Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday after Pentecost, 28 May 2026
Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest
Genesis 22:9-18 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Matthew 26:36-42
Lord Jesus Christ,
our Eternal Priest
who calls and sends us
daily to spread your Good News
of salvation to everyone
with our giving of self like You,
bless us your priests in these
troubled times:
everywhere we find and hear
selfishness and conceit,
lies and dishonesty,
infidelity and injustice;
we say the world has gone mad
and evil with all these darkness
enveloping us...
And where are we,
Your priests in the midst of all these?
Jesus went with the disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be done.” (Matthew 26:36, 40-42)
Forgive, us dear Jesus,
when we Your priests
cannot keep up with You in prayer;
oh, we are so busy watching
the world going by,
watching the corruption in government
unfolding,
watching the decay in our society
but unfortunately,
we cannot look squarely into our
own mess in the Church -
in our parishes
and communities,
in our ministry that has become
more of a work
often for performance
and clout;
worst of all,
we have lost that intimacy
in You, Jesus.
We no longer pray,
Lord Jesus.
We can't stay with You
even for an hour every day
because we are busy
with social media
like everyone.
Help us find our way back
to You, Lord Jesus:
let us imitate Abraham who
prefigured your own self-offering
in giving his beloved son Isaac
to the Father
without any question
at all;
many times,
we Your priests reason out
with many excuses and alibis
while at the other extreme,
many of us disregard reasons
at all in our mission
and ministry.
Keep us in love with You,
Jesus our Eternal Priest,
especially our bishops
supposed to have the fullness
of priesthood but cannot lead nor
guide us, much less inspire us;
give us the grace of Abraham
that we can always answer
Your call
with a firm and unwavering
"Here am I."
Amen.
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