Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Memorial of St. Andrew Dung-Lac & Companion Martyrs, 24 November 2025 Daniel 1:1-6, 8-20 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 21:1-4
Photo by Mr. Chester Ocampo, UST-SHS, 04 November 2019.
Lord Jesus Christ, give me a new perspective today on this final stretch of November and of our liturgical calendar; let me see this too familiar scene with you at the temple with new eyes:
When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. He said, “I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood” (Luke 21:1-4).
Every day,
dear Jesus I witness
a similar scene
but never bothered myself
to search for you,
to find you there,
also sitting,
looking,
observing
how we put our
offerings not only to
the treasury but to each day;
teach me to suspend every
judgment so I may see truly
the poor and the rich among us;
open my eyes and let me
move away from everything familiar
to converse and share moments
with that woman,
perhaps share a meal with her
and ask her,
"why give
all those
two small coins?"
I feel you, Lord
speaking also to me:
teach me to be content
and grateful with whatever
I have like that poor widow;
teach me to believe more,
to trust more in you;
most of all,
teach me to have less
for myself,
less of myself
in order to have more
of you.
Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 18 November 2025 Tuesday in the Thirty-Third Week of Ordinary Time, Year I Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Sts. Peter & Paul, Apostles 2 Maccabees 16:18-31 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 19:1-10
Photo by author, sycamore tree in Jericho, Israel, May 2019.
What a most blessed day today, Lord Jesus Christ for you to teach us today of that most essential teaching of yours - of forgetting one's self to the point of giving up one's life and reputation to gain you and eternal life:
Eleazar in the Old Testament, Zacchaeus in the gospel plus today's memorial of the dedication of the basilicas in honor of the two pillars of your church, the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul.
They all gave up themselves for you by standing for what is true and good and just: despite his old age of 90, Eleazar chose to face torture and death than defile himself by pretending before the people of eating pork as ordered their pagan occupiers; Zacchaeus, on the other hand, disregarded what others would say about him despite his being "small in stature" as a sinner that he climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus.
Eleazar, one of the foremost scribes, a man of advanced age and noble appearance, was being forced to open his mouth to eat pork… He told them to send him at once to the abode of the dead, explaining, “At our age it would be unbecoming to make such a pretense… should I thus pretend for the sake of a brief moment of life, they would be led astray by me, while I would bring shame and dishonor on my old age” (2 Maccabees 6:18, 24, 25).
At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was…so he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly for today I must stay at your house… When they all saw this, they began to grumlbe, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over” (Luke 19:1-2, 4-5, 7-8).
As we celebrate today the memorial of the dedication of the Basilicas of your Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, teach us to have their courage for standing for what is true: like Eleazar, let us never think even of committing sin "for a brief moment" and mislead others into evil; like Zacchaeus, teach us to forget about what others may say about us but what you would tell us.
Let us realize, Lord, that in this life, something's gotta give - possessions and things, pride and ego, sin and addictions - to be truly free and fulfilled in you. Amen.
Photo by author, Bucharest, Romania, 08 Noovember 2025.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 04 September 2025 Thursday in the Twenty-Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year I Colossians 1:9-14 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 5:1-11
Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA7 News in Batanes, September 2018.
Today's gospel story of your first meeting with Simon reminds me of how your presence made a difference in my life when I finally said "yes" to your call to give my vocation to the priesthood a second chance in 1991 when I resigned from my job to enter the seminary again; it was pure joy at first that later became more intense, more deep and wonderful as the going got tough and rough; it was never easy following you, Jesus but you have never forsaken me since then until now though many times I have balked and even backed out from you as you kept telling me those same words you told Simon, "Do not be afraid" (Luke 5:10).
Fill me, Jesus, "with the knowledge of God's will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, so as to be fully pleasing, in every good work bearing fruit nd growing in the knowledge of God" (Colossians 1:9-10); teach me to trust you more by surrendering, giving up my total self to you so that I may continue casting my net into the deep; though I have given up a lot, I still feel I have not given up that much of myself to you - take away from me, Jesus whatever I still hold on deep inside, help me surrender myself to you totally so that I may know you more clearly, love you more dearly, follow you most closely daily for it is in your presence when I am most fulfilled. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Seventh Week of Easter, 04 June 2025 Acts 20:28-38 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> John 17:11-19
What a moving first reading today as we come to close the Easter Season when Paul bid goodbye to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus.
They were all in tears because most likely they would never see Paul again; but most of all, of the sincerity of Paul in his words spoken to them.
“Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, in which you tend the Church of God that he acquired with his own Blood…I have never wanted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You know very well that these very hands have served my needs and my companions. In every way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort we must help the weak, and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive'” (Acts 20:28, 33-35).
Indeed, it is more blessed to give than to receive because in giving that is when we have to use more of our hands in toiling and working; in the work of our hands, we not only share Christ in the good deeds we do but most of all, open the eyes and hearts of others to welcome Jesus into them to work also through their very own hands.
It is the same imagery we have of Jesus praying for us his disciples, laying over his hands over us as he "consecrate" us in truth.
Oh dear Jesus, make our hands strong to keep working, doing the difficult things many avoid so we can bless more people; keep our hands open too to share our work and blessings with others; most of all, keep our hands clasp together in prayer to you to surrender ourselves to your will always so that our hands may be cleansed of dirt and stains of sin worthy in giving praise to you and touching those in need. Amen.
Paul saying goodbye at Ephesus on the way to Rome for his trial and eventual martyrdom.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 10 November 2024 1 Kings 17:10-16 ><}}}}*> Hebrews 9:24-28 ><}}}}*> Mark 12:38-44
Our Sunday readings are so lovely, so picturesque where you find in both first reading and gospel the character of a poor widow standing side by side with great men of faith in God as the main focus, the Prophet Elijah and Christ Jesus, respectively.
In the first reading, we find humorously the Prophet Elijah asking for water, then some bread from a widow gathering sticks outside her home in Zarephath.
Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid… For the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.'” She left and did as Elijah had said. She was able to eat for a year, and he and her son as well; The jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, as the Lord had foretold through Elijah (1 Kings 17:13, 14-16).
Elijah had fled Israel after proclaiming a drought because the people turned away from God to worship baals or false gods brought by the wife of King Ahab, Queen Jezebel. God then directed Elijah to Zarephath outside the city of Sidon to hide where the king was the father of his archenemy, Queen Jezebel!
Imagine Elijah hiding in the most hostile place of all with a pagan widow who worshipped baal so denounced by him. But, here is a marvelous story of faith of Elijah who trusted God completely in obeying Him to move to the pagan region ruled by his enemies. Similar was the faith of the pagan widow who surprisingly believed Elijah and God’s power that she did not mind putting her life and her son’s at risk in harboring their enemy. Their admirable faith both remind us how God accomplishes His great acts of mercy and love when we surrender ourselves totally to Him.
Photo by author, Wailing Wall of Jerusalem, May 2019.
Nine hundred years later after Elijah, we had Jesus in Jerusalem like the prophet in a very hostile place and situation too – in the Temple that was the very domain of His enemies. This was the Holy Week after Jesus had entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday leading to Good Friday.
And like Elijah who approached a widow worshipper of baal, Jesus dared to sit at the temple area after harshly castigating the scribes there:
He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, all her livelihood” (Mark 12:41-44).
Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.
Throughout this week, that scene of Jesus seated at the Temple had so absorbed me. What was Mark trying to tell us in reporting this? Jesus seated at the temple opposite the treasury observing the crowd is something else.
See the genius of Mark in weaving this Sunday’s gospel scene: right after castigating the corrupt leaders of Israel who were affiliated with the temple, Mark segued into this poor widow dropping some coins into the treasury box. In ancient Israel, the poor like the widows were not required to give those contributions. In a stroke of genius, Mark tells us something is wrong in this scene which Jesus rightly attacked because that widow was one of those widows whose house was devoured by the scribes!
“The Widow’s Mite” painting by French painter James Tissot, from brooklynmuseum.org.
And Mark never intended the story only for the Christians of his time but also for us as we have continued in the Church that malpractice by priests and scribes of Jerusalem. Woe to us priests and bishops who go around in “long robes and accept greetings, seats of honor” and worst of all, “devour houses of widows”, forgetting the poor, preferring always to be with the rich and powerful that social media attest.
Like Zarephath and the Jerusalem Temple, there is Jesus sitting in the middle of our Church under attack on all fronts and within in order to be closer with us especially the widows and the poor who are victims of an unjust society and systems perpetrated by same men and women supposed to be servants of God, or, at least men and women of God.
Photo by author, July 2024.
That image of Jesus seated at the Temple opposite the treasury was in fact a reminder of His being the victim too of injustice in the temple like the poor widow, of His Crucifixion on Good Friday. In fact, the 30 pieces of silver the priests have paid Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus must have come from that treasury.
In the midst of the hostilities and hurts, the divisions and abuses of power by priests and lay alike, in the Jerusalem Temple then and now in our Church, there has always been Jesus sitting among us, observing our offerings after first offering Himself for us all as our perfect High Priest (second reading) who finally freed us from these injustices and inhumanity of the past.
That is why I love this scene so much.
More than tithing, Jesus tells us this Sunday that like that generous heart of the poor widow, despite her plight, she continued to give because she believed, she hoped, most of all, she loved God. She need not give but still insisted because the treasury was for the upkeep of the temple, the very house of God, therefore, for God Himself.
There are times I hurt deep inside for the pains of the many scandals some priests and bishops have caused the Church but I choose to remain, even to sit in this Church or be a victim like Jesus amid all these because I love Jesus. Yes, amid all these sorrows, there is one “first” I see above all, Jesus Christ. This is concretization of last Sunday’s “which is the first of the commandments” – God who is love above all!
Jesus is telling us this Sunday through the poor widow that it is recognizing God in us and in one another that matters, and that is why we give at all.
Photo by author, 2022.
If we love God, if we find God in us and in others, when we find Jesus seated among us, then we realize we are the Church, we are the Temple we love. The moment we realize this, the more we feel at home “sitting with Jesus in the temple”, then we start giving totally because we love as well as know for a fact that whatever we give is actually what we receive from God in Jesus.
Why give so little? Give all, give everything because you never have anything to begin with! Everything is from God. That is why it is in giving that we truly receive. In every Mass, we do not give anything except our mere presence that is not even complete and yet, we get abundant blessings, primarily Jesus Christ whom we receive wholly, Body and Blood.
In every Mass we celebrate, we sit with Jesus in the midst of this inhospitable world we live in, even right in the church we love and hate sometimes. We do not give up. We persevere because we believe, we trust, we hope. Most of all, we love like Elijah and Jesus and believe like the poor widows of Zarephath and Jerusalem Temple. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Thirty-first Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 06 November 2024 Philippians 2:12-18 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 14:25-33
Photo by author, Fatima Ave., Valenzuela City, 25 July 2024.
Grant me, dear Jesus the serenity and composure of St. Paul: so peaceful, so dignified, so free in the face of death.
Do everything without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world, as you hold on to the word of life… But, even if I am poured out as a libation upon the sacrificial service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with all of you. In the same way you also should rejoice and share your joy with me (Philippians 2:14-16, 17-18).
Many times O Lord the burdens are too heavy and unbearable, with pains and suffering so overwhelming that I really wonder if I would make any difference at all; but, you are always here present in the "nick of time" sending people reminding me of jokes I have long forgotten but still tickle them; or simple lessons I could not recall but they have kept and guided them through life; or music I made them listened to that have lingered in their heads; or books and poems that have opened their horizons.
Teach me, Jesus to renounce everything I have, empty me of my pride, of my self to be filled with you only so that I may truly shine like light in this world so at home and fascinated with neons and klieg lights that mislead them to darkness. Amen.
I had published my Sunday homily that Saturday morning when I decided to unwind by watching any movie on Netflix which I do only on weekends. So glad it was the first movie I saw, very related with the story of Prophet Elijah and Jesus Christ’s “Bread of Life Discourse” that Sunday.
First think I liked with Lolo and the Kid is its fast-paced story that revolved around the two characters played by veteran Joel Torre and GMA7’s famed Firefly star Euwenn Mikael Aleta.
Second thing so interesting with me is how Lolo and Kid have no proper names at all (I just learned Lolo’s name was Mario after reading the various write ups) maybe because they stand for all of us who are caught in this great race for money and material things but deep inside longing for the more essential and truly lasting in life like love. And people who love us too, who care for us, and would stand by us.
We are Lolo and Kid who many times have traded our principles for momentary satisfaction but despite our seemingly strong facades of pragmatism and “resourcefulness” or madiskarte as Lolo taught Kid in the movie, deep inside us is still our conscience where God dwells, telling us to pursue good and shun evil. Joel Torre perfectly portrayed this beautiful side in each one of us (with his Ilonggo accent) of keeping a conscience despite our sinfulness, like a soft shell we delicately keep whole and intact inside lest we lose everything in life.
Photo from de.flixable.com
Recall our first reading last Sunday about Elijah fleeing to the mountain from an army pursuing to kill him. Elijah felt a total failure like Lolo and us many times in life when after all our goodwill and love, we are dumped by the very people we care for.
Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert, until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it. He prayed for death, saying: “This is enough, O Lord! Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers” (1 Kings 19:4).
In one of the scenes of Lolo and the Kid, we find Lolo crying, cursing everyone and murmuring just like in last Sunday’s gospel. As he tried to end his life with a knife, Lolo suddenly heard the cry of an infant from the heap of garbage around him. What a beautiful portrayal of that infant left in the trash like Jesus Christ born on a manger becoming the savior of Lolo, a definitive message of mercy and love from God after his apparent cry of “This is enough, Lord!”
How many times have we found ourselves in the same situation, often in less momentous ones than Elijah or any prophet and saint, crying out to God in the heavens “this is enough”?
But, what is also most true behind every cry of “this is enough” that we make, we continue to believe and to hope in God that there is still a way out of our plight. And very often like in the story of Elijah last Sunday and in that scene in Lolo and the Kid, God comes at the nick of time like that infant crying in the garbage heap, a reminder of life and beauty found within us despite all the dirt we may have around us.
From netflixlovers.it
Here we find the Kid, perfectly played by Euwenn like in Firefly, as the saving grace, the Christ-figure in the movie bringing salvation to Lolo. Kid was “the bread of life from heaven” who “fed” Lolo with life with its meaning and direction. And joy found in Kid, the image of Christ Jesus.
Now, joy according to Jesus at the Last Supper is like a woman at the pangs of childbirth (Jn.16:21-22); it is deeper than happiness. True joy is borne out of self-sacrifice, a fruit of self-denial, of loving somebody more than one’s self. This we find at the end of this moving film.
Now all grown up, Kid finally met again Lolo in the hospital a day after his college graduation. Kid brought Lolo while seated on a wheelchair to visit Taba (another character without a name), their suki in fencing. From there, they went to their usual stop, a videoke bar to eat and drink, singing repeatedly Kenny Roger’s Through the Years.
Then, Lolo died, singing the only tune he knew that summed their beautiful relationship.
Photo from list23.com.
After Lolo’s body was taken out of the videoke bar, Kid opened Lolo’s bag that had a tin can of biscuit filled with old photographs taken with their stolen Polaroid camera. The photos did not merely remind Kid of their happy times together but most especially when they were already apart!
Unknown to Kid, Lolo hid to take photos when he moved to his adoptive parents, from his first ever birthday party to his college graduation! Through the years, Lolo, like God, was always there, present in all of Kid’s milestones in life because he is truly loved.
I have never liked that song Through the Years even when it was a hit during our high school days in 1981 but since Saturday, I have been humming it silently, hearing it inside me as an LSS until now. We hear the song playing throughout the end of the movie with scenes of how Lolo secretly took Kid’s photos filled with love and joy amid the strong current of pain within he had to endure to be far and away yet so near to his beloved apo.
If the Kid is the Christ figure in this film, Lolo is the God-the-Father figure, the One who seems so far from us as if He does not care at all. In Lolo and the Kid, there is that message of God never leaving us wherever we may be, whether we are in the squalor of poverty and sin or in the purity and cleanliness of affluence and grace maybe. God like Lolo to Kid is always with us but never interferes, silently doing many things to ensure that despite our many faults and failures in life, we end up in Him and His love.
We go back to Elijah’s cry of “This is enough, Lord!”, our very same cry like Lolo in the movie.
It is a cry that is also a prayer coming from our innermost being when we feel so saddled with no one to unload our woes except to God – who after all is the very reason why we cry! Watch for Lolo’s soliloquy on this reality we often do.
Photo by author, James Alberione Center, QC, 08 August 2024.
It is a cry of faith so akin with love because to believe and to love go hand in hand. It is during that moment when we feel like giving up to God, crying “this is enough” when in reality we surrender everything to God because we have been caught up by Him that we cannot resist His attraction.
It is that moment when we feel so “fed up with life” but deep inside, we hear God telling us like Lolo with the cries of an infant or like Elijah with an angel instructing him, “Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!” (1 Kings 19:7).
Yes, our life journey is still long but we have a companion in Jesus, our bread of life from heaven, nourishing us, strengthening us, teaching us that essential beauty of love found only in sharing one’s life for the other. As we have said in last Sunday’s homily, it is when we cry “it is enough, Lord” when God gives us more than enough to sustain us sometimes in the form of a good movie like this one. May we have more “bread” like Lolo and the Kid that feeds our soul and gladdens our heart.
*BTW, we are not paid to endorse this movie; simply sharing with you its good news.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Memorial of St. John of God, Religious, 08 March 2024 Hosea 14:2-10 ><]]]]]'> + ><]]]]]'> + ><]]]]]'> Mark 12:28-34
Photo of convolvulus sabatius from frustratedgardener.com
Your words today, dear Father, led me back to the Monday reflection of another blogger about the word "acceptance":
“Acceptance” can be seen as a passive word suggesting that we just put up with something we cannot change.
On the other hand, it can be a positive condition in our spirituality by which we prepare ourselves to hospitably receive that which we had not expected. Such positive acceptance suggests a non-judgmental, wise, and discerning heart.
Why are we so fond, O God, of doing anything except precisely what you want us to do? Why can't we just accept your words, your plans, or your instructions we always disregard, "hoping" there could be something better?
Forgive us, Father, when even in the quagmire of sin and evil, we keep resisting you, refusing to accept your suggestions; let us learn beginning this Lent when to just stop and simply accept you and your words.
Photo by author, Banaba Tree, 2020.
Thus says the Lord: Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt. Take with you words, and return to the Lord; say to him, “Forgive all iniquity, and receive what is good, that we may render as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.”
Hosea 14:2-3
Draw us closer to you, Lord Jesus Christ and your kingdom by accepting the basic truth of our faith that the love of God is always the love of others; help us realize life is more than searching for what is the best possible condition or situation we can have but to accept our whereabouts where we can give our best selves to you through others to make this world a better one. ' Everything, O Lord, begins in finding you within each of us so we may find you in others especially the sick and the weakest like St. John of God who simply accepted everything that came to his life as coming from you; it is in our acceptance of you, O Lord, that we begin to lovingly serve you in others because that is also when we are able to relate our lives with your Church, with the world, with our callings; it is in accepting these that we become "not far from the Kingdom of God." Amen.
Photo of a convolvulus tricolor from BBC Gardeners World Magazine.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday in the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 01 February 2024 1 Kings 2:1-4, 10-12 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Mark 6:7-13
Photo by author, Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 12 July 2023.
Praise and glory to you God our loving Father! Thank you for January, thank you very much for February; as we start this second month of the year, you remind us how in life every ending is also a beginning.
When the time of David’s death drew near, he gave these instructions to his son Solomon: ”I am going the way of all flesh. Take courage and be a man. Keep the mandate of the Lord, your God, following his ways and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees as they are written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in whatever you do, wherever you turn.”
1 Kings 2:1-3
Give us the grace of ageing gracefully, Father, like your servant David; give us the courage and sincerity to accept, to embrace when we are "going the way of all flesh"; yes, we all wish a life of joy and happiness with less pains and difficulties but as we forge on life, we have experienced, we have realized, and proven so many times that hardships and hurts are inevitable parts of this life, even separations and death that David perfectly called as way of the flesh.
Joy and fulfillment happen when we embrace these shadows and darkness for it is in those spaces where lights are most visible and life is most meaningful; give us, Lord Jesus, the courage to let go, to leave our extra baggages behind in order to travel light in this life proclaiming your good news; make us realize that true wealth is in having less of the material and more of the spiritual; most of all, every ending is also a beginning, hence, the need for us to prepare those next to us. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Cecilia, Virgin & Martyr, 22 November 2023
2 Maccabees 7:1, 20-31 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 19:11-28
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, in Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 13 September 2023.
Praise and glory to you,
God our loving Father!
Today I pray to you for
the gift of a "noble spirit"
like that courageous mother
of seven brothers who died on
the same day before her as she
extolled them to resist temptations
and remained faithful to you:
"Filled with a noble sprit that
stirred her womanly heart with
manly courage" (2 Maccabees 7:21).
What a beautiful description of that
woman's great courage and faith
in you, dear God!
Give us a noble spirit, Lord,
a selfless soul that thinks more
of others than one's self especially
in this age when we are so self-conscious
and conceited with our bloated egos
always on the take, as if the world
revolves around us; a soul that is
not selfish and other centered
because of deep faith and trust
in you, Father.
Stir your noble spirit in us, Lord;
let us find anew our moral compass,
our moral grounding in you and your
laws especially in this age when
"everything and anything goes"
regardless of morals and virtues,
an age that glorifies every person as
a universe in himself,
crowning himself as god,
yet so afraid of the truth,
so ignorant of freedom,
without any idea of
the real meaning of living
and loving that in the end,
could not accept death.
Like that courageous woman
and St. Cecilia, stir the noble spirit
within us, Lord Jesus,
to embrace wholeheartedly
our being human,
our being finite,
our being-towards-death
so that we may start living
as you have taught us by
giving and sharing ourselves
and everything we have
in order to be fulfilled,
by facing death so that
we may live in you.
Amen.
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