Being grateful

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 18 August 2023
Joshua 24:1-13 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 19:3-12

*Photo by author, Mt. St. Paul, La Trinidad, Benguet, 2017.*

Loving Father,
teach me to be grateful
not only for everything I have
but also for everything those
who have come ahead of me
have had.

Many times,
I thank you only for
what I have without seeing
these are just a continuation of
your previous blessings - like
the gift of a country and nation,
the gift of a family, of a religion,
of a school, of everything I 
hold and value like freedom,
of everything I now so enjoy 
that were merely passed on
to us like what Joshua reminded
your people upon settling in the 
Promised Land.

Joshua addressed all the people: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I gave you a land which you had not tilled and cities which you had not built, to dwell in; you have eaten of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.”
Joshua 2,13

Forgive us, dear God
not just for being ungrateful
for your blessings but for even
altering their very nature
to suit our own desires
and selfish motives like 
sex and marriage:
"Some Pharisees approached Jesus,
and tested him, saying, 'Is it lawful
for a man to divorce his wife 
for any cause?'" (Matthew 19:3).

Forgive us, dear Father,
for the hardness of our hearts,
in turning away from your intentions,
in going against your own will 
for the gifts you have given
and change them to the ways
and dictates of the world.
Amen.

Lent is for remembering & thanking

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Fourth Week of Lent, 23 March 2023
Exodus 32:7-14   >>> + <<<   John 5:31-47

*Photo by author, 03 March 2023, Teresa, Rizal.*

Forgive us, 
God our merciful Father
for our forgetfulness and
thanklessness; more than
being forgetful, we are also
ungrateful like the Israelites at Sinai.

Many times in life,
we rarely appreciate what we have,
especially the little ones.

How unfortunate we recognize only
big things as important that we forget
everything in life which is the sum of 
the littlest things put together -
the single steps of every journey,
the minute cells of our body,
the little efforts put together 
by the little, ordinary people
who give us our meals, our daily needs,
the small acts of kindness like smiles,
hi’s and hellos we don’t even mind at all;
the little children who play or cry 
to remind us of our beginnings…
So many other tiny, 
little things and moments, 
ordinary people we disregard
that prevent us from remembering and 
thanking you and everyone 
for the many joys and comforts
we enjoy in every moment.

Forgive us also,
loving Father,  
of how we forget
and hence could not appreciate 
to be grateful with the little 
gifts we have within like 
this life we have versus the
great moments of victory and fame we 
choose to remember; the family and
friends you surround us daily
but take for granted as we prefer
big people like the rich and famous;
those little giftedness of ours like
simplicity, sense of humor, 
even rich appetite to savor 
and enjoy ordinary food shared
with common folks we forget 
and become thankless for our gifts
of selves and uniqueness.

Bless us, 
dear God to remember
and be reminded of the many
gifts we have but unaware
that make us thankless and forgetful,
tempting us to create our own idols
and golden calves to worship;
open our eyes to see your works
and majesty in Jesus who became like
us in everything except sin
so that we experience you more
in flesh in us and one another;
help us feel and enjoy life’s little joys
and blessings so we may remember
and never forget all good things 
come from you, often in little
packages to be more appreciative 
and grateful.
Amen.

God our Daddy

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, 07 July 2022
Hosea 11:1-4, 8-9 ><)))*> + ><)))*> + ><)))*> Matthew 10:7-15

*Photo by Fr. Pop Dela Cruz, 15 June 2022 in San Miguel, Bulacan.*

Your words today, O God,
are so touching 
because you are so human, 
so fatherly, to tender, so loving:

Thus says the Lord: When Israel was a child, I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called them, the farther they went from me, sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to idols.
Hosea 11:1-2

So true, O God:
you have always loved us
despite our unworthiness,
freeing us from sins and other
darkness in life yet,
we turned away from you;
and worst, the more you call us,
the more we turn away from you!
And despite that,
you kept on calling us,
even running after us so we
may return to you through your Son
Jesus Christ but, sadly, the more 
we run away from you.

Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms; I drew them with human cords, with bands of love; I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks; yet, though I stooped to feed my child, they did not know that I was their healer.
Hosea 11:3-4

This part I love so much, God;
so touching, so picturesque
of you, so human, so fatherly
like a daddy teaching us
 how to walk,
tenderly drawing us with
"human cords, with bands of love",
not with with ropes and sticks
used for animals;
most of all, your gentlest
and tenderest image of raising us
to your cheeks like an infant,
stooping to feed us that all show
your intimacy and deep love
we have brushed aside, even spurned.
And that is how ungrateful we are!!!
Yet, you are still here,
loving us, forgiving us
in Jesus Christ who suffered and died
for our sins.

My heart is overwhelmed; my pity stirred. I will not give vent to my blazing anger, I will not destroy Ephraim again. For I am God and not man, the Holy One present among you; I will not let the flames consume you.
Hosea 11:8-9

Lord Jesus Christ,
thank you for letting us call
your Father "Abba!",
thank you for letting us experience
his touch that heals and cleanses,
his love that forgives and casts out
demons from us; let us be
reminders today that the
Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Amen.