a return to Paradise, so close with nature where time seems to stand still or at least goes so slowly.
Those bamboo fences remind me so much of my childhood days in Bocaue; see how modernity represented by the electric meter competing with the countryside’s laid back atmosphere.
What I like seeing all the nature around me is when my memory is shuffled to those days as a promdi when like these kids we ruled supreme on the streets, never worried of being run over by vehicles so kind to stop if we were playing.
Lahat kasali – pati poste! Kids playing Chinese garter.
As my childhood memory sauntered, I realized it was truly another setting than the city when at 545PM I heard a mother shouting to her children, “kakain na… uwi na!” and the kids obediently went home.
Lovely sunset….
The following morning, as usual, I woke up at 5AM. Prayed and did my warm up exercises and shortly before 6AM, I went off to walk. My destination was the view deck of DRT where a giant statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary stands right after the welcome arch.
So peaceful… as if the whole world is yours!
Every time I walk around Valenzuela, I just bring about 200 pesos in my pocket and nothing else – no glasses which I hate so much and likewise, no cellphones. I find these as distractions.
But, that Saturday morning, I brought along my cellphone in order to shoot scenes and of course the sunrise.
Late did I realize on my way back that I should have brought my glasses for better focus especially with the abounding bird species in the area of Pulong Sampalok.
Oh, they were so many but I failed to catch them in my camera phone because I had no glasses…
Actually, not related to my not bringing of glasses, I got lost that morning.
Instead of turning right from the Damascus circle, I made a left.
Funny too while walking, I felt something was wrong with my t-shirt – it was baligtad!
Since nobody was around not even houses in the area, I changed my shirt and went happily in my walking.
Barrio folks have always believed that in order to find one’s way in the forest or anywhere, one has to change his/her shirt. Baligtarin ang suot na damit kontra sa tiyanak.
But, despite that act of pagbaligtad of my t-shirt, I still got lost and went onto high steeps that really challenged me so greatly.
Many times I had to stop to catch my breath. Even the cyclists I have met admitted it was a very steep climb while others opted to walk with their bikes.
All in all, I walked 6.69 kilometers without reaching the view deck but, God, I found so many views I never expected that truly refreshed me!
As I got lost walking nowhere, I realized life’s parable – that the most joyful and loveliest things are found in ordinary places like along the sides of the road like these plants and flowers as well as rock formations.
Many times in life, it is actually a grace to go nowhere, to get lost once in a while and simply keep on walking, trusting God for He would always find us a way to Him. Within.
Even met my former student in High School riding with his cousins to visit their lot in the area that Saturday!
What I like most as I have mentioned earlier are the natural fences people have in the countryside like these lovely garden at a store I passed by…
Even dogs seem to be most kind here… not a single dog barked at me despite my getting lost in their area!
Unfortunately, there have been a strong influx of settlers in DRT with presumably big people buying out large tracts of lands for future developments. What an ugly sight to see barbed wires in the mountain area.
And… whoa!
Or, is it the installation of the post that was wrong? Some misplaced priorities that destroy nature.
What kind of road construction is this?
Meanwhile… we are not sure if these are indicative of the climate change at all….
Join me next month in my “Friday I’m In Love” journey to cure my grief as I take you to Dumaguete City. Thank you for the visit! God bless!
I don't care if Monday's blue Tuesday's grey and Wednesday too Thursday, I don't care about you It's Friday, I'm in love Monday you can fall apart Tuesday, Wednesday, break my heart Thursday doesn't even start It's Friday, I'm in love (Friday I'm In Love by The Cure)
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 07 February 2023
Genesis 1:20-2:4 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Mark 7:1-13
What a blessed Tuesday we have today,
God our loving Father as Genesis tells us
in the first reading how you blessed thrice
the last three days of creation:
on the fifth day, you created and blessed
all water creatures and winged birds;
on the sixth day you created and blessed
man and woman;
and finally on the seventh day,
you blessed the day of sabbath.
Lately we have been meditating
what is to be blessed: Elizabeth called
Mary "blessed" because she believed your words
spoken to her would be fulfilled;
the other Sunday in his sermon on the mount,
Jesus called the poor in spirit, the meek,
the merciful, the grieving, the hungry and thirsty
as "blessed"; and today, after creating the birds and fish,
man and woman, and day of sabbath,
you blessed them all.
In today's story of creation, you bestowed
your blessing O God to fish and birds and people
after creating them, telling them to be fertile
and to multiply in number;
in blessing the seventh day as sabbath,
you also blessed it as a day of rest;
whether it is used as an adjective or a verb,
being blessed and to bless mean being
filled with grace, abounding in grace,
and most of all, spreading and keeping
that grace from you as expressed by
your command to the fish and birds and people
to go and multiply; to fulfill that command, we
need to rest on sabbath so that we may keep our
ties and link with you, thereby, to have the
strength to care for all creation,
to keep your grace from flowing!
Forgive us, dear Father, in failing to keep your
command to care for your creation,
most especially in neglecting one another as
a brother and sister in Christ when we
"nullify the word of God in favor of our many
traditions we have handed on" like the
Pharisees (Mk.7:13);
help us cleanse our inner selves,
recover our blessedness in you
so we may share your blessings anew.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 17 January 2023
Hebrews 6:10-20 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Mark 2:23-28
This prayer I offer
for those losing hope,
wanting to quit and leave,
losing patience and sense
in all their efforts for the
betterment of others and the world,
for those disappointed or frustrated,
for those always on the distaff side,
always seen as odd and weird
because of their firm stand for
their beliefs and values:
remind them, Father,
that you are aware of all their
noble efforts for the uplifting
of lives of many,
for their fight for justice
and truth.
Brothers and sisters: God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones.
Hebrews 6:10
Dearest Jesus,
you know so well
how difficult and even
painful to remind people
of their giftedness,
of their dignity,
of their honor;
many times, we feel tired
and sad at how others see us
and all our efforts for their good;
we are not asking for quick fixes
nor shortcuts for we know that indeed,
doing your work is never easy,
it is always a process;
all we are asking is rest,
a break perhaps
like your apostles one sabbath
who picked the heads of grain;
many times like the Pharisees
people give more emphasis and
importance to rites and rituals,
to rules and laws without any regard
for persons.
Lord Jesus,
remind us always that when
people fail to see our personhood,
our self-dedication to you and
your works,
remind us to never sag in spirits,
to never be sluggish
but instead be filled with more
fire and ardor in doing your work
until they realize that "The sabbath
was made for man, not man for
sabbath. That is why the Son of Man
is lord even of the sabbath"
(Mark 2:27-28).
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sunday XVI-B in Ordinary Time, 18 July 2021
Jeremiah 23:1-6 ><}}}'> Ephesians 2:13-18 ><}}}'> Mark 6:30-34
Photo by author, Sonnen Berg Mountain View, Davao del Sur, 2018.
Being lost or getting lost is sometimes not totally bad – or a loss – like in traveling when new routes and destinations are discovered along the way. Our readings this Sunday are about being lost, getting lost – both in the good sense and in the bad sense.
Let us reflect first on what we mean by getting lost in the good sense, that is, of getting lost in Jesus which is resting in the Lord.
The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.
Mark 6:30-32
Photo by author, sunrise at Lake Tiberias, the Holy Land, 2019.
Getting lost in Jesus, with Jesus
Our gospel today is the conclusion of last Sunday’s topic about the mission of the apostles that includes us in this time which is to proclaim the good news of salvation by preaching repentance and casting away evil spirits that destroy life’s beauty.
Mark now presents to us the other two essential elements of our being missionaries of Christ: of getting lost in Jesus, that is, resting in him and last but not least, seeking and comforting those who are lost in this life.
To rest in the Lord is to make time, spend time with him in disciplined prayer, of having a prayer life that is the most essential component of one’s life because without Jesus, we die.
As missionaries of Christ, we can never share and preach him to others unless we first have him in ourselves. Hence, right upon the return of the apostles amid their joys of reporting how they have accomplished their mission so well, Jesus asked them to cross the lake anew to a deserted place to be with him alone to show them that without him, they cannot do anything.
Here we find the great wonder of prayer life, of the discipline of making time for Jesus every day in prayerful meditations and contemplation: the more we spend time with Jesus, the more we can see and feel the people we serve, their needs and aspirations. As we enter into communion and intimacy with Jesus, the more we become one with others.
No apostolate, no ministry, no service will be fruitful without Christ at the center found only in prayer. The late Fr. Henri Nouwen wrote in one of his reflections that the more we become active in the ministry, the more we must be contemplative; while, the more we become contemplative, the more we become active.
Photo by Ms. JJJimeno of GMA7-News, June 2019.
It is in getting lost in Christ when we are absorbed to him in prayer where much of our mission and ministry truly happens because that is when we are most purified, when we lose ourselves to let Jesus take over us in directing our lives.
Getting lost in Jesus is entering the true sabbath, a return in Eden where we stop playing God and simply be his image and likeness again as the crowning glory of his creation.
It was after creating human when God saw everything he did as good and completed when he rested and blessed the sabbath day. He rested because he had accomplished his works; on the other hand, we rest in order to accomplish further our work in him through Jesus Christ.
To rest in the Lord is not to stop working and do nothing – resting in the Lord is getting lost and finding him in ever new circumstances and conditions that unfold before us, deepening our intimacy with him that we are eventually recreated and transformed in him.
That is the loss we must go through like St. Paul in order to gain Christ (Phil. 3:8-10) because that is when we truly find our very selves and one another as one in belonging in Jesus and the Father, that we are all indeed, one like him and the Father.
This will get clearer when we enter the third essential element of being missionaries of Christ:
Finding and comforting those lost
Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark gives us a very brief account of the return of the apostles to Jesus with a dash of humor when the people saw them leaving to rest at a deserted place and arrived at the place even before them! There is really not much time at all to rest for the missionaries of the Lord!
Imagine how the apostles must have felt when they saw the crowd who have arrived ahead of them at the deserted place.
They must have been so disappointed, even disgusted.
But, Mark tells us a completely different picture of Jesus:
When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
Mark 6:34
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2018.
The more time we rest in Jesus, the more we become like him – sensitive to the needs of the flock. To be moved with pity is not just a feeling mixed with some disdain or condescension for those in misery that we have heard and read a lot during this time of the pandemic wherein the poor are being blamed for being stubborn and everything that caused the spread of COVID.
Pity characterizes God like when we appeal to him when we are in deep trouble and suffering like the blind and lepers begging Jesus, “have pity on me”. Pity is a deep feeling that moves us to do something to relieve the pain and suffering of others.
It is oneness with those suffering, of “making sakay” as we say in Filipino or “riding on” or being on their same shoes. It is empathy and sympathy in action.
Notice the words of Mark: Jesus was moved with pity for they were like sheep without a shepherd. This is something deeply rooted among the people of Israel and elsewhere shepherding is largely a part of life and culture.
Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2020.
A sheep getting lost without a shepherd is the worst thing that can happen to any member of the flock.
A lost sheep is surely a prey to wild animals without any defense nor defender at all.
Likewise, a sheep is a very communal animal that when lost, it bleats so miserably wandering in the desert or the open field, feeling so “kawawa” or miserable.
Did we not feel so the same the first time we went to the big city to study or work? Imagine our own feelings when we were lost, trying to find our ways into school or work or life in general when moved residence here or abroad? There was that feeling of being alone, with nobody to turn to in case of emergencies or dangers.
It is also the most common feeling we have since the start of the pandemic, of being locked down, of not knowing where to go as a result or who to trust.
No wonder, so many among us have suffered some forms of depression or emotional turmoil, from young children who could not process what they were going through to the elderly who are refused entry to almost every establishment. There is that feeling of being lost as to what have happened or why are things going like these!
This is then usual bad case of being lost, of being alone with nobody to rely on, to trust. That is the image of a sheep without a shepherd, almost facing certain death.
It is a very scary and traumatizing situation in life that Jesus felt so much with the crowd who followed them that despite his being tired, he gathered them and preached to them (next Sunday, he would feed them).
This is the context of the prophecy by Jeremiah in the first reading that God was so angry with the unfaithful shepherds of Israel who have misled and scattered his flock, promising to “raise up a righteous shoot to David” (Jer.23:5) fulfilled in Jesus the Good Shepherd.
Brothers and sisters: In Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ. He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
Ephesians 2:13, 17-18
Jesus came to gather those who are lost as he specifically told the Twelve to “Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt.10:6, Wednesday, Wk. 14).
This is the problem, ironically, in our age of instant mobility and accessibility when feelings of being lost is hardly noticed nor even recognized especially during this time of the pandemic. So many people, young and old alike, feel so lost. Many of them are shouting inside in desperation for their many other losses in life like losing a loved one, losing a business, losing so many chances in life.
Let us join Jesus in crossing the lakes of this life, getting lost in him in prayers, to find those who are lost and reach out to them. A smile, a simple gesture of kindness like a short text or a phone call could surely bring relief to them to find themselves again and discover new directions in life in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima, locally stranded people near NAIA, June 2020.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Friday, Week-I, Year -I in Ordinary Time, 15 January 2021
Hebrews 4:1-5, 11 >><)))*> >><)))*> + <*(((><< <*(((><< Mark 2:1-12
Photo by author, sunrise at the Lake of Galilee in Israel, 2017.
Let us be on guard while the promise of entering into his rest remains, that none of you seem to have failed… Therefore, let us strive to enter into that rest, so that no one may fall after the same example of disobedience.
Hebrews 4:1, 11
Thank you, dear God this Friday with Your words reminding us of “entering Your rest”, Your Sabbath!
But what is Your “rest”, God our Father?
More than a particular day of the week, it is first of all Your very presence like in paradise that our first parents have lost due to their pride and disobedience to You.
May we heed and learn from the reflections of the author of the Letter to the Hebrews of how Your chosen people, the Israelites, disobeyed you, dear God, while in the wilderness that prevented them from entering Your rest in the Promised Land of Israel, spending 40 years wandering in the desert.
Sadly, all these continue to happen in our own time when we are supposed to be disciples of Your Son Jesus Christ.
Help us O God to resist the temptations and strive hard to see you, feel you, and experience you.
Help us to be like those men carrying the paralytic who sought ways and means to see Jesus Christ, our only true hope and inspiration and consolation in times like these. It is in Jesus Christ’s coming that we are able to enter Your rest freely and truly, dear God, to experience Your love and mercy, kindness and compassion we have all taken for granted.
But, more than a place and a day, Your rest, O Lord, is heaven, Your very presence, that very moment when Jesus healed and forgave the sins of the paralytic, astounding everyone, glorifying You, saying, “We have never seen anything like this” (Mk.2:12).
Let us “rest” in You, dear God by returning to You, of being renewed in You with Your whole creation in Jesus. Amen.
Photo by author, sunset somewhere in Pampanga, 13 January 2021.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 18 January 2019
People have been telling me to get a tablet or at least upgrade my iPhone so I can continue with my blogs when I go on vacation just like this past week; but, I am not yet that techie to be able to blog away from my study table. Besides, I feel it is going against the very idea of a vacation when we are supposed to “vacate” or empty ourselves of the ordinary things and routines we always have. Vacation is the first and most essential kind of “Marie Kondo-ing” or decluttering of self of so many things we have accumulated that have disfigured us. A vacation is not merely taking a break from the usual stuff and routines in life but to rest and recreate so we find our true selves again. In the bible we find a more beautiful term for vacation called “sabbatical” from the word “Sabbath” or day of rest. Genesis 2:2 tells us that after creating everything, God rested on the seventh day that later God made it His third commandment, “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day” (Ex. 20:8).
Vacation is always a gift of God not only for the resources to rest and recreate but most of all, it is a grace to rediscover our true selves by discovering Him again. God rested on the seventh day because He had completed His work; but we people and all creation have to rest so we can all continue to work in God. Every vacation as a Sabbath is a celebration of life, of being children of God because the more we turn away from Him, the more we get lost in life. The more we turn away from God, the more we lose our true identity and self as His beloved children. See how when Adam and Eve sinned: they hid from God because they found themselves naked whereas before, they felt no shame because they felt and found everything good. They have been alienated from their very selves the very instant they turned away from God. Hence, every vacation in the spirit of Sabbath is a return to Eden or paradise!
An author whose name I could no longer recall said that “a sabbatical is when I stop playing God, when I go back to the original image of God.” In our Filipino language, vacation and Sabbath have a more beautiful translation called pahinga. It is from the root word “hinga” or“breathe” which is a verb and becomes “hininga” or breath when taken as a noun. To rest which is “magpahinga” literally means “to be breathed on.” Therefore, to rest as in vacation is to empty ourselves so that we can be filled again with the breath of God or to be breathed on by God! In this sense, in every vacation, we are also re-created by God who fills us with His Spirit. And there lies the true beauty of every vacation when we feel so alive, when all of a sudden everything and everyone looks so nice and lovely as we realize how blessed we are, how fortunate not only to have gone and visited wonderful places and destinations but most of all in having found our rootedness in God – that we are so loved by this personal God who relates with us truly as a Father. When we experience a lovely sunrise or sunset, when we are captivated by nature’s wonders, when we suddenly realize we are alive and existing that no matter how little we may be in this vast universe, we are assured deep within that we are loved and cared for by Somebody bigger and powerful. When we stand in total darkness of the night to see the stars above or be awed by the Aurora Borealis, we realize that even if we are just a speck of dust in this vast universe, we are so special because everything was created for us to see and experience and enjoy! It is an awesome feeling that we exist, that we are alive and most of all, we are far better, more lovely and beautiful than anything because we are the only ones created by God in His own image and likeness.
And there lies the joy of coming home from every vacation as we are eager to go back to share not only the wonderful sights and sounds we have experienced but deep within us – unconsciously – we want to show our newfound self, our refreshed self to others. We yearn to go home after a vacation not because we have nowhere else to go but because we now have a clear direction in this journey of life. Every year we look forward to our vacation, to venture out there somewhere for our Sabbath and let God come closer to us so that we can always come home to ourselves, to our family and friends, and eventually to Him in all eternity. Amen.
Photos by the author: above is sunset at the Assumption Sabbath Place in Baguio City, below is the lobby of the retreat house.
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