Category: balance

Put life in order

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 19 July 2024
Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     Matthew 12:1-8
Photo by author, somewhere in Bgy. Kaysuyo, Alfonso, Cavite, 27 April 2024.

When Hezekiah was mortally ill, the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him: “Thus says the Lord: Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you shall not recover. Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord… Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: “Go, tell Hezekiah: Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you: in three days you shall go up to the Lord’s temple; I will add fifteen years to your life” (Isaiah 38:1-2, 4-5).

God our Father,
help us
 to put our house in order;
give us the courage and
strength to put our lives
in order
by sincerely admitting our sins
with a firm resolve to turn away
from them and live the gospel
of Jesus your Son.
Let me put order
to my spiritual life by cultivating
the discipline to pray daily
keeping that relationship with You;
let me put order in my life
by seeking ways to be more
loving with others than
finding their faults;
let me put order in my life
by being less judgmental of others
to be more charitable and understanding.
Like Hezekiah
let me accept my fate,
let me accept death:
"In the noontime of life I must depart!
To the gates of the nether world
I shall be consigned
for the rest of my years" (Isaiah 38:10);
how wonderful that without praying
for his healing but for the grace
to accept your will,
You healed Hezekiah
and prolonged his life
to serve You more than ever.
Amen.

	


	



			
				


			

			
Wisdom of Solomon
		
	
	

		

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 07 February 2024
1 Kings 10:1-10  <*((((>< + ><))))*> + <*((((>< + ><))))*>  Mark 7:14-23





Photo by Ms. Analyn Dela Torre at Caypombo, Santa Maria, Bulacan, 04 February 2024.





I wonder, God our dear Father,
what did the Queen of Sheba
ask King Solomon when she visited him
that she was so convinced that indeed
he was a man of great wisdom?
Did she ask Solomon of the
Big Bang Theory and everything before history?
The evolution of humans and theodicy?
Or, did she ask him if the world was flat or round? 

The scriptures tell us nothing except that...







When the queen of Sheba witnessed Solomon’s great wisdom, the palace he had built, the food at his table, the seating of his ministers, the attendance and garb of his waiters, his banquet service, and the burnt offerings he offered in the temple of the Lord, she was breathless.

1 Kings 10:4-5





You are a God of order and
balance,
of fairness and justice,
of beauty and majesty,
O Lord;
these are the attributes
of a magnificent palace,
of exquisite cuisine,
of men and women of great
bearing as guests and servants
that the Queen of Sheba
had noticed that impressed
her so much of Solomon's wisdom.

Most of all,
the spiritual maturity of Solomon
that in his worship,
the Queen of Sheba was so
impressed and left breathless!





Therefore,
what made Solomon so wise,
what is true wisdom?

It is this, O Lord
which we also pray you grant us
to be like King Solomon:
perfect our faith in you,
most loving God,
that we may learn to value
those things we believe
through faith,
starting with you
in Christ Jesus
right here in our hearts;
let your grace and wisdom
O Lord flow out like streams
from our heart,
out to our mouth
and into our arms and limbs,
into our whole person
in loving service to others.
Amen.





Photo by Ms. Analyn Dela Torre at Caypombo, Santa Maria, Bulacan, 04 February 2024.