Tag: St. JohnPaul II

Makabagong Santo Papa, kapangalan ng Minamahal na Alagad ng Panginoon

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-22 ng Oktubre 2025
Larawan nina San Juan Pablo II at San Juan XXIII kasama isa sa mga matandang imahen ng aming Patron San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista sa likuran ng simbahan ng dati kong parokya sa Bagbaguin, Santa Maria, Bulacan.

PANALANGIN KAY SAN JUAN APOSTOL AT EBANGHELISTA KAUGNAY NG MGA BAGONG SANTO NG SIMBAHAN: PAPA JUAN PABLO II at PAPA JUAN XXIII 

Mula Hunyo 2011 hanggang Pebrero 2021 ay naglingkod ako bilang kura paroko ng Parokya ni San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista sa Bagbaguin, Santa Maria, Bulacan bago nalipat bilang chaplain ng Our Lady of Fatima University (OLFU) at Fatima University Medical Center (FUMC) dito sa Valenzuela City.

Iyon ang una at marahil huli ko nang assignment na parokya sa loob ng dalawamput-pitong taon ko sa pagkapari. Masaya ako at fulfilled sa lahat ng aking mga assignment ngunit mayroong kakaibang karanasan sa parokya di tulad sa mga paaralan na dalawang ulit ko nang napupuntahan.

Ibig ko noong mahalin at pahalagahan ng mga taga-Bagbaguin ang kanilang Patron na sabi ko nga ang siyang minamahal na alagad din ng Panginoon. Noon namin sinimulan araw ng debosyon kay San Juan Apostol tuwing araw ng Martes.

Noong 27 Abril 2014 na isang Divine Mercy Sunday, ginanap sa Roma ang canonization ng dalawang makabagong Santo Papa na kapwa kapangalan ng aming Patron, sina San Juan XXIII at San Juan Pablo II. Kaya minabuti ko na sumulat noon ng panalangin aming dinarasal tuwing araw ng Sabado upang maranasan ng mga mananampalataya ang bisa ng pananalangin ng tatlong San Juan para sa kanila: San Juan Apostol na kapistahan ay tuwing Disyembre 27, San Juan XXIII tuwing Oktubre 11 at San Juan Pablo II tuwing Oktubre 22.

Para sa mga ibig magkaroon ng debosyon sa tatlong San Juan ng Simbahan, narito aking panalangin:

Minamahal naming Patron na Banal, 
Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista po ang inyong ngalan!
Ngayo'y aming ipinagdiriwang sa buong Simbahan 
dalawang bagong Banal: Kapwa sila pastol ng kawan, 
nang manungkula'y pangalan mo ang hiniram.

San Juan Beinte-tres nang sa kanyang katandaan tulad mo,
Sinikap maging makabuluhan at buhay na palatandaan ng Diyos
sa gitna ng makabagong panahon itong Inang Simbahan
nang kanyang simulan ang Ikalawang Konsilyo sa Vatican. 

Kasabay niyang tinanghal bilang Banal 
ang tinaguriang Dakilang San Juan-Pablo Ikalawa;
Labis na pagtitiis ang kinamit sa kanyang sakit, 
Krus ay sinapit, katulad mo’y naging malapit
sa Ina ni Hesus kaya’t “Totus Tuus” ang kanyang awit.

Itulot mo aming Mahal na San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista,
kaming iyong mga anak sana’y matularan,
pinagsikapan ng dalawang bagong San Juan:
pamilya’t sambayanan mabuklod sa nagkakaisang pag-ibig
katulad ng dalangin ni Hesus doon sa Huling Hapunan. AMEN.

San Juan Ebanghelista, ipanalangin mo kami.
San Juan Beinte-tres, ipanalangin mo kami.
San Juan-Pablo Ikalawa, ipanalangin mo kami.
Larawan ng dati kong parokya kuha noong Enero 2020 ng dati naming choir na si G. Gelo Carpio.

Easter in Death

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 22 April 2025

Easter is God surprising us with every death of a loved one as a testament of the Resurrection of his Son and our Lord Jesus Christ. What a big surprise this afternoon right after Easter, we all heard the news of the death of the Holy Father, Pope Francis.

Of course, there was the sadness and surprise of the news but deep within us as the news sank deeper is the joy of his being with God in eternity.

The first Pope from South America, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina broke many traditions in the papacy first when he picked a name never been used by his predecessors, choosing instead a non-priest saint known for simplicity and humility, St. Francis of Assisi.

When he was presented to the city and the world (Urbi et Orbi) as the new Pontiff, instead of blessing those present at St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis announced first his request for prayers from the people before blessing them eventually as every new Pope would do.

Yesterday at his Easter Message to the people, Pope Francis spoke about death and eternal life, of how “the Risen Christ fills us with the certainty that we too are called to share in the life that knows no end, when the clash of arms and the rumble of death will be heard no more.” In life, Pope Francis faced head on the many problems of secularism and materialism in the world, becoming the voice of the poor and the marginalized with mercy of God as one of his major themes in his papacy.

During the COVID pandemic of 2020.

Personally, his most defining moment as a Pope happened during his special Message at the height of the pandemic in 2020 when despite his age and frailty, he walked through the empty St. Peter Square with courage and determination, faith and hope to lead us in prayers and love in crossing the turbulent sea of life amid the storm of COVID virus.

In life, Pope Francis proved to us like his two predecessor St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI the truth and reality of God amid a world that has continued to refuse his very existence and relevance.

In dying, Pope Francis showed us too like his two predecessors that death is in fact a blessing because it is a sharing in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ especially when you die in Easter.

St. John Paul II died on April 02, 2005 in the Easter Octave, the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday while Pope Benedict XVI died on the eve of the new year in December 31, 2022 during the octave of Christmas.

Octave refers to the eight day celebration of the major Solemnities of Easter and Christmas to remind us of its depth and meaning that cannot be grasp in just one day of the actual feast. Moreover, the eighth day or octave is actually signifies eternity: from Sunday to Saturday of every week we have seven days; octave as the eighth day is heaven.

How lovely that on Easter Sunday at the balcony of the Vatican, Pope Francis gave his blessings to the urbi et orbi anew to be his final one – consciously or unconsciously as he stepped onto the threshold of eternal life. It was his final homily too that was most eloquent, blessing us all in the “Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Thank you for blessing us, Pope Francis – Lolo Kiko – in life and in death. Amen.

*See also our homily last Easter Sunday that dwelled on death as a blessing, a proof of Christ’s Easter, https://lordmychef.com/2025/04/20/easter-is-god-surprising-us/.

Unity in Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. John Paul II, Pope, 22 October 2024
Ephesians 2:1-10     <*[[[[><  +  ><]]]]*>     Luke 12:35-38
Photo by author, mountain range off the coast of Nagsasa Cove, San Antonio, Zambales, 19 October 2024.
Glory to You,
O God our most loving Father
for this blessed Tuesday
as we celebrate the Memorial
of one your great servants in modern
time, Saint John Paul II,
the Pope who truly worked so hard
to spread the Good News 
of Jesus Christ our Savior,
especially to children and young people,
to the sick and suffering.

Oh how we miss him so much
most especially in his efforts to
promote unity in the real sense
without bending Church teachings
and traditions like St. Paul
who taught the unity
effected by Jesus Christ:

So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).

Grant us through your Son
Jesus Christ the grace to have Him
always at the center of our lives
and in our efforts to bridge people
together despite their many differences
so that we may truly build the Body of
Christ here on earth.
Like St. John Paul II,
let us be faithful servants,
let us "gird our loins
and light our lamps"
awaiting your presence,
Lord Jesus,
of your coming
among people who open themselves
to building unity,
to coming together in your name
to promote peace and harmony
not a unity for the sake of appeasing
modern thoughts and trends,
nor to win favors or be popular
but truly standing firm in Jesus
and His teachings because truly,
as St. John Paul had taught us,
"Unity not only embraces diversity, 
but is verified in diversity."
Amen.
Pope John Paul II, using his crosier for support, celebrates an outdoor Mass in Slovenia, Sept. 19, 1999. (photo: Gabriel Bouys / AFP via Getty Images)

Our two humanity

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Tuesday, Memorial of St. Pope John Paul II, 22 October 2019

Romans 5:12. 15. 17-19. 20-21 ><)))*> Luke 12:35-38

From Google.

Praise and glory to you, O God our loving Father!

Thank you very much in giving us the great St. John Paul II.

When I think and remember him, the more I feel the reality of St. Paul’s words today:

Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 5:20-21

Yes, you made us experience your loving presence among us O God in Jesus Christ during the pontificate of St. John Paul II. He lived in our own time when there was so much sin and evil in the world that he courageously battled head on with his life and preaching.

How true were the words of St. Paul today: there is that part of our sinful humanity in Adam still thriving in the world with its “culture of death” as St. John Paul II would always say.

On the other hand, St. John Paul II showed us in his life, words and examples our redeemed humanity in Christ, especially when he would always insist we can only find fulfillment in you, O dear Jesus.

Reawaken within us O Lord today on this memorial of St. John Paul II his favorite quote from you when he was elected St. Peter’s successor on October 16, 1978 – “Be not afraid!”

Let us “gird our loins” to continue to proclaim you, Lord Jesus Christ into this new millennium the way St. John Paul II envisioned when we crossed into the great jubilee of 2000. Amen.

From Google.