The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Octave of Easter, 05 April 2023 Acts 4:1-12 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> John 21:1-14
Photo by author, Easter Sunday 2020.
You are Easter, Lord Jesus Christ and nobody else, nothing else. Period. Until now, I exclaim in joy like the beloved disciple whenever I realize it is You, Jesus, making wondrous things for me even from afar; it is You, Jesus, whom I find as the sole reason and meaning for every blessing and good thing that comes my way in life; when I look back in life, especially on those days like this scene today when I have tried to forget You, Jesus, that is when You come, when You appear, when You tell me to cast the net anew to catch some fish.
So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciples whom Jesus loved told Peter, “It is the Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea.
John 21:6-7
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 18 March 2024.
Forgive me, Jesus, when I act like the elders and priests of Jerusalem, always wondering and doubting on Your powers and grace to heal, to restore life, and to forgive sins; forgive me, Jesus, for the times I have rejected You like the stone rejected by builders who have become the cornerstone. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday in the Octave of Easter, 04 April 2024 Acts 3:11-26 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 24:35-48
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 18 March 2024.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for always touching me, making me experience You truly alive in prayers and Sacraments but most especially in the people You send to touch me and be touched by me for You.
Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.”
Luke 24:38-39
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 18 March 2024.
How amazing, O Lord, in Your rising from the dead, You still have those wounds You bore for us there on the Cross but all healed to remind us that all wounds we have can be healed in You!
Most of all, though our hands and words wound so many others, it is also our same wounded hands and hearts You use to heal others wounded.
Most loving Jesus, "open our minds to understand the Scriptures" (Lk.24:45), help us to touch base with our very selves, with our past, with our sins and mistakes we refuse to admit or did not know at all like when Simon Peter reminded the people of Jerusalem so that we remain in touch with You, with others, and with our true selves. Amen.
*Sharing with you one of my favorite prayer-music by Fr. Manoling Francisco, SJ; speaks so well of Fr. Henri Nouwen’s reflection on our being a “wounded healer” as well as the amazing power of human touch.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Easter Octave, 03 April 2024 Acts 3:1-10 <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Luke 24:13-35
Photo by author, Della Strada Chapel, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 19 March 2024.
Continue to open my eyes, my heart, my total self to Your coming, to Your passing Lord Jesus Christ; Your tomb was empty because You chose to walk with me even when I was at the wrong path, in the opposite direction like those two disciples on the way back to Emmaus from Jerusalem because You were nowhere that Easter Sunday; what a beautiful gesture by You, dear Jesus, to walk with them, to converse with them, most of all, to make their hearts burn within!
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them…
Luke 24:31-33
Photo by author, Della Strada Chapel, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 19 March 2024.
My dear Jesus, many times I felt giving up of going back to Emmaus too, leaving Jerusalem at those times I felt You were gone; but when You helped me retrace my path with Your words and many signs, my heart burned within of love and faith in You that before I knew it, You have brought me back to Your path again with enough love to move on; keep me in Your path to the Cross, Jesus; let me immerse in the Scripture to discover in Your words Your presence, Your calling, Your life in my life and relationships with You, with nature, and with others.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 19 March 2024.
Keep that fire of love burning within me, Jesus so that I may bring Your light and your warmth to those seeking You, those lost in life, and worst, those resigned in their situations like that man crippled from birth at the Beautiful Gate of the temple:
When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms. But Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “look at us.” He paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them. Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk.”
Acts 3:3-6
There are times, Jesus, I look more into negative self, my distaff condition, my wounds even if I am looking at You like that crippled man expecting the trivial things than the essential ones like fulfillment in You; enable me to look for You in my heart, to see You in my self and on the face of others I meet.
Dearest Jesus, keep the fire of Your love burning inside me so I may see You and follow You more closely daily. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the Easter Octave, 02 April 2024 Acts 2:36-41 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> John 20:11-18
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
Oh, yes...dear God! In this Season of Easter today's Responsorial Psalm is so true, "The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord" when despite the many darkness pervading over us and the emptiness we find and experience, You give us things to do to rectify our mistakes, to make life better after so many mistakes and sins: to repent in Jesus Christ and surrender ourselves to Him in order to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and they asked Peter and the other Apostles, “What are we to do, my brothers?” Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:37-38
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 19 March 2024.
Many times we are like Mary Magdalene, O Lord: we cannot see and experience You because we are still looking for You in our old ways, in our comfort zones, in the superficialities of life like the more obvious physical aspects; teach us to "stop holding on to You", Lord, in those old ways and manners by going deeper, taking that deep plunge to trust in You more, be matured, more trusting and faithful to You in the midst of darkness and emptiness.
Open the eyes of our heart and soul to see more of You in the hidden beauties as well as in the ugly and uncomfortable realities of life. Amen.
Painting by Giotto of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ appearing to St. Mary Magdalene from commons.wikimedia.org.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Octave of Easter, 01 April 2024 Acts 2:14, 22-33 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 28:8-15
Photo by author, Refectory of Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
My dearest Lord Jesus Christ, while everyone's greetings of "Happy Easter" have waned due to Monday's usual grind to the highest degree, I found myself wallowing in Your words today to thoughts of things unfair and feeling cheated; In Tagalog, madaya!
The chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel; then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’ And if this gets to the ears of the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” The soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day.
Matthew 28:12-15
Narra flowers cover paths at the Sacred Heart Novitiate, 20 March 2024.
And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day. O Jesus, not only this story but this vicious circle of lies and cheating, of being unfair has continued to circulate even among us your followers right in Your Church!
Everywhere there is this glorification of selves, of dishonesty, of excesses that result in inequalities and sadly in desecration of Your liturgy, of Your Body, the Church made up of so many who are misled from You, dear Jesus.
But this is why You rose from the dead, Jesus; this is the reason there is Easter: You turned over, "binaligtad Mo, Panginoon ang maraming pagkakataon at sitwasyon ng kawalan ng patas, kawalan ng kaayusan" - in Your rising, You have given us more reasons to persevere even amid darkness and emptiness like that early morning of Easter because soon enough, You are surely there at the next turn, at a corner, awaiting those faithfully seeking and following You!
In this Monday of Your Easter Octave Jesus, help me pray like the psalmist, "Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope." Amen.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, 20 March 2024.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
Blessed happy Easter everyone! We take a melancholic love song on this day of celebrating the triumph of love in Jesus Christ’s Resurrection because Easter is a continuing journey with Him, in Him and through Him amid darkness and emptiness in life (https://lordmychef.com/2024/03/30/easter-is-signs-scripture-together-always/).
Like the story of that first Easter morning while still dark when Mary Magdalene and later Simon Peter with the beloved disciple found the tomb of Jesus empty except for His burial cloths neatly folded to indicate the Lord’s rising from the dead, Ronnie Milsap’s 1983 hit Is It Over speaks a lot of the essence of Easter about faith in the love of Jesus Christ.
Milsap’s Is it Over invites his beloved to sincerely search her heart to get over her former relationship so that theirs would flourish and grow; in the same manner, we need to get over our Good Fridays in order to experience the glory of Easter Sundays in life.
Is it over, are you really over him Is it over, or will you take him back again If it’s over you can let his memory in Come on over, we’ll let our love begin.
You say you can’t count the times that he’s hurt you And he’s hurt you for the last time Now you say I’m the one that you’re needing But is the need in your heart or just in your mind.
Is it over, are you really over him Is it over, or will you take him back again If it’s over you can let his memory in Come on over, we’ll let our love begin.
Like Jesus calling us every day in our lives to come over to Him by leaving behind our past hurts, Is it Over tells on the need to move on in life, to embrace the present by learning from the past. Most of all, of the need to confront one’s true self in the heart, not just in the mind in order to move on in life.
Milsap’s music and voice are uniquely refreshing that sound very Easter perhaps due to his personal experiences. Born partially blind and abandoned by his mother after birth, Milsap grew up in poverty with his grandparents in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. Despite his handicap and poverty, he was found exceptionally brilliant and talented even while in his early childhood when he was sent to a school for the blind at the age of five where he developed his musical talent at age seven. He was later sent to Governor Moorehead to formally begin studies in classical music. It was there in his early teens when Mislap learned to play several musical instruments and chose to master the piano.
At age 14, Milsap became totally blind after being slapped on his left eye by one of the houseparents but that never affected his pursuits in learning as well as music. He was able to finish college through scholarships and was already in law school as a full scholar when he decided to leave to concentrate in music in 1964.
He met his wife Joyce Reeves in one of their gigs the following year, got married and remained together until her death in 2021 due to cancer. They had a son, Ronald who died in 2019 aged 49 apparently due to a medical condition
Is It Over follows the style of Milsap’s earlier and biggest breakthrough in 1977, It Was almost Like a Song that topped the Billboard charts in many categories. Both songs are very popular among us Filipinos who are certified romantics.
Now aged 81, Milsap remains active in the music scene as a composer, collaborating with some of the biggest names in the industry. His life is a beautiful example of the Easter glory amid many darkness and emptiness. Although officially retired, it isn’t over yet for Mislap as he continues to record and busies himself with a podcast as well as an amateur radio enthusiast.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Easter Sunday of the Lord's Resurrection, 31 March 2024 Acts 10:34, 37-43 ><}}}}*> Colossians 3:1-4 ><}}}}*> John 20:1-9
A blessed happy Easter to everyone! The Lord is risen. Let us rejoice amid all the darkness and sufferings still hovering over our lives at this time as Easter gives meaning to these all, enabling us to experience God closest with us in Jesus Christ.
Let Christ’s assurance of deliverance, of salvation burst forth from your heart, from the depths of your soul that amid all these sufferings, we have already won in Jesus. It is in those darkness and emptiness where Jesus is found as the first disciples realized that first Easter morning.
On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved… When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there… Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.
John 20:1-2, 6, 8-9
Jesus Christ resurrection. Christian Easter concept. Empty tomb of Jesus with light. Born to Die, Born to Rise. “He is not here he is risen”. Photo from iStock/GettyImages.
We can never experience the joy of Easter if we skip going through or deny the agonies and pains of Good Friday. See how in the glory of Christ’s Resurrection is found the empty tomb set in the darkness of dawn, evoking in us the realities of life.
The problem in our time is when people see life only as Easter without Good Friday like those who want to get rich by gambling without working hard or students who want to pass exams without studying. At the other extreme are those who see life only as all Good Friday without Easter, becoming indifferent to joy and life itself.
Absence of sufferings can happen only in heaven after we have died. In rising from the dead, Jesus enables us today to taste heaven, to have a glimpse of eternal bliss which Easter makes a reality within us. That is why all the 50 days of Easter beginning today until Pentecost Sunday are actually counted as one big day because we can never grasp the fullness of Christ’s Resurrection in just one day or one month. As we have reflected last Sunday, life is like the Palm Sunday in the Lord’s Passion, a daily movement from the Lord’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
Actually, every celebration we have in the Church, from Christmas to feasts of Mary and the saints are images of Easter, of Jesus Christ’s Resurrection, of His triumph and glory. This we find in that last line of our gospel account today:
Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.
John 20:8-9
Crucifixion and Resurrection. He is Risen. Empty tomb of Jesus with crosses in the background and cinematic lighting. From IStock/GettyImages.
Many times our life is an empty tomb with nothing inside except signs of Jesus. John used the word sign to refer to the Lord’s miracles, words and actions that point to Him as the Christ, the awaited Messiah. Hence, his gospel is also known as “the book of signs” with seven miracles and teachings by Jesus that signify Him as the Son of God.
Here at the last two chapters of his gospel we find John’s wisdom in using both explicitly and implicitly the word and concept of sign to point at Jesus as the Christ. The empty tomb itself is the sign pointing to Jesus who had risen; since He was not there, He must be somewhere alive! How do we prove it? Again with another signs, the burial cloths neatly folded inside the empty tomb that showed the body of Jesus was not stolen.
From wikipedia.commons, healing of a leper,
John have used this formula repeatedly in his gospel, slowly building up to prepare his readers for the great signs of Easter like the changing of water into wine at Cana, the many cures, the feeding of more than 5000 in the wilderness, the thrusting of lance into the Lord’s side while on the Cross from which flowed blood and water. All of these he consistently claimed as signs that he as “the other disciple” had seen or witnessed.
Whenever we prayerfully read and reflect John’s gospel, we too see and hear Jesus is the Christ in the signs he presents us until finally, we find Jesus present in the many experiences of our lives! John wants us to understand the interaction between signs and Scripture which Luke explained beautifully in the story of the road to Emmaus which is the gospel proclaimed on the evening of Easter Sunday.
For John and the evangelists which Vatican II stressed in Dei Verbum, the Scripture allows us to understand the signs that also lead to understanding the Scripture. If the Apostles have not learned from the Scriptures that Jesus must rise from the dead, the empty tomb would have remained a puzzle to them. Likewise, it was the sign of the empty tomb that led them to understanding fully the Scripture. And that has always been the case in our lives until now that is why it is so essential we cultivate a prayer life which is a relationship with God in Jesus not just a recitation of prayers or celebration of the Mass.
Easter invites us to enter into a relationship with God in Jesus, through Jesus and with Jesus through the many signs He joined us through our trials and tribulations in life so we can be one with Him in His Resurrection.
Detail of the Anastasis (Resurrection) fresco in the Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora, in Istanbul, Turkey. It depicts Jesus’ descent into limbo to liberate Adam and Eve and all the righteous who have been waiting for him there. Photo and caption from Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation (slmedia.org).
How sad in this age when many people have stopped joining church celebrations and communal prayers when they choose to go on vacation during Christmas and Easter, totally unmindful of Jesus Christ’s outpouring of love for us.
How sad when many of us practically live in the media, so concerned with the palabas (the outside peripherals) than the inside, the more essential even in our spiritual celebrations.
How sad when people preferred to video the procession of the Blessed Sacrament on Holy Thursday than to kneel and pray in recognition of Christ’s real presence.
From shutterstock.com
How sad for those who skip Masses on Sundays but would devoutly join the Good Friday processions that have become more of fashion show and picnic when people are busy talking, texting, taking videos or pictures, eating and drinking than praying and meditating the various scenes of the Lord’s Passion and Death.
How sad for those who have made their carrozas a pompous spectacle and display of family wealth than catechism and devotion. One would seriously wonder where is the dolor of Viernes Dolores or the grief and sadness for the Lord’s passion, death and burial depicted by the Holy Week processions. Not to mention the kabaduyan and ka-ek-ekan by priests at the repositories of Holy Thursday that after Visita Iglesia you hardly hear people talking how they were edified at the solemnity of the church they visited; people now talk more after Visita Iglesia of how they were awed by the decors and effects of repositories, not of Christ’s real presence.
Worst, the most crazy and foolish of all is how most Catholics end their devotions at Good Friday without realizing the most important of all celebrations is Easter which is the Mother of all feasts in our Church, the very heart of our faith.
This Easter, let us salvage the remaining gifts and grace God pours upon us in Jesus through this Season by opening our hearts, our minds, our total selves to the Risen Lord we encounter in the Scripture and many signs in our lives. Amen. Have a blessed Easter!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Seventh Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Philip Neri, Priest, 26 May 2023
Acts 25:13-21 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> John 21:15-19
Photo by author, sunrise at Anvaya Cove, Morong, Bataan, 19 May 2023.
On this final week of the
Easter Season while praying
the Scriptures, I am reminded
O Lord Jesus by your expression
"the finger of God" in Luke 11:20
when people were doubting your
healing powers.
Very clear in the lives of St. Paul
in the first reading, then in your
commissioning of St. Peter in the
Gospel as well as the wondrous works
by St. Philip Neri in Rome during his
time were clear manifestations of the
finger of God working.
In the life of St. Paul, there was
the finger of God working at his trial
that brought him to Rome to testify
for you; the same thing is true with
St. Peter who denied you thrice and yet,
it was the finger of God that brought
him back to you and to his fellow disciples;
in the life of St. Philip Neri, it was also
the finger of God that worked wonders
that he was able to gather followers
to continue his works of bringing
people closer to God through the
Eucharist and prayers.
As the Easter Season comes
to a close this Pentecost Sunday,
help us dear Jesus to recollect
and reflect our lives to see God's
finger in our life stories too;
open our eyes and our hearts
to find God's finger pulling things
together to make our lives a great
coherence so many times with
amusing and funny incidents,
comedies that make not only our lips
but also our hearts to smile
and experience deep joy
in you.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Seventh Week of Easter, 25 May 2023
Acts 22:30, 23:6-11 ><))))*> + <*((((>< John 17:20-26
Photo by author, Anvaya Cove, 27 February 2023.
How wonderful and
so touching, Lord Jesus,
for you to call us
a gift from the Father.
“Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”
John 17:24
Help me keep, dear Jesus,
that being of a gift to you
from the Father by being
a witness of your glory
which is standing by your
side at the Cross like St. Paul
whom you have called "to bear
witness to you in Jerusalem and
in Rome" (Acts 23:11).
May we always remember
this truth, our being a gift to
you dear Jesus, so that in moments
we feel so overburdened,
when we are losing hope,
when we feel like giving up,
we may forge on
and persevere
in bearing witness
to your Cross of suffering
so that eventually be one
in your glorious Resurrection.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Seventh Week of Easter, 24 May 2023
Acts 20:28-38 ><]]]'> + ><]]]'> + ><]]]'> John 17:11-19
Photo by author, sunset at Tagaytay Vista Hotel, 07 February 2023.
Lord Jesus Christ,
help us to pray and say
our goodbyes
just like you
and St. Paul
in today's readings.
How lovely to keep in mind
that the word "goodbye"
is from "God-be-with-you"!
Leaving and separation,
whether temporary or permanent
like death is the most painful part
of living and loving;
like you on that last supper
and St. Paul as he departed from Ephesus,
may we also pray for our loved ones
to be left behind; let us be realistic too
in our goodbyes so that they we leave
behind are not just warned of the
coming dangers but most of all,
be equipped in you.
“I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them.”
Acts of the Apostles 20:29-30
Whenever we leave home,
whenever we leave a gathering,
may we leave the people with the
beautiful experience of your loving
presence in our giving than receiving,
in standing by your truth, rejecting
lies and dishonesty,
in relying more on you than in ourselves.
When we leave,
may they remember you more
than us.
Amen.
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