Exaggerating the truth, exaggerating self, part 2

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 23 July 2024

*Photo from sunstar.com.ph of that viral incident between a Cebu personality addressed as a “Sir” by a waiter in a mall last Sunday.*

It is a classic case of “brouhaha” in the real sense, especially if we consider our Tagalog word buruha or bruha: a waiter was told to stand for more than an hour to be “lectured” on gender sensitivity by a Cebu personality belonging to the LGBTQ community after being addressed as a “Sir”.

Well, at least, the issue had been settled amicably with an apology by the celebrity after a deluge of negative reactions from netizens. Likewise, we can now sigh with some relief that there are no plans among the LGBTQ community to imitate their sistah from the Queen City of Cebu, proof that there are more sane and kind LGBTQ who have better things to do than make a big fuss about themselves or the rainbow. Imagine if every LGBTQ will lecture everyone of us just on how to address them in Metro Manila alone, life would be disrupted and paralyzed, worst than what we went through during the lockdowns during COVID-19!

But kidding aside, what makes that incident disturbingly sad is how it had shown again the sad plight of the poor in our country. Bawal maging mahirap, maging dukha sa Pilipinas. So sad. Even in the church it is very true. We do not have to look far to see how this is so true among us. Kawawa palagi ang mga maliliit.

How do we treat our house helpers and drivers, delivery personnel, janitors and janitresses, even professionals doing not so glamorous tasks like nurses. And security guards, of course. (Kudos to our alma mater, the Faculty of Arts and Letters of UST who had their security personnel joined the march of their recent graduates!)

The very sight of a waiter standing in front of a customer immediately caught my attention while scrolling my Facebook, asking myself, “what happened?” Gut feelings told me something was very wrong and surely, the guy must have been so disadvantaged.

For addressing that celebrity customer as “sir”, the waiter had to endure the humiliation of standing before him like in a trial. Even if it was just between the two of them. Even if he did not scream or yell at the waiter. What’s the big deal? Iyon lang?

His ego, his femininity more valuable than the very person of the waiter? It is the new pandemic among us spreading these last 20 years. The malady of entitlement, of never making the mortal sin to address some people as Doctor or Attorney or even Father. We have lost touched with our humanity, our being a human being, a person, a tao first of all.

Good thing there was a good soul around that mall who came to the waiter’s rescue.

What we have here is a classic case of “exaggeration of truth, exaggeration of self” – a phrase I have found years ago in one of the many writings of Pope Benedict XVI. It was my parting shot to our graduates of Senior High School last July 05, 2024 during our Baccalaureate Mass.

Many times in this age of so many platforms of communications, we tend to exaggerate the truths, of clamoring for so many things like inclusiveness everywhere when in the process, they have actually become so exclusive! Many times, people exaggerate the truth presenting themselves as disadvantaged and victimized when in fact it is far from reality. Many people are advancing so many things these days when in fact they are actually promoting themselves. Many are exaggerating the truths when they are actually exaggerating themselves (https://lordmychef.com/2024/07/10/exaggerating-truth-exaggerating-self/)

The tragedy of our time characterized by affluence and upward mobility so splattered across social media daily, is how so many among us who have lost touch with our humanity. Everything has become a show – a palabas we say in Filipino. We forget that inside – the loob – as more essential.

And what is inside each one of us?

Our dignity as image and likeness of God or pagkatao that is best seen and expressed in our being small, being little like the children, the very core of Jesus Christ’s teaching.

Look outside even in the countryside now invaded by those giant tarpaulins – why have we become like those tarpaulins, thinking and feeling we are larger than others?

Truth in Greek is aletheia that literally means an opening, of not being concealed like the blooming of a flower.

Simply be yourself. And don’t forget everyone as they are.

God bless everyone!

*Photo by Dra. Mai B. Dela Pena, MD at Deir Al-Mukhraqa Carmelite Monastery in Isarel, 2014.*

“Bring me”…

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Bonaventure, Doctor of the Church, 15 July 2024
Isaiah 1:10-17 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 10:34-11:1

*Photo from The Valenzuela Times, 02 July 2024.*

On this blessed Monday,
your word "bring" invites me
to examine what I bring:

“Trample my courts no more! Bring no more worthless offerings; your incense is loathsome to me” (Isaiah 1:13).

Jesus said to his Apostles: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword” (Matthew 10:34).

Teach me, O Lord,
to bring your peace and justice,
to bring your truth and light
so that I may bring that
much-needed balance
we are searching in life.

Like St. Bonaventure,
help me to bring myself before
You, dear God in prayers,
to immerse myself in your words
in the scriptures
so that I may bring together
the ideal and practical,
the spiritual and material.

Many times, O Lord,
we bring our very selves,
it is our ego and pride
we love to bring everywhere
for everyone to see,
forgetting that
we must first bring
You back into our hearts,
bring You back into our minds,
bring You back into our lives
so that we can finally
bring out the best
worship of You.
Amen.

Words, words, words…

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 12 July 2024
Hosea 14:2-10 <*[[[[><< + >><]]]]*> Matthew 10:16-23

Thus says the Lord: Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt. Take with you words, and return to then Lord; Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity, and receive what is good, that we may render as offerings the bullocks from our stalls” (Hosea 24:2-3).

Loving Father,
let us "take words" with us
this Friday,
words of contrition for our sins,
words of true repentance,
words begging your mercy,
words that are sincere
not empty words;
many times in this world
of social media,
we multiply words,
we shout words,
we alter words
to give new meanings
that suit us;
many times our words
are mere words,
never bearing fruit,
could not even stand
because they are not true;
like Jesus your Son,
teach us to "enflesh"
our words,
let our words to You be
translated into realities of
conversion and loving service 
for one another.

When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matthew 10:20).

Let us heed your words,
Lord Jesus Christ,
for us to be "shrewd as serpents
and simple as doves"
by learning to be silent
to let the Holy Spirit speak
through us;
in this noisy world
with so many competing 
words and sounds,
it has become indeed 
a persecution to be silent;
it is more difficult to be silent
to await your words, Lord;
it is always easier to speak
and add to the cacophony of
deafening and hurtful words
against each other
than to just listen to
our hearts,
to listen to your words
of love and mercy;
like the psalmist,
let my mouth
declare your praise
by awaiting your words
first, not mine.
Amen.

Exaggerating truth, exaggerating self

Homily, Baccalaureate Mass, Senior High School
Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 05 July 2024

*Photo by olia danilevich on Pexels.com*

Congratulations, our dear graduates this academic year 2023-2024! As you mark the completion of your studies, may I ask you again why did you go to school? Why study at all?

As usual, we get those varied answers of going to school like to have a bright future by securing a better paying job or, as others would readily admit it, in order to get rich and a host of other reasons that are far from the truth because one does not need to earn a diploma to get a job or even get rich. Look around you.

Remember, my dear graduates, we go to school in order to become a better person, a better man, a better woman. That is what we mean with that slogan “Rise to the top!” here at Our Lady of Fatima University; that we may become “man as man”, truly human guided by our mottos, Veritas et Misericordia.

Problem in this age of too much social media is how people have become more lost than ever in themselves. So many have become so alienated with their true selves as they get confused with reality and with virtual reality. Puro tayo palabas, wala nang paloob as everything has become a show including our lives.

Look inside your hearts and find Jesus Christ for only in Him can we find fulfillment in life like Matthew in our gospel today:

As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him (Matthew 9:9).

After this Mass, check Google. Search Caravaggio’s painting, the call of St. Matthew. Caravaggio was the same artist who painted “The Incredulity of Thomas” when the Apostle met the Risen Lord Jesus Christ eight days after Easter.

One thing you will notice in Caravaggio’s paintings are the interplay of light and darkness that seem to converse with the onlookers. In the call of St. Matthew, Caravaggio painted the scene so typical of his own time with Matthew and other men inside his office wearing clothes of the Middle Ages while Jesus passing by at the other end of the painting dressed in exactly the way during His time. Jesus was portrayed in a side view, calling Matthew who was seated and surprised, asking Jesus if he was the one being called. You could read the face of Matthew asking Jesus, “who, me?” while Jesus was gently looking at him with firmness, saying, “yes, you Matthew. Follow me”.

First thing we learn from this painting is how Jesus continues to come to our own time and situation, right where we are seated like with Matthew. As Jesus pointed His finger to Matthew while calling him, Matthew pointed too his finger into his heart to ask Jesus if he was the one He was referring to. It is a lovely scene telling us how Jesus invites us daily to welcome Him in our hearts, telling us to take a look inside our heart to find Him. Tumingin tayo palagi paloob sa ating sarili, hindi palabas o sa labas gaya ng social media na dinaraan lahat sa likes at kung anu anong mga emoticons. Paramihan ng followers basta trending at viral maski pangit. Pagkatapos, wala na. Hungkag pa rin tayo. Walang laman. Empty.

Now, look at this photo uploaded last night by The Valenzuela Times after that flash flood yesterday afternoon in front of our medical center along McArthur Highway. You must have seen it too.

How did you react? Did you laugh at the man carrying on his back his girlfriend while crossing the flooded street?

How sad that many netizens laughed at it with many having pressed the LOL emoticons with some calling the “gurl” as OA, saying “naglakad na lang sana sila magka-holding hands, hindi pinahirapan yung guy”. At least, some were honest to admit their envy, saying, “sanaol”!

Why those negative reactions? Bakit pinagtawanan? (https://lordmychef.com/2024/07/03/crossings-the-cross/)

That is the sad reality in our time when people laugh at others doing something good like sacrificing or simply being honest. Have we forgotten all about God and others just like the message of the Prophet Amos 3000 year ago of how people turned into sin and evil, trampling on others especially the poor which continues to happen today?

Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land! “When will the new moon be over,” you ask, “that we may sell our grain, and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat? We will diminish the containers for measuring, add to the weights, and fix our scales for cheating! We will buy the lowly man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of sandals; even the refuse of the wheat we will sell!” (Amos 8:4-6).

*From cbcpnews.net, 13 May 2022, at the Parish of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City.*

My dear Fatimanians, as you get closer to achieving your dreams, as you move on to the next phase of your studies and formation here in our University, remember always the lessons and life of our Patroness, the Blessed Virgin Mary as well as the three children to whom she appeared in Fatima, Portugal more than 100 years ago.

Mary remained faithful to her Son Jesus Christ, accompanying Him up to the Cross. The three visionaries of Fatima did the same, praying and sacrificing a lot to get the Blessed Mother’s message of conversion across. In their young age, they did not mind what others said about them from May 13 to October 13, 1917, remaining faithful to Jesus with Mary by being good and obedient children.

It is always easy to look good and kind in social media. It is always so easy to speak of so many lofty plans and ideals, of how we want to change the world but we forget to look inside our hearts, into our true selves. Like the Pharisees in the gospel today, they saw themselves as the best and the holiest whom Jesus should keep company with, not the sinners like the tax collectors that included Matthew.

Many times in this age of so many platforms of communications, we tend to exaggerate the truths, of clamoring for so many things like inclusiveness everywhere when in the process, they have actually become so exclusive! Many times, people exaggerate the truth presenting themselves as disadvantaged and victimized when in fact it is far from reality. Many people are advancing so many things these days when in fact they are actually promoting themselves. Many are exaggerating the truths when they are actually exaggerating themselves.

Heed the words of Jesus to the Pharisees, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Mt. 9:13).

It is not enough to know and get what we want but what does God desire for me? You will never go wrong in life when you follow God than men or women who could just be exaggerating themselves. Handle your life with prayer, my dear Fatimanians. As I have told you since I came here in OLFU, always remember to “study hard, work harder, and pray hardest.” God bless you all!

Praying to be prophetic

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
First Friday in the Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 05 July 2024
Amos 8:4-6, 9-12 <*((((><< + >><))))*> Matthew 9:9-13

*Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD in Infanta, Quezon 2020.*

Help us,
loving Father 
to be prophetic
in our lives, to speak
and live according to your
words and precepts,
witnessing your truth
and justice, boldly speaking
against the evil pervading among us.

How easy,
O God, 
for almost everybody today
to speak strongly about truth
without being prophetic at all
like the Pharisees who saw Jesus
dining with sinners and asked his
disciples: "Why does your teacher
eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
(Matthew 9:11); many of them are
still among us these days
who avail of every modern
communication platform aided
by the age-old tradition of corruption,
championing the truth everywhere
when in fact are subverting
decency, honesty and sincerity
because they are actually
a manipulator or what a song
labeled as "smooth operator"
"whose eyes are like angels 
but his heart is cold."

Forgive us, Father,
for the many times we have
joined these smooth operators
among us because we have
benefitted from their excesses,
trampling further the dignity of many
especially the poor and voiceless;
forgive us, Father,
for those times we pretended
to be prophetic, 
acting and speaking 
to be the virtuous ones 
as we project others as sinners
especially those not on our side.

Teach us to be like Amos,
Father, a prophet who spoke
and lived out your words 
like Jesus who confronted the
powerful and abusive among us,
insisting that being prophetic
is not what humans want
but what God desires always
which is mercy.
Amen.

*Can't resist sharing Sade's 1984 hit "Smooth Operator" that inspired us too in our prayer-reflection today.

From YouTube.com

We the Church, an image of the Holy Spirit

The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Pentecost Sunday-B, 19 May 2024
Acts 2:1-11 ><]]]]'> Galatians 5:16-25 ><]]]]'> John 15:26-27, 16:12-15

Blessed happy birthday to everyone this Pentecost Sunday, the “birthday” or official coming out party of the Church! In the Ascension of Jesus last Sunday, we have an upward movement that was a “leveling up” in our relationships with God and one another, calling us to be light to rise.

Today’s Pentecost Sunday is opposite, a downward move that “presses” us to “spread” like in compressing a sandwich to make it wider or bigger, calling us to be small and be “dissolved” so we can be mixed or shared with others.

Sorry for sounding a recipe but that’s how we are all as the kingdom of God here on earth – the Body of Christ we His disciples make up as the Church in the power of the Holy Spirit whose very image is us.

When time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire hose in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
Acts 2:1-4

Pentecost is not just an event in the past but a daily reality calling us to be “dissolved” in ourselves, to be little and small so that we can be one with others to be united in Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Being a Christian is being united, being one in Jesus; remove “Christ” in the word Christian, we are left with the letters -ian that stand for “I-am-nothing”.

That is why we as the Church is the image or icon of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity promised by Jesus to come after His ascension. It is the principle of unity in the Trinity because the Holy Spirit is the love that exists between the Father and the Son. This union between the Father and the Son happens also among us, the community of believers despite our diversities and differences when we allow the Holy Spirit to empower us in our daily dying to ourselves that Jesus likened to the grain of wheat that falls to the ground in order to grow and yield bountiful harvest (Jn. 12:24-26). This is the reason why St. Paul calls us to live in the Spirit in the second reading:

I say, then: live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh. For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want… Now those who belong to Christ have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit. Let us not be conceited, provoking one another, envious of one another.
Galatians 5:16-17, 24-26

Jesus is inviting us today to go through daily Pentecost by allowing the Holy Spirit to “burn” us with its fire, to dissolve our old selves to become new in Him. It is a process of conversion, of daily dying in our flesh in order to build up His Church.

Here we go back to one of the central theme of Jesus of becoming like a child, becoming small which is true greatness because that is when we no longer live but Christ in us as St. Paul experienced. Today he tells us some of the works of our old self we must turn away from like “immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like” (Gal. 5:19-21).

See how all his examples lead to disunity and divisions instead of unity that is happening today. Some people call for inclusivity but the opposite happens as we get divided so sharply that anyone who opposes them is accused of “gaslighting” or worst, end up being “cancelled”! So sad that some people are exaggerating truth when in fact they are exaggerating themselves as new standards of truth, insisting themselves and their beliefs on us.

Why change the rules of grammar or beauty pageants or genders just because they are different? Worst, they want to change even religious feasts like Santacruzan or the praying of the Our Father! Where is the unity in diversity if there is one group insisting on themselves? What happens is a repeat of the Tower of Babel, not of the Pentecost.

Losing ourselves in the Holy Spirit does not hinder our search for truth. The Holy Spirit actually leads us to the whole truth of Jesus revealed in His coming but He is too big to be grasped wholly that He continues to unfold, telling us we can only arrive at truth when we think in Him, with Him, and through Him in the Holy Spirit.

“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak wht he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”
John 16:12-15

The key here is being small, being dissolved in the Holy Spirit to see the larger whole who is Jesus Christ found in the face of every person next to us. See how we find in the first reading the reality of the Church starting out big right away as “catholic” or universal when it began on Pentecost speaking all the languages of the world, uniting the peoples as one in the power of the Holy Spirit.

*Stained glass of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove as background of the Chair of St. Peter in the Vatican in Rome; photo from wikipedia.*

The Church never started small like a club spreading into federations to become one. We become a part of that big reality of the Church in Christ by becoming small, by being dissolved by the fire of the Holy Spirit by letting go of our selfish selves.

The Holy Spirit continues to come down to us in daily Pentecost explaining and revealing to us the truth of Jesus through the many events iand persons in our lives. When my mother was still alive, she was the only reason why I came home; but, after she had left us peacefully last week, I have realized I still have to come home for my family and relatives and friends. It is a process of dying in myself amid the pain of seeing her room empty, that she is gone.

Death, like the ascension of Jesus is not about replacing those who have left us but a Pentecost, of allowing the Spirit to come to make us smaller, to be one with those still with us to continue celebrating life. That is when we experience the “fruit of Spirit” like “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). When that happens, then we have the Church as well as our own family as an image and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray:

Lord Jesus Christ,
make us aware of
the coming of the Holy Spirit
to us in our daily Pentecost;
keep us open and humble,
dissolve our selfishness,
our pride, our "flesh"
so that we may live in
the Holy Spirit
as the Church,
its very image
here on earth.
Amen. 
Have a Spirit-filled week ahead!

Perverting the truth

The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Isidore Labrador, Farmer, 15 May 2024
Acts 20:28-38 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> John 17:11-19

*Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera, one summer morning during COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.*

Lord Jesus Christ,
"the truth, the way 
and the life",
today I pray to You
for more strength and 
perseverance in working in
Your vineyard,
in caring for Your flock;
You and St. Paul have rightly
warned us of the coming time -
which is today, 
in this time of ours -
when "savage wolves will come
among you, and they will not spare
the flock. And from your own
group, men will come forward
perverting the truth to draw the
disciples away after them"
(Acts 20:29-30).

So true, Lord Jesus,
when those among us,
supposed to be fellow disciples 
are "perverting the truth" 
which is more than creating
and spreading lies and falsehoods
but most of all are allowing evil
and sin to continue and prosper
in the name of mercy and consolation
to others, in the pretext of openness
and understanding in all aspects of
our faith and teachings, from simple
deviations in liturgical norms and
rubrics to relativism in morals.

Help us recover our 
"consecration to truth" 
You have made after Your Last Supper
by being faithful to Your words,
Lord Jesus Christ through the
centering of our lives to You
in the Eucharist like
Saint Isidore Labrador.
Amen.

*Photo of painting of St. Isidore with wife St. Mary Torribia with angels helping them in their farming. From MyCatholicLife.com.*

Great Silence

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Holy Saturday, 30 March 2024

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, 20 March 2024.*

Teach us to be silent today, 
God our Father, 
as we remember your Son 
Jesus Christ’s Great Silence – 
Magnum Silentium – 
when he was “crucified, 
died and was buried; 
he descended to the dead 
and on the third day 
he rose again.”

On this Holy Saturday, 
your whole creation comes to full circle. 
In the beginning, 
after completing your work of creation, 
you rested on the seventh day 
and made it holy (Gen.2:3). 

On the seventh day 
after completing his mission here on earth, 
Jesus Christ was laid to rest.

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, 19 March 2024.*

Silence and rest always go together.

Let us realize, Father,
that to be silent 
is not merely to be quiet 
but to listen more to Your voice 
coming from the depths of our being; hence, 
silence is not emptiness 
but fullness with You, dear God. 
It is in silence 
where we truly discover 
our selves and others too.

Likewise, 
to rest is not merely to stop work 
nor stop from being busy; 
we rest to reconnect with You 
to be filled with your Holy Spirit. 

You do not rest, O God, 
because you never get tired; 
it is us who need to rest 
so we may continue 
Your work of creation and, 
now of redemption 
and renewal by Jesus Christ.

When we rest, 
we return to Eden, 
like the garden where Jesus was buried:

“Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried. So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day; for the tomb was close by” (Jn. 19:41-42).
John 19:41-42

How beautiful is that image, 
dear Father, 
of Your rest and silence in Eden 
and of Jesus laid to rest 
at a tomb in a garden: 
to rest in silence is therefore 
when we stop playing God 
as we return to You 
as Your image and likeness again!

God,
we are afraid of silence 
because we are also afraid
of the truth, of trusting You;
Jesus was crucified because
we have always been 
afraid to trust You 
and be truthful to You and 
ourselves.

Teach us to be like the women 
who rested on the sabbath 
when Jesus was laid to rest; 
like them, may we trust You more 
by being true to ourselves.

The women who had come from Galilee with him followed behind, and when they had seen the tomb and the way in which his body was laid in it, they returned and prepared spices and perfumed oils. Then they rested on the sabbath according to the commandment.
Luke 23:55-56

May your silence and rest reassure us that we shall rise with you again. Amen.

Silent connection. And disconnection.

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the BVM, 19 March 2024
2 Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16 ><}}}*> Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22 ><}}}*> Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24

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

How lovely,
O God our Father
that after reflecting yesterday on 
connections and reconnecting,*
we celebrate today the Solemnity of 
St. Joseph, the most chaste spouse
of the Blessed Virgin Mary 
who gave the name Jesus to your Son
in fulfillment of your promise to David;
always regarded not only as chaste but
most of all with gifted with the virtue of silence
the world needs so badly these days,
St. Joseph witnessed in his holy life
that it is in silence when we make
the strongest connections with 
one's self,
with others,
and with you, O God
because silence is the domain of trust;
The most trusting people
like St. Joseph
are also the most trusting.

Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream…
Matthew 1:19-20

In this world 
so filled with many voices
including those spoken by machines and robots
that compete for our attention,
the more we have become fearful
of silence because we are afraid of the truth!

To be silent is to be truthful
like St. Joseph who embraced
and welcomed the whole truth,
Jesus Christ;
grant us the same grace, Lord,
you gave St. Joseph to silently
in face and embrace the truth
that can be discomforting
especially when it it is contrary
to our plans and desires;
let us not hide in silence
our festering anger that
sooner or later may explode
that could scatter all our
plans and relationships.
Amen.

St. Joseph,
pray for us!

*See (https://lordmychef.com/2024/03/18/re-con-nect/)

Lent is for getting real

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the First Week of Lent, 23 February 2024
Ezekiel 18:21-28     <*[[[[>< + + + ><]]]]*>     Matthew 5:20-26

*“Water Lilies” (1916-1919) painting by Frenchman Claude Monet from lopificio.it*

As we come to close
 the first week of Lent today,
your words in our Responsorial Psalm 
are so true, O God because nothing
can be hidden from you,
“If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, 
who can stand?”

Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
Matthew 5:23-24

When does a "brother has
anything against us", Lord Jesus?

  The Filipino translation
 “kung may sama ng loob
 sa iyo ang iyong kapatid”
  implies the problem lies 
with the brother, not us; 
but, here you are telling us
 we are the offender, 
 who are obliged, 
even ought to be
 “reconciled with him first
 then offer your gift”
 as we are the guilty one!

Forgive us for acting 
immaturely clean and innocent
 when our feuds and animosities
 with others are due to our pretending
 to be the offended ones
 when in fact, 
we are the offender.

Let us get real with ourselves
 beginning this Lent
 for we can never fool you,
God our Father.

“When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies, it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die. But if the wicked, turning from wickedness he has committed, does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life; since he has turned away from all the sins that he committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.”
Ezekiel 18:26-28

 Thank you dear Father
for being true with us always
that we may also get real
with you and everybody else.
Amen.