What do I still lack?

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 17 August 2026
Ezekiel 24:15-23     ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>     Matthew 19:16-22

Your words today,
O Lord are so touching
that reaches deep down my
inmost being;
both readings speak
about losing: Ezekiel's wife
died while the young man
in the gospel asked
"what do I still lack?"

Both readings are 
so timely for us these days
when we have so much of 
every thing except of you,
O Lord; we rarely ask
"what do I still lack" in its
truest sense - of learning to let
go of what we have in order to have
the most essential.

Often, 
we think of having what
we still lack in order to have
more of every thing;
but you teach us today,
Jesus, what we really lack
is you through others;
what we really lack are
the poor and the sick,
those who have less in life;
what we really lack still
is life eternal,
of having you O Lord
as basis and foundation
of our relationships.

In this time when rains
continue to pour 
for the third straight week,
the more we are concerned 
of what material things we still
lack and forget about the warmth
and smiles of others so disadvantaged
due to floods and lack of work;
teach us, Jesus,
to be like Ezekiel in the first
reading to see and realize
that the most painful loss
in this life is not losing a loved one
nor wealth and things
but in losing our souls to
sin and evil.
Amen.