The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Feast of San Isidro Labrador, 15 May 2020
Acts of the Apostles 15:22-31 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> John 15:18-21
Photo from catholicrurallife.com
You are indeed so wondrous, O Lord Jesus Christ in being so timely with us, always present among us with your saints like San Isidro Labrador, the patron of farmers and most of all, a saint for every man and woman especially at this time of the corona virus pandemic.
How great are the stories of his deep devotion to the Holy Eucharist that as a farm worker, he was more faithful to the Mass and prayers above all than to his work but, without being remiss with his responsibilities to his landlord — with a lot help from your angels!
Most of all, his spirit of charities was so renowned among people of his time that according to tradition, his wife, another saint named Sta. Maria Torribia always kept a pot of stew or whatever soup they may have for the beggars San Isidro would feed daily at their home after working in the field. The pot never ran dry despite their poverty!
Here we find that to be fruitful in life, we have first to be faithful to God.
San Isidro Labrador, pray for us, teach us to be faithful so we may be fruitful in this time of COVID-19 like you who found Christ in everyone and in one’s work.
May we live out his commandment to love like you who remained humble and faithful to Jesus that you were blessed with fruitfulness in life.
Jesus said to his disciples: “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.”
John15:12, 16-17
On this feast of San Isidro Labrador, teach us, O Lord Jesus, to be like the first Christians who resolved disagreements in prayers, seeking always your holy will in the spirit of love and charity.
May all of our labors and undertakings bear fruits of love and charity not only at this time but remain like those of the saints. Amen.
Photo of painting of St. Isidore with wife St. Mary Torribia with angels helping them in their farming. From MyCatholicLife.com.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle, 14 May 2020
Acts of the Apostles 1:15-17, 20-26 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> John 15:9-17
Photo by author, Mirador, Baguio City, 2019.
Lord Jesus Christ, as we celebrate today the feast of St. Matthias your Apostle chosen to replace your betrayer Judas Iscariot, you remind us anew that in every call in life, it is you -the Caller – who matters most not the mission at all.
It does not really matter if we play at the starting line-up or the second team or substitute like St. Matthias who was originally one of your 72 disciples who have witnessed your works and preaching until your Resurrection and Ascension.
The only thing is he was never a part of those closest to you as one of the Twelve.
But, nothing is “second-rate” when we see you Jesus in every task, every mission given to us.
From Google.
Like St. Matthias, may we always be counted as one of your faithful followers ready to counter the evils by some of our traitorous and unworthy members of the Church like Judas Iscariot with our life of witnessing for you our Caller.
Thank you for the gift of being called by you as a friend.
May we always have the courage to remain faithful to you, Jesus, so we may accomplish our call. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Tuesday, Easter Week-V, 12 May 2020
Acts of the Apostles 14:19-28 ><)))*> +++0+++ <*(((>< John 14:27-31
Photo by author, a bass relief of the Agony in the Garden by Jesus at the Church of All Nations beside Gethsemane near Jerusalem, May 2017.
Lord Jesus Christ, I pray for more faith and trust in you today to experience your peace within so we can truly appreciate the beauty and meaning of life.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I.”
John 14:27-28
So many sufferings, so many uncertainties in life but indeed, Lord, you have never left us.
It is so difficult to rejoice – even absurd – when “you are not with us because you are with the Father”.
I could just imagine the increased fears and anxieties your apostles must have felt when you told them to not let their hearts be troubled or afraid when you were to be betrayed and arrested, and eventually suffered and died.
I always wonder, Lord, why during this quarantine period, as I reviewed my life, there are so many painful memories coming back to me that I thought I have transcended or even outgrown, and hoped forgotten and deleted in my memory bank. Worst, the longer the time had lapsed, the more painful these memories become, like death and other losses in life.
but, no word can ever be enough to express and explain how in these painful past you have stayed in us, now coming back to remind us you will always be with us. And that is when we finally feel your peace within.
Your peace is not found outside us but within us – right in our hearts where we allow you to dwell, to reign in us amid all our trials and sufferings that we continue to forge on in this life, to keep the struggle alive.
Grant us the courage and wisdom you have given Paul and Barnabas who, despite the physical harm and emotional distresses they went through, they never wavered in their mission of proclaiming your Gospel because they have you in their hearts.
Please, Lord Jesus, reign in my heart and fill me with your humility, justice, and love. Amen.
Photo by author, garden beside St. Anne’s Catholic Church in Jerusalem, May 2017.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Monday, Easter Week V, 11 May 2020
Acts of the Apostles 14:5-18 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> John 14:21-26
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera, Blessed Sacrament Procession in our Parish during quarantine, May 2020.
As we brace ourselves, O Lord, for the announcement this week of another possible extension of our quarantine period, we pray for more of your grace of presence and indwelling in us during this time that our churches remain closed to public worship.
Give us the fire and zeal of Paul and Barnabas in proclaiming your Gospel in words and in deeds.
Most especially, give us the same humility and decency to direct all praise and glory to your Divine Majesty and not to us.
Let us abide in you, O God our Father so that we may be your indwelling in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Photo by author, our closed church in time of corona virus, March-May 2020.
Jesus answered and said to him, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.”
John 14:23
May we always have the courage, O dear Jesus, to accept your invitation to belong to you wholly, to be at home in you.
Most often, we are so anxious of so many things, peace and calmness become elusive because we cannot rest in you, we cannot persevere and wait in finding you here in our very selves, in our daily life, in our worries and concerns.
Let us come home to you, Jesus, and abide in your love so that we become your indwelling of the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe, Easter Week V-A, 10 May 2020
Acts of the Apostles 6:1-7 ><)))*> 1 Peter 2:4-9 ><)))*> John 14:1-12
Photo by Ezra Acayan for gettyimages.com, 2020.
Our Sunday celebration today is a confluence of things that perfectly jibe with our situation during this pandemic – the quarantine call worldwide to “stay home, save lives”, Mother’s Day, and Jesus telling us in the gospel we are one family going “home” to the Father.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.”
John 14:1-3
Photo from istock.com
Home is where the heart is
One good thing with this COVID-19 pandemic is how it has driven home so hard one lesson modern man has forgotten: the importance of home, of family life.
It is hoped that during this quarantine period, we do not merely stay home to prevent spread of corona virus but most of all to build anew our relationships in our family that we have neglected in our pursuits of so many things in life.
A home is more than a house; it is about relationships, of love and acceptance, kindness and forgiveness.
From Google.
Our Filipino word says it all – tahanan, from the root tahan which is to stop crying.
Tahanan or home is where you stop crying because that is where you are loved and accepted, safe and secured from any harm or danger.
Jesus assures us today in the gospel that we have a home in heaven where there is a room for everyone. This is the reason the same gospel text is the favorite in funeral Masses.
But there is something more about heaven than being a house with many rooms.
It is good that our lectionary used the modern translation of the Greek word “monai” or rooms into “dwelling places” because Jesus in this passage is not merely referring to a place or location but more specifically of a relationship with him in the Father.
In fact, the word “monai” is used only twice in the New Testament, both in the fourth Gospel: at this part and later when Jesus reprimands Philip in verse 23, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him”.
Home and room are a dwelling — a relationship and a privilege of abiding in God’s presence!
Lent 2019 in our parish.
When Jesus said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be”, he never meant it to be taken in the literal sense because if it were so, that would be the only thing he has been doing in heaven these past 2000 years!
What Jesus is telling us along with the Twelve at that time is that by his going to his Passion, Death, and Resurrection after their supper, we are able to dwell, to abide in the loving presence of the Father even here on earth in this very life.
Such was the immense love of Christ when he assured the Apostles, including us in this time of pandemic to “Do not let your hearts be troubled” because his pasch is for our own benefit as our passageway into being with the Father in Jesus when we join him at the Cross.
Remember our gospel last week of Jesus as the “gate of the sheep” because he is “the way and the truth and the life” that now comes into full circle in the Last Supper.
It is in our sharing in his sufferings and pains on the Cross we enter heaven, we dwell in his loving presence that he also becomes manifest in us in this life.
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
Mothers know best
Connecting now our quarantine slogan of “stay home, save lives” and Sunday gospel with Mother’s Day celebration today, we are reminded of the importance of ties and relationships that we keep especially in this period of pandemic.
In the Old Testament, God is revealed to us like a mother because she is the epitome of fidelity:
“Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget I will never forget you. See, upon the palms of my hands I have written your name.”
Isaiah 49:15-16
How unfortunate that again, the song based on this part of Isaiah “Hindi Kita Malilimutan” (I Will Never Forget You) has become a favorite song in funeral Masses when in fact it is best sung in weddings because it is a pledge of love and fidelity by God who is like a mother.
The mother is the premiere homemaker also referred as the “light of the home” who seem to always have that magic touch in everything, in turning out little things, even scraps, into something lovely and beautiful, and delicious!
Her love and dedication can never be measured and nothing can ever make her happy except the abiding love and presence of her husband and children.
Photo by author, painting of “Our Lady of the Grotto in Bethlehem”, May 2019.
And we all know of our mother’s presence that transcends time and space, not to mention their intuition that defies logic but always true!
No wonder, there is a Jewish saying that “God created mothers because he cannot be everywhere”.
When we are sick, when we feel low, mothers know them all. Nothing can be hidden or kept secret with our moms because they are a home, a dwelling place for each of us all.
In the first reading we have heard the “ordination” of the first seven deacons of the church whose primary task was to take care of the widows as the Apostles were busy proclaiming the Gospel.
Eventually, it paved the way for the many services and ministries in the church that have become the clearest signs of God’s presence in the world. There is no need to publicize the countless efforts of the Church in reaching out to all the marginalized sectors of the society in the whole world that is truly a sign of her being a mother to all.
Now more than ever, in this time of the corona pandemic, we in the Church are challenged to continue being the signs of the living and loving presence of Jesus Christ in the world that has become so materialistic, less humane, even loveless and so unkind.
Let us be a mother, a living and loving presence of God so that people may find a home in us in Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. Amen.
A blessed happy Mothers’ Day to all moms!
Photo by author of the entrance to the original chapel of Our Lady of Grotto in Bethlehem, May 2019.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Saturday, Easter Week-IV, 09 May 2020
Acts of the Apostles 13:44-52 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> John 14:7-14
According to Pope Francis, the serpent is the first peddler of “fake news” when it deceived Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit in Paradise. Photo from gettyimages.com.
As we end another week O Lord, we pray this time for those who refuse to follow your path of truth. We pray for all trolls and peddlers of fake news and lies, including those who concoct and spread nasty and malicious talks about us.
The gossipers and slanderers.
We pray for them, Jesus, that they may finally come to their senses to see and accept the realities around them.
We pray that they may stop living in darkness, speaking of lies that have destroyed many good names and have caused so much heartaches to those they have maligned.
How sad, O Lord, that these liars and trolls are using the modern means of communications to spread their fake news and lies and gossips to mislead a nation, destroy families and organizations.
Photo by author, February 2020.
In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we saw how Jews were filled with jealousy against Paul and Barnabas while proclaiming your Gospel at the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia.
Not contented in engaging your apostles into “violent abuse of contradicting” their teachings, they also “incited the women of prominence and leading men of the city” to persecute Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:45, 50) because they cannot accept the truth, they cannot accept you, Jesus.
And that continues to happen today when people cannot accept you as Lord and God who truly loves us, forgiving our sins and setting us free to become better persons despite our sins and weaknesses.
Keep us faithful to your words, Lord, and purify our minds and our hearts that we may be one with you in the Father in thoughts, words, and deeds.
Likewise, we pray for everyone that we may always be on guard in examining information and stories we read and hear in order to stop the spread of fake news and lies. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Friday, Easter Week-IV, 08 May 2020
Acts of the Apostles 13:26-33 ><)))*> +++0+++ <*(((>< John 14:1-6
Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte in Atok, Benguet, 2019.
Your words today, O Lord Jesus, are so assuring, so refreshing like the rains last night. Even if all our problems and worries remain, your words are more than enough to banish their power over us as we gain that trust and confidence to forge into this day we do not know where it would lead us to.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.”
John 14:1
Keep us by your side, Jesus.
Let us take your path of love and humility, kindness and mercy especially in this time when patience is running out among many of us and emotions in everyone go high that we lose sight of the other persons going through troubles similar with ours.
Sometimes we fail to recognize you like what St. Paul said in the first reading because we always seek something more tangible, someone we can talk to like another person.
Let us be calm and trust in you that no matter what happens, you will never leave us alone and eventually lead us home to the Father’s house in heaven. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Thursday, Easter Week IV, 07 May 2020
Acts of the Apostles 13:13-25 <*(((>< ++0++ ><)))*> John 13:16-20
Photo by author, February 2020.
Thank you, O Lord, for the gift of remembering, of not simply recalling the past but even the joy or pain of experiencing them again. Most of all, of learning their lessons that have made us what we are today.
In this time of quarantine when we have so many time spent in remembering our past, our family and friends, may we also remember your saving grace to us like St. Paul at the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia.
Help us to remember – that is, to make you a part of the present again of which re + member is all about.
May we never live like what we have done before this pandemic began when we thought we can lead our lives without you.
As we remember your goodness, your coming to us in your Son Jesus Christ who suffered and died like us, may we keep in mind that everything is in your hand, in your power and control. Not ours.
Grant, O Lord, that in re + membering your saving action to us, your great love for each one of us, may we continue to lovingly serve one another in your name. Amen.
Mosaic of “Washing of Feet of the Apostles”, photo from Google.
Our lamentations continue, O Lord, as our nation is plunged into deeper and disturbing darkness. How can all kinds of darkness fall upon us in this administration? First, they found death as solution to many problems. And then came all their lies and fake news.
Not to mention their diplomatic ties with a godless government that has been dishonest from the very beginning regarding this pandemic.
They themselves have chosen to be in darkness at the very start of the COVID-19 pandemic who would rather pass blame and wash hands for every confusion in implementing the quarantine.
And, now comes their most serious attack to light, in shutting down a beacon of light of news and information.
The more we cry out to you, O dear Jesus, please come to us now. Quickly. And save us!
Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me. I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness.”
John 12:44-46
We pray for those in government, in this administration who’s leader had blasphemed your Most Holy Name not only once or twice for the grace of enlightenment and decency from the Holy Spirit.
We pray like your early church for the Holy Spirit to set aside just one or two good souls in this government – if there are still any – to be sent to bring enlightenment to this administration who thrives on lies and malice along with their minions and supporters.
Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.
Hear our cries and our pleas, O Lord of justice.
Show us your path of holiness amid this time of darkness and evil. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Tuesday, Easter Week-IV, 05 May 2020
Acts of the Apostles 11:19-26 +++0+++ John 10:22-30
Photo from Reddit
Our loving God and Father, as countless men and women are now searching for the cure and vaccine against this corona virus that have hit us, you have also given us opportunities to look inside ourselves to examine the things and persons we are searching for in this life.
Today’s first reading reminds us how Barnabas went to Antioch to see for himself the power and grace of the gospel of your Son Jesus Christ being preached there among the gentiles.
When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart, for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. And a large number of people were added to the Lord.
Acts of the Apostles 11:23-24
Not only that: Barnabas also “went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch” (Acts 11:25).
What a remarkable attitude by Barnabas to search for the truth, to find the realities going on in Antioch!
Most of all, his efforts to look for Saul – a person feared and perhaps hated at that time – to bring him into the church in Antioch that eventually led to his baptism and adoption of the new name of Paul.
Give us, O Lord, the same desire for you! That we may always look for you in every situation we are into especially in this time of the corona. May we also look for those people we can bring closer to you through our communities, especially those suspected of so many things like St. Paul before.
How sad that sometimes, we are more like those in the gospel who kept on looking for you, Jesus, not because of a desire to really know you and follow you but to test you.
Give us a heart and the eyes of faith that truly search for what is true and good, that look for you in people and events because, like the deer that yearns for streams of water, our soul thirsts for you. Amen.
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