Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-16 ng Hunyo, 2024
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Our Lady of Fatima University-Sta. Rosa, Laguna, 2023.
Mula pa man noong una pinuna ko na pagdiriwang ng araw ng mga ina at araw ng mga ama dahil sa katawa-tawang pagbati nila: "Happy Mother's Day" sa lahat ng Ina! "Happy Father's Day" sa lahat ng Ama! Kanino pa nga ba araw ng mga Ina kungdi sa mga nanay at ang araw ng mga Ama kungdi sa mga tatay? Kaya hindi ko mapigilang matawa sa tila dispalenghagang turing nila na mother's day sa mga Ina at father's day sa mga Ama: e para kanino pa nga ba mga araw na iyon?
Nguni't sadyang mapagbiro itong tadhana nang aming ihatid si ina sa kanyang himlayan noong Sabado, kinabukasa'y ikatlong Linggo ng Mayo, Araw ng mga Ina; hindi na ako natawa bagkus naiyak nang makita sa social media napakaraming pagbati sa kani-kanilang ina ng Happy Mother's Day; noon ko higit nadama sakit ng pagiging ulila sa ina, kalungkutan ng pangungulila sa nanay na hindi na makikita, mahahagkan at mayayakap palaging tanong kung ako'y kumain na?
Larawan kuha ng may-akda sa Benguet, 2023.
Tinakda ang Araw ng mga Ina tuwing ikatlong Linggo ng Mayo upang parangalan kadakilaan nila ngunit kung tutuusin araw-araw ay Araw ng mga Ina dahil wala nang hihigit pa sa pag-ibig nila sa atin katulad ni Jesus sarili'y sinaid at binuhos matiyak ating kaligtasan, kapayapaan at katiwasayan; hindi sasapat isang araw ng Linggo taun-taon upang mga ina ay pagpugayan, parangalan at pasalamatan dahil sa bawat araw ng kanilang buhay, sarili kanilang iniaalay; batid ng mga nanay lilipas kanilang buhay maigsi lamang kanilang panahon kapos buong maghapon walang sinasayang na pagkakataon pipilitin pamilya ay makaahon sa lahat ng paghamon.
May kasabihan mga Hudyo
nilikha daw ng Diyos ang mga ina
upang makapanatili Siya sa lahat
ng lunan at pagkakataon;
hindi ba gayon nga kung saan
naroon ang nanay, mayroong buhay
at pagmamahal, kaayusan at kagandahan
kaya naman sa Matandang Tipan
matatagpuan paglalarawan
sa Diyos katulad ng isang ina:
"malilimutan ba ng ina
ang anak na galing sa kanya,
sanngol sa kanyang sinapupunan
kailanma'y di niya pababayaan;
nguni't kahit na malimutan
ng ina ang anak niyang tangan,
hindi kita malilimutan"; iyan ang
katotohanan ng Diyos at mga ina
mapanghahawakan
hanggang kamatayan.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima, 13 May 2024 Isaiah 61:9-11 ><}}}*> Galatians 4:4-7 ><}}}*> Luke 11:27-28
From cbcpnews.net, 13 May 2022, at the Parish of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City.
We celebrate today the Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima when she first appeared there in Portugal on May 13, 1917. What a wonderful coincidence the eve of her Memorial was the Solemnity of the Lord’s Ascension that fell on the third Sunday of May, Mother’s Day.
What a wondrous alignment of celebrations this May – the Lord’s Ascension, Mother’s Day and Memorial of Fatima – as they all speak of love and belongingness despite the painful reality of separations we experience while in this life filled with sufferings and darkness due to evil and sin.
When Jesus ascended into heaven, it was not about His going up to a certain place or location in the universe but actually a leveling up of His relationships with the Father and with us. Though He had physically left earth, He is still very much present in the world. In fact, Jesus had to leave us physically to be with us at all time here in this life.
True to His promise of not totally leaving us, Jesus not only sent us the Holy Spirit to dwell in each of us to make us strong and holy but also gave us His Mother the Blessed Virgin Mary to be our Mother too in this world still filled with sufferings and darkness due to the seeming prevalence of sin and evil.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
John 19:26-27
The Blessed Mother’s apparition in Fatima, Portugal more than 100 years ago was a resounding proof of the reality of God and His abiding love for mankind in this modern time when the world is more bent in denying His very existence.
How lovely that in reminding modern man of Himself to us, God used the most unique yet so common experience of everyone in every race – the mother. Everyone of us, including the most hardened criminals, always have two softest spots in our hearts, for children and our own mother. The umbilical cord with our mothers remain forever with us, even after they have died. This I realized yesterday on Mother’s Day.
While rehearsing my homily for the Mass, I had a hearty cry in my room when I came to the part of inserting the celebration of Mother’s Day. How can I speak of Mother’s Day when I am now “motherless”?
But hey…!!!
As I prayed and reviewed my prepared homily yesterday, I realized we are never “motherless” in this world!
Mothers are like Jesus Christ who ascended into heaven: when a mother dies, she remains a mother to us. Still so loving and caring.
Like Jesus who ascended into heaven, our mothers have to die and depart too to be with us more than ever. Those memories of our mother’s selfless love, from her singing of lullabies to make us fall into sleep to all her sacrifices we never saw and knew but so evident in her wrinkles and gray hair remain fresh until the end of our lives, assuring us of her and God’s love, that we shall get by in this life even when we do not see her like Jesus.
The Jews have a saying that God created mothers so that He can be everywhere. So true! That is why mothers are always lovely, “I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul; for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation, and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, like a bridegroom bedecked with her jewels” (Is.61:10).
Photo by author, December 2023.
Mary’s apparition in Fatima is motherhood at its finest, non pareil in history and the world. She appeared at the most crucial moment when the world was in great transition in all aspects of life that tempted us to go on our own, bragging on our achievements and knowledge.
Just like what happens in most families when many leave their families behind, especially their mother, blinded by success and the limelight. Despite all the hurts, mothers are life’s most enduring proof of God’s mercy and love. Like most mothers appealing to their children to return to their father, to come home, Mary called us in Fatima to go back to the Father in Jesus through the three children of Fatima. Her calls were very similar with every mother’s appeal to her children – pray always and repent.
Mary at Fatima reminds us of our own mothers who would never sleep – and die – until she’s assured her children are safe back home. See how the recent turn of events in history in the last 50 years were still shaped or affected by the Fatima apparition that further bolstered it to be one of the most popular devotion and pilgrimage sites in the world today.
Fatima and Mother’s Day cannot be separated from each other primarily because of all the mothers, the Blessed Virgin Mary is the foremost of all mothers in all time, the model disciple of her Son Jesus Christ not because of her just giving birth to Him but most of all, being the first to believe in Him!
While he was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.
Luke 11:27-28
May we heed the calls of the Blessed Mother in Fatima. Most of all, let us be like her, a model disciple of Jesus Christ, be a “mother” to everyone, nurturing and inspiring others with our faithful witnessing of the gospel especially in this time when people in many parts of the world are at edge or actually in war already, forgetting we are all brothers and sisters in one Father in heaven.
Our dear Mother Mary of Fatima, thank you for coming to us to remind us of God's love, to assure us we are never motherless in this world; help us to share God's loving tenderness and fidelity to promise to never forsake us; may our lives nurture and inspire others to hope and be open to God in the midst of the seeming meaningless world, striving to do what is true and good, making Jesus present in a humanity so often absent to God. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Memorial of St. Athanasius, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, 02 May 2024 Acts 15:7-21 ><}}}}*> Psalm 96:1-2, 2-3, 10 ><}}}}*> John 15:9-11
Your words today, Lord Jesus, are so dramatic like in the movies when Your disciples twice went silent: "The whole assembly fell silent, and they listened while Paul and Barnabas described the signs and wonders God worked among the gentiles through them. After they had fallen silent, James responded, 'My brothers, listen to me...'" (Acts 15:12-13).
Teach me to be silent, Lord, so that I may listen and hear what others are saying, what You are telling me through others; let me be silent, Jesus, to listen more to You, to experience Your presence, Your love and care, Your mercy and forgiveness, and Your wisdom and direction I must take in this life harassed by so many noises and competing voices to follow.
How interesting that Your great servant and theologian St. Athanasius whose Memorial we celebrate today, the first of the Doctors of the Church who fought the heretics to insist on Your being true God and true man was forced into exile so many times defending You and Your truth as the Christ; how lovely to reflect in those repeated exiles of St. Athanasius he fell silent not because of fear but because of courage by continuing to pray and reflect on Your Person as the Son of God.
Lord Jesus Christ, silence is the domain of trust; hence, teach me most especially to be silent like the saints in order to trust You more so that I can love more like You by remaining close with You, in You always (John 15:9). Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 30 April 2024 Acts 14:19-28 <*((((>< + ><))))*> John 14:27-31
Photo by Fr. Pop Dela Cruz, Binuangan Island, Obanda, Bulacan, 2021.
Your words today, O Lord Jesus, are very comforting and soothing on these extremely hot days of summer; and how amazing your words were set in the most distressing situations: in the first reading, Paul was stoned and dragged out of Lystra, "supposing he was dead" (Acts 14:19); in the gospel, as You spoke of Your impending betrayal and arrest leading to Your Passion and Death, You spoke about peace, telling Your disciples "Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid" (Jn.14:27).
How amazing, dear Jesus, are Your strength and courage to assure others even in the midst of great turmoil Yourself; where did Paul get those grace and power to strengthen the spirits of others, exhorting them to persevere in faith (Acts 14:22) after he almost got killed?
Photo by Fr. Pop Dela Cruz, Binuangan Island, Obanda, Bulacan, 2021.
Many times, my Lord, I cave into myself, worst, sulk in isolation from the rest when disappointed and hurt; keep me strong, dear Jesus, let me persevere in face of trials and difficulties like Paul, keeping in mind that difficulties are temporary, are meant to purify and strengthen me because the enemy has no power over me for You have already conquered the world in love; let me rejoice in the face of my adversaries so that the world may know and experience Your great love poured upon me in Your passion and death. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Fifth Sunday in the Easter Season, Cycle B, 28 April 2024 Acts 9:26-31 ><}}}}*> 1 John 3:18-24 ><}}}}*> John 15:1-8
From the Good Shepherd last Sunday, Jesus today declares himself as the “true vine”. Notice that qualifier true vine similar with last Sunday’s good shepherd because Jesus “lays down his life for the sheep” (Jn. 10:11, 17, 18); so we ask, was there an untrue vine?
Yes. Jesus was referring to Israel, God’s vineyard lavished with all his care but produced wild grapes as portrayed in Isaiah’s “Vineyard Song” that he vowed to take it away and plant a new vine fulfilled in Christ (Is. 5:1-7). Jesus as the true vine is an expression of his Incarnation, of how God in Jesus Christ became human like us in everything except sin so that we in turn would become like him, holy and divine. This can only be when keep that union intact by remaining in Christ.
Jesus said to his disciples: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.
Our scene is now at the Last Supper, after the washing of the feet of the disciples. Judas had already left and Jesus began his series of discourses capped with his high priestly prayer after which they proceeded to Gethsemane for his betrayal and arrest.
Imagine the solemnity of the scene, of how Jesus had shown the Twelve the meaning of his being the good shepherd laying down his life by taking the bread and wine as his Body and Blood given to everyone. All these will have its fullness on Good Friday at the Cross while it would take some time after Easter and Pentecost when the disciples will finally grasp and understand its meanings.
We are not just going back to a past event, to what Jesus had done. In declaring himself as the true vine, Jesus reveals to us himself truly God and Risen from the dead, telling us how we can share in the joy and mystery of his Resurrection. And that is by remaining in Jesus first above all, “Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.”
Photo by Dra. Carol Reyes-Santos, MD at Napa Valley, California, 2023.
See how in eight verses, Jesus used the word “remain” eight times because it is not enough Jesus is the true vine in whom we are blessed and become fruitful; we must remain in him too.
There is no doubt of Jesus remaining in us which is what his being a true vine is all about; unlike Israel in the Old Testament that produced wild grapes, Jesus can no longer be uprooted because he is God himself who had become one in us. But, are we one in him and with him?
To remain is more than physical like to stay. A branch remaining, staying intact with the vine but had turned yellow and dried up is clearly not one with the vine. We can be inside the church but be detached with everyone and the celebration. We may be staying or residing in the same address and home but our heart and very self may be so far away from our siblings or parents, or from your wife or husband.
Remaining implies something more than physical presence. To remain is to have a relationship, a bonding that is deep and intimate. To remain is to be of one heart as GMA7 claims to be a kapuso which is more important than being a kapamilya or a kapatid. There is no sense of being a family (kapamilya) when there is no love in the family or at the other hand, a sibling (kapatid) is nothing if the brother or sister is your enemy. We remain with God and everyone when our hearts are attuned or inclined to God and with others in love which is the fruit of the vine, Jesus Christ.
We can only bear much fruit, be more loving, if we remain in Jesus Christ. It is an imperative, therefore in this life that we remain in Christ for without him, separated him, we can do nothing. Fruit and love are always together as shown in the institution narrative and on Good Friday.
Being fruitful is more than being successful that is often seen and measured in material things. Being fruitful, being more loving is spiritual in nature, can never be measured with what we have but what have we given. Most of all, being fruitful is depending, relying more in Jesus Christ than in one’s self. That is why remaining in Christ is a prerequisite to be fruitful.
We remain in Jesus in prayer when he said, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you” (Jn. 15:7). But, prayer here as in most parts of the gospel does not mean asking God for anything; to remain in Jesus in prayer is to ask for God himself. It is only in having God we can truly love and experience joy and peace within despite the many trials and pains we go through in life.
In the first reading we have heard how Paul, still known as Saul arrived in Jerusalem and “tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple” (Acts 9:26). It must have been so difficult for Saul as well as for the early Christians too to welcome him! Saul must have a hard time convincing them he had really changed, that he had been converted in Christ while he must also understand the feelings of the Christians whom he persecuted before.
Photo by Dra. Carol Reyes-Santos,MD, at Napa Valley, California, 2023.
Let us keep in mind too that Saul’s conversion did not necessarily mean an end of their persecution; in fact, persecutions would turn more fierce later but it was during that time when the church grew so fast and wide too! That was because they remained in Christ who caused their efforts to bear much fruits no one expected.
Look back into our lives and see how when we remained in Christ and problems never stopped but that is when we are more fruitful, more fulfilled in life. Like our responsorial psalm this Sunday, “we praise the Lord in the midst of the assembly” to thank God from our hearts for all the blessings he bestows us like inner growth and maturity, feeling fruitful not just successful. Indeed, as the beloved disciple rightly noted in our second reading today, “God is greater than our hearts and knows everything” (1 Jn. 3:20).
This Sunday, Jesus is telling us “I am the true vine” to show us how God’s life is now in us through Christ and how our life is in God still through Christ. Let us remain in Jesus as he continues to reveal to us who he really is, our Lord and God, so we can share in the many joys and mysteries of his Resurrection. Let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, let me remain in You; let me stay in You when things are so difficult and let me still remain in You when life is so beautiful; let me be near and close to You as You are in me, speaking Your words, doing Your will; in my remaining in You, may I be fruitful by bringing others closer to You so that in the end, we all remain one in You. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Fourth Week of Easter, 24 April 2024 Acts 12:24-13:5 <*((((>< + ><))))*> John 12:44-50
Photo by author, Anvaya Cove, 15 April 2024.
It was You, dear God, who started that beautiful process of "setting apart" day from night, darkness from light, land from water; and now, You tell us in Your words how You set apart some people for special mission for You.
While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, completing their fasting and prayer, they laid hands on them and sent them off. So they, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues (Acts 13:2-5).
In our Baptism and Confirmation, most especially in the Holy Eucharist, You set us apart, O Lord, to special mission too to proclaim Your word, to make You present in this world.
Help us imitate the early Church of always praying and fasting to be filled with Your Word Jesus Christ who became flesh and dwelled among us; enable us to set apart our own biases and differences for Your mission; let us set apart our own words from Your divine word to only speak of You and never about us; most of all, let us set apart our own glory and interests so that like Jesus, we may only "say as the Father told me" (Jn. 12:50). Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the Fourth Week of Easter, 23 April 2024 Acts 11:19-26 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> John 10:22-30
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, July 2020 in Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon.
What a lovely story today,
Lord Jesus of Barnabas
who was sent by the Apostles
from Jerusalem to Antioch
to check on the growing number
of Your followers who were
called for the first time as "Christians";
what is most touching in this story,
dear Jesus is when Barnabas
went to Tarsus to look for Saul,
Your former persecutor,
their former enemy:
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 (Acts 11:26).
Surely it was not simply because they believed in You, O Jesus, that they were called Christians; most likely because they have lived truly like You, Lord, imitators of the Christ who truly cared for one another by forgiving those who have sinned, and most likely too, truly loving their enemies like Saul; I pray, dear Lord, for those who truly love and care for me, for those who look for me, for those who check on me how life has been going on, for those who stay with me to guide me back to You, Jesus.
Grant me the grace, Lord Jesus, like Barnabas to look for those we have forgotten, those we take for granted, those who annoy us, those we can easily dismiss as nonsense and ordinary, those who have hurt us, those we hate; grant us the courage to let Your voice lead us Lord Jesus to other Sauls of this world so we may lead them to You to find life in You. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Fourth Week of Easter, 22 April 2024 Acts 11:1-18 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> John 10:1-10
Photo by author in Silang, Cavite, September 2020.
Lord Jesus Christ, as we go back to school and to work this Monday, I pray that we "object" less to one another, that we hold our "objections" to ourselves first until we have found the merits of an endeavor or proposal and most especially, until we have found Your Holy Will.
The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem the circumcised believers confronted him, saying, “You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.” Peter began and explained it to them step by step… When they heard this, they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying, “God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.” (Acts 11:1-4, 18)
Teach us, dear Jesus, to widen our perspectives and to always be alert for the movements of the Holy Spirit so that we do not waste time and energies with our endless "objections" that often paralyze missions and operations and worst of all, destroy people.
How lovely is Your claim, "I am the gate for the sheep" (John 10:7) for we all belong to You alone; when we object a lot, we close the gate, we hinder the flow of people to the gate, and most of all, we steal Your sheep!
Do not let our many and endless objections claimed as for the greater good but totally empty of You hinder our flock in finding You "so that they might have life and have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). Amen.
Photo by author in Silang, Cavite, September 2020.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 21 April 2024
Photo by author, Anvaya Cove in Morong, Bataan, 15 April 2024.
Today is the Good Shepherd Sunday and we take a classic number from the lovely shepherdess of R&B and Soul, Ms. Chaka Khan with her 1975 hit Sweet Thing as vocalist of the group Rufus.
What I like most with Ms. Khan’s music next to her great voice and instrumentations being a percussionist herself is her ability to open us up to the woman’s heart and feelings. Her songs are so womanly that reveal the inner dynamics of womanhood we take for granted. (See our other piece, https://lordmychef.com/2021/06/27/through-the-fire-by-chaka-khan-1984/). That is why we find her so much like a good shepherdess leading us to find expressions of our love.
When Jesus Christ declared “I am the good shepherd who lays down his life”, He was expressing something more than His mission but His very being as “the Gift and the Giver” at the same time of this most precious thing called love.
The same thing is true when friends and lovers separate either because they have found other loves to pursue or worst, have fallen out of love with us despite all our love for them. It is the most unkindest cut of all breakups and separations, excruciatingly painful as we blindly give up our relationships ironically for love. More than the persons and circumstances involved, we freely choose to let go – magparaya in Filipino – because deep in our wounded and hollowed heart is the hope they may grow in their new love.
Here we are like Jesus the Good Shepherd because even in the death of our relationships is still found our love. Like Jesus Christ, we do not simply give something but our very selves. The Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner beautifully expressed this when he described Jesus is both “the Gift and the Giver.”
This is very evident in Sweet Thing which Ms. Khan co-wrote with Tony Maiden.
I will love you anyway Even if you cannot stay I think you are the one for me Here is where you ought to be I just want to satisfy you Though you’re not mine I can’t deny you Don’t you hear me talking baby? Love me now or I’ll go crazy
Oh sweet thing Don’t you know you’re my everything? Oh sweet thing Don’t you know you’re my everything? Yes, you are
I wish you were my lover But you act so undercover To love you child my whole life long Be it right, or be it wrong I’m only what you make me, baby Don’t walk away, don’t be so shady Don’t want your mind, don’t want your money These words I say, they may sound funny, but
Isn’t it so sweet!? Beginning with its guitar intro lately making rounds in social media courtesy of Prince’s unplugged cover, Sweet Thing is an overload of love and self-giving, of how a woman in her great love for a man is willing to let go of him because of love.
When we speak of love, we use comparisons and analogies and yet, they are not enough. How much more when we speak of the love of God, a love so sublime like Ms. Khan’s Sweet Thing?
In that case, we sing like Ms. Khan and her other co-shepherds of souls with their music that captures our deepest feelings and convictions in life. Like Jesus in saying “I am the good shepherd” which is more than a declaration of His mission but of His self-giving in love, Ms. Khan’s Sweet Thing reminds us of this tremendous grace to love like God despite the pains and hurts we go through in loving selflessly.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Second Week of Easter, 12 April 2024 Acts 5:34-42 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> John 6:1-15
Photo by author, 09 April 2024.
What an amusing incident again in our readings today, Lord Jesus, when You teach me when to continue and when to stop; how to find God's will and to keep doing Your work among us:
A Pharisee in the Sanhedrin named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up, ordered the Apostles be put outside for a short time, and said to the Sanhedrin, “Fellow children of Israel, be careful what you are about to do to these men… For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” They were persuaded by him.
Acts 5:34-35, 38-39
Lord Jesus, teach me to distance myself sometimes from the heat of issues and arguments, even of personalities like when Gamaliel ordered the Apostles be put outside for a short time; many times it helps a lot in freeing my mind and my heart from my many ideas and biases that prevent me from distinguishing endeavor or activity of human origin and those from God that cannot be stopped at all.
Most of all, Lord Jesus, keep me close to You, let me seek You only and always, even if I have to go inside your circle just to be involved like Andrew the brother of Peter when he joined Your conversation with Philip on where to find food for the people; any thing coming from God surely has You, Jesus at its center and essence; You know exactly what to do, Lord, whenever we are facing difficult situations but still just the same the suggestion by Gamaliel, we need to separate sometimes to determine the Father's will that so often we presume be what we think, what we believe, and what we must do.
Let us not forget finding you Jesus in every activity and endeavor because that is when people are not only fed but also nourished and fulfilled. Amen.
lordmychef.com 