Suffering because of our sins, suffering in Jesus

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 26 June 2026
2 Kings 25:1-12     ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>     Matthew 8:1-4

Glory and praise to you,
merciful God and Father
for this wonderful last Friday
of June 2026 as you present us
with two images of human sufferings:
in the first reading is the final siege
of Jerusalem with the capture of its king
Zedekiah who rebelled against his 
Babylonian masters and conquerors
and the leper who approached Jesus Christ
to do homage, begging for his healing.

Many times,
we are like Zedekiah who 
willingly submit ourselves to the
forces of evil and eventually end up
miserably in their hands:
"Then king was therefore arrested
and brought to Riblah to the king of
Babylon, who pronounced sentence on him.
He had Zedekiah's sons slain before
his eyes. Then he blinded Zedekiah,
bound him with fetters,
and had him brought to Babylon"
(2 Kings 25:6-7).

You never punish us your people, 
Lord; all our misfortunes and 
miseries are brought about by our
or others sinfulness; hence, 
keep us faithful to you,
to return to you while still early
before we could not get out
and be stuck in a difficult situation
like Zedekiah.

Teach us to be humble
like that leper who approached
Jesus after coming down from a mountain:
"Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean."
Jesus stretched out his hand,
touched him, and said,
"I do will it. Be made clean."
His leprosy was cleansed
immediately (Matthew 8:2-4).

To whom shall we go,
Lord Jesus but to you alone;
let us suffer in you,
with you on the cross
for you not only have the words
of life but because you too
have gone through our sufferings
and felt its pains that you will nothing for us
but healing and cleansing,
absolution and freedom.

In a special way,
dear Jesus,
we pray for those
undergoing medical procedures
this weekend,
healing for those seriously ill
and easing of pains for those
in severe diseases and sickness.
Amen.