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Lord My Chef Simbang Gabi Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Simbang Gabi-VII, 22 December 2025 1 Samuel 1:24-28 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 1:46-56
One of the most beautiful and touching sites in the Holy Land I have always loved is the Church of the Visitation at Ein-Karem outside Jerusalem where Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth.
It sits atop of a hill and there’s no other way to get there except by foot due to the narrow road but, it is worth all the effort for anyone going up there with the beautiful scenes all the way with cool breeze soothing your face and lovely flowers delighting your eyes and senses. It somehow gives every pilgrim a taste of the great love and joy of Mary pregnant with out Lord Jesus Christ visiting her cousin Elizabeth on the sixth month of her pregnancy with John the Baptist.
Perhaps we could say the Visitation was the first Christmas party in history as Luke tells us today how Mary rejoiced in God singing the Magnificat after Elizabeth praised her:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his lowly servant. From this day, all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, and has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of servant Israel, for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and to his children forever” (Luke 1:46-55).
Aside from this beautiful bronze statues of Mary and Elizabeth at the patio of the Church of the Visitation are the translations of the Magnificat in different languages, including in our very own Filipino which is one of the most popular songs we often sing in our Masses.
But, do we really realize the meaning of this song of Mary?
Actually, the Magnificat was composed by Luke that he placed on the lips of Mama Mary. It is part of his artistry, of putting songs on the lips of some of his Christmas characters like Zechariah after John’s circumcision (the Benedictus) and later on Simeon (Nunc Dimittis) at the Presentation of Jesus in the temple.
Why? Because singing, like dancing, is the highest expression of our feelings to the one we love. Mothers sing lullabies to their infants, suitors compose and sing songs to their beloved, and we Filipinos sing and dance in whatever mood we are wherever we may be! There is always music in us from the simple gesture of washing the dishes, ironing of clothes to driving and taking a shower. When we sing and dance, we not only show what’s inside us but most of all who we are!
In singing the Magnificat which St. Luke patterned after a similar song by Hannah at the birth of her son the Prophet Samuel who’s story we heard in the first reading, Mother Mary expressed her joy and gratitude in the nearness of God among us not only with the coming birth of her Son Jesus Christ but also through her!
The late Fr. Raymond Brown, one of the great biblical scholars of our time noted in his classic “Birth of the Messiah” that Mary as the first Christian is teaching us in her Magnificat the essential task of every disciple of the Lord which is, after hearing the word of God and accepting it, we must share it with others, not by simply repeating it but by interpreting it so that people can see it truly as the good news.
Here we wish to mention something we have read recently about singing and dancing that the best singer or best dancer is one who can listen or hear – and fill the silent gaps in every piece of music. That’s amazing because singing and dancing are not about having super beautiful voice or precise steps. Singing and dancing are more of attitude, of claiming and owning a piece of music as yours. That’s why it is called an interpretation or as young people these days refer to as “cover”.
As we have mentioned earlier, one of the most popular Mass songs in the country is Mary’s Magnificat called Ang Puso Ko’y Nagpupuri but does it reflect our spirituality as a Christian nation?
Have you noticed how this 2025 that we heard so little of Mr. Jose Mari Chan his Christmas in Our Hearts?
I feel sorry for Mr. Chan when suddenly this 2025 he is more heard and seen in the McDonald’s commercial shouting “George!” to a fellow senior citizen. We as a nation momentarily forgot about Mr. Chan’s classic line “whenever I see girls and boys selling lanterns” because we as a nation is so disgusted with the ghost project scams of flood controls. We could not even emphatize with the family of the former Undesecretary of DPWH who had died of an apparent suicide because of the “breadth and depth and height” of their corruption running into trillions of pesos. They have cheated on us big time and we really wonder why the big “congtractors” and senators are not yet in jail?
But God has been so good to us this Christmas that we can all sing with conviction the Magnificat for indeed, “the Almighty has done great things for us” like putting into jail in a far away land the former president who called God as stupid not once nor twice but multiple times on television. That is aside from ordering the bloodiest anti-drug campaign he shamelessly likened to Hitler’s Holocaust of Jews in World War II.
The Lord invites us to make this 2025 as the last Christmas we allow corrupt and inept people get elected, that we finally put an end to political dynasty, and stop the stupidity and callousness of people in government who set a budget of 500pesos for people to enjoy noche buena.
This Christmas let us sing like Mary, as faithful disciple of Christ, sharing Jesus, always Jesus and only Jesus in singing the Magnificat in our daily witnessing to the Gospel, making Jesus come in our life of loving service to everyone especially those in need. Let us actively cooperate with Jesus like Mary his Mother to make these lines a living reality in our midst – “he has mercy on those who fear him in every generation, showing the strength of his arm by scattering the proud in their conceit, casting down the mighty from their thrones, lifting up the lowly, filling the hungry with good things, sending the rich away empty, coming to the help of Israel, for he has remembered his promise of mercy”.
More than a song and hymn, the Magnificat reveals us as the signs of the Christ, the Emmanuel, God-is-with-us! Amen. A blessed week ahead of everyone!
