Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year II
Memorial of St. Jerome, Priest & Doctor of the Church, 30 September 2026
Many times in life
I see myself like Job,
Lord: at a loss at how
things are happening with
me; I cannot complain but
deep I know that in this life,
good is rewarded,
evil is punished;
but, how does one explain
when bad things happen to
good people?
Like Job,
I have no claims to
holiness but deep inside
I am convinced
of my innocence
in many occasions
that I ask,
I wonder,
I "protest"
of the difficulties
and sufferings I am going
through.
How must I approach,
you, Lord?
You are all powerful,
you can do anything;
should you come near me,
I see you not;
should you pass by,
I am now aware of your coming;
should you seize me,
what can I say nor do
(Job (9:11-12).
Even though I were right, I could not answer him, but should rather beg for what was due to me. If I appealed to him and he answered my call, I could nhot believe that he would hearken to my words (Job 9:15-16).
Truth is,
many times I really
do not and would never
understand for sure
the things happening
to me except that I just
have to trust you more
like Job.
Or St. Jerome
who went through many
ordeals in his life
largely due to his own
making with his kind
of temperament.
What matters is that
unlike the three would-be
disciples in the gospel today,
Job,
St. Jerome,
and hopefully me,
your lowly servant Lord,
will simply follow you
even if we never
understand why
and how things are
turning out
in my life.
Let me approach
you, Lord,
the way St. Jerome
had shown
and taught us:
by praying your Words,
the Sacred Scriptures
where you speak directly
to us in the most personal manner.
Amen.
