Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 07 July 2025
Monday in Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I
Genesis 28:10-22     <*((((>< + ><))))*>     Matthew 9:18-26

If.
A conjunction so short
we often use to express 
a condition or a supposition,
expressing something not certain
like when we say,
"If it rains, then we stay."
But today, dear God, you taught me
another dimension of this conjuction
"if" just like that verb "to doubt"
last week at the Feast of St. Thomas Didymus.

Like the verb "to doubt",
to use the conjunction "if" 
is not necessarily negative in 
meaning; it could even be a grace
too in itself as it already implies 
certainty like when the woman 
suffering hemorrhages for 12 years
came up behind Jesus and touched 
the tassel on his cloak:

She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.” Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” And from that hour the woman was cured (Matthew 9:21-22).

Teach me, Lord Jesus
like that woman to have that deep
faith and trust in you,
to claim always what is mine,
what I truly deserve because
you know what is best for us;
many times, Jesus,
we prefer to stay on the side
of the road, afraid to dare get close
and touch you because
of the more negative connotations
of that conjunction "if"
like what if I fail,
what if I don't get it,
and many other "ifs"
of hesitancy;
like that woman,
let my "if" be my final push
to get close to you.

Or,
like Jacob in the first
reading, let my "if" lead me
into action, into doing something
like an altar for the Lord
after meeting him in a dream
to remind him of your promise,
of your presence,
of your power.
Like Jacob,
we flee for many reasons
yet always end up being found
by you, Lord,
in the most ordinary instances.
If we could just learn
from your ways, Lord,
then our ifs would be
more of certainty
than suppositions.
Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City