What if St. Paul & Jesus come to our Church today?

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 25 August 2025
Monday, Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time, Year I
1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 8-10     <*((((>< + ><))))*>     Matthew 23:13-22

*Photo from The Fatima Tribune, Red Wednesday at the Chapel of Angel of Peace, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 27 November 2024.*

Today I wonder,
God our Father,
what if Paul your Apostle
or Jesus Christ your Son
were to visit our church today,
what would they find out?
Would Paul be proud of us
like the Thessalonians of
his time?

We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father, knowing, brothers and sisters loved by God, how you were chosen… In every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything (1Thessalonians 1:2-4, 8).

Oh how I envy the Thessalonians
that Paul along with
Silvanus and Timothy
were so proud of their "faith
and labor of love
and endurance in hope";
most of all,
of their "conviction"
that he had no need
 to say anything,
as in, "walang masabi".
So beautiful!
How I wish Paul could say
the same things today to our
parish, to our community of
believers with their vibrant
faith, hope and love.

What  I dread, O Father
is when Jesus comes
and begins speaking 
the same way to us
his priests and bishops:

Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter (Matthew 23:13).

Shame on us, Lord Jesus,
your priests and bishops!
If you were here today,
you would surely say the same
things to us: many of us
your priests do not pray at all
that many have forgotten to 
pray properly and celebrate 
liturgy meaningfully;
many would rather go on
vacation and recreation than
celebrate Mass and sacraments
for your people;
yes, Lord Jesus,
"woe to us" your servants
for many of us have no plans
of going to heaven at all with the
kind of Eucharist we celebrate
that people have lost faith
in you and your church.
Forgive us, Jesus,
your priests for being
blind fools,
following the limelight
of the world than your path
of the Cross;
lead us back to you, Jesus,
so that your flock may be
enlivened again in their
faith, hope and love
like the Thessalonians
of your great Apostle Paul.
Amen.

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

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.

Praying for a clean heart like the saints

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Solemnity of All Saints, 01 November 2023
Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14 ><}}}}*> 1 John 3:1-3 ><}}}}*> Matthew 5:1-12

*Photo by author, Tagaytay City, 07 February 2023.*

God our loving Father,
on this great feast of All Saints
those now enjoying your
Divine presence in eternity,
we pray for the gift 
of a clean heart
in each of us
so we may see you
too like the Saints.

Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Matthew 5:8

Oh yes, dear God,
if there is one thing we need
most these days is a clean heart,
a heart that is able to see
more the deepest truths of life,
of every person,
and of you;
out intellect is not enough
for us to see everything
because so often,
our minds are muddled
and darkened by malice
and selfishness;
our heart is the center
of our being,
cleanse our hearts of its
impurities especially of our ego
so it may harmonize our whole
body systems,
our person
so that what we know,
what we feel
is what YOU know,
what YOU feel too!

In Jesus,
with Jesus,
through Jesus,
take away our stony hearts
and give us natural hearts
that beat in firm faith in Christ,
fervent hope in Christ,
and unceasing charity in Christ!

Like all the Saints UP there
before you in heaven, Father,
make our hearts one in Jesus,
willing to go DOWN 
like him on the 
Cross to be "washed 
and made white
in the blood of the Lamb"
(Revelation 7:14) on whom
our hope is based for 
us to be pure like him
(1 John 5:13).
Amen.

*Photo from en.wikipedia.org, painting by Fra Angelico called “The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs”.*

True wealth

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 20 June 2023
2 Corinthians 8:1-9 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 5:43-48

*Photo by author, Anvaya Cove in Morong, Bataan, January 2023.*

How deep are your mysteries,
O Lord Jesus Christ,
so irresistibly true
but at the same time daring
and challenging for us
who are focused 
on what we have
without realizing
everything 
comes from you.

Many times, dear Lord,
we are like the Corinthians
rich in so many things
yet not convinced
we are so blessed
that we are also afraid 
of losing whatever we have; 
make us emulate the 
solicitude of the Macedonians 
in sharing their treasures 
with the needy churches
even if they were less affluent
than the Corinthians; 
make us realize that true wealth 
is freedom from our possessions,
of being free for sharing our gifts
and talents and treasures.

Help us realize, Jesus,
that true excellence in faith
is expressed in charity,
in oneness with those in need.

Now as you excel in every respect, in faith, discourse, knowledge, all earnestness, and in the love we have for you, may you excel in this gracious act also. I say this not by way of command, but to test the genuineness of your love by your concern for others. For you know the gracious act act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
2 Corinthians 8:7-9

Teach us to immerse ourselves
to your mystery of self-denial
and self-sacrifice, 
to your process of being
perfect like the Father
in heaven.
Amen.

Our sins of omission

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Fifth Week of Lent, 29 March 2023
Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95   > +++ <   John 8:31-42

*Photo by author, sunrise at Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 22 March 2023.*

Listening to your words today,
O God our Father,
prompted me to examine
my sins of omission;
they are the least easily
noticed of my sins
because they are what
I have failed to do.
Even if we confess it daily
at the start of the Mass,
I rarely recall my sins of omission.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If God, whom we serve, can save us from the white-hot furnace and from your hands, O king, may he save us! But even if he will not, know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue that you set up.”
Daniel 3:16-17

Forgive me, O God,
in the many times I never
had the same courage of the
three young men in standing by
my faith in You,
in choosing to do what is right
and good even if it would mean
suffering and discomfort for me;
many times, it is during these
moments when I commit  
my sins of omission:
when I become less
charitable with others 
in my dealings with them,
when I fail to meet the
requirements of love 
in exercising my different duties.

Forgive me, O God,
in the many times I 
failed to stand up
for You, 
for others,
for what is right 
and just due to pressures
and worst,
out of personal favors
I get or simply,
when I am afraid
to do what is right.

In Jesus' name, 
dear Father,
help me to be truthful,
to always seek and stand
by the truth so I may be
free from bondage to sin,
free from fears in order to be
free to know myself better
and most especially 
to follow Jesus
by remaining 
in his word.

Grant me the grace,
Lord, to discover sins 
I am not aware of
so that I may have the grace
to know myself better
to serve you in others.
Amen.