Category: encouragement

Praying to encourage others

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle, 11 June 2025
Acts 11:21-26, 13:1-3     <*{{{{><  +  ><}}}}*>     Matthew 10:7-13
Rains have started to pour,
a good news to many
and a bad news too to many more
caught in jams, floods, and
the worst of situations
in life, especially at night.
We pray, dear Jesus
you send us more "Barnabas"
whom you sent to Antioch
where your followers were first called
Christians.

… and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 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… Then he went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch (Acts 11:22-24, 25-26).

On this memorial of your Apostle
Barnabas whose name
means "son of encouragement",
teach us to be like him
filled with the Holy Spirit
and faith in God,
searching for those in the worst
situations in life like Saul at that
time who was so ashamed
to join the disciples because of
his sinful past;
like Barnabas,
may we encourage others
to hope and look forward
to better days in Christ,
to trust in your mercy and
forgiveness,
to take every moment a chance
to be converted;
in this world that had shrunk
into a global village,
how sad that more and more
are getting discouraged
than encouraged
when we look more into the dark
dismal side of life than to its
brighter and even colorful and joyful
realities found in you, Lord,
the kingdom of God in our midst.
Amen.

*Photos by Ms. Ria De Vera in Delia, Alberta, Canada, 03 June 2025.

Friends in Christ

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 23 May 2025
Acts 15:22-31     <'[[[[><  +  ><]]]]'>     John 15:12-17
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2025.
Thank you, 
dear Jesus
in choosing me
and making me your friend;
let me be a friend to others too
like you.
You said it so well,
Lord, "You are my friends
if you do what I command you" -
which is to love!
Furthermore, 
you told us, "I no longer
call you slaves, because a slave
does not know what his master
is doing" (John 15:14) but,
how sad that we do the opposite:
we do not truly love one another
like you, taking each one as a friend;
worst, we make others like slaves
especially if they are not like us
in color and status, belief and gender.
Teach us,
dear Jesus,
to imitate Judas called
Barsabbas and Silas along
with Paul and Barnabas sent
to the Christians in Antioch 
to deliver the letter of the Apostles
and presbyters regarding the issues
of circumcision and other Jewish 
practices some wanted the Gentile
converts to undertake;
how lovely that as the faith spread
far and wide reaching many people,
the Apostles and the presbyters
decided not to burden the brothers
with Jewish customs and practices;
here we find love in action,
friendship is in taking away
the burdens of others than
putting on heavier burdens on them;
most of all,
a true friend who loves like you
Jesus is one who encourages others
in your way.
Amen.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2025.

Gift of encouragement

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of St. Irenaeus, Bishop & Martyr, 28 June 2024
2 Kings 25:1-12     <'[[[[><  +  ><]]]]'>     Matthew 8:1-4
It is the end of another week 
of work and studies for most of us,
God our loving Father,
but for some,
it is like the end of everything
for them like your people
at Judah and Jerusalem:

In the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar, king od Babylon, and his whole army advanced against Jerusalem, encamped around it and built siege walls on every side. On the ninth day of the fourth month, when famine had gripped the city, and the people had no more bread, the city walls were breached. The king was therefore arrested and brought to Riblah to the king of Babylon, who pronounced sentence on him. He had Zedekiah’;s sons slain before his eyes. He then blinded Zedekiah, bound him with fetters, and had him brought to Babylon (2 Kings 25:1, 3, 6-7).

Many times,
when life becomes so difficult
even so terrible for us,
all we ask, O God, are
simple words and acts of
encouragement;
send us someone who 
is like Jesus your Son, 
our Lord and Savior who, 
upon meeting a leper,
told him,
"I will do it. Be made clean"
(Matthew 8:3).
Like Jesus,
may we stay and remain
even for a few minutes
with those so burdened in life;
when the leper approached him,
Jesus did not hide nor run
but stayed to let the leper
feel He was with him;
many times, we forget
our mere presence 
can be so encouraging;
forgive us for abandoning
and turning away from those
who come to us
even for company
and warmth.
Like Jesus,
even if we do not have
the power to heal
and cleanse anyone of sickness,
grant us the gift of
words that encourage
others to hold on in faith,
to keep hoping,
and most of all,
to believe in love
when all is dark
because like Jesus,
we may tell them how much
we desire their well-being.
Amen.

We are all St. Barnabas!

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle, 11 June 2024
Acts 11:21-26, 13:1-3     ><]]]]'>  +  <'[[[[><     Matthew 10:7-13
Photo by author, Mt. St. Paul, La Trinidad, Benguet, 2016.
Praise and glory
to You, God our loving Father
for this memorial of St. Barnabas,
one of the first to embrace Christianity
after the Resurrection of your Son
Jesus Christ.

A Levite Jew born in Cyprus,
his original name was Joseph but
upon joining the Apostles in Jerusalem,
he was nicknamed Barnabas 
which means "son of encouragement"
or "son of consolation" whom  
St. Luke described as "a good man,
filled with the Holy Spirit and faith"
(Acts 11:24).
Fill us, dear Jesus 
with the same goodness and faith
of St. Barnabas, truly children of 
encouragement and consolation,
believing in our brothers and
sisters especially those have withdrawn
from the ministry and apostolate 
for various reasons 
including shame and embarrassment 
for past mistakes and sins like St. Paul.

Then he (Barnabas) went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a large number of people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

Fill us with your gift
of peace, Lord Jesus,
to imitate St. Barnabas
who vouched for St. Paul's sincerity
of conversion
as well as in encouraging
and consoling the early Christians
who were persecuted for their
faith in You.
Help us imitate St. Barnabas
in his beautiful disposition of
focusing more on You, Jesus
than in the problems and personalities
we encounter in fulfilling your mission;
most of all,
grant us the humility of St. Barnabas
to reconcile later with St. Paul
 after a serious disagreement
that led to their parting of ways
as companions in their mission.
Make us realize,
Jesus,
that saints like St. Barnabas
do not fall from Heaven
but are people like us who have many
and complicated problems in life;
let us arise from our sins
and mistakes like St. Barnabas
who showed in his life that holiness
is not being sinless but being humble
to admit one's sins and faults,
going through conversion daily
with a willingness to forgive others
to be reconciled anew
in You, Jesus.
Amen.

St. Barnabas,
Pray for us!
Photo by Ms. Analyn Dela Torre, March 2024.

Our blessed Motherland

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time, Philippine Independence Day, 12 June 2023
2 Corinthians 1:1-7    ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*>   Matthew 5: 1-12
Sunrise at Atok, Benguet by Ms. Jo Villafuerte, 01 September 2019.
Glory and praise to you,
God our loving Father
for this gift of Independence Day;
forgive us for the many times
we have taken it for granted,
when we waste all opportunities
to love and serve our blessed
Motherland.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.

Matthew 5:5
Help us to be "meek" or better,
be "gentle to inherit the land" 
by having that inner strength within us
to stand for what is true and just,
for what is good and holy
by first being a good citizen
of this country so hurt,
so forgotten by its own people
since the beginning.

Dearest Jesus,
fill us with encouragement
to never lose hope for our country,
to inspire more people to love
our blessed Motherland by
choosing the right persons to lead us,
those willing to suffer and sacrifice 
for the sake of the least and marginalized
and most especially,
to care for this only country we got
you have blessed abundantly
up to future generations of
Filipinos serving fellow Filipinos.
Amen.

The gift of encouragement

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Athanasius, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, 02 May 2023
Acts 11:19-26   ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*>   John 10:22-30
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 22 March 2023.
God our loving Father,
fill us with your grace of
encouragement;
give us the grace to
encourage people especially
those discouraged to move
on with life,
those discouraged by setbacks
and other disappointments
in life,
those discouraged by sickness,
by poverty, by so many other
reasons that they lose hope
and trust in you.

Like the Apostle Barnabas
whose name means
"son of encouragement",
may we bring encouragement
to others especially in times of
uncertainties, of sufferings,
and difficulties; most of all, like
Barnabas who went out of his way
to look for Saul to bring him to
the Church, may we search for those
who have opted to stay out from our 
circles to encourage them to join
the mainstream, to be involved in
spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ,
especially his truths now under
attack from people promoting modern
trends of heresies.
Gift us with the conviction and 
clarity of St. Athanasius who 
fought Arianism with such vigor and
passion until his death.
Amen.