Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 10 April 2023
A photo-reflection of our rootedness in God while at the Sacred Heart Novitiate last March 20-22, 2023.
In the lush rolling hills of Novaliches
that is now fast disappearing are
23 hectares of pastureland and mini forests
inside the Sacred Heart Novitiate
of the Society of Jesus.
Thank God it had opened
anew its doors to retreatants like me
wishing to have a "vacare Deo"
or vacation in the Lord.
A retreat
or a vacare Deo
is a return to our roots,
God.
While preparing for the formal
start of my retreat last March 20,
I felt the roots of the many trees
speaking to me
in this Bethel of mine
where like Jacob in
Genesis 28:10-19,
I met God.
Sometimes,
I wrestled with Him
like Jacob too
in Peniel/Penuel
(Gen. 32:23-33).
How interesting
the words "true" and "truth"
along with its cousin "trust"
came from the old English
"treowe"
for tree.
According to experts,
the Anglo-Saxons worshipped trees
they called "treowe"
because they evoked firmness
and solidness;
the more rooted is the tree,
the more firm does it stand.
Like truth.
Whatever that is true, firmly standing
like a tree or treowe always has extensive
network of roots, creating linkages
and interconnections from which came
that image of the
"family tree".
When there are interconnections,
linkages,
there are relationships.
People with the most
wonderful relationships
are also the truthful ones
because they are trustworthy.
Reliable.
Like God.
Our root.
Our rootedness
who connects us with
everyone.
When we are rooted
and grounded in God,
nothing can ever disturb us
like a big, big, tree.
We can withstand all storm,
bear the sun's heat
remaining firm
and aglow
with God's majesty
in daytime and in darkness.
Lovelier than the tree,
thank God
for creating me.
Hallelujah!
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Fifth Week of Lent, 29 March 2023
Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95 > +++ < John 8:31-42
Photo by author, sunrise at Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 22 March 2023.
Listening to your words today,
O God our Father,
prompted me to examine
my sins of omission;
they are the least easily
noticed of my sins
because they are what
I have failed to do.
Even if we confess it daily
at the start of the Mass,
I rarely recall my sins of omission.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If God, whom we serve, can save us from the white-hot furnace and from your hands, O king, may he save us! But even if he will not, know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue that you set up.”
Daniel 3:16-17
Forgive me, O God,
in the many times I never
had the same courage of the
three young men in standing by
my faith in You,
in choosing to do what is right
and good even if it would mean
suffering and discomfort for me;
many times, it is during these
moments when I commit
my sins of omission:
when I become less
charitable with others
in my dealings with them,
when I fail to meet the
requirements of love
in exercising my different duties.
Forgive me, O God,
in the many times I
failed to stand up
for You,
for others,
for what is right
and just due to pressures
and worst,
out of personal favors
I get or simply,
when I am afraid
to do what is right.
In Jesus' name,
dear Father,
help me to be truthful,
to always seek and stand
by the truth so I may be
free from bondage to sin,
free from fears in order to be
free to know myself better
and most especially
to follow Jesus
by remaining
in his word.
Grant me the grace,
Lord, to discover sins
I am not aware of
so that I may have the grace
to know myself better
to serve you in others.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 19 January 2023
Hebrews 7:25-8:6 <'000>< + ><000'> + <'000>< + ><000'> Mark 3:7-12
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2022.
Open our ears and our hearts,
God our loving Father,
to always hear your voice,
to heed your calls in Jesus Christ
so that like the people in the gospel
we too may come to him.
Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon.
Mark 3:7-8
In the fourth gospel, John
tells us how Jesus invited
Andrew and companion to
"come and see" where he stayed;
in a beautiful manner, Mark
tells us today how people
"heard and came" to Jesus!
"Coming" to you, O Lord,
is always accompanied either
by seeing as a result of coming
or by hearing that leads to coming.
How ironic,
even ridiculous
in our time with all the earphones
and earplugs and pods stacked in
our ears listening, hearing the
cacophony of sounds and noise
of the world and everyone peddling
lies after lies but we would not
even bother to hear nor listen
to the gospel and stories of Jesus Christ!
In fact, we are so busy listening
to others and the world without
ever hearing our true selves
at all!
Teach us to listen,
to hear and follow your
voice and calls, dear Jesus
for you alone is our perfect
mediator, our perfect high priest
"who is always able to save those
who approach God through him,
since he lives forever to make
intercessions for them" (Heb. 7:25).
Refine our listening
pleasures and abilities
that touch our very core
not just our senses,
massaging our ego;
may we have the courage
to hear and listen to what is
true and just, no matter how
painful they may be
for it is only in that way
we can be healed of our
many diseases and maladies.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Christmas Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Christmas Weekday, Memorial of the Holy Name of Jesus, 03 January 2022
1 John 2:29-3:6 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> John 1:29-34
Keep me true to you,
God our loving Father,
and most of all true to myself
as your beloved child so I would
always recognize Jesus Christ
in our midst like John the Baptist.
See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
1 John 3:1
How did John recognize Jesus
coming to him for baptism in
today's gospel?
I am sure that it was because
of this truth, of being your child,
loving Father;
indeed, beautiful souls
recognize beautiful souls;
John was so genuine and
Jesus was the purest
because he is truth himself
that John could boldly claim
Jesus is the lamb of God,
the one he had said as coming
though he did not know him
(cf. Jn.1:29-31).
What a beautiful scene of two
genuine souls
recognizing each other!
If we could just replicate it daily
in our lives too,
beginning in our home!
In our modern time that
is so very much like the time of Jesus
when people have turned away from you, God
including those who claim to be Christians
yet promoting abortion and same sex union
as well as priests and bishops
supposed to be the light of reason,
decency, and morality but are not,
we are so blessed with your humble servant,
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
His was a genuine soul,
a most genteel person so maligned
by many especially the Western press
and some clergymen
for his fidelity to the Lord's teachings,
truly a John the Baptist who pointed us all
to go back to Jesus Christ especially
in the light of the sex scams that have rocked
the Church;
his writings are simply the best,
in itself like the gospel exposing your
truth in words so understandable;
most of all,
he lived in all simplicity and humility
that he was able to see
eternity.
Most dearest Jesus,
grant me the grace you gave
Pope Benedict XVI:
may I also say before my death
in all sincerity and truth,
"Lord, I love you".
Let these words be
impressed on my soul
and be my guide
in life.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog
Monday, Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 21 November 2022
Revelation 14:1-3, 4-5 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 21:1-4
Lord Jesus Christ,
as we enter today this final stretch
of the current liturgical calendar,
you gave us the Memorial of the
Presentation of your Blessed Mother
as an occasion for us to present ourselves
to you fittingly like her.
Help us to always remember your love
and mercy, Lord, so we may remain on track
on your path of humility and obedience
like Mary; may we always remember
your call to holiness and to mission
being sent like you by the Father;
may we always remember like Mary
to be always truthful and clean in our lips.
These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been ransomed as the first fruits of the human race for God and then Lamb. On their lips no deceit has been found; they are unblemished.
Revelation 14:4-5
Help us imitate, dear Jesus,
that poor widow at the temple area
who gave everything she had -
"two small coins" - into the treasury box;
grant us the grace to be like her,
to be like your Mother Mary,
to be like your grandparents St. Joachim and St. Anne
who offered their whole lives,
their whole livelihood to God
because they believed,
they trusted, and hence,
they loved without measure.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Thirty-Third Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 15 November 2022
Revelation 3:1-6, 14-22 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Luke 19:1-10
Forgive us, dear Jesus,
when many times in life
we appear to be so good and pious,
religious and devout in our religion
when in fact we lack faith in you
like the people of Sardis:
“I know your works, that you have the reputation of being alive but you are dead. Be watchful and strengthen what is left, which is going to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember then how you accepted and heard; keep it, and repent.”
Revelation 3:1c-3a
Your words are so timely, Lord,
as we ourselves often hear the same words,
of how our Church is dying
because we are already dead in our faith;
we have been so complacent in our faith,
so focused with
duties and obligations,
rites and rituals,
tasks and schedule
but so empty of YOU.
Come, Lord Jesus!
Maranatha!
Give us the holy longing
and desire of Zacchaeus to meet you,
to exert every effort to be with you
and to be filled with you!
But the most truest of your words today Lord
and most disturbing are your words to the
Church in Laodicea:
“I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”
Revelation 3:15-16
Let us be clear with our stand in you, Jesus;
let us be firm in our faith and in our resolve
to follow you like Zacchaeus who gave
half of his wealth to the poor and repaid four times
those he had extorted money;
let us come to you with sincere hearts
and humility, empty us of our pretensions
and fill us with your presence and truth,
Lord Jesus!
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of St. Martin of Tours, Bishop, 11 November 2022
2 John 4-9 ><000'> + <'000>< --- ><000'> + <'000>< Luke 17:26-37
St. Martin of Tours, Patron of our hometown Bocaue in Bulacan.
Lord Jesus Christ,
today you confront us with
the two contrasting attitudes
we disciples should have,
walking in love and
walking in truth.
To walk in love is to live in love
which is to love one another
as you have loved us, Lord Jesus,
even to the point of giving our very selves
in love for another just like you.
Of course, we know it so well
and we have said so much about it
but have miserably failed in truly loving
like you because, O Lord, we have failed
to walk in truth; love and truth
always go together!
We cannot truly love when
we live in lies and falsehoods,
when we are not sincere and faithful;
most of all, when we choose to be
blind and deaf
to what is true and good.
For this is love that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning, in which you should walk. Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh; such is the deceitful one and the antichrist. Anyone who is “progressive” as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.
2 John6-7, 9
Grant us, Jesus, the grace of walking in love
and walking in truth like St. Martin of Tours,
a great Saint who taught us in his life
how these two contrasting attitudes
perfectly go together in witnessing your gospel.
Upon seeing a beggar on a cold winter night,
he cut his cape into two without hesitation
to share it with the beggar freezing in cold;
he was not yet baptized at that time that
you appreciated it Lord by appearing to him
in a dream with the other half of his cape.
After he was baptized, as a soldier of
the Roman army, he realized that war
and the gospel are incompatible that he
refused to fight in a battle by declaring
"I am a soldier of Christ; I cannot fight."
Threatened to be jailed for cowardice,
St. Martin volunteered to be sent unarmed
to the frontline when just before his
commanders challenged his offer,
their opponents sued for peace,
preventing any battle.
After his discharge from the Roman army,
St. Martin founded monasteries
and soon his holiness became known that
he was elected Bishop of Tours in France,
faithfully serving you Jesus by
walking in love,
walking in truth.
After his death,
his cult spread and was so popular
in Europe, proof that indeed,
"whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will save it"
(Luke 17:33).
St. Martin of Tours,
Pray for us!
Amen.
An icon of St. Martin giving the other half of his cape to a beggar; photo from blog.obitel-minsk.com.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Thirtieth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 27 October 2022
Ephesians 6:10-20 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Luke 13:31-35
Photo from forbes.com, 2019.
Lord Jesus Christ,
in this age of affluence
when we are so concerned
with how we look,
on how people see us
that we strive to buy
and put on the most
expensive and luxurious
clothes, shoes and bags,
accessories and gadgets
to impress people,
to make known to everyone
that "we have come",
of who we are, of what we have
achieved; make us not forget
that what matters most is
our inside not the outside.
Most often, we are like
actors and actresses,
or worst, clowns who see
life as just a show - a palabas
as we say in Filipino -
that we forget the more
essential and important things
found inside us like our loving
and kind hearts, beautiful mind,
filled with your peace and goodwill.
Brothers and sisters: Draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the spirits in the heavens.
Ephesians 6:10-12
Let us be dressed in your
humility and kindness;
clothe us with your justice
and truth, wear always your
peace and power wherever
we go as we share you Jesus Christ
to everyone we meet.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Thirtieth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 24 October 2022
Ephesians 4:32-5:8 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 13:10-17
Photo by author, 2018.
Lord Jesus Christ,
help me to be kind
to one another,
compassionate and
forgiving as you have
forgiven us (Eph.4:32);
let me live in love
by being true always
to you in words and
in deeds.
In this world and life
saturated in media whose
only concerns are profit and
influence, let us not be deceived
with its colorful displays of images,
and most especially of talks and
languages full of obscenities and
curse, reducing persons into things
who can be dispensed in the name of
"human rights" and then portrayed as cool
and progressive; worst, many of them
claim to be your followers as Catholics.
Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient. So do not be associated with them. For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.
Ephesians 5:6-8
Give me the courage,
Lord, to stand for what
is true and good like you
in healing the crippled woman
who was bent and incapable of
standing erect; let me choose to
do what is right and pleasing
to you, doing justice to everyone,
following your straight path
of kindness and compassion
for everyone especially the weak
and powerless.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, 105th Anniversary of the Last Marian Apparition at Fatima, 13 October 2022 Ephesians 1:1-10 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Luke 11:47-54
From cbcpnews.net, 13 May 2022, at the Parish of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City.
God our loving Father,
thank you in sending us
your Son Jesus Christ
who in turn gave his own
Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary
as he died on the Cross
to be our Mother too!
How wonderful
that in her last apparition
at Fatima in Portugal
105 years ago today,
she came bringing peace
and good will like when
Jesus was born more than
2000 years ago; it was the
same message that St. Paul
brought to us through the
Ephesians as he described
Your magnificent plan
for us in Jesus Christ.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ…
Ephesians 1:2-5
Forgive us, merciful Father
in the name of Jesus Christ
Your Son, in refusing to accept
this beautiful offer you have
given us expressed clearly
105 years ago today in Fatima,
Portugal by the Blessed Virgin Mary
who introduced herself as
"the Lady of the Rosary";
despite the miraculous dancing
of the sun, many still refuse to
believe and heed her call
to return to You in Jesus Christ
through conversion,
of turning away from sins
and following the path of holiness,
of being filled with You.
Give us the grace that
like Mary in Fatima,
may we show others
an alternative vision of
the world wherein
all things are restored in
Jesus Christ by bringing
the light of your truth
against the world's
darkness of lies and fake news;
like Mary at Fatima
may we lead people back to
you through the Sacraments
especially the Holy Eucharist and Confession
instead of worshipping
and adoring the modern gods
of gold and glamor the world
offers so easily but treacherously.
Purify our devotion to Mary that
is rooted and focused on Christ
so we may instill hope and joy
to so many people today
in despair amid the harsh
realities of this life due to
the ongoing pandemic
with the persistent problems
of war and violence,
poverty and inequalities,
and lack of respect for life
and dignity of every person
regardless of color, belief,
and gender.
Be patient with us,
God our Father;
with Mary whom you
have sent to us in Fatima,
may we find our way
back to you in Jesus Christ
along with the conversion of
sinners and unbelievers
including our brothers and
sisters who profess to believe
in you but promote a culture
of death, leading a life
of evil and sin contrary to
your vision of living
in communion with you
in Christ.
Amen.
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