The Lord Is My Chef Christmas Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday after the Epiphany of the Lord, 03 January 2022
1 John 3:22-4:6 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25
Photo by author, Ubihan Island, Meycauayan, Bulacan, 31 December 2021.
Glory and praise to you,
dearest God our Father!
Thank you for your epiphany in
Jesus Christ; thank you for
appearing to us in many ways
we so often fail to recognize
because we have not been wise enough
like those Magi from the east by truly
searching you first before the things
of the world.
Teach us to keep your commandments,
Lord, by "believing in the name of your
Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another
just as he commanded us" (1 Jn.3:23).
Teach us also to "do not trust every spirit
but test the spirits to see whether they
belong to you, O God" (1 Jn.4:1);
let your Spirit lead us closer to Jesus
your Son for we belong to you, loving God!
When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the Sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled.
Matthew 4:12-14
Whoever belongs to you, dear God
recognizes and obeys your Son Jesus;
give us the humility to repent our sins
and be cleansed by your mercy and
forgiveness in Christ so we may begin
this new year fully in him. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Week XXXII, Year I in Ordinary Time, 08 November 2021
Wisdom 1:1-7 ><]]]]*> + <*[[[[>< Luke 17:1-6
Photo by author, Israel, 2017.
Thank you dear Jesus
for the assurance of your
love and understanding
as well as the fair warning that
"Things that cause sin will
inevitably occur. It would be
better for him if a millstone
were put around his neck and
he be thrown into the sea than
for him to cause one of these
little ones to sin" (Luke 17:1-2).
I know, Lord, it is not an excuse
but a fact of life that we shall always
be fighting sins and evil while here
on earth as we strive to follow you;
but I know too well, dear Lord, of the
deep pains and sorrows, the widespread
anguish every kind of scandal brings
to our family and society, most
specially to the Mother Church.
Love justice, you who judge the earth; think of the Lord in goodness, and seek him in integrity of heart; because he is found by those who test him not, and he manifests himself to those who do not disbelieve him. For perverse counsels separate a man from God, his power, put to the proof rebukes the foolhardy; because into a soul that plots evil wisdom enters not, nor dwells she in a body under debt of sin.
Wisdom 1:1-4
Forgive us, merciful Jesus,
strengthen us to live in wisdom,
keeping our hearts free from "perverse
thoughts" so that your Holy Spirit of
instruction may fill and guide us to
keep us from becoming a "skandalon"
or a rock that causes one to fall and sin.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Week XXX, Year I in Ordinary Time, 27 October 2021
Romans 8:26-30 ><)))'> <'(((>< + ><)))'> <'(((>< Luke 13:22-30
Photo by Ms. Eunice Vergara in Victoria, Laguna, 2020.
Thank you very much, dear God
for the grace of being able to pray,
of being able to reach out to you,
to listen to you, and be with you;
indeed, "we do not know how to
pray as we ought, but the Spirit
intercedes with inexpressible
groanings" (Rom. 8:26).
How silly and sad when so often
we believe so much in ourselves
that we pray on our own abilities
that we always demand you to take
cognizance of this feat, not realizing
we are merely responding to you
who has always been communicating
with us ever since!
So many times, we pray and tell
you so many things that we need,
asking and demanding you for everything
forgetting that prayer is more of
simply being with you, listening to you
because you know everything we need.
And so, dearest God our loving Father,
today I pray that you let me pray often,
that I grow deeper in my relationship with
you because that is what prayer really is;
let me not be concerned with other things
like numbers and quantities, of whether
many or few will be saved like that man
in the gospel today because
what really matters is I strive to grow
in knowing you, loving you, and
obeying you so that in the end,
I am conformed to you and in you
through Jesus Christ your Son.
For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified.
Romans 8:29-30
I pray, O Lord, that my life
becomes a prayer in itself,
a oneness in you,
now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Week XXX, Year I in Ordinary Time, 25 October 2021
Romans 8:12-17 ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[>< Luke 13:10-17
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
Praise and glory to you,
God our loving Father
for this gift of another Monday;
help us to live in solidarity
with your Son Jesus Christ
as brothers and sisters,
heirs of your kingdom in heaven
that in our work and studies,
we may always be guided
by the Holy Spirit to seek and
follow your Holy Will.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then, heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
Romans 8:15-17
So many times, O Lord,
we are like that synagogue official
in the gospel today: blinded not only
by material things but most of all
by our religion - the worst blindness
we have which we refuse to admit;
hence, we continue to plunge deeper
into its darkness of self-righteousness
as we outwardly profess we believe
in you, we worship you alone
when in fact we have many other gods
ruling over us like our pride and ego,
our religious positions and titles,
even our ministries that are all
self-serving, too far from the people
specially the poor and sick,
and much too far from you,
dear God.
Give us the grace, dear Father,
through your Son Jesus Christ
in the power of the Holy Spirit to
enlighten our minds and hearts
to search more his light to illumine
the darkness within us and to find
more his face among one another
so that we may be truly in solidarity
with him and your people.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of St. John Paul II, Pope, 22 October 2021
Romans 7:18-25 ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[>< Luke 12:54-59
Photo by author, 2019.
Thank you very much,
dearest God our Father
for knowing me so well like
St. Paul, of how I constantly have
to wage that battle against evil
deep within me.
Brothers and sisters: I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not. For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. So, then, I discover the principle that when I want to do right, evil is at hand.
Romans 7:18-21
There is an ongoing war deep within
each one of us between what is right
and good and what is wrong and evil;
there is always that inner struggle that
even if we know the right thing to do,
sometimes we choose what is wrong
and sinful not simply because we are weak
as humans; like St. Paul, we are not
offering an excuse to you but ask for
your grace for us to be responsible
to our decisions and actions for it is
only in admitting our guilt and sinfulness
can we truly see and follow you.
This inner battle between good and
evil within us are in fact the very roots
of the bigger wars and strife we have
among nations and peoples, of the more
pernicious indifference and self-centeredness
we choose daily in the face of widespread
poverty and hunger, corruption and deceptions
not only in our streets but also right in
our own homes and houses of worship.
Send us your Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus
to enlighten our minds and our hearts
to be able to read spiritually the things
happening in us and around us,
that we may be able to judge for
ourselves what is right.
Let us grow in the courage and wisdom
of St. John Paul II, your great Pope who
lived and served us with great example of
his life waging war against the many evils of
our time, standing for what is true and good,
your voice in this wilderness, telling us to
"be not afraid" to love like Jesus your Son
with Mary his Mother. Amen.
Homily by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Mass of the Holy Spirit for the College Department
Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City
06 September 2021
Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, April 2021.
"Those who seek truth seek God,
whether they realize it or not."
- St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
Last August 9 we celebrated the memorial of a modern saint who died at the gas chambers of Auschwitz during the Second World War. She was a German Jew named Edith Stein who became an atheist but later regained her faith as she pursued higher learning in the field of philosophy that was so rare for women at that time.
As she progressed into her philosophical studies working as an assistant to Prof. Edmund Husserl known as the “father of phenomenology”, she converted into Catholicism, eventually leaving her teaching post at a university to become a Carmelite contemplative nun, adopting the name Teresa Benedicta dela Cruz.
Congratulations, our dear students in college who dare to learn and seek the truth by enrolling in this Academic Year 2021-2022.
Students and teachers are both seekers of truth. As St. Teresa Benedicta had experienced, every search for truth leads us to God, the ultimate Truth.
This is a very difficult and trying year for us all but like St. Teresa Benedicta and all the other saints as well as great men and women of history, they all sought for the truth in the most troubled time in history. Trials and hardships in life make learning more “fun” – and an imperative at the same time. In fact, the more we must study and search the truth during critical moments in history and in our lives in order to learn more lessons that are valuable not only to us in dealing with our problems but also with the succeeding generations.
Two important virtues we need to cultivate in seeking the truth, in learning our lessons in this time of the pandemic that I hope you, teachers and students will rediscover this Academic Year: patience and humility.
This pandemic may be considered as another Pentecost,
teaching us the value of patience,
of patient waiting for everything,
reminding us that the beauty of life is best experienced
by allowing nature to take its course,
without shortcuts nor rush, to enjoy its beauty as it unfolds before us.
Photo by author, 2019.
Patience is from the Latin “patior” that means “to suffer, to bear with.”
Learning is a process. We cannot know everything right away. It requires a lot of patience on every student and teacher.
This is the reason why Jesus assured his disciples at the Last Supper that he would send them the Holy Spirit he referred to as the Advocate.
“When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning… I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.
John 15:26-27, 16:12
In the last 20 years, so much have changed in our lives brought about by modern means of communication.
Great volumes of information have become so readily accessible at great speed, that many in the younger generation have seemed to have lost the virtue of patience. At the snap of your fingers, you can easily have almost everything you need aside from information and music – including food and groceries, clothes and appliances, plants and pets, even medicines and dates!
But life, most especially learning, takes time, requiring a lot of patience in waiting and searching.
Like the Apostles of Jesus who had to wait for the descent of the Holy Spirit at the Upper Room in Jerusalem.
This pandemic may be considered as another Pentecost, teaching us the value of patience, of patient waiting for everything, reminding us that the beauty of life is best experienced by allowing nature to take its course, without shortcuts, to enjoy its beauty as it unfolds before us.
Let our Lord Jesus Christ be our example in following in the path of patience, of suffering; every trial becomes a blessing, a moment of transformation when seen in the light of Jesus Christ who suffered and died for us on the Cross. His very life tells us that there can be no Easter Sunday without a Good Friday.
This pandemic period is an extended Good Friday but in between those moments of sufferings, we experience little Easter if we try to be patient like what some of you have experienced when you graduated in this time of the pandemic.
Photo by author, January 2020.
The second virtue I wish to invite you to rediscover, teachers and students alike, is humility which is again from the Latin word humus that literally means “soil”.
From humus came the words human and humor.
Man was created from clay, a kind of soil. A person with a sense of humor is one who can laugh at things because he or she is rooted on the ground. We call a person with sense of humor in Filipino as “mababaw” or shallow – not empty but close to the ground or deeply rooted.
It is very difficult to learn anything nor discover the truth unless we first become humble. Pride and ego are the greatest stumbling blocks to any kind of learning. You will find in history, even in our personal lives how many opportunities in the past were lost simply because of our pride or “ego trip”.
Pride was the very sin of Adam and Eve that led to their fall. That is why when Jesus came to save us from effects of that Fall, humility became his central teaching when he demanded us to forget ourselves and, most of all, to become like that of a child so we shall enter the kingdom of heaven.
This humility Jesus himself showed us the path by being born like us – small and helpless.
And that has always been the way of God ever since: the small and little ones, those taken for granted, the unknown and rejected are always the ones used as God’s instruments, the ones always effecting the most far-reaching changes in history and our personal lives.
Even in the story of the Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit, we find the centrality of becoming small to become a part of the whole.
It is the exact opposite of the story at Babel when people in the Old Testament dared to build a tower reaching to the skies; because of their pride, God confused them by making them speak different languages that led to the collapse of their tower and ambitions. During the Pentecost, the people were all united as one despite the different languages they speak because everybody was willing to listen, to become small in themselves to give way to others.
Like during the Pentecost, let us allow the “tongues of fire” and the “strong, driving wind” of the Holy Spirit part us of our fears and indifference, pride and ego during this Academic year 2021-2022 to fully realize and learn the important lessons and truth this pandemic is teaching us.
Photo from vaticannews,va, 13 May 2017.
Whenever, and wherever there is a search for truth that leads to the discovery of God through our patience and humility, there springs simultaneously the growth of a community. It is no wonder that wherever there is prayer and worship, there is always learning leading to bonding, or communing.
The first universities – from the Latin term universitas or “community of teachers and scholars” – where all offshoots of the efforts of the monks in their monastery as they evangelized peoples, teaching them not only prayers but also the basics of learning like reading and writing. Eventually monasteries had annex buildings as schools and universities that led to the establishment of towns and cities in Europe that spawned the growth of commerce and trade following the great many interactions among peoples.
Here we find the beautiful interplay of the search for truth that leads to discovery of God that bears fruit into mercy and love among people.
Another learned Saint who sought the Truth, Thomas Aquinas said that the more we learn the truth, the more we become intelligent, the more we must become holy.
How lovely it is, my dear students and teachers of Our Lady of Fatima University that wherever there is Truth which is Veritas, there is also Misericordia, the two mottos of our beloved University.
Amid the threats of COVID-19, amid the difficulties of online learning, let us continue to seek the truth, be patient and humble with one another as we try to build a community of “achievers” by “improving man as man”, “rising to the top” not to be conceited and proud but to be able to offer ourselves in the service of the country and of the world, for the praise and glory of God.
May our Patroness, the Our Lady of Fatima, lead us closer to Jesus Christ who is “the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Week XXI, Year I in Ordinary Time, 25 August 2021
1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 ><]]]]*> + ><]]]]*> + ><]]]]*> Matthew 23:27-32
Photo by the author, Capernaum along the shore of Lake of Galilee (Tiberias), 2017.
Times are getting more tough,
more difficult, and most painful
for us these days, God our loving Father.
We ask you only for one thing -
lead us to your Son Jesus Christ our Lord
as we pray:
Lead us, O Lord closer to you
to be like you - loving and caring
merciful and forgiving;
Lead us, O Lord to your words
and actualize them in our lives;
Lead us, O Lord in your Holy Spirit
to work in us and through us
to bring life and joy, hope and inspiration
to those overshadowed with gloom
due to the pandemic.
And for this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly, that, in receiving the word of God from hearing for us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe.
1 Thessalonians 2:13
Remind us today, dearest Jesus
that the greatest impact we can have
in this life are not just the words we speak
but by the deeds of love and care,
compassion and dedication we show;
Remind us, Lord, that the real test
of our discipleship in you is not found
in what people say how good or holy we are
but that they themselves are led to the Father;
Remind us today, dearest Jesus
not to be hypocrites like the Pharisees
and scribes who only wanted to appear
beautiful outside but rotting inside (Mt.23:27).
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Week X in Ordinary Time, 10 June 2021
2 Corinthians 3:15-4:1, 3-6 ><)))*> + <*(((>< Matthew 5:20-26
Photo by Dr. Mai B. Dela Peña, Santorini, Greece 2016.
Lord Jesus Christ, please remove the veils that cover our minds that prevent us from truly seeing and meeting you. Let us remove the many veils we have unconsciously put on ourselves like our stubbornness and conservatism, legalism and formalism that have made our prayers and worship empty of you.
Brothers and sisters:
To this day, whenever Moses is read,
a veil lies over their hearts of the children of Israel,
but whenever a person turns to the Lord
the veil is removed.
(2Corinthians 3:15-16)
Teach us to submit ourselves more to the promptings and light of the Holy Spirit so that we may reflect you more, dear Jesus, than ourselves.
So many times we have forgotten that we are just bearers of your light, “slaves for your sake” (2Cor.4:5), dear Jesus task to bring people closer to the glory and brightness of God.
Do not let us fall into the same mistakes of the people of your time when praise and worship of God was focused more on the externals than what is inside our hearts expressed in our genuine concern for one another like people we may have hurt or neglected.
Jesus said to his disciples:
"I tell you, unless your righteousness
surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven."
(Matthew 5:20)
Teach us to go beyond the letters of the Laws.
Enable us to see the deeper and wider meaning of the commandment not to kill by respecting in words and deeds the value of every person, of not maligning any one with nasty talks and through the social media.
Enable us to see the direct link of our celebration of the Eucharist with our behavior and dealing with one another, seeking peace and reconciliation to be truly one in you and with the Father in heaven.
O sweet Jesus, we pray most dearly for those people who have boxed us and refused to give us the chance to show our goodness and goodwill; for those whose frame of mind is so fixed that they would not make the necessary adjustments in this time of crisis to accommodate so many people in great sufferings and trials in their lives.
Let your brightness shine on us, Lord Jesus, in these times of darkness and storms. Amen.
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera at Bgy. Lalakhan, Sta. Maria, Bulacan, 01 June 2021.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Week X in Ordinary Time, 08 June 2021
2 Corinthians 1:18-22 ><)))'> + <'(((>< Matthew 5:13-16
Photo by author, sunrise at the Lake of Galilee, the Holy Land, 2017.
Praise and thanksgiving to you, O God our loving Father, for this brand new day, so blessed and filled with many opportunities for us to change and grow in the Holy Spirit, to test our limits and see your wisdom in calling and sending us to make you known in the world.
How amazing that in every day you give us, you keep qualifying your call so that even if we are not qualified at all, you still call us because you believe in us.
Not that of ourselves
we are qualified to take credit for anything
as coming from us; rather, our qualification
comes from God, who has indeed qualified us
as ministers of a new covenant,
not of letter but of spirit;
for the letter brings death,
but the Spirit gives life.
(2 Corinthians 3:5-6)
Forgive us, dear Father, when so many times we refuse to obey your laws especially when they go against our whims and caprices, claiming them to be archaic and irrelevant but at the same time, when we complain of the Church’s many changes and reforms that do not suit us, when we choose to revert to the pass than embrace the changing world.
Let us understand the gospel today where Jesus declares, “Do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (Mt.5:17).
Let us live in the Holy Spirit to find and rediscover daily the person of Jesus Christ so that we may be gentle and kind like him with one another than being stuck in the rigidity and stagnation of our conservatism that make us harsh and legalistic in our relationships.
Let us live in the Holy Spirit so we may be free and faithful to you always, bubbling with spontaneity and creativity that express your glory, O Lord.
We pray today for those who choose to be sad, who insist on bringing back the past without understanding the true meaning of growing and changing in Christ, of maturing in freedom and love to fully appreciate the beauty of your gift of life. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Week X in Ordinary Time, 07 June 2021
2 Corinthians 1:1-7 ><)))*> + <*(((>< Matthew 5:1-12
Photo by author, Nazareth in Israel, 2019.
Your words today, O Lord, from St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians are so encouraging, so comforting as they are truly meant for us, too, in this time of trials and difficulties due to the pandemic.
In greeting the Corinthians as well as other Christians in the region who were facing tremendous tests and sufferings, St. Paul prayed fervently for them by introducing the virtue of “encouragement” – mentioning it ten times that we can feel his deep concern not only for the Corinthians but with anyone in any period of time like us going through severe tests like in this time of COVID-19.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement,
who encourages us in our every affliction,
so that we may be able to encourage those
who are in any affliction with the encouragement
with which we ourselves are encouraged by God.
(2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
Encouragement or comfort is what we really need at this time, Lord Jesus, in order to strengthen us “in enduring the sufferings” (2Cor.1:6) we are going through. It can only come from you for it is a grace that enables us to live out true blessedness found in your Beatitudes we heard in the gospel today.
So many among us are getting weak not only physically but also emotionally, mentally and spiritually in this prolonged quarantine periods when our mobility is so limited.
So many among us have lost their jobs and livelihood, with still many others so limited in their earning abilities while financial obligations are piling up.
So many among us feel so uncertain about the future, finding it so hard to focus on whatever we have at the moment so we can make the most out of every opportunity that comes out from this pandemic.
Worst of all, there are some of us who are in deep emotional traumas at this time when problems arise in their marriage and family life.
O God, you know the situation we are into, even the mess some of us have got involved with due to our own sinfulness and carelessness.
Send us the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, the Comforter and Encourager par excellence for us to be encouraged to persevere and to strive, to remain blessed so that we may encourage others too. Amen.
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