Consider your ways!

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Feast of St. Lorenzo Ruiz & Companion Martyrs, 28 September 2023
Haggai 1:1-8   ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>   Luke 9:7-9
Photo by Mr. Jay Javier, August 2023.
Teach me,
O God our Father,
to be sincere and true,
humble and docile
to heed your call 
today to "consider
my ways" in relating
with you and others:

Now thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways! You have sown so much, but have brought in little; you have eaten, but have not 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! Go up into the hill country; bring timber, and build the house that I may take pleasure in it and receive my glory, says the Lord.

Haggai 1:5-8
I confess, Lord,
so many times in life
I have been thinking more of
myself and less of you,
less of others,
 and yet,
the more I get
everything and all
the attention, the more
I feel lost and empty
because I do not have you.
How true are your 
words to Haggai, Father:
it is not really working 
on so much but doing
everything for you and 
in you; it is not simply
eating but also feeding 
my soul that is truly
filling; more than drinking
is the reason for celebrating;
better than clothes is
the warmth of another
person; and better than
all the fruits of our labor
are the treasures of
kindness we save
in heaven that is never
lost.
Let us consider
our ways in the light
of Jesus Christ; 
like Herod, many times
we just keep on trying
to see him without 
any firm resolve 
to follow him like
St. Lorenzo Ruiz and
companion martyrs
we celebrate today.

You are so kind,
O God; all you ask us
is to consider our ways
to become witnesses 
of your love without any need
to shed our blood
like St. Lorenzo and
company; make us see,
dear Father, the life 
and joys you offer us
freely, compared to
the ways of the world
that is misleading
and utterly empty,
lacking in meaning.
Amen.

Leave a comment