The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Fourth Week of Easter, 23 April 2024
Acts 11:19-26 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> John 10:22-30
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, July 2020 in Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon.
What a lovely story today,
Lord Jesus of Barnabas
who was sent by the Apostles
from Jerusalem to Antioch
to check on the growing number
of Your followers who were
called for the first time as "Christians";
what is most touching in this story,
dear Jesus is when Barnabas
went to Tarsus to look for Saul,
Your former persecutor,
their former enemy:
And when he had found him he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the Church and taught a large number of people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians (Acts 11:26).
Surely it was not simply because
they believed in You, O Jesus,
that they were called Christians;
most likely because they have lived
truly like You, Lord,
imitators of the Christ who
truly cared for one another
by forgiving those who have sinned,
and most likely too,
truly loving their enemies
like Saul;
I pray, dear Lord, for those
who truly love and care for me,
for those who look for me,
for those who check on me
how life has been going on,
for those who stay with me
to guide me back to You, Jesus.
Grant me the grace, Lord Jesus,
like Barnabas to look for those
we have forgotten,
those we take for granted,
those who annoy us,
those we can easily dismiss
as nonsense and ordinary,
those who have hurt us,
those we hate;
grant us the courage to let
Your voice lead us Lord Jesus
to other Sauls of this world
so we may lead them to You
to find life in You.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Fourth Week of Easter, 22 April 2024
Acts 11:1-18 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> John 10:1-10
Photo by author in Silang, Cavite, September 2020.
Lord Jesus Christ,
as we go back to school and to work
this Monday, I pray
that we "object" less
to one another,
that we hold our "objections"
to ourselves first until
we have found the merits
of an endeavor or proposal
and most especially,
until we have found Your Holy Will.
The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem the circumcised believers confronted him, saying, “You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.” Peter began and explained it to them step by step… When they heard this, they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying, “God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.” (Acts 11:1-4, 18)
Teach us, dear Jesus,
to widen our perspectives
and to always be alert for
the movements of the Holy Spirit
so that we do not waste
time and energies with our
endless "objections"
that often paralyze
missions and operations
and worst of all, destroy
people.
How lovely is Your claim,
"I am the gate for the sheep"
(John 10:7) for we all belong
to You alone; when we object
a lot, we close the gate,
we hinder the flow of people
to the gate, and most of all,
we steal Your sheep!
Do not let our many and endless
objections claimed as for the
greater good but totally empty of You
hinder our flock in finding You
"so that they might have life
and have it more abundantly"
(John 10:10).
Amen.
Photo by author in Silang, Cavite, September 2020.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fourth Sunday in the Easter Season, Cycle B, 21 April 2024
Acts 4:8-12 ><}}}}*> 1 John 3:1-2 ><}}}}*> John 10:1-10
Photo by author, dusk at Anvaya Cove in Bataan, 15 April 2024.
My kinakapatid is turning 60 this week with a dinner to be prepared by an Italian chef. His sister texted me for my main course and I chose lamb chops. And immediately she replied, “Pareho tayo. Mary’s little pet… the one who takes away the sins of the world.” Her wit floored me that I had to agree with a text, “Right. The most biblical and holiest food.”
Sorry for some little bragging as we celebrate this fourth Sunday in Easter as “Good Shepherd Sunday”…
We Filipinos have a hard time getting the “feel” of the shepherd because we have never had that image in our culture. Hence, it is a most welcomed development that there is now a growing popularity in tending sheep in the country while the Filipino palate had finally discovered a taste for lamb.
Come to think of this: the sheep exists only for two reasons, for food and clothing. They are meant to be slaughtered unlike dogs or cats or birds kept as pets. Another notable thing with sheep is the fact it is the only land animal that go against the flow when crossing a river like the salmon!
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, at Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort in Infanta, Quezon, 03 April 2024.
Ilove those characteristics of the sheep, for slaughtering which is almost like offering and always going against the tide. Exactly just like our Lord Jesus Christ who identified Himself as the good shepherd.
Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep… This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to raise it up again. This command I have received from my Father (John 10:11, 17-18).
First we notice here His use of the “I AM” which for the Jews refers to God when He told Moses “I AM WHO AM.” Clearly, Jesus was declaring to the people at that time that He is the Son of God, the awaited Messiah or Christ.
This scene was shortly before the feast of the dedication of the Jews after Jesus had healed a man born blind, a miracle never heard of at that time. It was a big issue then as authorities refused to accept that Jesus did indeed healed the man born blind.
Secondly, Jesus mentioned four times in just three verses the act of “laying down his life for the sheep” (vv. 11, 17, and 18). It sounded so good to hear how Jesus loves us so much that He would lay down His life for us his sheep; but, those were not just mere words Jesus expressed but a reality that happened at the Cross on Good Friday that He actually explained after this discourse at their Last Supper!
Keep in mind that we are now going back to the earlier discourses and teachings of Jesus that only became clear to the disciples including us today after Easter. We shall be having a lot of these “flashbacks” to understand and love Jesus more and His teachings.
According to Pope Benedict XVI in his first book of the Jesus of Nazareth series, “The Cross is at the center of the shepherd discourse” (page 280). When Jesus said “This is my Body… This is my Blood”, He meant really Himself being given for us; Jesus did not merely give something for us but His very self as seen on the Cross on Good Friday.
That is how Jesus gives life – by giving up His life for us so that when He arose, we then share in His being a good shepherd through our little dying to ourselves because of love, giving life to those around us.
As the good shepherd, Jesus was the first to enter death, to be slaughtered but this time minus the violence and gore of the Cross that was the worst punishment of all time when He said “I lay down my life in order to take it up again”. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.”
Yes, there was victimhood but more than that was His being an offering never forced nor imposed by anyone or by circumstances. Jesus did it all for love!
Though He was handed over (paradidomi) and betrayed by Judas, Jesus was totally free, actively passive went to his Passion and Death because He was very certain of His Resurrection.
We experience the same thing many times in life when we have to make great sacrifices like when we have to allow a loved one to die after a long illness. Death is a grace and a blessing when freely given too by those around the dying, freeing the dying person of any guilt when he/she finally goes.
The same thing is true when friends and lovers separate either because they have found other loves to pursue or worst, have fallen out of love with us despite all our love for them. It is the most unkindest cut of all breakups and separations, excruciatingly painful as we blindly give up our relationships ironically for love. More than the persons and circumstances involved, we freely choose to let go – magparaya in Filipino – because deep in our wounded and hollowed heart is the hope they may grow in their new love.
Here we are like Jesus the Good Shepherd because even in the death of our relationships is still found our love. Like Jesus Christ, we do not simply give something but our very selves. The Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner beautifully expressed this when he described Jesus is both “the Gift and the Giver.”
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD of the sheep’s wool, 03 April 2024.
Love is better shown than said. Love cannot be defined but only be described for it is so wide and vast in its nature and scope. Love simply shows itself. That is why when we speak of love, we use comparisons and analogies and yet, they are not enough. How much more when we speak of the love of God?!
This Sunday, Jesus spoke of His love like every human being using the language of parable and allegories. But truly Divine, we find so much more when He claimed “I AM the good shepherd.” It is His total person and self, His being both the Gift and the Giver.
The good news is, because of His giving of self, we too have become like Him able to give ourselves wholly in love. Like Peter in the first reading, we experienced great powers within us not innately ours but God working in us, enabling us to empower others by healing them not literally but figuratively speaking.
When Jesus declared “I AM the good shepherd”, He reminds us of being the children of God, His indwelling, our being an “I AM” of God Himself. Like Him, we are good shepherds able to love in Christ to the point of being foolish as St. Paul experienced.
Like the sheep, let us continue to forge on with life’s many difficulties, even if many times we have to go against the flow of the world that is always selfish and misleading. Let us pray:
Dearest Jesus,
help me to give more of myself
not just of something from me;
help me to lay down my life
for my friends even if it means
not just losing myself but
losing them in order to gain You;
help me to remain in You,
my Good Shepherd,
to never go astray
because life and love
are found only in You,
the Gift and Giver.
Amen.
Have a blessed week ahead!
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Third Week of Easter, 19 April 2024
Acts 9:1-20 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> John 6:52-59
Photo by Mr. Vigie Ongleo, Sagada, Mt. Province, 2014.
Lord Jesus,
today You tell us
how often You write
in straight crooked ways
that always bring us
to the right path in life.
Saul, stil breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that, if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains. On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him (Acts 9:1-4).
Of course,
we know by heart this story
of Saul's conversion
who became known as Paul;
but, what is so lovely in his story
is how he persecuted the early Christians
then known as followers of the "Way"
when on his way near Damascus,
You appeared to him, O Lord;
Paul eventually reached Damascus
not to arrest the followers of the Way
but found himself following You, Jesus
the only Way in this life!
Many times, Jesus,
we are blinded like Paul,
going on our own journey
and paths in life;
like the Jews in Capernaum
who were so blinded too
that they quarreled
among themselves
in their inability to grasp
what You meant by
eating Your flesh.
Photo by Mr. Vigie Ongleo, Sagada, Mt. Province, 2014.
Dearest Jesus,
take away our blindness,
send us our own Ananias
who would guide us to You
like Paul;
thank You, Jesus,
in allowing us to follow
our own path even if it is
the wrong way only to let us
see eventually how blinded
we have been
as You slowly lead us back
to Your path
of faith in You
to enable us to hope
in You until eventually,
we end up serving You lovingly
in others whom we have crossed
path with as You wondrously
write straight our crooked ways
to meet You
in each other.
Amen.
Photo by Mr. Vigie Ongleo, Sagada, Mt. Province, 2014.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Third Week of Easter, 18 April 2024
Acts 8:26-40 <*{{{{>< + <*{{{>< + ><}}}*> + ><}}}}*> John 6:35-40
Praise and thanksgiving
to You, God our most loving Father
in Jesus Christ our Lord,
our Eternal Priest
for Your gift of being a priest
this past 26 years!
It is pure mercy and love
from You, dear God
that we were called to serve
Your people,
to be Your presence
despite our sinfulness
and so many flaws and
weaknesses.
As we celebrate today
our 26th ordination to the priesthood,
one thing I ask of You
in Jesus:
like the Apostle Philip,
let me "get up" always to
follow You wherever You send me.
The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, “Get up and head south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route.” (Acts 8:26)
There were so many times
I have fallen due to sins,
disappointments and disillusions,
sickness and exhaustion,
sadness and loneliness,
griefs and hurts,
shame and embarrassments,
humiliations and failures,
betrayals and infidelities;
many times You knew it,
O Lord,
how I felt better laying face down
on earth and dirt,
about to give up
when You would go down too
just to tell me to "get up",
"raising" me up to
keep on following You
even at the desert route
that was so difficult.
Thank You for always believing
in me, Jesus,
for always being patient with me,
for always trusting me;
O dearest Jesus,
You have given me with so much
and I have given You so little;
let me give more of myself,
most of all,
more of Your love
and mercy and kindness
to those around me.
Amen.
From left, Fr. Romi, Fr. Arnel, Fr. Len, Bp. Dennis, Fr. Ed, and me after our Mass on the occasion of our silver anniversary last year. Not in photo was Fr. Joshua who was sick at that time.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Third Week of Easter, 16 April 2024
Acts 7:51-8:1 <*((((>< + <*(((>< + ><)))*> + ><))))*> John 6:22-29
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera, November 2020.
Lord Jesus,
teach me to bend my knees
before You starting today;
let me bring back those
vanishing gestures of
kneeling and genuflection
almost unknown these days
among the people;
we live in a clapping culture
where we give so much
emphasis on what our hands
can do that only end up
in manipulating everything
and everyone,
especially when we clap
senselessly or ridiculously
so often
especially in our
liturgical celebrations.
My dearest Jesus,
teach me to exercise my
powerful muscles
of the legs and knees,
to bend and kneel more often,
to get low to the ground
to remember my origins,
to be humble before You,
my Lord and my God.
As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”; and when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 7:59-60
Photo by Mr. Red Santiago, January 2020.
Help me realize,
dear Jesus,
that it is in being humble
before you like a child,
kneeling before You
when we truly find You,
when You truly answer
our prayers;
very often,
we come to You
without looking at You,
seeing only what You can give
like those in the crowd
who asked You to give them
bread from heaven
without realizing
You are the bread Yourself
whom we must receive.
Because they have forgotten
to kneel and bow low before
in order to find You.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Third Week of Easter, 15 April 2024
Acts 6:8-15 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> John 6:22-29
Lord Jesus,
it is said that our eyes
are the windows of our soul;
by merely looking into our eyes,
we reveal what's inside us -
fear and courage,
doubts and certainties,
questions and answers,
anxieties and joys,
hatred and love and hopes.
Your words today make me
examine what is in our eyes
when we look?
All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him (Stephen) and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Acts 6:15
Lord Jesus,
so many times
troubles happen among us
just because of the way we look
at each other,
or simply,
the way we look at things
when we take ordinary ones
so seriously
and look at the more important ones
as so simple and ordinary;
worst, O Lord,
is when we keep on "looking" for You
without looking at Your essence
but merely looking at what You have
and whatever You can give.
Teach us,
dear Jesus,
to focus our eyes
into looking at Your lovely
gaze filled with love
and mercy,
compassion and
and kindness,
the look of the eyes
who truly care
and see beyond
what's on the surface.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Third Sunday in Easter-B, 14 April 2024
Acts 3:13-15, 17-19 ><}}}}*> 1 John 2:1-5 ><}}}}*> Luke 24:35-48
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 27 March 2024 at Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon.
More than ten years ago, there used to be a billboard at the C3-Banaue area in Quezon City that said, “True love is like ghosts, which everybody talks about and only a few have seen.”
I googled the saying and found it was from French moralist Francoise de la Rochefoucauld (1613-1680). Nonetheless, we remembered that billboard because in our gospel today, we have heard how the Apostles thought upon seeing the Risen Lord that He was a ghost!
While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones and you can see I have.”
Luke 24:36-39
“The Road to Emmaus” painting by American Daniel Bonnell from fineartamerica.com.
This is the last Sunday we shall hear a story of the Risen Lord’s appearance to His disciples; beginning next Sunday, our gospels will be the accounts of Jesus Christ’s discourses at their Last Supper.
It is not really important to count how many times the Risen Lord had appeared to His disciples who in the first place never bothered themselves with it. John explained it last Sunday why only a few of these were written so that we may believe and have life in Him (Jn.20:31). There are two things we find always in these few Resurrection stories that convince us the Lord is risen.
First, there is always the intensity we feel in the Resurrection stories we have. Even though there is no account of how it happened, we could feel in the whole New Testament that it actually happened. It is historical but beyond the physical and ordinary. So real yet surreal. That is why initially, there is the incredulity not only among the disciples but even among us at this time. As we say in Filipino, “hindi makapaniwala” as opposed to “hindi maniwala” because Jesus Christ’s Resurrection opened new possibilities in our human existence that only faith in Him can explain though not fully. It is when all we can say in Filipino is “a…basta!”
From this intensity of His Resurrection, there is always that movement to gather together as a community of the risen Lord’s disciples. Easter is always in the context and setting of a community. See how Jesus would always tell or lead His disciples to gather together as a community, always appearing to them when there are at least two of them gathered like Clopas and companion on the way to Emmaus on the evening of Easter. And we see its effect – once they recognized Jesus at His breaking of bread, they both hurried back to Jerusalem to join the other disciples to share the good news!
That’s the beauty and mystery of Easter. It is so intense, so true we can feel and experience, always leading us to gather together as a community, as a family. It is never selfish nor personal. Do we have the same intensity today as individuals and as a community especially in our Sunday Masses?
From Facebook, 04 April 2021: “There is an urgency to announce the Joy, the joy of the Risen Lord.”
Today’s gospel scene is the continuation of that Emmaus story. While Clopas and companion were telling the disciples their experience, Jesus suddenly came into their room and again, they were startled and terrified.
But Luke added that one word “ghost” that was used twice in this scene: first in v.37, “But they were starteld and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost” and in v. 39 when Jesus read His disciples’ minds, telling them to “Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.”
Sorry for the long introduction as I wish to direct our attention to that word ghost.
When we were growing up, there was a cartoon show on TV called “Casper the friendly ghost.” In Filipino, we always refer to ghost as multo, something scary because like the aswang, they look terrible and would always harm people. That is why the Church later on changed the name Holy Ghost to Holy Spirit because of the very negative connotation of the word ghost.
These days, the young people are using again the word ghost, turning it into a verb form that means so negative: ghosting as in “iniwan sa ere”. At first, I thought to be ghosted is the equivalent of what we used to say “na-Indian” when a date or someone stood you up in a meeting or coming together.
But ghosting is more than just not appearing nor coming to a meeting or get together. It is almost like betrayal or infidelity. Precisely what the youth say, to be left hanging on air not knowing at all what is next. Very disappointing. Most of all, painful as it hurts us deeply when ghosted. The Filipino expression says it all completely, iniwan sa ere which is worst than the English expression “dropped like a hot potato”. To be ghosted is to be betrayed, to be taken for granted, to be discarded like a thing. It is utter lack of respect to another person. Worst, it is lack of life fulln of pessimism and indifference to life itself.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, 18 March 2024.
Jesus Christ is not a ghost. Had never and would never ever ghost us because He is faithful, truly alive and truly present with us especially in our darkest and emptiest moments in life. Many times, we do not see nor recognize Him because we are so focused at how we were ghosted especially by loved ones.
In the first reading, we heard Peter’s second discourse on Pentecost Sunday about the Resurrection of Jesus as the summit of everything that was written in the Old Testament, the fulfillment of salvation history. But at the same time, he was telling the people of how they have ghosted the Lord “whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence, when he decided to release him” (Acts 3:13).
Peter was not accusing the people then or anyone today for being accomplices in Jesus Christ’s death because he himself denied the Lord thrice, remember? Peter ghosted Jesus too but repented. And that was his point to everyone including us today of how may times we too have ghosted Jesus when we sin against each other, when we betray our loved ones, when we are remiss in our duties and responsibilities, when we are unfaithful that people fail to experience the Risen Lord coming to them.
Peter is asking us this Sunday to look into ourselves at how we continue to ghost each other that we contribute to the vicious circle of violence happening in the world that often starts right in our family and community, even in the Church.
That is why the beloved disciple asks us in the second reading “to keep his commandments so that we may not commit sin” by rejecting the lusts of the flesh not only in the sexual sense but in all of our selfish interests. Most of all, to imitate Jesus Christ by living like Him full of love and kindness, always understanding and forgiving and caring especially of the weak and marginalized.
Photo by author, 09 April 2024.
The Resurrection remains a mystery. It is a call for us to be real with flesh and bones not like a ghost. Easter is an invitation to live our lives as Easter people, full of joy and hope in Christ even when the chips are down.
Being real as opposed to ghosting means proclaiming Jesus Christ with our very own witnessing of His loving presence and service to others with our very lives.
Being real as opposed to ghosting is avoiding “back burning” those dearest to us.
Being real as opposed to ghosting is not “bread crumbing”, of being mediocre that we do only the bare minimum.
Easter is Jesus faithfully present with us especially in the most trying and difficult moments of our lives because He assures us nothing can keep us nor hostage us in whatever darkness or emptiness we are in.
Not being able to see someone does not mean that someone does not exist. Many times in life, it is after our loved ones are gone – permanently or temporarily – when we actually experience them closest. That’s because of the Resurrection of Jesus!
Let’s get real by praying:
Lord Jesus Christ,
open my mind and my heart
to Your words;
let me develop that prayer life
You have always been inviting me
to get into a relationship with You;
let me find You in my wounds
so I may find Your glory too;
let me find You in my many hurts
and scars in my heart so I may
find and share Your healing and
comfort with those still in the
darkness of Good Friday
or silence of Holy Saturday;
dearest Jesus,
fill me with life and joy
so that people may see You
in me alive
and not like a ghost.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Second Week of Easter, 12 April 2024
Acts 5:34-42 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> John 6:1-15
Photo by author, 09 April 2024.
What an amusing
incident again in our readings
today, Lord Jesus,
when You teach me when
to continue and when to stop;
how to find God's will
and to keep doing Your
work among us:
A Pharisee in the Sanhedrin named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up, ordered the Apostles be put outside for a short time, and said to the Sanhedrin, “Fellow children of Israel, be careful what you are about to do to these men… For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” They were persuaded by him.
Acts 5:34-35, 38-39
Lord Jesus,
teach me to distance myself
sometimes from the heat
of issues and arguments,
even of personalities
like when Gamaliel ordered
the Apostles be put outside
for a short time;
many times
it helps a lot
in freeing my mind and my heart
from my many ideas and biases
that prevent me from
distinguishing endeavor
or activity of human origin
and those from God
that cannot be stopped at all.
Most of all,
Lord Jesus,
keep me close to You,
let me seek You
only and always,
even if I have to go inside
your circle
just to be involved
like Andrew the brother of Peter
when he joined Your conversation
with Philip on where to find
food for the people;
any thing coming from God
surely has You, Jesus
at its center
and essence;
You know exactly what to do,
Lord,
whenever we are facing
difficult situations
but still just the same
the suggestion by Gamaliel,
we need to separate
sometimes
to determine the Father's will
that so often we presume
be what we think,
what we believe,
and what we must do.
Let us not forget
finding you Jesus
in every activity
and endeavor
because that is when
people are not only fed
but also nourished
and fulfilled.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Second Week of Easter, 11 April 2024
Acts 5:27-33 ><))))*> + <*(((((>< John 3:31-36
Photo by author, Bolinao, Pangasinan, April 2022.
Once again,
O Lord,
Your words
are very amusing today:
"For the one whom God sent
speaks the words of God.
He does not ration his gift
of the Spirit" (John 3:34).
It sounds so funny
yet so true, dear Jesus!
We not only ration the
Holy Spirit but we also
ration every good gift
You give us as if it would
run out, as if You would
stop blessing us,
as if You are not God.
Forgive us, Lord,
when we ration
especially Your love
to others, when we
do not realize that love
and life and every blessing
You give are meant to be
given and shared fully
with others.
“We gave you strict orders did we not, to stop teaching in that name. Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and want to bring this man’s blood upon us.”
Acts 5:28
Dearest Jesus,
fill us with courage
like Your Apostles
after Pentecost that
we too may give all
to fill the world
with Your Good News
of salvation
in You,
with You,
and through You!
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Second Week of Easter, 10 April 2024
Acts 5:17-26 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> John 3:16-21
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
When the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard this report, they were at a loss about them, as to what this would come to.
Acts 5:24
Your words, O Lord,
from the first reading are
very amusing:
after discovering the jail
securely locked
with guards stationed
outside but the apostles
nowhere,
they were the ones
who felt at a "loss";
they who have imprisoned
the Apostles
were the ones
LOST
when they were supposed
to control the situation.
How ironic
so often in life
when we feel to have
been more in control of
everything even people,
when we feel we lord
over everyone,
that is when we feel
more empty,
and more
at a loss.
And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.
John 3:19
Photo by author, Jesuit Cemetery at the Sacred Heart Novitiate.
Forgive us,
Lord Jesus
in choosing darkness
of sin,
darkness of pride,
darkness of bitterness
and of unforgiving
that is why many times
we are at a loss
in life especially
when we profess
to believe in You,
when we claim to be
Your disciples;
let us go toward
Your light of truth
and justice,
Your light of loving
service,
Your light of mercy
and forgiveness
so that in our very selves,
people may truly experience
"God so loved the world."
Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-09 ng Abril 2024
Caravaggio’s painting “The Incredulity of St. Thomas” (1602) from en.wikipedia.org.
Sa tuwing maririnig ko
ang kuwento kay Santo Tomas
Apostol ni Kristo,
ako'y nanlulumo dahil
batid ko hindi ayon
turing natin sa kanya
na "Doubting Thomas"
gayong tanging tag-uri
sa kanya ng Ebanghelista
ay "Didymus" o "Kambal";
nag-alinlangan nga si Tomas
sa balitang napakita si Jesus
na muling nabuhay
sa kanyang mga kasama
nguni't kailanma'y
di nabawasan
kanyang paniniwala
at pagtitiwala.
Malaking pagkakaiba
ng hindi maniwala
sa hindi makapaniwala
na isang pag-aalinlangan
bunsod ng kakaibang pakiramdam
tulad ng pagkamangha
o ng tuwang walang pagsidlan
sa isang karanasang napaka-inam
ngunit hindi maintindihan
balot ng hiwaga
at pagpapala
gaya nang mabalitaan
ni Tomas
paanong nakapasok sa
nakapinid na mga
pintuan
Panginoong Jesus
na muling nabuhay.
Katulad ng kanyang
mga kasamahan
nonng kinagabihan ng Linggo
ding iyon,
wala ding pagsidlan
tuwa at kagalakan
ni Santo Tomas
nang sa kanya inilarawan
ipinakitang mga kamay
ni Jesus
taglay pa rin
mga sugat natamo
sa pagpapako sa Krus
nagpapatunay
na Siya nga
ang Panginoong
nagpakasakit at namatay noon,
nabuhay muli ngayon!
Hindi ba
ganyan din tayo
sa gitna ng ating mga
pag-aalinlangan
bagama't damang dama
natin ang katotohanan
ng mga pagpapala at biyaya
hindi tayo makapaniwala
sa kadiliman ating natagpuan
liwanag ni Kristo habang sa
kawalan naroon Kanyang
kaganapan at kapunuan?
Sandigang ating pinananaligan
dasal na nausal ni Tomas na
banal pagkakita kay Jesus
na muling nabuhay,
"Panginoon ko
at Diyos ko!"
Huwag tayong matakot
kung tayo ay
mag-alinlangan
at kung minsa'y
hindi makapaniwala
sa mga gawa ng Diyos
na sadyang kahanga-hanga;
sa mundong ito
na ang pinanghahawakang
kasabihan ay
"to see is to believe",
ang kabaligtaran nito
ang siyang katotohanang
ating mapapanaligan,
"believe that you may see"
dahil sa dilim at
kawalan parati dumarating
ang Panginoong Jesus natin!
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe by Fr. NIcanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, 08 April 2024
Isaiah 7:10-14, 8:10 ><}}}}*> Hebrews 10:4-10 ><}}}}*> Luke 1:26-38
Photo by author, Our Lady of the Poor, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
You ended it,
O blessed Mother with
"Behold, I am the handmaid
of the Lord.
May it be done to me
according to your word"
and it all set us to an
ever new beginning
happening daily
with your Son Jesus Christ's
coming!
God and man
too far apart from each other
before because of the Fall
are now so close
and near with each other
when you,
O blessed Virgin,
said yes
to His Holy Will
so that the promise of old
is fulfilled.
Brothers and sisters: It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats take away sins. For this reason, when Christ came into the world, he said… “behold, I come to do your will, O God.” By this “will,” we have been consecrated through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Hebrews 10:4, 7, 10
Chapel of Della Strada, Sacred heart Novitiate.
Pray for us,
our Mother Mary
that like you
we may be open
always to God's will,
intently listening to His voice
and most of all
obeying His word
so that like you,
we may bring Jesus Christ
to this world,
be enfleshed
in us to become His presence.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Second Sunday in Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, 07 April 2024
Acts 4:32-35 ><))))*> 1 John 5:1-6 ><))))*> John 20:19-31
Photo by author, Mirador Jesuit Retreat House, Baguio City, 2018.
We celebrate today the Octave – eighth day – of Easter which coincides with the Feast of Divine Mercy. Both Christmas and Easter observe an octave signifying eternity because when you count from Easter Sunday to this Sunday, there are actually eight, not seven days. That is why there is no such thing as weekend for us Christians because the week never ends but continues on and on every Sunday.
And that is also the mystery, beauty and reality of Jesus Christ’s Resurrection that according to Pope Benedict XVI, “a life that opens up a new dimension of human existence” (Jesus of Nazareth, Part Two, p. 244).
Photo by author, view the refectory, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 18 March 2024.
From now on, nothing can hold us nor keep us locked in sadness and grief, suffering and misery as well as sin and death because in rising from the dead, Jesus had opened up for us new possibilities in the future not only in eternal life but right here on earth.
Like the apostles on that same evening of Easter, we also find it so difficult to grasp and understand, even believe and explain right away though we could feel and experience deep down within us that Jesus is risen.
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
John 20:19-22
Photo by author, dusk at Sacred Heart Novitiate, 20 March 2024.
Since Sunday we have the prevalence of darkness and emptiness in our Easter stories, reminding us how often that it is in the darkness of our lives when we find light, when in the midst of emptiness when there is fullness.
This Sunday we find the presence of Jesus but still in an unusual manner. There was still darkness for it was night but more than that was the darkness within each disciple who locked themselves inside the Upper Room for fears from Jewish officials who might arrest and put them to death like Jesus.
Many times in life we feel locked in, imprisoned in some situations, feeling resigned as there is no way out from our troubles and miseries but through faith in Jesus, out of nowhere and without any explanation at all, we find ourselves extricated from our inescapable situations.
When my youngest sister was diagnosed with cancer the other year, she told me how she prayed on the eve of her surgery asking God to simply give her the grace to accept whatever the results of her tests would be. But after her surgery, it turned out her cancer was at its earliest stage that required no treatment at all except constant medical checkups! Last February on her major checkup again, doctors found no traces of cancer in her while her surgery had healed so well.
Hope is not positive thinking that things could get better; in fact, to hope is even to expect things to get worst like when the disciples were hiding in fear, expecting to be arrested too. Or my sister resigning to God her fate, just asking for the grace to accept she had cancer.
But it was in that darkness when Christ came and brought light to His disciples and my sister and our family. Strangely enough, it was after seeing the wounds of Jesus when they rejoiced because that proved that the Lord had risen. It was in my sister’s cancer we found ourselves together more in love and care for each other.
In life, our wounds will remain with us but most important of all for Easter to lead us into new existence in Christ, we must first remain in Him and with one another amid our wounds and darkness around us. And for us to remain or stay in Jesus with each other, we must first come.
Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst… Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands”… Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?”
John 20:26, 27, 28-29
Caravaggio’s painting “The Incredulity of St. Thomas” (1602) from en.wikipedia.org.
My dear friends, while praying over the gospel this week, this line by the Lord kept on echoing within me. And every time it would echo, the Lord shortened the sentence like these:
“Have you come to believe because you have seen me?”
“Have you come to believe because…?”
“Have you come to believe…?”
“Have you come…?”
Before we can stay and remain in the Lord, we must first come. Like Thomas.
What he had asked as proofs to believe in the Lord’s Resurrection were not really doubts to be taken negatively. John referred to him being known as Didymus for Twin. We were the ones who gave him that nickname Doubting Thomas. Like us, there are times we feel at a loss like Thomas with our faith and with ourselves when extraordinary things happen to us. It was not that he did not believe but in fact, he wanted to believe more. That is why he came the following Sunday.
Though I have always loved Caravaggio’s paintings, I don’t think Thomas ever touched the Lord’s wounds. Thomas must have been overwhelmed with the presence of Jesus that all he could say was “my Lord and my God” which we repeat during consecration of the bread and wine into Christ’s Body and Blood.
Photo by Ka Ruben, Easter Vigil 2024, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City.
Easter leads us into community life centered in the Eucharist. See how since Sunday when Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, He instructed her to tell Simon Peter and others of His Resurrection; after appearing to Cleopas and companion on the road to Emmaus, they hurried back to Jerusalem to proclaim the good news of seeing the risen Lord at the breaking of bread; and while they were together which would be the gospel next Sunday, Jesus appeared to them again as a community.
In His rising to life, Jesus brought us together, fellow wounded healers to heal each other, to remain with each other amid our poverty and sufferings because together in Christ, that is when we open new dimensions in existence, in living as a community. We grow into an I-Thou person from the selfish ego. That is what the first reading is telling us in how “the community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possession was his own, but they had everything in common” (Acts 4:32).
It is the risen Lord who comes and stays among us in darkness and woundedness whenever we come and reach out to others like Thomas in the gospel. Even in our doubts, Jesus comes for us to believe more in Him. That is when great things start to happen, many so unbelievable and too deep for words. Basta.
That is why St. John Paul II rightly made the eighth day in Easter as the feast of Divine Mercy too because it is the love of God poured out to us in Jesus Christ’s suffering and death on the Cross when Blood and Water flowed out from His heart as an ocean of mercy for us. This is the love of God John was reflecting in the second reading that was too deep for words to explain except that it is the power that also “conquers the world” (1 Jn.5:3-4). Like St. Faustina in her Diary number 163, let us also pray:
"Help me,
O Lord,
that my heart may be merciful"
by being more loving,
by coming
and remaining in Jesus
among our brothers and sisters
in their many darkness
and emptiness
and wounds in life.
Like You,
Lord Jesus,
let me come
to reach out
to those in doubts
to be Your very proof
of Your having risen
from the dead.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Third Week of Easter, 17 April 2024
Acts 8:1-8 <*((((>< + ><))))*> John 6:35-40
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 19 March 2024.
There broke out a severe persecution of the church in Jerusalem, and all were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria, except the Apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him.
Acts 8:1-2
Your words today,
dear Jesus are very solemn
that despite the "severe persecution"
of the church that scattered Your
followers, the Apostles remained
while "devout men"
buried St. Stephen
while lamenting aloud.
Only the Evangelist Luke
used the word devout in the
Scriptures: first in his gospel
to describe Simeon who waited
for Your coming at the Presentation
and thrice in the Acts in describing
Jews attending the Pentecost (2:5),
in burying St. Stephen (8:2), and
in calling Ananias "a devout observer
of the law" whom You have instructed
to pray over and heal Saul after You
appeared to him on the way to
Damascus.
Photo by Ms. Anne Ramos, 22 March 2020.
Fill us with joy, Lord,
no matter how difficult
life may be for us
like those devout men
who buried St. Stephen
because we can never
meet You,
Jesus,
in our complaints and whines,
fears and apprehensions
of the difficulties
that abound around us;
more than being faithful to You,
a devout person O Lord
is one who does not only believe in You
but one who makes You present,
one who makes Your coming
a reality
in every here and now.
Teach us to believe
in You, Lord Jesus,
that You are the "bread of life";
teach us, Jesus,
to act on our faith in You
openly and with courage,
not ashamed of the
consequences
because to be devout
is to care and respect
for each other
as Your indwelling.
Amen.
