Praying not to “collapse”

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 10 July 2026
Hosea 14:2-10 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 10:16-23
Photo by author, Jerusalem, May 2017.
Another week is closing,
let me not collapse in sin,
O Lord.

Thus says the Lord: Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt (Hosea 14:2).

Forgive me,
Lord,
for the times I have
been like Israel,
your beloved Ephraim
yet so far from you,
trusting myself,
trusting other gods
and idols,
so drowned in sin.

"Have mercy on me,
O God.
in your goodness;
in the greatness of your
compassion wipe out
my sin.
Thoroughly wash me
from my guilt
and of my sin
cleanse me"
(Psalm 51:3-4).
Keep me strongly
anchored in you, Jesus
as you send me like sheep
in the midst of wolves
doing your work,
speaking and fighting
for what is true and just
and good; in times of
persecution, let me not
collapse when handed over,
come and speedily rescue me.
Amen.
Photo by author, Ephesus, Turkiye, November 2025.