Without God, we are empty

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Memorial of St. Padre Pio, 23 September 2021
Haggai 1:1-8  ><]]]]*> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]*>   Luke 9:7-9

O dear God our Father,
without you,
we shall never be complete, 
we shall always be empty.
How foolish that we keep on filling
ourselves with so many things
without realizing our fulfillment 
is in you alone.

Twice you ordered us today
through the Prophet Haggai to
"Consider your ways!" or look at ourselves
to see how we think so much of ourselves, 
when we think so much of our needs
without ever thinking of you from whom all
good gifts come from.

Now thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways! You have sown much, but have brought in little; you have eaten, but have not been satisfied; you have drunk, but have not been exhilarated; have clothed yourselves, but not been warmed; and he who earned wages earned them for a bag with holes in it. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways!

Haggai 1:1-8

We know, O Lord God
that you have no need of anything
from us to be sufficient
for you are perfect;
if ever you "need" us,
it is for our own good and benefit!
Even the most powerful
know this like King Herod
in our gospel today who was
"greatly perplexed" at your Son Jesus Christ
that he "kept trying to see him"
because there must be a large
gaping hole in him without
Jesus.

Teach us to be like
Saint Padre Pio whose
memorial we celebrate today:
enlighten us to imbibe fully the meaning
of his expression that
"I only want to be a poor friar who prays."
How amazing and inspiring,
dear God are the many gifts you have
given St. Padre Pio who desired only
one thing in life, to be poor who prays.
Let us desire you alone
and that is more than enough.
Amen.