Finding God where we are, not where we would want to be

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Memorial of St. Cyril, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, 27 June 2024
2 Kings 24:8-17     <*((((><<  +  >><))))*>     Matthew 7:21-29

God our loving Father,
help us find You 
where we are now -
especially those feeling 
so down at the bottom 
of the pits, those who are
burdened with so much in life -
help us find You O Lord in
our darkness and sadness
not where we would like 
to be.

It is a very beautiful day
but your words in the first reading
are very distressing like what many of
us today are feeling;
we have failed,
we have sinned
like the people of Judah and Jerusalem
who were conquered and exiled
by the Babylonians; it is the
final week June, closing the first
half of 2024 when life slows down,
when tasks seem too difficult,
when our spirits are also sagging;
uplift our weary souls,
inspire us and fill us with 
the warmth and zeal of the Holy Spirit
to find You, dear God,
where we are and let us stop
our usual blaming game
and wishful thinking of worlds
and situations we imagined
where You are not present.

Give us the courage
like Jesus to speak with
authority like St. Cyril of Alexandria
who defended the truth of Christ
as true God and true Man
that paved the way to recognize
Mary as the Mother of God;
like St. Cyril of Alexandria,
let us mean mean what we say,
most of all, 
to be one with Jesus
always among the poor
and rejected 
and neglected for Jesus
is always found
among them.
Amen.