The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle, 25 January 2023
Acts 22:3-16 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Mark 16:15-18
Praise and glory
to you, O God our Father
for this glorious day of
celebration of the Feast of
Conversion of St. Paul,
the 13th Apostle of Jesus Christ!
He is the perfect example of
your boundless mercy in Christ,
that every sinner can always be
a saint, that every sin can be
forgiven for your love is more
immense and vast than all the evils
that men do!
While St. Luke tells us of the vision
that led St. Paul to conversion,
the great Apostle himself tells us
it was more of an illumination
when God's light "has shone in our
hearts to bring to light the knowledge
of the glory of God on the face of
Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6); moreover,
St. Paul claimed conversion
was a revelation and a vocation
in the encounter with Jesus Christ
that began "from my mother's womb"
when God "had set me apart and
called me through his grace,
was pleased to reveal his Son to me,
so that I may proclaim him
to the gentiles" (Gal. 1:15-16).
If we could just realize this most
wonderful truth like St. Paul
that you have called us too
while we were in our mother's womb
because you have a beautiful plan for us
in this world, in this life;
that we all have a special mission,
an important role,
and noble purpose in being
alive,
in being here
in this world!
Therefore, Lord Jesus,
let us not delay our own
conversion in the same manner
that Ananias told St. Paul after
regaining his sight in Damascus
that "The God of our ancestors
designated you to know his will,
to see the Righteous One,
and to hear the sound of his voice;
for you will be his witness before
all to what you have seen and heard.
Now, why delay? Get up and have
yourself baptized and your sins
washed away, calling upon his name"
(Acts 22:14-16).
Most of all, dear Jesus,
like St. Paul, may we put you
at the center of our lives so that
our identity is marked by our
encounter with you,
by communion in your Person
and with your Word; help us reach
that wonderful stage of conversion
when like St. Paul we begin to see everything
considered as value is just a loss and refuse
(Phil. 3:7-10) because you, O Lord,
is the only essential, the most precious
one we can ever have in this life; hence,
place all our energy and being
at your service, dear Jesus and your Gospel
so that eventually, we may truly be
your Apostle, becoming
"all things to all men" or
"omnia omnibus"
(1 Cor. 9:19-23).
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 20 January 2023
Hebrews 8:6-13 <*(((>< + ><)))*> + <*(((>< + ><)))*> Mark 3:13-19
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2020.
Praise and gratitude to you,
our loving Father for this day
filled with newness,
when everything is new -
new lease on life,
new hopes,
new joys,
new opportunities,
new blessings,
new friends to meet,
new problems to solve,
new situations to deal with,
new chances to grow and mature,
new me!
Most of all,
a new day to renew
your new covenant in Jesus!
Brothers and sisters: Now our high priest (Jesus Christ) has obtained so much more excellent a ministry as he is mediator of a better covenant, enacted on better promises. When he speaks of “new” covenant, he declares the first one obsolete. and what has become obsolete and has grown old is close to disappearing.
Hebrews 8:6, 13
Thank you, dear Jesus,
for your gift of call,
in renewing your call
every new day to be
your disciple,
your apostle like
the Twelve;
let me value and
treasure, and
nurture your call,
Jesus, by growing
closer to you;
help me overcome
my sinful past
to welcome every
graceful present
in you even at the Cross;
let me renew myself
to you today,
to focus more on you
amid our many differences.
How ironic, dear Jesus,
when we were younger
we love and welcome
everything that is new;
as we get older, the more
we refuse to let go of the old
to give way to new
like YOU who is ever new
and radiant!
Amen.
Photo by author, Lake of Galilee(Tiberias), Israel, 2017.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the First Week of Advent, Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, 30 November 2022
Romans 10:9-18 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Matthew 4:18-22
Brothers and sisters: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9
If Advent is the preparation
for your coming, Lord Jesus Christ,
then Advent is also the preparation
for the coming of your Cross!
As St. Paul had taught us in all his
writings, there can be no proclamation of
of your salvation for us without preaching
your Cross, O Lord Jesus Christ!
Without your Cross, O Lord,
all your words and deeds
would be empty;
that is why, there is no saint
without a love for your Cross!
Teach us to love the cross
you have assigned each of us
because it is on the Cross
where you are found, Lord Jesus;
like St. Andrew, make us realize
that our own crosses can only have value
if we consider and accept them
as part of your own Cross;
though our crosses may be
of different shapes or colors,
each one is always a reflection of
your eternal light, dear Jesus,
that ennobles our sufferings and pains.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Feast of Sts. Simon & Jude, Apostles, 28 October 2022
Ephesians 2:19-22 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 6:12-16
It has always been your desire,
O God our Father that we may
all be one in you that was fulfilled
in Jesus Christ your Son who
had come to call and gather
first his Twelve Apostles
who prefigured the Church
representing all the peoples
of the world.
Brothers and sisters: You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you are also being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:19-22
What a beautiful way to cap
this week with these words
reminding us of our great honor
in being called in Jesus Christ
to build up his body the Church
here on earth,
of being a part of the bigger
whole of peoples gathered
as one in God;
may we realize that you call
everyone - regardless of color
or gender or status or whatever
differences we may all have
just like the Twelve who
were united in Christ.
Help us, dear Jesus,
to imitate your two Apostles,
Sts. Simon and Jude whose feast
we celebrate today; fill our hearts
with the zeal and ardent love
for you and your Church
like Simon called the Zealot -
whether he was in fact a member
of such political party or not,
his love for you must be so evident
that he came to be known as a Zealot;
in this time when Catholics are declining
in numbers in going to church
and even in professing their faith,
may we be filled wit enthusiasm in
making you known O Jesus especially
in our actions and celebrations.
Grant us also the strength,
clarity and courage like that of
St. Jude Thaddeus in dealing with
the many contradictions of the world
we live in today as Catholics and
Christians: "But you, beloved,
build yourselves up on your
most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit;
keep yourselves in the love of God;
wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus
Christ unto eternal life.
And convince some,
who doubt..." (Jude 20-22).
Bless us, dearest Jesus,
through the help St. Simon and
St. Jude, to rediscover
the beauty of our Christian
faith and of our Catholic Church
by working hard to build it up
without tiring through our silent
and peaceful witnessing
of the Gospel.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle, 21 September 2022
Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Matthew 9:9-13
Photo by author, Lake Tiberias from the side of Capernaum where Jesus called Matthew to follow him.
You never fail to amaze me,
Lord Jesus Christ with your
unique manner and ways
of finding us, calling us,
and loving us.
Of your Twelve Apostles,
only five were called while
working: the brothers Simon
and Andrew, James and John
who were fishermen and
Matthew, a tax collector;
the first four belonged
to the most ordinary
and lowliest job of the time,
fishing, while Matthew did
the most despicable job of
collecting taxes unjustly for
Roman colonizers making him
both a sinner and a traitor.
But, you have your plans
that are so different from our
ways when you told the Pharisees
and scribes that "Those who are well
do not need a physician,
but the sick do... I did not come
to call the righteous
but sinners" (Mt.9:12, 13).
Thank you, Lord Jesus
for still calling me when
I was at my lowest point in life,
when I was most sinful,
when everyone was rejecting me;
thank you, Jesus,
for believing in me,
in calling me to come,
follow you; help me to rise
from my pit of anger and
bitterness, hopelessness
and desolation like Matthew,
leaving all evil and sins
to follow you
and share you with
everyone.
Help me, Jesus,
to write the fifth gospel
according to my life
like Matthew
by "living in a manner
worthy of the call I have
received" (Eph. 4:1).
Amen.
St. Matthew,
pray for us!
Caravaggio’s painting, “Calling of St. Matthew” from en.wikipedia.org.
*You may also want to check our reflection on Caravaggio’s painting “Calling of St. Matthew” by clicking this link:
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 06 September 2022
1 Corinthians 6:1-11 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 6:12-19
Dearest Lord Jesus,
you have always told us
in many occasions in your
teachings that we try to settle
our cases with one another
instead of waiting for the courts to
decide on them that we might
end up in jail (Mt. 5:25);
Paul reiterates this wise teaching
to the Corinthians and to us today.
Open our minds and our hearts,
Lord, to the many implications of
our search for justice in our court
and judicial system that often leave
us with too much bitterness and
hurts not only when justice is not
rightly served but the painful process
it entails, draining us of energies as
well as of goodwill for one another.
In this age of social media
when even legal tussles in the
courtrooms are televised for all
to see and make fun of,
the more it becomes clear
why we must avoid it at as much
as possible because Paul was
absolutely right that as brothers
and sisters in Christ, we must not
resort to the courts of law at all!
I say this to shame you. Can it be that there is not one among you wise enough to be able to settle a case between brothers? But rather brother goes to court against brother, and that before unbelievers? Now indeed then it is, in any case, a failure on your part that you have lawsuits against one another. Instead, you inflict injustice and cheat, and this to brothers.
1 Corinthians 6:5-7, 8
Lord Jesus Christ,
teach us to live harmoniously
with each other despite our many
differences; teach us to always
find our similarities as beloved
and forgiven children of the Father;
teach us to always be one in the
Father like you; may we find the
great honor and value of being
called by you to be your apostle,
to be specially close to you and
to each other; most of all, let us
reach out to you like the sick who
find hope and healing only in you
in their afflictions and troubles,
not in man-made remedies that
often hurt us in the process.
Dear Jesus,
we pray in the most special
way today for those awaiting
court decisions in their cases,
especially those who have been
waiting for so long, for the
disadvantaged like the poor
and innocent. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle, 24 August 2022
Revelation 21:9-14 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> John 1:45-51
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Spirituality Center, Novaliches, QC, 2018.
Everywhere we find
layers of everything:
layers of clothing,
layers of skin,
layers of meaning;
thank you, dear God
our Father in inviting me
today as we celebrate
the feast of St. Bartholomew
to examine the different
"layers" of my faith and
knowledge of you in
Jesus Christ.
First is the layer of my
self-knowledge: how true
am I with myself? How free
am I in being myself, in
expressing freely my thoughts
and feelings?
Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.”
John 1:45-47
Dear Jesus,
grant me that kind of
sincerity and honesty
of Nathanael/St. Bartholomew:
you were not disgusted with his words
for they were very true;
most of all, you even praised
him for being a true Israelite
without any guile!
What a revelation of the true
layer of St. Bartholomew
bared for everyone to see
unlike us in many occasions when
we hide our identity in many layers
often not true, so unreal of who
we are; teach us to come and see
you in your deepest layer, Jesus,
so we may be at home too with
who we really are.
Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
John 1:48-49
Grant me also the grace,
Lord Jesus like Nathanael/
St. Bartholomew to perceive deeply
your true identity as "Son of God"
and "king of Israel"; two different layers
of your person that can only be perceived
by a deep faith, to see you who you really are,
the Son of God, and also the fulfillment
of our aspirations here in this life,
in this world as our Christ the King!
How interesting,
O God that St. Bartholomew
died a martyr after being skinned
alive and crucified upside down
like St. Peter; it must have
been his most glorious achievement
that after being skinned alive,
his persecutors must have seen
and realized too his faith was not that
skin-deep after all, that layers upon layers
of skin, they have found only you, Jesus
deeply ingrained in his very person.
Amen.
St. Bartholomew depicted by Michelangelo at the Sistine Chapel holding in one hand a large knife said to have been used in skinning him alive with his own skin held by his other hand. Photo from Pinterest.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Feast of St. James the Greater, Apostle, 25 July 2022
2 Corinthians 4:7-15 ><)))*> + ><)))*> + ><)))*> Matthew 20:20-28
Photo by author, 2018.
Praise and glory to you,
Lord Jesus Christ for your
saint and apostle, James the
Greater!
His martyrdom and holiness
are testaments to your
gentleness, Lord,
for we are all earthen vessels
keeping you, proclaiming you
to all nations.
Brothers and sisters: We hold this treasure in earthen vessels that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.
2 Corinthians 4:7-10
Despite his weaknesses
in having a big ego as seen
in many instances like when he
his brother John told you to send
fire to a Samaritan village that have
refused you to pass through and
making a request through their mother
to be seated at your right later when
you have established your kingdom,
you never dismissed James as a
hopeless case; instead, full of love and
mercy, kindness and patience, you
"handled him with so much care" by
bringing him along during your transfiguration
and agony in the garden; you let him
experienced your gentleness and humility
that after you have gone back in heaven,
he became the first bishop of Jerusalem
and because of that, the first among
your Apostles to die like you,
for you and your flock.
Dearest Jesus,
please be patient with me,
with my pride and arrogance;
let me realize that I am nothing
but like an earthen vessel, a claypot
so privileged not because of my own
merit but due to your own choosing
to be a vessel of your love and mercy.
Thank you, Jesus,
for taking care of me,
for handling me with care
the way you did with James
the Greater and all the others saints
who were all like us - sinful and weak
but so loved and blessed by the Father
in you. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Solemnity of Sts. Peter & Paul, Apostles, 29 June 2022
Acts 12:1-11 ><}}}*> 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18 ><}}}*> Matthew 16:13-19
Photo by Mr. Lorenzo Atienza, Malolos Cathedral, 12 June 2019.
God our loving Father,
as we celebrate today the
Solemnity of the two pillars
of the Church, St. Peter and St. Paul
who are poles apart in their
temperament and in their social,
cultural, and religious backgrounds,
help us imitate them in being open
to your grace always, in being open
to your plans so we may set aside
our own agendas in order to be won
over by your Son Jesus Christ.
Nothing is impossible with you,
dear Father:
Peter denied Jesus
during the passion while
Paul persecuted Jesus in
the persons of his disciples;
Peter was impetuous and
presumptuous but sometimes
hesitant yet solidly loyal to
Christ while Paul was proud
of his Roman citizenship and of
his being a Pharisee, demanding
his title as Apostle but likewise,
admits his fragility as a "pot of
clay", most unworthy vessel of Christ;
Peter was attached to his Jewish
roots and convictions but did not resist
the Holy Spirit in leading him where
he did not want to go while Paul was
resolute in being led by the Spirit in
proclaiming Jesus to the gentiles
while deep inside was torn within
by the resistance and
rejection of his fellow Jews.
Merciful Father,
let your Son Jesus Christ
win over us like what he did
to St. Peter and St. Paul
who both gave their lives as
a living worship to you,
witnessing your love and mercy,
kindness and majesty;
give us the grace to know Jesus
and love Jesus first so we may
follow him to his Cross
for your greater glory.
Amen.
Photo by Mr. Lorenzo Atienza, Malolos Cathedral, 12 June 2019.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Feast of St. Philip and St. James the Less, Apostles, 03 April 2022
1 Corinthians 15:1-8 ><}}}}*> + <*{{{{>< John 14:6-14
Jesus teaching his Twelve Apostles, from GettyImages.
Lord Jesus Christ,
on this feast of your apostles
Philip and James the Younger,
grant me the grace to discover
your true identity the way they
got to know you too; draw me
closer to you to be familiar with
you and your ways, to always
"come and see" you in prayers
and experiences in life.
Keep me close to you, dear Jesus,
so that I may truly lead people to you
and not to me nor to my beliefs;
let me lead seekers of you find you
both in your glory and in your Cross
for without your sufferings and death,
everything becomes a novelty and
a fancy, or a philosophy and never
a life and a union in you.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
1 Corinthians 15:3-5
Like Philip, keep me open in
expressing to you my views
when asked like at the wilderness
when you tested him where to find
food for the crowd; in another instance,
let me be like Philip entertaining requests
from others to see you like those Greeks
who have come to Jerusalem;
most of all, keep me open to you,
dear Jesus to accept and treasure
your words and teachings even if I
do not understand immediately if that
is the way to know you more clearly
and eventually see and experience
God our Father.
Like your cousin James the Younger,
let me keep in mind that closeness
with you does not come through mere
affiliations nor with names because
knowing you is a habit that we must strive
and work for by coming to you daily,
following you even up to the Cross;
it is only in following you, becoming
like you we truly become your
disciples like James who taught
and witnessed your love for everyone
by working so hard with Peter to
intervene in the difficult relations
between the early Christians of Jewish
origins and those of pagan converts;
in practice and in his writings, James
showed that faith in you is fulfilled
in a life lived in love and respect
for each other: "As the body apart
from the spirit is dead, so faith apart
from works is dead" (James 2:26).
Philip and James were not perfect,
just like me; but in their humility
and obedience, you perfected
them in their lives of witnessing
that cost their lives; keep me
faithful to you, dear Jesus,
and let others see you in me
in words and in deeds. Amen.
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