Category: Heaven

Thinking Like Jesus

jesusrainbow
Photo from Bing.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Thursday, 21 February 2019, Week VI, Year I
Genesis 9:1-13///Mark 8:27-33
My dearest God and Father, today you remind me of the beautiful story of Noah, of how you had promised through him never again to destroy earth.

What a joy always to my eyes to see your rainbow, its beautiful colors without any definitive origin nor end, reminding me of how you have given us more than a promise but a covenant.

When I was a child, I always heard that at the end of every rainbow is a pot of gold that would make anyone who would find it very wealthy.  As I matured, I realized O God that the pot of gold of your rainbow is your Son Jesus Christ our Lord:  whoever finds Him becomes wealthy indeed!

Like the song of the psalmist today, “From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth”, Jesus became your rainbow, your new covenant who stretched  His arms on the Cross to save us.

Give me the grace O God to think like Jesus as the Christ who willed to suffer and die for us in accordance with your Holy Will.

Give me the grace O God to think like Jesus as the Christ so that my life and those around me are enriched in your love and mercy.  Amen.  Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.

Advent Is Seeing God Among Others

JimMarpa9m
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer
Wednesday, 05 December 2018, Advent Week 1
Isaiah 25:6-10///Matthew 15:29-37

            Like during the season of Lent, Lord, I have always been amazed with the antiphons and prayers of Advent.  Since Monday, we have been praying after Communion for the grace to focus more about things of heaven than of earth.  And the most amazing thing about it is we really do not have to look up high to see what is heavenly; we simply have to look at one another just like what you did on the mountain today in the gospel.

             After receiving the heavenly food last Monday, we prayed “to love the things of heaven and to hold fast to what endures”; then at Tuesday we implored “to judge wisely of the things of earth and to hold firm to the things of heaven” while today we asked “to be cleansed of our faults and prepare us for the coming feasts” in heaven.  These are all calls from you, Lord Jesus, for us to see you among our suffering brothers and sisters.

             Stir our hearts, O Christ, and move them into pity like when you worried at the great crowd of people that included “the lame, the blind, the mute, and many others” (Mt.15:30) who have followed you for three days on the mountain with nothing to eat.  Make us worry like you for all the sufferings of those forgotten by the society and even by their families.  Use our hands to “wipe away the tears from all faces” (Is. 25:28) and let us be the heavenly food and drinks to be partaken by everyone after receiving your words and your Body and Blood in the Eucharist.

             Come, Lord Jesus, this holy season of Advent, “illumine what is hidden in darkness” (Entrance antiphon) and let your light penetrate my inner self so I may truly see how far I have been from you and from others, and most especially that I may see you as you are so that in the process I may also see my real self.  Renew me this season, Jesus, and let me enter your fullness of life.  AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.

*Photo by Jim Marpa, a former colleague at the Varsitarian of UST (circa 1986).  Used with permission.

LMC