Let me not be ashamed of you, Lord

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of Sts. Timothy and Titus, 26 January 2026
2 Timothy 1:1-8     <*{{{{><  +  ><}}}}*>     Mark 3:22-30

*Photo by author, Carmel of the Holy Family Monastery, Guiguinto, Bulacan, 23 January 2026.*

Let me not be ashamed 
of witnessing,
of testifying for you,
Lord Jesus Christ;
let me not be ashamed
of you, Jesus
in this time when things of God
and of virtues and holiness
are looked down upon
as old fashioned,
so conservative,
fill me with your 
"grace, mercy, and peace",
Lord like what St. Paul prayed
for his disciple Timothy.

For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord…(2 Timothy 1:6-8).

As I prayed 
St. Paul's letter to Timothy,
I felt as if those very words
were spoken too to me
by you, Jesus - thank you so much,
Lord!
I feel shy but so encouraged
too because indeed
everything we have is a pure
grace from you, Jesus;
even our calling is a gift
you have freely given us,
Jesus; that is why,
grant me the courage
not to be ashamed to proclaim
your truth always; grant me the
courage not to be ashamed 
to witness your love and mercy
and justice with others
especially those with less
in life.
Amen.

Not bowed down anymore

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 27 October 2025
Monday in the Thirtieth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I
Romans 8:12-17     <*{{{{><  +  ><}}}}*>     Luke 13:10-17

Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath. And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect. When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said, “Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.” He laid his hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glorified God (Luke 13:10-13).

What a lovely story
for this Monday, Jesus,
when many of us 
got the blues so to speak:
many of us are like
that woman at the synagogue
"bent over",
"bowed down" 
and for the longest time 
have seen only the dirty,
hard ground below;
the reasons are varied, Lord:
many of us are bowed down
due to sins and evil,
pains and hurts and trauma
some from people we trusted
and loved, mistakes and missed
opportunities, and so many others
that have enslaved and crippled 
us for so long like 
that woman you
have healed; 
you know so well
how much we have wanted 
to break free from these long years
of bowed down posture so that
we may rise and straighten up our lives
to look up to you in the sky,
to feel the warmth of the sun,
savor the beauty of creation.

On this Monday,
let us take to heart
the words of St. Paul
that we are not debtors 
to the flesh... that we received
a spirit of adoption to cry
"Abba, Father!" 
(Romans 8:12,15).

For those living
"bowed down" in pain
and shame, arouse them,
Jesus with the warmth of the
Holy Spirit, to rejoice
in our new life in you.
Amen.

On being ashamed & invited

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 14 October 2025
Tuesday in the Twenty-Eighth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I
Romans 1:16-25     ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*>     Luke 11:37-41

*Photo by author, The Manila Club, BGC, June 2025.*

Lord Jesus,
give me the courage
and boldness of St. Paul
to declare "I am not ashamed
of the Gospel" (Romans 1:16);
how wonderful that he was
able to echo your very feelings
and stand when invited by a
Pharisee to a dinner:

The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before meal. The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil” (Luke 11:38-39).

Invitations
and being ashamed
go together but do not
necessarily match perfectly;
to be invited means 
to be included, a gesture
of hospitality and kindness
that sometimes make us feel shy
and ashamed; however, 
many times when invited
we feel "obligated" to be untrue
in our feelings and thoughts
in order not to offend our hosts
while sometimes, there are those
who abuse and overstep in the 
hospitality of the one inviting.

But you, Jesus,
tells us today that
an invitation is not merely
to get into a house or home
but of the other person;
hence, an invitation is a 
call to be true for it pertains
to something inner within us
not to be ashamed
of what true and good
like your words 
that pierce the surface,
"You fools!
Did not the maker 
of the outside also make
the inside?" (Luke 11:40).

Let me go inside myself
Jesus but, most of all,
come to me, Lord Jesus
and feel me with your 
honesty and sincerity,
courage and boldness
to be not ashamed of
what is true
and good.
Amen.

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City
(lordmychef@gmail.com)